Really nothing to do with this podcast, I just wanted an excuse to revisit Sakurasou one more time.

Here it is, the long awaited (by some) Winter 2013 Retrospective podcast! My apologies for the delay on this one. The editing stage took longer than usual due to RL priorities. In light of that, I’m going to keep this brief. Once again we have four writers yakking on about a bunch of last season’s shows, but since this is coming out later than normal, we also included a (now slightly outdated) look forward to the current spring season. In addition, we have a bonus for you – an extra long blooper reel, because we were extra funny this time! (Or at least we like to tell ourselves that.) Now, without further adieu, I give you the Winter 2013 Retrospective podcast. Please take your seats and enjoy the show.

  Participating Writers
  Time Index
  • 00:00 – 00:29 – Opening Song – 「You&Me」 by Saki & Rie Fu (Shirokuma Cafe OP3)
  • 00:30 – 02:30 – Introductions
  • 02:31 – 12:40Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru
  • 12:41 – 25:44Little Busters! (+ Takaii’s entrance and intro, 24:10)
  • 25:45 – 39:16Maoyuu Maou Yuusha
  • 39:17 – 48:23Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai NEXT
  • 48:24 – 61:09 – Season Overview: Better Than Expected, Worse Than Expected, Just Plain Good, and Special Mentions
  • 61:10 – 61:55 – Intermission Song — 「Spirit Inspiration」 by Nothing’s Carved in Stone (Zetsuen no Tempest OP)
  • 61:56 – 69:52 – Spring 2013 – Enzo’s Picks & Discussion
  • 69:53 – 74:19 – Spring 2013 – Takaii’s Picks & Discussion
  • 74:20 – 82:36 – Spring 2013 – Zanibas’ Picks & Discussion
  • 82:37 – 87:36 – Spring 2013 – Stilts’ Picks & Discussion
  • 87:37 – 93:47 – Shout outs and conclusion
  • 93:48 – 94:14 – Outro – 「Alicemagic ~TV animation ver.~」 by Rita (Little Busters! ED)

~Special Blooper Reel!~

  • 00:00 – 23:11 – Bloopers
  Listen to the Episode
Winter 2013 Retrospective Podcast | Duration: 94:14 – 96 kbps [flv:rc_podcast_07.mp3 350 0]

Download 160 kbps (107.85 MB)

Winter 2013 Retrospective Podcast – Special Blooper Reel! | Duration: 23:11 – 96 kbps [flv:rc_podcast_07bloopers.mp3 350 0]

Download 160 kbps (26.54 MB)

 

105 Comments

      1. this is the first time that i have ever listened to a podcast. stilts, man you’re a witty guy. then it all changed after i heard an overly manly voice LOL i never expected that. i was like O-O dafuq is this really stilts?

        Ichijou raku
  1. Great discussion ^_^

    BTW, are there any plans to reassign shows to other writers? Some shows either didn’t get finished yet, like Sasami-san@Ganbaranai, and some shows weren’t picked up after some writers left, like Uchuu Kyoudai.

    I’d like to get an update on these shows left in Limbo if possible. Thanks in advance 🙂

    JiCi
    1. Consider Sasami-san dropped, and Space Bros won’t be picked back up. We don’t like dropping shows, but I hope you understand that when writers leave it’s a lot of extra work for the rest of us to go back and pick up or finish their shows. We do it sometimes, but only if there is sufficient interest from another writer with the free time to do so. That’s not the case with either of these shows.

      Stilts
    2. This is not against Stilts or any RC writers per se, but this sort of lack of interest (or perceived lack of interest) among RC folks (and the writers, to a certain extent since they are also among “RC folks”) inform us all the sad state of human endeavors in the real world of 2013, as far as the space exploration is concerned. Yeah, it’s a small sample, a rather selective sample at that, choosing RC coverages as one, but it still reflects. Just look at NASA these days, except for the Curiosity rover, it’s basically irrelevant among the general populace.

      Uchuu Kyoudai, the great show that portrays the “real” (or close to real world that it’s possible to imagine it as such) human space activities? (I can almost sense folks collectively going) Lame~~. No eyes-big-as-your-fists-with-no-nose moe anime girls running around nor pew pew laser gun fights? Dropped~~.

      On the other hands, shows like Ginga Kikoutai Majestic Prince, Kakumeiki Valvrave, etc continue to get covered and thus get more exposure than “some” of these shows really deserve, in my view. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure many of these space robot fighting, space battleship saga sort of things can be entertaining, if that’s what you like, and the fact of the matter is that these types of shows are popular -why else they keep pumping these money makers year after year? And why else Michael Bay keeps pumping up those transformers sequels?

