Podcasts about follow sean chapman

It's our final podcast of 2022 before we take a little hiatus to work on other projects, and it's a supersized episode featuring three video game reviews for the price of one! First up is Sonic Frontiers, Sega's new 3D Sonic game combining open-world exploration, collect-a-thon objectives, and linear platform levels, a weird but compelling package that may well be the best 3D game the blue hedgehog has ever enjoyed. Next is Pokémon Scarlet & Violet, the technically troubled but creatively superb 9th generation of Pokémon adventures, which Jonathan can't stop playing despite the presentational flaws. And finally, we go deep with God of War Ragnarok, in full spoiler detail, to break down one of the greatest video game sequels ever made and the amazingly moving story it tells. Enjoy, and we will see you all in January for a new year of The Weekly Stuff, and in February for Season 2 of Japanimation Station – Ufotable/Moon Works! Time Chart:Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:11:20Sonic Frontiers: 0:11:20 – 0:43:10Pokémon Scarlet/Violet: 0:43:10 – 1:23:06God of War Ragnarok: 1:23:06 – 3:14:46Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!Subscribe to Japanimation Station, our Anime Podcast!Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in Apple Podcasts!Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter!

Today, November 28th, marks…well, it marks nothing, but October 8th marked the 30th birthday of our very own Jonathan Lack, and to celebrate, Sean agreed to let Jonathan surprise him with any podcast topic, which Sean would then have to see through to the end! But we had some scheduling difficulties with our special guest, Jonathan's brother Thomas, who needed to be on this episode to make Jonathan's very weird podcast idea work, so this one's a little bit belated! But like last week's 30th birthday podcast for Sean, Jonathan's come up with a truly crazy idea to force his friend/co-host to engage with, and while we won't spoil the topic just yet – you'll have to listen to find out! – let's just say it's been in the works for over two years, and may one day factor heavily into Jonathan's therapy sessions. Enjoy! Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!Subscribe to Japanimation Station, our Anime Podcast!Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in Apple Podcasts!Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter! 

Today, November 23rd, marks the 30th birthday of our very own Sean Chapman, and to celebrate, Jonathan agreed to let Sean surprise him with any podcast topic, which Jonathan would then have to see through to the end! In this case, that meant an entire month of work and additional recordings, as Sean decided to jump Jonathan into a very weird corner of the internet and make him stay there for several weeks. The result is this week's episode, recorded over 4 weeks as we chart the journey Sean made us go on for his birthday…and the results are very funny. What exactly is the topic? Like all good birthday presents, that's a surprise – you'll just have to listen to find out! Enjoy, and come back next week for Jonathan's 30th birthday podcast, which might be even crazier than this one…Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!Subscribe to Japanimation Station, our Anime Podcast!Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in Apple Podcasts!Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter! 

This week saw one of the highest-profile video game releases of the year with Sony's God of War: Ragnarok for PS4 and PS5, a direct sequel to the outstanding 2018 God of War reboot. We give spoiler-free first impressions on the opening hours of this extremely ambitious game, from the jaw-dropping graphics and presentation to a story that's immediately rich in character and world-building. Before that, though, Jonathan shares a piece he published over the weekend with his take on what films constitute the ‘greatest' ever made, and we both remember the great Kevin Conroy after his passing at age 66. The iconic voice of Batman for 30 years in various media, from The Animated Series to the Arkham video games, Conroy is the definitive Batman, and a much-loved figure in the fandom and industry, who will be deeply missed. Time Chart:Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:11:45Greatest Films Ever: 0:11:45 – 0:35:42Remembering Kevin Conroy: 0:35:42 – 0:49:58God of War Ragnarok: 0:49:58 – 1:28:18 Batman TAS Oral History - https://www.vulture.com/article/oral-history-batman-the-animated-series.html  Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!Subscribe to Japanimation Station, our Anime Podcast!Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in Apple Podcasts!Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter!

It's a very special Halloween episode of The Weekly Stuff Podcast, as we're here on this very spooky day for a deep-dive retrospective review of one of the greatest films ever made: HALLOWEEN, the original John Carpenter classic from 1978 that introduced the world to The Shape, to Jamie Lee Curtis, to one of the most iconic film music themes of all time, and to a hilariously unwieldy franchise that has only gotten stranger over time. But this original film stands very tall on its own as one of the greatest triumphs of American independent filmmaking, a note-perfect exercise in pacing, cinematography, editing, and every other fundamental that makes film great. It's an absolute joy to talk about, but that's not all we have on this episode! We also review the campaign for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II – Here We Go Again! in depth and talk a little about the multiplayer, before discussing some Doctor Who news and puzzling over what's going on with Henry Cavill and The Witcher. Enjoy! Time Chart:Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:02:37Modern Warfare II: 0:02:37 – 0:32:42News: 0:32:42 – 1:03:43Halloween: 1:03:43 – 3:09:39Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!Subscribe to Japanimation Station, our Anime Podcast!Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in Apple Podcasts!Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter!

After giving initial impressions of the campaign for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II – Here We Go Again! and Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope, we give a live reaction to the latest regeneration on Doctor Who and discuss the series' exciting future now that Chris Chibnall has returned to the chasm from whence he came. Then it's time to finish our series of Fullmetal Alchemist reviews by rounding up the remaining theatrical feature films. First, there's 2011's The Sacred Star of Milos, an animated spin-off of Brotherhood made by the same crew, but with entirely different creative leadership, leading to a radically different aesthetic and the best animation Fullmetal Alchemist has ever seen. The live-action Fullmetal Alchemist trilogy consists of three films – 2017's Fullmetal Alchemist and this year's The Revenge of Scar and The Final Alchemy, all streaming worldwide on Netflix – that are a surprisingly faithful recreation of the manga (maybe too much so at times). Bouncing between hilarious B-movie oddity, boring recitation of the original story, and a few genuinely affecting performances and scenes, these movies are uneven but extremely interesting, and more than worth taking the time to discuss here.Enjoy!Time Chart: Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:01:32Modern Warfare II & Other Games: 0:01:32 – 0:24:18 Doctor Who: 0:24:18 – 0:34:46 Fullmetal Alchemist: 0:34:46 – 3:04:04Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!Subscribe to Japanimation Station, our Anime Podcast!Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in Apple Podcasts!Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter! 

It's a Very Special Episode this week as Sean & Jonathan answer a series of questions all about our day job: Teaching! Sean is a high-school English teacher and Jonathan teaches at the college level as PhD student, and while we've touched upon all this before, we haven't yet done a deep dive on the profession, our thoughts – positive and negative – about it, how our two teaching roles differ, and so on. It's a fun, informative discussion fueled by some great listener questions, and while we've never done an episode like this before, we hope it will be useful for those interested!Enjoy!Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!Subscribe to Japanimation Station, our Anime Podcast!Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in Apple Podcasts!Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter! 

Our journey through Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood comes to an end with the second half of the second anime, now in fully uncharted territory as it adapts the final stretch of Hiromu Arakawa's original manga. Diving deep into the Briggs and Promised Day story arcs that conclude the series, we discuss all the many ups and occasional downs of this last run. The manga is probably at its most uneven during this portion, but Brotherhood fully comes into its own as an anime, its pacing finally relaxed enough to fully tell the story, its ludicrously stacked voice cast fully in place, and its animation and aesthetics frequently on point as it approaches the end. As we go through the good, the bad, and everything in between, we find no shortage of topics worth discussing, and Brotherhood proves extremely rewarding to talk about all the way up to its all-time great ending. Enjoy!TIME CHART:Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:03:42Fullmetal Alchemist: 0:03:42 – 3:38:27Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!Subscribe to Japanimation Station, our Anime Podcast!Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in Apple Podcasts!Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter!

