Let’s Go JoJo! #11 – Narancia’s Aerosmith

The last Let's Go of 2018 already! Where did the time go? Spent watching way too much anime of course! So here's to burning it all down and starting over in the new year with a hopefully sane quota, much like Narancia is gonna do to this entire town if he doesn't catch that rascal Formaggio. Gegege No Kitaro leaves us on tenterhooks, Karakuri Circus goes over the edge and Gurazeni asks for a little more! What a nailbiting finish!

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Let’s Go JoJo! #10 – Hitman Team

Before we get to the rest of Formaggio's deadly duel with Narancia we gotta get to the -why- of the matter as the traitorous assassin cell in Passione meet to plot the organisation's downfall and our heroes' demise. Some more backstory hits Sakura like a truck in Zombieland Saga, a lot of it gets left out in Karakuri Circus and Double Decker is dangerously overflowing with the stuff! Take notes 'cuz this may be on the exam!

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Show #174: A Christmas Carol Cartoon Cavalcade

Having exhausted all the big obvious entries over the last few years, the SOTSM boys enjoy a  seasonal selection box of animated episodes adapting the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol!

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Even though our research for this topic unearthed a couple of candidates suitable for a show of their own we've elected to store those for next Winter and stuff ourselves with a feast of festive episodes from some classic and not so classic series that take inspiration from everybody's favourite holiday ghost story. Check 'em out! You've got your space Western flavour in Bravestarr, a less-than-cheerful outing in Adult Swim police procedural spoof Stroker & Hoop, selective implementation of time travel in Back To The Future and those ethereal exterminators do too good of a job in The Real Ghostbusters. Park yourself by the fireside with your nearest & dearest and regale them with our yuletide cheer. Merry Christmas folks!

Let’s Go JoJo! #9 – First Orders From the Boss

With the retrieval of the hidden loot Bucciarati rises to prominence within Passione and gets the crew their first job from the enigmatic boss: bodyguarding his demanding daughter Trish. What grief will she heap upon our big-hearted hoodlums? And will Narancia return alive with her shopping list? Gang warfare erupts as well when Saki encounters her past in Zombieland Saga, the Princess Of Cruelty tries to leave the criminal life behind in Thunderbolt Fantasy and a plane hi-jacking defies reason in Karakuri Circus. It's an offer you can't refuse!

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Let’s Go JoJo! #8 – Sex Pistols Appears Part 2

Mista is feeling more than a little bit salty as he finds himself continually bamboozled by Sale's stasis-inducing Stand ability. Can he score a bullseye on this slippery foe? And will that truck driver ever make his delivery? Anime sociopaths come in a variety of flavours this time as Ogata recounts his sordid family history in Golden Kamuy, Badger's impenetrable facade is put to the test in Bono Bono and Nezumi Otoko uses his stench in the name of justice for a change in Gegege No Kitaro. Now freeze punk!

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Let’s Go JoJo! #7 – Sex Pistols Appears Part 1

Guido Mista partners up with Giorno to unmask the other assailant on Polpo's treasure trail, and he'd like him to say hello to his little friends! More meetings are had as Subaru faces a familiar foolish foe in Space Battleship Tiramisu, Franchouchou perform for their adoring public with shocking results and Narumi awakes to a new destiny in Karakuri Circus. Lock and load!

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Show #173: Castlevania Season 2

It's a new age of terror as those young upstarts at Powerhouse Animation consort with dark powers to summon another, even larger apparition of Castlevania!

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To the surprise of many familiar with the less-than-stellar track record of video games adapted to other media the first instalment of Netflix's animated series based on the classic video game franchise turned out to be quite a solid if rough hewn affair. Emboldened by this praise Sam & Adam Deats, Warren Ellis, Spencer Wan and company strive for ever greater heights with twice the amount of episodes and plenty of ideas to fill them with. Will they absolutely slay it? Or will this castle prove a hassle? Sad monsters, vampiric socio-economic affairs and an appropriate level of swearing lurk behind a hidden wall! (or just beyond the link above!)

Let’s Go JoJo! #6 – Moody Blues’ Counterattack

Abbacchio does his best to put aside his instinctual hatred of Giorno to psychically scour the yacht in search of clues that might help the gang overcome their mystery assailant. Can this ex-cop get to the bottom of this strange case? While Jojo sings the blues Franchouchou prepare to rock out in Zombieland Saga, a musical kaiju resurfaces in SSSS. Gridman and Double Decker goes to the prom. The beat goes on!

