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The full-on Podcast411-approved rig is officially in full effect! Daryl reviews The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Clarissa has the baseball anime Ookiku Furikabutte (“Swing Big”), and Gerald catches Clarissa’s moe infection brought on by Potemayo as he reviews Lucky Star. Lucky Star? LUCKY STAR? NAJICA?!
This episode was delayed because we were placed under duress by Shingo Takagi:
That is indeed Nigel McGuinness in the background. The ultimate Nigel picture may or may not be posted at some point in the future.Also, because Gerald came out of the Narutard closet. You’ll get those pictures SOON ENOUGH.
Introduction (0:00 – 27:00)
We tackle the important questions this time, such as “who would win in a fight between John Rambo, John Matrix from Commando, and John Kyosuke Hiba from Dog Soldier?” and “what advice do we have to offer regarding running panels at anime conventions?” Also, Ikkitousen? It sucks and don’t let anyone from the Teen Girl Squad tell you otherwise. And that whole simultaneous streaming thing Gonzo’s got going on? It’s not available to people outside the US.
Let’s News! (27:00 – 45:13)
One Piece is no longer on Cartoon Network, Media Blasters licensed one of Geneon’s previously defunct properties Seirei no Moribito, two animations from 90 years ago were recently discovered in a Japanese antique shop, and Dezaki/Sugino aren’t working on Golgo 13 or Cobra because they’re too busy making an anime out of–of all things–Ultraviolet. We suspect this came about because investors were scouring the Internet and found a webpage proclaiming Ultraviolet to be “the greatest movie ever.”
Anti-Promo / Promo: Weekly Anime Review Podcast (45:13 – 46:38)
Hilarious though it may be for us to receive emails and voicemails from people proclaiming other podcasts to be terrible, it does nobody any good if you never ever bring your grievances up with the makers of said podcast themselves. Sure, you’re probably thinking “well, there’s no point in telling them, since they’re not going to change anything anyway,” but if enough people mention the same issue, most anyone will start paying attention to it. We would say that “we can only assume people do this to us as well,” but as the AWO we see and hear EVERYTHING. In fact, we are watching you poop by way of our operative Jeff Goldblum. Google it if you doubt the claim. Oh, and do listen to Aaron’s review of Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms with special guest host Eeeper. Not only is it released through jaPRESS which is operated by TV’s Patrick Macias, it’s got enough child suffering to bear the Official Justin Sevakis Seal of Approval!
Review: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (46:38 – 1:08:46)
With the US release finally officially forthcoming, Daryl brings out a review of a film from an up-and-coming anime director, Mamoru Hosoda. People are always talking about “who’s going to be the next Miyazaki once he’s gone” and such, but you know something? We don’t need another guy just like Miyazaki to come along. Not when we’ve got people like Satoshi Kon, Mamoru Hosoda, and Masaaki Yuasa right now. All people need to do is start watching the things they make. Judging from the general fan apathy to Yuasa’s new series Kaiba, that may be a while yet. Pictures to come.
This is the de facto promotional image for this film, and it’s well chosen because it more or less sums up the spirit of the film in one shot. Of course, there’s the matter of what happens immediately afterwards…Review: Ookiku Furikabutte / “Swing Big” (1:08:46 – 1:29:34)
Clarissa may say that phrase translates to “swing big,” but deep down she knows the TIMED BY KILLSHOK translation that read “big booty freak” is the one she carries in her heart. Actually, this show is about baseball. Specifically, pitching and catching. If you get the picture. If you don’t get the picture, we’ll put pictures here later.
Ah yes, baseball. And indeed, the complex strategy and interpersonal workings of the battery.
It is, of course, a sports anime about a team sport. So we should all remember that it’s also about team building. Sometimes team building involves holding hands.
This show is also about Mihashi’s really good facial expressions. Mihashi: example of actual moe without being a shitty waste of space? Perhaps!
OoFuri also teaches us how to compensate for a lack of female cast members by endowing one with ridiculous breasts! Except Maria’s also pretty awesome.
P.S. Teenage boys are spazzes. Oh, the springtime of youth. (This is Tajima, by the way. It may be scientifically impossible not to love him.)Promo: Podcast Pickle (1:29:34 – 1:29:44)
We figured that since we use their free Flash Pickle players on every post for the specific purpose of infuriating Steve Harrison (hint: just disable Flash entirely in your browser if it slows down the page loading so much!), we oughta actually play their promos. It’s also a good site to actually find new podcasts to listen to, and if you add the shows you like to a Favorites list, you can get a OPML file of all those feeds together. This is helpful if you use feed aggregator / podcatching software.
Review: Lucky Star (1:29:44 – 2:02:39)
Gerald reveals his inner pedophile by copping to enjoying Lucky Star after the initial crappy episodes. Daryl by contrast KNOWS this show fucking blows from beginning to end, and in a few years will be completely forgotten and remembered by nobody. Actually, it’s probably more like a few months. Anyway, listen in to hear how we can talk for over 30 minutes about a show with pretty much no plot at all.
The original Anime Tenchou video created by Gainax.
Anime Tenchou’s appearance in Lucky Star.
Closing (2:02:39 – 2:07:16)
Next episode, it’s Show 69. This will only happen once, so it’s time to do another hentai episode BY POPULAR REQUEST. Gerald’s reviewing Cream Lemon, Clarissa offers up an overview on doujinshi, and Daryl follows up on the path of karate science as he reviews Wicked City.
Note: if your posts are deemed exceedingly stupid, they’re getting blown away. Who’s making this decision regarding what’s stupid? Rambo’s walking down a really long road to a farm at the moment, so it falls to this man instead, and he is not as merciful:
Just to say I’ve downloaded The Tower of Druaga and BLASSREITER from BOST TV and while it’s only got DVD quaility and is an mp4 file, the site allowed me to download from outside US/Canada and the price for episodes works at about $1-2 per episode, based on BOST’s pricing.
Just wish I could DL from Madhouse instad of GONZO…
Hey Clarissa, I’m downloading the torrent for Potemayo (I’ve only seen a couple of episodes already).
I wonder what your thoughts on Manabi Straight and Hidemari Sketch are?
BTW Is it wrong that I can find as much enjoyment in 80’s OVA’s as I do with modern moe (but not necessarily creepy or overly pedo).
I have been waiting for a review of Wicked City for along fucking time! I have yet to watch it my self (still waiting to find a copy).
Speaking of hentai, does anyone know if Bondage Game is going to be released over here. Because Pigeon Blood is comeing out very soon (The U.S Title is House of 100Tounges, it was advertised in Heavy Metal).
“Koike/Trigun”? ^_^ I personally would not be so quick to lump the two together–they have somewhat different audience bases (how often do you see Itto and Daigoro cosplayers?) But I would never rule anything out.
moogle master: http://www.amazon.com/Wicked-City-Gregory-Snegoff/dp/B00004YZGB/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1209412209&sr=1-1
carl: Yeah, actually, I was gonna change it to Koike and Sonoda.
But would he have an illegal dog-fighting ring?
Your Michael Vick would be funny except for the part where he was in Virginia, not Florida. And so it is that you’re completely wrong, just like every other thing you post OH BURN
Daryl, please, open up to the moe. You’ll be a happier person for it!!
“So you lie to yourself to be happy. There’s nothing wrong with that. We all do it. But you don’t want the truth. You make up your own truth.”
I’ve got an Otaku USA article to write on this subject–and I bet so do you!–but that’s the gist of it. And I know you agree with it because I read what you write.
I think you guys should review Akagi. Just because.
