Monthly Archives: September 2022

Eternal life through technology. That is the promise of uploaded intelligence (UI), also known as mind uploading, a phenomenonone that remains, for now, within the realm of science fictionin which an entire human brain is emulated via computer. The catch: a UI is a disembodied intelligence, without a flesh-and-blood presence in the physical world. Even if it is a real person (and thats a big if) living on as a program, that person cant snuggle in bed with a lover or kiss their children goodnight. So does their existence actually constitute human life?

Of all the many big questions that power Pantheon, a gripping, cerebral, remarkably high-concept animated sci-fi series premiering Sept. 1 on AMC+, this is both the richest and the most difficult to answer. And it arises out of a situation so mundane, it borders on trite. When we meet 14-year-old Maddie Kim (voiced by Katie Chang), shes constantly at odds with her mother, Ellen (Rosemarie DeWitt), and is getting mercilessly cyberbullied by the mean girls at her high school. Most of the girls in my class completely missed the moment when the world began to end, too wrapped up in their own drama, obsessed with their own lives, Maddie recounts in an intriguing voiceover that opens the series. Or trying to ruin mine.

Maddie and David, reunited in an online game, in Pantheon

Titmouse IncAMC

The twist comes when she starts receiving chat messages from a mysterious, seemingly omniscient correspondent who uses her tormentors electronic devices to turn them against each other. All signs point to the stranger being her late father, David (Daniel Dae Kim). But this isnt some My Mother the Car farce. Before dying of cancer, a few years earlier, David had worked for a tech behemoth called Logorhythms that was experimenting with UI. According to the company, a brain scan aimed at preserving Davids consciousness in the final moments of his (embodied) life failed. Now, it seems that Logorhythms wasnt entirely honest with Ellen.

Beyond the Kim household, Pantheon follows two characters with their own relationships to Logorhythms and UI. Another teenage misfit, gothy Caspian (Paul Dano) excels at math and hackingand seems to be living in a small-scale version of The Truman Show, with parents who are, for reasons that take some time to emerge, roleplaying a dysfunctional marriage for his benefit. And Chanda (Raza Jaffrey of Homeland), a computer engineer from Mumbai, takes a meeting with executives at one of his companys American rivals. This breakfast sets the stakes of the show: Singularity is near, Chanda tells the suits. And whoever makes the big bets, and the right bets, will control not just the market, but the future. They pronounce him a prophet.

There is a global conspiracy thriller taking shape amid the human drama, and the showbased on short stories by Hugo-winning author Ken Liu, who also translated into English the Chinese writer Liu Cixins popular and influential The Three-Body Problemnever loses sight of either element. UI introduces profound philosophical and emotional conflicts, and creator Craig Silversteins (Turn: Washingtons Spies) digs deep into both kinds of problem. How can David be both dead and alive? How can a woman, especially one as mistrustful of technology as Ellen is, carry on a marriage with a man she not only cant touch, but also doesnt quite see as real? Is David a human without a body or just an ingenious simulation? And with regard to the UI-driven future Chanda seems so excited about, for its potential to free humans from white-collar drudge work and launch new leisure industries, is it really such a great idea?

Caspian and his love interest, Hannah, in Pantheon

Titmouse Inc.AMC

Every once in a while, in the four episodes provided for review, Silversteins scripts get tangled in their own high-level ideas. But it happens much less often than you might expect from such a heady show. The choice to adapt Lius work using traditional animation also helps to keep the story down-to-earth. While computer animation might have sent it plunging into the uncanny valley and live-action TV would have required expensive CGI effects that mightve looked silly despite their price, theres a warmth to the elegant, anime-style characters and backdrops drawn by Titmouse (the studio behind Big Mouth and the new Beavis and Butt-Head projects on Paramount+). From the stages of elite tech conferences to the digital worlds of MMPORGs to late-night coffee shops, the series gets the look of contemporary, device-mediated life right.

All of thisalong with a stellar voice cast that also includes Taylor Schilling, Aaron Eckhart, Maude Apatow, and the late William Hurthelps Pantheon earn what starts out as an ambitious, potentially goofy premise and escalates into something all-out wild. Its hardly the first show to take up UI. The concept fueled story lines on Star Trek, Stargate, and other sci-fi franchises for decades, before making inroads into the prestige-drama futurism of Westworld and Black Mirror; San Junipero, a feature-length romance between two uploaded intelligences in a VR afterlife, became a breakout episode of the latter anthology series. More recently, Upload, an Amazon sci-fi comedy from The Office creator Greg Daniels, has expanded on the digital-heaven idea with premium upgrades financed by the survivors of the deceased.

