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

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

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

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

Do you want to become one with us? To be of one mind and body? It’s a very, very comforting feeling. Email us anytime. Come dive with us into Neon Genesis Evangelion. Just relax and release your soul.

Release Schedule

[S1E1] Intro: April 30, 2020
[S1E2] Eps. 1–6 + manga chs. 1–19 (vols. 1–3): May 14, 2021
[S1E3] Eps. 7–13 + manga chs. 20–26 (vol. 4): May 28, 2021
[S1E4] Eps. 14–20 + manga chs. 27–51 (vols. 5–8): June 11, 2021
[S1E5] Eps. 21–26 + manga chs. 52–74 (vols. 8–11): June 25, 2021
[S1E6] End of Evangelion & manga chs. 75–End (vols. 11-14): July 9, 2021
[S1E7] Question Bucket: July 23, 2021

Works Cited

“Misora Hibari and the Girl Star in Postwar Japanese Cinema” by Deborah Shamoon, published in Signs vol. 35 no. 1

“Kanashiki Kuchibue” performance by Misora Hibari

Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection by Julia Kristeva

Chapter 1 of Mimesis: The Representation of Reality in Western Literature by Erich Auerbach

Content Warnings for the Anime and Manga

Violence, blood, death, and gore
Body horror mechs
Abusive parents / abusive relationships / emotional, physical, and sexual abuse
Nudity and sexuality, including the sexualization of young girls
Alcohol and alcoholism
Mental invasion / rape
Sexism
Toxic gender roles
Unreality
Mental breakdowns
Suicide
Decapitation
Strangulation
Animal death (manga especially)
Flashing images

Content Warnings for the End of Evangelion

Most of above but more intense. Specific scenarios to call out:

A character masturbating over the unconscious body of a girl
An older man grabbing a young woman’s breast and then his hand entering her body, evocative of sexual abuse
Flashing images
Gore and violence is overall turned up a little from the show, although there are also intense scenes in the show

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

Episode Notes

Welp, here we go... I hope you aren’t interested in hearing two people talk a bunch about the lore of Neon Genesis Evangelion because that’s not at all what we’re interested in. But if you’re here for people talking about trauma, the indoctrination of toxic masculinity, and the nature of the fractured self, Connor and Niamh have got you covered.

We start out with Niamh describing the time fae went to pick up Shinji in faer car and use it to launch into discussion of mechs as bodies, how Evangelion draws extensively from the groundwork and themes laid out by Gundam and other earlier mecha anime, the overapplication of death of the author, the complicity of the US in the way that young girls are sexualized in Japan, Niamh trying to remember a galaxy brain meme, the difficulty of critically dealing with harmful tropes or topics like the sexualization of young girls in a work of media without falling into the problem of having to replicate it in the process, the conditioning of toxic masculinity, an actual breakdown of our read on Misato in general, how the animation of Evangelion contributes to the feeling of isolation, the significance of the codified cultural ritual of “tadaima” and “okaeri” for the meaning of Shinji and Misato’s relationship, how the series employs humor to continue to further its darker thematic elements, the employment of male nudity in the series (especially regarding Toji’s butt), the horror of combat in Evangelion, the fumbling missteps of Evangelion trying to discuss teenage sexual desire, the mingling of sexual desire with greater questions of identity and self, the textual effeminacy of Shinji’s design and tragedy of Rei's design, and Connor putting off really getting into his psychoanalytic theory bullshit and narrative theory bullshit.

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

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

Works Cited in this Discussion

“Misora Hibari and the Girl Star in Postwar Japanese Cinema” by Deborah Shamoon

Content Warnings for this Discussion

Captive bolt pistols used in animal slaughter
Intense violence
Child soldiers
Sexualization of young women
Rape
Sex work
Racism
Suicide
Sexism / cissexism / the conditioning of toxic masculinity
Child abuse
Sexual abuse
F-slur

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

Episode Notes

We are back once again with our discussion of episodes 7 through 13 of Neon Genesis Evangelion. These may be what are generally considered the lightest, most slice-of-life/monster-of-the-week episodes of the show, but Niamh and Connor know what this show is and is going to be, so this episode is still plenty dark. Niamh being her most messy Misato when fae recorded this probably didn’t help.

