Spring 2012 Podcast Transcript. Transcribed by Zanibas, Moomba, and Stereoman! Zanibas: Thanks to my fellow co-transcribers for easing the burden by 40 minutes! Again, please excuse the mistakes that may be in this, if you spot any, let me know in the IRC channel or in the comments! ------------------- [00:00] Moomba's RC Theme Plays [00:17] Introductions: --- Verdant: Welcome to RandomC's second podcast! I'm your awesome host - verdant, and with this episode, we've got a great one coming up for you. We're going to talk about the shows of the spring season, a little bit about the upcoming shows of summer, and we have our fun random topic that we're going to talk about too. So first off, we're going to go through introductions again so you can get to know the writers who will be appearing on this podcast. First off we have our resident crazy man - Stilts! Stilts: Hey everybody, my name is Stilts... or it least it will be once the name change paperworks goes through. I blogged Highschool DxD, AnoNatsu, second season of KoreZon, and this upcoming season, I'll be doing the continuations of Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon, and Rinne no Lagrange. I don't know if you said this verdant, but are we saying what seiyuus- Verdant: Yeah, that's right. Stilts: Oh, so I wanna make a quick announcement before I'm coming to that. So the last podcast, a lot of people were very surprised of how low my voice is, so this time I've decided - I'm going to speak in a very high voice for the entire time- Verdant: No you're not Stilts: So I don't care what any of you- Mochi: Please don't Zanibas: Sounds like Mickey Stilts: Okay good, 'cause I can't keep that up the entire time. Verdant: Phew Unlisted: You can't beat this voice! *Laughter* Stilts: Oh my... Verdant: Yeah, go ahead and talk about the seiyuu you most want to be, or most would want to play you Stilts: So my seiyuu is obviously this voice: Sugita Tomokazu Verdant: Good choice! Next up is Zanibas! Zanibas: Oh hey! I'm Zanibas! The resident trap on IRC, and the shows that I've covered are... I finished up Amagami SS for Divine last season, and this season I've been covering Nazo no Kanojo X and Polar Bear Café. I also did a post on Katawa Shoujo that everyone liked. The voice actor I would to have myself portrayed with - I chose one, but it seems like I have to save that for another time, so this time I'll be going with Shiraishi Minoru 'cause he's awesome! Stilts: And ridiculous like you Zanibas: YEAH! Verdant: Sounds good. Zephyr? Zephyr: Hi, I'm Zephyr, I'm one of the new writers who joined a couple of months ago. I covered Jormungand and Ozuma last season, and also wrote up a post with Moomba about Muv-Luv. And this coming season I'll be covering Estetica and Muv-Luv: Total Eclipse. As for the seiyuu that I think fits me the most in terms of male I think I have to pick Fujiwara Keiji, the guy who voiced Holland from Eureka Seven, and Maes Hughes from Fullmetal Alchemist Verdant: Sounds good! I like your choice. Stereoman? Stereoman: Moete kitazou! I'm Stereoman! You may know me for covering Symphogear for Divine, and I'm covering Amnesia right now, and FAIRY TAIL, and for summer I'll be continuing with FAIRY TAIL. I don't have a summer show so you'll just see FAIRY TAIL from me. And when it comes to seiyuu I chose Tamura Yukari because I loved her in Katanagatari - Cheerio! Verdant: Haha I like that, I liked that show too! I see here that you said that Stilts is a horse, uh, care to explain that? Stilts: Ouch! Stereoman: I wanted to pick another seiyuu and he wouldn't let me, so therefore - he is a horse! Verdant: Pretty good reasoning right there. Moomba? Stereoman: I know! Moomba: Moomba here. You may remember I'm the British guy. Last season I covered Medaka Box which finished last week and Space Bros which is carrying over to next season. And next season, I'll be blogging Sword Art Online. For seiyuu, I'm gonna go with Fukuyama Jun. I don't think there is any need for a reason to be provided for that. Verdant: I'm always glad we have British person to class things up. Next up - Asobi! Asobi: Hey guys, this is Asobi, the lone Asian guy from the east side of the world. So I'm one of the new writers covering shows on RC. I've been covering AKB0048 and Tsuritama as well. And for the next season, I'm covering Campione and Dog Days'. Verdant: And who is the seiyuu who you'd like to portray yourself? Asobi: A seiyuu I'd like to portray myself with - Kamiya Hiroshi. Everyone knows who the guy is from Bakemonogatari and Nisemonogatari. Verdant: Yeah he is pretty cool if I may say so myself. Next up, we have Enzo! Guardian Enzo: Hey guys! Guardian Enzo! I believe I'm the senior writer on this call if I'm not mistaken. Been with RC a little over a year, and this is my first podcast, so be kind. This past season I've been covering Eureka Seven: AO, and Sakamichi. Eureka Seven is carrying over to next season and I'm also gonna be doing the difficult to pronounce Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita, and I may pick up one more depending on how the season goes, we'll see. And the seiyuu I picked to portray me is Miyu Irino. No special reason or whatsoever, I just happen to think he is a fantastic seiyuu, also he voices my avatar so it's a good fit. Verdant: So do you like his voice when he voices shotas? Guardian Enzo: Oh he doesn't do that really much. Haru is really the only one he is doing and everybody hated Haru at first (we're talking about Tsuritama here), but I think Haru grew onto a lot of people because I think he is doing a great job with the character, so he's baiscally playing him as the little prince as far as I'm concerned so I think he's doing a good job even there. Verdant: Sounds good! Well, next we have our resident shotacon - Mochi! BakaMochi: Hi, I'm Mochi! Last season I kindda blogged Guilty Crown for Divine and this season I've been blogging Hiiro no Kakera, Zetman, and the Reborn manga. I think, next season I'll be covering UtaKoi, and Kuroko no Basuke which is carrying over from this season. As for seiyuu, I couldn't pick one so I picked two: Hanazawa Kana and Mizuki Nana. They all have really girly voices and it's kind of opposite from my own voice so I picked them. Stilts: I approve of getting HanaKana in there. Verdant: Yeah, I approve of that too. Unlisted? Unlisted: Unlisted here! Currently covering EVOL - Aquarion EVOL. And next season I'll be covering Dakara Boku wa, H ga Dekinai, and for seiyuu I chose Hirata Hiroaki from Tiger & Bunny 'cause I thought Kotetsu matched my character. Guardian Enzo: You mean from Space Bros, don't you? Unlisted: Yeah, and he is currently doing Space Bros right now! Verdant: Good choice, good choice! Uh as for me, you may know me as the writer who covered Nisemonogatari, Fate/Zero, and Mouretsu Pirates. Next season I'll be writing about a flower shop romance Natsuyuki Rendezvous. As for the seiyuu who I'd like to portray myself, it'd have to be Ono Daisuke, I mean, if you look at my avatar - it's Huey from Dantalian, and he is a smooth guy. I like him a lot. Stilts: It's really the only choice for you. Verdant: Thanks! BakaMochi: OnoD!!! Verdant: That means everything to me, guys! Stilts: That's the only compliment I'm giving you though. Verdant: Well you know, one a day, I'll take that! Stilts: Fair enough. [07:34] Fate/Zero ---- Verdant: So we're moving on to our main topic which is probably what you all came on to this podcast to listen to. So for this, we'll be taking one final look back at the spring season and we'll probably talk about nine or ten shows that we really liked from the spring, and after that, we'll be going into the shows we're looking forward to the most for the summer. So to start off, we'll talk about the show that is the most talked about and probably the most controversial show this season which is Fate/Zero. Stilts: Before anyone says anything, Stilts hasn't watched this so... BakaMochi: Bye Onii-chan! Zephyr: Send him away! Stilts: Somebody tell me when we're done with this, and yes everybody listening, I'll get to it. Verdant: Alright, we'll do that! So who wants to start us off with Fate/Zero? Shall I do the honours? Zephyr: You should. Asobi: You're the one blogging it! Zephyr: You're the one covering it so... Unlisted: You're not covering it or anything. Verdant: Alright, Fate/Zero... It's definitely one of my favorite shows, not only of this season but of all time. I just find it so rare to have a show, like, the animation is so smooth and yet it's not only about the action and the animation, but the writing and the characters are very very thought provoking. So for me it's been a long time since I've had a show that I've had to think about each character's motivations, their philosophies, their ideologies, as much as I have when I'm watching Fate/Zero. Guardian Enzo: Which season did you like better? Verdant: I actually like the second season better. Even though it's faster, I felt the impacts - the emotional impacts a lot more, after all, there is practically a character dying in every episode. But it just wrapped up all loose ends hard and fast, and I really liked that compared to the slow build up of season one. Moomba, Zephyr, Enzo - do you guys have anything to say about it? Moomba: Speaking of faster build ups, I actually felt that the finale was a little bit slow compared to the episode preceding it. Maybe, it would've been better to air them back to back, episode 24 and 25, so we'd have 24 which felt more like a finale and 25 was the aftermath straight one after the other as supposed to with the week between. *People agreeing, saying "yeah"* Guardian Enzo: Yeah, I'm on that topic, sorry, just really quick - I just want to say that I think it's an amazing show but I do think the second season ran into some pacing issues generally speaking. And I think like the Saber backstory, and bear in mind that I haven't read the light novels so I don't know the full background, but the whole thing with Saber and Lancelot feel like it kinda got shafted and maybe the two episodes with the trip to Kiritsugu's past may not have been the best pacing decision, so I think they were both pretty close. I kinda like the first season better though, 'cause it seemed like for me the pacing was more even, it was less wasted space on screen - and I know you said it was a little slow but I like that with Urobuchi because his conversations between characters are the most interesting thing for me so, that's the only thing I'd say. I think the second season suffered a little bit from pacing issues and sometimes with him I get a little emotional fatigue because there is so much despair that I kinda tuned it all out but in the end I'm just watching it intellectually and not so much emotionally. Verdant: I think for, the reason why I prefer the second season, it's because all the threads that were built up in the first season actually got a resolution. I just like seeing things resolved and that's what made the second season better for me. *People talking together, turn goes to Zephyr* Zephyr: Um, in the end, the second season was definitely a great show, like there is no way you can't say that wasn't great, but I'll really have to agree with Enzo for the most part. The pacing was a bit off from time to time in the second season, and I know the first season was said to be kinda slow, but I'm one of those guys that feel like, when you have a slow build up you actually have more time to absorb the information to get into the universe and the second season was... At times it was a person dying, one every episode practically and it kinda made it slightly less easy to feel for the character when you know that "Oh man there is only so many episodes left and so many people need to die" and you know they're coming, so it felt slightly off, um I mean - don't get me wrong. I still think season two was spectacular, but there were some parts that I felt season one did slightly better. Moomba: I'm also in agreement with the first season being the better of the two but mostly because my favourite part of both seasons was the scene with the "Kings' Feast" [Guardian Enzo: Absolutely] with Saber, Gilgamesh and Rider. *People are agreeing* Verdant: Yeah, I really liked the banquet of kings a lot, but I felt as a whole, this first season was only a prelude, an appetizer to the feast, you know, like the crocks of Fate/Zero was all about torture and despair and you got none of that in the first season - it was all a setup for their downfall in the second one. [Guardian Enzo: There was some!] I like the second season more. Zephyr: In the end, you could argue either season is better than the other in some shape or form. It just shows how good the overall series was in that you're able to like so many different aspects depending on which season it was and when it was shown. Verdant: That's true... Mochi, anyone else have any words you'd like to say about Fate/Zero? BakaMochi: I don't know, it's an amazing series but I have to say I'm pretty tired out from watching it. Verdant: Yeah, it's definitely an emotional roller coaster week in and week out. Moomba: No one said anything about loathing Kiritsugu yet? Guardian Enzo: Hah, why would anyone say that? Verdant: Who is Kiritsugu? Zephyr: Never heard of the guy! Verdant: Maybe we'll save this for our next podcast. Moomba: An anti-podcast? Dedicated to deconstructing Kiritsugu? Guardian Enzo: That could fill an entire podcast for sure! *People agreeing* Verdant: Yeah, that could definitely fill half an hour at least... Zephyr: Just one quick thing, mentioning all the good things about Fate/Zero, but in the end, there is one thing we haven't mentioned yet and it's the spectacular music of Yuki Kajiura, and really, um, Fate/Zero just demonstrates her ability to make great music for not only anime but overall. Verdant: Yeah, her music was perfectly matched for each and every scene and I don't think any other composer would've been able to do the source material justice really. Asobi: Sorry, can I just say something here? [Verdant: Yeah of course!] I thought that she was a really good composer but when you actually listen to her different soundtracks and the different scores you find that they all share very similar rythms, similar themes, and yes she is good at this sort of music, this sort of epic tone and you can hear it in the PVs for SAO, but in the end, she is kinda like a one track pony, you would say... *People saying "Uhh"* Guardian Enzo: Controversy! BakaMochi: I agree with you a little bit, I mean her tracks, there is no variation, like for Fate/Zero and kinda for Madoka - like... it's the Latin choir or whatever and that's all she does. It's still good but I don't know... Asobi: I'm not saying that she's a bad composer. BakaMochi: A little bit overrated, maybe? Verdant: I don't know much about her other works to say really what she's like. I just thought it matched the show very well. Zephyr: Well, I guess that I can see where you guys are coming from. In a way most of her anime when she is making music she does borrow heavily from her strengths of vocals using nonsense language or words that aren't from an actual language combined with some Celtic influences for the most part, but she does have a lot of other works that just extend beyond anime as well. She made soundtracks for Xenosaga for instance and she also did Tsubasa Chronicles if I'm not mistaken... BakaMochi: That's an anime, but okay... Zephyr: There's a lot more variation there. It's not as readily seen these days if you're looking at Fate/Zero and Madoka but there's definitely a large variety that she does. Verdant: Alright, well I'd like to hear a little bit from Moomba (on what he) thinks. Moomba: Madoka and Fate/Zero are actually quite different. There's a lot more Celtic influences in Madoka than there are in Fate/Zero and, if you look back, going back to .hack - SIGN of course - [Zephyr: YEAAAAAH] Moomba: - it's quite different to what she does now, in that but back then it was far more small ensembles than the large orchestral stuff that she does now and I'm kind of hoping she might go back to that sort of stuff for Sword Art Online next season. BakaMochi: Well I guess putting aside the technical aspect but like just to the normal listeners, like me let's say, it sounds really similar *laughter* I'm not saying it's bad, I just want to make that clear - I mean I really love her work but seeing a little bit of variation might have been nice. Moomba: It's definitely true that she has very similar sounding music but it's also a problem shared by loads of other composers - BakaMochi: Yeah... Kanno Yoko? Is her work the same all the time? I dunno. Zephyr: Nah... no way! Verdant: Alright so any last words of Fate/Zero? [16:05] Aquarion EVOL ---- Verdant: Alright, let's move on to Aquarion EVOL! Unlisted, would you like to do the honours? Unlisted: No I won't because I'm writing a post on it! I think I'll let you guys step up and take this opportunity to speak your mind. Stilts: And I'm back so I will do that! EVOL right? Entire show, the only reason I watch is for Andy and Mix - [Verdant: Not Zessica?] Stilts: - I don't really care about anybody else. Eh Zessica - [BakaMochi: Zessica?! Why?!] Stilts: Zessica was good earlier on when she was strong and confident but now she's just kinda whiny. Zephyr: Yeah, midway through the series [Stilts: I mean she's kinda coll now that Mikage's taken over but...] BakaMochi: Now she's just... __________ ________ __ ____ __ ____ ________ __ _____ ________ / ____/ __ \/ ____/ //_// __ )/ / / __ \/ ____/ //_// _/ | / / ____/ / / / / / / / / ,< / __ / / / / / / / / ,< / // |/ / / __ / /___/ /_/ / /___/ /| |/ /_/ / /___/ /_/ / /___/ /| |_/ // /| / /_/ / \____/\____/\____/_/ |_/_____/_____/\____/\____/_/ |_/___/_/ |_/\____/ ... I hate it! *snickering* Verdant: Zephyr, Asobi? Zephyr: Alright in the end Aquarion EVOL is one of those shows where I went in and I wasn't sure what to expect because I never watched the original but it was so ridiculous... but it's the kind of entertaining ridiculous that just makes you wanna watch week in and week out and it turns out in the end the story is pretty solid too and there's a great soundtrack from Yoko Kanno and it was just one of the better shows of the season (Transcriber Moomba's Post-Finale note: Bestof2012) surprisingly enough. Stilts: The ridiculous stuff early on kinda pulls you in enough that whenever they get to all the plot and slightly more serious stuff by the end you actually care about all the characters enough to be like 'alright, I'm ready for this!' Moomba: Anyone have any thoughts on how it's going to end? BakaMochi: I don't know but I want Mikage to die. Moomba: I actually kinda agree with that but *laughter* Verdant: Wow, so much [anger and hatred!] BakaMochi: That's all I want in the finale. He's __________ ________ __ ____ __ ____ ________ __ __________ / ____/ __ \/ ____/ //_// __ )/ / / __ \/ ____/ //_// ____/ __ \ / / / / / / / / ,< / __ / / / / / / / / ,< / __/ / / / / / /___/ /_/ / /___/ /| |/ /_/ / /___/ /_/ / /___/ /| |/ /___/ /_/ / \____/\____/\____/_/ |_/_____/_____/\____/\____/_/ |_/_____/_____/ like so many couples it's not even funny like holy crap [Moomba: Amata is -] Unlisted: He is uh - Moomba: Even Amata has become a bit off now... I mean I kind of... the voice actor has the stigma from Haruyuki in Accel World and then Shu from Guilty Crown and at first it was like he overcame it and - he's a great voice actor obviously - but the thing is now I kind of don't like that character either anymore... so... *laughter* Guardian Enzo: I'll take issue with that 'great voice actor' comment if that's okay! *laughter* [*various mutterings of agreement*] He's a popular voice actor - he's a very popular voice actor - Stilts: He seems to do his jobs well but he keeps getting shackled with these characters [that become bitches] BakaMochi: Typecasted! Typecasted! Verdant: Yeah, like they say, don't hate the seiyuu, hate the writer. Stilts: Heh, I mean Amata was good early on... he's now something else... but I didn't feel any-- BakaMochi: I didn't find it that bad the recent episode... I kinda actually really liked that he was standing up for himself... Moomba: But he's raging at the wrong person for the wrong reasons. BakaMochi: Yeah, I guess... but he doesn't really know about Mikage's involvement so I dunno if you can blame him for hating Kagura... that much. Verdant: So all in all, what do you think EVOL will be remembered for as a series? What will its legacy be? Stilts: Holes and filling them in! BakaMochi: Big Bangs! Asobi: For me, the robot fights, stripping episode *laughter* [Stilts: Oh that one's crazy!] Unlisted: A 26 episode long troll *laughter* Guardian Enzo: The final proof that Okada Mari is insane. Stilts: *laughter* Best romance ever between Andy and Mix Verdant: Sounds like a pretty hilarious legacy to have! Any last words on EVOL? Zephyr: In the end, yeah, it's going to be a very memorable show... years from now people are going to be talking about it and taking screenshots from it, showing it around and going 'y'know, I watched this show!' Verdant: I should watch this show! (Transcriber's Note: Yes you damn well should!) Unlisted: A lot of our visitors are really torn over this show so... Asobi: It's kinda like ??? (19:27) where it'll be remembered for its infamy. In my mind that is good. Verdant: Gotcha. Guardian Enzo: I'll go along with that. Stilts: I mean I think this one is pretty good [I can ???] (19:35) Stilts: The only thing I can say is that I'm saddened by the fact that by the time this goes out probably a bunch of the people listening will know how it ends... I hate you people! I want to know! (Transcriber's Note: It was ~glorious~!)(Edit: So glorious~) *laughter* Verdant: Well any last words on EVOL? [19:51] Uchuu Kyoudai ---- Verdant: Alright, I guess we'll switch to a show where we do know that it hasn't ended yet - Space Bros, or Uchuu Kyoudai! Moomba, would you like to say your thoughts on the season so far? Moomba: I wanna see Hibito land on the moon. Everything so far, it's been very much the tests and I kinda wanna see space now! Verdant: I think for me, I really enjoy even the tests because I kind of think of Space Bros like another Bakuman where they just reach towards their dream gradually and every episode for me has been just so heartwarming that I don't mind if he just keeps succeeding at small tests over and over. Guardian Enzo: Just think of this part as Hunter x Hunter for astronauts *laughter* Unlisted: I think it's all about the small things with this show, which it does really well and I think it's paced really well too - it just gives you enough where you just really want to see more next week. Guardian Enzo: I think this show is a great example of why long series are so great and why they shouldn't be so rare because this is going to be 48 episodes and you can tell that they're not hurrying, they just want to tell a little bit of story every episode and they do it and they take their time and they don't stress, and you get so much more level - you get so much more detail level with the characters because of it, like this week's episode which many of us on the call might not even have seen yet, but when you see it it's just a great episode and it's really just about how the whole passion for space, how you can't always justify it in numbers - it's all about just vision and I think that's what the show is ultimitely about and if they had to do it in one or even two cours there's just no way they could do it. Verdant: Yeah, the show is a good refelection on your uh - like an astronauts approach to space in general. It's not about taking shortcuts, it's about paying attention to every single tiny detail like a screw that's loose on a chair, and I feel that each episode is kind of that screw on the chair. [It's got ???] (21:39) Guardian Enzo: And also Hirata Hiroaki is doing an amazing job, just to say, he is a great voice actor and he is doing an amazing job in this series. Zephyr: Yeah, it really is- BakaMochi: How's Kenn doing? I think he's the younger brother? Verdant: Yeah, he is playing the younger brother. Guardian Enzo: No no, he's Mutta. (there was a misunderstanding here) Verdant: He is? BakaMochi: What, no. Unlisted: Hirata is Mutta. *various people say no and yes alternatingly* BakaMochI: Kenn, Kenn! Unlisted: Yeah. Guardian Enzo: Ohh! Oh yes, Kenn is the younger brother - Hibito. He's good too! BakaMochi: Yeah I love him... so much. Stilts: I dunno, I guess for me the whole thing with Space Bros is kinda like what you guys said - the feeling of it, the striving. It's really one