#27: Dragon Hunters/More Infinity War Talk/Ni no Kuni II

After settling back into the podcast groove by talking about Smash Bros. and grandmas who admire Mufasa's face, we prove we can't go an episode without talking something Marvel-related, as Chris gives his thoughts on the latest Avengers film after being unable to join our previous spoilercast (And this does mean we give a ton away, so if you haven't seen the movie yet, note the timestamps below). John also gives his opinion so far on Ni no Kuni 2, and why it's surprising him after what he thought about its predecessor. Also, see if you can pinpoint the part in that section where he had to stifle some burps.

For our main topic, it's John's turn in continuing a theme of little-known stuff one of us loves, and for him, this has been a long time coming. John discusses his history and admiration of the French cartoon series Dragon Hunters, which blew up in Europe and died on arrival everywhere else. John gushes a lot about its strengths and even how it's influenced his own ideas, while Chris tries to wrap his head around that gushing while also speculating on why the series failed to launch in the States. We talk the creative setting and creatures, the fun chemistry and nuances of the main cast, its amazing theme song provided by the most unlikely of bands, and also touch on the theatrical CG film it inspired as well as the unique reasons why you might want to avoid its second season.

(Side note: This marked our first time doing some new recording tricks to preserve Chris's audio during the times he drops out on John's side. You may notice some occasional word jumps and changes in volume and sound quality as a result, but we'll keep working on it and it means you get to fully hear Chris in all his aural goodness.)

Timestamps:
7:20 - Chris's Avengers: Infinity War review (Spoilers)
25:10 - Ni no Kuni 2 initial thoughts (Mild spoilers)
37:27 - Dragon Hunters series & movie review (Spoilers)

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BONUS: Avengers: Infinity War Spoilercast

We've teased it for ages, and we've reviewed the last several Marvel movies in a row, so it makes sense that the long-hyped third Avengers movie gets its own special episode. Tyler Moliterno from Generation Animation (And now two other podcasts!) joins John in giving overall opinions on the movie after all the buildup, naming favorite moments and elements, analyzing some of the key plot points, and yes, reflect on that sucker punch of an ending and speculate what it means for Avengers 4 and the film universe going forward.

The review starts around the 11-minute mark if you're just looking for that, and much like any Marvel movie, stay tuned after the end music for some bonus talk. And in case you missed the title, yes, we spoil this movie to pieces, and more than any other blockbuster we can think of, beg you to go see it before listening.  You should behold the latest Avenger, Kevin Bacon, kicking names and taking ass for yourself.

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Check out John's trailer mashup of the Infinity War and The Dark Knight Rises trailers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jjr_4WQmses
Check out John's first animation stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvwZQ53-bTM

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#26: Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland/Isle of Dogs/Pacific Rim Uprising

We've got a lot to talk about this week! We start by catching up on some interesting Easter events, John's grandma going viral again, and namedrop some Reanimate collabs we're both involved in now. (Someone beat John to getting a Donkey Kong one going, but he's joined it.) Our main reviews this time are all movies new and old, as John praises Isle of Dogs and Chris has mixed thoughts on Pacific Rim's sequel.

But for the main event, we start a themed month of our picks being fairly obscure titles that mean a lot to us, with Chris having us discuss Little Nemo, the Japanese-American adaptation of one of the first comic strips ever that he grew up watching. We end up doing a full-on spoiler talk of the whole plot, and it's a fascinating talk. From the film's unique history, to the people involved in its production, to how every moment seems to have something to praise and something to critique, to Mickey Rooney providing John's favorite character, to the greatest frog in movie history, it's a rollercoaster of a discussion. And if you haven't seen the film before, it's legally free to watch on YouTube in HD and is a visual achievement for animation geeks like us, so have at it, and note the creepy user comment John mentions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRs4Y3Kzdt0

(I've picked the French series Dragon Hunters for Episode 27. Only listing it here because you may need to do some digging to find episodes. Expect a bonus Infinity War spoilercast before it, too.-John)

Timestamps:
11:01 - Isle of Dogs review (Light spoilers)
25:33 - Pacific Rim Uprising review
37:03 - Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland review (Spoilers)

Show email (Send feedback and requests here): sketchwatchplay@gmail.com
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Watch John's grandma watching The Avengers for the first time: https://youtu.be/YnDE22Sr1QQ
John's Twitter: https://twitter.com/Behonkiss
Chris's Twitter: https://twitter.com/CWadeTheSequel
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#25: Castle in the Sky/Devilman Crybaby/Smash Bros. Switch Announcement

We celebrate reaching the 25-episode milestone (Technically more if you count the broken-up and bonus episodes, but whatever) with a healthy variety of topics.  First, we talk our thoughts on the surprise announcement of the next Super Smash Bros. game and the obligatory newcomer guesses that come with every new entry in that series, and also briefly say our overall opinions on the recent Netflix hit Devilman Crybaby - though we avoid spoilers as best we can, since John intends to give the show its own episode someday.

