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Several years ago, Six and I huddled around a very tiny desk in a dingy hotel somewhere in New York, recording a goofy pod about the number of Gokus and their percentages. The sound was echoey, but there was a certain manic energy that carried forward to breaking down fighting game rosters with goofy conditions. Not the hardest science, but it was a chance to sit and chat about stuff we care about. We have done these a few times, but all of them over voice chat and a shared document. They were fun, but we never really revisited the concept? But with our moves to around the Upper East Coast, a new opportunity was presented. We got together, shed the requirement for it to be fighting game related, and sat down in the newly made production room in my home late at night in New York to get some of that energy back. I think we did ok! Audio is still echoey, though. We are still working out the kinks. Anyhow, the Legend of Zelda games. Lordy Lordy, look who's forty. While Nintendo wants you to desperately remember some of the most popular video games on the planet - which hey, we are doing the same - there are aspects of these games that are less discussed. Since A Link To The Past many of the games explored the idea of a parallel world, be it a separate timeline or place all together. They all add to the vibe of these games, and we wanted to discuss how we felt about them. We ranked the Dark Worlds of this series, and maybe we make some jokes along the way. Please enjoy. The Scanline Media Discord can be found here! Our outro music is Scene 50 - Lazy Genius Sleuth by Kaneko Kazuki, with gratitude.

Mahjong is a niche favorite around these parts. It's hardly universal amongst our crew, but those of us that like it have some serious affection for the old hand-making tile game. But that's talking about riichi mahjong- the Japanese variant of the game. We have a hesitant, ignorant respect for Chinese mahjong, the original. But American mahjong? Yeah... not much respect for that. But surely a Hallmark movie is our avenue to learning to love America's favorite pasttime*. Join Kyrie, Six, and then our honored guests FlannelKat (@flannel.live on bsky, twitch.tv/flannelkat on Twitch) and Fen (@fenic.moe on bsky, and Fate/moon archive on Abnormal Mapping) for a story of life, love, and mahjong. *surely it's not even in the top 100

Gundam is back in theaters, and so are we! The long-awaited sequel to Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway is here after five years. The Sorcery of Nymph Circe has no less the emphasis on tense conversations and politics than its predecessor, but how does it this time? I will say "not quite the same," but I'm gonna make you listen to the show if you want to hear if that's a good or bad thing.

Previously exclusive to the Scanline Media Patrons, our friend Boo ran into some financial issues and needs your help! Please check her on @boocanan.bsky.social for more information. In the mean time, enjoy a gargantuan deep dive into the Fate/stay Night Remaster! Click the link for the Patreon and a look at the host's character tier lists. Fate/stay night is one of the most significant visual novels around: with three lengthy routes and an unforgettable cast of characters, what started as adult entertainment blossomed into an unstoppable cultural behemoth. A game this significant called for a significant shake-up in the way Novel Not New approaches things, so we brought out the big guns: with our special guest and Fate aficionado boocanan, we spent six whole months recording one big mega-podcast! Please enjoy. Opening Segment Hollow Knight SpikeOut Tengoku Struggle Strayside Wanderstop On Your Tail HASTE: Broken Worlds Timestamps: 0:00:00 - Content Warning 0:00:16 - Intro 0:26:56 - Fate 2:02:52 - Unlimited Blade Works 3:30:08 - Heaven's Feel 4:41:44 - Questions 5:30:48 - Outro

Here we are- Game of the Year. The big finale. We've had quite enough preamble- let's get to it. The Nominees Are: Aotenjo: Infinite Hands of the Devil (Episodes I + II) Dragon Quest I + II HD-2D Remake Dynasty Warriors: Origins Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time Fields of Mistria The Friends of Ringo Ishikawa The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment The Legend of Sword & Fairy Pinfeather Rise of the Ronin Skate Story Sonic x Shadow Generations Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3: Community Edition Unbeatable Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O -World Stage- Our intro and outro music for the Gimmick Awards 2024 is Lay back by Kazuki Kaneko, and our art is a commission from GOMA on Bluesky.

With multiple anime and manga podcasts, it's clear we love this medium a lot. And in 2025 we saw so many cool things. In this penultimate category, we celebrate our favorite anime and manga of the year. The Nominees Are: Apocalypse Hotel The Apothecary Dairies City the Animation Daemons of the Shadow Realm Gosick Knight in One Frame Medalist Red Ranger Isekai Super Dragon Ball Heroes They Were Eleven Umamusume: Pretty Derby - Beginning of a New Era A Wild Last Boss Appeared! Witch Watch The Wonderful World of Puss 'n' Boots Our intro and outro music for the Gimmick Awards 2025 is Lay back by Kazuki Kaneko, and our art is a commission from GOMA on Bluesky.

Time concerns (that proved a bit unnecessary) forced us to compress Minor Character and Major character into one pod, so Minor Character gets a little "one winner no runners up" before the main event! The Best Minor Character Nominees Are: Emma Rockford (of the Devil) Serra (of the Devil) Shiho Kubota (Futari wa Pretty Cure) Darumi Amemiya (The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy) Kyoshika Magadori (The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy) Yugamu Omokage (The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy) Capricorn Undead/"Party Boy John Lennon" (Kamen Rider Blade) Ryoka "Mittens" Miketa (Medalist) Treble (Unbeatable) The Best Major Character Nominees Are: Yachiyo (Apocalypse Hotel) JC Denton (Deus Ex) Morgan (of the Devil) Peronel (Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake) Ringo Ishikawa (The Friends of Ringo Ishikawa) Takumi Sumino (The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy) Kazuma Kenzaki/Kamen Rider Blade (Kamen Rider Blade) Lin Yueru (The Legend of Sword & Fairy) Inori Yuitsuka (Medalist) Senichi "Sen" Enari (Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger) Jungle Pocket (Umamusume Pretty Derby: Beginning of a New Era) Beat (Unbeatable) Quaver (Unbeatable) Nico Wakatsuki (Witch Watch) Our intro and outro music for the Gimmick Awards 2024 is Lay back by Kazuki Kaneko, and our art is a commission from GOMA on Bluesky.

In contrast to Emergent Moment, you don't have to do anything special to experience these. These scripted moments are part of the media below that everyone can see, but that doesn't make them any less special. These moments made us laugh, tear up, and reflect in 2025, and we want to share them with you. Note: Since some of our naming of the moments themselves could be considered a spoiler, listed below are all the works we discuss during the pod. The Nominees Are: Apocalypse Hotel CITY the Animation of the Devil The Friends of Ringo Ishikawa Heavy Metal L-GAIM The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy Medalist Story of Seasons: The Grand Bazaar Super Robot Wars Y They Were Eleven Umamusume: Pretty Derby - Beginning of a New Era Unbeatable Witch Watch With You In The Rain Our intro and outro music for the Gimmick Awards 2025 is Lay back by Kazuki Kaneko, and our art is a commission from GOMA on Bluesky.

The phrasing on this category was tricky. What is an Emergent Moment? Basically, it's to distinguish from a Narrative Moment- our category tomorrow. Rather than scripted, hand-tailored moments, these are moments that occur, or occurred, naturally as a result of the way things have been set up- either in a game or in the world. The Nominees Are: Baby's First Death Trap (Android: Netrunner) Tile Hog (Aotenjo: Infinite Hands) Virtua Fighter 5 Grand Finals (Combo Breaker 2025) Your First Monorail-only Delivery (Death Stranding 2: On the Beach) Sit Back and Let the Points Roll In (Demonic Mahjong) Reading a book (The Friends of Ringo Ishikawa) Perfecting a Wave (The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy) "I Don't Play This Game." (Combo Breaker 2025) Switch Games Feeling Playable Again (Switch 2) Ten Heads In A Row (Unfair Flips) Picross Fever (Picross) Accidentally Eracing Yourself (Shadow of Memories) Infinite Chaos Control (Shadow the Hedgehog) Our intro and outro music for the Gimmick Awards 2024 is Lay back by Kazuki Kaneko, and our art is a commission from GOMA on Bluesky. That's last year's art, we'll have new art for this year soon, so please look forward to that!

We used to call this category "That's My Jam" which is a long forgotten in-joke from our personal Discord server, but unfortunately it was just a little out of step of the way we name these categories now. But rest assured, these songs are JAMS. We had lots of music to choose from this year and it was harder for some to narrow it down. The Nominees Are: "BIRDBRAIN" w/ OK Glass Feat Kasane Teto by Jaime Paige "Bow and Arrow" by Kenshi Yonezu (Medalist) "EMPTYLANDS" by Blood Cultures (Skate Story) "The Girl on a Space Colony" by Yoshimasa Terui (Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX) "KOERU" by Alexandros (Umamusume Cinderella Gray) "L-GAIM: Time for L-Gaim" by Kyohei Tsutsumi (Heavy Metal L-Gaim) "Loner" by peak divide (Unbeatable) "Waiting" by peak divide (Unbeatable) "Maximum Kizuna Kaizer Explodes" by Akira Kushida (The Red Ranger Becomes an Adventurer in Another World) "Scarlet Draw" by Lena Raine (of the Devil) "Zero Summary" by Lena Raine (of the Devil) "Skirt" by AIKO (Apocalypse Hotel) Theme of Lu Bu DW Origins Mix (Dynasty Warriors Origins) "Universe Mission Theme Song" by DRAGON SOUL (Super Dragon Ball Heroes) "Watch Me!" by Yoasobi (Witch Watch) Our intro and outro music for the Gimmick Awards 2025 is Lay back by Kazuki Kaneko, and our art is a commission from GOMA on Bluesky.

There are bad surprises in this world. A lot of them. We are not celebrating those! They don't get their own category, at least this year. Let's talk GOOD surprises. The Nominees Are: Apocalypse Hotel of the Devil Donkey Kong Bananza High School Musical 2 Hollow Knight Silksong Kasane to Subaru Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha The Movie 2nd A's Mini Healer Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire The Red Ranger Becomes An Adventurer in Another World Sonic x Shadow Generations They Were Eleven Umamusume: Beginning of a New Era A Wild Last Boss Appeared! Yu-Gi-Oh! Early Days Collection Our intro and outro music for the Gimmick Awards 2025 is Lay back by Kazuki Kaneko, and our art is a commission from GOMA on Bluesky.

We may have had to combine Best Action Toolkit and Best Fighting Toolkit this year out of time concerns, but that just means a staggering roster of characters that are fun and interesting to play. Behold! The Nominees Are: Donkey Kong (Donkey Kong Bananza) Largo (Dota 2) Yammy Yugi (Dragon Ball FighterZ) Ziluan (Dynasty Warriors: Origins) Revenant (Elden Ring Nightreign) Meg (Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising) Sandalphon (Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising) Wilnas (Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising) Sister Blades, Lim and Oros (Hades II) Hornet (Hollow Knight: Silksong) King Rauru (Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment) Skyraider (Mecha Break) Priest (Mini Healer) Starting Pitcher (MLB The Show 25) Ryu Hayabusa (Ninja Gaiden 2 Black) Pawmot (Pokémon Unite) Mai (Street Fighter 6) Clea (Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3: Community Edition) Juri (Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3: Community Edition) Nero (Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3: Community Edition) Robbie Reyes (Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3: Community Edition) Our intro and outro music for the Gimmick Awards 2025 is Lay back by Kazuki Kaneko, and our art is a commission from GOMA on Bluesky.

Systems are such a special part of games. Sets of rules and features that turn into engines to produce unique outcomes as they crash together. And the mechanics that make up these systems can stand out as truly remarkable. Here are our favorites from the last year. The Nominees Are: Weather (Death Stranding 2: On the Beach) Highroller (of the Devil) Media Literacy Quizzes (of the Devil) Smashing Everything (Donkey Kong Bananza) Duels (Dynasty Warriors: Origins) Voltage / Last Resort (The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy) Team Up Specials (Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment) Live Combat (Pokémon Legends Z-A) Weapon Schools (Rise of the Ronin) Back-to-basics Skating (Skate Story) The Grand Bazaar (Story of Seasons: The Grand Bazaar) Reloading Rules (Suit for Hire) Our intro and outro music for the Gimmick Awards 2025 is Lay back by Kazuki Kaneko, and our art is a commission from GOMA on Bluesky.

In honor of the 25th Anniversary of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, we have a real treat. Originally for the $5 Patrons, we have unlocked one of our longest and most in depth episodes of Novel Not New, and it's available just in time for the spooky season. We hope you enjoy. Ahhh, Majora's Mask. A real odd duck in the Zelda series. There are weirder ones, sure: that Tingle DS game is pretty strange. In its own mundane way, Link's Crossbow Training is quite bizarre. But those are mere spinoffs. Majora's Mask adopts its own weird persona while managing to be a full Zelda game. The first Zelda led by Eiji Aonuma. The one that was gonna be for the 64DD. And for my money, one of the best. Let's see what lies behind the mask. Click here when indicated if you want to watch the 100% No Major Glitches World Record speedrun alongside this podcast for some reason! This Month's Games! The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask This Month's Guest! Kyrie Page (@kyrie.scanlinemedia.com) Next Month's Game! Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty  Next Month's Guest! Allen Ibrahim (@chatzpod.bsky.social) Opening Segment Void Stranger Mobile Suit Gundam U.C. Engage Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless Fate/Samurai Remnant

EPISODES COVERED: Futari wa Pretty Cure 5-6, Tokosou Sentai Dekaranger 5-6, Kamen Rider Blade 5-6 Pretty Cure has a new villain for us. Dekaranger has things to say about capitalism's hunger for oil. Blade has decided to just acknowledge what's going on, and not insult our intelligence. All-in-all, a solid week here on Sunday Henshin Time, where three lineups of transforming heroes face the problems of the week, and rise above. Mostly. Garren does get his butt kicked pretty often. The incredible artwork for Sunday Henshin Time was provided by Cas! To start out, SHT is going up on the Scanline Talks feed, but now it has its own! Here's a link! Our intro music is Scene47 蒼空 ～aoi～ by Kaneko Kazuki, with gratitude.