Anime World Order Podcast: Recent Episodes
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A podcast all about Japanese cartoons and comics as discussed by three self-proclaimed experts in the world of anime and manga! Plus anime news / reviews, coverage of classic anime, hentai / yaoi, and much, much more. Updated every week. We hope.
As we mark our 19th year of anime podcasting, it’s time for our annual holiday roundup of Christmas episodes! But first, we take a moment to pay our respects to the recently departed Jan Scott-Frazier, not by pressing F but by talking about her influence on us and this podcast.
Introduction (0:00 – 26:25)
Although Daryl’s call for submissions for his proposed Otaku in Memoriam throughout this year didn’t exactly succeed, we unfortunately have to end the year on one. Jan Scott-Frazier passed away at the start of the month, and while you can certainly read her list of career accomplishments on Wikipedia or Anime News Network (which, in a Christmas miracle, was NOT bought out by Sony after all, as they only purchased a percentage of Kadokawa), the idea of Otaku In Memoriam was to hear more personal testimonials about fans no longer with us. Although our interactions with Jan were limited, but our Bobby’s Girl episode of AWO would never have existed were it not for her actions. (And for the record…that is also the case in the event you saw Bobby’s Girl via a digital fansub.) Jonathan Clements wrote up a memoriam which is worth a read. Rest in peace to a true anime pioneer.
Clarissa was recently a guest on the now award-winning Shoujo Sundae podcast, where they recapped a few key later episodes of the newer anime adaptation of Fruits Basket. As goes with the territory for recap podcasting, spoilers will therefore abound. We then can’t help but hate on Sola Digital Arts, as their recent theatrical release of The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim made around $7 million despite being released in over 2600 theaters nationwide. THis was not for lack of awareness, as its trailer was saturation bombed, playing everywhere for what felt like ages. In the wake of this “half as popular as Madame Web” performance, Warner Discovery has admitted that it was a “Roger Corman Fantastic Four” effort, hastily shoved out in theaters just to ensure the film rights to Lord of the Rings would be retained.
Holiday Roundup, 2024 (26:25 – 1:39:26)
For the third year now, we’re covering Christmas episodes of various anime series. This year, by popular request (well, more like demand), we’re going to list in advance all of the things that we talked about, in the order in which we talked about them, so that you can go check the episodes out yourselves if you desire. With the exception of Dr. Slump, every anime episode listed here has had a legal release in the USA:
Martian Successor Nadesico episode 13
Japan Xmas or X Japan Mas?How Heavy are the Dumbbells You Lift episode 10
This is not how I expected ladies who apparently really need to hit the gym to look like…
Dr. Slump episode 35
Rest in peace, Akira Toriyama. Christmas isn’t a thing in the world of Dragon Ball (where Arale showed up once), but it is in Dr. Slump, so we’ll be watching many of these in future years. This sort of action would have to be pixelated out for modern Japanese broadcast.Buddy Daddies episode 1
You say Santa is your dad? Does the money for the presents come from the government? What do you mean we didn’t do Azumanga Daioh?Gintama episodes 200-201
It took willpower to not embed this one into the MP3 of the episode itself.Food Wars The Fifth Plate episodes 6 and 7
It took willpower to not set this one as the featured image of the blog post you’re reading.Bartender episode 10
The narrative setup for Bartender is not that far removed from Golgo 13. It’s impossible. No bartender could make that shot.
For the tenth time, it’s our annual trivia episode! We are joined by Basil, head honcho of the OSMcast as well as The Carbuncle Chronicle and OSMquest podcasts who’s been doing this for just about as long as we have. Basil has been doing this for about as long as us and is from our same fandom generation, though he’s got more experience on camera as our Patreon supporters at the $5 and up tiers were able to see during the live recording which was held about a week ago.
Introduction (0:00 – 18:20)
We talk to Basil about how he became an anime fan and what inspired him to start podcasting, while also going over his contributions to anime conventions in the Southeastern United States which are numerous enough that we couldn’t get into them all.
Trivia Round One (18:20 – 1:18:22)
The carnage commences! Yell in frustration as we are unable to identify famous anime catgirls, are asked questions about animals in which not one single person says “call me YOON-kers!”, and have to remember anime by their OP/ED song titles…to limited success.
Trivia Round Two (1:18:22 – 2:11:11)
This one’s got a music category aka the sort of thing that would prevent us from posting this to YouTube and the like. We’ve also got to identify titles whose international titles don’t necessarily align to what a translation of their Japanese titles are, aka “absolute anathema to adherent users of MyAnimeList.” There was going to be another round of Anime Family Feud, but regrettably Basil actually had family committments over the weekend and could not simply sit around all day and talk about vague memories of cartoons. There’s always next year, I guess!
The initial version of the file that was uploaded was in stereo rather than mono, meaning different people spoke on different channels. That has now been fixed. Delete the old file and redownload if you encounter this issue.
Although we’re posting this on Halloween, there’s not much especially spooky about this episode since after having seen Uzumaki, Daryl has instead elected to review the theatrical film adaptation of Look Back by Tatsuki Fujimoto. Be forewarned that we do spoil it all in the event you didn’t already read or watch it first.
Introduction (0:00 – 54:24)
We were fortunate that the two recent hurricanes did not do significant damage to where any of us were, but it was lucky breaks on both occasions. We go over what we’re watching in the current anime season, and Daryl finally receives his Macross Plus Blu-Ray set. Not mentioned in the recording is the fact that due to inadequate packaging during transportation–this despite shipping from the old Right Stuf warehouse, which has clearly been mandated some changes to their procedures and policies by the new Sony ownership–a corner of his Blu-Ray set box was slightly crushed despite no damage to the exterior packaging box; an extremely common thing which Crunchyroll Store’s service reps say they can do absolutely nothing to remedy. This is not even close to the worst news coming out about Crunchyroll as we touch upon the then-breaking David Wald situation and contrast that with some recent financial publication coverage of Crunchyroll strategically rolled out to coincide with the broadcast start of the new Dragon Ball Daima series. Toho’s acquisition of GKIDS has us wondering if a similar fate will befall them, for the number of independent anime publishers in the US is basically down to about two or three guys at this point. Oh yeah, and we also talk about the anime adaptation of Uzumaki, which was originally going to be the subject of this episode until well, we saw the rest of it. Not stated in this recording: we’re 99.5% sure that the infamous quality drop coincides with the concurrent-with-production merger of Warner Brothers and Discovery to form WBD and the appointment of then-new CEO David Zaslav. We’re placing our chips on the roulette wheel as far as that, since it’d also neatly explain why Jason DeMarco couldn’t name names when talking about who was responsible (before locking/disabling his social media accounts).
Review: Look Back (54:24 – 1:47:03)
Originally released in US theaters in a very limited engagement, 2024’s Look Back vastly exceeded expectations and got additional showtimes, which on a per capita basis is better than the singing clown movie everybody who saw it hated. Adapted from a one-shot released in 2021 by Chainsaw Man creator Tatsuki Fujimoto, this film by Kiyotaka Oshiyama (whom we’d previously talked about in our review of Flip Flappers) is absolutely worth seeing by everyone. It’ll stream on Prime Video starting November 7, 2024. You can also read the original manga courtesy of Viz, who have released it both in print as well as digitally. If you pay the $3 a month for Shonen Jump, it is available to read as part of that. Daryl recommends you either watch the film or read the manga before listening to this, since we basically summarize what happens scene by scene from start to finish in order to give our thoughts on it.
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- You can purchase a physical copy of Look Back here (affiliate link) - The Crunchyroll Store also has the Look Back manga, which will be a lower price if you have a Mega Fan membership or better (affiliate link) - For those curious, this is the video Daryl made as far as his questionable Billy Mays impersonation
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Despite a grievous tech failure, we’re back to discuss the upcoming Fall 2024 anime season before Daryl reviews the 1997 anime adaptation of Berserk, recently back in print in the US due to a Blu-Ray release.
Introduction (0:00 – 59:42)
The actual on-topic anime discussion doesn’t begin until about 23 minutes in, so feel free to skip ahead if you don’t want to hear about Daryl’s ineptitude that resulted in him shelling out for a new PC as an unplanned emergency expense, which somehow segues into us making fun of the PS5 Pro. A new anime season is underway, and while Patrons who tuned into our Discord live event saw our reactions in real time, we’re recounting those to the best of our ability here. There are 68 new titles this season alone, and that’s not counting continuations of previous shows, stuff for young children, or 18+ material. As such, there was no possible way we could talk about everything here, so if there’s something noteworthy or enjoyable that you’re checking out, let us know about it! PS: It’s In My Desk is a song commonly sung by elementary school chorus kids. Or at least, it was something done back in the 1980s. If YouTube is anything to go by, it seems to have endured into this century as well.
