Mac: 00:02

Here we go. What's up, anime heads? What's up? We're back. It's been

Jacci: 00:08

We're back

Mac: 00:08

here. Happy

Jacci: 00:11

New Year.

EJ: 00:12

Happy New Year.

Mac: 00:13

We're we're like a a month and a half into the New Year, so we're we're kinda late. But, everybody has lives over here, and, we finally found time to all come together. And I know. Read. Like I said, we're late.

Mac: 00:29

And we're talking about some of the, some of the anime from 2024, that kinda caught our eye to bring up, hey. This is something new we've seen. Not a lot of people have been talking about it. Or maybe people have been talking about it, but we haven't talked about it on our program. So, our plan is to talk about twenty twenty four shows tonight, and then our next show kinda talk about, anime that is that if not already come out, that is due to come out, during the winter cycle of 2025, which already has some amazing shows, on deck and out and abouts now.

Mac: 01:06

So, without further ado, unless you guys have something to add, we can play our intro and get into the proceedings this evening.

EJ: 01:15

Yes. Yes.

Mac: 01:16

Alright. Let's do it.

Jacci: 01:18

The following is a presentation of the podcast network, reminding you to always question the answers.

Mac: 02:28

Hello. Doop doop. So, like we said in the opening, we're here to talk about, anime of 2024, which I thought was a good year for anime all around. You have some continuations of well established IPs, and you also had some brand new IPs, based on some amazing manga that have come out. So without further ado, we don't wanna oh, before Jackie gets on me, do we have our shots before Oh.

Mac: 02:58

Oh. Well, well, well. Well

Jacci: 03:01

Should I go run really quick?

EJ: 03:03

Yes.

Mac: 03:04

Yes, Jackie. You can do that. No. Ladies and gentlemen. Jackie and

EJ: 03:10

then, like, nothing over here. I just

Mac: 03:14

Ladies and gentlemen.

EJ: 03:15

Oh, reprimand Jackie.

Mac: 03:18

Because she's the one that usually reminds us like, bro, we didn't do our shots. And I'm just like, well, let me make sure I have my my shot here.

EJ: 03:32

Man, there is. You you're not lying, though. There's a lot of stuff. Last year and and and this year and leading into later this year, just, stuff to be excited about. Shows that are, you know, coming out that are that catch your attention.

EJ: 03:47

You're, like, hoping it's gonna be gonna be something else.

Mac: 03:50

Yeah. Twenty twenty five is is shaping up if everything rolls out the way it's supposed to, to be another dope year for anime. And, especially when the the summer cycle comes through, I think some are gonna come out in the spring. But, already, like, we were kinda talking before the show started with, Sackmoto Days over on Netflix. Yeah.

Mac: 04:14

I started watching that. Went to go read the manga. It's it's Yeah. Super dope. It's it's It is.

EJ: 04:19

They have a lot of a lot I mean, they've been, what, '20 was it 2015 or 2017 or something? Yeah. When they started the manga and it's just like, it was kinda low key and then it started exploding. People reading it. They're like, oh, I was like, yeah.

EJ: 04:35

Alright.

Mac: 04:36

%. I ran.

EJ: 04:39

He ran.

Mac: 04:40

Did. We appreciate the help today. We appreciate the hustle.

Jacci: 04:44

Some maker's mark.

EJ: 04:48

You're shooting heavy. You're shooting heavy. It's been a long day.

Jacci: 04:51

I'm gonna do a little heavy. Yeah. Has been a pretty long,

Mac: 04:56

Long week.

Jacci: 04:56

Two weeks, so I'm not gonna lie.

Mac: 04:58

There you go. But, we will we will do this toast. First of all, welcome back everybody. Happy 2025.

Jacci: 05:09

Happy 2025.

Mac: 05:11

And congratulations to our very old Jackie for, the promotion to master sergeant in the world's greatest air force. So this is to to everybody who rocks with us and to Jackie and her family. So cheers. Thank you.

Jacci: 05:26

Cheers, guys.

Mac: 05:34

You know what? I think me and tequila are starting to be cool again.

EJ: 05:38

Oh, that's adventurous. You're a brave man. Oh, no. Had our fallen out. I don't know if me and tequila ever be back after our fallen out.

Mac: 05:45

Hey. I I thought so too, but, I don't know.

Jacci: 05:49

Yeah. Come

EJ: 05:50

along with prayers and promises prayers and promises from the last time. I I don't know. I gotta keep up with it.

Jacci: 05:57

Yeah. When I was in Korea, to me, tequila did not get along, but I was also drinking, like, what was that? Jose Cuervo Gold?

Mac: 06:07

Well, there you have it. You know?

Jacci: 06:09

Yeah. It's, like, blacking out constantly. So we don't drink that shit no more. We're fancy. We make more money, and we're adults, so we drink Patron or Casamigos.

Mac: 06:21

There you go.

Jacci: 06:22

Or some Azul. You know? I'll drop $90 on that.

Mac: 06:26

Yeah. You know? You gotta respect yourself at some point. You know?

Jacci: 06:29

Yeah. Some at some point, you gotta, you know, you get in your thirties and you're like, maybe I should not blackout anymore and, you know, wake up on the ground.

EJ: 06:37

Blackout, it's on good stuff. So you're you're you're acting more like the upper part of society.

Mac: 06:42

Now if I'm not

Jacci: 06:43

black out at home, though.

Mac: 06:44

Yay. I'm

Jacci: 06:45

not black out. I'd rather black out at home.

Mac: 06:47

That's

Jacci: 06:47

Not in public.

Mac: 06:49

That's that's the key. Yeah.

EJ: 06:51

You start learning that it's better to have have drinks with friends at home than be at the club.

Mac: 06:56

Yes, you're like yes,

EJ: 06:58

I can get totally blitzed at home

Jacci: 07:00

exactly and for way cheaper, I don't gotta pay $20

EJ: 07:03

Yeah

Jacci: 07:04

because I just bought I just spent $20 and this is definitely gonna make me blackout if I drink this whole day.

EJ: 07:10

That if you do have to go, you know, fight with the porcelain god, you know that porcelain doesn't have, like, 10,000 butts on it.

Mac: 07:17

There you go.

Jacci: 07:18

Yeah. Right? Absolutely not.

Mac: 07:19

Man, we were brave. Korea makes you brave. You just do some shit like, man. I can't do that anywhere else in the world. Korea.

Mac: 07:26

I can't do that anywhere else in the world.

Jacci: 07:29

That's not a whole that is not even, like, in this world. That is a whole

Mac: 07:35

It's a it's a dimension. When you

EJ: 07:37

explain acceptable action is allowed there.

Mac: 07:40

Yeah. When you explain wild shit oh, when I was in o oh, Osan. Okay. Yeah. That's cool.

Mac: 07:45

Fine.

Jacci: 07:47

And I'm like, yeah. This is what happened. Everyone's like, yep. Sounds about right.

Mac: 07:49

I'm like, what? I did that too. One of those things. But I think it's okay. You too.

Mac: 07:54

Too. Too. Yeah. But, we'll go ahead and get started. Eric, I know you were you were doing some research, and we had, like, the wild part is, like, the better half of last the last few months of last year and into this year to kinda look in and find some some things.

Mac: 08:12

But, what's one of the, the shows that you, picked up from last year and looked into? I was just like, oh, this is something that you felt like didn't get a lot of the the attention that more of the bigger ones were getting.

EJ: 08:25

Yeah. And, I mean, to me, it's I went I went like I said, we all have seen all the big shows that have caught, you know, caught on. And, I mean, they're fire. Yeah. All of them, but there's a lot of stuff that's just just beneath the radar or it's been caught, but it just hasn't blown up yet.

EJ: 08:42

And for me, I also went and looked and this is why my first pick is this. I went and looked because I'm trying to give Netflix their props. As far as being the American streaming company that they are, they haven't had the best anime record, but I have to say that they're they're stepping up their game even with stuff that's created, you know, stateside. But I was thoroughly impressed, surprisingly, with Gundam Requiem for Vengeance. Okay.

EJ: 09:07

I'm a Gundam fan, on and off different series because there's so much Gundam out there. Mhmm. But, fact that this is off of Sunrise Studios, the original OG Gundam stuff. But they, you know, they brought it up, they polished it, they actually used CG, which I'm not a huge fan of ever since Berserk.

Mac: 09:27

I was like, oh, but

Jacci: 09:29

Oh, yeah. That's bad.

EJ: 09:30

They did they did a much better job so far as the new CG art going into motion. And a lot of times, that's what cuts it up for me is the CGI when they get to the actual motion and combat. Yeah. Or or just anything as far as, seeing the the, character actions, it just starts to become blocky. But I have to say, Gundam Requiem for vengeance, it's a short series.

EJ: 09:56

It it actually touches on the original original Gundam issues. As far as if you're a fan of Gundam, it's a lot of espionage, a lot of, intrigue and diplomacy between countries, but then it's also just mix. If you like mix kicking ass, dish and, I mean, adult themed kicking ass as far as characters get killed off left and right. Yeah. So it it is more of an adult themed, show when it comes to the the plot.

EJ: 10:26

But, the the art was done very well, produced by Netflix for Sunrise, but a lot of that was just taking art from the original creators. And then, you know, they went ahead and worked that in into the CGI. But you do see a lot of the the,

Jacci: 10:44

Oh, yeah.

EJ: 10:45

Connection to the, yes. Very good. Compacci's point there. But, yeah, you do see a lot of connection as far as bringing back the old school, Zionist army as far as or Zion army and the, the federation and just the the uniforms and everything. They stuck so true to the old school Gundam.

EJ: 11:09

And then but but made it to where if you're new walking into this, it's it's done to where you could walk into this and get the feel of the whole the whole like a summary of the plot. So you could walk into just watching this series and get get kind of brought into Gundam as a universe. But so overall, it's, it goes back to one of the original, you know, year one one year war, which was a big thing for Gundam. Okay. The principality of Zion and then the Earth Federation.

EJ: 11:41

Okay. Those are the two main battling parties anytime you're getting into a lot of the Gundam, universe. But, this focuses on a particular elite mobile unit team, the red wolves within Zion, Principality Zion. And they're like, you gotta think of them as kinda like the special ops or the the, you know, the varsity guys of the of the mech units. Yeah.

EJ: 12:05

So these guys have been out there kicking you know they they're pretty much seen as by the rest of the the principalities. Zeon troops is kinda like I feel safer being with these guys well as the story goes on, you're following that team as their first run-in with an actual like Gundam unit the first time they ever see a Gundam EX model mech. And and the way that it's presented does, the story is very good. It's a it's a, focus on the characters that Red Wolf army, which or the Red Wolf unit within the army. So, you're seeing it from a, their perspective, which a lot of the other Gundam series you're watching it from the actual Earth Federation side.

EJ: 12:51

So it's kinda cool to get to see more, you know, from the characters that are usually just, you know the bad guys or or the the enemy that you see getting slaughtered but the overall it focuses on the Red Wolf, Alpha or Wolf mother of the Wolf Red Wolf squadron. She's kinda the the point of view for the most of the story that you're getting her and her unit and as it builds it kinda like I said it goes into those plots that are a little more adult or deeply themed or associated with war and, you know, anytime you're dealing with war and governments and diplomacy and so forth or the soldiers out in the field, that's when you start getting into a lot of those areas where, it's gonna become a lot of philosophical or ideology that you're looking at. But, the action is really good. Like I said, for the CGI, they're they're they're making their steps. You could see where they've incorporated it together with art before, but this time, almost everything is done by, you know, the CGI art and you don't have that frame loss with the action so that I was impressed with.

EJ: 14:02

They're, with this series, it follows like I said, it follows the the female leader of that squad. And then as it carries on, it's basically her interaction with this one Gundam e x model. So you you get to see the very intro, like a a basic role into the the conflict going on, the red wolves coming into it, and then how the whole war kind of flips as soon as this new model Gundam comes out and it kinda makes everyone sit back and take notice and realize hold this we're heading into you know levels of conflict where mass numbers and and huge armies aren't gonna be all that matters anymore. So if you like me combat if you like, deep story lines, especially anything centered around like the relationship between comrades in arms, the struggle, the seeing that both sides of a conflict and war zone. This this series does a great job with that.

EJ: 15:04

And like I said, it it gives Netflix that one more notch on their belt that they're they're working at it. They're trying to get there, and I think they're making great strides. They keep in this direction. I think they're they're gonna they're gonna do well, especially like we're me and Willie were discussing earlier with all the stuff that's coming out now and the stuff that's catching people's attention. Netflix has got a bright future if they stay in this in this realm.

