Key Frames

Episode 142 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Watching Medalist this season and pondering the bluntness of its title made me realize that we don't give out enough recognition and awards for the accomplishments that make up our day-to-day life. Ben finally finished Mobile Suit Gundam: 08th MS Team? Bronze medal. Duncan found something philosophically moving in Orb: On the Movements of the Earth? Silver medal. Andy only saw the Hypnosis Mic -Division Rap Battle- movie in theaters once, instead of four times like his wife? Gold medal. Jon completes a hat trick of podcast appearances and keeping up with Fire Force? Platinum medal. Are those a thing? Video games taught me that platinum medals are a thing. Anyway, give the episode a listen and you can be a winner, too! We'll mail you a ribbon or something. The post 142 - The Poisoned Chalice first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 141 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. You know, sometimes I love to type out the shows we've discussed in an episode of our podcast and just wonder at how very... Key Frames all of it is. Hard sci-fi from the early 2000s? Minor Ghibli? Anime about non-mainstream sports? Multiple Makoto Shinkai movies? Some obscurity with no good disc release? We've got it all, as Ben, Duncan, and Jon explore anime's relationship with travel and faraway places. As you might be able to see from what I've listed above, we end up covering a lot of ground, but then that's quite fitting, no? The post 141 - A Stranger Called Japan first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 140 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. One, two, three, go! Today the Key Frames gang is headbanging to all the anime out there about bands, inspired by the example of Girls Band Cry and BanG Dream! It's MyGo!!!!! among many, many other shows. Will they talk about how K-On! walked so that Bocchi the Rock could run? Will Andy and Jon hold the line against Duncan's insistence that BanG Dream! Ave Mujica deserves to exist? Will Ben pass away on air from his third bout of illness in barely two months? The only way to know is to be truly punk and to listen to our scrappy, messy takes! The post 140 - Gremlinergy first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 139 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. I admit, what we called this episode isn't exactly parsable if you aren't a fan of slapstick comedy Hundreds of Beavers and absurdly long titles in the fashion of light novels and light novel-derived adaptations, but trust us! It's funny enough that we had to cut more than a few bouts of gasping, tear-soaked laughter from the edit. Anyway, in the moments when Ben and Duncan aren't being genius of transmedia humor, they bid farewell to the anime of fall 2024 and welcome those of winter 2025. You'll never guess what they pick for the shows they're most interested in seeing play out! Somehow they're not the second season of Apothecary Diaries. The post 139 - Is It Wrong to Pick Up Beavers in the Hundreds? first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 36 of Key Frames: Inbetweens, a mini-podcast about anime. Koyomi Araragi must just be the most insufferable person to have at your college, right? Like, you're sitting in Philosophy 101, going over different perspectives on theory of mind, and here's this dude who looks like he hasn't gotten a haircut in years wasting the professor's time with a rambling story about the time he became a vampire, a supernatural being living eternally in the moment, and how his perception of reality was forever and fundamentally altered by the experience. "Oh well," you think as you head to math next, "Philosophy courses are always going to have at least one douchebag who won't stop talking..." and then he's waiting for you there as well, already droning on about how his cryptography skills were crucial in defeating another vampire, apparently not even the one who bit him in the first place! How many vampires has this weirdo met in his eighteen years of life, exactly? All you can do is make a mental note of who seems to be part of his social circle (the mean-looking girl with the stationery fetish and the robotlike girl who fawns over him despite them just having met are what spring to mind) and hope that you'll be able to avoid all of them over the next four years. How hard could it be? It's not like he's the magnet for trouble he's desperate to make himself out to be. Anyway, Ben and Jeff resume their discussion of Nisio Isin's work in adaptation, after much delay, with Monogatari Series: Off & Monster Season. Enjoy! The post Inbetween 36 - The Biggest Baby (Monogatari Series: Off & Monster Season) first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 138 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Remember back in the 2010s, when anime only ever aired for a single cour, so there wasn't any of this