Key Frames

Episode 84 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Sometimes, when you're talking about a topic for a podcast, you forget a very obvious and useful term that would have both grounded and elevated the discussion. In this instance, for our episode on harem anime, it would have been really nice for one of us to remember the word "adhesion," which in the craft of writing romance novels refers to the forces preventing either character from walking away from a relationship. Anyway, Ben, Andy, Duncan, and Jeff muddle through somehow and are also experiencing a real sense of adhesion with some of the shows airing this seasons, like Dr. Stone: Stone Wars, Non Non Biyori Nonstop, and Wonder Egg Priority. Check it out! The post 84 - Re:Zero Delenda Est first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 83 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Winter really is the season for isekai anime, if you think about it. You're stuck inside by the wet and the cold, surrounded by the boring signifiers of your everyday life, so what better to do than imagine that a literal (or figurative) death that enables you to experience a literal (or figurative) rebirth in a strange and exciting new world where the laws of reality are a lot more reasonable for and recognizable to someone who's spent decades playing video games? Ben, Andy, Duncan, and Jeff deal with this deluge of power fantasies in the new season of anime, at least before Ben spends half an hour exploring his feelings about a not-so-historical drama about tea and ceramics but also politics. The post 83 - Dead and on a Zoom Call first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 82 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. None of us did the math when recording and editing this, so we didn't realize that it'd come out well after the holiday season. Just think of it as a brief return to leisure and laughter, as Ben, Andy, and Duncan talk about how the fall season of anime turned out. As is unsurprising for the year 2020, it was a mixed bag! Also, Ben watched what is notionally a harem comedy and tried to convince everyone that it was anything but. The post 82 - A Real Moment of Growth first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 81 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. How can we swing an episode where Duncan gets to talk about art and animation, Ben gets to talk about Studio GAINAX, Jeff gets to talk about Studio Shaft, and Andy gets to complain about J.C.Staff? Why, we'll have a discussion about anime studios, with their distinctive genres and styles, and make it last almost an hour! Stay tuned for the second half, though, to hear how Warlords of Sigrdrifa and Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club are faring with this year's challenges. The post 81 - Expect a Circus first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 80 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. You might say that Ben, Andy, and Duncan are experts on spinoffs, having created Key Frames: Inbetweens as a way of giving Ben a break when he's too tired or busy or depressed to host. No one's getting put on an island to live out the rest of their lives in solitude and obscurity, though, so is it really a spinoff? You'll have to listen to the episode and decide for yourself. Also, the movie SaeKano the Movie: Finale, which is the titular ten-out-of-ten anime for Ben, gets discussed, as well as the second season of Great Pretender, which isn't a ten-out-of-ten anime for Ben (but only because he hasn't seen it). The post 80 - Ben's Ten first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 79 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. It's the episode about surrealism and absurdism in anime, so you know the drill! Ben, Andy, Duncan, and Jeff talk about Masaaki Yuasa. They talk about Satoshi Kon. They talk about Akiyuki Simbo and Shaft. They talk about Excel Saga and Puni Puni Poemy. They talk about... Mushishi? Huh. They talk about Land of the Lustrous, too. Maybe they went a little off the rails... Well, enjoy Ben ranting about historical accuracy in Hyouge Mono while things get sorted out! The post 79 - Other Bugs first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 78 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Did you know that Roald Dahl nearly died while flying (or, rather, crashing) a Gloster Gladiator because of its extremely inflammable construction? Did you know that we don't really know the performance capabilities of the Henkel He 100 because most documents at the factory (including the blueprints) were destroyed in Allied bombing raids? Did you know that the Macchi M.C. 72 was the fastest aircraft in existence for five years, until it was surpassed by the He 100, and still holds the world speed record for a piston-engined seaplane? Thanks for listening in on this episode of the podcast Plane Facts. As a bonus, we're releasing a couple of hours of Ben, Andy, Duncan, and Jon talking about new anime from the fall 2020 season. Enjoy! The post 78 - Three Strokes Under Par first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 77 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Come on in, we're making a stew! Hand me the salt, but be careful. The right amount of seasoning is the difference between Kiki's Delivery Service and Howl's Moving Castle. Oh, adaptations? Yeah, I've got lots of thoughts about adaptations. I'll tell you all about them over a steaming bowl of this stuff. We'll leave Library War, Usagi Drop, and Sweetness & Lightning for dessert. The post 77 - Gumbo first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 76 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Because of mic issues, Ben's recording this episode with a tin can routed through a concert hall's speakers. Don't worry, it's very safe. He joins Andy, Duncan, and Jeff to wrap up their thoughts on the anime of summer 2020, before talking about Boys Over Flowers for what is hopefully the last time. Dig in! The post 76 - Get Glomped first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 75 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Yes, we've talked about mothers. Yes, we've talked about families. For a change of pace, though, Ben, Andy, and Duncan are now talking about parents! Specifically, modern anime's tendency towards absent or invisible