As in that show, the techno-pessimism fueling Pantheon foresees a UI future that doesnt benefit regular people so much as it enriches corporations. Like a metaverse Severance, though one with more visible seams, it explores how a dream of liberation from the workplace can turn out to be a prison of ones own making. At the same, it asks how technology that can reunite a troubled teen with her long-lost dad can be all bad. While that tension can never be definitively resolved, it has the potential to fuel many seasons of drama on scales both intimate and grand.

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Pantheon Review: 2022's Wildest Tech Thriller Is a Cartoon | Time - TIME

September 1, 2022 6:00 AM

Posted: September 1, 2022 6:00 AM

Updated: September 7, 2022 4:58 PM

Prime Video premieres the much-anticipated Lord of the Rings prequel The Rings of Power. The animated sci-fi drama Pantheon imagines the implications of Uploaded Intelligence (UI) after death. TCM salutes Humphrey Bogart as Star of the Month, with weekly tributes on Thursdays. USA follows the stars of a NASCAR season in the docuseries Race for the Championship. Marvels sorcerer Wong joins the satirical world of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.

Series Premiere9/8c

The moneys on the screen in Prime Videos big-budget, lavish prequel to the events immortalized in J.R.R. Tolkiens The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Whether scaling terrifying heights in the Northernmost Wastes, weathering a savage storm on the Sundering Seas or gaping at the dwarves mammoth underground kingdom, The Rings of Power is a reminder of what drew many of us to epic fantasy in the first place: wonder. (See the full review.)

Series Premiere

A mind-blowing subject treated whimsically in Prime Videos Upload becomes serious and sinister business in a provocative animated sci-fi drama about UIUploaded Intelligencein which a digital simulation of the human mind can be uploaded to a mysterious cloud. The A-list voice cast is led by Daniel Dae Kim as the late David, whose consciousness has become a ghost in a corporate machine. When he reaches out to his grieving and bullied teenage daughter Maddie (Katie Chang), his widow Ellen (Rosemarie DeWitt) questions its authenticity, and the motivations of the shadowy company developing this tech. Paul Dano co-stars as moody tech-nerd teen Caspian, whose parents (Aaron Eckhart and Taylor Schilling) are engaged in a peculiar subterfuge of their own. Pantheon also features the final performance of William Hurt as a Steve Jobs-like tech legend.

Series Premiere10/9c

Get up close and personal with the contenders in this years NASCAR Cup season and playoffs in a 10-episode docuseries following the racers on and off the track. (By no coincidence, USA airs the kickoff to the playoffs Sunday from Darlington Raceway.) The series opens with the NASCAR seasons first race at the L.A. Coliseum, with 2021 Cup Series Champion Kyle Larson hoping to stay on top, and racer Joey Logano (pictured above) facing a tough decision on race day with a pregnant wife at home.

8/7c

Humphrey Bogart won his sole Oscar as grizzled skipper Charlie Allnut in John Hustons exhilarating 1951 adventure. The grand Katharine Hepburn co-stars as missionary spinster Rose, who joins him on a perilous journey down an African river to sabotage a German steamer during World War I. What better way to kick off TCMs Star of the Month tribute to Bogie, with movies airing each Thursday in September. Queen is followed at 10/9c by Bogarts iconic interpretation of gumshoe Sam Spade in 1941s The Maltese Falcon. (His take on Raymond Chandlers Philip Marlowe in The Big Sleep from 1946 airs early Friday at 8 am/7c.)

If youre amused by out-of-left-field celebrity cameos, this episodes for you. Also joining in the fun of this superhero spoof: Marvels sorcerer supreme Wong (Benedict Wong), whose arrival amid the Abomination chaos prompts Jennifer/She-Hulk (Tatiana Maslany) to address the audience head-on: Just remember whose show this actually is. We also learn that Thors inspirational speeches are not admissible in court. And so the Marvel Cinematic (and TV) Universe rolls.

Inside Thursday TV:

Excerpt from:

Worth Watching: Lord of the Rings Prequel, Uploading Gets Serious in Pantheon, NASCAR Race for the Championship - Channel3000.com - WISC-TV3

As a humanist who writes about the impact of digital technology on our lives, I am often mistaken for a futurist. The people most interested in hiring me for my opinions about technology are usually less concerned with building tools that help people live better lives in the present than they are in identifying the Next Big Thing through which to dominate them in the future. I dont usually respond to their inquiries. Why help these guys ruin whats left of the internet, much less civilisation?

Still, sometimes a combination of morbid curiosity and cold hard cash is enough to get me on a stage in front of the tech elite, where I try to talk some sense into them about how their businesses are affecting our lives out here in the real world. Thats how I found myself accepting an invitation to address a group mysteriously described as ultra-wealthy stakeholders, out in the middle of the desert.

A limo was waiting for me at the airport. As the sun began to dip over the horizon, I realised I had been in the car for three hours. What sort of wealthy hedge-fund types would drive this far from the airport for a conference? Then I saw it. On a parallel path next to the highway, as if racing against us, a small jet was coming in for a landing on a private airfield. Of course.

The next morning, two men in matching Patagonia fleeces came for me in a golf cart and conveyed me through rocks and underbrush to a meeting hall. They left me to drink coffee and prepare in what I figured was serving as my green room. But instead of me being wired with a microphone or taken to a stage, my audience was brought in to me. They sat around the table and introduced themselves: five super-wealthy guys yes, all men from the upper echelon of the tech investing and hedge-fund world. At least two of them were billionaires. After a bit of small talk, I realised they had no interest in the speech I had prepared about the future of technology. They had come to ask questions.

They started out innocuously and predictably enough. Bitcoin or ethereum? Virtual reality or augmented reality? Who will get quantum computing first, China or Google? Eventually, they edged into their real topic of concern: New Zealand or Alaska? Which region would be less affected by the coming climate crisis? It only got worse from there. Which was the greater threat: global warming or biological warfare? How long should one plan to be able to survive with no outside help? Should a shelter have its own air supply? What was the likelihood of groundwater contamination? Finally, the CEO of a brokerage house explained that he had nearly completed building his own underground bunker system, and asked: How do I maintain authority over my security force after the event? The event. That was their euphemism for the environmental collapse, social unrest, nuclear explosion, solar storm, unstoppable virus, or malicious computer hack that takes everything down.

This single question occupied us for the rest of the hour. They knew armed guards would be required to protect their compounds from raiders as well as angry mobs. One had already secured a dozen Navy Seals to make their way to his compound if he gave them the right cue. But how would he pay the guards once even his crypto was worthless? What would stop the guards from eventually choosing their own leader?

The billionaires considered using special combination locks on the food supply that only they knew. Or making guards wear disciplinary collars of some kind in return for their survival. Or maybe building robots to serve as guards and workers if that technology could be developed in time.

I tried to reason with them. I made pro-social arguments for partnership and solidarity as the best approaches to our collective, long-term challenges. The way to get your guards to exhibit loyalty in the future was to treat them like friends right now, I explained. Dont just invest in ammo and electric fences, invest in people and relationships. They rolled their eyes at what must have sounded to them like hippy philosophy.

This was probably the wealthiest, most powerful group I had ever encountered. Yet here they were, asking a Marxist media theorist for advice on where and how to configure their doomsday bunkers. Thats when it hit me: at least as far as these gentlemen were concerned, this was a talk about the future of technology.

Taking their cue from Tesla founder Elon Musk colonising Mars, Palantirs Peter Thiel reversing the ageing process, or artificial intelligence developers Sam Altman and Ray Kurzweil uploading their minds into supercomputers, they were preparing for a digital future that had less to do with making the world a better place than it did with transcending the human condition altogether. Their extreme wealth and privilege served only to make them obsessed with insulating themselves from the very real and present danger of climate change, rising sea levels, mass migrations, global pandemics, nativist panic and resource depletion. For them, the future of technology is about only one thing: escape from the rest of us.

These people once showered the world with madly optimistic business plans for how technology might benefit human society. Now theyve reduced technological progress to a video game that one of them wins by finding the escape hatch. Will it be Jeff Bezos migrating to space, Thiel to his New Zealand compound, or Mark Zuckerberg to his virtual metaverse? And these catastrophising billionaires are the presumptive winners of the digital economy the supposed champions of the survival-of-the-fittest business landscape thats fuelling most of this speculation to begin with.

What I came to realise was that these men are actually the losers. The billionaires who called me out to the desert to evaluate their bunker strategies are not the victors of the economic game so much as the victims of its perversely limited rules. More than anything, they have succumbed to a mindset where winning means earning enough money to insulate themselves from the damage they are creating by earning money in that way. Its as if they want to build a car that goes fast enough to escape from its own exhaust.

Yet this Silicon Valley escapism lets call it The Mindset encourages its adherents to believe that the winners can somehow leave the rest of us behind.

Never before have our societys most powerful players assumed that the primary impact of their own conquests would be to render the world itself unliveable for everyone else. Nor have they ever before had the technologies through which to programme their sensibilities into the very fabric of our society. The landscape is alive with algorithms and intelligences actively encouraging these selfish and isolationist outlooks. Those sociopathic enough to embrace them are rewarded with cash and control over the rest of us. Its a self-reinforcing feedback loop. This is new.

Amplified by digital technologies and the unprecedented wealth disparity they afford, The Mindset allows for the easy externalisation of harm to others, and inspires a corresponding longing for transcendence and separation from the people and places that have been abused.

Instead of just lording over us for ever, however, the billionaires at the top of these virtual pyramids actively seek the endgame. In fact, like the plot of a Marvel blockbuster, the very structure of The Mindset requires an endgame. Everything must resolve to a one or a zero, a winner or loser, the saved or the damned. Actual, imminent catastrophes from the climate emergency to mass migrations support the mythology, offering these would-be superheroes the opportunity to play out the finale in their own lifetimes. For The Mindset also includes a faith-based Silicon Valley certainty that they can develop a technology that will somehow break the laws of physics, economics and morality to offer them something even better than a way of saving the world: a means of escape from the apocalypse of their own making.

By the time I boarded my return flight to New York, my mind was reeling with the implications of The Mindset. What were its main tenets? Who were its true believers? What, if anything, could we do to resist it? Before I had even landed, I posted an article about my strange encounter to surprising effect.

Almost immediately, I began receiving inquiries from businesses catering to the billionaire prepper, all hoping I would make some introductions on their behalf to the five men I had written about. I heard from a real estate agent who specialises in disaster-proof listings, a company taking reservations for its third underground dwellings project, and a security firm offering various forms of risk management.

But the message that got my attention came from a former president of the American chamber of commerce in Latvia. JC Cole had witnessed the fall of the Soviet empire, as well as what it took to rebuild a working society almost from scratch. He had also served as landlord for the American and European Union embassies, and learned a whole lot about security systems and evacuation plans. You certainly stirred up a bees nest, he began his first email to me. Its quite accurate the wealthy hiding in their bunkers will have a problem with their security teams I believe you are correct with your advice to treat those people really well, right now, but also the concept may be expanded and I believe there is a better system that would give much better results.

He felt certain that the event a grey swan, or predictable catastrophe triggered by our enemies, Mother Nature, or just by accident was inevitable. He had done a Swot analysis strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats and concluded that preparing for calamity required us to take the very same measures as trying to prevent one. By coincidence, he explained, I am setting up a series of safe haven farms in the NYC area. These are designed to best handle an event and also benefit society as semi-organic farms. Both within three hours drive from the city close enough to get there when it happens.

Here was a prepper with security clearance, field experience and food sustainability expertise. He believed the best way to cope with the impending disaster was to change the way we treat one another, the economy, and the planet right now while also developing a network of secret, totally self-sufficient residential farm communities for millionaires, guarded by Navy Seals armed to the teeth.

JC is currently developing two farms as part of his safe haven project. Farm one, outside Princeton, is his show model and works well as long as the thin blue line is working. The second one, somewhere in the Poconos, has to remain a secret. The fewer people who know the locations, the better, he explained, along with a link to the Twilight Zone episode in which panicked neighbours break into a familys bomb shelter during a nuclear scare. The primary value of safe haven is operational security, nicknamed OpSec by the military. If/when the supply chain breaks, the people will have no food delivered. Covid-19 gave us the wake-up call as people started fighting over toilet paper. When it comes to a shortage of food it will be vicious. That is why those intelligent enough to invest have to be stealthy.

JC invited me down to New Jersey to see the real thing. Wear boots, he said. The ground is still wet. Then he asked: Do you shoot?

The farm itself was serving as an equestrian centre and tactical training facility in addition to raising goats and chickens. JC showed me how to hold and shoot a Glock at a series of outdoor targets shaped like bad guys, while he grumbled about the way Senator Dianne Feinstein had limited the number of rounds one could legally fit in a magazine for the handgun. JC knew his stuff. I asked him about various combat scenarios. The only way to protect your family is with a group, he said. That was really the whole point of his project to gather a team capable of sheltering in place for a year or more, while also defending itself from those who hadnt prepared. JC was also hoping to train young farmers in sustainable agriculture, and to secure at least one doctor and dentist for each location.

On the way back to the main building, JC showed me the layered security protocols he had learned designing embassy properties: a fence, no trespassing signs, guard dogs, surveillance cameras all meant to discourage violent confrontation. He paused for a minute as he stared down the drive. Honestly, I am less concerned about gangs with guns than the woman at the end of the driveway holding a baby and asking for food. He paused, and sighed, I dont want to be in that moral dilemma.

Thats why JCs real passion wasnt just to build a few isolated, militarised retreat facilities for millionaires, but to prototype locally owned sustainable farms that can be modelled by others and ultimately help restore regional food security in America. The just-in-time delivery system preferred by agricultural conglomerates renders most of the nation vulnerable to a crisis as minor as a power outage or transportation shutdown. Meanwhile, the centralisation of the agricultural industry has left most farms utterly dependent on the same long supply chains as urban consumers. Most egg farmers cant even raise chickens, JC explained as he showed me his henhouses. They buy chicks. Ive got roosters.

JC is no hippy environmentalist but his business model is based in the same communitarian spirit I tried to convey to the billionaires: the way to keep the hungry hordes from storming the gates is by getting them food security now. So for $3m, investors not only get a maximum security compound in which to ride out the coming plague, solar storm, or electric grid collapse. They also get a stake in a potentially profitable network of local farm franchises that could reduce the probability of a catastrophic event in the first place. His business would do its best to ensure there are as few hungry children at the gate as possible when the time comes to lock down.

So far, JC Cole has been unable to convince anyone to invest in American Heritage Farms. That doesnt mean no one is investing in such schemes. Its just that the ones that attract more attention and cash dont generally have these cooperative components. Theyre more for people who want to go it alone. Most billionaire preppers dont want to have to learn to get along with a community of farmers or, worse, spend their winnings funding a national food resilience programme. The mindset that requires safe havens is less concerned with preventing moral dilemmas than simply keeping them out of sight.

Many of those seriously seeking a safe haven simply hire one of several prepper construction companies to bury a prefab steel-lined bunker somewhere on one of their existing properties. Rising S Company in Texas builds and installs bunkers and tornado shelters for as little as $40,000 for an 8ft by 12ft emergency hideout all the way up to the $8.3m luxury series Aristocrat, complete with pool and bowling lane. The enterprise originally catered to families seeking temporary storm shelters, before it went into the long-term apocalypse business. The company logo, complete with three crucifixes, suggests their services are geared more toward Christian evangelist preppers in red-state America than billionaire tech bros playing out sci-fi scenarios.

Theres something much more whimsical about the facilities in which most of the billionaires or, more accurately, aspiring billionaires actually invest. A company called Vivos is selling luxury underground apartments in converted cold war munitions storage facilities, missile silos, and other fortified locations around the world. Like miniature Club Med resorts, they offer private suites for individuals or families, and larger common areas with pools, games, movies and dining. Ultra-elite shelters such as the Oppidum in the Czech Republic claim to cater to the billionaire class, and pay more attention to the long-term psychological health of residents. They provide imitation of natural light, such as a pool with a simulated sunlit garden area, a wine vault, and other amenities to make the wealthy feel at home.

On closer analysis, however, the probability of a fortified bunker actually protecting its occupants from the reality of, well, reality, is very slim. For one, the closed ecosystems of underground facilities are preposterously brittle. For example, an indoor, sealed hydroponic garden is vulnerable to contamination. Vertical farms with moisture sensors and computer-controlled irrigation systems look great in business plans and on the rooftops of Bay Area startups; when a palette of topsoil or a row of crops goes wrong, it can simply be pulled and replaced. The hermetically sealed apocalypse grow room doesnt allow for such do-overs.

Just the known unknowns are enough to dash any reasonable hope of survival. But this doesnt seem to stop wealthy preppers from trying. The New York Times reported that real estate agents specialising in private islands were overwhelmed with inquiries during the Covid-19 pandemic. Prospective clients were even asking about whether there was enough land to do some agriculture in addition to installing a helicopter landing pad. But while a private island may be a good place to wait out a temporary plague, turning it into a self-sufficient, defensible ocean fortress is harder than it sounds. Small islands are utterly dependent on air and sea deliveries for basic staples. Solar panels and water filtration equipment need to be replaced and serviced at regular intervals. The billionaires who reside in such locales are more, not less, dependent on complex supply chains than those of us embedded in industrial civilisation.

Surely the billionaires who brought me out for advice on their exit strategies were aware of these limitations. Could it have all been some sort of game? Five men sitting around a poker table, each wagering his escape plan was best?

But if they were in it just for fun, they wouldnt have called for me. They would have flown out the author of a zombie apocalypse comic book. If they wanted to test their bunker plans, theyd have hired a security expert from Blackwater or the Pentagon. They seemed to want something more. Their language went far beyond questions of disaster preparedness and verged on politics and philosophy: words such as individuality, sovereignty, governance and autonomy.

Thats because it wasnt their actual bunker strategies I had been brought out to evaluate so much as the philosophy and mathematics they were using to justify their commitment to escape. They were working out what Ive come to call the insulation equation: could they earn enough money to insulate themselves from the reality they were creating by earning money in this way? Was there any valid justification for striving to be so successful that they could simply leave the rest of us behind apocalypse or not?

Or was this really their intention all along? Maybe the apocalypse is less something theyre trying to escape than an excuse to realise The Mindsets true goal: to rise above mere mortals and execute the ultimate exit strategy.

This is an edited extract from Survival of the Richest by Douglas Rushkoff, published by Scribe (20). To support the Guardian and Observer order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply

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The super-rich preppers planning to save themselves from the apocalypse - The Guardian

Everyone has that banger anime opening that is too good to skip, but what about the outros? The outro songs often have a much different vibe to their openers, with softer visuals and light melodies that cleanse your mind before the next episode starts.

Sometimes, they take a different approach, with intense vocals and fast visuals that continue the hype into the next episode. There is no correct answer as to which style of outro is better. I get just as excited seeing an animes outro for the first time as I do their opener.

That said, this is not a best of list and is organized in no particular order. So, if you didnt see your favorite outro on here this time, comment below so it can make the next list.

Shout out to Crunchyroll for uploading so many of the end credits scenes to YouTube for us to jam out to!

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The first edition outro for Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood is the gold standard for anime outros. The art style is simplistic but eye-catching, filled with character details. Most importantly, the song is a bonified bop.

Special thanks to user Nina for uploading this bop to YouTube for everyone to enjoy!

This anime outro is unskippable for a whole different reason. Who else remembers falling asleep on the couch watching Toonami and waking up to this jolting them into a different realm? I swear I could never find the remote fast enough to turn this outro off or down; now, it is ingrained in my childhood forever.

Jujutsu Kaisens outro song is the definition of unskippable. The song is so catchy and upbeat that it plays like an annoyingly likable pop song. It perfectly complements the rotoscope art style and dance sequences in a way that always seems fresh. It is truly the perfect palate cleanser between episodes.

RELATED: Crunchyroll Anime Expo 2022: Everything Shown at the Industry Panel

Youd be hard-pressed to find another outro as beloved as My Hero Academias first. The closing art is poignant and uplifting, almost like it was pulled from a young Dekus playlist. The song is worthy of any playlist; together, they make for an impossible-to-skip sequence.

This was hard to narrow down as HunterxHunter has several amazing outros, but I had to give the spot to the fifth edition. I dont know what they put to the fifth edition outro song for HunterxHunter, but it is addicting. I catch myself humming it sometimes and can never skip it.

The music for Soul Eater has always been a unique experience from your typical anime openers/closers. This perfectly complements the more stylized art style and dark theming. It has always been the third outro that stood out most for me. The bouncing lyrics paired with the freeze-framing of the characters make for an unskippable combination.

RELATED: 8 Anime Opening Songs That Are Total Bops

Fire Force carries over much of the theming and fun from our previous entry, Soul Eater, but its first outro sequence cannot be skipped for an entirely different reason. The melodic tune and ethereal visuals are enchanting, ensnaring viewers into staying for one episode after the next until youve binged an entire season.

We have to finish with this Attack on Titan outro. Exceptionally few shows would ever be so bold as to pack their outro with spoilers for the rest of the series. But is it really a spoiler if the viewers dont understand it?

Did we forget to include your favorite anime outro on this list? Which ending songs do you never skip? Comment below and tell us what we missed!

Anime Roundup: Everything Coming Out in September

Lauren is a kidlit author and certified nerd. When not writing you can often find her reading comics, decorating her Animal Crossing Island, or arguing some nuanced facet of her fandoms.

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8 Anime Outros Too Good to Skip - Geek Girl Authority

A psychology student and a talented singer who rose to popularity through Instagram and YouTube, Noor is a newbie in the Punjabi entertainment industry. She has lent her voice to the songs of the recently released film Bajre Da Sitta, where she has also showcased her skills as an actor.

Name

Prabhnoor Chahal, popularly known as Noor Chahal.

Hometown

Born in Chandigarh, Noor was raised in Mohali, where she is currently settled.

Family

Father Harsharanjit Singh Chahal is a chartered accountant while her mother Jasmeet Chahal is a homemaker. Noor has a younger brother Ishaanveer Chahal, who studies in Class 11. Her grandmother lives in their native village in Fatehgarh Sahib district of Punjab.

Education

Noor completed her Class 10 and 12 from Yadvindra Public School (YPS), Mohali. She graduated in psychology honors from Panjab Universitys Institute of Social Science Education and Research (PU-ISSER). Presently, she is studying for her masters in psychology from the same institute at the PU.

When did you discover your singing skills?

When I was in Class 2. I was an active participant in school functions. My teachers used to give me opportunities to perform solo at events. I also took part in choirs and competitions and realised I was blessed with the skill. Later, when I entered Class 8, I opted for professional training in core Hindustani classical music, which continued for the next four years.

Why did you pick psychology, and not music, in college?

We all know that a career in music and films is a little unpredictable, and one must choose a concrete option to fall back on. Having said this, Psychology is not just an option for me, I like studying it and thats why I am pursuing a masters course in it. As far as music is concerned, I have always loved it, and nothing can separate it from me. So, basically, I am doing both!

Favourite song

There is no specific genre that I stick to. As a singer too, I am open to singing anything but for songs that can offend listeners, objectify women, or glorify anything that is considered wrong by our society. Here, I want to mention that my favourite singer is Satinder Sartaaj. He is my inspiration in the Punjabi music industry.

Favourite movie

I prefer watching films that are artistic. My recently released film Bajre Da Sitta is my favourite because of its content.

You acted in Bajre Da Sitta. Did you plan to be an actor?

Not at all. The opportunity just came my way, and I didnt want to miss out on it. Though I have acted in theatre during school days, I was never intentionally inclined towards acting. Moreover, Bajre Da Sitta is a music-based film, which attracted me enough to play a role as well. I am a content-driven person and the concept of the movie motivated me to go for it.

Works till date

Noor is new to the entertainment industry. Her journey started during the lockdown when she began making videos and posted Bollywood and Punjabi song covers on Instagram, and later, on her own YouTube channel, which presently has more than 7 lakh subscribers. Her growing popularity on social media drew the attention of the Punjabi film industry and got her a role in Satinder Sartaajs film Ikko Mikke (2020). Her debut single Jhalleya Dila came out on Burfi Music this year. In addition to this, she sang all the tracks for film Bajre Da Sitta and featured as a parallel lead along with actors Tania and Ammy Virk in the movie that released in July.

Upcoming projects

Recently chosen as a part of YouTubes Foundry class of 2022 among 30 other artists across the world, Noor shares that she will be uploading a song on her channel soon.

Claim to fame

I give the credit of my fame to YouTube as it gave me the opportunity to create my own channel and exhibit my talent independently. Even though I have worked on screen now, I got real recognition from the social media platform.

My secret sauce

Theres no mantra. Be authentic and original in your approach is my secret to success. As a cover artist, I have always tried to add a unique element to the songs, which makes them quite appealing to the listeners. Therefore, I feel that artists should add their own special essence in whatever they do. Besides, one should never take the audience for granted. I always value my listeners and make sure I put my best efforts in my work.

Thoughts about Pollywood

People in the industry are lovely. They are welcoming and wonderful. Though I have just begun my journey here, I never felt like an alien. Rather, I enjoyed working with other artists. I just hope I get more opportunities so I can experience things and talk about it.

Challenges faced

Honestly, I feel lucky as my parents are supportive of my choices and that has made everything easy for me. Undoubtedly, I have worked hard to achieve things but thats just a part of the journey. Sometimes, artists feel chained when they are targeted and called out on social media but thats nothing as compared to the love they receive. So, whenever I get negative comments, I overlook them and focus on the love my fans have for me.

Future plans

I intend to work as a singer more than an actor. Music is my area of interest as of now, but if anything else comes my way, I would not mind exploring it. My future plan is to take content-based decisions that bring out my talent and tap my potential as a singer.

Fitness mantra

(Laughs out) I am not a fitness freak, and I dont like working out. To add to that, I am a big foodie. Therefore, there is no mantra to share. However, I will surely get there. (Reassuring herself)

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From social media to Pollywood, singer Noor Chahal says originality is her secret to success - The Indian Express

Kildare/Wicklow indie-rock trio Ratios have released their new single, Wait Some Time. We asked them the BIG questions . . .

Ratios are lead singer Dan O'Shaughnessy, Liam Brady and Mike O'Sullivan. They began as a two-piece and released their first single Yellow Ribbon in March 2022.

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Speaking about Wait Some Time, they say, "The main guitar riff was written eight years ago but was never developed until recently. The song quickly came together quickly over two rehearsal sessions when the main riff was played, and ideas began to flourish.

"The song itself portrays a delusional state of mind and the struggle to break through a maze of uncertainty and indecisiveness. Whilst trying to break through barriers, waiting on oneself to do so seems like the only key.

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"The song is energy driven from start to finish. That was our aim from when we began to write it. We wanted to create something different that we feel stands out from others. We blended indie-rock elements and an energy driven punk chorus to portray an eclectic mixture of our creative influences."

Tell us three things about yourself . . .

We are fresh, hip and happening.

How would you describe your music?

Energetic with influences being drawn from punk, alternative rock and indie-rock. We like to play loud and aggressively and thrive during our live shows.

Who are your musical inspirations?

Tonnes. We all seem to come from different musical backgrounds and influences but we also all share a love for grunge, alt-rock, punk etc. Lately we have been listening to a lot of Gilla band, Wolf Alice, Viagra boys, QOTSA, Arctic Monkeys to name a few. Performance wise, we aspire to play loud energetic shows and are inspired by the lives shows from our favourite bands.

What was the first gig you ever went to?

Dan - Nickelback at the RDS Simmonscourt with support from Creed.

Liam - Green Day in 2009.

Mike - Avenged Sevenfold in 2014.

What was the first record you ever bought?

Dan - The Temptations' Greatest Hits.

Mike - Rage against the machines live album.

Liam - Iowa - Slipknot.

Whats your favourite song right now?

Dan - Sports - Viagra Boys.

Liam - At the moment, my favourite song is Tourettes by Nirvana.

Mike - Eight Fivers by Gilla band.

Favourite lyric of all time?

Dan - "Blame, whats to blame? Its an argument no one can win, 'Cause at best, we don't know, And its wearing us thin." Stare at The Sun by Mutemath. Its genius.

If you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Dan - Sports - Viagra Boys. Its a real heavy hitter.

Liam - Birdie - The Scratch.

Mike - Kashmir - Led Zeppelin.

Where can people find your music/more information?

On Instagram at @ratiosband, on Facebook also. We are also on Spotify, Deezer and Apple Music. We just recently released our newest single, Wait Some Time, which can be streamed on all platforms. We also have an accompanying Music vid coming out on the 8 September. You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel and within the next few months we will be uploading more content there.

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Behind the music - Ratios - RTE.ie