Japanimation Station's Kyoto Vacation

We are back for a particularly ‘colorful’ episode of Part 5 of our Kyoto Vacation, “Kyoto Animation’s Splendid Isolation,” with our review of 2016’s Myriad Colors Phantom World. While this series isn’t one of KyoAni’s ‘masterpiece’ shows, it might just be their most underrated. A madcap comedy packed with wall-to-wall creativity, vivid characters, and a smarter and more emotionally engaging structure than viewers might first realize, Myriad Colors is a consistent delight, with its second half in particular delivering one great episode after another. Sadly, the show flopped upon release and has been unfairly dismissed as a major creative misfire, meaning it’s due a real re-evaluation, which we hope today’s show kicks off! Enjoy, and come back next week for the end of Part 5 with our review of the Love, Chuunibyo, and Other Delusions ‘finale’ movie, Take On Me! Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:30 Intro and History: 0:01:30 – 0:44:54 Eyecatch Break: 0:44:54 – 0:45:32 Myriad Colors Phantom World Review: 0:45:32 – 2:58:15 End Theme: 2:58:15 – 2:59:16 Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff Read the book 200 Reviews by Jonathan R. Lack in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK Follow The Weekly Stuff Wordcast newsletter for regular updates and extra content! https://www.jonathanlack.com Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheWeeklyStuffPodcast Visit our website and subscribe to Japanimation Station on all podcast platforms: http://japanimationstation.com/ Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on all podcast platforms: http://www.weeklystuffpodcast.com “re:CAPTURE” and “Rolled Into One” – Original Music & Lyrics by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com

We are back for Part 5 of our Kyoto Vacation, “Kyoto Animation’s Splendid Isolation,” and today we return to the wacky world of Love, Chuunibyo, and Other Delusions for its second season, Heart Throb! This second batch of episodes sees Rikka and Yuta struggling with what it means to be a couple when another chuunibyo friend from Yuta’s past enters the picture, and while both Sean and Jonathan agree it’s an extremely funny, well-directed set of episodes with plenty of laughs and memorable moments, there’s a bit of a divide between how effective we think the core plotline is, with Jonathan loving it all the way through and Sean finding it lacking. Either way, this remains a delightful show, and a very enjoyable one to talk about. Enjoy, and come back next week for our review of all 13 episodes of Myriad Colors Phantom World! Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:30 Intro, History, and Rikka’s Version Movie: 0:01:30 – 0:40:01 Eyecatch Break: 0:40:01 – 0:40:39 Chuunibyo Season 2 Review: 0:40:39 – 2:45:53 End Theme: 2:46:53 – 2:46:53 Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff Read the book 200 Reviews by Jonathan R. Lack in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK Follow The Weekly Stuff Wordcast newsletter for regular updates and extra content! https://www.jonathanlack.com Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheWeeklyStuffPodcast Visit our website and subscribe to Japanimation Station on all podcast platforms: http://japanimationstation.com/ Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on all podcast platforms: http://www.weeklystuffpodcast.com “re:CAPTURE” and “Rolled Into One” – Original Music & Lyrics by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com

We are back for Part 5 of our Kyoto Vacation, entitled “Kyoto Animation’s Splendid Isolation,” and today we’re discussing what might be the worst series the fine folks at KyoAni have ever made: 2013’s Beyond the Boundary, a show that is as beautifully animated as anything the studio has ever produced, but suffers from generic (and sometimes incoherent) storytelling, flat characters, and a frustratingly repetitive and off-putting sense of ‘comedy.’ It also has a feature film follow-up, 2015’s I’ll Be Here, which is even more stunningly animated, but also somehow even more maddening as a piece of storytelling. It’s a strange show, but a fascinating one to talk about. Enjoy, and come back next week for our review of the second season of Love, Chuunibyo, and Other Delusions – Heart Throb! Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:30 Beyond the Boundary Review: 0:01:30 – 1:30:13 Eyecatch Break: 1:30:13 – 1:30:51 I’ll Be Here Movie Review: 1:30:51 – 2:23:26 End Theme: 2:23:26 – 2:24:28 Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff Read the book 200 Reviews by Jonathan R. Lack in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK Follow The Weekly Stuff Wordcast newsletter for regular updates and extra content! https://www.jonathanlack.com Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheWeeklyStuffPodcast Visit our website and subscribe to Japanimation Station on all podcast platforms: http://japanimationstation.com/ Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on all podcast platforms: http://www.weeklystuffpodcast.com “re:CAPTURE” and “Rolled Into One” – Original Music & Lyrics by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com

