Best Jonathan Lack And Sean Chapman Podcasts (2024)

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The Weekly Stuff #499 - Our Top 10 Favorite Anime Opening Themes & Doctor Who S14E5-6 Reviews 5:16:27

10h ago5:16:27

5:16:27

This month, The Weekly Stuff Podcast is reaching its 500th episode, and we’re celebrating with two massive episodes counting down our Top 10 Favorite Anime Opening & Ending Themes. The former is the main topic of today’s show, as Sean and Jonathan share their respective 10 favorite Anime Openings, from obvious favorites like Dragon Ball Z andNeon G…

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S4E22 - A SILENT VOICE (Koe no Katachi) 2016 Movie Review 3:26:11

6h ago3:26:11

3:26:11

Welcome back for Part 6 of our Kyoto Vacation, entitled ‘Yamada Naoko Strikes Back; or, I Have no Voice and I Must Sound! Euphonium.’ And while most of this part will deal with the second half of that title, today’s subject is all about the aforementioned Yamada Naoko, the Kyoto Animation wunderkind behind K-On! and Tamako Market, and the director …

1
The Weekly Stuff #498 - The Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Episode (& Doctor Who S14E3-4) 3:23:06

16d ago3:23:06

3:23:06

After many months and hundreds of hours of play, Sean and Jonathan have finally both finished Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, the second installment in Square Enix’s remake trilogy, and … we didn’t really like it. So today, we’re going to tell you why, diving into a game that starts out promising but turns out to be a very flat, frequently frustrating, …

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The Weekly Stuff #497 - Doctor Who Season Premiere & Xbox Studio Closures 2:37:18

29d ago2:37:18

2:37:18

Doctor Who returned this week for its new season (Series 14, Season 1, or Season 40, depending on who you ask), the first full run starring Ncuti Gatwa as the 15th Doctor and Millie Gibson as companion Ruby Sunday. And the first two episodes were a ton of fun, particularly the formally off-the-wall “The Devil’s Chord,” which proves returning showru…

1
S4E21 - LOVE, CHUUNIBYO & OTHER DELUSIONS! TAKE ON ME Movie Review 1:54:55

1M ago1:54:55

1:54:55

Part 5 of our Kyoto Vacation, “Kyoto Animation’s Splendid Isolation,” comes to a close with one last adventure with the characters of Love, Chuunibyo, and Other Delusions, in their 2018 movie, Take on Me! The film finds Rikka and Yuta off on a journey across Japan as they ‘elope’ after Rikka’s big sister Toka plans to move her to Italy for her fina…

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The Weekly Stuff #496 - Jonathan’s Criterion Essay, Berserk, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth & More 1:06:37

2M ago1:06:37

1:06:37

Jonathan had a very exciting week as The Criterion Collection published an essay he wrote on Makoto Shinkai, thus checking off a major bucket list item, while Sean had an extremely boring week administering standardized tests to high schoolers and showing them the 2011 animated not-a-classic, Gnomeo & Juliet. We talk about both of those experiences…

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S4E20 - MYRIAD COLORS PHANTOM WORLD Review (2016 Kyoto Animation TV Anime) 2:59:27

1M ago2:59:27

2:59:27

We are back for a particularly ‘colorful’ episode of Part 5 of our Kyoto Vacation, “Kyoto Animation’s Splendid Isolation,” with our review of 2016’s Myriad Colors Phantom World. While this series isn’t one of KyoAni’s ‘masterpiece’ shows, it might just be their most underrated. A madcap comedy packed with wall-to-wall creativity, vivid characters, …

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S4E19 - LOVE, CHUUNIBYO & OTHER DELUSIONS! ~HEART THROB~ Review (Season 2, 2014) 2:47:03

2M ago2:47:03

2:47:03

We are back for Part 5 of our Kyoto Vacation, “Kyoto Animation’s Splendid Isolation,” and today we return to the wacky world of Love, Chuunibyo, and Other Delusions for its second season, Heart Throb! This second batch of episodes sees Rikka and Yuta struggling with what it means to be a couple when another chuunibyo friend from Yuta’s past enters …

