Anime Roundtable (Anime Roundtable)

We actually got a few people in the audience, it didn’t last long though. As always we started with impressions of the con so far. First with the new layout again, then the actual panels and events we saw

Then we get to the news

00:53:50 - Matt Alt talked about the potential and pitfalls of AI in the fine art of translation, so we did too

01:19:20 - Norm McEvoy takes a break from his rounds to make his annual visit to the podcast and explains a few of the changes that happened to Anime North this year, and talk about its DNA

01:35:06 - Norm gives his thoughts on Akira Toriyama as the tributes continue at AN, and then goes on his usual pro wrestling fandom for Terry Funk, and remembers some AN staff who passed away

Then some headlines in brief

01:45:15 - Wanna watch Miku Expo on TV? Pretty sure those who’ve gone to the concert in person weren’t interested

01:48:05 - Toru Furuya, say it ain’t so!? Another in a list of voice actors and bad behaviour

01:51:59 - Best wishes to Rachael Lillis as her Breast Cancer battle reaches a difficult point

This Week’s Drinking Game: Take a shot of sake when someone in the audience adds to the conversation

P.S. We’ll hopefully figure out the buzzing sound by next year

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Kevin Ng, Amy Lynn Greig, with Norm McEvoy

Opening Theme: “FUBUKI - Snowstorm” performed by Pico Masaki

Other Links

Lawson's and Mt Fuji

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The season premier continues with talk about the Wall Street Journal editorial critical of the Japanese government’s use of anime and manga in their self promotion.  And then in the bullets we’ll talk about New Generation’s latest moves, and how the anime industry in Japan does versus the Love Hotel industry.  We know who won, but we’ll talk about it anyway.

Our longest and most shocking episode yet.

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Angela Jordan (48:20)

After Mike recovers from yet another illness, he, Kevin and Moh have a morning coffee to talk about the last month to settle back around the table. Like Halloween and Anime North, thoughts on the Overwatch League Finals as Championship Season in various eSports wind down, and the uncomfortable story and latest developments in the Johnny Associates scandal

Mike Nicolas, Kevin Ng, Mohamed Sharmarke

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A rare time we decided to get right to the main topic and talk at length about PLANETES and Vinland Saga creator Makoto Yukimura’s appearances this past weekend in Toronto

01:20:32 - Then in brief, more Haruhi to celebrate 20 years, and One Piece with Jamie Lee Curtis is very possible

01:21:39 - Studio Ghibli sold to TV Nippon. We go through the coles notes version, how it came to this and what to expect in the near future. And Miyazaki gives up driving

01:30:16 - And longer than usual thought on Sony winding down the Right Stuf store, and how James saw the announcement coming over the last week or two

01:46:38 - Wow Paru Itagaki got married?! 

This Week’s Drinking Game: Take a shot everytime James says “Stuff Like That”. Even more impressive, try and count how many shots you take before passing out

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Kevin Ng, Mohamed Sharmarke

Opening Theme: “FUBUKI - Snowstorm” performed by Pico Masaki

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After a week off, a follow up on downloading and opinions on the iPod….oh and in anime stuff, more on pre-emptings on Japanese TV, and what’s coming on Canadian TV. Also a conversation on the “big volume more pages” trend in manga. If I use the word “omnibus” I may get hurt. And finally, to fulfill our official obligation, some Anime North news…not necessarily in that order.

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Adam Grant (1:06)

Mike, Kevin, and Mohammed give a few thoughts on Anime North almost three weeks after, the City Hunter live action almost three weeks after Mike was supposed to have watched it, a conversation with a friend and listener sparking another thought on merchandise, and maybe three headlines as we settle back into the mics

Not necessarily in that order

Toronto Japanese Film Festival

Gainax Goes Bankrupt

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We just had to talk about the reveal of the Switch 2 and take a quick trip down recent Nintendo history and how it rebounded from the Wii U almost 15 years ago. And wonder about the future of the handheld gaming console world as a whole. Then we dive into some anime headline with Diamond Distributor's Chapter 11, Discotek's latest reveals, Crunchyroll's latest issue (add it to the pile please), and James giving a thought on an anime title this season that doesn't have a North American pickup...when its manga does, and a business reason as to why you should be disappointed that's the case

Couldn't you tell Mike wanted to meet quota for the month?

Mike Nicolas and James Austin

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We settle in as championship week in three major e-sports begins (DOTA2, LOL, and Overwatch)

7:40 - Kevin went to the Anime North Halloween Event at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre and does a quick recap, with a version of the Nominoichi (obviously his specialty)

30:10 - Looking back at the Discotek presentation and what caught our attention there

Then Moh finally gets into the conversation

34:11 - Netflix changes their anime focus, and how that clashes with the culture of fandom both past and present

54:50 - Some social media thoughts and what’s been in our queues

1:07:08 - Kevin and Moh look back on James’s last appearance in last week’s Space Heater Chat and we update it

1:13:26 - Finally we talk Halloween, first on the Simpsons, then the tragic events in the Itaewon district of Seoul and revisit Halloween in East Asia again

This Week’s Drinking Game: Take a shot when someone says the word “charming”. And take another when it’s Mike who says it

Mike Nicolas, Kevin Ng, Mohamed Sharmarke

Opening Theme: “FUBUKI - Snowstorm” performed by Pico Masaki

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We begin this week’s Roundtable by talking our Toronto Area roots and the death of former Mississauga mayor Hazel McCallion (Anime North takes place very close to the Toronto/Mississauga border)

11:30 - James gives his thoughts on last episode, and his recent video gaming

27:12 - It’s Awards Season!!! And anime is no exception (within itself), so we look at both the Reddit and Crunchyroll awards and how they’re trying to take the exercise a little more seriously

01:06:25 - James and Kevin talk at length about delayed anime productions and how an almost perfect storm (pandemic, Lunar New Year, studio workloads) has impacted that

01:23:45 - Kevin did a field trip this week. He watched the “Reincarnated as Slime” movie and went manga hunting uptown

01:27:20 - Mike also took a field trip this week. And visited his old university anime club and the location where the first epsiodes of Roundtable were recorded. And wonders about the future relavance of anime clubs and their place in the current fandom

01:41:45 - And finally the Anime Community Calendar featuring online presentations by the Japan Society and Discotek (both featuring Mike Toole). And the next Sword Art Online movie too and lets look forward to TCAF

This Week’s Drinking Game: Take a shot whenever sleep is mentioned (chances are it’ll knock you out)

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Kevin Ng

Opening Theme: “FUBUKI - Snowstorm” performed by Pico Masaki

Visit our website for more information and links:

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*10:45am Editors Note: Mike was so sleepy while putting up the episode this morning, he put up the wrong one. It's now corrected. To the both of our listeners, enjoy!!*

Mike is joined by James, Moh, and Lawrence and make observations on the first night of Anime North 2023 and the Nominoichi. James talks about Jun Miyuzuki’s appearance at TCAF and her creation process. Then the others give their take on the evolving media mix in fandom. And look ahead to Saturday

We’re off and running at Anime North

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21 is Anime Roundtable’s 13 or 4. So here’s what we decided to put up from the ill fated episode from our first night at Anime North. First, a brief re-hash of our conversation on the controversy surrounding manga cafes and rental shops in Asia and North America. Then we will have a word from Anime North as one of the organizers come on the show. Also we will talk about what happened to ep. 21, version 1. Hopefully putting the ghosts of 21 finally to rest.

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Mohamed Sharmarke, Angela Jordan. With special guest Norm McEvoy. (38:14)

Ever wondered what the show would sound like if it was recorded on just the default mic of the recording laptop? Well that’s what happened for the first 45 mins this week as Mike forgot to properly hook the board in before recording. Didn’t help when Garageband stalled a few times during the episode, or in the last ten minutes of the segment when the iBook’s cooling fan come on…

Anyway in all of that, some Canadian related items, seyuu stalkers hoping to strike back, Makoto Shinkai Day, the use of video game controllers in crime, and music that helps girls “bust out”.