We are back for Part 5 of our Kyoto Vacation, entitled “Kyoto Animation’s Splendid Isolation,” and today we’re discussing the next series made by the ladies behind K-ON!, 2013’s Tamako Market! An entirely original creation by Naoko Yamada and Reiko Yoshida, Tamako Market is a strange, singular, and sweet slice-of-life series about the daughter of a mochi-shop owner and the many oddballs she encounters in daily life, including a talking bird from a mysterious island kingdom named Dera. Sean and Jonathan are split on just how effective the TV show itself is – Sean loves it, while Jonathan found it a little hit-or-miss – but we are in complete agreement about the 2014 film follow-up, Tamako Love Story, which adopts a slightly different tone and focus and delivers a true directorial tour-de-force from Naoko Yamada. It’s one of the best things we’ve watched this season, and that’s saying something. Enjoy, and come back next week for our review of 2013’s Beyond the Boundary and its feature film sequel, I’ll Be Here! Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:30 Tamako Market Review: 0:01:30 – 1:43:36 Eyecatch Break: 1:43:36 – 1:44:14 Tamako Love Story Review: 1:44:14 – 3:07:45 End Theme: 3:07:45 – 3:08:46 Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff Read the book 200 Reviews by Jonathan R. Lack in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK Follow The Weekly Stuff Wordcast newsletter for regular updates and extra content! https://www.jonathanlack.com Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheWeeklyStuffPodcast Visit our website and subscribe to Japanimation Station on all podcast platforms: http://japanimationstation.com/ Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on all podcast platforms: http://www.weeklystuffpodcast.com “re:CAPTURE” and “Happily Ever After” – Original Music & Lyrics by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com

We are back for Part 5 of our Kyoto Vacation, entitled “Kyoto Animation’s Splendid Isolation,” where we will be looking at the period in the 2010s when KyoAni took complete control of their source material and began creating anime based on light novels they themselves published! That effort began with 2012’s Love, Chuunibyo & Other Delusions!, a series that starts out as a very funny, very silly odd-couple comedy between a boy trying to leave his youthful obsessions behind and a girl still embroiled in playing pretend, before gradually becoming a startlingly rich, incredibly touching story about how fiction and fantasy help us process grief. It’s another Kyoto Animation home run, one that sneaks up on the viewer but lands its punches with startling power. We discuss the 12-episode first season from 2012 in today’s episode, but will be back later in Part 5 to discuss the show’s second season and movie sequel. Enjoy, and come back next week for our review of Tamako Market and its feature film follow-up, Tamako Love Story! Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:30 Intro and History: 0:01:30 – 0:45:52 Eyecatch Break: 0:45:52 – 0:46:29 Chuunibyo Season 1 Review: 0:46:29 – 2:40:53 End Theme: 2:40:53 – 2:41:55 Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff Read the book 200 Reviews by Jonathan R. Lack in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK Follow The Weekly Stuff Wordcast newsletter for regular updates and extra content! https://www.jonathanlack.com Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheWeeklyStuffPodcast Visit our website and subscribe to Japanimation Station on all podcast platforms: http://japanimationstation.com/ Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on all podcast platforms: http://www.weeklystuffpodcast.com “re:CAPTURE” and “Happily Ever After” – Original Music & Lyrics by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com

