The Casual Anime Podcast

Join the Casual Anime podcast in wrapping up the story of a million characters, the second season of Dead Mount Death Play. With so many storylines intertwining and left up in the air, will this 2nd season give us all the closure we need as we wait for a potential season 3, or are we left with an unsatisfying conclusion as a bunch of brewing conflicts are brought to a climactic close?

As we ease into 2024 with a slow start, we can now finally close the book on the never ending final season of Attack on Titan. Join The Casual Anime Podcast in summing up the ending of AoT, and an assortment of other popular anime that we have never properly covered, but now is a good time to acknowledge. Spoiler warnings for Attack On Titan and Naruto.

It might be time for a pallet-cleanser, and what better way to prepare for a 2024 reset than to watch a Shinkai film? Although Suzume is visually stunning and expertly crafted, can we finally see signs that Shinkai has actually evolved as a filmmaker? Join The Casual Anime Podcast as we dissect another lensflare bonanza!

"Pluto," is the Netflix anime that quietly captivates its audience with its intricate storytelling and its take on the impending AI takeover. Delivering a thoughtful look at the possible moral dilemmas that will arise when dealing with advanced artificial intelligence and our treatment of it. Join us as The Causal Anime Podcast discuss the pros and cons of an AI symbiosis and this series in general.

For the first few episodes, My Happy Marriage had everything going for it, and an entire community rooting for an aranged marriage. Lovebirds and romance enjoyers alike were trilled by the obviously perfect match that was portrayed on screen and were eagerly awaiting what would come next. The Casual Anime Podcast attempts to unpack the events that unfurled and break down in what ways the anime succeeded and where it might have fallen short.

Because Western broadcasters seem to have a fetish for embarrassment we are getting a non stop deluge of bad live-action adaptations that has no one ever asked for. So in the case of Netflix' One Piece adaptation the bar was already set incredibly low. Though somehow, inexplicably they've exceeded expectations and assembled a cast that has managed to captivate audiences world wide. Join The Casual Anime Podcast in figuring out if this is the new superior way of experiencing the One Piece universe.

Today, The Causal Anime Podcast dive headfirst into Narita Ryohgo's peculiar world of "Dead Mount Death Play,". The lines between life and death are heavily blurred in this universe by the existence of an overpowered main character necromancer, but the show somewhat manages to keep the tension up by a cleaver method of slowly revealing new antagonists. Although not as critically acclaimed as some of his other works, hopefully this just means that there better content in store for us in the already announced seasons to come.

Sometimes works of fiction are based on historic events, but Vinland Saga takes this concept a step further trying to rewrite the 11th century's exploration of North America and the rise of King Cnut, ruler of England, Denmark and Norway. Season one is a long winded tale of a young boy seeking revenge in a midst of a viking invasion. It's certainly more Heimskringla(King's Saga) than Vinland Saga at this point.

"All that is gold does not glitter," and not all those who wander are necessarily lost, but most of the depraved lunatics our protagonist duo encounters in this post apocalyptic Japan are pretty safe to judge by appearance, albeit not necessarily the way you'd Imagine. For the Casual Anime Podcast we reckon we've developed a pretty good radar to scope out weirdos as they appear on screen. Tune in to hear our less than groundbreaking discoveries!

Join us for a captivating podcast episode as The Casual Anime Podcast dives into the latest season of Demon Slayer. We discuss the merits and drawbacks of Tanjiro going solo in the Swordsmith Arc and compare it to its predecessors. Will Tanjiro be able to not break his new sword for once, or is he destined to make many returns to the swordsmiths? We'd also like to apologize for the dip in audio quality in this episode. Hopefully we can sort it out for our next episode!

When you consider the fact that some places on earth don't really experience seasons, the term "summertime" might bear next to no meaning to some. Though, for the inhabitants of a fictional town in the non fictional country of Japan, "summertime" is almost synonymous with murder mysteries and sightings of sinister local deities. If you also enjoyed this 25 episode supernatural drama consider tuning in to compare notes!

"Weathering with You" is a thought-provoking film from renowned director Makoto Shinkai. Set in a rain-soaked Tokyo, our young protagonist seeks solace in a city plagued by incessant rainfall and gloom. As Hodaka's path intersects with Hina, a girl with the extraordinary ability to control the weather, they embark on a tumultuous journey where their choices have far-reaching consequences. The film's themes invite introspection about human impact on the environment. It explores the ethical dilemma of altering nature for personal gain and the potential repercussions that arise from disturbing the natural order of things. Tune in to hear our verdict!

