#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)

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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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John's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/Behonkiss

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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 homepage: http://sketchwatchplay.blogspot.com/
Show email: sketchwatchplay@gmail.com
John's Twitter: https://twitter.com/Behonkiss
Chris's Twitter: https://twitter.com/CWadeTheSequel

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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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#22-B: Final Fantasy Retrospective

As teased at previously, John and guest host Marc Gonzalez take on something of an intimidating task and devote an hour and a half to a freeform discussion on the juggernaut that is the Final Fantasy series.  Typical topics like favorite entries are brought up, but expect tangents on other Square Enix games and JRPGs in general, the series' history and transition from Nintendo to Sony, observations on the cult of FF7, John's old tradition of discovering surprising voice actors throughout the series, what happens when an FF13 fan meets an FF13 hater, and Bubsy.  Somehow, we keep bringing up Bubsy.
Check out John's new animated short, "Spacious: Self-Demotion", on YouTube: https://youtu.be/L34V0mq0Fm8 And Newgrounds: https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/705055
Check out Marc's podcast: http://fanoffmedia.com/shows/gen/
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Marc's Twitter: https://twitter.com/DankInEffect
Chris's Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChristopTheWade
Opening song: Joe Redifer - Final Fantasy V "ROBOVoice"

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#22-A: Coco/Alita: Battle Angel Trailer/Zootopia Fan Comic

Originally recorded in mid-December and teased at in our bonus holiday episode, first time guest Marc Gonzalez from Generation Animation joins John to talk about a wide variety of topics. John gives his overall thoughts on Pixar's latest without giving anything away the trailers already haven't, Marc gives his thoughts and expectations on Robert Rodriguez's upcoming big-screen adaptation of one of his favorite comics, and because it was making the rounds when this was recorded, we try to wrap our heads around THAT Zootopia fan comic.
Tangents include Marc's thoughts on recent fighting games, speculation on the ramifications of the Disney buyout of Fox, the Olaf short that angered moviegoers everywhere, and John having the euphoric revelation that Tommy Wiseau is on Twitter now. Look forward to the second half soon, where we take a look back at the Final Fantasy franchise.
20:07 - Zootopia "I Will Survive" fan comic discussion
26:27 - Coco review (no spoilers)
58:29 - Alita: Battle Angel trailer thoughts and speculation
Show Twitter (Send feedback, questions, and requests!): https://twitter.com/sketchwatchplay
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John's Twitter: https://twitter.com/Behonkiss
Marc's Twitter: https://twitter.com/DankInEffect
Chris's Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChristopTheWade
Read John's initial real-time reaction texts to Chris while reading I Will Survive: http://behonkiss.tumblr.com/post/168306975227/so-i-sent-that-first-image-to-chris-not-knowing
Check out Marc's podcast, Generation Animation: http://fanoffmedia.com/shows/gen/

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Bonus: The Christmas Tree Audio Commentary

It's a Christmas miracle! Not the great kind though, more that Chris and Serena Wade were able to persevere through their first full viewing of the amazingly bad holiday cartoon The Christmas Tree. John joins in and records a group viewing, with plenty of outbursts, horrified utterances, unintended laughter, and plenty of questions with no chance of an answer.
Listen to the previous bonus episode for a proper review of this thing along with our Best Media of 2017 picks, and feel free to watch along with us via the YouTube upload we used: https://youtu.be/GlFtMxG6mnY
Happy holidays and New Year to all our listeners - look forward to Episode 22, Chris's return and more new guests and topics soon!
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Chris's Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChristopTheWade
Serena's Twitter: https://twitter.com/omnomsenzubean

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