where you can sit down and - more than any series I can think of sitting here right now it really makes me wanna dream and strive and really go out and achieve things, because that's what all the characters are doing each week, even if it's small things they're always reaching towards their goals. It's really really inspiring. Asobi: Yeah, and it's a really relatable thing because, I mean, most of us probably dreamed of going to space in our childhoods and stuff - Verdant: I definitely did. Asobi: - and it's so easy to connect to this show. [Stilts: Exactly] Verdant: I also have a crush on Serika. *laughter* Verdant: I kinda watch the show for her too. Asobi: She's a great character. [Stilts: Serika's a good - waifu.] (22:44) Verdant: Yes, she's so cool! Unlisted: She'd make a great waifu! Guardian Enzo: Kinda weird though that she's played by the same seiyuu who plays Mutta as a kid. That's a little kinky I think. *laughter* Moomba: And the dog. The dog too. Stilts: Really? She does the pug too? Moomba: Yep! Guardian Enzo: Yeah, she does the pug also, yeah! Asobi: The more you know! Verdant: Space Bros yeah, I definitely think more people should be watching this show and I'm really glad that I'm gonna be able to watch it for almost a year. Any last words on Space Bros? Zephyr: And I like how you mentioned Bakuman as a nice metaphor for Space Bros early on because really Bakuman, it had the nice characters, you felt for the characters as they're striving for their goal. But at the same time it gives you a nice background into how the process works in creating manga in the first place and Space Bros pulls that kind of atmosphere by showing you all the background aspects behind applying to be an astronaut, the tests you have to be to get there, the resolve you have to have, so y'know it's a really nice comparison because they're really very similar in some ways. [23:50] Sakamichi no Apollon (Kids on the Slope) ---- Verdant: Alright, if anyone doesn't have anything to say we'll move on to a show which we criminally overlooked last time - Sakamichi no Apollon Zanibas: YAAAAAAAAY! Verdant: Enzo would you like to - Guardian Enzo: Sure Verdant: - say your... Guardian Enzo: So I think it's easy to just take a step back and say first of all, Sakamichi is a fantastic show. Watanabe is a great director, it's obvious that it's the work of a great director because he makes it look very easy - you almost don't even sense that he's doing anything it's just sort of very straightforward and elegant. The music is obviously great. I do think the struggle here with this show - which is why it slips to my number two series of this season and not my favourite - is you can see sometimes that the struggle of trying to fit nine volumes of manga into a twelve episode TV series, like oh we finally get the two romantic leads together and oh, six months later we haven't done anything. That's kind of an awkward jump, and I think there's a few of those in the show that do worry me a little bit, and I'm worried a little bit about the ending, but on balance, I think it's great, just because it's about real people and it's... the feelings and emotions behind it are so genuine, and the one thing that's sorta funny about it is that pretty much most of the comments you see written about the show - and I know because I've been blogging it - are about the bromance aspect of it and - [Zanibas: Broma~nce] Guardian Enzo: I think, you know, it sort of reflects something that's going on in anime fandom which is that any series in which two guys are friends is now automatically viewed through bromance goggles, and I don't think that was always the case because there used to be a lot of shows where guys were friends, and admittedly, there's a few things in Sakamichi that obviously show that there's a deep affection between these two, but I don't think it goes beyond that I just think there's sort of a reflex in people that if two guys are close friends in a show then it must be bromance or more, which I find sort of funny and sort of irritating at the same time. But other than that, I think it's a great show and I wish Watanabe would do like, more than one show every 10 years or whatever he does because he's a talent that anime needs more of. Zanibas: I agree! Just to go off of what Enzo said, the thing that I like about Sakamichi is the fluidity of how the characters feel from episode to episode. The thing I like about the show is that nobody is every sure about how they feel about anything for the most part. They can feel very strongly about an issue in one episode but then that suddenly flips the next you see them. I feel like that just generally reflects how actual relationships in a friendship kind of mode actually work, because you're really unsure how of how you really feel about a person. It's there that you actually feel like 'Oh my gosh I totally love this person' kind of thing, it's like, 'what do I really want to percieve this person as' and that's what really gets me about Sakamichi - it's just this genuine reflection about how relationships are portrayed. BakaMochi: I think, going off on what Zani said, it's very realistic I feel like. Like nothing ever feels tacked on or fake and everything just flows in a logical fashion I guess? And I just love it - it hooks me in every week. Moomba: Personally I kind of feel that the drama in the most recent episode was a little forced - [the whole accident thing] - Guardian Enzo: I agree. Zanibas: I agree with that yeah. Moomba: That came completely out of nowhere. BakaMochi: It wasn't the best, I think yeah, it was the first time I was like 'Wait what? What happened?' Zanibas: It's just like the most recent episode feel like they're definitely moving through a lot more material. For example, Enzo mentioned skips in the manga - there was this point in one of the most recent episodes where a confession happened and then suddenly it went from winter to summer and [that was very] Guardian Enzo: That's exactly - that was the six month thing exactly yeah. Zephyr: Yeah, the six month skip. Zanibas: Oh my gosh that was so weird! Guardian Enzo: And didn't you also feel that in the last episode that the issue with Sentaro and his father sort of got... it was like - [Zanibas: Rushed over?] Guardian Enzo: - 'This is gonna be a big deal' and then all of a sudden 'Oh oh, we're going to move on to something else!' That kinda bugged me a little bit. Zanibas: Yeah, it's kinda like 'I gave you a watch and suddenly oh everything's alright now' I mean - Zephyr: Yeah, for the most part it was - the father element was working out - they built it up last episode and then they made it come to a head when they exchanged presents, but then suddenly there's that accident at the end of the episode and it kinda just overshadowed everything about the father y'know? Guardian Enzo: It did. BakaMochi: Yeah, that bugged me. What the hell was the accident? I'm like what? Are you really pulling this? (28:18) Guardian Enzo: Yeah I think the drama for this show - a couple of people have already said this - the great thing about it is that the drama is very organic, it feels very real, it just comes from everyday emotions and feelings. That was the first time it really felt like something was tacked on for the sake of drama - BakaMochi & Zephyr: Yeah Guardian Enzo: - And I know that development was in the manga, it's not anime original so I'm not going to blame Watanabe for that, but I think the context for it was probably lost because they had to cram it in and this is another example of why one-cour series being the rule now is a shame because there was a day not that long ago where most series of this nature would have gotten 24-26 episodes and imagine what he could've done with this material if he had 26 episodes to work with it. I think the fact that it's as good as it is - considering how rushed it is - is only because Watanabe is an unbelieveably great director and if somebody else had been working with this adaptation it could have been a disaster. Zephyr: Yeah, and the weird part is Watanabe has had so much background, he's been well known, he's such a great director. It's surprising to see that they only gave him like 13 episodes to work with this. Guardian Enzo: Twelve. *Various murmurs of agreement* Guardian Enzo: It's crazy, it is! But you know what, that's anime today! Very few shows get multiple cours upfront and you know it's not going to sell any Blurays so that's the other problem - they no that too. Unless I'm off - very surprised, I'll be surprised if it sells a lot and they figure if they're not gonna make enough money on it, so do what you can with 12 episodes and have fun, y'know. Verdant: I think for me, the thing about the show that I like the most - I mean sure the feelings and the emotions are all real and I can relate really well, especially with the way they dealt with the girls they've liked in their life, but for me the thing that has hooked me and made me basically marathon the entire season in one night is the jazz. Guardian Enzo & Zephyr: Yep. Verdant: Jazz, for me, is the one music genre that reflects your personality, your emotions the most out of all the music. In jazz, you're expected to have that swing, that jazz, that little part of your soul into the music more than any other kind of music that I've played, and for me, it reflected the emotions of the characters so well, it basically reflected when they were sad, they couldn't play it in a certain way, when they were happy they played in a certain way, and, for me, listening to the jazz just gave the emotions of the characters this whole new dimension and this show has been able to capture my heart in a way that it hasn't been captured in a long time. Guardian Enzo: And I love the way the jazz has been actually worked into the plot like using Someday My Prince Will Come as the confession, which I thought was absolutely ingenious and brilliant, and it's not just a great track on the side, it's a great soundtrack that's actually part of the show which I think is te(riffic). Verdant: And I thought Ri'ko singing was just adorable. I mean I love the soundtrack already. [Guardian Enzo: I did too.] [Stereoman: Yeah, I loved it!] Zephyr: No I remember Junichi singing in one of the first episodes in perfect English. BakaMochi: That wasn't him though. Zanibas: Oh yeah, that was amazing! Guardian Enzo: Yeah, that wasn't him. BakaMochi: It wasn't him. Zephyr: Oh well, it was still amazing though. Verdant: Yeah, he was (singing Chet Baker's But Not for Me) Guardian Enzo: I think they felt that for Chet Baker they really wanted someone who sounded professional, whereas in the last episode they wanted someone who sounded like she was singing for the first time probably.. out loud and it was perfect, I loved that - she sounded so fragile but it was so heartfelt. Verdant: I loved her English pronunciation too, it was really innocent at the same time. Guardian Enzo: That's on the soundtrack so get the soundtrack album - her singing is on there. Zanibas: The soundtrack which has actually been out for a long time. Guardian Enzo: Maybe too long for the benefit of the show actually! Verdant: I've had it on repeat for the last couple of days. I think for me though, I actually don't like Brother Jun that much so I can't really listen to his version of But Not for Me. It's like 'You bastard! I can't believe you did what you did!' *laughter* BakaMochi: It's not really his fault though. I like the way they portrayed the relationship actually. They didn't demonise anyone, it was just like... it happened, and what can you do? You just go with the emotions and that was the whole thing and I loved it! Absolutely loved it! [Zanibas: That's a ??? relationship] (32:06) Verdant: I think it's just I like Sentaro too much. I'm rooting for him all the time! BakaMochi: I don't think it was ever gonna work out! *laughs* Guardian Enzo: I think the best part of the - Verdant: Yeah, that's true. Moomba: There's one last thing I want to say about Sakamichi before we move on - Verdant: Sure. Moomba: - and that's - everyone's said a lot of stuff about all the different great stuff but no-one's actually mentioned how well they portray the jazz scene in the sixites and that clash with the rock and roll scene as it moves on. I think that's one of the things that really draws me to the anime. Guardian Enzo: I think that cultural divide is very much at the heart of the whole show because Sentaro and Kaoru basically were that cultural divide when the show started. That kinda new freedom that was coming along that the people who were part of the old establishment were very threatened by and I think rock and roll and jazz is a very good metaphor to sort of crystallise that in a very understandable way but it really pervades the whole show - you're totally right to bring that up. Verdant: Kaoru is more of the old school though, he's the classical while rock and roll was a new thing - [Guardian Enzo: Yes, exactly! He -] Verdant: - and so I don't think that Kaoru and Sentaro really reflected that divide as much as - because jazz has been around since basically the turn of the century. Guardian Enzo: Well, it was a two-stage progression where jazz was the radical outsider music when the Beatniks came along in the fifties and then it sort of became semi-established and then rock and roll was the new thing to come along and threaten it in the sixties. Verdant: Yeah, I definitely don't think that Richie-boy is the vanguard of the old end by any means. Guardian Enzo: I think he was when it first started. Verdant: Yeah, I guess the other thing I really like about this series is so many issues - there's issues of love, there's issues of family, there's issues of social status, there's issues of communism and socialism, there's issues of practically everything you can imagine! Zephyr: There's one more thing. The thing that didn't go mentioned at all is the whole religion thing as well - [Zanibas: Oh yeah!] Zephyr: - with Sentaro being a Christian in Japan and y'know - BakaMochi: Wait, wasn't he Catholic? Zanibas: He's a Christian and a half-American so...