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The Weekly Stuff #495 - Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Analogue Pocket, Ripley, and Anime Galore 2:57:00

2M ago2:57:00

2:57:00

In one of the grab-baggiest grab bag episodes we’ve ever recorded, Sean reviews a bunch of anime including Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, Solo Leveling, and The Dangers in My Heart, and talks about playing through all the DLC forDragon Ball Z: Kakarot; Jonathan gives his thoughts on Netflix’s outstanding new drama Ripley and talks about finally get…

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S4E18 - BEYOND THE BOUNDARY Review (2013 Kyoto Animation TV Anime + Movie) 2:24:36

2M ago2:24:36

2:24:36

We are back for Part 5 of our Kyoto Vacation, entitled “Kyoto Animation’s Splendid Isolation,” and today we’re discussing what might be the worst series the fine folks at KyoAni have ever made: 2013’s Beyond the Boundary, a show that is as beautifully animated as anything the studio has ever produced, but suffers from generic (and sometimes incoher…

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S4E17 - TAMAKO MARKET (2013 TV Series) & TAMAKO LOVE STORY (2014 Movie) Review 3:08:57

2M ago3:08:57

3:08:57

We are back for Part 5 of our Kyoto Vacation, entitled “Kyoto Animation’s Splendid Isolation,” and today we’re discussing the next series made by the ladies behind K-ON!, 2013’s Tamako Market! An entirely original creation by Naoko Yamada and Reiko Yoshida, Tamako Market is a strange, singular, and sweet slice-of-life series about the daughter of a…

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S4E16 - LOVE, CHUUNIBYO & OTHER DELUSIONS! Review (Season 1, 2012) 2:40:22

2M ago2:40:22

2:40:22

We are back for Part 5 of our Kyoto Vacation, entitled “Kyoto Animation’s Splendid Isolation,” where we will be looking at the period in the 2010s when KyoAni took complete control of their source material and began creating anime based on light novels they themselves published! That effort began with 2012’s Love, Chuunibyo & Other Delusions!, a se…

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The Weekly Stuff #494 - PS5 Pro, Persona 3 Reload, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, and more! 2:23:24

3M ago2:23:24

2:23:24

We’re back with a jam-packed episode covering lots of games, anime, and more! Sean and Jonathan have finally finished the massive 100-hour JRPGs both have been playing – Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth and Persona 3 Reload – and give final reports on both of those. But we also discuss the leaked specs for Sony’s upcoming PS5 Pro, discuss the new San…

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Special Episode - Remembering Akira Toriyama & Ranking Dragon Ball Story Arcs 3:12:07

3M ago3:12:07

3:12:07

Akira Toriyama, creator of Dragon Ball and Dr. Slump, and illustrator of the Dragon Quest franchise, passed away this week at the age of 68. His influence on our lives, like those of millions around the world, has been incalculable, so we’re devoting today’s entire show to discussing his incredible body of work and the way it changed anime, manga, …

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The Weekly Stuff #493 - Remembering Akira Toriyama & Ranking Dragon Ball Story Arcs 3:10:45

3M ago3:10:45

3:10:45

Akira Toriyama, creator of Dragon Ball and Dr. Slump, and illustrator of the Dragon Quest franchise, passed away this week at the age of 68. His influence on our lives, like those of millions around the world, has been incalculable, so we’re devoting today’s entire show to discussing his incredible body of work and the way it changed anime, manga, …

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S4E15 - HYOUKA Review (2012 Kyoto Animation TV Anime) 3:28:05

4M ago3:28:05

3:28:05

Part 4 of our Kyoto Vacation is called “My Ordinary Life is a Mystery to be Lived,” and today’s second part tackles the ‘Mystery’ part of that title with 2012’s singular slice-of-life mystery anime HYOUKA! Adapted from the ‘Classic Literature Club’ novels by Honobu Yonezawa, Hyouka follows ‘energy conservationist’ Hotaro Oreki as he tries to glide …