But the bulk of this episode is devoted to what has become our mutual favorite Studio Ghibli/Hayao Miyazaki film and John's favorite anime film in general, the 1986 classic Castle in the Sky.  We discuss the film's well-thought out world-building, wonderful sense of pacing, the balance of great comedy and emotion, and single out some of the best characters and voice performances (Spoilers: Mark Hamill and Cloris Leachman are our MVPs).  We also close out with some observations on Miyazaki himself and his ideals, some bonus praise for Mark Hamill, and how this movie even influenced the Rabbids of all things. And that best-animated shot John mentions wanting to make a GIF of? Check the Facebook page, because he did just that.

Timestamps:
2:20 - Super Smash Bros. Switch speculation
19:05 - Devilman Crybaby overall thoughts (No spoilers)
32:07 - Castle in the Sky (Spoilers)

Show email (Send feedback and requests here): sketchwatchplay@gmail.com
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Watch John's grandma watching The Avengers for the first time: https://youtu.be/YnDE22Sr1QQ
John's Twitter: https://twitter.com/Behonkiss
Chris's Twitter: https://twitter.com/CWadeTheSequel
John's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/Behonkiss

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#24-B: Laika Animation Retrospective

Rather than another series, Chris had the idea to do our first ever look back at an individual studio's body of work this time! We discuss all four of Laika's stop-motion features in depth, including not just our opinions on their quality and our favorite moments, but general observations on the unique and even bold touches they bring to their creepy, risque, progressive, and even heartbreaking stories and characters.

Fair warning that we seriously spoil all of these films' stories, and we'll say right now that they're all worth a look if you haven't watched them (Cases like this are why we include timestamps). Highlights include what makes Coraline one of the creepiest family films of the modern era, a lot of overall praise for ParaNorman, what makes BoxTrolls a good but lesser film in our eyes, and different opinions on Kubo's bold and bittersweet ending.

(Much like the first half, sorry for the audio issues with Chris in this recording.)

06:48 - Coraline
24:23 - ParaNorman
48:19 - The Boxtrolls
1:02:34 - Kubo and the Two Strings

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#24-A: Black Panther

In a move that will likely surprise no one, the whole recording of Episode 24 turned out super long.  And as we prefer to give you an episode consistently every two weeks, here's the first half, consisting primarily of John and Chris's spoiler-filled thoughts on Black Panther.  (Us reviewing a Marvel movie should also surprise no one.)  Expect talks on the film's clever integration of real-world conflicts, debates on whether or not memes belong in Marvel movies, and John's unorthodox tastes in MCU women.

You'll also want to listen to the intro for some announcements regarding social media changes, new ways to reach out to us, and the launch of a Patreon that will help support the show and let you shape future episodes.

(Also, apologies for some audio issues with Chris in this episode - We're working on it.)

03:40 - Social media announcements/Xenoblade Chronicles 2 thoughts/Chris's final thoughts on Final Fantasy XV (No spoilers for either)
10:04 - Black Panther review (Contains spoilers)

Next episode: Laika retrospective (Coraline/ParaNorman/The Boxtrolls/Kubo and the Two Strings)

Contribute to John's Patreon for early access to new episodes, opportunities to shape the show, and more: https://www.patreon.com/Behonkiss
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Show email: sketchwatchplay@gmail.com
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#23: Voltron: Legendary Defender/Dragon Ball FighterZ/Altered Carbon

Chris is back! Fellow indie animator Ben Reynolds makes his debut! I can't stop using exclamation points! We talk a healthy variety of topics this week, from opening discussions and projects that drive our longtime message "Animation is hard" home, to Ben's thoughts on the recent Netflix series Altered Carbon, and Chris and John finally dishing out their feelings about Dragon Ball FighterZ after months of personal hype.

But the bulk of the episode goes to Ben's pick of another ongoing Netflix exclusive, as the three of us talk about the characters, action, writing, and other ingredients that make Voltron: Legendary Defender (Seasons 1 & 2 to be specific) something special. Expect some observations on older incarnations of the franchise, Studio Trigger aliens voiced by Norman Reedus, why emo Coran is the best, issues with mech transformation scenes, how Chris can go ahead loving Lance all by his lonesome, and a horrifying Google search that has blessed you with this episode's thumbnail. Plus, listen to the end for our roadmap regarding the next two episodes.

Check out the debut short of John's sci-fi cartoon, Spacious: https://youtu.be/L34V0mq0Fm8
Check out Ben's work in drawing and animation: http://ben-reynolds.com/

Email feedback and suggestions for the show to: behonkiss@gmail.com

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Chris's Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChristopTheWade
Ben's Twitter: https://twitter.com/daiconv

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