It’s Question Bucket Time!

As always, we start out by wrapping up our series discussion, including some discussion of The 08th MS Team’s reference to the Vietnam War and whether we think there’s anything even there or if US viewers just jump to Vietnam because it is our jungle war but not necessarily Japan’s jungle war, why we chose The 08th MS Team despite knowing a lot of people are down on it, the value of talking about things you have mixed feelings about and debating with someone else about different reads, more homie kissing, what kind of albums each member of the 08th MS Team would press. Also, Niamh manages to talk about Icelandic sagas for a bit because fae is extremely that bitch.

We then talk about Connor’s non-anime thing, The Commercial Album by the Residents. We talk a bit about trying to engage with music even when it doesn’t come to you quickly, the history of the Residents as a band and art collective, the racist ethnography of Nanook of the North, the tension between conceptual foundation for an album and the actual experiential quality of listening to an album, Niamh being a bit of an asshole, and the possible influence that the Residents might have had on music that came after.

After that, we discuss Niamh’s non-anime thing, Attack of the Friday Monsters! A Tokyo Tale, but then kinda just be bummers about how neither of us can identify with this sweet and idyllic portrayal of childhood, but also the ways this game still rings true to some of our experiences with media and card games as kids. We also talk about the differences between sugar-coated, gritty, and bittersweet.

We also quickly answer a few questions about tokusatsu (we hate it), magical realism (we love it), and what recent anime we would send through a wormhole to the ‘90s to change anime discourse forever.

You can write into future Question Buckets at [email protected] and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter!

The Show: @ghostdiverspod
Niamh: @FoxmomNia
Connor: @rabbleais
Garfield Read Aloud: @GarfReadAloud

Works Cited in this Discussion

Brennu-Njál’s saga (a.k.a. Njála)

Hrafnkels saga Freysgoða

Nanook of the North

Suicide by Suicide

“Monster Mash” by Bobby "Boris" Pickett & the Crypt-Kickers

“Come On Feet” by Quasimoto

Silent Shout by the Knife

My Father’s Arms are a Boat by Stein Erik Lunde and Øyvind Torseter

Moonstone: The Boy Who Never Was by Sjón

Danzig Trilogy: The Tin Drum, Cat and Mouse, and Dog Years by Günter Grass

Content Warnings for this Discussion

Mention of abusive relationships and child abuse
Discussion of the difficulties of childhood, neglect, and trauma
Mention of alcohol in the post-ED section

Find out more at https://ghost-divers.pinecast.co

Episode Notes

Connor and Niamh are under new direction (maybe this joke will land in the description?) but are back to discuss the final half of Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team.

We start with a discussion of the show’s hot springs episode, how the change in director may have changed the handling of various aspects of the series, the relationship between Shiro and Aina, Aina’s attempts to assert herself against her abusive brother, the potential discrepancies between Shiro and Aina’s political positions and worldviews that never really get explored, how the series tests Shiro’s idealism, our feelings about our first look at ground soldiers on the Zeon side, the incredible new content of Miller’s Report, mechs, Niamh’s rewrite of The 08th MS Team, the failure of Shiro to enacted his pacifism in the face of his own death, how the Apsalus runs on Windows, how Aina and Shiro fail to break from their existing frameworks of understanding war as being fought and won by individuals, the two different endings of the series, how the series deals with new types, the bleak reality of the final episode, but also potentially the sliver of hope within it, and more.

Also, don't forget that we will be recording the Question Bucket soon. The deadline to write into our Question Bucket for this series is April 24. You can write into ghostdiverspod@gmail and follow us on Twitter!

@ghostdiverspod
@foxmomnia
@rabbleais
@GarfReadAloud

Works Cited in this Discussion

We didn’t really cite any works for this series!

Content Warnings for this Discussion

Brief mention of a gas attack massacre
Sexualization of female characters
Abusive relationships
Self-harm (especially in the post-ED section)
Brief mention of rape
Mechs as coffins
Drugs & Alcohol
Abusive Drug Administration & Alcoholism
Murder & Poisoning
Self-sacrifice
Medical trauma
Trauma around names

Find out more at https://ghost-divers.pinecast.co

Episode Notes

Connor and Niamh break the Shinigami curse that killed their first attempt at recording this episode and successfully scribe a podcast episode using the new Record Press technology.