[yes he is Catholic as well] BakaMochi: Okay Zephyr: So yeah, that's a whole religious clash there and it really shows the difference in atmosphere in that time period in Japan. Verdant: That's true, there's just way too many issues to be covered in one season - definitely should get more. Zephyr: Yeah. Zanibas: We'd love to talk about it more but we're kinda... (running long. Transcriber's Note: This happened a lot.) [34:13] Jormungand ---- Verdant: Alright, so next we're going to head on to Jormungand on a lighter note! Zanibas: Are you sure?! *laughter* Zephyr: Slightly lighter yeah right! Verdant: A little bit lighter right? BakaMochi: As light as you can get with child soldiers running around! Zanibas: Ah, oh man, this episode! Oh no! [I can't watch next episode!] Verdant: Zephyr, go ahead. Zephyr: Really, what's there to say really about Jormungand other than it's just an amazing show. It's definitely one of the top three this season and it's one of those shows where it perfectly mixes in a large amount of serious aspects with a perfect amount of comedy, great cast of characters, and there's just really not much to hate, I mean, I guess some people don't like the unrealistic action sequences but the thing I feel is that that's not really a good criticism because you can tell that Jormungand intentionally uses unrealistic action scenes to get things through, and a lot of the things that happen actually stand for certain things in the real world and it's like 'this show is so deep!' and has so much aspects behind it and at the same time it has some simple comedy, simple action that just normal people can appreciate at the same time. [Verdant: Sounds-] Stilts: I think the thing I like about Jormungand is the characters are still completely freaking crazy. I mean, seeing - what was it? - I have't seen the most recent one, but the ones before that when the whole team was flying around - or trying to fly around as it were - and the plans they go through to try to get those doctors back are quite hilarious to see play out, but - I mean of course, you're right, the action is a little unrealistic - they go through all those crazy shit and none of them take more than like one bullet wound and nobody dies. Zephyr: Bullet wound in the arse! BakaMochi: Oh yeah! *laughs* Zanibas: Oh, speaking of unrealistic scenes, you were talking about the doctors case and I just found, that when they were shooting that artillery out of the back of the airoplane, I just found that to be - like the other scenes were a little unrealistic but that was just - they're shooting a high-powered artillery shell out of a plane and it doesn't even like shake or move at all. Stilts: It's kinda like Aquarion EVOL where something's so ridiculous that you just kinda write it off. Aquarion EVOL does that a hell of a lot more than Jormungand does but there, just the characters all act on that crazy level that usually I'm willing to just go 'Fair enough!' *laughter* Zephyr: Well the plane aspect actually, it was slightly unrealistic, but part of it actually - well most of it was actually viable in a way. That's why they also included the whole open your mouth and cover your ears scene 'cause it realistic- if you do that it's been said to lessen the damage of artillery shells sounds on your ears and, at the same time, the whole thing about shaking the plane it doesn't have that much of an effect because they had recently unloaded most of their weaponry and cargo on the previous airfiled so the plane was actually at middle weight or low capacity right now. Guardian Enzo: Just to jump on what Zephyr said earlier, I think you actually got it exaclty right in that - what amazes me - well, couple of things. First of all, I'm shocked at how unbelieveably faithful - this is probably the most faithful manga adaptation I can remember in that it almost word for word - nothing much has been changed even the order of things. And this is a manga I though they would make changes because frankly, it doesn't do you a lot of favours in explaining what's going on it just sort of throws it all at you and lets you figure it out, and I thought they might make some changes to make that a little easier but they didn't, so I give them credit and I'm glad people are able to follow it because if I hadn't read the manga I would have thought it would be pretty confusing most of the time. But the show is really - what amazes me in reading all the comments about it in various places, the majority of them are all talking about what kind of artillery they were using, was it realistic to do this, was that a C-130 or was that an A-12. The show is really about using that kind of ridiculous stuff to shed some light on human nature, and it's really about Koko (she is loco, I said oh no) and her team and all the weird things happening between them and it's almost like a parable in a way and I'm glad that people are enjoying it, I just hope they realise how deep it is. You used the word 'deep,' I think deep is a good word - this is a very deep show and you have to really listen to what the characters say because they say some amazingly deep things sometimes and they sort of just zoom right past it and you might not notice it, but there's an incredible dialogue in this show - it's amazingly well written. Zephyr: Yeah, I agree. There's so much episodes so far - they're talking about guns and they show so many different views. Like Koko's team has their own view, the rest of HCLI has their own views with Floyd and Casper, and all the antagonists have their own views as well and it's just really complex, it shows all sides of the equations and it lets you think about it. And at the same time, if you're one of those people that go in and you don't want to think when you're watching an anime, there's also something for you too in terms of the action and all the flashy bang bang action scenes as well y'know? Stilts: I was actually gonna say that it's quite good because it can be enjoyed on both levels - if you are tired or just don't feel like thinking or are totally drunk you can just go in and say 'Oooh they're shooting people.' 'Oh Koko just did something funny, that's hilarious!' or you can go in there and really get into the deep philosophy that they [???] (39:34) Zephyr: Yeah, they have Scarecrow and Chocolade for that too - for comedy relief. Stilts: I do enjoy both of them, especially how Scarecrow tends to get screwed over. Zephyr: Every episode! Stilts: Pretty much! Verdant: Sounds like it's been a really strong season so far! Anyone else have anything to add about Jormungand? Zephyr: Oh yeah, make sure you guys tune in for the second season in the fall! Zanibas: Oh wait, there's a second season? Guardian Enzo: Thank god! Zanibas: Awesomeeeeeee! Unlisted: Oh! Time to watch! *laughter* [40:00] Nazo no Kanojo X ---- Verdant: Alright, next up we have a truly lighter note - Nazo no Kanojo X! Zanibas: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tiu5fJMI4UE (Sorry there is no alternative - Acceptable.) Verdant: Go ahead Zanibas. Zanibas: Well, it's Nazo no Kanojo X, the show that almost nobody likes because of the drool and how weird and how 80/90ies style it looks. But I feel like Nazo no Kanojo X is one of those rare shows that really goes beyond the flirting stage because usually in a romance they'll focus on the buildup to a relationship which is at the end and show all the characters flirting with one another, getting over their feelings for one another. But Nazo no Kanojo X skips all of that and goes straight into what happens after the relationship and how relationships are maintained, how to get over jealousy, how to resolve feelings for one another and each others' boundaries. And although it might be a show which focuses a lot on drool because drool is presented every single episode. In fact, they've said drool so many times I memorised the Japanese word for drool which is 'yodare'. But if you get past all the drool, it's a very honest to goodness look at what the troubles of a relationship are actually like and that's what I love about the series and why I continued to blog it becaues it's a very unique perspective on the romantic comedy. Oh yeah and panty scissors, like Stereoman says! *laughs* Stilts: You weren't really selling the whole premise very much when you went on about drool so much but, I actually do agree - I'm pretty far behind on it right now but the reason I keep wanting to catch up with it is, many many shows both anime and everything always go into that buildup. The one I always think of - not an anime example, a TV one - is the sitcom Friends who went for ten seasons before the main couple that everybody knew would get together finally got together. Sorry, spoilers if you haven't seen it! But I enjoy the ones that go past that, I mean the build up to getting together is important - it's an important milestone, but there's more past that. I mean that's one milestone of many. So saying the one that maybe it would've been better if the other show went and did a little bit more build up towards that and then could've had some time getting to the build up of telling each other and stuff but Zani's right, that's not the point of this particular one - that's an important thing but there's more after that - that's really what they're going after, which I really appreciate having some stories that wanna tackle that. Zanibas: The series that Nazo no Kanojo X really reminds me of is His and Her Circumstances or Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou. That was also another show that really delved into the after the confession part and it really dealt with those kind of uncertainties - it's just the beginning basically, there's a whole other story after that that goes left untold. Many many years ago, when His and Her Circumstances aired, I found that to be just awesome because it went beyond that and it portrayed it so faithfully and seeing another series like this do it again it's just like, it warms up my heart to see people go onto that uncharted territory. Stilts: Thank you Zani, now I have to add something else to my massive backlist *sigh* Zanibas: It was directed by the same person who did Evangelion, Hideaki Anno. Stilts: Yeah, I just followed up Gainax. I dunno... Gainax... is it an adaptation? Guardian Enzo: Yeah, it's a manga adaptation. Zanibas: It's a manga. Stilts: I'm always worried about Gainax adaptations but... Zanibas: I'll talk about it more in the Random Curiosity part, but it's a great show! Verdant: Anyone else have any last