OK, our Fall season is over (well, it will be when we watch the last episode of Sengoku Youko this Friday). That means it's time for us to vote on shows and do any necessary (re-)sampling to make decisions about that. As time permits, we can watch episodes of potentially continuing shows like Moribito and Escaflowne, or sample shows from this new season.
Also, Anime Los Angeles is next week (Thursday January 9 - Sunday January 12). Guests include Shiniciro Watanabe (Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo). The schedule is only available via Guidebook...
Black Friday sales really should be over by now, but:
6:30 - 10:30
Trailers for features on the voting spreadsheet (YT playlist):
Sengoku Youko: The Thousandfold Chaos Arc 35 (CR). We'll try to save this until after intermission
Voting for Winter season shows
(Re-)sampling as needed. These shows might include e.g.
Shows we only tried on Saturdays, such as
The Stories of Girls Who Couldn't Be Magicians (CR)
Mobile Suit Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance (Netflix)
Astro Note (CR)
Older shows people might be curious about:
Gungrave (CR)
anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day (CR)
Bamboo Blade (CR)
As time permits:
Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit 15-16 (HD, BD)
Sample shows from new season, such as
Ameku M.D.: Doctor Detective (CR)
Sorairo Utility (TV) (HD)
Attendance:
Notes: after an initial round of voting, we watched the trailers for features on the voting spreadsheet. Then we watched
Demon Lord 2099 ep 2 (CR)
Gungrave (CR) - Steve was confusing this with Gun Gale Online
Sengoku Youko 35 (CR)
intermission
After intermission, David left and Antonio logged in. After a bit more consideration of vote status, Steve requested we watch the 1st episode of shows he voted for and that are looking to be safely on the schedule but which he hasn't sampled yet:
The Story of Girls Who Couldn't Be Magicians 1 (CR) - with a brief interruption for Steve to help Alan get his mother up from the floor.
We then tried watching Silver Spoon 1 (BD), but the episodes from Alan's Blu-ray didn't come off in the order you'd expect, so episode 1 wasn't one of the 1st 3 episodes and wasn't available to watch tonight. We decided to try
Mawaru Penguindrum 1 (BD)
Rose of Versailles 1 (fs, though these days there's a BD)
Then we handled schedule-building.
Arthur made it on the call around 11:20, well after we had just gone to end-of-showings discussion. Sometime earlier in the night, Steve had asked about how long it takes Alan to rip Blu-rays. The answer is
1: MakeMKV to get video off the Blu-ray: it takes about 1 hour to get 3 hours of video off a Blu-ray (measured from Berserk BDs)
2: Handbrake to recompress a video: this can be down at 2-3 times playback speed, so 3 hours of video can be recompressed in 1-1.5 hours.
3: MKVToolnix to do things like change default tracks. This generally takes longer to set the requested configuration than it does for the file to actually be re-muxed, so maybe 1 minute for the sort of changes I'm making.
6:30 - 10:30 Schedule-building As time (presumably) permits Episodes of continuing shows, assuming they get voted in Vision of Escaflowne 14+ (BD) Sample new season shows
Attendance:
Notes: We spent a while talking, then started with (bad) samplers:
Bogus Skill <
Beheneko
Headhunted to Another World - actually OKish!
Possibly the Greatest Alchemist of All Time
We then followed up with
Escaflowne 14-15
Slayers Next 1-2
Our Winter planning looked a bit like this:
Fridays
Endo and Kobayashi Live! The Latest on Tsundere Villainess Lieselotte (HD) / Urusei Yatsura (2022) (HD)
Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit (HD, BD ) / Apothecary Diaries S2 (CR)
Samplers (no more than 1/night)
Dan Da Dan (CR, Netflix, Hulu) / Dr. Stone Science Future (CR)
Our 3 selected features: Josee, the Tiger and the Fish (CR, BD); My Oni Girl (Netflix ); and Rascal Does Not Dream of a Sister Venturing Out (BD)
The Stories of Girls Who Couldn't Be Magicians (CR) / Silver Spoon (BD)
Magilumiere Magical Girls Inc. (Amzn) / Acro Trip (CR)
Samplers (2/night)
Vision of Escaflowne (BD) / NieR:Automata Ver1.1a Cour 2 (CR)
Slayers Next (DVD)
Also, Anime Los Angeles is this week (Thursday January 9 - Sunday January 12). Guests include Shiniciro Watanabe (Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo). The schedule is available via Guidebook as well as on the web. Incidentally, Alan thought he would be unavailable to host Friday night, but there's nothing on the schedule for him after 5 PM so he'll plan to host and run showings Friday night...assuming he can get back from Long Beach in under 1.5 hours. Which or may not be plausible with all the disruption caused by the fires.
