Feedback on Thanksgiving Break Podcasts

A breaking news panel discussion from “Zettai Shonen”

Coming back from a long Thanksgiving-related trip last weekend meant I had a backlog of podcasts waiting for me including some episodes of programs oriented at the fan community. I decided to write up some reactions to each along with some constructive criticism.

Ani-Gamers #023 “A Melodramatic Podcast Revolt” [link]
The Reverse Thieves return to talk with Evan about shoujo anime that might appeal to guys. I enjoyed Ouran when I watched it in anime club three years ago but haven’t gotten around to seeing the other three – Utena, Rose of Versailles and They Were Eleven – despite previously hearing good things about each series (and seeing each occasionally appear as subjects of academic papers).

Production comments: Evan, ditch the Read or Die opening! It feels stale to me!

ANNCast Episode 016 “Debinately, Maybe” [link]
The opening segments with Justin Sevakis reporting from Singapore and Bradley Meek talking about Kurozuka and The Story of Saiunkoku were pretty good. I grinned when Zac called out Bradley on his description of the Anime 3000 podcast as like “Meet the Press”. Maybe if its host asked harder-hitting questions but I doubt there are too many pressing issues that could be viable discussion subjects.

Deb Aoki, manga guide for About.com, talked about manga critics compared to anime critics, common differences between anime adaptations and their originating manga, and listened to Zac explain his attempts to find another good manga critic for ANN. (Manga criticism seems to get overshadowed by anime writing in the same way book criticism is by film & television.)

Deb was also part of an Anime3000 episode about the manga industry along with Vertical marketing director Ed Chavez and Tokyopop senior editor Lillian Diaz-Przybyl in October. The main take-home points there included: sometimes marketing just doesn’t work (Lillian used Gakuen Alice as an example), manga in libraries can help drive “reluctant readers” who may be wary of traditional prose, and the ties manga companies have to major book publishers force the months-in-advance planning (they can’t do a quick turnaround like anime simulcasts because, well, it has to be printed).

Anime3000 S02E09 “Professional Anime Sites” [link]
Brad Rice of Japanator, Gia Manry of Anime Vice, and Joseph Luster of Otaku USA talked about their roles as website editors and contributors. It was fairly laid-back and provided some good insight into how each site is run as well as advice in how to act professionally.

Sean, the host, needs to work a little more on transitions between subjects because shifting focus from introductions to the first actual question sounded clunky. Also: acknowledgement of a segue (something Sean did twice) is something that annoys me as a listener. Good hosts should be able to use creative phrasing to more smoothly progress onto other topics or allow for reasonable tangents.

Ninja Consultant Show #73 “NYAF Part 2: Caleb” [link]
Whenever I come across this podcast, I intuitively think it’s supposed to be plural (Ninja Consultants), particularly since the tab for the hosts’ bios page says “Who are the Ninja Consultants?”, but it’s their show so they can call it whatever they want.

Caleb (aka OneGreatTurtle) told the story of how he came to write for Otaku USA; explained the problems with discussing the meaning of moé; introduced Tarō Okamoto after prompted by his blog’s name and pointed out some references Shinbo has made to Okamoto; talked about working in a library, the limitations of Dewey Decimal, and his first convention experience being NYAF; and allowed for a contrasting of Makoto Shinkai’s art and themes with Erin & Noah chiming in. There were other bits that I didn’t summarize and at 55 minutes, it’s not a long episode to listen through and was fun to listen to as I regularly read his stuff.

Production-wise, it was a bit jarring to hear podcast promos played without transitions (Fast Karate for the Gentleman at 17:51, Ani-Gamers at 39:07) and there were some short moments of more noise than usual behind Erin & Noah’s voices that makes it almost sound like those parts were recorded afterward, even though I don’t doubt that the entire interview is conducted in one piece. Maybe the added background noise was due to an occasional recorder issue or just a problem on my end.

By the way, Caleb has a feature about Strike Witches in the February 2010 issue of Otaku USA wherein he says “[its] story and writing are quotidian but hardly egregious”. Yeah, use those educated people’s words!

My Own Dormant Podcast
I intend to relaunch it in the next few months after I get adjusted to a new work schedule and have decided to use music from the Free Music Archive to broaden out from using anime music while promoting some good, independent music. I already have a few people in mind as guests for the next episodes but if you have any suggestions of whom I should try to interview, please let me know in the comments, on Twitter, or through e-mail.