Advertise on podcast: Japanimation Station Season 6 - TOMINO-THON!

We are back for the second half of our Tomino-Thon, and we’re diving in with one of Tomino Yoshiyuki’s most legendary and defining works as a director: 1985’s Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, the sequel to the series that changed anime forever, and the first expansion of Gundam into a larger ongoing franchise. We reviewed Zeta Gundam years ago as an early episode of our Weekly Suit Gundam podcast, but this series is so central in Tomino’s filmography, and our podcast has evolved so much since then, that we decided to take this opportunity to re-review the series from scratch, over two exciting episodes! In this week’s show, we’re covering the history behind the creation of Zeta Gundam and discussing the first 23 episodes, while the rest of the series, including its absolutely extraordinary final stretch of episodes, is up next week. What better way to kick off the Gundam-heavy second half of our marathon Tomino season! Enjoy, and come back next week as we finish our Zeta Gundam re-review with episodes 24-50! Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:38 Intro and History: 0:01:37 – 2:01:03 Eyecatch Break: 2:01:03 – 2:01:47 Zeta Gundam Part 1 Review: 2:01:47 – 3:35:47 End Theme: 3:35:47 – 3:37:52 Listen to our original Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam review on episode 7 of Weekly Suit Gundam from August 2019 – https://youtu.be/C7CnXtCtjxc?si=RWYBYb2W9Z30a_HG Subscribe to our YouTube channels! Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation  Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com  Subscribe to PURELY ACADEMIC, our monthly variety podcast about movies, video games, TV, and more: https://purelyacademic.simplecast.com Follow Japanimation Station on Instagram and Threads @JapanimationStationPodhttps://www.instagram.com/japanimationstationpod/ Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK  “Tominoson-G Mk. V” – Music by Thomas Lack, Lyrics by Sean Chapman, featuring Hatsune Miku & KAITO. “The World You See” – Music & Lyrics by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com

This month marks the 60th anniversary of the premiere of Japan’s most iconic tokusatsu franchise: ULTRAMAN! Created by the legendary special effects wizards at Tsuburaya Productions, Ultraman premiered on July 17th, 1966, and has been a phenomenon in Japan and around the world ever since. To mark the occasion, today we’re taking a look at 15 episodes from 5 different Ultraman series directed by the series’ most infamous filmmaker: the one and only Jissōji Akio, whose bizarre and innovative camerawork has proved an indelible influence on generation of Japanese filmmakers, including famous anime auteurs like Neon Genesis Evangelion’s Anno Hideaki. It’s some of the most inspired, bravura directing ever seen on television, and whether you’re a longtime Ultraman super-fan (like Sean) or a relative newcomer (like Jonathan), you will have a blast watching these amazing episodes.  TIME CHART: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:14 Intro: 0:01:14 – 0:21:18 Ultraman History: 0:21:18 – 0:46:30 Ultraman ‘66 Episodes: 0:46:30 – 1:40:08 Ultraseven Episodes: 1:40:08 – 2:23:02 Ultraman Tiga Episodes: 2:23:02 – 2:48:40 Ultraman Dyna Episode: 2:48:40 – 3:03:18 Ultraman Max Episode: 3:03:18 – 3:28:24 The full list of episodes we watched for this podcast:  ULTRAMAN (1966) - Episodes 14 (The Pearl Defense Directive), 15 (Terrifying Cosmic Rays), 22 (Overthrow the Surface), 23 (My Home is Earth), 34 (A Gift from the Sky), and 35 (The Monster Graveyard) ULTRASEVEN (1967) - Episodes 8 (The Marked Town), 12 (From Another Planet with Love), 43 (Nightmare of Planet No. 4) and 45 (The Saucers Have Come)  ULTRAMAN TIGA (1997) - Episodes 37 (Flower) and 40 (Dream) ULTRAMAN DYNA (1998) - Episode 38 (Kaiju Play)  ULTRAMAN MAX (2005) - Episodes 22 (Butterfly Dream) and 24 (The Unmarked Town) Subscribe to our YouTube channels!  Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation   Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com Follow Japanimation Station on Instagram and Threads @JapanimationStationPod https://www.instagram.com/japanimationstationpod/ Subscribe to PURELY ACADEMIC, our monthly variety podcast about movies, video games, TV, and more: https://purelyacademic.simplecast.com Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK “Welcome to Japanimation Station” – Music by Thomas Lack, Lyrics by Sean Chapman, featuring Hatsune Miku. “Ice” – Music & Lyrics by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com

