#46-A: Astro Boy 2003/Dragon's Heaven (ft. Ben Reynolds)

Fellow animator and friend of the show Ben Reynolds comes back on to talk with John about cartoons - and keeping in tradition with previous appearances, we're talking niche anime, with a big emphasis on retro.  We talk the cool but brief 80s OVA Dragon's Heaven, from its unique art style and bizarre opening to the wild world of anime in the heyday of VHS, and then venture into the recently fansubbed 2003 reboot of the iconic Astro Boy, discussing its amazing visuals, surprisingly thoughtful writing, and the numerous reasons why it came and went in the States compared to other countries.

Next time: Arcane

Timestamps:
0:00 Introductions
8:57 Listener email
14:49 Dragon's Heaven (Spoilers)
29:47 Astro Boy 2003 Subbed (Minor spoilers)

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John's Twitter: https://twitter.com/BehonArt
Ben's Twitter: https://twitter.com/daiconv

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#43: Dial Code Santa Claus AKA Deadly Games/Dexter: New Blood/Final Fantasy VII (ft. Dave Roberts)

Dave Roberts returns for a massive episode covering all sorts of media.  We kick off by talking about stuff like Jackass Forever and the state of Bruce Willis's career, John talks revisiting OG Final Fantasy VII with an HD coat of paint via mods, and Dave discusses the Dexter revival miniseries, what it does well, and how he would have gone about certain plot beats differently.

For the main topic, John prompts a deep dive into one of his favorite by-chance obscure movie discoveries ever, that being the 1989 French thriller Dial Code Santa Claus, also known as Deadly Games in its American release. So what if it's not Christmas any more?  Horror is evergreen.  (Plus here in DC we're on probably our last snowstorm of the season on the day this comes out.)  Topics include the great less-is-more approach with the villain, the inner workings of a grenade, a lot of general gushing from John about the writing and filmmaking, and  a sobering reminder that Meet the Spartans is a movie that actually came out.

Timestamps:
0:00 Introductions/General movie talk
13:10 Final Fantasy VII
46:53 Dexter: New Blood (Spoilers)
1:08:11 Dial Code Santa Claus (Spoilers)

WE'RE ON DISCORD: https://discord.gg/YAqjMUy

John's Twitter: https://twitter.com/BehonArt
Dave's Twitter: https://twitter.com/RealDaveRoberts
John's Reanimated collab for WarioWare Gold's cutscenes: https://twitter.com/WarioReAnimated

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#44: Spider-Man: No Way Home Spoilercast (ft. Patrick Fleury)

We may be late to the party on this one, but there's no way we're skipping a discussion on this movie.  Patrick goes over his personal history with the Spider-Man property, and a deep, spoiler-filled talk of the cultural phenomenon that is the third MCU Spidey film ensues between him and John. From a flip-flopping Sandman to cracking each other's backs to what we can take away from the ending, we cover it all.

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE.  John and Patrick have started a separate podcast called Chance of Fleurys, which features more casual conversations on our current pop culture consumption in shorter episodes.  Follow https://twitter.com/COFleurys for updates, and download the show today on most of the same platforms as Sketch Watch Play!

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John's Twitter: https://twitter.com/BehonArt

Show email (Send feedback and requests here): sketchwatchplay@gmail.com

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Show homepage: http://sketchwatchplay.blogspot.com/

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#43: Marvel Disney+ Shows/Shang-Chi (ft. Mia Mcauley)

This show is no stranger to the MCU, but it's been a hot minute since the Infinity War & Endgame spoilercasts, and even longer since our last dedicated dive into this pop-culture juggernaut. Making her first appearance on the show, John's comrade in fandom Mia helps us catch up with releases beyond Black Widow, both by reflecting on memories of movies past, adjusting to an MCU without T'Challa, and in particular discussing the recent Shang-Chi and what its attention to cultural detail, great casting, and making up for Ben Kingsley's Mandarin mean to Mia as an Asian-American.