6:30 - 7:20
Endo and Kobayashi Live! The Latest on Tsundere Villainess Lieselotte
2-3
(HD)
7:20 - 8:10
Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit
15-16
(HD, BD)
8:10 - 8:35 Sampler:
ZENSHU
(CR)
8:35 - 8:45 intermission
8:45 - 9:35
Dan Da Dan
2-3
(CR,
Netflix,
Hulu)
9:35 - 10:25
The Stories of Girls Who Couldn't Be Magicians
2-3
(CR)
Attendance:
Notes: Gene got sick over the holidays, which is why he missed a couple weeks of extra showings at the end of our Fall season. Alan had to step out to deal with things halfway through Moribito and returned at intermission; David tried to keep chat going by using Discord on his phone, but he accidentally left thimself muted.
6:30 - 7:20
Magilumiere Magical Girls Inc.
2-3
(Amzn)
7:20 - 8:10 Samplers:
Attendance:
Notes: The fires were enough under control and air quality was improved enough at David's that we were able to hold showings there as usual. We started a bit late, so bailing halfway through I'm Living with an Otaku NEET Kunoichi!? didn't give us the time for another sampler.
6:30 - 7:20
Endo and Kobayashi Live! The Latest on Tsundere Villainess Lieselotte
4-5
(HD)
7:20 - 8:10
Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit
17-18
(HD, BD)
8:10 - 8:35 Sampler:
Medalist
(Hulu, fs)
8:35 - 8:45 intermission
8:45 - 9:35
Dan Da Dan
4-5
(CR,
Netflix,
Hulu)
9:35 - 10:25
The Stories of Girls Who Couldn't Be Magicians
4-5
(CR)
Attendance:
Notes: David let us know his sister would be in town next weekend, so he wouldn't attend Friday showings in person on Saturday and might not attend remotely. However, he said he'd still be available to host Saturday showings.
6:30 - 7:20
Magilumiere Magical Girls Inc.
4-5
(Amzn)
7:20 - 8:10 Samplers:
Attendance:
Notes: Arthur was able to make it despite Lunar New Year being celebrated in his area.
Crunchyroll may have had a data breach so now would be a good time to change your password there. You'll probably have to logout and use the Forgot Password option.
ANN has an article by market analyst Miles Thomas Atherton: The State of Isekai Anime. The chart of isekai anime by year is striking.
6:30 - 7:20
Endo and Kobayashi Live! The Latest on Tsundere Villainess Lieselotte
6-7
(HD)
7:20 - 8:10
Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit
19-20
(HD, BD)
8:10 - 8:35 Sampler:
From Bureaucrat to Villainess: Dad's Been Reincarnated!
(HD)
8:35 - 8:45 intermission
8:45 - 9:35
Dan Da Dan
6-7
(CR,
Netflix,
Hulu)
9:35 - 10:25
The Stories of Girls Who Couldn't Be Magicians
6-7
(CR)
Attendance:
Notes:
6:30 - 7:20
Magilumiere Magical Girls Inc.
6-7
(Amzn)
7:20 - 8:10 Samplers:
Attendance:
Notes: David's sister was visiting for the weekend (and David's birthday). They had pizza ready for in-person attendees.
Lunar New Year was observed this last week (at least for China), and this weekend Japan observes Setsubun - you know, where they throw beans at oni? So this Friday we're watching a feature with oni, and making a bit of a mess out of our regular Friday schedule.
6:30 - 6:55
Endo and Kobayashi Live! The Latest on Tsundere Villainess Lieselotte
8
(HD)
6:55 - 7:45
Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit
21-22
(HD, BD)
7:45 - 8:10
Dan Da Dan
8
(CR,
Netflix,
Hulu)
8:10 - 8:20 intermission
8:20 - 10:05 Feature:
My Oni Girl
(Netflix)
10:05 - 10:30
The Stories of Girls Who Couldn't Be Magicians
8
(CR)
Attendance:
Notes: Steve had to work late today but he still made it in time for showings. We had to move Dan Da Dan before intermission in order to squeeze in the feature. I was concerned how that would work out for Gene (who usually takes off at intermission), but he didn't make it tonight. There was some consensus that My Oni Girl was a bit too busy and the script needed a a bit more of an editing pass.
6:30 - 7:20
Magilumiere Magical Girls Inc.
8-9
(Amzn)
7:20 - 8:10 Samplers:
Attendance:
Notes: ...
I got sick of waiting for someone else to put together a playlist for the Anime Los Angeles 2025 AMV contest, so I made one myself. Three videos were unavailable on Youtube at the time I put it together, but it's got everything else.
