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Anime World Order Show # 222 – So Much For the Laws of Physics!

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:49:53 — 50.4MB)

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In this episode, Daryl reviews a title suggested by our top Patreon backers as he reviews the now beloved super robot OVA series from 1998, Shin Getter Robo, which for the sake of avoiding confusion we might just want to call Getter Robo: Armageddon.

Introduction (0:00 – 34:18)
We asked for it and you guys more than delivered: fan feedback among those seeing Aim for the Top!: Gunbuster for the first time. Why, many of you were even compelled to do so thanks to our review of it! What a refreshing change of (perceived) pace! We read through all that had been sent to us as of the time of the recording, and received even more since then. Why, we got emails from people in BOTH Cambridges (the real one and the fake one, you guys can argue over which is which).

This was the media diet of a 90s UK anime fan. Ain’t it great? Well, maybe not BGC 2040.

We also read the blog comments while we’re at it, and as Carl Horn notes in response to our Arion review, sometimes primary sources conflict with one another. Here’s the interview with YAS that Daryl was reading off from during that review, which we should probably edit into the show notes for THAT episode. We also make fun of Bandai–as is the style around here–for their recent utter squandering of all the fan goodwill that they had amassed thanks to Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury in a misguided attempt to appease…uh, somebody perhaps. Lastly, we hear a bit about anime fandom outside of the US, as we read an email from a listener currently in Zambia. Not only are there enough fans of anime there–check out their site–but they’ve also got a cosplay event/convention coming up: the Lusaka Comic Con! We’d certainly like to hear reports from attendees as to how that went, since we mostly only get convention reports out of the United States.

Promo: Right Stuf Anime (34:18 – 38:23)
Denpa Books are on sale this week! Be sure to get your preorders in for They Were Eleven, and while you’re at it check out Under Ninja, Gambling Apocalypse Kaiji, and–for the bold and daring–the manga adaptation of Mobile Suit Gundam Char’s Counterattack: Beltorchika’s Children, which was the NOVEL WRITTEN BY YOSHIYUKI TOMINO~! that was the original (rejected) story proposal for the anime film Char’s Counterattack. Actually, there are a lot of fine Denpa Books titles, but we’re not sure how many Vampeerz fans are also listening to this episode dedicated to the further pursuit of unusually elevated levels of dinosaur hatred.

“EFF YOU, DINOSAURS!” — Ken Ishikawa, probably

Review: Shin Getter Robo aka Getter Robo: Armageddon (38:23 – 1:49:53)

The votes are in, and the $10 backers of our Patreon…came to more or less a tie at the end of the day. We’ll review the other one at a later date, but it’s time to talk about Shin Getter Robo, aka Change Getter Robo…aka True Getter Robo…aka Getter Robo: Armageddon. Yep, there’s already a lot to unpack here. This would be the 13-episode OVA series from 1998, which for many American fans was their first introduction to Getter Robo anything. Perhaps a grimdark revival of a 1970s children’s show from Ken Ishikawa that is generally recognized as having introduced the concept of combining robots in anime and manga isn’t the best starting point? Then once you add Yasuhiro Imagawa, Jun Kawagoe and the whole tumultuous backstory regarding this production into the mix, it all seems a rather daunting proposition. Indeed, Getter Robo wasn’t particularly popular and little was known about it (or Ken Ishikawa) until recent years, such that in 2023 it’s now a beloved fan favorite among the diehard terminally online mecha set. If that describes you…well, this episode will probably make you mad, same way people get mad every time we talk about the robot stuff…

Daryl’s autographed copy of Vol. 1, featuring the episodes Yasuhiro Imagawa directed. He uses a unique signature for every show he’s directed. Wonder if people can send in examples from each of them?
The old ADV release credited “Yasuhiro Geshi” as the director. Turns out that’s a real guy who worked on this as an episode director, but no.
ADV’s release also altered the title in the show to be in English, albeit very closely matching the Japanese characters. The “New!!” in place of “Shin” should have been “True!!” but now this series gets mixed up with the 2004 series actually named “New Getter Robo.”
Authors and actors pass on, but the Getter Team’s battle is eternal and all the reboots and tie-ins are canon. GET-TER BE-E-E-E-E-AM!
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Anime World Order Show # 221 – It Wasn’t C-Beams Glittering Near the Tannhauser Gate, It Was Otaku Tears

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:50:18 — 50.6MB)

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We’re joined by longtime mecha enthusiast Rob Lantz as we offer up a mostly spoiler-free review of Gerald’s favorite OVA series of all time: 1988’s Aim for the Top! Gunbuster, the pro directorial debut of Hideaki Anno and one of the first subtitled anime ever legally released in the United States which is now available on Blu-Ray. It’s uh, kind of a big deal.

Introduction (0:00 – 46:55)
As a member of what he calls the second generation of American anime fandom, Rob tells us about how he discovered Japanese animation along with his forays into East Coast anime conventions starting in the mid-1990s. With the Spring 2023 anime season having just concluded, we go over what we finished up watching recently. As the Summer 2023 anime season just starting off is decidedly slim as far as offerings that appeal to us (56 shows, and maybe only 1 or 2 that seem to have potential), most of us are using the opportunity to go through some of the neverending backlog. You’ll probably want to do the same!

Rob’s Gunbuster cosplay from days of long ago [comes a legend…]. (He’s the one cosplaying Coach.)

Promo: Shoujo Sundae (10:27 – 10:58)
It’s been ages since we got one of these, so as a reminder: if you have an anime podcast that’s been running for more than 10 episodes, send us your 30-60 second promo and we’ll run it! I suppose in return you could run our promo, but it dawns on us that we only ever really made one promo which consists primarily of someone that isn’t any of us speaking. Anyway, Giana Luna and Chika Supreme are doing an ACTUAL weekly podcast in which they cover anime targeted to girls and have just finished up their rewatch of the classic shoujo series Ouran High School Host Club. Yes, we regret to inform you that the manga for Ouran is now over 20 years old and the anime is now from 17 years ago, so it’s now considered a classic. Even our review of it was from 2006.

Promo: Right Stuf Anime (46:56 – 49:13)
It’s Right Stuf’s 36th birthday sale! That means pretty much everything is on sale this month, and every day there are 24-hour Mega Deals with even deeper discounts. (If you missed one, usually you get a second chance at the end of the month when all the previous mega deals are active for a day.) Also included are manga/artbook/novel bundles, plus there are weekly contests to enter! As always, any purchases made after visiting Right Stuf from our affiliate links will grant us a small commission fee, which we’ll put towards paying for our hosting as well as our Discord Nitro. Be sure to check the AWO Discord (viewable to all, but Patreon backers can post) for details regarding our upcoming virtual panels and such!

Review: Aim for the Top! Gunbuster (49:13 – 1:50:18)
No pressure or anything, as it’s only Gerald’s favorite OVA of all time. 1988’s Aim for the Top! Gunbuster might not have been the first thing they made, and maybe this other thing from the 1990s became far more popular, and maybe in different decades the studio came to embody very different things for very different generations of anime fans, but when we think of the definitive “Gainax anime,” this is the one. The (professional) directorial debut of Hideaki Anno, practically every single person who worked on Gunbuster became a top-tier talent in their respective field. Entire books/podcasts/YouTube channels/social media accounts can be devoted to drilling down into the histories and resumes of everybody who brought this into existence, but all you have to know is that after years and years, you can once again–get this–WATCH GUNBUSTER. Because we are operating under the blind optimism that there is a generation of people out there who haven’t seen Gunbuster but have heard of its reputation, we (for the most part) do not delve heavily into the specifics of what happens in Gunbuster past the first episode or two.

Discotek has released a pretty great Blu-Ray which you can buy here, and for the first time you can watch it as well as the series that inspired its initial beginnings: Aim for the Ace!. If you’re daunted by the notion of watching a half century old cartoon made for TV, consider watching the far more lavishly animated (and far shorter) Aim For the Ace: The Movie instead.

Rob got to hang out with Noriko Hidaka once. She may have several high-profile roles, but if you’re going to get a line recital video, there is truly only one choice to make:

Rob also owns original cels from Gunbuster. Here’s a recognizable pose; be sure to shout the attack out loud!