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Because I'm an otaku, if the Chainsaw Man comes to Broadway, I'm probably going to see it, and I'll probably see it and be like, it was amazing!
Welcome back to 2AM OTTACK! I'm your host Mayu, a born and raised Japanese non-otaku, and...
I'm Cisco, an American otaku.
In this podcast, we share our reviews of anime and manga through our distinct perspectives with commentary on Japanese culture, history, and language.
Cisco, it's finally over.
What's finally over?
Gachiakuta's first season is over, and they already confirmed for the second season.
Well, that's good because the first season ended on like nothing. Yeah, like there was no resolution at all.
So yeah, this is our second time to talk about Gachiakuta, which seems like more popular in the world than in Japan. That's my sense.
Interesting.
So we're going to talk about it for the second time, mostly from about episode 13 to 24. So stay tuned. Stay tuned.
Are we going to a commercial break?
I wish.
I don't think we do those.
Before we start, we'd like to hear from you. Share your thoughts, ideas, questions, or even suggestions for what we should talk about.
Email us using the address in the description, or you can use the Spotify or YouTube comment sections.
Gachiakutaの概要
Even though this is our second time to talk about Gachiakuta, could you give us some simple plot?
Sure. So in the first 13 episodes of Gachiakuta, Ruto, the main character, has his father figure guy uncle, Egito, gets murdered.
And Egito has given him some gloves. He's kind of an outcast in society. He gets dropped into, quote, the pit, which means he's like sent to the world below.
He has some adventures in the world below and winds up joining an organization called the Cleaners, who fight trash beasts that threaten, I don't know, the settlements living on the ground.
Then he gets drawn into a conflict between the Cleaners and the Raiders. Their Japanese name is so different. In Japanese, they're the...
Like, not dirty, but...
Like, wreck it?
Wreck it, yeah.
The wreckers?
Yeah.
And then the Cleaners and the Raiders fight for a lot of the rest of the show. There's also an arc where he visits a girl named Amo, which we talked about last time, in kind of a tower in the desert.
But it's a post-apocalyptic world where graffiti has sort of magical power, and people can infuse objects that are important with them with power.
And these people are known as givers. So kind of everybody in the Cleaners is a giver.
Actually, no, there's some non-givers too, right, who are just like regular people. So there's both. But the givers are kind of the focus of the story, and each one has an object and some special powers.
アニメの感想
So you like this anime?
Yeah. I mean, like, I think after having watched the second half of the first season, I realized that like 50% of what I liked about this anime was the original opening theme song, which was huge and really important to me.
And I do like the characters, the art design, the sort of like inclusion of graffiti, and what the beginning of the story seemed to be focused on.
The longer the series went on, the less compelling I found it, because it got kind of trapped in like typical shounen battle manga, like, you know, tropes.
And it seemed to lose a little bit of like what the core of the story was about in the beginning.
And so I still like it. I think it's good. It's well animated, like the story is, you know, normal and like the characters are cool. But I liked the first half more than I liked the second half. And the opening theme song thing was something I just like never got over.
Yeah, I feel the same way. The catch was great. It's about trash. It's about like all sorts of like problems we actually have on this world. But shounen battle manga type of episodes was not my interest. I mean, I'm not a shounen battle manga person.
But until Amo comes in and Amo's story came in, it was just shocking.
Yeah, Amo's story was really dark and extremely sad.
Yeah. So why don't we talk about it? I mean, it's gonna be a spoiler from here.
Sure.
But the last time we talked about the gacha actor was when Amo came in.
We didn't really know that much about her at the time.
No, the episode 13 explains about what Amo went through and her history. Amo is such an interesting character.
Yeah.
She looked like a nice person at the beginning and harmless, but like a mystery. Like, why does she live in like a tall castle?
Right.
More like a tower by herself.
Right.
Right? And she's like very cute. But turns out like she's scary.
Yeah. I mean, she has the power to like use what? Pheromones or something in her boots to like control people.
And then she like made them fight each other. And she seemed kind of psychotic and like dangerous.
