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
We didn’t really cite any works for this series!
Discussion around the sexualization of young girls Brief discussion of sexual assault and abuse
Find out more at https://ghost-divers.pinecast.co
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
We didn’t really cite any works for this series!
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
Brennu-Njál’s saga (a.k.a. Njála)
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
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