EJ: 15:29

And like I said, it's a good introduction to Gundam if you've never followed any Gundam series because Gundam's got so many different you know, you got Gundam seed, you've got Gundam wing, you've got Gundam zero eight. You could go on all these different Gundams, and and it's kind of overwhelming because you're entering a different time periods in this war. This is a good starting point for anyone who kinda just wants to see what the whole conflict is about. So overall, I think it's a it's a good series. Does it have areas that could be improved?

EJ: 15:56

Absolutely. Anytime you're dealing with CGI over the actual, drawn art, you run into that in my opinion. But, all in all, it does a very a very good job bringing you Gundam, bringing you mechs, bringing you a good story. And, I think that if they keep up with it, if they they have another season, it it'll it'll catch on.

Mac: 16:18

Yeah. So with Gundam, it's one of those series that has that that's goes way far back. You know, there's there's different, stories that are being told in in the universe that that Gundam is in. Is this something like if somebody who has never tapped into Gundam before, any any of the sagas that that have been, produced, could they, you know, bring this up, watch these six episodes, and not be completely lost? Like, I don't understand what's going on.

Mac: 16:46

Or

EJ: 16:47

I think so. Absolutely. That's a good question. But anytime you're walking into Gundam, like, if you walk in the a lot of us got, introduced into more of the Gundam universe when when Toonami had Gundam Wing.

Mac: 16:59

Yeah. Okay.

EJ: 16:59

When Gundam Wing and Endless Waltz are masterpieces, okay, when it comes to character building, the overall series thing, but you can easily get lost if you step in, let's say episode 10 of that you're like what this one is a very easy. There's not as many facets to it and it follows a small enough group and gives you the broader picture So you can walk into this and go, oh, that's who the principality is. That's who the federation is. This is what they're fighting about. But it's not so in-depth that you get lost, but it's enough to where you're like, okay.

EJ: 17:32

I got the field of what what's going on in Gundam. And, you know, now I know the sides and I can watch this play out and kind of feel, okay, there's not just good and bad. It's not just black and white.

Mac: 17:42

Right.

EJ: 17:43

Both sides have their points. So in that way, this is one of those good starter ones I feel, to bring you into the whole thing. Will it cover all the depth and intricacies of Gundam? No. But if you wanna have a have a some basic knowledge to be able to say, hey, I know what Gundam is or I, you know, I can understand that.

EJ: 18:03

This is a good place to pick up. So I feel like that's also why they picked this up and put it on the streaming network is because if they do wanna go forward with Gundam, it's a it's a entry level series. So it's it's good.

Mac: 18:16

Cool.

Jacci: 18:16

And then do you know if they're, so I'm, like, reading some stuff on here about it. Do you know if they're going to continue this on Netflix, or is this just like a one and done and then you just have to branch out to, like, the older ones to

EJ: 18:31

that. It's tough with Netflix. I don't feel that this got the success level that Netflix wanted for it, but it's yet to be seen because it is relatively. I mean it's only a couple months old. Mhmm.

EJ: 18:41

I think maybe you know less than half a year old. So October it's given a little bit more time on the streaming network and it gets more proliferated out to, Netflix overseas and it picks up that fan base. I think they they might go with it, but it probably won't focus on the same characters. If anything, it may have the primary character show up again. But, that's the thing with Gundam is often it will change into different different characters when you follow each different storyline.

EJ: 19:11

So it's not so, that's why it makes it difficult to follow if you like, Willie was saying, if you start way back in the late, you know, late seventies, early eighties of seeing the the manga for, you know, different mech mech wars and stuff, and then you start picking up into different Gundam stories. There's so many so many characters, so many, you know, so I think that if this catches on, if people enjoy it and it picks up some following, they may go for a second season, but you know how Netflix is. They're very finicky with, hey, do I wanna do this again? Even for stuff that people love, you know, they'll cancel it the next season just because they feel like it didn't go where they wanted to. So it's always it's always a risk with Netflix.

EJ: 19:53

That's why I said they're making strides with anime. It's opening the door. But really when it comes to foreign anime, they're picking up they're behind Crunchyroll. I'd say, you know, a year or maybe more on just having consistency. So, you know, you may you may see something pop up unless it's the big dogs like Demon Slayer or One Piece, of course.

EJ: 20:14

But when it comes to the smaller ones that aren't aren't as huge of a fan base or not as on fire right now, it's a hit and miss.

Mac: 20:21

Yeah. So, you

EJ: 20:22

you know Yeah. And

Mac: 20:25

for a lot of these streaming services, I feel their downside is they don't really give shows or or new IPs that are new to them a chance to breathe and, like, get that fan base. It's like, they'll put one season out. It doesn't get the ratings that they want, and they just cut it, right, instead of just letting it sit there and give it a couple of episodes or a couple of seasons, at least two. I would say give give something two episodes. If it's not really clicking, I get it, your bottom line.

Mac: 20:50

But, you you really lose on a potential audience, get get into what you were saying. Yeah. You know, they'll go out and they'll get a Dan to Dan. They'll get a Demon Slayer and stuff, but Crunchyroll's already carrying that. So Exactly.

Mac: 21:06

Putting money out there to get the exclusive streaming rights to something like a Sakamoto Days or something like that where Netflix is where you're gonna get it at, That's where they need to step it up and be like, let's get ahead of Crunchyroll and actually offer these countries or these studios this money for exclusive streaming rights to these things. I feel like that's the only way they can really keep up when it gives to the anime thing, but I understand it's a cheap alternative because a lot of people already have Netflix. Roll unless they're, like, super dedicated nerds like us, but that's neither here nor there. But, yeah, I'm all for it, you know, especially a nice little six episode about twenty to twenty five minutes per. So you're only looking at about three.

Mac: 21:49

Like, you can crush it in a day if you wanna just check it out and and see what Eric's talking about. But, yeah, that's a that's a good choice, man. Jackie, what do you have for us?

Jacci: 22:00

So the first one, I'm a start with is FreeRen, Beyond Journey's End. If you haven't heard of this anime yet, I'm pretty I'm pretty sure you have because it was just the first I feel like with the the first season when it first came out, it didn't really, start gaining any popularity till the end of the year, beginning of twenty twenty four. So it did come out in sorry, September of twenty twenty three. But the second part to season one didn't come out until March 2024, and that's when a lot of people started really talking about it, was the beginning of twenty twenty four.

Mac: 22:37

Yep.

Jacci: 22:37

So, the creators, a lot of the anime that I picked, a lot of the creators don't have a lot of stuff out there. Like, they are also newer people. They're not just, like, creators that already have a bunch of stuff already created, which I think it's cool. So there there's all these new people coming in, which I think then that means there's potential for, them to create more, manga, which means then we'll have all these newer creators coming out with a lot more and a lot more anime that will come too, which I'm excited about. So the creator, it was written by Kanahito Yamada and then illustrated by Tsukasa Abe.

Jacci: 23:16

One thing I thought was really interesting when I read all this is that the writer and the creator have actually never met each other. So the writer will talk to their, not producer, but, like, the middle man, which is the person that's, like, the the agent, if you will. And then we'll grab, like, the story and then take it to the illustrator. The illustrator will then draw the pictures and then send it back to the creator and see if, like, that's what the creator wanted. And, also, the like, their faces are not known to the, public either.

Jacci: 23:48

So I thought that was interesting. Like, they've literally never met each other. They've talked over, like, email. That's pretty much it. It is a shonen.

Jacci: 23:56

There's 13 volumes for the manga if you wanna read it. It came out in 2020 and then the, total of 28 episodes for season one, which I'm a huge fan of 24, 20 eight episodeers for, like, a season one. I I always love that. 12 episodes is good if you just wanna try something new really quick, but I always love when there's, like, 24 to 28, which I think is really great for people that wanna watch this anime if they haven't seen it because then they could just binge it and have, like, something to watch for at least, like, a whole week.

Mac: 24:25

Yeah.

Jacci: 24:26

But if people don't know what it's about is it's about an elf mage named Freeran who grapples with life and loss after a decade long quest to defeat a demon lord. The story follows her as she reflects on our past adventures and the passing of her human companions, a hero named Himmel, priest named Hiter, and a warrior named Aizen. Because of her long lifespan as an elf, it makes her perspective really unique, and the series explores themes of, like, time, companionship, and regret. So it's it's very emotional personally, and because she does live that, like, super long life, time to her, especially, like, a span of ten years is, like, nothing. Like, she thinks a decade was, like, just yesterday.

Jacci: 25:05

Whereas for humans, like, a decade is a very, very long time. It's a very precious amount of time because their lives are so much shorter than hers. The, like, openings, the opening songs, like, really awesome. There's two of them. There's one for part one and part two.

Jacci: 25:21

You know me with my songs. And then there's only one closing song. They just do, like, a different version of it, which I always liked. But, overall, like, the anime itself is just very refreshing. It's a different type of story.

Jacci: 25:38

A lot of the animes that are made or manga is the stories that are written is, like, the adventure starts at the beginning. This one takes place after the adventure has already ended, and there's a lot more self reflection. She does meet new people, but it's a lot slower paced as she goes through to just try to there is, like, a plot. There is an end goal, but it's not like this massive story that can just, like, build, like, a lot of other shonens that are out there. It's just very easy.

Jacci: 26:07

And the art style is just amazing. I think the character development is awesome. I did, the manga one, fourteenth manga Taisho, and the twenty fifth annual Tezuka Osamu cultural prizes new creator prize in 2021. It also got a manga award, sixty ninth place, and a forty eighth place in the shonen category in 2024. So it's just been winning awards since it's come out.

Jacci: 26:34

There's nothing really, like, anime wise that it's won awards yet. I think I don't think I saw the Crunchyroll awards that have come out yet for 2024. Mhmm. Is that in March?

Mac: 26:47

No. Usually, they do it towards the end. I know this is one of those, the ones we are talking about preshow, kinda started towards the end of twenty twenty three, then rolled in the early twenty twenty four. But I know it was getting a lot of critical acclaim in '20 at the end of twenty three, I believe.

Jacci: 27:06

Yeah.

Mac: 27:06

And, also, it didn't win any Crunchyroll Awards, but a lot of these other kinda smaller anime, you know, conglomerates, they were giving it a lot of praise. So, and having watched it myself, I I was late to the show. I got there, once the the latest season ended, but I was able to binge all through it. And I I a % agree with everything you're saying as far as, this story as a whole. And on top of the the how they're bringing it from the manga to to live motion animation, it it's it's amazing.

Jacci: 27:42

Yeah. It's one of my new favorites. It's just very relaxing to watch, and it's very, even just a little bit of cliffhangers and things you see. It's just she's already OP, but it's not like I don't know how to explain it.

Mac: 27:57

It's not like a Saitama OP.

Jacci: 28:00

Yeah. Or even like a solo leveling OP. Yeah.

Mac: 28:04

It's just

Jacci: 28:04

it's very it's different. It's really nice. The artist though that did illustrate the anime, they have also illustrated Beastars, Oshinoko, Monogatari, and then the studio's Madhouse anime, which we all know Yep. Has has created a lot of, great animes. So, I I just really like it a lot.

Jacci: 28:25

I thought it was just really awesome and, different take on on shonen. So I really liked the route that, the shonen that went with this. Yeah. That's my first one. I love it.

Jacci: 28:40

You guys should really watch it. It's awesome. But if you are a very fast paced person, I think it will be hard for some people to get into it if they're not for, like, the because I would say it's almost a little slice of life y even with some fantasy, elements because it is just slower pace. So it just depends on, like, what you're looking for in anime.

Mac: 29:00

No. It's more more of a, like a a just a study on the main character in her journey because as a elf, she lives way longer than most humans. So like you were talking about, there's they send you flashbacks and, like, little snippets of her initial journey with her first her first, I guess, guild, her first team to do their first, adventure. And, you see her going back and seeing, you know, memorials and things of the heroes that were with her, going back and visiting them when they're older, and her trying to open up and allow new people to be a part of her life, like this new team that that she's building to go on this next journey. It's a it's if you're into, like, any kind of RPG or anything where you have a mage, you have a

Jacci: 29:53

Uh-huh.

Mac: 29:53

A melee character, a bar you know, like, there she's just building her party, and it's just that she's OP, but, like, she is very like, she's just not out here just being comical with it or being Right. Cocky with it. It's in proportion, and and she only levels up and does that shit when she needs to, which wanna be the when she's fighting the, the demon, and she's just that that whole scene with the scales, like, my power stronger. That that just that scene in itself, I'm just like, well, that's so slick. Like, I love that part.