We were planning on a very elaborate podcast for Jonathan's 30th birthday this week, but some unforeseen travel problems led to us breaking glass in case of emergency on a topic we've been keeping in our back pocket for over a decade now: ranking the Top 10 Video Game Controllers of all time! From the NES to the PS5, we go through several generations of gaming consoles to pick out the best controllers from over the years – and make fun of the worst – to determine which are the best, most influential, and all-around most enjoyable to use. And we even rank the Top 5 D-Pads of all time, just to cover all the bases. Hot takes abound and fierce debates are had as we try to reach consensus on the best controllers in the history of console gaming. Enjoy!TIME CHART:Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:08:40The Inevitable Death of Google Stadia: 0:08:40 – 0:31:08Stuff: 0:31:08 – 00:44:38The Top 10 Video Game Controllers: 0:44:38 – 1:59:37Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!Subscribe to Japanimation Station, our Anime Podcast!Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in Apple Podcasts!Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter! 

After a trip to Sean's Beta Corner to review the recent betas for Team Ninja's Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty and Activision's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II – Here We Go Again!, Sean and Jonathan hop over to Pandora (the planet, not the music app) for a deep dive on Avatar (the James Cameron movie, not the Nickelodeon show). It's been 13 years since the film took the entire world by storm, becoming the highest-grossing film in history, and the film's reputation hasn't aged very gracefully. We haven't seen it since its original theatrical run, so how do we think it holds up now? We get into the special effects, the world-building, the story, the terrible dialogue, the extremely uncomfortable racial overtones, and much more in this wide-ranging, rewarding conversation.  Enjoy!TIME CHART:Intro & Stuff: 0:00:00 – 0:10:15Sean's Beta Corner – Wo Long Fallen Dynasty: 0:10:15 – 0:18:00Sean's Beta Corner – Call of Duty Modern Warfare II: 0:18:00 – 0:41:46Avatar: 0:41:46 – 2:58:39 Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!Subscribe to Japanimation Station, our Anime Podcast!Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in Apple Podcasts!Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter! 

With the Tokyo Game Show going down this week in, well, Tokyo, there was an avalanche of gaming news and gaming events, with Nintendo, Sony, and many others showing off new games for 2023 and beyond, and we break it all down on today's episode! Starting with Ubisoft's event last week to show off the appropriately convoluted future of Assassin's Creed, and continuing on to this week's Nintendo Direct – where we saw a new Fire Emblem, Octopath Traveler II, and got the title reveal for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – and Sony's State of Play, which showed off Team Ninja's Rise of the Ronin and gave us a peek at the future of the Yakuza franchise, now returning to its original Japanese title, Like a Dragon. And if all that wasn't enough, Hoyoverse also gave us some huge Genshin Impact reveals, including the jaw-dropping news that Ufotable, the renowned animation studio behind Kimetsu no Yaiba, will be creating the long-awaited Genshin anime. Enjoy, and come back next week for our retrospective review of James Cameron's Avatar, as it heads back into theaters ahead of December's sequel.TIME CHART:Intro & Stuff: 0:00:00 – 0:21:34Splatoon News: 0:21:34 – 0:29:00Assassin's Creed News: 0:29:00 – 1:01:10Nintendo Direct: 1:01:10 – 1:31:30Sony State of Play: 1:31:30 – 1:56:21Yakuza and Tokyo Game Show News: 1:56:21 – 2:11:16 Genshin: 2:11:16 – 2:23:07 Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!Subscribe to Japanimation Station, our Anime Podcast!Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in Apple Podcasts!Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter!  

It's another packed episode as Jonathan gives first impressions of Splatoon 3 on the Nintendo Switch, reviews the Star Trek: The Motion Picture – Director's Edition on 4K UHD Blu-ray, and we commiserate over the ever-growing avalanche of Disney/Marvel news from the weekend, before jumping into the next phase of our Fullmetal Alchemist review series! This time, we're talking Brotherhood, the 2009 anime that starts fresh to adapt Hiromu Arakawa's original manga in full. With a new crew, a new animation style, many new cast members, and a largely new story, Brotherhood is extremely different than the 2003 anime – and in many ways, it's also a different beast than the manga, especially in this first half. It's a lot to talk about, and with a whole half of the series left to go, we're only just scratching the surface. Enjoy!TIME CHART:Intro & Stuff: 0:00:00 – 0:37:41Fullmetal Alchemist: 0:37:41 – 3:29:34Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!Subscribe to Japanimation Station, our Anime Podcast!Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in Apple Podcasts!Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter! 

It's a ridiculously packed podcast today filled to the brim with great topics, starting with Jonathan's thoughts on the year's two biggest American TV premieres – HBO's Game of Thrones spin-off House of the Dragon and Amazon's Lord of the Rings series, The Rings of Power – before he and Sean devote a very silly segment to pitching several different Lord of the Rings spin-offs to Amazon. Then we break down the news surrounding Halo Infinite, which is maybe in the most dire shape we've ever seen for an ongoing video game, before shifting gears to a game that's never been better with Genshin Impact! The 3.0 update is now out, adding the Sumeru region, a new element, tons of story, and all sorts of new exploration mechanics, and it's some of the best material yet introduced in this always-excellent game. And finally, we bring you a short Weekly Suit Gundam topic to break down the special Prologue episode for the upcoming Gundam show The Witch From Mercury. Phew! That's a LOT of podcast all in one place. Enjoy!TIME CHART:Intro & Stuff: 0:00:00 – 0:12:58House of the Dragon: 0:12:58 – 0:28:24The Rings of Power: 0:28:24 – 0:41:29Lord of the Rings Spinoff Showcase: 0:41:29 – 0:48:19Halo Infinite: 0:48:19 – 1:10:59Genshin Impact 3.0: 1:10:59 – 2:47:23Gundam Witch Prologue: 2:47:23 – 3:25:55Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!Subscribe to Japanimation Station, our Anime Podcast!Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in Apple Podcasts!Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter!

Nearly 4 years after Broly, Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero – the 21st Dragon Ball film overall, and 4th of the modern era – opened this weekend in North American theaters, playing in both English and Japanese for the first time in franchise history, and with the widest opening for an anime film ever in the United States, playing on nearly 4,000 screens! It's also the first Dragon Ball film to be produced completely in 3D CGI, with a new team led by director Tetsuro Kodama bringing Akira Toriyama's script to life in a very different style than we've seen before. And the movie turned out to be well worth the wait and the hype, telling a compelling character-driven story centered on Piccolo, Gohan, and Pan, with several wonderful new characters, a lot of incredible action, plenty of big laughs, and even a few surprisingly touching pay-offs at the end! It's a great Dragon Ball movie, and a big step forward for CGI anime, and it makes for an incredible fun discussion between Sean and Jonathan. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!Subscribe to the WEEKLY SUIT GUNDAM Podcast!Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in Apple Podcasts!Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter!

Before continuing our journey through Fullmetal Alchemist, Jonathan and Sean catch up with a very loopy opening segment in which Jonathan asks many increasingly silly questions about Sean's experience teaching in Texas; Sean reviews the game Sifu for PS5; and Jonathan talks about his impromptu deep dive into the works of Orson Welles. And then it's back to the world of Fullmetal Alchemist for the 2005 feature film Conqueror of Shamballa, a narratively messy but beautifully made movie that showcases the best and the worst that this ‘alternate' version of the series to offer. We see how Seiji Mizushima and company bring this version of the story to a close, with Sean and Jonathan giving their final thoughts on how the 2003 version of Fullmetal Alchemist stands the test of time nearly 20 years later. Enjoy!Time Chart: Intro & Stuff: 0:00:00 – 0:12:28 Sean Talks Sifu: 0:12:28 – 0:24:05Jonathan Talks Orson Welles: 0:24:05 – 0:39:23Fullmetal Alchemist: 0:39:23 – 2:17:29 Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!Subscribe to the WEEKLY SUIT GUNDAM Podcast!Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in Apple Podcasts!Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter!

This week's show starts off with the baffling news about the newly-merged Warner Bros. Discovery shelving a completed Batgirl film for a tax write-down, and then continues into the first big topic from our new anime podcast, Japanimation Station, where we're diving into the world of Hiromu Arakawa's Fullmetal Alchemist, starting today with the 2003 anime that partially adapted the then-young manga before branching off into an increasingly divergent anime-original story. While it was a huge and acclaimed hit, in Japan and abroad, at the time of release, the show has a more controversial reputation now, years after Arakawa's manga was completed and faithfully re-adapted as Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood. Sean and Jonathan are coming at the 2003 series from wildly different directions – Jonathan a lifelong fan who started with this anime as a kid, and Sean only recently having read the manga without ever seeing either anime – so our perspectives inherently diverge. But if there's one thing we clearly agree on, it's that this is a fascinating show very much worth talking about. Whether one loves it or hates it, it's clearly more than an outdated curio, and we think you, like us, will come away from this conversation with a greater appreciation for all versions of Fullmetal Alchemist. Time Chart: Intro & News: 0:00:00 – 0:24:34 Fullmetal Alchemist: 0:24:34 – 3:41:16Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!Subscribe to the WEEKLY SUIT GUNDAM Podcast!Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in Apple Podcasts!Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter! 

The Weekly Stuff Podcast is off this week, but for good reason - we're launching a new anime podcast! And for the debut episode of Japanimation Station, we're introducing (or re-introducing) ourselves and hosting a spirited discussion about how we got into anime, how our fandoms and interests have evolved over the years, what makes animation special in the first place, and why anime in particular is the thing we find so interesting we had to make a whole podcast about it. You'll learn about our backgrounds, our philosophies, our anime likes and dislikes, and much more as we introduce you to the foundational ideas of our show! And at the end, we share which 5 anime we would each take to a desert island if such a strange fate were to befall us. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!Subscribe for free in Apple Podcasts!Follow Japanimation Station on Twitter!Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter!

Today's episode is a real treat, as we finally take the time to talk about one of the greatest video games of all time, Resident Evil 4. With the remake of Capcom's action classic coming next Spring, and Sean and Jonathan both having fallen hard down the Resident Evil rabbit hole at different times over the past few years, we thought now was the perfect time to break down why Resident Evil 4 is so entirely singular, why it's so ridiculously fun and engaging, and why it still stands tall and timeless as such a perfect masterclass of game design 17 years later. We also break down the news out of the Marvel panel from this week's Comic-Con, where producer Kevin Feige laid out the next few years of MCU movies and shows in a plan that has us both feeling exhausting and baffled. But hey, the Black Panther trailer was great! Enjoy, and come back next week for the launch of our brand new anime podcast, Japanimation Station!Time Chart: Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:05:29Marvel News: 0:05:29 – 0:51:09Resident Evil 4: 0:51:09 – 2:47:31 Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!Subscribe to the WEEKLY SUIT GUNDAM Podcast!Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in Apple Podcasts!Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter!

We start today's show by chatting about work, with Sean telling a funny story about getting a teaching certification, before discussing our love for the fantastic anime Kaguya-sama: Love is War, but then it's time for Gundam! And this week, both Gundam as a franchise and Weekly Suit Gundam as a podcast are coming full circle by returning to the world of First Gundam, with the brand-new movie set in the timeline of the original show, Mobile Suit Gundam: Cucuruz Doan's Island! A remake of the infamous 15th episode of Mobile Suit Gundam – an episode with such a troubled production that creator Yoshiyuki Tomino has never allowed it to be distributed outside Japan – original Gundam character designer and animation supervisor Yoshikazu Yasuhiko returns as director to redeem this story of a Zeon deserter protecting war orphans on a deserted island. It's an absolutely wonderful movie, as beautifully animated as one would expect from the great Yasuhiko, but also incredibly smart and soulful in its themes and storytelling, finding a particularly compelling story for original Gundam protagonist Amuro Ray, played again here – possibly for the last time – by a never-better Tōru Furuya. This is a great movie, and an absolute pleasure to discuss for our final Weekly Suit Gundam before the launch of Japanimation Station. Enjoy!Time Chart: Intro & Stuff: 0:00:00 – 0:23:17Gundam Cucuruz Doan: 0:23:17 – 2:33:31Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!Subscribe to the WEEKLY SUIT GUNDAM Podcast!Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in Apple Podcasts!Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter!

This week saw the release of the hotly anticipated Thor: Love & Thunder, a movie we were both looking forward to given what an exceptional effort director Taika Waititi's last go-round with Thor was in 2017's Ragnarok. Alas, the latest entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is maybe the most disappointing, a muddled, unfocused, and aesthetically disastrous mess that has some good ideas and moments, but never truly coheres. We review the movie in our typical spoiler-filled depth, and before that, Sean tells us about his continuing adventures in the world of Resident Evil, Jonathan gives his thoughts on Square Enix's Triangle Strategy, and we remember the great mangaka Kazuki Takahashi, creator of Yu-Gi-Oh!, after he tragically passed away this week at the age of 60. Time Chart: Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:08:09Resident Evil: 0:08:09 – 0:20:23Triangle Strategy: 0:20:23 – 0:35:48News and Kazuki Takahashi: 0:35:48 – 0:57:02Thor Love & Thunder: 0:57:02 – 2:36:19Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!Subscribe to the WEEKLY SUIT GUNDAM Podcast!Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in Apple Podcasts!Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter!

In the 3rd and final part of our Weekly Suit Gundam 3rd Anniversary ranking celebration, we're ranking…well, almost everything! We start by listing our Top 10 favorite Mobile Suits from the last year's worth of shows, our Top 10 Mobile Suits overall, our Top 10 favorite characters from across the franchise – and then it's party time, as we deliver all the rankings requested by YOU, the listeners, including the best Gundam Boys, the best Captains, the best Char clones, the best Haros, the best deaths, and so much more! It's a veritable cornucopia of Gundam rankings, and a great way to celebrate and close out 3 fantastic years of Weekly Suit Gundam.Enjoy, and listen to the end to hear exciting details about the future of Weekly Suit Gundam and our big plans for covering even more anime in the years to come!  Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!Subscribe to the WEEKLY SUIT GUNDAM Podcast!Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in Apple Podcasts!Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter! 

