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

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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

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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