The way she acted to other cleaners, Soujiya, is like she was wanting to talk about like love stories.
Right.
And when other cleaners like brought up, hey, like we're not here to listen, like react, you know, please respond to us.
Like she got so mad.
Right.
And then the range of her emotions was like really big.
But like after I watched the episode 13 of like flashback of Amo, like it made so much sense to me.
Even she's a villain character.
Right.
And then it was just sad and scary. I didn't feel so in a way like not comfortable watching.
Yeah.
What did you think about the episode?
I mean, I think it was a really good exploration of her trauma. Right.
Like and she comes in and is, yeah, it seems like really a villain.
And so having an episode that humanized her a little bit more, at least like explained like why her trauma was causing her to behave in all these sort of ways was nice in sort of making her character like deeper and more interesting.
And like it doesn't really absolve her of like her, you know, her behavior, but it does explain where it's coming from and like why she responds so violently and, you know, with with so many sort of like intense emotions to everything.
And the, you know, it's dark, like it's very dark as like anime stories go for it to have like allusions to like her being basically sold into slavery. Right. And and then like abused by like this much older guy. Like it was it was like gross and disturbing.
And then, you know, it helps explain like why her emotions are so out of control when she's dealing with the cleaners. And they don't really like forgive her. Right.
ノワール・デの過去について
And then I think she gets captured afterwards, which is like even more messed up to be like someone who's already been through so much trauma, but then is like so difficult to deal with that, like, you know, you sort of don't know what to do with them. Right.
And then they get like re traumatized, like, oh, it's so upsetting. Yeah, it was a it was a hard episode to watch. But I agree that like that made this series feel like more compelling.
And then like the later battles and stuff that we've seen, like maybe each of those characters will get like a nice backstory breakdown in season two. It felt like enemies kind of came out of nowhere with like less explanation later on.
And like I'm okay with having like one totally crazy bad guy like Jabber. Right. Like and without like I don't need to know Jabber's backstory in order to enjoy him as a character.
But like the other characters are kind of like, well, like, why are you doing this stuff? And like, there isn't really a good explanation. And like, I feel like in particular, Noir De, right, the like the hair lady, the explanation we have gotten thus far of her backstory was like not very compelling.
Like she was a warrior and then a guy gave her a hairpin and she became a villain. Like, come on, your guy was basically used.
I mean, yeah, totally used. But like, they didn't even give very much backstory to that. Like, why did she choose to take this? Like, how did she feel about the guy who gave it to her? Like, what was the you know, and maybe we'll get that later. But if she's big spoiler, if she's dead, I feel like they're probably just going to move on. And like, that's gonna have been like a missed opportunity.
We don't know she's dead.
We don't know she's dead. Maybe she'll still be alive. And we'll get more backstory again later. But like, even if her backstory is like, he gave me a present and no one had ever been nice to me before. And then I fell in love with him and decided I would do like anything for him. Like, that's not going to be like, that interesting, you know, like, not to say that isn't like a story that happens in the world for people or like a valid story, just like, it's not going to be that satisfying if like, that's really the whole picture.
So I'm hoping that either we'll get more or they'll acknowledge it was a swing and a miss and we'll move on to like some other more interesting character.
Okay, I want to talk about the episode about Zanka.
Okay.
Zanka's like backstory.
Yeah.
Which was I think, interesting.
I think that was the best part of the second half of the show. Yeah.
So he's been saying like, he was like, regular mid, what do we say? Mediocrity?
Yeah, mediocrity is a noun. And I haven't seen it very often as a mediocrity, although I guess like, grammatically, you can say that. But he was like a mediocre person, or like a mediocre student or whatever you want to say. Actually, I think that's not true. In the beginning, people thought he was the best. And then somebody better came along. And then he started to feel mediocre. Right?
Yeah. What did you think about it?
