Best Seat on the Couch

This week the gang talks about Pixar's Up, a movie from 2009 where the first 10 minutes are so transcendent that the section has its own Wikipedia page. We talk at length about that little short film, of course, but it's interesting to analyze how the movie draws upon that first 10 minutes and why the rest of the movie itself - characters, plot, villains, resolution - does or doesn't feel impactful enough to follow up on that banger of an opening scene. Naturally, as armchair directors ourselves, we then proceed to rewrite the movie. Content warning: SPOILERS, strong language.

In this episode, the gang talks about one of the animated movies of all time.

The Legend of Vox Machina returns to television for its second season, fresh off of the party's victory from Season 1 and thrust right into conflict with the Chroma Conclave in Season 2. The gang continues to ooh and aah at the impressive animation and well-choreographed fight scenes, and the adaptation from tabletop stream to animated series continues to wow Michael and Iris who have seen pieces of the live campaign; beyond that though, now that Percy's character arc has completed in Season 1, we get plenty more character development for the rest of the cast this season! As unapologetic D&D nerds we cannot wait for Season 3 and are almost surprised to admit that, compared to last season, it's gotten even better. Content warning: SPOILERS, strong language.

Our JoJo's...er, GioGio's...Bizarre Adventure train has no brakes! The gang takes a cross-country flight to the picturesque views of Italy and joins Giornio Giovanna, illicit son of Dio Brando who we discover very early on basically has no resemblance to his father, on his quest to improve the country and eradicate its rampant gang problem. There's a couple of parallels that can be drawn to Stardust Crusaders in that there's a fun group dynamic and monster-of-the-week style for a fair bit, but its revolutionary stand powers, less emphasized JoJo protagonist, and new heights of contrived nonsense make it a unique entry in the series. Many of us still believe that Diamond is Unbreakable is still the best JoJo's part, but at least Marcus believes the hype has never gotten any crazier than in Golden Wind. Content warning: SPOILERS, strong language.

Released in April of last year and taking the anime world by storm, Spy × Family is an adorable action/comedy that follows a spy, Twilight, in an East/West Germany-esque fantasy setting tasked with creating a family as part of his most important mission. While the setting is dark and tense at times, the content of the show is lighthearted and honestly hilarious at many points, culminating in an underground tennis match late in part 2 which sends Marcus's sides into orbit. Resident weeb Alex dances around the overall story's progression and character development given that he's also read the manga, but we highly recommend giving this show a look if you want a little slice of life in your cold war anime! Stick around for a Theory Wall to round out our episode as well. Content warning: SPOILERS, strong language.

At long last on the podcast, the gang discusses the legendary Pixar film Finding Nemo, perhaps the first of Pixar's films that really elevated their standard of animation and kicking off their own sort of "Golden Age" as Michael dubs it. It's a children's movie that feels much more mature than its predecessors, looks gorgeous for a film in 2003, and has one of the most heartfelt stories of the decade. Surrounded by an excellent cast and touching on familial trauma and loss, we shower the movie in the praise it deserves. Content warning: strong language.

In our second-ever foray back to a show we've discussed prior on the Couch, we return to the realm of Xadia with the long-awaited fourth season of the The Dragon Prince, now rechristened as The Dragon Prince: Mystery of Aaravos. We've waited patiently since we last discussed the show two and a half years ago, but it's hard to say that our expectations were met for this season, as it suffers from poor structure and pacing, has way too much juvenile humor, and doesn't follow up on the in-universe two year gap in any meaningful or satisfying way. Still, there are glimpses of the old Dragon Prince in this season, and there is still hope - within all of us - that the ship can be righted and the saga can end in a satisfying way. Stick around for our Theory Wall continuation and our predictions for seasons 5 and 6! Content warning: SPOILERS, strong language.

We continue on our "JoJourney" with Alex's favorite part of all of JoJo's so far, Part 4! Season 3! Diamond is Unbreakable! Now that Dio is confirmed dead and gone at the end of Stardust Crusaders, the series takes a pretty sharp turn towards a "small-town horror" vibe in the city of Morioh, and in turn the Stands get even crazier and move from less physical to more...metaphysical. Stands like a hand that cuts through spacetime, a punch that reconstitutes matter, a photograph that traps you in a 3D photograph, and more are just a taste of what Araki's been cooking in Part 4 - and there's also a really cool story surrounding a murder mystery with Yoshikage Kira and his stand, Killer Queen. Content warning: SPOILERS, strong language.

Short and sweet, Tales of the Jedi is just six short episodes of some nice and easy Star Wars content animated in the Clone Wars aesthetic. So there's probably not too much to discuss, right? WRONG! The gang's propensity for unbelievably overbearing nerdiness is on full display in this episode, and there's a lot more behind the scenes that we have to discuss to make sure we get full understanding of Ahsoka Tano and Count Dooku's character arcs through the series. Every discussion on Star Wars on the internet is respectful discourse! Content warning: SPOILERS, strong language.

There's a depth of tone and humor, as Iris puts it, in the critically acclaimed anime series One-Punch Man, which satirizes and twists the classic shonen hero anime style of My Hero Academia and bolsters that with excellent characters, a mix of serious and humorous scenes, and some real Saitama character development! Here to further add to our discussion and chip in some friendly sibling banter is returning guest Andrew, and we have some lively discussions about the strength of the supporting cast that Alex gracefully moderates as he always does. Read the manga too! Season 2 kinda drops off a cliff animation quality-wise. Content warning: SPOILERS, strong language.