Since other podcasts have done Akagi (Anime-Pulse said it was “okay” and given the nature of their complaints, I don’t think GeekNights understands the true nature of mahjong manga as revealed so many years ago by Even a Monkey Can Draw Manga), I might do Kaiji since the last episode just came out. I will however have to go through the entire series. I was THIS close to deleting the previous post mentioning Kaiji since the first episode works out so much better if you DON’T know what the show is about, but it’s so hard to convince people to even watch the show without giving that bit away.
I know how you really feel, in that black and twisted mass of tissues you call a heart, in regards to Ultraviolet…
What I really feel is that Ultraviolet embodies everything that is wrong with the current state of action movies. It’s like the live-action equivalent of an anime produced by Bee Train. I get the same emotional response from Ultraviolet as I do from watching Noir, Madlax, Avenger, etc (the Blade of the Immortal trailer is so depressing that they sucked all the life out of that manga), and you’ll never see me enjoying them from a “so bad it’s good” perspective because they’re just plain lame. That is how I feel about Ultraviolet.
Which is why I watched it again yesterday. You know, to make sure there were no funny clips I could pull from that movie. There weren’t; it’s definitely “The Humanoid” type of bad. I still say the CG helicopters in the Golgo 13 movie have more polygons than the CG helicopters in Ultraviolet. Even the CG helicopters in Zaizen Jotaro have Ultraviolet beat.
Hmm, maybe I could run various clips all pertaining to CG helicopters…
Are all of you(almost all) currently going to school?
Gerald is the only one in school. He’s studying for his MBA. As of this week, he’s two semesters through, which by my count means he’s got two semesters to go.
“People are always talking about “who’s going to be the next Miyazaki once he’s gone” and such, but you know something? We don’t need another guy just like Miyazaki to come along. Not when we’ve got people like Satoshi Kon, Mamoru Hosoda, and Masaaki Yuasa right now. All people need to do is start watching the things they make. Judging from the general fan apathy to Yuasa’s new series Kaiba, that may be a while yet.”
yeah Daryl, you tell’em man! And tell people to watch more Kaiba, and Kemonozume and Hosoda and Tokikake, and to lay off the moe crap, and to keep it real and not get excited by Bee Train anime even , and and… … okay I ran out of steam.
Awesome show AWO, can’t wait or the next.
Also, this may be jumping the gun, but seeing as show #70 is coming, why not make another themed show, let’s say with anime from the 1970’s, (I still think people don’t really know about Future Boy Conan.) The AWO episodes that covered some of those old shows turned really great, and I was wondering if you’d go back to that.
daryl: Technically, it was an interstate deal.
Anyway,
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/435574
I agree from a creative standpoint there are already other fine anime directors besides Miyazaki (and, despite trying to find a successor himself over the years, he would say the same thing), but there is no other anime director without either 1.) having that last name, or 2.) adapting an already-successful franchise, who has shown themselves capable of bringing in a US$100 or 200 million-dollar box office in Japan. That’s at least part of what people are talking about when they mean “the next Miyazaki.”
Daryl, you ask “How much more black could this coffee be?” And the answer is “None…none more black.”
http://mainichi.jp/enta/mantan/graph/manga/20080429/3.html
Hitting the stores in May!
Fun episode.
I was in the same boat as Daryl when it came to Lucky Star. But then I saw a few episodes and I enjoy it for what it is, not the best ever, but still a good Anime in Moe disguise.
Karaoke – I think you are somewhat right on your assessment of the Slice of Life genre, but I think Lucky Star adheres to enough of the basic conventions to at the very least have it mentioned at it’s co-genra, say “Slice of Life Comedy” or something like that.
It’s like the bastard child of Yokohama Kaidashi Kiko and Excel Saga, kinda. The more I think about it not really. I forget the point I was trying to make.
Anyway, I support a Kaiji review over an Akagi one since I’ve already watched Akagi.
On a pretty much unrelated note:
I watched Raw for the first time in about 2 years (I could not finish it). Why the fuck was Trevor Murdock singing “I’ve got friends in Low Places”?!