Mac: 30:29

So, if you haven't seen it, I'd I'd recommend checking it out. Over on Crunchyroll, by the way, I don't know if it's on anything else. But at this point, Crunchyroll just absorbed, Funimation, and I think HYDIVE's still doing its its thing by itself.

Jacci: 30:45

Yeah. HYDIVE's only got, like at least when I saw it, because I've got HYDIVE only to watch Oshinoko, but now Oshinoko is on Disney plus.

Mac: 30:52

That's what I'm saying.

Jacci: 30:53

So I don't really know what HYDIVE

Mac: 30:56

Brings to the table.

Jacci: 30:58

Offers anymore. Unless they take over all of the older animes now that no one's gonna have access to anymore because they're getting rid of, and they're really, like, crate, yeah, cranking them. What's the word? Arping on, all of the pirating sites, and they're really starting to, like, find them and shut them down. Yeah.

Mac: 31:16

So you won't be able

EJ: 31:17

to find them on YouTube and stuff anymore. Yeah.

Jacci: 31:19

I don't wanna know about YouTube. I think YouTube will still have, like, some of the older ones, but not all of them are on there. So, like, yeah. There's several. Like, I can only watch it unless I went on a website like KissAnime and Yeah.

Jacci: 31:31

The only place that it was located.

Mac: 31:34

Yep.

Jacci: 31:35

Yeah. Watch it. Love it. It's great. Opening and closing song's great.

Jacci: 31:39

The artist is awesome. They're also new, so they don't have any, like, other animes they sung for. So

Mac: 31:44

Cool. So my first one was kind of an obscure, like, out of nowhere. Like, I was watching a a YouTuber, who who is just, I guess, dedicates his life to just staying up on what anime is coming down the pipe. The channel is Mother's Basement. I don't know the the dude's name, but, he was mentioning when he was talking about, yeah, coming down the pipe.

Mac: 32:08

There's a anime, along with what Eric was saying when you get these mechs, you know, these giant robots you get in there, and they it's it's just takes me back to transformers, Voltron, all of these things. So there's a anime out there called brave bang, brave run. Right? Only 12 episodes. It's on Crunchyroll.

Mac: 32:30

And when I say it's one of these anime where and I'm really big on not being fans of any property where people are like, yeah. You just gotta turn your brain off and and and just enjoy it. This is one of those things. Because like I said, only 12 episodes, about twenty five minutes max per episode. So, you know, you're looking at less than six hours to crank this thing out.

Mac: 32:56

Mhmm. But, yeah, it's, created by, the I think the biggest thing that was hyping this thing up is the, the director and kind of the designer for the mechs is, Obari Masumi, who was very popular when it comes to designing the the mechs for Gundam. He did some work for transformers, like showing people how to kinda do that back in the eighties and and leading up. So anything with Mex, he's probably behind it. So when he just came out of nowhere and is just like, hey.

Mac: 33:28

This is an original animated series. No manga behind it. I'm writing this, and I'm directing it. A lot of people were hyped like this is the return of, the mech anime. Right?

Mac: 33:39

And does it fill that hole a little bit? Yes. But when you're looking at a, like, a Gurren Lagrang or a or, you know, a a Gundam or, Evangeline or or, you know, like, things like that that are just the core, very deep, and they have yeah. So you don't really get that because they only give you 12 episodes, and there's no second season on the way. It's like a 12 episode, and I'm out type thing.

Mac: 34:06

But, it's shot. Yeah. It's pretty cool because, it's in the future, and the military across the globe, they all use, these mechs now instead of just sending people out there on foot, called Titan Striders. Right? So TSs.

Mac: 34:22

And, they're pretty dope. Like, they're on, Hawaii. They're doing, like, I guess, what what would be their, their big what do they call it now? Pac Rim. When they go and do all these forces come together, they simulate war, and then afterwards, they have these celebrations and stuff.

Mac: 34:35

Kinda if you watch the horrible Battleship movie, starring Rihanna and and the rest of them, It's it's almost like that be they're doing their exercise. And, the two main characters, I would say, is, there's a lieutenant, Iosami from, Japan. He's, like, their best pilot. And then the American side you have and I love, like, when a Japanese try to just an American character. His name is Lewis Smith, and I'm just like, bro, they're the most American, like, just generic.

Mac: 35:06

Just two last names. Lewis Smith. You know? Blonde hair blonde hair, blue eyed dude. I'm just like, yeah.

Mac: 35:13

That that checks. Let's do it. You know? Yeah. It's the American.

Mac: 35:17

Yep. But, so, yeah, they're doing, the rim pack, and then, you know, they do their exercise. You know, they they amp it up. A lot of soldiers died, but, lieutenant Asami, he he does this thing. He's like a prodigy when it comes to piloting these things, and they cancel it.

Mac: 35:35

Lewis, who grew up in the in The States, I guess, back then as a kid, you know, he's seeing these these Titan Striders, and he's watch he's a big fan of, like, the, the Japanese Sentai things, the the whole mechs Voltron. He's just like, I wanna be a hero. I wanna drive these things. So his whole thing is I wanna be a hero. Right?

Mac: 35:51

I I just wanna get in this thing and and do great stuff. So after the exercise, obviously, all of a sudden, these magical, just out of nowhere, evil robots show up called, death death drives. And they show up and they start wrecking stuff. They're just destroying Hawaii. They're destroying Japan and stuff like that.

Mac: 36:12

So they're going out there with the titan striders and alien technology to have shields. It's almost like Independence Day slash Battleship slash, you know, go it it's all of the things that that kinda hit the endorphins, and you're just like, man, all of this shit. Like, this is what I'm here for. But the first episode, you know, they're they're getting their their shit pushed in pretty much. Then out of nowhere when things look the bleakest, this magical mech comes out of nowhere, and this is, Bravern.

Mac: 36:45

Right? He lands. He's the only one that's able to, like, defeat these things. But in order for him to reach his full power, he needs somebody to to operate him from the inside. So he's just like, Asami, you have to be the one to do it.

Mac: 36:58

Like, nobody else can function me but you, Asami. So they fight off the first wave. Everybody's hella suspicious. Like, where the fuck did you come from? Why are you the only ones that can fight these things?

Mac: 37:10

X y z. You know, like, standard military shit. Like, thanks for helping us, but WTF. Yeah. WTF.

Mac: 37:17

Are you with us or against us? X y and z. So, throughout the thing, Asami and Lewis because Lewis is just like, I would like to you know? He's like, Asami, you have to keep piloting this robot because he's sentient. And, like, when you and him pair up, the things you can do to save the world is amazing.

Mac: 37:39

And Asami is just like, I don't know. I'm still kinda suspicious. This robot comes out of nowhere. I go inside of him, and then, you know, the funny thing is and and it's a lot of comedy where you can look at it almost like a a slapstick because when Bravern is talking about how powerful he is in the chemistry between him and, lieutenant Asami, he's just like, you know, when he's inside of me, it just I feel everything flowing, and it burns, and it comes to a it, you know, the military people are like, yo, chill, chill, chill. Like, we get it.

Mac: 38:10

You know? So it's a lot of that. It's a lot of that. So it's funny, but, you know, like, it's

Jacci: 38:16

It's funny.

Mac: 38:16

It's cool how Japan is just so, like, cool just being the the the double entendres and stuff like that. Yeah. Jokes. Yeah. Over here in The States, they'd be like, oh, yo.

Mac: 38:25

We can't be saying stuff like that or everybody be saying pause. But, it's just, you know, you get several death drives that come through. You fight the first one, and then two more show up, you know, in Hawaii for the second wave. They send a and it's also you know, they got AWACS and stuff trying to help out and do good. So, like, you're watching it.

Mac: 38:44

Like, you like, we all get it. We have all been controllers, and we're sitting there

Jacci: 38:47

like Yeah.

Mac: 38:50

Really? Really? Do you do that? You know, they got Global Hawks doing stuff, and I'm just like, really? That's how it works?

Mac: 38:58

So I appreciate them making the attempt. You know? The in the Fenny state, this is military stuff. They're like, the AWACS is up and then they show the plane and it's a J Stars. And you're just like

Jacci: 39:08

Oh, that's funny.

EJ: 39:10

Oh, man. Hey. They gotta give J Stars some love. Okay?

Mac: 39:13

I'm like, bro, you you coulda hit me up. I coulda at least showed you what they look like. You know what I'm saying? But, anyways Yeah. But, no, it's just it it it gets further.

Mac: 39:22

And then like I said, I I don't wanna give too much. It's only 12 episodes. But, I the biggest part for me that I liked and the the kid in me is just, you know, different nations because Germany was there. All these countries come together. It's like Independence Day.

Mac: 39:36

Everybody puts their differences to the side. They're like, hey. We gotta come together. We gotta share tactics. We gotta share this in order to save the world.

Mac: 39:43

A lot of countries are, like, against it at first, but, you know, after they see the threat, they're like, okay. Let's get together and make this work. So, Smith and I or Asami, you know, they form a bond because they're both about that business. And, there's a part in it where they start doing this whole time loop and time travel plot where I'm just it starts to lose me for a bit, and that's the part where I just had to turn my brain off and just let let the show be the show. Yeah.

Mac: 40:12

But at the end, like, it like I said, I didn't invest too much of my time. It's not like I sat there through 24 episodes. I was like, yo. What the hell is this? You know?

Mac: 40:20

So a good 12 episode watch. It's by, Cygame Pictures, which, Cygames is the video game developer that del develops the, action RPG. I think it's Granblue, and they have different, games and stuff like that. So they're trying to get into animation. This is their first attempt.

Mac: 40:41

I guess they're trying to see how it works. Looking at reviews, it's hit or miss. Like, some people are just not a fan of the plot, not a fan of the the the comedy or the attempted comedy. I thought it was pretty cool, but, that's my pick. It is bang or brave bang braverin, and it's, over on Crunchyroll 12

EJ: 41:00

I saw it on a couple lists. So it was people definitely got eyes on it because it's been it's on that, hey. You might have missed this, but it's fire kinda late. You know?

Mac: 41:08

So Yeah. I have to check it out. But that's what I got. What's another one you got, EJ?

EJ: 41:15

Okay. So my other pick is called the unwanted undead adventurer.

Jacci: 41:22

I wanted to see that.

EJ: 41:23

Oh. Yeah. I I've been watching it and, apparently, it it it's written by, you o o O'Connor, the the manga is. And then, it's original run was September of twenty sixteen, but it's still ongoing so. They only recently picked it up to to as an anime and released it this year.

EJ: 41:46

It's produced by Namba. I'm sorry. I'm gonna butcher some of these names and to catch, which makes no sense because they're they're my people but I've been through it all the time

Jacci: 42:02

Disappointment.

EJ: 42:03

Yeah. I know. The music is pretty good. I mean, the music's pretty good leading in. It kinda felt like when I first started watching it because once again, as my research, I was looking at stuff that was a little bit less more obscure.

EJ: 42:15

Mhmm. Like it came out this year, but it wasn't like or came out last year, but it wasn't something that everybody was flocking to. So I checked this one out and actually, I I was decently surprised by the story. Once again, we're going back to story, kinda like Jackie hit on with her selection.

Mac: 42:28

Mhmm.

EJ: 42:30

This one isn't isn't super fast paced like what I've shown in. You know, it's not like crazy action from the onset. The art is is good and I wouldn't say it's it's excellent, but it's it's it's good enough to tell the story. The story though is pretty interesting because the the main character as you're introduced and it carries on from episode one, the main character dies. So you're you're following this guy.

EJ: 42:55

You know, it's like not even two minutes into the story and the dude gets you know

Mac: 43:00

he's dead.

EJ: 43:00

He's not alive by this giant. You're like wow, but that's the whole point of this story. That's why it caught my attention and I started watching it because it's interesting. He's he's dead but he's undead so he comes back as a skeleton and he's kinda talk. He's talking you through the mistakes he made so basically he was it's it's your average RPG kind of fantasy setting.

EJ: 43:24

Okay, and it's it's spoken about like a video game because he's talking about how he's he's a bronze level. Adventurer, so he's not very high. He's like you know. I'm not one of the better ones. I'm working my way up, you know and he kinda gives you an introduction to himself, he says.

EJ: 43:41

You know he tried. It's it gives you the feeling of the old school. MMO RPGs where he's talking about he has to go to the low level areas and grind. You know he's not the kind of guy that's part of a team. He's like I go solo because I'm not really that good.

EJ: 43:55

So he kinda is explaining this and basically as the story hit, develops in the first episode to carrying you in, he basically comes across an opportunity. It's like a, woah. I found something no one else knew about. And in pursuing that, he ends up dying. Okay.

EJ: 44:14

But in in a parallel that I like and this is this is just me going off on a tangent, but if you're a fan of the souls games like demon souls, In those games, you lose your humanity, you become a skeletal or a desiccated version of yourself until you've gained enough energy back to where you can become human again or mortal again. And this that's his goal. He's trying to return to life. So he is just a skeleton. He's wearing this, you know, make, you know, low grade armor and stuff, but he's adventuring forward because he's like, I've got to find out how I if I can come back to being a person.

EJ: 44:52

Okay? And he meets these people on the way, and a lot of it's just his interaction with these other adventurers and him slowly becoming a better adventurer even though he has failed as far as you could that's as big as you could fail. You die.

Mac: 45:04

Yeah.

EJ: 45:05

I mean, he's dead, but his motivation and his drive, even though he's not the greatest, but he's just want to, you know, to achieve these things, draws those people to wanna help him. So it's only 12 episodes long. It's it's well written as far as the character acting to the voice acting has done pretty well. It's interesting enough to hook you as far as you wanna see how where he's gonna go from here and what all of it means because one of the things that ends up becoming part of the story is he has this mask that he wears and it's part of his appearance, but he as as things progress, it's almost like

Mac: 45:47

I don't

EJ: 45:48

know if it's a destiny or something, but it's almost like it's it's part of his destiny to go through this. So like I said, it's only the first season's twelve episodes. It's a real real easy thing to get into and just if anything, I like the characters and I like the difference in the story. He's not he's not o p. He's far from o p, but his heart is o p.

Mac: 46:09

You know what I mean?

EJ: 46:10

So Yeah. He's gonna keep trying even though he's a straight up skeleton. I mean he's just a skeleton so it's strange rooting for him, but you're just like you know, I hope this guy gets his humanity back but it's a cool show. Hopefully you guys can check it out and like it I hope that they continue with it right now. It's only on crunchy roll.

EJ: 46:30

It's from Studio Connect. It's licensed through crunchy it only aired in January of twenty twenty four with 12 episodes. They are talking about releasing more so we'll have to wait and see. But, if you got some time, check it out. It's short.

EJ: 46:43

Like I said, short and sweet 12 episodes. It's worth checking out if you just like that fantasy genre with just a different type of character. Because it's kinda remind in a way, it kinda touches on that solo leveling, like you're not the greatest guy, but then you work to become better. But he's so not even on

Mac: 46:58

that level. So it's just

EJ: 47:00

it's pretty it's comical. But, yeah, the the title alone has caught my eyes. Once again, the title is the unwanted undead adventurer because he kinda has no buddies, but he starts to build up a a file or a team as it gets towards the end.

Mac: 47:16

Yep.

EJ: 47:16

Or at least one is that they will go with him to try to get his humanity back. So, you know, check it out. It's pretty fun.

Mac: 47:23

Yep. So there's something like for the 12 episodes. I know I'm looking at it, and it says that there's 14 volumes of a light novel. I think they're over on, they might be over on Shonen Jump based on the the the Shonen aspect of the, of the thing. So if you're watching and you that that does pique your interest and you want a little bit more on it, you can just go over there.

Mac: 47:42

And, I know, like last I checked, like, it was, like, $2 a month to subscribe to Shonen Jump to go over there and and read those. So

Jacci: 47:49

Yeah. Yeah. It's really cheap.

EJ: 47:51

Yeah. And if it's from 2016 till now, you'll have a lot of content you can go check out.

Mac: 47:55

Yeah.

EJ: 47:56

You know. So %.

Jacci: 47:58

Yeah. And it and I didn't realize this, but for anyone that's watching too, like, if you don't know the differences between Shonin, Shonjo, Shonen is usually geared more towards young teenage boys.

Mac: 48:13

Yep.

Jacci: 48:14

Shonen is gonna be younger girls. So that's where your romance, your slice of life usually are.

Mac: 48:19

Yeah.

Jacci: 48:20

And then your sign in is gonna be adult men, which I think is interesting that they have these genres and it's like only one of them is focused towards like young girls, but then the one sign in is just like, yeah, adult men.

EJ: 48:35

I don't really do a lot of sign in titles like I've seen it a lot where they throw it out, like, it's cool that you're showing the categories.

Jacci: 48:43

So one of them I'm gonna talk about is a sign in.

EJ: 48:46

Okay. Cool.

Jacci: 48:46

From my from my anime today.

EJ: 48:48

Yeah. It's it's rare to find something that's really popular that falls in that category.

Jacci: 48:54

It's more it's more mature.

Mac: 48:55

Yeah.

Jacci: 48:57

Yeah. Anime. So it's gonna be, like, hentai is not sign in. That's that's just hentai that's just straight up, like, what

EJ: 49:05

is Different maturity. Yeah. Maturity there. Yeah.

Jacci: 49:09

You want Pornhub for

Mac: 49:11

that. Yeah.

Jacci: 49:13

But, I think that, Rezero no. Not Rezero. What's that one where the, dude is, like I think Goblin Slayer might be a sign in.

Mac: 49:25

Yeah.

Jacci: 49:25

That is it. And then, I think, what's the other one where, like, the dude gets reincarnated and he starts raping all the girls.

Mac: 49:33

Oh, the the, redo of healer. Yeah. Redo of healer.

Jacci: 49:38

Yeah. So that one's not a hentai because it doesn't show everything, but I think that one's a sign in also.

EJ: 49:44

Well, maybe that's why sign in isn't that

Jacci: 49:46

Also, but those are extreme. I'll say those are more your extreme.

Mac: 49:49

Yeah.

Jacci: 49:50

You can also have a good mature, like, anime that's like there's mature elements into it.

Mac: 49:55

Like attack on Titan. I would say that is a mature like, nobody would

EJ: 49:59

strike me

Jacci: 49:59

as Yeah.

Mac: 50:00

Nobody's jumping, like, straight from our roots over to attack on Titan thinking, like, yeah. The power of friendship's gonna get Yeah. Is she gone? Oh, he's dead. Okay.

Mac: 50:10

Yeah.

Jacci: 50:10

Yeah.

Mac: 50:11

Yeah.

EJ: 50:12

That's what

Mac: 50:12

I was

EJ: 50:12

I was

Jacci: 50:13

thinking Berserk. Berserk is considered a sign in Tokyo. Oh

Mac: 50:17

my god. Yeah.

Jacci: 50:17

This it's been like a

EJ: 50:19

Tokyo. Cool. That makes sense.

Jacci: 50:20

Yeah. So and berserk, if you know, like, it's not just like there's weird things that happen in it, but it and it's that's the mature part. Yeah. So

EJ: 50:31

It approaches it from where you have an adult understanding, so you can watch that without just giggles.

Jacci: 50:37

Yeah. I just I just thought it was weird that it's, like, primarily adult males. I'm like

Mac: 50:41

Yeah. Maybe in Japan, they figure adult.

Jacci: 50:44

What if I like it too?

EJ: 50:46

Yeah. I don't know. Like, I know plenty of adult males who like the slice of life stuff too, which is basically categorized only for young women, but it's very popular over there. Like I said my mother was just there in December. And you know, she says you'll see grown men in that section.

EJ: 51:07

They've been following this manga forever and that's that's their thing you know and

Mac: 51:13

Oh, we can't hear you, Jackie. Whatever you did, you just you muted yourself.

EJ: 51:19

Did I mute myself?

Mac: 51:20

No. No. I can't hear you, EJ. I'm saying Jackie. Oh.

Mac: 51:23

I think she took her thing off the charger and and whatnot. She's like, oh, I gotta check stuff.

EJ: 51:30

Oh. Uh-oh.

Mac: 51:32

No. It's all good. But, no. Can you hear me now? Yeah.

Mac: 51:35

We got you.

Jacci: 51:36

Okay.

Mac: 51:37

I'm glad Josh covered

EJ: 51:38

that because those three categories, like, I always see Shonen, and he never really I never really paid attention to that. Yep. You know?

Jacci: 51:45

Shonen because it says teenage boys. That's like your adventure action. That's why, like, typically for Shonen, you're gonna see, like like, that's why is not your typical shonen because, yes, it's action adventure.

Mac: 51:57

Mhmm.

Jacci: 51:57

But it's also like a female lead with a little bit of, like, I wouldn't say romance, but you would say like that not a lot of teenage boys would be more interested in that. It's not like your typical teenage boy audience. It covers more of a wider audience, which maybe this is what shonen and shoujo and sign in usually are, but I think it's just changing and evolving as, like, the years go by and people are realizing anime is not just for, the country of Japan. There's a lot more people interested in it and a lot of different types of people interested in the different, genres.

EJ: 52:29

True. True.

Mac: 52:31

Cool. What you got up next, Jackie?

Jacci: 52:35

Okay. So this one is called Apothecary Diaries.

Mac: 52:40

Nice.

Jacci: 52:42

When I saw this one, like, I saw it, like, advertised a lot, and I was like, oh, I like the cover. I really liked the art and, like, the colors and the cover, and then I kinda read it and I also like I realized that all three of the ones I'm recommending all are female leads, and I didn't realize that till after I was like sitting here thinking about it. So this is also a female lead in in here. But, I really like this one because, this one was also different, and it's a a mystery kind of, anime, but it's set set back in, like, the, well, I wanna make sure that I don't, like, come right there. It's a lighthearted historical drama featuring episodic medical mysteries.

Jacci: 53:30

The story takes place in a fictional country modeled after Ming era China. The main character, Mao Mao, is a teen girl who works as a servant to the emperor's concubines. And I tried to look up, like, is everything that's happening pretty accurate? No one, yes. So it's gonna be a little, like, overdramatized and, like, not super realistic because it's an anime.

Jacci: 53:50

They did say that, like, a lot of the traditional and, like, back during that time era was pretty realistic, and some of the medicines were some of them weren't. But

Mac: 54:00

Oh.

Jacci: 54:00

But the whole thing is it follows this girl who her dad used to be a doctor, and she was living in, like, the slums, essentially. She was working at, one of the brothels, but she wasn't one of the, like, workers that the customers would buy. She just helped the people who worked there with, like, remedies, helping them, like, look beautiful, say beautiful, and she just, like, learned the ways of that. But she primarily, like, loves, loves, loves to be, live in a an apothecary. But one of her unique things is she loves testing poisons.

Jacci: 54:41

So that, like, gets her all excited to, like, literally take something and she doesn't care. She's just gonna rub it on her entire arm. And, like, at one point, you see, like, her arm is just, like, really fucked up because she likes to try different things to see what the reactions are, and she gets really excited. And then in the anime, it's very comical. Like, whatever someone says, like, hey, that this thing might be poisonous.

Jacci: 55:00

It shows that she has, like, cat ears that pop up because she gets really curious, and she, like, wants to try it. She gets excited, and everyone has to, like, hold her back until, like, you're not

Mac: 55:09

trying this poison.

Jacci: 55:13

But she ends up getting kidnapped and taken to the emperor's palace. And that was, like, typical back then. Like, women would just get taken, and then they would just end up being, like, servants at the palace, basically. So she got sold. And she kinda like it's funny because she just like, the way her, demeanor is and her personality, it's not very like a pick me girl.

Jacci: 55:34

She's very much just like, I just wanna pick herbs and try poisons and not care, but she's very curious. But, she, so when she gets dropped off, she's like, oh, well, I guess this is where I am now. She just starts, like, doing her job as a servant. But then something happens where someone's, like, getting sick or whatever, and, of course, she has to, like, use her talents, she gets recognized by one of the, one of the dudes that are called when they don't have, like, a private area. They're not priests, but they're

EJ: 56:10

Eunuchs?

Jacci: 56:11

Yeah. A eunuch is like, hey. You have a lot of knowledge. Can you figure out, like, what's going on with this girl? And it just goes through the mystery of her, like, using her knowledge of what her dad has taught her to now, like, find out what's wrong.

Jacci: 56:26

And then she realizes this woman was, like, getting poisoned. And it's as simple as, like, the foundation she was using that people were saying were really popular was, like, seeping into her skin and making her sick, and it was causing her to, like, have, like, multiple miscarriages and stuff. And it just goes through, like, the whole entire, there's there's a season one with two parts, and then season two just started this year. So right now, I think there's about five episodes. And it's just like a a mystery drama where she's navigating through palace life, and she's helping out the concubines there and just trying to figure out, like, who's trying to, like, basically, like, either, ruin the emperor's ability to, like, have an heir or hurting, like, some of the concubines.

