Jim Belushi is looking for anime recommendations, and Twitter is more than happy to hook him up

Jim Belushi is looking for anime recommendations, and Twitter is more than happy to hook him up
Jim Belushi (Ethan Miller/Getty Images), a Gundam (YOSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP via Getty Images) Image: The A.V.Club

Twitter is a dangerous platform, as even people with the best intentions can say the wrong thing and draw the ire of millions of people who they’ve never met and who can say horrible things from behind the comforting veil of anonymity, but on the rarest of rare occasions, the opposite can happen. Every once in a while, somebody posts a tweet that actually draws strangers together with a positive goal in mind, allowing them to build each other up rather than tear someone down. This week, a once-in-a-lifetime universally unifying tweet was posted on social media—drawing over 50,000 likes and untold thousands of replies in under 24 hours—and though the person who posted the tweet is a bit of a surprise, the subject matter for something of this scale is not: People of the world, Jim Belushi is looking for anime recommendations.

Oh, Jim. You perfect fool. You have no idea what you’re doing here. You’re asking Twitter for anime recommendations? Twitter? The first tweet ever was Jack Dorsey saying “just setting up my twttr” in 2006 (it was an insufferable platform even from birth), but the second tweet ever was almost certainly someone saying “you’ve gotta watch Neon Genesis Evangelion, bro.” Then somebody probably said something racist and things have just gone downhill from there. Back on topic, though, there are people on Twitter who were born for the day that they’d see Jim Belushi (of all people) ask for anime recommendations. Someone, specifically this someone, actually got the chance to tell Jim Belushi to watch Evangelion this week. They even said “Hi, Jim!” as if he’s just some guy! This is Jim freakin’ Belushi, the star of the K-9 series of films!

Anyway, Belushi got more of a response than he expected, with his name briefly trending on Twitter because of that and a follow-up tweet asking if anybody likes weed (christ, Jim, are you new here or are you just trying to pad out that follower count?), and he eventually thanked everyone for their suggestions and noted that “a lot of people think anime and cannabis go together.”

Yeah dude, you ever heard of Adult Swim? Cause you’re about to go so fucking deep on Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure that they’re never going to be able to make another K-9 movie. Also, Jim, don’t let these people steer you wrong. You absolutely cannot watch Evangelion without watching Mobile Suit Gundam first. It’s like reading Watchmen without knowing anything about superhero comics, except Gundam—at its best—is just as critical of anime tropes as Evangelion is. Actually, Jim, just go read this. And watch Cowboy Bebop. And Akira. And… we should just do this on Twitter, huh?

 
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