words to say about it? Enzo: Yeah, I just got to jump in here because I totally love this show. I think His and Her Circumstances is a good comparison. The other GAINAX show I'm reminded of is FLCL because it has that same thing where it takes an absurd and sometimes grotesque imagery but uses it to actually make a point about real life which is similar to Jormungand in that sense but FLCL is about puberty now this kind of takes it to the next step and this show is about the relationship, Nazo Kanojo. I just think this is a great show! First off the voice cast is fantastic, I think both the leads are great. It's directed by the same guy who does Space Bros which I think is pretty amazing since they're so different. I love that 80's look, the soundtrack is great, and it really has so much insight about relationships--I think this is one of the best relationship I think ever and I don't think that's an exaggeration because as you said Zanny, so many of them just build up and build up and never get there and this show is all about what I think is way more interesting: the actual relationship. And the drool thing was hard for me to get past too. I thought, "Oh my god this is really gross," but that's just the gimmick. The real thing is, the drool is all symbolic of other stuff and the show is all about communicating, males and females communicating, and all the pressures that go into a relationship and feelings of attraction and flirtations with other people and all the challenges you have to go through...I just think that it's way deeper than people think it is and people, this is one of those shows that people are going to look at and not get what this show really is and if they don't watch it for that reason, that's a real shame because it's a great show. Zanibas: One last note on the drool in Nazo no Kanojo before we move on. I feel like the drool--it's not for the shock value, but it's more for being able to illustrate the two feelings the two main characters have for one another and for well, the other characters that come into the plot as well. If you remove the drool from the picture, basically you see there is this invisible wall of feelings that makes the characters unable to communicate with one another. Enzo: Just like real life. Zanibas: Yeah! Just like real life. The drool aspect of this show serves basically to bring down that wall, [and] allow an extra mode of communication between the characters which, although that doesn't actually happen in real life, serves to illustrate how the characters are actually feeling inside. And so, that's what I really like about that. Stilts: So it's sort of a closeness thing... Zanibas: It's an intimacy kind of deal, yeah. Stilts: That's the word I was looking for. Makes sense. Zanibas: But anyways, you should go watch it! Awwwww! [46:07] Tsuritama: ---- Verdant: Alright, well from drool to fishing which is probably the most awkward segue ever, but let's talk about Tsuritama! Mochi: I love it! Enzo: I love it! Best show of this season. Asobi: Yeah. Mochi: YaMAAAAda! Asobi: Most surprising show of the season. Ghost: No really, Tsuritama has been amazing, it's been an amazing treat. I came and went "fishing?" but it's so much more, it really is. Mochi: I don't think it's about fishing in general. Fishing is I guess the vehicle for the friendship component of the show, which I think is more prominent... Enzo: Just think of it as the drool of Tsuritama. Mochi: Yeah! Exactly. Drool. Asobi: I really like how Tsuritama understands the amount of time it has to craft a story that has a very clear beginning, a very clear middle, and a very clear end. I mean in my earlier posts I'd been complaining about the slow pacing about the buildup from episode 1 to episode 5 to 6, but in retrospect all this build up has really paid off in extremely emotional peaks in the latter half of the show and you can really see how throughout the entire show does this very clear direction, in which the show consistently wants to go to this end where the four of them come together to fish out the dragon and whether Haru leaves or not we'll see in the conclusion. Enzo: Yeah, I think you're absolutely right and I think that this is the best show of the season just because I think the two best shows this season are on noitaminA but I think this one is better because partly about what you said, because the pacing is just perfect. This is a show that was clearly written with the idea, "hey, we're going to do this in 12 episodes and we know exactly what we're doing," and I personally love those buildup episodes in the beginning because I really think the character development was so subtle and so deep in this show that I just don't think you see this kind of character development like...ever. It's extremely rare. Plus it looks fantastic. The art is unbelievable. It's so bright, it's so surreal. And I love the soundtrack. I may love this soundtrack more than I like Sakamichi just because it's so perfect for the tone of the show itself, not that Sakamichi isn't. I think this show is everything that a great show should be. It's got a real plot, it's got great character development, it's got a great cast, it's got great music, it's got an interesting look, and it was written with the exact format of 12 episodes in mind so it doesn't ever feel rushed. I don't know whatever more you could want. Honestly, unless you're really addicted to some element that might be popular in anime that this show doesn't have, without naming what exactly that may be, but unless you are, I think this show has everything that a fan could possibly want. I think that it's clearly the best show of the season for me and I think it was the pacing issues in Sakamichi that made all the difference in nudging Tsuritama against it in the past few weeks. Asobi: Yeah, and it has a really refreshing tone to it. I mean, there's this aura of warmth and positivity that you just don't see in shows these days, not to be ???, both to its visuals, the vivid warm pallette of its backgrounds. As for the music which is very whimsical, very warm, very evocative in its later episodes, but still maintaining that clear positive aura. Enzo: Plus Tapioca. *murmurs of agreement* Verdant: Makes me want bubble tea all of a sudden. Anyone else have any last words to say about Tsuritama? Zephyr: It's just amazing that it's a 12-13 episode series? Asobi: 12 episodes. Zephyr: 12? Yeah, it's amazing that it's 12 episodes and they've managed to do so much and it's really rare to find shows that actually do all this so well in one cour. Asobi: Yeah, and I can really relate to all of the people who dropped it during the early episodes because of the perceived slow pacing but I think in retrospect it is a good show to marathon because it presents a very clear story throughout. Enzo: You know, it's funny because, just to jump on that real quick, I remember a lot of people saying the same thing about Seirei no Moribito, that they thought there were too many slow episodes in the first part of the series and they dropped it because of that. And then you realize later on just how necessary those episodes were because they were building all of the layers into the characters that were necessary to make the last part of the show really effective. Asobi: Yeah exactly, and I think what people are looking for in these episodes are those hard-hitting developments, like what Sakamichi is doing, so that's what's causing some people to drop Tsuritama, but I think it's a shame. All this buildup has lead to an incredible latter half of the show. Verdant: Sounds good. This is shaping up to be one hell of a season. Excuse my French. Enzo: It is. [51:05] Eureka Seven: AO ---- Verdant: Next up, we're going to talk about another gem of this season, Eureka Seven: Astral Ocean. Go Ahead Enzo. Enzo: Thanks, and I agree btw. This was an amazing season. This one is not my favorite show this season, but it might be 3, 4, 5 somewhere around there. I do think it's great, but this show is a perfect example on why sequels are very hard to do, 'cause there are certain fans that just won't be pleased. What I think you're seing with AO is that it's not trying to be Eureka Seven 2. It's trying to be it's own show and it's a very different kind of series than Eureka Seven, it's more political, and I think it's much more subtle. It's sort of doing a deconstruction of this whole genre. There's elements of E7, there's elements of Evangelion, there's elements of RahXephon. They're all part of this because the larger picture in this show is it's trying to be about the whole child soldier kind of deal which we take for granted in anime--it's just one of those things that happens, but this is a show that's actually trying to say, "This thing that happens in anime: what are the morale implications of it?" and I think that's really the main point of the show. The head writer of the show is the guy who did UN-GO, which is about as different from E7 as you can imagine. Unfortunately, I see massive rages of hate against this show, maybe more than any other show this season, other than Aquarion probably. It saddens me because it's really a brave decision by BONES to try and do a sequel that's very different from the original, that takes elements of it but takes it in a different direction and I, no offesnse to Fate/Zero or any of these other CGI-heavy shows, which are fine. I love a good mecha action sequence that's all hand-drawn and I think that's great. You don't see that as much of that anymore as you used to. I love E7, it was one of the most important anime in my development as an anime fan, I think looking back that for its 50 episodes it was a very watched show and it had a lot of things wrong with it but I loved it in spite of those flaws. I was a tough audience going in to this, and I love AO and I wish more people would give it a chance. *mumbles and awkward cutting ins* Moomba: It was--a lot of people say E7 was a flawed masterpiece and I think that shows just how great it was, that people remember it so well and compare it to AO so heavily because even though it had those flaws, those obvious flaws, it was still a great anime in the end. Enzo: It was, it totally was. Moomba: I kind of want to play Devil's Advocate a little bit because I empathize a little bit on the people who have been hating on AO, although I still do love it. For example, some people are claiming the Truth as a terrible antagonist. I mean, the first time he appeared, the first thing he did was he stated he wanted the Nirvash, and he obviously has the power to take it, but he's just doing whatever, murdering people all over the place and never actually directly going for it. If he did go directly for it, he could take it, easily. Enzo: Can I play Devil's Advocate to your Devil's Advocate, 'cause I see a lot of people criticizing the Truth too. The Truth is not my favorite element of the show, but I think the whole point of the Truth is, we haven't seen ultimately what his goals are. I think it's not just the Nirvash, he could do whatever he wanted, based on what his abilities are, but I feel like--I know in the last episode Ivica said he was the Pied Piper, but I think the Truth is the Pied Piper. I think his role is that he's trying to lead people towards something they dont' want to see. I think his motivation in doing that is I don't know, but he keeps dropping hints that this whole world is false, that it's incorrect, and I think he's trying--yeah he can just blow everything up if he wanted, but I think he wants--he has some reason to get people to that point. Not everyone may like him as a dramatic device and I understand that but, I think that he's playing a larger role in the story that I don't think has become totally clear yet. Verdant: So I recently marathoned most of this series at the behest of a friend, and I've never seen the original series, so I'm pretty lost. It hasn't explained what any of the alien things are or what the story behind it is. I'm just enjoying it for the character interactions and some of the fight scenes, but I think a lot of the issues of a child soldier that they portray, having seen a lot of gundam series, it doesn't feel like it's breaking any new ground really. Mochi: I, kind of really have to disagree with you. Atlhough the only gundam series I've seen in completion is