☆☆BREADBASKET☆☆ I like things. Many things. I think I'll just discuss little thingamabobs :)) 11.6.2025 | Oh How the Turn Tables I saw @big8grug today and he was like "...girl you okay?" after my last post. It's strange how quickly things can change. I didn't even remember my post seeming quite so bleak. In the moment, I fully felt what was presented below and more, but the next day I was up and at 'em happy as a clam. Today was great. I functioned properly for the entirety of it and got to spend good time with good people. I'm getting sad at the realization that this feeling is quite rare for me. I've been thinking about going through the slog of finding a psychiatrist again, so I can pick back up on the new medication thread that was started with the one from two months ago. I think she was on to something because this feels quite nice. I'd like to have more even-keeled days like this. 11.5.2025 | Welcome to the Oh No I'm Insecure I tried watching Welcome to the N.H.K. today. I sat there watching it on the edge of my seat with tears welling. Welcome to the N.H.K. is THE underrated anime pick. So much so that I don't think it even counts as underrated because it's always on those lists along with Made In Abyss. I'm not sure how to feel about dropping it because it hit too close to home. I see myself just enough in the NEET MC that I instantly latched on and told myself that I just actually was him. The experience of being a NEET is awful. I hate it. I want out. The longer it goes on the more terrifying applying for jobs gets because all that runs through my mind is that I'm a failure. I thought it wouldn't be helpful to watch Welcome to the N.H.K. but now I'm just worried that I'm burying my head in the NEET sand and making things worse by not addressing it head on for 24 minutes a few times a day. 10.31.2025 | The Simple Things Life felt slower while handing out candy to trick-or-treaters. I wasn't preoccupied with the state of the world too much and was able to just focus on sweet kids and good company. I hope to someday be less stressed out about interacting with people. Whenever I have a moment to pause, I overthink things far too much, but I was able to be in the present more than I know I would have in the past. 10.23.2025 | Understanding the Dr. Tony Tony Chopper Song Pt. 2 I know you've just been dying to know the results of my research. That being said, this is not some well-written essay. It's just a dump of information I think is neat. Anyway, buckle up, my friend. -Where This Song Is From- Dr. Tony Tony Chopper is the 35th track on the music collection album Chinjuutou No Chopper Oukoku (Chopper’s Kingdom on the Island of Strange Animals) for the 3rd One Piece Movie. There are a total of four music collections for the anime series, in addition to music collections for each of the movies. The album was released in 2002 and has a run time of 40 minutes and 32 seconds with a total of 36 songs. Songs 1-33 are all OST tracks by Kohei Tanaka. Track 35, Dr. Tony Tony Chopper is sandwiched by track 34, the opening song by DASEIN and the TV sized opening song for the second OP, Believe by Folder 5. -Who Is Responsible for This Song?- Shoko Fujibayashi is credited for the lyrics and songwriting. She is an absolute beast and has a wide range of credits for huge anime and shows. She wrote a ton of songs for Kamen Rider. Super side note, but Kamen Rider is a show about insect themed superheroes who ride motorcycles. It’s a tokusatsu show, which means it’s TV that uses lots of practical special effects, usually for things like kaiju, mecha or more broadly fantasy and sci-fi stories. Check out this OP that Shoko Fujibayashi worked on [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFfDiFiu0Yg]. She’s written lyrics for six JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Openings, J-Pop and K-Pop songs (BTS!), and here comes the most important connection: she wrote the lyrics for One Piece’s first opening, “We Are!” The composer and arranger is Yasumasa Sato. I think the most important thing is that they are credited for writing and arranging Mambo De Chocobo. One of my personal favorite Chocobo tracks behind, of course, Hip-Hop de Chocobo [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujMte_qgxa8&list=RDujMte_qgxa8&start_radio=1]. The mastering engineer, Rena Koyanagi, is also credited for mastering tons of songs, including the Kamen Rider (!) Majade theme. Then finally, we have the voice actors for Luffy, Chopper, Zoro, and Sanji. -Okay, But What IS the Dr. Tony Tony Chopper Song?