Anime Roundtable

We are able to return two weeks after the last time we taped (and less than a week after said episode was posted). Too bad Mike was still half asleep through it

00:05:15 - Changes abound at Anime Toronto. We try to make sense of that and what it  means for the anime convention scene in Toronto

00:28:00 - Sony is finally winding down the Funimation streaming service. Of course there’s going to be an issue there. So the Sony bashing continues as we talk more about the kicking and screaming move from physical media to digital consumption of content

01:06:05 - The conflict between V-Tuber Selen Tatsuki and former agency Ninjisanji/ANYCOLOR has been the talk of that part of fandom, Kevin gives us a quick summary there and how it parallels the rest of the fandom

01:22:40 - And Japan Foundation Toronto and Humble Bundle have some stuff going on

This Week’s Drinking Game: Pour one out for Funimation. Then pour one more for the creator of the World of Narue who passed away this week

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Kevin Ng, with “long time listener first time caller” Mohamed Sharmarke

Opening Theme: “FUBUKI - Snowstorm” performed by Pico Masaki

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The first episode of 2024 (which was taped a week before it was published) starts with us catching up with James. He’s been playing some games. So we talk games 

00:28:35 - James gives another eye roll in talking about his latest shopping experience on the Crunchy store. Another lesson about being a Canadian fan

00:52:10 - We look back on the verdict in the Kyoto Animation arson tragedy

01:04:50 - We look back at the beginning of Anime North season, and the traditional scramble for early spots of any sort at the convention later this year

01:15:06 - The community calendar (of items that may have already passed as of publishing). A Japan Foundation Toronto discussion on Japanese Arcades. And KPop group ITZY is coming to Toronto

And more shopping at the end

This week’s drinking game: Take a shot of espresso when you realize Mike wants to finish the episode

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Kevin Ng

Opening Theme: “FUBUKI - Snowstorm” performed by Pico Masaki

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Mike, Kevin, and Moh gather around the table for the final time in 2023 and talk more Miyazaki, Mike and Moh’s Netflix watches, streaming services Mike should take a longer look at, defining titles of various generations of fandom, and Kevin’s little exercise. We then make our new years resolutions and debate how fast we’ll break them

Visit our website for more information and links:

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*SPOILER WARNING*

Mike and Kevin talk about and try to wrap their heads around every aspect of The Boy and the Herron, Miyazaki’s latest (final) film. And I mean EVERY POSSIBLE ASPECT

After looking back on the Space Heater Chat and some purchases in the latest Indigo Books sale. We focus on Crunchyroll on a few fronts this time around

00:09:45 - The retail side of CR with the end of Right Stuf. James gives his experience ordering from the revamped retail site

00:37:03 - New mobile games to Crunchyroll services, and manga service winds down. And James puts up an arguement as to why that’s not a totally good thing

00:51:07 - So what about the Crunchyroll’s current anime season?

And then on to other things

01:04:14 - AnimeNYC will have its 2024 edition on August 23-25th, the same weekend as FanExpo Canada. Aside from other news coming from this year’s edition

01:10:20 - Japan Foundation has a discussion on video games and trauma recovery

01:13:50 - James and Kevin go fanboy on Daigo

01:23:30 - Kevin talks a little more about his time watching V-tubers

This Week’s Drinking Game: Take a shot of Espresso when you realize Mike really wants to go to sleep soon

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Kevin Ng

Opening Theme: “FUBUKI - Snowstorm” performed by Pico Masaki

After Mike recovers from yet another illness, he, Kevin and Moh have a morning coffee to talk about the last month to settle back around the table. Like Halloween and Anime North, thoughts on the Overwatch League Finals as Championship Season in various eSports wind down, and the uncomfortable story and latest developments in the Johnny Associates scandal

Mike Nicolas, Kevin Ng, Mohamed Sharmarke

Visit our website for more information and links:

Website: animeroundtable.com

Twitter and IG: @animeroundtable

Email: [email protected] 

Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/animeroundtable

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5U1yZNlQ1VYFH_fV26bYwA

Discord: https://discord.gg/Dg38nRm3 

A rare time we decided to get right to the main topic and talk at length about PLANETES and Vinland Saga creator Makoto Yukimura’s appearances this past weekend in Toronto

01:20:32 - Then in brief, more Haruhi to celebrate 20 years, and One Piece with Jamie Lee Curtis is very possible

01:21:39 - Studio Ghibli sold to TV Nippon. We go through the coles notes version, how it came to this and what to expect in the near future. And Miyazaki gives up driving

01:30:16 - And longer than usual thought on Sony winding down the Right Stuf store, and how James saw the announcement coming over the last week or two

01:46:38 - Wow Paru Itagaki got married?! 

