November 2019 – Anime World Order Podcast

Podcast: Download (Duration: 2:25:42 — 66.7MB)

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It’s the moment Gerald has been waiting for all year: the annual pre-Thanksgiving trivia episode! This time our guest is Zac Bertschy from Anime News Network, a site which you have probably heard of.

Round 1 (0:00 – 54:50)
Listen. There is no valid reason for us to timecode the beginning and end of each round in a trivia show where none of the contestants bothers to remember to keep score (and the host is similarly inclined). But we’re doing it anyway, just in case.

Promo: Right Stuf Anime (54:50 -58:03)
Thanksgiving means it’s Black Friday, which now lasts an entire week rather than just a Friday. This is then followed by Cyber Monday, which also now lasts an entire week rather than just a Monday. That in turn is then followed by a month-long Holiday sale. What we’re saying here is that you’d better check the site each day throughout all of that to see what the Mega Deal is. Because they’re pretty darned good deals.

Round 2 (58:03 – 1:44:40)
This was the round most prone to audio mishaps on our end, but thanks to the magic of post-production you the listener will not be subject to 95% of it. That is Daryl’s official justification for every question he failed to answer correctly, even when it was something he owns and likes. Any allegations that Daryl has never actually watched these anime he purports to enjoy are to be dismissed as enemy propaganda.

Round 3 (1:44:40 – 2:25:42)
We thought about including old fighting game announcer quotes under each of these “Round X” announcements but we realized that doing so would mean we’d have to leave out some major developer of note. I suppose Arc System Works has the reputation for the most ornate pre-round introductions, and the years have softened our souls to the goofiness level of the later Capcom fighting game announcers. GO FOR IT, MAN!

Podcast: Download (Duration: 2:51:36 — 78.7MB)

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It’s a double-length episode as we report on Anime Weekend Atlanta 2019, review the 2009 film Mai Mai Miracle, and continue on with the Decade in Review!

Introduction (0:00 – 44:59)
Daryl and Gerald went to Anime Weekend Atlanta 2019, which marks Gerald’s return to the convention after having missed the previous two years in a row. AWA 4 was Daryl’s very first anime convention, and 21 cons later it’s becoming harder and harder for him to find others willing to go with him. Indeed, the last time Gerald went, he had feelings that the vibe of the convention was starting to shift away from what it used to be, and this year marked another major shift, with AWA being a month later than usual on Halloween. The logistics of this one are gradually making out of state attendance increasingly challenging, and as the attendance grows and the panel rooms shrink, we have to ask: are we so out of touch? No, it’s the children who are wrong.

Review: Mai Mai Miracle (44:59 – 1:25:33)
Daryl, having not learned his lesson after Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms, forces Gerald and Clarissa to watch yet another theatrical film they’ve never heard of, and the results are even less successful than last time since this time around NOBODY else likes the movie. Sunao Katabuchi’s 2009 film may have been strongly beloved by Helen McCarthy (her blog writeup Daryl read from can be read in full here), and its status as a foundational work upon which In This Corner of the World is built upon cannot be denied, but maybe this sat unlicensed for a decade for a reason. Is Daryl so out of touch? No, it’s the children who are wrong.

Promo: Right Stuf Anime (1:25:33 -1:28:21)
As the inevitable Black Friday sale draws near, there’s a Pre-Holiday Sale going on in which the average discount on featured titles is 85% off! Not gonna lie, we’re a little concerned at the steep discounts on some of these Maiden Japan titles, especially when they’re being listed as “No Longer Available” on both Right Stuf’s site and Sentai Filmworks’ site alike. Are the days of the Maiden Japan label numbered now that Sentai Filmworks lists itself as “a Cool Japan Fund portfolio company” in its press releases? Or are they just clearing out stock like normal?

The DECADE IN REVIEW~! Is Not Gonna Solve That Declining Birth Rate (1:28:21 – 2:51:36)
Okay, look. Fine. We confess. Each of these Decade In Review segments has only managed to cover one single year such that this one is only going to be about the discussion of things that came out in the year 2012. And yes, this probably could have been its own episode. In fact, we recorded this and edited it over a month ago but never posted it because we had to get ready for AWA. But listen. We can’t have no episodes one month and then three episodes the next month. There has to be SOME balance at play, people. But how can none of us have anything particularly positive to say about what may just be the definitive show of the decade, called by one AWA panelist “the anime that saved anime”? Are we so out of touch? No, it’s the children who are wrong.