- Now you may be thinking that the Dr. Tony Tony Chopper song shows up in the 3rd One Piece movie. It does not. Not a single time. That is because Dr. Tony Tony Chopper is an image song. It’s pretty common for Japanese voice actors to also be trained in singing in addition to acting. This led to the creation of songs sung in character to be added to OST CDs. The idea was to promote a series and offer further insight into characters and the world while boosting OST CD sales. Image songs will sometimes have close tie-ins with the source material. I think a good example here is the Bunny Girl Senpai EDs. [I found this version that mixes all 6 EDs together and I’m kind of scared. Just a little. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2YUqKtGEM4&list=RDe2YUqKtGEM4&start_radio=1]. The Bunny Girl Senapi EDs are an image song because they’re sung by the various female leads. Personally, the first thing that came to mind was the Soldier, Poet, King cover by Venti’s VA sung very impressively in character [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SG_N_6Kv494&list=RDSG_N_6Kv494&start_radio=1]. However, a lot of the time it’s treated as bonus content. In One Piece, we get to know that Choppah is a Doctah through his image song. While image songs have lost their popularity, in an article by tvtropes they say this downfall began in 2010, these songs clearly were doing something right with how much the Dr. Tony Tony Chopper song is loved. -Virality- I don’t have TikTok and I won’t get it just for this, but from what I understand, it went viral somewhere between 2020-2021 with presumably some connection to the pandemic. -Are You Happy You Read This?- Well, I’M happy I dug into this. I learned more about image songs and tokusatsu. My curiosity has been satiated. A reward: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/xE0m-3hlBAw 10.19.2025 | Nostalgia and Physical Media I've been incredibly nostalgic lately. I think it started with the old internet feeling of special fish and then exploded with the Dan and Phil hard launch. I keep thinking about getting a flip phone, and iPod, and caving into the DVD hype. I've been feeling very oversaturated lately. I'm always listening to music or throwing on a video. I'm not fully mad at the concept of listening to things to stay entertained, but it's the shorts I wind up watching while I look for a video essay to put on while I wash my dishes or the browsing I do on Spotify before I go listen to the song I really want. There is something quite charming about tech that is less complicated. I worry, though, that it's just a means for me to drop money on a gadget I'll soon forget about in favor of my smartphone. DVDs are really expensive. They should cost that much, but ensuring I have my own copies of my favorite movies and anime series would cost me hundreds. It's difficult to cough up that cash when I have access to everything I want to watch. Losing access to my favorite shows is a concern of mine, though. The Nightmare Before Christmas is one of my favorite movies. Probably second favorite, one step behind Stranger by the Shore. I purchased the Nightmare Before Christmas on Amazon Prime Video, something like 13 years ago, because renting didn't make sense when I watched it at the very least once a year. A few years ago, I didn't have access to the film anymore because Disney snatched up for exclusive streaming on Disney+. But I'd purchased the Nightmare Before Christmas. It shouldn't be locked behind a Disney+ subscription for me. That's just stupid. Thankfully, I already had a Disney+ subscription, but what if I didn't? What if I want to get rid of it? Either way, I've lost something that was mine, and that is a somewhat unsettling feeling I almost exclusively read yaoi manga, and I have to say that part of me deciding to purchase physical copies of a ton of manga I'd already read was the fear that censorship would win in the scary state of the world we're in. It wouldn't be difficult at all for me to lose access to my favorite explicitly gay people. This is also a great reminder to download and maybe even give a go at binding my favorite fanfics. I've been thinking about it for a while because fanfiction has been at risk for a minute now. Maybe I'll start asking for physical media and older tech as presents. 10.19.2025 | Understanding the Dr. Tony Tony Chopper Song Pt. 1 -What I'm Researching and Why- I’ve been looking for something obscure to do way too much research on. I figured I would just research the first thing I thought, “huh, what’s up with that?” over. As I was about to begin my research into the creation of Sanrio’s Cinnamon Roll, Dr. Tony Tony Chopper came on my anime playlist, and my eyes lit up. I knew the random and slightly obscure thing I wanted to dive deep into. The Dr. Tony Tony Chopper song. Dr. Tony Tony Chopper had quite a viral moment online and is a hallmark of the One Piece fan experience, but I was not around to witness the Dr. Tony Tony Chopper boom firsthand. I learned about this masterpiece while looking for some Chopper content (he’s my favorite Straw Hat) one night, and found this one animatic [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feoCpaaRkb4]. My