So…in the words of Cody Rhodes…
2025 has been quite a year for me, in fact I’m pretty sure its been a year for many of you guys. With our tenth anniversary coming up in early-mid January 2026, I just wanna say thank you to all of you guys and gals, that have been rockin’ with us since 2016! Since this will be the last OG Founder post of the year, I’m gonna leave you guys with my confessions.
These confessions are things that I either haven’t gotten around to doing (and probably never will), or things that I just wanna get off my chest. They’ll either be really funny, or really make you question my sanity. So here’s my gift to you, the fans of D&A, my 2025 confessions!
I Never Watched One Piece
Look, I know, I KNOW! I know Shonen fans are probably sharpening their pitchforks, or sliding into my DMs to cuss me out, but HEAR me out! The last time I set eyes on that series was during the ‘horrible’ 4Kids dub, but in my defense, the song actually was a bop. One Piece along with Naruto and Bleach are the BIG 3 that everybody knows, but real ones know that DBZ laid out the foundation. Now, do I plan on watching One Piece in 2026? Eh…mayyybe??? (I probably won’t.)
The last anime I picked up was the new season of Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt. (Don’t worry, I’m gonna confess something BIG on that one!) Also, I don’t really have the same amount of free time to watch anime as often as I used to, so its easier for me to bang out a 12-episode title than it is to watch ALL of One Piece. Like I said, I may (probably not) watch One Piece in 2026. Maybe…?
I Don’t Like Competitive Smash Players (That Much)
I went to a small anime convention back in 2017 with Aaron, and they just so happened to have Smash Bros. for Wii U there. Now of course, I’m coming off the heels of Brawl, so Bowser has always been my main since Melee. Me and this other dude started playing, and I playfully taunted him after smashing his character (Beyonetta) off the screen. I had NO idea he was a competitive Smash player, and while it seemed like a gesture in casual playful banter, he took it way too seriously–like its Game 7 of the NBA Finals or something!
Needless to say, I let the dude win that day. I’m just not in the mood for competitive gamers since I’m more casual-leaning, but still play for the love of the game. (See what I did there?) I may pick up Smash again, but I’ll probably pick up the 3DS edition of the Wii U since that’s the only console I have now.
That Time I Failed NNN at an Anime Rave, in August…
Puberty is crazy, and if you’re a guy who is going through it, just be prepared for anything. About 16 years ago, I found myself at Otakon back when it was in Baltimore. Now this was during the tail end of the ‘Wild West’ era of con culture, so believe me when I say that anime convention raves back then, were way more wild than they are now. (The afterparties is where its at in many cases these days.)
If you wanted to go to the Otakurave back then, not only did you need a badge, you also needed your ID. There were no ‘All-Ages’ raves back then, if you weren’t 18+ you weren’t getting in! Period!
After flashing my badge and showing my ID, I made my way towards the center of the dance floor. There weren’t a whole lot of people in cosplay at the rave, but I could pick out several Naruto Shippuden characters. About an hour into the rave I ran into this girl. She was a rather curvy redhead and had on a while tank top with some low rise jeans, and wore some black and white Converse sneakers. She asked if I wanted to dance and I said ‘yeah’. We started moving our arms side to side to the beat of the song, and we were both having fun. Surely nothing freaky was going to happen…right?
Well, about 2 minutes later, she went from dancing with me…to dancing ON me. A Daft Punk remix was playing and here I am with my hands around this girl’s waist, while she grinding on me. Guys, if a girl is dancing on you at the club, just make sure you have self-control. I don’t know what she saw in me, but the next two minutes of the song, ‘changed’ my life.
This girl’s left hand was on the floor, while her right hand was gripping my shirt. I saw WAY more cleavage than I needed to because of her low rise jeans. The vigorous amount of twerking she did, was enough to make me…fail No Nut November (in August). I was layered up so she didn’t notice, but I was both embarrassed and aroused at the same time.
OG Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt Had BETTER Writing than New PSG!
I’m not the only one with this confession, or take. When the English dub trailer for the new season of PSG dropped, many OG fans were blasting the hell out of it; from Twitter X to Reddit. Jamie, Monica, and the rest of the cast from the OG series, were recast due to the dub going to Amazon instead of Crunchyroll. That means that it was dubbed in L.A. than Texas, and it was done by Pixel Logic than Crunchyroll. Many fans said that Amazon had enough money to fly most of the OG cast back and forth from L.A. to Texas, but I guess THAT didn’t happen, as they weren’t even called to reprise their roles.
So, EVERYTHING got changed. No creative script, no consistent out-of-pocket dialogue (even though it was there, it just didn’t hit the same), and the ‘edge’ was watered down! I still have respect for the new cast and the new girls (Courtney Lin and Christina Vee), and the OG is a tough act to follow, and while I appreciate that ya’ll worked extra hard to honor the OG’s legacy, I think ya’ll fell short in a couple areas. (Especially when it came to line delivery and directional execution, both of which I’m more peeved at the director and writers more than ya’ll.)
I will say that the animation truly was a worthy sequel to an iconic cult classic. And Studio Trigger kicked it up a notch with the insanity that is Panty & Stocking. Maybe if Jamie and Monica were on the writing staff (or even ADR), I’d forgive the recast; but this is something that has caused division among OG fans and new fans of the series, and we’re hoping Season 3 fixes that!
Alright guys, this is it for 2025! May you all have a Happy New Year, if you decide to celebrate it or not!
OG Founder!
Out!