      I get that watching anime/movies for escapism, again, it’s pretty lame that folks don’t give a damn about Uchuu Kyoudai. If folks like space travel so much and the very idea of it always fascinate us, why not try to do something about it for real instead of forever dreaming about it? I’d suggest that the shows like Uchuu Kyoudai is a step in the right direction, however a minute it is, in the similar vein as Space X or popularity of Neil Degrasse Tyson. At least Uchuu Kyoudai is popular in Japan and among Japanese folks. It’s why it’s renewed and bumped into the more mainstream TV slot on Saturdays, not to mention the on-going manga is very popular. As for myself, it doesn’t affect me much that Uchuu Kyoudai is permanently dropped at RC; I will continue to watch regardless of RC. Its coverages were mostly ghost-town with the comments hovering around 5-10 to begin with. But I’d think any sort of encouragement for this type of shows, which is very, very rare (it’s a seinen show about space travel with educational tidbits, for crying out loud!!), would be much more appreciated than fronting yet another interchangeable run-of-the-mills space Sci-Fi shows.

      deathtogeneric/formulaicshows
      1. BTW, I do get that writers spend their time writing about shows they like. If a writer like show A, obviously it’d make more sense for him/her to cover what interests him/her, rather than being forced into writing about show B, even if B is a more important show, arguably. My comment was more about a general commentary on the trend, more than anything. It doesn’t change the fact that seinen shows like Uchuu Kyoudai will never be popular among non-Japanese folks, but I can still complain about the sad trend when and if I choose to do so~~~.

        deathtogeneric/formulaicshows
      2. No one is blogging them because we have lives too, and writing posts is not as simple as putting down a few words and clicking “publish”. If we tried to cover everything we’d all go insane, and in any case we’re not dropping them as personal insults to the series. There’s only so many of us to go around, and the amount of anime each season rather outnumbers us. It’s also difficult to pick up a series that someone else has been covering up til that point, and if we dropped a series we’re already following to accommodate for the circumstances, someone is bound to complain that we’ve dropped that as well.

      3. Kairi, you’re missing the point, my friend~~. (Perhaps you meant to reply to JiCi and if so, nevermind)

        Obviously my personal view is that “Uchuu Kyoudai” is not just another show. But nevermind that for a sec, I didn’t suggest that dropping it was “personal insults to the series” nor “cover everything”. I thought I’ve made it quite clear on this, but I guess you didn’t. It sounds to me, a stock answer to a stock complaint about a dropped show. Many times people read only what they want to read -sometimes imagine them, too, LOL! To my dismay, this scene is too familiar~. 😛

        I’ve already said that I understand whatever writers decide to write on their time. You sounded like all I wrote was “wah wah you dropped my favorite show, boo!” (well, some may argue that it’s exactly what I wrote, ah ha ha! I’m known to have some haters, you know who you are~). I stress AGAIN that my point was more of a dismay towards “the trend” among the folks rather than about RC’s choice of coverages. Obviously I will probably always grumble about this since Seinen is not known to be popular. To this extent, it’s safe to say that I was complaining about the lack of interest or the perceived lack of interest of “Uchuu Kyoudai” among folks but at the same time didn’t really care for its coverage for my sake (for some ulterior motive such as a better exposure for others, perhaps guilty I was, but as for me, I don’t care it’s covered or not at RC or anywhere).

        P.S. I don’t care about Sasami-san@Ganbaranai. I don’t think I even wrote it once, for the record. Cover it or drop it, watch or not watch, not my issue :). Actually this tells me Kairi probably meant to reply to JiCi since it’s him/her who asked about these two shows, not me.

        deathtogeneric/formulaicshows
      4. You assume that because it’s not covered on RC it means the writers have no interest in the show,that simply isn’t true.
        Just take Enzo,he doesn’t cover Uchuu Kyoudai on RC but he does cover it on his blog.

        totoum
      5. Space Bros is a super long series, and thus a major commitment. I’d generally rather have writers cover 1- or 2-cour shows so that they can cover a wider variety of shows, which I think greatly lessens the chance of burning out (variety being the spice of life and all that). Plus, if anyone wants to take a break – see: yours truly – then they can find a natural stopping point in their schedule – once again, see: yours truly – and bow out for a season or whatever. This isn’t as easy if you’re covering something that keeps going on for a loooong time.

        For the record though, I love Space Bros for showing the realistic side of space exploration. It pains me to no end that, as of right now, this story cannot take place because we’re not seriously talking about sending people to mars. I dream of the stars, and of us humans getting off this silly little rock before the universe decides to wipe us out. We really ought to get on with it, and I think shows like Space Bros – and others as well, though to a lesser degree – help inspire people to push for exactly that.