Can’t wait until the next episode.
vz –
I have watched neither Manabi Straight or Hidamari Sketch, so I can’t help you there.
@Superdeformed: What elements of slice of life do you seen in Lucky Star specifically? Nothing AWO described on the show really seemed like it to me.
Oh, the elements are in the setting and what actually takes place.
The comedic gags are there, but they are not the bulk or even the focus.
The show is basically 4 school girls sitting around and talking
and doing mundane things such as going home and doing homework, playing WOW, or simply going to bed.
For the most part it’s very much Slice of life but in small pieces. The Family Guy-esque gags are about one or two an episode and is not always the real funny part of the episode. In fact one of the funnest gags in the show was just one character washing her hair and reciting the name brand of an old shampoo, no change in scenery no off the wall visual, just some kid being stupid while taking a bath.
The humor is very dry and built up much in the same way a “you had to be there” kind of joke comes about when you are conversing with some friends.
Initial reactions are usually “oh it’s another gag anime.” But it doesn’t really dawn on you just how slice of life it is until you get through a few episodes.
Timotei~
How is the story itself structured?
Like I said before, sitcoms can be about the mundane too.
Daryl I replied to your email question,perhaps you have not have time to read/respond to it yet.Let me know when you have the time.
I hope I have not just crossed Rambos law …(gulp)
Does Lucky Star include dudes zooming around the store like they have jetpacks as they scream heroically? Because that’s sure not a slice of MY life…
Slice of life is about realism and is often really dull because hey, real life is usually dull.
Manabi Straight is a ufotable show, which means it has a great ED video and is otherwise disappointing.
Hidamari Sketch is an Akiyuki Shinbo show that hasn’t been already reviewed here and isn’t SoulTaker, which means it’s great. But they seemed to take a while to work up to it, so it has GGG syndrome.
ULTRAVIOLET!!! Perhaps the only film that can make me think, “Man, I wish I was watching A VIRGIN AMONG THE LIVING DEAD.”
Dr. Uwe Boll’s IN THE NAME OF THE KING, however, was awesome.
Lucky Star PLAMOO version:
Hare Hare Yukai PLAMOO version:
karaoke –
It does include that in the Anime Tenchou scenes, but there are about two of those in the whole show. Everything else is pretty much girls going to school and hanging out and having silly conversations.
Doesn’t it also include a tiny moe grim reaper or something? And drill punching? Or was that a different show?
@ karaoke
The tiny grim reaper I think is from Risky/Safety. I don’t remember any drill punching off hand, though Konata did mention drill robots at least once.
Terasawa’s selling Cobra gun replicas. http://www.buichi.com/goods/index2.html
God, if I hear the phrase Slice of Life one more time, I swear…
Karaoke’s right. A lot of stuff is being mislabeled “slice of life” when it is in fact situational comedy. Even Azumanga Daioh isn’t technically slice of life, even though it has relatively normal settings, characters, and conflicts. A slice of life work would for example be about someone waking up, getting showered, eating breakfast, going to work, eating lunch, finishing work, coming home, watching Ultraviolet, and going to sleep. You know, a normal day’s activity. Whacky humor doesn’t really enter into it. Often, there is no conflict whatsoever, no character growth, nothing.
Also, I ordered the Japanese Blu-Ray release of the Unrated Director’s cut of Ultraviolet, even though I an well aware that it is a terrible movie.
DON’T MESS WITH ME! I’M CRAZY!
To Gerald- Unless your segment has been recored already when you talk about Cream Lemon, mention how a bunch of well know artist got their directorial debut in that such as Satoshi Urushihara (White Shadow) and Mon Mon (I forgot the name but was one of the early 90’s ones before CL took a decade long hiatus). I think Cream Lemon is something worthy to talk about because even if it’s porn, the stories for most of them were quite interested and you can tell that the people that worked on them wanted to do something with the (new at the time) OVA format that would elevate the medium. One OVA made around the same time called Lolicon Angel was pretty bad compared to CL.