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Let’s Go JoJo! Episode 5 – Find Polpo’s Fortune

Later than normally scheduled as we've been so busy hanging out on a fabulous yacht with some charming fellows who enjoy fine dining, a bit of music and pissing into teapots. Will Giorno be able to get along with these bad lads though? The rest of the slate is keeping it rude also with Doug indulging in a spot of revenge in Double Decker, Franchouchou get down & dirty in Zombieland Saga and the animators let their libidos run wild in the obligatory beach episode of SSSS. Gridman. These guys look like trouble!

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Let’s Go JoJo! #4 – Joining The Gang

Giorno continues his confrontation against the sinister Stand known as Black Sabbath as part of his initiation into Passione. Will he succeed? Don't look at the episode title and find out for yourself! On the other side of the law Doug & Kirill break into prime time TV, Karakuri Circus breaks into its larger plot, Gurazeni rounds the bases on its mini arc and SSSS. Gridman lets its hormones run rampant. Convention/wedding attendance oughtn't get in the way next week we hope!

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Let’s Go JoJo! #3 – Meet the Gangster Behind the Wall

Giorno may have Bucciarati's approval but to truly join the Stand-powered syndicate running Naples he'll have to complete the task set to him by the corpulent convict that is Polpo. Is it as simple as it looks? Or is there a darker purpose hidden within? Speaking of challenges we do our utmost to cover the remaining slate of weekly airing anime, staying on theme with serial killers escaping via minecart in Golden Kamuy, the usual suspects in Double Decker and twice the helping of murderous puppets in Karakuri Circus and Thunderbolt Fantasy. Hello Clarice!

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Show #172: Paranorman

Martin Schneider and Joseph Wade join us on the graveyard shift this Halloween for a spirited appraisal of Paranorman!

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A long overdue reunion after our last dive into Studio Laika's unique filmography, Paranorman represents a quantum leap in the scope & ambition of their craft. But much like its namesake hero does the film risk being misunderstood by an indifferent audience inured to getting all their scary cartoons from Tim Burton? Perverse puppets, an ever more relevant message and the finality of death await you on the other side!

Give a listen to Martin investigating another strange town in Breaking Mayberry!

Keep it seasonal with Joseph and company over on Christmas Creeps!

Let’s Go JoJo! #2 – Bucciarati is Coming

Giorno and Bruno, the similarly dressed criminals with similarly syllabised names, find out another thing they have in common as their Stand abilities face off against each other. Will they be able to find a mutually beneficial resolution to this confrontation? Along with Bucciarati come a few more entries into an already crowded slate in the form of Karakuri Circus and Golden Kamuy to further tax the free viewing time of your intrepid hosts. The struggle is real!

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Let’s Go JoJo! #1 – Gold Experience

IT'S BACK. The anime that was too rich for one podcast and ignited a proud tradition of weekly discussion returns, and this iteration of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure is off to a flying start as we follow new hero/petty criminal Giorno Giovanna's exploits in a Stand user-infested Naples and his initial run-in with local capo Bruno Bucciarati. If that's not enough for you we also have a mountain of mutterings about the new anime season offerings: SSSS Gridman! Thunderbolt Fantasy! Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san! And all your ongoing & returning favourites! Let's get bigger! Let's get better! LET'S GO JOJO!

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Show #171: Edgar Allan Poe's Extraordinary Tales

The days grow shorter and the nights ever longer as the eeriest time of the year approaches, so why not bundle up with a good scary book? Or better yet why not a succession of frightening stories in animated form, such as Edgar Allan Poe's Extraordinary Tales?

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The writings of Edgar Allan Poe have been committed to film on countless occasions, his macabre short stories & poetry proving fertile ground for imaginative interpretation. Poe superfan and animator Raul Garcia took it upon himself to pay tribute to the man in this anthology piece featuring a stellar cast of horror film luminaries. Will this outing resurrect this ancient terror in the modern day? Or has the whole subject been done to death? Book talk, Halloween party plans and amazing restraint on Niall's part to not reveal the bizarre twist in The Murders In The Rue Morgue await if you dare!