Obi-Wan Kenobi, the 6-episode Star Wars miniseries on Disney+, finished up its run this week with an emotionally charged and visually stunning episode that proved this to be just as much a series about Darth Vader as it was about Obi-Wan, and all the better for it. We really enjoyed these 6 episodes, even with a few wonky bits of plotting or visuals along the way, and found ourselves deeply invested in the story it told about Obi-Wan, Vader, Leia, and all the other characters introduced along the way. It's certainly a show that rewards the kind of discussions we do here, but that's not all for this week! Sean also talks about revisiting the original Resident Evil as he begins working his way through the remakes, Jonathan reviews the Sonic Origins collection, and we laugh about Sony's quixotic quest to make increasingly terrible movies about ever-more obscure Spider-Man villains with news on Kraven the Hunter (and a lot of jokes about Morbius). It's Morbin' Time! Time Chart:Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:04:08Stuff, including Resident Evil: 0:04:08 – 0:45:55It's Morbin' Time: 0:45:55 – 1:10:02Obi-Wan Kenobi: 1:10:02 – 2:52:42 Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!Subscribe to the WEEKLY SUIT GUNDAM Podcast!Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in Apple Podcasts!Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter!The Weekly Stuff with Jonathan Lack & Sean Chapman is a weekly audio podcast, and if you subscribe on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts, episodes will be delivered automatically and for free as soon as they are released. Visit www.weeklystuffpodcast.com for a complete archive of streaming and downloadable episodes.  

10 years ago today, on June 13th, 2012, we launched The Weekly Stuff Podcast (then called WGTC Radio) – and today, 10 years and 432 episodes later, we're bringing you the biggest episode we've ever done to celebrate. In this massive 10-hour podcast spectacular, we've recorded 10 topics for 10 years, each revisiting one of our many recurring subjects – like Doctor Who, Persona, Lord of the Rings, and Gundam – by reviewing or discussing something in that area we haven't talked about before. So you'll hear us discuss things like “The Three Doctors,” the Doctor Who serial from 1973 that marked that show's 10th anniversary with its first-ever multi-Doctor story, or “Persona 3: The Weird Masquerade,” the extremely bizarre and weirdly compelling stage musical based on one of our all-time favorite video games. And there's a lot more – this podcast is full of surprises, and while we've listed the topic areas in the time chart below, we haven't listed exactly what we're discussing, just in case you'd like to go in unspoiled. Thank you all so much for being along for the ride, whether you've recently discovered our podcast or have been here for all 10 years. And as always…Enjoy! Time Chart:Intro: 00:00:00 – 00:10:22I. Doctor Who: 00:10:23 – 01:10:24II. Lord of the Rings: 01:10:24 – 02:06:52III. Persona: 02:06:52 – 03:08:56IV. Superheroes: 03:08:56 – 04:15:32V. Godzilla: 04:15:32 – 05:18:21VI. Twin Peaks: 05:18:21 – 06:19:54VII. An Early 00s Movie: 06:19:54 – 07:22:13VIII. Dragon Ball: 07:22:13 – 08:21:12IX: Gundam: 08:21:12 – 09:22:53X: Genshin Impact: 09:22:53 – 10:32:04Outro: 10:32:04 – 10:49:25Links to Content Reviewed: Persona 3 The Weird Masquerade English Subtitles - https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiy1WLTm7y8wFxkRdzycpHRZ0QNNYnkUX Gundam 0079: The War for Earth English Playthrough - https://youtu.be/XJWV9-TRD1EGundam 0079: The War for Earth Japanese Playthrough - https://youtu.be/sDMxNeMl66ESubscribe to our YouTube Channel!Subscribe to the WEEKLY SUIT GUNDAM Podcast!Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in Apple Podcasts!Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter!

It's been three years since we started our sister series Weekly Suit Gundam, watching just two episodes of the original Mobile Suit Gundam for our first show – and three years later, we've watched over 800 episodes of Gundam and reviewed every series in the pantheon. So for this year's anniversary, we're not just ranking the shows we reviewed in the past year – though we do that as well – but ranking every Gundam show, with Sean and Jonathan sharing their individual lists before debating and coming to a consensus on an official Weekly Suit Gundam ranking of all 33 Gundam shows/OVAs/movies we've covered on this show. It's the moment you've been waiting three whole years for. And if you're not into Gundam, fear not! We also spend an hour at the top of the show talking Genshin Impact Version 2.7, hear Jonathan's experiences creating a fan edit of the Star Wars spin-off Book of Boba Fett, and go over some of the gaming news from Not-E3 2022. Enjoy, and be sure not to miss our very special 10th Anniversary podcast spectacular this Monday, June 13th, at 10am! It's the biggest and best episode we've ever done – 10 topics over 10 hours – and we hope to see you there.  https://youtu.be/21eM2T-63VsTime Chart:Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:04:42Genshin Impact: 0:04:42 – 0:26:03Star Wars: 0:26:03 – 0:34:20Not-E3 2022 News: 0:34:20 – 0:52:48Gundam: 0:52:48 – 3:04:11Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!Subscribe to the WEEKLY SUIT GUNDAM Podcast!Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in Apple Podcasts!Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter! 

Ewan McGregor made his long-awaited return as Obi-Wan Kenobi in this week's premiere episodes of the aptly titled Obi-Wan Kenobi for Disney+, and we were so enthusiastic about the results we just had to share our thoughts in today's episode! With a compelling characterization of an Obi-Wan stuck between the despair of his many losses in Episode III and the wise, hopeful mentor of Episode IV, the show finds a smart way into this story, with some much appreciated surprises in store, and a large number of excellent new and returning performances throughout these first two hours. We save that spoiler-filled discussion for the end of the podcast, with Sean talking about his adventures watching the Ultraman series at the beginning, followed by Jonathan's take on Top Gun Maverick and his initial impressions of Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. Time Chart:Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:06:09Ultraman: 0:06:09 – 0:15:17Top Gun Maverick: 0:15:17 – 0:24:37Lego Star Wars: 0:24:37 – 0:39:05Obi-Wan Kenobi: 0:39:05 – 1:42:36Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!Subscribe to the WEEKLY SUIT GUNDAM Podcast!Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in Apple Podcasts!Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter!

Jonathan shares his rankings of all 13 Star Trek films following an inexplicable completist run through all of them, which Sean mocks him roundly for, and then it's time to settle all Gundam business by reviewing two ONA (original net animation) series that are the last mainline Gundam titles we've yet left un-reviewed. Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt, based on the manga by Yasuo Ohtagaki, aired from 2015 to 2017 and was collected into 2 films, December Sky and Bandit Flower, and it's a fascinating, frequently rousing production, if also one that's messy and incomplete. With detailed over-the-top action scored to incredible jazz music by Naruyoshi Kikuchi and a series of faux-pop oldies representing rival protagonists Io Fleming and Daryl Lorenz, Thunderbolt is a synesthetic marvel – but it's also barreling through 7 volumes of manga in a scant 2.5 hours, and with no new episodes in 5 years, it's an entirely unfinished project. Twilight Axis, on the other hand, is finished – but it's very slight, a series of short ONA episodes collected into a 26-minute movie, loosely adapting a series of light novels into an impressionistic-at-best, confusing-and-vestigial-at-worst short film. Enjoy! Time Chart:Intro & Stuff: 0:00:00 – 0:38:39Gundam Thunderbolt: 0:38:39 – 2:00:26Gundam Twilight Axis: 2:00:26 – 2:21:51Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!Subscribe to the WEEKLY SUIT GUNDAM Podcast!Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in Apple Podcasts!Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter!The Weekly Stuff with Jonathan Lack & Sean Chapman is a weekly audio podcast, and if you subscribe on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts, episodes will be delivered automatically and for free as soon as they are released. Visit www.weeklystuffpodcast.com for a complete archive of streaming and downloadable episodes.   