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The Weekly Stuff #492 - The Future of Xbox, Fantastic Four, Persona, Like a Dragon & More! 2:10:51

4M ago2:10:51

2:10:51

After weeks of breathless speculation, Xbox unveiled some relatively minor details about the multiplatform future vision of the brand, which prompts us to have an in-depth conversation about where Xbox is going and why the current strategy feels at odds with their oft-stated long-term goals. We also discuss Marvel’s unveiling of their new Fantastic…

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S4E14 - NICHIJOU: My Ordinary Life Review (2011 Kyoto Animation TV Anime) 3:01:35

4M ago3:01:35

3:01:35

Part 4 of our Kyoto Vacation is called “My Ordinary Life is a Mystery to be Lived,” and we begin with one of Kyoto Animation’s most beloved cult classics, and also perhaps the weirdest show ever made: Nichijou, based on the manga by Keiichi Arawi, which follows three high-school girls, a genius child inventor, the robot big sister she invents for h…

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The Weekly Stuff #491 - Our Top 10 Favorite Superhero Movies! 1:10:21

4M ago1:10:21

1:10:21

Superhero movies are quickly becoming a dead genre in Hollywood, as evidenced by this weekend’s coldly-unanticipated release of Madame Web, so we thought we’d bid the genre the farewell it deserves by recycling a segment from our 10th Anniversary Podcast in 2022, where we counted down each of our 10 favorite superhero movies of all time! Though thi…

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The Weekly Stuff #490 - Persona 3 Reload & Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth Impressions & More! 3:05:35

4M ago3:05:35

3:05:35

Today’s episode is wall-to-wall packed with exciting stuff, as we give first impressions on Persona 3 Reload and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, Jonathan explains why you should avoid Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, Sean dips his toes in Palworld, and we discuss some anime we caught up on over winter break including Spy x Family and One Piece. We…

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The Weekly Stuff #489 - Reviewing Persona 3: The Weird Masquerade Stage Play 1:05:16

5M ago1:05:16

1:05:16

This Friday sees the release of Persona 3 Reload, the remake of one of our very favorite video games ever made, and to celebrate, we’re resurrecting a segment from our 10th Anniversary Podcast in 2022, where Sean, Jonathan, and special guest star Occasional Thomas watched and reviewed the first part of Persona 3: The Weird Masquerade, the stage pla…

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S4E13 - K-ON! The Movie Review (2011 Kyoto Animation Film) 2:29:38

5M ago2:29:38

2:29:38

Part 3 of our Kyoto Vacation is‘Moe Money, Moe Problems: After School Tea-Time with the Girls of K-On!’ And today, we’re finishing our journey with Hokago Tea Time by following the girls to London for an overseas adventure in K-On! The Movie. Released in 2011 to more or less unprecedented success for this type of anime, the feature film continuatio…

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S4E12 - K-ON!! Season 2 Review (2010 Kyoto Animation TV Series) 3:07:41

5M ago3:07:41

3:07:41

Part 3 of our Kyoto Vacation is‘Moe Money, Moe Problems: After School Tea-Time with the Girls of K-On!’ And today, we’re discussing the 27-episode second season from 2010, which follows Yui, Ritsu, Mio, and Mugi-chan in their third and final year of high school, with second-year Azusa facing the prospect of being left behind after they all graduate…

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S4E11 - K-ON! Season 1 Review (2009 Kyoto Animation TV Series) 3:15:07

5M ago3:15:07

3:15:07

Part 3 of our Kyoto Vacation is‘Moe Money, Moe Problems: After School Tea-Time with the Girls of K-On!’ And for the next three weeks, we’re reviewing what may be Kyoto Animation’s most popular series to date: K-On!, the musical slice-of-life anime sensation following the girls of the Sakuragaoka High School light music club! The 14-episode 1st seas…

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The Weekly Stuff #488 - The Top 10 Video Games of 2023 3:14:23

5M ago3:14:23

3:14:23

The time has come, once again: Sean and Jonathan are here to count down the Top 10 Video Games of 2023, in what was one of the most densely packed years for great games we’ve experienced in a long time. Both hosts present their own Top 10 lists, recapping some games we’ve sung the praises of before – like Resident Evil 4, Street Fighter 6, and Fina…