We start our discussion with the revelation that Connor is also a Misato x Ritsuko shipper, then get into the way the comparative cheeriness of these episodes feels intentionally hollow and like the illusion of happiness you create when you’re depressed, Eva’s deployment of tropes from “lighter” genres like romantic comedies, the duality of Misato and the ways in which she is actually not like Niamh, the subordination of all characters to Shinji as the self-obsessed depressed protagonist of the series and how this starts Connor and Niamh’s one true fight on Eva that we will never fully resolve, the forced feminization of Shinji, bringing in Misora Hibari as a point of reference for Asuka as an impersonator of Misato, the psychoanalytic theory of abjection as put forth by Julia Kristeva and its relation to Eva, the possibility of communication and connection between individuals, the developing characterization of Rei, Gendo’s position as the antagonist of the series, the divided subject of the MAGI system, more on the divided opinion of Connor and Niamh on whether or not Anno is a hateful little shit man, trying to talk around the end of the show and The End of Evangelion, and putting off some theory bullshit for next time.

Also we kinda end up talking more about Asuka and Misora Hibari after we finished recording the podcast proper and that all made it into the post-ED outtakes section so uh… it’s a little more than just goofs this time, you might want to stick around for at least some of it even if you usually skip the outtakes.

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

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

Works Cited in this Discussion

“Misora Hibari and the Girl Star in Postwar Japanese Cinema” by Deborah Shamoon, published in Signs vol. 35 no. 1

Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection by Julia Kristeva

“Kanashiki Kuchibue” performance by Misora Hibari

Content Warnings for this Discussion

Alcohol / Alcoholism
Abusive relationships
Mental illness
Misogyny
Sex work
Rape
Sexualization of young girls
Pedophilia

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

Episode Notes

We are back again and ready to dive into the back half of Neon Genesis Evangelion with episodes 14 through 20.

We start by looking at what actually turned out to be a fairly interesting clip show episode and use it to spring into a discussion of the shift towards greater interiority and the developing undercurrents in the second half of the series; the growing characterization of Rei; Misato and Kaji as a (not always well handled) brat4brat relationship and how it factors into our read of Misato as well as Asuka as a “female impersonator” of Misato; our read on Kaji as an interesting but often creepy character; Eva’s ongoing construction of divided subjects; the psychoanalytic elements of the series and Connor’s theory bullshit about Kristeva’s ideas about abjection; the abjection of queerness; the role of ego in sync rate and pilot performance; the solidification of the show’s thematic elements in order to develop further in the finale; the misdirected desire for comfort that must be resisted to reassert selfhood and allow the potential for further life; our continuing kicking of the Mimesis can down the Ghost Divers road; and an extended discussion of one of our favorite sparsely animated scenes.

Next time we will be joined by guest Brad Nelson to talk about episodes 21 through 26!

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

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

Also as a fun note: About a week before this episode was released, Connor finally subscribed to the Patreon in order to listen to Niamh’s new movie podcast with Autumn called Ornate Stairwells! You can check out the public feed for Ornate Stairwells at exportaud.io/ornatestairwells or listen to the episodes early by becoming a patron yourself at exportaud.io.

I mean, not episodes of Ghost Divers early, just episodes of Ornate Stairwells early. I’m not putting any more pressure on myself to edit stuff early, and I think this podcast works best if you know exactly when to expect new episodes.

Works Cited in this Discussion

Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection by Julia Kristeva

Content Warnings for this Discussion

Discussion of grooming and sexual abuse
Sexism & misogyny
Blood, gore, dismemberment, strangulation, & death
The trauma of childbirth
Ego destruction or death
Bodily fluids & kink
Bodily corruption & invasion
Cannibalism
Sex and sexuality

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

Episode Notes

We are joined by our first-ever guest on Ghost Divers, Brad Nelson, to discuss episodes 21 through 26 of Neon Genesis Evangelion! They are the person who first got Niamh into anime, so it’s very poignant and meaningful that they are definitely the first-ever guest on the podcast and didn’t at all get usurped by some brat who just decided to join to talk about Final Fantasy VIII on a complete whim.