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Adam Grant (1:45:20)

Kevin visits Mike to dust off the old microphones and to check their Anime North worthiness. In the process they talk about going into Mike’s vault to find things that might be Nominoichi worthy, and immediate thoughts as Anime Expo begins to wrap up

This might have been taped last week, but for sure there’s more to come this week

The other thing taped this week. A defence of Kodomo no Jikan and then some brief talk about the change in the Japanese government and it’s relationship to anime and manga.

And somehow we managed to get through this episode without talking about School Days…

Mike Nicolas, Neil Sinclair, Adam Grant, Courteney St. John (1:02:39)

Part one of our special episode with the owners of The Comic Den Mississauga. First up we’ll reminisce over the last 28 years in business. Then we’ll talk about the Nymphet controversy…you expect us not to talk about it?

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Terry Visser, Anthony Visser. (57:25)

*Note: This was taped just before the Euro Final

James is English, Moh has relatives in England, we had to talk soccer to start, before getting the former caught up on the space heaters

00:12:19 - We finally talk at some length about the demise of Gainax. Maybe time gives us a little perspective and lessons

00:25:55 - Crunchyroll getting rid of their comments functions, we discuss how this happened and other motivations behind it

00:46:35 - Let’s go to Los Angeles. First we talked about the Dodger x Hololive promotion. And then Anime Expo and the line between artist alley and dealers room

01:17:47 - The Community Calendar. Back to the two Muv Luv bundles on Humble. Oh and the Revue Theatre in Toronto is doing a 20th anniversary showing of Place Promised in Our Early Days (which will probably be done by the time this goes up). And Flow is coming to Toronto

This Week’s Drinking Game: Take a shot when Bluelock is referenced

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Kevin Ng

Opening Theme: “FUBUKI - Snowstorm” performed by Pico Masaki

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Editor’s Note: This episode was taped before other developments in the stories mentioned happened

As we settle in, Amy gets caught up on last week’s episode before we talk about this week’s stuff

38:58 - We fill in our duty as an Official Podcast of Anime North for the first time in 2023, by talking about the opening of hotels and registrations…and the headaches involved. So we walk through the timeline of events this week

01:16:04 - Kodansha USA pulling digital simulpubs from other services. Kevin puts on his manga hat and goes into detail. And of course we take our guesses as to what’s next

01:41:19 - What’s on Amy’s list. And isn’t it cool to relate to younger fans?

This weeks Drinking Game: Take a shot whenver you get the sense there’s a reality check

Mike Nicolas, Kevin Ng, Mohamed Sharmarke, Amy-Lynn Greig

Opening Theme: “FUBUKI - Snowstorm” performed by Pico Masaki

Visit our website for more information and links:

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Amy returns and sparks a discussion about her grade nine students being fans of a show that came out before any of them were born, and similar benchmarks in recent fandom history, and the key things that facilitated those benchmarks

16:58 - Disney gets the streaming rights for Bleach for Disney+ and Hulu, and Urusei Yatsura on HiDive

26:25 - What have we been watching lately

39:29 - We revist the Kyle McCarley story and get Amy’s take on it with some follow up details

1:23:33 - The Bullets. Some Hunter x Hunter and Card Captor manga news. Tokyo Olympics bribary scandal

1:26:44 - Hey someone put out a list of “Starter Anime”

1:54:05 - A final kind word for the late Kazuki Takahashi, the creator of Yu-Gi-Oh

This Week’s Drinking Game: Take a shot when you realize that the word Mike was looking for was “acrimony”, or confused both Bleach and Naruto

Mike Nicolas, Amy-Lynn Greig, Kevin Ng, Mohamed Sharmarke

Opening Theme: “FUBUKI - Snowstorm” performed by Pico Masaki

Visit our website for more information and links:

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Twitter and IG: @animeroundtable

Email: animeroundtable@gmail.com 

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Angela’s week in Japan and some bullets (a fancy way to say headlines in brief), in the episode we were supposed to do last week if we weren’t snowed in. 

Mike Nicolas, Neil Sinclair, Angela Jordan, Clairissa Jewell. (1:03:32)

Mike, Moh, and Kevin spend Pi Day going a little off the beaten path, and back to the movies as we talk about the Oscars and the evolution of Michelle Yeoh, her path compared to Jackie Chan’s, and Asian representation in Hollywood and North American pop culture

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Aside from talking about the fallout from the Video Game Awards, you know we just had to talk about every piece of Sony and anime related news over the last few weeks (00:17:00)

00:22:00 - Sony becomes the largest major shareholder in Kadokawa. And a little more about how we got to here

00:37:42 - Bloomberg’s expose on the inner workings of Crunchyroll as their recent numbers don’t look great

00:55:50 - Former Funimation man Lance Heiskel speaks

01:28:35 - NHK noting how big the anime business is this year. And CNN arguing for the upside for Sony

And finally, Kevin was late because he was returning from a shopping trip, the Gashapon pop up at Union Station, and the first of Mike’s New Years Resolutions (01:45:07)

This Week’s Drinking Game: Take a shot when Mike thought it was already 2025 

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Kevin Ng

Opening Theme: “FUBUKI - Snowstorm” performed by Pico Masaki

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As day two of Anime North ended, Kevin and Amy finally sat around the table to give their impressions of the show so far. Kevin and Amy talk the panels, and Mike talks the general atmosphere…and the parking

Then, we have a serious discussion…

51:22 - With the reboot of the Rurouni Kenshin anime now on the horizon, we revisit the discussion that has simmered in light of the issues of its creator some years back. Can you separate the art from the artist here?

After we tried to lighten the mood with a game of Yes or No, but then…

1:33:15 - Anime North’s Co-programming head, Norm McEvoy joined us for his annual visit and gave his take on the Kenshin issues and looks back at the weekend to this point. And looks back on the lives of Leiji Matsumoto, Ichiro Mizuki, and Antonio Inoki

1:59:57 - Hey Kevin. What do you really think about Kodansha’s K-Manga?

2:09:49 - Great Pretender has been picked up for physical media. And a Final Insult from Mike

This Week’s Drinking Game: Take a shot for a job well done

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Kevin Ng, Amy Lynn Greig, with Norm McEvoy

Opening Theme: “FUBUKI - Snowstorm” performed by Pico Masaki

Visit our website for more information and links:

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We finally get in for the first time in a few months. But Mike and James kept it simple and just talked more of the ups and downs of Playstation’s last bit, then the busy week Toho has had, remember a few more voices that have been silenced, and James’ further issues with Crunchyroll taking over Nozomi’s Kickstarter campaigns

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Sorry for the delay as Mike is still in shock after listening to the episode again while preparing it for upload.

We start this week by welcoming Neil back and talking about political discourse in cartoons over the last 30 years. Then a trip to the political and legal pages concerning the death of a 10 year old in Indonesia (with a politician linking Naruto to it), and the latest in the Odex saga in Singapore. And finally the obligatory ADV talk. That’s assuming you can get past the fact that both Neil and Adam are around the table unleashed…you’ve been warned.

Mike Nicolas, Neil Sinclair, Adam Grant, James Austin. (1:03:30)

Would you believe we taped this more than three weeks ago? Mike, Kevin, and Moe decided to shoot the breeze and talk sports, esports, the convention news to that point, the (at the time) convention look ahead, anime movies, movie festivals, and a thought for those who are no longer with us. Not necessarily in that order

Mike, James, Kevin, and Moh briefly got together over coffee and each talked about one thing that caught their attention this week

Moh: Initial reactions to the Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender live action

Kevin: The latest on the Ninjisanji controversy

James: Some titles people thought would never see an english release (from titles like Tsukihime and Fate/Stay Night to Ashita no Joe) will see one

Mike: Animego’s sale to MediaOCD

And in case you missed it in the community calendar, 100 Yen the Documentary, and another recommendation Living the Game

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After a one week hiatus, we welcome a newcomer and get a legal opinion on fansubs in Canada and around the world. And then we briefly talk about broadcast preempting in Japan. Peppered with pr0n talk…check that…burried by…

Most outrageous episode yet. You’ve been warned.