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The Weekly Stuff #487 - Doctor Who Christmas Special 2023 Review & Year-end Catch-up! 2:13:24

5M ago2:13:24

2:13:24

The New Year and the THIRTEENTH SEASON of The Weekly Stuff Podcast (whoa!) begins with a lot of catch-up on what we’ve been doing over the holidays – playing Alan Wake II and Pokémon, watching anime, and more – and our review of the Doctor Who Christmas special, “The Church on Ruby Road.” Introducing us to Ncuti Gatwa as the Fifteenth Doctor and Mi…

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The Top 10 Films of 2023 with Jonathan Lack - Bonus Episode! 48:59

6M ago48:59

48:59

In this special bonus episode, Jonathan Lack counts down the Top 10 Films of 2023! You can read the text of this episode, and see links to full reviews of every film discussed, at https://www.jonathanlack.com/p/the-top-10-films-of-2023 Time Chart: Intro: 0:00:00 - 0:03:18 Leftovers: 0:03:18 - 0:05:01 Honorable Mentions (#20-#11): 0:05:01 - 0:17:29 …

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S4E10 - THE DISAPPEARANCE OF HARUHI SUZUMIYA Movie Review (2010) 3:13:33

6M ago3:13:33

3:13:33

It’s December 25th, and Christmas has finally come to Otaku Town – and with it, the final episode of Part 2 of our Kyoto Vacation. For today’s very special episode, we are finishing our journey through the world of Haruhi Suzumiya with the 2010 film The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, the nearly-three-hour climactic story in Kyoto Animation’s bel…

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S4E09 - THE MELANCHOLY OF HARUHI SUZUMIYA Season 2 Review (2009 Chronological Order) 2:03:50

6M ago2:03:50

2:03:50

Part 2 of our Kyoto Vacation chronicles ‘When Christmas Came to Otaku Town,’ and that holiday is drawing ever nearer with Season 2 of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Aired in 2009, this season collected the 14 episodes originally produced in 2006, re-arranges them in the story’s chronological order, and then intersperses 14 new episodes amidst t…

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S4E08 - The Endless Eight Diaries: THE MELANCHOLY OF HARUHI SUZUMIYA Season 2 4:38:33

6M ago4:38:33

4:38:33

Part 2 of our Kyoto Vacation chronicles ‘When Christmas Came to Otaku Town,’ and in this episode, we do an extremely deep-dive into the single craziest experiment ever attempted in commercial anime: The infamous ‘Endless Eight’ arc from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Season 2. We will be talking about the rest of that show’s second season from 2…

1
The Weekly Stuff #486 - Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Special 3 – “The Giggle” Review 2:31:25

6M ago2:31:25

2:31:25

The 60th anniversary mini-season of Doctor Who has come to a rousing and surprising close with “The Giggle,” with David Tennant and Catherine Tate facing down Neil Patrick Harris as the Toymaker, and the expected regeneration into Ncuti Gatwa going in some unexpected directions. It’s a fantastic episode of Doctor Who that makes the most of its very…

1
S4E07 - LUCKY STAR Review (2007 Kyoto Animation TV Series) 3:17:26

6M ago3:17:26

3:17:26

Part 2 of our Kyoto Vacation chronicles ‘When Christmas Came to Otaku Town,’ and following the wild success of Haruhi Suzumiya, Kyoto Animation moved on to one of the defining slice-of-life anime comedies, 2007’s Lucky Star! Simultaneously a very dry, down-to-earth ‘atmospheric’ show and an absolutely absurd slice of post-modern anime surrealism, L…

1
The Weekly Stuff #485 - Godzilla Minus One & Doctor Who Special 2 Reviews 2:44:38

6M ago2:44:38

2:44:38

Godzilla Minus One & Doctor Who Special 2 Reviews | The Weekly Stuff Podcast #485 It’s a very enthusiastic week here on the podcast as we not only get to talk about another great new Doctor Who episode, but an even greater new Godzilla movie! The first live-action Godzilla film by Toho in seven years, Godzilla Minus One is of the finest films in th…