Jacci: 57:10

And it some it seems like there's a bigger story to it, especially there is some romantic elements between her and one of the eunuchs. And, like, you learn, like, a little bit, like, for her, she's completely oblivious. She's just, like, doing whatever she wants to do. It's more so him

Mac: 57:25

Right.

Jacci: 57:25

That is, like, interested in her, but she's just like, why are you looking at me like that?

Mac: 57:30

And then

Jacci: 57:30

she, like, moves on. So it's very cat mouse cat or, yeah, cat mouse type of game where he's really chasing her, but also trying to keep a distance because she's not interested.

Mac: 57:41

Yeah.

Jacci: 57:43

I like it, though. It's funny. I like the mystery drama to it too. You're like, oh, shit. Is she gonna find out, like, what's going on?

Jacci: 57:51

Some of it's sad. But, the creator and illustrator, same thing. Like, you have two different people. But it was it looks like, when I read it, it was illustrated and first published in 02/2011. So So it actually has been out as a manga for a really long time before they animated it starting in October 2023, and then it's ongoing.

Jacci: 58:13

Fun fact, though, the animation, studio, it's Toho animation and OLM. The manga was created by Square Nicks. Oh, really? Which is pretty cool. Yeah.

Jacci: 58:24

So it started off as a light novel in 02/2011, then it became a manga in 02/2017, and then now it's an anime. So it's been out for, like, a really long time. It's, it has won the it's called the Pekoma award for both the light novel and manga adaptations, and it won the 2023 anime award for best mystery and suspense. And it was also ranked sixth in anime news network's top 10 anime of 2024. So, it's it's high up there, like, just and for people that don't know, like, who OLM is, they're the ones that are primary study for making Pokemon.

Jacci: 59:04

So Oh, okay.

Mac: 59:07

It

Jacci: 59:08

it's really fun. I really like this anime. It's just super fun. The dynamic too that she has with everybody, because she's not like your typical, like, female character that's just, like, everyone loves her or something. I mean, people do.

Jacci: 59:23

Like, they flock to her, but, like, she's just very ordinary. And I don't know. I like it. It's an awesome show. I think you should watch it, especially for the mystery and the drama and a little bit of romantic elements.

Mac: 59:37

Yeah. She's, probably one of the more intriguing main characters out there because, you know, her it's it's a I'll just say I've never seen a character with kinda like this this attitude, this outlook on life. You know? It's just like like Jackie said, you know, she's about her business. I'm here.

Mac: 59:55

You know, they they see my my talents and my skills. They're just like, hey. We're gonna make you like this, you know, for. You're gonna be the the poison taste tester, all of this stuff. She's just like, she's about this whole say that.

Mac: 01:00:06

She's about this whole, you know, poison. I wanna see what this does to me so I could people are like, yo. You are crazy. Stop it. And then the the eunuch you were talking about, I think.

Jacci: 01:00:17

Yeah.

Mac: 01:00:18

Like, everybody loves this dude, like men and women. They'd be like, yeah. This dude is this dude is hot. And he's just like, I want you. And she's just like

Jacci: 01:00:25

like the Shomaru and Inuyasha. Yeah.

Mac: 01:00:28

And, you know, he's just like, whatever. I'm after her. And she's just like, whatever. I'm about this poison life. You know?

Mac: 01:00:33

So it's a Yeah.

Jacci: 01:00:34

It's Yeah. I forgot to say that that she was originally picked up because they were gonna use her at because they forever all back in the day, they had to have people trial the food and drinks Yeah. Because they're they're considered expendable. And when she found out that she could be, like, testing poisons for a living and get paid way more and be able to send money back to her dad, she was like

Mac: 01:00:53

Sign me up.

Jacci: 01:00:54

Hell, yeah. I will do that. And then she doesn't die or anything Right.

Mac: 01:00:59

To a lot

Jacci: 01:00:59

of them because she could either can figure out what it is Yep. Before she does it, or, she, has since she's tried so many poisons already, her it's not that her body is immune. Mhmm. It's just she either knows what to do as soon as she takes it, what the cure is, or her body is just built up a tolerance. So she just gets, like, a little bit sick.

Mac: 01:01:21

Yeah. It's it's a it's a pretty good one. Again, it's one of those if you just need to take a break from, you know, constant yelling and powering up and explosions and shit like that. Not to say there's anything wrong with that because I I do partake in that as well, your standard shining. It it's a good it's a good break just like kinda like, is, like you were talking about.

Mac: 01:01:41

So, you know, a palate cleanser, if you will. That's a good one. Yeah. Some of the ones you're hitting on, Jackie, I'm like you know? Because I think it also won, it came in fourth place when it was talking about best animes of 2024.

Mac: 01:01:55

I forget what list it was on. But, yeah, it's it's it's a pretty good read. I haven't read the the manga. I don't know if it's on, if it'll be on Shonen Jump, but there's other websites and other apps you can go get manga. So I don't think Shonen Jump is the one I'll be all.

Mac: 01:02:10

So you could just type it in Google and find a place where you can meet it and and catch up on it. So,

EJ: 01:02:15

Yeah.

Jacci: 01:02:15

I don't think it's a Shonen. Yeah. And I think that might be I don't know. Let me look it up. Is

Mac: 01:02:23

No. It's a Sennin.

Jacci: 01:02:25

Okay. That makes sense.

Mac: 01:02:29

Alright. So my second one, you can watch it over on Hulu. It's called Go Go Loser Ranger. This this show, I will say, is is is I don't know, guilty pleasure. But, again, 12 episodes, I I I crushed through all of them, and it is a, I think the whole the the phase of superheroes are people who are elevated and put on a pedestal in the eyes of the public to be, you know, just integrity and and the best of the best cream of the crop.

Mac: 01:03:03

But in real life, they are just scummy and just running rackets and stuff. That is kinda what you're getting here. It's pretty much, the plot. So thirteen years ago in this world, an army came to invade Earth, but, of course, we had the, these these super sentai squadron known as the, divine dragon rangers, or they call them dragon keepers for short. Pretty much power rangers, you got your your red keeper, blue keeper, yellow, green, and, what's the third color?

Mac: 01:03:36

I'm forgetting. But, pink. Yep. Red, blue, green, yellow, and pink. So what ended up happening, the army came down.

Mac: 01:03:44

They they almost got, like, eliminated immediately. And so all of their executives generals got wiped out. The only things left would be their foot soldiers equivalent to if you remember Power Rangers, the putties. Right? The people they just sent out there to get beat up before the Rangers even morph into their powers.

Mac: 01:04:02

Right?

EJ: 01:04:03

Right. Yeah.

Mac: 01:04:04

So there's they're kinda like shape shifters. They they can regenerate and all of that stuff. So the rangers made this thing with them. They're just like, hey. You're not going anywhere.

Mac: 01:04:13

This is what we're gonna do. And then so now it's like this commercialized thing where every Sunday, they have a stadium. The foot soldiers come down. They they recreate battles. The, you know, Sentai, the dragon keepers come down win.

Mac: 01:04:29

They're all about merch. They got different squadrons. They're recruiting people. So they're pretty much like gods on the planet, you know, and people are idolizing them, except for this one foot soldier, which is fighter d. Right?

Mac: 01:04:42

And he's just like, man, this is some bullshit. I'm tired of going down there losing every week. Like, this is just ridiculous. I'm a do something about it. So, he goes down there and challenges him.

Mac: 01:04:55

Of course, he gets obliterated. But instead of, respawning back on a ship, he just respawns somewhere else, on the surface, and he's, like, shape shifting to a a regular person and tries to infiltrate the dragon squadrons to take them out. And, one of the the and it's awesome because one of the recruits for the dragon squadrons, she also is aware of who he is, but doesn't tell anybody because she too wants to take them down because she remembers what the Sentai you know, what the dragon keepers used to be. Like, they were legit fighting to protect people, and she doesn't like the fact that they are now just monopolizing on this stuff and taking advantage of it. So she's like, team up with me, and we can take these dudes down one by one.

Mac: 01:05:42

So, like, just that plot alone and, you know, you're watching it and you're like, 12 episodes. That's it. So you're just waiting to to to see how it unfolds. There is a manga, and it's still going on. It started 02/03/2001, and it's still running.

Mac: 01:05:59

And then you can actually go to Shonen Jump and read this one over there.

EJ: 01:06:02

Two thousand '1?

Mac: 01:06:03

Yeah. It's 02/03/2001. There's 17, 17 volumes of it. The studio that animates it is YoStar Pictures, and I went to go see what they've done, and it's, like, some off off brand. I've never seen it.

Mac: 01:06:16

And then, Loser Ranger. And And I'm just like, well, if they keep up with what they're doing with Loser Ranger, you know, I'm surprised it isn't as big as it is. Like, normally, something like this like, not nothing against Disney plus and Hulu, but, you know, like, it'll it'll get a run on either Netflix or you know, because not a whole lot of people are going to Hulu to watch anime. Unless you go to Crunchyroll and Netflix and it's, like, not available, then you go to Hulu. Like, well, Hulu has it, so I guess I'll watch it here with ads.

Mac: 01:06:45

You know? But Yeah. But, no, it's it's it's an amazing thing, and I'm always about the I don't know why. Like, I always have a a soft spot of, like, you know, the the villain that is the antihero that's like, I'm a come down and give these guys what what they deserve. Right?

Mac: 01:07:02

So the Yeah.

EJ: 01:07:03

You can relate to them.

Mac: 01:07:04

Yeah. The thing is, like, they can die like the foot soldiers. I know they respond, but, like, if they are killed with certain weapons, I think, the weapon they use, each of them have, I think it's like the divine the divine artifact or something like that, divine tool. So if they use that and kill the foot soldiers, like, they're gone gone. So, that's why he's trying to just stay super incognito and try to infiltrate in and and and take these guys out.

Mac: 01:07:31

But each of the keepers, the red dude is obviously the leader. He's, like, the one that has the the the public persona, smiling, thumbs up. Hey. Everything will be okay. Yet, The blue keeper is like the the Rafael of the group.

Mac: 01:07:44

He's like, I'm a destroy all you people. You know? He's the only dude with, like, a visible scar on his face, so he's seen some stuff. So each of the rangers got their own kind of personality. I I'm just like I said, I'm watching this.

Mac: 01:07:56

I'm like, I'm surprised this isn't gotten more buzz than it's gotten. Tension. Like, in the summer, I know it was kinda big for a minute, but nobody's really hyping it up anymore, maybe just because it was only the 12 episodes.

EJ: 01:08:07

You're waiting.

Mac: 01:08:08

I don't know. Maybe. Maybe they're waiting to see what the the next season is. But like I said, it's like I'm I'm watching this thing. I went like, after watching that, I went and read the manga.

Mac: 01:08:15

I'm just like, bro, this I need to see like, if this doesn't get picked up and they continue the animation or if they go around and do some weird stuff like they did with promised Neverland and they give you, like, a fire for a season and then they just ruin the rest of it, I would just say keep this, whatever company is working it now, just keep it here. But it's it's it's a it's a it's an amazing watch, but unfortunately not unfortunately. The only place you can watch it is over on Hulu. So if you got the do Disney plus Hulu package, you should be able to check it out.

EJ: 01:08:48

I should have that, but I don't know why I paid for them separately. I don't know what's going on there. But that's a. I always see it and I'm like, I do have that and then

Mac: 01:08:56

So I could just combine them and pay one price?

EJ: 01:08:59

I know. It's

Mac: 01:09:00

But, yeah, as of now, 20,000,000 copies in circulation for the manga. So it's it's popular over there in Japan. I'm just hoping that it it just translates over to the animated side as well. So

EJ: 01:09:10

Yeah. Sounds like it'd be, you know, pretty interesting, especially to carry it on for a bit, you know, because it it's a different premise on the on the main character being. I mean, you said antihero and I mean, I get that, but in a way where he's only an antihero because you're viewing it from the Earth's side, from his side is probably like, you know, he's a hero hero.

Mac: 01:09:30

I mean, initially, they were because they came down. They're like, oh, we're gonna get and take over Earth. And then after thirteen years of just getting your shit pushed in every Sunday, you know, you're just like, I'm tired of this, man. Like I'm done. Let us go.

Mac: 01:09:41

Like, you won. Let us go. But their fortress is chained down. Like, the the rangers won't let them leave Earth.

EJ: 01:09:47

Oh, wow.

Mac: 01:09:48

So it's just like dirty. You'll continue to do this or we'll kill you. And they're just like, well, damn. Alright. I guess we have no choice.