This Week’s Drinking Game: Take a shot everytime James says “Stuff Like That”. Even more impressive, try and count how many shots you take before passing out

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Kevin Ng, Mohamed Sharmarke

Opening Theme: “FUBUKI - Snowstorm” performed by Pico Masaki

Visit our website for more information and links:

Website: animeroundtable.com

Twitter and IG: @animeroundtable

Email: [email protected] 

Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/animeroundtable

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5U1yZNlQ1VYFH_fV26bYwA

Discord: https://discord.gg/Dg38nRm3 

Amy finally returns and starts with some of her watching over the summer and we follow up from last week’s epsode on Anime Toronto with a thought on the poplarity of Hololive and other types of virtual idols

00:23:55 - So we decide to do a few headlines in brief in relation to live action adaptations. We start with a Japanese Drama based on Pokemon and its life lessons

00:36:22 - The GTO live action is returning…WITH ITS ORGINAL STAR!!

00:41:30 - We take a long look at what surrounds the renewal of the One Piece live action for a second season. What has helped it, and is it sustainable?

01:43:54 - We look ahead to Makoto Yukimura’s Toronto appearances at the end of the week

This Week’s Drinking Game: Take a shot when Kevin attempts to sing again

Mike Nicolas, Kevin Ng, Amy-Lynn Greig, Mohamed Sharmarke

Opening Theme: “FUBUKI - Snowstorm” performed by Pico Masaki

Visit our website for more information and links:

Website: animeroundtable.com

Twitter and IG: @animeroundtable

Email: [email protected] 

Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/animeroundtable

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5U1yZNlQ1VYFH_fV26bYwA

Discord: https://discord.gg/Dg38nRm3 

James returns to the table for the first time since Anime North. So we start by recaping his take on the anime summer

00:06:22 - A thought on anime on physical media

00:10:25 - The original Sailor Moon TV series is leaving streamer Crave on September 17 as Kevin finally shows up!!

00:17:25 - Discotek will bring back the original Digimon dub cast for their release of the second movie among other things from them

00:24:05 - On Anime Expo, James does go at length on the Tsukihime visual novel release on consoles, and attendance

00:37:40 - Crunchyroll having a presence at FanExpo Canada made James and Mike reminisce about the on and off history of anime programming there (which predates the use of the name “FanExpo”)

00:49:20 - We begin our long review of Anime Toronto (Formerly IFF Toronto), and how did being on Labour Day weekend a week after FanExpo affect things

00:53:40 - So how about autographs from the guests of honour?

01:18:40 - A quick word on TIFF and the international premier of The Boy and the Herron

01:24:25 - Kevin talks about the Anime Toronto Discord and the Hololive and Yukana presentations

01:43:26 - Makoto Yukimora (creator Planetes and Vinland Saga) is coming to Toronto. And then we look ahead

This week’s Drinking Game: Take a shot whenever you hear Kevin’s keyboard, or when you realize this was taped a day before the 22nd anniversary of 9/11

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Kevin Ng

Opening Theme: “FUBUKI - Snowstorm” performed by Pico Masaki

Visit our website for more information and links:

Website: animeroundtable.com

Twitter and IG: @animeroundtable

Email: [email protected] 

Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/animeroundtable

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5U1yZNlQ1VYFH_fV26bYwA

Discord: https://discord.gg/Dg38nRm3 

Would you believe we taped this more than three weeks ago? Mike, Kevin, and Moe decided to shoot the breeze and talk sports, esports, the convention news to that point, the (at the time) convention look ahead, anime movies, movie festivals, and a thought for those who are no longer with us. Not necessarily in that order