This week, Nigel and Tazziii say goodbye to a master of storytelling with Hayao Miyazaki's last film…maybe? Either way, we get autobiographical with a deep dive into The Boy and the Heron (starting at 19:36), with manga artists Inko and Chie.

It's a story that combines all that makes Miyazaki stories great, but with a message that can be a challenge to decipher for those not already familiar. We examine the narrative and pull apart why this left us feeling positive and hopeful by the end. It's a story that relies on the emotional journey of its main characters (from the cute to the absurd) over a logical plot. But it absolutely has something special to say in its themes about dealing with grief and accepting suffering as a part of life. This week's storytelling tip is about implementing a non sequitur narrative in your story.

Other stories we're enjoying include: Fairy Tale (Book), How High We Go in the Dark (Book), Kaos (Netflix), What We Do in the Shadows (Hulu/Disney+), Black Clover (Crunchyroll), Bob's Burgers (Disney+), The Way of Kings (Book), Agatha All Along (Disney+), Tokyo Revengers (Crunchyroll)

This week, Nigel and Tazziii sit down with Elizabeth Cox, the founder of Should We Studio, an independent production company dedicated to raising awareness of the most important issues shaping the future. She joins us to talk about her journey from the world of science to the animation industry and what her experience means for the stories she creates.

Elizabeth shares her experiences working on the studio's upcoming animated series Ada, a five-episode series exploring the ethical and social implications of new technologies. This episode is a great insight into the animation process and what it takes to produce new stories giving voice to underrepresented perspectives across history.

Tune in to discover:

This week, Nigel and Tazziii venture out into the nuclear wasteland with a retrospective look at the Fallout video game adaptation (starting at 26:54), with a full house of guests: Content Creator Jack Mullen, Host and Presenter Aisha Ahmed, along with Cosplayer and Content Creator kayPOWXD.

We take a look at another video game adaptation that manages to sidestep a long line of below-par adaptations and deliver a narrative that faithfully brings the world of Fallout to new audiences while satisfying fans familiar with the games. It's all about the journey, and along the way are believable characters that bring emotional arcs and lore to its audience in a way that avoids endless exposition. It's a valuable lesson for future adaptations and a great listen for fans of the franchise!

Other stories we're enjoying include: Final Fantasy X (PlayStation), Final Fantasy XIII (PlayStation), Astro Bot (PlayStation), Little Goody Two Shoes (PC/Switch), Dandadan (Netflix), The Legend of Vox Machina (Amazon Prime), The Elder Scrolls Online (PC/Console), Life with an Ordinary Guy who Reincarnated into a Total Fantasy Knockout (Crunchyroll), Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle (Netflix), Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (Xbox), Agatha All Along (Disney+), Bob's Burgers (Hulu/Disney+), Black Clover (Crunchyroll).

This week, we're revisiting a recent episode of our Studio77 show, Casual Conversations With Comic Creators, the show where Nigel chats with another creator about their work and the craft of making comics!

It's about showcasing the human being behind the art as we discover each person's story. In this segment, Nigel is in conversation with Fantasy Artist & Colourist Eren Angiolini, whose titles include: Critical Role - The Mighty Nein Origins, Justice League, DC Pride, The Domain and Doctor Who.

Eren is returning for their second sit-down on the show, and we get to hear about the work they are currently making progress on, which includes a recent epic Kickstarter campaign! Eren also details their love for Tabletop Role-Playing Games (TTRPGs) and the manifesting journey that landed them the Critical Role comic gig, plus we get to know how they see their career as a massive plot twist!

Catch more shows live on the mayamada Twitch each month with Nigel, Tazziii and the mayamada community: Studio77 Report, Casual Conversations With Comic Creators and Games Night.

This week, Nigel and Tazziii sit down with an amazing duo of creatives! Producer and founder of Singer Studios, Eloise Singer, and Dr. Dave Ranyard, founder and CEO of Dream Reality Interactive and Executive Producer of Pirate Queen.

They join us to talk about their journey from paths outside of the games industry to eventually meeting and deciding to work on the now Emmy-nominated VR experience. This is a must-listen for anyone looking for inspiration on breaking into video games when you're coming from different industries. We delve into how their experiences in film, TV, and music prepared them to bring the story of the legendary pirate Cheng Shih to life!

Join the conversation to appreciate the challenges and lessons that stuck with them, and gain insight into what really goes on at a fancy Hollywood party!

