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Anime World Order Show # 223 – Some Might Consider This Moto Hagiography

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:07:42 — 31.2MB)

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This is perhaps our most tragic episode ever, for not only have we lost our sole sponsor Right Stuf due to Crunchyroll shutting it down, but Clarissa is reviewing The Poe Clan, one of the great shojo manga masterworks by Moto Hagio.

Introduction (0:00 – 25:45)
Well, they did the thing. It’s not like it’s a surprise. A year ago, we said it’d happen “a year from now.” But Crunchyroll has now shut down Right Stuf. After October 10th, it will instead redirect to the CR Store, and once again uncertainty abounds. Will the service be as good as Right Stuf’s? (That certainly isn’t the case right now!) Will they continue to carry all products? Discotek stated “we don’t anticipate any change in the availability or sales practices when it comes to our products” in their latest newsletter, but will that last? Best case scenario: maybe they’re just changing the sign in front of the building. We’ll wait and see what people say, and give things a shot ourselves, and if we like it–and they extend the offer–then maybe we’ll be sponsored by the CR Store moving forward instead. But until October 10th, you can use promo code “THANKYOU” to save an additional 15% off your Right Stuf orders, and if you do plan on doing so please consider using our affiliate link one last time before it’s gone.

Saturday, 09/30/2023, join us on the Anime World Order Discord at 3 PM EST for the Fall 2023 Trailer Watch Party! We’re once again watching trailers for all the stuff coming out next season…wait, it’s not really 75+ titles, is it? Viewable to all, but if you back us on our Patreon at any tier, then you’ll be able to chat and post with us as well.

Review: The Poe Clan (25:45 – 1:07:42)
It’s been quite some time since we’ve actually reviewed manga, and at the risk of invoking the ire of the greater evolved manga gods in the English-speaking world Clarissa weighs in on Moto “Actually Born In Showa 24 Unlike The Rest Of Youse Mugs” Hagio’s foundational shojo manga, The Poe Clan. This centuries-spanning tale of beautiful ageless adolescent vampires–er, “vampirnellas”–was a breakout hit in the early 1970s, and while we understand that after a decades-long hiatus it resumed a few years ago, all we currently have access to is the Fantagraphics hardcover editions of the original series. Somewhere, Gerald schemes in retaliation, either in the form of the annual trivia episode or perhaps a special guest appearance.

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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!