Akira Toriyama, creator of Dragon Ball and Dr. Slump, and illustrator of the Dragon Quest franchise, passed away this week at the age of 68. His influence on our lives, like those of millions around the world, has been incalculable, so we’re devoting today’s entire show to discussing his incredible body of work and the way it changed anime, manga, video games, and global popular culture. We discuss how we first discovered Dragon Ball, why he was such a peerless mangaka, read some of the statements that have poured in from other manga authors and Dragon Ball collaborators, and respond to some listener comments. And after that, we bring back a segment from 2022 in which Sean and Jonathan rank all the story arcs in the Dragon Ball franchise, giving us a chance to dive into and celebrate his most famous work. Enjoy. Time Chart (JS) Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:15 Remembering Akira Toriyama: 0:01:15 – 2:12:41 Ranking Dragon Ball Story Arcs: 2:12:41 – 3:12:07 Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff Read the book 200 Reviews by Jonathan R. Lack in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our sister series about the wide, wacky world of anime: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation Explore our archives and subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on all podcasting platforms: https://weeklystuffpodcast.com Follow The Weekly Stuff Wordcast newsletter for regular updates and extra content! https://weeklystuff.substack.com Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/

Part 4 of our Kyoto Vacation is called “My Ordinary Life is a Mystery to be Lived,” and today’s second part tackles the ‘Mystery’ part of that title with 2012’s singular slice-of-life mystery anime HYOUKA! Adapted from the ‘Classic Literature Club’ novels by Honobu Yonezawa, Hyouka follows ‘energy conservationist’ Hotaro Oreki as he tries to glide through high school without giving anything much effort, only to be drawn into the orbit of the perpetually curious Eru Chitanda, with whom he begins solving low-stakes mysteries left and right. It’s an amazing and very unique story, and it’s brought to life with perhaps the most beautiful animation in the history of TV anime – which sounds like hyperbole until one lays eyes on this amazing series, which is another certified masterpiece from Kyoto Animation. Enjoy, and come back in two weeks on March 10th for Part 5 of the season, and our review of the 2012 anime Love, Chunibyo, and Other Delusions! Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:30 Intro and History: 0:01:30 – 0:49:30 Eyecatch Break: 0:49:30 – 0:50:08 Hyouka Review: 0:50:08 – 3:26:51 End Theme: 3:26:51 – 3:27:53 Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff Read the book 200 Reviews by Jonathan R. Lack in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK Follow The Weekly Stuff Wordcast newsletter for regular updates and extra content! https://www.jonathanlack.com Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheWeeklyStuffPodcast Visit our website and subscribe to Japanimation Station on all podcast platforms: http://japanimationstation.com/ Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on all podcast platforms: http://www.weeklystuffpodcast.com “re:CAPTURE” and “Happily Ever After” – Original Music & Lyrics by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com

Part 4 of our Kyoto Vacation is called “My Ordinary Life is a Mystery to be Lived,” and we begin with one of Kyoto Animation’s most beloved cult classics, and also perhaps the weirdest show ever made: Nichijou, based on the manga by Keiichi Arawi, which follows three high-school girls, a genius child inventor, the robot big sister she invents for herself, a talking cat, and many more increasingly strange characters in a very bizarre world of madcap, gorgeously-animated comedy. Nichijou is purely gag-focused, more than any show we’ve reviewed here before, but it's also incredibly creative and wildly accomplished as an animation production, and gives us a ton to talk about. We go over the show’s history, discuss what makes it so special, and each count down our Top 10 Favorite Nichijou Segments! Enjoy, and come back next week for our review of Hyouka, the equally-singular slice-of-life mystery show from 2012! Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:30 Intro and History: 0:01:30 – 0:46:47 Eyecatch Break: 0:46:47 – 0:47:22 Nichijou Review: 0:47:22 – 1:43:44 Top 10 Nichijou Segments: 1:43:44 – 3:00:22 End Theme: 3:00:22 – 3:01:24 Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff Read the book 200 Reviews by Jonathan R. Lack in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK Follow The Weekly Stuff Wordcast newsletter for regular updates and extra content! https://www.jonathanlack.com Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheWeeklyStuffPodcast Visit our website and subscribe to Japanimation Station on all podcast platforms: http://japanimationstation.com/ Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on all podcast platforms: http://www.weeklystuffpodcast.com “re:CAPTURE” and “Happily Ever After” – Original Music & Lyrics by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com