Mike Nicolas, Neil Sinclair, James Austin, Adam Grant. (1:06:25)

We begin 2025 with Mike and James doing a live video space heater where James goes on a rant about the issues with the Phantom Trigger Grisaia anime Kickstarter and looks back on similar anime and manga crowdfunds over the years. Then, some CES news with Crunchyroll looking to restart their digital manga service (hot off the heels of the increased stake in Kadokawa), do some Ghosts of Tsushima live action, and VLC looking to get into the AI subtitle space. Then we come home as the pre-reg for Anime North memberships and hotels begin, and Anime Revolution makes its move on Toronto

Mike Nicolas and James Austin

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We begin the first episode of 2023 by looking back on the last episode of 2022, with the talk about the Pokemon anime

14:55 - Mike remembers Pele’s contribution to North American pop culture

Then we start on the things that have caught our attention as 2023 begins

23:50 - James brings up Media Blasters founder John Sirabella’s YouTube Channel

33:17 - Then James brings up Shinchosha’s experiment into an AI drawn manga

38:05 - Moh and Kevin talk Bleach and Chainsaw Man with a conversation about pacing an anime in relation to its source material

52:50 - A Wired article in the aftermath of the Netflix cancellation of 1899 caught Mike’s attention on the streamer’s ongoing content pivot, and tries to relate the questions from this article to Anime

01:02:40 - And Miyazaki is coming out with something new. And a talk about Romantic Killer and how Viz is promoting the manga

01:23:00 - So what are we enjoying as of late?

01:25:00 - Vinland Saga and Trigun Stampede has James’ attention. The latter of which sparks a discussion about the recent trend of going back to older titles

01:33:07 - James also recommends Buddy Daddies and his playing of Witch of the Holy Night (with a look ahead to uFotable’s next feature)

01:41:10 - Moh’s choice is Salaryman’s Club. Then Kevin mentions Bocci The Rock, and how its popularity was a little much for its creator at the recent Comiket. Gagant as well

02:01:48 - Mike’s read, Kaguya-Sama (with thoughts about going to the library). And he’s still behind on the anime he has been watching in the past. And he’s been playing Hot Wheels Unleashed

02:05:50 - We start to look ahead to Anime North with registration beginning on Jan 13. And New Years resolutions for the Roundtable in 2023

This Week’s Drinking Game: Take a shot for Mike forgetting to properly hook up his microphone to his MacBook

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Kevin Ng, Mohamed Sharmarke

Opening Theme: “FUBUKI - Snowstorm” performed by Pico Masaki

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The Kadokawa acquisition of Anime News Network is no doubt the big news of the week. So we take a long look at it, and the potential that sits there. Along with a few asides like Canadians getting their notice on Crunchyroll’s price increase, and James’ take on the Discotek presentation a few weeks back

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Kevin Ng, Amy Lynn Greig

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Mike’s voice and well being has recovered enough for him, James, and Kevin to sit around and talk about the world that has passed by in the last two months. After looking back on the Leafs’ season, we actually look forward to TCAF and Anime North (but watch your cellphones), and other things headlines that caught our attention 

This Week’s Drinking Game: Take a pint when Mike finally realizes that we’ve talked about Dokibird already this year

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Moh returns to the table and we start with his thoughts from last episode. Especially on upselling out of print, hard to find manga, Japanese guests at FanExpo, Moh’s movie watching, and Kevin, James, and Shin Megami Tensei

39:52 - We talk at length about the Kyle McCarley situation concerning losing his role in Mob Psycho 100 and try to read between the lines with Crunchyroll’s movements in it

In the bullets segment

1:11:55 - What caught our attention from Aniplex Fest. Mainly Urusei Yatsura’s North American streaming rights going to Sentai and HiDive, Chainsaw Man, and the Rurouni Kenshin anime

1:24:09 - Netflix…TaDummmmm. And how Cyberpunk Edgerunner gives a new angle to the industry’s media mix

1:32:00 - Is there any Nippon TV stuff on Disney+ in Canada? Mike wants to get that return on his $2 investment (or about $1.50 US)

1:37:10 - What’s Kevin reading in a new segment we will call, “Kevin’s Culture Corner”. And finally what’s in all our queues

This Week’s Drinking Game: Take a sip whenever we hint Wu Tang CREAM, then a shot when we do

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Kevin Ng, Mohamed Sharmarke

Opening Theme: “FUBUKI - Snowstorm” performed by Pico Masaki

Visit our website for more information and links:

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Twitter and IG: @animeroundtable

Email: animeroundtable@gmail.com 

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We start with Mike looking back on 19 years (on and off) of the Roundtable. And then current events with the Oscars, a followup to Space Heater and Ontario politics (with the election earlier in the week)

18:25 - Everyone around the table tonight has seen Gundam GQuuuux Beginning in theatres. And we have thoughts from Gundam watchers, and newcomers

57:12 - On the anniersary of Akira Toriyama’s passing, the Japan Foundation New York is doing an online panel about Dragon Ball’s popularity (on YouTube now)

And coming back full circle, Mike looks back on 19 years of the Anime Roundtable, and ahead to kicking the Twitch stream into high gear. Cheers to all that

Mike Nicolas, Kevin Ng, Mohamed Sharmarke

Opening Theme: “Speed Demon” by Simon Holland (Greetings and Saluations)

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Mike and Moh test out some new equipment by talking a little Playstation. A little bit of Pro, 30th Anniversary, and maybe a new portable as the 6 comes out?

Hope the new equipment passed the test

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Mike, James, and Kevin catch up after a month and a half off. We talked about Black Friday shopping in Canada (especially video games and some from the store formerly known as Right Stuf) before talking about Sony’s pursuit of Kadokawa and VISA of all things

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James finally gets a little time away from work again to visit Mike for a Space Heater. After a quick overview of shopping options in Toronto, they decided to talk about the Animeigo documentary series “The Anime Business”, the upcoming Anne of Green Gables anime and the hopes for it in Canada, and James’ thoughts on Assassin’s Creed: Shadows and how he feels it’s not enough to save Ubisoft

Mike Nicolas and James Austin

Opening Theme: “Fubuki-Snowstorm” by Pico Misaki

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We start by getting Canadian political as we do every so often from Bill C-11 and Canadian Content to the Ontario General Election (which does have an Anime North link)

9:35 - We talk about the Toronto Comic Arts Festival and the controversy surrounding the invite given to, and then taken away from Pink Cat creator Saba Moeel

46:31 - A year after Kentaro Miura’s death, Beserk’s fate has been determined, and will continue with the help of Miura’s assistants and close friend Kouji Mori in charge 

And briefly…

1:11:30 - It’s old news, but what about the latest on the One Piece live action, the Robotech live action, and the new Urusei Yatsura anime

1:19:38 - So what is our plan going into Anime North a month from now?

And just when we were about to finish up..

1:32:06 - Some video game stuff. James and Kevin are trying to get Xenoblade 3 digitally on the Switch store, Mike looking at the Playstation Days of Play sale, and some esports thoughts

1:34:37 - And an update on the union push at Seven Seas

This week’s Drinking Game: Take a shot for when you can spot every technical issue that happened this week…just pace yourself

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Kevin Ng, Mohamed Sharmarke, Geoff Greig

Opening Theme: “FUBUKI - Snowstorm” performed by Pico Masaki

Visit our website for more information and links:

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Email: animeroundtable@gmail.com 

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We begin by following up on the big headline this weekend, the lineups

9:00 - We follow up on Thursday’s On My Mind and fully introduce Amy 

Then we look at our own Anime Norths so far

15:15 - The Nominoichi

21:10 - Amy talks seeing Katsura Sunshine talking the Decending Stories anime

26:00 - Then Amy talks the YTV panel hosted by Martin Hsu

39:29 - Mike talks a little bit about his morning panel

41:26 - We talk about the aftermath of the drowning death of Yu-Gi-Oh creator Kazuki Takahashi

53:17 - Ken Akamatsu gets elected to the Upper House of the Japanese Diet

1:01:04 - And clear the deck, Anime North lead Norm McEvoy makes his regular appearance during the AN episodes. He does look back at some of the history of Anime Fandom in Toronto, including where AN did begin

1:11:28 - Mike brings back his game of “Yes or No” to unpack and play with the others

1:33:24 - The wrap up (Mike tries to summarize the panel)

This Week’s Drinking Game - an either/or as well

Either, take a shot everytime you hear someone breathing on the mics…

Or, take one everytime Mike is on the verge of saying “Anime Roundtable” instead of “Anime North”, and visa versa

Mike Nicolas, Kevin Ng, Amy-Lynn Greig, with guest Norm McEvoy

Opening Theme: “FUBUKI - Snowstorm” performed by Pico Masaki

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Mike, James, and Lawrence make their observations as day one of Anime North winds down. Also we revisit some of the conversations from last year after the Nominoichi, and James and Lawrence give their thoughts on Akira Toriyama

Give it a listen before day two begins

Check out our website for more links and socials: animeroundtable.com

Kevin gives a Mike quick lecture to Mike as feedback on the first gaming stream. Then we talk Japanese Music with his thoughts on seeing Nano and MADKID in concert, Cloud Nine CEO Takuya Chigira’s thoughts on the state of JPOP internationally. How the downfall of a former member of SMAP is proving to be an issue for the TV network he was an anchor of, and some possible ramifications. Then we unwind with by looking back on Animeigo’s Valentine’s town hall

Mike Nicolas and Kevin Ng

Anime Roundtable playlist on Spotify

Opening Theme: “Fubuki-Snowstorm” by Pico Misaki

Landing Page: animeroundtable.com

Editors Note: This was taped just before Switch 2 preorders were also delayed in Canada. Which means a chunk of this aged about as well as milk...

A very long conversation about the ongoing Ghibli/ChatGPT controversy, the Switch 2 Nintendo Direct, and V-Tuber Mint Fantome speaks as herself to explain her world to the rest of it

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Kevin Ng

Opening Theme: Fubuki - Snowstorm by Pico Misaki

Visit our launch page for links: animeroundtable.com

*SPOILER WARNING*

Mike and Kevin talk about and try to wrap their heads around every aspect of The Boy and the Herron, Miyazaki’s latest (final) film. And I mean EVERY POSSIBLE ASPECT

It’s been two weeks since the ITZY concerts. Mike and Kevin were on site for the ITZY concerts in Toronto. So they talk about their observations from different angles, from Kevin’s previous experiences at KPOP concerts, to Mike soaking in the atmosphere around the concert hall. And how it reminded them of Anime North

Visit our linktree for more information and links: animeroundtable.com

Other links coming soon

After looking back on the Space Heater Chat and some purchases in the latest Indigo Books sale. We focus on Crunchyroll on a few fronts this time around

00:09:45 - The retail side of CR with the end of Right Stuf. James gives his experience ordering from the revamped retail site

00:37:03 - New mobile games to Crunchyroll services, and manga service winds down. And James puts up an arguement as to why that’s not a totally good thing

00:51:07 - So what about the Crunchyroll’s current anime season?

And then on to other things

01:04:14 - AnimeNYC will have its 2024 edition on August 23-25th, the same weekend as FanExpo Canada. Aside from other news coming from this year’s edition

01:10:20 - Japan Foundation has a discussion on video games and trauma recovery

01:13:50 - James and Kevin go fanboy on Daigo

01:23:30 - Kevin talks a little more about his time watching V-tubers

This Week’s Drinking Game: Take a shot of Espresso when you realize Mike really wants to go to sleep soon

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Kevin Ng

Opening Theme: “FUBUKI - Snowstorm” performed by Pico Masaki

The reputation of foreigners in Japan, ADV’s latest moves online, the latest in anime merchandising, and Death Note trully coming to North America.

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Adam Grant, Angela Jordan (1:06:10)

We carve out time for the first time in a month to gather around the table and talk about the Super Mario Bros movie to start and wonder how other Nintendo IPs would work as movies

0:23:15 - We give a brief thought on Suzume and preview the Space Heater Chat coming up later this week

0:36:35 - James brought up the Polygon article about the staying power of anime on physical media. And how important that is. Straddling the line between collectable and consumable

Then we talk some live action

1:12:00 - The test screening for the One Piece live action didn’t go all that well did it?

1:27:50 - The Drops of God live action on Apple TV+. This is different, but it might be good

1:38:30 - The hottest anime right now is not streaming on Crunchyroll

The Community Calendar

1:47:22 - Looking ahead to this weekend’s Toronto Comic Arts Festival. And a reminder to always support the independent artists (or in this case, one of Moh’s friends)

1:58:51 - The latest Anime North news, with the first Japanese Guests announced 

2:04:03 - RADWIMPS comes to Toronto this week!!

This Week’s Drinking Game: Take a shot everytime Mike says the word “facetious”

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Kevin Ng, Mohamed Sharmarke, Amy Lynn Greig

Opening Theme: “FUBUKI - Snowstorm” performed by Pico Masaki

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We begin the 70th episode of version two off topic with thoughts on the 21st anniversary of 9/11 and the death of Queen Elizabeth

10:10 - We look back on last week’s Space Heater Chat. With a long thought on anime programming in FanExpo and further IFF and AN comparisons,“culture”, live Overwatch League in Toronto, and the Nintendo Switch in mid-life

39:25 - We weigh in on the current Shojo Beat reprinting discussions and a general discussion about reprinting out of print translated manga titles

And in brief

1:32:50 - Netflix and NTV come to an agreement on older anime titles. And then compare it with NTV’s agreement with Disney+ 

1:42:55 - On the topic of Nintendo, Switch games being the most profitable physical media in the UK (Long Live the Queen). So what about traditional physical media for moving pictures?

This Week’s Drinking Game: Take a shot when Mike has “tip of the tongue” moments

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Kevin Ng

Opening Theme: “FUBUKI - Snowstorm” performed by Pico Masaki

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*WARNING: SOME SPOILERS AHEAD IN THIS EPISODE. IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN SUZUME YET, TREAD CAREFULLY

Still settling down from episode 81, Kevin and Moh visit Mike for the first in person taping since August. And Moh brought mochi donuts to boot. After settling down with the donuts, talking Sakura season in the Toronto area, the to do list on our social media, and even Kevin’s love for Certain Scientific Rail Gun, we really settle down and talk at length about every aspect surrounding Makoto Shinkai’s latest film Suzume. In the process we revisit our ongoing Shinkai debate, and maybe how the common aspects are beginning to change a little

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One final digest to end off the summer. In this one, we talk at length about the ADV/Geneon deal announced earlier this week. We give our own speculations on the deal, as well as give a brief history of Geneon/Pioneer distribution, and distribution in Canada.

We call it a digest, but…it’s still almost an hour long. Yeah, I guess we can’t shut up.

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Terry Visser, Anthony Visser. (57:35)

Mike goes flying without his usual wingmen. But in the process hears again from regular con-goer Lawrence and AN’s social media head Chris. We look back on the ups and downs of day one with Lawrence’s shopping spree and others just hoping for that chance. Then Mike looks ahead to day two, and looks forward to telling his story in the morning to help celebrate the 25th anniversary. And then Mike ends it off by looking back on Amy’s On My Mind from the day before

The big talk of the week is of course Geneon’s pull out of DVD sales in North America. We’ll give our thoughts on it, and naturally don’t think of this as definitive, or even needed. But it was worth talking about.