Review: Berserk (59:42 – 2:40:50)
Daryl’s PC death means he lost all of his notes, but perhaps that doesn’t matter since Berserk by Kentaro Miura is one of the single most popular manga and anime series among American fans, as it has been for decades now. With the release of the new Blu-Ray set from Discotek Media (available from the Crunchyroll Store or Amazon — note those are affiliate links), we figured now would be a good time to review the original 1997 anime series, now that everybody has a legal way to watch it again. We understand that there are entire podcasts and entire websites devoted to covering Berserk in detail, so this review is mostly centered on how each of us have engaged with it over the decades. For example, Gerald has only ever seen this anime version, and has yet to read any of the manga. Daryl by contrast has seen and read everything (but is bad at remembering things), while Clarissa has seen this series and read much of the manga but has not dared to watch…the 2016 series. Hmm. Perhaps Daryl should make Gerald and Clarissa watch the 2016 Berserk TV series–which he watched as it simulcast and then purchased the Blu-Rays of–and then record a future episode about that…
This was posted in our Discord and will hopefully be a relic of a forgotten meme in the near future, but it’s a sign of this moment we live in now.
No review this time around, but Gerald and Clarissa went to Otakon 2024 so here’s their convention report. Despite another record breaking attendance figure, they did NOT catch COVID! They did however, barely manage to avoid getting heat stroke/exhaustion. Curse you, climate change!
A chalk art tribute to the recently-deceased Akira Toriyama.Take note, Anime Expo: THIS is what a top-tier anime con game room looks like (not pictured here: all the Initial D/Gundam sit-downs)!Carl Horn at the Dark Horse Comics panel springs a free plug of Gerald’s midnight panel.The MangaGamer dealer’s table truly speaking to the average visual/light novel enjoyer spirit, which since they spend money on this stuff skews Aylo’s algorithm metrics and now all the mainstream real-life US-produced pornography follows these tropes as well (within approval parameters of credit card payment processors).GamerSupps was also courting that demographic. Someone should probably tell them that even though he’s dead, they aren’t legally clear to use George Carlin’s photo on their “Grandpa’s Ashes” flavor.This is probably the closest to SFW picture of Gerald’s present: a 2 foot, 3D printed Rangiku. Perhaps someday we will actually watch/read Bleach rather than just leer at Rangiku and Yoruichi…We never actually did say what Clarissa’s gift WAS, but it was this.
This time around, Clarissa “pulls a Gerald” by reviewing something that we thought was still readily available via streaming and home video but is in fact totally out of print: 1993’s four-part OVA, 8 Man After. This gives us a good excuse to talk about the original 8 Man from the 1960s, its American localization, and of course Streamline Pictures and “Uncle” Carl Macek.
Introduction (0:00 – 46:49)
The new anime season has just begun, and if it feels like we say that every few episodes, that’s because of the way time works. We weigh in on our initial impressions of a selection of the current season, much of which only had maybe one or two episodes out at the time of recording. Gerald was a guest on the Anime Addicts Anonymous podcast, and since the last time any of us were on that was 2013 he didn’t realize that they’d pivoted to video long, long ago! The result is a Nixon/Kennedy debate-esque review of Wicked City in which shabbily-lit Gerald is the only one who likes it contrasted with the slick YouTubers who uh, did not like it at all. Watch and wonder why only Clarissa is smart enough to have set up a VTuber rig!
Promo: Places That Were Anime To Me (46:49 – 48:52)
Listener Anders Häger Jönson has written and directed a film which he describes as “an extremely subjective depiction of the history of Japanese animation filtered through Swedish teenage years at the turn of the millennium” and it’s going to be premiering at Otakon 2024, Saturday August 3rd at 6:00 PM. That’s a particularly rough spot to place something like this, since that means it’s opposite both the AnimEigo and Discotek Media panels, but if you don’t feel the need to be in the room for the announcement since the social media posts get made in real time anyway, then head on over to Video 2 since this is something you likely won’t be able to readily see afterwards unless you plan on attending conventions in Europe. In Swedish with English subtitles.
Promo: Anime Brain Freeze Podcast (48:52 – 49:52)
Remember: if you’re an anime podcast and have released more than 10 episodes without burning out on the whole thing, send us your promos and we’ll play them! Anime Brain Freeze is a podcast about anime of (recent) seasons past going back to 2016. Unlike us, they do a Best of the Season where they each pick one and only one title among the 40+ that have been coming out every season. Some of their picks include Odd Taxi, Appare-Ranman!, Re:Creators–wait, Re:Creators? RE:CREATORS?! Maybe us reviewing THAT is the next Patreon subscriber goal…
Review: 8 Man After (49:52 – 1:51:46)
Despite the cheery slogan (used in a phone ad), this is generally the last thing you kind of sort of see before getting your robot prosthetic ripped from your body.
Clarissa reviews a superhero title that 90s kids will likely remember as being part of the Sci-Fi Channel’s Saturday Anime rotation, or possibly a thing available from Blockbuster Video. Maybe some saw it unedited on pay cable, and others still actually bought the tape through mail order or direct market comicbook shops since it was originally released in the US courtesy of Streamline Pictures, then decades later was re-released by Discotek Media (since out of print/gone from streaming). 1993’s 8 Man After was one of those gritty, bloody sequels/reimaginings of Jiro Kuwata’s (“the Bat-Manga guy”) kid-friendly superhero series, though at the time Daryl mainly only knew it as a Neo Geo game since he never saw the live-action film (apparently also dubbed by Streamline, but it appears to have only ever been released on VHS and we can’t find a digital capture). The original 8 Man may have preceded Robocop, but 8 Man After definitely takes cues from it.
8 Man precedes the tokusatsu/henshin hero tradition, so he’s more of a Western style superhero. He’s still got sick poses though.* Part 1 of the fantastic Streamline Pictures historical retrospective by the late Fred Patten, over at Jerry Beck’s Cartoon Research site
* Carl Macek on ANNCast – he died very shortly after this interview was done
Thus far, this picture has not inspired anyone to do a “My Adventures With 8 Man” retelling.
Even though TimeHealsAllWoundsButWeSTILLAskWHYYYY, through a combination of its thirty year anniversary as well as upcoming new announcements, Daryl is reviewing the Patient Zero of fighting game anime that is the original Fatal Fury anime trilogy: the OVAs and the 1994 motion picture. In an age of scientific wonders, the human body is still the world’s most dangerous machine. Especially when it can fire ki bullets. Unless the scientific wonder in question is Mai Shiranui because she’s cutting diamond and putting out eyes with those things.
Intro (0:00 – 40:32)
Gerald and Clarissa have been doing a lot of work adding to their Otaku Archive collection, a catalog of American anime fandom’s past consisting of newsletters, zines, catalogs, con guides, interviews, and other print relics that have largely been lost to time thanks to the advent of the digital age. If you have materials or wish to otherwise contribute to the Otaku Archive cataloging efforts, the fastest way to reach them and get a response is through Bluesky: Gerald is @geraldawo.bsky.social and Clarissa is @clarissag.bsky.social. With Anime Festival Orlando happening right now, Gerald is presenting a panel related to the preservation of American anime fandom’s history, and since Otakon rejected that one he’ll perhaps be doing a virtual panel presentation of it over on the Anime World Order Discord, which you can post to if you back us on Patreon at any tier (but is free to just lurk and read, and we’ll probably let anyone watch the panel as well).
The preorders for Macross Plus on Blu-Ray are now open, and as we hinted at last episode, it is not cheap: $190 (though you can save 10-15% depending on your Crunchyroll membership level). This will be sold exclusively on the Crunchyroll Store and is limited to 5000 units (which is a whole lot of copies such that we’re not in any way concerned that it’ll sell out quickly, and that’s before you consider the expense). Disclosure: that’s an affiliate link where we’ll get a small commission if you choose to make the purchase from that link. If you want to bookmark the CR Store with our affiliate link, it’s https://crunchyrollstore.sjv.io/animeworldorder (which is also on the sidebar). Though, as the recent Discotek Media sale has demonstrated, we have quite a few issues with the CR Store, especially as it compared to Right Stuf which it replaced by way of a Sony buyout.
As of Summer 2024, the Crunchyroll Store packaging is officially not on the level of what Right Stuf’s was.We also go over some news items. Gainax is officially no more, GoHands is still going strong, Sony has bought the Alamo Drafthouse (in a move that once upon a time, long before any of us were born, would have been prevented by federal laws and oversight agencies), and Toru Furuya has been dropped from his current roles after all.
It was a real place once…Review: Fatal Fury: The OVAs and Motion Picture (40:32 – 2:05:04)
The announcement that Terry Bogard and Mai Shiranui will be coming to Street Fighter 6 along with the release of a new Fatal Fury videogame, City of the Wolves, means that awareness of the series is the highest it’s been in years. As 2024 marks the 30 year anniversary of the Masami Obari-est anime to have ever been, 1994’s Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture, Daryl has elected to talk about the original two TV specials/OVAs as well as the film here. Join us for a reminiscence of what SNK and the Neo Geo even was–don’t think we forgot how you Smash Brothers people reacted to the addition of Terry Bogard to Ultimate back in 2020!–as well as an overview of the anime titles in question, which you can now purchase on Blu-Ray high definition courtesy of Discotek Media. Don’t worry, if you use the Pause feature here you stand no risk of wearing out your VCR heads!
