ShouJoe

Slight delay on this episode folks, but we’re back on schedule now! We talk through the end of Kimi Ni Todoke Season 2 with special guest Jenny! Unfortunately, we learn Jenny was in a bit of a car crash (everyone was okay). Sarah is going to more conventions and Joe is tasked with making an ice cream cake. Really across the board this time!

In Kimi No Todoke we wrap up Season 2! These episodes are good and we wonder why the rest of the season wasn’t! We give some predictions for season 3 (out now)! We’ll return next week with Season 3 Episode 1!

Recommendations:

• Joe - Withering Rooms

• Sarah - Beauty Pop
• Jenny - Chants of Sennaar

We enter the second to last S2 episode. Joe is experience anime IRL at a local convention! Second one ever for him! Meanwhile, Sarah is venturing into the dark abyss of a dying coal mining town in Night in the Woods. Can she help Mae regain her motivation? Or at least help her play bass? All things are possible!

In Kimi No Todoke, we try to drag ourselves through the third quarter of season 2. Sawako gets a bunch of advice from everyone. Kurumi makes some key appearances to boost our mood. Then we get a not so satisfying “confession”, which mostly seems like setup to a real season finale climax. Joe’s hopes of a kiss are dashed. We’ll be lucky if they ever even hold hands.

Recommendations:

• Joe - Outer Wilds
• Sarah - Spirit City: Lofi Sessions

Our second installment of Season 2. IRL Sarah has pulled the trigger and added a new pup to family, Lemon! Bigger than Cricket and eager for a jailbreak. Meanwhile, Joe has been contemplating the nature of humanity and the soul in Ghost in the Shell and Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence. Do you think you’ll be included in the singularity?

In Kimi Ni Todoke, we slowly, very slowly, reach a climax. The Kazehaya x Sawako ship is the closest to sinking yet, as the miscommunications pile up and the two try to steer it. All the while, Kent isn’t even convinced this is a ship at all and tries to ready the lifeboats for Sawako. Ayane and Chizu are…uh, manning the lighthouse or something. I’ve lost track of this metaphor. We hit a midseason climax and the drama is maxed out. Check it out!

Recommendations:

• Sarah - Collar X Malice
• Joe - Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

Off the heels of the S1 finale we head right into season 2.

In Kimi No Todoke, we get right back into the action. Between seasons Sawako and Kazehaya have drifted dangerously apart for some reason. Could it be shyness? Or the multiple seat changes? Fortunately a hero arrives in the form of a weird blonde guy. Can he fix everything? Maybe, but at least he’ll throw a wrench into it.

Recommendations:

• Sarah - Marvel Midnight Suns
• Joe - Nightmare Kart

This week we are joined by friend of the pod, Jenny! Sarah has ZillaFever and has been watching through the modern Godzilla movies. Joe, meanwhile, had a blast watching the 2023 movie Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.

In Kimi ni Todoke we finish off season 1 with a New Years/Sawako’s birthday special! The gang tries to set Sawako and Kazehaya on the perfect date to start off the new year. But will the two of them get over their jitters and actually have a good time? Can Ayane and Chizu fight off the threat of Jo ruining everything? Will Ryu get any amazake? Tune in to find out!

Recommendations:

• Sarah: Coral Island
• Joe: The Last Unicorn
• Jenny: TOEM: A Photo Adventure

The spirit of Christmas is here in Kimi Ni Todoke! Unfortunately Sarah’s been having it rough, dropping her mic into ant piles and whatnot. Joe, on the other hand, has been watching some anime, including KonoSuba season 3 and the Patlabor movie.

In Kimi Ni Todoke, we wrap up the Chizu ark and ask the question, what would the world be like if boys had good social skills? Then we head into episode 22 for the Christmas Special! Sawako must face the dilemma of many a teen between wanting to go to a Christmas party with her friends or spending Christmas with her family who love her. What ever shall she do?

Recommendations:

-Sarah: Marmalade boy

-Joe: Delicious in Dungeon

Outro music by Kevin MacLeod

Jingle Bells Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

*Ep 16 is a recap/filler so we're skipping it

Recommendations:

• Sarah - Olympia Soiree
• Joe - VA-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action

We finish off the Kurumi arc this week. In non-anime news, Joe has finished multiple book club books and has some thoughts about them, while Sarah is psyched for the start of Love Island and she's finally beaten Horizon Forbidden West (!!!), now, on to the DLC!

In Kimi Ni Todoke, we wrap up the Kurumi drama. Ayane gets her revenge for the rumors, Chizu loses at sports, and Sawako develops a new type of relationship. Kazehaya hands the boys-I-feel-bad-for torch off to Ryu as his feelings for Sawako are (somewhat) revealed!... or at least hinted at?...Hard to tell.

Recommendations:

• Joe - The Hammer: Power, Inequality, and the Struggle for the Soul of Labor
• Sarah - The Kiss Bet

Back at it with more Kimi Ni Todoke! This week Sarah is getting back into the dating sim scene. Meanwhile, Joe has finished Victory Gundam, capping off Gundam UC shows for while, then he talks about his feelings on Mirror’s Edge Catalyst.

In Kimi Ni Todoke, Sawako has easily upped her friend count from zero to six in 10 episodes. But what’s this? I think we may have an imposter among us! Could this be? Will Sawako be able to call an emergency meeting before imposter Kurumi hatches her master plan or will Kurumi eliminate all obstacles in her way to Kazehaya? Tune in to find out!

Recommendations:

Sarah - Gravity Rush

Joe - Bramble: The Mountain King

We're back this week for more hangouts and romantic foreshadowing. This week Sarah is scrambling to smuggle her pets around while her living arrangement is in flux, which as it turns out is very time consuming. Joe, on the other hand, had time to watch a lot of anime including the Macross Movie, Do You Remember Love? and the VOTOMs OVA Brilliantly Shining Heresy. One of those was good! Tune in to find out which!

In Kimi Ni Todoke, with our friendship troubles over, it’s time for a good old fashion hangout! We learn everyone’s deal while eating snacks in Ryu’s room. Then it’s time for a sports festival and Sawako has to do her best in the school soccer game. Is she an Abby Wambach in waiting? Maybe with a little practice! Anything is possible right...? Oh, and she also might like Kazehaya now....probably....

Recommendations:

• Sarah - Wiser World Podcast
• Joe - Computer Power and Human Reason: From Judgment to Calculation & Shelved By Genre