first thought was that this was, of course, a fan made song. But who created it, and why did they sound so similar to the VAs? Imagine my shock and complete glee when I learned that Dr. Tony Tony Chopper is a full length, official song sung by THE voice actors of Chopper, Luffy, and features Zoro and Sanji -The Song- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4629Lzrkyds&list=RD4629Lzrkyds&start_radio=1] This song is a lyrical masterpiece. Chopper delves into the deep, powerful insight that he IS, in fact, a doctor. And guess what? His name IS Tony Tony Chopper. Hot damn, folks. We are asked to question: can Chopper really shoot beams from his eyes and missiles? I considered offering a breakdown of the lyrical composition here, but it mostly wound up being a summary of Chopper’s backstory. Chopper’s history is either something you know of and think back on fondly, or don’t, and should absolutely go and watch for yourself. I think that GIVE ME SOME PARTY speaks plenty for itself. I plan to focus more on the context of the song and less on the content. I hope you understand. -What’s Next- I’ve begun my research into the origins, creation, and virality of the Dr. Tony Tony Chopper song and look forward to offering an update on my findings soon. I don't think I'll gain much more than being able to say I know how this fever dream of a song came to be, but I think that's enough. Here's a nice video Dr. Tony Tony Chopper video for your troubles: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/LsV2emFimtY 10.18.2025 | I Don’t Know Anything About Anything I’ve started to write many posts to parse through my thoughts on things that have been knocking around my noggin, but I never share them. Why? Because I don’t know enough about these things to really comment on them. I wrote up something on Genshin’s failure to tell impactful stories and allow for emotional investment in their characters. I wanted to focus on Scaramouche/Wanderer because out of all the characters I’ve looked into in Genshin, he’s been the most intriguing, but I didn’t get to his boss fight, so how on earth can I say anything? I wrote about the impact of AkiAngel on social media when Chainsaw Man season 1 dropped, but I didn’t read the manga, so what can I really say about them beyond the two spits of them we got in the anime, fanfiction, and some horrifying spoilers I got? I wrote about MADK as an allegory for the state of the bl manga industry, but it’s been a minute since I read it, and I feel I can’t say much on the matter before I give it a re-read. I want to write insightful things, I’m dying to start up a Tumblr blog for analyses, but I haven’t dug my heels into the things I engage with enough to say much of anything with confidence or grounding. I’m not sure whether the solution is to go in for the re-watches or to just say, I’m not built to write up anything with deeper meaning. 10.15.2025 | Rhythm Game Reviews (this wound up being too long) The big sad had me in a chokehold today. Unfortunately, I did not wind up going to Ikea with @roowho and @big8grug. Rip. Pour one out for me going to Ikea with them. When I wasn't in bed and lamenting the lack of Ikea in my life, I really just played Ensemble Stars and Project Sekai, which cemented my feelings on the few rhythm games I've played. I'm relatively new to them, but boy, do I have feelings about them. Ensemble Stars - Ohhh yummy yummy. I actually enjoy the gacha mechanic because who doesn't want a pack of pretty boys in pretty clothes? But, I love that the gacha doesn't really impact your gameplay. You can get bonuses and stuff, but in my opinion, unless you're in the upper echelon of enstars, score bonuses are for the weak. Just get your scores through pure skill and pain. The music is great, the characters are amazing. I do not give a flying flip about the story, but I do care deeply for my four gremlins. I love me a semi-circle for the notes and by default it makes the maps more engaging. I do wish that there wasn't quite as much of a difficulty cap. The next step up from expert is special but there is literally no way I will ever do that. I think getting to the point where it's less about clearing songs and more about the quality of each run is a universal rhythm game experience, however, I wish that the difficulty went higher for a wider variety of songs. There is no way I am practicing a ton on a song I don't even like. Project Sekai - At fist, I did not want Hatsune Miku all up in my ear, but being able to switch away from the vocaloid tracks has been a godsend. The maps are really fun. While having to tap at the beginning and end of holds has been an adjustment for me, I like the added coordination it takes. Do not care about any of the characters or story, but I'm fine with that. Idolish7 - So deep fried and I cannot read a lick of it. I just love all the i7 universe music, so I