nonsense about shows holding the top spots year after year? Well, at Key Frames, we're fully back on our bullshit, with many returning 2023 favorites topping our list of best anime of 2024, so you really need to listen in to know what's new out there. Don't worry, we cover some manga too, and Ben talks about Texhnolyze again. The post 138 - Our Nightmare Continues first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 35 of Key Frames: Inbetweens, a mini-podcast about anime. Have you felt like something strange and terrible has been hanging over your head for four years, maybe more? Does today seem like it could be the moment when it all comes crashing down? Does it seem at the same time like it could stay up there forever, a sword of Damocles under which you'll be forced to live your life just out of the universal indignity of being born? Will today be the day you make a change, something proactive for once, and avert the disaster that you can't help but see in your future? Will you listen to us talk at last about the works of Inio Asano, the brains behind the recent movie duology and ONA series Dead Dead Demon's DeDeDeDe Destruction? It's not likely to help with all of the above, but it might make you feel like someone else gets it. The post Inbetween 35 - Sonic Screwdriver Vigilante first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 137 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Isn't it kind of amazing to think about how many foods are the result of essentially being left to spoil or mold? Yeast gives us bread and beer, other types of alcohol use fermented cultures of microorganisms, cheese is coagulated and curdled with enzymes from bacteria (or, more incredibly, mammal stomachs), and you can pickle all sorts of things. What sort of superior being could have the thought in the first place to eat food or drink gone bad, though? He'd have to be a genius straight out of a shounen anime: a person with exceptional strength and even more exceptional vision, someone who could bring peace at last to our broken world... Anyway, Ben, Andy, Duncan, and Jeff go over the results of the summer 2024 season, with juicy results. Dig in! The post 137 - Dr. Pizza Stone first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 34 of Key Frames: Inbetweens, a mini-podcast about anime. What do you do when your podcast spotlights something that no one particularly liked? Well, maybe you should listen to this episode and find out! In honor of a second season being announced, after an interval of a decade and a half, Ben, Andy, and Duncan all watched Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, an anime that aspires to the transgressive heights of turn-of-the-millennium Western cartoons by the likes of Genndy Tartakovsky and Craig McCracken. Is it a successful pastiche of all things American? Well, things are said, some of them even nice. To tell you more would be against the rrrrrules! The post Inbetween 34 - What's Cool About America? (Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt) first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 136 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Is Crayon Shin-chan the most popular and successful franchise in anime that has little to no foothold with Western audiences? Maybe it's Sazae-san or Doraemon... Anyway, Ben, Andy, and Duncan all decided to watch the best-reviewed of Crayon Shin-chan's thirty-one feature films (soon to be thirty-two, literally this coming Friday) and talk about it! Does it hold up, almost a quarter of a century later? Is it easy to relate to and cheer for its cast of characters if someone hasn't seen all 1,320 episodes of the anime or read all fifty volumes of the manga? What, exactly, does nostalgia smell like and why is it stinky feet? All this and more will be revealed if you listen in! The post 136 - 7.58 first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 135 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Baki Hanma did not even need to look up from the glass he was cleaning to know that it was Yujiro, his father and the strongest bartender on earth, who pushed aside the door that separated his eight-seat bar from the wind-scoured streets outside. "Good bars have a smell," the hulking figure murmured as he took a seat. "You can search the world over and still not come across a smell like this. Give me something to warm me up." Baki froze for a moment at the request, but soon a glass sat full in front of his latest patron. "Kentucky bourbon. You suppose is sufficient?" Yujiro made it barely sound like a question. "A man needs more than fire for warmth. Maybe you're still just a barback after all..." "Old man, this is George T. Stagg. Famously strong, yet rich and complex, it warms body and soul." With a chuckle, his father raised the drink to cruel and menacing lips. "Nice" was all he said then, but with that single word, Baki the Tippler had won. The post 135 - It Hits Different (Pejorative) first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 33 of Key Frames: Inbetweens, a mini-podcast about anime. One does not care to acknowledge the mistakes in one's podcast, but know this: each host has their own sense of fandom inside of themselves, and they fight desperately to protect their credibility from naysayers! Even when you understand most of the references, even when you realize that it's just people quoting Char Aznable from Mobile Suit Gundam, you keep watching more... That is how true fans operate. Right now, Ben, Duncan, and Jeff are discussing Aoi Honoo, also known as Blue Blazes, as well as its almost-but-not-quite companion piece Otaku no Video, and you're free to listen in... if you can handle them giving Toshio Okada the side-eye. Podcast quality isn't determined by differences in audience numbers, we'll teach you that! The post Inbetween 33 - In the House of the Otaking (Aoi Honoo) first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 134 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. It's our first non-tween episode without Ben! Time to shame him by knocking out the end of the winter and the beginning of the spring anime seasons in a single go. Hear Jeff briefly FranXX it up about Metallic Rouge, while Duncan insists it's just the first anime written by AI! Wonder at Andy calling Train to the End of the World cringe but not Gushing over Magical Girls! Nod along with Duncan's plea that shows like Weakest Tamer play their fantasy settings straight rather than always through the lens of isekai! It really is a madhouse (and not the Japanese animation studio founded in 1972 by ex–Mushi Pro staff) without a certain someone there, huh? The post 134 – We Have Kamen Rider at Home first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 133 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Well, it finally came to pass: to mark the occasion of the wider release of The Boy and the Heron, our intrepid show is doing a retrospective on Studio Ghibli. Sometimes it can feel like there's not really anything new to be said about such well-loved movies, the only anime productions ever to reach such heights as the Academy Awards, but Ben, Andy, and Duncan sure try! Going through the entire forty five-year history of the studio, which includes some of Miyazaki's pre-Ghibli work, while focusing on personal faves like My Neighbor Totoro, Porco Rosso, and The Tale of Princess Kaguya make for quite an adventurous episode. Listen to see if the hosts end up finding a new strength within themselves, returning to the simpler times of yore, becoming closer to nature, or whatever else happens to protagonists of Studio Ghibli films! The post 133 - Miyazaki's Blackstar first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 132 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Why a beginning-of-the-season episode when we're most of the way towards the end of said season? Well, there's so much anime to watch these days that our schedule got away from us. Besides, time feels kind of awash right now, with hit fantasy manga adaptation Dungeon Meshi coming out while hit fantasy manga adaptation Sousou no Frieren is still in play, not to mention Urusei Yatsura, The Dangers in My Heart, and Burn the Witch all getting new installments. Ben, Andy, Duncan, and Jeff are doing their level best to navigate these crowded waters, and they'll be carrying you along with them as they talk about everything from isekai to romance anime! The post 132 - I Have Killed the Part that Cringes first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 131 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. The flickering red light turns a steady yellow, and you reel at your good fortune. The time borehole is actually stable. And they said it couldn't be done! You swiftly dial an uplink into the first satellite that returns your ping and start leeching torrents. Torrents! They weren't as popular in 2024 as they were a decade or so previous, but the temporal range of your borehole is limited, and any year before the fall represents an untold trove of data. The file names flash before your eyes like magic runes set alight: [Darwin-Arwen]_The_Apothecary_Diaries_15_[03EC69E7].mkv, [SubsDontSuck]_Migi_to_Dali_-_09_[F0DA18DD].mkv, [xX.weed.alien.Xx]16bit.Sensation.Another.Layer.02[61B6CFAD].mp4... The last one seems familiar for whatever reason, but no matter. Even if the connection only holds an hour, you're guaranteed the largest anime collection of anyone still alive in the tents! Though the last several years have been hell, absolute hell, you can feel yourself start to smile. Not just smile, you let out a laugh. You just laugh and laugh and laugh and laugh. The post 131 - Jokerfied first appeared on Key Frames.