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Adam Grant. (52:21)

We begin the Super Sunday episode by getting Moh and Amy’s thoughts on the last episode two Sundays ago. And then going a little local

00:16:45 - Canada’s biggest book retailer might also be the biggest seller of manga in Canada. So imagine what would happen if it got cyber attacked and the long term. Oh yeah, and (outgoing) Toronto Mayor John Tory

00:38:50 - In anime fashion news…Astro Boy boots and the gacha machine backpack

00:42:23 - Boise Anime convention looking for Anime Cosplay only (Mike should have asked about Afro Samurai)

00:52:25 - We talked about James Gunn’s vision for the DC Universe and how it wants to be different from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And then we try to take that thinking to the Anime and Manga ecosystem (I think that’s an ongoing discussion)

Then in brief

01:28:00 - Netflix finally comes down on password sharing

01:32:00 - The top ten most pirated TV seasons from streaming services in 2022. Anime made the list. And which services we’re on

01:47:03 - Looking ahead on the Anime Community calendar, the Kaguya-sama Movie, RADWIMPS, Japan Society NYC

01:53:35 - And finally some thoughts on the Discotek and Viz Media announcements

This Week’s Drinking Game: Take a shot before doing your Valentines Day shopping on the 15th

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Mohamed Sharmarke, Amy-Lynn Greig, Kevin Ng

Opening Theme: “FUBUKI - Snowstorm” performed by Pico Masaki

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James returns to the table for the first time since Anime North. So we start by recaping his take on the anime summer

00:06:22 - A thought on anime on physical media

00:10:25 - The original Sailor Moon TV series is leaving streamer Crave on September 17 as Kevin finally shows up!!

00:17:25 - Discotek will bring back the original Digimon dub cast for their release of the second movie among other things from them

00:24:05 - On Anime Expo, James does go at length on the Tsukihime visual novel release on consoles, and attendance

00:37:40 - Crunchyroll having a presence at FanExpo Canada made James and Mike reminisce about the on and off history of anime programming there (which predates the use of the name “FanExpo”)

00:49:20 - We begin our long review of Anime Toronto (Formerly IFF Toronto), and how did being on Labour Day weekend a week after FanExpo affect things

00:53:40 - So how about autographs from the guests of honour?

01:18:40 - A quick word on TIFF and the international premier of The Boy and the Herron

01:24:25 - Kevin talks about the Anime Toronto Discord and the Hololive and Yukana presentations

01:43:26 - Makoto Yukimora (creator Planetes and Vinland Saga) is coming to Toronto. And then we look ahead

This week’s Drinking Game: Take a shot whenever you hear Kevin’s keyboard, or when you realize this was taped a day before the 22nd anniversary of 9/11

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Kevin Ng

Opening Theme: “FUBUKI - Snowstorm” performed by Pico Masaki

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The first episode of 2024 (which was taped a week before it was published) starts with us catching up with James. He’s been playing some games. So we talk games 

00:28:35 - James gives another eye roll in talking about his latest shopping experience on the Crunchy store. Another lesson about being a Canadian fan

00:52:10 - We look back on the verdict in the Kyoto Animation arson tragedy

01:04:50 - We look back at the beginning of Anime North season, and the traditional scramble for early spots of any sort at the convention later this year

01:15:06 - The community calendar (of items that may have already passed as of publishing). A Japan Foundation Toronto discussion on Japanese Arcades. And KPop group ITZY is coming to Toronto

And more shopping at the end

This week’s drinking game: Take a shot of espresso when you realize Mike wants to finish the episode

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Kevin Ng

Opening Theme: “FUBUKI - Snowstorm” performed by Pico Masaki

Visit animeroundtable.com for a list of all of our links online

Our first in person episode at the Six Points Studio in more than two years!!

We begin by getting everyone elses thoughts on the recent past conventions and the announcements that came out of them. With Mike reposing his Yes/No question from last week’s Space Heater, Kevin’s true thoughts on Manga Up, and the issues of putting EVERYTHING into English

47:40 - We have to take on the Crunchyroll purchase of Right Stuf from different angles. Most notably the adult one (Kevin en fuego here)

1:35:04 - In the spirit of both the fall out of the purchase and of episode 69…Kevin plays a cultured game of know your…well...Anime North Game Shows, what do you think? And how’s Kevin’s pronounciation?

2:07:38 - Looking ahead to events on the community calendar

This weeks drinking game: Take a shot when you hear a ramune bottle marble

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Kevin Ng, Mohamed Sharmarke, Amy Lynn Greig

Opening Theme: “FUBUKI - Snowstorm” performed by Pico Masaki

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Mike and Kevin spent over an hour talking about every possible angle after watching the Kaguya-Sama movie a few days before (on Valentines Day of all days)

Sadly we had to end it off on this note…

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After completely missing out on August, Mike quickly gets the first episode of September out of the way. And we quickly talk about Kevin’s brief experience at this year’s FanExpo Canada and how it fit in with our fandom this year

00:30:30 - Then we talk about Toronto’s Union Station and Amy’s experience at a Gashopon pop up there earlier today

01:05:35 - James goes through some of the summer company announcements made during convention season. Which gets into a talk about extras on physical media releases

01:22:50 - Mike remembers Tanaka Atsuko and Rachael Lillis

This Week’s Drinking Game: Here’s to the ones that we got. Cheers to the wish you were here but you’re not

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Kevin Ng, Mohamed Sharmarke, Amy Lynn Greig

Opening Theme: “FUBUKI - Snowstorm” performed by Pico Masaki

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James returns to the table and chats with Mike as they update the Bayonetta voice controversy. Plus James gives a few thoughts on Bleach and Disney+ from a business standpoint

Mike Nicolas and James Austin

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We are able to return two weeks after the last time we taped (and less than a week after said episode was posted). Too bad Mike was still half asleep through it

00:05:15 - Changes abound at Anime Toronto. We try to make sense of that and what it  means for the anime convention scene in Toronto

00:28:00 - Sony is finally winding down the Funimation streaming service. Of course there’s going to be an issue there. So the Sony bashing continues as we talk more about the kicking and screaming move from physical media to digital consumption of content

01:06:05 - The conflict between V-Tuber Selen Tatsuki and former agency Ninjisanji/ANYCOLOR has been the talk of that part of fandom, Kevin gives us a quick summary there and how it parallels the rest of the fandom

01:22:40 - And Japan Foundation Toronto and Humble Bundle have some stuff going on

This Week’s Drinking Game: Pour one out for Funimation. Then pour one more for the creator of the World of Narue who passed away this week

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Kevin Ng, with “long time listener first time caller” Mohamed Sharmarke

Opening Theme: “FUBUKI - Snowstorm” performed by Pico Masaki

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Kevin helps Mike fill the first part of his September quota since he missed out on filling out the August one. We look back on Kevin’s mature game last episode. Then look back on the actual festivals around the Toronto area missed in August (Japan Festival Toronto, CNE, FanExpo). A look ahead to things going on in Toronto in September (Overwatch League Summer Showdown). What’s on our queues, how you get hooked into buying mulitple editions of the same thing (manga edition), and a few headlines we might talk about in the next episode

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On the eve of Anime North (and the afterglow of PRIDE), one of the regulars has a very important message for the Roundtable listeners and hopefully Anime North attendees too

Mike and Moh sat down for a space heater. We started by looking back on the first gaming stream on Twitch the night before, and the ongoing Playstation Network outage, which at the time of taping had gotten to 25 hours. But at the heart of the matter, Mike and Moh wanted to talk about The Colors Within, and why you should check it out in theatres before its run likely ends in less than a week

Mike Nicolas and Mohamed Sharmarke

Anime Roundtable playlist on Spotify

Opening Theme: “Fubuki-Snowstorm” by Pico Misaki

Landing Page: animeroundtable.com

This week, we begin with some thoughts from a fan translator and James’ attempt to see Kite Liberator on the big screen. Then we talk at length about Crunchyroll. Anime Boston’s registration issues, more Someday’s Dreamers anime, and the first Geneon rescue are loaded and shot in the bullets segment. And finally, Mike responds to being called out on the blog…then Adam finishes the job.

Note: We mentioned that we were video taping the episode but due to technical difficulties, we don’t have it available. We apologize…although I am glad, otherwise you would have caught me singing an Easter Carol.

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Adam Grant, Enrico Bianco. (1:05:55)

Mike, Kevin, and Moh gather around the table for the final time in 2023 and talk more Miyazaki, Mike and Moh’s Netflix watches, streaming services Mike should take a longer look at, defining titles of various generations of fandom, and Kevin’s little exercise. We then make our new years resolutions and debate how fast we’ll break them

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We spend most of the episode sharing our memories and giving a toast to Akira Toriyama after news of his death broke

But we did also talk about these too on the community calendar

Humble Bundle: Japanese Language, Culture, and Travel

Momo Anime Market at The Momiji Centre

Mike Nicolas, Kevin Ng, Mohamed Sharmarke, Amy Lynn Greig

Opening Theme: “FUBUKI - Snowstorm” performed by Pico Masaki

Visit our website for more information and links: animeroundtable.com

Mike and James again go off topic talking about early Spring in Toronto (which is very much like winter), and some sports. Then we talk Discotek’s twitch stream of announcements, Sentai titles leaving the Crunchyroll streaming service (and staying on their own HiDive service), how Sony actually looks at their Crunchyroll brand and ad supporting. Then we end coming home with some Anime North observations and some house cleaning here

Please note that we talked a little World Cup before the Sunday games happened. We’re pretty sure after those games, some brackets were broken. So you knew that Mike and Moh had to give some first impressions of Blue Lock

23:55 - What stuck out from Anime NYC…and how we got it confused with New York Comic Con and Big Apple Anime Fest, the different ways titles get licensed, and the tweaks coming to J-Novel Club

50:10 - In talking J-Novel Club, Mike talks about one of the recent anime adaptations of one of the titles and wonders if the dynamic of the media mix is changing

1:00:02 - What stuck out in the interview with Christopher MacDonald, the CEO and Publisher of Anime News Network

1:07:35 - James and Kevin talks about the issues with the new Pokemon games. They still sold well

1:21:50 - Netflix stuff, Cooking for the Maiko House trailer, and NHK’s issues with the advertising tier

1:28:45 - The blocking of the Simon and Shuster and Penguin RandomHouse merger, and looking ahead to the arguements concerning Microsoft and Blizzard

1:36:45 - Some thoughts on the passings of Kevin Lillard and Jason David Frank (this week’s toasts are to them)

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Mohamed Sharmarke, and Kevin Ng (eventually)

Opening Theme: “FUBUKI - Snowstorm” performed by Pico Masaki

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Mike, Moh, and Kevin just had to talk about Toronto politics throughout the chat (we taped it as the city elected its new mayor). Mike, Moh, and Kevin also had to ask again about “appointment viewing” vs binging. Mike, Moh, and Kevin also just had to update the Kenshin reboot controversy (with some thoughts about how adapted titles are better with most of its source material straightened out). Then Mike, Moh, and Kevin just had to bring up the first impressions of the One Piece Live Action trailer

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Kevin and Mike start off by talking about the core items in otaku fandom’s eco-system (and define what a core item is). And then we update manga and graphic novels at this stage of the pandemic in light of the belief that manga sales may have plateaued. Talk some more Kodansha and Drops of God

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Part one of the season premier.  We’ll start off with what’s been on the crew’s watching and reading lists and then reminisce about the recent FanExpo Canada (aka CNAnime).  But before all that, Mike let’s off a little steam with a first insult…don’t expect this too often.

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Angela Jordan (1:06:05)

James visits the studio for the first time in over two years to help Mike test out the new mics. In it he gives his view on Anime North despite not being able to attend it, then we talk about the three anime conventions happening this weekend (neither of us are attending those either). But then we talk about the further frustrations of being a Canadian consumer, some manga industry news, and a discussion on actual things...

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Dean’s return episode where he gives his thoughts on recent anime news, and then his impressions of the current fall season…about a quarter of a way through.

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Adam Grant, Dean Colak (39:40)

We’re back with the first regular episode in more than a month (and a few weeks since the last time we chatted). And we talk just a little more about Kevin’s LA trip, ice cream there, vacations in general, and a COVID update

26:40 - Yes we had to talk Netflix and their recent downturn. But of course we tried to put some sort of Anime view on it

1:05:17 - So what have you been watching or reading lately? (PS: the phrase Mike was looking for was “Grasping at Straws”)

1:15:24 - The Bullets. GKids picking up Nadia Secret of Blue Water. Netflix giving a shot reviving the Japanese Iron Chef. Pop up Maid Cafes in the Toronto East End. Anime North relaxing attendance caps. And the Toronto Japanese Film Festival

This weeks Drinking Game: Take a shot whenever the word “nosedive” is said, and then one more for the state of the world

Mike Nicolas, Kevin Ng, Mohamed Sharmarke

Opening Theme: “FUBUKI - Snowstorm” performed by Pico Maski

Only hours after Mike put up the Space Heater Chat recorded ten days before, we return for the 80th regular episode with the entire gang who give their thoughts on the recent past, like the Oscars (and specfically the Best Animated Feature)

Then what did we miss?

17:45 - The Crunchyroll Awards, what stuck out to us. And a guide on how to start long running titles now…a few decades later. Usual suspects apply. And some talk about Crunchyroll in the greater Sony family

39:02 - The end of an era in Canadian television with the rebranding of Teletoon into Cartoon Network. We look back on Teletoon’s impact on the fandom in the 90s. A very Canadian discussion here

53:00 - Some thoughts on Sentai Filmworks and the things going on there. With an AI thought for the future

58:30 - ICv2’s annual manga week came and went so we look at a few of the numbers coming from that

01:04:10 - We finally talk about Kondansha’s online online service K-Manga. And give our own initial thoughts on where this could go

01:36:20 - In Toronto convention news, IFF Toronto is now Anime Toronto. And will happen the weekend after FanExpo Canada on Labour Day weekend. And of course an Anime North update two months out. And Kevin talks a little Man with a Mission

01:48:30 - Karyu Pamyu Pamyu gets married to a former Terrace House commentator

01:50:20 - The final Ash/Satoshi episode of Pokemon aired today. In commemoration Rika Matsumoto did a viral video singing the original Pokemon theme, and Amy quickly summarized and lamented the finale

This Week’s Drinking Game: Take a shot for 80 episodes down

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Kevin Ng, Mohamed Sharmarke, Amy Lynn Greig

Opening Theme: “FUBUKI - Snowstorm” performed by Pico Masaki

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The Anime Roundtable takes a video game turn when the crew discusses downloadable, paid extras. Then it gets back to more normal content with thoughts on new and switched licenses, the iPhone in Japan, a new Nintendo DS, and something about dying in a porn store.

All this while we introduce a newcomer around the table…a girl…with Neil and Adam also around…this cannot be good…

Mike Nicolas, Neil Sinclair, Adam Grant, Megan Swaine (1:05:59)

Our special with the owners of The Comic Den Mississauga continues. We’ll start with giving some respect for Seven Seas over the Nymphet controversy, and some memories of Canada Customs. Then, a bullets segment where we talk about Death Note in China, and crime in Akihabara. Also, more phone calls and knocks at the door. And ramune now joins the ranks of pop rocks and rock candy as stuff that make themselves heard on the mics.

This topping off the longest episode yet. And it was as good as it was long.

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Terry Visser, Anthony Visser. (41:25)

First we start talking about anime titles with multiple series and seasons and why they’re animated in the first place. Second, more on Canadian TV. Then getting more serious, animators and cosplayers forming associations for improved conditions. Finally in the bullets, the Japanese government asking their American counterparts for help in the downloading issue, soldiers who are anime fans, and reactions to more live action announcements.

First foursome in almost a month. And Adam couldn’t be happier.