        What we really need are more 3D ants to tug all the 2D ants along, up and beyond the stars. Someday, someday…

        Stilts
      6. Oh, for the love of…

        Would you guys knock it off? They can’t blog some shows that were left unattended because of their own shows they’re blogging AND their personal lives. Deal with it…

        They at least introduced the series to us, so now it’s our job to keep watching them. All I asked for an update on shows that were left unattended on RC, and Stilts gave it to me. He didn’t do anything wrong.

        JiCi
    1. When talking about swimming PV, I just can’t forget about “Kyōkai no Kanata” as well. A PV of the same caliber. What’s more, the anime has been green lit. Sooo….looking forward to it. Hopefully it’ll be a rare fish out of the water from KyoAni.

      Swarz
  2. I don’t listen to many podcasts because I usually get bored after 10 or so minutes but I finished this one and it was quite enjoyable.
    Keep up the good work, looking forward the future posts.

    Guiltysparkz
  3. I came home from class this morning with the intention to take a nap… BUT then I saw this! And now I’m really glad I didn’t nap today lol. You guys crack me up. I almost tried to respond a few times while listening! And I’m sure my housemates already think I’m crazy when they hear all the random laughter coming from my room ^^;; Also, somehow I had not heard of the infamous KyoAni swimming boys until this podcast, so thanks for bringing it up in the bloopers! As a girl (and a proud Kuroko no Basuke fan), I have to say I would definitely watch it! Of course, it would be worth it just for Takaii’s now mandatory coverage of it xD

    Kira526
    1. Funny, I was coming back from class too, only I had plans to do homework… guess I’ll start it now :(. I had also not heard of KyoAni’s swimming boys until listening to the bloopers but I would definitely be a fan. Oh and I forgot to mention this in my other comment, although it goes without saying but great podcast guys!

      Jani
  4. Glad to see that RC podcasts are alive and well! You’re a great host, Stilts!

    Next time you should join in on the bloopers, Enzo. Your blooper comments in the previous podcast were hilarious. :p

    Thanks for taking the time out of your day/night to give us this treat.

    Windaerie
    1. Usually he does, but he had to get to work (we recorded this when it was early in the morning over in Japan), whereas the rest of us got to sit around and yak for a while longer. We’ll try to schedule things better next time : )

      Stilts
    1. This, and your post from back then, are the reasons why Kyoto Animation gets me angry, because it means the chances for another season of Full Metal Panic get even worse.

      Why, KyoAni, WHY?! You’ve shown yourselves capable of making action anime before, so why not do it again? Please, for the children.

      Tre
      1. Kyoukai no Kanata would be a Slice of life, action anime.

        What would that even look like? An anime about a normal, average, everyday life of fighting demons on a daily basis?

        introverte
      2. Sounds interesting, in fact the “What would it even look like” part of it is probably the most interesting thing about it because folks having no idea what to expect tends to be indicative of something innovative. But it is worth noting that Kyoukai no Kanata still has the slice of life tag attached to it- meaning that in all likelihood, KyoAni is going to stick closer to its winning formulas than you might think (Meaning that it is probably significantly less innovative than its PV makes it out to be)- this show being their attempt to switch things up a little in a more Haruhi-esque way (Haruhi had some action) rather than the K-ON! stuff Tamako Market was based on. So essentially we should expect Kyoukai no Kanata to be one of two things, or a mix of them: A slice of life show with a major action compenent (>Haruhi) but with Haruhi/K-ON!-esque character interactions (Or a variable mix of these two interaction types) nonetheless being the main focus- and perhaps with an overarching conflict with some Big Bad thrown in for good measure. I haven’t read the light novels, so it’s just my guess so I might very well be wrong…well, speculation’s fun…sometimes…XP

        Translation: Not saying that the show’s gonna be bad, KyoAni stuff almost never is- but if you’re looking for something fresh and new, perhaps it would be wise to reserve your judgment before jumping onto the hype wagon- because closer examination reveals that it probably isn’t nearly as innovative as KyoAni would like you to believe; it really seems to be just a reshuffling of previous winning formulae to varying degrees- is that enough to freshen things up? Maybe. But enough to live up to mega-hype? Probably doubtful…

        Zen
      3. Given the darker nature of Kyoukai no Kanata, I’m not sure if it’s possible to pull off K-ON!/Haruhi-esque interactions between the characters. I haven’t read the LN either, but since it starts off with the glasses girl about to commit suicide, I feel that light-hearted and “friendly” interactions between the characters would be out of place.