With catchy music, relatable characters, and a heartwarming story of perseverance and friendship, Bocchi the Rock is a look at how an introvert rocker conquers the world of stage show music, one performance at the time. We follow Bocchi & band and discuss the merits of one of the Fall 2022 standout releases.

A doctor is tasked with delivering the twins of sixteen-year-old idol, but in a sick twist of fate he ends up dying and reincarnating as one of the twins. Opening his eyes in the lap of his beloved idol, and still retaining the memories of his past life, Aquamarine, as he is know known, soon learns that the world of showbiz is paved with terrible intentions. To succeed you must walk the path of crushed hopes and broken dreams, filled to the brim with cheats, liars and jealous backstabbers. Will an 82 minute first episode be able to keep an audience enticed for the full duration? Karsten was certainly blown away by it!

After the intense train battle, Tanjiro and co finds themselves in yet another life or death situation in a new environment and with a new "senpai". Will breathtaking animation and intense action sequences be enough to keep us entertained? Will tanjiro's "asthmatic" lungs hold out an entire fight? Tune in to find out!

In search of improved breathing techniques our 3 intrepid travelers board a train. Although this train is bound for nowhere there is no gambling Kenny Rodgers onboard to tell them when to hold and when to fold. There is just these ultra deadly adversaries' that might be too much for our boys to handle, so maybe the best that one might hope for is dying in our sleep.

In the distant future, humanity has colonized the vast reaches of space, and with it, conflict between the various space colonies has erupted. Enter the mysterious witch, Cassandra Mercury, who possesses incredible psychic powers that she uses to fight for the freedom of her people. As war rages on, Cassandra finds herself drawn into the conflict, piloting the powerful mobile suit Gundam in battle. But as she fights to defend her people and their way of life, Cassandra begins to uncover dark secrets about the war and the true motives of those she is fighting against. With intense mecha battles, complex political intrigue, and a strong female protagonist, Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury is a thrilling addition to the iconic Gundam franchise. Will Cassandra be able to overcome the challenges she faces and lead her people to victory, or will the weight of the conflict prove too much for even a powerful psychic like herself? Tune in to find out!

Another year, another Yuru Camp episode for the Casual Anime Podcast. This time we'll be covering the 2022 Yuru Camp Film by C-Station studio. This Film explores how, in a a not so distant future, the girls in the Outdoor Activities Club might be implement camping in their adult lives as well. Commissioned the by the Yamanashi Tourism Organisation they take on the task of repurposing abandoned land to build a modern campsite, mostly because of their love of camping, but perhaps this is might be an opportunity to boost some careers as well?

Odd as it may seem, a story about an calm and collected taxi driving walrus might be one of the best animes of 2021. Not only is it an intriguing tale of Odokawa's conflict to untangle his friends from the clutches of organized crime factions, it also highlights the virtues of ordinary hardworking people while throwing mayor shade at the idol industry and the social media clout chase grind. Tune in as we discuss the antics of this heroic walrus.

Ironically having encountered Faputa at the very start of the 6th layer, a whole arc of misery and suffering could have transpired off screen if they only had revealed themselves to the exploring trio. Instead we get to dissect what feels like the inevitable conclusion to a century and a half long period of borrowed time, granted to the citizens of the Golden City of the Scorching Sun. This is a tale of horrendous trolley problems, hopeless poison pickings and cursed monkey paws.

Unlike most fantasy vampire romances, Kotoyama's Call of the Night raked in tons of acclaim during it's Summer 2022 runtime and accrued quite a significant following. A following so significant in fact, that securing the funding for a potential season 2 should be quite trivial at this point. With that in mind, tune in to hear us discuss it's flaws and merits and determine if it might be overrated.

Eastern Germany had 500 000 informants among it's 18million citizens, where apparently 10 000 of them were under age of 18. Japan's Lycoris initiative aims to put the these highly unethical practices to shame by putting high school girls at the front lines of the domestic war on terror. Tune in for our recap of the 2022 summer series Lycoris Recoil.

