Anime Roundtable

Mike and Moh were talking on the phone the day after the former went out to see Scarlet in IMAX. So the former hit the record button so everyone can know if it's worth seeing in IMAX...

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As we settle in and spill a few drinks (this week’s drinking game), we welcome Amy back around the table and get her thoughts on the last number of months

00:12:05 - We start with the Toronto goings on with the official start of the countdown to Anime North, The Artist Alley Shop, local sweets, the follow up to AniRevo Toronto (and what it might overlap with), the predatory nature of the Gaming Card side, and the Nerd Market

00:46:10 - Another angle on the Amazon AI Dubbing story and the scenarios

00:54:40 - An up...

Kevin lives to tell about his experience working retail the day after Christmas (one of the busiest shopping days of the year). Kevin lives to tell about his trip to Asia (which did include Japan). Kevin gives us his takes on the last few Space Heaters (because he was living). Then Kevin wonders what our reading and watching lists say about him and Mike (and tries to survive telling that)

It's the final podcast recording of 2025. Hope you like it

*more links to be added*

Mike Nicolas...

Mike and Mohamed go on and off topic wondering what was the bigger garbage fire this week. Was it the FIFA World Cup Draw, or Amazon's anime AI Dub attempt? And then we went on and off topic one more time with Netflix/WB and Crunchyroll ending winding down their ad tier.

And then we end with our usual "What are we watching and reading" segment. Here's one of Mike's hints: Happy Birthday Mahiru Shiina!!

This Week's Drinking Game: Take a shot for Mike when he realizes Moh got disconnected...

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TLDR: It was better than the microphones for this taping…and you can hear it

Mike and James give their review on the first Anime Revoution Toronto the previous weekend, and in particular the Japanese guests. With a few thoughts on the Toronto Game Expo which was also the same weekend. With a longer conversation about the convention scene for Toronto. And a throw away thought on Amazon’s AI Dubbing attempt

Remind Mike to do a mic check next time

Mike Nicolas and James Austin

Mike and James finally go back to the podcast mics. And James talks watching Virgin Punk in theatres, XSEED, and Crunchyroll subtitles. Mike talks his first impressions of using the Manga UP service. We look ahead to Anime Revolution Toronto. And end with a tribute to an Anime North original

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Our first regular episode since Anime North begins by looking back on the Demon Slayer movie talk in last week’s Space Heater. And a question about how much Sony’s recent form has been a win

00:31:40 - Crunchyroll announces an opening for their returning manga service. And there is an extra charge for it and…

Mike seeks therapy after going anime window shopping visit to Chinatown for the first time in years

01:09:20 - The AnimeMen youtube channel has made some news lately

01:34:50 - Kevin went down to AnimeNYC

Taped after the successful opening weekend of Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle in North American theatres. Mike hasn’t seen it, but Kevin and Moh have. So we talk about that and “a few” things surrounding it

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The short answer is yes...as James catches up with the Mike. Gives his view last week's chat on the VShojo controversy, his thoughts on manga, light novels, and how they roll into anime. And then he talks about what caught his attention, namely the Animeigo and Discotek panels at Otakon and how they're a throwback to anime announcements from a by gone time

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Mike finally returns on the podcast side and catches up with Kevin for a talk around the space heater. We get Kevin's take on recent manga announcements from Anime Expo and San Diego, as well as his take on Mike's recent thoughts on manga and light novels. Then, Kevin did see BlackPink when they were in Toronto a few weeks back. So we get his thoughts on that and the Ado concert which took place last night. And finally under the "What the hell man?" heading, VShojo...

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Day two from Anime North always starts with impressions of it. Especially the weather and cosplay, what we saw in the TCC, and the panels seen and even done

0:49:40 - We talked about Matt Alt’s article about the resilience of the popularity of Japanese Pop Culture in comparison to Western…perhaps it’s a focus issue. And maybe the west’s influence in Asian Pop Culture

1:20:55 - Anime North Assistant Program Director Norm McEvoy makes his annual walk on with his thoughts on the convention so far

1:32:20 - Headlines in brief...

We look back on Day 1 of AN. We talk initial impressions, how the AN compound looks, the weather, then some thoughts on the foreign film tariffs and wonder how this either ties into anime in North America and how it makes any sense

Then we look ahead to Day 2, and Mike's special presentation before the evening taping

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Mohamed Sharmarke, Lawrence Black

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Editors Note: This was taped just before Switch 2 preorders were also delayed in Canada. Which means a chunk of this aged about as well as milk...