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Angela Jordan, Adam Grant (1:06:30)

We settle back into our first recording of any sort in about a month

7:08 - James and Geoff give their take on the Netflix issues and the current streaming landscape. With a longer discussion about the past and present way of consuming content (both anime and mainstream). Netflix hasn’t been all bad has it? Well…

36:22 - Worker in the North American dub industry is looking to do what a lot of other industries these days, put a union label on it. Netflix hasn’t been all bad has it?

Then headlines in brief (can’t call them the Bullets anymore can we?)

1:01:55 - Hunter x Hunter about to come out of hiatus. And what has changed during the hiatus

1:10:13 - The Iron Chef reboot coming to Netflix is more based on the American version than the original Japanese version. So we talk about the significance of Fuji transfering the license from Food Network to Netflix

1:20:20 - Collider’s “Seven Greatest Anime Films Worth Watching Twice”

1:26:51 - Should we really be surprised as to who has picked up Shinkai’s latest movie? So can Sony do it justice with its promotion? The likely answer is probably better than Disney and Miyazaki

1:30:40 - The latest Anime North news just before the online Virtual Preshow happens this weekend with an announcement for the Podcast this year

This week’s Drinking Game: Take a sip of water whenever there is even a remote reference to any

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Kevin Ng, Mohamed Sharmarke, Geoff Greig

Opening Theme: “FUBUKI - Snowstorm” performed by Pico Masaki

Mike talks with Kevin a few days removed from his Los Angeles vacation. With some thoughts on KPOP and spots that would be of interest to Asian pop culture junkies, and of course relate it to Toronto and the pandemic

Mike Nicolas and Kevin Ng

Editor’s Note: This isn’t Kevin’s first one on one space heater chat. He did one on Halloween night too

Really we only talk about two (and a half) things this time around

You knew we were going to talk Blue Lock with the FIFA World Cup ending a few hours before. So Mike gives Amy and Kevin a quick synopsis of Blue Lock, and how sometimes anime and manga can both imitate real life, and question it

32:50 - Mike gives an update on the Hana Kimura story

34:50 - We digest on the news of the ending of the Ash and Pikachu story in the Pokemon anime, and the end of an era in our fandom. With Amy giving a quick history of how the anime has “evolved”

This weeks drinking game: Take a shot when you realize we will have to explain Blue Lock again…

Mike Nicolas, Kevin Ng, Amy-Lynn Greig

Opening Theme: “FUBUKI - Snowstorm” performed by Pico Masaki

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Amy finally returns and starts with some of her watching over the summer and we follow up from last week’s epsode on Anime Toronto with a thought on the poplarity of Hololive and other types of virtual idols

00:23:55 - So we decide to do a few headlines in brief in relation to live action adaptations. We start with a Japanese Drama based on Pokemon and its life lessons

00:36:22 - The GTO live action is returning…WITH ITS ORGINAL STAR!!

00:41:30 - We take a long look at what surrounds the renewal of the One Piece live action for a second season. What has helped it, and is it sustainable?

01:43:54 - We look ahead to Makoto Yukimura’s Toronto appearances at the end of the week

This Week’s Drinking Game: Take a shot when Kevin attempts to sing again

Mike Nicolas, Kevin Ng, Amy-Lynn Greig, Mohamed Sharmarke

Opening Theme: “FUBUKI - Snowstorm” performed by Pico Masaki

Visit our website for more information and links:

Website: animeroundtable.com

Twitter and IG: @animeroundtable

Email: animeroundtable@gmail.com 

Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/animeroundtable

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Discord: https://discord.gg/Dg38nRm3 

There have been many people who have been in and out sitting around the Anime Roundtable throught the years, but two guys have remained a constant

Mike Nicolas and James Austin sit down and reminisce on the Roundtable’s fifteen year journey. From its beginnings at a university anime club, to the highs of Official Status at Anime North, to the lows of the eight year hiatus. Returning to a very different landscape a few years ago. And having to relearn old things, and learn new ones in order to navigate the changed podcast world

Listen in as the two talk about where the podcast has been, and what they’re thinking as the podcast moves forward into the future in this honest, unvarnished, unedited special edition

Visit our website for more information and links:

Website: animeroundtable.com

Twitter and IG: @animeroundtable

Email: animeroundtable@gmail.com

We seriously begin by looking back on both the tenth anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake and the verdict in the deadly Yonge Street Van Attack before asking the others to look back on the podcast’s 15th anniversary

When we finally start talking anime, we end up talking Discotek, take aways from Icv2’s manga week interviews, Playstation Network ending download to own movies, some items in the Anime Community Calendar worth checking out, and trailers before the usual “what we’re watching” ending in what might be the longest episode since the 2018 return…you’ve been warned

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Kevin Ng, Mohamed Sharmarke, Geoff Greig

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https://animeroundtable.wordpress.com/2021/03/16/anime-roundtable-v2-0-37-march-13-2021/

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Twitter and IG: @animeroundtable

Email: animeroundtable@gmail.com

After acknowledging both Atlanta and COVID, we talk about Canadian movie theatres preparing to sell tickets for the Violet Evergarden and Demon Slayer movies this week. Then we talk about the US DOJ wanting to take an extended anti trust investigation into the Sony/Crunchyroll deal. Then we talk at length about the Japan America Society of Dallas/Fort Worth’s online discussion on Japanese Pop Culture in the pandemic before ending it off with some headlines in brief

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Kevin Ng, Mohamed Sharmarke, Geoff Greig

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https://animeroundtable.wordpress.com/2021/03/30/anime-roundtable-v2-0-38-march-27-2021/

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Email: animeroundtable@gmail.com

Mike and James go unvarnished and unedited again, with the thinking that this will now be a regular feature

We start by talking the latest in the local COVID fight (spoiler: on the ropes, with a possible TKO coming), which leads into Canadian movie theatre plans for things like the upcoming Violet Evergarden and Demon Slayer movie runs. With a thought on Violet Evergarden being a tribute to those lost in the Kyoto Animation tragedy back in 2018.

Then our attention turns to Sony and how the closings of their legacy video game stores are consistent with their announced ending of movie and TV show downloads. And wonder if there’s a future for legacy titles after the store closures that wouldn’t require the original consoles themselves, and how third party publishers might be convering themselves in all of this. Then we turn to the untimely passing of Mario…or the sealing of his past adventures into a Disney like vault. And a brief chat about the evolution of formats during the history of video games

Mike revisits the Hana Kimura story and the conviction of one of her bullies who was sentenced…to a small fine. And what about Terrace House now?

Finally Mike tells the story of his best friend asking if it’s okay for his two tween daughters to watch Promised Neverland, and asks for James’ opinion. In the process gives a thought on the merits of a good opening theme song

Happy second pandemic Easter!!

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Twitter and IG: @animeroundtable

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We start this week by talking Anime North with Social Media Coordinator Chris Nebelsky as he helps peel back the curtain a little bit behind the scenes. We talk about the move away from in person conventions during the pandemic, to the online versions that took place last year and the upcoming one in May

Then the rest of the Roundtable gathers with reactions to Nebelsky’s appearance and last week’s Space Heater Chat before a round of bullets. In the bullets, Macross, Netflix, and Sony (naturally). Along with the latest entries in the Anime Community Calendar

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Kevin Ng, Mohamed Sharmarke, Geoff Greig, with guest Chris Nebelsky

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https://animeroundtable.wordpress.com/2021/04/12/anime-roundtable-v2-0-39-april-10-2021/

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JP from Anime Lockdown pays the Roundtable a visit to talk at length about the future of the online convention one year later and how things have changed in that time.

Then he sits in on the bullets, where we talk about company moves on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, and manga print runs in Japan during the pandemic

That’s the quick summary, of course it’s more detailed than that. We encourage digging?

