Podcast

Love is In the Air~

Taking over for Stilts this week, I discover just how dangerous it is to talk about certain things with certain people.

Truth be told, I have no idea where Stilts is. I’ve heard it’s job related but I think someone with his caliber of skill could make just about anything become “work related”. Anyways, in this iteration of the RandomC Podcast I decided to change things up a bit and got the writers to give us their opinions about some trending topics in the anime world. From crowdfunding new shows to what makes a good romance, there’s a ton of fun to be had. And don’t worry — I made sure we didn’t leave out the talk about some shows from this season in a section I dubbed Rapid Fire! So what are you waiting for? Go click that play button!

Don’t forget to subscribe to us on iTunes to magically listen to each new episode as they get released! Also, did you know you Enzo has a Patreon for his site Lost in Anime?

  Participating Writers
  Time Index
  • 00:00:00 – Introduction
  • 00:05:38 – Studio Ghibli Closing!?
  • 00:19:12 – Crowdfunding Anime, J-Games
  • 00:42:18 – Summer is the season of love? What makes a good romance?
  • 00:55:50 – Intermission
  • 00:56:09 – Rapid Fire
  • 01:13:15 – Shoutouts, Closing Words
  • 01:14:27 – ED

Opening: Turbonugget by Jake Kaufman. Insert Song: Son of a Rocket by Kevin MacLeod. Ending: Early Riser by Kevin MacLeod.

  Listen to the Episode

Download 160 kbps (68 MB)

36 Comments

  3. Now this is refreshing. Takaii doing the hosting! Very Nice.
    Note: No beers were drunk in this podcast.

    Kairi!!! You bought a drawing tablet!!! Welcome to the PC drawing world!! What drawing tablet brand anyway?

    Ghost_Zephyr: Hidden Mickey Scar?

    Anyway. In all honesty, in my honest opinion, I don’t really care much of this season. Romance anime has just drained me during my teenage days. I’ll just wait until my craving for romance anime gets full. 🙁

    Croos
    Reply

  5. The whole Studio Ghibli closing thing strikes me as one of those further signs of the whole decline of anime arguments which I’m starting to see as a more eminent reality. I’m not talking about the decline of anime as a popular medium or in terms of quantity cause that’s certainly not the case, but in terms of the tradition of animation which Ghibli never really gave up on up until what might be their last work as well as the idea that anime could amount to something more than just a source of comfort and community for a limited demographic that identifies with the label of otaku. I’ve always vastly preferred the kinds of shows that don’t feel like they’re settling for just strictly that audience which I’ve never really identified myself with as being a part of. I mean I’d like to think it’s still possible to be a fan of anime and it’s potential as a medium and art form/style without being “otaku”, but sometimes I don’t know anymore. In terms of things that help me to feel anime isn’t just becoming increasingly commercial and narrower with the kinds of stories it seeks or is willing to tell and with what kinds of characters, how it has to be marketed, and what audiences it’s willing to try to reach, Ghibli going defunct is probably the most serious blow since the death of Satoshi Kon. I think this sort of ties into the sort of argument Enzo was trying to make with the whole “anime” and Ghibli aren’t exactly the same thing in a way and don’t necessarily invoke the same image and idea.

    I like the idea of crowd funding for giving fans of certain content more of a voice. I really haven’t been a fan of the whole premium pricing big package approach that basically limits a lot of TV anime especially to only a specific sub group willing to spend that kind of money which is usually the really obsessive otaku who primarily live the lifestyle of buying and consuming anime related content. You basically get a more direct support for the creators and product and allow the fans to contribute however much they want to with the aimed goal of getting a return in a finished project. The obvious catch of course would be having industry types willing to sign on to the method in the first place, especially when a lot of talent is monopolized and subsidized by only a handful of big and powerful interests.

    Enzo’s talk about Hunter x Hunter (IMO the best currently running show in any season for 3 years now) and a staff that clearly cares and is committed to the project is something I’m taking more note of of late since I’m starting to notice a very clear difference between a staff that cares about a project and one that doesn’t and how a lot of the time now it’s becoming more and more transparent when it’s the case and when it isn’t. For example you don’t have to look any further than Madhouse itself to see the difference between Hunter x Hunter and Mahouka Kokou no Rettousei. Both are adaptations of very popular sources but both give off a very different vibe if one really has a tangible one at all and I think the fans of the original sources would tell you very different things about the adaptations respectively. Also I think there’s just this prevailing attitude with anime fandom in general now that Shonen is an inferior genre and isn’t really worth paying all that attention to much because it has little potential. I think it’s a demonstrable falsehood but that’s just the way it is.