BTW I’ve the moderns ones that were done (sans the one that extends the Escalation saga) and they SUCKED. Defeats the purpose of having them be part of Cream Lemon but not feature any sex or even any sort of nudity. I don’t get it.
Hidamari Sketch is an Akiyuki Shinbo show that hasn’t been already reviewed here and isn’t SoulTaker, which means it’s great. But they seemed to take a while to work up to it, so it has GGG syndrome.
You mean like moon phase and Nanoha?
Read the quote again.
(You didn’t like the dinner scene in Nanoha?)
karaokeninja: “tiny moe grim reaper” sounds like Guchiko from Potemayo.
gooberzilla: Worried about being obsessed with Ultraviolet? Don’t be. Just ask karaokeninja how much Mamoru Oshii stuff he has, even though he professes to detest the guy. He’s got like an entire bookshelf full of it.
How the hell can you hate *Oshii*?! Anno and Obari I understand, but not Oshii.
There’s going to be an OVA for Lucky Star.
OH HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE
Lucky Star OAV? Pfft. In the REAL news, all the cool anime fans who actually have their priorities in order are far more interested that The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is getting sub/dub theatrical showings in New York, Los Angeles, and Seattle (big Japanese population there, as taught to me by Eagle: The Making of an Asian-American President). No showings in Florida, but we already knew that’d happen.
Surat……
What is with all the Lucky Star hate?
Ya the show might not be for every and, ya it is a show about nothing, but it’s not like Kana: Little Sister level moe-a creep fest.
Be the bigger person Surat and let it go.
Also what is whit all of the stupid fan hate lately? I thought you would have realized by now that a prerequisite to being a supper inter net fan meant you have a short attention span and you say inane things all the time. That is half the fun of the internet saying stooped stuff with no repercussion
with total unanimity. Now don’t get me wrong this is your guy’s blog and you should run it how ever you want and, it’s not like your as bad as the one dude in that episone of Cromartie High School that was about the one guy who looks like a real bad ass but is a moderater on a message board. Ya I bought Cromartie on your guy’s recommendation it is grate buy the the way.
Well I totally lost the thread of what I was talking about. O-well any way my copy of Ode To Kirihito came in to day. I have only hat time to read about 25-30 pages but it is very good so far. thank you guy’s for the recommendation and, thank you in general for talking about Dr. Tezuka’s works.
Not enough people do.
Hey Daryl, I share some of the same tastes as you and even bought Dagger of Kamui and New Getter Robo on your recommendation (both were really good, especially NGR), but I just happen to like shows like Lucky Star and Potemayo as well.
You seem to feel that ALL moe is bad but there’s still good and bad examples.
I only enjoyed the little I’ve seen of Moetan out of the sheer ludicrousness of how far they went with it.
Gerald, you plan to do a review for Demon Legend Ledeus sometime?
I’m really wondering why Sony included the “making of” supplement for TK, when the 4c staff clearly trashes it at the end. I swear, this has got to be the mostunintentionally hilarious documentary not made for an Uwe Boll film.
I also can’t tell whether or not the band members from Plaid are being sarcastic in the interview segment. And I can’t believe Mike used the phrase “art school” with no irony!
Wow, Daryl actually read EAGLE! It’s about a young, liberal, minority U.S. senator who challenges a First Lady for the Democratic nomination, to run against a white-haired Republican Vietnam hero opponent. Of course, nothing so melodramatic would ever happen in real life.
You all must realize that ANY positive energy given to the dread spectre of moe is a bad thing. It’s like the pink slime from Ghostbusters 2. Instead it’s POSITIVE energy that makes it stronger and not the negative. We need to gather everyone at Otakon and Anime Expo…even better…AWA and have everyone in unison sing Go Nagai Super Robot themes, Tough Boy from Fist of the North Star, and the opening theme from Otokojuku. Only as a united front can we rid the world of this evil once and for all.