For our last episode of Season 6 Part 1, we’re taking a look at the 3 OVA releases for Heavy Metal L-Gaim. Released between 1986 and 1987, the first two offer recap specials of the TV series alongside original comedy shorts, while the third, Full Metal Soldier, is an original story set during the first half of the show, and it’s a real treat if you enjoyed the series as much as we did. Then, we look back on Part 1 of our Tomino-thon with a bunch of fun rankings! We rank each of the 7 shows we reviewed this season, before counting down the craziest Tomino names, best theme songs, and greatest mech designs, as we used to do every year on Weekly Suit Gundam. It’s a very fun, very silly episode, as we take stock of the journey so far before continuing on to the second half of our season this fall.  Enjoy! We’ll be going on a short summer break as we finish Part 2 of our Tomino-thon season – dubbed “The Tears of Time” – which will be premiering this fall for another round of exciting episodes, beginning with Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam!  Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:37 L-Gaim OVAs: 0:01:37 – 0:53:32 Eyecatch Break: 0:53:32 – 0:54:18 Tomino Rankings: 0:54:18 – 2:58:23 End Theme: 2:58:23 – 3:00:33 Subscribe to our YouTube channels!  Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation   Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com Subscribe to PURELY ACADEMIC, our monthly variety podcast about movies, video games, TV, and more: https://purelyacademic.simplecast.com Follow Japanimation Station on Instagram and Threads @JapanimationStationPod https://www.instagram.com/japanimationstationpod/ Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK “Tominoson-G Mk. V” – Music by Thomas Lack, Lyrics by Sean Chapman, featuring Hatsune Miku & KAITO. “The World You See” – Music & Lyrics by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com

The second half of Heavy Metal L-Gaim bucks the trend from Xabungle and Dunbine of Tomino shows that become messier down the home stretch, as this final set of episodes sees Daba Myroad step fully into his role as rebel leader, and the show itself tighten into a more focused, substantive experience. As we come to learn more about the truth of Oldna Posaydal and the fractured politics of Pentagonal World, a number of characters become deeper and richer, and the series reveals itself as something of a narrative and thematic precursor to Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam. With incredible animation, excellent writing, and more of Nagano Mamoru’s outstanding mechanical designs, L-Gaim is a real triumph, and one of our favorite discoveries from this season’s episodes.  Enjoy! And come back next week for our mid-season finale, in which we wrap up Part 1 of our Tomino-Thon by discussing the L-Gaim OVAs, ranking our favorite ridiculous Tomino names, and more!  Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:37 L-Gaim Part 2 Review: 0:01:37 – 1:23:37 Eyecatch Break: 1:23:37 – 1:24:22 L-Gaim Part 2 Review Continued: 1:24:22 – 3:10:30 End Theme: 3:10:30 – 3:12:40 Subscribe to our YouTube channels!  Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation   Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com Subscribe to PURELY ACADEMIC, our monthly variety podcast about movies, video games, TV, and more: https://purelyacademic.simplecast.com Follow Japanimation Station on Instagram and Threads @JapanimationStationPodhttps://www.instagram.com/japanimationstationpod/ Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK “Tominoson-G Mk. V” – Music by Thomas Lack, Lyrics by Sean Chapman, featuring Hatsune Miku & KAITO. “The World You See” – Music & Lyrics by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, a prickly anime veteran named Tomino Yoshiyuki teamed up with a plucky young aniq`mator named Nagano Mamoru, and with a healthy dose of inspiration from an obscure international sci-fi hit called Star Wars, they made one of the most rad mecha anime of the 1980s: Heavy Metal L-Gaim! In these first 26 episodes, we enter Pentagona World and meet our hero, Daba Myroad, as he begins a resistance against Pentagona’s mysterious ruler, Oldna Posaydal. Driven by outstanding and influential mech designs from Nagano and a fun, fleet-footed sense of storytelling, these episodes are perhaps Tomino at his breeziest, but also some of the most entertaining material we’ve watched all season.  Enjoy, and come back next week as we finish L-Gaim with episodes 27 through 54, where the show transforms into something even better… Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:37 Intro and History: 0:01:37 – 1:22:44 Eyecatch Break: 1:22:44 – 1:23:29 L-Gaim Part 1 Review: 1:23:29 – 3:13:37 End Theme: 3:13:37 – 3:15:46 Subscribe to our YouTube channels!  Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation   Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com Subscribe to PURELY ACADEMIC, our monthly variety podcast about movies, video games, TV, and more: https://purelyacademic.simplecast.com Follow Japanimation Station on Instagram and Threads @JapanimationStationPodhttps://www.instagram.com/japanimationstationpod/ Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK “Tominoson-G Mk. V” – Music by Thomas Lack, Lyrics by Sean Chapman, featuring Hatsune Miku & KAITO. “The World You See” – Music & Lyrics by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com

The second installment of the Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway film trilogy is finally here, and it was absolutely worth the five-year wait. The Sorcery of Nymph Circe, based on the second novel of Tomino Yoshiyuki’s Hathaway’s Flash light novel series, is a more complicated, dense, and challenging film than its predecessor, but also one that dives deeper into its characters fractured psyches. And along the way, it presents some of the boldest and most immersive 3D mecha animation we’ve ever seen, building to a climax that is absolutely staggering in both aesthetic and emotional impact. We also discuss several pieces of recent Gundam news, including new projects announced for the worlds of Gundam Wing and Gundam SEED.  Enjoy, and if you haven’t already been listening to Japanimation Station this season, be sure to check-in for our Tomino-thon, where we’re surveying all the works in the career of original Gundam creator Tomino Yoshiyuki!   Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:00:59 Intro & Initial Reactions: 0:00:59 – 0:09:20 Gundam News: 0:09:20 – 0:35:21 Film Background Info: 0:35:21 – 1:20:22 Eyecatch Break: 1:20:22 – 1:21:10 Circe Review: 1:21:10 – 2:48:15 End Theme: 2:48:15 – 2:49:17 Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com Subscribe to PURELY ACADEMIC, our monthly variety podcast about movies, video games, TV, and more: https://purelyacademic.simplecast.com Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK Subscribe to our YouTube channels!  Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation   Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff Original Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/

The second half of Aura Battler Dunbine is one of the most fascinating and divisive stretches of Tomino Yoshiyuki’s career. After a killer set of episodes following the deepening conflict in Byston Well, the series’ action shifts to Upper Earth – our world – for the final cours, an increasingly brutal and bleak set of episodes that frustrates some viewers even as it invigorates others. That divide is seen between our two hosts on today’s show, as Jonathan found the series overly repetitive and static down the home stretch, while Sean defends it as a potent story of wartime intransigence. Wherever one comes down, though, it’s clear Dunbine is a series worth grappling with and talking about. It’s utterly unique, stirringly directed, and if nothing else, it introduced us to a certain Bostonian named Todd Guinness – and you might want to stay through the end of the episode to hear more about him.   Enjoy, and come back next week as we begin our adventures with Heavy Metal L-Gaim, covering episodes 1 through 26!  Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:37 Dunbine Part 2 Review: 0:01:37 – 1:31:44 Eyecatch Break: 1:31:44 – 1:32:28 Dunbine Part 2 Review Continued: 1:32:28 – 3:05:37 BEYOND THE TODD: 3:05:37 – 3:11:08 Subscribe to our YouTube channels!  Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation   Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com Subscribe to PURELY ACADEMIC, our monthly variety podcast about movies, video games, TV, and more: https://purelyacademic.simplecast.com Follow Japanimation Station on Instagram and Threads @JapanimationStationPodhttps://www.instagram.com/japanimationstationpod/ Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK “Tominoson-G Mk. V” – Music by Thomas Lack, Lyrics by Sean Chapman, featuring Hatsune Miku & KAITO. “BEYOND THE TODD” – Produced by Thomas Lack, featuring KAITO & Hatsune Miku, based on “BEYOND THE TIME” by TM Network. https://www.thomaslack.com

Grab your motorcycle, hop on the aura road, and cross between the sea and the shore to join us in Byston Well, where we’ll be spending the next 2 weeks with Aura Battler Dunbine! One of Tomino’s most audacious, ahead-of-its-time creations, Dunbine anticipates the popularity of the isekai genre decades later with the story of Show Zama, a young man from our earth who falls into the high fantasy setting of Byston Well, and becomes embroiled in warlord Drake Luft’s bloody conquest. Reminiscent of many later fantasy-driven anime, but extremely different than all of them, Dunbine is absolutely one-of-a-kind, as proven by these first 19 episodes, which climax with one of the most virtuosic stretches of Tomino’s career.  Enjoy, and come back next week as we finish Aura Battler Dunbine with episodes 20 through 49!  Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:37 Intro and History: 0:01:37 – 1:10:55 Eyecatch Break: 1:10:55 – 1:11:36 Dunbine Part 1 Review: 1:11:36 – 3:16:54 End Theme: 3:16:54 – 3:19:04 Subscribe to our YouTube channels!  Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation   Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com Subscribe to PURELY ACADEMIC, our monthly variety podcast about movies, video games, TV, and more: https://purelyacademic.simplecast.com Follow Japanimation Station on Instagram and Threads @JapanimationStationPodhttps://www.instagram.com/japanimationstationpod/ Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK “Tominoson-G Mk. V” – Music by Thomas Lack, Lyrics by Sean Chapman, featuring Hatsune Miku & KAITO. “The World You See” – Music & Lyrics by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com

The second half of Combat Mecha Xabungle – episodes 27 through 50 – plays like a second season, with the action moving to Planet Zola’s snowy tundra, a new group of characters arriving on the scene in the form of the freedom-fighting Salt crew, and the kidnapping of the Iron Gear’s captain, Elchi Cargo, leading to a new set of stakes for the series’ second half. It doesn’t all work, as Xabungle falls into some unfortunately repetitive patterns down the home stretch, blunting some of the great character work and world-building done in the first. But these episodes are not without their considerable high points, and if nothing else, the compilation movie – Xabungle Grafitti – is one of the weirder such films we’ve ever looked at. If the journey matters more than the destination, then Xabungle is definitely a journey we’re happy to have taken.  Enjoy, and come back next week as we cross through the aura road and enter the world of Byston Well with the first 19 episodes of Aura Battler Dunbine!  Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:37 Xabungle Part 2 Review: 0:01:37 – 1:02:42 Eyecatch Break: 1:02:42 – 1:02:23 Xabungle Part 2 Review Continued: 1:02:23 – 2:10:37 End Theme: 2:10:37 – 2:12:46 Subscribe to our YouTube channels!  Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation   Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com Subscribe to PURELY ACADEMIC, our monthly variety podcast about movies, video games, TV, and more: https://purelyacademic.simplecast.com Follow Japanimation Station on Instagram and Threads @JapanimationStationPodhttps://www.instagram.com/japanimationstationpod/ Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK “Tominoson-G Mk. V” – Music by Thomas Lack, Lyrics by Sean Chapman, featuring Hatsune Miku & KAITO. “The World You See” – Music & Lyrics by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com

Beginning an historic, uninterrupted run of 5 back-to-back 50-episode anime series airing from 1982 to 1987, Combat Mecha Xabungle marks an exciting turning point in Tomino Yoshiyuki’s career. After really giving his ‘Kill ‘em All’ ethos a workout on Space Runaway Ideon, Tomino set himself a very different challenge with Xabungle: What if this could be a ‘Nobody Dies’ show? The result is a vibrant mecha action comedy set in what is basically the wild west (albeit on the planet Zola), with a ragtag cast of vibrant characters battling their way through some of Tomino’s richest and most intriguing world-building. In this week’s conversation, we look at the history of the show and discuss the first 26 episodes, which we found to be absolutely delightful from top to bottom.  Enjoy, and come back next week as we finish Xabungle with episodes 27-50 and the compilation movie, Xabungle Grafitti!  Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:37 Intro and History: 0:01:37 – 1:29:51 Eyecatch Break: 1:29:51 – 1:30:33 Xabungle Part 1 Review: 1:30:33 – 3:11:35  End Theme: 3:11:35 – 3:13:50 Subscribe to our YouTube channels!  Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation   Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com Subscribe to PURELY ACADEMIC, our monthly variety podcast about movies, video games, TV, and more: https://purelyacademic.simplecast.com Follow Japanimation Station on Instagram and Threads @JapanimationStationPodhttps://www.instagram.com/japanimationstationpod/ Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK “Tominoson-G Mk. V” – Music by Thomas Lack, Lyrics by Sean Chapman, featuring Hatsune Miku & KAITO. “The World You See” – Music & Lyrics by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com