Show #170: Disenchantment

A wizened old wizard dusts of his tomes so that the world may know him once more! Matt Groening emerges from the mists to relate his sordid tale of Disenchantment!

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Besides serving as a prominent reminder of just how long ago Futurama was on television, Matt Groening's latest original offering for Netflix had others taken aback for different reasons and wondering if this adult animated sitcom had anything new to offer in an increasingly crowded field. But does Disenchantment have a trick up its sleeve for the end of this season and beyond? Inaccurate comparisons, a predictable investigation of artistic references and probably far too much use of the high-pitched cautiously optimistic voice await you at the end of your quest!

Let’s Go! #106 – Let’s Rescue Some Old Folks (and some old folks dressed as children)

My Hero Academia brings us a nightmare vision of a society where the superhero economy sees one working well into retirement age. Who will rescue us from THAT catastrophe? On the flip side the Working Buddies take some time off for a family visit, the Banana Fish gang escape to Los Angeles and Planet With has already saved the day with time to spare. Who you gonna call?

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Let’s Go! #105 – Let’s Test The Limits of Anime Podcasts

While Niall is incarcerated on night shifts the lads stay up late in solidarity with Tensai Bakabon. Post-watershed content abounds with attempted murder in Lupin The Third, criminals on the run in Banana Fish, the horrors of war in Gegege No Kitaro and dangerous wildlife in Bono Bono. This podcast is too hot for TV!

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Show #169: FernGully - The Last Rainforest

After surviving a months long heatwave Niall and Dwayne display their green credentials and take their forebears to task with an environmental impact study on FernGully: The Last Rainforest!

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Conceived in an era when the welfare of the planet was the cause celebre of film stars, politicians and the general public alike, FernGully presents an idyllic vision of our natural world and the innumerable reasons for humanity to value and protect it. However does its message cut to the core of this massive problem? Do its contemporaries perform any better? When does saying "YES" repeatedly in a Tim Curry voice stop being fun? (Never) The answers to these hard hitting issues and more await your ears!

Let’s Go! #104 – Let’s Hibernate

Talk about being asleep at the switch, as one of your beloved co-hosts loses the run of himself while working night shifts and reposts this super late! Froppy beds herself down for a filler episode of My Hero Academia, Lupin The Third (or should I say Jim Barnett!) holes up in a country retreat to solve a murder mystery, Planet With tries to retire early and Fenny keeps everybody in Bono Bono up with his singing. Sweet dreams!

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Let’s Go! #103 – Let’s Talk About First Loves

Our love of anime is no secret here, and even now we feel those warm flushes of affection that a good anime season brings: Lupin The Third liberates, Planet With perplexes, Bono Bono bemuses, My Hero Academia accelerates and GeGeGe No Kitaro confounds. Share this podcast with somebody special in your life!

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Show #168: Toons N' Tunes - Disney & Fleischer In The 1920s & 30s

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It's the inaugural instalment of a new recurring feature, where we cast an eye and an ear over the many instances where music and animation collide and how they amplify the potency of both art & artist. Naturally we start at the nascent beginnings of this pairing, from Walt Disney's experimental efforts in Silly Symphonies to the many outings of the Fleischer Brothers' breakout star Betty Boop and on to even stranger sounds than those! Duck noises, censor baiting and depressingly relevant politics await for you to listen up!

Let’s Go! #102 – Let’s Record That Again

Con crunch and computer catastrophes combine to curtail conversation about current cartoons! Working Buddies have their own technical difficulties to surmount, the class of My Hero Academia get a nasty surprise themselves and Bono Bono delivers some unexpected brutality! Please understand, it can't be helped!

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Let’s Go! #101 – Let’s Go On Holiday

Need a little break away? Then why not take a trip to Sakaiminato, home of Kitaro creator Shigeru Mizuki and an evil that rests at the bottom of the sea? Bullet trains staffed by the Working Buddies depart there daily! If there's room in your budget for a flight how about the mean streets of New York where you can try to solve the mystery of Banana Fish? Our other anime regulars stay at home to study, play and fend off invasions, but with modern podcast technology you can take them on the go with you!