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. The post 130 - Bocchi the Cave first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 129 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. The works of Osamu Tezuka are often concerned with the human spirit in conditions of extremity, with what remains of a person when malevolent forces or just the vagaries of circumstance have stripped everything else away. Phoenix: Eden17 and Pluto, the anime discussed by Ben, Andy, Duncan, and Jeff in this episode of the podcast, even go so far as to feature synthetic and alien life forms among their casts, as a means of further interrogating the good and bad of what makes each of us human. Anyway, apropos of nothing at all regarding extremity, try to guess which of the hosts was coming doing with a bruiser of a migraine in the short span of recording! The post 129 - Tezuka-Pilled first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 128 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. "Now they've really jumped the shark," you're thinking to yourself. "I could stand them talking about manga, since you can kind of flip through the pages quickly and pretend that it's animated, but live-action TV and movies?" Well, I'm here to tell you that every podcast runs out of ideas, so we need to start laying the groundwork for the hosts to be able to complain about Ahsoka and Doom Patrol. Kidding! But also Ben, Andy, Duncan, and Jeff discover that they've watched more live-action adaptations than they might have thought, when this topic was first pitched, and that they have some hot takes on them, too! The post 128 - The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love to Twerk first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 127 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. I'm sure everyone's experienced it: some of your friends happen to throw a party or something while you're out of town, and when you get back you realize that they seem to have had so much fun without you that you can't help but... I don't know, question yourself? "Am I the problem?" you wonder. "Is my constant fixation on production pedigree and overintellectualized themes dragging down the conversation, rather than elevating it? Would everyone be better off without me?" Well, Ben doesn't feel that way at all, on the first mainline Key Frames episode that he's not on. Andy, Duncan, and Jeff handle the task of running down the list of anime from the summer 2023 season just fine! Except for that "cheesy chips" bit. The post 127 - The Joe Rogan of Manga first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 126 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. How are you really supposed to decide which to watch first, though, in a duology where there is no canonical order? I feel like it's a personality test that never gives me the result, unless the result is my enjoyment. I guess that makes a kind of sense? Anyway, tune in to hear Ben, Andy, Duncan, and Jeff take the quiz that is To Every You I've Loved Before and To Me, the One Who Loved You, plus some other shows that they've been watching lately. There are no few surprises, let me tell you. The post 126 - Hime Cut and a Sundress first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 125 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Interpersonal politics are intense in the cloistered complex of the harem. Ben, the would-be intellectual, knows only disdain for the latest season of Rent-a-Girlfriend and, though Andy is his ally in that regard, there are darker paths that he walks alone. Yohane the Parhelion? Perish the thought. Meanwhile, Duncan has unearthed a piece of Fate/stay night media that he thinks will change everything, but will it win the shogun's favor or doom them all? Only someone as well-versed in the new Ooku anime as they are could say. The post 125 - Sweating and Beating Off Constantly first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 124 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Sometimes, while writing the post for an episode, I have to remember to add a content warning when an anime dabbles in the medium's darker tendencies, like depictions of self-harm and sexual assault. This time, I get to do it for two different things in two different shows! Oh boy. Still, you should tune in to hear Ben, Andy, and Duncan talk about Oshi no Ko and Tengoku Daimakyo, along with the rest of the highlights of the spring anime season, because there was some good stuff there. Ben even liked more than one show! No, not either of the aforementioned ones. The post 124 - Child Idol, Child Soldier first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 32 of Key Frames: Inbetweens, a mini-podcast about anime. It's time to rock out with Masaaki Yuasa's latest movie, Inu-Oh! Not to spoil, but everyone loves it. What all do they like? Is it the real-life talent behind this medieval Japanese rock opera? Is it the wonderful celebration of difference? Is it the opportunity to bring up Heike Monogatari as much as humanly possible? Listen and you're certain to find out. The post 