        The LN series is completed at only 2 volumes, so I have no idea how the author fit slice-of-life in there, unless it turns out that the story is terribly structured. Well, at the least, KyoAni will probably be able to easily adapt the entire thing in one go.

        introverte
  5. Hell yeah GJ-bu is awesome. Definitely one of the best surprises. I also think Sakurasou is also another pleasant surprise. Both shows I gave the 3 ep rule and glad I stuck with each. Sakurasou almost got cut but I stuck it out and really enjoyed it ep10+.

    I think some people are too quick to judge stuff, I’m a patient person because a lot of my fav anime are slow burns. Also I was hard on Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai NEXT but now that I learned that it’s 1/3 of the way done I can only hope they actually cover that. that’s a lot of TV so if it never finishes in anime form it’ll be disappointing. Something like little busters is reassuring where at the half way point you are already told it’ll have an ending with refrain season.

    As a sci fi nut I’m glad you got some new writers to cover stuff like gundam unicorn. One show that I think is vastly overlooked is uchuu senkan yamato 2199. I know it’s released as 4-5 eps every 2-3 months and it’s OVA format (also it technically started last spring as movies) but I would hope RC could do something to cover that. maybe do a review for each blu-ray release like other OVA mini series would get. People where talking about bodacious space pirates having stellar moments when they actually got to the space battles and crew dynamics, just dragged down by too much school oriented eps or cute girls doing things. Well yamato is that classic space opera remake with amazing battles all the time. All I will say is in the remake they added a lot of females to the cast and it does seem weird in such a serious show for the main girl yuki to have so much fanservice (in the original she was practically only female so she was the fanservice so she has help now). But yeah I’m really digging it. It’s my personal recommendation for any sci-fi or space operra nut to go look out for this spring season.

    Sherylfan
  6. oh my goodness “Enzo how much time do you have left so we can gauge… “Oh man I was on my way to pee myself”.. I don’t know why, but I really cracked up.

    Yessss!!! GINGA E KICKOFF!!! I have definitely enjoyed watching this series! All the characters were great and it was just a nice surprise for me because I wasn’t really expecting that much going in to this show, but it was really good!

    And Takaii, you are so responsible, I believe it was you who said you couldn’t drink because you had class the next day… psshhh not me hahaha wish I was more like you.

    Jani
      1. It was fairly fun to listen to! Love it when Takaii gets all “OMG MOE”. I think you guys should go off on random tangents more often, that’s where the comedic gold begins to emerge. And yeah I could listen to the smooth suave voice of stilts all day (✿ ♥‿♥)

  7. With respect to Haganai NEXT, Kodaka mentioned in the first season that he had friends before but they never really seemed to reciprocate his idea of friendship. His friends never communicated with him when he moved away, so he had this idea that getting close to people would be really painful for him because eventually they’d be separated.

    The other thing that the second season never really touched on that could be a MAJOR reason for Kodaka’s aversion to closeness with others is his mother. He considers his hair color his only memento of his mother, and I think that he was so close to his mother that when she passed away, he became afraid of being close to others because of the pain of separation.

    Jimhawk
  8. Lol to the extensive and nuanced sweaters-hanging-off-shoulders discussion. The reason why Kuruisu can have her sweater half hanging off her shoulders is because she has some sort of belt around each upper arm. So it is possible to pull off that look pretty easily…

    Scullycat
  9. I’m glad my boredom brought me to this website. Zanibas sounds like someone I know, but that’s highly unlikely.

    I agreeeee, Stilts voice has that sexiness that deep voices have. I very much like Takaii’s (=

    Nantots
  10. After listening for a while, I realized that Zanibas wasn’t a girl, Stilts had a manly voice (I thought he might be a trap) and that that manly voice WASN’T of Moomba (whom actually had the english accent)… I need to start actually listening to the podcast instead of trying to figure who was who. I wished that Seishun and Kairi were also participating so we can know how they sounded like. And I (personally) enjoyed the bloopers over the actual podcast.

    Thanks Stilts-nii, Chiwa-chan, Erzo-san and Zanibas-kun for taking the time for making and editing this podcast and hope you enjoy contributing Randomc for us spoiled otaku brats.

    Duelistdusk
  11. I wake up *see’s RC podcast* *kyaaaa!* Oh wait,should a guy do that?

    Great way to start a day.I am however,really looking forward to the new writters,Seishun and Kairi,joining in at the next one(pretty pls with sugar on top?).

    Anyway,great job guys!

    MgMaster
  12. Hmm I’m guessing this was recorded really near the beginning of the season if Enzo didn’t watch Gargantia right away ~

    But that doesn’t matter. Good podcast! I always enjoy listening to these. 😀

    grey

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