Bakacast

Episode 398 - A Decade in Review

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Mon, 13 Jul 2020 23:48:24 +0000

Hey, folks, this episode is releasing…really late. Even by my standards. We get into what’s going on with Bakacast in the episode itself, but the short version is: I’m totally burned out. I tried various ways to keep the show going, but ultimately after 398 episodes (or more than that, if you include the episodes I lost to my hard drive crashing), it was getting harder and harder for me to watch the shows and actually provide a decent analysis. Even the shows I really liked felt like a chore to watch. Ultimately, the problem was that Bakacast became a thing I felt like I had to do instead of something I wanted to do.

So we’re taking a break. I don’t know for how long, and I’m not sure what Bakacast will even look like, format-wise, if I decide to start recording episodes again. But before we went on hiatus, we decided to record an episode looking back at the last decade of anime—which coincidentally happens to be almost exactly as long as we’ve been doing Bakacast—and giving accolades to some of our favorite shows of each year.

Oh, and also we review the final episodes of some winter season shows. Did I mention I got this edited very late?

Time Stamps

04:46 - Beastars 11 - 12

10:51 - My Hero Academy S4 10 - 13

20:39 - Chihayafuru 12 - 13

27:20 - Anime of the Decade Awards

Episode 397 - Please Stop Making Anime

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Wed, 19 Feb 2020 01:38:16 +0000

In a way, having belated season previews is almost better, because it’s much easier to see how very confidently wrong our predictions were, which is much more entertaining than being correct all the time.

Episode 396 - The Saddest Clap

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Wed, 05 Feb 2020 00:24:18 +0000

sees original recording date of audio files is December 6th, 2019

“That’s not a real date. Pretty sure December never happened.”

checks computer time clock, which shows current date as February 4th, 2020

“January is fake, too.”

Episode 395 - Can't Stop the Signal

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Mon, 09 Dec 2019 02:21:52 +0000

Hey, it’s the first episode we recorded after my hard drive died! Are we gonna cover the anime episodes that we talked about on those lost episodes? Absolutely not. I’m certain that would take a good year off my life if I attempted it. So yeah, we’re just gonna start our Fall 2019 reviews smack dab in the middle of the season.

Episode 394 - Wait, Do I Have a Podcast?

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Fri, 06 Dec 2019 00:47:37 +0000

Hey, folks. It’s, uh, been a while. As you may notice, this episode about the end of the summer season was recorded several weeks ago. I go into more detail on the next podcast, but the basics of what happened is this: I had been editing this podcast when my hard drive suddenly stopped working. I have three drives: one SSD and two HDDs. The one the failed happened to be the one I do all my projects on, which also means I lost the audio for three other episodes I recorded. I managed to save my audio for this episode before the drive completely died, but the first few reviews of the fall 2019 season are gone forever.

So yeah. Fun times!

Episode 393 - Tire Fire Force

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Fri, 11 Oct 2019 02:47:14 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, I finally get fed up with Fire Force, my internet again tries to prevent me from talking about more dumb Fate universe stuff, and also I guess it was my birthday? Whatever, it’s probably not important.

Episode 392 - A Lady Must Know How to Suplex Robots

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Thu, 19 Sep 2019 02:32:08 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, Fruits Basket has a shaky couple of episodes, Carole & Tuesday starts getting political, Fire Force slowly burns away its goodwill, and Lord El-Melloi is…maybe the best Fate show that’s ever been made?

01:26 - Fruits Basket 18 - 19

08:01 - Carole & Tuesday 13 - 17

22:59 - Dumbbell 5 - 7

31:35 - Dr. Stone 5 - 6

38:11 - Fire Force 4 - 5

46:14 - Granbelm 4 - 6

53:41 - Lord El-Melloi II’s Case Files {Rail Zeppelin} Grace note 5 - 6

01:02:46 - Cop Craft 4 - 6

01:18:52 - Listener questions

Episode 391 - My Internet is Trying to Kill Me

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Sat, 14 Sep 2019 04:16:10 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, editing became a nightmare, because my WiFi constantly cut out and I could never tell whether or not my cohosts were hearing me (or if they were even responding). However, I was able to find moments where I could talk about a few of the shows that we stuck with, thankfully.

Before we start our reviews, though, we take a moment to offer our thoughts about the KyoAni attack. We don’t go over the actual event in detail, because that’s already been covered extensively by proper news organizations and would feel far too morbid for a silly podcast like ours to delve into anyway. Instead, we talk briefly about what the studio meant to us and what made it unique. If you’re looking for the link to the Crunchyroll article about different ways you can donate, you can find it below:
https://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2019/07/24-1/kyoto-animation-officially-starts-accepting-donations-through-bank-transfer

Episode 390 - Summer 2019 First Impressions

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Fri, 16 Aug 2019 01:22:42 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, we give our impressions of the first couple episodes of…a lot of shows. Too many shows, honestly. Between us all, we covered a lot. Ben even subjected himself to Arifureta, and somehow managed to trick Larry into watching it, too. One day, I’m sure, Larry will have his revenge.