We start off by talking about how really we’re just talking about Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team in order to let Connor rant about the first Mobile Suit Gundam and then get into what is probably the most we are probably ever going to do synopses on this podcast. Connor gives a lot of context from older Gundam and like… kinda spoilers I guess?

We do get very out of scope quickly as we talk about Gundam broadly but eventually, Connor does rein us in to talk about how The 08th MS Team is specifically pulling on and immediately developing existing tropes in the franchise, our initial impressions on Shiro and Aina’s relationship and how it relates to Newtypes as a concept, Niamh’s rewrite where Shiro is replaced as the main character by Karen who is explicitly trans and dating Aina, the sexualization of Kiki (and young girls in general in anime and beyond), how combat is handled and depicted in The 08th MS Team and how it points to thematic readings of the instrumentalization of human bodies and lives, different types of mecha, if the series is actually doing anything meaningful with sexuality, the canon ages of different characters, the gender happening, and more!

Niamh also had to try very hard to not just spoil things throughout this conversation.

Write into our Question Bucket at [email protected] and follow us on Twitter!

@ghostdiverspod
@FoxmomNia
@rabbleais
@GarfReadAloud

Works Cited in this Discussion

We didn’t really cite any works for this series!

Content Warnings for this Discussion

Discussion around the sexualization of young girls Brief discussion of sexual assault and abuse

Find out more at https://ghost-divers.pinecast.co

Episode Notes

“I’m gonna live! And I’ll marry Aina!”

Dive into Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team!

Follow us on Twitter!

@ghostdiverspod
@foxmomnia
@rabbleais
@GarfReadAloud

Release Schedule

[S2E1] Intro: March 19, 2021
[S2E2] Eps. 1–6: April 2, 2021
[S2E3] Eps. 7–12 + Miller’s Report: April 16, 2021
[S2E4] Question Bucket: April 30, 2021

Works Cited

We didn’t really cite any works for this series!

Content Warnings for the Anime

F-slur in the subs for episode 1 (dub says “pansies”)
Sexualization of young girls
Nudity and sexualization of women in general
Sexism
Issues around disability
Implied intent to rape (episode 8)
Violence and death
Depiction of war crimes, including gas attack massacre (episode 7), missile strikes, etc.
Abusive relationships
Claustrophobia, machines of war as coffins
Alcoholism

Find out more at https://ghost-divers.pinecast.co

Episode Notes

In what is most certainly the rowdiest, most chaotic episode yet, the Ghost Divers are joined by special guest and person who is hosting this podcast on their network in the first place so how is Niamh ever going to say no to them, Autumn Blake!

But before Autumn hops on the call, Niamh and Connor start out with just the regular amount of rowdiness and chaos and get right into the Cro High questions. We start out talking about some of our favorite bits from the show, get waylaid by Niamh’s laundry tips, and then dive into the gender happening in Cro High, vibes you get as a trans person about whether or not a creator would hate you, Takashi Miike’s Dead or Alive trilogy, Cro High’s potential debt to Utena, our favorite cuss word, finding a shared sense of humor with others, etc.

Then Autumn joins for our discussion of Final Fantasy 8 and things immediately escalate into a rollicking discussion touching on NORG, which Gundam characters would kiss the homies goodnight, which FF8 characters would kiss the homies goodnight, which Eva characters would kiss the homies goodnight, Niamh’s FF7 OTP, the era of PS1 JRPGs and why they could be weirder back then, how you used to be able to just make bad games and movies, memories of watching friends play Final Fantasy games, the overwhelming adolescence of FF8, more of Niamh’s OTPs, the merciless systems of FF8, breaking JRPGs, the era of guidebooks, etc.

We eventually move on to talking about Gaylord Phoenix, 100 Crushes, and queer alt comics in general, especially around themes like the inadequacy of language to talk about queerness and different approaches to trying to talk about this inadequacy anyway, revisiting queer books from the year you came out, Connor’s ongoing role as Niamh’s token cis straight white dude friend, the value of libraries, how to try to get into queer comics, etc.

Anyway, go buy the unofficial official shirt of Ghost Divers:
https://shop.grapevine.is/products/milf-short-sleeve-unisex-t-shirt

You can write into future Question Buckets at [email protected] and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter!

The Show: @ghostdiverspod
Niamh: @FoxmomNia
Connor: @rabbleais
Autumn: @Autumnal_Coffee
Garfield Read Aloud: @GarfReadAloud

Works Cited in this Discussion

I don’t read theory not even Marx I have never even heard of Hegelian dialectics.