Part 3 of our Kyoto Vacation is‘Moe Money, Moe Problems: After School Tea-Time with the Girls of K-On!’ And today, we’re finishing our journey with Hokago Tea Time by following the girls to London for an overseas adventure in K-On! The Movie. Released in 2011 to more or less unprecedented success for this type of anime, the feature film continuation of the series is one of the franchise’s finest hours, lushly animated, absolutely hilarious, and incredibly heartfelt, revisiting the events of the series finale to deepen the perspective of the original four club members – Yui, Ritsu, Mio, and Mugi-chan – on a bigger scale than we ever saw in the TV series. It's a fantastic movie, and a great way to close our After School Tea Time adventures. Enjoy, and come back on February 11th for the start of Part 4 of our Kyoto Vacation, with our review of the comedy classic Nichijou: My Ordinary Life! Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:30 Intro and History: 0:01:30 – 0:35:47 Eyecatch Break: 0:35:47 – 0:36:22 K-On! The Movie Review: 0:36:22 – 2:28:28 End Theme: 2:28:28 – 2:29:29 Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff Read the book 200 Reviews by Jonathan R. Lack in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK Follow The Weekly Stuff Wordcast newsletter for regular updates and extra content! https://www.jonathanlack.com Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheWeeklyStuffPodcast Visit our website and subscribe to Japanimation Station on all podcast platforms: http://japanimationstation.com/ Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on all podcast platforms: http://www.weeklystuffpodcast.com “re:CAPTURE” and “Happily Ever After” – Original Music & Lyrics by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com

Part 3 of our Kyoto Vacation is‘Moe Money, Moe Problems: After School Tea-Time with the Girls of K-On!’ And today, we’re discussing the 27-episode second season from 2010, which follows Yui, Ritsu, Mio, and Mugi-chan in their third and final year of high school, with second-year Azusa facing the prospect of being left behind after they all graduate. It’s an incredible season of TV, filled not only with outstanding episodes, but telling a deeply-felt, beautifully observed story about the transitional moment that is graduation, and how people balance becoming adults while maintaining childhood friendships and passions. Enjoy, and come back next week as we say goodbye to the light music club with our review of the feature film, K-On! The Movie. Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:30 Intro and History: 0:01:30 – 0:57:38 Eyecatch Break: 0:57:38 – 0:58:15 K-On!! Review: 0:58:15 – 3:06:28 End Theme: 3:06:28 – 3:07:30 Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff Read the book 200 Reviews by Jonathan R. Lack in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK Follow The Weekly Stuff Wordcast newsletter for regular updates and extra content! https://www.jonathanlack.com Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheWeeklyStuffPodcast Visit our website and subscribe to Japanimation Station on all podcast platforms: http://japanimationstation.com/ Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on all podcast platforms: http://www.weeklystuffpodcast.com “re:CAPTURE” and “Happily Ever After” – Original Music & Lyrics by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com

Part 3 of our Kyoto Vacation is‘Moe Money, Moe Problems: After School Tea-Time with the Girls of K-On!’ And for the next three weeks, we’re reviewing what may be Kyoto Animation’s most popular series to date: K-On!, the musical slice-of-life anime sensation following the girls of the Sakuragaoka High School light music club! The 14-episode 1st season follows Yui Hirasawa as she learns the guitar and joins bassist Mio Akiyama, drummer Ritsu Tainaka, and keyboardist Tsumugi Kotobuki, ostensibly to play and practice music, but mostly to drink tea and eat snacks. The season follows the characters’ first two years of high-school, with another guitarist, Azusa Nakano, joining in their second year, and of course includes the greatest teacher in the history of fiction, Sawa-chan-sensei, as their unorthodox club leader. It’s a beautifully animated, stupendously funny, extremely sweet season of television with some great music, and the debut directorial work of the great Naoka Yamada – and an absolute pleasure to talk about on the podcast. Enjoy, and come back next week as we review the second season – with two exclamation points – K-On!! Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:30 Intro and History: 0:01:30 – 0:52:29 Eyecatch Break: 0:52:29 – 0:53:04 K-On! Review: 0:53:04 – 3:13:54 End Theme: 3:13:54 – 3:14:56 Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff Read the book 200 Reviews by Jonathan R. Lack in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK Follow The Weekly Stuff Wordcast newsletter for regular updates and extra content! https://www.jonathanlack.com Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheWeeklyStuffPodcast Visit our website and subscribe to Japanimation Station on all podcast platforms: http://japanimationstation.com/ Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on all podcast platforms: http://www.weeklystuffpodcast.com “re:CAPTURE” and “Happily Ever After” – Original Music & Lyrics by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com

