Scanline Talks

There are bad surprises in this world. A lot of them. We are not celebrating those! They don't get their own category, at least this year. Let's talk GOOD surprises.

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.

We may have had to combine Best Action Toolkit and Best Fighting Toolkit this year out of time concerns, but that just means a staggering roster of characters that are fun and interesting to play. Behold!

The Nominees Are:

Donkey Kong (Donkey Kong Bananza)

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.

Systems are such a special part of games. Sets of rules and features that turn into engines to produce unique outcomes as they crash together. And the mechanics that make up these systems can stand out as truly remarkable. Here are our favorites from the last year.

The Nominees Are:

Weather (Death Stranding 2: On the Beach)

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.

In honor of the 25th Anniversary of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, we have a real treat. Originally for the $5 Patrons, we have unlocked one of our longest and most in depth episodes of Novel Not New, and it's available just in time for the spooky season. We hope you enjoy.

Ahhh, Majora's Mask. A real odd duck in the Zelda series. There are weirder ones, sure: that Tingle DS game is pretty strange. In its own mundane way, Link's Crossbow Training is quite bizarre. But those are mere spinoffs. Majora's Mask adopts its own weird persona while managing to be a full Zelda game. The first Zelda led by Eiji Aonuma. The one that was gonna be for the 64DD. And for my money, one of the best. Let's see what lies behind the mask.

Click here when indicated if you want to watch the 100% No Major Glitches World Record speedrun alongside this podcast for some reason!

This Month's Games!

This Month's Guest!

Next Month's Game!

Next Month's Guest!

Opening Segment

EPISODES COVERED: Futari wa Pretty Cure 5-6, Tokosou Sentai Dekaranger 5-6, Kamen Rider Blade 5-6

Pretty Cure has a new villain for us. Dekaranger has things to say about capitalism's hunger for oil. Blade has decided to just acknowledge what's going on, and not insult our intelligence. All-in-all, a solid week here on Sunday Henshin Time, where three lineups of transforming heroes face the problems of the week, and rise above. Mostly. Garren does get his butt kicked pretty often.

The incredible artwork for Sunday Henshin Time was provided by Cas!

To start out, SHT is going up on the Scanline Talks feed, but now it has its own! Here's a link!

Our intro music is Scene47 蒼空 ～aoi～ by Kaneko Kazuki, with gratitude.

EPISODES COVERED: Futari wa Pretty Cure 3-4, Tokosou Sentai Dekaranger 3-4, Kamen Rider Blade 3-4

Big explosive openings are out of the way, now is time to settle into some grooves. Futari wa is out here building the train while it's already on the tracks, but that's where they like to be. Dekaranger is trying to expand it's characters and setting, and Blade is diving right into some impressively escalated stakes. What will these shows morph into? Something colorful, I am certain.

The incredible artwork for Sunday Henshin Time was provided by Cas!

To start out, SHT is going up on the Scanline Talks feed, but now it has its own! Here's a link!

Our intro music is Scene47 蒼空 ～aoi～ by Kaneko Kazuki, with gratitude.

EPISODES COVERED: Futari wa Pretty Cure 1-2, Tokosou Sentai Dekaranger 1-2, Kamen Rider Blade 1-2

Here comes a new story. Or three, to be more precise. With our Journey to the Worst in the bag, Kyrie and I leave Dragon Ball behind for the moment, and head to new territory. But what could we possibly cover where we'd have that same magic combination of undercovered work that we can act as experts about, and that we're very passionate about? It's a short list, I think. But you know? Pretty Cure, Super Sentai, and Kamen Rider? Yeah, I think that makes the cut.

We're starting Sunday Henshin Time with the first two episodes of Futari wa Pretty Cure, Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger, and Kamen Rider Blade. And we're riding this baby all the way. I suspect we'll die before we fully catch up XD but enjoy the ride until then!

The incredible artwork for Sunday Henshin Time was provided by Cas!

To start out, SHT is going up on the Scanline Talks feed, but now it has its own! Here's a link!

Our intro music is Scene47 蒼空 ～aoi～ by Kaneko Kazuki, with gratitude.

Here we are, folks. Game of the Year- the capper to the Gimmick Awards. We've said a lot over the course of this month, so no big preamble: I'll let the conversation speak for itself.

The Nominees Are:

Here's our write-up for the winners!

Our intro and outro music for the Gimmick Awards 2024 is Afternoon After the Rain by Kazuki Kaneko, and our art is a commission from Sarracenian on Bluesky.

Games. Turns out, you tend to play them. In years past, we have often tried to talk about the elegance of particular systems and mechanics before, but we never had a category exclusive to that. Debuting this year, we wanted to award our favorite mechanics from 2024.

The Nominees Are:

Mind Chess (Ace Attorney Investigations 2: Prosecutor's Gambit)

Here's our write-up for the winners!

Our intro and outro music for the Gimmick Awards 2024 is Afternoon After the Rain by Kazuki Kaneko, and our art is a commission from Sarracenian on Bluesky.

Sometimes, a singular moment shines through and is so bright, you can't help but take notice. This may be the last year this category takes the form it does, so let's send it off with some of our favorite moments from games and anime.

Please note, this podcast will spoil many moments from all the games and anime we list, so if you wanna go in without knowing, you may wanna steer clear of this pod. But regardless, here are the nominees!

The Nominees Are:

Here's our write-up for the winners!

Our intro and outro music for the Gimmick Awards 2024 is Afternoon After the Rain by Kazuki Kaneko, and our art is a commission from Sarracenian on Bluesky.