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S4E06 - THE MELANCHOLY OF HARUHI SUZUMIYA Season 1 Review (2006 Shuffle Order) 3:16:58

7M ago3:16:58

3:16:58

Part 2 of our Kyoto Vacation chronicles ‘When Christmas Came to Otaku Town,’ beginning with a look at the first season of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Based on the light novels by Nagaru Tanigawa, Haruhi is a seminal work of 21st century anime, with the first 14 episodes from 2006 creating an absolute sensation with major impacts on the futur…

1
The Weekly Stuff #484 - Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Spectacular & “The Star Beast” Review 3:18:31

7M ago3:18:31

3:18:31

Doctor Who is back! Both in the sense that we got our first new episode in over a year this weekend, and, more importantly, in the sense that we got our first new good episode since 2017! This week marked the 60th anniversary of our favorite TV show here at The Weekly Stuff Podcast, and brought with it the first in a series of specials reuniting Da…

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BONUS! Persona 3 The Movie #4 – Winter of Rebirth 10th Anniversary Review 1:39:24

7M ago1:39:24

1:39:24

This week marks the 10th anniversary of the first movie based on Persona 3, a game that is one of our all-time favorites here at Japanimation Station. We reviewed each of those films as they released over on The Weekly Stuff Podcast, and hold them in extremely high regard as some of the greatest video game adaptations of all time, in any medium – a…

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Thanksgiving Bonus! Reading 5 Reviews from 200 Reviews by Jonathan Lack 1:01:20

7M ago1:01:20

1:01:20

Happy Thanksgiving one and all! While the main podcast is off this week, we still wanted to give you something to show our gratitude for another great year, so Jonathan busted out a microphone, broke open a copy of his new book, 200 Reviews – available now on Amazon! – and read 5 reviews as requested by listeners! The ones chosen were Quentin Taran…

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BONUS! Persona 3 The Movie #3 – Falling Down 10th Anniversary Review 53:58

7M ago53:58

53:58

This week marks the 10th anniversary of the first movie based on Persona 3, a game that is one of our all-time favorites here at Japanimation Station. We reviewed each of those films as they released over on The Weekly Stuff Podcast, and hold them in extremely high regard as some of the greatest video game adaptations of all time, in any medium – a…

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BONUS! Persona 3 The Movie #2 – A Midsummer Knight’s Dream 10th Anniversary Review 1:07:14

7M ago1:07:14

1:07:14

This week marks the 10th anniversary of the first movie based on Persona 3, a game that is one of our all-time favorites here at Japanimation Station. We reviewed each of those films as they released over on The Weekly Stuff Podcast, and hold them in extremely high regard as some of the greatest video game adaptations of all time, in any medium – a…

1
BONUS! Persona 3 The Movie #1 – Spring of Birth 10th Anniversary Review 1:03:40

7M ago1:03:40

1:03:40

This week marks the 10th anniversary of the first movie based on Persona 3, a game that is one of our all-time favorites here at Japanimation Station. We reviewed each of those films as they released over on The Weekly Stuff Podcast, and hold them in extremely high regard as some of the greatest video game adaptations of all time, in any medium – a…

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S4E05 - CLANNAD AFTER STORY Review (2008 Kyoto Animation TV Series) 3:49:18

7M ago3:49:18

3:49:18

Part 1 of our Kyoto Vacation, ‘Crying is the Key to Happiness,’ comes to a close with Clannad After Story, the second and final season based on the legendary visual novel by Key VisualArts. And after speaking for 3.5 hours about the first season, we somehow go even longer on the second, which follows Tomoya and Nagisa progressing into adulthood and…

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The Weekly Stuff Podcast #483 - Spider-Man 2 Spoiler Review, Super Mario Wonder, Doctor Who & More! 3:15:51