Before ‘diving' into this week's Gundam discussion – yes, it's still a pun – Sean talks about finally upgrading to a new smartphone (after being on the iPhone 6S for over half the life of this show), asks Jonathan why he's inexplicably watching through all the Star Trek movies including the very bad ones, and Jonathan gives impressions of the excellent indie adventure Tunic on Xbox. Then it's time to talk about Gundam Build Divers Re:RISE, the most pleasantly surprising qualitative whiplash we've ever seen. Following the franchise low-point of Gundam Build Divers, Re:RISE is a stunningly smart, soulful, exciting, and all-around excellent anime that is nearly as great as the original show is bad. Following a new group of characters – the BUILD DiVERS, distinguished by one lowercase ‘i' – Re:RISE immediately distinguishes itself with a deeply human and compelling protagonist, Hiroto Kuga, and a fantastic group of supporting characters, all on a wild adventure that combines the video game isekai tropes the first show tried but failed at, a more traditional fantasy isekai journey to another world, and even dashes of other non-Build Gundam shows with heroes, villains, and major life-and-death stakes. It's the last full Gundam show made to date, and we couldn't ask for much more of the series that catches this podcast up to the franchise's present day. Time Chart:Intro & Stuff: 0:00:00 – 0:33:01Gundam Re:RISE: 0:33:01 – 3:05:31Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!Subscribe to the WEEKLY SUIT GUNDAM Podcast!Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in Apple Podcasts!Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter! 

It's a very ‘strange' podcast this week – haha, get it? – as we review the latest entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness! Directed by the great Sam Raimi – and featuring WAY more of his characteristic humor, scares, distorted camera work, and cartoon violence than we expected – it's one of the most unique, imaginative, and downright fun films Marvel has made so far. To put it simply, the film kicks ass. We also got news this weekend about the casting of the 14th Doctor on Doctor Who, to be played by 29-year-old Ncuti Gatwa, who will become the first black actor to play the iconic part, and discussion of this exciting announcement rounds out the episode. And finally, in recognition of the overwhelming threat to reproductive rights bearing down on the United States this week after it became clear the Supreme Court was poised to overturn Roe v Wade, we are encouraging listeners to make donations, if able, to local abortion funds in their area. Jonathan will be donating to the Iowa Abortion Access Fund in Iowa, and Sean to the Lilith Fundin Texas, but we encourage you to donate wherever will do the most good in your community. Enjoy! Time Chart:Intro & Stuff: 0:00:00 – 0:21:29Doctor Who News: 0:21:29 – 0:32:32Doctor Strange 2 Review: 0:32:32 – 1:50:21Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!Subscribe to the WEEKLY SUIT GUNDAM Podcast!Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in Apple Podcasts!Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter!

After a bit of a break from the giant fighting robots, we're diving back into Gundam this week, jumping all the way down to the bottom of the barrel to review 2018's Gundam Build Divers. Capitalizing on the Sword Art Online-inspired Isekai craze of the 2010s, Gundam Build Divers takes the Gunpla action out of the real world and into a very boring virtual reality, without really understanding what makes Isekai shows or the prior Build Fighters series fun in the first place. With amazingly low stakes, wildly inconsistent world building, nary an interesting character in sight, and a final arc that goes from zero to bananas in record time (and not in a good way), Gundam Build Divers is the nadir of animated Gundam. And before eviscerating this terrible series, Sean also talks about playing Horizon: Forbidden West, and Jonathan discusses catching up on recent happenings in Genshin Impact. Time Chart:Intro & Stuff: 0:00:00 – 0:26:39Gundam Build Divers: 0:26:39 – 2:31:44Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!Subscribe to the WEEKLY SUIT GUNDAM Podcast!Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in Apple Podcasts!Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter! 

After hundreds of hours, countless deaths, millions of runes collected and dozens of demigods slain, Sean and Jonathan are both finally finished with FromSoftware's incredible open-world RPG masterpiece Elden Ring, and that means it is, at last, time for our in-depth spoiler-filled review and discussion. After discussing the game in bits and pieces along the way over the past two months, we dive deep with the surprisingly rich storytelling and mythology, the many fabulous boss fights, the seemingly endless assortment of dense, surprising areas and images, and so much more. Before the spoiler chat begins, Sean also talks about reading through the Fullmetal Alchemist manga for the first time, Jonathan review Robert Eggers' outstanding new Viking epic The Northman, and we collectively take a look at the upcoming ‘second season' of Halo Infinite, and why the game is in such a bafflingly miserable state. Time Chart:Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:02:33Fullmetal Alchemist: 0:02:33 – 0:16:52The Northman: 0:16:52 – 0:25:00Halo Infinite Is a Mess: 0:25:00 – 0:52:22Elden Ring: 0:52:22 – 2:44:33Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!Subscribe to the WEEKLY SUIT GUNDAM Podcast!Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in Apple Podcasts!Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter! 

It's a loose and free-wheeling episode this week as we dive into a big bag of listener mail, answering your questions on anime, video games, Gundam, our most anticipated movies of the next year, and much more! Listeners answered the call with a bunch of fun questions that hopefully led to some entertaining and/or enlightening answers. We also talk some more about Elden Ring, which Jonathan is slowly inching towards the finish line on, and discuss the recent Inazuma festival content in Genshin Impact, which has been a blast. Time Chart:Intro & Stuff: 0:00:00 – 0:16:38Elden Ring: 0:16:38 – 0:26:34Genshin Impact: 0:26:34 – 0:39:19More Stuff: 0:39:19 – 0:50:50Listener Mail: 0:50:50 – 1:59:38Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!Subscribe to the WEEKLY SUIT GUNDAM Podcast!Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in Apple Podcasts!Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter!

With Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (the movie) currently atop the box office in theaters, we thought it would be a perfect time to take a look back at Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (the 1992 video game). Sonic 2 is one of the all-time great video game sequels, a landmark 2D platformer with some of the best graphics, art direction, sound, and music of the 16-bit era, all built atop wildly creative labyrinthine level design. The game was a major cultural event when it released 30 years ago – the same year we were born! Oh god! We're so old! – and it more than holds up today as one of the greatest games ever made. We also talk a little bit about the new movie, which is a delightful treat for Sonic fans, discuss the (inevitably confusing) announcement of Kingdom Hearts IV, and Jonathan sings the praises of the Daniels' Everything Everywhere All at Once, the outstanding new film starring Michelle Yeoh that everybody needs to see as soon as possible. Time Chart:Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:03:15Kingdom Hearts IV News: 0:03:15 – 0:13:29Stuff: 0:13:29 – 0:48:21Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (The Game): 0:48:21 – 2:05:44Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (The Movie): 2:05:44 – 2:24:49Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!Subscribe to the WEEKLY SUIT GUNDAM Podcast!Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in Apple Podcasts!Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter!

