Oldtaku no Radio

There are several reasons why Higurashi When They Cry consistently finds itself on so many must-watch series when October rolls around, but that doesn’t mean that it’s a show for everyone. Listen in as Jared and Ink are joined by AGP’s @QX20XX and Reverse Thieves’ Alain Mendez to dig into the origin and makeup of this iconic series about a series of gruesome murders an...

If you don’t remember MTV back in the ’90s, when it was 98% music and 1% Kurt Loder, then you definitely don’t remember the other 1% – the ballsy, experimental animated shorts of Liquid Television and the longer, more serial (but not any less weird) shorts of the Oddities animation programming block. Join Jared and Ink as they reflect upon their tee...

Looking for one of the cutest stories about a tortured artist? Look no further than Barakamon, which focuses on a professional calligrapher (who knew?) who butts heads with the Tokyo art crowd and is sent to live on a remote island to cool his head and refine his art. Doesn’t sound cute? Just wait until you meet the village brat Naru … not to mention an entire cast of characters so&nb...

The Transformers toy line is legendary, and the car-toon it inspired was hugely popular with many of the kids growing up in the ’80s. But when one set of toys outwears its welcome in the marketplace and a new set of toys is ready to be sold, there remains a question of transition. The answer is a HUGE animated movie showcase that surprised just about everyone who saw (and hear...

Get ready for Jojo’s Bustzarre Assventures as Jared and Ink talk about the 2016 sports parody Keijo!!!!!!!!  by Xebec with special guest Basil from OSMcast. This shonen anime, which adapts a portion of Daichi Sorayomi’s manga (alt title: Hip Whip Girl ), centers around a fictional sport wherein girls in bathing suits do battle atop different floating stages in a pool using nothing...

Originally meant to accompany our PEZ episode for a grand, post-apocalyptically themed episode, we’re talking about the whimsical despair that is  Girls’ Next Tour ! This anime features Takaharu Ozaki adapting Tsukumizu’s manga (which we also discuss! …briefly) about two friends, Chito and Yuri, exploring the world into which they’ve been thrust by war and t...

We’re talking this episode about Hiroyuki Asada’s PEZ – a small, full-color manga with big heart, impact, and presentation – published and distributed in the USA by Denpa LLC. For something a little different, we are also excited to be able to talk with the Denpa’s Ed Chavez! The interview is a lot longer than the review, but it does also touch on PEZ as well as the s...

We’re d-elvin’ deep into some serious fantasy nerding with The Record of Lodoss War OVAs, which are base on a novel series based on a D&D campaign published in a magazine back in 1986! Joining the party on this, our epic quest, are the goodly gentlemen from All Geeks Considered: Vinnie and Diego! (Ink is definitely the acrobat in this episode.) The Record of Lodoss War OV...

With this witch-driven fantasy feature, does Studio Gah-jibly offshoot Studio Ponoc merely ape its mentor’s style? Is there more? Does it matter? Join Jared and Ink as they wring the berry essence of this studio’s debut from their combined viewing experiences. Mary and the Witch’s Flower is currently streaming on Netflix . Direct Download – RSS Feed  –...

We’re doing a Type Moon thing! And who better to help us on our exploration of this very memorable eight-plus-part OVA series about a paranormal investigation agency than Alain/Hisui of Reverse Thieves infamy. After exploring a bit about how this property came to be via the general leanings of its creators, we dive into each of the OVAs as they are presented (non-linearly).&nb...

In This Corner of the World Adapting the original manga by Fumiyo Kouno, MAPPA’s In This Corner of the World depicts the life and times of people in Kure and Hiroshima during World War II. The show’s protagonist – an easily-distracted, artistically-inclined, young woman – marries into a family in a nearby city. The audience watches her grow from child to youn...

Oldtaku no Radio’s Halloween Special Flowers of Evil Hiroshi Nagahama’s anime adaptation of Shuzo Oshimi’s Flowers of Evil manga is infamous among anime fans for its art and pacing choices, but does it deserve the vitriol? Join Ink, Jared, and special guest (and horror movie expert) Chris from Taiiku Podcast as they examine the similarities and differences between the manga and a...

There are some pretty high expectations for The Dragon Prince  given that it is the brain-child of Aaron Ehasz (head writer for Avatar: The Last Airbender ) and Justin Richmond. Thankfully, this fantasy-set tale of unlikely allies from different halves of a war manages to capture the charm of ATLA while forging a mostly different world populated with very round and refreshingly diverse charac...

