Key Frames

Episode 153 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Sunday rolled around and Ben was nowhere to be found, though it was almost time to record the episode on the end of the last season and beginning of the next. Andy messaged him, saying, "Don't you want to talk about Akane-banashi, the hot new anime about rakugo?" But Ben just said, "Sorry, I've got a cast," which was a strange thing to say, because he and Andy are on the same podcast. Duncan tried next, asking Ben, "Don't you want to hear my thoughts on Shiboyugi, an underrated psychological thriller?" But Ben just said, "Sorry, I've got a cast." A very, very strange thing to say! Jeff made a final attempt, drawing on their shared love of intellectually obscure and intricate shows. "Have you heard about Even a Replica Can Fall in Love? I think I'm going to focus on it in our discussion." And Ben said, "That sounds really interesting! I might pick it up later on, but right now I've got a cast." Strange, strange, strange... Anyway, the recording came and went without Ben in attendance, so his three cohosts resolved to check in on him afterward. "Why weren't you there, Ben? You knew we had a cast, you said so yourself. Didn't you want to dump all over Trigun Stargaze, at the very least?" And Ben said, "I wish I could have, but I fell down the stairs Saturday night and I've been in traction ever since. I told you all, I've got a cast!" Thank you for your continued appreciation. The post 153 - Akane Bang-I-Shoot first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 142 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Watching Medalist this season and pondering the bluntness of its title made me realize that we don't give out enough recognition and awards for the accomplishments that make up our day-to-day life. Ben finally finished Mobile Suit Gundam: 08th MS Team? Bronze medal. Duncan found something philosophically moving in Orb: On the Movements of the Earth? Silver medal. Andy only saw the Hypnosis Mic -Division Rap Battle- movie in theaters once, instead of four times like his wife? Gold medal. Jon completes a hat trick of podcast appearances and keeping up with Fire Force? Platinum medal. Are those a thing? Video games taught me that platinum medals are a thing. Anyway, give the episode a listen and you can be a winner, too! We'll mail you a ribbon or something. The post 142 - The Poisoned Chalice first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 140 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. One, two, three, go! Today the Key Frames gang is headbanging to all the anime out there about bands, inspired by the example of Girls Band Cry and BanG Dream! It's MyGo!!!!! among many, many other shows. Will they talk about how K-On! walked so that Bocchi the Rock could run? Will Andy and Jon hold the line against Duncan's insistence that BanG Dream! Ave Mujica deserves to exist? Will Ben pass away on air from his third bout of illness in barely two months? The only way to know is to be truly punk and to listen to our scrappy, messy takes! The post 140 - Gremlinergy first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 36 of Key Frames: Inbetweens, a mini-podcast about anime. Koyomi Araragi must just be the most insufferable person to have at your college, right? Like, you're sitting in Philosophy 101, going over different perspectives on theory of mind, and here's this dude who looks like he hasn't gotten a haircut in years wasting the professor's time with a rambling story about the time he became a vampire, a supernatural being living eternally in the moment, and how his perception of reality was forever and fundamentally altered by the experience. "Oh well," you think as you head to math next, "Philosophy courses are always going to have at least one douchebag who won't stop talking..." and then he's waiting for you there as well, already droning on about how his cryptography skills were crucial in defeating another vampire, apparently not even the one who bit him in the first place! How many vampires has this weirdo met in his eighteen years of life, exactly? All you can do is make a mental note of who seems to be part of his social circle (the mean-looking girl with the stationery fetish and the robotlike girl who fawns over him despite them just having met are who spring to mind) and hope that you'll be able to avoid all of them over the next four years. How hard could it be? It's not like he's the magnet for trouble he's desperate to make himself out to be. Anyway, Ben and Jeff resume their discussion of Nisio Isin's work in adaptation, after much delay, with Monogatari Series: Off & Monster Season. Enjoy! The post Inbetween 36 - The Biggest Baby (Monogatari Series: Off & Monster Season) first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 35 of Key Frames: Inbetweens, a mini-podcast about anime. Have you felt like something strange and terrible has been hanging over your head for four years, maybe more? Does today seem like it could be the moment when it all comes crashing down? Does it seem at the same time like it could stay up there forever, a sword of Damocles under which you'll be forced to live your life just out of the universal indignity of being born? Will today be the day you make a change, something proactive for once, and avert the disaster that you can't help but see in your future? Will you listen to us talk at last about the works of Inio Asano, the brains behind the recent movie duology and ONA series Dead Dead Demon's DeDeDeDe Destruction? It's not likely to help with all of the above, but it might make you feel like someone else gets it. The post Inbetween 35 - Sonic Screwdriver Vigilante first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 34 of Key Frames: Inbetweens, a mini-podcast about anime. What do you do when your podcast spotlights something that no one particularly liked? Well, maybe you should listen to this episode and find out! In honor of a second season being announced, after an interval of a decade and a half, Ben, Andy, and Duncan all watched Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, an anime that aspires to the transgressive heights of turn-of-the-millennium Western cartoons by the likes of Genndy Tartakovsky and Craig McCracken. Is it a successful pastiche of all things American? Well, things are said, some of them even nice. To tell you more would be against the rrrrrules! The post Inbetween 34 - What's Cool About America? (Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt) first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 135 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Baki Hanma did not even need to look up from the glass he was cleaning to know that it was Yujiro, his father and the strongest bartender on earth, who pushed aside the door that separated his eight-seat bar from the wind-scoured streets outside. "Good bars have a smell," the hulking figure murmured as he took a seat. "You can search the world over and still not come across a smell like this. Give me something to warm me up." Baki froze for a moment at the request, but soon a glass sat full in front of his latest patron. "Kentucky bourbon. You suppose is sufficient?" Yujiro made it barely sound like a question. "A man needs more than fire for warmth. Maybe you're still just a barback after all..." "Old man, this is George T. Stagg. Famously strong, yet rich and complex, it warms body and soul." With a chuckle, his father raised the drink to cruel and menacing lips. "Nice" was all he said then, but with that single word, Baki the Tippler had won. The post 135 - It Hits Different (Pejorative) first appeared on Key Frames.