01:52 - Dumbbell Nan Kilo Moteru?

08:40 - Kanata no Astra

15:28 - Dr. Stone

28:36 - Maidens in Your Savage Season

34:40 - Fire Force

48:01 - Granbelm

51:21 - Lord El-Melloi II’s Case Files {Rail Zeppelin} Grace note

1:02:29 - Arifureta

1:15:29 - Cop Craft

1:20:15 - Vinland Saga

1:31:49 - Sounan Desu Ka

1:37:00 - Mou-sama Retry

Gacha Journalism Episode 4 - BanG Dream! Girls Band Party!

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Sun, 11 Aug 2019 03:57:38 +0000

This time on Gacha Journalism, we find a game we actually like again? Yes, we escaped the doldrums that were our last two episodes and landed into gay rhythm game paradise with Bang Dream, which is basically Love Live for band nerds. Are you prepared for positivity and also arguing about which band is objectively the best? The answer is Roselia, by the way, and Sierra can’t argue that it’s Afterglow here because she’s not writing the blog posts.

JoJo's Bizarre Rewatch 5.13 - Boulevard of Muddy Teams

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Sat, 20 Jul 2019 02:05:25 +0000

Hey, so, what’s more unsettling than a dude who turns your blood into razor blades? Turns out it’s a dude who can dismember himself with a scalpel as a combat tactic and his sidekick/gimp who eats mud. Yeah.

Episode 389 - How Now Sexy Cow

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Tue, 16 Jul 2019 02:18:09 +0000

One this episode of Bakacast, One Punch Man continues to be Slow Pacing Show, Fairy Gone finally starts to break my resolve, Carole & Tuesday plays it safe (and generic), and Fruits Basket is our only solace in these trying times.

JoJo's Bizarre Rewatch 5.12 - A Frog a Day Keeps Metallica at Bay

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Fri, 12 Jul 2019 01:17:16 +0000

On this episode of JJBR, Doppio discovers the magic of incredibly sharp metal, and the hosts have a very difficult time dealing with all the visuals of scissors bursting out of a neck. At least we got rid of the cop.

Episode 388 - Obligatory Tournament Arc

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Mon, 17 Jun 2019 01:29:22 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, One Punch Man finally gets to the point, Fairy Gone (maybe?) reveals where it actually wants to take this arc, Carole & Tuesday lets Ben show off his TV idol contest knowledge, and Fruits Basket gets sad.

JoJo's Bizarre Rewatch 5.11 - Shark Boy & Tongue Lad

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Sun, 16 Jun 2019 00:23:00 +0000

On this very-belated episode of JJBR, Narancia attempts to fend off an enemy Stand all on his own, and I attempt to pronounce Italian words. Only one of us succeeds in our mission. Also, Trish finally gets her own Stand and then immediately has to fight an unbeatable enemy. Good luck!

Gacha Journalism Episode 3 - SMT Liberation Dx2

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Tue, 11 Jun 2019 01:02:57 +0000

On this episode, Sierra and I ostensibly talk about the SMT mobile game, but spend most of our runtime bantering about literally anything else. Our issues with Persona and how the Arena games are amazing? Yep. Our hopes for the Granblue fighting game’s roster? Yeah, we cover that too. Welcome to this tangent-filled episode where we try desperately to not discuss this thoroughly mediocre gacha game.

Episode 387 - Knife Pervert

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Wed, 05 Jun 2019 00:43:41 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, Fairy Gone has some more fight scenes and then faffs around for a bit, One Punch Man refuses to get to the good part, Carole & Tuesday feels bafflingly outdated, and Fruits Basket starts ramping up the drama. Also, we actually went outside and saw some movies!

Episode 386 - The Essence of a Chihuahua

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Mon, 06 May 2019 01:15:15 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, we review the narrowed-down list we have for the Spring 2019 season. One Punch Man slows down a bit too much, Fairy Gone continues to be enjoyable (if somewhat baffling), Carole & Tuesday gets a bit goofy, Fruits Basket reminds us that it does have parts that don’t age well, and Sarazanmai slowly charms me.

01:26 - One Punch Man S2 3 - 4

09:49 - Fairy Gone 3 - 4

23:43 - Carole & Tuesday 3 - 4

41:11 - Fruits Basket 3 - 4

57:03 - Sarazanmai 3 - 4

Episode 385 - Ikuhara Goes "Spelunking"

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Wed, 24 Apr 2019 21:26:33 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, we go back to reviewing current anime for the Spring 2019 season, largely because we all really want to talk about Fruits Basket and One Punch Man. Also, Ikuhara and Watanabe are both directing new shows this season? Talk about an embarrassment of riches.

Episode 384 - The Latest Award Show Ever

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Sun, 21 Apr 2019 00:50:05 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, we finish up our review of “Banana Fish”, and then we finally get around to handing out accolades to the 2018 anime season. If you’ve been paying attention to our reviews, the choices probably won’t be very surprising, but it’s nice to make it “official.”

Episode 383 - The Extremely Relatable Honda-san

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Thu, 18 Apr 2019 01:24:51 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, Ben, Larry and I talk about a short and sweet comedy show called “Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san”. There aren’t a whole lot of anime out there that use retail jobs as anything more than a backdrop, so it was nice to see one that actually examined the joy and despair of working a customer-facing job. Also, we cover the second third of “Banana Fish”, a show I’m still not entirely sure I like.

Gacha Journalism Episode 2 - DanMachi ~Memoria Freese~

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Mon, 15 Apr 2019 02:00:07 +0000

For our first randomly-chosen gacha game, the dice roller saw fit to give us DanMachi, a game based on an anime neither of us has seen (but Dustin has seen plenty of tweets and fanart of). Does it elevate its source material? And more importantly, was it at all worth the short amount of time we spent on it? The answer will…probably not surprise you. Join us as we try to find a character we like that doesn’t also make us feel bad for liking them.

Episode 382 - Problematic Fish

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Fri, 05 Apr 2019 03:00:14 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, we talk about the critically acclaimed crime drama “Banana Fish”. This one…ended up being a little rougher than I expected. Ben and I have a rousing debate about the representation of gay men in the show and the story’s use of rape. I think we ended up having a very good discussion, but be warned that this episode is more serious than most Bakacasts tend to be due to the subject matter.

JoJo's Bizarre Rewatch 5.10 - Modern Horny Crusaders

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Thu, 04 Apr 2019 01:08:35 +0000

On this episode of JJBR, Luke explains to us how King Crimson actually works, and then we spend a few minutes considering the implications such a power has on the rest of the world. Also, we learn some neat facts about Araki’s motivations regarding the GangStars, and we yell at the boys for being way too mean to Narancia.

Gacha Journalism Episode 1 - Granblue Fantasy

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Wed, 20 Mar 2019 00:58:19 +0000

Hello and welcome to the first episode of Gacha Journalism, a podcast about free-to-play “gacha” games. On our introductory episode, Sierra and I give a brief overview of what gacha games are and some of the common terminology we’re going to be throwing around. Then we dive right into Granblue Fantasy, one of the most influential (and profitable) gacha games. We talk about what makes it so appealing, if its friendly to those who don’t want to spend a dime, and the impact it’s had on legislation. Most importantly, though, we answer the question: how gay is it?

If you’d like to learn more about the game, here are some links that were mentioned on the episode (hopefully I didn’t forget any):

The Granblue Wiki

Guide on how to start playing Granblue

Weapon Grid Guide (not necessary for brand new players, but if you decide to keep playing it gives you an idea of what to aim for)

JoJo's Bizarre Rewatch 5.9 - It Was My Plan to Get Shot

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Tue, 19 Mar 2019 02:04:54 +0000

On this episode of JJBR, Mista and Giorno enter the final stage of their fight against White Album, where Gionro reveals he never actually had a plan and Mista’s strategy is to nearly die again. Also, we are finally introduced to King Crimson and his infamous time shenanigans.

Episode 381 - Double Lu

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Fri, 08 Mar 2019 00:12:22 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, we review the short but frantic (and highly self-indulgent) newish show from Trigger: Space Patrol Luluco. Is it a fun-filled celebration of Triggers’ best qualities, or an exhausting reminder of all their worst tendencies? Opinions are…mixed. We really wanted an excuse to say “Lu” some more, though, so we also reviewed Lu Over the Wall, another wildly entertaining and imaginative film from director Masaaki Yuasa.

JoJo's Bizarre Rewatch 5.8 - None of This is Okay

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Fri, 01 Mar 2019 01:21:08 +0000

On this episode of JJBR, we cover the profoundly problematic Baby Face: a Stand with a really cool power and design, but a shockingly awful, uh, “creation” sequence. On the bright side, Giorno figures out a body-horror way to heal people, which is really what we were all waiting for. Also: ice powers are terrifying.

Episode 380 - You're Already Exploded

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Tue, 12 Feb 2019 01:42:16 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, we our minds boggle over the final episodes of Geneshaft. What was the point of all the DNA backstory? Isn’t it weird that there was basically no direct commentary on the weird gender dynamics? Did anyone actually know how they wanted the story to wrap up before the final episode? We may never know. Also, we watch the final Netflix Godzilla movie: The Planet Eater. Hey, Gen Urobuchi? Please stop.

