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ANNCast - Tongue in Cheek

It's a shame that no one remembers the OveraChivers episode. That interview with "Chi" Umennachi was truly informative, it definitely helped that he's an insider in the anime industry. It was quite some time ago (2010!) but you should invite him again to the show.

One of my favorite podcasts is definitely the Yakuza one with Jake Adelstein. That prompted me to go out and actually buy the book, which I loved. Ended up lending it to my sister who made a post about it on her book blog, which Jake actually ended up commenting on himself.

Sam Pinansky Checks In Post-Quake - This was simply an amazing episode that really gave a great idea of just how bad that earthquake was. I'll also add in Stream It Again, Sam, the "regular" episode with Sam, because it was just great hearing about the man in general.

I don't know. No question there were plenty of incredibly by the numbers shows during the early 90s. But I still think it was a lot more tolerable that the current trends. My reaction to 90s mecha crap is more utter indifference. It's really trite and forgettable. I have no desire to continue watching it. It isn't close to being as utterly off-putting as the modern era cliches though which are just so dumb and gross and creepy that I find them completely intolerable. Of course, in the end, I don't really want to watch either of these types of shows which is why the bad forgettable shows don't really matter per say. However, I find myself put off by the modern tropes even in shows that actually do something to make them worth watching which for me is the problem. If those mecha elements leak into other better shows it doesn't really diminish the show. I find it more difficult to get away from the more unpleasant stuff in modern anime though.

Of course, in the end, there are plenty of great shows from the modern period in anime despite the bad. And in fact, if we're talking specifically about the early 90s, there actually isn't a lot of stuff I like from that era. So while the bad anime from then was slightly more tolerable, it still might just be the worst period for anime short of reaching all the way back to the 70s (where we saw all of five shows are year or something). There are a number of movies but more or less the OVA boom was on its last legs by that point. With a few exceptions, we weren't really seeing the same quantity of stuff as in the late 80s. And TV anime was pretty much utterly forgettable. Like...I can barely think of anything. Thank god for Evangelion in 1995 (which I suppose was in a lot of ways a response to all those tired mecha shows of the early 90s).

I'm kind of a history nut, and I love anything Shinsengumi related, so if I go to Japan, I will definitely be spending a good amount of time in Aizuwakamatsu.

One thing that's been bothering me about these podcasts is how brusquely Justin and Zac express their opinions. I appreciate the informative side to the podcasts, but more often than not they come across like an opportunity for Zac and Justin to air their grievances, which makes the shows hard for me to listen to (especially when they off-handedly express sharp criticisms I disagree with). It may be unintentional, but they really sound annoyed a lot of the time, and I unfortunately get very little sense of light-hearted enjoyment or enthusiasm from the podcasts. I can understand and appreciate the honesty, but I wish it felt more upbeat and considerate.

That blows my mind 100%. "Any one's opinion but mine makes me uncomfortable" I never thought I would see something like that about this podcast.

Also, notice that this show is in the editorial side of the site so it is supposed to be about opinion.