SDShamshel
ogiuemaniax.com
SDShamshel
@ogiuemaniax.com
Anime and manga blogger who got a PhD writing about manga. Opinions are my own.

http://ogiuemaniax.com
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[Anime Central 2025] An Interview with Pili, the Puppet Studio Behind Thunderbolt Fantasy

At Anime Central 2025, I received an opportunity to interview Pili, the Taiwanese studio that co-produced Thunderbolt Fantasy. I hope that fans of Thunderbolt Fantasy, fans of Pili, and anyone curious about…
[Anime Central 2025] An Interview with Pili, the Puppet Studio Behind Thunderbolt Fantasy
At Anime Central 2025, I received an opportunity to interview Pili, the Taiwanese studio that co-produced Thunderbolt Fantasy. I hope that fans of Thunderbolt Fantasy, fans of Pili, and anyone curious about unique media and entertainment can learn from the in-depth answers they gave. 1) Taiwan has a celebrated tradition of puppet theater, something that is likely unfamiliar to much of the English-speaking audience.
ogiuemaniax.com
Fine Dudes, Posing Dramatically: Legendary Armor Samurai Troopers

When I was a kid and Ronin Warriors first popped up on TV, it was one of the most incredible things I’d ever seen. The cool armor, the awesome villains, it just stood out against standard cartoon fare of the time. I even tried to…
Fine Dudes, Posing Dramatically: Legendary Armor Samurai Troopers
When I was a kid and Ronin Warriors first popped up on TV, it was one of the most incredible things I’d ever seen. The cool armor, the awesome villains, it just stood out against standard cartoon fare of the time. I even tried to make my own Ronin Warriors card game using a standard 52-card deck! No, the rules didn’t make any sense.
ogiuemaniax.com
December 7, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Reposted by SDShamshel
Two independent studies found that AI chatbots were better at persuading voters than political ads. The most persuasive bots also lied the most. This is something that humans working in psyops have known for decades. AI is psyops at scale. www.technologyreview.com/2025/12/04/1...
December 5, 2025 at 7:58 PM
It occurred to me recently that Bombsoldier is probably based on "Bomb-hei," the Japanese name for Bob-omb.
December 7, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Takane Lui is gonna be a playable character in Super Robot Wars DD!
December 7, 2025 at 12:53 PM
Reposted by SDShamshel
This is a decision that can only happen when the people who founded the company lost sight of the reason they established this tier / how they themselves started. The whole reason that simulcasting+free ad-supported tiers were innovated in the first place was to deter people from pirating the shows!
Crunchyroll Announced that they are ending the Free Ad-Supported Streaming on December 31st, 2025

(This allowed you to watch certain titles for free without an active sub with ads)

As of reporting there is no changes with the other tiers
December 6, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Reposted by SDShamshel
It's that giving time of year again, so this is a reminder that no matter how they try to dress it up, the Salvation Army is not a charity.
December 3, 2025 at 1:58 AM
So was whole-language learning basically trying to turn English into hanzu/kanji?
December 6, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Reposted by SDShamshel
Actor Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, known for his roles as Shang Tsung in Mortal Kombat (1995), Nobusuke Tagomi in The Man in the High Castle, and Chang in The Last Emperor (1987), has passed away at 75.
December 5, 2025 at 1:51 AM
Our world is fundamentally made worse by rage baiting
December 5, 2025 at 3:39 AM
I've discovered fairly late in life that I generally have good luck getting concert and event tickets
December 5, 2025 at 12:10 AM
As a lifelong fan of both manga and Gary Larson, this brings me joy
"Thagomizer" in Japanese is, in fact, サゴマイザー/sagomaizaa, and you can imagine my delight when it dawned on me what the katakana I was reading represented.
Come to think of it, Johnny, what's the Thagomizer called in Japanese?
December 4, 2025 at 4:34 PM
hololive mahjong set!

Says it'll have the tiles to play Riichi, Chinese, AND AMERICAN.