Bones' director Tamura Koutarou is the latest to throw his hat in the ring with his own adaptation of the story of Josee, the Tiger and the Fish. Rather puzzlingly, none of the themes or plot points immediately enlightens us as to why this short story from 1984 has been adapted at least 4 times since. It would certainly suggest the story is timeless classic that has finally made the jump to the silver screen, so let's find out if this movie and story is as timeless as they would have us believe

Three episodes into Made in Abyss S2's runtime The Casual Anime Podcast decide it's finally time to catch up with the intrepid trio of explorers. This episode also covers the 3rd movie: «Dawn of The Deep Soul» as well as the currently released episodes of season 2 at the time of recording. Predictably we're still quite slow on the releases.

"Visuals good, but story bad" seem to be the common stance among critics in regards to Tetsurô Araki's latest film, Bubble. While we're not inclined to totally disagree with that statement the Casual Anime Podcast certainly have our own "hot takes" on this 2022 Netflix film.

Brushing off months of metaphorical dust the Casual Anime Podcast makes it's return by riding the coattails of Spring 2022's biggest success. Catch our thoughts, impressions and predictions based of the first 8 episodes of Spy x Family.

If you only make terrible decisions in your first life, will that mean you'll make better choices in your next? You might think the shame and remorse of being a jobless shut-in in a culture like Japan would push you to become the best possible version of yourself, but it just goes to show that under different circumstances you can remain the same degenerate and still be successful in spite of it. As this wolf in sheep's-clothing approach has a certain amount of appeal to it, his lack of developing basic human decency is probably by design, but that's might be giving an isekai author too much credit.

It never rains in Southern California, and apparently it never rains on the Outdoor Activities Club either, despite Yamanashi Prefecture averaging 117 days of rain a year. Even so, Yuru Camp is almost perfect, even without damp, muddy camping trips. Camping as a concept however, clearly isn't, and this anime will never convince us otherwise.

As the quite obscure manga artist, Toboso, Yana once said: “Something once lost will never return.”, and for a while there, we were quite inclined to believe him. Nevertheless, The Casual Anime Podcast dedicates it's tepid return to one of Studio Ghibli's retro style projects. Probably one of their lesser known works in the west, the adaptation of “The Tale of Princess Kaguya” got all the critics' adoration but left little cultural impact on the western anime consumer.

After a lengthy span of doing nothing, The Casual Anime Podcast once again return to a soundcloud near you. We're kicking it of with a quick 4 episode preview of In/Spectre, but somehow still mange to mess it up. The narrative thread and pacing might be all over the place, but at it's core this story is surprisingly entertaining and unironically funny.

As we enter Autumn, usually that means back to school for the "After school Club anime genre", but apparently this also includes cast of 4 independent isekai shows. Isekai quartet falls into a certain category of shows, entered with low expectations to counter of the obvious and deliberate lack of animation. Could a show like this survive purely on the popularity of it's characters, or was it actually required to be as funny as it was to garner the attention it recived?

It could almost seem like Studio Cloverworks learnt nothing from the backlash garnered by Darling in the FranXX, when they within the very first episode manages emphasize every single similarity between two series that ultimately are completely different genres. But apparently nothing could stop this anime's momentum, so naturally the podcast is once again at odds with the general public opinion of a cliffhanger ending on a cliffhanger

The 2019 winter season had anime fans watching with a morbid fascination as Dome x Kano stole the spotlight. Degenerate debauchery seems like an apt description as the main character hooks up with not just one, but both his step sisters within the span of a couple of weeks.

Who would have thought that the coming of age story of a boring, pessimistic klutz would be the film that would bring the eastern style of animation and storytelling all the way to Hollywood? The Academy Awards, which has in latter years become an utter disgrace to the industry it vows to celebrate, could back in 2003 still be considered a badge of honor, when it chose recognize the genius of Hayao Miyazaki.

With 2019s most generic anime title, Demon Slayer would probably have to exceed expectations to even garner a modicum of interest from an old jaded anime watcher. As both of us will probably be watching the show weekly from now on, this is one of the strongest endorsement we could give. Of course usual caveats of anime quality not staying consistent apply.

In the student council of Shuchiin Academy, unbeknownst to the regular plebeians, there rages an intense battle of wit and will. Two people almost destined to discover their first high school romance are being kept apart by pride, prejudice and an inability for honesty.