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SOTSM x DITB: Little Witch Academia TV Part 2

Much belated but with a lot of care gone into the making, we finally rejoin our podcast partners Dynamite In The Brain to relate our shared experiences of the back half of Yoh Yoshinari and Studio Trigger's grand debut on Netflix. It's filled with scheming teachers, inspiring messages and football-induced international incidents, and there's even time for a little game of which witch is which! All good stuff you can discover yourself if you just listen up!

Let’s Go! #100 – Let’s Change the Theme Tune

It's a new opener and a brand new anime season on our prestigious one hundredth episode! Brian and Dwayne set to sampling the latest offerings in a packed slate that includes street gangs, middle managers, invasions by giant teddy bears and the very workings of the human body itself. Which ones will survive the inevitable cull before the following weeks' premieres take dominance? To find out you'll just have to listen up!

Let’s Go! #99 – Let’s Walk In A Straight Line

We stride boldly forward from one anime season to the next (not to mention straight past the episode I forgot to repost last week) as Summer begins in earnest. For now we get some quality time with continuing faves such as GeGeGe No Kitaro and My Hero Academia while also bidding fond farewell to Megalobox and Golden Kamuy before we're snowed under by all the new stuff. It's thattaway!

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Show #167: Summertime Series Catch-Up

We got so distracted cavorting in the seemingly neverending sunshine that we missed quite a couple of TV animation premieres, so it's time for a catch-up!

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We enjoy Summer as much as the next person here at SOTSM but even we could use a break from the relentless heat, so what better way to do that than by taking a look at the promising properties that managed to escape our notice for literal months. There's the brutal & bombastic Ballmastrz 9009, the futuristic foolery of Final Space and the resurrection of not one but two beloved comedies with the cartoon continuation of Corner Gas and the raucous return of Rocky & Bullwinkle. It's the hottest stuff from twelve weeks ago!

Let’s Go! #97 – Let’s Go Home

Our favourite anime are knocking it outta the park this season! Megalobox thrills, Gegege No Kitaro chills and My Hero Academia spills, leaving the rest of our docket with a hard act to follow. It's the new national pastime!

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Show #166: The Lost Issues! - Conceptual Comics Cartoons

Somehow still not entirely sick of superhero media we gorge ourselves on a sample platter of comics cartoons that never were!

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Despite our well-aired views on superhero fatigue we arrive on the subject yet again, but perhaps we can move on from it for a while by peering into the alternate universe populated by the animated adaptations we didn't get. Focusing largely on their heyday of the early to mid 90s is this parallel world something we were unjustly denied? Or are some stories better left untold? Questionable accents, historical revisionism, atomic mutation and sexy devil worship are just some of the things the general public just wasn't ready for!

Let’s Go! #96 – Let’s Give a Scorpion a Lift

Not content with throwing punches in the ring, Megalobox beats us all over the head with allegory as Nanbu shows his true colours. Elsewhere Albert lives up to the family name in Lupin The Third, tanukis take over Tokyo in Gegege No Kitaro, Bakugo is bailed out in My Hero Academia and everybody's stuck on each other in Bono Bono. Can YOU spot the moral of the story?

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Let’s Go! #95 – Let’s Order Pizza

A late delivery but still extremely hot it's time to get back on the job with Let's Go, the weekly anime podcast that's kept us in any sort of relevance for the last few months! And what a heaping helping it is as rescues are attempted in My Hero Academia, a classic sitcom is revived in Lupin The Third, filthy creeps unite in Gegege No Kitaro, man battles machine in Megalobox and Bono Bono is ANGRY. Subscribe now at all the usual outlets and get 50% off your next podcast order!

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Show #165: WildC.A.Ts

Back from a hiatus that totally involved a covert mission to bodyguard the president's space laser, Niall & Dwayne return with a new rude attitude that's a perfect fit for the WildC.A.Ts!

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After some upfront disclosure regarding where we've been and where we're going we dig into one of the products of the last era when superhero comics were a cultural juggernaut. But can WildC.A.Ts the TV show mirror the underdog success story of its printed counterpart? Bankrupt bad guys, pint-sized powerbrokers and an evolving mission statement await in this collector's edition episode!

THE SHORT VERSION

Wild AND covert

Complex characterisation

Anti-crime tactics

Let’s Go! #84 Let’s Cheer At A TV Screen

Toei have done it again with their spectacular finales as we leap out of our seats to cuss heartily at the tremendous climax of Dragon Ball Super's tournament of power. Who will win? And more importantly whose pet theories for the ending will bear out? Thrills & spills, meat & vegetables and motorbikes & magic make for another stupendous podcast instalment!

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Let’s Go! #83 – Let’s Robinson Crusoe

Some well earned breaks turn into holidays from hell for our anime chums as the cast of Mr Osomatsu become stranded on a desert island and Pop Team Epic solve a murder mystery at a country retreat. Meanwhile both Sakura and Chise take a snooze, the Working Buddies enjoy some videos and Classicaloid enters the home stretch. Pack your bags and get on board!

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Let’s Go #82 – Let’s Get Physical

Time to get your sweat on and burn off some of that unsightly anime backlog! Goku and Jiren ignite the stadium in Dragon Ball Super, Pop Team Epic conquers America and Garo: Vanishing Line pounds down on Silicon Valley before it all gets strained in The Ancient Magus Bride. We work hard, we play hard!

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Let’s Go! #81 – Let’s Give Her A Big Hand

Chise gets in arm's way during a daring dragon rescue but will there be a handy quick fix for her ailments this time around? Big sisters go missing, composers craft comics and El Dorado is discovered. It's all within easy reach!

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Let's Go! Episode 80 - Let's Spread Misinformation About Coypus

Niall rejoins the fellas from his temporary London digs to discern truth from lies in our favourite streaming anime: composer caricatures, shirtless Saiyans, arcane auctions and suspicious shrubbery. We may not have all the answers but we've got a lotta heart!

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Let’s Go! Episode 79 – Let’s Subscribe

Niall may have been in the middle of moving countries for the past few weeks but Let's Go must continue apace in his absence! The battle rages on in Dragon Ball Super, the road trip nears its end in Garo: Vanishing Line, emotions are mismanaged in The Ancient Magus Bride and Shonen Ashibe Go Go Goma-chan ups the stakes with a multi-episode story! It may slip, slide and swerve but you can't keep a good podcast down. There's even more belated currently airing anime coverage here and here, so get on with that downloading!

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Show #164: The Iron Giant

A towering behemoth whose mighty powers can bring destruction or salvation! But enough about Brad Bird already, this one's about The Iron Giant!

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Having conquered the realm of prime time cartoon sitcoms the ambitions of Brad Bird turned to bigger things, and challenges don't get much greater than directing an animated feature during a period when such a thing was a hazardous undertaking if your name wasn't Disney. So how did they pull off this now well beloved tale of a boy and his bot? Failure is fomented, tears are shed and visitors from the stars are venerated. It's heavy stuff!

THE SHORT VERSION

Aspirational figures

Very special agents

Sad robots

Let’s Go! Episode 76 – Let’s Get A Haircut

Is Niall at the barbers? That may explain his absence on this instalment of Let's Go where Luke takes a detour from Garo's stylised version of America to bust ghosts at a Norwegian fishing village. We also get a look behind the scenes of Pop Team Epic's conquest of the idol industry, take a ride in the Karamatsu taxi and Frieza lends a totally-definitely-not-gonna-betray-you hand to Gohan again. If you come in with your hair already washed this podcast is half price!

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Let’s Go! Episode 75 – Let’s Get Fat

Bigger is better as the Classicaloid boys try to conquer the world of sumo and we follow suit with a metric fudge-ton of anime! Raunchy robots in Darling In The Franxx, a parade of puddycats in Mitchiri Neko, beautiful trauma in Violet Evergarden and of course all the usual ongoing mainstays. What a load!

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Show #163: Family Dog (1987/1993)

The Brad Bird bombardment continues as we check the pedigree of animated short and TV spinoff Family Dog!

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After a lot of hard graft in the 80s Brad Bird finally broke through and landed a life-changing job working on The Simpsons. Everybody wanted something from television's new golden boy, such that even his past projects were dusted off and ill-advisedly moulded into unwieldy forms with little to no input from their original creator! But does Family Dog the series deserve it's place in the boneyard of prime-time cartoon pretenders? Careers are catalogued, points are missed and yet more pondering is done on our podcast prospects!

THE SHORT VERSION

Good dog

Bad dog

That pencil test for The Spirit really is somethin'.