For our October episode, we’ve got a giant News section, including more awful news from the world of video games, despair over the Paramount/Warner Bros. merger, and some potentially hopeful news about the future of Doctor Who. Then we have 3 recent video games to review: Onimusha: Way of the Sword, which we gave first impressions on last month; Jonathan’s take on Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave, which he’s only played a paltry 90 hours of as of this recording, and Sean’s thoughts on Star Wars: Zero Company, the Xcom-style tactics game in a galaxy far, far away. And finally, for The Monthly Ten, Jonathan is sharing 10 ideas for holiday gimmick horror movies, and they are, indeed, very silly.

Enjoy!

Time Chart:

Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:14:42

News: 0:14:42 – 1:47:30

Onimusha: 1:47:30 – 2:18:00

Fire Emblem: 2:18:00 – 2:42:10

Star Wars Zero Company: 2:42:10 – 3:08:58

The Monthly Ten: 3:08:58 – 3:28:32

Read Jonathan's Criterion Collection essay on Neon Genesis Evangelion at https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/9281-the-inner-worlds-of-neon-genesis-evangelion

Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com

Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://www.japanimation-station.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/

©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

It’s a jam packed video game-focused episode for September, as we review Capcom’s third straight home run of the year in Onimusha: Way of the Sword, give thoughts on the beta weekends for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, discuss the latest stupidity from Sony and Microsoft, and give our reactions to the full half-hour gameplay reveal of Grand Theft Auto VI, which is shaping up to be something special. Sean also talks about his ongoing Ultraman adventures with the series Ultraman Ginga, Jonathan continues regaling us with stories of his Street Fighter 6 obsession, and for The Monthly Ten segment, Sean envisions ten possible hyperfixations that might befall Jonathan in the future, from least to most personally ruinous.

Enjoy!

Time Chart:

Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:21:05

GTA VI Reveal: 0:21:05 – 0:35:26

Gaming News: 0:35:26 – 1:03:58

Modern Warfare 4 Beta: 1:03:58 – 1:24:09

Onimusha Way of the Sword: 1:24:09 – 1:59:36

Ultraman Ginga: 1:59:36 – 2:13:10

Street Fighter: 2:13:10 – 2:23:05

The Monthly Ten: 2:23:05 – 2:57:13

Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com

Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://www.japanimation-station.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/

©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

We’re back for a loose, fun ‘Monthly Stuff’ episode diving deep into what we’ve been up to over the summer break. Sean talks about the latest Ultraman series he’s been watching, the new 7.0 update to Genshin Impact, and his continuing adventures with Super Robot Wars, while Jonathan talks about his life-consuming obsession with Street Fighter 6, his journey through the James Bond movies, and his thoughts on the new Halo: Campaign Evolved remake. We also cover some recent news from Marvel Studios and discuss the string of wild successes various films have enjoyed at the box-office this year, as cinema fully rebounds from its post-COVID slump. And finally, we treat you to the darkest Monthly Ten segment we have ever done, as Jonathan counts down 10 variant future for the video game industry, most of which also implicate humanity in various states of decimation.

Enjoy?

Time Chart:

Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:08:40

Movie News: 0:08:40 – 1:08:45

Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle: 1:08:45 – 1:25:34

James Bond: 1:25:34 – 1:37:58

Genshin Impact: 1:37:58 – 1:56:25

Street Fighter: 1:56:25 – 2:13:35

Super Robot Wars V: 2:13:35 – 2:36:45

Halo Campaign Evolved: 2:36:45 – 3:00:54

The Monthly Ten: 3:00:54 – 3:25:40

Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com

Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://www.japanimation-station.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/

©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

Christopher Nolan is dominating theaters once again with his adaptation of The Odyssey starring Matt Damon, so we’re taking the opportunity to not just talk about the new movie – which is excellent, though our hosts slightly disagree on how much – but the original poem by Homer. Well, not exactly the original, since neither of us read Ancient Greek – but we took a look at the 2017 translation by Emily Wilson for this episode (which partially inspired Nolan’s film), and talk about a few other translations we’ve read over the years, as we appreciate a work that’s endured for millennia for good reason. If you like the ‘academic’ in Purely Academic, this is the episode for you.

Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com

Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://www.japanimation-station.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/

©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

It’s been perhaps the darkest few weeks for video games in either of our lifetimes, so we’re back to discuss the ongoing Video Game Apocalypse, from Xbox executing thousands of layoffs and divesting themselves of a half-dozen studios, to PlayStation ending physical media on their consoles even as they close the digital storefront on legacy systems, to ongoing price hikes making the entire hobby unaffordable for everyone. It’s really never been this bad, but at least we can commiserate about it together! And after that, this episode has plenty of fun, too, as Sean talks about the latest Ultraman shows he’s seen and ongoing adventures in Super Robot Wars Y, while Jonathan shares his experiences falling down the Street Fighter 6 rabbit hole and watching all the James Bond movies after playing 007: First Light. And we’ve got a great Odyssey-inspired Monthly Ten for you about unlikely adaptation ideas for pre-modern literature.

Enjoy!