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Kevin Ng, with guest JP from Anime Lockdown

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https://animeroundtable.wordpress.com/2021/04/19/anime-roundtable-v2-0-40-the-lockdown-return-april-18-2021/

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Twitter and IG: @animeroundtable

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This week, after looking back on some lingering thoughts between fan and industry convention post pandemic, we look at the latest Asian battle lines in the evolving competition between video streaming services at length. Then in brief we talk the North American Box Office, WWE getting into the anime game, J-Novel Club having a new majority owner, the chase to make a live action version of one of Ghibli’s most famous works, and the passing of a key person from 80s past. Before ending as we continue to look ahead in May

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Kevin Ng, Mohamed Sharmarke, Geoff Greig

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https://animeroundtable.wordpress.com/2021/05/03/anime-roundtable-v2-0-41-may-5-2021/

Website: animeroundtable.com

Twitter and IG: @animeroundtable

Email: animeroundtable@gmail.com

Mike and James return in another unvarnished and unedited talk. We tried to rush this in mainly because Mike wanted to get back to watching the final of the first Overwatch League tournament of the season. But you know that’s wishful thinking

We come back to the Sony and their backtrack on their decision to close their legacy Playstation Stores with further thoughts on archiving and remastering and how that trend seems to be coming to video games after having similar moments with TV and movies (of course anime too). Then we talked about the other things Sony’s video game side has been dragged into. Like the Epic/Apple conflict, and selling specific games through cards

Then we talk about Yakuza, more specifically the next game in the Judgement series, its same time worldwide release (a first for a Yakuza universe game), and the move to keep the main Yakuza series a more turn based RPG format

After, our attention goes to two Kickstarters. Wit Studio’s Girl From the Other Side feature and Animeigo’s Maddox 01 Blu Ray (and the story of both that and an upcoming Discotek re-release)

As we finish up, Mike and James save a world for things they were watching over the last week, Megazone 23, the Animerama trilogy (A Thousand and One Nights, Cleopatra, Belladonna of Sadness), and Yasuke. With a final acknowledgement of other headlines we missed and may talk about in the future

This weeks Drinking Game: Take a shot everytime the word “posterity” is said

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In the final episode before the live edition at the Anime North Stay at Home Edition, we look back on last week’s Space Heater Chat by recaping TCAF and trying to explain Canadian Parliament Bill C-10 in fifteen minutes or less (big fail), then we do some bullet headlines on what Japanese want in terms of live actions, what Yen Press wants in terms of audio books, what Studio Kiara and Hideki Anno want after recieving threats over Evangelion (which is to be left alone), and what a BL title looks like near the top of Amazon’s popular lists. Then we look ahead to the things the pandemic hasn’t cancelled in Toronto

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Kevin Ng, Mohamed Sharmarke, Geoff Greig

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https://animeroundtable.wordpress.com/2021/05/17/anime-roundtable-v2-0-42-may-15-2021/

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Email: animeroundtable@gmail.com

The Knights of the Anime Roundtable made its live stream debut as part of the recent Anime North Stay at Home Edition. So in the 70 or so minutes we were given, we looked back on the legacy of the late Kentaro Miura and wonder what’s to become of his beloved title Berzerk. Then we play a full edition of Yes or No, with thoughts on Yasuke, Miyazaki, Demon Slayer, and Macross. Before winding it down with a little streaming news and a final story about a common tie between Anime Roundtable and Anime North’s past

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Kevin Ng, Mohamed Sharmarke, Geoff Greig with introduction by Andrew Kaidaj

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https://animeroundtable.wordpress.com/2021/06/08/anime-roundtable-v2-0-43-may-29-2021-the-anime-north-stay-at-home-edition/

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Mike makes a guarantee that by the end of this, he’ll make you sick of one specific song. This time he tells the story of that song, its appearance in multiple anime titles (and how it got him to watch one of them), its original artist from almost 40 years ago, and how another song he performed was in one of the most beloved anime love stories from back then

In many ways its the story of how one song can adapt and ultimately stand the test of time, a holy grail for any pop song and perhaps the only one to accomplish it in anisong form

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https://animeroundtable.wordpress.com/2021/06/10/on-mikes-mind-june-9-2021/

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Email: animeroundtable@gmail.com

We stick with a music theme in our Anime North hangover episode. We talk about what was on Mike’s mind a few days back with his story about Kozo Murashita and his 1983 pop classic Hatsukoi. Then try to help Mike understand Hatsune Miku. Then we quickly talk Yoko Kanno, the Kenshin movies on Netflix, and Discotek’s presentation on Twitch. Before ending off recaping the community calendar

Like I said, a music theme with six degrees of separation from it

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Kevin Ng, Mohamed Sharmarke, Geoff Greig

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https://animeroundtable.wordpress.com/2021/06/14/anime-roundtable-v2-0-44-june-12-2021/

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Email: animeroundtable@gmail.com

We wanted to do just an episode full of Bullet headlines, but it got cannonballed by a thread of Demon Slayer headlines, anchored by an article by Friend of the Show Matt Alt on the phenomenon and how it can shake things up in the future. When we finally got off the Demon Slayer train, we talked about another manga digital service, and the sex drives of both fictional comic book/animation characters, and the people who voice them

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Kevin Ng, Mohamed Sharmarke, Geoff Greig

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https://animeroundtable.wordpress.com/2021/06/22/anime-roundtable-v2-0-45-june-20-2021/

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This week we start to look at how the second summer convention season in pandemic times is shaping up. Then we take a brief look at Olympic promotions; the latest on Gundam, Robotech, and Evangelion on various streaming services; Rumiko Takahashi’s work habits as an anniversary comes for one of her earlier titles, Hikaru Utada, and some manga items in brief

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Kevin Ng, Mohamed Sharmarke, Geoff Greig

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https://animeroundtable.wordpress.com/2021/07/07/anime-roundtable-v2-0-july-4-2021-the-second-annual-covid-convention-season-cometh/

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We begin by looking back on Anime Lockdown and the parts of it which caught our attention. Then we look back on what happened during the Anime Tube Kickstarter controversy and compare it with other companies that tried to come into the Japanese Pop Culture space. Among the items we talk about in brief, weapon plushies, Judgement, and Demon Slayer and Miyazaki (although this time separately)

It’s a laggy episode, if you know what I mean…

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Kevin Ng, Mohamed Sharmarke, Geoff Greig

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Mike and Moh shoot the breeze and talk Olympics and some of the Japanese and Pop Cultural reference noticed as its first weekend winds down in this very tangental, unvarnished, and unedited chat

Corrections: Mike gave the wrong name of CBC’s Japanese Cultural contributor, author and lawyer Mark Sakamoto. He apologizes for the error, and encouages listeners to check out his Sugoi Tokyo features he’s been doing for CBC

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We talk Olympics one week in and look for more pop culture references within it. Then we talk the French in relation to Japanese Pop Culutre. In brief we talk about the head of Kadokawa and stuff he said, and GameStop and what they said about their Canadian presence. Then we encourage you on some panels to watch, convention to attend, and eBooks to buy. All that with one of us asleep through half of it. Although we all kinda sleep our way through this podcast in general

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Kevin Ng, Geoff Greig

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Anime Roundtable v2.0 Space Heater Chat - August 7 2021: We’re Talking Manga

Mike, Moh, and Kevin decided to sit around the space heater and give their takes on what the manga industry said at their Comic Con Panel a few weeks ago. Really they tried to tie in what was said at the panel with many of the other stories and themes that have already been talked about on the Roundtable during the Pandemic Series

See how many you can spot

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We quiz Geoff on last week’s Space Heater chat, which he didn’t listen to, and still passed. Then we talked about the Crunchyroll/Sony deal which had been examined by the US Department of Justice, and still passed. Moh experiments with a new gameshow idea, and Mike failed it miserably. And we acknowledge the passing of pioneer Fred Ladd

Mike Nicolas, Kevin Ng, Mohamed Sharmarke, Geoff Greig

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https://animeroundtable.wordpress.com/2021/08/18/anime-roundtable-v2-0-49-august-15-2021-crunchyroll-closesall-is-right-with-the-world/

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