Did Studio Ghibli really make a family sitcom? Kind of! It’s Isao Takahata’s second-to-last film, and we simply couldn’t resist adding it to our series.

Joining us to revel in the brilliance (and surprisingly vindictive behavior) of the man they call Paku-San (aka Mr. Munch) is our dear friend and digital producer, Nik Long!

Topics covered this week: whether or not YAMADAS is more like EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND or MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE, the long-standing rivalry of Miyazaki and Takahata and its similarities to the film CHALLENGERS, our nostalgia for discovering movies on television, Takahata’s love of bananas, and so much more!

Next week, at long last, we get SPIRITED AWAY (2001). Join the conversation on our Discord at https://discord.com/invite/RssDc3brsx and get more Eye of the Duck on our Patreon show, After Hours https://www.patreon.com/EyeoftheDuckPod

References:

• Special Features
  • The Secrets of My Neighbors the Yamadas
• Studio Ghibli: An Industrial History by Rayna Denison

Credits:

Eye of the Duck is created, hosted, and produced by Dom Nero and Adam Volerich.

This episode was researched by Parth Marathe.

Our logo was designed by Francesca Volerich. You can purchase her work at francescavolerich.com/shop

The "Adam's Blu-Ray Corner" theme was produced by Chase Sterling.

Assistant programming and digital production by Nik Long.

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