Key Frames

Episode 101 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Is the party over? Has the band stopped playing? Have the guests all left? Good, now we can go back to phoning it in, and what better way to do that than to combine our end-of-season and beginning-of-season coverage into one big omnibus episode! Tune in to hear Ben, Andy, Duncan, and Jeff talk about how great The Aquatope on White Sand and Sonny Boy were and how bad Girlfriend, Girlfriend was, for the summer, and about how great Komi Can't Communicate and Heike Monogatari are and how bad The Great Jahy Will Not Be Defeated! is, for the fall. The post 101 - Slime Boostin' first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 100 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. For our hundredth episode, we've pulled out all the stops! There are dramatic readings, quiz games, and lots of navel-gazing about how our relationship with anime has evolved over six years of podcasting. Experience the thrills of Ben finally watching Revue Starlight, the chills of Jeff managing to work Baki into the conversation yet again, and the spills of Duncan blaming Ben for all the bad shows he's stuck with! You'll even learn some of the podcast's lore, like where the inside joke about Andy and a wedding in Blackpool came from. Above all, you'll get our thanks for listening to our podcast, whether for one episode or one hundred, and our hopes to record a hundred more! The post 100 - Mecha-Skeptical or Mecha-Sexual? first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 25 of Key Frames: Inbetweens, a mini-podcast about anime. It's finally here, the moment where we get to talk about tanks as much as we want—as opposed to every other episode of this podcast, where Ben just talks about tanks until everyone else makes him stop! Duncan and Jeff join him now to chat about Girls und Panzer, a 2012 anime by Tsutomu Mizushima that's somehow spawned a massive franchise. Tune in to hear them discuss everything from the ethics of a show that gamifies war to the best tanks and their teams! The post Inbetween 25 - A Car Built to Kill (Girls und Panzer) first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 99 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. So here I am, writing a recap of our podcast episode on anime recaps, and you better believe that the irony does not escape me. Although Ben, Andy, and Duncan make great points about the logistical and commercial pressures that have brought about recap episodes and compilation movies, none of that will make an appearance here, not beyond that passing reference. Along similar lines, further discussion of My Next Life as a Villainess X, The Aquatope on White Sand, and How Not to Summon a Demon Lord Ω will only be alluded to. That way, you've been informed of the episode's content but still need to listen to get any real benefit out of it! Recaps truly are a wonder... The post 99 - Off-Model Gandolfini first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 98 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. The sun, cold and distant, crests the rim of the crater in which you're taking shelter. You raise your hand as you squint against it, the ghost of a reflex from before you lived on the moon, then go back to eating your Nissin Cup Noodles. Sure, you miss the hills and fields of Earth, the blues and greens and whites that are simply nowhere to be found in the icy depths of outer space, and you wish each and every day that you could see them again. Still, you know what can be found in space? Nissin Cup Noodles. Rather than return to nature, you return to your instant ramen. The post 98 - Our Neighbor the Mountain first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 24 of Key Frames: Inbetweens, a mini-podcast about anime. What even is a metaphor? Is it meant to be a comparison between every aspect of two objects, or just one between their most salient features? Is there value in unsuited metaphors, ones mischaracterizing the nature or intent of one object (or both), or is there an intellectual and even ethical responsibility for metaphor to reveal a deeper truth? Is wanting to eat someone the same as wanting to have sex with them? All this (and more) will probably not be answered as Andy, Duncan, and Jeff explore the latest season of Beastars! The post Inbetween 24 - A Harrison Bergeron Situation (Beastars 2nd Season) first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 97 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Jon got chased away again because Ben, Andy, Duncan, and Jeff are talking about love! How interested is anime in romance for the sake of romance versus romance for the sake of comedy? Do the tropes make the genre or the genre make the tropes? How long until Ben brings up His & Her Circumstances again? All this and more are in this latest episode. The post 97 - The Department of Skeev first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 96 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Hey, guess what? Jon's back! It's only a limited-time engagement, of course, but for now let's enjoy him running through his massive list of anime for the summer 2021 season. Kageki Shoujo!!,  Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid S, and Sonny Boy are all highlights, but isekai fans shouldn't worry, because there's plenty for them as well! Oh, also Ben and Duncan are there, and one of them's changed his mind on a much-derided anime. The post 96 - Hunter Loves Hunter first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 95 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Oh boy, a podcast full of white guys talking about depictions of race and foreign culture in anime! Believe me, we understand how it looks, but I think we manage to acquit ourselves decently, covering everything from Japan's love of stereotypes and caricatures to the role of colonialism and imperialism in shaping the media landscape. Still, it's a lot, and you'd be excused for thinking that it's just one long ad for Hetalia: Axis Powers. Don't worry, though! After the break, we switch over to long ads for the Godzilla franchise and Urusei Yatsura. Something for everyone, I guess! The post 95 - Angry Heidi first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 94 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Hello and welcome to Hot Anime Summer! We're excited to kick off the new shows that are starting to air right now, but first we've got to clean our plate of spring's leftovers. Hear Jeff groan and cringe about Higehiro! Hear Duncan express mixed feelings about Vivy! Hear Ben say, "I don't have much to say about this one," at least three times! Hear about how SSSS.Dynazenon turned out good, as expected, and how Battle Athletes Victory ReSTART! turned out bad, also as expected! There really is something for everyone here. The post 94 - Friends Don't Exist first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 93 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. No goofing around this time! Okay... Well, some goofing around? Just a little. Ben and Andy have as a guest Van Paugam, a Chicago-based DJ whose work has contributed to the meteoric rise of city pop as a genre over the past several years. We discuss old anime (something Ben loves) and old music (something Andy loves), and we even find time to talk about more recent hits like The Tatami Galaxy, Ergo Proxy, and the Demon Slayer movie! Thanks again to Van for coming on, we couldn't have hoped for our first big-name guest to be more gracious, charming, and funny. The post 93 - Okay Boomers first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 92 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Ah, it's summer at last! Really, what are these scorching hot months if not the filler episodes of the show that is the four seasons? Thus inspired by (and tired from) the heat, Ben, Duncan, and Jeff delve into the time-honored practice of setting midseason episodes of anime at beach or a hot springs. Sorry, summer festivals need not apply! After that refreshing break, Duncan takes a look back at Spirited Away, Jeff breaks the unwritten rules of the new format by talking about two shows instead of one, and Ben rants about a sequel no one cares about to an anime no one watched. Something for everyone! The post 92 - Jeff the Detective first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 91 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Oh, who can't wait for it all to end and, after the ashes and smoke clear, to take up a new life as a humble fisherman on a far distant coast? Ben, Andy, Duncan, and Jeff are definitely looking forward to it, but in the meantime they talk about the idyllic pastoralism of post-apocalyptic anime in general and Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou in particular, before being drawn to the minisodes for Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid like moths to a flame... The post 91 - A Second Chance at History first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 90 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. For once, let's forget isekai and talk instead about the other micro-genres of anime that exist out there! Ben brings up "supernatural giant-robot realpolitik" when discussing Gasaraki; Andy wrestles with flirtatious bullies in shounen romance in general and with Don't Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro in particular; Jeff just finished The Way of the Househusband and has opinions about tough-guy slice-of-life anime; and Duncan's dipping his toes back into "period drama/thriller but there are vampires" by watching Mars Red. Hear about all of these and more in their first look at the spring 2021 anime season! The post 90 - Future Ex-Girlfriend first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 89 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. You are seated at a table in a restaurant. Confident that the quality of the establishment will ensure anything you order is delicious, you choose a dish you do not recognize. It's steak, after all. How strange can it really get? It's only when a round patty of cold meat arrives at your table that you realize the enormity of your error. Snatching at the sleeve of a passing server, you urgently whisper, "Excuse me? This steak tartare is cold." "Of course," he replies. "Were you expecting something more... mainstream?" Two tables over, feasting contentedly on bizarre French cuisine, Ben, Andy, Duncan, and Jeff discuss anime's relationship with media culture at large and why there aren't more breakouts like Studio Ghibli and Your Name. The post 89 - The Gazpacho Is Cold first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 88 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Would you believe that, when four people get together to talk about the fifteen shows that they've been watching over the past several months, the conversation takes a while? It was a surprise to us as well, especially given the dozens of minutes that were left on the cutting room floor. Anyway! Among so many other things, Ben, Andy, Duncan, and Jeff sum up the winter 2021 season of anime, with special attention paid to Horimiya, Jujutsu Kaisen, Re:Zero, and Wonder Egg Priority. The post 88 - Start Over Happy first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 23 of Key Frames: Inbetweens, a mini-podcast about anime. We were going to call this episode "Two Guys, a Girl, and a Transforming Robot," but Duncan and Jeff prevailed upon Ben... somehow. Anyway! You've spent a year hearing the hosts of this podcast gush about Escaflowne, so now you get to hear it for another hundred-odd minutes. They go into the craft of the show's plot and characters, its historical and cultural context, and the mediocre feature-length remake that came out in 2000. Check it out! The post Inbetween 23 - Everyone Gets a Tragic Backstory (The Vision of Escaflowne) first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 87 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. You know how difficult it is to recommend anime to people? You think that you're handing them an examination of human perception and the corrupting effects of desire, but then they give it back complaining that every single scene had an upskirt shot. Did it? It's so hard to remember. Still, Ben, Andy, and Duncan try their best, before they move to talking about Wonder Egg Priority, the second season of That Time I Was Reincarnated as a Slime, and Horimiya—all of them shows with no problematic elements at all! The post 87 - Cool Man Clip Art first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 86 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. That's right, we've killed the author, and now we're free to give the most outrageous interpretations imaginable for our favorite anime. The Gnostic imagery of Neon Genesis Evangelion? Important to the plot. The dozens and dozens of filler episodes in Naruto? Really important to the plot. The final episode cut from Excel Saga? Also really important to the plot. And... that's it? Nah, listen to the episode to find out what Ben, Andy, Duncan, and Jeff are really talking about, then stick around for discussion of an underrated Studio Ghibli movie and a spinoff from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure! The post 86 - American Manga first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 85 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. If you've come to hear a discussion of comedy in anime, you've come to the right place! Who better than Ben, Andy, Duncan, and Jon, four people who spend most of every episode of this podcast laughing at their own jokes, to talk about the many forms and functions of humor in this medium? After you're done laughing with satisfaction at their keen insight, stick around to hear Jon's thoughts about this season of anime, as well as about Earwig and the Witch and flashbacks as a storytelling device. You won't regret it! The post 85 - Tripping into Panty Shots first appeared on Key Frames.