Gundam SEED and Gundam SEED Destiny so maybe I don't have a good view of things, but the pilots on the series are all fricking emo. Like, it got to the point where it was really annoying but Eureka Seven I feel is handling it really well, with the recent episodes especially, like AO saw people getting killed and I feel the angst he had afterwards weren't understated but not overexaggerated either, which I really appreciated, from a viewers point of view. Verdant: Yeah, I definitely think he's an awesome main character, but I feel like this stuff I've seen many times before in other Gundam series, not SEED or Destiny. Enzo: I don't see quite the same thing in Gundam, I think they dance around it a little bit. I actually, ironically, the Gundam show that everyone hates, but I think the current one, AGE, is the one Gundam series that is sort of trying to tackle this issue on in the most recent arc and I don't think it's doing it particularly well; I think it's doing okay, but it's very broad and not very subtle compared to how it's happening here. Since everyone is tapping away (in the skype conversation :P) that Ao is awesome, Ao is awesome as a main character, I think the last episode is a perfect explanation of why because I think he behaves realistically for a 12 year old boy in the circumstances he's in, in that he's not sort of a gung-ho hero, he's not super emo, he's just a kid who has sort of a strong ideal of what right and wrong is and he doesn't have a lot of experience and he makes a lot of dumb decisions, but he does them for the right reasons, and there's an old quote that applies to him, "Courage is not being afraid, courage is being afraid but doing the right thing anyways." I think AO exemplifies that for me very well. He does get scared, he does get freaked out, but he ultimately does what he has to do because he thinks this is the right thing to do. "I have to try and save people." And I don't think you see that kind of subtlety in most mecha characters. The other main thing I would differentiate from Gundam generally speaking is the pilots in most gundam series are generally a bit older, somewhere in their mid to late teens. There have been a couple of exceptions, including the first one, but I think the morality of the situation is very different when the characters are the age in AO or the age Io is in the most recent Gundam example. And that's why I think that's the best comparison. Verdant: See, I think AO made things too subtle. I mean, I get why he's fighting, but some people might see it as more heavy-handed in Gundam AGE, but I think it's much better fleshed out. It becomes the center of his motivation as a pilot more than the center of motivation for Ao. Enzo: Yeah, I agree to disagree there. I'm currently watching AGE, I'm even currently blogging it, but it's more like I've been with this thing for six episodes and I don't want to stop, and I do think it's trying to say some interesting ideas, I give it credit for that, I just think that characterization is all over the map in this current Gundam, and that's where I kind of lose the comparison, but you know, different people will bleed different views. I think's important to know that this is written by the same guy who wrote Un-Go, which is a BONES series that split people for a lot of the reasons that we're talking about with AO. A lot of the same concerns raised about that show. I don't think that's a coincidence. Verdant: Any last words? Moomba: I want to bring up one last thing. So far we have Ao as the only male pilot, then we have the five female pilots, and there's at least one more IFO team that hasn't shown up in the series yet, the Harlequin team. What do you think the chances are that any of them will be male or they will continue to be female. Enzo: Well, there's been some hinting actually that there was a male pilot in Pied Piper before Ao came along, and that one of the reasons for the initial coldness that the other two showed towards him was out of loyalty for their former pilot, who died. I agree with you that the one element that feels formula for me is that all the pilots are girls, and he's the one who isn't, and there's been no real good explanation as for why that would be the case, I think it would add a nice element of realism if there was at least one male pilot in the team that we haven't met yet. Whether or not that will happen, your guess is as good as mine, I haven't seen any inidcation one way or another. [59:55] Hyouka ---- Verdant: Alright, moving on. We'll go to our last series we're going to talk about, Hyouka. I mean, I said it before in the last podcast, I really like this show. The mysteries, they might not be your typical mysteries, but I like the way they made the mundane seem cool. The recent arc is the mystery murder, and other shows would have an actual mystery murder, but this one they turned it into a movie and figuring out how to finish. I don't know, I really like the characters. Unlisted: It's all about presentation. Verdant: Yeah, it's true. The presentation. The animation is well-done. Stilts: Not really sure why I enjoy this one, I can't really put my finger on it. The animation is beautiful and the characters, they're enjoyable, but there's nothing really that stands out between most of of them. Sorry, was I quiet all of a sudden? Verdant: You're good now. Mochi: You were quiet, now you're loud. Stilts: My bad. Anyways, as I was saying, not really sure why I enjoy ths one. The characters are interesting, but they really don't stand out in any way. I like the secondary character, the database guy. He's kind of silly. Enzo: Satoshi! Stilts: Yeah, that's his name. Couldn't think of it. Enzo: I agree, he's the best character on the show. Stilts: Yeah, I mean the main characater, he's alright, but he (Satoshi) really really entertains me. The last episode really slides my socks (???) where Chitanda got drunk on those candies which was really entertaining, but, not sure what really draws me to it. Verdant: For me I think I'm drawn to, not only thinking about how these mysteries are going to be solved, but also just seeing Chitanda get Houtaro out of his shell a little. He's basically been this little lazy guy and all of a sudden he meets this girl who's curious about everything and it's just nice to watch someone change because they like someone. I guess he likes her. Enzo: I think the appeal of this show---- Unlisted: He's hoping he likes her. Enzo: Oh, he likes her, trust me he likes her. The appeal of this show for me is just basically, I've rarely seen a show that does a good job of showing what wasting time in high school was like and that's really what high school is all about, at least it was for me: finding creative ways to waste time so I wouldn't be bored out of my mind, and I think this show does a really good job of showing that. The mysteries themselves, honestly, the one with the uncle was sort of interesting for me, the others ones have held almost no interest for me whatsoever. Hyouka is not so much a show as it is a feeling and I just like that vibe to it, I like that time wasting silly nonsense to it. The animation is obviously unbelievably great, even by Kyoto Animation standards, it's beautiful beautiful animation. The characters for me are just basically all out of the trope guide, except for Satoshi who I think is interesting because he has a quirky different interesting thing going on but the others are pretty much been-there-done-that. But it doesn't really matter. Again, I forget who said it, but it's sort of about all about presentation with this show and it does the presentation really well. It's not anything great, but it does what it sets out to do really well, and I find it mostly pretty entertaining. Verdant: I guess that's another example of a show of something for everyone because for me, I go into each mystery trying to figure out, even though they're like mundane, even though they're, "How did she see a ghost in the window." For me, I take a lot of joy in figuring that stuff out, so I definitely can emphatize with Houtaro. Unlisted: Gah, what was that show that tied in everything together in the end, in the winter? Last winter? I don't remember. Mochi: Kaminomi? No... Enzo: GOSICK? Unlisted: Yeah, there you go! Mochi: GOSICK, oh. Unlisted: Yeah, it has that same feeling. Verdant: GOSICK was more about, less about the mysteries and more about the romance for me. Enzo: Yeah, I'd go along with that. That was a more plot-driven show too generally speaking, but I get your point. The mysteries were there, but they weren't--I guess for me that's another example of where the mysteries didn't interest me so much as the rest of it. Verdant: Yeah, this show, some people, the mysteries might not be there, but it's a good platform for the characters to show their personalities. Any last words on Hyouka? Stilts: I kind of want to know why Satoshi knows about Mayaka's feelings but hasn't done anything about it. Any ideas? Verdant: I don't know, he's a database. He knows, but he doesn't know what to do with it. Mochi: I've heard different takes on that, but sure. Stitls: Any do you subscribe to yourself? Mochi: What? Stilts: Any theories that you have? Mochi: (cut off) Enzo: Do you remember that, sorry, go ahead. Mochi: I don't know, I've some other people call that he actually like, likes Houtaro, and...yeah! *murmurs of woaaaaah* Enzo: Remember that speech he made? Remember that speech he made while they were riding the bicycles about how he didn't want to be gray and he wanted to, I forget the exact words, but how he wanted to shine brighter than everyone else and all this kind of stuff? I actually thought that was the most interesting sequence of dialogue in the entire series because, I felt like he was kind of making a statement about, "This is who I am, and if people don't like it, screw them." You can interpret that however you want to interpret it. I don't think it's impossible to believe that he was saying something more than what he was saying with words, and that maybe he why he hasn't shown a romantic interest, you know, but I think it would be great to have a gay character in a show like this, where the point isn't he's gay and the point isn't that he has a crush on the main character. It's just that he happens to be gay and he's one of the characters on the show. I think that would a great thing if they just came right out and made that part of the mix. I doubt they will, but whatever the case is, I think it makes him a more interesting character because he's the one who's really stamped himself as someone who thinks a little bit differently than the rest of the people in his group; he takes things in for a deeper look at things. He calls himself a database, but I've already seen some indications that he's just selliing himself short there. There's more going on here than just the database. Stilts: Well now I'm little bit more interested, what happens going forward. [01:05:53] Summer 2012 Picks Verdant: It's a good thing we still have a whole 'nother season to find out. Speaking of a whole new season... Stilts: That was an awful segue. Enzo: What a segue! Verdant: We're going to shift gears and talk about the upcoming shows we're looking forward to the most, starting with the most anticipated show of the season, Sword Art Online. Moomba, take it away please! Moomba: So, I know a lot of people are looking forward to Sword Art Online, but I think there are some misconceptions about people who think it's a .hack ripoff, for example. I've heard a lot of people say that and talk about how Kirito is a Marty Stu and excessive plot armor, but I'm glad that the people who are not paying attention to that and actually looking at how amazing it's going to be because there was a new PV today for example, which showed off how amazing it looks for a start, along with Kajiura Yuki's music as well. It's a great story. A lot of people don't like Accel World and do like Acces World, but they're very different really. The only real connection between the two is that they're set in the same world and each one is a game. Beyond that, they're very different. Stilts: I have to say, for Sword Art Online and also for Accel World, the premise itself for both is really brilliant, because a lot of stories try to yank you in, make you empathize with the