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 Briefs – Dude, Where’s My Zombie?

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Jon was feeling sick and Chris was out of town, so it’s just Glen, Larry, Jeagle and me on this episode of Bakacast Briefs. Glen and I do most of the talking during the first half, where we review Break Blade, a suprisingly zombie-free episode of HOTD and Occult Academy. Then we turn the podcast over to Larry and Jeagle so they can talk about what is basically the finale of K-ON!!. We end the show with Twitter questions and uncontrollable laughter, just like a cheesy 80s sitcom. Far out!

This episode covers:

  • Break Blade #2
  • Highschool of the Dead #11
  • Occult Academy #11
  • K-ON!! #24

A list of our Bakacast Affiliates can be found here. Be sure to check out their blogs!

[Music used in this episode is “Game Boy Rock” by Wizwars.]

Bakacast Briefs – May The Quartz Be With You

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Despite the allure of Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep, I managed to get this podcast out in a somewhat timely fashion. See? Sometimes miracles really do happen.

Anyway, in this episode we skip the news in favor of two extra reviews: Chris and Larry talk about Working!!,and everyone debates the strengths and weaknesses of Broken Blade (or Break Blade, if you want to be a title purist). We keep our griping about Highschool of the Dead to a bare (Haha! Get it?) minimum so we can quickly move on to more interesting things. Like how awesome it would be to live like a Pokemon trainer.

Anime covered in this episode:

  • Working!! (entire series)
  • Broken Blade #1
  • Highschool of the Dead #10
  • Occult Academy #10
  • K-ON!! #22 and #23

A list of our Bakacast Affiliates can be found here. Be sure to check out their blogs!

[Music used in this episode is “Broken Machine” by Trace Dragon XVI K.]

Bakacast Briefs – Chupacabra Attack!

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On this episode of Bakacast Briefs, we take an trip to Bizarro World, where the only show that manages to impress us is Highschool of the Dead. Of course, it doesn’t impress for any good reasons, but still. Weird, huh?

Anyway, in addition to the reviews, we briefly discuss a minor controversy concerning an ad for an Arizona sushi bar and answer some very strange Twitter questions from our faithful listeners.

The shows we talk about, as usual, are:

  • Highschool of the Dead #8 (sadly, the infamous supersonic boob scene video was taken down off YouTube)
  • Occult Academy #8
  • K-ON!! #21

[Music used in this episode is “S U P E R S C A R Y” by The Kiffness.]

Review: Highschool of the Dead 7

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lol BOOBIES!!!!!!

Let me tell you something about myself that you may not know: I don’t like living in a bubble. I tend to browse other anime forums and blogs, because I like seeing what other critics have to say about the shows I’m watching. Often times I’ll find at least one intelligently-stated point that I didn’t think of, which is always a fun experience for me. However, as I was looking over comments about Highschool of the Dead, I noticed that there tends to be a pattern in the backlash toward negative reviews. Some fans believe reviewers like me aren’t being fair to the show.

“Why are you judging it so harshly?” they ask. “It’s not supposed to be deep or meaningful or smart. It’s trying to be silly, flashy fun!”

And you know what? Maybe they have a point. Maybe I’m approaching the show all wrong. I mean, if its goal is to be shallow, pandering, inconsistent and misogynistic, then why should I criticize it for hitting the mark?

Truly, I have seen the light; and to celebrate my epiphany, I’m making this review an extra-special one. I’ve decided to put as much effort into it as the writers of Highschool of the Dead put into their show.

*ahem*

It’s stupid, it sucks, and I hate it.

…

What? You want to know why I don’t like HotD #7? You think what I wrote is far too brief and vague to be of any use at all as a review?

Well of course my review is shallow, boring and worthless. It’s supposed to be! Since I’ve clearly met my goals perfectly, it wouldn’t be fair to post negative opinions about it.

Suck it, critics!

Bakacast Briefs – Bang Bang! Boobies!

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Have we mentioned breasts yet? We have? Okay, just making sure. It seems like a pretty good way to get a bunch of listeners.

Anyway, we start of this week’s podcast by talking about the most popular anime and video game names Japanese parents give their kids. Though we each had different favorites, we all agreed that it would be super awkward to name your daughter after a character you own a wallscroll of.

After that, we take on:

There’s no Sengoku Basara 2 review today, because I’m an idiot and forgot to watch the most recent episode. GO ME!

[The music used in this episode is “TV Games” by The Kiffness.]

Review: Highschool of the Dead 6

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"Hold on, Takashi. I think I see a quarter."

So, remember when I said last week’s episode of Highschool of the Dead was the worst one yet? Allow me to amend that statement.

Episode 6 is even worse, by a large margin. It’s misogynistic, insulting, stupid, and some of it doesn’t even make sense. In was a complete and utter waste of my time, and I probably lost a few hundred brain cells just watching it. I kid you not, it’s quite possibly one of the worst episodes of any anime I’ve ever seen. And that’s counting Angel Cop.

So if you really want to know why HotD has inspired such rage in me, click the jump.

Continue reading →

Bakacast Briefs – Put Ya Guns On!

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ARE YOU READY GUYS?

Now that I’m back from my vacation, I can finally inject some much-needed silliness (and bromance) into the podcast with Sengoku Basara 2. There’s no news for this week, so you might notice that all that pent up discussion energy causes us to GET SERIOUS about…well…every show we talk about. So if you decide to listen, I hope you like arguments about world-building theory. Otherwise, you’ll need LOTS OF LUCK to make it through.

We take on:

You may notice I’m more forgiving of HotD #5 in the podcast than I am in my review. Funny how time makes the heart hate stronger, isn’t it?

Anyway, we like hearing from you, so feel free to leave a comment or two. Just don’t get SO CRAZY that the mods have to BREAK IT UP.

…okay, I’m done now.

[The opening and ending music is “Boy Walks Girl to Work and is Followed by a Ghost” by .hnz]

Review: Highschool of the Dead 5

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DRAMATIC TEAM POSE!

The fifth episode of Highschool of the Dead is a perfect example of how to kill your momentum. Even though I may not have liked all of the previous episodes, I think they did a good job of slowly building the tension and scope of the zombie epidemic. By contrast, this week’s episode meanders toward the resolutions of problems that were brought up last week. It doesn’t help that the writing is a mixed bag of good, mediocre and terrible characterizations. These problems combine to create what is arguably the worst episode of the series so far.

I’ll explain why after the jump.

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Bakacast Briefs – Zombies Suck

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The second episode of Bakacast Briefs is here, proving we can keep a schedule as long as we set realistic goals.

You can download it directly, subscribe to our RSS feed, or let iTunes do all the work for you.

Chris is back from being a responsible adult, so he joins us for this episode. We talk about:

Jon’s going to give Seitokai one more episode, but in the future we’ll probably narrow our focus to more detailed discussions of just three shows: Highschool of the Dead, Occult Academy and Sengoku Basara 2.

The music used in this episode is “Cloud Caller” by rhodo4.

Also, the first Bakacast Briefs post was updated to include the music credit for that episode, so check that post again if you were wondering what I used.

Review: Highschool of the Dead 2

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Revenge of the nerds.

After the thrashing I gave the first episode of Highschool of the Dead, I wasn’t really expecting much from the series. Madhouse seemed to be focusing far too much effort on the fanservice for my tastes. However, I did hold on to a shred of hope that the absurdity of the first episode was partially a ploy to attract viewers who may not have bothered with it. I don’t like what that sort of strategy implies about anime fans, but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t have some basis in reality.

Thankfully, if episode two is any indication, my theory seems to be correct. This episode was more entertaining and significantly less insulting to my intelligence than the first. I’ll explain in detail after the jump.

Continue reading →