    That Glasslip show just seems universally disliked all around. Personally I’ve never really had an experience where a P.A Works show clicks with me and a lot of them tend to feel pretty similar and have similar elements so it’s interesting to see it be the case pretty much all around which is unusual.

    Just in terms of critical feedback of the podcast itself, I know this will make me unpopular again but I cannot stress enough how nice it was to not have to hear Stilts dominating the conversation, constantly interrupting and shouting over everyone again in this one since he’s not actually participating. Felt a lot more even and open forum in terms of tone of the conversation and like everyone got to make the input they really wanted to and contribute equally. On top of that Takaii actually did a really good job of hosting the whole thing and keeping things on topic and moving along without feeling like he’s pressuring everyone. Very structured, very fun and friendly, Very clear voice on Takaii and just very cordial tone overall. Much less of the awkward moments too. If it were up to me I’d keep it this way cause it was great and probably the podcast I’ve enjoyed the most to date, but I know that’ll never happen.

    By the way I think your time codes are offset by one topic since you put Intro twice. Shouldn’t it read:

    00:00:00 – Intro
    00:05:38 – Studio Ghibli Closing!?
    00:19:12 – Crowdfunding Anime, J-Games
    00:42:18 – Summer is the season of love? What makes a good romance?
    00:51:58 – Intermission
    00:55:50 – Rapid Fire
    00:56:09 – Shoutouts, Closing Words
    01:14:27 – ED

    John Hunt
    Reply

    2. To me the restructuring/closing of Studio Ghibli was no surprise if you look at the recent titles they produced after Spirited Away (which i would consider their last biggest critically acclaimed movie).

      Their latest movies didn’t have the grand imaginative worlds, impact and daresay magic like : Princess Mononoke, Laputa: Castle in the sky, Nausicaa (albeit not exactly a ghibli movie), Porco Rosso, Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery service.

      Granted there is no formula to those hits other than the opinion that their newer titles after spirit away dwarf when you compare to their legendary works.

      But unless they look back to their legendary works and emulate them, or make a continuation of Nausicaa things will continue to look bleak for them.

      sithstormjedi
      Reply

  6. Ahh, when I saw the title of this podcast I thought we would finally get to hear Cherrie! :’)

    Lovely hosting, Takaii. It felt more organized and flowed very nicely. Keep up the good work!

    @Enzo: A 2nd season of Serei no Moribito would be sooooo lovely. I would absolutely back a Kickstarter fund for that 🙂

    @Kairi: It’s so good to hear your voice again, Kairi. We’ve missed you! Hope all is well ^_^

    Windaerie
    Reply

  8. I would say Hunter x Hunter is also hard to get into because of the way it’s formatted. I mean, it has this really, really “kiddy” intro narration and then a recap, with this narrator that sounds straight of … Pokemon, is what it reminded me of.

    I saw 50 episodes, I think. And it was really good, but that narration… (which also makes every episode much shorter)

    Ana
    Reply

  10. Good job with your first time hosting Takaii!! =)
    I love hearing everyone’s interesting facts btw! I have a ton… but that’s probably because I’m never on podcasts… >_> do do do~

    P.S.:
    I love chicken. Fried chicken. =3 That’s about the best part of Glasslip.
    For the record – I don’t like Lisa from Zankyou no Terror… completely useless =S Between Zankyou no Terror and Tokyo Ghoul, I’d probably recommend Tokyo Ghoul. The story seems more solid from beginning to end, but neither have finished yet so I reserve judgment.
    FINALS FOR TENNIS TONIGHT~

    Cherrie
    Reply

  11. I almost funded ‘under the dog’ but decided to pass because I didn’t like the fact their company apparently never backed anyone else plus the prices were very expensive for Blurays in comparison to Wakfu. But it for sure looked like an exciting kickstarter.

    And yes Hunter X Hunter comments section did pick up!