(You see, in nearly every shot that consists of the fighting ladies in the motion picture making a quick movement, their breasts, buttocks, and possibly labia pop out either for extended periods or single frames such that you would frame by frame advance through these sequences to see them. Many of these shots made it through not only to the VHS previews, but also the Sci-Fi Channel television broadcasts. Like this one! Note the picture is flipped 180 degrees and audio playback rate is slightly sped up to fool the DRM bots.)
There are a handful of cameo appearances by other SNK characters in these productions, be it Samurai Shodown, Art of Fighting, etc.Everyone else has scene to scene wardrobe changes that’d make Andy Sidaris proud. EXCEPT TERRY.This is a truly HALF-ASSED outfit design, but at least you get fan service. Get it? She got hit by a FAN thrown at high velocity!Look, I’m not ONLY frame by framing it for the sake of cartoon tiddy; there are actual Easter Eggs too, okay?! Check out Bean Bandit et al. in the club.Peter Chung would be proud. Maybe the Alexander the Great in question came from Alexander Senki aka Reign the Conqueror…
It’s finally time. As a result of us reaching over 250 Patrons, we’re reviewing what you’ve voted “the worst anime of all time”: Hand Shakers from 2017. But maybe it’s NOT actually the worst, since we can name at least one show that was much worse than it…
Introduction (0:00 – 29:44)
Follow-ups from last episode: as an update to the Macross situation in North America, preorders for Macross Plus Blu-Rays will open up next week, as a Crunchyroll Store exclusive. It…won’t be cheap, from the looks of things. Gerald saw the French animated film Mars Express, which we alluded to seeing the trailer of last episode. He highly recommends it, and you should be able to see it for yourself in a few days since the theatrical run was extremely limited and short. Also, thanks to your support, our Otaku Archive is now an official collection on Archive.org! Thanks so very much!
That’s about it for the good news. We then talk about the whole Toru Furuya situation, which is…extremely awful, but hey. Can’t NOT talk about it.
Review: Hand Shakers (29:44 – 1:24:28)
It’s notorious online. It made the name “GoHands” instantly infamous. But just how bad is 2017’s Hand Shakers? Does it still have that same impact? Have things gotten worse since then? Do we not live in an era where some of the most beloved anime titles utilize comparable animation techniques and story beats?
Have you ever wanted to get God’s attention so bad that you use your sub big hooter girlfriend to power your CG chains? I’m Todd McFarlane, creator of Spawn:
https://www.awopodcast.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Hand-Shakers-Chains.mp4This is not nearly as cool as a bunch of producers looking at a piece of concept art in a boardroom thought it would be, but dangit they’re going to try and convince you it is.
https://www.awopodcast.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Hand-Shakers-Gears-Sword.mp4This is the sort of GoHands camerawork and direction now synonymous with their name. Unlike their subsequent shows, Hand Shakers keeps this up for its duration. Everyone who said it didn’t HAS LIED TO YOU.
https://www.awopodcast.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Hand-Shakers-Bed-Spin.mp4Review: W’z (1:24:28 – 2:12:19)
We’re going the extra mile and reviewing the far less popular STEALTH SEQUEL to Hand Shakers from 2019. We’re pretty sure the people who made this heard of the term “DJ” and maybe saw a picture or short clip of one in action without actually knowing what it is they DO.
DJs are hip and cool and speak in such heavy lingo that it needs to be translated even for the Japanese. Except not really.Prepare to see the same few presumably rotoscoped shots of turntable spinning again and again, independent of the audio that results.Now we need to think up a goal for when we hit 275 Patreon backers. Dare we ask for suggestions?
In a feeble attempt to delay the inevitable even if by just another month or so, Daryl elects to talk about what is only one of the most popular anime currently running, as he reviews SPY x FAMILY CODE: White, the standalone theatrical installment of the mega-hit Shonen Jump sitcom SPY x FAMILY, which is about as mainstream a title as anime gets in America.
Introduction (0:00 – 51:03)
We kick things off by talking about stuff we are thoroughly unqualified to discuss, since we haven’t been paying attention. Namely, what is the deal with those Macross releases we thought we’d be hearing something about in the nearly two years since the announcement was made that we’d be seeing them in the US? We also touch upon a few titles we’re watching in the current anime season…or not watching, as the case may be, and then Gerald follows up with an update regarding the digitization of the various old American anime fandom relics of decades past. Everybody should start checking out his Otaku Archive on archive.org, since if enough people do so then it can become an actual curated collection rather than just a topic. AND THAT’S WHEN WE IMPLEMENT ROBERT’S RULES OF ORDER.
Otaku In Memoriam: Jim Rosenbaum, Wayne Yin, Donald Tsang (51:03 – 59:22)
Walter Amos, previously a guest, is the one who proposed this project, and after several months finally sent in a submission. It was over 20 minutes long and listed off numerous notable individuals, so for the sake of brevity I’ve gone ahead and edited it down to 8 minutes focusing on three individuals who may not have been historically famous but nevertheless were influential on not just Walter, but American anime fandom nationwide to some extent even if their names weren’t known. Bonus points for invoking Antarctic Press’s Ben Dunn in a positive manner that is a far departure from the polemic material he’s known for doing nowadays.
Review: SPY x FAMILY CODE: White (59:22 – 1:56:19)
While there is typically no need to bother with covering what has for the past few years been among the most popular anime in the world, and one of the most cosplayed things at conventions, entropy unmakes all things and so Daryl has decided to take a snapshot of what may very well someday be a bygone forgotten relic of a time when theaters simply needed something new to put in their multiplexes while still reeling from the aftermaths of those strikes. In any case, SPY x FAMILY is meticulously crafted to be loved and adored as breezy popcorn fare, and so the people who’d say something like this sucks tend to be either edgelords attempting to be contrarian or perhaps people who receive payment from Shonen Jump’s competition. Typically, the Shonen Jump theatrical film that isn’t adapting source material and doesn’t advance anything is something derided, but since SPY x FAMILY is already a wacky sitcom we don’t particularly mind it the way we would for a action/adventure battle type series. Besides, it’s still a rarity to see anime in IMAX (that’s actually got a print formatted for it)!
There have been other anime released in US theaters, but Daryl can’t remember any ever getting the full nerd collectible treatment, not even Dragon Ball. Is this the first to get this treatment here?
Unfortunately, our attempt to lose Patreon backers was a failure, meaning that at some point we will be reviewing Hand Shakers after all. Thanks to this, for the sake of experiencing at least one final ray of sunshine in life, Clarissa reviews the 2022 12-episode series Akiba Maid War without really delving much into spoilers.
Introduction (0:00 – 34:11)
As we predicted in our review last episode, The Boy and the Heron did indeed win the Best Animated Oscar. We prefer to think of it more as a lifetime achievement award. The Crunchyroll Anime Awards presentation was held in Japan, and while the winners were uniform to a surprising extent across multiple outlets in which judges and fans alike selected their best of 2023, we nevertheless harbor some concerns with regards to the focus of the presentation. This is of course nothing new–remember the American Anime Awards?–but it does raise the question who precisely this fancy awards show featuring numerous international celebrities is targeted towards.
Oh, and since it’ll probably be the single most devastating creator death of our lifetimes with regards to the number of people profoundly affected on a global scale, we touch upon the death of the legendary artist Akira Toriyama (Dr. Slump, Dragon Ball, Dragon Quest, Chrono Trigger, etc.) for a bit. It’ll certainly be a global story acknowledged by heads of state once Hayao Miyazaki passes away, but there won’t be the same level of spontaneous gatherings/parades/murals/etc. by people. This mural from Peru is but one example:
Quite a few Japanese talents associated with anime/manga passed away between the last episode and this one, and there were even more between the time this audio was recorded and the time this post was written, but Toriyama’s overshadows them all. Because of this–and a general lack of submissions being sent in–there’s no Otaku in Memoriam this episode. Were it up to us, we’d tell Toyotarou that the current chapter 103 of Dragon Ball Super could just be the series finale, but the true indication that Goku is on a comparable power level to Superman is that there’s too much money to be made and so the character will endure long after its creators have ceased to be. Anyway, Dragon Ball DAIMA (which we thought of in our heads as “what if Toriyama were more hands on with Dragon Ball GT?” but I guess that’ll be less true) will now be on television due to the spike in interest.