pop in if I want to rock sometimes. Lanota - I thought the rotating circle thing would be cooler but it's barely even real. It is also too story-focused for me Rhythm Hive - I would love to play to New Jeans, but dear god, LET ME. The cap for playing each day is way too low. Persona 5: Dancing In Starlight - It is so ridiculous and unserious that I am very much enjoying it. I think the layout is really neat and feels natural. Inifinity Nikki Rhythm Game - @big8grug told me I should try rhythm games because I really enjoyed it when @roowho let me pop in to play. I have no clue what it is, but the keys for the laptop and controls on PS5 hurt my brain. I'm not saying it's bad because I'm bad at it but...dear lord it is so confusing to me. Music is great, though. Pop'n Music - I want to kidnap Pop'n Music and sing it lullabies every night. The energy that exudes from this game is the best thing I have ever experienced. There is nothing like you, Pop'n Music. 10.14.2025 | I Love You Yamucha I’ve been flip flopping between watching YuYu Hakusho, Dragon Ball, and I’m about to throw in Pokémon Indigo. I’ll probably write about how I’m watching OG anime sometime because it works for me, but would definitely piss someone off. Anyway, I’m getting closer to switching back to Dragon Ball, and I cannot wait to, purely because of Yamucha. I know what happens with him and Bulma later, but I’m not talking about later Yamucha. I’m talking early days, what I’ve seen so far, pretty princess Yamucha. I genuinely couldn’t stand Dragon Ball and was a couple of episodes away from dropping it until Yamucha and Pu-Erh came on the scene. I find that Yamucha adds a slightly more mature tone and personable heart to the show that makes the incredibly unrelatable antics of Goku truly enjoyable. I love Goku now, but I’m not sure that I would think of him so fondly if we didn’t have exaggerated characters like Goku or Master Roshi to be counterbalanced by Yamucha. The reason I love him so much can be boiled down to him being incredibly human. He’s strong for a human, but when surrounded by a bunch of alien beefcakes, is quite weak. I LOVE that he’s allowed to be weak. Having a character move from being perceived as strong to one of the most nearly comically weak characters is not particularly common in shounen. He’s morally grey like every real person ever. He’s terrified of girls, but when he finally gets a girlfriend, he messes it up and doesn’t treat her well. I’m interested to see how my opinion of Yamucha changes as I continue, but he absolutely saved Dragon Ball for me. Also Pu-Erh is so real and an absolute goat. I love you Pu-Erh. 10.12.2025 | I love my cat. I have a great cat. A real sturdy girl. I've had five people, unprompted, tell me that my dearest, darling Muffin is an unusually cute cat. She's the type of cat that you see in a commercial. She makes you think, "damn, I didn't know they built cats like that." But I'm not shallow; her personality is impeccable. Girlie is loyal. She has hobbies (clawing her way across the side of mattresses on the floor, playing, and sleeping. Plus, she's such a foodie, she snorts as she gobbles up treats from the palm of my hand on a regular basis. I got Tuff Stuff Muff as an emotional support animal in college, so I care very deeply for her and she looks out for me in turn. When people visit me, I can't help but think of how Muffy Fluffy makes things less lonely during all the time I spend just the two of us. I definitely need to make friends, but until then, I do have my dearest Muffy the Vampire Slayer. 10.11.2025 | No, no, please, I really like anime you guys I want to be well-versed in anime. I want to understand historical and cultural context to analyze shows. I want to watch the classics and actually enjoy them. I want to convince myself and the amorphous blob of a "them" that lives in a decrepit apartment at the back of my mind that I actually am a "real" anime fan. But holy hell, I cannot force myself to watch JJBA even though everyone is dripped tf out. Please don't make me watch more Fruits Basket. I'll do anything. I want to enjoy the anime I watch, but feel crushed by the pressure to enjoy the right ones. Then there's the numbers game. Watching 100 anime was my goal for the longest time. I thought reaching 100 would make me feel like I'd finally seen "a lot" of anime. I dreamed that I could beat the tourist allegations I hurl at myself (I hate the whole tourist thing, but whatever) if I just got to the triple digits. Yet as I quickly approach 100, I doubt if I've seen "enough" anime more than ever. I don't imagine my need to prove myself to...someone will ever disappear, but I hope that I will feel less pressure someday. Maybe I should make my daily affirmation, "It's okay that you didn't like JJK." I think 12 times should suffice to start. I'll bump it up to 24 when the Culling Game arc drops.