Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:42:19 — 46.9MB)
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Our special guest this episode is the returning Mike Toole, last heard on this show nearly three years ago. Don’t worry, the Anime Jump front page was never updated since. In this episode, Daryl’s reviewing Baccano!, Gerald’s reviewing Five Star Stories, and Clarissa being THE GIRL AND ALL opted to speak of The Big O. Huh huh, huh huh. But you’ll have to wait a few days for the second half of the show which contains the second two reviews, because we’ve got videogames to play!
Introduction (0:00 – 32:34)
Much was spoken of Raijin Comics and how Superdimensional Southern Cross and Genesis Climber Mospeada hold up as shows in and of themselves without having any knowledge of Robotech, let alone nostalgia. Too bad we got beaten to the punch! Note that Daryl’s Southern Cross knowledge is minimal and he generally can only refer to things by their Robotech equivalents.
Let’s News! (32:34 – 1:06:49)
Mike Toole mysteriously vanished during this part of the show due to the magic of post-production. We might have actually discussed the news for these 30-40 minutes. Or we might have just talked a lot about girls not wearing any pants, be they animated, drawn, or otherwise.
Review: Baccano! (1:06:49 – 1:42:19)
Since Daryl and Mike were the only ones who’d seen the series, this review is more or less spoiler-free. It is highly recommended that you NOT read the Wikipedia entry for this show, or the ANN encyclopedia entry, or the ANN review, or pretty much anything prior to watching this series. Not even the back of the DVD. No, you should just trust in Daryl and Mike’s good judgment here and the fact that they both consider it their pick for best series of 2007 (or 2009 depending on how you want to count it). Note that Gerald and Clarissa upon hearing this review decided to watch Akikan and that one about the gay vampire butler instead of this show. This is like what happened with the New Getter Robo review all over again. Wait, they did watch that eventually. Er, Godannar then. Only this one doesn’t involve robots or fanservice. This sort of thing was going on even before Daryl was crowned the Pied Piper of Nerds along with White Daryl.
Baccano! is excellent and I’m glad Daryl finally decided to review it after a couple of teases here and there…and maybe it’s just me, but I’ve always thought that this series, with the right promotional campaign, could have done quite well on U.S. TV. It’s confusing at first, but it has all the right elements to appeal to a wider audience.
Maybe not on Adult Swim though, perhaps Sci-Fi or somewhere else with a more regular schedule that doesn’t go through unpredictable changes.
-NJ
Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross was a great show guys,I like it alot more than Mospeada.
Great show guys!
If the reason you’re taking your time editing episode 77 is SF IV, then fine. However, I’ll only let you off the hook if you have a match with me. What system do you have it on and what’s your s/n so I can add you. Mine is “ShenEvil”.
Akikan is awfully awesome. It’s so retarded, it’s genius.
You should totally point people in the direction of the DAPDX shows on Southern Cross and Mospeada. I honestly believe that Robotech version of Southern Cross is what made people hate it a lot more than they should. That portion has the most meddling and the highest concentration of Carl Macek’s stupid machinations which is the weakest aspect of Robotech.
But Daryl, did you, along with the mighty Daniel Zelter, get a really terrible letter printed in RAIJIN?
http://thejosephlusterreport.blogspot.com/2007/06/raijin-readers-or-how-luster-bested.html
After hearing about Baccano you’ve now convinved me to add this to my weekly anime DVD pickup run this week when I go pick up the next disks of Code Geass, Claymore, etc… 😀
When I watch it I’ll let you guys know what I think (whatevers out on DVD at least). You pretty much sold me into watching this by comparing it to Guy Ritchie movies like Snatch and RocknRolla as I love those films.
I think there should be a new law in anime any anime that has a jazz or swing based theme song is awesome. Cowboy Bebop and Baccano for example.
Yeah, Baccano was pretty great. I’m glad the show had an ending, even though the story did not.
And yeah, I have seen the future, and it is FULL of ass.
Oh, thank you so much. I have to study for a killer exam, and the silence is killing me…
Didn’t you guys play that voice mail before? or am I just imagining that? I think you guys played it before.
