Episode 51 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. And now, the time is near / And so we face the season's ending / As hosts, we'll say it clear / We'll give our thoughts, and hope they're trending / We've dropped some boring shows / We've read a few intriguing essays / But more, much more than this / we've watched anime!
Episode 50 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. In the end (or, in this case, in the beginning) it's family that counts. That's why Ben, Andy, Duncan, Jeff, and Jon have chosen the topic of "family" as their theme for this episode, in a reboot of their podcast format that's moving away from deep dives on individual works and towards wide-ranging discussions of tropes and themes that apply to all anime. What old standbys will come up as they talk about bad dads, toxic siblings, and powerful moms? Listen and find out!
Episode 14 of Key Frames: Inbetweens, a mini-podcast about anime. As Von Clausewitz said, mahjong is the continuation of politics by other means. Join Jeff and Jon as Andy schools them on the centuries-old game of tiles and hands, learning a little bit about right-wing Japanese politics and Olympic skeet-shooting along the way. Is The Legend of Koizumi funny in spite of its extremely niche appeal? Is it funny because of it? Listen and find out!
Episode 48 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Life is pain, folks. Anyone who tells you differently is selling something. More importantly, however, anime isn't pain, but Ben, Andy, Duncan, and Jeff still do their best to sell you on the highs and lows of the shows that they're watching. Enjoy thirty minutes of Sarazanmai, twenty minutes of Carole & Tuesday, and a comparison between the old and new versions of Fruits Basket. Once you're ready, you can close out the episode with the discussion of Kiznaiver, the 2016 series that's the spotlight, and begin the healing process all over again.
Episode 48 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. What happens when production difficulties force an anime podcast to delay its beginning-of-the-season episode? Well, listen and find out! Ben, Andy, Duncan, and Jon all give their thoughts on the shows of spring 2019 and they're not too untimely. There's even a long digression on... Attack on Titan? Huh. Anyway, after the break they pick the 2016 anime Kiznaiver as their latest (and perhaps final) spotlight!
Episode 13 of Key Frames: Inbetweens, a mini-podcast about anime. The boys (that is, Ben and Jeff) are back in town, and that means that it's time for another round of navel-gazing about the Monogatari Series franchise! This time, it's the long-delayed movie trilogy that tells the story of Araragi's first encounter with a hot girl... and with a vampire! There's so much to cover that they miss a bunch, though. For instance, there's not a word about Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-Under-Blade jogging her memory by digging through her literal brains, or about the recurring motif of a vampire hunter's head laughing in front of bad CGI flames. Still, they talk a lot! Maybe too much. Listen, if you dare...
Episode 47 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. In this episode, we're visited by a benevolent alien named Jon, who wants only to enjoy all the anime! As he searches for more shows to watch and love, he befriends the anxious and depressed Ben, the troubled but talented Duncan, and the mysterious foreigner Andy. The wacky quartet talk about the wrap-up of the winter 2018 season, then they move onto the spotlight anime, which happens to have been based on their adventures, the 2012 show tsuritama!
Episode 46 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. The science is clear: the human body is fueled by liquid and, therefore, its greatest enemy is thirst. There are many ways to protect your body and prevent thirst, like spit and slime, but the final imperative is not to drool too much over video games and anime girls. Join Ben, Andy, Duncan, Jeff, and Jon as they wander through this desert of content searching for the refreshment of a good spotlight, which ends up being the 2012 series tsuritama, and then listen to them play Andy's game about a superhero with a bean bun for a head. Nothing thirsty there, no sir.
Episode 45 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. The best part of watching anime is that you get both the good and the bad. One day you're running with the wind, and the next you're rising with the shield hero. I can't think about any clever way to work Double Decker! into that framework, but those are what Ben, Andy, Duncan, and Jon talked about before moving to this week's spotlight, the first cour of the 2016 series Bungo Stray Dogs! Get on it like a genetically modified soldier from the moon.
Episode 44 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Have you ever thought about the wonderful diversity of life on this planet, our Spaceship Earth? Ben, Andy, Duncan, Jeff, and Jon have. Consider the elegance of the airplane girl or the fish man. Marvel at the wisdom of the thousand-year-old loli! There's even room in our hearts for the new serval girl, who's admittedly not as good as the old serval girl. Once you've recovered your senses, look to the second half of the podcast, where we pick the 2016 anime Bungo Stray Dogs as our next spotlight and play a game of "Idoln't Believe It!"
Episode 43 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Surely there's been a misunderstanding! A normal, natural conversation about sex comedies in anime has transformed into a meditation about our self-made dystopia of technological isolation. What will Ben, Andy, Duncan, and Jeff do? It's a gamble, but their only option is to talk through the plot and themes of their spotlight anime, the 1998 series Serial Experiments Lain, in hopes of finding some kind of salvation.
Episode 42 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. It's our "transported to another world" special! Duncan sums up his thoughts on Bloom into You, the isekai about two high school girls struggling with love, and then Ben joins him to discuss the third season of A Certain Magical Index, another isekai about a world in which magic and technology fuel vast conspiracies. Don't worry, we didn't forget all the new anime this season that transport their characters to an exotic new setting! Jon talks about shows with isekai premises like women flying airplanes and a boy and a girl competing over love. Andy even checks in with an isekai of his own, about a twentysomething woman just trying to make it in Japan! After the break, they choose the 1998 cyberpunk isekai classic, Serial Experiments Lain, for their next spotlight. See you on the other side!
Episode 41 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. I'm not moving or speaking, but you can understand me perfectly from my body language, as if you're hearing my voice in your head. The set of my shoulders says, "Ben, Andy, Jeff, and Jon go over some highs and lows of the fall season of anime." The tilt of my head says, "They also discuss the 2010 series And Yet the Town Moves for their spotlight." Most of all, the line of my jaw says, "Believe in yourself. If you do your best and don't forget your friends, you have it in you to be the greatest hero who ever lived!"
Episode 12 of Key Frames: Inbetweens, a mini-podcast about anime. Happy holidays! We got you a Christmas episode. What, are we too late? Well, if Honey and Clover can have its Christmas episode in May, we can certainly have ours in January. Snuggle in with Ben, Andy, and Duncan as they talk about Christmas traditions in Japan, iconic Christmas episodes from anime, and what terrible shows they would give each other as part of a white elephant gift exchange.
Episode 40 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Classic panel! Everyone's got their favorite. Jon talks more about Run with the Wind fulfilling all his dreams of friendship and athleticism, Ben agonizes about whether SSSS.Gridman is a successor to Neon Genesis Evangelion or just an imitator, and Duncan patiently explains to both of them why Bloom into You shouldn't be confused with Iroduku: The World in Colors. After a short break, they pick the 2010 anime And Yet the Town Moves as the first spotlight of the new year!
Episode 39 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Join Ben, ○○○, Duncan, Jeff, and Jon as they take a closer look at the fall season's breakout hits, including SSSS.Gridman, Run with the Wind, and That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime. Then they... Wait, are there more hosts in this episode than when we started? Where are these opinions about Another coming from? This spotlight of the 2012 horror anime must be cursed! We have to listen to the entire podcast to see if there's a way to beat it and send the dead back to death.
Episode 11 of Key Frames: Inbetweens, a mini-podcast about anime. What is the relationship between words and reality? Do words describe a reality that exists independently of their use and meaning, or are words actually the medium through which reality is perceived and understood? For instance, if Aniplex decides to brand Hanamonogatari as a finale movie for Monogatari Series Second Season instead of an OVA epilogue for the entire franchise, does that make it so? If Ben and Jeff discuss it alongside Koyomimonogatari and Tsukimonogatari, does that make the podcast a work of media criticism? Listen to find out!
Episode 38 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Who can look into the mind of Ben and know what anime he's watching this season? Not Andy, Duncan, Jeff, and Jon, that's for sure! Come on, guys, we've been doing this for over three years now. Join us for a rundown of what to watch (and, more important, what not to watch) in the 2018 fall anime season, then check out the 2012 horror anime Another that we picked for our next spotlight!