A very long conversation about the ongoing Ghibli/ChatGPT controversy, the Switch 2 Nintendo Direct, and V-Tuber Mint Fantome speaks as herself to explain her world to the rest of it

Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Kevin Ng

Opening Theme: Fubuki - Snowstorm by Pico Misaki

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James finally gets a little time away from work again to visit Mike for a Space Heater. After a quick overview of shopping options in Toronto, they decided to talk about the Animeigo documentary series “The Anime Business”, the upcoming Anne of Green Gables anime and the hopes for it in Canada, and James’ thoughts on Assassin’s Creed: Shadows and how he feels it’s not enough to save Ubisoft

Mike Nicolas and James Austin

Opening Theme: “Fubuki-Snowstorm” by Pico Misaki

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We start with Mike looking back on 19 years (on and off) of the Roundtable. And then current events with the Oscars, a followup to Space Heater and Ontario politics (with the election earlier in the week)

18:25 - Everyone around the table tonight has seen Gundam GQuuuux Beginning in theatres. And we have thoughts from Gundam watchers, and newcomers

57:12 - On the anniersary of Akira Toriyama’s passing, the Japan Foundation New York is doing an online panel about Dragon Ball’s popularity (on YouTube now)

And coming back full circle, Mike looks back on 1...

Kevin gives a Mike quick lecture to Mike as feedback on the first gaming stream. Then we talk Japanese Music with his thoughts on seeing Nano and MADKID in concert, Cloud Nine CEO Takuya Chigira’s thoughts on the state of JPOP internationally. How the downfall of a former member of SMAP is proving to be an issue for the TV network he was an anchor of, and some possible ramifications. Then we unwind with by looking back on Animeigo’s Valentine’s town hall

Mike Nicolas and Kevin Ng

Anime Roundtable playli...

Mike and Moh sat down for a space heater. We started by looking back on the first gaming stream on Twitch the night before, and the ongoing Playstation Network outage, which at the time of taping had gotten to 25 hours. But at the heart of the matter, Mike and Moh wanted to talk about The Colors Within, and why you should check it out in theatres before its run likely ends in less than a week

Mike Nicolas and Mohamed Sharmarke

Anime Roundtable playlist on Spotify

Opening Theme: “Fubuki-Snowstorm” by Pico Misaki

We just had to talk about the reveal of the Switch 2 and take a quick trip down recent Nintendo history and how it rebounded from the Wii U almost 15 years ago. And wonder about the future of the handheld gaming console world as a whole. Then we dive into some anime headline with Diamond Distributor's Chapter 11, Discotek's latest reveals, Crunchyroll's latest issue (add it to the pile please), and James giving a thought on an anime title this season that doesn't have a North American pickup...when its manga does, and a business reason as to why you should...

We begin 2025 with Mike and James doing a live video space heater where James goes on a rant about the issues with the Phantom Trigger Grisaia anime Kickstarter and looks back on similar anime and manga crowdfunds over the years. Then, some CES news with Crunchyroll looking to restart their digital manga service (hot off the heels of the increased stake in Kadokawa), do some Ghosts of Tsushima live action, and VLC looking to get into the AI subtitle space. Then we come home as the pre-reg for Anime North memberships and hotels begin, and Anime Revolution makes its...

Aside from talking about the fallout from the Video Game Awards, you know we just had to talk about every piece of Sony and anime related news over the last few weeks (00:17:00)

00:22:00 - Sony becomes the largest major shareholder in Kadokawa. And a little more about how we got to here

00:37:42 - Bloomberg’s expose on the inner workings of Crunchyroll as their recent numbers don’t look great

00:55:50 - Former Funimation man Lance Heiskel speaks

01:28:35 - NHK noting how big the anime business is this...

Mike, James, and Kevin catch up after a month and a half off. We talked about Black Friday shopping in Canada (especially video games and some from the store formerly known as Right Stuf) before talking about Sony’s pursuit of Kadokawa and VISA of all things

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We finally get in for the first time in a few months. But Mike and James kept it simple and just talked more of the ups and downs of Playstation’s last bit, then the busy week Toho has had, remember a few more voices that have been silenced, and James’ further issues with Crunchyroll taking over Nozomi’s Kickstarter campaigns

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Mike and Moh test out some new equipment by talking a little Playstation. A little bit of Pro, 30th Anniversary, and maybe a new portable as the 6 comes out?

Hope the new equipment passed the test

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After completely missing out on August, Mike quickly gets the first episode of September out of the way. And we quickly talk about Kevin’s brief experience at this year’s FanExpo Canada and how it fit in with our fandom this year

00:30:30 - Then we talk about Toronto’s Union Station and Amy’s experience at a Gashopon pop up there earlier today

01:05:35 - James goes through some of the summer company announcements made during convention season. Which gets into a talk about extras on physical media releases

01...

*Note: This was taped just before the Euro Final

James is English, Moh has relatives in England, we had to talk soccer to start, before getting the former caught up on the space heaters

00:12:19 - We finally talk at some length about the demise of Gainax. Maybe time gives us a little perspective and lessons

00:25:55 - Crunchyroll getting rid of their comments functions, we discuss how this happened and other motivations behind it

00:46:35 - Let’s go to Los Angeles. First we ta...