parents, which somehow involves a digression about the TV sitcom Friends. Don't worry, we eventually get back on topic with conversations about Boy and the Beast, Aggretsuko, and Great Pretender. The post 75 - The Actual Monkey first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 22 of Key Frames: Inbetweens, a mini-podcast about anime. There... Can you hear it? If your soul has not truly given up on Ben, Duncan, and Jeff finishing their Revolutionary Girl Utena rewatch, then you can hear the sound that races through the last fifteen episodes of that series. Come! Come with us and our guest, friend and Utena expert Katie! Follow us to the podcast episode you seek! The post Inbetween 22 - Akio's Smooth Jazz (Revolutionary Girl Utena: Apocalypse Saga) first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 74 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Come in, have a glass of barley tea, and sit with us next to the fan. It's another scorcher of a day, one in a series that never seems to end, but eventually this summer of pandemics, unemployment, and anime will be over and we'll all have to go back to school. In the meantime, enjoy the sounds of Andy practicing the recorder out on the porch. Once he's done, we'll find Ben and Duncan and get snacks from the corner store. The post 74 - Defamatory Fan Fiction first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 73 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. JoJomi stumbles backwards onto the pavement as Dioko advances on her. "You think you can defeat me, the immortal Dioko?" sneers the towering blonde vampire. "I am unstoppable!" "Maybe I can't on my own," JoJomi replies, "but you haven't seen the final form of my Stand, 'Hand to Mouth'!" Dioko tries to say something in return but suddenly, impossibly, JoJomi is behind her. As fists and sparks fly, a cry rings out above it all: "Ara ara ara ara!" Anyway, Ben, Andy, Duncan, and Jeff talk about OPs and EDs in this episode. The post 73 - Shoujo's Bizarre Adventure first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 72 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. I genuinely thought that our discussion of KanColle hentai a few episodes ago or Andy's description of kaiju semen a few before that would be the nadir of this podcast, but here we are with an entire episode on waifus, best girls, and the various -dere types. I looked briefly into what kind of text formatting would convey my weariness here, to no avail, so I guess you'll just have to trust me when I say that I'm sorry... again. Anyway, after that, Ben talks more about Durarara!!, then Jeff and Duncan praise Deca-Dance, before Duncan leaves the room when Jeff brings up Japan Sinks 2020. Enjoy, as best you can! The post 72 - The Online Meme Gang first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 71 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Seasons are born, they grow old, and they die. We are here to watch them, because anime is in our DNA. It's like... ANA? ANAme. Is that anything? Probably not. Let's start over! Ben, Duncan, Jeff, and Jon look back at spring and forward to summer before talking about Re:Zero, the Space Battleship Yamato 2199 movie, and Lovely Complex! The post 71 - Netflix House Arrest first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 70 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. After seventy episodes, we finally begin to find some flaws in the way that we tag what anime have been discussed. Ben, Jeff, and Jon talked about plenty of shows while talking about this episode's title in the first half! It's just that most of them didn't hit the forty five-second mark. Don't worry, though—after the break, there's plenty of conversation about Durarara!!, Ascendance of a Bookworm, and... uh, Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions! Sorry about that. The post 70 - Is It a Problem that So Many Anime Are About Young Boys Who Are Loners but Secretly Cool and Talented and Girls Like Them? first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 69 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. We've revamped our format a little bit, to be able to bring you better content, and you know what comes with spring cleaning? That's right, we gotta air some of our dirty laundry. Come listen to Ben, Andy, Duncan, and Jeff show a remarkable absence of guilt over their so-called guilty pleasures, then there's talk about the second season of Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, Dorohedoro on Netflix, and The Eccentric Family 2! The post 69 - Innocent Edgelording first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 68 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Oh ho ho, it's magic, you know? Never believe it's not so! After talking about shows both new and old, Ben, Andy, Duncan, and Jeff get into a fairly far-ranging discussion of magical girls in anime. Is Princess Tutu a magical girl anime? Is Bubblegum Crisis a magical girl anime? Is Show by Rock!! a magical girl anime? Jeez, this is worse than the isekai episode we did... The post 68 - Monsters, Space Aliens, and Witches first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 67 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. With the arrival of new anime for spring 2020, you'll get to hear plenty of things you've never heard before. Just think, Duncan talking about a Ghost in the Shell anime! Or how about Ben gushing over an adaptation of a Koji Kumeta manga? If that's not to your taste, why not check out Jon watching an isekai with a very wacky premise? There's also Andy talking about a shounen battler, for those of exotic and discerning tastes. Truly, something for everyone in this episode! The post 67 - Patrick Huge in Japan first appeared on Key Frames.

Episode 66 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Everyone's been rampaging through anime during self-isolation! Ben swallowed Battle Athletes Victory, Sailor Moon, and the first Urusei Yatsura movie whole! After whetting his appetite on Princess Connect! Re:Dive, Andy joins Duncan in savoring Kiki's Delivery Service. Jeff is also there, doing a Godzilla-like thing, I'm sure. Can you tell that the topic of discussion is kaiju? Stomp on over and give it a listen! Just... watch out for the game that Andy left lying around. The post 66 - Big Man Suit first appeared on Key Frames.