Contrary to initial Internet rumor, Toriyama did not draw this panel of Piccolo waving goodbye himself, as his final illustration. But he did request the panel be added.We assume a similar story is the case for this shot in Dragon Ball Super: Broly. Gerald intensely disliked this film, while Daryl considers it one of the best movie experiences of his life. Such is the variety of outlooks AWO offers.Review: Akiba Maid War (34:11 – 1:16:53)
Between the recently-concluded Bang Brave Bang Bravern–the AWO’s review of that is basically “trust me, bro”–and 2022’s Akiba Maid War, CygamesPictures is proving themselves to truly be a Most Dangerous force in original anime production. At least all that Uma Musume money is being put to good use. Along with another highly formidable anime force, P.A. Works (Shirobako, lots more), they’ve given us what we’ve all needed our whole lives: a fictionalized account of late 1990s Akihabara, in which the saga of rival maid cafes unfolds using the narrative structurings and conventions of a classic gangster/yakuza film. For now, the Blu-Ray set has just been released courtesy of Sentai Filmworks and you can watch both the dub and the sub on HiDive here.
Zoom, Manager. Moe Moe Zoom, until all that remains is snow white ash.The character design of the otaku loan shark looks like it’s lifted wholesale from someplace else, but our brains refuse to remember what. It’s possibly that one guy from Air Master.This ED shot of the main character, Nagomi, is debatably the one that sums up her existence in Akiba Maid War.But this image of Nagomi is perhaps the true distilled essence of the series. Club soda will not get that out, Moe Cleric.
In a last-ditch effort to not review Hand Shakers, we decide to make a bunch of anger-inducing statements about anime, mecha, and conventions before reviewing the latest–and perhaps actually final this time–Hayao Miyazaki film, the critically acclaimed The Boy and the Heron.
Introduction (0:00 – 39:51)
With only 3 or 4 Patrons remaining before we hit the 250 patrons mark, we’re playing our remaining “make people quit backing us so we don’t have to review Hand Shakers” cards. Gerald keeps saying Mash’s name from Mashle is “Mashle” and thinks Delicious in Dungeon sucks, Daryl uses the phrase “mecha anime is dead” in a sentence while talking about Bravern, and Clarissa calls out people who work in IT that subsidize the furry fandom through commissions while keeping her Discord notification sounds enabled so you’ll think YOU’RE getting Discord notifications as you’re listening. Gerald also did a panel at the recently-concluded Megacon, and while it was not that heavily attended, there’s a possibility more people came to see him than Gina Carano. It was about the practice of Western productions outsourcing their animation production to Japan, so expect lots of delightful statements about your Generation X/millennial childhood favorites. We also weigh in with our recent experiences using the Crunchyroll Store!
You know, from Mobile Suit Gundam.On a less rage-baiting note, Clarissa will be a guest on this month’s Anime Nostalgia Podcast, as she joins Dawn to talk about Osamu Tezuka’s Black Jack, which is now celebrating its 50th anniversary.
Otaku In Memoriam: Derek Wakefield (39:51 – 48:30)
This year, we’d like to hear stories about noteworthy anime fans who are no longer around, ideally by people who knew or had interactions with them. If you knew someone and wish to share some memories of them, record something and email it to us so we can put them into later episodes. If you’d rather not vocalize it yourself, that’s fine too! Just write it up and we can read it on your behalf.
Dave Merrill is the first to take us up on the offer, as he sends in a memoriam of Derek Wakefield, founder of the Earth Defense Command, a Star Blazers club which became an anime club which set the foundation for Project A-Kon which is still going to this day. It would not be a stretch to credit Derek Wakefield as the founder of North Texas anime fandom. Derek’s willingness to help out new younger fans helped Dave embark on his anime fandom journey. The disappearance of web message boards across the Internet has resulted in the loss of quite a bit of early Internet anime fandom history, but for the moment the Internet Archive still exists where there is a snapshot of this May 2014 memoriam post for Derek posted a few days after Derek had passed away.
Review: The Boy and the Heron aka How Do You Live? (48:30 – 1:48:51)
The most revered of anime’s living grandmasters, Hayao Miyazaki, came out of retirement yet again to make another film, which for years we’ve been referring to as “BETTAR THAN YOUR NAME.” That’s “bettar” with an a, not “better”, because if Hayao Miyazaki is anything, he is–as the Gen Z’ers and Alphas don’t know–l33t liek JeffK. Once the Japanese title “How Do You Live?” was revealed the Zoolander associations commenced, no doubt being the catalyst for GKIDS selecting “The Boy and the Heron” as its international title for its theatrical release in late 2023. As of this episode, the film has won numerous awards, including the Golden Globe, and as such is a frontrunner to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. If so, it will mark the second time a Japanese animated work has won the award, with the previous instance being Miyazaki’s earlier work “Spirited Away” (which is also an international title that’s different from the Japanese one, but it’s just shorter). It has garnered considerable and near-universal critical acclaim as well.
But that’s not as important compared to what WE thought of it. We absolutely did not deliberately misrepresent the contents of the movie or of any books, documentaries, interviews, and should any discrepancies exist, they are purely accidental and are absolutely not an attempt to rile people up like how you know who does for the National Review.
For our first episode of 2024 we are joined by the two cohosts of the Shoujo Sundae podcast (@ShoujoSundae), Giana Luna and Chika Supreme, as we review the manga ION, by Arina Tanemura. Apologies are in order, for despite the episode number, this podcast does not contain Jackée.
Introduction (0:00 – 27:23)
We talk to Chika and Giana about how they first saw anime, how they learned more about it in a pre high-speed Internet era, what brought them to podcasting, and how big of a bullet one dodges when you go to Blockbuster Video as a kid in search of “stuff that looks like Sailor Moon” and end up renting a copy of Perfect Blue. Hashtag relatable.
Otaku In Memoriam: Erik Reiss (27:23 – 32:24)
This year, we’d like to hear more stories about noteworthy anime fans who are no longer around, ideally by people who knew or had interactions with them. If you knew someone and wish to share some memories, record a short memoriam (2-4 minutes) and email them to us so we can put them into later episodes. Or, if you’re like us and aren’t especially comfortable with the sound of your own voice–yeah, that’s us even after all this time–write it up so we can read it on your behalf.
Erik Reiss was one of our earliest guests that we interviewed, and about two months ago he passed away at the age of 54. Along with his also deceased wife Karen Trudeau, Erik was an influential figure in Florida anime fandom so we figured we’d spend a few minutes talking about him. We’re pretty certain that we have listeners who knew him way better, so perhaps this haphazard memoriam will spur activity. As a correction: Anime Festival Orlando was not the first “Florida” anime convention, as the now-defunct Anime Express started three years prior in 1997 over at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and many future Florida anime convention staffers attended. AFO was the first “Central Florida” anime convention.
Review: ION (32:24 – 1:22:09)
Last episode we talked a little bit about Arina Tanemura, and so it’s fitting that we review her professional serial debut: ION, from 1997. It’s a cute, lighthearted sci-fi rom=com that is self-contained in a single volume…well, aside from the single chapter follow-up written 13 years later which is included as a bonus with Volume 8 of Sakura Hime: The Legend of Princess Sakura.
Always attempt to bend the spoon. It’s possible. There is a spoon.Tanemura keeps things cute and moving along. [Guy who has only read Kodocha] Getting a lot of Kodocha vibes from this…Ion is rife with tons of silly gags like this fourth wall-breaking one, from the follow-up bonus chapter included with Sakura Hime.
We’re finally legal, for this episode of AWO marks the start of our 18th year of anime podcasting! Let’s celebrate with another holiday roundup of anime Christmas episodes, organized from “least evocative of Wham’s Last Christmas” to…MOST EVOCATIVE~!
Even the least Whamaggedon of anime Christmas episodes we selected still involves an impending death from throat cancer right at the cusp of reaching adolescence.The AWO sympathizes with Mineta–just this once–regarding the dangers of receiving a framed vanity photo during the Christmas party gift exchange.Astro Boy wishes you all a “Mary X mas.”It’s no small feat to make suspenders look cool on someone instead of making them a colossal Melvin, but Akemi Takada character designs pull it off.
After vanishing–NINJA vanishing–for nearly a decade to start raising a family in NYC, we’re reunited with Erin and Noah of the long-defunct Ninja Consultant podcast (and Livejournal!) for the annual pre-Thanksgiving tradition that is THE TRIVIA EPISODE~!. Lots of new gimmicks this time around, be it game types or the fact that our Patreon supporters at the $5 and up tiers were able to watch this carnage unfold live on video courtesy of our Discord! Just take a gander at what you missed out on.
Introduction (0:00 – 9:51)
Just who are Erin and Noah, anyway? How do we know who they are? What made them fans? These answers would be known to those daring enough to have listened to the earliest episodes, but for the benefit of those of you with lives we ask them to recap matters as best as frazzled parents of two can. Why, they didn’t even mention how they got married on the Vomit Comet by Lord British! AND THANK GOD FOR THAT. Claims that certain cosplay incidents never happened are to be taken semi-spuriously.