JoJo's Bizarre Rewatch 5.7 - 150 Kilometer Hell

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Mon, 11 Feb 2019 00:58:52 +0000

On this episode of JJBR, Bucciarati faces the Grateful Dead and Beach Boy in a life-or-death team train battle. Can his zipper powers defeat an aging virus and a fish hook what can dive under your skin and tear your heart up? Yes, he definitely can. Of course he can. But not before Mista totally dies. it sure is a shame we’ll never see Mista ever again.

Episode 379 - sick guitar riff

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Thu, 07 Feb 2019 22:52:55 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, we review the first 7 episode of Geneshaft, a very weird show about DNA, buggy mecha, and using one song over and over again because it’s the only memorable one you have. We also talk about Fireworks, the latest movie produced by Shaft and directed by Akiyuki Simbo. So it should be great, right? We’ve loved a lot of their stuff, yeah? Well, things a little more tricky this time.

Episode 378 - Party Hard, Girl

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Tue, 05 Feb 2019 22:08:20 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, we review Night is Short, Walk on Girl, the absolutely delightful and visually arresting movie directed by Masaaki Yuasa, who is probably most famous for his work on Tatami Galaxy, Ping Pong, and (more recently) Devilman Crybaby. We also finish the second half of Planet With, giving our thoughts on how well the two story arcs fit together and dissecting the interesting things it has to say about conflict, justice, and forgiveness.

JoJo's Bizarre Rewatch 5.6 - Is Giorno Okay?

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Tue, 05 Feb 2019 00:28:05 +0000

On this episode of the rewatch, Giorno, Fugo, and Abbacchio have a fun field trip to the ruins of Pomepeii, where absolutely nothing could possibly go wrong. We discuss: the ambiguous physics of Mirror Worlds, Abbacchio being a lame edgelord, the evolution of Fugo’s fashion choices, and whether or not all this weirdness is starting to get to our good boy Giorno.

Episode 377 - Cat Mech Fever

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Wed, 16 Jan 2019 00:51:33 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, we gush about the delightfully goofy (and surprisingly sincere) Planet With. In order to balance out the fun, though, we also dissect “In This Corner of the World”, a movie by Sunao Katabuchi that focuses on World War II’s effects on the daily lives of a family in Hiroshima.

JoJo's Bizarre Rewatch 5.5 - The Invention of Dabbing

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Fri, 11 Jan 2019 23:12:00 +0000

On this episode of JJBR, we find out that you can definitely make a shrinking episode that Luke will not care about. The trick is to make your antagonist very lame and include EXTREMELY problematic gay representation.

Episode 376 - It All Comes Back Around

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Sat, 05 Jan 2019 03:52:16 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, we cover the second part of Cartoon Network’s FLCL sequel—FLCL Alternative—and determine whether or not it’s better than Progressive (and if it adds anything to FLCL in general). We also take a look at “A Silent Voice,” one of many movies recommended to us by long-time listener FathomlessBlue.

JoJo's Bizarre Rewatch 5.4 - Gun Is My Superpower

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Tue, 01 Jan 2019 21:22:38 +0000

On this episode JJBR, we finish up Soft Machine with a reveal I never could have predicted, a very trippy torture sequence, and adorable bullet gremlins. Turns out that even in a world of weird-ass superpowers, having a gun is still pretty useful.

Episode 375 - Dracula Was Right

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Fri, 21 Dec 2018 21:45:26 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, we follow up our Cowboy Bebop series review by talking about the movie. We also stretch the definition of anime a bit to cover the second season of Castlevania, which you should watch immediately.

Episode 374 - The Horror of the Internet

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Mon, 17 Dec 2018 23:47:54 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, Ben and I take the opportunity to finish talking about Garo: Vanishing Line and Lupin III Part V: two shows we started a while ago and liked but never actually did full reviews for. Turns out they were both pretty good!

JoJo's Bizarre Rewatch 5.3 - The Piss Gambit

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Sun, 02 Dec 2018 01:59:59 +0000

On this episode of JJBR, Luke, Ty, Ben and I spend a whole lot of time talkin’ ‘bout urine. Also: we prove that every plot element of JJBA is internally consistent and ruminate on the viability of a banana gun.

Episode 373 - It Hurts So Much

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Fri, 09 Nov 2018 03:05:00 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, we finally finish up Katanagatari and Cowboy Bebop. Find out if we felt Bebop still lives up to all the hype, and hear me struggle to decide whether to judge Katangatari’s ending with my heart or with my head.

JoJo's Bizarre Rewatch 5.2 - Waking Up Horny

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Tue, 06 Nov 2018 04:20:22 +0000

On this episode of JJBR, I bring in another cohost: my good friend Ty, who some of you may remember from Roll For Your Lives, the tabletop RPG podcast I did for a spell. We Bruno’s varied and unsettling use of zippers, extremely detailed face-punching, and falling in love with your enemy.

Episode 372 - Corgis on Shrooms

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Sat, 03 Nov 2018 22:49:36 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, we encounter the tonally-diverse middle section of Cowboy Bebop and go into detail about the beautiful tragedies at play in Katanagatari.

JoJo's Bizarre Rewatch 5.1 - The Taste of Lies

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Thu, 18 Oct 2018 21:17:58 +0000

Just because Bakacast has switched to a different format doesn’t mean we’re abandoning JoJo’s reviews. We will never abandon JoJo’s reviews. Instead of putting it on the main show, though, I’m bringing JoJo’s Bizarre Rewatch back from hiatus, with Luke and Ben joining me as my cohosts. Please ignore all the episodes in between that we never covered on JJBR.

Episode 371 - Alfred the Otaku

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Sun, 14 Oct 2018 17:24:55 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, we review the delightfully entertaining absurdity of Batman Ninja; delve into Nisio Isin’s tale of swords and souls, Katanagatari; and I finally get around to watching the biggest shame in my series backlog: Cowboy Bebop.

Episode 370 - Present Day, Present Time

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Sat, 13 Oct 2018 01:12:04 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, we immerse ourselves in cyberspace and ask the important question: what is Lain, like, even about, man? Also: Mob Psycho 100 finale gets surprisingly philosophical about the nature of conflict and supervillains.

Episode 369 - The Last Umu

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Thu, 27 Sep 2018 21:57:56 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, we cover the very weird (in a good way) second CGI Godzilla movie, revisit the TechTV classic Serial Experiments Lain, analyse the not-quite-as-popular-as-One-Punch-Man-but-still-extremely-good Mob Psycho 100, and say goodbye to everyone’s favorite emperor with the last 3 episodes of Fate/Extra Last Encore.

Episode 368 - The Thicc Godzilla

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Thu, 06 Sep 2018 21:51:08 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, we gush about the first part of the new CGI Godzilla movie trilogy and revisit Hinamatsuri to talk about the show as a whole.

Episode 367 - Shiro is Still Dumb

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Fri, 24 Aug 2018 01:27:58 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, we finish up FLCL Progressive, talk a whole lot about the Nasu-verse, and try to figure out why everyone seems to hate Fate/Extra.

Episode 366 - Lupin is Shoujo Now

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Sat, 04 Aug 2018 03:39:38 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, we say goodbye to our weekly review format by finishing off (most) of the spring 2018.

Episode 365 - My Cyberpunk Girlfriend

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Fri, 20 Jul 2018 03:21:14 +0000

I was hoping--deep in my heart--that someday anime would give me more female character designs that looked like the ones in 80's/90's sci-fi, like Bubblegum Crisis, Dirty Pair and Outlaw Star. I just never expected an FLCL sequel to give me what I wanted. Her name is Julia Jinyu, and I love her so much.

Episode 364 - Guns Aren't Fun

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Mon, 16 Jul 2018 22:49:25 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, Lupin III teaches us a valuable lesson that guns are not toys and will definitely kill anyone who is not a main character

Episode 363 - Ruka is a Girl!

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Wed, 20 Jun 2018 19:00:00 +0000

Look, I get that Steins;Gate means well. Ruka is consistently portrayed as one of the most sensible people on the show. But also, stop saying Ruka is a man, dang it! She's a girl, and I will die on this hill.

Episode 362 - Muscles Should Stay on the Inside

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Tue, 19 Jun 2018 22:10:15 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, My Hero Academy decides to give us the most body-horror villain yet. I can't say I'm a fan.

Episode 361 - Dragon Vore Z

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Tue, 22 May 2018 01:32:55 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, our fears about the long-awaited Full Metal Panic sequel crashing and burning are put to rest, Hinamatsuri takes a goofy premise and turns it into something truly delightful, and Hisone to Masotan tricks us all into liking a show about vore. I am not even exaggerating.

Episode 360 - Bear Simulator 2018

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Fri, 27 Apr 2018 16:00:00 +0000

Here come the first set of reviews of the Spring 2018 season directly from Bakacast. Sure, they may be outdated, but they're Fair And Balanced. And that's really what matters, right?

Episode 359 - Buried Alive in Anime

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Fri, 27 Apr 2018 02:29:27 +0000

On this extremely late episode of Bakacast, we finish up the Winter 2018 anime and preview the Spring 2018 anime. Because previews are most useful when you're already a month into the season. I'm very good at my job.

Episode 358 - Please Don't Do A Blood Sacrifice

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Wed, 11 Apr 2018 00:39:54 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, we all agree that attempting to use your girlfriend's new best friend for a blood ritual probably won't win you many brownie points. Also, Card Capture starts to have some plot progression?!

Episode 357 - She's Not A Robot?

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Thu, 29 Mar 2018 20:40:28 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, I learn an important lesson about not assuming someone is an artificial lifeform just because they have totally sweet metal arms and speak in a Data-like fashion.

Episode 356 - Fate/Umu: Best Saber

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Tue, 13 Mar 2018 00:32:16 +0000

Behold our criticism! Listen to the thunderous laughter! Here is the honor of Audio Entropy! Like a blooming flower opening: The Golden Bakacast!

Episode 355 - Succumb to Moe

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Thu, 01 Mar 2018 01:28:47 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, we all slowly realize that our favorite show of the season is a cute-girls-doing-cute-things show. Aaron and I, especially, attempt to puzzle out how that happened, and whether we've secretly been replaced by pop people (aka Random Curiosity commentators).

Episode 354 - Card Catchup Emily

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Wed, 14 Feb 2018 22:44:17 +0000

It's time for the first Bakacast of the Winter 2018 season! We start out our reviews with the new series of Card Captor Sakura, and I've brought in my fellow Audio Entropy podcaster, Emily, to help us out. We then give our first impressions on a bunch of the shows that aired during the first two weeks, which end up mostly being a mix of pleasant surprises and shocking disappointments.

Bonus - Fall 2017 Leftovers

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Tue, 13 Feb 2018 01:34:07 +0000

On this special episode of Bakacast, Larry and Ben review the shows they watched that we didn't get to on the regular show, such as Girls' Last Tour and March Comes In Like A Lion.

Episode 353 - Ringing Bell 2: Ewelectric Boogaloo

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Thu, 11 Jan 2018 16:28:27 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, we start the show with our Anime of the Year 2017 categories before getting to the very last reviews of the winter season. All of us had some tough cuts to make for our personal top 5 lists (except for Aaron, apparently) and some of the special categories ended up being surprisingly tough.

Episode 352 - JUST KISS ALREADY

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Tue, 09 Jan 2018 19:42:47 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, we finish out MMO Junkie and Juni Taisen, two shows that had stronger beginnings than they did endings. Also we do our best not to fall asleep while reviewing, as we recorded late on Christmas Eve and we were all a little sleepy.

Episode 351 - Fathomless Blue Was Right

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Thu, 04 Jan 2018 22:07:35 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, we spend a full hour previewing the upcoming Winter season. And that's even with us immediately saying "hell no" to a decent chunk of the shows and then moving on. Also, I take a moment to stroke Fathomless Blue's ego a bit, because I guess he deserves it. Maybe.

Episode 350 - Our Precious Fishman

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Tue, 26 Dec 2017 23:02:46 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, we channel our inner Guillermo del Toro and talk about how much we love that Blood Blockade remembered that it had a very good softboy fishperson lying around and decided to give him an episode. Also, I start to have serious concerns about Inuyashiki and Juni Taisen.

Bonus Episode - Kemono Friends [EXPLICIT]

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Mon, 04 Dec 2017 22:55:32 +0000

Is it perhaps ironic that the Kemono Friends episode is the first one in a while that has the most explicit language since the JoJo Bizarre Rewatch bonus episodes? Yes, probably. Y'all can blame Julie for that. In any case, since Luke's original audio got lost to the ether somehow, I decided to marathon almost all of the show and then get Julie on to help Luke and me do a slightly deeper dive into the show, because it deserves it.

Episode 349 - Shine Bright Like a Diamond

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Thu, 30 Nov 2017 19:47:35 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, we make up for the shows we've dropped by adding a couple more to the list. For our first addition, we spend some time talking about both the beauty and existential dread of Land of the Lustrous (arguably the best-looking CG anime so far). And for our second, I gush about Recovery of an MMO Junkie and how it somehow managed to get me to watch a rom-com.

Episode 348 - Skulls for the Skull Car

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Thu, 09 Nov 2017 18:40:04 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, we start off with a listener question that tasks us with deciding Netflix's anime production plans that prompts us to dig deep for both obvious and obscure choices. We also add Inuyashiki to our watch list, a show that has two very strong intro episodes but still gives us a little pause due to, you know, it being written by Hiroya Oku, the dude who also made the infamous Gantz. Meanwhile, Garo impresses, Whales disappoint, and Kino's Journey sparks a discussion about the value of different adaptation styles.

Episode 347 - Dustin's Vampire Bias

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Fri, 03 Nov 2017 04:10:15 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, we discuss The Reflection's bizarre ending, how even a badass blonde vampire can't save UQ Holder, what Blood Blockade's directorial change means for its new season, and some strong opening episodes from Garo, Kino and Magus' Bride.

