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We've finished Wish Upon the Pleiades which means we can finally lay Gainax to rest. Was their final produced anime any good? Was it way too straight for our liking? Did it make us want to go out an purchase a Subaru? Listen to find out!Anime Discussed: Wish Upon the Pleiades 7-12Next time: Akira + our year rankingsSend us your questions! You can email us at [email protected] or DM us on twitter @underthekotatsu and on bluesky @underthekotatsu.bsky.social

Today's episode is brought to you by your local Subaru dealer! Just kidding, but we are starting the Subaru and Gainax (RIP) co-produced anime Wish Upon the Pleiades. Is this a sleeper hit of a magical girl show or just blatant advertising? Or perhaps something else entirely? Let's find out!Anime Discussed: Wish Upon the Pleiades 1-6Next time: Wish Upon the Pleiades 7-12Send us your questions! You can email us at [email protected] or DM us on twitter @underthekotatsu and on bluesky @underthekotatsu.bsky.social

We're finishing off our run on Patlabor with a trio of offerings. First there's the main event, Patlabor WXIII, the last of the theatrical animated films and an often overlooked and underappreciated part of the series. Then there's MiniPato, the short form experimental parody anime, and last (and probably least) there's Patlabor Reboot, the 2016 proof of concept for a modern Patlabor series that's finally going to see its actualization in the upcoming Patlabor EZY. Anime Discussed: Patlabor the Movie 3, MiniPato, and Patlabor Reboot Next time: Wish Upon the Pleiades 1-6 Send us your questions! You can email us at [email protected] or DM us on twitter @underthekotatsu and on bluesky @underthekotatsu.bsky.social

It was all leading to this. One Patlabor work stands high above the rest: Mamoru Oshii's Patlabor 2. Join us as we talk about the films big thematic ideas, the masterful soundtrack from Kenji Kawaii, both the showy and subtle animation, the historical context the film was released in, and much more. Folks, they really don't make 'em like they used to.Anime Discussed: Patlabor 2: The MovieNext time: WXIII: Patlabor the Movie 3, MiniPato, and Patlabor RebootSend us your questions! You can email us at [email protected] or DM us on twitter @underthekotatsu and on bluesky @underthekotatsu.bsky.social

With the OVAS out of the way, it's time to dig into the Patlabor movies, starting with Patlabor: The Movie! This movie has a lot of what the OVAs felt lacking, and then some: a lot more character interactions, intrigue, and action, not to mention it looks and sounds incredible. Join us as we dig into another Mamoru Oshii banger.Anime Discussed: Patlabor: The MovieNext time: Patlabor 2: The MovieSend us your questions! You can email us at [email protected] or DM us on twitter @underthekotatsu and on bluesky @underthekotatsu.bsky.social

We're finally scratching a big one off of Austin's personal list, and diving into Patlabor! Unfortunately for Danny and Danielle who haven't seen any Patlabor before, that means doing the prep work of watching the mostly good, but not great OVAs before getting to the real high points of the movies. Fortunately though, there's still much to talk about with the OVAs, including the weird resonances with future Patlabor projects which we'll get to in due time.Anime Discussed: Patlabor OVAs 1-7Next time: Patlabor: The MovieSend us your questions! You can email us at [email protected] or DM us on twitter @underthekotatsu and on bluesky @underthekotatsu.bsky.social

We're changing things up a bit for this episode by reading a manga instead of watching an anime! We read the delightful (yet toothless) BL Metamorphosis. A totally nice manga that maybe could've had a bit more depth and drama going on.Anime Discussed: BL MetamorphosisNext time: Patlabor OVAs 1-7Send us your questions! You can email us at [email protected] or DM us on twitter @underthekotatsu and on bluesky @underthekotatsu.bsky.social

It's time for another show and tell, and this time we decided to forsake good sense and reason by choosing three different bad isekai anime and checking out their first episodes. All three held up to our general expectations of badness, but one was surprisingly fun in its badness, one was just boring, and the other was boring AND offensive. Join us as we roast some bad anime, consider our feelings on the isekai genre at large, and learn about the mechanics of fantasy pregnancy.Anime Discussed: Show and Tell: Bad Isekai Edition!Next time: BL MetamorphosisSend us your questions! You can email us at [email protected] or DM us on twitter @underthekotatsu and on bluesky @underthekotatsu.bsky.social

Now at the end of Shinsekai Yori, we can confidently say two things: one, this show did not need to be 25 episodes long, and two, the queerats were by far the most interesting part of the show. Join us as we dissect the few parts of the ending we actually liked, and the many parts of the ending we didn't.Anime Discussed: Shinsekai Yori 20-25Next time: Show and Tell: Bad Isekai Edtiion!Send us your questions! You can email us at [email protected] or DM us on twitter @underthekotatsu and on bluesky @underthekotatsu.bsky.social

Shinsekai Yori marches on, though it's debatable whether it should have gone on for this many episodes or not. As we reach the three quarters point on the show, we find ourselves frustrated on all the time waste on things that are not the developing rat politics. Anime Discussed: Shinsekai Yori 14-19Next time: Shinsekai Yori 20-25Send us your questions! You can email us at [email protected] or DM us on twitter @underthekotatsu and on bluesky @underthekotatsu.bsky.social

Shinsekai Yori continues to have its series of ups and downs as we jump forward in time two years. We learn even more about the hows and whys of the disappearing children, but unfortunately we also have to deal with the real-world implications this show inadvertently brings into conversation along with it. But most importantly, Squonk returns.Anime Discussed: Shinsekai Yori 8-13Next time: Shinsekai Yori 14-19Send us your questions! You can email us at [email protected] or DM us on twitter @underthekotatsu and on bluesky @underthekotatsu.bsky.social

Time for a new show! This time we're diving into the world of Shinsekai Yori - a world full of psychic powers, genetic manipulation, rat societies, and exploding dogs. Despite some ups and downs in these first few episodes, we're mostly having a good time as this show teases out it's central mysteries and ideas.Anime Discussed: Shinsekai Yori 1-7Next time: Shinsekai Yori 8-13Send us your questions! You can email us at [email protected] or DM us on twitter @underthekotatsu and on bluesky @underthekotatsu.bsky.social

As we come to an end with Granbelm and realize that we were all too right about this show being Madoka with the edges sanded off. But it turns out you need some of those edges to make a compelling show! Oh well, at least there's some evil women and cool mech fightsAnime Discussed: Granbelm 8-13Next time: Shinsekai Yori 1-7Send us your questions! You can email us at [email protected] or DM us on twitter @underthekotatsu and on bluesky @underthekotatsu.bsky.social

We're watching Granbelm, a show with mechs AND magical girls plus a healthy splash of Madoka for good measure. If it weren't for some solid action, and some A+ sicko women, this show would be pretty unremarkable, but boy are we feasting on the sicko energy in this one. Anime Discussed: Granbelm 1-7 Next time: Granbelm 8-13 Send us your questions! You can email us at [email protected] or DM us on twitter @underthekotatsu and on bluesky @underthekotatsu.bsky.social

We finished Mononoke! Any hang-ups we had about this show were alleviated by a very strong showing in these final episodes. Lots meaty themes and ideas to dig into, but also: haunted train!!!CW: Brief discussion of sexual assault and abortion