It’s December 25th, and Christmas has finally come to Otaku Town – and with it, the final episode of Part 2 of our Kyoto Vacation. For today’s very special episode, we are finishing our journey through the world of Haruhi Suzumiya with the 2010 film The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, the nearly-three-hour climactic story in Kyoto Animation’s beloved adaptation of Nagaru Tanigawa’s light novels. It’s an absolute masterpiece of a film, telling its story of Kyon waking up in a world without the SOS Brigade patiently and tenderly, and building to a series of incredibly powerful emotional climaxes. It is also a truly beautiful Christmas movie in the vein of A Christmas Carol or It’s a Wonderful Life, and one of the very best of its kind, making it the perfect film to celebrate the holiday and ring out what has been a very big 2023 for Japanimation Station! Have a Happy New Year, and we will see all of you in 2024 for Part 3 of our Kyoto Vacation, “Moe Money, Moe Problems: After School Tea Time with the Girls of K-On!” Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:31 Intro and History: 0:01:31 – 0:38:17 Eyecatch Break: 0:38:17 – 0:38:54 The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya Review: 0:38:54 – 3:12:20 End Theme: 3:12:20 – 3:13:22 Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff Read the book 200 Reviews by Jonathan R. Lack in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK Follow The Weekly Stuff Wordcast newsletter for regular updates and extra content! https://weeklystuff.substack.com Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheWeeklyStuffPodcast Visit our website and subscribe to Japanimation Station on all podcast platforms: http://japanimationstation.com/ Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on all podcast platforms: http://www.weeklystuffpodcast.com 「コイノMIKUルデンセツ」- Music by Satoru Kosaki, Lyrics by Yutaka Yamamoto, Arranged by Thomas Lack feat. Hatsune Miku “Happily Ever After” – Original Music & Lyrics by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com

Part 2 of our Kyoto Vacation chronicles ‘When Christmas Came to Otaku Town,’ and that holiday is drawing ever nearer with Season 2 of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Aired in 2009, this season collected the 14 episodes originally produced in 2006, re-arranges them in the story’s chronological order, and then intersperses 14 new episodes amidst them, to make for a new 28-episode version of the series. We already talked about 8 of those episodes in last week’s in-depth, extra-long breakdown of the infamous ‘Endless Eight’ arc, and in this episode, we look at the one-off episode “Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody,” the 5-part “Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya,” and discuss how this series plays viewed in chronological order in this specific 28-episode package. One thing’s for sure: When it comes to Haruhi Suzumiya, nothing happens exactly as expected, and there are surprises around every corner. Enjoy, and come back next week as we review the final chapter of the Haruhi saga, the 2010 film The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya! Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:31 Intro, History, and Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody: 0:01:31 – 0:47:37 Eyecatch Break: 0:47:37 – 0:48:12 The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya Review: 0:48:12 – 2:02:40 End Theme: 2:02:40 – 2:03:42 Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff Read the book 200 Reviews by Jonathan R. Lack in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK Follow The Weekly Stuff Wordcast newsletter for regular updates and extra content! https://weeklystuff.substack.com Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheWeeklyStuffPodcast Visit our website and subscribe to Japanimation Station on all podcast platforms: http://japanimationstation.com/ Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on all podcast platforms: http://www.weeklystuffpodcast.com

Part 2 of our Kyoto Vacation chronicles ‘When Christmas Came to Otaku Town,’ and in this episode, we do an extremely deep-dive into the single craziest experiment ever attempted in commercial anime: The infamous ‘Endless Eight’ arc from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Season 2. We will be talking about the rest of that show’s second season from 2009 in next week’s episode, but as we worked our way through these episodes, we realized the Endless Eight were something special, and needed a different approach. Often dismissed as “the same episode repeated eight times,” the Endless Eight is actually a collection of Kyoto Animation’s best directors independently tackling the same basic story, but with completely different animation, voice acting, and music, with a constantly varying tonal and thematic approach, and it makes for a fascinating, perspective-altering work of avant-garde art. To do it justice, we recorded once a day for eight days, watching each of the eight episodes individually and then discussing each at length before moving on to the next one. The result is one of the longest episodes we’ve ever recorded, but also one of the best – and if you haven’t dived into the full ‘Endless Eight’ experience before, we hope this episode makes for the perfect viewing companion. Enjoy, and come back next week as we review the rest of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Season 2, in the story’s chronological order! Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:31 Intro: 0:01:31 – 0:07:29 Endless Eight I: 0:07:29 – 0:23:17 Endless Eight II: 0:23:17 – 0:43:29 Endless Eight III: 0:43:29 – 1:19:20 Eyecatch Break: 1:19:20 – 1:19:57 Endless Eight IV: 1:19:57 – 2:01:10 Endless Eight V: 2:01:10 – 2:41:24 Endless Eight VI: 2:41:24 – 3:10:09 Endless Eight VII: 3:10:09 – 3:40:42 Endless Eight VIII: 3:40:42 – 4:37:14 End Theme: 4:37:14 – 4:38:16 Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff Read the book 200 Reviews by Jonathan R. Lack in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK Follow The Weekly Stuff Wordcast newsletter for regular updates and extra content! https://weeklystuff.substack.com Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheWeeklyStuffPodcast Visit our website and subscribe to Japanimation Station on all podcast platforms: http://japanimationstation.com/ Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on all podcast platforms: http://www.weeklystuffpodcast.com

Part 2 of our Kyoto Vacation chronicles ‘When Christmas Came to Otaku Town,’ and following the wild success of Haruhi Suzumiya, Kyoto Animation moved on to one of the defining slice-of-life anime comedies, 2007’s Lucky Star! Simultaneously a very dry, down-to-earth ‘atmospheric’ show and an absolutely absurd slice of post-modern anime surrealism, Lucky Star is a singularly entertaining show. Based on the 4-panel manga by Kagami Yoshimizu, Lucky Star in anime form quickly takes on a life of its own as the artists at Kyoto Animation find themselves reacting to the Haruhi Suzumiya phenomenon and the changing shape of anime fandom within the text of the show, and also saw some behind-the-scenes turmoil as original director Yamamoto Yutaka was fired after just 4 episodes. We dive into all of that history, discuss our favorite jokes and characters, and celebrate the delirious insanity that is Lucky Channel on this jam-packed episode! Enjoy, and come back next week as we review the infamous ‘Endless Eight’ episodes from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Season 2! Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:30 Intro and History: 0:01:30 – 0:38:59 Get F’d Yamamoto Yutaka: 0:38:59 – 1:08:20 Eyecatch Break: 1:08:20 – 1:08:55 Lucky Star Review: 1:08:55 – 3:16:12 End Theme: 3:16:12 – 3:17:14 Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff Read the book 200 Reviews by Jonathan R. Lack in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK Follow The Weekly Stuff Wordcast newsletter for regular updates and extra content! https://weeklystuff.substack.com Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheWeeklyStuffPodcast Visit our website and subscribe to Japanimation Station on all podcast platforms: http://japanimationstation.com/ Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on all podcast platforms: http://www.weeklystuffpodcast.com “re:CAPTURE” and “Happily Ever After” – Original Music & Lyrics by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com

