Otaku Hourly

ANIME Impulse OC (along with K Play and Sneaker Expo) makes its debut in the legendary and expansive Anaheim Convention Center; the event space for D23 and VidCon to name a few). Considering its beginnings as an outdoor venue, your backdoor anime hangout talks about its transition into an airconditioned space as well as its focus on VTubers, specifically Nijisanji EN.

Crew:

- Jonathan "Joestar" Beltran

- Matt "imagEn"

- Shirocast

Many thanks to ANIME Impulse for this press oppotunity.

This time was a chill time, weather was pretty tolerable for a change and was "the best time to go to AX," according to one of our crew members. As to why - we'll get into that along with:

Many thanks to:

BringBackTheBubbleZone

We know Hiroshima and Nagasaki, yet have you ever heard of the Tokyo Firebombing of 9-10 March 1945? This event left Tokyo's Shitamachi District in cinders and corpses, leaving 100,000 dead and a million homeless; a toll exceeding Hiroshima. Julia Morizawa's independent animated short film, Dragonfly, is an inspired account of her grandmother's survival from that chaotic night that changed Tokyo forever. We talk:

Dragonfly is currently in the festival circuit - release TBD

Information here

Many thanks to:

Makoto Shinkai is a prolific anime director for making deeply beautiful and metaphorical films whether it be his blockbuster smash Your Name or his cult classic 5 Centimeters Per Second. Your backdoor anime hangout got invited to see his latest film Suzume at the Academy Museum of Motion Picture and Arts. We look into:

Suzume premieres April 14th

Crew:

Many thanks to:

The controversy here is whether or not this movie should have been released. Not so much for anything pertaining the story or canon, rather its format: a two episode recap of its previous season followed by the first episode of the upcoming season. It begs the question - why does a film like this exist? Moreso, what benefit does it do for the industry?

Many thanks to The Cliff for this episode idea.

It's the season of gratitude, and what better way to celebrate it than with your backdoor anime hangout! Jojo, Cliff, and imagEn come together to express thanks to those that have impacted our lives as anime fans - the power of friendship, dark humor, and a radio station to name a few. Regardless it's all love here at Otaku Hourly!

Crew:

Many thanks to 22 West Radio (formerly KBeach Radio) for making Otaku Hourly a reality and the crew - past and present - that have nurtured it to be what is today. 

Your backdoor anime hangout got invited to attend and interview at the 5th Los Angeles Animation Is Film Festival. Amidst the selection, we chose and recommend three: Unicorn Wars, Oni, and Summer Ghost; even getting a chance to interview the directors of the latter two - Dice Tsutsumi (Oni) and Loundraw (Summer Ghost). May these recommendations enrich your animation palette!

Crew:

Many thanks to:

Unicorn Wars - at the time of the recording - is in theaters.

Oni: Thunder God's Tale is on Netflix

Summer Ghost is available on BluRay/DVD at GKIDS Films and Shout!Factory

Your backdoor anime hangout recommends some titles for Halloween whether it involves ghouls, monsters, and aliens or more thematic elements like dread, mental health, and self-esteem. The criteria may be broad, yet that just means we have more to tell you!

Anime on the Docket:

Many thanks to Viz Media for the review copies for Drip Drip and DanDaDan

Crew:

You read that right, there is no Goku nor Vegeta in this film primarily AND that is NOT a typo - Akira Toriyama (the creator of the Dragon Ball franchise) overlooked that in development. This one focuses on Piccolo and Gohan this time as well as a familiar foe, the Red Ribbon Army. It is a movie more than just good versus evil, it is how belief in a particular narrative can amplify power and misplace good intentions - and your backdoor anime hangout is here to take it piece by piece with a couple of Dragon Ball fans.

Crew:

Many thanks to Jose Salazar for the episode request as well as the recommendation to watch this film. 

When all seems lost, where do you turn to? The upcoming film The House of the Lost on the Cape answers that with a combination of community and the supernatural. How does it deliver?