Show 154 I would like to extend a heartfelt welcome to the influx of new listeners that have been directed to this glorious Podcast by way of Anime Jeopardy, courtesy of Kumoricon 2022. Also, as a disclaimer, this episode  was recorded before the Twitter drama. We reference Twitter several times in this episode, so just keep that in mind. On with the show!     This week’s hosts: Laven – @LavenVoth Kenny – @sakoku_otaku Introduction AniBros Creative can be found at anibroscreative.com, and follow up on Twitter at @anibroscreative Laven is @LavenVoth Kenny is @sakoku_otaku Opening Banter “Boy-see” Kenny is a Salaryman and currently being a salaryman in Boise Good Patrick is a resident of Boise but Kenny failed to tell him he’d be coming into his town Kenny has seen a lot of potate-themed art Are we post-Pandemic? Life Protip: Delete more tweets than you send. RSS Check! Looks like we messed up! RIP Feedburner. Listen to us on Spotify! Otaku no Video Two-part OVA created by Gainax in 1991 Director: Takeshi Mori Written by: Toshio Okada Story of a college student, Kubo, who becomes an otaku after a chance encounter with an old classmate and friend, Tanaka. Autobiographical but stylized depiction of the history of General Products and Studio Gainax Features segments called ‘Portrait of an Otaku’, live action interviews with otaku Discussion What new stuff stood out to us? Portrait of an Otaku hit harder now that we’re the age of the folks that made this movie. They do get progressively more and more stupid. Garage Kits are made to be way more popular than they ever were. Otaku no Video remains a familiar and cozy show to return to. Kubo and Tanaka were definitely huffing fumes The Otakuland opening may be a reference to Tomino’s New Anime Century speech The worst part of Otaku no Video is that they become capitalists — but maybe that is a self-aware acknowledgement of the worst tendencies at Gainax. Highly recommended, definitely watch. The reason we have this podcast. Laven is looking for land to build his own Otakuland Syberpunk: Edgerunner 10 episodes series on Netflix Produced by TRIGGER for CD Projekt Red Director: Hiroyuki Imaishi Written by: Masahiko Otsuka, Yoshiki Usa Based on story by: Bartosz Sztybor (シテボル); Rafal Jaki Discussion “One of the best shows I’ve seen in awhile.” – Laven Fear going in: this is just a video game tie-in, how good could it really be? But! It is really good! Kenny and Laven fight over DARLING in the FUCKS again What’s it about? David Martinez has a bad time: his school hates him, his classmates hate him, and his mom is killed in a car wreck. David becomes an Edgerunner — a member of a crime team running jobs. He quickly spirals into the dark world of corporate warfare and cybernetic enhancements. Kenny’s Take: Edgerunner is exactly what it felt like to watch anime in the 90s/00s/ This is what it was like to watch Ninja Scroll or Cyber City Oedo It has violence! It has sex! It has a complex story that is based on source material that isn’t 100% present in the anime! Cyberpunk is based a TTRPG created in the 80s by Mike Pondsmith The sensory experience is dialed up to 11. This could only exist as an OVA — in fact, it is an ONA! Cyberpunk is a love letter to the 80s OVA It is so refreshing to have a true sci-fi and cyberpunk anime again! When our generation is making decisions (after boomers are good, TY Knight Sabers), let’s hope its all nostalgia like this. Who is your favorite character? Laven: Lucy, the main girl — perfectly engineered for me to like her; Kenny: Maine and Dorio All the characters are really well done and given opportunities to bond witht he audience. Who at Trigger needs to always add the Rebecca-type character? And what is driving the perception that she’s a loli? Really good world building. Do we want a sequel? Only if its a completely new story. Comfort viewing — you can watch