    Studio ghibli closing sucks… I loved Warriors in the Wind back in the day. Probably watched that movie more than any other anime by far with my younger siblings

    Rick Anime
    Reply

  12. Takaii did a very good job hosting. Very well organised, good energy, interesting topics, great humour. And that alt text is the funniest thing ^^

    I couldn’t bring myself to fund Under The Dog. And not just because I live in poverty! To be honest, it just doesn’t seem like it’ll be all that good. I thought Enzo made a great point in that it totally seems like a series that would be greenlit anyway, so I think there must be some reason why it’s wasn’t, right? The crowd-funding is an interesting concept, but this particular one feels like it won’t really be worth it? Give me a full Baccano or Kino’s Journey adaptation any day, and I’ll fund the hell out of that!

    Oh, and on the romance thing: I like to see give and take in a relationship. Where the two actually play off each other and actually develop as people as a result. Characters who learn from each other in that way feel like a rare beast. I’d like to see the actual relationship, not just have the ‘Will they or won’t they?’ part resolved. The next stage is sooo much more interesting.

    whemleh
    Reply

  13. Really can listen to one of those without finding some new stuff to read or watch, and I love it. Great work as usual guys(and girl)!

    Also really glad to hear HxH get its few minutes of fame on the podcast before it ends. Really glad I got into it before it ended thanks to Enzo, I can “enjoy” the ending at the same time as everyone else.

    Geebun
    Reply

  14. Great podcast, guys!

    Takaii, I’m riding the Glasslip bus with you as it careens into the valley off the cliff, on fire. Here’s hoping the explosion is pretty.

    True Tears was really good, so was Hanasaku Iroha. But nothing else PA works has done has really clicked with me since those two, and everything they do feels like it’s trying to be a rehash of either one or the other, or in the case of Glasslip, both. Ugh. Do something different, please, dear GOD.

    I’m with Enzo about Ao Haru Ride– part of the reason I can’t watch it is the Nozaki effect. I’m curious to see if the anime saved a manga that I wound up really disliking later on. I’ll probably marathon it later.

    A romance manga I’d love to see animated? Love So Life. OMG THE FEELS. THE FEEEEEEEELS. But it will never get animated in the current environment. This makes me sad, because I think it’s a really well-written series that would make an awesome anime… yeah. Definitely a good read to get those honobono vitamin levels up.

    Zankyou no Terror lost a lot of chances to shake me up. I just got bored with it. At first I felt like it might into some new and crazy uncharted territory, but instead it went to all the same old places. The anime I wanted to see never materialized. If someone with a dark, dystopian mindset had gotten their hands on this… craaaap, it would have been awesome. Instead it’s okay, but not appointment TV.

    Tokyo Ghoul has been entertaining, but it’s also missing something. It’s fun, just not compelling. I’d still watch it over Zankyou, though. :\

    s_w
    Reply

    1. P.A works has done titles that do aren’t a “rehash” of the True tears or Hanasaku Iroha and quite different such as Angel Beats,Another, Canaan, Uchouten Kazoku, Red Data Girl, Spider Riders: Oracle no Yuusha Tachi and to an extent : Nagi no asukara. Have you given those a try?

      sithstormjedi
      Reply

      1. Yeah, I was fixating a bit too much on Tari Tari when I said that.

        But they haven’t had a series that I found appealing since Uchouten Kazoku.

        Red Data Girl was a mess. It started okay, but it stumbled along to the end. NagiAsu just didn’t interest me.

        s_w
        Reply

  15. Suggestion to the format:
    When talking about shows could add the name spelled out and time added to the minutes at the top. The shows that are not of the season are really hard to find out more information for both potential viewing and understanding context to the conversation. Attempting a search based on name alone is difficult do to translation spelling. The issue is exacerbated when the name is both incomplete Japanese or a Japanese pseudonym.

    Abatement
    Reply

  20. I’ll have to say that results vary for the Strobe Edge manga you mentioned: As opposed to your experience, it took me at LEAST 10 or 15 pages before I was hooked. 😛

    Six volumes later it’s time to take a small break. Thanks for the timesuck/excellent new manga to read. Too bad it’s only 10 volumes.

    *checks the author a bit* Oh wow! She’s the author of Ao Haru Ride as well?! No wonder I liked that show so much.

    Hanover Fist
    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *