Anime Roundtable

Mike, Moh, and Kevin spend Pi Day going a little off the beaten path, and back to the movies as we talk about the Oscars and the evolution of Michelle Yeoh, her path compared to Jackie Chan’s, and Asian representation in Hollywood and North American pop culture

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Mike and Kevin spent over an hour talking about every possible angle after watching the Kaguya-Sama movie a few days before (on Valentines Day of all days)

Sadly we had to end it off on this note…

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We begin the Super Sunday episode by getting Moh and Amy’s thoughts on the last episode two Sundays ago. And then going a little local

00:16:45 - Canada’s biggest book retailer might also be the biggest seller of manga in Canada. So imagine what would happen if it got cyber attacked and the long term. Oh yeah, and (outgoing) Toronto Mayor John Tory

00:38:50 - In anime fashion news…Astro Boy boots and the gacha machine backpack

00:42:23 - Boise Anime convention looking for Anime Cosplay only (Mike should have asked about Afro Samurai)

00:52:25 - We talked about James Gunn’s vision for the DC Universe and how it wants to be different from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And then we try to take that thinking to the Anime and Manga ecosystem (I think that’s an ongoing discussion)

Then in brief

01:28:00 - Netflix finally comes down on password sharing

01:32:00 - The top ten most pirated TV seasons from streaming services in 2022. Anime made the list. And which services we’re on

01:47:03 - Looking ahead on the Anime Community calendar, the Kaguya-sama Movie, RADWIMPS, Japan Society NYC

01:53:35 - And finally some thoughts on the Discotek and Viz Media announcements

This Week’s Drinking Game: Take a shot before doing your Valentines Day shopping on the 15th

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Mohamed Sharmarke, Amy-Lynn Greig, Kevin Ng

Opening Theme: “FUBUKI - Snowstorm” performed by Pico Masaki

Visit our website for more information and links:

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Twitter and IG: @animeroundtable

Email: [email protected]

Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/animeroundtable

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5U1yZNlQ1VYFH_fV26bYwA

Discord: https://discord.gg/Dg38nRm3

We begin this week’s Roundtable by talking our Toronto Area roots and the death of former Mississauga mayor Hazel McCallion (Anime North takes place very close to the Toronto/Mississauga border)

11:30 - James gives his thoughts on last episode, and his recent video gaming

27:12 - It’s Awards Season!!! And anime is no exception (within itself), so we look at both the Reddit and Crunchyroll awards and how they’re trying to take the exercise a little more seriously

1:06:25 - James and Kevin talk at length about delayed anime productions and how an almost perfect storm (pandemic, Lunar New Year, studio workloads) has impacted that

1:23:45 - Kevin did a field trip this week. He watched the “Reincarnated as Slime” movie and went manga hunting uptown

1:27:20 - Mike also took a field trip this week. And visited his old university anime club and the location where the first epsiodes of Roundtable were recorded. And wonders about the future relavance of anime clubs and their place in the current fandom

1:41:45 - And finally the Anime Community Calendar featuring online presentations by the Japan Society and Discotek (both featuring Mike Toole). And the next Sword Art Online movie too and lets look forward to TCAF

This Week’s Drinking Game: Take a shot whenever sleep is mentioned (chances are it’ll knock you out)

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Kevin Ng

Opening Theme: “FUBUKI - Snowstorm” performed by Pico Masaki

Visit our website for more information and links:

Website: animeroundtable.com

Twitter and IG: @animeroundtable

Email: [email protected]

Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/animeroundtable

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5U1yZNlQ1VYFH_fV26bYwA

Discord: https://discord.gg/Dg38nRm3

Editor’s Note: This episode was taped before other developments in the stories mentioned happened

As we settle in, Amy gets caught up on last week’s episode before we talk about this week’s stuff

38:58 - We fill in our duty as an Official Podcast of Anime North for the first time in 2023, by talking about the opening of hotels and registrations…and the headaches involved. So we walk through the timeline of events this week

1:16:04 - Kodansha USA pulling digital simulpubs from other services. Kevin puts on his manga hat and goes into detail. And of course we take our guesses as to what’s next

1:41:19 - What’s on Amy’s list. And isn’t it cool to relate to younger fans?

This weeks Drinking Game: Take a shot whenver you get the sense there’s a reality check

Mike Nicolas, Kevin Ng, Mohamed Sharmarke, Amy-Lynn Greig

Opening Theme: “FUBUKI - Snowstorm” performed by Pico Masaki

Visit our website for more information and links:

Website: animeroundtable.com

Twitter and IG: @animeroundtable

Email: [email protected]

Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/animeroundtable

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5U1yZNlQ1VYFH_fV26bYwA

Discord: https://discord.gg/Dg38nRm3

We begin the first episode of 2023 by looking back on the last episode of 2022, with the talk about the Pokemon anime

14:55 - Mike remembers Pele’s contribution to North American pop culture

Then we start on the things that have caught our attention as 2023 begins

23:50 - James brings up Media Blasters founder John Sirabella’s YouTube Channel

33:17 - Then James brings up Shinchosha’s experiment into an AI drawn manga

38:05 - Moh and Kevin talk Bleach and Chainsaw Man with a conversation about pacing an anime in relation to its source material

52:50 - A Wired article in the aftermath of the Netflix cancellation of 1899 caught Mike’s attention on the streamer’s ongoing content pivot, and tries to relate the questions from this article to Anime

1:02:40 - And Miyazaki is coming out with something new. And a talk about Romantic Killer and how Viz is promoting the manga

1:23:00 - So what are we enjoying as of late?

1:25:00 - Vinland Saga and Trigun Stampede has James’ attention. The latter of which sparks a discussion about the recent trend of going back to older titles

1:33:07 - James also recommends Buddy Daddies and his playing of Witch of the Holy Night (with a look ahead to uFotable’s next feature)

1:41:10 - Moh’s choice is Salaryman’s Club. Then Kevin mentions Bocci The Rock, and how its popularity was a little much for its creator at the recent Comiket. Gagant as well

2:01:48 - Mike’s read, Kaguya-Sama (with thoughts about going to the library). And he’s still behind on the anime he has been watching in the past. And he’s been playing Hot Wheels Unleashed

2:05:50 - We start to look ahead to Anime North with registration beginning on Jan 13. And New Years resolutions for the Roundtable in 2023

This Week’s Drinking Game: Take a shot for Mike forgetting to properly hook up his microphone to his MacBook

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Kevin Ng, Mohamed Sharmarke

Opening Theme: “FUBUKI - Snowstorm” performed by Pico Masaki

Visit our website for more information and links:

Website: animeroundtable.com

Twitter, IG, and TikTok: @animeroundtable

Email: [email protected]

Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/animeroundtable

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5U1yZNlQ1VYFH_fV26bYwA

Discord: https://discord.gg/Dg38nRm3

Really we only talk about two (and a half) things this time around

You knew we were going to talk Blue Lock with the FIFA World Cup ending a few hours before. So Mike gives Amy and Kevin a quick synopsis of Blue Lock, and how sometimes anime and manga can both imitate real life, and question it

32:50 - Mike gives an update on the Hana Kimura story

34:50 - We digest on the news of the ending of the Ash and Pikachu story in the Pokemon anime, and the end of an era in our fandom. With Amy giving a quick history of how the anime has “evolved”

This weeks drinking game: Take a shot when you realize we will have to explain Blue Lock again…

Mike Nicolas, Kevin Ng, Amy-Lynn Greig

Opening Theme: “FUBUKI - Snowstorm” performed by Pico Masaki

Visit our website for more information and links:

Website: animeroundtable.com

Twitter/IG/TikTok: @animeroundtable

Email: [email protected]

Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/animeroundtable

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5U1yZNlQ1VYFH_fV26bYwA

Discord: https://discord.gg/Dg38nRm3

Please note that we talked a little World Cup before the Sunday games happened. We’re pretty sure after those games, some brackets were broken. So you knew that Mike and Moh had to give some first impressions of Blue Lock

23:55 - What stuck out from Anime NYC…and how we got it confused with New York Comic Con and Big Apple Anime Fest, the different ways titles get licensed, and the tweaks coming to J-Novel Club

50:10 - In talking J-Novel Club, Mike talks about one of the recent anime adaptations of one of the titles and wonders if the dynamic of the media mix is changing

1:00:02 - What stuck out in the interview with Christopher MacDonald, the CEO and Publisher of Anime News Network

1:07:35 - James and Kevin talks about the issues with the new Pokemon games. They still sold well

1:21:50 - Netflix stuff, Cooking for the Maiko House trailer, and NHK’s issues with the advertising tier

1:28:45 - The blocking of the Simon and Shuster and Penguin RandomHouse merger, and looking ahead to the arguements concerning Microsoft and Blizzard

1:36:45 - Some thoughts on the passings of Kevin Lillard and Jason David Frank (this week’s toasts are to them)

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Mohamed Sharmarke, and Kevin Ng (eventually)

Opening Theme: “FUBUKI - Snowstorm” performed by Pico Masaki

Visit our website for more information and links:

Website: animeroundtable.com

Twitter, IG, and TikTok: @animeroundtable

Email: [email protected]

Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/animeroundtable

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5U1yZNlQ1VYFH_fV26bYwA

Discord: https://discord.gg/Dg38nRm3

The Kadokawa acquisition of Anime News Network is no doubt the big news of the week. So we take a long look at it, and the potential that sits there. Along with a few asides like Canadians getting their notice on Crunchyroll’s price increase, and James’ take on the Discotek presentation a few weeks back

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Kevin Ng, Amy Lynn Greig

Visit our website for more information and links:

Website: animeroundtable.com

Twitter, IG, and TikTok: @animeroundtable

Email: [email protected]

Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/animeroundtable

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5U1yZNlQ1VYFH_fV26bYwA

Discord: https://discord.gg/Dg38nRm3

We settle in as championship week in three major e-sports begins (DOTA2, LOL, and Overwatch)

7:40 - Kevin went to the Anime North Halloween Event at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre and does a quick recap, with a version of the Nominoichi (obviously his specialty)

30:10 - Looking back at the Discotek presentation and what caught our attention there

Then Moh finally gets into the conversation

34:11 - Netflix changes their anime focus, and how that clashes with the culture of fandom both past and present

54:50 - Some social media thoughts and what’s been in our queues

1:07:08 - Kevin and Moh look back on James’s last appearance in last week’s Space Heater Chat and we update it

1:13:26 - Finally we talk Halloween, first on the Simpsons, then the tragic events in the Itaewon district of Seoul and revisit Halloween in East Asia again

This Week’s Drinking Game: Take a shot when someone says the word “charming”. And take another when it’s Mike who says it

Mike Nicolas, Kevin Ng, Mohamed Sharmarke

Opening Theme: “FUBUKI - Snowstorm” performed by Pico Masaki

Visit our website for more information and links:

Website: animeroundtable.com

Twitter and IG: @animeroundtable

Email: [email protected]

Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/animeroundtable

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5U1yZNlQ1VYFH_fV26bYwA

Discord: https://discord.gg/Dg38nRm3