Episode 124: Obscure 80s Anime


Welcome  to the 80s

from Megazone 23. Yes, this is what passed for aerobics wear in the 80s. It was indeed a magical time.

Kittyhawk is back this week, and we’re talking about obscure 80s anime. This is the stuff that made us fall in love with anime back in the early 90s, when we used to call it “Japanimation.” We say “early 90s” because most of this stuff wasn’t even available in American in the decade that they were created. We had to wait around for Streamline Pictures and Central Park Media to bring this stuff to us.

The 80s was a special time. It was a time of leotards and legwarmers. Leather jackets and torn jeans. And everyone had a boombox with high-speed dubbing.

But there is nothing so aggressively 80s as the anime of the era. Come join us for this brief journey into some of our obscure favorites, and tell us some of yours.

Project A-Ko - Possibly the most iconic anime of the era.

Project A-Ko – Possibly the most iconic anime of the era.


Riding Bean is what came before Gunsmith Cats.  Gunsmith Cats is better, but if you want more guns and cars in an 80s car chase scenario, you might want to check out Riding Bean.

Riding Bean is what came before Gunsmith Cats. Gunsmith Cats is better, but if you want more guns and cars in an 80s car chase scenario, you might want to check out Riding Bean.

Doraemon

Doraemon

This is what you would get if you took the Force out of Star Wars.  You'd have Han Solo: The Movie. ...aka Crusher Joe.

This is what you would get if you took the Force out of Star Wars. You’d have Han Solo: The Movie. …aka Crusher Joe.

Listen to the show to hear about the rare localized Harlock cartoon.  Possibly the most obscure of them all!

Listen to the show to hear about the rare localized Harlock cartoon. Possibly the most obscure of them all!

Girl in school uniform versus girl in one-piece bathing suit/battle uniform.  Need I explain why I love Project A-Ko?

Girl in school uniform versus girl in one-piece bathing suit/battle uniform. Need I explain why I love Project A-Ko?

Episode 120: Magic Knight Rayearth


Magic Knight Rayearth

Magic Knight Rayearth

This week we’re joined by Kittyhawk and Abby again as we look into the weird, wild world of Magic Knight Rayearth, a shoujo series by CLAMP.

We explore a series about three little girls who are summoned to a magic realm by a princess who wants them to kill her for falling in love…because love is bad if you’re the princess, apparently. Oh, and there’s some stuff about being the pillar, or some other such gobbledy gook. Something about a little Pikachu-thingy creature also being God. And then the series asks if it’s really incest if you’re making out with yourself.

Look, the point here is that Rayearth is a weird attempt to follow up the shoujo groundwork laid by Sailor Moon. As I had only played the Sega Saturn game (and a fine game it is) I sat back slack-jawwed as the ladies explained to Ben and me exactly what this show is all about.

So sit back, relax, and enjoy some magic girly goodness, I guess.

Oh, you guys get bonus homework! Since I lerves me them vidjero games and wish to spread as much love as I can about the Saturn and publisher Working Designs, I humbly ask that you listen to this episode of Retronauts to hear an interview with Victor Ireland. He talks about the torture that it was to port Rayearth to the states and what the US anime rights holders had asked him to do! Yikes! Must listen!

Oh, and don’t forget to subscribe to the new Retronauts blog, because they’ll be making new episodes again soon!

that Alcione is quite the looker, I must say.

that Alcione is quite the looker, I must say.

Well.  My head asplode.

Well. My head asplode.

Ah, memories.

Ah, memories.

The Very Best of Jenny Stigile

Jenny Stigile sang the theme song on the Sega Saturn version of Magic Knight Rayearth.

Episode 103: The Disney Afternoon


Disney Afternoon Gang

The Disney Afternoon Gang

Hey! We’re here again with The Chu from Raizap and Rick from The United States of Geekdom. We’re talking about the Disney Afternoon. We’ll be going through the block from its earliest inception all the way to when it fell apart. It’s eighty minutes of us talking about furry bait characters, chipmunks dressed like Magnum PI, and Jim Cummings.

Next week, we’ll have a special Black Friday episode. Don’tcha dare miss it!

Episode 97: Virtua Fighter


Virtua Fighter

The Virtua Fighter anime logo. Adjust your expectations downward from here.

Kittyhawk is back this week, and we’re talking about the Virtua Fighter anime. Yes, we can’t get enough of cartoons based on fighting games. We really only watched this for one scene, but we discovered several more that made us laugh just as hard.

After four episodes, we had enough, so we decided to sit down and talk about the show. Our opinions were mixed. Some of us were genuinely entertained, but somehow this is a series unfitting of Virtua Fighter.

Our review is a bit short, so after the break, we come back with our review of Saint Warrior Girl Valkyrie, a Japanese live action rip-off of Kittyhawk’s own Sparkling Generation Valkyrie Yuuki! It’s a show so terrible that it bankrupted the company that made it.

Please, please don’t watch it, but you can listen to us groan about how terrible it was. We’ll forgo any screen shots, because we’re just not that cruel.

Topics:
Zoning out
How old is Pai?
Smile Steak
“Herroooo! Deribery guy!”
Run away!
A boy hanging from a tree
A classic cartoon trap

Akira

The normally jovial Akira gets serious if he puts his bandanna on.


The Deribery Guy!

Otherwise, you can expect something more like this.


Smile Steak

Smile Steak!


The child sidekicks

Helloooo…. Helloooooo… HELLOOOOOO!!!!!


Pai captured

A Team Rocket classic

Not mentioned in today’s episode, Virtua Fighter Animation for Game Gear is actually based on this series.

Some music from the video games…


Bonus Topic:

St. Valkyrie

This is the most disturbing thing I’ve ever watched.

Episode 81: Gargoyles

I love Star Trek reunions

I love Star Trek reunions

Tonight we talk about Gargoyles, the action series created by Disney that the Mouse doesn’t know what the heck to do with. Co-created by Frank Paur and mostly written by Micheal Reaves, it is a good, solid series, if not slightly overrated by fans. We are joined by JT from Saskatoon to go over the particulars of this series.

Topics Covered
Ok ok, Greg Weisman helped too… I guess.
13 Backdoor Pilots
Star Trek Reunions
Japanese Episode to Japanese animators? Put the spurs to it!
The Green!(amigo!)
Ethnicity Not Important!
Let’s see, our organization needs hoods!
Greg always going back to Gargoyles