Content Warnings for this Discussion

Brief mentions of self-harm
Mention of bedbugs
Discussions vaguely around transphobia
Just lots and lots of swearing in this one
Including Niamh saying the f-slur a bunch because fae reclaims it
Sexual references
Mention of bodies being destroyed
Alcohol

Find out more at https://ghost-divers.pinecast.co

Episode Notes

Niamh and Niamh’s Cohost discuss episodes 14 through 26 of the first season of Sakigake!! Cromartie High School.

We take a slightly more synopsis-laden approach this time to try to ground ourselves in the rapidly escalating and (d)evolving world of Cro High, bounding off of topics like Cro High’s use of manzai forms, the literalization of the punchline, the stretching and decontextualization of recurring jokes, Yamaguchi’s failure to fully understand the humor of the show in which he is a character, and our conclusion that the show is ultimately mocking us personally as a podcast that is trying to analyze it.

Niamh also thinks fae's really fuckin funny with the editing on this one.

Also, don't forget that we will be recording the Question Bucket soon. The deadline to write into our Question Bucket for this series is March 13. You can write into ghostdiverspod[at]gmail and follow us on Twitter!

@ghostdiverspod
@foxmomnia
@rabbleais
@GarfReadAloud

Content Warnings for this Discussion

Brief Discussion of Shock Violence (Regarding Adult Swim)

Find out more at https://ghost-divers.pinecast.co

Episode Notes

Connor and Niamh can’t remember the name of a song that’s stuck in their heads, so they try to distract themselves by discussing episodes 1 through 13 of the first season of Sakigake!! Cromartie High School.

We start out with the first and really only bit of theory bullshit by talking about the yakuza and yankii genre convention of the giri-ninjo conflict and how it relates to the comedy of Cro High, which we then use to launch into how much Cro High actually operates as a genre parody vs. absurdism, Kamiyama as a protagonist, the process of adaptation from manga to anime, the character of Yamaguchi as the comedian who tries to metatextually analyze the comedy of the show in which he himself is a character, the all-encompassing scope of the comedy of the show, the show within a show that is Pootan, the way Cro High continues to develop expectations in order to subvert them, and more.

Niamh also has an (at this point no longer secret) announcement that faer comedy video art series Today’s Garfield Read Aloud has returned as a Twitter account, @GarfReadAloud.

Write into our Question Bucket at ghostdiverspod[at]gmail and follow us on Twitter!

@ghostdiverspod
@FoxmomNia
@rabbleais
@GarfReadAloud

Works Cited in this Discussion

“The Yakuza Film: An Introduction” by Keiko Iwai McDonald, published in Reframing Japanese Cinema: Authorship, Genre, History

“On Ninkyo” by Sato Tadao, published in the journal Shisō no kagaku (Science of Thought)

Content Warnings for this Discussion

Mention of Alcohol (After the outro when Niamh and Connor are joking around)

Find out more at https://ghost-divers.pinecast.co

Episode Notes

Dear Listeners Booting Up This Episode On Their Podcast App of Choice:

The guys that appear in this anime are delinquents. So, please do not, under any circumstances, imitate what you see in this anime.

Dive into Sakigake!! Cromartie High School!

Write into our Question Bucket at ghostdiverspod[at]gmail and follow us on Twitter!

@ghostdiverspod
@foxmomnia
@rabbleais

Release Schedule

[S2E1] Intro: February 5, 2021
[S2E2] Eps. 1–13: February 19, 2021
[S2E3] Eps. 14–26: March 5, 2021
[S2E4] Question Bucket: March 19, 2021

Works Cited

Gabriel Gundaker talking about the Coinstar not working

“The Yakuza Film: An Introduction” by Keiko Iwai McDonald, published in Reframing Japanese Cinema: Authorship, Genre, History

“On Ninkyo” by Sato Tadao, Shisō no kagaku

Content Warnings for the Anime

Ableist and Sexist Language (Note: The dub is worse in this regard, including use of the f-slur)

Find out more at https://ghost-divers.pinecast.co

Episode Notes

Hello and welcome to this very focused and concise Question Bucket episode. We only got two emails, so we definitely didn’t somehow record for four hours straight in a delirious frenzy of topics.

