Can Anime Keep Going?
By Andrew Osmond.
The world can change so quickly. At the beginning of March, for example, it still seemed quite possible that the ExCel Centre would host the next MCM Comic Con London in London as scheduled. Now the news is full of sobering stories about NHS Nightingale, the 4000-bed field hospital set up in the ExCel Centre to accommodate victims of COVID-19. Any event like MCM Comic Con, with its milling crowds of thousands, feels unimaginable for the foreseeable future. Officially the London event has been postponed to July; current forecasts suggest it will have to be far later than that.
You don’t need us to tell you that everything is uncertain. Going through what’s known as of writing… London’s Hyper Japan 2020, which was due to run in July, has been delayed indefinitely. MCM’s Birmingham event is postponed. The new stage version of Makoto Shinkai’s Garden of Words, which had been due to run in London this July and August, is also postponed, though its creators stress they’re “beyond excited” to premiere the play whenever it becomes possible. Umpteen cinema films are delayed indefinitely, including Disney’s new live-action version of the Chinese story Mulan.
Jay Benedict (1951-2020)
Jay Benedict, who died on Saturday from coronavirus complications, was not a well-known name, but a well-known voice in anime. As one of the few American actors resident in London in the 1980s and 1990s, he was called up on multiple occasions to provide voices on “midlantic” dubs. Most notably for viewers of a certain age, he was the voice of Shiro Hagen, the hero of the puppet sci-fi show known in the English-language as Star Fleet. Continue Reading
Podcast – 6th April 2020
ALL THE ANIME PODCAST - 6th April 2020
"Surface Level Mr. Benn"
It's the start of a new week, which means Jeremy Graves and Andy Hanley are back to bring around 50 minutes or so of fun times in the world of anime!
Today on the show, the focus is very much on what they've been watching over the weekend with some first impressions on Mobile Suit Gundam 0083, before heading into the world of new shows that have started simulcasting as part of the Spring Season!
There's talk on the first episodes of Tower of God, Gal x Dino, Gleipnir, Sakura Wars: The Animation and Kakushigoto! (You can find the corresponding streaming service links in the show notes section below.)
Then before we wrap up there's time to quickly delve into the questions from the community pot, with the selection today being about credit being translated or not translated on anime releases.
----
WATCH-A-LONG DISCUSSION EPISODE TOPIC FOR FRIDAY: Escaflowne episodes 1-3!
That's right, on the show this Friday we'll be talking about the the first three episodes of this classic series that you can stream dubbed completely for free on Channel4's All4 service, and/or purchase on Blu-ray/DVD from our AllTheAnime.com online shop today!
----
Music: FLCL
By Andrew Osmond.
One interesting thing about The Pillows, the alt-rock band which provided all the music for FLCL, is that its members didn’t think anime and music had much to do with each other. If you read about Japanese pop-culture, you learn about its obsession with the “media mix,” how a property can be an anime and a manga and a music album and a toy line, and much more besides. And it’s easy to think everyone in Japanese entertainment must know that, and be savvy to the opportunities in cross-media. In The Pillows’ case, the band wasn’t. Continue Reading
Podcast – 3rd April 2020 (Megalo Box Special)
ALL THE ANIME PODCAST - 3rd April 2020
"Redline with Boxing - The Megalo Box Special"
Jeremy Graves and Andy Hanley are back with fellow Team All The Anime colleague, Keith Copping to bring you an episode specifically on the series, Megalo Box in the latest of our watch-a-long discussion episodes - the first one being our Cardcaptor Sakura episode from last week.
Today we discuss our experiences of watching the first three episodes of the series commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the franchise Ashita no Joe (aka Tomorrow's Joe). Following on from the primer that Dr. Jonathan Clements about the franchise on Wednesday (listen to that HERE), we gather to talk about the first three episodes and our impressions of what we watched, our prior experience with the series and a little background on the series too!
Plus Jeremy has prepared another surprise for Andy and Keith before the show concludes - you can probably guess what it is if you listened to the Cardcaptor Sakura episode.
A fun show to wrap up the week! Join in the fun and watch the first three episodes dubbed on All4 and subtitled on Crunchyroll today!
QUESTION FROM US: What would you Megalo Boxer name be?
Let us know by posting in the comments to this post, or letting us know via Facebook and Twitter!