Trivia: The Um…Trivianing (9:51 – 25:43)
The initial warm-up round is the usual AWO Trivia episode shenanigans and hijinks. You know the drill: there’s categories that very accurately describe the content of the questions to be answered, and then everybody gets asked stuff and objects the entire time.
Name That Tune: This Time, Actually Working Edition (25:43 – 1:25:00)
Last year, Gerald attempted this without testing everything correctly, but not to worry! THIS year, he’s got all the sound clips up and running. The catch is that unlike most Anime Name That Tune offerings you’d see at a convention, these are all instrumental tracks! Thrill and marvel as the gang doesn’t know the melody to the extremely popular for decades global hits you adore!
Anime Family Feud: Team AWO vs Team Ninja Consultant (1:25:00 – 2:31:34)
BUT THAT’S NOT ALL! 150 wackadoos were surveyed for a variety of thrilling anime-related responses, and it’s a race to see which of us can correctly guess what the heck you maniacs said…which was at times ridiculously off the mark and at other times ridiculously on POINT. While everybody else is of the Steve Harvey persuasion, Daryl grew up more of a Ray Combs guy, with a bit of Richard Dawson sprinkled in. The buzzer sound effect has been adjusted to suit. The survey SAYS…?
Mike Toole returns to the show for this MONSTER CHILLER HORROR edition of AWO released on Halloween, in which Gerald reviews the polar opposite of The Poe Clan: Go Nagai’s Shuten Doji! Now that we’ve done this, the YouTubers can follow in our wake and make this one a meme darling.
Introduction (0:00 – 38:58)
We check in with Mike and what he’s been up to, Discotek Media and otherwise. It’s been a few years since Mike was last on, and we didn’t even get to see him this year at all since none of us went to Otakon this year. Plus, we finally play and respond to a listener voicemail after months of having it downloaded and sitting on the desktop waiting to be played. Look, eventually those shortcuts just blend into the background. This then makes us talk about the usual for 39 minutes: things currently airing this season, stuff that just came out on on Netflix which we haven’t had a chance to binge through prior to recording, the state of physical media anime publishing, memeing on Yoshikazu Yasuhiko and Rintaro, and so on.
Review: Shuten Doji (38:58 – 1:45:41)
As part of his revenge against the world, Gerald unearths another generally forgotten (at the time of this recording) OAV that embodies everything the words “Go Nagai” emblazoned on the VHS box cover entails. Shuten Doji is exactly the sort of thing that gave “anime” its negative stigma in the US which never fully went away even after Pokémon came out. It’s violent, sexually crass, ill-paced in narrative, prone to extreme bouts of logic-stretching convenience, and it has got one terrible English dub. In the altered words of the late Menahem Golan, now zeees eeeez a AD VISION! In other words, it’s exactly the sort of thing we crave–well, except for Clarissa because she has sense–the way people nowadays crave being reincarnated in a world governed by generic RPG rules. Never before has there been an anime with a more cogent moral lesson to teach its viewers, which is “don’t adopt children.” Any similarities to the classic creature of Japanese myth are um, tenuous at best.
The plot to Superman? The future plot to GaoGaiGar? I suppose he did become the light…A rare moment in which the leading lady Miyuki is clothed. That is remedied moments later.As the closing theme to Gattiger the Super Car famously asked, why is there the shadow of my mother over my despicable enemy!AD Vision made merchandise for Shuten Doji, such as this T-shirt. If you have an original one of these, people will buy them off you for hundreds of dollars because they have trust funds.
This is perhaps our most tragic episode ever, for not only have we lost our sole sponsor Right Stuf due to Crunchyroll shutting it down, but Clarissa is reviewing The Poe Clan, one of the great shojo manga masterworks by Moto Hagio.
Introduction (0:00 – 25:45)
Well, they did the thing. It’s not like it’s a surprise. A year ago, we said it’d happen “a year from now.” But Crunchyroll has now shut down Right Stuf. After October 10th, it will instead redirect to the CR Store, and once again uncertainty abounds. Will the service be as good as Right Stuf’s? (That certainly isn’t the case right now!) Will they continue to carry all products? Discotek stated “we don’t anticipate any change in the availability or sales practices when it comes to our products” in their latest newsletter, but will that last? Best case scenario: maybe they’re just changing the sign in front of the building. We’ll wait and see what people say, and give things a shot ourselves, and if we like it–and they extend the offer–then maybe we’ll be sponsored by the CR Store moving forward instead. But until October 10th, you can use promo code “THANKYOU” to save an additional 15% off your Right Stuf orders, and if you do plan on doing so please consider using our affiliate link one last time before it’s gone.
Saturday, 09/30/2023, join us on the Anime World Order Discord at 3 PM EST for the Fall 2023 Trailer Watch Party! We’re once again watching trailers for all the stuff coming out next season…wait, it’s not really 75+ titles, is it? Viewable to all, but if you back us on our Patreon at any tier, then you’ll be able to chat and post with us as well.
Review: The Poe Clan (25:45 – 1:07:42)
It’s been quite some time since we’ve actually reviewed manga, and at the risk of invoking the ire of the greater evolved manga gods in the English-speaking world Clarissa weighs in on Moto “Actually Born In Showa 24 Unlike The Rest Of Youse Mugs” Hagio’s foundational shojo manga, The Poe Clan. This centuries-spanning tale of beautiful ageless adolescent vampires–er, “vampirnellas”–was a breakout hit in the early 1970s, and while we understand that after a decades-long hiatus it resumed a few years ago, all we currently have access to is the Fantagraphics hardcover editions of the original series. Somewhere, Gerald schemes in retaliation, either in the form of the annual trivia episode or perhaps a special guest appearance.
In this episode, Daryl reviews a title suggested by our top Patreon backers as he reviews the now beloved super robot OVA series from 1998, Shin Getter Robo, which for the sake of avoiding confusion we might just want to call Getter Robo: Armageddon. Introduction (0:00 – 34:18) We asked for it and you guys … Continue reading "Anime World Order Show # 222 – So Much For the Laws of Physics!"
We’re joined by longtime mecha enthusiast Rob Lantz as we offer up a mostly spoiler-free review of Gerald’s favorite OVA series of all time: 1988’s Aim for the Top! Gunbuster, the pro directorial debut of Hideaki Anno and one of the first subtitled anime ever legally released in the United States which is now available … Continue reading "Anime World Order Show # 221 – It Wasn’t C-Beams Glittering Near the Tannhauser Gate, It Was Otaku Tears"
This was originally the intro of Show 219, but it took a little longer to edit. So, PRESTO! In this, Show 220, Gerald–mere hours upon exiting the theater–shares his thoughts on the major critical and commercial disaster that every single one of us and every single one of you could see coming from a mile … Continue reading "Anime World Order Show # 220 – Witness the Beginning of Toei’s Dark Universe"
The intro ended up running long and possibly out of control since it was recorded moments after Gerald ended up being one of the only people in America to have actually gone to see Knights of the Zodiac, the English live-action film adaptation of Saint Seiya produced by Toei. Fret not; we’ll release that audio next time! For now, we’ve got Clarissa reviewing the classic anime series Red Photon Zillion, the most entertaingly deranged extended light gun toy commercial sponsored by Sega in anime history.
Review: Zillion aka Red Photon Zillion (1:30 – 54:04)
Se-ga! Not seen in this shot: the power cables that happen to exactly match the controller cables of the Sega Master System light gun.Oh sure, Zillion is historically noteworthy for a variety of reasons, most of which we touch upon in the review. But the MAIN reason to watch it in 2023 is because, like Machine Robo: Revenge of Cronos, it operates on a logic of the lunatic geniuses who made it.
Fantasy Zone is not messing aroundZillion recently celebrated its 35 year anniversary and is available streaming and on home video (for now) from FUNimation. You…might want to consider purchasing this one either from Right Stuf or Amazon (affiliate links) since FUNimation first released Zillion in 2019 with the “Anime Essentials” edition out a few months later. You may also want to grab it in conjunction with the recent 4K release of Streets of Fire, since the “Burning Night” OVA is infamously the crew deciding “let’s just do an animated Streets of Fire only using the cast of Zillion!” We will reveal the actual relationship this OVA has to the original TV series, which is contrary to what we were told / what was suggested for decades.
Yep, that’s Ellen Aim’s dress, all rightAnd we’ll fly away on those angel wings of chrome in your daddy’s car…Sadly, the Streamline Pictures English dub of the first five episodes and the OAV is not included on FUNimation’s releases. Fortunately, fans have preserved it in a few places. Here’s a semi-restoration using the HD footage (they didn’t replicate the Streamline title cards, but others did VHS captures).