Anyway, we start with an attempt to encapsulate our read on Major Kusanagi and how it relates to our political worldview, bringing in and diverging toward other topics like Iceland’s Nobel Laureate Halldór Laxness, the way public policies funnel those suffering from poverty into the military, the anarchist utopianism of Zhuangzi, reparative justice, Major Kusanagi’s ideological attachment to Section 9 and the power it provides her, and finally an answer to a question about micro machines.

We then answer a question about foundational media for us (Chrono Cross and Icelandic music for Niamh, Prince and James Joyce’s Ulysses for Connor) before diving headfirst into the “non-anime” topics we brought. Niamh is talking about Persona 3 Portable and how its portrayal of self-harm, savior complexes, and kink are deeply hurtful and honestly just fucked. As Niamh says in the cold opening disclaimer for this episode, this part of our discussion in particular gets pretty heavy, so please be careful around the Content Warnings for this episode if you may be triggered or affected by discussions of things like self-harm, abusive relationships, biting and blood kinks, etc.

Connor tries as best he can to follow that up with a look back at The Knife’s Shaking the Habitual and its position as an abrasive album that engages with the music that came before it and also might point towards some of the queer music that came after.

We finish out answering a question about how to survive grad school, and how maybe our perspective on grad school is uniquely bleak because of the particular cruelty of the program we both attended.

Sorry for being a downer.

Works Cited in this Discussion

“If you want to understand me better as a person, play Chrono Cross” by our very own Niamh

“A Better Lover” also by our very own Niamh, published by ZEAL

Content Warnings for this Discussion

Brief Mentions of Online Harassment
Discussion of Abusers in Queer Communities and Breaking Cycles of Abuse
In-Depth Discussion of Self-Harm, Trauma, Abuse, and Savior Complexes (2:12:44 to 2:23:20)
In-Depth Discussion of Kink, Teeth, Biting, Bloodplay, Painplay, the Erotics of Negotiation, and Consent (2:23:20 to 2:42:46)
Discussion of the Pressures of Grad School

Find out more at https://ghost-divers.pinecast.co

Episode Notes

It’s time to finish out our episode discussions with our breakdown of episodes 20 through 26. We get right into this with high energy because we recorded [S0E1] Welcome to Ghost Divers immediately prior to this recording, so Niamh is already fully on one. Thankfully Connor is here to rein fem in.

We start the discussion by trying to put a bow on Niamh’s theory bullshit with Benjamin and Bazin while Connor gets on his own theory bullshit train with Koestler’s The Ghost in the Machine. Throughout the episode, we cover the tension between individual and society, Aoi the individual as distinct from the Laughing Man, Aoi’s reverence to the original and the truth, the Major’s rage as she fights for her body and her need for control, demedicalization and bodily autonomy as part of trans liberationism, the value of the individual vs. the value of the team, the theoretical origins of the ghost in the shell, the similarities and distinctions between Aoi and the Major, the culpability of individuals in institutions and the need for individuals to break with the institutional imperative in order to create change, the tension between individualism and collectivism, the conversations between Batou and the Major relating to her body and why she chose it, the final act of self sacrifice by the Tachikomas, Batou’s own struggles with gender and oppressive systems, and ultimate finish by teasing out some of the quotes provided by the Major and Aoi in the show’s own version of a Works Cited.

Also sorry, we had a few audio issues again but Niamh thinks fae figured out the main issues so it should be better going forward.

Lastly, don't forget that we will be recording the Question Bucket soon. The deadline to write into our Question Bucket for this series is January 30, 2020. You can write into ghostdiverspod[at]gmail and follow us on Twitter!

@ghostdiverspod
@foxmomnia
@rabbleais

Works Cited in this Discussion

“The Ontology of the Photographic Image” from What is Cinema?, vol. 1 by André Bazin

“Beyond the Image in Benjamin and Bazin: The Aura of the Event” by Monica Dall’Asta, published in Opening Bazin: Postwar Film Theory and Its Afterlife

“The Work of Art in the Age of Its Technological Reproducibility” by Walter Benjamin

The Ghost in the Machine by Arthur Koestler

Kino-Eye by Dziga Vertov

The Political Unconscious by Fredric Jameson

Content Warnings for this Discussion

Sexism
Intense Violence / Gore / Head Trauma / Suffocation
Drugs
Sexual Harassment / Abuse / Rape in a Medical Context (40:36-41:38)
Threats to Autonomy
Transphobia / Having Conversation With Cis People As A Trans Person
Self Sacrifice
Alcohol

Find out more at https://ghost-divers.pinecast.co