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Another decade is upon us, and now that it is the year 20XX (listen, “XX” is how you’d say “20” in Roman numerals) we figure the world is finally ready to hear about 2003’s Beast Fighter: The Apocalypse. Also, the Decade in Review continues as we get around to covering 2014!
Introduction (0:00 – 18:42)
With a new decade upon us, we pour one out for the sudden removal of Aoi Honoo / Blue Blazes / Blue Fire from Viki. That’s just how streaming goes: there until it’s just gone without warning. We also actually remember to plug our Patreon and read the usernames of the new Patrons like we’re supposed to. We did, however, forget to read an email. That’s probably why the segment ran under 30 minutes.
- Daryl was a guest on the Blade Licking Thieves podcast where he discussed the 2002 Jet Li film Hero as well as various facets of Hong Kong action cinema in general (also, kaiju)
- Gerald was a guest on Ani-Gamers for their Best of 2019 episode which will totally cover different ground from our Decade in Review installment for that year once we get around to it
Review: Beast Fighter The Apocalypse (18:42 – 1:07:34)
As promised when we reviewed Demon Lord Dante (and by the way, you should listen to that review first), we are reviewing the series that the staff responsible made directly after having completed THAT show. Yes, Beast Fighter: The Apocalypse is from the wonderful mind of the late Ken Ishikawa, and marks the second time his 1975 manga has been adapted to anime. Ken Ishikawa is the kind of guy who would take Go Nagai EVEN FURTHER BEYOND; the sort of narrative weaver who’d look at Black Lion and think “that’s too normal.” Marvel as the gang attempts to coherently describe what transpires without spoiling too much. Note: the DVD description officially spoils too much.
Promo: Right Stuf Anime (1:07:34 – 1:09:55)
If you need this MARTIAL LAW MAKING THE HAPPINESS in your life, look no further than our sponsor! The Waifu/Husbando Wars are upon us in February, and there will be mass casualties as the world is forced to choose between Speedwagon and Reigen in the first bracket. Unfortunately, none of these candidates have the ability to punch someone and turn their fist into a bear mouth that then also bites you with the added force of the punch behind it, so this entire contest is rigged from the start.
The DECADE IN REVIEW~!: 2014 (1:09:55 – 2:33:16)
We predict that this segment will lose us some subscribers, patrons, general respect, and recognition from the anime glitterati. But that’s not going to stop us as we go back and forth on what was cool in 2014. Note that we are irresponsible and maintain no written list of what got said in what order by whom, so this entire exercise is probably not very helpful unless you happen to remember the words we said at that moment. Viva audio podcasting! Note that Space Dandy was NOT in fact the first simuldub to air on TV, because Kurokami was on ImaginAsian TV in the late 2000s. Also, Gundam Sousei will be released in English by Denpa under the more descriptive title “The Men Who Created Gundam.” Oh, and the way that Daryl saw the live-action Ping Pong was because Viz released it on DVD here. Actually, he probably saw a rip of it from prior to that since Viz never got around to releasing their version until 2007 and the movie came out around 2002, right around the time everyone was watching stuff like Battle Royale, Versus, Battlefield Baseball, and Volcano High before the rappers dubbed it over.
Sold on Beast Fighter. Next Right Stuf order I make will definitely include it. At some point you stop worrying about lack of logic and sense in such things and surrender to the madness of that other world. Instead of “this makes no sense and is stupid” you graduate to “this makes no sense and is amazing”. Once cured of the curse of literalism, you can enjoy anything solely because you enjoy it, and not because it fits the mandatory logical linear Robert Mckee Joseph Campbell Hero’s Journey template. Or maybe Beast Fighter does follow the Hero’s Journey, but does it in its own unique way. Either way, I have to see it.
The impermanence of streaming versus the relative life-time usage afforded by home video comes up in nearly every conversation I have about viewing habits. Even folks who fancy themselves film buffs are discarding their physical media collections in favour of streaming, which I really don’t understand. On the one hand, more discs for me, but on the other, they strangely don’t know or care how quickly their favourite titles can disappear. These are dedicated movie freaks who eat and breathe cinema, yet I’ve caught (and executed) them for saying things like “I don’t have a DVD player. So last century”.
It only took seven months, but Beast Fighter The Apocalypse finally arrived. Five episodes in and I’m agog, flummoxed and discombobulated. Truly astonishing. I can’t believe what I’m seeing but I’m so glad I’m seeing it.
Man, part of me was hoping that, in your discussion of Magic Bus, you would’ve mentioned that it’s run by Satoshi Dezaki, so it’s the studio responsible for unleashing shit like Mad Bull, Cipher, and the Riki-Oh OVAs on to the world. When it comes to ridiculous anime, Magic Bus has been doing it since the 80s.
On a completely different note, the next year of the decade in review is going to be for 2015. As I recall, on your first episode of 2016 was a 2015 year in review episode, so I’m curious how you guys are going to differentiate the upcoming 2015 year in review from the previous one, or if you’re just going to skip over it altogether.
Not entirely surprised that after the one-two punch of Valvrave and Cross Ange getting tons of flack for their terrible handling of rape in their shows, Sunrise just stopped even trying to make original mecha anime. I dunno if Cross Ange was ever popular, but Valvrave was apparently a super big thing on the con circuit up until they did the rape episode, so I’d imagine that such massive self-destruction combined with the PR hit convinced executives that it wasn’t worth trying new stuff if the risk was getting more nutbars who could drag their brand further into the mud. Funny enough, the mad men on /m/ whipped up a hentai version of Valrave that made more narrative sense than the actual show itself, although I wouldn’t be surprised if it was only better because a whole bunch of the original story stuff got thrown out after the backlash to the rape episode.
In terms of overlooked shows, I have a soft spot for Nobunagun, which is a rando 13 episode show Funimation picked up. Between the metal opening (with fluent English lyrics!), military otaku protagonist who laughs like a psycho when firing her gun at swarms of enemies, the general lack of a lot of the more annoying comedy/medium tropes, okay action, and the fact that the story is basically “XCOM/Phoenix Point: The Anime,” and its decent enough for a scifi fan like me to enjoy – especially since 2014 was in that era of the aughts where western scifi media was in a dire state in every non-book medium. The manga looks a lot like the Hellboy comics, but I don’t think its ever been localized. That said, I feel like the show never really got its due in terms of exposure – if it could’ve gotten a slot on Toonami, I think it could’ve done alright for itself, especially since people were already getting tired of how much of the line up was long running shonen stuff.
Is OG Sailor Moon cursed to never have a proper Blu-Ray? Am I going to have to buy a botched product and enjoy a fucked up picture?