Best Seat on the Couch

As far as slice-of-life animes go, Frieren completely shatters the mold with a brand new premise in the fantasy-DnD-adjacent genre and a level of quality (in terms of adapting a manga) that really hasn't been matched before or since its 2023 release. With the eponymous main character experiencing the passage of time so differently than the peers of her past and of the present, it's incredible how well this show treats flashback scenes, the passage of time within the world and its evolution, and the effect of the past affecting characters in the present. It's also gorgeously animated, has a charming soundtrack, and presents its narrative at an unusually relaxing pace, even during scenes where magic is flying across the screen. One thing we can all agree on—this is a one of a kind show that cannot be missed. Content warning: SPOILERS, strong language.

Nestled at the tail end of the legendary series of films within the Disney Renaissance, Hercules is both a musical fantasy reimagining and kid-friendly family film that paints the traditional story of Heracles from Greek mythology in a brand new light. It's a bold film that cashes in on some of its bold choices (the Muses are such an excellent edition both tonally and musically) but perhaps encounters missteps on other choices (Zeus is decidedly not a standup dad). And we can't have a discussion about this film without absolutely gassing up James Woods' portrayal of Hades and a couple of excellent songs that have stood the test of time nearly three decades later. Plus, Iris brings a long overdue Trivia Corner that really tests the gang's knowledge (and Marcus' faith in himself) on Greek mythology. Content warning: SPOILERS, strong language.

As promised in our discussion of Love, Death & Robots ❤️❌🤖 Season 1, the following two seasons received higher critical acclaim but needed to tweak the formula a bit, toning down the nudity and gore from the first season but also having to traverse the difficulties introduced by the COVID-19 pandemic. And while we all have our favorite episodes and notable stinkers like with Season 1, Marcus posits that Season 3 might possibly be the mythical anthology series season where every single episode is rock solid to absolutely mind-meltingly amazing. That's probably debatable (so let's debate it then!) but the gang can definitely agree that Love, Death & Robots has really found its stride in these seasons, losing a bit of shock value from the more traditionally "adult" themes but gaining a reputation in visual storytelling, short-form narratives, and really thought provoking pieces of genuine art. Content warning: SPOILERS, strong language.

Disney/Pixar's slate of films in their "Disney+ streaming era" as it was post-COVID-19 pandemic, to put it shortly, might have been a bit forgettable: the gang has discussed Soul and certainly enjoyed its mellow vibe, but Onward got dumpstered in March 2020 and Luca appears to have completely fallen out of the cultural headspace. 2022's Turning Red, on the other hand, was actually a film brought to our April Fool's special episode that year, and now we get to seriously discuss its impressive portrayals of the middle school experience, Asian heritage, the cultural hallmarks of the 90s, and a genuine coming-of-age narrative. We all agree that it's a bit underrated these days in the Disney/Pixar pantheon, and there's a ton of impressive emotional payoff and strong messages packed into a neat little 2-hour runtime. Content warning: SPOILERS, strong language.

Editor's note: I think it's hilarious that this episode is Episode 4 of Season 18. It's like poetry.

While many kids our age orbited around Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh in the late 90's/early 2000's, a small subset of children—our host Alex included—built their childhood personas around Digimon, starting with 1999's Digimon Adventure and the strange "film" released a year later to cap off the series. And as Alex introduces the show and draws his line in the sand, he braces himself for a nearly relentless onslaught of criticism from the rest of the gang, Iris and Marcus especially. Now let me make this clear: we love Alex on this podcast. He is a gem of a human being. But if this show's generally poor animation, subpar English dub voice acting, wild pacing, disappointing final villains, and utterly baffling collection of Digimon weren't enough, Alex caps this episode off with one of the Trivia Corners of all time. While Digimon Adventure has a few—a few—redeeming qualities, including some satisfying narrative and character moments, I think we on the Couch can all agree that this one is going the way of Aladdin 3. Content warning: the Digi-Rap, strong language.

This week on the Couch, the gang enshrines some well-received fan mail from the mythical Josh, who provided us with our topic for this discussion this episode, The Mitchells vs. the Machines. Released during the COVID-19 pandemic from a number of the same people who brought us Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, this film definitely feels like it was created in (and marketed around) the cultural sphere of the late 20teens/early 2020's, which is especially evident in the humor and the breakneck pace. And in the same way that Spider-Verse felt like a love letter/complete visual re-imagining of comic book media on the silver screen, Mitchells feels like it tries to do the same with amateurish home videos—but does it succeed? Tune into our discussion on the film's emotional strengths, narrative weaknesses, and impressive animation. Content warning: SPOILERS, strong language.

Earlier this year, the gang discussed Tim Miller's Secret Level on Amazon Prime, an anthology series designed to highlight various animation studios' chops as they created short films centered around a variety of video games. But before Secret Level, Tim Miller fought through 11 years of development hell to create Love, Death & Robots ❤️❌🤖, an anthology series designed to highlight various animation studios' chops as they created short films centered around...a slightly more broad thematic throughline, I guess. As with most of Marcus' anthology series offerings, there are hits and there are misses, but the hits did hit well enough for the show to win an Emmy! Join us as we deep dive through a couple of our favorite moments and episodes from Season 1, discuss the fear of an AI out-evolving humanity through the lens of sentient yogurt, and dunk on the robot trash dog. Content warning: SPOILERS, strong language.

Though not technically a Miyazaki film, the gang believes that 2010's Arrietty belongs in his pantheon of works with Studio Ghibli nestled in between Ponyo and The Wind Rises, with thematic and artistic similarities to Miyazaki's more carefree films like My Neighbor Totoro. It's a film that leans heavily on Ghibli's masterful work with scenery, colors, and the whimsy of Arrietty's mini-world, but falters somewhat without a strong main (human) character in Shō (or Shawn) or a particularly strong emotional throughline. If you're like Marcus and enjoy a movie paced like a relaxed afternoon walk, then look no further than this magical Secret World. Content warning: SPOILERS, strong language.

Alex, tapping into his memories of the future, assembles the gang one final time and masterfully MC's our final discussion on this legendary anime series, Hajime Isayama's Attack on Titan. While a couple of us had some doubts coming out of Season 4, Part 1 given its lack of Titan-on-Titan action, more slow-paced and methodical storytelling, and animation studio change, the show sticks its landing and has a couple of moments that feel powerful to the point of being genre-defining. Join us as Iris spearheads an interesting discussion about the show's message and whether the hope for humanity comes through in the series finale, Marcus loses his mind over wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff, and Michael gets C O O K I N with his discussion on the final scene between Armin and Eren. To conclude our 2.5 hour marathon of an episode, Alex tallies up the gang's individual correct and incorrect theories through each of the previous episodes' Theory Walls with a scoring system that ensures a suspenseful finish regardless of who's crowned the winner. Content warning: SPOILERS, strong language.

Hot off the heels of our discussion on Kung Fu Panda 2, the gang comes to you with the final film in what may be Dreamworks Studios' finest animated trilogy...if you simply pretend 2024's Kung Fu Panda 4 doesn't exist. It's got multiple dads, several more pandas, another villain voiced by another banger voice actor (hi J.K. Simmons!), and yet another really solid character arc for Po which continues to blow us away considering that the name of this film is literally Kung Fu Panda. And while Marcus dunks on Kai a bit like Michael dunked on Lord Shen in our previous episode, the gang unanimously agrees that the film most certainly earned its "Everybody was kung fu fighting" moment at the end. Will we move on to our review on Kung Fu Panda 4 next? No, we don't think we will. Content warning: SPOILERS, strong language.