GOD DAMN YOU AWO, before I even finished listening to this podcast I had already ordered 42 out of the 46 Raijin Comics.
AWO is bad for your wallet.
The Puffy AmiYumi opening was soooooo inapproriate for the new Tale Of Genji series. At least the ending was a lot more approriate.
Watched the first episode of Baccano on the Funimation website, I definately liked what I saw and will be buying the series when Madman releases it here 🙂
Joseph: I got paid in pencil boards and posters, so it was totally worthwhile. [Plus, they passed out some sweet free Kenshiro and Raoh bonus capsule toys @ BAAF 2K3. And Hojo actually autographed my copy of the Jackie Chan City Hunter, which I was just waving around as a joke. He didn’t seem to take my suggestion about a CH dating sim seriously, though, even though it would’ve been the best ever, since it would actually not look like one of those POS’s you read about at Something Awful’s “The Horror of Pornography”. ]
Anyway, it’s just nice to know that Jake’s still doing work for the Viz Claymore[He also translated Angel Sanctuary.], and not going the way of those guys who translated Raika.
I’m guessing there was the intention to do more Baccano! from the start. If you watch the first episode carefully there’s at least one scene (possibly more, I don’t have it at hand at the moment) that includes characters that are never introduced in the anime, and that we never see in the story that was told in the following episodes.
Okay, so here’s more of my response to the episode half.
First off, I was the Anonymous that Daryl quoted at the beginning of the episode. Awesome! While SF4 looks awesome (and Fei-Long is Kenshiro dressed up as Bruce Lee), I appreciate that you invested some of your free time into releasing this episode.
I’m going to give Baccano a shot, because AWO hasn’t steered me wrong so far (except for Offered–that shit sucked!).
Also, you didn’t hear anything from me, but look forward to a scanlation release of Dokuro vol 1 soon (Tetsuya Saruwatari fans know what I’m talking about). It’s not stealing from the collection plate (even though that’s behavior I would encourage), it’s getting awesome stuff by any means necessary!
Looking hella forward to Clarissa’s review of Big O. It’s one of those things I’m sure I need to see, but I’ll be even surer after she reviews it. Also looking forward to Gerald’s review, I’ve seen FSS and liked it, and I look forward to discussion of the manga, which I haven’t read yet (I’ve got scans of almost all the licensed volumes from 4chan).
One more thing! I was going to say that calling Baccano the best series of 2007 is a weighty claim, but after reviewing a list of all 2007 anime, there really weren’t that many competitors. Can you believe Phantom Blood came out in Feb 2007? TWO COMPLETE YEARS AGO. What the hell is going on Japan?
Okay I’m done now.
In my darkest hour a light shines.
http://www.shin-mazinger.com/
Holy crap, they (seemingly) ditched the Z Mazinger plan and instead decided that what the world needs is GIANT ROBOTS KICKING MUCH ASS!!!!
Which I wholeheartedly agree with. This may be the cure for MOE.
Still listening to the ‘cast, things are changing SO fast how can anyone keep up?
No Boss Borot? Hmm, I am slightly disappointed. I wonder if Imagawa will integrate Z Mazinger and all the other versions, a la the Giant Robo OAVs.
If the reason you’re taking your time editing episode 77 is SF IV, then fine. However, I’ll only let you off the hook if you have a match with me. What system do you have it on and what’s your s/n so I can add you. Mine is “ShenEvil”.
If only we had some sort of way of communicating this information on this very website you were reading RIGHT NOW! My gamertag’s on the sidebar. My PSN ID, “animeworldorder” is of little use since it turns out that nobody uses the multiplayer on PS3 because it doesn’t work very well.
How one can hate Offered (and by extension, Koike) but love Saruwatari is a mystery for the ages. And it kind of is a bold claim for me to state that Baccano! was my favorite series of 2007, since Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann and a few other similarly big-deal shows were made in 2007.
Eryn, I had to delete your post because even though you didn’t go into specifics, you still sort of gave it away! Again, it’s not really a “secret” if it’s revealed in the first few minutes, but MY RULES. Anyway, the gist of your comment was that you liked the dub, you didn’t think the dialog was that “snappy” in the original compared to the dub, and you don’t think knowing about the “twist” prior is any less of a surprise. You cite your brother’s dislike of the series upon the revelation as proof. I don’t know if this supports your claim or not, but at 2:00 AM today, PT Chapman informed me that had I stated what the twist was it would have convinced him NOT to watch the show.
