NO!

At least, not for now. We understand that many of you otakus have series you love and want us to check out, but we want to follow where our interests lead us for the time being. Perhaps in the future we'll set up some method for listeners to make requests.

And please don't ask us to do One Piece. It's not happening.

We've gotten this question a couple times. We understand that for many people, art and entertainment are a means of escaping the concerns of the real world, including divisive issues on real-world politics. As a podcast, it's our goal to never create a hostile space for anyone, regardless of political affiliation. 

However, no art is truly apolitical; every work of fiction reflects, in ways both obvious and benign, the politics and norms of their creator(s) and the culture around them. Ignoring these aspects and their connections to past and present issues would be disingenuous of us as commentators, and disrespectful to the creator(s) who put meaning and care into their work. As such, politics will be discussed in the show as it pertains to the topic, or in occasional moments of lighthearted humor. 

Inevitably our discussions will in turn reflect our personal ideologies to some degree, as any substantive media analysis should. But once again our goal is to provide our perspectives and invite thoughtful conversation about these works, and not to push any particular political agenda. If you believe we're failing at this, send us an email at feedback@howtootaku.com and we'll adjust as we see fit to good-faith, specific feedback.

(Note: we do not consider bigotry against anyone based on race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability or class to be a valid "political affiliation." And if you have issues with that, you know where to shove it.)

We recorded it in 2022, and the files are likely still around somewhere. However at that time we were less disciplined and comfortable with our commentary, and the episode ended up well below our desired standard of quality. It may see the light of day sometime, or perhaps we'll revisit Cowboy Bebop someday, but for now that episode remains with us. We're gonna carry that weight...