Many years before Anno Hideaki remade the ending to his audacious but unfinished sci-fi TV series with an avant-garde theatrical tour-de-force in The End of Evangelion, Tomino Yoshiyuki blazed the trail with The Ideon: Be Invoked, providing the full ending Space Runaway Ideon never got on television in spectacular (and spectacularly violent) fashion. Alongside its companion film, A Contact – which recaps the story of the TV series – Be Invoked completes the Ideon experience in the most purely Tomino ways imaginable, with incredibly intense action, an absolutely astonishing amount of bloodletting, and, in the end, a transcendental vision of collective human consciousness breaking free from these shackles we call bodies. It is one of the darkest, strangest, and most spectacularly produced anime films of all time, a crucial step not just in the career of Tomino Yoshiyuki, but in the history of Japanese animation itself.  Enjoy, and come back next week for something completely different: Tomino’s delightful Western mecha comedy Combat Mecha Xabungle!  Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:37 History and A Contact Review: 0:01:37 – 1:03:44 Eyecatch Break: 1:03:44 – 1:04:28  Be Invoked Review: 1:04:28 – 3:17:29 End Theme: 3:17:29 – 3:19:43  Subscribe to our YouTube channels!  Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation   Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcßast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com Subscribe to PURELY ACADEMIC, our monthly variety podcast about movies, video games, TV, and more: https://purelyacademic.simplecast.com Follow Japanimation Station on Instagram and Threads @JapanimationStationPodhttps://www.instagram.com/japanimationstationpod/ Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK “Tominoson-G Mk. V” – Music by Thomas Lack, Lyrics by Sean Chapman, featuring Hatsune Miku & KAITO. “The World You See” – Music & Lyrics by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com

It’s finally time to discuss what is almost certainly Tomino’s best-known and most widely renowned work outside the world of Gundam: 1980’s Space Runaway Ideon, the 39-episode TV series that begins with a relatively similar premise to Mobile Suit Gundam – a ragtag crew of space colonists flee an invading army, with a mysterious and powerful mecha in tow – before quickly spinning into much stranger, darker, and more philosophical territory. In fact, Ideon might be something closer to a horror anime than a traditional mecha show. But however one defines it, Ideon is undoubtedly one of Tomino’s finest hours, bold and brutal and artistically extraordinary at every turn. For today’s show, we look specifically at the original TV series, which ends abruptly (albiet distinctively); on next week’s episode, we’ll look at the two films Tomino and Sunrise produced in 1981 to recap and ultimately finish the story. The Ideon is simply way too big to contain in a single episode.   Enjoy, and come back next week for our review of The Ideon movies: A Contact and Be Invoked!   Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:37 Intro and History: 0:01:37 – 1:24:34 Eyecatch Break: 1:24:34 – 1:25:17  Ideon TV Series Review: 1:25:17 – 3:56:28 End Theme: 3:56:28 – 3:58:38  Subscribe to our YouTube channels!  Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation   Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com Subscribe to PURELY ACADEMIC, our monthly variety podcast about movies, video games, TV, and more: https://purelyacademic.simplecast.com Follow Japanimation Station on Instagram and Threads @JapanimationStationPodhttps://www.instagram.com/japanimationstationpod/ Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK “Tominoson-G Mk. V” – Music by Thomas Lack, Lyrics by Sean Chapman, featuring Hatsune Miku & KAITO. “The World You See” – Music & Lyrics by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com

