This week, Sean Russell and the panel discuss the new season of Anime. We go over Dragonball Kai, 07-Ghost, Guin Saga, Shin Mazinger, Basquash, K-ON! as well as other popular titles. This week, Mike Dent, Xan and John-Paul join our discussion.
Episode Title: “Spring 2009”
Episode Count: 02
Run Time: 01:03:19
Host(s): Sean Russell
Guest(s): J. Moretheil, Evan Minto, Fightbait
Download: Click Here
Panel:
Sean Russell (Host)
Mike Dent (R5 Central and Otaku USA)
Xan (Spiraken Manga Review & Anime 3000)
John-Paul Naytsin (Fightbait & Anime 3000)
Introduction (0:00 – 2:30)
Dr. Nick from the Simpsons makes a guest appearance and Mike Dent gets carried away for the first time of many in this podcast.
Introduction Music: My Name is Stacy Instrumental by The Ting Tings
Dragon ball Kai (2:30 – 8:00)
It’s the 20th Anniversary of the Dragonball manga and it’s the company’s way of commemorating the success of the franchise. It’s cold open sets the tone for a season that should have 15% less content than the original. Freeza is the ultimate enemy in this retooled version of Kai. Masako Nosawa’s voice has come under fire for being excruciatingly annoying.
07-Ghost (8:00 – 15:37)
07-Ghost is a 13 episode action adventure series by Studio DEEN. This studio produced Fruits Basket, Patlabor and Ravemaster. This series is described as being a Bishonen yaoi-fest. In the words of John-Paul, it had action, but it was boring. You would think that bone wings and psycho monofilament wire would be awesome. Classic quote, “If you like Yaoi, you will love this!”
Introduction music: “Aka no Kakera” by Yuki Suzuki
Guin Saga (15:37 – 21:44)
90’s TV star makes a guest appearance to give a half-asses description of the series. What stood out about this series is not the story or the characters, but one sick fighting sequence. I know everyone is reading these show notes to see the much talked about bitch slap gif. Here is the link, enjoy. Guin Saga is a show about a guy in a Leopard mask that spin kicks a guy across a lake. According to the panel, that’s all I have to say.
Girl getting Bitch
Introduction music: “Saga ~ This is my road” by Kanon
Shin Mazinger (Shin Mazinger Shougeki! Z-Hen) (21:44 – 34:09)
Shin Mazinger is one of the most highly anticipated series of the new season. This series has nothing to do with the 70’s series but still is a little confusing when you see the first episode. Watch the second episode to see what Yasuhiro Imagawa is doing with the show. This is of course an original creation of Go Nagai who also created Getter Robo and Cutey Honey. Mike Dent has a several points of contention with Sean’s synopsis of the series. He’s also offering ten points for a in joke he makes at the beginning of the show. This is one of the more in depth discussions on the podcast. I think it’s finally time to watch Giant Robo.
Giant Robo
Introduction music: “Brand New World” by Natsuko Asou
Otaku USA Promo (34:09 – 36:00)
In honor of Mike Dent appearing on the program, it felt right to air his promo in its entirety. Make sure you look out for our new show where we will take unaired content from our previous shows and put it together in nice size chunks of entertaining audio. Oh yeah, subscribe to Otaku USA.
Basquash (36:00 – 45:23)
A boy rebels against the robotic version of basketball called Big Foot Basketball. Jean-Paul jumps right into the series and proceeds to call it one of the standout series of the season. “Basketball, robots, that sounds like a pretty sweet combination.” Who would think someone would have a problem with a 13 second close-up of a woman’s breasts. The series is also well noted for having involvement from Shoji Kawamori. Kawamori did the mechanical design for the original Transformers and Macross. According to Mike, a lot of people hate the series because of the opening sequence and the involvement of Megumi Nakajima. Whirlwind Iron Leaguer is refrenced as being the best robotic sports anime
Introduction music: #1: “free” by Yu Yamada
K-ON! (45:23 – 51:16)
Unjustly called the most anticipated anime of the new season. It’s from the creators of Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Described as Swing Girls the anime or Azumanga Daioh meets Beck. We sort of stray off topic to discuss Cobra and Lupin vs Conan.
Introduction Music: “Cagayake! GIRLS” by Aki Toyosaki with Yoko Hikasa, Satomi Satou and Minako Kotobuki
Final Recap for the New Season (51:16 – 1:01:26)
Don’t worry ladies and gentlemen, we did not forget FMA. We spend the final segment of the show discussing shows left off the list. The shows include:
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood: The most hyped show this season
Shangrila: A potentially terrible Gonzo show with transsexuals that homosexuality as a super power. Will it fall for the Gonzo curse. See Linebarrels of Iron and Afro Samurai Ressurection.
Asura Cryin: Horrible show, don’t watch it unless you want mediocre stuff with predictable fan service moments. – Mike Dent
Sengoku Basara: Dragonball Z but with Samurai.
Soten Koro: Examplifies everything Gaar should be — lots of violence and chaos.
Chi’s Sweet Home: Only three minutes long, but so addicative.
Restaurant Paridiso: Slice of lifey, not that bad.
Rainbow Nisha Rokubou no Shichinin: Not released yet, but looks really interesting.
Fight Ippatsu Juuden-chan: “Looks to be the most fan-service laden piece of crap ever.” – John-Paul
Phantom Requiem for the Phantom: This show has terribly mysterious story, the music is bad, the characters are boring, but it works.” – John-Paul
Queen’s Blade: Sengoku Basara done wrong. Word is, someone pees themselves twice.
Cobra Time Drive: Mike Dent is geeked over the release of this series.
Spring Preview Cheat Sheet
Introduction Music: “again” by YUI
Closing Notes
I just posted the script from the closing. It contains all the links.
If you haven’t subscribed to Otaku USA, you’re missing out on some quality content. In the April 2009 issue you can read Mike Dent’s column on Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight.
You can follow Xan in episode 46 of his Spiraken Manga Review. In this episode, he reviews Yu Yu Hakusho, a series that has influenced and drawn many people to manga and anime.
Finally, you can see more of John-Paul any and every where. In addition to hosting his own podcast at fightbait.com, he co-hosts episode 46 of the Spiraken Manga Review. You can also see his writings on Anime3000.com.
Next week, the panel will discuss various titles in our special manga episode. Make sure you subscribe to our podcast on itunes and visit our new members section. Our members section includes contests, forums and a blog function that’s worth exploring. Bookmark anime3000.com and we will see you next week.
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