Part 2 of our Kyoto Vacation chronicles ‘When Christmas Came to Otaku Town,’ beginning with a look at the first season of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Based on the light novels by Nagaru Tanigawa, Haruhi is a seminal work of 21st century anime, with the first 14 episodes from 2006 creating an absolute sensation with major impacts on the future of the industry. It’s also an incredible set of episodes, presented in an out-of-chronology ‘shuffle order’ mixing stories from all over the Haruhi timeline in with a 6-part adaptation of the eponymous first light novel. It’s a structure that throws the viewer in the deep end, but also leads to a deeply compelling engagement with these off-beat characters and their very strange world, one that pays emotional dividends by the end. We talk about all of that, the history of the series, and the idea behind ‘moe’ on this very exciting episode! Enjoy, and come back next week as we review the 2007 ‘slice of life’ comedy Lucky Star! Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:31 Intro and History: 0:01:31 – 1:05:34 Eyecatch Break: 1:05:34 – 1:06:12 Haruhi Season 1 Review: 1:06:12 – 3:15:44 End Theme: 3:15:44 – 3:16:46 Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff Read the book 200 Reviews by Jonathan R. Lack in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK Follow The Weekly Stuff Wordcast newsletter for regular updates and extra content! https://weeklystuff.substack.com Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheWeeklyStuffPodcast Visit our website and subscribe to Japanimation Station on all podcast platforms: http://japanimationstation.com/ Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on all podcast platforms: http://www.weeklystuffpodcast.com

This week marks the 10th anniversary of the first movie based on Persona 3, a game that is one of our all-time favorites here at Japanimation Station. We reviewed each of those films as they released over on The Weekly Stuff Podcast, and hold them in extremely high regard as some of the greatest video game adaptations of all time, in any medium – and an undeniably great work of anime. So this week, as a special Thanksgiving bonus, we’re bringing back our original Persona 3 movie reviews, re-edited and remastered, for Japanimation Station. That continues today with the fourth and final film, Winter of Rebirth! This conversation was originally recorded on August 21st, 2016. We dive in great depth not only into this final film itself, but also to the series as a whole, and how vastly it has surpassed whatever expectations we initially had. Persona 3 was, is, and shall always be a great game – but this four-part film series has, miraculously, earned a place on the shelf alongside it, something that is a welcome surprise indeed. Enjoy, happy thanksgiving, and we will be back next week to resume our Kyoto Vacation with our review of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya! Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:14 Intro: 0:01:14 – 0:06:04 Eyecatch Break: 0:06:04 – 0:06:40 Persona 3 Movie 4: 0:06:40 – 1:38:22 End Theme: 1:38:22 – 1:39:25 Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff Read the book 200 Reviews by Jonathan R. Lack in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK Follow The Weekly Stuff Wordcast newsletter for regular updates and extra content! https://weeklystuff.substack.com Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheWeeklyStuffPodcast Visit our website and subscribe to Japanimation Station on all podcast platforms: http://japanimationstation.com/ Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on all podcast platforms: http://www.weeklystuffpodcast.com “Welcome to Japanimation Station” Original Music by Thomas Lack, Lyrics by Sean Chapman, featuring Hatsune Miku. “Happily Ever After” Original Music & Lyrics by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com

This week marks the 10th anniversary of the first movie based on Persona 3, a game that is one of our all-time favorites here at Japanimation Station. We reviewed each of those films as they released over on The Weekly Stuff Podcast, and hold them in extremely high regard as some of the greatest video game adaptations of all time, in any medium – and an undeniably great work of anime. So this week, as a special Thanksgiving bonus, we’re bringing back our original Persona 3 movie reviews, re-edited and remastered, for Japanimation Station. That continues today with the third film, Falling Down! This conversation was originally recorded on February 16th, 2016, and it finds our investment in these films only growing deeper, as Falling Down tackles one of the trickier stretches of the game to adapt, and finds an incredibly effective lens through which to view the story via the character of Ryoji. If anything, these movies just keep getting better. Enjoy, and come back tomorrow for our review of the fourth and final Persona 3 movie, Winter of Rebirth! Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:14 Intro: 0:01:14 – 0:04:04 Eyecatch Break: 0:04:04 – 0:04:38 Persona 3 Movie 3: 0:04:38 – 0:52:56 End Theme: 0:52:56 – 0:53:58 Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff Read the book 200 Reviews by Jonathan R. Lack in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK Follow The Weekly Stuff Wordcast newsletter for regular updates and extra content! https://weeklystuff.substack.com Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheWeeklyStuffPodcast Visit our website and subscribe to Japanimation Station on all podcast platforms: http://japanimationstation.com/ Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on all podcast platforms: http://www.weeklystuffpodcast.com “Welcome to Japanimation Station” Original Music by Thomas Lack, Lyrics by Sean Chapman, featuring Hatsune Miku. “Happily Ever After” Original Music & Lyrics by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com