32 - Ballet on the Water (Inu-Oh) first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 123 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. What follows is a list of podcast HR violations in this episode, as reported by a certain B. Halliburton: Andy talked about the new iDOLM@STER show for over five minutes; Duncan brought up Trigun Stampede unprompted, for the purpose of causing emotional distress; Andy refused to concede that the new KonoSuba spinoff is unfunny; Andy willfully misinterpreted the boomers in Bubblegum Crisis to be senior citizens; Duncan and Andy scoffed at the spring 2023 anime season being described as "slow"; and Duncan needlessly sexualized the casts of Tsurune, Yuri on Ice, and Free. Disciplinary action is forthcoming. We at Key Frames appreciate your patience and understanding during this difficult time. The post 123 - Married to Mamiko Noto first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 122 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Yes, Ben got way too mad about Trigun Stampede, but he also has such nice things to say about the second seasons of Tsurune and Vinland Saga. Yes, Duncan's watched some skeevy shows, but he's dropped most of them and is willing to hold Andy to account (or maybe vice versa) on Onimai, at least? Yes, it was a lean season, leaner than most, but there's still a lot of stuff to talk about. It's not like we get paid, but it's still our job, so tune in! The post 122 - The Wages of Podcasting first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 31 of Key Frames: Inbetweens, a mini-podcast about anime. It is we who plowed the prairies, built the cities where they trade / Dug the mines and built the workshops, endless miles of railroad laid / Now we stand outcast and starving midst the wonders we have made / But the union makes us strong! Come listen to Ben, Andy, and Duncan express their solidarity with a red panda and a hyena as they muse on the end of Netflix's Aggretsuko. The post Inbetween 31 - Melon Orange Cola (Aggretsuko 5th Season) first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 121 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. You know, someday we're going to find a way to get through the beginnings and ends of anime seasons in an efficient manner. We've tried pre-prep, agendas, a timekeeper, hand signals, a rota system, and plan ol' talking over each other. Nothing works! You get deep in the weeds talking about the wonky pacing of Urusei Yatsura remake or the dramatic stakes of Chainsaw Man and suddenly ten minutes have flown by. You let that happen a dozen times and suddenly you've got a movie-length podcast about all the crap Ben, Andy, Duncan, Jeff, and Jon watched for the fall 2022 and winter 2023 anime seasons. Oh right, Jon's back, too! See how the disorganization creeps up on you? We'll do better. We always do better. The post 121 - Imouto-fied first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 120 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. There's always something left over at the end of the year, isn't there? Andy has some awards to hand out, many of them to manga and live-action films. Duncan wanted one more look back on the changing face of the anime industry, and Ben has eight shows (maybe more) that he hasn't gotten to talk about yet. Jeff just needs to finish Akiba Maid War! As the uncomfortable immediacy of this episode description prompts you to reflect on your own unfinished business, why don't you put us on? You can zone out to ninety-odd minutes of freeform discussion about almost everything, with a hearty side of holiday cheer. Look forward to what 2023 holds! The post 120 - Serious Experiments Lain first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 30 of Key Frames: Inbetweens, a mini-podcast about anime. Revue Starlight is a story of podcast hosts guided by the sureness of their opinions. They agree and disagree. They make good points even as they miss the overall picture. However, eventually the episode ends, never to be revisited again. It is a somber experience... but the story of those nine girls hopelessly captivates Ben and Duncan. Knowing all that they face, the tragedy that shall someday come, will you still choose to join them on stage? I understand. The post Inbetween 30 - Best Girlism (Revue Starlight the Movie) first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 119 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. A slice-of-life show about building and repairing things by yourself? Too much work. A high-budget reboot of a storied anime from the eighties? Maybe your grandpa cares. A new installment of Gundam? I ought to check out the original series first. A thrilling action-comedy about mid-century spies? I'm not bothering with it if the source manga doesn't have an ending. Chainsaw Man? Chainsaw Man. There are so many reasons out there not to watch anime, but this episode is full of Ben, Andy, Duncan, and