main character or other characters or whatever. A fighting series and a fantasy/sorcery series, you've seen those a ton of times and we can get into those to a certain degree, but the games that are based off of those, I think most people who watch anime have played one or the other or probably both, and probably fairly extensively, so it's very easy to imagine yourself in that position, which makes it really really easy to get sucked into, both Accel World to a certain extent, and Sword Art Online, probably more so. Asobi: As a fan of the novel can I chime in a bit here? Stilts: Do it. Asobi: So, what's different about Sword Art Online, as you all know the premise concerns these players who are trapped in a game of life and death basically, where if you die in the game, you die in real life. The novels really play on this aspect a lot, on the consequental aspects of what really happens and the situation surrounding player's deaths. This is why I really like about the first arc of SAO, where players are basically stuck in this life or death game, because it really explores how characters deal with these very crazy situations and what sort of things come out of the two years they spend in this crazy situation. So yeah. Moomba: I just want to build up on that a little bit. The one thing that makes me like Sword Art Online a lot more than Accel World is that SAO has that actual consequence: if you die, you die in real life, whereas in Accel World, if you lose, you lose your ability to brain burst and accelerate, which means you don't have the ability to be successful at everything: you just become a normal person for the rest of your life. I can connect less to Accel World's story than I can to SAO. Stilts: Yeah, you just lose your "I Win!" button instead of well, you know, your entire life. Mochi: Is this where the plot armor comes in? For the main character, cause he's supposed to...live? I don't know. Moomba: I think what most people consider plot armor for SAO is the fact that the main character never dies, which--how can you really consider that plot armor when most anime, the protagonist still lives through the entire series, except in very rare cases. Stilts: I guess the difference is, once you get most of us to play RPGs and MMOs, we did not go a a day without dying. So it's kind of, a little better. Asobi: Yeah, that's what's diffent with Sword Art Online, because they really explore this concept of death in a game, which really isn't explored in any other augmented or Science Fiction reality series. It's not like Ghost in the Shell or the Matrix in this aspect. When you see the connections to real life. Verdant: Anything else on SAO? Okay, let's move on to Kokoro Connect. Stilts: One second, I'm trying to remember which one this is. Mochi: Body swap! Enzo: Body swap! Unlisted: Body swap, looks like K-ON. Stilts: Ah yes. Enzo: Director of Baka to Test. Stilts: I think all of us have wondered what if we swapped bodies with the opposite gender and--- Verdant: Speak for yourself. Stilts: Hey, I have, and after of course I would grope my chest. You all would too! *unlisted and others laugh* Verdant: I totally saw that coming. Unlisted: Did you? Stilts: Surely it makes for some interesting dilemmas or--I got nothing. Enzo: I'm sorry, but I'm hearing that this is darker than most people think it is. I don't know the original source material enough to say, but that's kind of the rumor I've been hearing. You know, it's the director Oonuma Shin who's like the Shinbo clone and some of the stuff I like, like Ef I thought was quite good, the first season of Baka to Test. I've sort of gotten tired of his visual ticks and tricks that he uses in every one of his animes and I'm sort of wary of this show for that reason. However, I have to say that among the list of shows this season which I'm interested in for summer, which admittedly isn't that long, this one at least looks interesting from a plot standpoint, so I'm definitely going to check it out. If it were somebody else directing it, I probably would have more enthusiasm for it. Asobi: The PV did hint at that darker tone when you see the girl falling off the bridge at the end. Enzo: Some people compared it to Another actually. *multiple people mumbling, Mochi saying THE WHAT!? :3* Verdant: Interesting. I'll have to check out the PVs again. Unlisted: I think looking like K-ON might hurt it a little bit. Remind me too much of lighthearted shows! *more people mumbling over each other* Stilts: I don't know, Silver Link usually does really good work. I can't think of one...did they do Baka to Test though? I think they did. Stereo: Amnesia! Enzo: One good season they worked with it, then one not so good season of work with Baka to Test if you ask me, but.... Stilts: Heh heh, but they usually do pretty good work, so, I dunno, I'm willing to give it a little bit of doubt. Asobi: They have showed that they can handle the darker stuff with the C3 show, or C Cubed. Zanibas: Oh, cubed? Asobi: Yeah, I forgot what it was called. Unlisted: Yeah, I'd call it that. Verdant: It's definitely has a lot of potential there, and we'll have to check it out for sure. Next up is Tari Tari. Zanibas: Yay, Iroha season two! Asobi: Yeah, same. Mochi: Nooo, not another Iroha! Verdant: I kind of see it-- Asobi: I thought, "oh god" when I first saw it. Verdant: --as a little bit of Iroha but also a little bit more of like Sakamichi but toned down. There's going to be that music aspect right? Zanibas: I guess, but... Enzo: K-ON. *giggles* Enzo: It's Iroha without Okada, that's what it is. Iroha without Okada. Actually, Iroha is Japanese for 'we're not even trying anymore'. *everyone laughs at this joke, which I cannot testify whether or not it's actually true.* Verdant: But it is P.A. Works, so I'm definitely going to check this out. Enzo: Exactly, it's P.A. Works, you've got to respect it, you've got to at least give it a shot cause it's P.A. Works and it'll probably look really great. My initial reaction to this show is that it looks like it's trying to be Iroha which is--that was a show that I liked, but I kind of jumped the shark several times during the course of its run--plus there's no Okada. The guy who's writing and directing it never really done anything like this on this scale, so absolutely no idea of what to expect, it looks completely generic yet it's the only original series of this season, which is ironic, and it's P.A. Works and you've got to put it at the top of the list just for that reason, that's how I look at it. Verdant: It looks a lot like Iroha, but Iroha really stood on how likeable it was and I'm worried that if Tari Tari doesn't have a character like Ohana, it's going to be harder to watch. At least for me. (Zanibas: We'll have to see then.) Verdant: We'll have to wait a week or so and find out. Ghost: On the end I think, just becuase of P.A. Works alone, and just because it looks like Hanasaku Iroha, I think it's going to surprise actually, it's not going to be--I get the feeling that it's not going to be just some kind of Hanasaku Iroha copy, but I get the feeling that it's going to be better than expected for the most part. Stilts: So Zephyr calling it as the sleeper for the season, you heard it here first! (Well, heard yes, but Div called it first in the Preview :P) Verdant: Well let's talk about a show that's definitely not going to be a sleeper, Rinne no Lagrange 2. Stilts: WOOOOOO! Yes. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3ALwKeSEYs) (Verdant: Hey I want--) Stilts: If you haven't seen the first season, you should go do so immediately. Asobi: I haven't seen the first season. Verdant: Do it now. Stilts: You should do so immediately, because--I mean I talked about that when I was blogging the end of it, but it really was one that it did everything really solidly and really well and then continually exceeded expectations each and every week and that's hard to do, so--I mean it was really solid all the way through, the main character Madoka is--there's really nothing you can hate about her. Muginami and Lan are really entertaining as well. Got a slight yuri vibe, which is really fun, but it's really--the first half was phenomenal so I expect more, more in the second half. Verdant: Yeah, can't say enough. I'll be looking forward to it, since I won't have my fill of Marika each week in Mouretsu Pirates. I'm going to need another genki girl like character to fill that void. Stilts: Madoka will definitely do that part. Verdant: Any other words on Lagrange? Zephyr: Yeah, well Lagrange really--there's so much to say about it at the same time, but Stilts pretty much hit it on the head. You really should watch this show. It's a really good mix of serious versus comedy at times. There's some nice mechs, some pretty decent music considering the composers for Lagrange haven't worked on anything prior to this. Yeah, Nissan doing the mechs is pretty interesting too. It'll definitely be one of the better shows of the season. In my opinion. Verdant: Looking forward to it; it'll be my safe pick of the summer. And a not so safe pick because I have no idea what's going on is Horizon Season 2. Stilts: And I get to talk a lot again. Alrighty, Horizon. This one is really difficult, for a lot of people. The first season can get really confusing, but it has a lot to offer if you do take the time to understand it because a lot of shows will give you this world you can go into, this one is an incredibly detailed and complex world that can suck you in if you give it enough time to understand it. This is the one that was supposed to be impossible to adapt, and I think at Sunrise, they've done it really well. There are certain things that usually--they can skip past you, but when you're going with this giant cast of interesting characters and this global spanning war that feels huge but also personal, there's a lot to enjoy there and theres's still a lot of material to go through. Not going to be short of entertaining or expecting things to happen. Verdant: Anyone else have anything else to say about Horizon 2? Zephyr: Yeah, in the end Horizon 2 is--I feel like it's going to be really great. The first season for the most part, a lot of people like all infodump and ribbing the series because of the sheer amount of information that had to get out in the first season, but the thing about the second season now is that all the information is already out. You know everything about the cast, you know everything about the environment for the most part, the other factions, and season two now, they can really run with it. You can actually really see the series take its own atmosphere for the most part, take a step forward into what it actually should be, the meat of the composition, so to speak. There's no real need to go into intros anymore, people don't have to necessarily worry about infodump and it's just going to be a wild ride. Stilts: I would say that even though the first full season wasn't all that intro. It took more intro than most series, where most people will give it three episodes and if it's not great I'll drop it, but for that one, it's really five episodes or so to really get into the stuff and really get off and running, but after that you get to some fantastic scenes. But all of that now is like Zephyr says: it's done. It's taken care of, so there's going to be less exposition and more time getting awesome stuff. I do want to say that for those who are listening and have not watched the first one or are confused by anything, I'm doing a bunch of mega posts on it to get people up to speed for the second season, so hopefully those will come tomorrow if I don't slack off? Verdant: Alright, do you guys have any other shows you want to get in one or two lines about really quickly before we wrap this up? Zanibas: (I'm) maybe covering Moyashimon season 2, not sure yet. Stilts: Harass Zanny in the posts if you want that to happen I guess. (don't bother, I already am :P) Zanibas: It's competing with Shirokuma Cafe right now (not anymore it isn't, YEAAH!). The other show I'll probably be covering is Famiglia. I don't know much about the actual premise of that except that it's a game for the PSP, is that correct? PSP, right? Mochi: Uhm, yeah, it's an adaptation from the original game, yeah. Not sure about the console though, it might be a PSP port? Zanibas: Hmmm, I see. But when I read the premise, it sounded like a cross between Hitman Reborn and Brave. That doesn't mean that it doesn't look interesting, so I'll definitely be looking at that this season. Stilts: Oh, and YuriYuri is always good. *in a whisper* you should wach it! Verdant: I knew---I was counting on you to do that. Now I just need to hear a nishishi from you. Stilts: Nihihihihihihi! (more like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAavGv-OzXY) Verdant: Maybe a little falsetto too. Stilts: I'll see if I can get that on our Random Curiosity topic. Verdant: So, I guess that's it for the shows that we're looking forward to the most this summer season. Enzo: Let me plug mine real quick, because I'm only doing one new show. It's Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita. It's the same writer director that did Kamisama Dolls, which I thought was a really underrrated show, also Seto no Hanayome did that. The original author on this one is not that many people know but very very funny, very very dark, sort of a black comedy. It's a really interesting and different premise, it's about fairies taking over the world, humans being subservient to that, and it looks like a really weird and interesting show. I think the graphics look really beautiful and I know that it's not going to get much attention, but give it a chance, if you're looking for something interesting because it's one of the shows this season that looks remarkably not like any of the other shows this season, which I think that enough of itself, go for it, give it a chance. Zanibas: The PV started out with a headless chicken, you already know it's going to be good. Verdant: Basically, give all the shows we're blogging this summer a chance, I don't think you'll-- Mochi: Yes please! That'd be nice. [01:20:41] Most Wanted Sequel Verdant: Next, we're going to go to our Random Topic of this episode, which is going to be the sequel we most want to see and why. To start off, let's go with Stilts the Trojan Horse. Stilts: We have a google doc where we record this stuff on there. They're slandering me! But okay, I was originally going to say Infinite Stratos but I recently heard that might be getting a second season already, so yes! But there are tons I would like to see, but I'm gonna have to go say Ben-To, because that was I think underappreciated, has some delicious thigh meat in it, so uh, I'd like to see a little bit more. Verdant: You're a thigh man, man. Stilts: Yeh...pretty much. Mochi: Zettai Ryouiki? Stilts: I said it last time! Verdant: I respect that, it's like the one time I'm going to respect you. I respect you. Stilts: YES! WINNING! Verdant: Zanibas? The show you'd most like to see? Zanibas: His and Her Circumstances, ALL THE WAY. It stopped randomly after 26 episodes and---- Enzo: Worst ending ever. Zanibas: WORST ENDING EVARRRRRRR! Anyone who's seen it will absolutely agree with, and if not a second season, I would like to see an OVA that wraps up the arc that they were hanging on. It was directed by Hideaki Anno with music by Shiro Sagisu, and like an interesting fact: some of the music that you hear in Evangelion 2.0, it actually originated from His and Her Circumstances. And the other show tha tI'd like to see, just as a shoutout for my friend is Spice and Wolf III because he absolutely raves that must be the show that must get a sequel. I don't know why, but, I'll root for him. Verdant: I'll talk about it later. Stilts: Can always use some more economics. Verdant: Zephyr, what's your show? Zephyr: Definitely going to have to go with Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex. It's been a couple years since the second gig came out. Rumor has it the 3rd gig is supposd to be in production, but haven't heard much of it. But basically it's my favorite series ever, so, why not. Verdant: Stereoman? Stereoman: Yeah, I think Fruits Basket should have a sequel or a remake because the anime, it ended so weird and abruptly and the manga has a really beautiful ending, it's so long. It covered the first eight volumes where the manga is like 23, so I think they can make a remake or a sequel for it. Verdant: Sounds good. Moomba? Moomba: Durarara[rararararararararararararararararara]. I'm pretty sure I don't really need to give a reason why. Verdant: Yeah, pretty sure everyone here would like to see another season. Stilts: I'm just depressed you stopped saying that word. Durawrawrawrrawrrawra. Verdant: I just want more Shizzy. Shizuoooooo! *Mochi fangirl squeal* Verdant: So cool. It's also voiced by-- Mochi: Orobi? Verdant: Yeah, my favorite seiyuu. Enzo: How about more Baccano too? Asobi: Yeah! Verdant: Asobi, what's the show that you'd like to see a sequel to? Moomba: A sequel to... Asobi: Oh, you talking to me? Uhh, I was going to say Full Metal Panic but I think everyone is already back for that sequel since forever so I'm going to go with Durarara's underappreciated cousin Baccano. Verdant: I love that show. Asobi: Brilliant show that meant people that get caught (???). In many ways, I think it's a much better show than Durarara ever was. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aYJE2DFz7s] Stilts: Oooh, gauntlet throwdown. Verdant: Enzo? Enzo: First of all, let me agree that Bacanno is better than Durarara, though I do like them both. I'm going to pick a show by the same director as the one Zephyr picked and for the exact same reason, because it's my all time favorite and that's Seirei no Moribito which for me is the most complete, the most perfect everything, every element, every story character, cast, animation. It's the perfect long anime, it's probably the best one ever. It'll never happen, but there are seven novels they could draw from so if they ever decide to do it they have plenty of source material to do. That's my favorite series of all time and so I'd definitely pick that and real quickly let me say Bokura ga Ita because that also stopped right in the middle and that's arguably along with His and Her Circumstances, the best anime-romance ever. The manga is finally done, they could actually do a sequel. Verdant: Alright, Mochi? I'm pretty sure Pokemon already has a billion sequels, but can you name another-- Mochi: I didn't put it in there! I don't know who put it in there! But anyways, I was going to say Infinite Stratos 2 currently that's slated for a sequel so--oh Rozen Maiden 3. I would love a Rozen Maiden 3rd season. Yeah, so that's what I have for my sequels! Verdant: Alright, unlisted. Unlisted: It's about time. I hope Hayate no Gokotu 3rd season. We need another Kugi reprise. Verdant: You and your loli tsunderes. Enzo: Wasn't that just announced actually? Unlisted: Was it? I have not been paying attention. Enzo: I thought it was...I'm pretty sure it was. Unlisted: It's kind of sad because the movie is by another different studio, I mean, all three outings it has had different studios and I'd kind of like to see some consistency there. Verdant: As for me, even though you guys think I should say Sailor Moon, I've never seen Sailor Moon. I would want to see Claymore to be adapted. I thought the anime original ending really wasn't anything like what happened in the manga afterwards, so it'd be really cool to see that adapted some more. I also think that Spice and Wolf definitely needs a sequel. Unlisted: How about a long Beserk TV version? Verdant: They're going to make movies apparently so I'll be okay with movies, I guess. Unlisted: I mean, I saw a lot of complaints about stuff being left out. Verdant: It's going to happen. Even with a TV show, stuff's going to always going to be left out--there's too much stuff in the manga. Zephyr: Oh, just a quicky about Claymore. The anime series ended slightly different compared to the manga, but it ends in such a way that you can continue straight off from the manga actually. Verdant: Yeah, it's why I definitely think it needs more and it gets more and more epic, right? Mochi: Yeah, probably D. Gray Man, but anyways. [1:26:33] Shoutouts ---- Verdant: Oh, I've heard good things about that too. Alright, we're going to shift to our shoutouts and our free-for-all section. Go ahead. Stilts. Stilts: I just want to say that, give a shoutout to everybody who sticks through and listens to this whole thing all the way through, cause we've been yakking for the better part of I don't know how long. So well done for having endurance. Verdant: I think they come for me. Stilts: I don't know if that's accurate. I think they come for, well it's not you, it's not me, it's probably Mochi. Verdant: Yeah, it's a pretty good guest. Mochi: What? What am I doing? Oh. Stilts: Exactly. Unlisted: Just, just yell her name and she gets freaked out. Mochi: I'm like...yeah...anyways, um, okay... Verdant: Anyone else have any shoutouts to say? Mochi: I love you all! Verdant: We love you too. Mochi: Yeah, I know. Zanibas; Oh, I'd like to give a shoutout to mac65, one of our commenters. He's always--he's been a great commenter at least for Nazo no Kanojo X. He always writes these comment posts that really give a lot of insight that I didn't see before, so I'd like to thank you for being such an awesome commenter this past season, at least for me. Yay~ Unlisted: Shoutout to Divine 'cause he probably sounds like this. Divinebot: Hello my name is Divine. *Roars of laughter, all knowing we'll all get sacked soon, but it was worth it :P* Stilts: You've been waiting the entire podcast to do that, haven't you? Unlisted: No I haven't actually but I thought it was going to be pretty funny. Stilts: You cracked that out quickly, I'm impressed. [1:27:55] Conclusion ---- Mochi: I don't know, there's something on the document that pizza is a vegetable, so apparently pizza is a vegetable! Zephyr: Yeah, 'cause all of the tomato sauce and I guess tomatoes--- Enzo: Tomato's a fruit! Unlisted: "It's a berry!" Zephyr: No, it's actually--there's a law saying that pizza is a vegetable now. Unlisted: Really? Mochi: What!? Zanibas: Ohohohoho! Zephyr: Yeah, in US cafeterias, they count pizzas as a vegetable serving. Unlisted: I guess there is a god. *roars of laughter* Unlisted: I mean, I was pretty skeptical, but you know... Stilts: The more you know. Unlisted: Today I learned. Verdant: Thank you for listening to our epically long podcast and now, we're going to leave you with the smooth strains of... Mochi: ...verdant singing! Verdant: Not me singing. *laughter* Stilts: Definitely not singing. Verdant: Yeah, too shy for that. We'll choose a song. It'll be a surprise: you'll just enjoy it because we told you to enjoy it. Later everyone! Stilts: Later! --------------------- [1:28:56] Outro - (Subarashiki Sekai) "This Wonderful World" by Rake from Uchuu Kyoudai --------------------- Bloopers: Before Recording: ---- Zephyr: Well, at least if this stretches out for another 20 minutes I get to watch more Euro 2012. Shhhh...shhhh! --- Zephyr: That's pretty nasty man (unlisted). *Unlisted laughs* Unlisted: Stilts, I'm dragging it down already, and we haven't even started! Stilts: I needed help with that! --- Zanibas: Pokemon? Verdant: Heh, Pokemon. Asobi: Pokemon on what? Mochi: I don't know who put that down! Zephyr: My bad, I thought you like Pokemon. Mochi: Yeah I like Pokemon, but it's already gotten like so many sequels! Zephyr: See! I was right! Stilts: We're doing this all for Mochi. --- Unlisted: The guy making a fool of himself, you know who that is, cause it's not me! Ahahaha! --- After Recording: --- Enzo: I was impressed by how many cockblocks were inserted into the conversation. Zephyr: I wonder who said all of them. Verdant: Mochiii~ Unlisted: Cockblock was used exactly three times. (it was two, three including Enzo.) --- Enzo: We want these people to turn this into a drinking game, that's what we want. Like every time someone says cockblock take a sip, everytime they say shit you have to drink the whole bottle. Stilts: Every time someone says Devil's Advocate to Devil's Advocate you have to---- *everyone laughs and drowns out the rest* Verdant: We should just make this a drinking game for ourselves for the next one. "Hold on guys, we gotta drink now." Stilts: What'd you think I was doing the whole time? Shit, I'm on, 1...2...I'm on lost count! Zanibas: Every time you mispronounce a name, you have to take like a drink. Mochi: We'd be drunk 5 minutes in! END