Episode 37 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Emerging like an advanced hunter-killer android from the mouth of a cute-looking cat, the hosts are burning holes through walls with our hot takes on anime! Actually, there aren't that many surprises among the anime discussed, but who could pass up a chance to evoke that disturbing moment from this episode's spotlight, 2003's Parasite Dolls? Tune in after the break to get the skinny on everything.
Episode 10 of Key Frames: Inbetweens, a mini-podcast about anime. What happens when an unstoppable spear meets an unbreakable shield? No, we're not talking about your favorite sports anime, we're talking about Jeff and Jon talking about the controversial Hanebado! that aired this summer. One hates it, but loves it a little, and the other loves it, but hates it a little! Who will triumph?
Episode 36 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Doesn't Hanebado! make you feel magnifico? Aren't Grand Blue and Lupin the Third just suteki? Will Ben ever say nein, nyet, or ohi to long-running series that he's not enjoying? Come discover the multicultural and multilingual inspirations of Ben, Andy, Duncan, and Jeff as they decide on the 2003 OVA Parasite Dolls for their next spotlight!
Episode 09 of Key Frames: Inbetweens, a mini-podcast about anime. When does an error become a mistake? When you watch another installment of the Monogatari Series franchise. That's how the saying goes, right? As they discuss Monogatari Series Second Season, Ben and Jeff even develop a lot of affection for the characters that other fans hate to love, like Tsubasa Hanekawa and Nadeko Sengoku. Listen and maybe you will, too!
Episode 35 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. We were sitting down to do a podcast on a movie about one of humanity's greatest atrocities and we asked ourselves, "How best can we undermine our gravitas here?" The answer was obvious, and that's why we also talk about How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord, Robot Girls Z, and Golden Boy. After the break, join Ben, Andy, Duncan, and Jon as they talk about their spotlight, In This Corner of the World!
Episode 34 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. It's happening... again! Jon's excited for the new anime season... again! Andy and Duncan settle some confusion about Banana Fish... again! Ben and Jeff talk about Darling in the FranXX... hopefully for the last time. After the break and more than a little arguing, they settle on the 2016 movie In This Corner of the World for next episode's spotlight!
Episode 33 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. What would it be like to experience a new season of anime through the eyes of Andy? Ben, Duncan, Jeff, and Jon get to find out. Afterwards, they wander off to clear their palate with a deep draught of this episode's spotlight, the 2017 film The Night Is Short, Walk on Girl!
Episode 32 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. The summer heat's gotten under everyone's skin. Megalobox looks good on an HDTV? Rubbish! Deku is a different kind of shounen protagonist? Nonsense! Rin: ~Daughters of Mnemosyne~ is more than just softcore porn? Hogwash! After the smoke clears, Ben, Andy, Duncan, Jeff, and Jon fight about what anime to spotlight next and settle on The Night Is Short, Walk on Girl!
Episode 08 of Key Frames: Inbetweens, a mini-podcast about anime. Ben and Jeff compound their error by discussing the next two installments in the Monogatari Series franchise, Nisemonogatari and Nekomonogatari Black. Can they extract something profound from a conversation about thousand-year-old lolis, abusive families, and erotic tooth-brushing sequences? Where there's a will, there's a way.
Episode 31 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Jeff has opinions about anime romances. Duncan rewatches a Miyazaki classic. Ben charts a confusingly narrow path in his reaction to the new FLCL series. Jon has nothing to add. Eventually they come together to talk about the 2002 OVA Trava: Fist Planet for the spotlight.
Episode 30 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. In a saucepan, melt Wotakoi over medium-high heat. Add Golden Kamuy and Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online to form a paste. Whisking constantly, add March Comes in Like a Lion in a thin, steady stream. Season with Space Brothers and add Legend of Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These to taste. After the break, Ben, Duncan, and Jeff pick Trava: Fist Planet as their next recipe!