Jeff telling you why you should... well, unless it's something Ben doesn't feel like watching, we aren't responsible for him. The post 119 - Spamily first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 118 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Apologies are in order for this episode. Apologies that it's taken us four years since our episode on The Night Is Short, Walk on Girl to talk about the anime that started it all, The Tatami Galaxy. Apologies that two of the shows we discuss in our end-of-season wrap-up, Overlord IV and Call of the Night, weren't even done airing when we recorded this. Apologies for lifting this episode's title from an excellent review of Rent-a-Girlfriend 2nd Season by Nicholas Dupree. And, most of all, apologies that we recorded this while Ben thought he had ragweed allergies but was actually coming down with a bruiser of a cold. It doesn't affect the energy that much, we promise! The post 118 - The Girlfriend Terminator first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 117 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Well, now that Ben has watched Vision of Escaflowne and Magic Knight Rayearth, he's decided that he likes isekai anime, so in this episode he joins Duncan to dive into the development of the genre. What nuggets of wisdom will they unearth from the distant eighties and nineties? Will Ben discover that he is actually able to appreciate The Twelve Kingdoms now? Will Duncan be able to thread the needle of InuYasha being isekai? Ben certainly tries to do that when they talk later about Aria, the "other world" in question of course being Mars. Check it all out for yourself! The post 117 - Undine Monthly first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 116 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Nine out of ten doctors agree, it's best to get one's excitement or disappointment over new anime out at the very beginning of the season. Accordingly, in the interests of good health, Ben declares war on the latest season of Rent-a-Girlfriend, shocking absolutely no one, while Jeff has nothing but hope for yet another girls-with-guns show. Andy, brave as ever, has declared that an isekai parody is the best anime of the season, despite its lack of songs by Creepy Nuts, and Duncan... well, Duncan's doing just fine with his theories on heavy metal and masculinity. Strap in, this one's a biggie! The post 116 - Rude Nude Dude 'Tude first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 115 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. That's right, it's another discussion of everyone's favorite cyberpunk franchise! It's been barely a month since Ben and Duncan cautiously praised the first few episodes of the second season of Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045, but now they're back to say that the caution was warranted and that the series represents a nadir for Kenji Kamiyama's otherwise interesting career. What did they like, what did they hate, and how does it relate to the broader conversation about producing and marketing franchises in anime? Why, you'll have to listen to find out! Also, note that this is the last of Key Frames' biweekly episodes: from this point onward, we'll be releasing episodes on the first Tuesday of every month, to permit more of our hosts to attend more regularly. The post 115 - The Franchise Is Vast and Infinite first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 114 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. What's the biggest surprise in this episode? Is it that Jeff managed to watch eight love comedies, in whole or in part, and found none of them to be particularly great? Is it that Ben expressed disappointment about two of the spring anime season's biggest hits after claiming repeatedly to be jaded about all of them? Is it that Duncan's favorite show happened to be something called The Executioner and Her Way of Life? All of this and more will be revealed to you when you listen to this latest episode. The post 114 - Time Will Ripen first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 29 of Key Frames: Inbetweens, a mini-podcast about anime. We just did a tween on Mobile Suit Gundam, one of the defining franchises of anime, so why not another? Jeff and Duncan drink deeply of the original Ghost in the Shell movie, which they praise for asking questions more than giving answers, and they ponder how it pointed the way forward (and, in a handful of cases, backward) for cyberpunk as a genre, anime as a medium, and cyborgs as a lens through which to view alienation from one's own body and society. It's not quite what it could be, since Ben couldn't be there, but maybe he'll be back in the next episode to give everyone what for. The post Inbetween 29 - An "Every Other Year" Thing (Ghost in the Shell (1995)) first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 113 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Isn't