Episode 346 - Never Stop Yelling

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Sun, 22 Oct 2017 00:26:49 +0000

I have no write-up for this episode of Bakacast, so please instead search for "Black Clover yelling" on Youtube.

Episode 345 - Lewd Hand-Holding

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Wed, 11 Oct 2017 04:02:56 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, we ring in the strangely anti-climatic end Princess Principal. Also, we spend a good chunk of time contrasting the how poorly Rage of Bahamut attempts to handle moral ambiguity with how well Shoukaku no Altair approaches similar topics. Also, Ben and I finally get around to talking in-depth about the strengths and weakness of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable.

Episode 344 - More Like Crapula

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Tue, 10 Oct 2017 06:19:28 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, we mock Fate/Apocrypha's portrayal of Dracula, which may be one of the lamest in the history of vampire media. Meanwhile, Altair and Reflection continue to impress while Virgin Soul continues to hurt my soul. Oh yeah, and we talk about the upcoming fall shows for far too long.

Episode 343 - Infinite Matroyshka Doll Engine

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Wed, 04 Oct 2017 06:28:13 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, I finally tap out on Made in Abyss, take the good with the bad in My Hero Academy, and continue to be baffled by The Reflection ending up being a show I look forward to even more than Rage of Bahamut.

Episode 342 - Remove Their Pants

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Thu, 28 Sep 2017 15:18:20 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, I treat myself for my birthday and have Luke review Brave Witches solo. I say I deserve it. Also, Fate/Apocrypha gets dumber, and Made in Abyss becomes more divisive.

Episode 341 - Black Lizard Planet

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Fri, 22 Sep 2017 00:35:20 +0000

Another day, another episode of Bakacast where we transition from discussing laundry entrepreneurship to a half-vampire dating a sassy high-school senior at a bowling alley. You know, the usual. Also, I get VERY MAD about Rage of Bahamut: Virgin Soul.

Episode 340 - Burn It All Down

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Sat, 16 Sep 2017 23:38:25 +0000

For this episode of Bakacast, Luke and I watched My Girlfriend Is A Gal, and now we both want to destroy all anime forever. Thankfully, before we can put our plans into action, my cohosts remind me that anime can occasionally be good by reviewing Princess Principal and My Hero Academy.

Bonus Episode - Kizumonogatari

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Mon, 04 Sep 2017 18:37:47 +0000

We take a break from our regularly scheduled (as much as this podcast does have a schedule) Bakacast to bring you an episode where Ben and I discuss parts 2 & 3 of the Kizumonogatari movies, how well they mesh with Part 1, and strengths and weaknesses of the Monogatari series as a whole. Also: how Hanekawa is seriously underrated.

Episode 339 - All Hail Cat Mordred

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Wed, 30 Aug 2017 06:33:11 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, Mordred chases a cat around in Fate/Apocrypha, so nothing else really matters. Especially not Love Tyrant.

Episode 338 - Cellphone Is A Pretty Good Magical Power

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Thu, 17 Aug 2017 03:09:52 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, My Hero Academy meanders to a conclusion of the Stain arc, Rage of Bahamut doesn't seem sure how to develop its antagonist, Hell Girl follows up it's very good episodes with a trash one, Princess Principal continues to impress, and Luke joins me to talk about In Another World With My Smartphone.

Episode 337 - Suplex the Space Shuttle

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Wed, 09 Aug 2017 06:11:04 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, Luke finally returns to the podcast to watch some bad anime with me. This time, I take a suggestion from loyal listener Dayriff and subject him to the first episode of Symphogear GX to find out if those first six minutes are all they're cracked up to be. In addition: Altair reveals what makes it worth watching, Fate suffers from a tragic lack of Mordred, and Ballroom e Youkoso gets far too ridiculous for me to tolerate.

Episode 336 - Double Super Secret Princess Friendship Robot

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Mon, 31 Jul 2017 06:17:47 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, we introduce the new season of Hell Girl into our weekly rotation. This is the first time I've ever watched Hell Girl. I was not entirely prepared for Hell Girl. Other things I wasn't entirely prepared for: Princess Principal having a nearly flawless second episode, and Made in Abyss being a perfect mix of whimsical darkness.

Episode 335 - Teen Girl Ghost Rider

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Tue, 25 Jul 2017 15:21:58 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, I manage to figure out and break down my mixed feelings on Kakegurui, we all express our disappointment in Katsugeki Touken Ranbu (and our surprise that the debut episode of Princess Principal was actually quite solid), and we dissect why Vatican MIracle Examiner's first episode felt so dang awkward.

Episode 334 - Xanatos Child

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Fri, 21 Jul 2017 14:43:28 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, Seikaisuru Kado finally ends, and boy were we not prepared for what the ending had in store for us. After boggling at the finale for a while, we get into the first new episodes of the summer 2017 season, which include crazy-faces, magic robots, and a Fate/Whatever intro episode that's actually exciting for once.

