Marcus's fourth and final entry in this Mobile Suit Gundam saga, thankfully saving Iris from a descent into true madness, is a very recent 2021 theatrical entry that is the first of a planned trilogy in the Universal Century timeline. This film, Hathaway, introduces Hathaway Noa, a next-generation protagonist that carries on the legacy of previous UC greats like Amuro Ray and Char Aznable, as he navigates a narrative that's a little less action-heavy and more introspective as far as Gundam media goes—and we're here for it! We are especially pleased with Hathaway's character and his interactions with Gigi, Kenneth, and just the random civilians living in this new post-Neo Zeon world, and perhaps are most disappointed with the weak character development and less-than-exciting ending which are common symptoms of first-movie-in-a-planned-trilogy-itis. Content warning: SPOILERS, strong language.

A long-awaited threequel to our episodes on Wallace & Gromit and legendary film Chicken Run, our discussion on the final DreamWorks & Aardman collaborative feature film Flushed Away feels somewhat bittersweet to Alex, resident Aardman enjoyer, who laments that perhaps the soul of the Aardman way is lost on this film's exclusively CGI production. But it's perhaps the opposite for Iris, who finds herself joining Marcus and Michael as a member of the awful-early-2000s-animated-movie-enjoyers on this episode, and to be completely honest there's quite a bit to praise about this box-office bomb: it's still got that trademark British humor, its voice cast is superb, the characters are refreshingly mature and intelligent as they navigate their issues, and the slugs perform an ingenious role in this film that Despicable Me's Minions will never come close to mimicking. Perhaps next time we'll be recording from the UK! Content warning: SPOILERS, strong language.

The highly anticipated second season of 2023's Frieren anime has arrived, and the gang spent a couple of evenings IRL together watching this season's 10 episodes and has now hopped on the mic to share our thoughts. In many ways, it returns to form, continuing to tell a slower paced and vaguely slice-of-life narrative that loves its flashbacks and references to Himmel the Hero and the original party's memory. But in other ways, this season falters a bit, feeling more like a "filler" season with Season 3's announcement for October 2027, and in some cases becoming almost formulaic in its use of flashback scenes and Frieren's aloof nature. But the phenomenal animation (especially in this season's big arc, the Revolte arc) and wonderful soundtrack both return in full force, and you gotta give this season credit for giving us the "Frieren looking up" meme, especially for Alex. Content warning: SPOILERS, strong language.

From the same team that brought you 4 seasons of The Legend of Vox Machina (with a 5th on the way!) comes another Dungeons & Dragons campaign that's a little darker, a little grittier, and a lot of fun: The Mighty Nein. If Vox Machina was Critical Role's first attempt at a more traditional, capital-Q-quest-style of campaign with plenty of Big Bad Evil Guys and grandiose battles, then Mighty Nein is a more mature, serious-toned show where the characters draw the focus and their backstories suggest that there's...a LOT of unpacking to do. We especially love Caleb's deep lore and "personal episode" in this season, and Michael and Iris (our resident Critters) are amazed at how the showrunners constructed the narrative of an animated series that differs fairly significantly from how events played out on YouTube. And don't forget to tune in to our *brand new* Iris-hosted bonus segment called the Conspiracy Corkboard at the end of this episode! Content warning: SPOILERS, strong language.

Ya like jazz? Marcus's third Mobile Suit Gundam entry continues the gang's discussion on the Universal Century and the One Year War, with a grittier, more self-contained narrative than what we discussed in our episode on Unicorn. Musically unique and visually stunning, Thunderbolt gets our praise primarily because it feels less focused on the minutia of Mobile Suit Gundam and more focused on being a war movie: it hits a lot harder this time around thanks to its adult main characters, more terrifying and dramatic combat, and more mature war-centric themes like drug abuse or child soldiers. It's not a winner for everyone—Iris might have thrown in the towel on Gundam as a whole this episode—but the gang has a lot of praise for this short, two-sided ballad where nobody wins in the end. Content warning: SPOILERS, strong language.

