Scanline Talks

Several years ago, Six and I huddled around a very tiny desk in a dingy hotel somewhere in New York, recording a goofy pod about the number of Gokus and their percentages. The sound was echoey, but there was a certain manic energy that carried forward to breaking down fighting game rosters with goofy conditions. Not the hardest science, but it was a chance to sit and chat about stuff we care about. We have done these a few times, but all of them over voice chat and a shared document. They were fun, but we never really revisited the concept? But with our moves to around the Upper East Coast, a new opportunity was presented. We got together, shed the requirement for it to be fighting game related, and sat down in the newly made production room in my home late at night in New York to get some of that energy back. I think we did ok!

Audio is still echoey, though. We are still working out the kinks.

Anyhow, the Legend of Zelda games. Lordy Lordy, look who's forty. While Nintendo wants you to desperately remember some of the most popular video games on the planet - which hey, we are doing the same - there are aspects of these games that are less discussed. Since A Link To The Past many of the games explored the idea of a parallel world, be it a separate timeline or place all together. They all add to the vibe of these games, and we wanted to discuss how we felt about them. We ranked the Dark Worlds of this series, and maybe we make some jokes along the way. Please enjoy.

Mahjong is a niche favorite around these parts. It's hardly universal amongst our crew, but those of us that like it have some serious affection for the old hand-making tile game. But that's talking about riichi mahjong- the Japanese variant of the game. We have a hesitant, ignorant respect for Chinese mahjong, the original. But American mahjong? Yeah... not much respect for that. But surely a Hallmark movie is our avenue to learning to love America's favorite pasttime*. Join Kyrie, Six, and then our honored guests FlannelKat (@flannel.live on bsky, twitch.tv/flannelkat on Twitch) and Fen (@fenic.moe on bsky, and Fate/moon archive on Abnormal Mapping) for a story of life, love, and mahjong.

*surely it's not even in the top 100

Gundam is back in theaters, and so are we! The long-awaited sequel to Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway is here after five years. The Sorcery of Nymph Circe has no less the emphasis on tense conversations and politics than its predecessor, but how does it this time? I will say "not quite the same," but I'm gonna make you listen to the show if you want to hear if that's a good or bad thing.

Previously exclusive to the Scanline Media Patrons, our friend Boo ran into some financial issues and needs your help! Please check her on @boocanan.bsky.social for more information. In the mean time, enjoy a gargantuan deep dive into the Fate/stay Night Remaster! Click the link for the Patreon and a look at the host's character tier lists.

Fate/stay night is one of the most significant visual novels around: with three lengthy routes and an unforgettable cast of characters, what started as adult entertainment blossomed into an unstoppable cultural behemoth. A game this significant called for a significant shake-up in the way Novel Not New approaches things, so we brought out the big guns: with our special guest and Fate aficionado boocanan, we spent six whole months recording one big mega-podcast! Please enjoy.

Opening Segment

Timestamps:

Here we are- Game of the Year. The big finale. We've had quite enough preamble- let's get to it.

The Nominees Are:

Aotenjo: Infinite Hands

Our intro and outro music for the Gimmick Awards 2024 is Lay back by Kazuki Kaneko, and our art is a commission from GOMA on Bluesky.

With multiple anime and manga podcasts, it's clear we love this medium a lot. And in 2025 we saw so many cool things. In this penultimate category, we celebrate our favorite anime and manga of the year.

The Nominees Are:

Apocalypse Hotel

Our intro and outro music for the Gimmick Awards 2025 is Lay back by Kazuki Kaneko, and our art is a commission from GOMA on Bluesky.

Time concerns (that proved a bit unnecessary) forced us to compress Minor Character and Major character into one pod, so Minor Character gets a little "one winner no runners up" before the main event!

The Best Minor Character Nominees Are:

Emma Rockford (of the Devil)

The Best Major Character Nominees Are:

Yachiyo (Apocalypse Hotel)

Our intro and outro music for the Gimmick Awards 2024 is Lay back by Kazuki Kaneko, and our art is a commission from GOMA on Bluesky.

In contrast to Emergent Moment, you don't have to do anything special to experience these. These scripted moments are part of the media below that everyone can see, but that doesn't make them any less special. These moments made us laugh, tear up, and reflect in 2025, and we want to share them with you.

The Nominees Are:

Apocalypse Hotel

Our intro and outro music for the Gimmick Awards 2025 is Lay back by Kazuki Kaneko, and our art is a commission from GOMA on Bluesky.

The phrasing on this category was tricky. What is an Emergent Moment? Basically, it's to distinguish from a Narrative Moment- our category tomorrow. Rather than scripted, hand-tailored moments, these are moments that occur, or occurred, naturally as a result of the way things have been set up- either in a game or in the world.

The Nominees Are:

Baby's First Death Trap (Android: Netrunner)

Our intro and outro music for the Gimmick Awards 2024 is Lay back by Kazuki Kaneko, and our art is a commission from GOMA on Bluesky. That's last year's art, we'll have new art for this year soon, so please look forward to that!

We used to call this category "That's My Jam" which is a long forgotten in-joke from our personal Discord server, but unfortunately it was just a little out of step of the way we name these categories now. But rest assured, these songs are JAMS. We had lots of music to choose from this year and it was harder for some to narrow it down.

The Nominees Are:

"BIRDBRAIN" w/ OK Glass Feat Kasane Teto by Jaime Paige

Our intro and outro music for the Gimmick Awards 2025 is Lay back by Kazuki Kaneko, and our art is a commission from GOMA on Bluesky.