Naughty Dog’s latest, darkest, and most ambitious game to date has arrived in The Last of Us Part II, and today’s episode is a long, in-depth conversation about a game that is difficult to digest, but absolutely worth the effort of engaging with and discussing. The first game is, of course, one of our favorites – it was on both our Top 10 Games of All Time lists – so this sequel has been hotly anticipated. And while one of us has more complicated feelings about the final product then the other, we both agree that there’s an awful lot to talk about with this extraordinary sequel, from how it continues the story of Joel and Ellie, to where it takes some of the biggest themes and ideas from the original, to the new characters and environments it introduces, to the many gameplay improvements that make this one of the best-playing Naughty Dog games to date. This is one of the longest discussions we’ve ever had about a single game, but I also think it’s one of the most interesting, and I hope you’ll agree. 

Enjoy, and if you need more Last of Us content, the first game happens to be one of the few we’ve reviewed multiple times on the show – here are links to all our Last of Us-focused episodes:

Original Last of Us Review (Episode #54)

Original Last of Us: Left Behind Review (Episode #78)

5-Year Anniversary Last of Us Retrospective (Episode #249)

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Original Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/

©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

Our sister podcast Weekly Suit Gundam, a show exploring the wide and wonderful world of Mobile Suit Gundam, started out this time last year as a summer bonus miniseries. It’s a full-fledged show of its own now, and in this episode, we celebrate a full year of Gundam podcasts by taking a look back at everything we’ve discussed so far. We’ve reviewed 11 Gundam shows or movies to date – Gundam 79, Zeta, ZZ, Char’s Counterattack, Unicorn, F91, Victory, G Gundam, Gundam Wing, After War, and Turn A – and on today’s anniversary celebration episode, we rank the best Songs, Musical Scores, Mobile Suits, and Characters from that pool of 11 works, before making our official Weekly Suit Gundam ranking of everything we reviewed in our first year. It’s a very fun episode, getting into the minutiae with music, mechs, and characters in ways we don’t always have time for in our various reviews, and these are lists we intend to revisit and update as Weekly Suit Gundam continues and we watch, review, and discuss more of this incredible franchise. 

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Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com

Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://japanimationstation.com

Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK

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Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation  

Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast

Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff

Original Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/

©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

It’s a short but sweet episode this week as we cover a few pieces of news, including the passing of beloved actor Ian Holm, best known for his definitive portrayal of Bilbo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. We also break down another ‘Not-E3 2020 event’ as EA gave one of their worst, least substantive press conferences ever, and rant about American movie theatres wildly irresponsible move to reopen in the midst of a pandemic. Jonathan gives a quick update on his One Piece progress, and Sean talks about the horrors of watching Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. And finally, we give some spoiler-free impressions of Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us Part II, one of the year’s most anticipated games, ahead of our full spoiler review next week. 

Enjoy, and come back Wednesday for a bonus episode celebrating the first anniversary of our sister series, Weekly Suit Gundam!

Time Chart:

Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:05:35

Stuff: 0:05:35 – 0:16:42

Last of Us 2 Impressions: 0:16:42 – 0:39:57

News: 0:39:57 – 1:26:46

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Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com

Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://japanimationstation.com

Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK

Subscribe to our YouTube channels! 

Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation  

Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast

Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff

Original Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/

©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

This week brought the biggest entry yet in “Not E3 2020,” a series of events that would have taken place at E3 2020, if E3 2020 were thing. This time, it was the formal ‘reveal’ event for Sony’s PlayStation 5, with a big swath of game announcements – including a new Spider-Man, Hitman 3, the long-awaited Demon’s Souls remake, and Horizon: Forbidden West – and the unveiling of the console’s physical design. It was an exciting if uneven show, and that wasn’t even the only big gaming news this week, as Bungie also outlined plans for Destiny 2 all the way through 2022. We also talk about playing Final Fantasy VII – Sean playing through the original 1997 classic, Jonathan through this year’s Remake – Sean gives final thoughts on Hitman 5, and Jonathan talks about the subtle but significant visual majesty of 4K Ultra HD Blu-rays, which he finally got to try out for the first time this week. 