選択の重要性と心理的現実
I kind of liked the moment where he picks his weapon, right? They put all the weapons and he like has this whole like, thing of like, oh, it looks like dumb, but it's actually the strongest. And it's like a test to see if you can like find you know, blah, blah, blah, blah. And then he picks and it's like, literally just like, Oh, no, that was just a stick like accidentally got added to the pile. And he's like, God damn it. That part was really funny. And like, you know, I'm not funny for him. He gets very depressed about it. But like, I loved the idea that you know, in that type of like, you know, make us choose wisely.
Right? And like, in Indiana Jones, right? Like the right answer is like, totally playing out. Jesus was a carpenter. Oh, it's like not this like big fancy cup. It's like this little one. And he's right. And then so it's like, it kind of feels like that moment if he's like, choose wisely. And he's like, Oh, I'll take like the old stick. And they're like, No, that like wasn't even supposed to be in there. It's just like accidentally got added to the pile. And then he's like, so that was great.
That was great.
Interesting. Okay. Yeah, it's not I don't know, it's not like a fairy tale I'm familiar with. I think there's like the thing about the lady in the lake with like the King Arthur tales where he gets Excalibur from a lady in a lake. I don't think he has to throw anything in to get it. Yeah. And I feel like there's lots of like folk stories about like throwing things into lakes and then like getting something else back.
So I feel like I have heard that story before, but I don't remember it well enough either. Okay. Anyway, I thought that was great. And I thought like the feeling of thinking you're the best. And then all of a sudden, like, you know, being reminded that you were just the biggest fish in the pond at the moment when like somebody else comes in who is better than you like, I think that's a pretty wide swell, I guess not, it can't be that widespread, because not everybody can stand at the top to begin with.
But I think like, that was a great psychological reality to depict for the show that like, I'm sure people have gone through and can relate to and be like, Oh, I thought I was the best, but it turns out I'm just okay. And like, where do you move forward from there. So I thought that was, I don't know, that was like a good, that was a whole good part of the show.
I like the part of a golden chair that everybody wanted to sit on. Then you can, if you are the best in the right school, right? And everyone wants to sit on it. And Duncan wants to sit on it. And this like, a girl who's like, much better than anybody else was like, it's just a chair. Yeah. Why? Why would you do anything for you? Yeah, it's a good reminder. I'm on the like, Duncan side, like, I want to get something.
You want to sit in the chair.
Yeah, like to other people, some people, like, it doesn't mean anything if you just sit on it. So if you're the best, like, what's more?
Right. Like, what are you going to do with it? What does it do for you? Like nothing?
Like being humble. And then like, not, I don't know.
Not doing it for the fame?
Yeah, it's like an important thing. But I think it's hard for some people who want to just go up and up and up.
Want to get that validation?
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I feel kind of like, ugh.
I want the seat.
No, I'm that kind of person, I think.
I think I'm not that kind of person.
I know.
I'm not saying I'm like, the best, right? Like, but I don't think I would care that much about sitting in the golden seat.
That's amazing. Amazing thing about you. I can't. If I do this, like, I have to some validation from other people that makes me feel good.
For sure.
Yeah. But not you. And I respect that.
I mean, I wouldn't say that, like, it doesn't make me feel bad, but like, I don't actually derive very much enjoyment from it.
I think if they were like, well, you were the top, so you have to sit in the golden seat, I'd be like, ugh.
But I would be thinking about like, do I really deserve this? And other people are going to feel negative about this.
And I don't really like, I don't love that type of public acknowledgement.
I'd rather just like, I mean, I would feel good knowing I was the best, but I wouldn't necessarily want to have to do a ceremony about it.
I'd rather kind of just like, be like, you know, you know, you know, but like, that's it.
That's amazing.
バトルシーンのユーモア
Yeah. And I also wanted to talk about, it's about a little bit of battle scene and the most like about when Zanka got the toxics.
Toxic?
The toxin.
Toxin from Jabber.
Yeah.
And he started laughing.
Yeah, that part was hilarious.
I love that like what Jabber mostly wants to do is like, get beat up.
But then like, if he's winning, inject you with a poison that makes you laugh uncontrollably.
And then just like sit next to you and laugh uncontrollably because like, that's how crazy he is.
Yeah.
It's amazing.
People laugh looking at other people laughing. It's like a contagious thing, right?
And it's just happened to us too.
Yeah.
We just started laughing during that scene hilariously too. Yeah, you're right.
It was very funny.
It was just funny moments of then.
Yeah.
Rutoの斬新な武器
Is there any other episodes you want to talk?
I think like for a show that's all about people like using their powers, you know, Ruto is the most interesting by far because he can use lots of different things.
But like when he builds like first a nail gun and then makes it into a rail gun, like that was really funny.
And I really got, I was like pretty into that when he like built the stronger version.
Um, and then I think it's, you know, it's one of the things that's like cool about this, that like the, the direction things go in this anime is not that predictable, right?
He like ends up not even fighting the big bad guy, like at all.
Like they just don't, they just talk.
And then like, you know, his, his like nail gun doesn't kill the trash beast.
Like it goes out through the side and then it starts crashing and they like plug it with the dinosaur.
Like it was, you know, a lot of things I didn't expect happened.
Like it's hard to predict where the plot's going to go.
You know, I probably said this in the first half too, but I like the graffiti aspect of this.
Like it feels like not very Japanese to me in a lot of different ways, but I dig it.
I'm curious to see where the story will go and if it will like, I don't know.
I don't want it to get bogged down in just like one-on-one battles the way the second half of this story did.
Like it's okay to have battles, like they're interesting and fun, but kind of hope that we get a little bit more story and a little bit less just fighting as we get into the second season.
Okay, let's do today's word of the day.
All right.
What's today's word of the day?
ボンジンの概念
Today's word of the day is bonjin, which means normal person.
Mediocre?
Oh yeah.
Bon, like tell us a little bit more about the kanji bon and like what it implies or means.
Like a very normal.
Okay.
Not above, not below.
Uh-huh.
Yeah, just in the middle.
This is what Saiki K is aiming for in, uh, right?
He wants to be like a bonjin.
He wants to be right in the middle.
Oh really?
Even though he's a super chonoryoksha, a super psychic.
I just started rewatching parts of Saiki K with Anime Club and like his whole thing is he always wants to be a 50, like out of 100, like in everything so he doesn't stand out.
And so some of the irony of him having like all of these world art altering powers is that he just wants to be normal.
And so yeah, bonjin is just like a normal person.
And it's implicitly contrasted in this show with tensai, which means genius.
So tensai and bonjin, I think are...
Opposite?
I guess so.
アニメに見る努力と才能
Yeah.
I mean, Japan seems like very invested in this like hard work versus natural talent thing.
I mean, so is America.
Like it's not unique to Japan, but I feel like a lot of anime have stuff to say about the value of like diligence and hard work for someone who is not quote unquote naturally talented versus someone who is quote naturally talented.
I think I see this dynamic a lot working at like a private school where competition for getting to college is really fierce.
And, you know, people have different strengths, right?
And, you know, nature versus nurture is a whole debate and like how much does this matter?
This anime also or this particular section of the anime was interested in that too with zanka being sort of the emblem of the bonjin, someone who's just normal but tries really hard.
I guess.
I don't know.
Is there somebody in the show who's really the tensai?
I guess Jabber, maybe?
Because he doesn't seem like he like learned that in school, right?
Are there anyone else who's like tensai?
I mean, to me, everybody seems tensai.
Because they all have magic powers.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, that's really fair.
So, yeah, but that's what those concepts come up in lots of anime.
There's a whole thing about this in Naruto early on between Naruto as the bonjin and I don't know, the guy with the byaku gun.
Anyway, they do.
They explore it a lot in that show.
And like in lots of other anime, this tensai versus bonjin thing is a theme.
When I hear about bonjin, it reminds me of Tadano Hitohito from Komi Can't Communicate.
Yeah.
Because like his name itself is just a random guy.
Not a random guy.
Tadano is just only a regular person.
Just a regular guy.
Yeah.
It's an amazing name.
Yeah.
He's a regular guy.
And everybody else is very unique.
Yeah.
I mean, I really want to say actually about Tadano, he's a really nice guy.
