Lupin III

Podcast: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine Retrospective

An uneven character in a long-time franchise gets a much-needed turn in the spotlight.

A young girl with long dark hair, seated in front of a large purple flower, smiles at the camera and says "Because this is my tale."

Vrai, Caitlin, and I teamed up again to look back at Sayo Yamamoto and Mari Okada’s Lupin the Third: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine! Vrai and Caitlin adore this one and have a lot to say about its messy relationships and cast full of sympathetic assholes. I had the weird experience of being the only person not that enthusiastic about the series, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t an ambitious, aggressively feminist production well worth your time… er, if you can handle the content warnings, anyway.

And speaking of Content Warnings: This series contains depictions of child abuse (emotional, physical, sexual), sexual assault, violence, torture, homophobia, nudity, and explicit sexual content. The podcast will also discuss these topics when they arise.

Click here to view the show notes and download the SoundCloud file, or find it on iTunes and Stitcher by searching for “Chatty AF.”

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Glancing Upstream: Winter 2016 Retrospective and Review

Something something “the winter of our discontent.”

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This is my shortest retrospective to date, thanks to a pretty dismal season in terms of incoming series. Some of that had to do with my own time constraints and self-imposed ranking rules (there are four shows in the “unranked” category this season, three of which I’d happily recommend to others), but some of it had to do with there just not being a lot that caught my eye this time around. Still, the top two were pretty special, and if an anime season can give you even one incredible series, then it’s hard to call it a true disappointment, I s’pose.

If there’s one positive trend to take from this season, it’s that we’ve got some good artists and directors in the business: people able to take into account all elements of a production and elevate the source material, whether that’s from “meh” to “good” or “good” to “great.” So take heart! The blueprints may be rough at times, but at least they’re in the hands of skilled builders.

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Panning the Stream: Winter 2016 Midseason Review

The party is shrinking faster than expected.

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While it’s not unheard-of for me to drop shows between the third and sixth episode, my retention rate is something like 80 percent. Basically, if you can hook me after three, I’m usually invested enough to stick around through the whole cour even if I wind up with a negative opinion of the show.

This season, though? This season there was enough mildly entertaining mid-range stuff that I threw it all at the wall and waited to see what would stick. Not much of it did, and some of the results surprised even me. Hit the jump to see where we stand halfway through this chilly season.

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Panning the Stream: Sequels and Carryovers Edition (Winter 2016)

There are precious few familiar faces, but some are rather precious.

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This may be the briefest sequel/carryover post I’ve ever written thanks to a shortage of sequels, some odd licensing issues, and personal viewing preferences. Still, the few there are have a lot of fond memories attached to them, so that should be a good sign going forward. Hit the jump for fairy tales, thieves, and urban legends.

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