If it was just that last bit of my post, would you like me to put it back up with the last bit reworded?
Also, did Paul mean that in regards to the possibility of just hearing the twist from a short series description, or did he mean it would have convinced him to not watch even if it had been stated in combination with your long, glowing review in the series? I can understand someone being turned off by the twist from just a short description. I would think, though, that if you tell someone the twist while also telling them at length about how the series is incredible and why, people would be inclined to take your word for it and then be better prepared to deal with a plot element they might not normally go for.
In the case of my brother, I think I might make a breakthrough sometime soon and convince him to give the series another try with a more open mind. Wish me luck!
How one can hate Offered (and by extension, Koike) but love Saruwatari is a mystery for the ages.
Saruwatari can draw people beating and cutting the shit out of each other better than almost anyone else who has ever lived. Offered is certainly zany storytelling in the same vein as Riki-Oh, with almost none of the awesome combat. It falls flat in my opinion, despite Ikegami’s awesome art. But I don’t want to shit all over Koike, of course, that’s just my opinion on that particular work.
Sorry to be OT but at Comic-con I found a copy of Cyber City Oedo The Final Collection. I enjoyed the commentary even though I’m not big on most of Kawajiri’s works.
Daryl, being my Anti-Matter Opposite, has the unique ability to convince me not to watch things by giving them a positive review. For example, his positive reviews of BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad and One Piece in OtakuUSA magazine convinced me that I didn’t want to invest my time and money in either show.
That being said, despite his glowing review of Baccano!, had Daryl revealed the twist in advance it would have triggered an instantaneous reaction that would have resulted in me filing Baccano! in the “retarded bull-shit premise” category and summarily dismissing the show sight-unseen as something I would not be interested in.
Instead, I took his advice and watched the first episode of Baccano! on Funimation’s web-site without reading anything about the show beforehand. Had I known the twist in advance, I would have been turned off. Instead, I was intrigued. I wanted to know more. I wanted to know why thinks work the way they work in the world of Baccano!, so earlier this morning I ordered the first three DVDs from RightStuf. I didn’t even wait for them to go on sale. That’s how intrigued I was.
As for why the twist would turn me off if I had known about it in advance, let’s just say that by its very nature it eliminates certain dramatic possibilities. Normally, that kind of thing is a no-go for me.
Thanks emilio. The Big O review should be up soon, and I hope you enjoy it!
As to Phantom Blood, man I don’t even know. I haven’t even seen any DVD release for it so far. Maybe I missed it, but I’m sure somebody in the fandom would have been yelling ecstatically and there probably would have been a rip posted. *sigh*
Thanks for clearing that up for me. 🙂 I guess it just ends up being different for different people, then. Some people won’t like it if they know the twist in advance, and some people will find it unpleasant if they don’t know it’s coming. Sad that either way, people will be turned off of such a great show.
Hmm. out of left field. But because I don’t bt anime I’m always missing the wave of conflict and sharing and discussion online I was drawn to.
WRT Code Geass you’ve mentioned in your podcast some issues with its politics. I have some ideas of my own, no one to talk with them about indepth (TWoP is too busy laughing at it) and the only article/reviews seem more conflicted/deathly afraid of the series going boyslove or making Gundam Seed allussions.
Any good articles on the politics of Geass? And why are they so…possibly offensive as mentioned in that interview with the nice lady from the UK. Even your previous review says the show is a little too “Banzai Japan.” All in all there is always something a little too…pat and off I feel on how things are handled.
Any good archived comprehensive discussion or just something I am missing that ties things together? There seems to be this commentary on Geass being both childish and crypto-racist/highly offensive
Akikan is garbage. I thought it’d be entertainingly retarded, since Brains Base can at least make nice looking animation, but episode 2 was QUALITY of the highest order. Not even the introduction of the token loli could save it. Akikan is shit. Shit, shit, shit. (I may read the manga, though. Hiro Suzuhira is a decent artist.)
But yes, Baccano! What a spectacular show if ever there was one. The only thing keeping it from being an A+ show in my eyes was all the gore, which upsets a typical connoisseur of the moé such as myself. It’s not that I have a big issue with gore, it’s just that levels of gore in Baccano put me off.
This also what will probably–sadly–keep it off of American television. Which is a real shame, since Baccano is–like I said–spectacular. I won’t be buying it now (I’m saving up for my trip to Japan) but I will buy the inevitable brick and force it upon my father, who is a big fan of Guy Ritchie films, and happens to love Black Lagoon (we watched the fansubs together)
With regards to promotion, this show also fell under my radar. Which is quite odd, since I love the likes Cowboy Bebop and the Big O (the former of which was actually quite popular in Japan, IIRC.) I don’t really know why it didn’t grab me, but it wasn’t until a screening of the series at MIT that I got a chance to watch it. And, as you can probably gather from this comment, I quite liked it.
(Actually, I think it was the slow fansubs that put me off watching it initially. The show would suffer watched weekly, anyways.)
martikhoras: Google up “politics in Code Geass”(including quotation marks) and read the first result.
Personally, I will only say this: You have a bunch of Japanese nationalists who are rebelling against oppression, but they’re led by someone who could care less about their nation and who (as the premise makes evident) is completely motivated by a personal agenda…and isn’t even Japanese in the first place!
I don’t think you should try to read anything too deep into the politics of Code Geass, unless you’re looking for reasons to be offended. Just enjoy the show’s over the top antics if you can.
*Insert Rym's catchphrase 'Goddamn'*
The Gerald's 'rape face' joke is getting really tired.
Having met Gerald briefly in person at Sitacon, I can honestly state that Gerald does not have the face. I have met & worked with people who wouldn't even get cast as 'scary homeless person' or 'psycho rapist' on the worst low-budget horror film.
Picture Bobcat Gold-whatshisname & Gilbert Godfried's lovechild after they'd done Meth for a decade then add a severe case of excema (to the point where his hair was falling out and there's giant flakes floating in the greasy scraggle) toss in the dregs of geekdom and a never-convicted charge of inappropriate contact with somebody.
Yeah, the owner of the company has deals & contracts with several state agencies so we often get hiring specials where its basically a 'take one nutjob, get the second free'.
It’s been WAY TOO LONG for me to have stopped posting 2 cents here! Here’s some more dribble for now.
Glad to see Toole came on board after so long.
Regan Strongblood said…
Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross was a great show guys,I like it a lot more than Mospeada.
Great show guys!This is one of those things were either show has their set of fans. Some may enjoy the more action in Mospeada, with others may find the plot of Southern cross a bit more engaging. If only SC have had that chance when it was being produced, it would’ve been interesting to see how it could’ve developed past those 23 episodes, but as it stands, it just sorta an acquired taste. In the end, both shows have their strengths and their weaknesses, but neither would have the reputation that Macross left behind.
emilio said…
GOD DAMN YOU AWO, before I even finished listening to this podcast I had already ordered 42 out of the 46 Raijin Comics.
AWO is bad for your wallet.Ha-Ha!
To me, Raijin was the excuse I had to haul my ass down to the comic shop week after week to follow up on the adventures of Kenshiro, Keiji, Ryo and the gang. It was a nice little ride while it lasted. It’s only a shame they didn’t find some other way to publish those series after the magazine fell out of favor. I’d rather see them as graphic novels if nothing more, but it just didn’t happen. Sad since I can’t picture anyone else taking up the slack of City Hunter at this day and age! Going to a monthly without adding more chapters was a death blow in my opinion. I’m missing out on more of Keiji being a badass with his pissing technique!
Hearing Excel Saga here from the manga that references the podcast, I wouldn’t mind seeing an Excel Saga review in case you ever get around to doing one (either the anime or manga, I’ve haven’t read the manga in some time though).
Given that Dragon Ball Evolution is now out, people’s opinions about this have been pretty mixed but now that I’ve already spoiled myself with hearing what goes on in it, I think I have more respect for the Speed Racer flick than I had before a year ago!