Anime World Order Show # 187 – Sue Cream Sue Was Sue Cat’s Human Alias

It’s MDK all f’n day as Daryl reviews BY PATREON DONOR REQUEST~! the 2018 film Batman: Ninja! And we also talk about some cartoons made 30 years ago. You know how it goes.

Introduction (0:00 – 27:50)
With so many cons being canceled, we’ve been going through some old catalog titles available for streaming courtesy of HiDive and the mobile app Retrocrush (which we’re pretty sure is the same as what’s on the Midnight Pulp website). Remember, everybody: Nadia was 14! I suppose we were probably about that same age back when we were first watching Nadia. Also, some conventions are electing to livestream select guest Q&As, musical performances, fan panels, and so on though. VOD longevity is somewhat limited though, unless the user remembers to manually save the stream AND there’s nothing in it that has to get muted or whatever. Jon Turner’s Kogaracon panel on Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro is a good example of what’s being done. Anime Lockdown this weekend also has a solid lineup, but we were too busy/too lazy/too crippled by ennui to do anything this time around. Maybe we’ll do something someday on that front, but…what could we even do that wouldn’t violate TOS?

Promo: Right Stuf Anime (27:50 – 30:50)
Every freaking commercial now has some solemn “in these unprecedented times” intro before imploring you to buy a thing, so we’ll just say that Right Stuf is offering users the chance to make contributions to provide meals to healthcare workers in $1 increments. Were we faster on the gun with the editing, we would have implored everybody to purchase individual volumes of The Wings of Rean for $0.99, but now we’re going to say that you can instead buy all of Demon Lord Dante (check Show 165 for our review!) for $15. These would be the old individual Geneon discs in a chipboard box set, not the slimmer and more recent Discotek release.

Review: Batman: Ninja (30:50 – 1:44:50)
Daryl figured that with so much discussion floating around (much of it from us) regarding Netflix’s practice of promoting so many differing types of animation as “Netflix Original Anime” that we ought to look at the opposite practice in effect of downplaying or in some instances outright concealing that something is anime or coproduced with Japan. This invariably leads to lengthy side tangents about Frosty the Snowman, Jiro Kuwata hating on The Riddler, even more salt poured over Sola Digital Arts–JESUS FUCKIN’ CHRIST THE NEW GHOST IN THE SHELL LOOKS BAD, WE TOLD YOU IT WOULD BE AND IT IS also it’s not even as well written–and mispronouncing Lou Scheimer’s name as “Lou Schemer” before actually talking about this 2018 direct-to-video 3D CG movie which is probably way more popular than most stuff we talk about considering that roughly two years after its release you can still walk into Wal-Mart and pick up a copy from their store shelves. If you’re curious about who animated the pastoral scene, we reviewed Gosenzo-sama Banbanzai back in Show 89. Even though we’re on Show 187 now, that episode was from 11 years ago (and Daryl remains the only person on the show who watched the thing). We aren’t exactly prolific in our podcasting output.

Anime World Order Show # 178 – YOU LOVE DRUGS Don’t You, Dennis? 224 Trimethylpentane Is In There, It’s a KILLER!

We’ve got a short window between conventions, writing assignments, and natural disasters to release an episode, so let’s take advantage! We give our convention report for Otakon 2019, have stern objections to Netflix’s marketing/propaganda wing, and then fulfill a Patreon goal by reviewing the listener-suggested Macross II: Lovers Again.

Promo: Right Stuf Anime (0:00 – 4:27)
Normally, the promo goes in the middle of the episode, but this one’s time sensitive and we figure most people download the episode within 24 hours of release. There are less than two days remaining if you want to donate to help Kyoto Animation in the aftermath of the July arson attack which made global headlines. 100% of your donation will go to Kyoto Animation (so no deductions for processing/administrative/transfer fees or whatever). Plus, any amount donated will go towards the free shipping spending limit ($50 for US, $250 for Canada).

Introduction (4:27 – 1:11:34)
All of us attended Otakon 2019 in Washington DC and weigh in on our experiences, shared though they may be. Topics discussed include the Walter E Washington Convention Center as a venue, the premieres of City Hunter: Shinjuku Private Eyes as well as Promare, how our panels went, STEVE BENNETT~!, and how Johnny Kitagawa was undeniably The Man.

Review: Macross II -Lovers Again- (1:11:34 – 2:43:02)
With the final goal (for now) having been met on our Patreon months ago, we figured we’d best actually deliver on our hollow promises for a change. Gerald, after having refused every other suggestion, agreed to cover this 1992 6-episode OVA series on account that we last reviewed a Macross title on this podcast twelve years ago in 2007 and that it holds strong nostalgia for his early days as an anime fan. All that Daryl could remember about it prior to this rewatch was that there were red ships and Banana Moon Love. Clarissa has never seen Macross II until now, knowing only of its reputation as “worst Macross anime ever.” In the resulting 90 minutes, we’ll finally get to the bottom of the decade-spanning question that is “is this the worst Macross anime ever…or the SECOND worst?”