Under the Kotatsu

We're kicking off the third year of Under the Kotatsu with a stone-cold banger: The Big O! We had a great time talking about this show's excellent pacing, it's character development and wordlbuilding, and how it's basically just the Batman of mecha anime. Showtime!  Anime Discussed: The Big O 1-6 Next time: The Big O 7-13 Send us your questions! You can email us at underthekotatsu.anime@gmail...

It's our two year anniversary! And also our 50th episode! To celebrate the occasion we spend the first half of this episode doing our second show and tell. This time we each picked two episodes of a different slice of life comedy anime to share with each other. Then in the second half we look back on our last two years by asking each other some questions and going through our personal rankings of...

Surprise! We decided (literally at the end of this episode's recording, lol) to cut our coverage of Lucky Star a bit short. There's only so much to be said about a 15 year old comedy anime that (like a lot of comedy) hasn't aged well. Did that stop us from going nearly two and a half hours on these episodes? Hell no! You know how we do. Tune in next time for our second show and tell episode and to...

It's time for a new show, and Danielle has selected the well loved KyoAni comedy classic Nichi—I mean Lucky Star! In true Under the Kotatsu fashion, we all have different feelings about this show so far, but at least it's not as heavy as some of the other things we've been watching recently. Anime Discussed: Lucky Star 1-6 Next time: Lucky Star 7-12 Send us your questions! You can email us at unde...

After covering the beloved anime classic Ghost in the Shell last time, it's time for us to cover it's much less talked about sequel. In a rare occurrence, none of us had actually seen this one before, and what we discovered was mostly a film with some cool scenes but not a lot of great thematic work to back it all up. Hope you like guys citing quotes back and forth at one another! At least we got...

Because we enjoyed Angel's Egg so much, and because somehow neither Danny or Danielle had seen it before, we watched the 1995 Mamoru Oshii directed classic, Ghost in the Shell! While there is much to love about this film (just look at the length of this episode) from the music, to the extremely well aged mix of traditional and computer animation techniques, we unfortunately still aren't saved from...

Last time we were left divided on how we felt about Now and Then, Here and There. Well now on the other side of this show we've found unity. Unfortunately we've unified around how awful this show turned out to be. What we thought might turn out to be a show about the refusal of fascist ideology and the fight for a better future somehow managed to backpedal into pro-life conservative nonsense in it...

After a short break, we return to your regularly scheduled programing to talk about the 1999 Isekai Now and Then, Here and There! While Austin and Danny are deeply interested by this show's violent depiction of an apocalyptic world consumed by fascism and what it means for one to have to maneuver within said world, Danielle is rightfully dismayed by the show's handling of it's few women characters...

It's that spooky time of year, so we watched Mamoru Oshii's moody, atmospheric 1985 OVA, Angel's Egg. We gush all over this one from the music, to the striking direction, to the poetic nature of it's storytelling. This one's an all time classic   Anime Discussed: Angel's Egg Next time: Now and Then, Here and There Episodes 1-7 Send us your questions! You can email us at underthekotatsu.anime@...

We're back to finish Bloom Into You, and since the anime offers no attempt at an ending, we turn towards the manga to see how things turn out in the end for Yuu and Touko. Join us as we compare and contrast that half of the manga the anime adapted and then deep-dive into the half that wasn't adapted. Anime Discussed: Bloom Into You manga Next time: It's a Halloween Special! We're watching Mamoru O...

The curse of incomplete Yuri anime adaptions gets the better of us this episode as we discuss the second half of Bloom Into You. Despite this show not giving us a lot of closure on it's core themes and concerns, we still manage to have a lot to say about just how weird this adaption feels, how it might've ended up that way in the first place, and how we would've done it differently given the chanc...

Somehow we've done 39 episodes of this podcast without talking about a yuri romance anime. Well, it's Danielle's turn to pick the show, and she's here to fix that with 2018's Bloom Into You. We have much to say about these first six episodes ranging from adaptation choices to genre tropes to messy relationship dynamics (though maybe not messy enough) to our scathing indictment of student council n...

Well we've made it to the end of The Summer of Wixoss™️ but at what cost... Join us as we pick apart this shows attempt to wrap up its plot, get a rundown on the actual rules of Wixoss courtesy of Danielle, and somehow make even more unfair comparisons to Yu-Gi-Oh! Anime Discussed: Selector Spread Wixoss 7-12 Next time: Bloom Into You 1-6 Send us your questions! You can email us at underthekotatsu...