Yes, he is.
Most guys aren't that nice.
Crazy.
I mean, like, I wish we were, but like, he's nicer than the regular guy.
No, the chuunibyou guy is nice too.
He's nice.
Kaido Shun.
Yeah.
He's annoying time to time.
Yeah.
He's the best.
I love that guy.
He's smart too.
Yeah.
He actually is like trying hard at his homework.
But he pretends to be like a bad guy.
Sort of.
Yeah.
Chuunibyou guy.
Yeah.
Chuunibyou.
Not bad guy.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Anyway.
Bonjin.
Yeah.
It's not nice to call other people Bonjin in the conversation.
Okay.
That's good to know.
But like, it's good to know, to remember the word.
Yeah.
Because like, it was really often used in this episode.
And I think tensai is in everything.
Like, you will notice that word a lot, especially in anime.
All right.
So before we end, I wanted to add this information.
Gachi Akutaの舞台製作
Last year, 2025 December, Gachi Akuta came to theater.
I mean, like on stage play.
A play?
Play.
And they are going to do it again in May this year and June in Kyoto.
Does the play go farther with the plot than the anime?
I have no idea.
How can they possibly end the play?
I have no idea.
But like, this is like a pattern right now.
Yeah.
Like you make, you know, it comes from manga, becomes anime, live action, and play.
I think it's great that theater actors are getting more work.
And like, I mean, I guess I haven't been to see any of these plays.
So I really probably shouldn't judge them like sight unseen.
But it seems like weird to me to take something that's like not even being like finished being told as a story in the manga.
And be like, we should immediately put this as like a, you know, as a play.
I have a hard time imagining it being well written.
I mean, I guess they explored this in Oshinoko season two with the whole, you know.
Tokyo Blade.
Tokyo Blade play, you know, and that like, it still seemed like maybe it was okay.
Tokyo Blade makes sense though.
Does it?
Because it's not about Oshinoko really.
Oh, yeah, yeah, totally.
Yeah.
But I mean, like, I don't know.
Would I go see that play when I could be seeing like Shakespeare?
I guess only if I was like a diehard fan of that particular anime.
And like, that's what they're trying to leverage is be like, well, we have this niche audience that will spend like infinity money on their favorite thing.
Let's like redirect some of that money to theater actors.
And like, I guess I don't really have a problem with that.
Like, I think people in theater can use all the work they get.
Gachiakutaの魅力
And I love the idea of more people going to see plays.
I think that's the point.
I would draw more people to this theater.
I just wish like we didn't have to like make it this gimmicky.
Yeah, yeah.
But, you know, whatever.
I'm going to be like positive about it.
I think it's great that people are going to see plays.
And like, maybe they'll see the Gachi Akta play and be like, huh, maybe Henrik Ibsen is like kind of interesting.
I'll see something else next time.
Chainsaw Man is on play.
What else?
Achi Orb is on play.
That I can see being a good play, though.
You know what I mean?
Like, sometimes it's the source material.
Like the most expensive play in American history, the Spider-Man play.
Oh.
Also, Universally Panned is like one of the worst ever.
Oh, really?
Wasn't there SpongeBob?
Yeah, I don't think SpongeBob was considered as bad as Spider-Man, actually.
Maybe it just didn't have as many problems in production.
I don't know that the play itself was bad, but like the Spider-Man production just was like cursed.
Look, I'm not saying we have to have only classic plays.
I think a lot of modern plays are like really good.
But it makes me sad that people could be going and seeing like an August Wilson play and like really thinking deeply about like a societal issue instead of seeing like Chainsaw Man and being like, what did I just watch?
You know, I'm done.
I'm done.
And then like Broadway might have that or that's kind of.
God, now I'm going to have to like own that because I'm in Otaku, if the Chainsaw Man play comes to Broadway, I'm probably going to see it.
And I'll probably see it and be like, it was amazing.
Right, right.
Yeah.
Watch this space for me to change my tune in a couple of years.
We're going to use this clip.
Yeah, exactly.
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Peace.
