Hiroshi Nagahama’s anime adaptation of Shuzo Oshimi’s Flowers of Evil manga is infamous among anime fans for its art and pacing choices, but does it deserve the vitriol? Join Ink, Jared, and special guest (and horror movie expert) Chris from Taiiku Podcast as they examine the similarities and differences between the manga and anime as well as the portion of the manga that didn’t get adapted. This episode’s a true Oldtaku dive; lengthy takes on scene composition, art style, atmosphere, character development, and concepts abound! If you’ve yet to see the series and want to check it out prior to out spoiler-heavy discussion, or have already listened to us and are drooling to get started, go check the 13-episode series out on Crunchyroll.

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Runtime: 2 hours, 42 min

There are some pretty high expectations for The Dragon Prince given that it is the brain-child of Aaron Ehasz (head writer for Avatar: The Last Airbender) and Justin Richmond. Thankfully, this fantasy-set tale of unlikely allies from different halves of a war manages to capture the charm of ATLA while forging a mostly different world populated with very round and refreshingly diverse characters. Join Jared and Ink as they chime in on the cast, the storytelling, the art, and the magic of first season of The Dragon Prince – currently streaming on Netflix.

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Runtime: 53 min

Imaishi Gone Wild! After all the mentions on previously published podcasts, we’re finally, on this first day of Autumn 2018, releasing our Dead Leaves podcast. Get it? (We knew you would.) This proto-TRIGGER production is a visual smorgasbord of sex and violence with a fairy tale structure and American comic book stylings. Dead Leaves is a divisive title, and one of the first upon which Ink and Jared disagreed, so it has a lot to bemoan or celebrate depending upon your predispositions. Give a listen and maybe consider giving this OVA a chance!

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Runtime: 1 hr, 2 min

There’s no denying Rumiko Takahashi’s Urusei Yatsura — a school-set, shounen rom-com that leverages a love for mythology and puns — is a staple of manga and anime history. Beautiful Dreamer, the second Urusei Yatsura movie, proves that a tiger indeed can change its stripes. But is it for better or worse? Oldtaku no Radio proudly welcomes Anime Nostalgia’s Dawn to help us flesh out all there is to enjoy about this second movie and discuss what works and what doesn’t for long-time fans as well as newcomers to the property.

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Runtime: 2 hr, 32 min

You don’t have to be a furry to get a warm fuzzy or burst into tears from Mamoru Hosoda’s Wolf Children. This two-hour movie follows the life of a young woman named Hana as she moves from adolescent to mother to working widow. As emotional as Jared and Ink were while watching, both sit down to pick apart just how the movie accomplished its emotional manipulation as well as discuss some of the more outstanding strengths and weaknesses of plot, characters, and art.

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Runtime: 1 hr, 8 min

Anthology films — feature-length presentations comprised of multiple, stand-alone stories — afford their contributors great artistic freedom and, quite often, crucial visibility. Robot Carnival, which was initially released mid-1987, gathers some names you have probably heard of before, but for many, this was their debut. Including the bookend animation (a worthwhile story/anecdote in its own right), there are eight installments centered around the loose theme of “robots,” and Jared and Ink dig into each of them. (Spoilers via plot point run rampant, but enjoying these stories does not hinge on plot.) Join us as we talk for nearly the length of the anthology about the components thereof: their themes, their strengths and weaknesses, and how they complement each other and contribute to the overarching theme as it builds piece by piece.

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Runtime: 1 hr, 29 min

Airing wayyyyyyyyy back in 2006, Ergo Proxy is the story of a bored, privileged goth girl (Re-l) and her flamboyant autoreiv companion, Iggy, in an oasis cursed to be both cradle and catacomb. Romdo is a domed city and, to its inhabitants, the last viable living space on an otherwise toxic planet. But there’s an influx of immigrants from the outside world seeking refuge, a disease sweeping the robotic residents (autoreivs) that’s making them gain consciousness, and an unknown monster threatening the daily comfort of the bourgeoisie.

Join Jared and Ink as they look at all this dystopian future sci-fi series as we look at the themes it touches upon; if it conforms to, bends, or breaks certain genre touchpoints; and just how gosh-darned pretty it still is. (Seriously, folks, if you love an emo-as-f*ck anime written by a wordy philosophy/theology major, this is your jam.)

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Runtime: 1 hr, 28 min

Kids on the Slope sees Cowboy Bebop‘s Shinichiro Watanabe (director) and Yoko Kanno (music) adapt Yuki Kodama’s manga about youths in 1960s Japan (Kyushu) who find each other and themselves through jazz. As MAPPA’s first production, KoTS needed to make a splash. Its musical performances, VA work, art, storyboarding, choreography, characterization, and soundtrack make it an anime of legend. Find out what went into making this insanely enjoyable anime and what hosts Jared and Ink as well as guest Alex Osborn got out of it. (We do run long on this one, but there is a lot to unpack here.)

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Runtime: 2 hr, 16 min

Not a lot is known about O-ei, Katsushika Hokusai’s third daughter, and that’s what makes Miss Hokusai less an interesting biopic than dramatic historical fiction. This movie, which adapts Hinako Sugiura’s original manga, paints a portrait of an artist in vignettes and brings to light a historical figure who lived in the shadows for a good deal of her life. Daughter, sister, artist, woman – Miss Hokusai crafts how O-ei is defined and grows by integrating nods to her work and her father’s with intimate moments that made her who the mangaka wanted her to be today. We’ve included some links to easily Google-able reference materials in the show notes, and we strongly urge you to check those out if you dig the character and historical figure as we now do.

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Runtime: 1 hr, 35 min

The Eccentric Family, which adapts the novels of Tomohiko Morimi, is directed by Masayuki Yoshihara and features animation production via P.A. Works. The story focuses on the Shimogamo family, which is comprised of shape-shifting tanukis, in a fictionalized but superbly rendered Kyoto which is also inhabited by tengus and humans. The Eccentric Family is, above all things, about familial relationships: the good, the bad, the ugly, and the really, really strange. Listen to Jared and Ink and special guest Helen as we talk about what it means to own your idiot blood — what works and what doesn’t in seasons 1 and 2 of The Eccentric Family.

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Runtime: 1 hr, 20 min