Episode 333 - Time to Grow Up

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Wed, 19 Jul 2017 03:49:27 +0000

All good things must come to an end, even Little Witch Academia and Eccentric Family. We bid farewell to these to excellent shows the only way we know how: by analyzing them with far too much depth.

Episode 332 - Life, the Universe, and Anime

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Thu, 13 Jul 2017 05:02:04 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, Seikaisuru Kado surprises us all by having the weirdest of all plot developments: going back to the dawn of the universe. We reviewed other stuff of course, but it's kinda hard to think about anything else.

Episode 331 - You Are the Worst at Stealth

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Wed, 28 Jun 2017 05:03:35 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, Aaron, Ben and I discuss the full implications of Seikaisuru Kado going completely buck wild and what it maybe should have payed more attention to. Also, I propose my theory for an alternate reading of Little Witch's themes, Rage of Bahamut gives us one of the few tragic-backstory flashbacks I've seen done well in anime, and Ben and I break down the highs and lows of Gundam Thunderbolt's seventh episode.

Episode 330 - Ruining Your Childhood

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Wed, 21 Jun 2017 03:51:20 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, My Hero Academy delivers unto us one of the most beautiful animation sequences I've seen in a show in recent years. Also, Alice gets mildly interesting again, Little Witch starts tying all its narrative threads together, Virgin Soul is shockingly funny considering everyone is in prison, and I nerd out over Eccentric Family. Also we finally get a hint that things might end up going bad in Kado.

Episode 329 - Favaro 2.0

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Thu, 15 Jun 2017 05:04:09 +0000

It's finally happened. Our favorite doofus from the original season of Rage of Bahamut has come back to grace our screens. Everything is now right with the world (save for Amira still being locked away forever, but I'll take what I can get). Also on this episode: we spend about 20 minutes thoroughly dissecting Kado, and I--in complete seriousness--compare Eccentric Family with Bakemonogatari.

Episode 328 - Mecha Angels Powered by God

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Tue, 13 Jun 2017 14:14:06 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, Ben and I start off the show by talking about what's been going on in the Attack on Titan manga and the chapters we're really looking forward to seeing adapted. We then move on to Alice to Zouroku--which seems to be showing signs of life again--and get very excited about the dramatic developments happening in Little Witch Academia and Rage of Bahamut. Oh yeah, and we talk briefly about Re-Creators.

Episode 327 - Kadomari Damacy

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Thu, 08 Jun 2017 03:36:04 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, Aaron, Ben and I once again have a lot of fun diving deep into Seikaisuru's events, implications and eccentricities. But you know what really makes me happy? The episode of Little Witch we review this time is focused on Diana, aka the best character in the show. I finally get a chance to elucidate my interpretation of her character and motivations, and you better believe I took that chance and ran with it.

Episode 326 - The Fall of Benten

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Wed, 07 Jun 2017 06:11:56 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, I over-indulge the literary critic inside me. But can you really blame me, when Seikaisuru Kado, Eccentric Family and Gundam Thunderbolt all air in the same season and give me so much juicy writing to pick apart and savor? Sometimes anime is pretty okay.

Episode 325 - Please Don't Give Teens Swords

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Mon, 29 May 2017 22:38:07 +0000

On this episode of Bakacast, we finally get around to talking about the new Mobile Suit Gundam: Thunderbolt episodes. Turns out we still love Thunderbolt, y'all. Also discussed on this episode: the tactical usage of summoned hands, why Seikaisuru Kado not having character arcs is actually okay, and now Nina from Rage of Bahamut is slowly growing on us.

Episode 324 - The Friendly Hypercube

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Thu, 18 May 2017 23:46:41 +0000

As the spring season leaves the honeymoon phase, we start to turn a more critical eye toward some of the shows that have made it this far. And by "some of the shows" I mostly mean just Grimoire of Zero. And by "we" I mostly mean myself. On the bright side, I do catch up with Seikaisuru Kado and find myself impressed by it. Also, Ben kept his word from last week and marathoned Kemono Friends. Did he enjoy it? Will he pass on the infection to me, as well? Stay tuned for the answer. (It's "yes." The answer is "yes.")

Episode 323 - The Horniest Dragon

Dustin, Jon and Larry — Fri, 05 May 2017 19:23:02 +0000

For those of you finding this podcast through Audio Entropy, hello! This is a weekly anime podcast that reviews and riffs on the current season's shows. For this week, we cover a bunch Spring 2017's new offerings, including two sequels that we never thought we were going to get. Do they measure up to their first seasons? Well, I'm not just gonna tell you here. That'd defeat the purpose of the podcast existing.