Player Player: A Video Game Podcast · Player Player

Black Geek Rising ft. D'Marcus

·1 hr 12 min·2 clips

Demarcus explains that comic books are easier when you start with one issue and ignore the backstory.

Joseph opens with the usual Player Player welcome and brings in Demarcus as the second half of Black Geek Energy. Demarcus gets teased about whether he is really the second half or the first, and that gives the episode its easy, familiar tone right away. The conversation stays loose and conversational from the start. It feels like two people who already know how to land each other's jokes. They move into anime and the shows that help people get past the barrier to entry. Afro Samurai comes up as one of those titles that can make someone finally say, okay, I get it. Avatar: The Last Airbender enters the conversation as a major point of contact even though they agree it is not anime. The episode keeps working through examples of what opened people up to the medium. Attack on Titan gets the biggest discussion because it felt more mature early on and could pull in viewers who were not otherwise watching anime. They compare that effect to how Game of Thrones drew people into fantasy. That comparison makes it easier to see how one early show can change someone's whole relationship to a genre. The hosts also talk about how viewing habits changed around Attack on Titan in college, including smaller watch parties and a stronger sense that people were locking in on the show together. The focus stays on audience perception rather than trivia. They care more about why a title crosses over than about listing facts for their own sake. One of the more memorable stretches is their riff on whether Attack on Titan is basically a mecha anime with flesh suits instead of metal suits. The idea gets tested in real time instead of being treated like a finished theory. They talk through the political side of the show and the way the battles are framed, which keeps the point grounded even as the joke gets a little more absurd. The guest matters throughout because the episode is less a formal interview and more a shared argument with someone who can keep up. Demarcus is comfortable pushing back, agreeing, and correcting the framing when needed. That gives the conversation enough movement that it never turns into a simple nostalgia list. The Black Geek Energy connection sits in the background the whole time. That matters because the talk is not just about anime as content. It is about the social life around it, the way people defend it, discover it, and use it as common reference point. Joseph keeps steering things back to how people actually come to these shows. He is interested in what makes somebody try one more episode. Demarcus answers from the side of someone who knows the culture and the arguments around it. That mix gives the episode its pace. The language stays casual and insider aware without getting stuck in jargon. When they say a show is doing a lot, the listener can hear the exact kind of hype or skepticism behind it. When they pause on a title like Attack on Titan, the pause does real work. The structure is not formal, and that is part of the appeal. A topic appears, gets teased apart, gets compared to something else, and then gives way to the next example. The result feels lived in rather than packaged. The ending returns to the open, friendly tone of the beginning. They talk about future appearances and a plan to link up for Marvel Rivals, and the kind of coordination that only happens after enough mutual ribbing. It closes like a real hangout instead of a polished segment. By the time the episode wraps, the listener has heard a compact tour through anime entry points, fandom arguments, and the social side of gaming-adjacent conversation. The show never treats those things as separate lanes. It lets them bleed together the way actual friends do when they are talking for real. That is the point. The conversation is strongest when it treats taste as something people arrive at through argument, not declaration. It keeps circling back to the same question from different angles. Why did this show work for this person, at that moment, and why did it keep working enough to spread. Attack on Titan ends up as the anchor example because it lets them talk about maturity, spectacle, politics, and crossover appeal all at once. Afro Samurai does similar work on a smaller scale. Avatar sits there as the reminder that some shows reach people even when they do not fit the label cleanly. There is no grand thesis speech, and the episode is better for that. It feels like a running conversation where the point gets built through examples instead of announced up front. The host and guest leave room for corrections and side jokes without losing the main thread. That looseness is the episode's method and its charm. It can drift, but it drifts toward something recognizable: how people make sense of a fandom from the inside and the outside at the same time. It ends up being more about shared vocabulary than formal analysis. The guest's presence widens the range of the show without changing its core. The conversation still feels like Player Player: game aware, culturally plugged in, and most comfortable when it can move fast. The anime talk is not a detour. It is just the kind of detour this show knows how to make interesting.

As heard by us

A clear, easygoing conversation about gateway anime and what makes them click for new viewers.

This episode stays on a simple question: how people get pulled into anime, and which shows actually work as a first step. Black Clover, Afro Samurai, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and Attack on Titan all come up as gateways, with Attack on Titan getting the most attention for its…

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Why you'd press play

Press play if you want a video-game hangout that swerves into anime gateways and Black Geek Energy banter.

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