Anime World Order Show # 78b – It’s Totally Off-Topic, Except Not

Here’s the second half of Show 78. This was actually completed and ready to post some time ago.

Let’s News! (0:00 – 42:00)
Perhaps you’ve noticed that Best Buy has cut down their anime section rather drastically. There were some clearance sales that came and went, but there wasn’t much worth picking up anyway…because all the copies of Akira on Blu-Ray were long gone. Riyoko Ikeda, who at some point started getting that extra “i” in her name so she wouldn’t just be “Ryoko,” got great accolades from France for helping to popularize French culture amidst the Japanese. We think the award is fully deserved due to this car advertisement. If you haven’t really gotten into the whole “streaming anime” thing, perhaps you should give it another look because there’s a lot of titles coming out for which streaming just might be the only way you’ll see a translated English version officially available. There is probably not going to be an official translated English version of the Japanese porn comic with Barack Obama and John McCain. Sorry ladies, but it is not yaoi…YET. More bad news on that front: Sunshine Creation is canceled…again! Fortunately Figma is there to save the day in this time of need.

Review: Heaven Wars Shurato (42:00 – 1:26:22)
Clarissa concludes her reviews of all the “[pretty] boys in armor” anime series with this. Previously–and by that we mean about three years ago–she had reviewed Saint Seiya and Yoroiden Samurai Troopers. If you liked those, then you will probably like this! Probably.

This is a story about reincarnation and fighting godlike beings while wearing cool armor, but also about bros.
Well, until Lady Vishnu decides to show up, anyway.
Then it’s off to Tenkuukai, which to be fair is pretty gorgeous.
After that horrible things happen and Shurato is very sad, and kind of pissed off at Gai suddenly being evil. Hmm, I wonder how much of that Kamui and Fuuma nonsense in X derived from CLAMP’s love of Shurato…
This is pretty much the gang of major characters for Shurato, with a couple of exceptions. There’s something I find very pleasant and “human” about Okuda’s character designs that makes it stand out from Saint Seiya (with it’s crazily beautiful and exaggerated designs) and Samurai Troopers.
As we mentioned, these shows are largely about cool-looking armor. So here’s an idea of what they look like.
Here’s Reiga’s. Am I the only one who just doesn’t think the bird head works as well?

In addition to the show, I highly recommend any of the artbooks with Matsuri Okuda’s original illustrations. There are some really beautiful and melodramatic pieces, along with lots of silly stuff. Here’s some good samples. BTW, a lot of nice images including the ones here can be found at Arcadia’s Shulato Shrine.

Closing (1:26:22 – 1:31:22)
Next time, Gerald is a terrorist straight out of Hell because he’s reviewing Chi’s Sweet Home, and Clarissa lives a happy, peaceful, lighthearted existence within Detroit Metal City. For a moment we thought we might have those backwards, but no. Definitely not. Daryl’s reviewing Queen Millennia: The Movie.

Anime World Order Show # 78a – Look, Mr Takazawa! An AAAAA-NGEL!

Once again, we’re splitting this one in two due to the ever-increasing running time. In this first half, Gerald reviews Roujin Z and Daryl finally breaks his silence on Mamoru Oshii to talk about Angel’s Egg.

Introduction (0:00 – 34:15)
As we feebly attempt to make dents in our inbox, Daryl opts to answer an email from a year ago. Technically, he’d answered it a year ago, but this time we’re reading it on the show: how do you keep track of which Lupin III is which? We recommend the Lupin the Third Encyclopedia. What’s our take on this whole FUNimation thing? Are they the lord…of the martial world? Where do you find those old Streamline Pictures dubs at this point? And what are our thoughts on Slayers? Our response effectively means we no longer need to review Slayers, since we covered it all right here.

Promo: Robotronic Dynamite! (34:15 – 35:19)
Despite being around for over 70 episodes, it took Daryl’s guest appearance on Robotronic Dynamite! to convince them to actually put a link to the podcast’s feed up on the site, not just the iTunes-only version. Well, it’s not there NOW, but it will be. Maybe.

Review: Roujin Z (35:19 – 59:08)
Gerald does the responsible thing by making his review be as long as how we initially envisioned our reviews to be. This is hands-down the best anime about a mechanical bed wrecking Japan ever made. A bold statement considering the tough competition it’s got, yes.

Promo: Anime 3000 (59:08 – 1:00:19)
You hear that promo? How could you NOT go on this podcast after hearing that promo? Daryl sure couldn’t not do it, which is why Daryl’s guest appearance on Anime3000 was SOOOOO GOOOD [because he didn’t need to edit anything]. The AWO’s standing offer to be on your podcast as long as we don’t have to edit anything STANDS, and that’s true for all three of us. This is yet another podcast that did not have a link to their podcast feed until Daryl zoomed in and changed their lives FOR THE BETTER.

Review: Angel’s Egg (1:00:19 – 1:44:21)
What better way to kick off a review of this than with one of those things done solely for the entertainment of various former guests of this very podcast? If you don’t get it, worry not for there’s corn pone a plenty. Daryl knuckles up and reviews this film, which he has taken to classifying as “the real sentais.” Be warned that softer, weaker folk than the AWO, ones who never tempered their wills in the fires of Odin: Photon Space Sailer Starlight to the point of immunity simply won’t have the power, patience, or will to sit through this movie. Nobody quite knows what it all means, so perhaps what you get out of it is an indication of that which consumes your being. On second thought, everybody who disagrees with us is wrong. We are the bastions of original thought, even when we’re reading other people’s writings and claiming them as our own ideas. WHICH WE’D NEVER DREAM OF DOING.