It's a stuff-heavy episode this week as Sean and Jonathan talk about the latest Genshin Impact update, talk about anime they've been watching – including the news that Attack on Titan is continuing its ‘Final Season' to a third and actually final part next year – and discuss the news that PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now will soon be combining into three separate, confusingly-named tiers, the upside of which is finally getting backwards compatible games on PS5. Sean also sings the praises of indie sensation Vampire Survivors on PC, and Jonathan shares a talk he gave at this year's Society for Cinema and Media Studies conference on how save mechanics in video games can be used to enhance player immersion. It's academic, but hopefully of interest to podcast listeners. Time Chart:Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:07:00Attack on Titan (no spoilers): 0:07:00 – 0:12:31Genshin Impact: 0:12:31 – 0:24:20Little Witch Academia: 0:24:20 – 0:47:30Vampire Survivors: 0:47:30 – 0:58:58PS Plus News: 0:58:58 – 1:22:08Jonathan Talks Save Mechanics in Games: 1:22:08 – 1:47:23 Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!Subscribe to the WEEKLY SUIT GUNDAM Podcast!Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in Apple Podcasts!Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter! 

This week's episode is all about the Shonen anime sensation Jujutsu Kaisen, which recently saw its first film, Jujutsu Kaisen 0, released in American theaters to surprising levels of success. It's one of our favorite anime in recent years, and we're finally taking the time to break down the first season, all the amazing characters, the best fights, the killer music, and the unholy amounts of swagger embodied by Gojo Satoru-sensei. If Kimetsu no Yaiba – which we've talked about plenty here! – is the archetypal Shonen anime elevated to new dramatic heights, then Jujutsu Kaisen is Shonen anime distilled to almost dangerous amounts of weapons-grade fun. And the movie, a prequel based on the 4-chapter ‘pilot' manga Gege Akutami wrote before the main series, is pretty damn good too. And you'll also hear about Jonathan's absolutely nightmarish week of travel, which, on the plus side, gave him a lot of time on planes to binge the first 3 seasons of Attack on Titan. Time Chart:Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:06:29Jonathan's Travel Stories: 0:06:29 – 0:31:47Jujutsu Kaisen: 0:31:47 – 2:57:13Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!Subscribe to the WEEKLY SUIT GUNDAM Podcast!Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in Apple Podcasts!Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter! 

We celebrate the 420th episode of The Weekly Stuff Podcast with absolutely no marijuana – but listeners are encouraged to blaze it – and instead stick to what truly gets us high: Mobile Suit Gundam and life-consuming video games. For the first hour, we continue recounting our journey through FromSoftware's Elden Ring – which continues to be incredible – primarily discussing our time in the red wastes of Caelid and our glorious battle with Starscourge Radahn. Then, it's time for another Gundam extravaganza, as we talk all about the Gundam: The Origin manga by the legendary Yoshikazu Yasuhiko. Serialized over a full decade, Yasuhiko's manga is a virtuoso ‘comicalization' of the original Gundam anime, realized in loving detail with some of the most incredible art one will ever lay eyes on. The ‘flashback arc' from the middle of the manga was adapted for the OVA, but there's much more material here, and for this episode, we talk about how Yasuhiko's telling compares to the original TV series, what changes we like or dislike, and why Yasuhiko's heavily ‘decompressed' style is so immersive and involving. Time Chart:Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:16:20Elden Ring: 0:16:20 – 1:02:24Gundam The Origin Manga: 1:02:24 – 3:12:56Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!Subscribe to the WEEKLY SUIT GUNDAM Podcast!Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in Apple Podcasts!Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter! 

This week saw the release of Matt Reeves' The Batman, the latest cinematic interpretation of the Caped Crusader, and by far the best one Hollywood has created to date. It's the first Batman film to get essential parts of the character right – like the hard-boiled detective roots, commitment to not killing enemies, and even some genuinely aspirational heroism – Reeves' film is a genuine neo-noir fueled by great performances from Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz, Paul Dano, and more, with jaw-dropping cinematography and one of the best superhero musical scores ever written courtesy of Michael Giacchino. We have a very fun time gushing over this excellent film, but we might be even more enthusiastic in our continuing coverage of FromSoftware's Elden Ring, as we recount another week of play with what's clearly establishing itself as one of the greatest – and most consistently surprising – games ever made. Time Chart:Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:07:46Elden Ring: 00:07:46 – 1:13:54The Batman: 1:13:54 – 3:49:55 Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!Subscribe to the WEEKLY SUIT GUNDAM Podcast!Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in Apple Podcasts!Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter!

With the hotly anticipated Season 2 of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba having drawn to a close in Japan two weeks ago, we finally caught up with the astonishing run of episodes comprising the series' “Entertainment District” Arc, which may just be the most impressively produced set of TV animation episodes we've ever seen. We spend a good long time gushing over the animation, the direction, the music, the voice acting, the characters, and everything else we can think to discuss about one of the best Shōnen anime ever made. But before all that, we've also got the surprise announcement of Pokémon's 9th generation, reports of Call of Duty skipping 2022, and Sean's continuing adventures hacking a refurbished Nintendo 2DS to talk about – and, oh yeah, the biggest video game launch of the year with From Software's Elden Ring, which we give our first impressions on after a few days of play. It is, suffice to say, a sublime experience, even if we've got way more to play before doing a real ‘review.'Time Chart:Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:02:27Pokemon and Call of Duty News: 0:02:27 – 0:24:22Sean's Homebrew 2DS Adventures: 0:24:22 – 0:34:55 Elden Ring: 0:34:55 – 1:08:44Kimetsu no Yaiba: 1:08:44 – 3:36:22Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!Subscribe to the WEEKLY SUIT GUNDAM Podcast!Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in Apple Podcasts!Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter!

It's a very busy week on the podcast, as we dive deep with both the Genshin Impact 2.5 update and Part VI of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin, but before all that, Jonathan talks about his misadventures buying an OLED Nintendo Switch and trying to transfer content from his old Switch – it's ludicrously difficult! – and we cover several pieces of news including the debut trailer for Amazon's Lord of the Rings series, and Nintendo shuttering the 3DS and Wii U e-shops, ushering in a new golden age of video game piracy. Then we discuss the wonderful new content from this week's excellent Genshin update, including an outstanding new story quest for Raiden Shogun and a cool set of adventures in Enkanomiya, before jumping into our latest Gundam talk. The Origin OVA comes to a spectacular end with its sixth and final installment, “Rise of the Red Comet,” in which Zeon decimates the Earth Federation at the Battle of Loum, Char Aznable becomes a legend, and General Johann Ibrahim Revil delivers a speech that will change the course of human history. Time Chart:                                                                                                     Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:06:04Jonathan's Nintendo Switch Transfer Misadventures: 0:06:04 – 0:26:48News: 0:26:48 – 1:07:45Genshin Impact 2.5 Discussion: 1:07:45 – 1:53:11Gundam Origin VI: 1:53:11 – 3:51:56 Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!Subscribe to the WEEKLY SUIT GUNDAM Podcast!Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in Apple Podcasts!Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter!

