Podcast: Download (Duration: 2:07:46 — 58.6MB)
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We’re picking another one from the Patreon request tier this time around, as Daryl reviews the 2009 series Basquash!, which despite being Satelight’s highly anticipated follow-up to Macross Frontier was not released in the US until a full decade later. LET’S SPECULATE WHY.
Introduction (0:00 – 41:35)
Now that the current season of anime is a month or so in, we weigh in on the surprising number of titles we’ve been keeping up with. But we’re also watching older titles, and–get this–REWATCHING things that we last reviewed 10-15 years ago. Do our reviews and assessments still hold up? What’s changed between now and then? We also talk about that Hollywood Reporter article on anime that is just beaming with joy at all the immense money which anime is bringing in, which segues nicely into the fact that the employees of Seven Seas Entertainment are attempting to unionize on account that all that money doesn’t seem to be translating to more reasonable hours, pay, benefits etc. That effort is currently being met by…spending what is likely far more money to fight the requests of the union than it would cost to simply recognize the union. Follow UW7S on Twitter for updates on that.
- The Hollywood Reporter’s dubious article about how anime is the “world’s most bankable genre” – remember, anime is not a “genre”
- Pure Tokyoscope Episode 1 – the new podcast from TV’s Patrick Macias and TV’s Matt Alt opens with them talking about this article
Promo: Right Stuf Anime (41:35 – 44:48)
SPY x FAMILY is all the rage right now, but it’s a split season and in just a few short weeks that first half will be over. In the meantime, you may want to read the manga, for which the print editions contain bonus chapters as well as concept sketches which are not in the (bi)weekly Shonen Jump digital editions. If that’s what you want to do, consider that all volumes are currently on sale! As are other Most Dangerous anime titles, many of which are from the mad lads over at Discotek Media. If you click on our affiliate links here to make your purchases, we’ll get a small commission which helps pay for our hosting bills.
Review: Basquash! (44:38 – 2:07:46)
By request of our $10 tier Patreon backers, Daryl reviews this 2009 anime from anime studio Satelight, aka the mailed fist of Visionary Director Shoji Kawamori. What starts off as “giant robots piloted by kids from the hood to play basketball in the hopes of getting healthcare” quickly mutates into “idol singers from the Moon piloting giant robots to play basketball” which mutates two more times and ends up being one of those things that sounds way, WAY more awesome when you describe it compared to what you actually get. We try to piece together what happened when.
- Stream Basquash! on HiDive – we bought the Maiden Japan Blu-Rays but note that either version is technically the edited down, less fanservice-heavy version (which is saying something since there’s a fair bit of fanservice) such that shots like this post’s featured image were only in the TV broadcast
- Thomas Romain’s Twitter – posts in French, Japanese, and English
- Thomas Romain interviewed by Anime News Network
- How Basketball Anime Be Like – this video from 2017 was made in response to seeing Kuroko’s Basketball but it is equally applicable here
