Episode 130 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. As we gaze back at the receding wreckage of 2023, probably in our tank powered by a cat ghost or something so we don’t have to worry about explaining where we get fuel, we’re faced with many questions. How many rules have we broken? How many people have we wronged? How many grudges have we held, how many have we caused others to hold? As Ben, Andy, Duncan, and Jeff try to let it go and face 2024 with a pure heart, listen to what they thought were the top shows out of what they watched this year.
Discussed:
Bocchi the Rock (2:46)
Do It Yourself!! (7:38)
Girlfriend, Girlfriend Season 2 (13:01)
Oshi no Ko (18:18)
Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation II (21:35)
Ooku: The Inner Chambers (24:30)
Revenger (27:40)
Inu-Oh (31:05)
The First Slam Dunk (34:16)
Jujutsu Kaisen 2nd Season (39:04)
Tsurune: The Linking Shot (45:24)
Baki Hanma Season 2 (52:29)
The Big O (56:47)
Tengoku Daimakyo (1:05:36)
The Dangers in My Heart (1:16:12)
Vinland Saga Season 2 (1:24:32)
Sousou no Frieren (1:33:41)
The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn’t a Guy at All (manga) (1:57:46)
Mikane and the Sea Woman (manga) (1:58:40)
Kill Blue (manga) (1:59:35)
Show-ha Shoten! (manga) (2:01:58)
One Piece (manga) (2:04:43)
Related Links:
Frieren‘s demons and the burden of presumed allegory
Netflix is capitalizing on the success of the live-action One Piece to remake the anime
I never watched Big O, but it’s a normie mainstream anime in my mind because it ran on (and was co-produced by) the Cartoon Network. Okay, it was 20 years ago, so [img-Sanae-meme], but still.
Y’all should have watched BanG Dream! It’s MyGO!!!!! because it turns out it’s fuckin’ great.
Yeah, that’s a product of my own circumstances. I grew up without cable, so “anime on TV” is confined in my memories to Yu-Gi-Oh! and whatever else 4Kids was feeding the WB. I had to discover all the Toonami standbys on my own time in my late teens and twenties (and generally found them to be overrated, even the good ones, which is why it took me literal decades to give the “intellectual” one, Big O, a try).
I’ll try again to get BanG Dream! It’s MyGO!!!!! (six exclamation points total, it seems) on Andy’s radar. It’s idol stuff, right? Should be a match.
Ha ha, no. Definitely not idol stuff, although that is also what I assumed before I started because I bailed out of the first BanG Dream! season years ago and ignored all of the franchise’s subsequent anime. (You don’t need to watch any of those. It’s MyGO!!!!! is all new characters.) I never would have given it a chance were it not for all the people insisting it was the best anime from the Summer 2023 anime season. It turns out they were right.
This is about how MyGO is accessible to new viewers while still providing rewarding moments for knowledgeable fans of the greater Bang Dream franchise, but it’s nicely done and worth watching if you’re still contemplating giving the show a try:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDguvD296XA
Rad, I’ll give it a look!