7M ago3:15:51

3:15:51

It’s a giant episode with many topics today, led by an in-depth discussion of Insomniac’s fantastic Spider-Man 2 for the PS5. We break down the gameplay and story in spoiler-filled detail at the end of today’s show, mostly praising it but also debating whether or not the controversial MJ missions are bad – please take to social media and use #Jonat…

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S4E04 - CLANNAD Review (2007 Kyoto Animation TV Series) 3:34:51

7M ago3:34:51

3:34:51

Part 1 of our Kyoto Vacation, ‘Crying is the Key to Happiness,’ continues with 2007’s Clannad, the first entry in a two-series journey adapting the legendary visual novel by Key VisualArts. And it is, immediately, a major artistic leap for Kyoto Animation, a stunningly animated, beautifully written, alternatingly hilarious and poignant portrait of …

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S4E03 - KANON Review (2006 Kyoto Animation TV Series) 3:15:23

8M ago3:15:23

3:15:23

Part 1 of our Kyoto Vacation, ‘Crying is the Key to Happiness,’ continues with our review of Kanon, a fascinating snapshot of two groups of storytellers finding their way: The team at Key VisualArts, for whom Kanon was their first original visual novel, and the artists at Kyoto Animation, who had already made Air the year before, and were now worki…

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The Weekly Stuff #482 - The Rob Zombie’s HALLOWEEN Episode 2:46:13

8M ago2:46:13

2:46:13

Happy Halloween! Last year, we celebrated the spookiest day of the year by talking about John Carpenter’s original HALLOWEEN from 1978, and this year we’re jumping ahead 30 years to talk about the remake directed by Rob Zombie in 2007, and its sequel from 2009. These films have a mixed reputation, but they’re worth revisiting and taking seriously. …

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S4E02 - AIR Review (2005 Kyoto Animation TV Series) 3:09:53

8M ago3:09:53

3:09:53

Part 1 of our Kyoto Vacation kicks off with ‘Crying is the Key to Happiness,’ a series of episodes on Kyoto Animation’s adaptations of the acclaimed visual novels by Key VisualArts. We begin with 2005’s Air, the strange, sad, and surprising tale of a wandering boy, a girl obsessed with dinosaurs, an empathetic crow, and a winged girl in the sky. Ai…

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The Weekly Stuff #481 - Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 & Super Mario Bros. Wonder First Impressions 1:21:00

8M ago1:21:00

1:21:00

Two of the most anticipated video games of 2023 launched this week, with Sony and Insomniac’s Spider-Man 2 for the PS5 and Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros. Wonder for the Nintendo Switch. We’ve been extremely excited for both, and so far, they haven’t disappointed. We give initial spoiler-free impressions of both games on today’s show, discussing how M…

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S4E01 - The History of Kyoto Animation & Intro to Season 4 1:55:21

8M ago1:55:21

1:55:21

Welcome to Japanimation Station’s Kyoto Vacation, the fourth season of our podcast and our biggest adventure yet! We are taking a journey through the works of Kyoto Animation, one of the most respected and beloved anime studios in Japan, reviewing shows like Clannad, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, K-On!, Nichijou, Sound! Euphonium, Violet Everg…

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The Weekly Stuff #480 - Japanimation Station’s Kyoto Vacation Preview: The History of Kyoto Animation 1:58:18

8M ago1:58:18

1:58:18

The fourth season of our sister series, Japanimation Station, begins today with the premiere of Japanimation Station’s Kyoto Vacation, our biggest podcasting adventure yet! We are taking a journey through the works of Kyoto Animation, one of the most respected and beloved anime studios in Japan, reviewing shows like Clannad, The Melancholy of Haruh…

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The Weekly Stuff #479 - 200 Reviews: Discussing & Reading From the New Book by Jonathan Lack 2:41:41

8M ago2:41:41

2:41:41

Today’s episode is all about 200 Reviews, the new book by co-host Jonathan Lack, which contains, well, 200 reviews, mostly of movies, but also some TV and video games, some that have been seen before, and many that haven’t. You can buy the book now in paperback, for Amazon Kindle, and as a digital bundle with PDF and EPUB versions. We tell you all …

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