Key Frames

Episode 109 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. If you thought that last episode's dissection of a particular host's taste in anime girls was a good time, you're really in for a treat! It's the topic now, although Duncan dresses it up by making it about how off-putting fan service in anime can be. Listen to how everyone loves tsundere characters, Andy recommending Jeff some peak yandere content, and Jeff being disappointed that The Case Study of Vanitas isn't hornier! Oh, also, Ben watched Kageki Shoujo!! and of course he loves it.

Episode 108 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Once upon a time, Andy bought Ben a couple of video games as gifts, but Ben didn't make the time to play them, so Andy made Ben feel really bad about that fact on a podcast to which dozens of people listen. This is now the final episode, because Ben's going into hiding. Kidding! We are talking about NEETs and hikikomori, though, so Ben's embarrassment and shame are fitting in a way. Also, after the break, Andy and Jeff talk about Ranking of Kings and other anime currently airing, while Ben gives his take on the decade-old Mardock Scramble movies.

Episode 107 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. I hope you're prepared to hear Ben, Andy, and Duncan say, "I don't know," a lot! Turns out, there are a lot of different ways to come at depictions of religion in anime, from its function in society to the nature of divinity. Don't worry, all of the hosts find plenty of opportunities to bring up cyberpunk and isekai, so you'll still know that you're listening to an anime podcast. To further cement that impression, after the break, they talk about recent shows and movies like Belle, Orbital Children, and the Shirobako movie. Check it out!

Episode 106 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. The thing about writing blurbs for the podcast is that sometimes your present self gets mad at your past self for squandering ideas. Like, sure, last episode's end-of-season coverage was barren enough to joke about, especially without Jon's contributions, but it was like a lush, fertile field compared to this episode's beginning-of-season lineup. Four hosts watching six shows between them, three of which are sequels or continuations! Goodness gracious, what a world. At least Ben, Andy, Duncan, and Jeff get plenty of conversation out of Akebi's Sailor Uniform and My Dress-Up Darling, as well as reaching back to the anime of previous years to talk about Steins;Gate, Magic Knight Rayearth, and whatever nonsense show Andy's in love with.

Episode 105 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. After an entire season of complaining that there weren't many shows worth talking about, can Ben, Andy, Duncan, and Jeff fill up almost two hours with conversation anyway? What are you talking about, of course they can! They have Komi Can't Communicate and the fourth season of Aggretsuko to wrestle with, as well as Blue Period and Ranking of Kings to praise as pleasant surprises. Even in a leaner season of anime, there's always something to say.

Episode 26 of Key Frames: Inbetweens, a mini-podcast about anime. Six years and a hundred and twenty-three episodes ago, in an earlier era of the podcast, Ben pitched an episode spotlighting the film adaptation of Clamp's apocalyptic manga. Instead, everyone picked Natsuyuki Rendezvous, an anime that Ben hated. Now he'll have his revenge! Duncan and Jeff join him to wonder in bafflement at the attempt to cram a half-dozen volumes of material into an hour and a half of screen time... and maybe find something to love? Not Andy, though. Andy calls in at the end to say that it's pants.

Episode 104 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. These anime are short, but so are our attention spans! Whenever they manage to stay on the topic of short-form anime, you'll get to hear Ben talk about anthology movies, Duncan about the Japan Animator Expo, and Andy about music videos (and a very randy robot). Also, tune in for the scoop on the newest installment of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, which definitely doesn't involve any phonetic shenanigans with the protagonist's name.

Episode 103 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. You thought we covered maids in episode 41, the one about And Yet the Town Moves, but the joke's on you! Ben, Duncan, and Jeff barely talk about that anime at all this time, preferring instead to wallow in garbage like Mahoromatic and He Is My Master. After the break, at least, they class things up a bit with discussions of Heike Monogatari and the Type-Moon franchise? You'll have to see for yourself if it was all worth it.

Episode 102 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. What, again, is the taxonomy of school anime? First, This School Is Real, where school is depicted realistically and features teachers, classes, and grades. Second, We Have Clubs, I Guess, where school exists only insofar as clubs and their requisite activities exist. Third, School Is Just a Place, where school is just a backdrop for unrelated characters and situations. Last, What Even Is School, where school bears no meaningful resemblance to school in real life. Tune in to hear Ben, Andy, and Duncan discuss all of this and more!

Episode 101 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Is the party over? Has the band stopped playing? Have the guests all left? Good, now we can go back to phoning it in, and what better way to do that than to combine our end-of-season and beginning-of-season coverage into one big omnibus episode! Tune in to hear Ben, Andy, Duncan, and Jeff talk about how great The Aquatope on White Sand and Sonny Boy were and how bad Girlfriend, Girlfriend was, for the summer, and about how great Komi Can't Communicate and Heike Monogatari are and how bad The Great Jahy Will Not Be Defeated! is, for the fall.