In 2017, we discussed Atlus' landmark JRPG Persona 5 so exhaustively that we collected all our conversations into a single 10-hour super-podcast that become our most listened-to episode ever. Since Persona 5 Royal – the updated, reworked version of the game – released in 2020, we've gotten countless requests to update our magnum opus, and after recording another 4 hours of discussion on The Royal, we've done just that! This 14.5-hour mega-podcast contains all of our original Persona 5 discussions – re-edited and remastered from the original audio files – plus 4 additional hours of discussion on Persona 5 Royal, all edited into a new epic-length spoiler-cast that delves into every possible facet of this masterpiece in excruciating detail! This podcast consists of eight parts. In Part 1, Sean and Jonathan introduce Persona 5 Royal, talk about exactly what this episode and project is, and also discuss at length something we never got to talk about the first time around, which is the brilliant Japanese vocal cast of the game. Then in Part 2, we'll be jumping back in time to 2017 for our original series of podcast discussions on Persona 5, with each segment from Parts 2 through 5 discussing two palaces or story arcs apiece, as we dive deep in discussing every facet of the story and gameplay along the way. In Part 6, we give what were in 2017 our final wrap-up thoughts on the originally released version of Persona 5, and then in Part 7, we jump over to The Royal, and discuss all the changes to gameplay mechanics this version introduces. And finally in Part 8, we go deep with the new story material and characters of Persona 5 Royal, and fully reflect on this new, definitive version of this masterpiece of a game.We are truly proud and excited to share this behemoth of an episode – you won't find a more exhaustive spoiler-cast discussion of Persona 5 Royal anywhere else on the internet. Enjoy.  Time Chart:Opening: 00:00:00 – 00:04:26I. Intro & Cast Discussions: 00:04:26 – 01:20:39II. Palaces 1 & 2: 01:20:39 – 04:10:13III. Palaces 3 & 4: 04:10:13 – 05:30:29IV. Palaces 5 & 6: 05:30:29 – 07:40:24V. Palaces 7 & 8: 07:40:24 – 09:54:14VI. Original Version Wrap-up: 09:54:14 – 11:48:04VII. The Royal Discussion – Mechanics: 11:48:04 – 12:29:12VIII. The Royal Discussion – Story: 12:29:12 – 14:31:10Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!Subscribe to the WEEKLY SUIT GUNDAM Podcast!Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in Apple Podcasts!Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter!

This week brought the first Nintendo Direct presentation of 2022, and if it wasn't the most earth-shattering event ever, it sure brought a lot to love for fans of obscure JRPGs and/or sports games. We discuss all the news in depth, talk a little more Genshin Impact, and even spend a good 15 minutes gushing over the recent run of classic Doctor Who Blu-ray sets, before diving into Part V of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin. “Clash at Loum” delivers not only the OVA's finest episode, but one of the single most memorable and powerful installments in the 40-year history of Gundam. Dramatizing Zeon's disastrous colony drop operation, Sayla Mass making a stand at Side 5, Ramba Ral and Crowley Hamon bemoaning the loss of a world that's passed them by, and Char Aznable taking the final, ultimate step towards becoming the legendary Red Comet, this episode is absolutely overflowing with pantheon-level sequences that are among the greatest Gundam has ever given us, all combining to paint a deeply affecting portrait of a world spun entirely out of control. This is as good as it gets.Time Chart:Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:04:47Stuff: 0:04:47 – 0:33:45Nintendo Direct: 0:33:45 – 1:19:02Gundam Origin V: 1:19:02 – 3:15:44Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!Subscribe to the WEEKLY SUIT GUNDAM Podcast!Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in Apple Podcasts!Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter! 

Nearly five years ago now, Atlus' Persona 5 released in the United States and took our hearts, compelling us to record several weeks' worth of spoiler-cast discussions on the game that we later compiled into a 10.5-hour mega-podcast that quickly became our most popular episode ever! Since Persona 5 Royal – the updated, reworked version of the game – released in 2020, we've gotten countless requests for a Royal-specific follow-up episode. And now that we've both finally had time to sit down and play all 120+ hours of this absolute behemoth of a game, we're back with just that: A solid 4-hour review and discussion of Persona 5 Royal, breaking down everything new – including the tremendous new extra arc, reworked ending, and new and reworked characters like Yoshizawa, Maruki, and Akechi – and reveling in what very well might be the greatest video game ever made. It's been too long since we devoted an entire episode to Persona, but we hope we've made up for the wait with this extra-long bonus episode! Enjoy!Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!Subscribe to the WEEKLY SUIT GUNDAM Podcast!Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in Apple Podcasts!Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter! 

This week saw another major acquisition in the world of gaming as Sony, makers of PlayStation, purchased Bungie – the original makers of Halo, Xbox's most iconic franchise – for a cool $3.6 billion. We discuss the implications of this deal for the future of PlayStation and Destiny, but that's not the only Halo-adjacent talk this week, as we also make fun of the awful new trailer for the Halo TV series and revisit the anemic, struggling Halo Infinite multiplayer a few months after release. Sean also review the Violet Evergarden movie now streaming on Netflix, and we gush some more over Genshin Impact before diving into our next Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin review. Part IV, Eve of Destiny, is a messier installment than others in this series, failing to find as clear or compelling a through-line as prior or upcoming episodes, even as it contains plenty of great moments including the first meeting between Char and Lalah, a powerful ending scene with Amuro and Fraw Bow, and an absolutely dynamite centerpiece action sequence on the moon. There's more than enough here to discuss and enjoy, even if it's all something of a stepping stone to some of The Origin's best material yet to come. Enjoy, and come back this Friday, February 11th, for a very special bonus episode containing our long-awaited, extremely belated, 4-hour-long review and discussion of Persona 5 Royal!Time Chart: Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:03:54 Genshin Impact: 0:03:54 – 0:14:26Sean Talks Violet Evergarden: 0:14:26 – 0:21:00Halo Infinite Multiplayer: 0:21:00 – 0:38:02News: 0:38:02 – 1:12:24Gundam Origin IV: 1:12:24 – 2:41:50Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!Subscribe to the WEEKLY SUIT GUNDAM Podcast!Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in Apple Podcasts!Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter!

A legend is born in Part III of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin – Dawn of Rebellion, which sees Casval Rem Deikun adopt – er, violently steal – the identity of Char Aznable, and gradually develop the colorful, calculating persona made so iconic in Gundam '79. It's one of the most entertaining episodes in the history of Gundam, an archetypal military academy story built on the foundation of Char's twisted friendship with Garma Zabi, and all leading inexorably towards the horrors of the One-Year War. We discuss that at length as today's main topic, but before diving into Gundam, you'll also hear Sean talk about Genshin Impact, hear Jonathan's thoughts on (finally!) watching HBO's venerable masterpiece Deadwood, and learn our reaction to the latest slew of Doctor Who rumors! Enjoy, and come back next week for our long-awaited, extremely belated review and discussion of Persona 5 Royal!Time Chart: Intro & Stuff: 0:00:00 – 0:26:50Gundam Origin Part III: 0:26:50 – 1:57:11Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!Subscribe to the WEEKLY SUIT GUNDAM Podcast!Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in Apple Podcasts!Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter! 

The big news in gaming this week – and probably all year, and maybe all decade – was news of Microsoft's intent to purchase Activision Blizzard King, one of the last major third party publishers standing in the West, for $69 billion, an astronomical and purely theoretical sum of money that makes us extremely depressed about the capitalist hellscape we all inhabit. After attempting to wrap our heads around that news, it's on to another adventure in the world of Gundam, as our journey through the past of the Universal Century continues with Part II of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin. One of the most heart-wrenching installments in the series, Artesia's Sorrow is a fantastic hour with more than enough to make it worth the full podcast treatment, and we once again find countless things to talk about breaking it down. Enjoy! Time Chart: Intro & Stuff: 0:00:00 – 0:06:01Microsoft News: 0:06:01 – 0:38:41Gundam Origin Part II: 0:38:41 – 2:18:02Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!Subscribe to the WEEKLY SUIT GUNDAM Podcast!Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in Apple Podcasts!Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter!