Considering Japanimation Station started its life in 2019 as Weekly Suit Gundam – which itself started with a six-part podcast miniseries following Sean and Jonathan discussing every aspect of the original Mobile Suit Gundam series from 1979 – it’s safe to say we’ve already reviewed the legendary ‘First Gundam’ on this show. So for today’s episode, we’re doing something a bit different to celebrate the most crucial turning point in the career of Tomino Yoshiyuki: Narrating the history of the series from its conception through the release of the Gundam movie trilogy, which heralded the dawn of a ‘New Anime Era.’ It’s our most scripted episode to date, as we share original research and writing on the creation and historical impact of Gundam, while also making space to discuss how we see the show itself in the light of our ongoing ‘Tomino-thon’ project. Even if you’ve heard us talk about Gundam many times before, this is an episode you won’t want to miss.  Enjoy, and come back next week as we look at the original 39 episodes of 1980’s Space Runaway Ideon!  Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:37 The Making of Gundam ‘79: 0:01:37 – 1:39:41 Eyecatch Break: 1:39:41 – 1:40:27 Dawn of the New Anime Era: 1:40:27 – 2:10:38  End Theme: 2:10:38 – 2:12:47  Subscribe to our YouTube channels!  Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation   Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com Subscribe to PURELY ACADEMIC, our monthly variety podcast about movies, video games, TV, and more: https://purelyacademic.simplecast.com Follow Japanimation Station on Instagram and Threads @JapanimationStationPodhttps://www.instagram.com/japanimationstationpod/ Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK “Tominoson-G Mk. V” – Music by Thomas Lack, Lyrics by Sean Chapman, featuring Hatsune Miku & KAITO. “The World You See” – Music & Lyrics by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com

“Exhilaration, humor, and pathos” – these are the three pillars Tomino Yoshiyuki outlined in a pre-production memo for the series that became 1978’s Invincible Steel Man Daitarn 3. And the 40-episode show that followed very much fulfilled those goals, as this blend of super robot and Kamen Rider-style super hero action – also taking copious influence from the worlds of Star Wars and James Bond – is a fun and, in the end, surprisingly impactful series. It’s also the show where Tomino drilled down and learned how to perfect an episodic TV formula, telling a different and distinct story every week. While it gets off to a slow start, Daitarn 3 gets better and better as it goes on, building to a finale that proves to be one of Tomino’s finest directorial efforts, and which signals the full artistic flourishing of the man who would create Gundam.  Enjoy, and come back next week as we arrive at the dawn of the new anime era: 1979’s legendary Mobile Suit Gundam!  Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:37 Intro and History: 0:01:37 – 1:27:25 Eyecatch Break: 1:27:25 – 1:28:10  Daitarn 3 Review: 1:28:10 – 2:41:53 End Theme: 2:41:53 – 2:44:02  Subscribe to our YouTube channels!  Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation   Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com Subscribe to PURELY ACADEMIC, our monthly variety podcast about movies, video games, TV, and more: https://purelyacademic.simplecast.com Follow Japanimation Station on Instagram and Threads @JapanimationStationPodhttps://www.instagram.com/japanimationstationpod/ Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK “Tominoson-G Mk. V” – Music by Thomas Lack, Lyrics by Sean Chapman, featuring Hatsune Miku & KAITO. “The World You See” – Music & Lyrics by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com

Our Tomino-thon reaches its first full review of the season with 1977’s Invincible Super Man Zambot 3, the debut series from a newly independent Sunrise, and the first original show directed in full by Tomino Yoshiyuki. Combining fantastical, episodic ‘super robot’ action with traces of the darker, more psychologically dense storytelling Tomino would eventually be known for, Zambot 3 also sees several members of the future Mobile Suit Gundam team working together for the first time, including character designer Yasuhiko Yoshikazu, mechanical designer Okawara Kunio (who drew the Bandok fortress, the series’ most striking design), and musical composers Watanabe Takeo and Matsuyama Yuji. And it’s the show that would, with its legendarily brutal finale, birth the legend of ‘Kill ‘em All’ Tomino. Enjoy, and come back next week as we meet the suave Haran Banjō in Invincible Steel Man Daitarn 3!  Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:37 Intro and History: 0:01:37 – 0:51:57 Eyecatch Break: 0:51:57 – 0:52:41 Zambot 3 Review: 0:52:41 – 2:24:13 End Theme: 2:24:13 – 2:26:22 Subscribe to our YouTube channels!  Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation   Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com Subscribe to PURELY ACADEMIC, our monthly variety podcast about movies, video games, TV, and more: https://purelyacademic.simplecast.com Follow Japanimation Station on Instagram and Threads @JapanimationStationPod https://www.instagram.com/japanimationstationpod/ Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK “Tominoson-G Mk. V” – Music by Thomas Lack, Lyrics by Sean Chapman, featuring Hatsune Miku & KAITO. “The World You See” – Music & Lyrics by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com