We also get the most into the manga so far around our discussion of Kaworu, so buckle up for a deeper dive into manga chapters 52–74

We start our discussion with a look at the way the series often employs lore dumps to create more questions than answers, how incredibly gay Ritsuko is for Misato, the discrepancies in how various characters perceive and understand each other and how the narrative itself becomes unreliably tied to specific perspectives, suffering in Evangelion and the tensions between Buddhism and daoism and how Niamh’s worldview has changed since fae first watched the show, Asuka as an unwilling school idol, the elevator scene and how it draws out the tensions between Asuka and Rei and their inability to connect over their shared struggles, how Misato continues to offer physical touch as comfort because it’s what she herself needs when she is hurting, Gendo’s grooming of Rei and her attempts to break from his abuse, the romantic and sexual connection between Shinji and Kaworu, the differences between Kaworu’s depiction in the show vs. the manga, our varying reads on the differing depictions of Kaworu’s death and what it means for Shinji, the stylistic presentation of the final two episode of Evangelion, the misogyny of Anno and his potential gendered trauma, and of course Connor and Niamh continuing to duke it out over End of Evangelion.

Speaking of, just is next time for our discussion of End of Evangelion and the conclusion of the manga!

As a note, the audio bleed on Connor’s headphones was really bad this episode and Niamh had to do a lot to try to eliminate it, so sorry for the dip in audio quality on this one. At least you don’t have to endure it for nearly 5 hours…

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

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

You can also check out Brad’s newsletter at http://hologramofthesenses.substack.com

Works Cited in this Discussion

“Misora Hibari and the Girl Star in Postwar Japanese Cinema” by Deborah Shamoon, published in Signs vol. 35 no. 1

Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection by Julia Kristeva

Content Warnings for this Discussion

Death of a child
Sex & sexuality
Sexual abuse & rape
Depression, suicide, & self-harm
Mental invasion
Pedophilia & grooming
Assisted suicide
Slut shaming

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

Episode Notes

What's done is done, it feels so bad. What once was happy now is sad. We’ll never record again, our podcast’s ending. I wish that I could turn back time, ‘cause now the guilt is all mine for ever suggesting we’d do Evangelion.

Okay, so Connor and Niamh like to joke about how we get into a big fight about End of Evangelion because we are never going to fully agree on this film. Specifically, we both have the same basic read on what the film is trying to do, but will always be divided on our final read of the film. But like, we actually are still friends and we’re both really looking forward to you all watching Magic Knight Rayearth with us and listening to those episodes.

In our discussion, we focus in particular on the beginning and the end of End of Evangelion and the manga and how these two endings to the series figure separation and otherness in different ways and reach different conclusions about the possibility for human connection and touch on topics like the potential figuring of a bioessentialist view in the show and movie of the fundamental divide between men and women as the core of the human condition in the show and movie versus the manga, how the manga employs the image of hands to differently figure the relationship between humans in a way that touches less on heteronormative understandings of human relationships, the Buddhist and daoist interpretations of Eva, the ending of the movie and its parallels with Adam and Eve and the related myth of Líf and Lífþrasir emerging from the world tree after ragnarök to repopulate the earth, how necessary the intense extremes of the movie are for the message, a diversion into discussions around content warnings, our frustrations with the depiction of Misato in End of Eva, differences between the movie and the manga around Gendo and Shinji’s ability to meet the expectations of the heroic shōnen protagonist, some of the weird differences between the printed tankōban volumes of the manga in the US and the scanlations on genesis-evangelion.com, how not everyone in a story should necessarily be redeemed (and perhaps some characters should not be redeemed), and our final readings on Rei and her breaking from Gendo’s abuse.

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 Friday, July 16, 2021. You can write into ghostdiverspod@gmail and follow us on Twitter!

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

Lastly, if you want to listen to Niamh talk about movies for generally less time then fae spent talking about this one, check out faer newish podcast Ornate Stairwells at exportaud.io/ornatestairwells.

Works Cited in this Discussion

Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection by Julia Kristeva

Content Warnings for this Discussion

Alcohol
Masturbating over an unconscious body
Violence
Pedophilia
Loss of ego / melding of consciousness
Sexism & misogyny
Semen, blood, other bodily fluids
Dismemberment & disembowelment
Cannibalism
Strangulation
Decapitation
Nudity & sexuality
Bioessentialism
Abuse (both romantic and familial)
Homophobia
Slut-shaming
Depression & suicide
Cancer

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