Episode 80: Are We Gonna Carry That Weight?

This title could be a reference to a lot of things in this episode? Why did we abruptly not record for almost a month? What was the plot of Maboroshi, Mari Okada's new film on Netflix about? What did we think of the latest risky live action adaptation that was of a beloved story that was Netflix Avatar the Last Airbender? Also I thought this was an anime podcast with a focus on seasonal titles, where did that content go? Fortunately for you dear listener we have all the answers to those questions as well as maybe a few more, so thank you for your patience and now back to your regularly scheduled weirdness from us two nerds on the internet.  

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As stated previously this season is mostly horny nonsense. Ok Maybe not mostly, but certainly more than average, along that there are actually quite a few solid titles out now and we've conveniently ranked them all according to our preference for you to enjoy. If you're just tuning in we explain how it works in the beginning, but this is kind of our thing. We've got a lot of run on one sentence summaries and a rough tier system for each new title and returning show this season, it's all here and as usual it's mostly our opinion but if you're looking for something to watch this season or just like to hear us list things then either way we've got you covered. Rankings will be posted in instagram if you want to follow along at home!

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We've finally gotten to the last of first impressions for this winter season and there are a few gems left to cover as well as maybe some other titles that didn't sparkle quite as much for us. This episode has 2 new villainess titles along with several fantasy shows of varying quality, and also Bucchigiri?! which deserves its own strange shoutout. This season overall fells promising with plenty of middle of the pack titles and now we've touched on all of them so use the information we've given you wisely, and formulate your watchlist accordingly. 

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This week is all more first impressions! It's a new season and that means we're busy watching everything that comes out and boy let us tell you, there are some wild shows this season. Winter 2024 is coming in thirsty and it might be just what you need if you're looking for something dumb to get you through the cold. We've got a pretty good mix of titles this episode, we got a lot of the fantasy stuff out of the way last week, but there's still a bit more on offer along with some passable romance and some real degenerate stuff too. So if you're curious where to start this episode has some titles to look out for, both in the good and not so good sense. 

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But for real though we want to know. This is the first episode of a new season, Winter 2024 is here and you know that means it's time for first impressions. We've already started digging in to the new season this week and have found it to be pretty fantasy heavy with above average horniness levels, in spite of all that we seem to be enjoying this new content. Maybe we've finally lost it, but the new year has us filled with hope and there's plenty worth watching already so if you want a taste of the earliest shows to premier this year then this episode is a good place to start. Along with that we've got our first buy it or deny it of the new season along with the results from last season over in our nailed it segment. Here's to another year full of crazy anime to watch. 

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For Real though this season was stacked especially at the top and we had a tough time even just narrowing down nominees. If you've never listened to one of our awards shows before, We start with the top 5 new and returning shows before moving into the more recognizable categories and ending on some of the ones we made up ourselves. There's been something for everyone this season and we're here to celebrate it, so let us know what your favorites were. Also on a less fun note, we've linked to some Japan earthquake relief funds on this episode, if you didn't see a New Year's earthquake hit Ishikawa and did some pretty serious damage so we're spreading awareness how we can and if you're in a place to offer some support here's one way to do so.   

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The holidays are here or come and gone depending on what you celebrate, and while that always tends to mess with our upload schedule a little bit we've got a full episode for you just a little later than usual. This week we're talking about some of the biggest finale episodes to drop right after Christmas, Jujutsu Kaisen and Spy Family just to name a few. After that we've got our first peek into the titles of the new season before finally finishing out our advent watchalong, only a few days later than we maybe should be, of Spice and Wolf. We've got our thoughts on the exciting conclusion as well as lots of hype for the upcoming new season!

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Supposedly the last Hayao Miyazaki film has been released in theaters worldwide and naturally we had to see it. It's still in theaters for a few days after this episode releases if you'd like to see it for yourself, but if you'd like our thoughts before you make up your mind then we're here for you. We're keeping it fairly spoiler free but still talking about visuals, themes, story, and how it compares to other Miyazaki films so if you need a little bit more info before making up your mind then this episode is for you. We also have episodes 11-17 of our Spice and Wolf advent calendar watchalong, some pretty major stuff goes down in these episodes and we've officially crossed into season 2 territory so if you're keeping up let us know what  you think. 

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This episode has some heavier topics toward the middle, so fair warning y'all. We start off light enough with some confirmation of season two of both Dangers in My Heart as well as the much anticipated Oshi No Ko but worth looking forward to, but we've got some really baseless speculation about how the second season could play out. From there we get into what the hell is going on with MAPPA and how they've been treating their animators, it's a topic we've cover before but an important one all the same. It's an ongoing conversation that bares repeating, but JuJutsu Kaisen season two seems to have pushed the pressure to a new limit. Finally we've got our Spice and Wolf advent calendar to get to and hopefully round things out on a lighter note.  

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The Frieren pun is really the gift that keeps on giving, but seriously we've got a lot of ground to cover this episose and some of it does involve our favorite sad elf girl. Scott Pilgrim Takes Off and Pluto both dropped on Netflix recently and are both really solid and very different titles. We've got our thoughts on them both before revisiting Frieren and discussing exactly what makes it so worth the hype. Lastly we've officially started our Spice and Wolf advent calendar, so if you plan to watch along now is the time to start, you still have time to catch up on what is sure to be a long overdue rewatch of a classic.  

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