Scanline Talks

The latest expansion to World of Warcraft, titled The War Within, is getting rave reviews with critics and fans alike. And yet, in some ways there has never been a worse time to start WoW. Certainly, the game is the most confusing and newbie-unfriendly it's been in ages. They won't even tell you the story of the game, and they actively try to stop you from playing it! We can't imagine what on earth they're thinking. But we can try to help.

Join Six, Allen, and Jen as we unpack the story of World of Warcraft, and its lore.

At Otakon 2024, I spoke with Justin Leach, Katrina Minett, and Christophe Ferreira of Qubic Pictures. We spoke about work in animation and production, perspectives, and bumping into the language barrier.

At Otakon 2024, I sat down with Akihiko Orikasa and Kensuke Yamamoto of Studio Orange. We spoke about the uniqueness, challanges, and misconceptions of 3D anime.

At Otakon 2024, I had the opportunity to speak with Uki Satake. We spoke about her role in crafting anime openings, interest in voice acting, and how to best take care of one's voice.

Well, we always knew this was possible... last week was a disappointing downbeat, with a series of pretty rough episodes. We all knew GT had its reputation as "the worst" for a reason, and with episodes 9 through 12, it... wait. Wait no, this is AWESOME! I mean, you know, ups and downs, but the Para Para Brothers are ALL TIME characters! This RULES!

The beat definitely has us with this batch of GT episodes, as we mark 75% of the way through the Black Star Dragon Balls Saga. Can the show keep this pace up? I guess we're going to be asking that for the entire run of GT... maybe we should just enjoy the highlights while they're here. And they're definitely here.

Thank you so much to @Merik_MERIMO for our awesome new podcast art!

It's not all sunshine and rainbows for our viewing. Quite early in, in spite of some refreshing episodes, we have hit our first bump in the road. Pan, Goku, and Trunks fight their way out of Imecka and land in a planet of giants, then deal with marriage obsessed catfishes. We are keeping the faith, but it will be seen if we are rewarded for it.

Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball franchise is one of the most beloved in the world. Three great shows, a lot of video games of varying quality but with a huge fanbase all the same, and... then a black sheep. Even in a series where the missteps are treasured, there is one thing the community rejects: Dragon Ball GT. Aired immediately after the end of Z, GT was made by the animation team for the anime, without Toriyama there to write the scripts. In a sense, you could think of it as a whole anime as filler. Or perhaps it's better to think of it as the filler seizing the reins of its own destiny.

Either way, it's the WORST. Just a terrible show, with no redeeming qualities. Or... so Kyrie and Six have been told. But after a certain point, an excess of condemnation backfires. What really is GT? Can it actually be that bad?

The hell with it. Let's watch the whole thing.

For the time being, this will be on the Scanline Talks podcast feed, but once everything is established, we'll fully give it its own feed. We're working on podcast art too!

The unknown journey ends, and reveals that there wasn't much mystery there at all, really. Jen, Kyrie, and Six slump in their chairs and marvel at how hard this game has flopped, and to what degree it's poisoned what came before, for them. Is Rufus the hero of this game? Do you ever see a dog and decide it must mean you're in a different dimension? Why is Zack on the cover of this game when literally nothing he does matters even slightly? We have answers to some of these, and some we don't. What we know is, we're done.

And thank god for that.

A huge thank you to Jackson (@headfallsoff) for helping us with a chapter breakdown for this series, and giving us clear stopping points!

The penultimate episode is here, and things just keep turning for the worse for our hosts. We deal with some very contrived plots, ponder over the nature of meta-narratives and it's failings, and gripe about the side missions. It's almost over, so it can't get much worse... right?

A huge thank you to Jackson (@headfallsoff) for helping us with a chapter breakdown for this series, and giving us clear stopping points!

After a slight upturn in quality at Gongaga, Chapter 10 breaks everyone's spirits as the gang makes their way into Cosmo Canyon. It also happens to be the most racist chapter in the whole game! Fun!!

A huge thank you to Jackson (@headfallsoff) for helping us with a chapter breakdown for this series, and giving us clear stopping points!