Time Chart:

Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:02:12

Stuff: 0:02:12 – 0:49:09

Final Fantasy VII: 0:49:09 – 1:41:56

News: 1:41:56 – 2:04:46

PS5 Reveal: 2:04:46 – 3:29:34 

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Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com

Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://japanimationstation.com

Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK

Subscribe to our YouTube channels! 

Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation  

Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast

Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff

Original Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/

©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

This week’s episode is primarily the topic from today’s Weekly Suit Gundam, our Mobile Suit Gundam-themed sister series, which turns one year old today as we review 1999’s Turn A Gundam, one of the greatest and most thematically rich corners of the entire Gundam universe. But we also take some time at the top of the show to discuss the protests that have grown across the United States and abroad against police brutality and systemic racism. Our perspective as two white guys is only worth so much, obviously, but we wanted to acknowledge the reality of this historic moment, and Sean’s insight as a young public school teacher in a country that prioritizes state violence over education is definitely worth hearing. 

We also share a few links to worthy causes we strongly encourage listeners to support, which include: 

Black Lives Matter Resource Hub – https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co

Minnesota Freedom Fund – https://minnesotafreedomfund.org

Reclaim the Block – https://www.reclaimtheblock.org/

Black Visions Collective – https://www.blackvisionsmn.org

Colorado Freedom Fund – https://fundly.com/coloradofreedom

National Bail Fund Network – https://www.communityjusticeexchange.org/nbfn-directory

ActBlue Racial Justice Donation – https://secure.actblue.com/donate/bail_funds_george_floyd

George Floyd Memorial Fund – https://www.gofundme.com/f/georgefloyd

Justice For Breonna Taylor – https://www.gofundme.com/f/9v4q2-justice-for-breonna-taylor

I Run With Maud (Ahmaud Arbery Memorial Fund) – https://www.gofundme.com/f/i-run-with-maud

Ramsey Orta Welcome Home Fund – https://www.gofundme.com/f/ramsey-orta-welcome-home-fund

Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com

Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://japanimationstation.com

Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK

Subscribe to our YouTube channels! 

Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation  

Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast

Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff

Original Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/

©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

This week, we’re sharing an episode of our sister series, Weekly Suit Gundam, where we talk about one of the least known and most underrated corners of the Gundam universe, After War Gundam X. Running for only 39 episodes, its shortened run marked the end of four continuous years of the franchise holding the same time slot on Japanese television. But it’s also a special, woefully underappreciated show, a smart and soulful return to and commentary on the major tropes and archetypes of Yoshiyuki Tomino’s original Gundam cycle, serving as something of an alternate sequel to the original Mobile Suit Gundam wherein Amuro becomes a dejected, sunglass-wearing Captain mentoring a new Gundam Boy. Full of great characters, excellent storytelling, and thoughtful, bold ideas about Gundam’s past and future, After War Gundam X deserves a greater reputation, and we hope this in-depth podcast conversation is a step in the right direction.

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Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!

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Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com

Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://japanimationstation.com

Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK

Subscribe to our YouTube channels! 

Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation  

Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast

Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff

Original Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/

©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

We’ve got a shorter episode this week, but it’s packed with fun topics, including Jonathan getting a fancy new 4K TV and reviewing the Xbox Elite Controller Series 2, thoughts on finally playing 2018’s Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, and Sean’s joy revisiting Genndy Tartakovsky’s Samurai Jack as an adult. For the main news topics, we discuss the announcement that HBO Max is producing the ‘Zack Snyder Cut’ of Justice League, a new version of the 2017 bomb incorporating footage Snyder shot before exiting the project, which was subsequently finished by Joss Whedon. It’s been a while since we had an excuse to talk about the epic clusterfu*k that is the DC cinematic universe, so it’s a real blast from the past. 

Time Chart:

Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:02:53

Jonathan’s New TV: 0:02:53 – 0:17:43 

Xbox Elite Controller 2: 0:17:43 – 0:28:53

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey: 0:28:53 – 0:40:44

Sean’s Stuff, including Samurai Jack: 0:40:44 – 0:54:26

Zack Snyder’s Justice League: 0:54:26 – 1:17:51

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!

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The Weekly Stuff with Jonathan Lack & Sean Chapman is a weekly audio podcast, and if you subscribe in iTunes, episodes will be delivered automatically and for free as soon as they are released. If you visit www.jonathanlack.com, we also have streaming and downloadable versions of new and archival episodes for your listening pleasure.

Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com

Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://japanimationstation.com

Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK

Subscribe to our YouTube channels! 

Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation  

Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast

Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff

Original Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/

©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

On today’s bonus episode, we’re doing something different. A few weeks ago, Jonathan teased he was working on a paper for his phD program about Star Wars, and more specifically, the weird, disturbing relationship to nostalgia in the sequel trilogy films, along with other 30-year-later ‘legacy sequels’ that are now flooding the market. The essay was actually informed quite a bit by the discussion we had about The Rise of Skywalker back on episode 309, and other Star Wars conversations we’ve had over the years. Several listeners very kindly asked if they could read the full thing when it was done, so today, we’re sharing the whole paper with you as an audio recording, read by Jonathan. This is an academic paper, not a typical review or online thinkpiece, but we think you’ll enjoy it if you’re interested in the topic. For those who’d like to read the actual text for themselves, it’s available as a PDF at this link, and it includes all of the footnotes and citations that aren’t present in the audio version. 

Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Wordcast Newsletter!

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!

Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in iTunes!

Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!

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The Weekly Stuff with Jonathan Lack & Sean Chapman is a weekly audio podcast, and if you subscribe in iTunes, episodes will be delivered automatically and for free as soon as they are released. If you visit www.jonathanlack.com, we also have streaming and downloadable versions of new and archival episodes for your listening pleasure.

Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com

Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://japanimationstation.com

Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK

Subscribe to our YouTube channels! 

Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation  

Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast

Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff

Original Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/

©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

It’s a jam-packed episode this week, as we’re joined by Jonathan’s brother Thomas, fresh off an entire year spent in Japan, to discuss a week’s worth of news, a whole lotta stuff, and a very silly surprise topic at the end. First, we talk a bit more about Jonathan watching Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and take a look back at the original Genndy Tartakovsky’s original Clone Wars from 2003. We also give updates on some games we’re playing, including the new Hatsune Miku for Switch, before diving into the news, which brought us announcements for Paper Mario: The Origami King and a Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater remake, in addition to a big 20-minute display of Sony’s upcoming samurai game Ghost of Tsushima, which looks incredible, and Epic’s unveiling of Unreal Engine 5 with an insanely impressive tech demo. And finally, Thomas a lifelong Sonic the Hedgehog fan, invites us to discuss one of the stranger corners of the Sonic universe by doing live readings and ranking all the ‘Knuckles Raps’ from the Sonic Adventure games (we promise it’ll make more sense when you listen to the full episode). 

Time Chart:

Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:08:57

Stuff: 0:08:57 – 0:58:48

News: 0:58:48 – 1:41:15

Thomas Talks Japan: 1:41:15 – 2:00:31

Knuckles Raps Surprise Topic: 2:00:31 – 2:44:18

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!

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Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!

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Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com

Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://japanimationstation.com

Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK

Subscribe to our YouTube channels! 

Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation  

Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast

Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff

Original Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/

©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

This week promised the much-hyped first look at next-generation gameplay footage from Xbox, but the event was…well, underwhelming, to say the least. A lot of promising titles were introduced, but with almost no gameplay to speak of, how did Xbox and their partners set expectations so disastrously wrong? We talk about all that and more, after a big Star Wars hour at the top of the show. The final season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars finished this week, and we get both a review of that from Sean and some thoughts from Jonathan on starting the series fresh. And to further celebrate Star Wars, we also count down the best lightsaber fights in the live-action movies and the animated TV shows, reminding us how much Star Wars there is to love even with the most recent movie being a steaming pile of bantha fodder. 

Time Chart: 

Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:05:57

Star Wars Clone Wars: 0:05:57 – 0:33:23

Best Lightsaber Duels: 0:33:23 – 1:15:05 

Xbox Event: 1:15:28 – 2:35:14 

Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Wordcast Newsletter!

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel!

Subscribe for free to 'The Weekly Stuff' in iTunes!

Follow Jonathan Lack on Twitter!

Follow Sean Chapman on Twitter!

Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com

Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://japanimationstation.com

Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK

Subscribe to our YouTube channels! 

Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation  

Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast

Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff

Original Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/

©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman