Key Frames

146 - I Got That Sword in Me

Episode 146 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Did you know it's been ten years, give or take, since we started this podcast? Ten years! So much has changed in anime, in our society, in ourselves... Anyway, we decided that the best way to celebrate (or at least reckon with it all) was to focus on one of the rarer joys of anime, which is watching with friends. Ben finally got Jon to sit through X/1999, perennial spotlight pitch and previous subject of a tween, while Andy and Duncan did a double feature of Princess Mononoke and Umamusume: Pretty Derby - Beginning of a New Era. Are these all movies we've talked to death already? Yes. Are they worth talking about even more with the spice of in-person viewing added? Yes! So settle in for a double feature of our podcast, and don't stop playback when Ben and Jon sign off, because we've got so much more to offer. Here's to ten more years! The post 146 - I Got That Sword in Me first appeared on Key Frames.

145- Stuck in a Hole

Episode 145 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. You know how it is. You're resting on your day off, thinking vaguely about whether you should pop on a movie or call up a friend to grab a drink, but then a notification pings on your phone. It's the podcast, and they need you to talk about the summer 2025 anime season! Though you're completely alone in your dingy apartment, you nonetheless find yourself groaning audibly. Summer 2025? The new season, with all the sequels? Well, except for a few anime originals like Turkey! -Time to Strike- and Necronomico and the Cosmic Horror Show... Still, what exactly are you going to do, argue about CITY the Animation being overproduced with Ben and Jon? Defend the apparent sadism of Takopi's Original Sin like Andy and Duncan? It all just feels so pointless. Besides, you weren't even supposed to be here today! The post 145- Stuck in a Hole first appeared on Key Frames.

144 - Jon Honks Like a Goose at 38:47

Episode 144 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. The thing about podcasting is that you get very, very accustomed to listening to yourself speak in a way that I don't think the average individual ever does. For most people, hearing their own voice coming back to them elicits feelings of confusion and dislocation—think of the instant chaos that a feedback echo on a Zoom call causes—but for me, at this point, it has almost become a conversation with myself across time. I remember when I first started listening back to our earliest episodes, having forgotten most of what we talked about long ago, and found myself making the same observations, the same emendations, even the same jokes, usually milliseconds before the recorded me did the same. Do I just have that consistent of a sense of self? Or am I merely too boring to change, even after so many years and dozens more anime watched in that time? Anyway, Ben, Duncan, and Jon talk about spring 2025 anime and Jon makes a remarkably anatid noise while Duncan's dumping all over Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX. Enjoy! The post 144 - Jon Honks Like a Goose at 38:47 first appeared on Key Frames.

143 - Airplane Legs

Episode 143 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. You know, I think I'm tired of us being so timely with our episode topics. It was bad enough to be talking about the personal and postmodern apocalypses of Inio Asano immediately after the election, but now I have to come up with a lighthearted blurb about our discussion of anime's obsession with military hardware and the aesthetics of making war while watching the winner of that election send up what amounts to a trial balloon for the imposition of martial law. It's a bummer! But not the same kind of bummer as watching Strike Witches in 2025, I suppose. Anyway, tune in to hear Ben, Duncan, and Jon talk about all sorts of guns and tanks and planes and uniforms! Also, Ben finally finished Xam'd and Jon sticks up for Witch Watch. The post 143 - Airplane Legs first appeared on Key Frames.

142 - The Poisoned Chalice

Episode 142 of Key Frames, a podcast about anime. Watching Medalist this season and pondering the bluntness of its title made me realize that we don't give out enough recognition and awards for the accomplishments that make up our day-to-day life. Ben finally finished Mobile Suit Gundam: 08th MS Team? Bronze medal. Duncan found something philosophically moving in Orb: On the Movements of the Earth? Silver medal. Andy only saw the Hypnosis Mic -Division Rap Battle- movie in theaters once, instead of four times like his wife? Gold medal. Jon completes a hat trick of podcast appearances and keeping up with Fire Force? Platinum medal. Are those a thing? Video games taught me that platinum medals are a thing. Anyway, give the episode a listen and you can be a winner, too! We'll mail you a ribbon or something. The post 142 - The Poisoned Chalice first appeared on Key Frames.