As if dying wasn't depressing enough, the arbiters of the underworld aren't an especially cheery bunch either. For being the Japan's answer to St. Peter at the pearly gates, these stoic individuals are surprisingly bad at their jobs. It is in this prosess of judgement Death Parade inserts itself as we follow people of varying degrees of sinfulness face their final(?) judgement.

Despite a slight delay the podcast finally covers the anime that could arguably be defined as the best widely accessible "gateway anime". Hopefully that is a sentiment that will still remain true even after season 2 is finally released. If rumors and public reception is to be believed, it seems quite obvious that preview footage and general marketing for the new season has done irreparable damage to One Punch Man's spotless reputation.Luckily that controversy will remain a topic for later discussion if we eventually decide to watch S2.

Mari Okada's 2018 fantasy drama is an array strange timeskips, broken promises and tragic goodbyes. Although this film seems to have certain underlying messages about motherhood, sanctity of life and the compassionless ebb and flow of time, it is rarely consistent and would almost seem that narrative is at odds with itself. I guess it just goes to show that you never really stop being a parent no matter what happens.

The Casual Anime Podcast once again tries their hand at a Mamoru Hosoda film. Although this film seems far more relatable (to us) than his other work, this film is adamantly targeting the primordial parental instinct, thereby making it less about "coming of age", and rather more about "coming to terms" with your children growing up.

Mob is back, but certainly not with a vengeance. He is just his usual self going trough the motions of puberty in a body exploding with psychic potential. It seems evident that success follows in the wake of web manga creator ONE and his bizarro take on the classical hero franchises. Season 2 of Mob Psycho 100 is no exception, and might be a AotY contender when 2019 comes to a close.

Tune in to a 3 episode preview of the morally dubious show Domestic Girlfriend. 3 episodes is probably also all you'll need to figure out that this is no fairy tale romance and that people will get hurt. Our podcast is slightly delayed, but hopefully the topics are still relevant for the currently airing show.

For our first collaboration of 2019 we once again join forces with Ian from @retroanime to discuss Trigger's 2018 SSSS.Gridman. This series seems to be pretty decisive within the general anime community. A divide probably created by the tokusatsu inspired settings, and is only amplified by the extreme high and low points this series hits.

Dororo is shaping up to be one of the hottest new anime of 2019. Being solely judged on the merits of 3 episodes this is certainly a show that leaves an excellent first impression, and still leaves room for potential development. True greatness seems within reach.

In a dystopian future who could have guessed that the World health Organisation would be a proprietor of a totalitarian regime that provides you perfect health in exchange for your silent obedient consent. Harmony tries it's hand at a wide variety of animation techniques without particularly mastering any, and being pretty average across the board seems to be a recurring theme for this film.

A new season of anime is a foot, so it only seems appropriate that we wrap up the previous season in a timely manner. While it didn't break into any favorites lists Goblin Slayer certainly left an impression on the 2018 Fall anime season, and for better or worse it seems we just can't to stop talking about it.

It seems it's once again time to take a look at yet another exquisitely detailed Ghilbi film. In a reverse BFG universe tiny "borrowers" are living in your house and stealing/borrowing your food without you even realizing. Depicting both sides' reaction to discovery, Arrietty casts a wide net without being especially appealing to any age-group.

Another episode from the archives. Tune in as the Casual Anime podcast gets everything wrong about Black Lagoon. With the start of a new year and thus a new season it seems we will have some catching up to so. Stay tuned for coverage of the series that peaked our interest in 2018.

Sometimes the stars align to create a perfect set of circumstances that can only be described as a miracle. For 3 homeless people in Tokyo the prospect of Christmas miracles is but an unhealthy daydream not afforded the likes of them. Nevertheless, on this auspicious Christmas night dreams really do come true, but perhaps not the way they were originally envisioned.

The blatant theft of the works of legendary fantasy writer J.R.R. Tolkien continues in the 10th episode of Goblin Slayer. The is a certain calm before the storm as Goblin Slayer per usual neglects his harem and prepares his equipment for the inevitable next onslaught.

With the realization that the mirror discovered in ep. 8 is the source of the goblins in the sewers, the Goblin Slayer disposes of it in the most boring fashion imaginable. And that pretty much sets the tone of the entire episode. The tamest outcomes comes to fruition as the ragtag group move on to their next adventure.