Category: Conventions

Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:00:14 — 82.6MB)

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We give our thoughts on the virtual anime convention Anime Lockdown, and then the Decade In Review continues on as we get to 2-2-2016!!!! NOTE: this episode was recorded several weeks ago, and so we did not talk about the recent passing of ANN’s Zac Bertschy, but if you wish to do so there is a call for speakers for his online memorial this Friday. For those wishing to hear his final guest appearance on our show, that was in our most recent trivia episode, Show # 182 from November. We’ve added a Trivia category on the right hand side of this site for ease of access.

Introduction (0:00 – 37:40)
By coincidence, we open Show 188 by talking about Area 88, which Daryl reviewed back in Show 4 which probably hasn’t aged well as far as usage of once-contemporary Internet humor is concerned since that episode was from about fourteen years ago, back in 2006. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in even more anime series going on hiatus, even though Tokyo has lifted the state of emergency about a week earlier than projected. Unlike the US, they will reinstate their state of emergency if new confirmed cases go above 50. (Over here, the amount of new confirmed cases only continues to rise yet states are ordering reopenings to avoid paying out unemployment.) We ruminate for a bit about the possible sale of Crunchyroll to Sony, and then discuss our experience attending the virtual convention Anime Lockdown. Between this recording and the next we will have attended a few other virtual conventions, but Lockdown will serve as our baseline measuring stick. Daryl was a guest on the Ani-Gamers podcast where this was discussed in greater detail.

Promo: Right Stuf Anime (37:40 – 40:09)
Some fans express jubiliation at the idea of Crunchyroll being sold to Sony, because then everything would be owned by FUNimation. We express hesitance at the idea of any one company owning too much. That said, FUNimation does already have a massive chunk of the Blu-Ray and DVD rights to anime series released in the US, and since there’s currently a FUNimation sale going on that means tons of titles are on sale for up to 60% off. We recommend Red Photon Zillion even though it’s temporarily out of stock as of this posting. Don’t worry; it’s not out of print! YET.

The DECADE IN REVIEW~!: 2-2-2016~! (40:09 – 3:00:14)

We heard that Ghana meme videos are all the rage right now in 2020! No doubt it’s this one. Even when you edit out the 40 minutes of crutch words, it still took 2 hours and 20 minutes for us to get through the notable highlights of 2016, which just might have been the strongest single year of the entire 2010s. Still, there were so many titles released (nearly 400!) that we’re sure to have missed something major (and to think, we were actually present for the Cannon Busters pilot screening that year). Anyway, if you have any thoughts on any of the titles mentioned or wish to point out any titles you consider worthy of mention that we did not, by all means let’s have it in the comments. And no, we did not forget to mention Galko-chan:
But sometimes Galko-chan forgets:

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.