Episode 29 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. A celestial procession descends from the heavens, bearing more opinions on this season's anime! Ben and Duncan speak of politics and war, Jon of crime, and Andy of... uh, horse girls. Wait, maybe this procession isn't from the heavens? After the break, they all discuss The Tale of Princess Kaguya, Isao Takahata's final movie from 2014.
Episode 28 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Anime is the reason for this new season. Jon's epic list of shows to watch makes a return. The Shaft conversation from the latest Inbetweens mini-episode infects Ben, Duncan, and Jeff. After they get that out of their system, they choose The Tale of Princess Kaguya as the spotlight anime for the next recording!
Episode 07 of Key Frames: Inbetweens, a mini-podcast about anime. It is fitting that Bakemonogatari, an anime that is about the self-conscious construction of identity, gets almost an hour of discussion out of Ben and Jeff. Come for the philosophy, stay for the fan service! Be prepared to stay awhile, there's a lot of fan service...
Episode 27 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Watching an anthology has Ben, Andy, Duncan, and Jon feeling scattered! What even are the topics of conversation? Candy? Comedy? Crap? Don't worry, they pull it together to talk about 2004's Hi no Tori, their spotlight for this episode.
Episode 26 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Which Japanese song fills you with more nostalgia, "Tsubasa wo Kudasai" or "Kyou no Hi wa Sayonara"? Hurry up with your answer, they're almost done flipping the coin. Ben, Andy, Duncan, and Jon pass their time in limbo with these tough questions before settling on Hi no Tori as the spotlight for the next episode.
Episode 25 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Do you ever feel like your interests aren't healthy for you? Are you watching your anime in a flu-like fog? Are you gobbling up episodes like candy? Does everything just turn out to be crap? Ben, Andy, Duncan, and Jeff wrestle with these questions before taking on their spotlight, Flowers of Evil, a challenging and experimental anime that almost proves to be beyond their ken!
Episode 06 of Key Frames: Inbetweens, a mini-podcast about anime. People are lining up to hear Andy and Midori talk about their experience at Comiket 93! Mids is full of facts about the world's largest doujinshi market! Andy is unsure whether or not to eat a bag of poop for which he paid ¥3,000! They play a recording of a drunken conversation with Andy's friend Hiroto, a Comiket veteran! Hurry, before we run out of exclamation points!
Episode 24 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. A new year means new anime! Ben, Duncan, Jeff, and Jon take the time to say goodbye to the series of 2017 and hello to those of 2018. Once they're finished, they pick Flowers of Evil as the spotlight for the next podcast.
Episode 05 of Key Frames: Inbetweens, a mini-podcast about anime. Ben and Jeff are rockin' the suburbs! This one's the mecha podcast to end all mecha podcasts. Okay, that's probably not true: Jeff is going to watch Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, and Ben may even talk himself into watching Reconguista in G. But hey, there's some good stuff here about the breakout hits of Yoshiyuki Tomino's early career.
Episode 04 of Key Frames: Inbetweens, a mini-podcast about anime. The holidays have Ben, Andy, and Jon hungry for anime and thirsty for manga! After sampling Food Wars! and then tearing into Osake wa Fuufu ni Natte Kara, they chew through all the other food and drink anime that they can find. Andy has another terrible game to play, too!
Episode 23 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Ben, Andy, Duncan, Jeff, and Jon are transformed by power ballads! They fight their way through teenagers investigating mysteries, delicate conversations about bullying, and rational explanations of why Princess Principal is titled what it is. Their final strike is the deepest: a spotlight of the original 1986 Fist of the North Star movie! You are already listening to this podcast.
Episode 22 of the Key Frames podcast, a podcast about anime. Anime about human beings is over. It's all anime about inhuman beings now: genderfluid geological formations, demonic-looking fairy mages, bad characters in a sex comedy... Ben, Andy, Duncan, Jeff, and Jon cover all the bases! After the break, they settle on the eighties classic Fist of the North Star: The Movie for their next spotlight.
Episode 21 of the Key Frames podcast, a podcast about anime. There comes a time in the life of a podcast when the hosts will spend half an hour in one episode talking about Gundam. Maybe not about the original Mobile Suit Gundam, but about some show in the Gundam franchise. This is that episode for Ben, Andy, Duncan, and Jeff. Join them after the break for a rollicking discussion of the spotlight anime, Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi!
Episode 20 of the Key Frames podcast, a podcast about anime. As Andy and Duncan revel in the Britishness of anime, Ben and Jon feel their selves slipping away. Jon finds himself praising a CG anime, and Ben finds himself recommending Honey and Clover. Horror of horrors! Andy seizes the opportunity to choose Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi as the next spotlight.
Episode 19 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. As the podcast records its twentieth full-length episode, old grudges resurface. Ben talks about an anime by Sanrio... again. Jon and Andy gush about Osomatsu-san... again. Everyone fights about Kino's Journey... again. After the break, listen to them all agree about the spotlight anime, Mind Games... for the first time!
Episode 18 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Pop quiz! What are the fifteen must-watch anime airing next season? Jon's got his list. After he talks with Ben and Andy about short-running comedies, long-running dramas, and everything in between, he chooses Masaaki Yuasa's movie Mind Game as the next spotlight. Watch it and join us next time!
Episode 17 of the Key Frames podcast, a podcast about anime. Better late than never, right? Ben, Andy, Jeff, and Jon try to make their conversation timeless by covering both mecha anime from the eighties and this season's newest anime. Does it work? Who cares! Unfazed, they're joined by Duncan for an introspective look at Kino's Journey: the Beautiful World.
Episode 03 of Key Frames: Inbetweens, a mini-podcast about anime. The current state of anime podcasts is unsustainable. On the one hand are podcasts that cater to the fandom by obsessing over references, moe, and fan service without truly engaging in the artistic and thematic content of the medium. On the other are podcasts that cater to the industry with production figures and pedigree, informative to other insiders but inaccessible to the average listener. What is necessary, now more than ever in this new age of internet content, is a podcast that provides a disruptive median that realigns the praxis of anime discourse online into an uncompromised synthesis of critical superego and enthusiast id. That podcast will be our discussion of Patlabor 2: the Movie. Join the revolution with Ben, Andy, Duncan, and Jeff!
Episode 02 of Key Frames: Inbetweens, a mini-podcast about anime. A show about girls working at a software company. Is that Non Non Biyori? A show about the discrimination that monster girls face. Is that Non Non Biyori? A show about a high school gaming club. Is THAT Non Non Biyori? Andy and Mids roam far and wide before arriving at their destination: the remake of Mahoujin Guru Guru, an anime from Mids' childhood. It's not Non Non Biyori, but it's close.
Episode 01 of Key Frames: Inbetweens, a mini-podcast about anime. Distressed by our missing editor, we wander the library of podcast future and podcast past. Dusty volumes left, dusty volumes right... but what's this? An ancient episode, lost to the ages, about an anime that's been running for ages? Why, brush it off and throw it onto the feed, we say! Join Andy and Jon for a surprisingly joyous discussion of anime and manga phenomenon One Piece.
Episode 16 of the Key Frames podcast, a podcast about anime. It's the end of an era! Well, it's the end of an anime season, at least. Everyone's watched more than they thought and has more opinions than they expected. For the second half of the podcast, Ben picks Kino's Journey for the next spotlight anime and then they all tackle the big question: what's wrong with anime?
Episode 15.5 of the Key Frames podcast, a podcast about anime. Have you ever wanted to start over? Andy gets that chance with Duncan, who has some very interesting things to say about last week's spotlight anime, Read or Die. Does Duncan have a point? Will Andy emerge intact? Listen to find out!
Episode 15 of the Key Frames podcast, a podcast about anime. What happens if everyone likes everything? Jon likes intellectual sci-fi. Andy likes pandering garbage. Ben likes Gundam? Somehow, that last one's the weirdest of all. After a break, they talk about Read or Die, which they also all liked!