This week marks the 10th anniversary of the first movie based on Persona 3, a game that is one of our all-time favorites here at Japanimation Station. We reviewed each of those films as they released over on The Weekly Stuff Podcast, and hold them in extremely high regard as some of the greatest video game adaptations of all time, in any medium – and an undeniably great work of anime. So this week, as a special Thanksgiving bonus, we’re bringing back our original Persona 3 movie reviews, re-edited and remastered, for Japanimation Station. That continues today with the second film, A Midsummer Knight’s Dream! This conversation was originally recorded on April 11th, 2015, and the movie left us absolutely shaken, both by its pitch-perfect delivery of one of the most devastating moments from the original game, and by the incredible animation and direction throughout. If the first film was surprisingly great, this is where the Persona 3 film series starts to play its hand as a true anime masterpiece. Enjoy, and come back tomorrow for our review of the third Persona 3 movie, Falling Down! Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:14 Intro: 0:01:14 – 0:03:32 Eyecatch Break: 0:03:32 – 0:04:07 Persona 3 Movie 2: 0:04:07 – 1:06:12 End Theme: 1:06:12 – 1:07:14 Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff Read the book 200 Reviews by Jonathan R. Lack in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK Follow The Weekly Stuff Wordcast newsletter for regular updates and extra content! https://weeklystuff.substack.com Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheWeeklyStuffPodcast Visit our website and subscribe to Japanimation Station on all podcast platforms: http://japanimationstation.com/ Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on all podcast platforms: http://www.weeklystuffpodcast.com “Welcome to Japanimation Station” Original Music by Thomas Lack, Lyrics by Sean Chapman, featuring Hatsune Miku. “Happily Ever After” Original Music & Lyrics by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com

This week marks the 10th anniversary of the first movie based on Persona 3, a game that is one of our all-time favorites here at Japanimation Station. We reviewed each of those films as they released over on The Weekly Stuff Podcast, and hold them in extremely high regard as some of the greatest video game adaptations of all time, in any medium – and an undeniably great work of anime. So this week, as a special Thanksgiving bonus, we’re bringing back our original Persona 3 movie reviews, re-edited and remastered, for Japanimation Station. That begins today with the first film, Spring of Birth, originally released this week 10 years ago! This conversation was originally recorded on May 22nd, 2014, and as you’ll hear, the movie took both of us by surprise for just how strong its adaptational choices, animation, and direction were across the board, setting the stage for a 4-part film series that punches far above its weight. Enjoy, and come back tomorrow for our review of the second Persona 3 movie, A Midsummer Knight’s Dream! Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:14 Intro: 0:01:14 – 0:07:15 Eyecatch Break: 0:07:15 – 0:07:49 Persona 3 Movie 1: 0:07:49 – 1:02:38 End Theme: 1:02:38 – 1:03:40 Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff Read the book 200 Reviews by Jonathan R. Lack in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK Follow The Weekly Stuff Wordcast newsletter for regular updates and extra content! https://weeklystuff.substack.com Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheWeeklyStuffPodcast Visit our website and subscribe to Japanimation Station on all podcast platforms: http://japanimationstation.com/ Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on all podcast platforms: http://www.weeklystuffpodcast.com “Welcome to Japanimation Station” Original Music by Thomas Lack, Lyrics by Sean Chapman, featuring Hatsune Miku. “Happily Ever After” Original Music & Lyrics by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com