If you think I’m overreacting…take a look at what happened to the mighty warrior zentradi race in Macross Frontier….that’s right….MOE ZENTRADI!
Speaking of Eagle, is it still in print. I only ever saw it is the dollar bin at my local comic depo.
I was abal to score the first two volumes. Witch where huge, like 500+
PAGES! The guy at shop told me that it was out of print, but he could have bin full of shit. Actually that guy is always full of shit.
O well I guess I am off to Books A Million to pace an order.
O buy the way i saw Crying Free Man on the shelves at Books A Million. I promptly bought it. I also ordered every other volume that they could get from there warehouse, so hopefully they will stock it now. It worked for Kurosagi Corpse Delivery. They have
like 3 or four volumes last time I checked. I take it as proof that the system can work when you rig it!
On a side note, is there any way to get a list of manga Carl Gustav Horn has worked on. I really like his work.
Sorry if it sounds like I am kissing ass but what ever it takes to get good translations of manga HELL I AM DOWN WITH!
I don’t fault Lucky Star for being a moe show because, hey it sells apparently. I have to fault it for not being funny at all, at least not to me. The art seems pretty amateurish and though Lucky Channel is occasionally entertaining, I don’t really want to suffer though 20 minutes to get to it. I guess if I appreciated the humor it would be another story, but I really can’t get into Lucky Star.
Nice collection of anime couple graphics …
Hey Gerald. Remember when I asked where I can find a d/l for Lensman? I found a torrent the other day on btmon.com I’m watching it right now. Yep, it’s THE DUB, but I don’t care. Has Hebrew subtitles though.
“anonymous,” Eagle is out of print, like a lot of Viz releases from that time frame. I’m guessing that many of those titles are no longer licensed. It may have made some sense to re-release Eagle this year. And, it would have made some sense to re-release Blood: 2002 along side Blood+
Personally, I found the Eagle’s drama compelling in a Shakespearian way, but the flaws in its portrayal of the mechanics of American politics bothered me. Fund raising, and controlling news cycles seemed to get some of the spirit right, but not the details Given the scarcity of comics that deal with the subject, I was a disappointed that the one we got wasn’t better.
The only manga I ever bought from VIZ was Gyo and Marionette Generation. I think at least one of those need an AWO review.
Shouldn’t show 69 also cover Kekko Kamen?
VZ said…
Hey Gerald. Remember when I asked where I can find a d/l for Lensman? I found a torrent the other day on btmon.com I’m watching it right now. Yep, it’s THE DUB, but I don’t care. Has Hebrew subtitles though.
That’s the Harmony Gold version, not Streamline’s edition since this one predated it by about a few years. I’ve downloaded that AVI too so I should now. Though I think some of the VA’s are the same in both versions, HG’s doesn’t use the original BGM from the film and adapts the film closer to the books as I’ve heard. I now have the Streamline dub as an LD myself and could bother ripping that as an AVI anytime I want.
Because I’m late as usual in responding to this episode, I’ll make it short ‘n sweet…
– Girl Who Leapt Through Time rules!
– Have to check out Swing Big since it sounds quite unique.
– Still haven’t seen Lucky Star, but I’ll think about it.
– Cartoon Network sucks indefinitely!
Yeah, I’d like a torrent for the Streamline version of Lensmen. Thanks Chris.
The interesting this was I knew something was familar with the way the animation looked and then I looked at the credits from ANN and I knew that it was Koji Morimoto. Very fluid animation! I really hope that someone like Media Blasters decides to release it on DVD.
Oh, and for show 69, can you finally mention Ecchi Attack?
Just popping in to say I’m interested to hear Clarissa’s doujinshi segment. I’m a doujinshi collector of sorts, and I also think this podcast needs more gay.
So I guess that Speed Racer second-place, $20 million box office pretty much sums up the anime market here….