Mac: 01:09:54

You know? But yeah. So there there's slight humor. I would say that it's almost like a Kaiju number eight. Like, there's enough humor in it to keep you laughing, but then there's the deeper side of it to where you're, like, seeing the the the full true colors of the, no pun intended, of the dragon keepers.

Jacci: 01:10:12

Yeah. Did you did there?

Mac: 01:10:13

Yeah. You see? Yeah. I see that. Toes.

Mac: 01:10:16

Keep you on your toes around here.

Jacci: 01:10:18

Big brave. Big brave.

EJ: 01:10:21

Awesome.

Mac: 01:10:23

Alright. What else you got for us, EJ?

EJ: 01:10:26

Alright. I have my last pick. It wasn't I didn't get to finish it all, so I have to give that upfront first.

Mac: 01:10:32

Uh-huh.

EJ: 01:10:32

I did I get this I did get to check it out, but I didn't get to finish it all, but I do think that it's worth people checking it out. It's called the elusive samurai.

Jacci: 01:10:42

Oh, yeah.

EJ: 01:10:43

So it's it's once again. It's one of those from that list that you know people picked it up and said. Hey, don't sleep on it, but not a lot of people have watched it. It's a it's a remake from what I understand so or retelling but the manga has 19 volumes it started in 2021. It's a it was a weekly weekly issue from 2021.

EJ: 01:11:10

Excuse me. So basically, the your main it's it's it's it's a it's a period piece. It's going back to the Kamakura era, feudal Japan. Okay. And basically, you're following the main character as a young man.

EJ: 01:11:24

Okay. He's his whole life. He's just been preparing to become this kind of, I don't know, like, figure head, but not anything real. So he's not like a real boy or anything, but he's born into this so he doesn't have to worry about it. You know he's got all his servants and stuff and he's kinda just the image of him be a ruler.

EJ: 01:11:43

Okay, but he is that I don't know, like the slacker any of us would be in a situation where you're like, hey, you're gonna be in charge because you don't really have to do anything. So it's kinda like so it's got that comedic element to it, you know, as far as, he's just that, you know, a young man, you know, the coming of age period where he doesn't really have to earn anything, but then all of a sudden, boom, there's a coup. Okay. So his whole world gets shattered as far as now you gotta try to survive because they're gonna hunt you down Uh-huh. Because they're overthrowing the government.

EJ: 01:12:15

So that's

Jacci: 01:12:15

pretty gruesome like it's like in your face. It's it's you don't even expect it.

EJ: 01:12:22

That's what I mean. It's it's that funny and then boom

Jacci: 01:12:25

you know. So it's like

EJ: 01:12:27

but in the in it keeps that comedic feel for it. So that part is good. The art is good. It is very time piece sets, but of course they're following very well because it's based on feudal Japan.

Mac: 01:12:40

Yeah.

EJ: 01:12:40

So it's very easy for them, but it's the the color it's very colorful. It's beautiful. But like Jackie said, it is very, you know, brutal when it comes to the, reality of it all. But you're watching this character who his whole life hasn't had to measure up to anything and now he actually has to become something. And, it's there, but it's kind of like that thing, like it's there in the back of you, kind of like when you're told all the time when you're going through training and stuff, they're like, you're gonna fall back on your training.

EJ: 01:13:07

And I was like, what? You know, but it's like that. He has to fall back on that to survive. And he has to rely on the people close to him that he may not have always been the coolest person to. So it's it's it's a it's it's a coming of age in a in a setting where he has no choice.

EJ: 01:13:24

So he's forced along. So in that aspect, it's it's a, you know, man versus himself in a way because he's got to overcome what his expectations were and become someone that he was only gonna be pretending to be. So it's it's a it's definitely interesting. It's a different take on the hero. He's not the the best hero.

EJ: 01:13:43

He's not the worst hero. He's the I was never meant to be a real hero kinda guy. So that's what brought me to it, my attention. But, yeah, the it is brutal, but, it it flows very well. And I think it it being in only 12 episodes again, we've all kinda picked these easy ones to pick up on for people.

EJ: 01:14:01

Mhmm. It's it's another one that you can walk right into. I'm almost done with it. I think everybody else would enjoy that 12 episodes, knock it out, and then hopefully they'll continue this because it does have, like, 19 volumes to go through. So, I do recommend it.

EJ: 01:14:16

It's a it's a fun watch plus it's it's done. It's done very well. The art and everything is beautiful.

Mac: 01:14:21

So I'm I'm looking into it, and they're just like, what what did it say? He has a an ability superhuman ability to flee and hide.

Jacci: 01:14:33

Yeah. He's he's That's So

Mac: 01:14:34

is he, like, is he, like, the best, like, he just fucking lose him. He's a leesios.

EJ: 01:14:38

He's hard for them to catch.

Jacci: 01:14:40

He can't catch him. He's the he's the only one that was able that's able to, like, get away from anything. So because he can hide. He can

Mac: 01:14:47

He's very good. He can get away. Oh, wow. Yeah. I gotta check that out.

Jacci: 01:14:52

When he was younger or when it shows it, like, in the first episode. Uh-huh. Anytime they're looking for him, they want him to do something, he's like, absolutely not. Yeah. He He just figured out.

Jacci: 01:15:01

He's so busy. Hide and not get found.

EJ: 01:15:05

Yeah. His slacking is carried over to him being like this ultimate escape artist.

Jacci: 01:15:10

But then he's great. He's super fast. You can't get

Mac: 01:15:12

him. Yeah. Yeah. So that's one of

EJ: 01:15:14

the skills of being a slacker is he's able to wiggle his way out of any kind of responsibility

Mac: 01:15:18

That's dope. Before.

EJ: 01:15:20

And now that's his survival skills.

Jacci: 01:15:22

Yeah.

Mac: 01:15:23

That's the shit I want.

Jacci: 01:15:26

Yeah. Alrighty.

Mac: 01:15:27

Sergeant McCoy.

EJ: 01:15:28

Woof. Sure. Where you at?

Mac: 01:15:30

He was just here.

EJ: 01:15:34

That's what Jackie needs too. They give Jackie, like, 15 jobs per per unit. It's like, here you guys know. Oh.

Mac: 01:15:40

Oh, man. That's good. Yeah. I'll definitely check that out. Yeah.

Mac: 01:15:43

I also like that it's just the 12 episodes. You just get in there and and get caught up and spun up on everything. But, again, shonen. So it's on weekly shonen jump. So if you're subscribed to the thing, you can catch the the the manga over there, read, and possibly get ahead of it and know what's coming up because a second season has been announced.

Mac: 01:16:00

So

Jacci: 01:16:02

Yeah.

Mac: 01:16:03

Cool. Alright, Jackie. What's what's number three for you?

Jacci: 01:16:08

K. Mine's a little mature.

Mac: 01:16:12

Oh, is it?

Jacci: 01:16:14

Yes. This one is called Yakuza fiance. Oh, okay. Or it's also if you wanna say, like, the the Japanese, it's Raizwa Taningali. But, it's basically about, like, the yakuza as it as it sounds.

Jacci: 01:16:31

And, the main character is a female. And, essentially, it's a crime focused romantic dramedy, if you will. There's a lot of drama surrounding it, but it is a comedy too.

Mac: 01:16:42

Yeah.

Jacci: 01:16:43

About this girl who's in high school, you named Yoshino, and she becomes engaged to this guy named Kirishima who's the grandson of a powerful Yakuza leader. She wanted nothing to do with him, but her grandfather, like, needed her to, like, get engaged to him. And she's like, I don't wanna do this. And he's like, well, I need you to do this. And she's like, well, I'll go, like, meet him, and I'll see if, like, I even still wanna do this.

Jacci: 01:17:10

The yeah. It's under they arranged marriage as a power move between both of their Yakuza families, and then she ends up only agreeing to it in order to seek her own revenge. It subverts the I can fix him trope by corrupting Yoshino instead of reforming Kirishima. So the the dude is, like, a huge narcissist. Like, I mean, big time.

Jacci: 01:17:32

Like, if you could, like, figure out what a narcissist is, it's it is absolutely his picture. He has all of those character qualities, and he thinks that she's just another girl that's come here to, like, try to win him over or do something because he's, like, hot or this leader, when really, like, something happens. I can't remember if it's the first or second episode, but they end up getting into this fight. And, he, like, basically tells her that he's gonna kill her and, if she, like, doesn't listen to him or whatever. And then she turns her whole demeanor from being nice, and she's like, She's like, who the fuck do you think you're talking to?

Jacci: 01:18:16

And then it just, like, switches. And and they're, like, at high school where they're talking about it. And, oh, no. No. So they were at something whatever.

Jacci: 01:18:25

And then, like, at oh, oh, I forgot. I remember what it is. So he he, like, told her something about, like, sell a sell a piece of your body or something like that. So she ends up selling her kidney for $4,000,000, and then she comes and shows up to school, and they're, like, talking shit to each other, and she just drops this bag off in front of him. And he's like, what is this?

Jacci: 01:18:50

She's like, alright. This is your $4,000,000. You told me that I couldn't sell a piece of my body, and I'm just letting you know this is how much my kidney was worth. So here's your money. And he's like, like, all of a sudden, his face switches and there's stars, and he's like, I love you.

Jacci: 01:19:04

Will you marry me? And now he's like, she's like obsessed with her because she's psycho just like him, but it doesn't really show that. And it just goes to their dynamic where he's absolutely in love with her, but he's very serious. She thinks he's joking. So she wants to seek revenge.

Jacci: 01:19:22

So they she just says, like, we're not married or we're not getting married in a relationship, but I'll give you one year. I'll just stick around you for one year. And it just goes through, like, him being super sneaky. He's sleeping with a bunch of chicks behind her back and doing all these, like, sleazy things. She knows he's doing it.

Jacci: 01:19:39

She puts GPS trackers on him just like he puts GPS trackers, like, in her phone and knows everything she does. He's a psychopath. And then she calls him out for it. She's like, hey. I saw what you did.

Jacci: 01:19:50

If you just wanna know where I'm going, you can ask. Also and then she'll go behind his back and, like, show up when he's doing meetings and stuff, and she'll, like, pop up and, like, help him out. He's like, what are you doing here? And she's like, you don't think I know what you've been doing this entire time? This is all the things I've been doing.

Jacci: 01:20:05

And then he just falls more in love with her because he's like, you hate me.

Mac: 01:20:10

I see. It's just

Jacci: 01:20:11

that yeah. Yeah. It's it's funny. I like it a lot. Where it gets kinda mature is they, like, not a lot of anime will say fuck a lot, and they don't swear a lot.

Jacci: 01:20:22

This one does. Yeah. There's, like, gang smoking, the tattoos. There is a scene where he's, like even in the opening, if you watch the opening song, there's a scene in it where he's, like, literally having sex with a girl. Yukio doesn't show anything, but

Mac: 01:20:39

it's,

Jacci: 01:20:40

like, alludes to it. And even, like, if you look at, like, the covers of the manga, it's very, like, possessive. It's all about this dude who's extremely possessive over her, but she doesn't just let him do whatever he wants. And she also, like, puts him in his place a lot. So I really like it.

Jacci: 01:20:56

It's fun. I am also a huge sucker for I like the slice of life cutesy romantic animes, but I also like the one where the dynamic is, like, very, like, back and forth a lot. And, this one is definitely one of those ones where, like, she's just, like, knows what she wants, and she's like, I'm not getting married to you. I'm just using you. I hope you know that.

Jacci: 01:21:21

And he's like, that's okay.

Mac: 01:21:23

I'm cool.

Jacci: 01:21:24

And usually, he's the one that's using other women. So it's just like That's

EJ: 01:21:28

why he likes it. Yeah. It's like

Jacci: 01:21:30

Yeah. But it came out in 2024. There's 12 episodes. So if you would just wanna quickly get through it, it is gonna get a second season. I can't freaking wait until it comes out.

Jacci: 01:21:39

Manga came out 2017. The animation studio, Studio Dean, so that's the same studio that did even when you look at the anime, you can tell, like, the style looks a little old, but just updated with HD quality, if you will. And that's because it's done like Ran Wahaf or Roni Kenshin, old Roni Kenshin, fruits baskets, the 02/2001 version, and it did do some, like, most recent animes like Konosuba and the seven deadly sins dragon judgment movie. But like I said, it's a sign in. And, the opening I will say this is the only band I'll I'll say you should look at.

Mac: 01:22:13

Oral Cigarettes.

Jacci: 01:22:14

Band name is the Oral Cigarettes. Yep.

Mac: 01:22:17

Oh, they had a couple of songs that were, like, close to making my my favorite. Oh my gosh.