Episode 14 of the Key Frames podcast, a podcast about anime. Ben and Andy resign themselves to Little Witch Academia being more of a Saturday morning cartoon, Jon blasts Sakura Quest for resorting to gags, and everyone almost gets sold on fan service in an OVA a quarter century old. Next episode's spotlight anime is another OVA, this one from 2001: Read or Die!
Episode 13 of the Key Frames podcast, a podcast about anime. Everyone's making apologies: Andy is in love with anthropomorphic animal girls, Ben is in love with a harem anime that knows it's a harem anime, and everyone's in love with making apologies for the Monogatari series. The only thing for which they're not making apologies is this episode's spotlight anime, Bartender... except maybe for one of them.
Episode 12 of the Key Frames podcast, a podcast about anime. Ben freaks out about disco-dancing mercenaries, Andy freaks out about a post-apocalyptic future full of idols, and Jon refuses to freak out about anything. After they all calm down, they agree on watching Bartender, an anime that's possibly about a Glass of God, for the next episode.
Episode 11 of the Key Frames podcast, a podcast about anime. Ben, Andy, Duncan, Jon, and newcomer extraordinaire Jeff talk about bad Dungeons & Dragons campaigns. No, wait, come back, it's still about anime!
Episode 10 of the Key Frames podcast, a podcast about anime. Ben, Andy, and Jon dig through the trash looking for treasure, and manage to find... some? It's hard to say. Once again, this is a choose-the-spotlight episode. Come back next time for Record of Lodoss War!
Episode 09 of the Key Frames podcast, a podcast about anime. Ben, Andy, Duncan, and Jon can't agree on whether ghosts are jerks or justifiable jerks. Before that, a combination of things we like and things we dislike. Well, mostly things we like...
Episode 08 of the Key Frames podcast, a podcast about anime. Ben, Jon, and Andy tackle the anxieties of being an anime fan who has to go outside on occasion. It's just so scary! This time around, we have no spotlight anime, but walk through the process of how we choose what it will be. Spoilers: we pick Natsuyuki Rendezvous, so watch that before you listen to the next episode.
Episode 07 of the Key Frames podcast, a podcast about anime. Ben, Jon, and Duncan take on three whole movies and it shows. Get ready for a long runtime this episode, folks! Don't miss out on painfully sincere conversations about the place of sexual violence in fiction and what it means to have a life's work—and a just plain painful conversation about medieval history in anime.
Episode 06 of the Key Frames podcast, a podcast about anime. Ben, Andy, and Jon are joined by Reuben and Peterz and the podcast gets violent! Guns, tanks, and bombs are everywhere, before talk finally turns to the ultimate weapon: the kiss of a space alien masquerading as a twenty-something housekeeper. Or would it be a Rickenbacker bass?
Episode 05 of the Key Frames podcast, a podcast about anime. Ben, Andy, Duncan, and Jon talk about children who are too wise and adults who are too dense, then dig into the meaning of flowers in Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal.
Episode 04 of the Key Frames podcast, a podcast about anime. Ben, Andy, Jon, and Sean are plagued by nightmares of success as they discuss Shinkai Makoto, a writer and director whose works might just happen to always be better on second viewing...
Episode 03 of the Key Frames podcast, a podcast about anime. Ben, Andy, Duncan, and Jon complain about criteria on fan-made wikis, struggle to recommend a comedic anime, and discover that historically significant anime are not necessarily good anime... except when it comes to their sweet eighties soundtracks.
Episode 02 of the Key Frames podcast, a podcast about anime. Ben, Andy, and Jon spend way too long talking about JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. Only robots, coffee, and complex sci-fi allegories can save them now!
Episode 01 of the Key Frames podcast, a podcast about anime. Ben, Andrew, and Jon discuss how to add mecha to the Scooby Doo formula, why sports anime are even worth watching, and what it must be like to live on a desert planet where everyone wants to kill everyone.
Episode 00 of the Key Frames podcast, a podcast about anime. Join Andy, Ben, Duncan, Jon, and Ray as they complain about moe, explain the differences between bears and little girls, and give some advice to the idol industry!
