Yk, I’m Kinda Glad I Don’t Get Snow Where I Live-

Saiki K has this interesting sort of chill atmosphere and monotony about it. It's called "the disastrous life of Saiki K" but the disasters are often like... him not having enough pocket money for something, or having to get through a sports festival. Occasionally the disasters are him having to save the world or his brother being an actual freak, but the show treats these times almost with the same stakes and importance as everything else.

I find this really interesting because what just feels like a "vibe" at first becomes an actual plot-point later on, with Saiki rewinding the Earth every year and repeating the same stage in his life over, and over, and over again... nothing has any real consequences, it's as dull as it is funny, and while it is a comedy I feel like there is this quiet sense of horror underneath it all. The intro with the flower petals falling and then being rewound kind of illustrates this for me - Saiki constantly controls everything around him in an attempt to hold it in some kind of stagnant peace, slowly growing accustomed to the people around them but none of them truly moving forward, like everyone is being held in a dream.

I don't really know where I'm going with this, it's really hard to put into words, but does anyone get what I'm talking about? Is this coherent in any way?

i just realized today why their ship is called thousand sunny 😭

I was going to write an all-caps post begging you to watch this series, but I feel like it wouldn’t give it any justice, so um, here’s a fucking essay on why you should watch this.

Fandoms react to is a popular "genre" in the Gacha fandom where people make characters from fandoms "react" to edits or scenes of a character’s story. It is very popular in the Gacha fandom.

But this series takes a turn and makes the characters wonder why the fuck they are in a room with a bunch of people watching videos of their personal lives and how the hell they’re going to get out—something that is ignored in EVERY SINGLE GACHA REACT EVER.

The world-building in this series is amazing, and the genuine amount of work put into this just makes it better. Not to mention both the characters and the design for them are incredibly accurate and are just fun to watch as the characters interact with one another in the terrifying situation they’ve been forced into.

And to put it frank, that is really all I can tell you because saying anything else will ruin the experience of really watching this ongoing series for yourself.

And if you’re still having second thoughts on if this is really as good as I said it was, please remember that I wrote an entire essay just to convince people to watch it. So yea, it's that good.

inherited will

Satosugu are not "doomed by the narrative" these bitches doomed the fucking narrative

luffy WILL bring the dawn

gomu gomu of your eye

I wanna thank Warner Brothers for laying down the facts that Bugs likes being the damsel, and Daffy likes being the hero. Like bro wtf. Y’all doing my shipping work for me fr

canonically Bugs likes the feeling of being rescued, he likes the drama and attention he’d get from both his hero and villain. The sense of helplessness that’s associated with the title? nah, Bugs doesn’t let it get to him. he uses that to his advantage. Plus he’s a natural flirt so narratively he’s allowed to engage in banter and ogle as much as he wants.

Daffy loves being a hero: the high he gets from adventure, the swelling sense of pride at the thought of being admirable, taking control of his own destiny. He’s a possessive, greedy lil dude so of course he’d leap at the chance to rescue a damsel (probably laughing crazily as he makes a great escape “ha! this damsel’s mine! all mine!”)

ANOTHER reason these two fit like a glove. like I’m at a loss for words, thank you for this knowledge Warner Brothers.

Welcome to the final installation of "overanalyzing the Warners," at least for now. I present my ultimate Animaniacs fan theory: the Warners could have been dezanitized. In fact, they almost were.

This is going to be a very long post.

First, I want to talk about the fundamental nature of the Warner siblings as I see it. They are chaotic, they abide by only their own rules, they act as a painful check on society's uppity adults. Generally, the show presents it as if they are this way by default; that's just their character, and there's no changing it.

I have a different viewpoint. The Warners clearly have free will. Yes, they were created with certain fundamental character traits. That doesn't prevent them from changing, though. We all have fundamental personality traits we acquired at a very young age. Does that prevent us from changing our nature, or acting against it at times? Not at all. The Warners act the way they do because they choose to, not because they were pre-programmed to always be that way. Look at their origin: created to be zany cartoon stars, by an insane artist, which explains some of their more outlandish traits. However, they didn't rebel right away. For the first few years of their existence, they were mostly compliant, acting in company shorts and doing their best to play along. It was only five years later, after the company had enough of playing nice with them, that they began to run around acting crazy. This is all covered in the Warners' 65th Anniversary Special Episode, which I covered in my last big post. In that one, I talk about the events that led up to their contract's cancellation and their eventual capture in the tower. Is it possible that the cancellation, even after all of Wakko's hard work directing his own cartoon short, is what drove them to be so antagonistic to the studio? In any case, it's clear in my mind that this was a conscious choice on their part.

"We're the Warner Brothers!"

"Like the studio?"

"Not very much, but we don't have a choice." -Yakko

(Also, look at how offended Wakko is at the mere mention of the studio. If you watch the clip, his expression changes from happy to this at the very instant Pfeiffer mentions the studio.)

That leads me to the episode I'll be focusing on today, "Taming of the Screwy," Episode 5 of the original series. It's appropriate, and perhaps not a coincidence, that this episode takes place so early on in the series. I believe it sets the foundation for everything that comes after.

At the beginning of the episode, we see Dr. Scratchansniff in Mr. Plotz's office. Plotz tells Scratchansniff about an important party they'll be having in honor of some rich foreign investors, who want to meet every employee of the studio- including the Warners. Plotz orders the doctor to teach the Warners good manners and appropriate behavior for the party, which is in 24 hours. Scratchansniff doesn't seem confident in his ability to do this.

In the next scene, the Warners are delivered to his office.

I mostly posted this screenshot so I could point out the portrait of young Scratchansniff in the background there. Never noticed that before today.

The Warners start out with a nice little ditty about Scratchansniff, before he explains to them why they were brought in. They get very excited upon learning they've actually been invited to this big party with all the huge stars. Yakko wants to see Michelle Pfeiffer, Dot wants to see Mel Gibson (heh), and Wakko wants to see Don Knotz, of course. Scratchansniff then tells them that they have to be behaved, clean, and nice children if they want to go. He asks them if they're willing to abide by these terms, and, after discussion, they agree.

This is pretty interesting to me. The Warners can go anywhere they want. There's no doubt they could get into the party whether they were invited or not, and that does in fact happen in the last act of the episode. So, why agree to these terms that they're less than enthused about? It must be because they want to be included officially. They're willing to follow the normal rules and procedure, if they're given the opportunity to do so. The problem is, they're almost never given that opportunity by the studio, so they're forced to do it the chaotic and zany way instead. Their whole lives, the studio has deliberately barred them from feeling any sense of inclusion, making them feel like outsiders, and then gets upset when they act outside of the rules.

Moving on, Scratchansniff begins to teach the kids proper manners. I don't want to highlight every gag in this segment (I greatly recommend watching it for yourself- I think it's one of the funniest episodes), so I'll just summarize. In separate lessons, he tries to teach the Warners how to do a proper greeting, how to enunciate correctly, and how to eat politely. They fail at all of these tasks, but it's very clearly deliberate. They're actually listening to everything Scratchansniff says- they just wanted to have some fun in the process. At the end, when it seems like they're a lost cause, Scratchansniff disinvites them from the party, at which point they show him that they really have learned and perfected everything he's taught them. He asks them why they gave him such a hard time-

"'Cause we love ya!"

And he actually hugs them back!

Now understanding how they operate, Scratchansniff seems to be on their side. He proudly introduces them at the party, and the Warners perfectly follow the proper protocol.

Yakko even cracks a joke in Japanese to the Japanese investors, getting them to laugh. So, not only are they acting politely, but they immediately prove that they can be a great asset to the company if the studio would just let them be on its side.

Of course, the company immediately does the opposite. Just as the Warners get into the party and are about to join the festivities, Plotz orders Scratchansniff to kick the Warners out, because he believes they'll ruin the party (even after having just witnessed Yakko having great chemistry with the investors). Scratchansniff tries to argue against it, but there's not much he can do to stand up to the CEO, so he has to walk over and break the news. The Warners' reaction is one of the most heartbreaking things I've ever seen, period.

"Huh?"

To his credit, Scratchansniff does actually explain why he had to kick them out.

"But we behaved!"

Yakko never seems more like an actual child than right here. Scratchansniff apologizes and walks away.

This is the pivotal moment, not just in this episode, but the entire series. The Warners played along, did everything asked of them, only to be immediately betrayed, a promise broken. This is the moment any possibility of the Warners ever being dezanitized was shattered. They learned that if they try to play along with society's rules, that if they make an effort to be accepted, all they're gonna get is heartbreak. From this point on, they never genuinely try to be polite or "normal" ever again. To them, it's pointless. And it's hard to argue with them.

From the studio's perspective, Plotz dug his own grave, without ever realizing it. He had the Warners exactly where he wanted them. If he just let them stay at the party, prove that their efforts would be rewarded, it could have been the start of a new era. Maybe it wouldn't happen right away, but Scratchansniff would have had the ammunition he needed to work with them more, make real progress, and eventually teach them to control their zaniness. Plotz threw that all away, while continuing to solely blame the Warners for the way they act. These characters aren't even real, and it infuriates me.

The Warners predictably respond in the only way they know how, when they've been spurned by the studio once again. They go back to the party and cause chaos. They do whatever they want. Plotz tries to capture them, making things much worse. In the end, the investors are entertained by the Warners' antics and hand over the billion dollar check to them. Plotz then chases them in pursuit of the check, while Scratchansniff signals that the CEO has gone crazy himself. This ends the episode.

So, I don't think I have to summarize much. The point was made pretty clearly already. I do want to look at this from the writers' perspective. Do I think they intended to put all this deep layered character building in this episode? No, not really, but there are a few subtle hints here and there that seem to work a little too well with my theory. I think it's a possibility that they deliberately structured the plot this way, though it's still unlikely.

I think what this episode is truly meant to be is an important lesson for adults. Most of us probably remember a childhood experience where an adult told us to do something in the promise of a reward, only for that promise to be broken once you go through with their demands. It's a very powerless feeling, because adults always tell children not to lie and make false promises, when many of them don't seem to have an issue doing those things to children. Animaniacs is a very child-oriented show. By that I don't mean that it's childish, but that it shows the world through a child's perspective. According to the show bible, the Warners are meant to do the things children wish they could do to mean and arrogant adults. This episode attempts to teach the lesson that breaking promises to children will only result in mistrust and heartbreak- that children recognize hypocrisy just as well as the rest of us. The Warners do what we wished we could do as children by going back to the adults and basically sticking their tongues out in their faces.

Focusing back on the plot of the show, if anyone ever feels like the Warners are in the wrong for how they act, just watch this episode and you'll understand their perspective a lot better. The studio deserves every torment the Warners can give, because the studio is the one that created not just the Warners, but the conditions that make them do what they do. The studio then hypocritically tries to blame it entirely on the children they've deliberately mistreated since birth. Animaniacs is quite unique in that regard, because the main antagonist of the whole series is actually the very studio that produced the show in real life. I wonder if they ever realized it.

That about wraps it up. This is the last deep analysis I'll do for a long time, since I'm sure almost all Animaniacs discussion for the next few months will be centered around season 2 of the reboot.

(I also don't have any more ideas.)