Imaishi Gone Wild! After all the mentions on previously published podcasts, we’re finally, on this first day of Autumn 2018, releasing our Dead Leaves podcast. Get it? (We knew you would.) This proto-TRIGGER production is a visual smorgasbord of sex and violence with a fairy tale structure and American comic book stylings. Dead Leaves  is a divisive title, and one of the first upon...

There’s no denying Rumiko Takahashi’s  Urusei Yatsura  — a school-set, shounen rom-com that leverages a love for mythology and puns — is a staple of manga and anime history. Beautiful Dreamer , the second Urusei Yatsura movie, proves that a tiger indeed can change its stripes. But is it for better or worse? Oldtaku no Radio proudly welcomes Anime Nostalg...

You don’t have to be a furry to get a warm fuzzy or burst into tears from Mamoru Hosoda’s Wolf Children . This two-hour movie follows the life of a young woman named Hana as she moves from adolescent to mother to working widow. As emotional as Jared and Ink were while watching, both sit down to pick apart just how the movie accomplished its emotional manipulation as...

Anthology films — feature-length presentations comprised of multiple, stand-alone stories — afford their contributors great artistic freedom and, quite often, crucial visibility. Robot Carnival , which was initially released mid-1987, gathers some names you have probably heard of before, but for many, this was their debut. Including the bookend animation (a worthwhi...

Airing wayyyyyyyyy back in 2006, Ergo Proxy is the story of a bored, privileged goth girl (Re-l) and her flamboyant autoreiv companion, Iggy, in an oasis cursed to be both cradle and catacomb. Romdo is a domed city and, to its inhabitants, the last viable living space on an otherwise toxic planet. But there’s an influx of immigrants from the outside world seeking refuge, a disease sweeping t...

Kids on the Slope  sees  Cowboy Bebop ‘s Shinichiro Watanabe (director) and Yoko Kanno (music) adapt Yuki Kodama’s manga about youths in 1960s Japan (Kyushu) who find each other and themselves through jazz. As MAPPA’s first production, KoTS needed to make a splash. Its musical performances, VA work, art, storyboarding, choreography, characterization, and sound...

Not a lot is known about O-ei, Katsushika Hokusai’s third daughter, and that’s what makes Miss Hokusai less an interesting biopic than dramatic historical fiction. This movie, which adapts Hinako Sugiura’s original manga, paints a portrait of an artist in vignettes and brings to light a historical figure who lived in the shadows for a good deal of her life. Daughte...

The Eccentric Family , which adapts the novels of Tomohiko Morimi, is directed by  Masayuki Yoshihara and features animation production via P.A. Works. The story focuses on the Shimogamo family, which is comprised of shape-shifting tanukis, in a fictionalized but superbly rendered Kyoto which is also inhabited by tengus and humans.  The Eccentric Family is, above all things, about famili...

Adapting the novel by Shion Miura, The Great Passage tells the story of an editorial crew assembling a dictionary. Exciting stuff, right? Well, actually this simple tale of ordinary people who love words and all they can do is as gripping and dramatic as it can be visually beautiful. Sadly, not too many people have experienced this imagery-heavy anime. It premiered in the noitaminA progr...

Time for a deep cut to some awesome mecha designs and ’80s rock music! Jared finally gets robot-anime h8ter Ink to sit down and watch all eight Bubblegum Crisis OAVs. Come for Jared’s idol debut and stay for some great discussion and reminiscing with special guest Doug Weinman about this late-’80s, early-’90s cyberpunk series that packs some serious talent. In addition...

Welcome to  Anime Secret Santa , a gift exchange run by our friends at  Reverse Thieves  where the gifts are anime review recommendations! For their first Reverse Thieves Secret Santa entry, Jared and Ink stare into the bleak and violent landscape of Casshern Sins . This reboot of the 1973 anime Casshan follows an immortal, amnesiac robot named Casshern, whose initial act of violenc...

Released in 2003, the first Kino’s Journey anime is an episodic affair that centers around an AI-imbued motorad named Hermes and its rider, a traveler named Kino. They visit country (town) after country and stay no more than three days at a time to observe the inhabitants and their customs. The series, based on a series of light novels (…no wait, keep reading!) by Keiichi Sigsawa and...