Category: Anime That Sucks

Podcast: Download (Duration: 2:10:25 — 59.7MB)

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It’s a Christmas miracle, everybody! We’re joined once again by Mike Toole, hot off the release of the 2017 Crunchyroll Holiday Special, as we fulfill the promise made a long time ago, back in…uh…actually it was four episodes ago when we last had him on to discuss The Wings of Rean. Anyway, we’re talking about 1998’s Brain Powerd, directed by–who else?–Yoshiyuki Tomino. Why did any of us think this would be a good idea?!

Note: this episode contains Mike Toole singing and therefore the alternate title is “BETTAR THAN CRUNCHYROLL HOLIDAY SPECIAL.”

Introduction (0:00 – 17:15)
First things first, we’ve got to catch up with what Mike’s been up to since his last appearance on the show. Namely, his professional anime dub voice acting debut! While he could not confirm nor deny plans to start his own anime podcast, thus permitting us to fade away and classify ourselves as obsolete (OBSOLETE!), or disclose the existence of the Crunchyroll Holiday Special that just came out today, we know what’s really up…maybe. In the emails, vitally needed light is shed on the original Wings of Rean source material and why the various anime adaptations of the Byston Well saga end up the way they do. Aside from the obvious, that is.

Promo: Right Stuf Anime (17:15 – 20:22)
Last time, Daryl was unavailable to record the promo so he got the help of some famous pop culture personalities. This time, with Christmas upon us, he sought the aid of the person most relevant to the world in late December 2017. Yes, none other than SANTA CLAUS himself! At least, we think it’s Santa Claus. He said he was, anyway. It’s definitely not a shoddily scripted, poorly filtered attempt to disguise our own voice in falsetto. We’re not R5 Central (RIP) here. We would never embarrass ourselves or our listening audience that way.

Review: Brain Powerd (20:22 – 2:10:25)
Oh dear God. Just look at that timestamp. There’s no way we could fill that much time with content. This makes something we have in common with Yoshiyuki Tomino, I suppose.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:36:09 — 44.0MB)

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After saying we’d do it back during our Garzey’s Wing review and then proceeding to put it off for nearly six years due to fear (hmm, only 56 episodes in six years…), the time has finally come. We’re joined once again by The Internet’s Mike Toole, now Editor-at-Large for the Anime News Network and still the biweekly author of The Mike Toole Show to talk about the six-part ONA series The Wings of Rean.

Introduction (0:00 – 19:54)
We catch up with Mike and quickly summarize what he’s been up to these last five years. Of course, mere days after this episode was recorded, Mike got another “real-world” job so WE ARE ALREADY OUT OF DATE THANKS A LOT JERK. Seriously though, here’s hoping this one lets him work regular human hours (as opposed to the Ajin: Demi-Human hours he typically works). In the email box, we try–and ultimately fail–to solve an all-too common problem one of our listeners has…because we basically all have the exact same problem! I guess the “know-it-all” tag is more of a Bullwinkle J. Moose style “Mr. Know-It-All” one more than anything!

Promo: Right Stuf Anime (19:54 – 21:36)
Every day for the month of July 2017, as part of their Birthday Sale, Right Stuf has some massive discounts to check out. Every day there’s also a Mega Deal, so be sure to check every day since the Mega Deal is more often than not for something lots of people actually WANT. But then there’s what WE’RE reviewing! For you see, each volume of The Wings of Rean is a staggering 90% off as part of this sale! Behold the majesty: Wings of Rean DVD 1, Wings of Rean DVD 2, and Wings of Rean DVD 3 can all be yours to own, cherish, and inflict upon your friends and loved ones for pennies on the dollar! No doubt you’ll all rush on over to buy it after hearing…

Review, Or Something, Maybe, I Guess: The Wings of Rean (21:36 – 1:32:25)
I don’t remember what happened during this time. After asking around, none of us remember anything that was said. It can only be assumed that this audio is an accurate representation of the experience of watching venerated Mobile Suit Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino’s latest venture into his fantasy realm of Byston Well, which he vowed to be handled better than Garzey’s Wing. Did he succeed, or is it just a twice-as-long version of Garzey’s Wing minus the legendary bad dub? And why has nobody in all this time bothered to steal our thunder on The Wings of Rean? Or did they and we just can’t remember?

Conclusion (1:32:25 – 1:36:09)
Otakon is a month away, so just in case we don’t get another episode out in time, we’ll all be in attendance and doing panels. Check the schedule or our Twitter feeds for days and times once they’re available. Next time, whenever that may be given that there’s also an Otaku USA deadline coming up, Daryl will review the 2001 theatrical anime adaptation of Osamu Tezuka’s Metropolis. Look forward to it!