Hey there. How have you been? C’mere and have a seat. Your Black Internet Uncle needs to talk to you.

And yes, if you are reading this and under the age of 40, you are now my virtual niece/nephew/nibling. Congrats. You now have a Southern Black uncle who cares for you, offers virtual hugs/headpats, prays for you, asks if you have eaten, taken your medications, and drank water today, and will, at times, offer up some fiery commentary on the chaos of the world around us. 

It’s been a while—roughly five years, by my math. Keep in mind, math was never my best subject. It took me three attempts to pass the math portion of the high school state exam, and even then, I still had to attend summer school because I failed Algebra 2. I was so bad in math that my Algebra I teacher on the last day of school looked me square in the eye and said, “Josh, whatever you do, do NOT go into a field with math.” Twenty years later, I have taken his advice to heart and have yet to find the need or desire to find the value for “X” or use the Pythagorean theorem. If you’re currently in school, let your Uncle Josh give you this advice—when your math teachers say, “you’re going to need this out in the real world”, you’re not. Also, contrary to their popular opinion, you are, in fact, always going to have a calculator with you. But I digress.

It’s been five years since I last entered the blogosphere by myself, not since I got some…rather interesting feedback and loads of…shall we say…undesirable attention on a particular article I wrote (If you know, you know) While I knew I would probably receive some backlash from it, I honestly did not expect it to reach the point where people actively threatened to… pull my power plug and end the game, because people on the internet are just so nice and mentally stable. In any case, once I was mentally back on track, I looked up and was like, “Okay, let’s get back into the world and—wait, what? What’s this about a pandemic? Also, what do you mean I got a promotion?! Also—OW. Why does my tooth hurt so bad?” Thankfully, with a lot of prayer and support from my internet brothers and sisters at Beneath the Tangles and a chance encounter with one of my favorite anime voice actors, I made it through. Oh, and a timely (albeit expensive) trip to my local oral surgeon came in clutch, too. I’m in a much better position than I was earlier, and also minus four wisdom teeth. 

So, I know what you’re probably thinking. “Okay, so you’re back now. Welcome back. Now what? What can you bring back to the anime community that we’re not getting from anywhere else?” Well, aside from my own desire to step back into the arena and add my voice to the growing and beautiful BLERD Community (short for “Black Nerd”), I feel that, with my newly acquired “Unk” status, I can offer up a different and unique view on some of the more hot-button topics of the day in the anime community while also being a place for those who are just starting in this crazy world who are looking to expand their watchlists with some new and old school shows.

Which leads me into the new name—”Samurai Gatebreaker”.

For some reason, the anime community, now more than ever, has become obsessed with regulating and classifying who is and isn’t an anime fan based on what shows they watch or their opinions of certain shows. “How DARE you not like a certain show that I love to pieces! You’re not a real fan!” Let me be clear: attempting to gatekeep anime, especially in this day and age, is a fool’s errand. Period. Anyone who brings this up as a viable solution to keep out “tourists” should be treated the same as a person who uses the term “Tourists” outside of the original traveling nomenclature; pitied for their short-sightedness. The fandom level of someone else does not in any way affect you. If one person likes Girlfriend, Girlfriend but you don’t, that’s okay. It’s not affecting you in any way. You can still enjoy your show in peace, and just others have their own opinion. If one person has a particularly harsh opinion of an anime that was made years before they were even born, then guess what? It’s OKAY. Different strokes, different folks, guys. We have a phrase in my neck of the woods: “If you like it, I love it.” It means “Hey, if you enjoy it, I am happy for you, even though I may not like it.” We really need to adopt that mindset when it comes to the anime fandom. Policing something that by its very nature can’t be policed is a delusion perpetuated by a small segment of Quixotic fools, bless their little hearts. I can’t count how many times I’ve looked at social media and seen a particular group of people feel as though they have some dominion over the anime community, based on how many shows they’ve watched or how long they’ve been watching anime. It would be comical if it weren’t done with complete seriousness. News flash, guys: anime fans are anime fans, regardless of whether you approve or disapprove. What do you honestly think you’re going to do? Stand in front of their TV and not let them watch? Harass them on the internet until they don’t want to watch anime? Cut their internet lines so they can’t stream shows? Get all the way out of here with that foolishness.

Also, even the use of the word “tourist” is silly. As you may know, I live 80 miles away from one of the largest cities in the country, possibly even in the world — New Orleans, Louisiana. You know what New Orleans has more than anything else, especially around Mardi Gras? TOURISTS. In 2024, New Orleans welcomed 19 million visitors to the city. You know what tourists do? They spend money. LOADS of money. How much? Again, in 2024, those tourists spent just over $10 BILLION dollars. That’s billion…with a “B”. That’s MONEY. Cold, hard cash spent in my fair state. Billions spent at local businesses and shops. Now translate that to anime: viewers bring ratings, ratings bring sponsors, sponsorships bring money, and money makes MORE anime. Do you honestly think anime companies are making money just from the regular customers? NOPE. They’re trying to bring in new viewers. But “tourists” are bad, huh? 