For our first Gundam discussion of the New Year, we're beginning our journey through Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin, the 6-part theatrical OVA created between 2015 and 2018, based on Yoshikazu Yasuhiko's manga of the same name. And to give this great series the royal treatment it deserves, we're covering it one episode at a time! For this week, we're discussing Part I: Blue-Eyed Casval, where we return to Universal Century 0068 in the Republic of Munzo, where a young Casval Rem Deikun and his sister Artesia see the world thrown into chaos after the death of their father, the revolutionary leader Zeon Zum Deikun. It's a great debut episode for one of the best prequel stories ever told, but if you're not into Gundam, we've also got a half-hour of Stuff at the top of the podcast, with Sean telling us all about the first Kimetsu no Yaiba game, The Hinokami Chronicles, and Jonathan telling us about his fancy new computer! Enjoy! Time Chart: Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:01:59Kimetsu no Yaiba Game: 0:01:59 – 0:15:38Jonathan's fancy new computer: 0:15:38 – 0:30:14Gundam The Origin: 0:30:14 – 2:18:44Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!Subscribe to the WEEKLY SUIT GUNDAM Podcast!Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in Apple Podcasts!Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter! 

For our first episode of 2022, we're taking a look back at the best video games of 2021! It was a slower and more unpredictable year for games than we've had in a while, with more releases impacted by pandemic delays and the new-generation consoles continuing to be hard to find, but there were still plenty of truly memorable highlights, from the madcap horror insanity of Resident Evil Village, to the thrillingly silly assassinations of Hitman 3, to the first new Metroid 2D adventure in almost 20 years, to a landmark year of updates for the outstanding Genshin Impact. Sean and Jonathan talk about all these and much more with our individual Top 10 lists, along with a few honorable mentions, Jonathan's list of the Top 5 Games Not-quite of 2021, and look forward to what's sure to be another busy year for the podcast! Enjoy! Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!Subscribe to the WEEKLY SUIT GUNDAM Podcast!Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in Apple Podcasts!Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter!

In this special bonus episode, Jonathan Lack, co-host of The Weekly Stuff Podcast, shares his Top 10 Films of 2021 (and more!). You can read or follow along with the text version of this piece at http://www.jonathanlack.com/2021/12/jonathan-lacks-top-10-films-of-2021.html 2021 was yet another terrible year for the world, but it turned out to be one of the greatest years for cinema in my lifetime. The last time I felt this strongly about a year's worth of movies was 2014 – and before that, 2007, and 2001. Every six or seven years, it seems, we get one of these remarkable years, a convergence of established masters at the height of their craft and bold new voices establishing lasting legacies, with unexpected pleasures coming at us from all directions. I loved so many films this year so passionately that in addition to the main Top 10, we've got an additional 10 runners-up, bringing us to a nice even Top 20, and then five extra ‘leftovers' I would have felt bad ignoring, so I guess it's kind of a Top 25. #20-11 have paragraph-length capsule statements, but for the Top 10, I went all out, penning either a mini-review or a short essay for each. That means this is one of the longest pieces I've ever published. But the movies this year deserved it, and since I didn't get to write many public-facing pieces on film this year, I owed it to myself to spend some time writing about all these works that meant so much to me. Ok then. Deep breath. Here we go. Time Chart: Intro: 0:00:00 - 0:03:41 Part 1 - Leftovers: 0:03:41 - 0:05:21 Part 2 - Honorable Mentions: 0:05:21 - 0:17:48 Part 3 - The Top 10 Films of 2021: 0:17:48 - 1:10:17Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!Subscribe to the WEEKLY SUIT GUNDAM Podcast!Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in Apple Podcasts!Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter!

For the final Weekly Stuff Podcast of 2021, we are reviewing Lana Wachowski's The Matrix Resurrections, the new entry in the Matrix franchise coming a whole 18 years after Reloaded and Revolutions landed in 2003. We did full in-depth revisitations of the original Matrix trilogy on episodes 398, 401, and 402, and this discussion is a great follow-up on those conversations, as we dive deep with this ambitious, challenging sequel that sees Wachowski updating the Matrix – the world and the characters, but also the franchise itself and its many eclectic themes – for a world that's changed an awful lot in the last 20 years. Sean and Jonathan disagree on exactly how effective the film is on its own terms, but we're in complete harmony on it being an interesting, passionate idea that's more than worthy of spending a few hours discussing. Thanks so much for listening throughout 2021, and we look forward to seeing you all in the 2022 for a whole new year of The Weekly Stuff Podcast!Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!Subscribe to the WEEKLY SUIT GUNDAM Podcast!Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in Apple Podcasts!Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter!

We're here to wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays with our 4th annual Weekly Stuff Podcast Christmas Special! After reviewing the Pokemon Christmas Bash album in 2018, reading through a Western-themed Evangelical Christian rendering of A Christmas Carol in 2019, and reviewing the extremely festive/psychosexual Christmas masterpiece Batman Returns in 2020, we're back for another season of mayhem – and this time, it's a crossover with Weekly Suit Gundam!  For this Christmas, Jonathan has found several pieces (out of a surprisingly large sea of options) of Christmas-themed Mobile Suit Gundam fanfiction, set in the worlds of Gundam Wing, Gundam SEED, and Mobile Fighter G Gundam, and he surprises Sean on air by inviting him to read them out loud. A festive, flabbergasted, and altogether confusing time is had by all. We here at The Weekly Stuff Podcast wish you and yours a very happy holiday, and look forward to seeing you next week for our final episode of 2021, with our review of The Matrix Resurrections. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!Subscribe to the WEEKLY SUIT GUNDAM Podcast!Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in Apple Podcasts!Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter!

Hollywood's biggest release of the year is here with Spider-Man: No Way Home, the third entry in the MCU's incarnation of Spidey, and Sean and Jonathan disagree on it pretty heavily at the outset. Sean liked it a lot, while Jonathan…didn't. But it makes for a really engaging discussion where we find more consensus than initially anticipated, and Jonathan finds himself wanting to give the movie another chance in the future. Before the big Spidey review, though, we also talk a bit about playing Persona 5 Royal and Persona 5 Strikers, Jonathan talks about listening to some excellent recent Doctor Who releases from Big Finish, and we discuss finishing the Halo Infinite campaign. All this and more on our first episode in our new Tuesday timeslot, as The Weekly Stuff Podcast is moving from Mondays to Tuesdays going forward (with a Monday night premiere every week at 7:00 PM CT on our YouTube channel – www.youtube.com/c/TheWeeklyStuffPodcast)Time Chart:Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:07:48Persona Stuff: 0:07:48 – 0:27:27Doctor Who Stuff: 0:27:27 – 0:41:00Halo Infinite Stuff: 0:41:00 – 1:06:28Spider-Man No Way Home: 1:06:28 – 3:00:12Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!Subscribe to the WEEKLY SUIT GUNDAM Podcast!Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in Apple Podcasts!Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter!