We did the historic first live streamed episode of the Roundtable as part of the Anime North Stay at Home Edition. So we started off by talking with AN host Kaidaj by dropping some links between the pandemic and AN’s past and present
And then we got serious by talking about the passing of Berserk creator Kentaro Miura (5:29)
6:15 – Initial reactions. Mike with the announcement protocols, James having consumed as much Berserk media as possible, Kevin looking ahead to a group read (with fellow Dick Fight Island fans?). With Geoff and Moh acknowledging while not familiar with Berserk, understood the reach of the title
10:26 – James talking about the longevity of Berserk and how it has evolved over 30 plus years. With Mike getting into a conversation about Miura’s “Influence Tree”
14:05 – Mike tries to make sense of Berserk’s explosive popularity in the 90s. With the others explaining how deep the title is beyond the violence with themes like redemption talked about a lot
20:45 – Then we turned to the online tributes and industry reactions…and how some are looking to cash in on it
27:55 – We revisit a past discussion about anime titles that define the companies that realeased them on disc
30:15 – So what’s the future of Berserk since it’s incomplete
33:40 – A final thought with a quick explanation on the Acute Aortic Dissection that killed Miura
Then Mike decided to ask the twitch chat which way they would like to continue the episode. Do they want to talk streaming news, or “Yes/No” propositions. And “Yes/No” we go…
38:05 – A question on Yasuke
42:40 – A question on Miyazaki and Demon Slayer
47:02 – A final question on Macross and virtual idol concerts
Then we do talk the streaming news, the popularity of Japanese language items on streaming services, and international TV properties going to Japan (50:43)
We begin to wind down the show by going through the community calendar
57:05 – The Japan Foundation New York had a panel with former Ghibli International head Steve Alpert and Asian Studies Professor Dr. Rayna Denison on the promotion of Ghibli properties overseas over the last 25 years
59:05 – The Japan Foundation Toronto will do an online panel on Translating Manga on June 17
1:00:28 – The Toronto Japanese Film Festival
And finally to end the first live episode…
1:02:15 – Mike tells the story of a common link between both Anime North and Anime Roundtable by telling the story behind the lone advertisement in the first Anime North program guide
1:08:32 – Final thoughts with Kaidaj as night two of AN Stay at Home finishes for the night
This Week’s Drinking Game: Take a shot because it’s Anime North, and for hoping to see its happy chaos again soon
Mike Nicolas, James Austin, Kevin Ng, Mohamed Sharmarke, Geoff Greig with introduction by Andrew Kaidaj
Opening Theme provided by Scott Holmes Music
Links of Interest
The episode on Twitch during Anime North Stay at Home as it happened (scroll to the 13:05:40 mark)
Memories of The Comic Den Mississauga
Anime Roundtable 