Posted by Anthony in HAWPcast on February 5th, 2010
Image by desfunk.
Ash and I don’t watch a lot of anime, but we’ve watched enough to fill an hour’s worth of podcastery. If you’ve got a soft spot for Cowboy Bebop, or if you absolutely hate Azumanga Daioh, you probably won’t like us very much at the end of this week’s episode.
Anthony and Ashly Burch are writers and game critics who make surreal videos in their spare time. The videos aren't that bad.
Rev Rants: Every week, sort of, Anthony discusses games and gamer culture in this Destructoid video series.
Anthony Burch on Destructoid: In addition to creating video content, Anthony also writes some awesome stuff for Destructoid.com.
Video Game Flicks: Over at AMC's blog, Anthony writes about videogames, movies, and videogame movies. Updates every other Tuesday.
So does Ash do anything else?: Um, we'll get back to you on that.
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© 2010 Hey Ash LLC.
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Handmade by Hugs For Monsters.
Pecked by an Odd Looking Bird.
Anthony, you cock-tease.
If Gurren Lagann isn’t mentioned in this episode I’ll be kind of sad. I watch a lot of anime rather unnecessarily, but TTGL is easily one of the most important shows in the last couple of years next to say Full Metal Alchemist.
Also Aaron Linde is Ein.
I won’t be able to listen to this for a while, but I hope they somehow incorporate tokusatsu in to the conversation, as it is a genre of television that deserves more attention here in the west, and it has plenty of similarities to anime. In my opinion it’s better, because it’s use of live actors and actresses make the stories more emotionally impacting, while having great action scenes. People need to stop saying “oh it’s just Power Rangers” because that’s not all there is to it, there’s the Japanese equivalent, the Super Sentai series, there’s the very dramatic Kamen Rider series, and much more!
Good stuff, I am surprised that neon genesis evangelion wasn’t mentioned. That anime blew my fucking mind, but you have to buy the extended ending with it to really get mind fucked. The topic of good anime is very interesting to me because I’ve spent the last two years looking for the best of the best of anime (subjectively, mind you) and I’ve watched around 15 different series (ones that I have never heard of and have never been on adult swim). I came out with 2 that I think are top notch; one of them, Shigurui:Deathfrenzy, is great simply for the extremely uncomfortable feeling you get from watching it because of the pacing, grotesque violence (not action violence but stuff like samurai doing seppuku, etc) and sexuality, and the story. The second one is called Ergo Proxy which is great because of its art style, great characters, and a story that when it starts off you think it’s going to be an I, Robot ripoff but turns into something entirely unique.
Azumanga Daioh is amazing, though I have a huge problem convincing people to watch it. Everyone here is convinced when it starts its just going to be a stupid japanese kids show.
Ghibli makes amazing movies though mostly pitched at the younger audiences but work well for adults because they refuse to patronise their viewers. I used to love how unapologetically japanese Ghibli animies were but recently they have strayed towards making slightly more westernised films.
Its odd having lived in japan for a while I kinda get a lot of the real sureal stuff that goes on in animie as a cultural thing but the end of both Paprika and Paranoia agent freaked me out still and left the shows on a bleak note for me.
Along with a previous posters recomendation for Ergo Proxy I’d recomend Haibane Renmei which is about the calmest most bizarely moving animie I’ve ever seen.
My mom has that same power as your dad, only instead of sex scenes it’s anime. She always walks in during the mindless yelling and fight scenes and whatnot. She thinks anime is just half an hour of yelling people punching each other.
I love how in this podcast you guys continually made references to The Doctor!! I love that show so much, yet I don’t think my friend circle is as diverse as I am in the world of awesome.
For the reasons mentioned in the podcast, I’ve actually never seen the last episode of Azumanga Daioh. I have the full boxset here too it’s just.. I hate finishing shows.
Good show, and after watching a MAD on Japanator I realised that Kyon from ‘Haruhi’ is a damn good match for Anthony.
I like listening to your stories. I was walking down the street today listening on my ipod and got some odd looks when I burst out laughing. I get odd looks as it is, being blonde and 6 feet tall in Japan.
The Japanese word for ham is “ham”, or “hamu”. It’s not Japanese, it’s stolen English. I don’t know if they had a separate word for ham before the arrival of English speakers but anything else from a pig is “buta niku” or “pig meat.”
It’s also interesting to note that while wearing a really short skirt or shorts is not considered slutty for women, baring the shoulders is. It’s got something to do with kimonos or some shit.
I’m no anime buff but I do know that Japanese society/culture is very concerned with visual presentation. It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t work, does it look good?
And in the interests of being an internet douche bag, you guys have been pronouncing “chan” wrong. Yeah, I’m actually going there. Fuck me with a crowbar. There is no hard “A” sound in Japanese. You gotta say it more like the way an Australian might say “banana”.
peace
Anyone else think that Anthony’s shirt looks suspiciously like the Chinese flag?
it’s this: http://www.splitreason.com/productdetail.php?id=511 ,
Seriously, the episode was fun to listen to as always. I had trouble keeping a straight face when I was on the bus listening to the part about ass kingdom.
I’m kind of late to this but I think you guys should cosplay as Sakura-Kun and Dokuro-Chan lol.
The shows name is Dokuro-chan I believe..and just as you said with the dubs, it’s just more pleasing and funny to watch in Japanese.
If you haven’t seen the show, you have to find it online. I think you two would especially appreciate it, and there’s only a few episodes. There’s basically two seasons, and each ..episode per say, actually contains two episodes. Figuring out which order they go in may be a little confusing at first, but it’s short enough to figure out and appreciate. I don’t want to say anything and ruin it for you, so you really just neeeeed to see it.
honestly, this is the first hawpcast i’ve listened to the whole way through and it was nothing short of amazing. i’ve been watching anime my whole life and i felt so cool knowing exactly what anthony and ash were talking about the whole time. anyways, i would have to agree and say that azumanga daioh is the greatest anime series of all time. but remember to not ever watch it with the english dub.
unfortunately, i don’t think you guys gave enough credit to miyazaki. seriously, he’s been one of the most influential film makers of all time let alone in anime. so yeah, those movies are great. porco rosso is definitely my favourite. also if you like those movies, give makoto shinkai’s movies a try. they remind me a little of miyazaki in that they’re not bad in the english dub (surprisingly) and they have amazingly heartwarming storylines. try out ‘voices of a distant star’ or ‘the place promised in our early days.’
and i also have to agree with xander, ‘kyon’ from the show ‘the melancholy of haruhi suzumiya’ (also a freaking amazing show) reminds me A LOT of anthony.
Haha, also I guess regarding what you guys typically hate in anime, Gurren Lagann would be an awful match. Just saw the twitter ¬.¬. I’d say give it until at least the 3rd episode any just because that seems to be the point that people really get into it, but yeah.. ultimately it’s just a show about being a badass.
What show would be the closest to pure Azumanga then? Lucky Star, maybe? Or I guess K-On to an extent. Does Azumanga Daioh even have any contemporaries?
I’d say Pani Poni Dash, Lucky Star, and Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei are about as close to azumanga daioh as you can get.
If only they would make a Yotsuba&! anime which i’m actually kind of surprised they haven’t. But if you liked Azumanga try reading Yotsuba&! it’s by the same author as Azumanga daioh and has the same kind of style.
its cool, i guess i can see why you guys don’t dig cowboy bebop. i still can’t see whats so great about Doctor Who.
@Anthony
Fun listen. I was glad to hear that you felt the same way I did about Paranoia Agent. The first few strongly character driven episodes were surprisingly powerful (especially the split personality character), but as the series went on it seemed to lose that sense of focus and interconnectedness. The pudding monster was a let down. That being said, I barely watch any anime currently. The only other series that I’ve given (and am giving) time to is Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. I don’t know how the show is viewed within the Otaku community (it does spawn a lot of cosplay), but I really like it. It’s not mind-blowing but I’d recommend it if you’re looking for a pretty good anime to watch (it’s on Hulu). It’s got a very Western/familiar feel and a nice mix of action, laughs, character development, and plotting. If the first 3 or 4 episodes aren’t doing it for you, it’s probably not your thing but I like recommending it.
Yey, someone finally came out and said how bad Inuyasha and Akira are!!!!! DBZ is retarded, how about saint seya? Try your luck and pray you survive the experience.
Azumangah Daioh is cool, but it hardly is the best series ever. Try school rumble.
@Anthony
I agreee with you abou Miyazaki (guess that’s the name). Creating worlds do not compare against a good story. What do you guys think about Avatar? How about with people no worrying with the alien sex? If he was controlling a dog would be ok for him to fu** a dog? Guess not!
@Ashly/Anthony
What about GOLDEN BOY?!?!? Do you wanna laugh with weird comedy? That’s the one to go, 6 episodes with some of funniest shit ever!!!
Ash, I liked Sailor Moon too during the toonami period of time, and you know why? because it was a show with who’s demographic was tween girls, and we were, in fact, tween girls. It was marketed to us effectively and that’s all. I also really liked the muppet babies when i was a kid, i don’t still like or want to watch it now, but i have no shame in watching it when i did.
Really would have taken you guys for bebop fans. Although I’m not much into anime, bebop stands out from the rest. i think of the scene where spike’s got his thumb up in hopes of hitchin’ a ride from a passing airship and revel in the artwork and detail to subtleties in emotion. Not to mention the best tunes in any animated show and more character development than a charmander wearing a trench coat and fedora. I just hear all your intelligible opinions and cant wrap my head around why bebop strikes the wrong chord ; tho i agree with most of the things you guys share. You guys are genuinely funny, keep up the great work.
hey ashley whenya comin to NewYorkCity?….because you could get it