6:30 - 7:20
Endo and Kobayashi Live! The Latest on Tsundere Villainess Lieselotte
9-10
(HD)
7:20 - 8:10
Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit
23-24
(HD, BD)
8:10 - 8:35 Sampler:
The Red Ranger Becomes an Adventurer in Another World
(CR)
8:35 - 8:45 intermission
8:45 - 9:35
Dan Da Dan
9-10
(CR,
Netflix,
Hulu)
9:35 - 10:25
The Stories of Girls Who Couldn't Be Magicians
9-10
(CR)
Attendance:
Notes: ...
6:30 - 7:20
Magilumiere Magical Girls Inc.
10-11
(Amzn)
7:20 - 8:10 Samplers:
Attendance:
Notes: We bailed on Medaka Kuroiwa after just a few minutes. That gave us time to sample Honey Lemon Soda.
It's Valentine's Day weekend. It's also a holiday weekend for some folks. But most importantly for us, it's the midpoint of our season, which means we're finishing up a bunch of shows tonight and starting different ones over the next couple weeks (there's a feature next week, which pushes back some of the shows for the back half of the season).
Also, GKids is doing the thing with Gundam Gquuuuuux that they did with Dan Da Dan: a theatrical premiere of the 1st 3 or so episodes, combined into a single 90-minute movie. Tickets are on sale now; the premiere runs Wednesday February 26 - Thursday March 6; there are IMax screenings in a couple locations the first few days.
6:30 - 7:20
Endo and Kobayashi Live! The Latest on Tsundere Villainess Lieselotte
11-12
(HD)
7:20 - 8:10
Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit
25-26
(HD, BD)
8:10 - 8:35 Sampler:
Sakamoto Days
(Netflix)
8:35 - 8:45 intermission
8:45 - 9:35
Dan Da Dan
11-12
(CR,
Netflix,
Hulu)
9:35 - 10:25
The Stories of Girls Who Couldn't Be Magicians
11-12
(CR)
Attendance:
Notes:
6:30 - 6:55
Magilumiere Magical Girls Inc.
12
(Amzn)
6:55 - 8:10 Samplers, part 1:
Fallback feature (if we bail on a lot of samplers): Look Back (Amzn)
Attendance:
Notes: We bailed on the Babanba Banban Vampire about halfway through. We made it through the rest of the samplers, but it was kind of a stretch on most, except Flower and Asura (which wasn't great, just much better than the other samplers tonight.
We've finished the 1st half of our season and are starting our 2nd half this week. Well, most of it: Urusei Yatsura will start next week so that we have time this Friday for the 2nd of our 3 scheduled features.
6:30 - 7:20
The Apothecary Diaries
25-26
(CR)
7:20 - 8:10
Dr. Stone Science Future
1-2
(CR)
8:10 - 8:20 intermission
8:20 - 10:00 Feature:
Josee, the Tiger and the Fish
(CR, BD)
10:00 - 10:25
Silver Spoon
1
(BD)
Attendance:
Notes: We had mixed feelings about Josee, the Tiger and the Fish.
6:30 - 7:20
Acro Trip
2-3
(CR)
7:20 - 8:10 Samplers:
Fallback feature (if we bail on a lot of samplers): Look Back (Amzn)
Attendance:
Notes: We bailed on "Anyway, I'm Falling in Love with You" partway through, leaving us time for "Even Given the Worthless 'Appraiser' Class, I'm Actually the Strongest". We quickly bailed on that one as well.
This Friday we start one last series for the back half of the season, and watch the last of the Friday samplers. We also got some real important news this week:
6:30 - 7:20
Urusei Yatsura (2022)
2-3
(HD, BD)
7:20 - 8:10
The Apothecary Diaries
27-28
(CR)
8:10 - 8:35 Sampler:
BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!!
(CR)
8:35 - 8:45 intermission
7:45 - 9:35
Dr. Stone Science Future
3-4
(CR)
9:35 - 10:25
Silver Spoon
2-3
(BD)
Attendance:
Notes:
6:30 - 7:20
Acro Trip
4-5
(CR)
7:20 - 8:10 Samplers:
Fallback feature (if we bail on a lot of samplers): Look Back (Amzn)
Attendance:
Notes:
Daylight Saving Time starts this Sunday - it's the "Spring forward" (aka "lose an hour of sleep") one.
Gundam Gquuuuuux is still in theaters for a bit; we might want to see if anyone's interested in seeing it this weekend. It'll be streaming on Amazon in Spring.
Sony Crunchyplex have announced they'll screen the first Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle movie in US theaters starting September 12.
6:30 - 7:20
Urusei Yatsura (2022)
4-5
(HD, BD)
7:20 - 8:10
The Apothecary Diaries
29-30
(CR)
8:10 - 8:20 intermission
8:20 - 9:10
Dr. Stone Science Future
5-6
(CR)
9:10 - 10:25
Silver Spoon
4-6
(BD)
Attendance:
Notes: Gene was attending again. He'd had family staying in his house for several weeks, so hadn't been able to make it. One family member will be back starting later in the year to stay for about 10 months, but Gene figures that stay will be low-impact enough that he'll still be able to attend showings.