With our episode on Toy Story 3 fresh in our minds, the gang picks up where we left off with 2019's Toy Story 4, a film that cements itself as the—wait a minute, why'd they make another one? Toy Story is literally the best trilogy of all time! Join us as we try and figure out the most important question of all: does this movie have a reason to exist? Some of us say yes: the animation is ridiculously high quality now, Woody still has genuine character growth to experience, and Forky ends up being a fairly interesting new character to the main cast, at least at the beginning of the movie. Some of us say no: Buzz gets character assassinated, there's a noticeable drop in narrative quality compared to Toy Story 3, and the ending simply doesn't hit the emotional notes it needs to. Should this movie just be called Woody? Good shout, Josh. Content warning: SPOILERS, strong language.

If Alex can make Iris break with his episode intro, you know it's gonna be a banger.

Praised as one of 2021's best anime series, Odd Taxi is a short mystery-esque series set in Tokyo where all of the characters are anthropomorphic animals, centering our walrus-man Odokawa, the taxi driver. The show initially touches on the pleasant sentimentality of meeting all of these people with their own unique lives with trials and tribulations, but soon ups the stakes when Odokawa gets tangled up with a missing highschooler, a gangster, and someone who's trying to murder him. There's some excellent writing in this well-contained single season, with touching slow moments and some really emotionally rich dialogue as the audience uncovers the mystery of not only what's going on, but who Odokawa really is. Content warning: SPOILERS, strong language.

With our episode on Toy Story 2 fresh in our minds, the gang picks up where we left off with 2010's Toy Story 3, a film that cements itself as the conclusion to one of the best film trilogies of all time. With many years having passed between 2 and 3 both IRL and in-universe, we here on the Couch get to feel like we've grown up with Andy, and get hit with some of the best emotional payoff at the end of the film that we've ever seen: Andy goes to college, Woody finds new purpose with a new kid but understands the emotional weight of saying goodbye to Andy, and the acceptance of moving on from a journey that's offered so much to both Andy and the toys. There's so much to love about this film, whether it's Lotso as an antagonist, Woody's continued character growth, the gorgeous and continually improving animation quality, and the film's climax—so stick around and listen to us love it! Content warning: SPOILERS, strong language.

Marcus's second entry in our multi-month saga in the Mobile Suit Gundam Universe takes us into the franchise's Universal Century, but (perhaps questionably) the gang is starting at the very end, with 2010's Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn. Everyone's intros can be boiled down to some variation of "this show doesn't work without prior knowledge of the Universal Century," and by far our biggest criticism of the show is that it's a confusing, lore-heavy, politically flip-floppy series; when you combine those two shortcomings, you get a show that's almost impossible to grasp as a first-time watcher. It's a real shame that, at its core, Unicorn shows genuine promise with some excellent political and anti-war messaging, and it's flanked by an incredible Hiroyuki Sawano soundtrack and some of the best animation in the series, but it looks like Marcus should probably provide a primer for the gang next time around. Content warning: SPOILERS, strong language.

Once again the gang turns back the clocks to follow up our episode on Toy Story with our discussion on 1999's Toy Story 2, a film that really kickstarts the Pixar meme of "so what if ____ had feelings?" and sets the foundation for the entire Toy Story franchise...that's still going on to this day! This movie introduces Jessie and Woody's Roundup, the evil Emperor Zurg, and the philosophical conundrums of identity, mortality, and immortality! It's a fantastic evolution of the foundational idea of Toy Story, shows significantly improved computer-generated animation made in 4 years of progress, raises the stakes significantly for Woody and Buzz and doesn't retread their character arcs from the first film, and does all this while still being a fantastically fun children's movie to watch even as an adult. That all being said, it's still not a better sequel than Shrek 2. Content warning: strong language.