Dave and Apple making the face that the writers of this show were making as they concocted these scenariosPromo: Right Stuf Anime (54:49 – 56:30)
It’s Ani-May 2023, which means that for orders over $50, not only do you get free shipping in the US but you also get a 1.5″ enamel pin of Crunchyroll’s mascot, Hime. This week the specials are themed around “Midnight Run,” which is basically Adult Swim/Toonami titles. Turns out that several of the most popular anime in the US achieved that status thanks to airing on Toonami and/or Adult Swim, so there should be plenty of favorites to choose from.
This would qualify as JJ’s Bizarre Adventure
It took us a while–okay, it took 17 years since the last one–but we finally get around to completing our coverage of the 1980s Yoshikazu Yasuhiko post-Gundam film trilogy as Gerald reviews 1986’s Neo Heroic Fantasia Arion, which most of us just knew as “Arion.”
Introduction (0:00 – 31:43)
Everybody catches up on what they’ve been up to, what anime they’ve been watching, or in the case of what anime they haven’t been watching, what videogames they’ve been playing and/or what movies they’ve been watching. This one gets a lot more “off topic” than usual, and so in keeping with our last episode’s call for show format feedback we ask once again: do these segments work better as part of a single episode, or would you prefer they be standalone? We know a lot of our existing listeners who write back will be inclined to say “keep things as they are” since well, you’re already an existing listener. But if you find yourself needing to listen to the episode in multiple sessions, then perhaps that’s a sign we need to change things up. Remember to back us on Patreon, for in a few short days there will be a Patreon-exclusive “the AWO gang watches the trailers for all of the new anime coming out in the new season” event that is likely to have some of us wishing for somebody, ANYBODY, to slash the tires on Truck-kun once and for all.
Promo: Right Stuf Anime (31:43 – 34:49)
This week, Udon Entertainment titles are on sale, so if you’re looking to get some hardcover artbooks or prestige manga now is the time! All volumes of The Rose of Versailles are currently out of stock, but if you place your order at the sale price they will honor the sale price and ship your copies out once additional copies arrive (your credit card isn’t charged until they ship the order). It’s pretty easy to hit the $50 free economy shipping mark when you’re buying hardcover books.
Review: Arion aka Neo Heroic Fantasia Arion (34:49 – 1:17:27)
Gerald reviews this 1986 film from Yoshikazu Yasuhiko to complete the trifecta of Crusher Joe, Arion, and The Venus Wars which were previously reviewed long, long ago (there was also the television series Giant Gorg). To think that once upon a time this stuff was hard to find and now it’s all out on Blu-Ray in the US! Speaking of which, you can totally buy Arion on Blu-Ray courtesy of this affiliate link. The film itself has many of the same strengths and weaknesses of YAS’s other output from this era: gorgeous visuals, amazing soundtrack, breakneck pace that comes at the expense of characterization/narrative depth, and so on. But hey, perhaps that’s befitting an anime equivalent of Clash of the Titans! Or perhaps it’s an anime equivalent to God of War, though it’s not as gory as God of War and features more child nudity–look, it’s an anime epic film take about the gods of ancient Greece, okay?! This stuff comes with the territory.
The classic myths say Prometheus gifted mankind with fire, but they omit that this was done by way of [IT’S ARION! ARION HAS] A LASER CANNON.The backgrounds of Arion are phenomenal; a product of bubble economy location scouting (turns out modern Greece doesn’t look like this) and maniacs with paintbrushesTitan Apollo, he is a CHAR.
He should be becoming the leader b is satisfied with being meve soldierThere’s a ton of hand-drawn animation flexes throughout Arion. This psychedelic sequence is actually a live-action background of swirling…green paint I guess[guy who has only played Dark Souls] Getting a lot of Dark Souls vibes from this. In stark contrast to Miyazaki’s “save Earth” themes, YAS be all like “YEAH! Kill Gaia!”Observant listeners will note that Daryl previously reviewed Arion for Otaku USA Magazine around when the Blu-Ray first came out, and so he kinda just recycled a lot of his same lines from that.
In this episode we bring Mister Kitty‘s Dave Merrill back on to talk about his favorite movie (and a Patreon request!): 1969’s The Flying Phantom Ship, adapted from a manga by Shotaro Ishinomori. DID YOU KNOW HAYAO MIYAZAKI DREW A PART OF THIS MOVIE? (Yes. Yes we do know. You can lower your hand and sit down now.)
Introduction (0:00 – 36:19)
We catch up with Dave, whom we last saw around Halloween, and reminisce for a bit about how he discovered Prince of Space before we get to the topic that’s on everybody’s minds: the death of Leiji Matsumoto, a creator for whom much of organized anime fandom in America owes itself to. Clubs, conventions, cosplay, AMVs: they started up as a result of fan affinity for his works, including but not limited to Space Battleship Yamato aka Star Blazers, Captain Harlock, Galaxy Express 999, Queen Millennia, and okay probably not so much The Cockpit but you should still check out The Cockpit. Japan Remembers Leiji Matsumoto by Tim Eldred has collected the coverage of Leiji Matsumoto’s passing, which was a globally covered event. If you didn’t pick it up back when we had Helen McCarthy on to talk about it, consider picking up Leiji Matsumoto: Essays on the Manga and Anime Legend which covers his influence in far greater detail than we can ever manage.
Promo: Right Stuf Anime (36:19 – 38:52)
The best place to buy Discotek Media titles remains Right Stuf, especially for preorders. This is because Amazon charges full MSRP for their releases, whereas even when there isn’t a Discotek-specific sale, Right Stuf offers a 25%-33% discount. Plus, the packaging is better and you’ll often find they ship you titles weeks before the listed release date. Speaking of which, you might want to preorder those Gunbuster Blu-Rays. They’re set to come out at the end of the next month, after all.
Review: The Flying Phantom Ship (38:52 – 1:42:22)
Yes, once again we manage to take more time talking about a thing than it would take to simply watch it in its entirety. At least our excuse this time is that the film is only about an hour long from start to finish. Thirteen years ago, we listed this as one of our “Ten Anime You’ve Never Heard of But Must See” and Daryl recently reviewed it in the April 2023 issue of Otaku USA Magazine, but that’s got nothing on how long Dave’s been talking and writing about it, since he has writeups dating back to over 30 years ago. Here’s his more recent 2009 piece from his Let’s Anime blog. Dave is probably the first person to have extensively written about this topic in English, like period, and so it’s only fitting that he provided the commentary track for Discotek’s Blu-Ray release along with Mike Toole. We’re spoiling the whole thing, but this is something for which seeing is the only true experience.
This line at the beginning should give you an idea of exactly what you’re in for. Tonally, anyway.Narrator: There was such a thing as a skeleton ghost. Technically.This only happens to the inadequately plot armored, which includes all the kids being scarred for life upon seeing this.Attack its weak spot for massive damage.
We meant to release this in January but uh, didn’t. Anyway, this time around Gerald reviews the latest film from Masaaki Yuasa, Inu-Oh from 2021 (though it didn’t come out in Japan/USA until 2022).
Introduction (0:00 – 48:02)
For all our high-falutin’ talk about how we’re the podcast that primarily talks about Japanese cartoons and comics, the first 16 minutes or so of this episode is spent talking about Shin Ultraman when we are decidedly people who know EXTREMELY LITTLE about Ultraman specifically let alone kaiju and tokusatsu in the general sense. After that, we get around to what we’re currently watching/just finished watching as far as seasonal streaming titles go.
- We don’t pay heed to Tomatometer score ratings, and in fact we think the existence of aggregator scores is actively detrimental to how we consume entertainment, but here are 25 other reviews of Shin Ultraman that you can actually READ (the whole thing, not just the summary blurb!) to compare and contrast with Gerald’s thoughts
- Matt Alt thread on Twitter about the legacy of Shoji Otomo
- Matt and Patrick Macias then released a Pure Tokyoscope episode entirely about Shoji Otomo
- Forbes interview with Shinichiro Watanabe; an archived snapshot is here if you need to circumvent the paywall
- John Sirabella’s YouTube channel
Promo: Right Stuf Anime (48:02 – 51:57)
We talk a lot about the weekly specials Right Stuf has, but it’s worth noting that even their regular prices are generally the best deals for things. Now that the 10th and final volume is released, pick up the Maison Ikkoku: Collector’s Edition manga. As far as classic anime goes, the TV series collectio for the classic sports shojo series Aim For the Ace is also finally available! We were so used to just calling her “Ochofujin” that it took us a second to get used to the fact that it translates to “Madame Butterfly.”
Review: Inu-Oh (51:57 – 1:44:39)
Gerald reviews the latest film from Masaaki Yuasa, which reminds Daryl of the times in the earlier years of the podcast when his trying to convince people to watch his works was a grueling uphill battle. Check out the Review Index for those really old reviews of Mind Game, Kemonozume, Kaiba etc. if you’re interested in being mad at us. Well, more mad than usual anyway. This one is distributed in the US by GKIDS, so expect a lot more availability than you’d usually see for an anime title. There’s a good chance it’ll be carried in brick-and-mortar stores, but if you’re a pal you will of course buy Inu-Oh on Blu-Ray/DVD via our Right Stuf affiliate link!
