Author Archives: Dustin

About Dustin

Dustin (aka Stilts) enjoys playing and yelling at video games, especially RPGs. He also likes super robot shows... the more outrageous the plot, the better!

Bakacast – Behold the Power of Baccano

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The beginning of the Fall 2011 season of anime also marks my return to pulling double-duty on this podcast as editor and cat wrangler main host. Unfortunately, my happiness over re-taking my rightful place as podcast king is tempered by a pretty lackluster week for anime. The quality of the finale of Hanasku Iroha is pretty typical of the show in general, Dantalian no Shoka doesn’t really have an ending, the second season of Squid Girl has us wondering what they did to the show we loved, and Fate/Zero really, really likes exposition dumps given to us by generic-looking protagonists standing in mostly vacant rooms. Exciting! At least we have the highly entertaining Baccano! and My Little Pony: Rescue from Midnight Castle (which was fun for all the wrong reasons) to fall back on.

Please email listener questions to bakacast[at]projectharuhi.net or leave them in the comments below.

Time Stamps

  • 00:00 – OP: Gun’s&Roses by Paradise Lunch (Baccano! OP)

Reviews et al.

  • 2:41 – Hanasaku Iroha 26 (END)
  • 14:04 – Dantalian no Shoka 12 (END)
  • 24:04 – Mawaru Penguindrum 12
  • 35:34 – Squid Girl S2 1
  • 42:30 – Fate/Zero 1
  • 51:56 – Baccano 1 & 2
  • 1:04:29 – MLP: Rescue from Midnight Castle (and yes, the FiM episode DID reference Generation 1 Twilight)
  • 1:20:22 – Listener Questions
  • 1:52:21 – ED: Cras Numquam Scire by Yucca (Dantalian no Shoka OP)

Bakacast – Ninja Tigers

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Jon is once again absent for this episode, which means it’s the perfect time for all of us to praise Dantalian no Shoka and finally give it perfect scores. Other than that, it’s business as usual, with Hanasku making no sense, Steins;Gate leaving Larry utterly confused, Croisee and Bunny Drop being their cute selves, and No. 6 constantly being heavy-handed and dumb. Also, Penguindrum finally takes our advice and gives us an episode that’s entirely free of Ringo.

Thank God.

Finally, after our listener questions, I blatantly rip off War Rocket Ajax and introduce a very special segment called “Big Ups to All My Haters,” where I preform a dramatic reading of the comment of someone who got very mad about my final Highschool of the Dead review that is over a year old.

We cover:

  • 4:20 – Hanasaku Iroha 23
  • 10:34 – Steins;Gate 23
  • 17:29 – Ikoku Meiru no Croisee 10
  • 23:43 – Bunny Drop 10
  • 33:14 – No. 6 10
  • 39:13 – Dantalian no Shoka 9
  • 43:42 – Mawaru Penguindrum 9
  • 50:47 – My Little Pony 21 & 22
  • 1:04:45 – Listener questions

Please email listener questions to bakacast[at]projectharuhi.net or leave them in the comments below.

Bakacast – Punch to the Face

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I apologize for the occasional audio glitches in this episode. Jon was too tired from his job to record, and I was at my parents’ house, so I had to use a five-year-old laptop to record this week’s podcast. I’ve done this a couple times before, but I guess the laptop chose this time to turn into cybernetic molasses. I was able to fix the desync issues that appeared, but there was nothing I could do about the “clipping” of sentences.

Anyway, we have a pretty normal review segment this week, with Hanasaku Iroha continuing to be a bizarre mixture of bad and good, Steins;Gate stumbling toward its ending, Sacred Seven defeating even my tolerance for Sunrise stupidity, Bunny Drop being amazing, No. 6 finally going somewhere with its plot, Dantalian having troubling implications about gender, and Penguindrum convincing some of my co-hosts to come over to my Anti-Ringo brigade.

Also we discuss the scientific method in relation to My Little Pony. Seriously.

We cover:

  • 2:51 – Hanasku Iroha #20
  • 7:06 – Steins;Gate #20
  • 14:38 – Sacred Seven #7
  • 18:57 – Ikoku Meiru no Croisee #7
  • 26:17 – Bunny Drop #7
  • 35:19 – No. 6 #7
  • 42:59 – Dantalian no Shoka #5 & 6
  • 51:27 – Mawaru Penguindrum #6
  • 58:22 – My Little Pony #15 & 16
  • 1:12:38 – Listener questions

I actually did miss one listener question, so I’ll be sure to get to it on the next episode. Speaking of the next podcast, we’ll be reviewing the Madhouse film everyone’s been hyped for: Redline. So look forward to that.

As always, if you would like to submit listener questions for a future episode, you can email them to bakacast[at]projectharuhi.net, @reply them to Project Haruhi’s Twitter account using the hashtag #bakacast, or leave them in the comments below.

Bakacast – Needs 20 Percent More Suffering

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Jon is, unfortunately, still missing on this episode of Bakacast, probably due to ninja kidnapping. And before you say something, yes, I’m almost certain I’ve used that joke before. I just don’t care.

Speaking of things I don’t care about, you can consider Blade officially dropped, because none of us felt like catching up with the recent episodes. Yeah, that’s right. We’re so apathetic about the Marvel adaptations that we can’t even be bothered to mention we’ve quit watching them on the podcast. We do, however, discuss the morality of Steins;Gate, admire the grit it takes to take a sword through your arm in Sacred Seven and not scream like a little girl, wonder when the suffering will start in Bunny Drop, explain why No. 6 completely fails at building a decent dystopia, and are again reminded that being an Earth pony in Friendship is Magic really sucks. Also, I briefly recommend watching Double J #7, just because it’s bizarre.

We cover:

  • 2:26 – Hanasku Iroha #19
  • 7:46 – Steins;Gate #19
  • 17:28 – Sacred Seven #6
  • 22:09 – Ikoku Meiru no Croisee #6
  • 27:07 – Bunny Drop #6
  • 34:20 – No. 6 #6
  • 45:16 – Dantalian no Shoka #4
  • 54:28 – My Little Pony #13 & 14
  • 1:08:19 – Listener questions

If you would like to submit listener questions for a future episode, you can email them to bakacast[at]projectharuhi.net, @reply them to Project Haruhi’s Twitter account using the hashtag #bakacast, or leave them in the comments below.

Bakacast – Be My Dungeon Master

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I’m finally back from my exile in Minnesota and watched three weeks worth of anime in just a few days, all so I could argue with Jon. Unfortunately, he had to be responsible and go to a job interview; so he’s escaped my vengeance this time. But soon, Jon. Soon, I will destroy you.

Karen’s back too, and we start off the podcast by giving her a chance to talk about her Otakon adventure, which was a bit of a mixed bag. Then we lead off the review segment by ripping the disappointing final Break Blade episode to shreds. As for our regularly scheduled reviews, Steins;Gate continues to not act like Steins;Gate, Double J botches its last chance, our predictions for Sacred Seven‘s trainwreck potential end up being scarily accurate, No. 6 completely wastes an episode, and I finally get the chance to release my pent up rage toward Ringo of Penguindrum.

We cover:

  • 2:11 – Otakon
  • 17:19 – Break Blade #6
  • 32:12 – Steins;Gate #18
  • 40:58 – Double J #5
  • 45:28 – Sacred Seven #5
  • 52:48 – Ikoku Meiru no Croisee #5
  • 59:43 – Bunny Drop #5
  • 1:06:04 – No. 6 #5
  • 1:10:50 – Mawaru Penguindrum #5
  • 1:19:47 – My Little Pony #11 & 12
  • 1:29:55 – Listener questions

Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to get through all the questions this time. So if we didn’t answer your question this episode, don’t worry. We’ll get to it eventually.

If you would like to submit listener questions for a future episode, you can email them to bakacast[at]projectharuhi.net, @reply them to Project Haruhi’s Twitter account using the hashtag #bakacast, or leave them in the comments below.

Anime Character Rescue Project: Sexy Sengoku

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Back when she was writing for Japanator, Karen wrote a couple funny posts about taking good anime characters from terrible shows and putting them in anime worthy of their presence. These articles came up during our Bakacast pre-show banter, where Karen, Glen, Larry and I lamented the fact that shows like AnoHana and Hanasku Iroha had some genuinely fun characters in them but, sadly, were painful to watch. So, with a little cajoling from Master Jon, I decided to continue Karen’s benevolent mission.

In the first installment of the Rescue Project, I reference an anime only three people have seen, remember a time when noitaminA aired good shows, balance out a sausage-fest and increase a certain super-robot show’s cougar-count by 100%.

Continue reading →

Bakacast – Melodrama Meltdown

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The end of the spring season is finally here, and Karen and Larry join me to give it a swift kick out the door. Sadly, Glen could not be with us because he overslept was busy fighting alien invaders.

In any case, we were quite happy knowing we’d never have to watch X-Men, AnoHana, and Hanasku Iroha ever again. And yes, I know HanaIro didn’t technically end. A season finale is good enough for me. Steins;Gate is fantastic as always (if rather cruel), but [C] tragically fumbles its finale. Oh well. Maybe the two noitaminA shows coming out this summer will make up for the past four that have been on that block. And no matter what happens, we’ll at least have My Little Pony.

In the news segment, we briefly touch on the Thundercats remake and Warren Ellis’ involvement with the crummy Marvel adaptations. Then we answer a couple of listener questions and close out the episode discussing what summer shows we’ll be watching. Try and guess which one we’re checking out just to mock. It shouldn’t be too hard.

We cover:

If you would like to submit listener questions for a future episode, you can email them to bakacast[at]projectharuhi.net, @reply them to Project Haruhi’s Twitter account using the hashtag #bakacast, or leave them in the comments below.

Bakacast – Hate-chan’s Counterattack

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This week, we bring in Bakacast power-listener and Universal Century super-fan Hate-chan to help us discuss the Mobile Suit Gundam remake. Continuing the mecha theme, we then wonder how many people will actually be crazy enough to buy the phenomenally overpriced Evangelion wine.

Then, in the “Whatcha Been Doing?” segment, I talk for far too long about video games, as is customary. It’s about The Witcher 2, though, so at least it’s a game I enjoy this time.

In the reviews segment, we have our first “proper” review of Soft Tennis courtesy of Karen, Larry and Glen; Gosick makes us scratch our heads even more than it usually does; Steins;Gate ends with a literal bang; and [C] goes all Madoka Magica on us. Also, we begin our retroactive review of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic season one. Our conclusion? It really sucks to be an Earth Pony, and Princess Celestia is a troll.

We cover:

If you would like to submit listener questions for a future episode, you can email them to bakacast[at]projectharuhi.net, @reply them to Project Haruhi’s Twitter account using the hashtag #bakacast, or leave them in the comments below.

Bakacast – Daddy;Issues

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Karen got hit by a nasty cold and wasn’t feeling well enough to come on the podcast (how dare she prioritize her health over talking to some jerks about anime), so we asked frequent-guest Thomas to be our fourth host so we wouldn’t feel so lonely.

As usual, I use our “Whatcha Been Doin'” segment to talk about videogames, specifically Duke Nukem Forever and how terrible it is. Spoiler: it’s pretty terrible. We also bring back the news segment to discuss Zac Bertschy’s High School of the Dead review. Turns out it’s one of those rare gems that can actually be improved by the Manga Entertainment method of dubbing.

Speaking of things that are hilariously stupid, Glen, Thomas and I give our impressions on the episodes of Soft Tennis we managed to watch, pick apart X-Men, wonder how much more dumb Ohana of Hanasaku Iroha can possibly get, and console ourselves with the fact that AnoHana is almost over.

Also, we tackle the (not-so-anymore-)controversial question of what is anime, really?

We cover:

  • 2:53 – Whatcha Been Doin’
  • 11:21 – News stories
  • 16:33 – Soft Tennis general impressions
  • 23:56 – Gosick #21
  • 30:46 – X-Men #10
  • 35:44 – Hanasaku Iroha #11
  • 44:01 – Steins;Gate #11
  • 52:48 – AnoHana #9
  • 59:14 – [C] #9
  • 1:06:05 – Listener questions

If you would like to submit listener questions for a future episode, you can email them to bakacast[at]projectharuhi.net, @reply them to Project Haruhi’s Twitter account using the hashtag #bakacast, or leave them in the comments below.

Bakacast – Suddenly, Plot Appears!

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Sadly, Karen could not be with us for the entire podcast, because she has actual work to accomplish. To mitigate that issue, we rearranged our reviewing schedule a bit. Don’t be afraid! It’s only temporary! We’ll return to normalcy next week.

This week, we have the pleasure of reviewing the fifth Break Blade OVA, which makes a return to greatness after the lackluster fourth episode. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for X-Men, as the final half of episode 9 brings it back to the levels of terrible we expect from the show. Oh well. At least X-Men: First Class is decent.

We cover:

  • 2:08 – What we’ve been doin’
  • 12:35 – X-Men #9
  • 20:50 – Steins;Gate #10
  • 29:40 – Hanasaku Iroha #10
  • 38:14 – Break Blade #5
  • 47:23 – Gosick #20
  • 51:29 – AnoHana #8
  • 59:12 – [C] #8
  • 1:07:17 – Listener questions

If you would like to submit listener questions for a future episode, you can email them to bakacast[at]projectharuhi.net, @reply them to Project Haruhi’s Twitter account using the hashtag #bakacast, or leave them in the comments below.

Or if, like Hate-Chan, you want to write the occasional article for Project Haruhi, you can e-mail a writing sample to Jon at  ryoko[at]projectharuhi.net.