This week, we have a great Rewind episode for you with the audio from our autumn video game roundtable livestream! Nigel and Tazziii go live to recap the video games we've been playing before setting the stage for an exciting discussion on some of the biggest news stories that have captured our attention over the year so far.

As always, we're joined by an eclectic mix of video game professionals and have a bumper line up of guests: Host & Voice Over Artist Miabyte, Game Composer Chase Bethea, Twitch Streamer and Lego Gaming Community Manager Marta, and Cosplayer & Narrative Designer at Square Enix, Rhianne Murphy.

We cover news from the big three in gaming as well as other players in the industry and wider culture. So listen in as we give our thoughts on the latest failure in live service games, Xbox's Game Pass price hike, the price of the PS5 Pro and Nintendo's new cons—alarm clock?? Plus, we invite our cat to share their thoughts on the state of games today. Make sure you catch the debate and head over to the mayamada Twitch channel for our other Studio77 schedule of shows.

Video games we've been playing: Astro Bot, Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, Magic: The Gathering, Chessmaster: The Art of Learning, Yakuza Kiwami, Fields of Mistria, Dragon Age books, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, The Gunk, Mario Wonder, TMNT: Shredder's Revenge - Dimension Shellshock DLC, Pico Park.

This week, Nigel and Tazziii go back to where it all started for a deep dive into Hayao Miyazaki's pre-Studio Ghibli masterpiece (starting at 28:55), with guest Laura Watton, a comic creator known as Pink Apple Jam.

We revisit this title 40 years on from its release and discuss how relevant its environmental themes still are, as well as compare the changes in the acceptance of lengthy animated stories with strong female characters. At the time, a reluctance led to the disastrous Western adaptation, but what is it that made producers nervous?

We examine the brilliant worldbuilding that can be learned from and discuss the perception of gender roles in media. This week's storytelling tip is about utilizing exposition in your story's dialogue.

Other stories we're enjoying include: Ranma ½ remake (Netflix), Bob's Burgers (Disney+), The Kid Who Would Be King (Disney+), WandaVision — "Agatha All Along" (Disney+), Black-ish (Disney+), Restaurant to Another World 2 (Crunchyroll), The Café Terrace and Its Goddesses (Crunchyroll), Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead (Crunchyroll), Solar Opposites (Disney+), Terminator Zero (Netflix).

This week, Nigel and Tazziii sit down with Moo Yu, Creative Director at Team Artichoke and a founding team member of POC in Play.

He discusses his journey over 20 years in video games working on titles like Knights & Bikes, LittleBigPlanet, and Ratchet & Clank. He is now making a new game with his own team and allows us to delve into the transition from Gameplay Programmer to managing a team.

We get to hear how his work across AAA has prepared him to create an inclusive environment for others to thrive while making his new game Myth Match. Join the conversation to appreciate the rewards and challenges of indie game development.

This week, Nigel and Tazziii conduct what can only be described as a narrative autopsy as we dive deep into the shallow waters of the Borderlands film (starting at 22:55), with our guest and Content Creator Mark Ōu Chéng.

We do our best to pick out the storytelling lessons from a story with a barely serviceable plot, characters that lack motivation, and worldbuilding that all seems to do its best to move away from the source material of the video game series… but it's not all bad, as we at least enjoyed the conversation!

This is certainly a cautionary tale for storytellers, and we examine the key elements that bring this story down and debate which moments could have worked if given more (or any) attention and care to the video game material. This week's storytelling tip is about how failing to use foreshadowing and misdirection effectively leaves an audience emotionally disengaged.

Other stories we're enjoying include: The Dispossessed, The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick Up Trash, A Journey Through Another World: Raising Kids While Adventuring, Quality Assurance in Another World, The Way of Kings, and Shōgun.

We have a great Rewind episode for you with the audio from our latest Studio77 Report recording on Twitch. Each month, Nigel and Tazziii dive into our top video game stories of the month, which include the next evolution of The Sims franchise with Project Rene and the unexpected shutdown of PlayStation's new game 'Concord' just two weeks after launch.

We'll also share some valuable industry advice that reminds us of the importance of focusing on personal happiness and motivation. Finally, we reveal the new topic as we discuss the price of the PS5 Pro. Join the discussion and cast your vote!

Enjoy the audio, and if you'd like to watch us record it live, you can follow mayamada over on Twitch for this and other shows as part of our Studio77 platform: https://www.twitch.tv/mayamada