EJ: 01:22:22

Oh, yeah.

Jacci: 01:22:23

Really, really great band. I, like, listened to that opening. I was like, oh, man. I was like, I really like this band. And then I started listening to the rest of their songs.

Jacci: 01:22:30

I was like, okay. I really like this. Yep. The band overall. So and I love their band name.

Jacci: 01:22:35

Like Yep. Whoever would think of calling something themselves a oral cigarettes is just sick. But, yeah, just, really the opening and closing is is really great. And then, they've had, like I think it was, like, 2.8 total million copies, and the manga's won a lot of awards. Nothing for the anime yet.

Jacci: 01:22:55

I think it's still too

EJ: 01:22:56

Too young.

Jacci: 01:22:57

New. And it sometimes, I think sign ins, it's a lot of people are turned off by it, and not a lot of people have access to mature on Crunchyroll, especially if, like, parental controls Mhmm. Are you have to actually go in and let yourself see, like, mature, like, so it can come through your line. Otherwise, it's just gonna show up to,

EJ: 01:23:16

What was the the vengeance you're talking about? What what's she trying to get vengeance for? It's like her family you said they're both Yakuza families. Right?

Jacci: 01:23:24

Yeah. So her revenge is I think it's against her grandfather for putting her in that position. She didn't realize what she was doing, so she was just getting revenge on the fact that he was even doing that. So, hold on. Let me see.

Jacci: 01:23:36

Like, I can't really know if she knows about. Sorry. No. That's not you. Let me sorry.

Jacci: 01:23:50

I'm looking it up right now. Yeah. Oh, that's what it is. Her revenge is to manipulate and win over Kirishima's heart only to break it by leaving him after a year of engagement. That's her revenge.

Jacci: 01:24:04

So she's using her arranged marriage as a way to exact revenge for past humiliation he inflicted on her, playing on his feelings to hurt him deeply once she decides to leave, and he thinks that's the coolest thing in the world. So he just falls in love with her even more. It's pretty I I really like it. It's, it's it's cool. I've never seen it.

Jacci: 01:24:26

Like I've never seen an anime like this before where it's more of a mature dynamic. And it doesn't it's not you don't you don't see anything, like, crazy. Yeah. That's what it is. It it says with encouragement from her grandfather, she resolves a secret bench using Kirishima using her connections.

Jacci: 01:24:43

She sells her own kidney and confronts Kirishima with the proceeds, which then led to him, like, falling in love with her.

EJ: 01:24:50

Who doesn't fall in love with a girl and sell her kidney for you?

Mac: 01:24:53

Right. So you told me not to do it. I did it. Yeah.

Jacci: 01:24:56

Yeah. She's like, yeah.

Mac: 01:24:58

I just

Jacci: 01:24:58

showed you that I could do that. I literally don't get enough

Mac: 01:25:00

love to

Jacci: 01:25:00

get out of my life. Yeah. I I it's fun. I like it a lot. Totally if that's something you wanna look at and look into and it's more of adult, they're still in high school, which I get, like but they're, like, 17, 18 years old.

Jacci: 01:25:15

So it's still, I think, like a young adult.

Mac: 01:25:18

Yeah.

Jacci: 01:25:18

We'll still find that entertaining. Yeah. I I think that was one of my this year. I liked all of them. I love Freerind, but definitely, like, really love Jakuza fiance.

Jacci: 01:25:30

Mhmm.

EJ: 01:25:31

Yeah. I think it's all under list. I was I was putting together a list of stuff to watch, and I think that's on there.

Mac: 01:25:35

So I'll definitely check it out. %. My final one, is more of the the standard shown, and it's with story of wand and sword. And, came out gonna bring that one. I had to.

Mac: 01:25:49

I had to. This so, the studio, I'll just get into it. It's, Actus, and it's under a Bandai Namco picture. So Actus, outside of this, I didn't know they they kinda dabbled in, I think some of where they at, works, you know, Transformers, Interjohn, if you go further back, Classroom for Heroes in '20, '23, which I liked. It did get a lot of, you know, praise and whatnot, but, pretty good studio.

Mac: 01:26:23

Then, of course, it's underneath the parent company of Bandai Namco, Pictures, which is hit or miss because, there's a couple of other Bandai Namco, you know, IPs that are out there like Blue Lock that is just, I don't know if you've been following Blue Lock at all. It was I've

Jacci: 01:26:42

been reading, like, reviews and some Reddit stuff, but I've been seeing some lately, I've been seeing some mixed new reviews about it. Yeah.

Mac: 01:26:50

It's it's not in a good spot now. Because what happened with that one is it's supposed to be the the next big sports anime kind of replacing haiku.

Jacci: 01:26:58

And it was.

Mac: 01:26:59

And it was really great. And then season two or the next season came out. I don't know what the animation is, but it's more like a PowerPoint. Right? So it's a lot of still pictures with, like, effects.

Mac: 01:27:10

So, like, the dude will be talking and yelling about to kick the ball. He's like, oh, this is my special thing. Like, I found my flow and my zone, and he's about to kick. And then it's just sitting there with, like, effects going on. Then it'll turn to another still of him, like, kicking, and you'll see the ball with a line saying that he curved it.

Mac: 01:27:28

And people are like, yo, what the fuck is going on here? Right? I didn't know if

Jacci: 01:27:31

he was lazy. Because lazy on the animation stuff. Animation

Mac: 01:27:34

stuff. That that was going on was, you know, their team against the Japan under twenty team to figure out the future of soccer in Japan, and it's just the best athletes are playing. And you're just like, this is when you chose to get away from the previous animation company. So, word on the street is that they have let that animation company. Now it's under Bandai Namco Pictures.

Mac: 01:27:56

I don't know the actual studio that was doing it, but they let that one go. So I'm thinking when they come back, it'll be a new animation studio doing it. And there's a change.org thing. Like, everybody's like, you photoble, please pick this up and do something with it. And, you know Yeah.

Mac: 01:28:12

If they did it, I'd I'd be I'd be 10 toes down for it. But that's neither here nor there. Let's talk about Westoria. So right off the bat, it's, like I said, 12 episodes. You know?

Mac: 01:28:23

Get in there. Watch it over the weekend. If you got a long weekend, knock it out. It's a good time.

Jacci: 01:28:29

Four hours. It's only four hours.

Mac: 01:28:30

Just I'm telling you. Get it get it done. And and you will not be disappointed episode one. You see the animation. You're just like, is Mappa fucking around with this?

Mac: 01:28:38

You know, like, you're looking and you go and look at Ban Kai? This is you? So, it it's if you watch Marshall or any, you know, any of things like that, Black Clovers, a dude in a world of magic, magic rules everything, however good you are at magic, that's that raises your your status in life. The main character, Will, he does not do magic. Right?

Mac: 01:29:05

He's not good at it, but he's super smart. He researches monsters. He's he he does everything well but the actual casting of spells and doing magic. He has no wand. What he does have is a sword.

Mac: 01:29:17

The crazy thing is he's trying to be reunited with his best friend who, I believe her name is Elfaria, who was the youngest, what is it? Magna Vonder, that is like the peak of magicians in their in their time. So once you reach that level, they take you up to the fucking tower, and you just look upon the world and be like, you know, that's it. Right? So he's trying to get up there.

Jacci: 01:29:42

Yeah.

Mac: 01:29:43

But his obviously, the the track to get up there with you not being able to do magic is difficult. So the way you level up in the school, you gotta get points by doing magic exams and stuff, or you just bring back, artifacts from monsters. You go down to the dungeon, you kill monsters, and you bring them up. So that's what he's been doing at night is going down, destroying the monsters, studying them, learning how to defeat them and stuff. He has this uncanny ability, almost like, MASH is just you just you're just he's just really good at the physical aspect of fighting of melee.

Mac: 01:30:19

But as the season progresses, he starts awakening certain abilities, not quite magic, but certain abilities, and, like, the I can't stress how good the show is. You know? Of course, you he has, you know, the high school bullies, the people that are very uppity, you know, the the the top three of the school. They're just like, we're the shit. You know?

Mac: 01:30:44

You're you're beneath us. You gotta do what we tell you to do. All of these things, but, they have a whole tournament. I think a lot of the things was he was raised, what is it? The dwarves.

Mac: 01:30:56

He's very close to them. So the dwarves and the magicians Yeah. The magicians look at the dwarves as lesser than. Right? So, him and him and one of the the top students, they have a beef because dude shows up to the dwarfs restaurant, talks bad on him, you know, does all this stuff.

Mac: 01:31:13

Will's just like, yo. We'll settle this at the tournament. So it became a whole thing. I will say the the ending of that particular arc where he was fighting in that on the I watched that scene over and over, like, at least five times in a row. I'm just like, bro, if anything doesn't get you hyped, this this this should do it.

Mac: 01:31:35

But very, oh my god, it's so good. And the season ends again on a very high note as well. You you can't help but root for the dude. To me, I'm like, this is what Asta should this is what Asta should have been, is what Will is. I look at Asta, like, him awakening and getting his powers with the sword and stuff.

Mac: 01:31:54

I'm like, Will is a way better tone down. Like, I appreciate every I think that's why I gravitate to this this this anime. It's like

Jacci: 01:32:05

This is what it should've

Mac: 01:32:06

This is what Black Clover should've been.

Jacci: 01:32:08

Anime should've been like. Gosh. Darn it.

Mac: 01:32:13

A %. You know, now that I say it out loud, I'm like I'm describing well. I'm like, this, this, you know, he has no power. He's trying to get here. Just like Asha, I'm trying to be the best the wizard king.

Mac: 01:32:23

You know? Like, you don't know magic. You're not gonna get there. Like, Will's like, I'm a go to this towers. Like, bro, the best of the best go up there.

Mac: 01:32:31

You can't even cast a spell. Get out of here. Yeah.

Jacci: 01:32:33

But Unless it costs, like Yeah. Whatever those things are.

Mac: 01:32:38

Yeah. Like like, the amount of yeah. Or not XP, but points you need to get in order to level up there. Like, he he can't get there. But please check this out.

Mac: 01:32:48

It it's totally dope. Once the last once the once the first season ended, like, it was automatically like, the studio is just like season two has been announced. You know? So be on the lookout for that. When that's coming out, I don't know.

Mac: 01:32:59

But in the meantime, like you said, a lot of the anime we've been suggesting is pretty, like, you know, a a quick, you know, four hour. You could probably knock it out over a weekend. If you got time throughout the week, just watch a couple episodes. You can get these these knocked out and be spun up for the, the next one. But, the the manga, you know, it it premiered, 12/09/2020, and that that's always crazy to me.

Mac: 01:33:28

It's like so Japan has been on this stuff for, like, years, And then it comes over here. I'm just like, oh, what's this new thing? And you go look and it's, we've been on this stuff. You know? Like Yeah.

Mac: 01:33:38

There's 11 volumes of this stuff. And I'm just like, what? Yeah.

EJ: 01:33:41

You gotta hope

Mac: 01:33:41

that they don't ever get

EJ: 01:33:42

tired of it before we get the next stuff because then we don't get it.

Mac: 01:33:45

Well, I mean, in in that aspect, you look at things like Demon Slayer. Right? Like, the manga's done, which I think is good because now you don't have to do this thing with, like, like, Naruto and all that while it was still going where you're just like, well, let's just do filler. You know? And then Yeah.

Mac: 01:34:01

Like, Black Clover was going on, and all of a sudden, they're fighting something. And then it's just like, why are you guys on a game show? What the hell is going on? So, you know, you just finish the manga. Like, if it's a short manga run like Demon Slayer, you know, cool.

Mac: 01:34:14

And then now every episode is is is legit, which, you know, people complain about, the previous season that just wrapped up. Like, oh, it's so dry and boring. Like, if you read the manga, you know, the training arc has to go through. Like, they're gonna give you what's in the manga.

EJ: 01:34:27

Yeah. I didn't think it was boring at all. I thought it was excellent.

Mac: 01:34:30

No. It's just people that were just like They wanna try. Needed? This could have probably just been a couple episodes. Like, no.

Mac: 01:34:37

Because, like, just let them cook because what they're setting you up for.

EJ: 01:34:41

Well, and I mean, if you I'm not I'm not a fan of the training montage.

Mac: 01:34:47

Right.

EJ: 01:34:48

That goes

Jacci: 01:34:48

Oh, see. I actually I like them.

EJ: 01:34:53

Well, I like the training. I like it when they go in-depth because you saw in the very beginning, Tanjiro training on the mountain. Okay?

Mac: 01:34:59

Yep.

EJ: 01:35:00

And and the struggles that he had to go through just to try to get a chance to be what he is. Right. Now you see the whole fruition. Now new recruits are following him, watching him, and he's inspiring them. And it just that trick the devil character on the show with the training, it it it builds on 10 altogether.

EJ: 01:35:20

Yeah.

Mac: 01:35:21

So

EJ: 01:35:21

it's not like, you know, you're just watching him do, like, push ups and chop a tree down. You actually get to see, oh, that's how he overcame that. So you get to see that he's, you know, the real build of him, not just a alright. Rocky's gonna run up the stairs. Like, come on, man.

EJ: 01:35:38

Montages are cool. Right. If you gotta cut time. But if you got character, it's so character centric. Like Demon Slayer is very character centric.

EJ: 01:35:46

And you see him rise to Hashira with these these other you're like, wow, he did come all this way, you know? So it I thought that that season was so important because it built that up to where he has earned the respect not only through his missions, but through his dedication and his support of other recruits. The other Hashira watch him and they're like, he's better at inspiring these guys than I am.

Mac: 01:36:11

Yeah. You know what

EJ: 01:36:12

I mean? So it shows he's excelled in other ways. Yeah. He may not be as powerful as some of them, but in other ways, his his part has made him or his drive and his purity has made him such a great, you know, addition to their their overall team. I enjoyed to see I I can understand though people come to shown in a lot for action like you're saying before turn off my brain.

EJ: 01:36:35

I just wanna watch a bad ass action, but that I mean you you build on the characters enough and it I mean you can have a whole thing where there's no no no fighting at all and it's it's intense.

Mac: 01:36:46

Yeah. It's

EJ: 01:36:47

an intense episode. You know so I don't know that's just my take you know. I'm I'm big on the character and story To me, if that if that's really good, it could carry the rest. You know?

Mac: 01:36:58

Well, it's I think the biggest thing with that is each of these seasons, you're learning the backstory of the Hashiras. Right? And we've known we've we've learned all the way up, and everybody's looking at the stone, Hashera, wanting to know how he got where he's at, why Oh, dear. That was my opinion. Story.

Mac: 01:37:14

I'm like, bro. Like, he's he's been through it. So he's so peaceful. He's the strongest of them all. He's so peaceful.

Mac: 01:37:21

Doesn't really do anything. But if if you haven't seen it, this I'm not gonna try and spoil too much, but when it gets to the end and moves on shows up, right, and my man goes all out, and you see him actually unleashed because, like, in his backstory, you see his temper, and he he's a human that actually kills a demon as a human. That that was his rage because this demon was killing the kids.

EJ: 01:37:49

Yeah.

Mac: 01:37:49

So as a Hashira, he's trying to to, I guess, be a passive it's weird. Be a pacifist.

EJ: 01:37:56

Trying to contain it. Right.

Mac: 01:37:58

But when Buzan shows up knowing that his master, his leader, the person he's been following, has been killed, this dude shows up, and he just goes fucking all out. And

Jacci: 01:38:11

Oh, sick.

Mac: 01:38:12

Jesus. Like, go like, if any like, if you haven't followed or anything, if you're just like, I'm not into anime, I'm I'm a put a time stamp. Just go to this thing and watch this and then tell me you're not a fan of this show. You know what I'm saying?

EJ: 01:38:26

That was worth the whole season.

Mac: 01:38:28

That's what I'm saying. I was saying. When you photo ball was like, we're gonna make this a forty minute episode. Yeah. And and the the the production, like, everybody's like, it's been kinda dry.

Mac: 01:38:38

Like, let them cook. They know what they're doing. And the ending, and they're just like, and three movies are coming out. You don't think these movies are about to just blow up the box office? Just just ridiculous.

Mac: 01:38:50

You know? So, again, it's one of those, it's, I I I just love everything. And, again, that was one I was trying to debate, but I'm like, I'm a just talk about anime that that that premiered this year. Because, obviously, you like we said, solo leveling, we could talk about that. You know?

Mac: 01:39:09

Demon Slayer, my hero, we could just easily talk about well established animes, new seasons. But

Jacci: 01:39:14

We've also, like, talked about those a lot already. Yeah.

EJ: 01:39:16

We talked about Dan Dan. We talked about you know we we've talked about. So it's like this was a cool opportunity to bring some up that are you know have the potential to seriously take off, but they're still in a early stage. So it's a good chance to get in there, get some, you know, visuals, get some get some experience under there and know what's coming.

Mac: 01:39:36

%. Cool. Cool. Alright. You guys got anything else you guys wanna talk, or are you just saving it for the next episode?

Mac: 01:39:46

Things you're looking forward to in 2025 or things that you're watching now, winter season of 2025.

Jacci: 01:39:55

You can go first.

EJ: 01:39:57

Yeah. I don't have anything that I'm still trying to catch up with some of your guys' recommendations. So I'm gonna be back catching up with some of these shows we just talked about.

Mac: 01:40:06

Without giving away too much, I will just say that the go to one, obviously, if you have Netflix, please go check out, Sacramento Days. Story is amazing. You're talking about the world's greatest hit man, almost like John Wick type stuff. Meets a girl, and she's just like, bro, if you do this, serial killer stuff or assassin stuff, we're done. So he ends up, like, just running a little convenient shop, gaining some weight, and all of this stuff, almost to where you can't even recognize him anymore.

Mac: 01:40:34

But things happen, and it's almost like I said, John Wick's like, oh, are you back? Are you doing it? I think I'm back in. But the comedy is there. The action is there.

Mac: 01:40:46

It it it's it's a good watch. And, like, it's on Netflix, so you're not having to wait week to week to see episodes. Just go go check it out. And that that's my that's my my one before I don't wanna get into too much, and take away from the next episode. But second model days is is is a good watch.

EJ: 01:41:02

It's it's it's pretty it's pretty good. I like it.

Jacci: 01:41:05

Find that, like, I haven't started watching them yet, but they're on my radar to start watching is, honey lemon soda, looks really cute, and, Zenshu. And then the last one, this one was looks like it's a romance, but it's called, anyway, I'm falling in love with you. So those are my three. And it looks like so winter twenty twenty five anime, the what I've seen, it looks like it's a lot of isekai, and looks like they're starting to pump out some romance again. There's it's been a long time since I've seen a lot of romance come in.

Jacci: 01:41:43

The past few years, I've been seeing a lot more action, comedy, stuff like that. And now it looks like they're going they're they're doing, like, a lot of, like, slice of life Broadening. Romance.

Mac: 01:42:01

Category.

Jacci: 01:42:02

High school days, kinda stuff like that.

EJ: 01:42:05

I think it's like you guys both mentioned that now that anime is being seen as more than just you know a very niche group. They're seeing Oh there is people out there interested a lot more. We're gonna let some more out there, you know like because it was probably testing the waters and they see like, oh, they're eating up the the shown in the all the action. But I think that there's a market and then when they put something out like Yakuza, fiance and people pick it up, they're like, oh, okay. If you guys like that, we got a lot of that.

EJ: 01:42:33

You know? And then I've noticed I mean, this is just I know that we're picking out stuff to look forward to, but I've also noticed a trend with a lot of the older properties being remade or brought back, ones that were pretty significant. So I'm always looking at the horizon to see if they bring back some of the ones I've always loved because I know Rahmahath has been, highly praised on its rebirth on Netflix.

Mac: 01:42:55

Uh-huh.

EJ: 01:42:56

That's a really old school. I mean, you're talking eighties to, like, you know, anime that they brought back. And that's probably because, I mean, it will be new to a lot of people, but, I mean, bringing back old school Gundam like stuff like they did, talking about some of these these overlooked enemies. I think there was at least two on the list that I saw that were like from back from February or nineteen nineties and or 02/2006.

Mac: 01:43:22

Yeah,

EJ: 01:43:22

and they're they they remade them and they're re releasing them, you know and it and it's brand new to people so getting a second life into some of these stories might be good to you know we might get to see a lot of these other categories like Jackie said. We might get to see some old properties that maybe we're nostalgic to us as children get some you know breath of life into it and then you know we would see it again. You know

Jacci: 01:43:44

Yep. There's this other one that I started watching. I watched episode one of, but I didn't finish it. And I wanna go back. I it's called the Isekai adventure nobody asked for.

Jacci: 01:43:53

The main character is, he, like, dies. He shows up, and he's like, die. I really don't wanna be the hero. I just wanna die. And then she's like, no.

Jacci: 01:44:02

We're gonna you're gonna be the hero. He's like, no. No. I, like, literally just wanna die. And she's like, no.

Jacci: 01:44:07

You're not gonna die. So then she makes him go out, and I think he has, like, one hit point. Like, he rolls, like, really bad dice. But what he doesn't know and it's not until, like, this monster shows up and is, like, wrapping its, like, whatever. It's got, like, a branch around his neck, and he's like, oh, yes, Sweet death.

Jacci: 01:44:27

I finally can die. But then he ends up poisoning it, and he finds out he has this, like, ability that, like, if anything touches him, like, he can kill them immediately. And he's like so he can't die. And he's, like, really upset that he can't die. And he just talks about, like, I just wanna kill myself.

Jacci: 01:44:44

It's, like, just it's really funny. I like the first episode. It's a little harem. I think some Isekais most Isekais are like that, though. You're gonna have a little bit of the harem, but, I only watched the first episode.

Jacci: 01:44:57

My goal is to, like, actually finish that this year because I wanna see if it's actually good, only because god bless you.

Mac: 01:45:03

Thank you.

Jacci: 01:45:03

I thought that was interesting. That came out in 2024. So, that one I wanna figure out if it's actually good or not. It looks like it had good reviews. So

Mac: 01:45:11

Well, I'm looking at the title. Like, I I don't know what happened, but they just fell in love with these super long, super specific titles and stuff.

EJ: 01:45:21

Yeah. They're like There's love word long.

Mac: 01:45:23

There's one here. Where is it at? The 100 girlfriends who really, really, really, really, really love you. And then there's one I

EJ: 01:45:30

saw that.

Jacci: 01:45:31

I saw that.

Mac: 01:45:32

Where's the other one I saw where I'm just like, oh, I may be a guild receptionist, but I'll solo any boss to clock out on time. Like, that's the name of the anime.

EJ: 01:45:40

I was reincarnated as a seventh prince so I can take my time perfecting my magical ability.

Mac: 01:45:46

I left it.

EJ: 01:45:47

It's so

Mac: 01:45:48

I left my a rank.

Jacci: 01:45:49

Shit that I say at work before I, like, go on lunch.

Mac: 01:45:53

Yeah. I left my a rank party to help my former students reach the dungeon depths. Like,

Jacci: 01:45:59

I saw that one.

Mac: 01:45:59

Like nobody could just be like, let's come up with a good name for this. Like, oh, I got it. Yeah. What's this anime about? This well, that's the title.

Mac: 01:46:06

Let it roll it. It's the way Word

Jacci: 01:46:10

create the title.

EJ: 01:46:11

It's the way Word names all your files when you type if you don't put a title at the top, it just takes the first sentence of the Oh, yeah.

Mac: 01:46:17

Which you notice, like, there's Where's that document I had? Oh, the first sentence. But yeah. 2025 is still, not even including, you know, continuations, new seasons.

Jacci: 01:46:27

Oh, yeah. The house doesn't have so so many continuations through this year. It's it's gonna be fire.

Mac: 01:46:32

One you should be watching is solo leveling season two because that shit is just Yeah. That that's next level stuff right there. But a lot of stuff on the way. We don't wanna keep you guys too long. We're going on two hours.

Mac: 01:46:44

You guys got anything, to to to say to the masses?

Jacci: 01:46:50

No. I said everything I wanted to say today.

Mac: 01:46:53

Okay. So, please tap in. We'll be more active on the social media. Like I said, we've all had to take a break and stuff. Everything's going on.

Mac: 01:47:01

We'll be more active pushing some, anime news to you guys, things that are coming out of pipe, rumors, things along those lines. So just stay in touch. And, with that being said, hopefully, we will see you guys in two weeks. If not, we'll let you know what's going on so you know when to expect us. But until then, you guys be safe.

Mac: 01:47:19

Enjoy some anime, hentai if that's your thing. You know, we don't judge over here. You know? Yeah. Watch what you watch.

EJ: 01:47:26

Different levels.

Jacci: 01:47:27

Oh, judgment.

Mac: 01:47:28

Enjoy what you enjoy. Until next time. Peace.

Jacci: 01:47:32

Bye, Nora.

Mac: 01:47:34

Oh, that's a nice one. I like that.