- The GKIDS trailer for Inu-Oh, which includes a pull quote from general entertainment industry news site TheWrap declaring it “the best feudal Japanese hair-metal-demonic-curse-serial-killer-political-tragedy=rock-opera of the year”
- YouTube has several videos of people demonstrating the biwa being played. This and this are but a few examples. No, we don’t know the difference between the biwa and the shamisen.
We can copy this part of the otaku ideal. Just not the part where she can masquerade as a normal person.So begins a new year of podcasting for us! We’re trying something new out by not necessarily reviewing one thing, but talking about a selection of Christmas-themed episodes of anime arranged from “least Christmas-y” to “most Christmas-y.”
This was not particularly Christmas-y.Introduction (0:00 – 47:50)
We had the trivia episode last month, and so it’s only now that we’re able to get around to the fact that Daryl and Gerald both went to Anime Weekend Atlanta back in October. We report on the convention, some noteworthy aspects of programming we attended, ruminate on the convention’s future, and Gerald shares with us his first experience with going to Buc-ee’s.
Oh, here’s the video Gerald was referring to:
This is @DarylSurat and me in matrimonial bliss. pic.twitter.com/eO2BskVhpk
— ?Essence of Anime ? (@Gerald_AWO) October 28, 2022
Promo: Right Stuf Anime (47:50 – 51:30)
It’s the end of an era, as a few weeks ago Shawne Kleckner announced his departure from the company we founded. We interviewed Shawne back in Show 183, and that sure doesn’t feel like it was back in 2019. But the Holiday Sale is on same as always, and there’s a lot of great deals to be had. Heck, even Aniplex Blu-Ray sets got a discount!
JUST TAKIN’ OUT THE TRASHThe Holiday Roundup (51:30 – 2:13:10)
There are plenty of anime with Christmas-themed episodes, or ones that take place around Christmas, but several have little to do with it. We watched an assortment of Christmas episodes and present them to you here, in the order of “least Christmas-y” to “most Christmas-y.” There are lots and lots and LOTS of Christmas themed anime stories, some of which are even good insofar as resembling stuff people might do around Christmas, and since we only talked about a handful here it’s almost a guarantee that we didn’t talk about your favorite. So let’s hear about it in the comments! There’s always next year, right?
Santa Company currently has THREE Kickstarters active for English language localizations. Santa Company: Secret of Christmas is the full-length version of what we were talking about.
Midsummer Merry Christmas is the newer entry released last year. There are also full-color comic books to translate. The goals are shockingly low, so with any luck these succeed. It’s tough, now that you don’t see many anime Kickstarter projects.
BIG CHRISTMAS, er HEAVEN’S DAY!We imagine every anime club in the 90s showing Christmas theme stuff must have run Ranma 1/2’s.
It’s our annual Thanksgiving trivia episode! We’re joined this time by the highly versatile writer Kara Dennison (@RubyCosmos), who in addition to writing prose fiction also contributes to Crunchyroll and Otaku USA as well as a bunch of other places we can’t remember. As Lupin the Third would say, compared to her we’re stumblebums. Introduction … Continue reading "Anime World Order Show # 214 – Ego Hat, You’ve Ruined My Life"
Because we just don’t have enough randos blaming us singlehandedly for American anime fandom’s ignorance, we’ve decided to talk about the theatrical film Mobile Suit Gundam: Cucuruz Doan’s Island, a remake of the “lost episode” of the original Mobile Suit Gundam series. Intro (0:00 – 49:55) The gauntlet of quality that is the current anime … Continue reading "Anime World Order Show # 213 – The Gang Doubles Down on Spreading Misinformation About Yoshiyuki Tomino"
It’s been a while since Gerald “pulled a Gerald”: reviewed something that you can’t easily go see. But he’s back at it, reviewing the 1992 3-part OAV series Genesis Surviver Gaiarth. Introduction (0:00 – 27:26) After putting it off for ages, we now have a Discord server! Posting privileges are available to anybody who backs … Continue reading "Anime World Order Show # 212 – He’s the Himbo Fella of Salmonella"
We’re graced by a dangerous duo of mecha/mahjong enthusiasts this time around: Dave Cabrera (@Sasuraiger) and Carl (@SDShamshel) join us for a convention report of Otakon 2022 which was held in Washington D.C. Intro (0:00 – 22:54) Carl of the Ogiue Maniax blog and Dave of the Kawaiikochans webcomic and GamesoftRobo Substack introduce themselves. Both … Continue reading "Anime World Order Show # 211 – Otakon 2022 Report With Dave no Kawaiikochans & Carl of Ogiue Maniax"
For those of you who attended Otakon 2022, here’s a list of the titles shown during our panels. We did say we’d put this up so you wouldn’t have to write everything down, didn’t we? If you liked what you heard, we’ve done plenty of anime reviews, so take a look at our Review Index … Continue reading "List of Titles Shown at Otakon 2022"
With Otakon 2022 nearly upon us (we’ll be there and have panels), Clarissa reviews 2014’s Witch Craft Works, a 12-episode adaptation of Ryu Mizunami’s recently-completed manga, the entirety of which is now available in English both digitally as well as in print. Introduction (0:00 – 35:22) We actually remembered to read an email for a … Continue reading "Anime World Order Show # 210 – Finally, a WCW We Can All Be Proud Of"
We’re picking another one from the Patreon request tier this time around, as Daryl reviews the 2009 series Basquash!, which despite being Satelight’s highly anticipated follow-up to Macross Frontier was not released in the US until a full decade later. LET’S SPECULATE WHY. Introduction (0:00 – 41:35) Now that the current season of anime is … Continue reading "Anime World Order Show # 209 – So THIS is the Power of the Handle God"
April seems like a good time to review horror anime, right? With the amount of viable horror anime picks being so slim, Gerald has opted for the 4-part OAV Demon Prince Enma, a dark reimagining of Go Nagai’s classic character Enma-kun. Introduction (0:00 – 37:48) Having missed the month of March, we use this opportunity … Continue reading "Anime World Order Show # 208 – Wait, This Just Became Giallo"
Once upon a time, this would have been labeled as a “bonus” episode since we don’t even introduce ourselves or say the episode number, but since the last time we had him on was over a decade ago we decided to catch up with Jim Kaposztas, creator of the first AMV and certified “oldtaku” to … Continue reading "Anime World Order Show # 207 – Interview With Jim Kaposztas, Creator of the First AMV"
We totally missed December entirely because we couldn’t think of a suitable Christmas title, but with this new year Daryl elects to review the anime adventures of Locke the Superman. Introduction (0:00 – 32:06) Just because we missed a month of the podcast doesn’t mean we didn’t watch a bunch of things and give our … Continue reading "Anime World Order Show # 206 – We Must KILL Locke the Superman!"
It’s the annual trivia episode! For the first time, we have TWO special trivia guests: Christina Rose and Jason Moses, freelance Japanese to English otaku translators whose most recent gig is Super Robot Wars 30, out now on Playstation 4, Nintendo Switch (check the comments for additional details regarding how to get the Switch version … Continue reading "Anime World Order Show # 205 – If They Should Bar Wars, Let Trivia & Super Robot Wars Stay"
In this episode, Clarissa reviews one of the signature titles from manga supergroup CLAMP: the 1994 anime series Magic Knight Rayearth. Fair warning: in addition to the TV series, we also talk about…Rayearth. You know, that OVA we all try to pretend doesn’t exist. Which Clarissa and Gerald had actually never seen or really heard … Continue reading "Anime World Order Show # 204 – Bring Back Capes with Giant Shoulder Pads While Standing on Robots"
As Halloween approaches and a new anime season begins, we offer some (very preliminary) thoughts on what we’ve seen so far, and Gerald reviews the sci-fi horror OVA Lily C.A.T., best known for being a thing that aired on the Sci-Fi Channel back when it was spelled that way. This episode isn’t yet available on … Continue reading "Anime World Order Show # 203 – Look How Tough It Is For Japanese Guys to Hook Up With White Girls"
In this episode, Daryl reviews one of his favorite titles from the 2010s which is finally readily available for viewing in English: the two-part theatrical film adaptation of the formative shojo classic Haikara-san: Here Comes Miss Modern! (Spoilers: Gerald thought it absolutely sucked and is of appeal to nobody who is watching anime in the … Continue reading "Anime World Order Show # 202 – I’m Sorry, But I’m a Male Chauvinist"
We are joined by Evan Minto of the newly launched digital manga service Azuki as well as the Ani-Gamers podcast to recap Otakon 2021, which we all attended. How are anime conventions faring in what was supposed to be the tail end of the COVID-19 pandemic? Normally we’d have like, show notes where we detail … Continue reading "Anime World Order Show # 201 – Otakon 2021 Report with Evan Minto"
It’s not a new episode, and we did miss posting one for July, but for those of you who attended Otakon 2021, here’s a list of the titles shown during our panels. We did say we’d put this up so you wouldn’t have to write everything down, didn’t we? If you liked what you heard, … Continue reading "List of Titles Shown at Otakon 2021"
It’s our 200th episode! To celebrate, we interview the UK’s Most Dangerous anime scholar garderner/poet, Helen McCarthy! The one we did back in 2008 was technically a “bonus” and not an episode, back when we were trying to distinguish between such things! Introduction (0:00 – 43:38) After the obligatory shilling our stuff (Daryl was finally … Continue reading "Anime World Order Show # 200 – Let’s ACTUALLY Interview Helen McCarthy Already"
We slacked off on getting to this one, but at least it’s thematically appropriate for Daryl reviews The Irresponsible Captain Tylor, soon to be released on Blu-Ray in the US.