it strange sometimes how things can have opposite meanings in different contexts? If I call something "magic," depending on the tone of my voice, I could be saying either that it's a beautiful spectacle of otherworldly mystery or that it's complete bullshit that doesn't explain anything and means nothing on its own. I guess that's just how context works, though. Is "selling out" really a possibility if all anime, at least outside of crowdfunding, is corporate on some level? Is it really a sequel to Ghost in the Shell: Stand-Alone Complex if it's just recycling elements from previous installments in the franchise? Ben and Duncan discuss this and more in our latest episode! The post 113 - It's Just Magic first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 112 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. I know we talk a lot about sex on this podcast but, to be fair, anime is extremely horny. As fans of it, we have to apologize for (or at least tolerate) jiggling boobs, panty shots, and more or less everything about the "harem" subgenre. That's why it's kind of a relief to talk about adult relationships in the shows we like! You know, people having sex first and then catching feelings, people whose connections with their partners are more about comfort than romance, and of course the endless (and endlessly) homoerotic fan service of shounen and seinen battlers. Not to mention that, after the break, we have One Piece talk from Andy, Magic Knight Rayearth talk from Ben, and School Days talk from Jeff, while Duncan scoffs at us all! The post 112 - World of Sex first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 28 of Key Frames: Inbetweens, a mini-podcast about anime. The creeping obsession with Mobile Suit Gundam shared by Ben, Duncan, and Jeff gains another toehold in the podcast with this tween on the celebrated 1989 OVA written by none other than Hiroyuki Yamaga of Studio GAINAX fame. Hear our hosts talk about being anti-war in an anime designed first and foremost to sell toys, about the beauty and demise of hand-painted cel animation, and their evolving relationship with this, the nonpareil of mecha anime! And don't worry, complaints about how annoying Al is and how dumb Lt. Col. Killing's name is are kept to a minimum. The post Inbetween 28 - Space Is Not the Place (Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket) first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 111 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. You'd think that Ben and Andy couldn't hold down a podcast by themselves, but you'd be wrong. These hosts are two great tastes that taste great together, and they even agree on some anime! Hear them heap praise on Ya Boy Kongming! and Spy x Family, two of the big winners at the outset of the spring 2022 anime season, and hear them heap... other kinds of things on the rest of the shows they're watching. Just kidding, it's way better pickings that last season! The post 111 - Honey Carole Clover Tuesday first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 110 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. What do you do when recapping an anime season almost entirely dominated by two or three shows? Why, you have an end-of-season episode where every anime gets a full five to fifteen minutes of discussion, for once! My Dress-Up Darling and The Case Study of Vanitas are the clear winners, in terms of time devoted to them, but Ben, Duncan, and Jeff find something to love even in relative disappointments like Akebi's Sailor Uniform and Ranking of Kings. And that's not even taking into account the older stuff they talk about near the end! Surely, not one to miss. The post 110 - Tinfoil and Black Oil first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 27 of Key Frames: Inbetweens, a mini-podcast about anime. It's time for a rematch on whether Violet Evergarden is profoundly moving or manipulatively sappy! Duncan, Andy, and Jeff square up over the sequel movie that was released two years ago in Japan and last year worldwide, but don't worry, it's not Violet-loving Andy vs. the world this time. Jeff and even Duncan join him at times in praising the movie, in between analyzing it as a meditation on discomfort with modernity and the instantaneous communication that underpins it. Should you watch Violet Evergarden: The Movie, even if you haven't seen the show first? Well... maybe you should listen and find out! The post Inbetween 27 - The Letters You Don't Write (Violet Evergarden: The Movie) first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 109 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. If you thought that last episode's dissection of a particular host's taste in anime girls was a good time, you're really in for a treat! It's the topic now, although Duncan dresses it up by making it about how off-putting fan service in anime can be. Listen to how everyone loves tsundere characters, Andy recommending Jeff