Fortunately, there were more subscriber questions in June than in May. You can read the full answers here.
Subscriber Threads
In monthly threads, subscribers can ask questions. I’ll leave short answers in the replies and much longer answers in a subscriber-only longpost at the end of the month. Hopefully my short answers will encourage more people to subscribe.
Punpun Straussianism Catches Up With The Source Material
Punpun Straussianism 5
Monster by Naoki Urusawa is a manga known for its detailed and nuanced character studies. Its plot centers around two people: the doctor Kenzo Tenma and the crime boss Niccolo Machiavelli Johan Liebert. Johan is born to an East German eugenics experiment, taken to an ‘orphanage’ where kids are trained to be highly psychologically manipulative as if they were traumatized pokemon. It’s often said that Yohan frames Tenma and he ends up chased by a bunch of police as he tries to gather the evidence that Yohan killed those people, not him.
This is the second-to-last entry in the experimental google doc that Punpun Straussianism is based on. This means that from here on out, if I want to continue the series, I have to write more material. That’s fine by me, there are some books I want to review. There will almost certainly be a part two of reviewing Mary Harrington’s Feminism Against Progress, as well as one on Nick Land’s writing. But those are yet to be written.
What this does mean is that I’m considering suggestions for other paid materials. I guess, it also means that I need anime suggestions, if you guys need more anime reviews. I still have 20th Century Boys takes, I guess.
Post-Podcast Takes
An option I’m considering for paid subscribers is giving my post-podcast takes as a second audio episode every week. I’ll record a 30-minute solo reaction to what we talked about. I’ll summarize the episode, go through some highlights, and tell you what I’m thinking about. Let me know if this would be interesting!
I'd like to see a few post podcast takes just to see how it goes. Give it a couple of months and the trend will help you to decide on its value.
I think anime is degenerate but I really enjoyed the PunPun Straussianism series and subscribed because of it; it's some of your best work yet. Keep 'em coming!