6:30 - 7:20
Acro Trip
6-7
(CR)
7:20 - 8:10 Samplers:
Fallback feature (if we bail on a lot of samplers): Look Back (Amzn)
Attendance:
Notes:
This wasn't mentioned earlier, but AnimEigo (now owned by Justin Sevakis) is posting a series of interviews with foundational members of the US anime industry under the series title The Anime Business. The first interview is with John O'Donnell, founder of Central Park Media.
Gundam Gquuuuuux is still in 1 theater down in Anaheim. Another upcoming Spring show Witch Watch based on a Shonen Jump manga by the creator of Sket Dance will have a theatrical premier of its first 3 episodes this Sunday March 16-Tuesday March 18.
Some other announcements for this week:
6:30 - 7:45
Urusei Yatsura (2022)
6-8
(HD, BD)
7:45 - 8:35
The Apothecary Diaries
31-32
(CR)
8:35 - 8:45 intermission
8:45 - 9:35
Dr. Stone Science Future
7-8
(CR)
9:35 - 10:25
Silver Spoon
7-8
(BD)
Attendance:
Notes: David was back in person this Friday. Adam had predicted he'd forget about Daylight Saving Time starting in the US last Sunday, and sure enough - he did.
6:30 - 7:20
Acro Trip
8-9
(CR)
7:20 - 8:10 Samplers:
Fallback feature (if we bail on a lot of samplers): Look Back (Amzn)
Attendance:
Notes: Arthur wasn't feeling well this week. Welcome to Japan, Ms. Elf! seemed to get a fairly indifferent reaction.
Bad news, everyone (in the Pasadena area): Comics Factory has announced they'll be closing down. Their last day of business is Wednesday, April 23. They've starting a closing liquidation sale:
6:30 - 7:45
Urusei Yatsura (2022)
9-11
(HD, BD)
7:45 - 8:35
The Apothecary Diaries
33-34
(CR)
8:35 - 8:45 intermission
8:45 - 9:35
Dr. Stone Science Future
9-10
(CR)
9:35 - 10:25
Silver Spoon
9-10
(BD)
Attendance:
Notes: We discussed the prospects of removing shows from the voting spreadsheet which haven't been going anywhere for the last 3 voting seasons. Shows that had 1 or fewer votes last season and went 3 seasons without getting voted onto the schedule are highlighted in yellow; those which had 2 votes last season are highlighted in blue. Alan is inclined to remove both the yellow and the blue highlighted shows. Brian suggested retaining blue highlighted shows which are continuations of shows the club has watched previously since this Winter season has been fairly weak, and some of those older shows might have a better chance of making it onto the schedule this time around.
6:30 - 7:20
Acro Trip
10-11
(CR)
7:20 - 8:10 Samplers:
Fallback feature (if we bail on a lot of samplers): Look Back (Amzn)
Attendance:
Notes: ...
There's a new episode of AnimEigo's series The Anime Business out now, featuring Robert Napton.
We’re finishing out our season this weekend with a feature on Friday, and sampling of older shows on Saturday. Also, it's time to start updating our voting spreadsheet with shows we want everyone in the club to consider for next season. I added a few of the more promising shows from this season, and (as I mentioned last week) I'm planning to remove a bunch of the ones which haven't done well in voting for the last 3 seasons: the ones highlighted in yellow, and probably most of the ones highlighted in blue as well.
There are a couple animated movies in theaters now. Princess Mononoke has screenings in IMAX based on a 4K remaster through Thursday 4/3, and the Looney Tunes movie The Day the Earth Blew Up also has screenings running through Thursday 4/3.
Comics Factory's last day of business is Wednesday April 23; their clearance sale is ongoing.
6:30 - 6:55
Urusei Yatsura (2022)
12
(HD, BD)
6:55 - 7:45
The Apothecary Diaries
35-36
(CR)
7:45 - 8:35
Dr. Stone Science Future
11-12
(CR)
8:35 - 8:45 intermission
8:45 - 10 Feature:
Rascal Does Not Dream of a Sister Venturing Out
(BD)
10 - 10:25
Silver Spoon
11
(BD)
Attendance:
Notes: ...
6:30 - 6:55
Acro Trip
12
(CR)
6:55 - 8:10 Samplers (old shows):
Fallback features (if we bail on a lot of samplers): Look Back (Amzn) - about 1 hour; or Adam's suggestion Don't Lose, Makendo (YT) - about half an hour. Or we could watch episodes from AnimEigo's The Anime Business.
Attendance:
Notes: We had a, uh, "lively" discussion about the Nier anime and its themes, story construction, etc.