And oftentimes, you will have people who are like “Oh, but if we let everyone in the community, they’ll want to CHANGE anime! They’ll want to introduce censorship and make the shows more like they want!” To which I say…” Bless your heart”. Using my previous example, do tourists change the heart of New Orleans? Absolutely not. New Orleans changes with the times. Anime is the same way. The landscape of anime is changing, whether or not a random person watches a show and complains about fan service. Anime has become an international business, and as such, needs to adapt to certain areas. Some markets, especially nowadays in the United States, aren’t receptive to things like nudity or excessive bloody violence, especially with underage characters, and they have to adjust accordingly. Seeing a pair of nipples is not going to affect how good or bad a show is going to be, contrary to popular belief, and one random person complaining about it did not make that change.

The mission objective of “Samurai Gatebreaker” is simple: we’re going to break the perceived gates open and provide a welcoming environment for all by providing information, reviews, news, and views to hopefully help you enjoy your journey in this wild and crazy anime world. In this arena, there is no such thing as a tourist. I will not refer to anyone in that manner, and anyone referring to new fans in such a manner will not be acknowledged or granted any attention. It doesn’t matter if you have been in the fandom for 20 years or 2, or if you’ve seen 300 shows or 3. We are all fans, and this will be a place where anime is celebrated and not regulated. Oldtaku and Newtaku (is that a thing? It should be!) will be welcomed and celebrated.

So what is that going to look like? Well, it’s going to be a combination of things, really. I’ll be recycling some of my old reviews, polishing and updating as needed. Of course, I’ll be doing reviews on newer shows, but at least for now, I’m going to breathe new life into my old work. I’m proud of the work I did previously, but admittedly, it’s not at the quality I’ve developed over time working at Beneath the Tangles. I am beyond thankful for my job there, and the editing crew, as they have really honed my writing skills and trained me to always strive for the highest quality possible in my writing, including attention to detail in grammar and phrasing, and clarifying my thoughts effectively while not losing my voice. Admittedly, it’s a daunting task going back to edit 2011 Josh: I’m currently re-editing a review I wrote way back in 2011, and when I pasted it into the editor, the number of multi-colored lines that came up lit my poor review up like a Christmas tree. That Grammarly subscription I bought is about to get that WORK.

In a further attempt to assist new anime fans in discovering older shows they might like, I’ll often write posts called (tentatively) “The If/Then”, where I’ll compare two shows, one old and one new, in the hope of encouraging new fans to look to some older shows that are similar to some of the new ones out there. For example, if you enjoyed the anime Call of the Night, then you may also enjoy the 2007 anime Moonphase. Or if you enjoyed Horimiya, then maybe 1998’s His and Her Circumstances will be up your alley. It’s all about opening up the catalog for others, not keeping it secret. The name may be different, but the concept, I feel, is gonna be awesome.

I’ll also be writing more editorial/thought pieces based on some of the current hot topics or whatever else comes to mind. While I do tend to share my thoughts on social media, writing them out here instead of flooding everybody’s timeline is more efficient and won’t have the problem of being pushed down into the abyss. Will they be on the same level as some of my other works? Who’s to say…hopefully we won’t have a repeat of that situation; I’m fresh out of wisdom teeth. But trust me, if I have something to say, I’m gonna say it. There are also several other big ideas I have swirling in my mind that need to be worked out, including a rundown and review of all the major anime providers currently available, as the anime landscape has changed significantly since I last blogged.

So, all that being said…If you’ve made it this far, I want to say… thank you. I know I can be long-winded at times (blame my southern heritage), and I doubt that will ever change, especially as I proceed further into the depths of my 40s (dear Lord, I’m 40…). But I promise you that everything I say here and elsewhere is my own voice and my own thoughts. I’m not going to be perfect, nor will I ever proclaim my opinions as the end-all be-all. I have enough self-awareness to realize that. I’m gonna make mistakes and probably plenty of them. But know that the Josh you see here is the Josh you will always get; 100% authentic, 100% me. This iteration of the Cajun Samurai is older, wiser, tougher, more patient, but still as big a geek as always. I love and appreciate each and every one of you who decides to join me on this journey, as we break down the perceived barriers others try to build and make this beautiful genre of artistry open and accessible to all.

And so, with a grateful, prayerful, and humble heart, Joshua 1:9 in my spirit, and a shining, prodigious optimism for what is to come in the days and weeks ahead…Welcome to Day 1 of “Samurai Gatebreaker”.

Laissez les Bon Temps Rouler! (Let the Good Times Roll)

(EDITOR’S NOTE: I launched the blog on the 21st of September. Because it is my prayer that the love I put in this blog changes the minds of pretenders, while chasin’ the clouds away..)