Otaku Hourly

Anime Los Angeles 2023 Highlight. Interview with: Mamoru Yokota - Animation Director of One Piece Film Red Kenji Yokoyama - Animation Director & Key Animator of One Piece Film Red

Recorded originally in late September/early October, Jojo and imagEn have a lengthy hangout with Randy and Rachel; two prominent members of the Anime Impulse staff that have been around since almost the beginning. We talk about their origin, Anime Impulse's origin, their decisions behind the Anaheim Convention Center and expansion, and Jollibee. Haven't gotten tickets yet for an Anime Impu...

Many in the anime community consider this to be their Christmas movie - starts on Christmas with the Nativity scene and becomes a string of miraculous misadventures of three homeless people simply trying to find the parents of a baby they found in a dumpster. Directed by the late Satoshi Kon ( Perfect Blue, Paranoia Agent, Millennium Actress) this film is a gritty redemptive story of a group of ou...

Our thoughts on the US release of The Boy and the Heron, the latest film released by Studio Ghibli and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Jojo really went hard on this one. First half of the session is spoiler-free until 28:22. Members on this episode: Jonathan "Joestar" Beltran Matthew "imagEn" Aquino

ANIME Impulse OC (along with K Play and Sneaker Expo) makes its debut in the legendary and expansive Anaheim Convention Center; the event space for D23 and VidCon to name a few). Considering its beginnings as an outdoor venue, your backdoor anime hangout talks about its transition into an airconditioned space as well as its focus on VTubers, specifically Nijisanji EN. Crew: - Jonathan "Joesta...

This time was a chill time, weather was pretty tolerable for a change and was "the best time to go to AX," according to one of our crew members. As to why - we'll get into that along with: First Year without a premier badge - thoughts? Common Cosplays Notable Premieres including the The First Slam Dunk film and Mecha-Ude series Panels including Hi-Fi Rush and Yakuza/Like a Dragon Man...

We know Hiroshima and Nagasaki, yet have you ever heard of the Tokyo Firebombing of 9-10 March 1945? This event left Tokyo's Shitamachi District in cinders and corpses, leaving 100,000 dead and a million homeless; a toll exceeding Hiroshima. Julia Morizawa's independent animated short film, Dragonfly, is an inspired account of her grandmother's survival from that chaotic night that cha...

Makoto Shinkai is a prolific anime director for making deeply beautiful and metaphorical films whether it be his blockbuster smash Your Name or his cult classic 5 Centimeters Per Second. Your backdoor anime hangout got invited to see his latest film Suzume at the Academy Museum of Motion Picture and Arts. We look into: General Thoughts and Impressions How it Compares to His Other Works Japanese Cu...

The controversy here is whether or not this movie should have been released . Not so much for anything pertaining the story or canon, rather its format: a two episode recap of its previous season followed by the first episode of the upcoming season. It begs the question - why does a film like this exist ? Moreso, what benefit does it do for the industry ? Many thanks to The Cliff for this episode...

It's the season of gratitude, and what better way to celebrate it than with your backdoor anime hangout! Jojo, Cliff, and imagEn come together to express thanks to those that have impacted our lives as anime fans - the power of friendship, dark humor, and a radio station to name a few. Regardless it's all love here at Otaku Hourly! Crew: Jonathan "Joestar" Beltran The Cliff imagEn Many thanks to 2...

Your backdoor anime hangout got invited to attend and interview at the 5th Los Angeles Animation Is Film Festival. Amidst the selection, we chose and recommend three: Unicorn Wars , Oni , and Summer Ghost; even getting a chance to interview the directors of the latter two - Dice Tsutsumi ( Oni ) and Loundraw ( Summer Ghost ). May these recommendations enrich your animation palette! Crew: Jonathan...

Your backdoor anime hangout recommends some titles for Halloween whether it involves ghouls, monsters, and aliens or more thematic elements like dread, mental health, and self-esteem. The criteria may be broad, yet that just means we have more to tell you! Anime on the Docket: Urusei Yatsura (2022 Reboot) - 2:40 / HIDIVE Chainsaw Man - 14::18 / Crunchyroll Shaman King (2001 & 2021 Reboot) - 21...

You read that right, there is no Goku nor Vegeta in this film primarily AND that is NOT a typo - Akira Toriyama (the creator of the Dragon Ball franchise) overlooked that in development. This one focuses on Piccolo and Gohan this time as well as a familiar foe, the Red Ribbon Army. It is a movie more than just good versus evil, it is how belief in a particular narrative can amplify power and mispl...

When all seems lost, where do you turn to? The upcoming film The House of the Lost on the Cape answers that with a combination of community and the supernatural. How does it deliver?

Anime Expo holds a variety of different panels and this is one of them - Anime and Black Culture . Jeffrey of DataFist hosted, organized, and lead a panel - or more appropriately "a show-" of what it means to be black anime fan and how that has shaped the fandom and media we have today. The Cliff takes the helm of this episode and looks into what it means to be "black," the intersectionality betwe...

Music can start a revolution and Masaaki Yuasa's Inu-OH shows that with a glam-rock flare in 14th century Japan - a time of shogun authority in the midst of political upheaval and unification. Through two entertainers - Inu-Oh, a cursed and disfigured performer, and Tomona, a blind biwa priest - we witness the birth of a musical movement and tribute to the fallen Heike clan. From the aforementione...

Anime Expo, one of the most popular and renown convention in the North American continent, comes back as an in-person event after two years of going virtual due to the pandemic. Your backdoor anime hangout talks about their experience as attendees, including one volunteer, and see if it was dramatically different or the good old times. Crew: Jonathan "Joestar" Beltran Coyo Ravrath Jon No Jons The...

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures installed an exhibit of legendary director, Hayao Miyazaki - celebrating his impact on animation and cinema. A walk through the museum reveals the painstaking and breathtaking work that has lead to the movies we know and love; Spirited Away, Nausicaa Valley of the Wind, My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke to name a few. Your backdoor anime hangout took the o...

"The thing I like most is that it is 90 minutes long." We all live with imposter syndrome, never feeling we are good enough to do what we set out to do. This movie is a response to that. Nyallywood is where the blockbusters are made and Gene, a behind-the-scenes assistant, is given the task to direct a feature length film - practically his directorial debut. With a dedicated production team, two a...

Digimon was a part of our childhood back in the early 90's and 2000's along with the wave of Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, Beyblade, and more (if you know what we're talking about, welcome to the old people's club). Revisiting it as an older anime fan reveals so much more than what meets the eye - executive localization decisions that have become generational memes at best and nostalgic annoyances at worst....

Social media has become a cultural and lifestyle mainstay for the 21st century. Virtual reality is an ever growing space with users from all over the world. And with both platforms comes a duality - online and IRL. Some like to integrate, others keep it separate. Director Mamoru Hosoda looks into this duality and melds it with the classic tale of Beauty and the Beast. More on that coming up at you...

Early childhood is a distant memory colored in rose-tinted glasses: simpler times of eating, playing, and sleeping. Yet take those glasses off and you realize its complications - pure, unprocessed emotions that is much too difficult to handle for both the child and parent/guardian.  Mamoru Hosoda's Academy Award nominated film Mirai takes us into the shoes of four-year old Kun who after being...

There's an anime that set the foundations of your weebdom. The Otaku Hourly crew talks about the anime that almost everyone can have a conversation about (Dragon Ball Z and One Piece just to name a couple) as well as the elitism/gatekeeping to being a fan.  Originally broadcasted back in 2016.

At the time of this recording is St. Patrick's Day so we asked ourselves - what're some good titles to enjoy while under the influence? 

With the recent buzz of Avatar Studios opening, your backdoor anime hangout discusses the studio's creative and business possibilities. Along with the conversation comes a retrospective of the series that started it all "Avatar the Last Airbender" as well as its successor "The Legend of Korra." Many thanks to the Dex for bringing this hangout to life!