In this episode, Ray, Jeremy, and I tackle the Seiyuu Oscars in Tokyo, the Death Note laptop, the manga artist who has released his own line of illustrated toilet paper, and some more comments on the Naruto Shippenden arc! I also give a full review of Soukou no Strain, which I finished watching recently.

Leave your questions and comments at http://anime.imagria.com in the comments section of this post! Thanks.

Show Notes
–OP: “God Knows,” Aya Hirano (from Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya)
–ED: “Fusion Star,” by Kotoko
– My Podcast Alley feed! {pca-974cc561fdc7f3c908a3b87d7b9902be}

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Well…after a long hiatus, and even though we’re not all that happy with some of the results, we’ve decided to release this anyway–the zeroth episode Laugh Track, a downloadable Mystery Science Theater 3000-style commentary track for a particular episode of anime. This is episode 0, not 1, because we learned a lot of lessons from this first attempt and we know we can do better in the future. There’s still good stuff in this episode–especially in the second half–but we’re aware we can work on some better lines and better timing. This episode was done with very little preplanning and is more or less spontaneous. (You can even hear the Skype popping noises in the background…though, oddly, I think it works to alert when one of our comments is coming. :))

The way you use this file is to play Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora episode 1 at the moment the file tells you to–or, if you have the AAC edition, just cue up the chapter.

Anyways, enjoy what we’ve got! We plan to make this a semi-regular feature (probably once a month at most–we realized it takes a lot of planning to do this really well). We’d also love to hear your suggestions about what show we should tackle next. Leave your comments and suggestions below! Thanks.

In this episode, I do a totally inaccurate Charlie Rose impersonation (what would he ask about moe?), and talk about To Heart 2, the Haruhi Suzumiya broadcast order DVDs, Soukou no Strain first impressions, and what anime characters you’d like to be friends with! Jeremy couldn’t join us this week as he needed a break.

Please leave any questions or anything else you want us to address in the next episode in the comments section of this post! Thanks.

Show Notes
–OP: “Aozora Pedal,” by Arashi
–ED: “Under the Blue Sky,” by The Indigo (from Someday’s Dreamers)
–http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2007-02-28/which-anime-character-do-you-wish-you-could-be-friends-with
Japanese fans took a poll to vote on which anime character they want
to be friends with. Doraemon wins by a large margin, with Lupin 3rd
following close behind…surprises include Rei Ayanami from Evangelion
in 9th place. Mostly because she’s so unsociable to begin with. :)
–http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2007-02-28/the-melancholy-of-haruhi-suzumiya-to-get-broadcast-order-release
Haruhi Suzumiya comes to Region 1 DVD in May. Here’s the interesting
thing about it: as everyone knows, the broadcast TV episode order is
intentionally scrambled, but apparently the Japanese Region 2 DVDs
were released in chronological order. The regular edition of the
American DVDs will also be in chronological order, as specified by
contract with the Japanese licensor. However, the American special
edition will contain a bonus disc that has the show in broadcast order
to satisfy fan demand.

Missed us? School and other obligations, and numerous technical recording issues, held up the last podcast–which was recorded two weeks ago, so the news that is discussed is a little old. But the debates, discussion, and other general comments are timeless. :) We talked about Karin licensing, the Eva movie announcement, To Heart’s impending English release, and the end of the Naruto filler arc!

Please leave any questions or other comments you want us to address on air in the comments section. Thanks!

Show Notes

• OP: “Tomodachi,” by Maaya Sakamoto (from Vision of Escaflowne)
• ED: “Precious Thing,” by The Indigo
• Karin licensing news link (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2007-02-16/geneon-licenses-karin)
• Eva movie announcement (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2007-02-20/hideaki-anno-releases-statement-about-new-evangelion-movies)
• To Heart english release info (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/press-release/2007-02-14/right-stuf-launches-official-site-for-to-heart)
• End of Naruto filler info (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2006-12-04/naruto-filler-to-end)

We’re about to release the MST3K of Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora in a few days! In the meantime, enjoy as Jeremy, Ray, and I yak about the Kiddy Grade movies, Makoto Shinkai’s new film, and the Haruhi Suzumiya English dub casting announcements (and the merits of dubs overall).

Show Notes

• –http://animenation.net/news/index.php?id=10811
  Kiddy Grade movie trilogy announced by Gonzo. It’s a recut, “director’s cut” version of the TV series. It’s coming out in April.
• –http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2007-02-06/first-screenings-of-5-centimeters-per-second-announced
  The first screenings of Makoto Shinkai’s latest movie, “5 Centimenters per Second,” will come out in March. Makoto Shinkai is the celebrated director of “Voices of a Distant Star,” an anime which was made all by himself on his Mac G4.
• –http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2007-02-09/the-melancholy-of-haruhi-suzumiya-dub-cast-announced
  They’ve announced the dub cast for Haruhi Suzumiya, and there are a lot of familiar names on there (if you’re familiar with English dubs).
• OP: “A Flower with No Name,” by The Indigo (from Ai Aoi Aoshi)
• ED: “Under the Blue Sky,” by The Indigo (from Someday’s Dreamers)

A new co-host, Jeremy, has joined the merry duo. (DUM DUM DUM!) With our powers combined–we talk about Mushi-shi at Sundance (aka BUGMASTER!), licensing news from the past, and some impressions of Code GE-ass and (snicker) Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora, aka The Secret of Mana is Kissing. We also talk about the phenomneon Ray has dubbed shouri anime.

Also in the works is a new feature–downloadable Mystery Science Theater 3000-style commentary tracks on selected anime episodes! (Give credit to Ray–as you’ll hear, it was his idea.) Stay tuned to this podcast channel–the earliest will be up as early as Monday!

Show Notes

• OP:”Puzzle” by Nino feat. Round Table (from Welcome to the NHK!)
• ED:”Split” by Suneohair (from Honey and Clover II)
• Live-action Mushishi film impresses Sundance audience, distribution deal may be impending. It is to be called “Bugmaster” which is actually the literal translation of “Mushishi.” (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2007-01-26/live-action-mushishi-film-receives-distribution-offers)
• This goes along with Funimation announcing their licensing of Mushishi, Suzuka, and Ragnarok the Animation. (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2007-01-26/funimation-announces-mushishi)
• Bandai licenses Gunbuster 2/Diebuster.
• 4.) Goro Miyazaki’s “Earthsea” movie wins the Japanese Raspberry Award (ie, worst movie of the year). Miyazaki also wins worst director of the year. (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2007-01-25/earthsea-wins-rasperry-award)