some peak yandere content, and Jeff being disappointed that The Case Study of Vanitas isn't hornier! Oh, also, Ben watched Kageki Shoujo!! and of course he loves it. The post 109 - A Skinemax Mentality first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 108 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Once upon a time, Andy bought Ben a couple of video games as gifts, but Ben didn't make the time to play them, so Andy made Ben feel really bad about that fact on a podcast to which dozens of people listen. This is now the final episode, because Ben's going into hiding. Kidding! We are talking about NEETs and hikikomori, though, so Ben's embarrassment and shame are fitting in a way. Also, after the break, Andy and Jeff talk about Ranking of Kings and other anime currently airing, while Ben gives his take on the decade-old Mardock Scramble movies. The post 108 - The Hobby Fairy first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 107 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. I hope you're prepared to hear Ben, Andy, and Duncan say, "I don't know," a lot! Turns out, there are a lot of different ways to come at depictions of religion in anime, from its function in society to the nature of divinity. Don't worry, all of the hosts find plenty of opportunities to bring up cyberpunk and isekai, so you'll still know that you're listening to an anime podcast. To further cement that impression, after the break, they talk about recent shows and movies like Belle, Orbital Children, and the Shirobako movie. Check it out! The post 107 - Rebuild Yourself first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 106 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. The thing about writing blurbs for the podcast is that sometimes your present self gets mad at your past self for squandering ideas. Like, sure, last episode's end-of-season coverage was barren enough to joke about, especially without Jon's contributions, but it was like a lush, fertile field compared to this episode's beginning-of-season lineup. Four hosts watching six shows between them, three of which are sequels or continuations! Goodness gracious, what a world. At least Ben, Andy, Duncan, and Jeff get plenty of conversation out of Akebi's Sailor Uniform and My Dress-Up Darling, as well as reaching back to the anime of previous years to talk about Steins;Gate, Magic Knight Rayearth, and whatever nonsense show Andy's in love with. The post 106 - Wide-Faced Girls first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 105 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. After an entire season of complaining that there weren't many shows worth talking about, can Ben, Andy, Duncan, and Jeff fill up almost two hours with conversation anyway? What are you talking about, of course they can! They have Komi Can't Communicate and the fourth season of Aggretsuko to wrestle with, as well as Blue Period and Ranking of Kings to praise as pleasant surprises. Even in a leaner season of anime, there's always something to say. The post 105 - Monarch'd first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 26 of Key Frames: Inbetweens, a mini-podcast about anime. Six years and a hundred and twenty-three episodes ago, in an earlier era of the podcast, Ben pitched an episode spotlighting the film adaptation of Clamp's apocalyptic manga. Instead, everyone picked Natsuyuki Rendezvous, an anime that Ben hated. Now he'll have his revenge! Duncan and Jeff join him to wonder in bafflement at the attempt to cram a half-dozen volumes of material into an hour and a half of screen time... and maybe find something to love? Not Andy, though. Andy calls in at the end to say that it's pants. The post Inbetween 26 - Afraid of the Future (X/1999) first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 104 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. These anime are short, but so are our attention spans! Whenever they manage to stay on the topic of short-form anime, you'll get to hear Ben talk about anthology movies, Duncan about the Japan Animator Expo, and Andy about music videos (and a very randy robot). Also, tune in for the scoop on the newest installment of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, which definitely doesn't involve any phonetic shenanigans with the protagonist's name. The post 104 - Jone Jocean first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 103 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. You thought we covered maids in episode 41, the one about And Yet the Town Moves, but the joke's on you! Ben, Duncan, and Jeff barely talk about that anime at all this time, preferring instead to wallow in garbage like Mahoromatic and He Is My Master. After the break, at least, they class things up a bit with discussions of Heike Monogatari and the Type-Moon franchise? You'll have to see for yourself if it was all worth it. The post 103 - No Old Maids first appeared on Key Frames.