Afterward, we take a deep dive into the first three live-action MCU series in the new frontier of Disney+ weekly series. Topics include how these shows take advantage of their longer format, speculating what consequences they may hold for future shows and movies, why Agatha rules and Hayward drools, how timely Falcon and Winter Soldier is, and the as-of-this-writing ongoing desire for an Alligator Loki plushie.

Timestamps:
0:00 Introductions/General MCU talk
17:23 Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (Spoilers)
53:49 WandaVision (Spoilers)
1:22:50 The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (Spoilers)
1:45:47 Loki (Spoilers)

WE'RE ON DISCORD: https://discord.gg/YAqjMUy

John's Twitter: https://twitter.com/BehonArt
Mia's Tumblr: https://patethenovice.tumblr.com/
John's Reanimated collab for WarioWare Gold's cutscenes: https://twitter.com/WarioReAnimated

Show email (Send feedback and requests here): sketchwatchplay@gmail.com
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#42-B: Masters of the Universe: Revelation (ft. Dave Roberts)

John & Dave journey to Eternia to unpack what we would call the latest version of the He-Man franchise (If not for the fact that a totally separate reboot also came out on Netflix soon after this - what a crazy world we live in).  From our personal history with the property and showrunner Kevin Smith, to noting some great worldbuilding and character nuance, to the show being the latest in a long line of things splitting fanbases, there's a lot to discuss.

Next episode: Shang-Chi/Marvel Disney+ shows

WE'RE ON DISCORD: https://discord.gg/YAqjMUy

John's Twitter: https://twitter.com/BehonArt
Dave's Twitter: https://twitter.com/RealDaveRoberts
John's Reanimated collab for WarioWare Gold's cutscenes: https://twitter.com/WarioReAnimated

Show email (Send feedback and requests here): sketchwatchplay@gmail.com
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#42-A: The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles/Anime Grab Bag (ft. Dave Roberts)

Anime expert, Pro Evolution Soccer (Or eFootball?) player, and all-around friendly European Dave Roberts finally returns to the show for a massive talk with John on all sorts of topics. Initial freeform talks include early days as an anime fan, personal projects in podcasts and on YouTube, and thoughts on potential new Olympic sports. John then gives his initial, spoiler-free thoughts on the finally-localized The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles and the unique factors its setting and time period provide, and Dave provides a ton of info and opinions on four recent anime series that have caught his fancy.

Next episode: Masters of the Universe: Revelation

Timestamps:
0:00 Misc. game & anime talk
26:37 The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles
44:52 Godzilla Singular Point/Fire Force/Demon Slayer/Super Cub

WE'RE ON DISCORD: https://discord.gg/YAqjMUy

John's Twitter: https://twitter.com/BehonArt
Dave's Twitter: https://twitter.com/RealDaveRoberts
John's Reanimated collab for WarioWare Gold's cutscenes: https://twitter.com/WarioReAnimated

Show email (Send feedback and requests here): sketchwatchplay@gmail.com
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#41-B: Aladdin (1992) [ft. Patrick Fleury]

There's no point in acting like listeners aren't familiar with the original Aladdin in some way - it's one of the most iconic Disney films ever made, and remains John's all-time favorite film from the studio. So rather than do a more standard freeform talk about it, we do a more analytical deep dive and dissect it as a piece of animation and filmmaking to nail down just why it works so well. From making the most of all its characters, to a soundtrack with no weak links, to what makes this one of the most expertly paced movies around, we unpack this gem of a movie to see what makes it tick so efficiently to this day, with some brief thoughts on the sequels and remake for good measure.

Next episode: The Great Ace Attorney/Various anime

WE'RE ON DISCORD: https://discord.gg/YAqjMUy

John's Twitter: https://twitter.com/BehonArt
Patrick's improv group: https://witdc.org/
John's Reanimated collab for WarioWare Gold's cutscenes: https://twitter.com/WarioReAnimated

Show email (Send feedback and requests here): sketchwatchplay@gmail.com
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