TIME CHART:

Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:04:48

Video Game News: 0:04:48 0:23:44

PlayStation News: 0:23:44 0:54:14

Xbox Layoffs: 0:54:14 1:22:28

Doctor Who News: 1:22:28 1:31:54

Ultraman Max & Mebius: 1:31:54 1:44:42

007: 1:44:42 2:01:08

Super Robot Wars Y: 2:01:08 2:34:21

Street Fighter: 2:34:21 2:56:09

Monthly Ten: 2:56:09 3:26:19

Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com

Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://www.japanimation-station.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/

©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

This month marks the 60th anniversary of the premiere of Japan’s most iconic tokusatsu franchise: ULTRAMAN! Created by the legendary special effects wizards at Tsuburaya Productions, Ultraman premiered on July 17th, 1966, and has been a phenomenon in Japan and around the world ever since. To mark the occasion, today we’re taking a look at 15 episodes from 5 different Ultraman series directed by the series’ most infamous filmmaker: the one and only Jissōji Akio, whose bizarre and innovative camerawork has proved an indelible influence on generation of Japanese filmmakers, including famous anime auteurs like Neon Genesis Evangelion’s Anno Hideaki. It’s some of the most inspired, bravura directing ever seen on television, and whether you’re a longtime Ultraman super-fan (like Sean) or a relative newcomer (like Jonathan), you will have a blast watching these amazing episodes.

Enjoy!

TIME CHART:

Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:18:18

Ultraman History: 0:18:18 – 0:43:30

Ultraman ‘66 Episodes: 0:43:30 – 1:37:08

Ultraseven Episodes: 1:37:08 – 2:20:02

Ultraman Tiga Episodes: 2:20:02 – 2:45:40

Ultraman Dyna Episode: 2:45:40 – 3:00:18

Ultraman Max Episode: 3:00:18 – 3:25:42

The full list of episodes we watched for this podcast:

ULTRAMAN (1966) - Episodes 14 (The Pearl Defense Directive), 15 (Terrifying Cosmic Rays), 22 (Overthrow the Surface), 23 (My Home is Earth), 34 (A Gift from the Sky), and 35 (The Monster Graveyard)

ULTRASEVEN (1967) - Episodes 8 (The Marked Town), 12 (From Another Planet with Love), 43 (Nightmare of Planet No. 4) and 45 (The Saucers Have Come)

ULTRAMAN TIGA (1997) - Episodes 37 (Flower) and 40 (Dream)

ULTRAMAN DYNA (1998) - Episode 38 (Kaiju Play)

ULTRAMAN MAX (2005) - Episodes 22 (Butterfly Dream) and 24 (The Unmarked Town)

Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com

Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://www.japanimation-station.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/

©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

The most wonderful and/or tedious time of the year has come once more: It’s Not-E3 2026, when all of the video game giants share their biggest announcements for the year. As always, we’re here to recap it, with thoughts on Sony’s State of Play, the Summer Game Fest, and the Xbox Showcase, across which we saw the unveiling of God of War Laufey, the sooner-than-expected Final Fantasy VII Revelation, the long-awaited reveal of Persona 6 and more gameplay of Persona 4 Revival, and much more, including Xbox’s completely incoherent exclusivity ‘strategy.’ We also find some time to quickly review Saros, the new PS5 exclusive from Housemarque, and talk about 007 First Light from Hitman developers IO Interactive. A very silly Monthly Ten rounds out the episode, in which Jonathan pitches 10 Star Wars projects for Disney to announce and then quickly abandon.

Enjoy!

TIME CHART:

Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:04:33

General Gaming News: 0:04:33 – 0:31:08

Sony State of Play: 0:31:08 – 1:13:12

Summer Game Fest: 1:13:12 – 1:59:45

Xbox Showcase: 1:59:45 – 2:47:34

Saros: 2:47:34 – 2:53:50

007 First Light: 2:53:50 – 3:14:39

The Monthly Ten: 3:14:39 – 3:46:59

Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com

Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://www.japanimation-station.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/

©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

We’re back for a fun, variety-filled Monthly Stuff episode filled with our own personal obsessions. After going over some Nintendo and Xbox news, including the announcement of Star Fox for Switch 2 and a changing direction for Game Pass, Jonathan talks about recent news surrounding the One Piece anime remake by Wit Studio, before going in-depth on the Netflix live-action series after finally watching it over the last month. Sean talks about the recently-finished Journal with Witch anime (starring podcast fave Sawashiro Miyuki), and then goes deep on his continuing Resident Evil completionist adventures, with particular attention paid to finally playing the much-maligned Resident Evil 6. And finally, for The Monthly Ten, Sean is challenged to come up with 10 marketing campaign for Xbox that are even dumber than the ‘This is an Xbox’ slogan. He doesn’t manage to do that, because that slogan truly cannot be beaten, but he comes up with some good ones all the same.

TIME CHART:

Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:13:55

Nintendo News: 0:13:55 – 0:36:25

Xbox News: 0:36:25 – 1:02:13

One Piece News: 1:02:13 – 1:13:33

Netflix’s Live-Action One Piece Thoughts: 1:13:33 – 1:39:19

Journal With Witch: 1:39:19 – 1:56:50

Sean’s Resident Evil Adventures Pt. 2: 1:56:50 – 2:54:35

The Monthly Ten: 2:54:35 – 3:14:28

Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com

Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://www.japanimation-station.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/

©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman