Previous editions:
(All strawpoll results counted as of the next post made)
Part 1, Adams v Jefferson in 1796 - Adams wins with 68% of the vote
Part 2, Adams v Jefferson in 1800 - Jefferson wins with 58% of the vote
Part 3, Jefferson v Pinckney in 1804 - Jefferson wins with 57% of the vote
Part 4, Madison v Pinckney (with George Clinton protest) in 1808 - Pinckney wins with 45% of the vote
Part 5, Madison v (DeWitt) Clinton in 1812 - Clinton wins with 80% of the vote
Part 6, Monroe v King in 1816 - Monroe wins with 51% of the vote
Part 7, Monroe and an Era of Meta Feelings in 1820 - Monroe wins with 100% of the vote
Part 8, Democratic-Republican Thunderdome in 1824 - Adams wins with 55% of the vote
Part 9, Adams v Jackson in 1828 - Adams wins with 94% of the vote
Part 10, Jackson v Clay (v Wirt) in 1832 - Clay wins with 53% of the vote
Part 11, Van Buren v The Whigs in 1836 - Whigs win with 87% of the vote, Webster elected
Part 12, Van Buren v Harrison in 1840 - Harrison wins with 90% of the vote
Part 13, Polk v Clay in 1844 - Polk wins with 59% of the vote
Part 14, Taylor v Cass in 1848 - Taylor wins with 44% of the vote (see special rules)
Part 15, Pierce v Scott in 1852 - Scott wins with 78% of the vote
Part 16, Buchanan v Frémont v Fillmore in 1856 - Frémont wins with 95% of the vote
Part 17, Peculiar Thunderdome in 1860 - Lincoln wins with 90% of the vote.
Part 18, Lincoln v McClellan in 1864 - Lincoln wins with 97% of the vote.
Part 19, Grant v Seymour in 1868 - Grant wins with 97% of the vote.
Part 20, Grant v Greeley in 1872 - Grant wins with 96% of the vote.
Part 21, Hayes v Tilden in 1876 - Hayes wins with 87% of the vote.
Part 22, Garfield v Hancock in 1880 - Garfield wins with 67% of the vote.
Part 23, Cleveland v Blaine in 1884 - Cleveland wins with 53% of the vote.
Part 24, Cleveland v Harrison in 1888 - Harrison wins with 64% of the vote.
Part 25, Cleveland v Harrison v Weaver in 1892 - Harrison wins with 57% of the vote
Part 26, McKinley v Bryan in 1896 - McKinley wins with 71% of the vote
Part 27, McKinley v Bryan in 1900 - Bryan wins with 55% of the vote
Part 28, Roosevelt v Parker in 1904 - Roosevelt wins with 71% of the vote
Part 29, Taft v Bryan in 1908 - Taft wins with 64% of the vote
Part 30, Taft v Wilson v Roosevelt in 1912 - Roosevelt wins with 81% of the vote
Part 31, Wilson v Hughes in 1916 - Hughes wins with 62% of the vote
Part 32, Harding v Cox in 1920 - Cox wins with 68% of the vote
Part 33, Coolidge v Davis v La Follette in 1924 - Davis wins with 47% of the vote
Part 34, Hoover v Smith in 1928 - Hoover wins with 50.2% of the vote
Part 35, Hoover v Roosevelt in 1932 - Roosevelt wins with 85% of the vote
Part 36, Landon v Roosevelt in 1936 - Roosevelt wins with 75% of the vote
Part 37, Willkie v Roosevelt in 1940 - Roosevelt wins with 56% of the vote
Part 38, Dewey v Roosevelt in 1944 - Dewey wins with 50.2% of the vote
Part 39, Dewey v Truman in 1948 - Truman wins with 65% of the vote
Part 40, Eisenhower v Stevenson in 1952 - Eisenhower wins with 69% of the vote
Part 41, Eisenhower v Stevenson in 1956 - Eisenhower wins with 60% of the vote
Part 42, Kennedy v Nixon in 1960 - Kennedy wins with 63% of the vote
Part 43, Johnson v Goldwater in 1964 - Johnson wins with 87% of the vote
Part 44, Nixon v Humphrey in 1968 - Humphrey wins with 60% of the vote
Part 45, Nixon v McGovern in 1972 - Nixon wins with 56% of the vote
Part 46, Carter v Ford in 1976 - Carter wins with 71% of the vote
Part 47 - Carter v Reagan v Anderson in 1980 - Carter wins with 44% of the vote
Part 48, Reagan v Mondale in 1984 - Mondale wins with 55% of the vote
Part 49, Bush v Dukakis in 1988 - Bush wins with 54% of the vote
Part 50, Bush v Clinton v Perot in 1992 - Clinton wins with 71% of the vote
Part 51, Clinton v Dole in 1996 - Clinton wins with 91% of the vote
Welcome back to the fifty-second edition of /neoliberal elects the American presidents!
This will be a fairly consistent weekly thing - every week, a new election, until we run out.
I highly encourage you - at least in terms of the vote you cast - to try to think from the perspective of the year the election was held, without knowing the future or how the next administration would go. I'm not going to be trying to enforce that, but feel free to remind fellow commenters of this distinction.
If you're really feeling hardcore, feel free to even speak in the present tense as if the election is truly upcoming!
Whether third and fourth candidates are considered "major" enough to include in the strawpoll will be largely at my discretion and depend on things like whether they were actually intending to run for President, and whether they wound up actually pulling in a meaningful amount of the popular vote and even electoral votes. I may also invoke special rules in how the results will be interpreted in certain elections to better approximate historical reality.
While I will always give some brief background info to spur the discussion, please don't hesitate to bring your own research and knowledge into the mix! There's no way I'll cover everything!
Al Gore v George Bush, 2000
Profiles

Al Gore is the 52-year-old Democratic candidate and the current Vice President. His running mate is US Senator from Connecticut Joe Lieberman.
George (W.) Bush is the 54-year-old Republican candidate and the Governor of Texas. His running mate is former Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney.

Issues and Background

Roughly two years ago, President Bill Clinton became the first President in over 100 years to be impeached by the House of Representatives. He was eventually acquitted in the Senate. Clinton was accused of grand jury perjury related to his extramarital sexual relationship with 22-year-old White House intern Monica Lewinsky. He was also accused of obstruction of justice. The full report from the independent counsel can be read here.
- Vice President Gore has said that President Clinton made a mistake, and has even called Clinton's behavior "inexcusable," but has claimed that "the people" want to move on to other issues. Likely aware of some polling evidence that Clinton may be a drag on his numbers, he has distanced himself from the President during the campaign, emphasizing that he is his own man. Stories in papers like the Washington Post and the New York Times regularly describe leaked frustrations from Clinton loyalists and Clinton himself about this distancing. Joint appearances are being minimized. In one of the primary debates, Gore stated:
  
  As an American who was serving as vice president, I was critical of the president. As an American, I also defended the office of the presidency against an effort by partisan Republicans in the House and Senate to deliver a thoroughly disproportionate penalty for a serious and reprehensible personal mistake on the part of the president. He should not have been removed from office for that offense. And fighting against their efforts to remove him from office and undo the act of the American people in twice electing him, I think I was serving the public interest well.
- The Bush campaign, and Bush himself, have emphasized that they will bring "honor and dignity" back to the White House. In his convention speech, Vice Presidential nominee Dick Cheney said:
  
  George W. Bush will repair what has been damaged. He's a man without pretense, without cynicism, a man of principle, a man of honor. On the first hour of the first day, he will restore decency and integrity to the Oval Office.
The federal budget is set to be in surplus for the third year in a row this year, and many government agencies and forecasters are expecting well in excess of $1 trillion in total surpluses over the coming decade. Thus, one major election issue is what each candidate will do with this surplus.
- Governor Bush described his plan for the surplus in the first debate as follows:
  
  I want to take one-half of the surplus and dedicate it to Social Security. One-quarter of the surplus for important projects, and I want to send one-quarter of the surplus back to the people who pay the bills. I want everybody who pays taxes to have their tax rates cut.
  
  Vice President Gore's main criticism of the Bush plan has been that because the tax cuts are across the board, a large amount of the surplus dollars will wind up going to the wealthiest Americans. Bush has countered that as President, he doesn't want to be in the business of picking winners and losers when it comes to tax relief.
- Vice President Gore says that for every $1 of the surplus he will use for tax cuts or new spending, he will use $2 for deficit reduction. Gore intends to set the United States on a path to eliminate the national debt by the year 2012. He also proposes $500 in targeted tax cuts intended to reach low and middle income families. Bush accuses Gore of intending to increase the size of government dramatically, which Gore denies.
Just recently, the FDA approved abortion pill RU-486. Governor Bush has said he will respect the FDA's independence, but is concerned this will lead to an increase in abortions. Governor Bush describes himself as pro-life, but says "a lot of good people disagree on the issue" and that the issue is not a litmus test for any potential Supreme Court nominations he could make. He argues there are pro-life objectives that can be accomplished which exist on broader common ground, like parental consent laws on abortion and the banning of "partial-birth abortions." Vice President Gore is pro-choice but says he would be willing to sign a law banning partial-birth abortions "provided that doctors have the ability to save a woman's life or to act if her health is severely at risk."
Following US participation through NATO in the Kosovo War and the overthrow of Milosevic in the recent Yugoslavian elections, the United States maintains a presence in the Balkans. Gore supports continued US involvement and support in the region "until the mission is complete," while Bush would like to see a more immediate reprioritization of where some resources are deployed, pending consultation with NATO allies. The New York Times summarizes their differences:

Mr. Gore is an interventionist, and over the years has repeatedly pressed for more vigorous United States involvement in hot spots around the world, including Bosnia and Kosovo. Mr. Bush denies he is an isolationist, but says United States troops should not be used for nation-building abroad. He would start by bringing home the 11,400 troops in the Balkans, once this country's NATO allies had agreed.
Following reforms in the 1980s, the Social Security system is not in particularly dire shape, though the trust fund could eventually run out by the 2030s if no further changes are made. Governor Bush has proposed a dramatic reform of the system which would allow workers to divert 2 percentage points of their 12.4% payroll tax into personal investment accounts. The Gore campaign argues that this plan will mean that the Social Security trust fund will run dry over 10 years earlier than currently expected.
Over the next 10 years, Medicare by itself is expected to run significant surpluses. Vice President Gore proposes taking Medicare "off-budget" in the same way as Social Security, putting Medicare funds in a metaphorical "lockbox" so they cannot be used for new spending or new tax cuts.
This campaign has seen significant discussion on the topic of education. Unlike other prominent Republicans, Governor Bush does not want to get rid of the Department of Education. He is an ardent advocate for standardized testing and wants to help more states set up such testing. Under Bush's plan, a school which shows poor results for three years in a row will see its students granted the option of a voucher which can be used for tutoring or private school tuition - for each student who chooses a voucher, the school will lose a proportional amount of federal dollars. Gore's plan calls for universal preschool, and for schools which show poor results two years in a row to reorganize with new leadership and even potentially new teachers.
The Columbine High School massacre remains on the minds of many. On guns, the main difference between the candidates is that Gore supports licensing for new handguns at the state level, while Bush does not. Gore also supports restoring the three-day waiting period under the Brady Law. Both candidates support instant background checks at gun shows. Governor Bush argues for greater enforcement of existing laws and raising the age when one can carry a handgun from 18 to 21. For Columbine specifically, Gore argues that some gun control measures could have possibly prevented the school shooting. In contrast, Governor Bush argues "it's really a matter of culture," that "somewhere along the line we've begun to disrespect life."
A few years ago, Vice President Gore helped broker the Kyoto Protocol/Treaty, an international commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The agreement was signed by the Clinton Administration but effectively killed by the Senate via a resolution that strongly signaled they would refuse to ratify it. Governor Bush says global warming is "an issue that we need to take very seriously," but also says, "I don't think we know the solution to global warming yet," and that we need to have "the full accounting, full understanding of what's taking place."
Just days before the election, it has come out that 24 years ago, Bush was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol. Bush says that the report is true, but argues that he has always been candid and remorseful about the fact that in his youth, he occasionally drank too much. Asked about why he had not previously disclosed this particular incident, he said he did not want his daughters to find out and for it to undermine his parenting.

Debate Excerpts
Quotations in excerpt titles refer to moderator's prompt, block quotations are from named candidate(s).
First Presidential Debate (full transcript)
(1) Bush on whether he would "try to overturn the FDA's approval last week of the abortion pill RU-486":

I don't think a president can do that. I was disappointed in the ruling because I think abortions ought to be more rare in America, and I'm worried that that pill will create more abortions and cause more people to have abortions. This is a very important topic and it's a very sensitive topic, because a lot of good people disagree on the issue. I think what the next president ought to do is to promote a culture of life in America ... I know we need to change a lot of minds before we get there in America. What I do believe is that we can find good, common ground on issues of parental consent or parental notification. I know we need to ban partial birth abortions. This is a place where my opponent and I have strong disagreement.

(2) Gore on the budget:

I think that we have got to balance the budget every single year, pay down the national debt and, in fact, under my proposal the national debt will be completely eliminated by the year 2012. I think we need to put Medicare and Social Security in a lockbox. The governor will not put Medicare in a lockbox. I don't think it should be used as a piggy bank for other programs. I think it needs to be moved out of the budget and protected. I'll veto anything that takes money out of Social Security or Medicare for anything other than Social Security or Medicare.

(3) Bush on "nation-building":

The vice president and I have a disagreement about the use of troops. He believes in nation building. I would be very careful about using our troops as nation builders. I believe the role of the military is to fight and win war and therefore prevent war from happening in the first place. So I would take my responsibility seriously. And it starts with making sure we rebuild our military power. Morale in today's military is too low. We're having trouble meeting recruiting goals. We met the goals this year, but in the previous years we have not met recruiting goals. Some of our troops are not well-equipped. I believe we're overextended in too many places. And therefore I want to rebuild the military power. It starts with a billion dollar pay raise for the men and women who wear the uniform. A billion dollars more than the president recently signed into law.

(4) Gore on education:

We agree on a couple of things on education. I strongly support new accountability, so does Governor Bush. I strongly support local control, so does Governor Bush. I'm in favor of testing as a way of measuring performance. Every school and every school district, have every state test the children. I've also proposed a voluntary national test in the fourth grade and eighth grade, and a form of testing the governor has not endorsed. I think that all new teachers ought to be tested, including in the subjects that they teach. We've got to recruit 100,000 new teachers. And I have budgeted for that. We've got to reduce the class size so that the student who walks in has more one-on-one time with the teacher. We ought to have universal pre-school and we ought to make college tuition tax deductible, up to $10,000 a year.

(5) Bush on what he would do in the event of a financial crisis:

Well, it depends, obviously. But what I would do first and foremost, is I would get in touch with the Federal Reserve Chairman, Alan Greenspan, to find out all the facts and all the circumstances. I would have my Secretary of the Treasury be in touch with the financial centers not only here, but at home. I would make sure that key members of Congress were called in to discuss the gravity of the situation. And I would come up with a game plan to deal with it. That's what governors end up doing. We end up being problem solvers. We come up with practical, common sense solutions for problems that we're confronted with. In this case, in the case of a financial crisis, I would gather all the facts before I made the decision as to what the government ought or ought not to do.

(6) Gore on campaign finance reform:

And that's one of the reasons I've said before, and I'll pledge here tonight, if I'm president, the very first bill that Joe Lieberman and I will send to the United States Congress is the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill. And the reason it's that important is that all of the other issues, whether prescription drugs for all seniors that are opposed by the drug companies or the patient's bill of rights to take the decisions away from the HMOs and give them to the doctors and nurses, opposed by the HMOs and insurance companies, all these other proposals are going to be a lot easier to get passed for the American people if we limit the influence of special interest money and give democracy back to the American people.

Vice-Presidential Debate (full transcript)
(1) Cheney on Iraq (full moderator question included):

MODERATOR: This question is for you, Mr. Secretary. If Iraq's president Saddam Hussein were found to be developing weapons of mass destruction, Governor Bush has said he would, quote, "Take him out." Would you agree with such a deadly policy?
CHENEY: We might have no other choice. We'll have to see if that happens. The thing about Iraq, of course, was at the end of the war we had pretty well decimated their military. We had put them back in the box, so to speak ... Unfortunately now we find ourselves in a situation where that started to fray on us, where the coalition now no longer is tied tightly together ...The Russians and French are flying commercial airliners back into Baghdad and thumbing their nose at the international sanctions regime. We're in a situation today where our posture with Iraq is weaker than it was at the end of the war. It's unfortunate. I also think it's unfortunate we find ourselves in a position where we don't know for sure what might be transpiring inside Iraq. I certainly hope he's not regenerating that kind of capability, but if he were, if in fact Saddam Hussein were taking steps to try to rebuild nuclear capability or weapons of mass destruction, you would have to give very serious consideration to military action to -- to stop that activity. I don't think you can afford to have a man like Saddam Hussein with nuclear weapons in the Middle East.

(2) Lieberman on whether gays and lesbians should have "all the constitutional rights enjoyed by every American citizen":

The question you pose is a difficult one for this reason. It confronts or challenges the traditional notion of marriage as being limited to a heterosexual couple, which I support. I must say I'm thinking about this, because I have friends who are in gay and lesbian partnerships who said to me, isn't it fair. We don't have legal rights to inheritance, visitation when one partner is ill, to health care benefits. That's why I'm thinking about it. My mind is open to taking some action that will address those elements of unfairness while respecting the traditional religious and civil institution of marriage.

(3) Cheney on the same question as above:

This is a tough one, Bernie. The fact of the matter is we live in a free society, and freedom means freedom for everybody. We shouldn't be able to choose and say you get to live free and you don't. That means people should be free to enter into any kind of relationship they want to enter into. It's no one's business in terms of regulating behavior in that regard. The next step then, of course, is the question you ask of whether or not there ought to be some kind of official sanction of the relationships or if they should be treated the same as a traditional marriage. That's a tougher problem. That's not a slam dunk. The fact of the matter is that matter is regulated by the states. I think different states are likely to come to different conclusions, and that's appropriate.

(4) Lieberman on Hollywood:

Al Gore and I have felt for a long time, first as parents and then only second as public officials, that we cannot let America's parents stand alone in this competition that they feel they're in with Hollywood to raise their own kids and give their kids the faith and values they want to give them. I've been a consistent crusader on that behalf. John McCain and I actually requested the Federal Trade Commission report that came out three or four weeks ago which proved conclusively that the entertainment industry was marketing adult-rated products to our children. That is just not acceptable. One finding was that they were actually using 10 to 12-year-olds to test screen adult-rated products. When that report came out, Al Gore and I said to the entertainment industry, stop it.

Second Presidential Debate (full transcript)
(1) Bush on whether our country's wealth brings "with it special obligations to the rest of the world":

Yes, it does. Take, for example, Third World debt. I think we ought to be forgiving Third World debt under certain conditions. I think, for example, if we're convinced that a Third World country that's got a lot of debt would reform itself, that the money wouldn't go into the hands of a few but would go to help people, I think it makes sense for us to use our wealth in that way, or to trade debt for valuable rain forest lands, makes that much sense, yes. We do have an obligation, but we can't be all things to all people. We can help build coalitions but we can't put our troops all around the world.

(2) Gore on Iraq:

I was one of the few members of my political party to support former President Bush in the Persian Gulf War resolution, and at the end of that war, for whatever reason, it was not finished in a way that removed Saddam Hussein from power. I know there are all kinds of circumstances and explanations. But the fact is that that's the situation that was left when I got there. And we have maintained the sanctions. Now I want to go further. I want to give robust support to the groups that are trying to overthrow Saddam Hussein, and I know there are allegations that they're too weak to do it, but that's what they said about the forces that were opposing Milosevic in Serbia, and you know, the policy of enforcing sanctions against Serbia has just resulted in a spectacular victory for democracy just in the past week...

(3) Bush on Serbia:

I think it's a triumph. I thought the president made the right decision in joining NATO and bombing Serbia. I supported them when they did so. I called upon the Congress not to hamstring the administration, and in terms of forcing troop withdrawals on a timetable that wasn't necessarily in our best interest or fit our nation's strategy, and so I think it's good public policy, I think it worked, and I'm pleased I took -- made the decision I made. I'm pleased the president made the decision he made. Because freedom to go in that part of the world, and where there's a lot of work left to be done, however.

(4) Gore exchange with moderator on eight major interventions of the last 20 years:

MODERATOR: ...in the last 20 years there have been eight major actions that involved the introduction of U.S. ground, air or naval forces. Let me name them. Lebanon, Grenada, Panama, the Persian Gulf, Somalia, Bosnia, Haiti, Kosovo. If you had been president for any of those interventions, would any of those interventions not have happened? GORE: Can you run through the list again? MODERATOR: Sure. Lebanon. GORE: I thought that was a mistake. MODERATOR: Grenada. GORE: I supported that. MODERATOR: Panama. GORE: I supported that. MODERATOR: Persian Gulf. GORE: Yes, I voted for it, supported it. MODERATOR: Somalia. GORE: Of course, and that again -- no, I think that that was ill-considered. I did support it at the time. It was in the previous administration, in the Bush-Quayle administration, and I think in retrospect the lessons there are ones that we should take very, very seriously. MODERATOR: Bosnia. GORE: Oh, yes. MODERATOR: Haiti. GORE: Yes. MODERATOR: And then Kosovo. GORE: Yes.

(5) Gore on "nation-building":

This idea of nation building is kind of a pejorative phrase, but think about the great conflict of the past century, World War II. During the years between World War I and World War II, a great lesson was learned by our military leaders and the people of the United States. The lesson was that in the aftermath of World War I, we kind of turned our backs and left them to their own devices and they brewed up a lot of trouble that quickly became World War II. And acting upon that lesson in the aftermath of our great victory in World War II, we laid down the Marshall Plan, President Truman did. We got intimately involved in building NATO and other structures there. We still have lots of troops in Europe. And what did we do in the late '40's and '50's and '60's? We were nation building. And it was economic. But it was also military. And the confidence that those countries recovering from the wounds of war had by having troops there. We had civil administrators come in to set up their ways of building their towns back.

Third Presidential Debate (Town Hall) (full transcript)
(1) Bush on health care:

I'm absolutely opposed to a national health care plan. I don't want the federal government making decisions for consumers or for providers. I remember what the administration tried to do in 1993. They tried to have a national health care plan. And fortunately, it failed. I trust people, I don't trust the federal government. It's going to be one of the themes you hear tonight. I don't want the federal government making decisions on behalf of everybody.

(2) Gore on the estate tax:

I'm for a massive reform of the estate tax or the death tax. And under the plan that I've proposed, 80% of all family farms will be completely exempt from the estate tax. And the vast majority of all family businesses would be completely exempt, and all of the others would have sharply reduced. So 80% -- now the problem with completely eliminating it goes back to the wealthiest 1%. The amount of money that has to be raised in taxes for middle-class families to make up for completely eliminating that on the very wealthiest, the billionaires, that would be an extra heavy burden on middle-class families. And so let's do it for most all, but not completely eliminate it for the very top.

(3) Bush on morality and protecting children:

You bet there's things that government can do. We can work with the entertainment industry to provide family hour. We can have filters on Internets where public money is spent. There ought to be filters in public libraries and filters in public schools so if kids get on the Internet, there is not going to be pornography or violence coming in. I think we ought to have character education in our schools. I know that doesn't directly talk about Hollywood, but it does reinforce the values you're teaching.

(4) Gore on morality and protecting children:

I've been involved myself in negotiating and helping to move along the negotiations with the Internet service providers to get a parents' protection page every time 95% of the pages come up. And a feature that allows parents to automatically check with one click what sites your kids have visited lately.

Platforms
Read the full 2000 Republican platform here.
Read the full 2000 Democratic platform here.
Internet Resources
Bush/Cheney Website
Gore/Lieberman Website
Videos
Debates
First Presidential Debate
Vice-Presidential Debate
Second Presidential Debate
Third Presidential Debate (Town Hall)
Advertisements
Bush personal responsibility ad
Bush education ad
RNC prescription drugs ad
Gore anti-Bush energy ad
Gore anti-Bush Social Security ad
Gore "keep the faith" ad
Bonus:
SNL's Gore v Bush Debate
Strawpoll
>>>VOTE HERE<<<
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(Okay here's the real poll, vote here)

Should You Watch It? Summer 2020 Edition

Spring 2020 Edition’s Thread
(All perspectives are based on the first three episodes of each series unless otherwise noted!)

Deca-Dence

Banjo’s Perspective

Must Watch It
A trawling, mechanical goliath. Creatures filled with important green goo. The era of the post-apocalypse. Deca-Dence combines these three base elements with expert ease, crafting a very promising project from the get-go.
And that statement is true across the board. Natsume leads as a growing protagonist, developing the relationship with her mentor Kaburagi amidst her own flaws and his own troubles. The plot takes on a ton of intrigue that drives it forward with mettle and challenge aplenty. Its themes on escaping the cog-in-a-machine lifestyle find parallels in multiple areas: the contrasting nature of the situation, the free-flowing anti-gravity combat, the control the characters have over their destiny.
Similarly, the production values reach nice heights. From the details and styles of the art itself to the fun designs and reaction faces to the movement and the directing of the scenes, the visuals provide the show another boost. Same goes for the music, effects, and the voice acting on stage.
Truth be told, the anime sits atop a precarious spot, for it has (more so than usual) a high chance of crashing and burning at any given moment when considering the premise. Until then, though, it can rest well knowing that it holds onto some form of opulence.

Another Perspective, courtesy of QBB123XX:

Must Watch It
In a world invaded by hostile creatures, you live inside a huge moving fortress with the remnants of civilisation. Do you accept your predicament, or will you fight for lasting peace?
That is the premise of Deca-dence. The story revolves around Natsume, a young girl. She wishes that the war with the Gadolls would end as soon as possible. Yet, her injuries forced her to be relegated to cleaning the Deca-dence, under Kaburagi's supervision. Determined to fight for humans' survival, she begs Kaburagi to teach her how to fight, thus embarking on a journey for Natsume, Kaburagi and the Deca-dence. The main cast has been outstanding so far. Natsume is very positive and has high hopes for the future. Meanwhile, Kaburagi is down-to-earth, believing that there is no use trying to end the war. These contrasting ideologies make for very interesting interactions between the two and their surroundings. Couple that with funny scenes and facial expressions, and you have a highly engaging show.
The story itself is intriguing too. Despite the common dystopian theme, there are many new elements to make the story refreshing. In fact, Deca-Dence Major Spoilers!
So, if you are a fan of dystopian stories, or want to see how different personalities interact with each other, Deca-dence is the anime for you. Even if you don't, watch an episode or two! You'll be surprised at how much you can enjoy in this anime.

Dokyuu Hentai HxEros

(English Title: SUPER HXEROS)

Banjo’s Perspective

Drop It
You can’t spell “hero” without “ero”, and so Retto, Kirara, and the other forces for good in Dokyuu Hentai HxEros step up to fight for humanity using the only tool for justice they know: an overwhelming sex drive.
The anime takes on the form of a lewd Power Rangers setup. The five color-specific-design leads channel their inner libido to defeat evil monsters who seek to disrupt and ruin the erotic desires of civilization, forcing the world into an emotionless lifestyle. And this campiness works in its favor when Retto’s clothes explode off his body from his sheer might or when the enemies literally die in a single hit without much cause for fanfare.
But the anime doesn’t lean into this campy feeling enough. Not only does the comedy not have enough of that punch but also the ecchi content fails to be either interesting or different to warrant such a ridiculous situation. Not to mention that the uninspired art, the weak music selections, and the lame characters further suppress its chances.
To be fair, Retto and Kirara may go against the norm of this medium with a realized romantic relationship down the line, but that possibility is highly unlikely given the format of the show and their general aptitude for the status quo. That is to say, “ero” is needed to spell “zero”, too.

Another Perspective, courtesy of metalmonstar:

Consider It
Honestly you should wait until the uncensored version before giving it a try. The show is basically ecchi power rangers but the censorship is rampant. Basically an evil race of bug aliens have come to Earth to steal our erotic energy. Luckily for Earth a team of Super Power (horny) teenagers assemble to defeat the invaders. Of course they all live together and with only 1 guy to a group of girls you can bet hijinks will ensue. Wouldn't be ecchi without a harem thrown in. Nothing too complex going on in the show, best to just kind of turn your brain off. As the villains motivation is fairly inconsistent and nonsensical. The power system also makes very little sense when scrutinized. If you are considering it I must reiterate to wait for the uncensored version. Large portions of the show are covered in beams of light, steam, or just outright starbursts. It is pretty disruptive at times. A good example is in one episode the protagonist is looking up a girls skirt (typical ecchi stuff) but all we get to see is a bright light. It takes like 15 seconds of the shot panning before you realize what you are looking at. So if you don't mind ecchi and need something light to watch give it a try.

Gibiate

Banjo’s Perspective

Drop It
In Gibiate, the Gibia monsters have forced humans into hiding as they attack and turn them into more of their grotesque kind. With a potential vaccine on the way, the present time still requires help. So, a samurai, a shinobi, and a monk are whisked from the past and flung to this future to fight the new war.
But this show pretty much has no future. Indeed, this project is going down the route of history (or more specifically infamy) in the making, for its current trajectory pins it as one of the worst anime from recent seasons.
It has a nonsensical plot filled with odd decisions and ridiculous scenarios. The cast are beyond hopeless in their characterizations, personalities, and motivations. Action sequences are a mixture of terrible setups and lackluster events. Comedy and drama fall flatter than chalk on the sidewalk.
Not to mention the horrendous artistry on display. Still frames. Wonky CG. Stiff movements. Off-model representations. Awful camera usage. This hodgepodge of abysmal mishaps and horrible decisions are downright inexcusable. Suffice it to say that the audio pieces fare about the same, what with their ineffective music, bland voice acting, and coarse sounds.
In short, this one deserves only to exist among the other discarded giblets of the medium.

Another Perspective, courtesy of Groenboys:

(Based on the first two episodes)
Drop It
Imagine this: You have an anime about a samurai and a ninja being send into the future in an apocalyptic version of tokio where a virus that turns humans into monsters has infected the whole world and now the samurai and ninja have to fight against the monsters and virus to safe humanity. Well at first the premise sounds like a random word generator having a stroke, it also sounds like the most dumb fun premise ever, but it somehow manages to be ungodly boring.
This is mainly due to the lackluster characters and the awful animation. The characters dont really have a personality and they make really odd decisions that only frustrate the viewer. The voice acting doesnt help either since some dont even sound right for their character designs. And then the animation. It is a slide show with loads of CGI that look like they belong on the PS2. I guess I am supose to be threatened by these CGI monsters but I end feeling nothing for them.
I would be lying if this anime didnt make me laugh at times, but that is because I laughed at the anime, not with it. “So bad that it is good” anime are fun to watch, but this is less “So bad that it is good” and more just bad. Don’t waste your time on this.

Great Pretender

Banjo’s Perspective

Must Watch It
Cunning thieves can make a pretty penny by swindling unsuspecting folks. Makoto Edamura believes himself to be a star in such a field based on his successful exploits. But after a chance encounter here and a forced hand there, Great Pretender finds him in a rather unpredictable place with thrills galore.
This anime has achieved fantastic status already. One can hear it in the audio where the chaotic energy of the jazzy music complements the pace and the fervor of the narrative extremely well. One can see it in the artistry when the colorful setting and the awesome cinematography create splendor on the screen. One can feel it in the clever storybeats that test the acuity of the audience currently watching.
The show doesn’t stop. The main cast have distinct strengths and charisma that fit the tone and the purpose of the plot. It blends dramatic backstory and comedic timing without worries. And its thematic basis on truth and truths reinforces both the characters and the story at large.
It’s mature. It’s fun. It’s interesting. With top-tier execution every which way, there’s no need to pretend about the greatness of this project.

Another Perspective, courtesy of SmurfRockRune:

Must Watch It
“Great Pretender is one of the most underwatched anime I’ve ever seen in my time watching airing anime. Everything about it is just fantastic, from the characters, the plot, and even the production values.
The story follows a group of conmen as they try to pull off a heist against a mob boss, stealing a lot of his money in the process, but constant hurdles get in their way making it way harder than it would appear to be. This show will keep you on the edge of your seat constantly as you’re trying to figure out how the characters could possibly get themselves out of each bind, as they just keep getting pulled further and further into this lie they’ve weaved for themselves.
In addition to the tension, the show Great Pretender Spoilers and am continuously blown away by the schemes that the mastermind Laurent pulls off, even if they don’t all work immediately. You will never know just how much planning and preparation he’s done in advance until it all hits you like a truck.
So definitely watch Great Pretender. It’s a shame it’s stuck in Netflix jail where it will never be as appreciated as it should be, but it’s worth it 100%. It’ll be on Netflix outside of Japan on August 20th if you would rather wait for a legal way to stream it.”
And also, it has a Freddie Mercury song as the ED.

Kanojo, Okarishimasu

(English Title: Rent-A-Girlfriend)

Banjo’s Perspective

Watch It
Being in love often brings happiness and joy. However, when that love is lost or not reciprocated, darker thoughts usually win over. Kazuya Kinoshita is experiencing the latter circumstance, and so, refusing to wallow in complete despair, he rents himself a new girlfriend. Thus begins Kanojo, Okarishimasu.
The anime is doing things right. A college environment brings in a more mature, more realistic environment for the scenes and the relationships to play out. Moreover, the designs for the ladies are no doubt attractive. And, perhaps best of all, Kazuya is a peculiar person due to his major thematic roots in loneliness and failure while he upholds his “loser” status as a dejected, disheartened, and damaged individual.
But it’s also doing things wrong. The number of conveniences and just-so-happens are off the charts, causing many plot woes and eyebrow-raising moments. It also doesn’t help that the comedy doesn’t quite counterbalance the drama and tension going on.
Yet it goes back to doing things right with the unabashed portrayal of “frustrations”, a clear motif on facades, and the palpable second-hand embarrassment that fills the air. Some good voice-acting performances and music offerings further improve the show’s chances.
This combination of right and wrong is rather volatile and can explode in either direction indefinitely depending on its next few choices and inclusions. For now, though, it’s at least worth renting.

Another Perspective, courtesy of DoctorWhoops:

Consider It
At first glance, you might be inclined to write off ‘Kanojo, Okarishimasu’ as a romcom harem that, like most others, is filled with girls slowly falling in love with a loser protagonist, a narrative carried by misunderstandings, and loads of semi-sexual implications.
Saying ‘Kanojo, Okarishimasu’ is nothing like that would be a lie, but there is appeal in the series even if you’re not into that (like me). Being about rental girlfriends, ‘Kanojo, Okarishimasu’ does a pretty decent job of portraying the protagonist’s desperation for romantic contact, and the social pressure at that age to be romantically- and sexually active. The protagonist's self-loathing and self-awareness for using the service clashes with the feelings that led him to use it in the first place, which is decently well-portrayed.
This aspect is what makes ‘Kanojo, Okarishimasu’ somewhat notable, in addition to its decent presentation. Its bearing on the narrative is minor but prominent enough that I can appreciate it, even if it means sitting through the show’s more mediocre romcom/harem aspects. These other aspects are pretty decent considering the low standard for this type of show, but are unlikely to carry it for you. Three episodes in I’m not confident it’s worth finishing (as it could go downhill), but if my description above sounds reasonably appealing then I’d say at least try it. You might surprise yourself.

Another Perspective, courtesy of Hurttrain:

Watch It
Rom-com that is based around falling in love with an escort. This one isn't set in high school which gives it a breathe of fresh air, but still has lots of typical Rom-com scenes. Another bonus is one of the love interests dislikes the protagonist, but not in the tsundere way. This is the main item that item that could bump this anime from a watch it to a must watch for Rom-com fans. The two main characters don't bring anything new to Rom-com, but seeing how they react to this wrench being dropped into the system will be interesting. The animation, sound, and music are all lovely, but they are not rememberable. It is all crisp and clean but doesn't push or test any boundaries. There are some scenes where the texturized background, the sort that the American show Chowder was known for, is used and it feels off, but not terribly so. The story and pacing are set at a regular speed for a Rom-com, and would feel very natural for those who enjoy the genre.
If you like Rom-coms you will enjoy this piece, if you dislike them this will not be the show for you

Koi to Producer: EVOLxLOVE

(English Title: Mr. Love: Queen’s Choice)

Banjo’s Perspective

Drop It
Watashi, an independent woman leading a myth-centric television program in lieu of her passed father, requires a new concept to keep their struggling ratings afloat. Simultaneously, she learns of so-called EVOL users who have impossible abilities during everyday life. Coincidentally, Koi to Producer EVOLxLOVE has her crossing paths with this unknown side in her determined pursuit.
Sadly, while the show earns points for the attractive designs of the men and a clean setup for its art, much of the rest of the show does not impress.
Watashi is a weak lead who contributes very little with her actions or on a writing front. Those four main men likewise seem less like strong characters and more akin to partitioned cutouts that fit a quota. The slight supernatural angle isn’t misplaced, but the events and the situations surrounding them are not all that entertaining.
Other problems include other major items. Mediocre thematic ideas. Forgettable music. A boring mystery plot. While the anime may have a pretty outer layer, digging deeper here simply reveals that there’s not enough strength to carry its choices, queen or no.

Another Perspective, courtesy of punching_spaghetti:

Watch It
The phrase "adapted from a Chinese mobile VN" might not inspire confidence, but the fine people over at MAPPA have taken the source and turned it into a weekly bit of soapy fun. Our protagonist Watashi is a smart girl with a wardrobe of cute outfits, and the four male leads (a brusque CEO, a cop who doesn't play by the rules, a pop star, and a genius scientist), all easy on the eyes in the typical reverse harem way, provide fun interactions with Watashi and even have a few secrets for us to discover.
Add to this an intriguing, slow burn mystery plot about people who have access to a special power called EVOL, Watashi's struggles to keep her late father's internet show about the supernatural and unexplained afloat while forging her own path as a business woman, and an easy to look at visual style, and you have the recipe for a solid, entertaining show. This won't be the best show of the season, but I'll easily consider it overlooked if it stays the course.
At the very least, you can tune in for your weekly dose of demeaning Tomokazu Sugita.

Lapis Re:LiGHTs

Banjo’s Perspective

Consider It
In a rustic land of fantasy and magic, Lapis Re:LiGHTs follows a girl named Tiara who has traveled from abroad to study at a prestigious academy. There, she teams with her childhood friend and a set of eccentric ladies, building friendships and discovering her path in life.
Maybe surprisingly, the anime has been rather deliberate in its first three episodes. It has taken the time to build its world by showing off various magic uses, provided a look into the setting itself, and brought in more side characters and bonds between the cast. Doing so has established a neat trampoline from which the narrative will surely bounce off of for the remainder of the season.
Yet the major drawback right now stems from that trampoline possibly not providing enough height. That is, there’s been an awkward handling of what is meant (or at least what appears) to be the focused premise of the show: idols. Hints and displays of this focus have occurred, but, since it has not been incorporated into the crux of the story, the entire show comes off as a barely average slice-of-life anime instead.
Thankfully, the visuals, the comedic script, and what music has been heard bolster the trampoline, lighting the way for a positive experience should it find its footing.

Another Perspective, courtesy of jackachu100:

Watch It
Lapis Re:LiGHTs bills itself as a show that “blends fantasy, magical girl, and idol elements”. So far, it’s leaning more towards a CGDCT show with magic than an idol one. The show follows Tiara who has travelled to Mamkestell in hopes of joining Flora Girls’ Academy. There she reunites with an old friend, Rosetta, joins her group of friends, and CGDCT antics occur.
A CGDCT show heavily relies on its cast and while Lapis’s characters are fairly archetypal, they all feel unique and fun. The show has a large cast that gets introduced at a very fast pace, which is a bit overwhelming. The supporting characters have each had some funny moments and the main casts’ antics have been great fun. The world itself is just unique enough to be interesting.
The overall production values of Lapis have been mostly great so far. The character designs are all unique and really stand out with the beautiful art style. The backgrounds are stunning, showcasing a range of architecture at both the academy and the Mediterranean-inspired buildings of Mamkestell. The OST is great both on the BGM and idol side of things. The show walks a fine line between being generic and uninteresting, and an enjoyable show that’s great fun to watch. Personally, it lies on the latter side, but I could easily see it going the other way for people.

Maou Gakuin no Futekigousha: Shijou Saikyou no Maou no Shiso Tensei shite Shison-tachi no Gakkou e

(English Title: The Misfit of Demon King Academy)

Banjo’s Perspective

Consider It
Anos Voldigoad was the once and future ruler of the demon forces 2000 years ago. He still is, too, for his reincarnation has finally occurred. In this era, people do not know his name, but that matters not to him as he will make them remember in Maou Gakuin no Futekiousha.
Indeed, it’s almost impossible to ignore when his methods exceed the capabilities of everyone nearby. That’s not an understatement; Anos is one of the most overpowered dudes ever. It results in ludicrous moments that are fun to watch and in some comedic asides that work as a contrast to the dark tone of the show.
But it also damages the plot because, despite his actions, nobody seems to understand or to care that the person they’ve been searching for has blatantly appeared. Even disregarding this odd sidestep, Misha and Sasha, the main female leads, are nowhere near as intriguing as the show would have the audience believe.
Nevertheless, the anime boasts good lighting for its scenes, and his parents make for nice supporting cast members that keep the anime grounded, even if only a teeny tiny bit. Altogether, this anime remains at the minimum entertaining for now, avoiding a misfit label.

Another Perspective, courtesy of Tavera27:

Watch It
As a new season comes out, we find ourselves once again submerged into a fantasy world. After 2000 years, the Demon King Anos Voldigold has finally reincarnated and went to the academy for Demon King candidates, but to his surprise, he was found “inadequate”. Now Anos will have to use all of his power and knowledge to once again, make himself the demon king.
Anos is OP and he knows it, he has that face of “no one can even make me tear a sweat” and it becomes really fun to watch how he is better than everyone at everything, he’d beat the strongest student easily and would correct a teacher for making mistakes. He just knows everything and does it better than everyone, even though he is inadequate. This is one of the few times where it doesn´t matter that the main character has an absurd power, it is pretty hilarious to see him just how he is, a cynic, honest, loving, over powered (emphasis on over powered) demon.
Without a doubt it is really fun to watch and you get to emphasize with Anos and his ideals, lets say he is not what one could expect from a Demon King these days. If you take on this journey you will be laughing out loud and will enjoy it to its final minutes.

Monster Musume no Oishasan

(English Title: Monster Girl Doctor)

Banjo’s Perspective

Drop It
In another land and another time, humans and monsters coexist in peaceful harmony. Glenn (a human) and Saphentite (a lamia) prove this statement at their clinic where he works as a doctor and she works as his assistant. Together, they look after various monsters and their well-being, giving Monster Musume no Oishasan its apt title.
Admittedly, the show holds onto some interest with its descriptions and procedures related to the many animal terms and biology that the two handle. While not exactly educational or thorough, there’s knowledge to learn. If nothing else, their explanations curate some world-building opportunities.
But that’s about it; the rest of the anime flatlines. Glenn is far too straightforward of a protagonist with his low emotions. Saphentite and the other monsters are similarly tiresome and below-average. Its artistic direction is a bit rough in spots. The sparse ecchi content is neither erotic nor relevant. Narrative aspects like comedy and drama are an afterthought.
There are simply too many negatives piled onto this project, keeping health professionals away with or without apples.

Another Perspective, courtesy of Stalwartheart:

Consider It
“When talking to my Dungeons and Dragons group after a session, we stumbled upon the topic of a daily life of a werewolf. Would their hands burn if they touched silver coins? Would they ask restaurant staff if they used silver cutlery like an allergy? These “what if” scenarios are what drew me into this show. This is the main premise of Monster Girl Doctor, “What would a doctor’s visit be like for a non-human creature?” This harem, slice of life, borderline ecchi show is more than simply fan-service to the monster girl community; despite offering that in spades. You will find world building that answers the niche questions of what living as a non-human creature is like. The formula for this show is pretty clear from the get-go: Dr. Glenn Leitbeit and his lamia assistant Saphentite Neikes (who is clearly in love with him), help monster girls every episode; exploring medical issues that plague them. The monster girl falls for him too, rinse, repeat. The good doctor is either fantastically good at deflecting every girl’s advances or blind as a bat. While this pattern is predictable, the interesting world building surrounding the girl’s lives are enough to keep me satisfied. If you can overlook the fanservice for what it is, ask yourself “what would life be like as a ____?” and give this show a try.”

Peter Grill to Kenja no Jikan

(English Title: Peter Grill and the Philosopher’s Time)

Banjo’s Perspective

Drop It
Peter Grill to Kenja no Jikan stars the titular Peter Grill, the newly crowned strongest man in the world. By winning the tournament, he believes he has certainly secured his future with Luvelia, the love of his life. However, other women from other races have learned of his victory, and so they seek him out for their own genealogical desires.
At about twelve minutes per episode, the anime has a quick runtime that does help in keeping events on topic and to the point. It can even get some comedy going with its willingness to be more upfront with sex or with particular characters such as Luvelia’s insanely protective father.
Otherwise, the show has a tough time justifying its numerous other decisions. The premise itself is rather bizarre and off-putting with just how aggressive and mean-spirited the advances reach, especially when his romantic relationship is not only established but also understood by the other women. Moreover, the legitimate ecchi content is tacked on and devoid of staying power despite the length of the episodes. And both the visual and the audio quality aren’t anything noteworthy whatsoever.
So, in this case, there’s no need to spend time musing over the philosophy of this show.

Another Perspective, courtesy of Almondweeb:

Drop It
“To preface this review, I am going to critique this as I would with Interspecies Reviewers – not as a hentai but an anime. Lets start off with what I liked. The guildmaster / dad is funny.
Now onto what I disliked about the show. All of the other characters and the (nonexistent) plot. Unless you really like the sex scenes that make up 7-8 minutes of the 12 minute episodes, I can’t recommend it. This is coming from someone who loved Interspecies reviewers, because the sex scenes were important to the story and world, and not just fanservice.
Now to address the biggest issue I have with this show, rape. Because Peter is the strongest man in the world, every lady lusts for his seed. He has no interest however, because he has a fiance. So they blackmail or straight up rape him in his sleep. Now rape scenes in general don’t inherently condemn a show, take Goblin’s Slayer rape scene; Goblin Slayer Spoilers Same with Plunderers panty peaking scenes, as it not only sets up initial dislike for the main character, but also Plunderer Spoilers. Those anime show off scenes in a way that actually add substance, as apposed to this show which is glorifying it.”
Thank you all for reading my first ever hentai review.

The God of High School

Banjo’s Perspective

Drop It
Only the best fighters in the world have a shot at claiming total victory within the The God of High School as techniques and stances clash in tournament-duel fashion. The winner will have their wish granted, and the trio of Jin, Han, and Yu will do what they can to see their dream become a reality.
To its credit, the project contains a lot of nice art for the designs and neat animation for the sparring and choreographies at play. Nevertheless, this all-style-no-substance anime cannot deliver in its other areas.
That’s by its own design, for the show foregoes a substantial story in favor of a bunch of fights stringed together one after another. The pacing is way too fast for its own good, skipping over narrative tidbits or ruining buildup for the battles (or both). In turn, powers are all over the place and lacking proper comparisons. Which then causes the main and side characters to miss out on stronger foundations. And so on and so forth.
Arguably, it can teeter into outright disaster territory if the quality of the fighting ever dips later in the season. It’s not quite at such a bottom-of-the-barrel level yet. But, with tacky, overt in-universe ads for “Webtoon” and “Crunchyroll” acting as ominous flags already, it is on the floor, praying to a higher being for much-needed guidance.

Another Perspective, courtesy of rip_intonation:

Must Watch It
This anime follows Mori Jin, a Korean high schooler, and his two friends Daewi Han and Mira Yoo, as they battle it out in a fierce martial arts competition—The God of High School—for the chance to have their greatest wish realized. However, this competition seems to be hiding something far more sinister...
From the start, we are introduced to Mori Jin, our main character, and we are instantly hit with the two other important characters in the series (quite literally). GOHS doesn't waste its time to establish that, yes, this is a fighting anime, and there's going to be a lot of it. Yes, not that much has really come together story-wise, but we're shown small moments that foreshadow some potentially big events in the near future.
The animation is fluid and the fight scenes are beautifully constructed (no less from MAPPA). With each punch, throw, and kick executed, you can really feel the weight behind each movement, which brings it all to life.
Of course, as another webtoon adaptation, GOHS gets compared to TOG from the spring season. I can tell you for a fact that GOHS is much more promising, and seems to be doing a better job at fully adapting the webtoon into an anime.
Whether you're an anime only or a reader of the webtoon, you'll definitely enjoy watching this fun and action-packed adaptation.

Uzaki-chan wa Asobitai!

(English Title: Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out!)

Banjo’s Perspective

Consider It
Shinichi Sakurai has no qualms with his lonesome college experience – but Hana Uzaki cares a lot. So, as the title Uzaki-chan wa Asobitai! describes, she goes really out of her way to meetup with, talk to, or otherwise befriend him (much to his chagrin) with her never-ending teasing nature.
A slice-of-life format follows these two disparate personalities, their feuds fueling the comedy as they go about their daily activities. It’s quite simple, but this simplicity works, if only because the supporting characters don’t get in the way, the grounded, university setting aims for realism and maturity, and they have good chemistry together (even if a romantic pairing is so beyond unlikely to happen given the focus and intent).
Uzaki herself can be seen as intrusive, but her heart is in the right place. Shinichi can sometimes be harsh, but he still appreciates what she does for him (when she isn’t being completely obtuse). In combination, they create a bunch of cute scenes that again aid the anime.
Average art, missing themes, and a stretched runtime work against this project. However, solid voice acting, visual meta jokes, and modest ecchi content ensure that hanging out with it may, in fact, be an okay want.

Another Perspective, courtesy of saxman2112:

Watch It
“Hana Uzaki is excited to start her freshman year when she bumps into Shinichi Sakurai, her senior by one year who she knew in high school. While Uzaki is excited for the college experience she notices that Sakurai spends his time being a loner and not participating in college life. After a montage year goes by Uzaki is determined to hang out with Sakurai to help him become less introverted.
I started this show because of memes, expecting it to rely entirely on ‘hurr durr oppai.’ While that is still present to some degree, Uzaki-chan is actually a strong character driven show. To some, Uzaki-chan is a bully, but she clearly cares for Sakurai and values their friendship. Uzaki is still a bit childish, which some interpret as bullying, but I find her teasing adorable. Sakurai, on the other hand, intimidates people with his stony gaze, but also has goals and emotions he merely keeps to himself. This juxtaposition of extroversion and introversion drives the plot and their adventures. Uzaki and Sakurai bicker constantly, but they are also positive influences on each other, pushing each other toward being well-rounded adults.
These characters feel real, more real than a lot of SOL shows, which makes me want to follow their innocuous fighting as they grow and develop as people.”
Banjo's Top Three Picks:
1 Great Pretender
2 Deca-Dence
3 Kanojo, Okarishimasu
Volunteer Consensus:
(General estimation based off every potential volunteer and their feelings across all anime)
Tier 1 (Mostly “Must Watch It” Range):
Great Pretender
Tier 2 (Mostly “Watch It” Range):
Deca-Dence
Tier 3 (Mostly “Consider It” Range):
Maou Gakuin no Futekigousha: Shijou Saikyou no Maou no Shiso Tensei shite Shison-tachi no Gakkou e
Uzaki-chan wa Asobitai!
The God of High School
Kanojo, Okarishimasu
Lapis Re:LiGHTs
Monster Musume no Oishasan
Dokyuu Hentai HxEros
Tier 4 (Mostly “Drop It” Range):
Peter Grill to Kenja no Jikan
Gibiate
Thank you so much for reading!
Also, give the volunteers a round of applause for their efforts!!
I hope that the community continues to enjoy this Summer 2020 anime season to its fullest!!! :3

In-Depth Review: Dell Inspiron 14 5405 with 4700U (With pictures!) AMA as well!

The fed repos are an attempt to prop up the global banking industry

The GitHub repository is here. I need someone to curate it. Feel free to reach out. Respond to the discussion opened by ctabka to be invited as a collaborator.

Before people start throwing money at stocks they haven't researched: I am not (yet) prescribing any positions. The stocks I've listed in the edit at the bottom of this thread are what I've collected from the comments and have not been vetted by me. I'm floating the idea of opening a google doc for public collaboration on research into these banks. I don't vouch for any of the tickers I've mentioned in this thread. Yet.
I also want to make it clear that I'm not predicting a bunch of US banks to fail. They're better insulated from this than the rest of the world. The vulnerable ones are abroad, and they're the ones with really lazy lending standards. US banks will be hit, but likely won't tank. Also, as stated at the end of this post, please correct me where I'm wrong. Feel free to leave a comment, but definitely reach out to me via chat or DMs so your message doesn't get buried. I would rather prioritize constructive criticism than a bunch of excited assent - if I am wrong, tell me in my DMs, preferably with an explanation rather than just "you're full of shit"
Drop me a chat (not a dm, swear to god, reddit doesn't need two different messaging systems) if you'd like to talk about coordinating. I'll get up with you guys tomorrow. I would love to pool information and repost this over the weekend with a more comprehensive picture of what the fuck is going on with the international lending system. Cheers!
Jesus, this really blew up. I'm at work right now, so I won't be super available to respond. Suffice it to say, though, that I've received an overwhelming amount of responses indicating interest in collaboration. After work today, (4-5 pm EST) I'll start really going through all the messages you guys have send me and shooting off replies. Mods have approved a Google doc so we can all contribute, and a disc chat might be in order, since there are so many of you fucking autists that have reached out. God bless. I'll be in touch soon.

Forgot to put strike/date at the top: I'm in September BAC $18 puts. Banks will start failing later this year. It's hard to tell which ones will fail, due to the shadowy nature of the shadow lending market. That, and the dollar will moon. You want positions spoonfed to you? Fuck off. This post is half food for thought, half explanation. Trying to follow the money here is hard. If you're lazy, just buy puts on indices like $INDA and $EWG and $EWY: any country that's loaded up on eurodollars.

Alright, you tards, listen up: this is going to be a long, confusing post.

First off, I'd like to say that I'm not smart. But that doesn't concern me, because you're not smart, either. I just began reading about repo operations a few days ago. I've seen a few posts on here lately remarking on the repo ops, and a lot of misconceptions about what they are and what they're intended to do. I've learned all of what I'm going to post here from other users on here and from my own research.

The most important thing you need to understand about the repo market is that it's a black box. It's an interbank loan market where securities (ideally bonds) are put up as collateral for short-term cash loans. The transactions are private and the market usually sets the rates. Repurchase agreements are semantically different from fed repos, but operate in the exact same way. This is important. Banks, per federal legislation, are required to keep a minimum amount of cash on hand to prevent liquidity issues. The repo market exists as a way to circumvent these requirements; banks run as close to the reserve requirements as possible to maximize their profitability, and sometimes run below the limit. In this case, the bank posts collateral on the repo market in exchange for liquid cash to meet the requirements again.

In September of last year, the fed was forced to offer hundreds of billions of dollars in repo agreements to banks. This is because the interbank repo interest rate had reached 10% due to liquidity problems. I'm still not sure, and I'm not sure that anyone else is sure, why the liquidity shortage arose, but it did. If I were to hazard a guess, it's because big domestic lenders, sensing volatility abroad, started to pull out of the repo market. Since then, the fed has been, on-and-off, offering repo agreements to large banks (designated banks are called Primary Dealer Banks [PDBs]) and they hold a special status and maintain accounts with the fed. Once these PDBs post collateral (again, securities), money (kind of) is transferred temporarily to their fed account. These PDBs then distribute the cash in the interbank repo market (which is anonymous) at a slight profit. The fed repo interest rate was around 1.6%; on Tuesday night, it jumped up to 1.8% because of the emergency demand.

The fed had planned to cut repo ops to 0 by April of this year, essentially weaning the US banking system off of liquidity infusions. This didn't happen. Due to supply chain disruptions and market volatility, the fed was forced to offer several hundred billion in overnight repo agreements this week to PDBs in an effort to maintain liquidity. In fact, this month is set to hit record repo lending balances. Furthermore, the fed is expecting another $130b to be repaid in the next three weeks, sucking even more liquidity out of the market.
Edit: The fed was also pondering establishing a standing clearing house for fed repos to smaller entities like hedge funds. Hopefully, they're walking that idea back, because it's a fucking terrible one.

Now, here's where I learned I was wrong, and this is a point of confusion for some: the banks don't need the liquidity for themselves. They need the liquidity for their borrowers. See, these PDBs float money anonymously in the repo market to lots and lots of entities, both domestic and foreign. This is shadow banking. Remember when I said the repo market is a black box? Right, well, American banks have been lending money to foreign banks that don't have as stringent of regulations as American ones do. In the US, between two US banks, when a loan is written, some percentage of the loan size must be physically transferred over to the borrower (the reserve amount). Between an American bank and a foreign bank, though, no such requirement exists.

From this discrepancy in regulation, the eurodollar is born. The eurodollar is imaginary money that is printed by American banks: when they make a loan to a foreign bank, the loan exists only on the balance sheets. There is no physical manifestation of currency transfer. Consequently, eurodollars get leveraged to shit. Instead of the fractional reserve system, the ideal interbank loan system in America, eurodollars can get loaned indefinitely, forever. Eurodollars are paying factory workers, building bridges, and trading as currency. But it's not currency. And because eurodollars are what circulate outside the US, real USD are becoming increasingly rare.

You see, the USD has become the de facto global currency. There's a lot of confidence in it. It backs virtually every exchange of goods or services in the world. Right now, though, emerging markets' banks aren't really using it; they're hoarding it. Additionally, they're accepting awful collateral in exchange for eurodollars, because they know the USD has intrinsic value and eurodollars are imaginary. Collateral like subprime loans. Sound familiar? It should, because the 08 crisis was global because of the international monetary system. The mortgage defaults here at home were just the impetus - just like the supply chain disruptions this year might be. The subprime mortgage scandal was just the scapegoat for the underlying fragility of the eurodollar system.

Now, PDBs are aware of this. That's one reason they're starting to become stingier with their lending. They know that their borrowers are accepting garbage collateral in exchange for eurodollars. They know that foreign banks are leveraging themselves up to the tits on low-grade collateral, which means, in essence, the fed is, by proxy, making out hundreds of billions in loans to banks in places like India for fucking used car loans instead of treasury bonds. So, say that Shyam over in India can't make his car payments this month because he hasn't worked since the quarantine began. And his neighbors all do the same. Without US liquidity injections, channeled through the PDBs and into the shady repo market, that Indian bank will fail.

Now, that's why it matters that US lenders are pulling out of foreign markets: with supply/manufacturing disruptions and increasing volatility all over the world, foreign banks are direly hurting for liquidity so they can make out loans for businesses and manufacturers and individuals and all sorts of entities. If they don't get this liquidity, they're likely to default. And what happens when these capital groups and small banks die? They default on their loans. So on, up the chain. Say JPM takes out $50b against its treasuries from the fed. It then sells that money on the repo market. Eventually, that money finds its way to Yong Jiang over in China, who took out a loan to keep the lights on in the McDonald's Toy factory in Hubei. Well, three months later, sales haven't made up for lost revenue during the quarantine, and Yong Jiang becomes insolvent and defaults on his loan. That default makes its way back up the ladder to JPM. Now, JPM can either default on its loan from the fed (and bonds get dumped on the market) or it can liquidate some of its assets to pay the fed back.

JPM has made this calculation and decided, fuck no, it wants none of that. The problem is, though, that the loan has already been taken out by Yong Jiang. Say Yong Jiang's bank needs some liquidity because Yong defaults. Well, JPM has stopped taking fed repos because of the risk, so there's no money to buy on the market, and Yong's bank fails. This happens dozens of times, across dozens of countries. Pretty soon, the international banking industry faces systemic collapse. For reference, the global repo market is valued at $12T USD, and only 3/4 of it is backed by "pristine collateral" - government bonds. That means that $3T of it is in equities or derivatives. The fed's balance sheet is only $4T USD in comparison. Additionally, $.5T is in private capital groups, which are entirely opaque and likely have rotten fucking lending standards. No way to see who they're lending to, or what collateral they're taking.

We're already seeing this beginning: India's Yes Bank is about to be nationalized due to, you guessed it, liquidity problems. It's been involved in shadow lending practices, and American liquidity is starting to dry up across the world. China is also heavily dependent on eurodollars, but I'm not sure how that relationship will shake out. Their economy might be so big and so vital that we're forced to prop them up. If not, China's banking system will go tits up, too.

The question then becomes, is the fed willing and able to meet global liquidity demands? And beyond this, how do they force PDBs to keep printing eurodollars and continue to assume risk, risk which may violate their fiduciary obligation to shareholders? Trillion-dollar question.

So, what does all this mean? Who can we short? Honestly, this is hard to say. Personally, I have september puts on BAC for $18, and I'm still looking for anyone else who might be vulnerable. Any of the PDBs with accounts at the fed might be at risk. I'm going to start hunting for SE Asian, African, and South American banks that've been taking repo money. Those are likely to be the most probable to fail. On top of that, as banks start dropping like flies and the global economy tanks, the USD is going to fucking *moon*. That's a worthwhile bet, too. The issue here is that the repo market is anonymous, so it's hard to follow the money. If anyone has any recommendations for specific banks or lending groups to target or look into more, please feel free to let me know.

If the global banking industry started to fail, though, look for it to hit full swing later this year. This is going to be driven by large amounts of defaults that will be spurred by the manufacturing disruptions, the extent of which won't be fully felt until at least midway through this year. Add a few months for missed loan payments, and I'm wagering that you'll see banks start really failing by August or September.

There's a lot here I'm going to continue to research, and if there's anything I've gotten wrong or anything you'd like to add, please speak up and correct me/educate me.

Special thanks to:
u/Psicopro, u/farisbuellerRULES, u/FlexMcgooch, u/meritorius_demotion, and every other fucking angel who answered my stupid goddamn questions and let me bounce ideas off of them
This is a good sub, guys; embrace cooperation and weaponize your collective autism

Edit: For further reading, check out Jeff Snider. He's a macro economist who's been shrieking about this for years.

Edit 2: thanks for the positive responses and the awards, guys! Please, let me know if you find anything related to these repo market participants, either in the comments or (preferably) in a DM. I'll either update this post or write an updated DD. Cheers.

Edit 3: list of vulnerable recommended banks from the comments - Bank of East Asia, HDB, IBN (both in India) - keep em coming, guys

Edit 4: this blew up even more than I expected. I'm likely going to repost this over the weekend with more information and more citations, and I'm considering the possibility of opening up a google doc to aggregate research into vulnerable banks. Hit me up in my chat if you've got relevant information on this, or if you'd like to talk about the possibility of collaborating. I'm not sure how risky it would be to pool research like this, but I'm fascinated by the idea of crowdsourcing the work to identify the weak points in the international banking system.

A close examination of the story. Part 51: the box and the scar, a connection between Tom and Liz.

In this series we have been examining three kinds of elements: the apparent narrative that crumbles upon examination, the connecting elements that subtly create a cohesive narrative (geographical clusters, symbols, repeated elements, themes, and stories (to come soon) ) and the emerging narrative.
Throughout this series, the invaluable help of u/jen5225 has been instrumental.
In the last posts, we began to look at the Hargraves, Christopher Hargrave AKA Tom Keen, his mother, Susan Scott Hargrave AKA Scottie, and his father, Howard Hargrave, who they are, their connections to the mythology, and the event that defined their lives: the abduction of three old Christopher.
We concluded that Howard's actions marks him as innocent in the abduction, but that Scottie's "healing" certainly seem to indicate she had a closure Howard never did, which certainly points to her knowing what happened and having a part in the fake confession that stop the investigation.
We looked at the network of tenuous connections between the Hargraves, Red and Katarina that extends to Katarina's parents and Constantin.
"People like us", the dark haired estranged daughter of Katarina's mother, Lena and Tom connecting the NY and Chicago clusters, and the year 1998. Clues of Liz at age 3. The photo of the dark haired woman blowing bubbles with a girl in Scottie's office and Red's Bubble Girl.
We also briefly looked at the reasons behind the abduction, and concluded that whoever took Tom, must have wanted Scottie to do something for them, something that Howard did not know about.
Did she do it? Did she get her son back?
I think she would have. I think most parents would. But ChristopheTom never came back home. And we concluded she must have believed he had died, and had learned this from a source she deemed trustworthy, and kept it secret. It is likely she was the one behind the fake confession, or that she knew who did it, likely to stop the investigation that might have uncovered the truth, and/or to provide Howard with closure. A closure she had that allowed her to move on.
Howard, however, in the absence of a body, continued searching, and eventually found Tom circa 2014/15. He knew about the Phelps, and the Major.
We have concluded that he told Red who Tom was between 1.22 when Red was going to shoot Tom, and 2.08 when he gave means to go away. Red may have been who provided the link to the Major, allowing Howard to complete the story of what had happened to his son.
Both Howard and Red ask Tom not to tell Scottie who he is because she has secrets and some of them concern Tom.

RED: If you want answers, you must conceal your true identity.
HOWARD: She doesn't know that you're her son and it has to stay that way. It's imperative to the mission that Scottie Hargrave not know you're her son.

So something went awry. If she had done what asked, then likely Tom would be set free unless it was an ongoing thing. But I cannot see Scottie not attempting a rescue, or if she had got him back, and was not willing to continue doing what they asked, not hiding him, afraid he would be taken again.
Especially because Scottie is a strategic thinker, a "brilliant strategist," as Red described her. How likely it was she found a way to provide whatever was required of her incomplete, or with faulty information or a missing piece? To have something that would give her the upper hand?
IF she had Christopher safely hidden.
But we have a car accident two months after the abduction, and then have her gravelly injured for four months. And those four months, seems like the more logical time when things go wrong.

Two months after your disappearance, your mother was in a terrible car accident. Some thought she was trying to end her life, that the pain of losing you was too much. She was in the hospital for four months. After that, she was never the same. I noticed the differences, but I assumed it was because no one is ever the same after the loss of a child. It was only years later that I began to suspect that there was something more to it.

Ignore the rest of the cockamamie storie that Scottie was a double. That was done by Howard so that Tom's scruples in spying on his mother be assuaged. But the rest of what he says, that is interesting:
When she comes back home, six months after the abduction, she is not the same, she had changed.
That seems to be the time when we are told there is another big change in her.
Plus we know other things, Scottie met the fake Phelps Howard had arranged, and did not spot them as such. She knew nothing of them. I cannot imagine she really believe her son was alive.
Scottie is told Christopher has really died. She seems different because before she knew he was alive and she had to do something to get him back, but then she believes he is dead. She left him with someone she trusted, and she is then told he died.
That change was likely to be Scottie losing Christopher, and being unable to explain things. She is protecting this person, and this has to be a relative. A parent or a sibling. Her actions speak of her wishing him to be alive, but believing he was dead. Being unable to say how he really died. Protecting those she trusted with her son.
She never again looks for him, and we learn of no signs of distress around 1998 when he leaves his foster home, drives to NYC and disappears into St. Regis.

Are you listening to me? She’s gonna meet my adoptive parents. They’ll tell her I survived, show her pictures. I was with them until I was 14. She’s gonna recognize me.

That protection points to a close relative, likely a parent or a sibling. And this person may have hid Christopher believing it was the safest thing to do,
OR
He or she might have rushed to Scottie's side when Scottie had the accident, and left the child with someone trusted, who then took the child, gave the child away, lost the child, or just put him in social services.
But that time, if Christopher was with a relative, was probably the last time he was a happy boy. So this is likely to be the last chance for him to be given something he loved.
We saw connections from Lena to Scottie, and we heard Red tell Dom he still had family. We do not have anything firm, but we could at least venture that Lena might be Scottie's mother, and the one who lost Christopher or maybe thought to hide him even from his mother, which might have been the reason for the estrangement. We do not have enough evidence to make it into a conclusion, but enough to at least keep it in mind.
https://preview.redd.it/dcqnruzud4k51.png?width=1916&format=png&auto=webp&s=5698196209394288a86152980f6f6e2a8f207818
When we get to Constantin Rostov, we know he hired Scottie holding information either as a carrot or a weapon. When Scottie finds the firmer CIA operative turned detective working for Howard, he shows her evidence her son might be alive, all to show her the fake Phelps. And at the time she seems to have a bit of hope Christopher is alive.
What makes sense is that whatever Constantin was dangling, either as a weapon or as a carrot, had to do with Christopher, and maybe it was a hope he was, after all, alive. Because Scottie had not moved to declare him dead until after she meets the fake Phelps.
It is possible, that in some way, Constantin had learned who Tom really was, and he bartered the information about Christopher being alive for the kidnapping of who he though was his child, Liz.
Because when Scottie fails the job, and Liz fakes her death, prompted by Kate:

KATE TO RED: I suppose I knew what I would do that afternoon in the car on the drive to the mobile ICU. That poor girl, so afraid. Always looking over her shoulder, in the dark about who she was and why it mattered. But it wasn't just about Elizabeth anymore. Her child was already paying the price for her association with you.... I saw my opportunity.

KATE TO LIZ AT THE CHILDBIRTH: I know you're afraid, sweetie. You should be. Agnes will never be safe in Raymond's world. The question is, how far are you willing to go to protect her?

THAT is when Constantin Rostov gives a direct order to kill Tom, even though it was very clear Tom was happy to get away from Red, and so could have been a good ally:

Mr. Kirk was very clear. Take the girl, kill the father. Understood?

and order he repeats, even after learning Liz is alive, when it seems he really believes she is his child, and wants to make her believe is true and let her decide:

ROSTOV: Well, I am, Masha. I am. [your father] And I intend to prove that to you. Agnes will be brought here, but the person doing that has a job to do first.
LIZ: What job? With Tom? What are you doing to Tom?

Why would he give an order to kill Tom with Liz right there? Because it was payback for Scottie. That is why despite Scottie fearing he would come for her for revenge Constantin does nothing. He had to kill Tom first, as revenge for her killing Liz. A son for a daughter. Then he could tell her who Christopher was.

We have one more element to analyze when it comes to the Hargraves and the mythology, and is the carving in Tom's box and the identically shaped burn in Liz's wrist. This element provides a link between Liz in the year 1990 and Tom.
https://preview.redd.it/zltvrmn9f4k51.png?width=576&format=png&auto=webp&s=761a7a40c3fd97d3cc2a764c3b62597c82ea3cac
IF, as it seems, there is a familial connection between Scottie and Katarina, would whoever took Christopher take aim at Masha Rostova next? Is that why Katarina stopped bringing Masha to the US? Because Masha was the next vulnerability to exploit?
We know RR did see Liz, we know Liz spent time with him and his family because Naomi recognizes Agent Elizabeth Keen as Masha Rostova, AND Jennifer recognizes something Liz remembered about the beach house, as something Liz was remembering, "20 steps to the sand."
Tom is taken in the Summer of 1988. If he is recovered, and then someone faked his death, it happened in those six month after the bduction, when we are told Scottie had a change. So, by February of 1989.
Liz was taken in the Fall of 1990, so we know that by 1990, Katarina had not allowed her father to see her.
We also had another clue, which is the three year old clues:
https://preview.redd.it/nftw1uo2l4k51.png?width=648&format=png&auto=webp&s=c62843bffe478ee7ccbe7f92eb081f56917e3f4a

Liz's hair at about 3 years old: much lighter, suggesting she had spent time in the sun. Could we reasonably suppose Liz had been in the Rehoboth beach house in the Summer of 1989?
Dom told Liz he saw her at age 3, maybe a truth amid the lies?
We saw Red uncover a hidden growth chart that stopped at three years old.

But that leaves us in 1989, not 1990. Did RR take over one year to take his child back? Not likely. If he loved and missed his child, he would not.
BUT we have another element to consider about the year 1990:

He's using personal details about his target's life to create markers to narrow his search. So he's looking for someone who lived in D.C. before 1990.

Carla Reddington, Raymond Reddington's wife, was NOT living in the Washington DC area in 1990. So, if RR had taken Liz back to his home after that marker in the wall for three years old had been made, circa end of 1988, or very early 1989, it had not been to that house in Takoma Park. It had been to an unknown location, one that Lord Baltimore could not find, or she would not waste one year of valuable markers.
In 1990, the wife of RR seemed to have gone hiding, or at least left her residence without giving notice of where she was. Considering the dangerous things RR was doing, and considering he was stationed likely abroad:

Then in 1990, Reddington's coming home to see his wife and his daughter for Christmas. He never arrives.

Makes sense. "Coming home" means he was not stationed at his home base. So his wife and child would be alone, while he was in Kuwait, in a black op codenamed Minesweep, which provided illegal money to Kurdish rebels, and then his name was used in 1989 by the US Navy to provide Sutton Ross with a defective plane blueprint in a counterintelligence operation, something that would have made Ross quite angry as he blamed RR for it.
There is a bit more evidence. A property in rural Maryland Carla Reddington objected to being brought to:

There's a woman, Monica Lyons. She got six calls today, all unanswered. All came from a pay phone at a gas station in rural Maryland. Only a handful of homes in that area.

And she tells Red so:

What do you think I'm gonna do? Stay here in in this? I can't believe you brought me here.

So, Carla may have been hiding, or protecting Jennifer by moving to a remote location for reasons yet to be explained. Maybe because of the work her husband was doing, or maybe related to what had happened to Christopher, because one thing we should not ignore are the tenuous links between Scottie and Carla Reddington, they look like relatives, and both look like the photo of the estranged daughter of Katarina's mother, and like the photo Scottie has of a woman blowing bubbles with a girl in a brown dress which is in Scottie's office.
https://preview.redd.it/a9my4588l4k51.png?width=720&format=png&auto=webp&s=d0c9279abfd3a252b391ea32c9181244860795df
And curiously enough, they both mumble under their breath when they are nervous. We had seen Scottie do it, "Rubber baby buggy bumpers," but if you look carefully at the scene in 2.02 when Carla manages to escape and has to hide under a table, she is doing the same thing, mumbling under her breath.
Carla mumbles under her breath
So, we have the stage set, Christopher had been abducted, and is likely returned or extracted, and Scottie has hidden him with someone she trusts. She is then told he is dead. If the person who told her so is doing it to protect Christopher, it is likely Christopher was left with someone to protect him. This people may have not done a good job, or may have wanted to take him for their own. Or her relative may have left to be by Scottie's side when she had the accident, and whoever was left in charge of the boy took him, or faked his death.
We know Katarina does not allow Liz to see her father sometime before the Fall of 1990, when he takes her from Cape Breton Island, Canada. We came to the conclusion that Liz is with RR and a woman, who we do not know if it is Carla or Katarina buying a tree. That night, people come to their house (furniture, toys, a decorated tree, etc.) , to get something or to take Liz, and that a fire ensues, and Liz is taken. RR and Katarina go to get her back, and that is where the shooting happens.
During that fire, Liz is burn on the wrist with an object that has the same shape as the carving in Tom's box.
We can then placed an object, separated from the box, in that house, in that fire in December of 1990. As if the object that sat nested inside that carving, was the same object (or an identical object) that made that burn, and that creates a direct link between the night of the fire, when Liz got that burn, and the object linked to Tom's box.
But the first question should be, given that Gina has a box with a similar carving, and they both went to St. Regis and had some romantic relationship, is the symbol linked to St. Regis, as a school issued box, for example?

Let us examine what we know and can deduce from the box and the carving.

Tom's box is well made, and the carving is deep. It looks like an object sat inside the carving, like it was an embedded object, or it was the base for some figurine atop, or it had a handle or object on the top. It also has what seemed like 3 dots, like places where some fastening had been.
https://preview.redd.it/n1kg2eeht4k51.png?width=1916&format=png&auto=webp&s=77554c2b9ec9ac95a43579f15733126aae55ee57
The box Gina had was different in shape, newer, and the carving was crude, shallow and lacked the three dots. If it had been a St Regis box, the carvings and likely the boxes would have been the same.
https://preview.redd.it/kwugyf5kt4k51.png?width=1916&format=png&auto=webp&s=9e54c4fcf03705b23d653a34da0aec895701bda5
From this I deduce that Tom's box is the original and Gina was a copy. Since it seems Tom and Gina were sweethearts growing up in St. Regis, I imagine he made the box for her.
Which means the box is an object that has been with Tom for a long time, likely preceding St. Regis, before the Major recruited him at age 14.
So it was likely something that either came with him when he was taken, or was an object dear to him somehow, so that he took it with him when he escaped the Phelps in Chicago in 1998 and drove to NYC in the stolen Pontiac.
Unlikely to be something he took from the Phelps, then, or given to him by the Phelps, but an object that brings comfort, a beloved object even if he does not remember why.
Because it seems logical Tom has an attachment to it. It means something for him, and he has adopted the shape as his symbol, marking the envelope he gave to Liz with the photo of Red in the hospital with it,
note the three dots. That carving became Tom's symbol.

We have then two choices:

the box was taken with him,
it was given to him by the relative who hid him.

So, we know Tom was taken as a almost 4 year old in the Summer of 1988. Tom disappeared in 1988, but may have been hidden for a while, possibly during the critical time between his abduction, in the Summer, the accident that Scottie had two months later (September to November 1988), and the four months she spent at the hospital (October 1988 to March 1989).
So between his abduction, let us say July 1988 and March of 1989, and then Liz received that burn in December of 1990.
The object that burned Liz is identical to the bottom of the object that sat on that box, and it connects Tom and Liz as children.
We have two possibilities:

It is the same object. If this is the case, then we know that the person involved in Tom's abduction or fake death, was also involved in the fire, and that object might be related to the events.
It is an identical object. Is it part of a pair?

So, we know that Tom's box lost the figurine or handle or whatever sat in that carving at some point, but we cannot make a determination if it is the same object or an identical object that burned Liz. But it connects Tom's abduction or fake death with the fire, which resulted in the abduction of Liz.
Let us begin by what we know of the burn. It was done in the lived-in house. Why would the house be on fire? We have two choices:

it was an accident, maybe the product of smoke devices, or hand grenades in what magic have been an assault on the house with the object of getting Reddington or Katarina to give up something.
because it was set on fire by the three men we see leaving first: Tall Man, Middle Man, and Plaid Man, so that the occupants would get themselves to safety outside, and bring out any object of value that they needed to stay alive. They then take Liz hostage, and we have the extraction situation in the second, empty house, where we see the guard dozing off in the floor with a crate for support, and the other hidden image.

We have this image, of an object barely seen, which is seen just as two figures are seen,
https://preview.redd.it/oeejzw94v4k51.png?width=401&format=png&auto=webp&s=ab57b53594140affab76ed21d5a94d4f3ad20a47
but it is extremely confusing.
https://preview.redd.it/5w1wypg0v4k51.png?width=635&format=png&auto=webp&s=1751d92aec915049a0dcf3a65ff01df054af2628
Yet we can see is an object with a round part, flat, which looks like a figurine. Why would anyone have this leaving a house on fire with at least one small child (if the woman is Katarina) or with two small girls (if the woman is Carla Reddington)?
https://preview.redd.it/6o3pyebav4k51.png?width=1558&format=png&auto=webp&s=43b390fa8f3551d63069d6f4cf51fa53d2d63791
Only if it is incredibly valuable. A matter of life and death. But if it was taken out of the house, why would they take Liz then?
It would seem that the only valuable object that was taken out of the house was the bubble memory, which was inside Liz's toy bunny, which had been ripped, and the object pushed inside. We saw Kate repairing the toy back in Requiem.
https://preview.redd.it/rz508zwiv4k51.png?width=657&format=png&auto=webp&s=56660387c01f9a151f51df89fb3d99e46304f38c
But that other object seems to be taken out as well. And if Liz memories are correct, there were two girls in that house, dressed identically, looking very similar and of similar age. Two stuffed toy rabbits.
https://preview.redd.it/6dn3z1xdv4k51.png?width=790&format=png&auto=webp&s=34e8ae3bf75ef8e8a0ab660f11ebc1355c5e1e21
One was her, and the other was Jennifer. One had wavy hair and the other had curlier hair. And if that is true, then two stuffed rabbits were taken out.
Liz may not remember having a sister, so she thinks of the two images as being both herself.

The blackmail files

We have two objects that have been linked to Katarina and/or RR: One is the fulcrum, of which the bubble memory was hidden in Liz's toy rabbit.
The second is the Sikorsky Archive, and Katarina may have taken it:

RED: a legendary spymaster, the secret-keeper who disappeared— ... The secrets she took with her could compromise any number of players on that map. They'll be coming. They'll be coming for you.
LIZ: But I don't know anything.
RED: They don't know that. You can't walk away, Lizzy. They won't let you.

Fakerina describes the Sikorsky Archive as

It's a blackmail file. ... It has compromising information on very powerful people.

And we have what Howard calls "a global intelligence gathering operation."
We know the Hargraves are not part of the cabal. In fact they are off limits to them,

HITCHINS: Halcyon's off limits.... I despise Halcyon. They're powerful, arrogant, and unchecked, but our government depends on them.

and Cooper was warned off by Panabaker:

The White House Counsel specifically told me not to investigate Halcyon. After Panabaker did that, I tasked Tom to follow her. She made a beeline for Hargrave, presumably to warn her that the FBI was about to investigate her.

https://preview.redd.it/68f6kbzew4k51.png?width=900&format=png&auto=webp&s=65bd8e93ea47630c7be426a51eaa225324e5a7ab
Because they are too powerful, too well connected. In many ways, similar to what Red is doing. He became too powerful to dismiss:

But if anyone learns her identity, the only way I can stop the threats from rising is to rise up as a greater threat than all of them.

Reddington's criminal activities had made him useful even to governments:

I was in the Andes when I heard you and Elizabeth were engaged. Agents in the Columbian government had solicited my help negotiating the release of soldiers being held by FARC rebels. At the time, I was a rare intermediary having brokered sales of arms and equipment to both sides of the conflict.

RED: I've spent 30 years building an intelligence network of spies, informants, patriots, traitors. I've used it to build an empire that exists for only two reasons to keep me free and you safe.

The fulcrum was not really a blackmail file, it exposed the entirety of the cabal, but maybe Red did not know this and may have thought the fulcrum was the Archive:

The Fulcrum.... It's a blackmail file-- proof of the existence of an extraordinarily powerful clandestine organization. If their activities were made public, some of the most powerful and influential men would go to prison or be executed.

We tend to believe Red knows everything. But that is not true and even he says that:

LIZ: Just once, I'd like to hear the whole truth from you.
RED: I wish I knew the whole truth.

Appearing as if he knows everything is a valuable tool for Red. But over the years we have seen how he loves improvising, thinking on his feet.

"Planned"? I don't have the foggiest idea how to get you back. That's what makes it fun-- the surprises.

Whatever Scottie was to do to get Christopher back, I bet it had to do with the information gathering capabilities of Halcyon. And perhaps this is what Howard discovered, even if he may have missed the real reason why she was "using his company":

Let us explore our two options.

A. It was the object which sat inside the carving that burned Liz
That means that
i) the box was taken with him, and thus, the person who did this, brought this to Katarina as proof he had taken Christopher. But this is not what we see. We see this object hidden in a hand, not been shown to anyone.
ii) the box and the carving had been separated a while before, Tom having the box and Liz having the carving.
B. It was an identical object, thus it likely sat inside another box. And that means that two identical boxes were given to two families. One to Scottie and/or Christopher when he was being hidden, and another one ended in that house on fire, so it was given to Katarina or to the Reddingtons, and it may have contained something so valuable that someone took the figurine, and left the box out.
Once more we have duplicate events, duplicate objects.
We cannot know for sure if it was an identical object, or the same object. But it creates a link between Tom and Liz that goes to childhood:

DOCTOR: What can you tell me about the mother's family medical history?
TOM: Nothing. And neither could she. They died when she was young.
DOCTOR: What about Elizabeth herself? - Any cancer, heart disease, diabetes?
TOM: No. Look Doctor, is something wrong with my baby?
DOCTOR: Agnes is just fine. But the more genetic blanks I can fill in the charts, you know, the better I know what to screen for. What about your family?
TOM: More blanks. I never knew my parents either. I think that's what made Liz and I work. You know, it was the first time either of us felt like family.

"it was the first time either of us felt like family. "
Maybe because even if they are not blood related, especially if Liz is not Katarina's biological child but Fakerina or another one of the women using the name "Katarina Rostova", as children they may have known one another. Spending Summers not that far from one another:
https://preview.redd.it/vw7ld6fyw4k51.png?width=665&format=png&auto=webp&s=43350afc0bc6caefb830673cd2f2bfe8590ef2e9
<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>
see the entire series:

Part 1: the bizarre abduction of "Masha Rostova" as well as the curious idea that she was a rumor.
Part 4: the line that gives a clue that the "real Raymond Reddington (RR)" was a made up identity, that sprang alive on the Naval Academy.
Part 3: was "Katarina Rostova" a created identity, inhabited by many women?
Part 2: I am a traitor./ I am not a traitor: her curious contradiction exposes interesting facts about Dom.
Part 8: the personal angle of "Katarina Rostova".
Part 5: Alan Fitch and his relationship to Red.
Part 6: The real question Jennifer posed of Red.
Part 7: Jennifer's bizarre way of showing Liz the bones, considering she knew where Liz lived.
Part 9: the shapeshifter bones identity.
Part 10: evidence that we have one or two unseen players since the bones were dug out by Kate, because of two undeniable facts: someone other than Red and his associates beat up Dennison ("X") and someone other than Garvey and his associates severed Pete's fingers ("Y").
Part 11: did Kate's plan extended way past her suicide? Did she had a death switch for Dennison? Did she rope Nik yet another time, this time fatally?
Part 12: What did Pete do, and the strange sequence of events surrounding the bones once Pete disappeared.
Part 13: What was Jennifer really doing, among the lies and omission
Part 14: Liz's maternal grandparents, the man who hid in the woods and the woman who happily married Ted King.
Part 15: examines the curious blond Katarina, or Fakerina, a formidable foe
Part 16: the illusory Ilya and the other ghosts
Part 17: the unconnected yet trustworthy Sam Milhoan
Part 18: was Liz really born as Masha Rostova?
Part 19: the helpless housewife hiding in WITSEC, Naomi.
Part 20: the framing of RR
Part 21:recap of all the players
Part 22: what was Katarina doing for the CIA, the KGB and the cabal?
Part 23:the geographic clusters and he connections they form
Part 24: Red, the enigma
Part 25: the symbols
Part 26: The repeated elements
Part 27 will be posted out of order.
Part 28: The apparent narrative of the night of the fire and the events close to it.
Part 29: Who was caring for Liz, and what does she really remember?
Part 30: Liz was put in a closet twice.
Part 31: The first segment and its hidden image.
Part 32: bonus: the hidden images.
Part 33: The second segment and its hidden image
Part 34A: The third segment and is its hidden images. Part 34B: the images Liz sees at the end of the hallway.
Part 35: The fourth segment.
Part 36: The fifth segment.
Part 37: The fight and shooting recalled in 2.22 and some conclusions.
Part 38: Conclusions from the fights and arguments.
Part 39: The who's who in the fateful night
Part 40: one or two fires?
Part 41: The fire scenes A
Part 42: what Liz sees when she is taken out of the closet
Part 43: One girl or two. the girl's changing hair.
Part 44: some strange moments
Part 45: fire night conclusions
Part 46: Fakerina, a woman who knows too much and too little by u/jen5225
Part 47: The Hargraves and Tom's abduction.
Part 48: Who behaved normally? Howard did.
Part 49: What Scottie knew
Part 50: the tenuous geographical and timeline connections

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A close examination of the story. Part 51: the box and the scar, a connection between Tom and Liz.

Let us examine what we know and can deduce from the box and the carving.

The blackmail files

Let us explore our two options.

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