Danica Davidson
November 4, 2024 
Last night The Simpsons aired its yearly “Treehouse of Horror” special, and once again it included nods to otaku interests. The first story segment, titled “Information Rage” and written by Rob LaZebnik, spoofs American politics in the form of giant fighting kaiju.
It begins when Lisa inadvertently starts a culture war in Springfield because of her support for LED lights. Anger among the townspeople leads to a giant red kaiju that comes out of the sea and attacks the Center for Disease Control, the Gay Steel Mill, and forms of energy that don’t come from fossil fuels.
Then an angry blue kaiju comes out of the sea and goes after plastic straws and the Springfield Fracking Company, and then asks for donations for the senate race in Nevada. The two kaiju face off and begin shooting at each other with Japanese writing underneath. The blue kaiju shoots a “liberal arts ray” and the red kaiju shoots back with a “book banning blast.”
Eventually Bart and Lisa have to get into a giant mecha that’s purple (red mixed with blue) to show the importance of togetherness and that people have more in common than differences. But then more kaiju pop up, including Four Chan Saurus, Facebookzilla, and Mecha-Reddit. The nods to Pacific Rim, kaiju and mecha are all very clear.
The Simpsons has used Japanese pop culture in the past for their “Treehouse of Horror” episodes, most notably with “Death Tome,” a spoof of Death Note, in “Treehouse of Horror XXXIII.” (Check out Otaku USA’s interview with Simpsons producer and writer Carolyn Omine on how “Death Tome” came to be.)
Other examples include Treehouse of Horror XXXI, which had an Anime Homer fighting a Mecha Burns, and Treehouse of Horror XXV, which showed Homer as Zoro from One Piece, Marge as Rangiku in Bleach, Bart as Naruto in Naruto, Lisa as Mikasa in Attack on Titan, Maggie as Pikachu in Pokémon, and Santa’s Little Helper as Haku in his dragon form in Spirited Away.
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Danica Davidson is the author of the bestselling Manga Art for Beginners with artist Melanie Westin, plus its sequel, Manga Art for Everyone, and the first-of-its-kind manga chalk book Chalk Art Manga, both illustrated by professional Japanese mangaka Rena Saiya. Check out her other comics and books at www.danicadavidson.com.
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