Time to Charleston my Five of Nerissas so I can get the Royal Sampler.

mahjongpros.com/products/hol...
Hololive Mahjong Set
Pre-Order Period: Coming Soon (Mid-2025) SThe Mahjong Pros x hololive Limited Mahjong set is a tribute to the [REDACTED] group, bringing fans closer to their favorite talents of [REDACTED] This exclus...
mahjongpros.com
December 4, 2025 at 12:28 PM
Lol, one of these things is not like the others.
December 4, 2025 at 3:01 AM
Let’s Throw the Whole Year Away: Ogiue Maniax Status Update for December 2025

Are we seriously at the end of the year? This means I have to think about who my favorite characters of the year are going to be. In the meantime, I'm also feeling the pain of denying personal purchases due to import…
Let’s Throw the Whole Year Away: Ogiue Maniax Status Update for December 2025
Are we seriously at the end of the year? This means I have to think about who my favorite characters of the year are going to be. In the meantime, I'm also feeling the pain of denying personal purchases due to import tariffs. Will I ever get that Soul of Chogokin Shinkalion? Of course, that's small potatoes compared to the hardships other people have had to face in this economy, and I feel very lucky I can even complain like this in the first place.
ogiuemaniax.com
December 3, 2025 at 5:00 PM
I've noticed that hololive has been doing birthday lives with less overall singing and dancing content. I wonder if that's been one attempt to reduce the workload.
December 2, 2025 at 12:56 PM
Congrats to holoX for their 4th anniversary. My favorite holoJP group still thriving, in spite of all the challenges this year.

Noticed that they left a slot for Chloe during their Jouya Repaint intro!

#SSholoX4周年
December 2, 2025 at 4:28 AM
Kio Shimoku Twitter Highlights November 2025

Not a lot of tweets from Kio this month! The print edition of Spotted Flower Chapter 50 is out . There will be one more print chapter and then two digital ones after this, due to Rakuen: Le Paradis ending. Chapter 51 of Spotted Flower will be the final…
Kio Shimoku Twitter Highlights November 2025
Not a lot of tweets from Kio this month! The print edition of Spotted Flower Chapter 50 is out . There will be one more print chapter and then two digital ones after this, due to Rakuen: Le Paradis ending. Chapter 51 of Spotted Flower will be the final physical chapter, but there will be two digital chapters after that.
ogiuemaniax.com
November 30, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Reposted by SDShamshel
It baffles me to no end that people will claim to be unable too of seen this coming a mile away.

You had SO MANY people telling you about both physical cost on planet resources, monetary cost, MANPOWER cost from businesses misusing it.

You were given EVERY FUCKING WARNING!!! Why wont you listen!
"All of this falls apart if humans don't adopt the tech. This is why you've seen Meta cram its lame chatbots into WhatsApp and Instagram. This is why Notepad and Paint now have useless Copilot buttons on Windows. This is why Google Gemini wants to "help you" read and reply to your emails."
Analysis: OpenAI is a loss-making machine, how can it survive?
Don't call it a bubble! Loss-making monster OpenAI is on the hook for $1.4 trillion (with a T) in compute commitments. How can this go on?
www.windowscentral.com
November 30, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Reposted by SDShamshel
Just like our ancestors made it 😊
Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog Pasta (1998-1999): Canned pasta in a tomato/cheese sauce from Franco-American, shaped like weapons, a castle, and a dragon from the short-lived Fox Kids action-fantasy series from Saban, which was set in ancient Ireland
November 28, 2025 at 9:49 PM
Don't trust a company that names itself after a Lord of the Rings reference
November 28, 2025 at 5:43 AM
Reposted by SDShamshel
March 1, 2025 at 7:32 AM
A Story of Pin Pals (?): Turkey! Time to Strike

Sometimes, there’s this exchange that happens when introducing an anime: “Have you seen this show? It is wild.” “What’s it about?” “Y-you’ll just have to see.” And the above doesn’t happen because you were trying to prank them, or because the show…
A Story of Pin Pals (?): Turkey! Time to Strike
Sometimes, there’s this exchange that happens when introducing an anime: “Have you seen this show? It is wild.” “What’s it about?” “Y-you’ll just have to see.” And the above doesn’t happen because you were trying to prank them, or because the show was simply about shocking plot twists. Rather, it’s because the show in question just keeps throwing one curve ball after another, and whatever conception you had of the series at the start gets tossed out the window.
ogiuemaniax.com
November 26, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Reposted by SDShamshel
i have a similar rule for friends and colleagues: engage in human trafficking up to sixteen times, that's all well and good. seventeen? you done crossed a line, son.
17 strikes and you’re out. 💀
November 24, 2025 at 2:27 AM
What if Mint's fans become Wispers
November 23, 2025 at 11:16 PM