Introduction (0:00 – 50:05)
We have this unfortunate tendency to record/release episodes just before something major happens, but last month it was announced that after decades of legal conflicts, Macross anime produced after 1987 may now be released globally. The specificity of the year is noteworthy since that specifically excludes Macross: Do You Remember Love?, but we remain optimistic. Oddly enough, they’re now officially streaming Macross Flash Back 2012 for a limited time, which is easily the least accessible entry point to Macross since it’s meant to be viewed after having seen the original series and DYRL, but it was probably the least effort to post since it’s basically just an extended music video.
Say, you know who ELSE is on YouTube? Us! Finally! Well, almost. See, right now youtube.com/animeworldorder still goes to Daryl’s mostly abandoned YouTube page, but we can’t set the custom URLs until after the new channel has a minimum of 100 subscribers. After having posted one video and mentioning it on social media, we’re currently at 96. Here’s the current channel; once we get enough subscribers on it we’ll see about adjusting the custom URLs so that youtube.com/animeworldorder goes there instead. Hopefully it works (UPDATE: it does NOT work; custom URLs cannot be transferred to other channels once set. Our YouTube channel link will be https://www.youtube.com/c/AnimeWorldOrderPodcast). Note that all we’re putting up on YouTube are review segments, not the entire episode. They’re also going to be edited slightly to dodge the copyright bots. Although we will be adding occasional visual aids so that the whole thing isn’t just a still image, rest assured we are NOT “pivoting to video.” This audio podcast isn’t going anywhere. We’re just trying to put some sampler stuff on the platform everybody uses to maybe direct some of that audience here.
Ever wanted to donate to us but just wanted it to to be a one-time thing? Turns out for over a year, that Paypal donation button on the right hand sidebar of our site was busted. It’s fixed now. That said, once we get to 250 unique Patrons on our Patreon, that will force us to review Hand Shakers, so if you wish to hear us suffer and become quite irate, just $1 per episode will eventually get you there.
At around the 24:00 mark, we all start talking about what anime we’re currently watching. This is presumably the actual on-topic subject matter people tune in for!
Promos: Right Stuf Anime, SkullKast, Zac Bertschy Memorial Fund (50:05 – 58:43)
The preorders for the Blu-Ray set of the original two El Hazard: The Magnificent World OAVs are now open. We reviewed that back in Show 138 …man, six years ago. A few days ago, the announcement was made public that Berserk author Kentaro Miura passed away at age 54 two weeks ago on May 6th, 2021. The SkullKast, which is the affiliated podcast of the 20+ year-old Berserk fan community Skullknight.net, will be releasing their next episode on Sunday which will cover the community reactions to this. You can read eulogies by Chris Warner and Carl Horn of Dark Horse Comics over at the Dark Horse Comics blog. All seven of the hardcover deluxe editions of Berserk are currently out of stock everywhere, such that on Amazon they ranked within the top 25 list of books sold. That’s all books overall, not just manga. Due to Covid, reprints are likely to take much longer than usual, and so while this will no doubt come off as grimly opportunistic, the reality is that if you want to own the upcoming Volume 8 of those Berserk releases, you’d better preorder them. You can do so through Right Stuf here, should you wish to support us through our affiliate link while doing so.
Yesterday marked the one year anniversary of the death of Zac Bertschy of Anime News Network. In his memory, ANN has set up a team fundraiser in his name for the Trevor Project. Contrary to speculation, Zac did not commit suicide himself, but the Trevor Project is a cause he supported in life. The original goal of $5000 was quickly met, and now the stretch goal of $11,000 is 95% there. This makes Team Zac Bertschy the third highest ranked team over there, and if the goal is met they’ll be at number two. If you want to donate in Zac’s memory, now’s the time. It’d be a good look for the anime community to take the top spot, don’t you think?
Review: The Irresponsible Captain Tylor (58:43 – 2:07:33)
Back in Show 183 we interviewed Shawne Kleckner, co-founder of Right Stuf Anime, where he mentioned his favorite show of all time was 1993’s Irresponsible Captain Tylor, directed by Koichi Mashimo back when he was still awesome and produced by…oh hey, Tatsunoko Productions and Big West of Macross fame! We’ve also been fans of Tylor for some time, and even still have the T-shirts from when Tylor was released onto DVD through pre-Kickstarter era crowdfunding by Right Stuf’s anime label, Nozomi Entertainment:
With the release of the Irresponsible Captain Tylor Collector’s Ultra Edition + Artbook Blu-ray set mere weeks away (preorders currently closed, and we expect soon after for a regular edition to be announced), we decided to revisit the series. Comedy and the demographics of anime fandom have changed dramatically over the years, and this series is rapidly approaching that “Thirty Years Ago” status Daryl would frequently look back upon. Does this beloved series of our adolescence hold up to the rigors of what is considered acceptable in 2021? Full disclosure: Right Stuf is our sponsor, and they did send us preliminary “check discs” of the Blu-Rays for us to evaluate this new edition. While we don’t think this colors our evaluation of the series–in fact, we might even LOSE OUR SPONSORSHIP~! over this one–we just want to make sure everyone knows this stuff up front.
This is technically not actually taken from the Nozomi Entertainment release.
Yeah, yeah, we missed releasing this in March. But hey, it means that we can talk about the anime that just ended, and what’s about to start! In this episode, Gerald reviews the 1992 3-part OAV series Green Legend Ran.
Introduction (0:00 – 34:55)
We were going to play a voicemail this episode to encourage others to send in voicemails of their own, but we had to talk about some things, such as the potentially promising new anime series of the season–hard to tell what’s good or bad based on a trailer/first episode, but we’ll try–what shows we just finished watching, that whole Tokyo Babylon anime debacle, and more. Also, if you hadn’t heard, the original film for Project A-Ko was finally found after decades. Turns out it was just misfiled! What’s next, a US release of Macross? Yeah, like that’d ever happ–actually, that didn’t occur as of the time this was recorded. NEXT TIME, BABY.
Promo: Right Stuf Anime (34:55 – 39:05)
The clock is ticking to preorder the shojo classic Dear Brother on Blu-Ray. This is a shorter license than usual; about one year’s time, after which the series won’t be available to purchase (or stream…again). There’s no Cosmo DNA to bail us out of this one, so get what you can while you can. Incidentally, if you’re looking to pull the trigger on any manga purchases, such as the Cardcaptor Sakura hardcover editions, you probably want to do so ASAP since the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a huge increase in print media demand–manga especially–as well as a shortage of printing labor. Reprints of anything will be taking longer than usual to occur as a result.
Review: Green Legend Ran (39:05 – 1:42:36)
Gerald reviews this largely forgotten and vaguely remembered OAV series from 1992, overshadowed as a result of being released just a few months after Tenchi Muyo!, which was one of the signature anime for otaku of the 1990s. This does however require us to spend about 15 minutes talking about these things called “laserdiscs” before we get into the series itself. Truth be told, neither Daryl nor Clarissa had any concrete recollection of anything that happened in this series whatsoever despite both of them having seen it forever ago. With the series now available on demand courtesy of the anime streaming site HiDive, does Green Legend Ran stand the test of time? One thing that definitely did is Gerald’s old collector’s edition set!
No, this is NOT a laserdisc box! This is in fact Gerald’s VHS box set containing all three tapes. Let’s open it up! Pioneer releases are highly sought after for their extras to this day. Not pictured: the T-shirt which may or may not have been in 5XL. THERE’S THE T-SHIRT–er, oh yes, and also the TAPES! Maybe THIS is what the director meant when he said “pay attention to Ran’s character development.” More really nice extras included in the set. We actually did not make even a single joke about that Tinkerbell dress in this episode. It took restraint. Pioneer commissioned original artwork for their LD/box set releases. You can see from Ran’s pose up there why we thought of Future Boy Conan. HE EVEN SMOKES CIGARETTES.