As The Summer of Wixoss™️ blazes on, we move into Wixoss's second season, Selector Spread Wixoss. Is it any better than the first season? Oh hell no, but it does gives a plenty to chew on from extremely questionable sound design decisions to messy depictions of queerness and abuse. Oh, and it wouldn't be a proper discussion of Wixoss if we didn't spend at least a little time comparing it to gold-s...

The Summer of Wixoss™️ rages on as we finish the first season of Selector Wixoss. As more of the world of Wixoss is revealed to us, we're left with even more unanswered questions about the nature of the world, but mostly we're just wondering why our new favorite anime sicko isn't in these episodes as much, though she does a have a sick scar now. Anime Discussed: Selector Infected Wixoss 7-12 &nbsp...

We know you've all been waiting for it. It's time for the Summer of Wixoss™! Join us as we start our journey to figure out just what's up with the 2014 Mari Okada written card battle anime about traumatized teenage girls. A show which dares to ask: what if we never explain the rules of the titular card game? Anime Discussed: Selector Infected Wixoss 1-6 Next time: Selector Infected Wixoss 7-12 Sen...

It's time for a special one-off episode, and this time we're doing a show and tell episode! Each of us picked two episodes of something we've seen before to share with the class. From an uncomfortable ecchi to a wholesome romcom to a daring magical girl show, we've got a wide variety of anime to share with y'all! Anime Discussed: Show and Tell! Next time: Devilman Crybaby 1-5 Send us your question...

As our time with Flying Witch comes to a close, we must ponder such important topics as ghost cafes, foxes and what sounds they make, time zones, spicy radishes, ladder etiquette, pickling, hotcake lore, and much much more. Anime Discussed: Flying Witch 7-12 Next time: Show and Tell! Send us your questions! You can email us at underthekotatsu.anime@gmail.com or DM us on twitter @underthekotatsu.

Good vibes only this episode as we've watched the first half of Flying Witch, a show that makes up for a sparse plot with good vibes and fun characters. We talk about what makes a show like this work, strange voice casting decisions, bitter foods, dog girls who don't know how good they got it, and more! Anime Discussed: Flying Witch 1-6 Next time: Flying Witch 7-12 Send us your questions! You can...

We're back to talk more about the cool giant alien man whomst fights the even cooler giant monsters. The second half of Gridman managed to wow us even more than the first half, so join us as we talk through the climax of the show, what characters we liked most, our favorite Kaiju, and all the '93 Gridman references that Austin marked out for. BABY DAN DAN. Anime Discussed: SSSS.GRIDMAN 7-12 Next t...

Access Flash! Resident toku nerd, Austin, is here to guide Danielle and Danny through Studio Trigger's 90s tokusatsu throwback show, SSSS.Gridman. We talk about the show's incredibly strong direction, its relationship to the original Hyper Agent Gridman and other tokusatsu, and how horny animators need to chill with the fan service... but mostly we're just here to talk about how capital C Cool thi...

It's our one year anniversary! We spend some time looking back on all the anime we've watched in the last year, remembering the highs and lows, and coming to the horrifying realization that a number of things we've watched are getting live-action adaptations. But before we do that, we talked about the 2016 anime blockbuster Your Name., it's place in the culture, what works and doesn't work about S...

We have arrived at the destination of fate: the end of Penguindrum. Did the ending manage to bring everything together? Or did Ikuhara leave us out to dry? Join us as we process our final thoughts on Ikuhara's messy comeback to anime. Anime Discussed: Mawaru Penguindrum episodes 19-24 Next time: Your Name. (Plus our one year anniversary!) Send us your questions! You can email us at underthekotatsu...

I'm not gonna lie. These were a rough group of episodes. At least we had a better time talking through our thoughts and feelings than we did actually watching them. Content Warnings for discussion of rape and abuse, homophobia, and sexism. Anime Discussed: Mawaru Penguindrum episodes 13-18 Next time: Mawaru Penguindrum episodes 19-24 Send us your questions! You can email us at underthekotatsu.anim...

Strap in y'all, this one's a long one. Turns out we have A LOT to say about these middle episodes of Penguindrum. We're still a bit divided on our feelings towards the show and what it's trying to do, but we're definitely not short on things to sink our teeth into. Anime Discussed: Mawaru Penguindrum episodes 7-12 Next time: Mawaru Penguindrum episodes 13-18  Send us your questions! You can e...