It’s been two weeks since the ITZY concerts. Mike and Kevin were on site for the ITZY concerts in Toronto. So they talk about their observations from different angles, from Kevin’s previous experiences at KPOP concerts, to Mike soaking in the atmosphere around the concert hall. And how it reminded them of Anime North

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Other links coming soon

Mike, Kevin, and Mohammed give a few thoughts on Anime North almost three weeks after, the City Hunter live action almost three weeks after Mike was supposed to have watched it, a conversation with a friend and listener sparking another thought on merchandise, and maybe three headlines as we settle back into the mics

Not necessarily in that order

Toronto Japanese Film Festival

Gainax Goes Bankrupt

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We actually got a few people in the audience, it didn’t last long though. As always we started with impressions of the con so far. First with the new layout again, then the actual panels and events we saw

Then we get to the news

00:53:50 - Matt Alt talked about the potential and pitfalls of AI in the fine art of translation, so we did too

01:19:20 - Norm McEvoy takes a break from his rounds to make his annual visit to the podcast and explains a few of the ch...

Mike, James, and Lawrence make their observations as day one of Anime North winds down. Also we revisit some of the conversations from last year after the Nominoichi, and James and Lawrence give their thoughts on Akira Toriyama

Give it a listen before day two begins

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Mike’s voice and well being has recovered enough for him, James, and Kevin to sit around and talk about the world that has passed by in the last two months. After looking back on the Leafs’ season, we actually look forward to TCAF and Anime North (but watch your cellphones), and other things headlines that caught our attention 

This Week’s Drinking Game: Take a pint when Mike finally realizes that we’ve talked about Dokibird already this year

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We spend most of the episode sharing our memories and giving a toast to Akira Toriyama after news of his death broke

But we did also talk about these too on the community calendar

Humble Bundle: Japanese Language, Culture, and Travel

Momo Anime Market at The Momiji Centre

Mike Nicolas, Kevin Ng, Mohamed Sharmarke, Amy Lynn Greig

Opening Theme: “FUBUKI - Snowstorm” performed by Pico Masaki

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Mike, James, Kevin, and Moh briefly got together over coffee and each talked about one thing that caught their attention this week

Moh: Initial reactions to the Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender live action

Kevin: The latest on the Ninjisanji controversy

James: Some titles people thought would never see an english release (from titles like Tsukihime and Fate/Stay Night to Ashita no Joe) will see one

Mike: Animego’s sale to MediaOCD

And in case you...

We are able to return two weeks after the last time we taped (and less than a week after said episode was posted). Too bad Mike was still half asleep through it

00:05:15 - Changes abound at Anime Toronto. We try to make sense of that and what it  means for the anime convention scene in Toronto

00:28:00 - Sony is finally winding down the Funimation streaming service. Of course there’s going to be an issue there. So the Sony bashing continues as we talk more about the kicking and screaming move from physical media to dig...

The first episode of 2024 (which was taped a week before it was published) starts with us catching up with James. He’s been playing some games. So we talk games 

00:28:35 - James gives another eye roll in talking about his latest shopping experience on the Crunchy store. Another lesson about being a Canadian fan

00:52:10 - We look back on the verdict in the Kyoto Animation arson tragedy

01:04:50 - We look back at the beginning of Anime North season, and the traditional scramble for early spots of any sort at the con...

Mike, Kevin, and Moh gather around the table for the final time in 2023 and talk more Miyazaki, Mike and Moh’s Netflix watches, streaming services Mike should take a longer look at, defining titles of various generations of fandom, and Kevin’s little exercise. We then make our new years resolutions and debate how fast we’ll break them

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*SPOILER WARNING*

Mike and Kevin talk about and try to wrap their heads around every aspect of The Boy and the Herron, Miyazaki’s latest (final) film. And I mean EVERY POSSIBLE ASPECT

After looking back on the Space Heater Chat and some purchases in the latest Indigo Books sale. We focus on Crunchyroll on a few fronts this time around

00:09:45 - The retail side of CR with the end of Right Stuf. James gives his experience ordering from the revamped retail site

00:37:03 - New mobile games to Crunchyroll services, and manga service winds down. And James puts up an arguement as to why that’s not a totally good thing

00:51:07 - So what about the Crunchyroll’s current anime seas...

After Mike recovers from yet another illness, he, Kevin and Moh have a morning coffee to talk about the last month to settle back around the table. Like Halloween and Anime North, thoughts on the Overwatch League Finals as Championship Season in various eSports wind down, and the uncomfortable story and latest developments in the Johnny Associates scandal

Mike Nicolas, Kevin Ng, Mohamed Sharmarke

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A rare time we decided to get right to the main topic and talk at length about PLANETES and Vinland Saga creator Makoto Yukimura’s appearances this past weekend in Toronto

01:20:32 - Then in brief, more Haruhi to celebrate 20 years, and One Piece with Jamie Lee Curtis is very possible

01:21:39 - Studio Ghibli sold to TV Nippon. We go through the coles notes version, how it came to this and what to expect in the near future. And Miyazaki gives up driving

01:30:16 - And longer than usual th...

Amy finally returns and starts with some of her watching over the summer and we follow up from last week’s epsode on Anime Toronto with a thought on the poplarity of Hololive and other types of virtual idols

00:23:55 - So we decide to do a few headlines in brief in relation to live action adaptations. We start with a Japanese Drama based on Pokemon and its life lessons

00:36:22 - The GTO live action is returning…WITH ITS ORGINAL STAR!!

00:41:30 - We take a long look at what...