“Leave it to my psychokinesis.”    The third season of Japanimation Station comes to a close with the jam-packed final installment of The Classic Adventures of Lupin the 3rd! We start by taking a look at Lupin’s first live-action adventure, 1974’s Strange Psychokinetic Strategy. This is one of the earliest Lupin adaptations period, created between the first and second anime before the franchise had become enduringly popular, and it’s a surprisingly creative, if narratively scattershot, madcap comedy, putting Lupin in a white jacket and throwing him into a series of increasingly ludicrous scenarios. Then, Jonathan gives us an exhaustive (maybe even obsessive) guide to the best Lupin the 3rd soundtrack albums and the wide world of Yuji Ohno’s Lupin the 3rd Jazz releases. And finally, Sean and Jonathan play a game drafting all our favorite Lupin characters for a hypothetical heist!    Thanks so much for listening to Season 3 of Japanimation Station. We’ll see you later this fall for the debut of Season 4, Japanimation Station’s Kyoto Vacation, where we’ll be looking at the output of one of anime’s greatest studios, Kyoto Animation!    Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:20 Strange Psychokinetic Strategy: 0:01:20 – 1:09:05 Eyecatch Break 1: 1:09:05 – 1:09:38 Jonathan’s Guide to Lupin Music: 1:09:38 – 1:50:51  Eyecatch Break 2: 1:50:51 – 1:51:22 Season 3 Wrap-up: 1:51:22 – 2:12:21 Eyecatch Break 3: 2:12:21 – 2:12:49 Lupin Family Draft: 2:12:49 – 2:35:17 Season 4 Preview: 2:35:17 – 2:39:49  End Theme: 2:39:49 – 2:41:04    Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff   Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheWeeklyStuffPodcast   Follow The Weekly Stuff Wordcast newsletter for regular updates and extra content!  https://weeklystuff.substack.com   Visit our website and subscribe to Japanimation Station on all podcast platforms: http://japanimationstation.com/   Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on all podcast platforms: http://www.weeklystuffpodcast.com   “Welcome to Japanimation Station!” Lyrics by Sean Chapman, Music by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com

“I guess we do battle tonight, Pops!”   For the penultimate episode of Japanimation Station Season 3, we’re looking at a selection of Lupin the 3rdfilms and specials from the brink of the new millennium! Starting with 1996’s Dead or Alive, a theatrical feature directed by Lupin creator Monkey Punch himself, which sees our favorite thief embroiled in a narratively messy but visually stunning adventure on a very strange island. 1997’s Island of Assassins is a lesser Lupin special, weirdly violent but without any particular bite, while 1998’s Tokyo Crisis is one of our absolute favorites, a Zenigata-led, uproariously funny comedy with fantastic guest performances by Megumi Hayashibara and Kōichi Yamadera. And finally, we end our examination of Lupin the 3rd anime with 2002’s Episode 0: The First Contact, an origin story caper for the entire Lupin gang that sees the franchise taking its early steps into digital animation, with mixed results.      Enjoy, and come back next week for our season 3 finale, where we’ll be reviewing the 1974 live-action Lupin adaptation, Strange Psychokinetic Strategy, and celebrating all this season’s Lupintic adventures!     Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:20 Intro: 0:01:20 – 0:15:04 Dead or Alive: 0:15:04 – 1:15:59  Eyecatch Break 1: 1:15:59 – 1:16:33  Island of Assassins: 1:16:33 – 1:45:56 Eyecatch Break 2: 1:45:56 – 1:46:18  Tokyo Crisis: 1:46:18 – 2:32:12  Eyecatch Break 3: 2:32:12 – 2:32:37 Episode 0 First Contact: 2:32:37 – 3:08:44 End Theme: 3:08:44 – 3:09:59    Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff   Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheWeeklyStuffPodcast   Follow The Weekly Stuff Wordcast newsletter for regular updates and extra content!  https://weeklystuff.substack.com   Visit our website and subscribe to Japanimation Station on all podcast platforms: http://japanimationstation.com/   Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on all podcast platforms: http://www.weeklystuffpodcast.com   “Welcome to Japanimation Station!” Lyrics by Sean Chapman, Music by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com

“I can’t just ignore a lovely lady with a big Diamond.”   As Lupin the 3rd rounded the corner of the 1980s into the 1990s, the character and the series was in a period of transition. The 1987 OVA film The Fuma Conspiracy featured some of the franchise’s greatest animation, but also had a completely different voice cast than Japanese fans had come to know and love. The series went back to the tone and style of Part II for the 1989 Osamu Dezaki-directed TV special Bye Bye Lady Liberty, with Yasuo Yamada, the original voice cast, and the red jacket in tow, and it was a huge success, creatively and commercially, kicking off an annual string of feature-length TV specials that continued through 2013, including 1993’s Voyage to Danger, which saw the one-time-only return of Part I director Masaaki Osumi to the franchise. Sadly, Yasuo Yamada grew ill and passed away in 1995, just before the release of the first theatrical film in 10 years, Farewell to Nostradamus, with Kanichi Kurita stepping into those impossibly large shoes as his replacement, and doing such an amazing job that he continues to voice Lupin to this day! We cover all 4 of these feature-length Lupin experiences in today’s episode, analyzing a period where everything is in flux for Lupin III, and the possibilities are endless!    Enjoy, and come back next week as we look at Lupin’s adventures on the brink of the new millennium with a selection of films and specials from 1996 to 2002 – Dead or Alive, Island of Assassins, Tokyo Crisis and Episode 0: First Contact!    Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:20 Intro: 0:01:20 – 0:06:57  The Fuma Conspiracy: 0:06:57 – 0:49:06 Eyecatch Break 1: 0:49:06 – 0:49:38 Bye Bye Lady Liberty: 0:49:38 – 1:51:46 Eyecatch Break 2: 1:51:46 – 1:52:10 Voyage to Danger: 1:52:10 – 2:35:28 Eyecatch Break 3: 2:35:28 – 2:35:54 Farewell to Nostradamus: 2:35:54 – 3:27:49  End Theme: 3:27:49 – 3:29:04    Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff   Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheWeeklyStuffPodcast   Follow The Weekly Stuff Wordcast newsletter for regular updates and extra content!  https://weeklystuff.substack.com   Visit our website and subscribe to Japanimation Station on all podcast platforms: http://japanimationstation.com/   Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on all podcast platforms: http://www.weeklystuffpodcast.com   “Welcome to Japanimation Station!” Lyrics by Sean Chapman, Music by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com

“Nobody said I’m not in. We’re just out of cognac.”    With Lupin the 3rd Part III, Lupin officially the enters the 1980s and he’s got a new attitude, a new look, and a new jacket – a pink one! The Pink Jacket Adventures, as this series has come to be known, is one of the weirder and wilder chapters in Lupin history, with Yuzo Aoki leading a talented team of animators to create a take on Lupin that’s both uniquely stylish and highly varied, with character designs shifting from episode to episode and sometimes scene to scene, and the series’ second half employing a particularly cartoon-y, Looney Tunes-esque approach to motion and mayhem. Meanwhile, iconic Japanese New Wave director Seijun Suzuki wrote one of the boldest and most bonkers Lupin episodes of all time, and co-directed The Legend of the Gold of Babylon, the Part III film released in 1985, which we also discuss on today’s show alongside 20 episodes from Part III (see the full list below). It’s one of the most memorable periods for Lupin the 3rd, and also one of the most rewarding.    Enjoy, and come back next week as we look at a transitionary period in the history of Lupin with a selection of films and specials from 1987 to 1995 – The Fuma Conspiracy, Bye-Bye Lady Liberty, Voyage to Danger, and Farewell to Nostradamus!     Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:20 Intro & History: 0:01:20 – 0:10:44 Lupin VIII: 0:10:44 – 0:22:46 History Continued: 0:22:46 – 0:50:06 Eyecatch Break 1: 0:50:06 – 0:50:38  Episode-by-episode Review: 0:50:38 – 3:01:47 Eyecatch Break 2: 3:01:47 – 3:02:14 The Legend of the Gold of Babylon: 3:02:14 – 3:52:09  End Credits: 3:52:09 – 3:53:24   Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff   Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheWeeklyStuffPodcast   Follow The Weekly Stuff Wordcast newsletter for regular updates and extra content!  https://weeklystuff.substack.com   Visit our website and subscribe to Japanimation Station on all podcast platforms: http://japanimationstation.com/   Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on all podcast platforms: http://www.weeklystuffpodcast.com   “Welcome to Japanimation Station!” Lyrics by Sean Chapman, Music by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com   Full list of episodes watched:    1 - "The Gold Is Beckoning Lupin" 3 - Greetings to Hell’s Angel  7 - The Man Called Death Gurve  11 - The Ruby Sheds Bloody Tears 13 - Variations on Getting Carried Away 18 - Showtime Reeks of Death  23 - Operation: Beirut Mobile Bank Robbery 24 - Sleep Peacefully, Friend 27 - Codename: Star of Alaska 28 - The Star of Alaska is a One-way Ticket to Hell 30 - A Cocktail Named Revenge 31 - A Turnabout, a Comeback, and a Reversal 34 - "Manhattan Crisis" 37 - "Pops Boils over with Rage" 38 - Leticia who Loved Lupin 40 - A Lotto Ticket to Riot 44 - "Our Papa’s a Thief" 46 - Soaring on Scrap Wings 49 - The Day Pops Got Adopted  50 - "Orders to Destroy the Atomic Sub Ivanov"

“Believe in the power of the thief.”    Before he left the world of Lupin behind and went off to change the course of anime history forever with Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Hayao Miyazaki returned to TMS for a final set of Lupin the 3rd projects that have become iconic anime classics: The 1979 feature film The Castle of Cagliostro, and episodes 145 and 155 of Part II, “Albatross – Wings of Death” and “Farewell, O Dearest Lupin!”, distributed in the US in the 1990s as Lupin III’s Greatest Capers. These were the first pieces of Lupin media commercially available in America, and Cagliostro in particular is the most frequent entry point for Lupin newcomers. While Miyazaki’s more heroic, chivalric vision of the character is a bit of an outlier, there’s a reason Cagliostro has such magnetic appeal, as it’s one of the single greatest animated films ever made, a perfectly paced action adventure fueled by some of the most virtuosic animation to ever grace the silver screen. An influence for all sorts of movies all around the world, it’s a true classic, and so are Miyazaki’s two episodes of Part II, with “Albatross” in particular taking the director’s love of airplanes to astonishing new heights, and setting an impossibly high bar for how good TV animation can be.    Enjoy, and come back next week as we enter the Pink Jacket era and review Lupin the 3rd Part III and the 1985 film The Legend of the Gold of Babylon!    Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:20 Intro: 0:01:20 – 0:11:32 Eyecatch Break 1: 0:11:32 – 0:12:03 The Castle of Cagliostro: 0:12:03 – 2:27:07 Eyecatch Break 2: 2:27:07 – 2:27:39 Greatest Capers Episodes: 2:27:39 – 3:16:35 End Theme: 3:16:35 – 3:17:50    Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff   Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheWeeklyStuffPodcast   Follow The Weekly Stuff Wordcast newsletter for regular updates and extra content!  https://weeklystuff.substack.com   Visit our website and subscribe to Japanimation Station on all podcast platforms: http://japanimationstation.com/   Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on all podcast platforms: http://www.weeklystuffpodcast.com   “Welcome to Japanimation Station!” Lyrics by Sean Chapman, Music by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com

“Lupin, our manly drama ends today!”    Airing from 1977 to 1980, the second Lupin the 3rd TV anime – retroactively titled “Part II” – produced a whopping 155 episodes, and with the iconic red jacket and the entire five-person crew (Lupin, Jigen, Fujiko, Goemon, and Zenigata) in tow for every adventure, this is the series that firmly cemented Lupin III as an enduring anime icon, and set the tone for many of his future capers. For today’s episode, we watched a selection of 27 episodes – see the full list below – and experienced a wide range of adventures, from Lupin and company stealing a vintage bottle of wine on Christmas, to Jigen helping a ballerina defect to the West, to ‘Pops’ Zenigata springing a daring trap for Lupin on the highway, to Goemon surviving a shockingly violent bout of torture, to two whole episodes devoted to an extremely surprising (and very funny) alternate history of Jesus Christ himself! Part II is truly a wild ride, with some absolute masterpiece episodes displaying some of the greatest animation in TV history, and almost always providing a big dose of fun.    Enjoy, and come back next week as we review Lupin’s most famous adventure with Hayao Miyazaki’s 1979 classic The Castle of Cagliostro, and look at the two episodes Miyazaki directed for Part II, Albatross – Wings of Death and Farewell, O Dearest Lupin!    Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:20 Intro, History, and Part II Overview: 0:01:20 – 0:57:57  Eyecatch Break 1: 0:57:57 – 0:58:30  Episode-by-episode review, part 1: 0:58:30 – 2:22:00  Eyecatch Break 2: 2:22:00 – 2:22:29  Episode-by-episode review, part 2: 2:22:29 – 3:45:25 End Theme: 3:45:25 – 3:46:40    Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff   Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheWeeklyStuffPodcast   Follow The Weekly Stuff Wordcast newsletter for regular updates and extra content!  https://weeklystuff.substack.com “Welcome to Japanimation Station!” Lyrics by Sean Chapman, Music by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com   Full list of episodes watched (Japanese title/English title)    1 - "Lupin the Third's Gallant Appearance" / "The Return of Lupin the 3rd" 12 - "A Gift for the President" / "The Sleight Before Christmas" 13 - "The Great Chase in San Francisco" / "I Left My Mind in San Francisco" 20 - "Cornered Lupin" / "Hell Toupee" 21 - "Goemon's Revenge" / "The Last Mastery" 25 - "Encounter With the Deadly Iron Lizard" / "The Lair of the Land-Shark" 26 - "A Rose and a Pistol" / "Shot Through the Heart" 27 - "Where Did the Cinderella Stamp Go?" / "The Little Princess of Darkness" 30 - "The Wind in Morocco is Hot" / "Morocco Horror Picture Show" 32 - "Lupin Dies Twice" / "Lupin the Interred" 34 - "Lupin Who Turned Into a Vampire" / "But your Brother was Such a Nice Guy" 36 - "Uncover the Secret of Tsukikage Castle" / "The Riddle of Tsukikage Castle" 38 - "The Sweet Trap of ICPO" / "Happy Betrayals to You" 48 - "Lupin Laughs at the Alarm Bell" / "Vault Assault" 57 - "Computer or Lupin?" / "Alter-Ego Maniac" 58 - "The Face of Goodbye at the National Border" / "Gettin' Jigen with It" 66 - "Order: Shoot to Kill!!" / "Beauty and the Deceased" 69 - "The Woman Pops Fell in Love With" / "Zenigata Getcha into My Life" 85 - "The ICPO's Secret Plan" / "The Secret Order of ICPO" 94 - "Lupin vs. Superman" / "Lupin Vs. Superman" 97 - "Find Lupin the First's Treasure" / "Searching for Lupin I's Treasure" 99 - "The Scattered Magnum" / "Fighting Jigen" 112 - "Goemon's Close Call" / "Danger! Goemon" 114 - "The Secret of the First Supper" / "The Secret of the First Supper" 129 - "In Jigen, I Saw the Gentleness of a Man's Soul" / "The Kindness Of Jigen is Seen" 148 - "The Target Is 555 Meters" / "The Target is Five Hundred and Fifty Five Meters Away" 151 - "The Arrest Lupin Highway Operation" / "To Arrest Lupin, the Mission at Highway"

“Wherever he goes, he’ll be chased. That is his destiny.”    In 1978, Lupin the 3rd made the leap to the big screen with his first animated feature film, and while the second Lupin movie, 1979’s Hayao Miyazaki-directed The Castle of Cagliostro, is the more famous film, The Mystery of Mamo is arguably the single piece of Lupin animation that cuts closest to the heart of the character and the tone, humor, and storytelling style that makes Lupin the 3rd so enduring. It’s a globetrotting adventure that takes the audience all around the world, makes fantastic use of all five regular characters, has a wonderfully anarchic sense of humor, and is spectacularly animated from start-to-finish, a virtuosic feat from franchise stalwarts like Yuzo Aoki and Yasuo Otsuka. And it even has a thoughtful thematic core saying something surprisingly profound about Lupin as a character and the way he moves through the world, making for a movie that isn’t just uproariously funny and consistently surprising, but actually kind of poignant. It’s an absolute classic, and one that’s a delight to discuss on today’s episode.    Enjoy, and come back next week as we dive into Lupin’s longest-running and most successful anime, Lupin the 3rd Part II.    Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:20 Intro, History, and Review Part 1: 0:01:20 – 0:57:23  Eyecatch Break: 0:57:23 – 0:58:08 Review Part 2: 0:58:08 – 2:26:58  End Theme: 2:26:58 – 2:28:13   Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff   Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheWeeklyStuffPodcast   Follow The Weekly Stuff Wordcast newsletter for regular updates and extra content!  https://weeklystuff.substack.com   Visit our website and subscribe to Japanimation Station on all podcast platforms: http://japanimationstation.com/   Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on all podcast platforms: http://www.weeklystuffpodcast.com   “Welcome to Japanimation Station!” Lyrics by Sean Chapman, Music by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com

“I’m a greedy person. There’s so much I want to do with Mom and all of you.”    Weekly Suit Gundam is back to review the second and final season of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury, which brings the story to a close with a rousing, jam-packed set of episodes that’s darker, richer, and more action-filled than the first season. This is the first mainline Gundam series besides Reconguista in G to tell its story in just 2 cours, but that doesn’t mean it’s a thinner or less complicated show, as our super-sized conversation in today’s episode attests to. With so many amazing characters, stellar animation and music, and a story that revisits classic Gundam scenarios and iconography while also challenging and moving beyond them, Witch From Mercury is a show with a lot on its mind, and a lot to break down.     Enjoy, and be sure to tune in for Japanimation Station Season 3, “The Classic Adventures of Lupin the 3rd,” airing Tuesday nights at 7pm CT on YouTube!    Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheWeeklyStuffPodcast   Visit our website and subscribe to Japanimation Station on all podcast platforms: http://japanimationstation.com/ Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on all podcast platforms: http://www.weeklystuffpodcast.com Follow The Weekly Stuff Wordcast newsletter for regular updates and extra content!  https://weeklystuff.substack.com “Tobe! Gundam” performed by the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Band in Shinjuku, Tokyo, February 2016. Originally composed by Takeo Watanabe with lyrics by Rin Iogi and performed by Koh Ikeda.  “Gundam Stands its Ground” originally composed by Takeo Watanabe & Yushi Matsuyama. “Mobile Suit Gundam” Arcade (1993) arrangement composed by Nadya Doi.

“Lupin. He’s a nice man. But he’s cool.”  Welcome to Season 3 of Japanimation Station: The Classic Adventures of Lupin the 3rd! This season, we will be exploring the countless capers of one of the most enduring icons of anime from his very first animated appearance in 1969 up through the dawn of the 21st century. In today’s season premiere, we go through the history of Monkey Punch’s original Lupin the 3rd manga, the creation of the 1969 pilot film, and finally do a deep dive on Lupin’s first anime TV series, 1971’s Lupin the 3rd, retroactively referred to as Part I. It is one of the most fascinating, unique, and compelling shows we’ve ever seen, a series essentially divided in half between early episodes helmed by Masaaki Osumi, which are more adult and irreverent a la Monkey Punch’s manga, and the later caper-centric episodes directed by the men who would go on to found Studio Ghibli, Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki! Both visions of the series are equally accomplished, and the series sees a wide range of animation giants pass through its doors – including Yasuo Otsuka and Osamu Dezaki – and by the end, Lupin the 3rd has started to settle on a template that will serve it well for decades to come.  Enjoy, and come back next week as we review Lupin’s first animated theatrical film, the 1978 classic The Mystery of Mamo!    Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:20 Intro to Season and History of Lupin: 0:01:20 – 0:42:14 Lupin the 3rd Part 1 History and Review: 0:42:14 – 2:06:15  Eyecatch Break: 2:06:15 – 2:07:03  Episode-by-episode Review: 2:07:03 – 3:22:59  End Theme: 3:22:59 – 3:24:14    Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff   Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheWeeklyStuffPodcast   Follow The Weekly Stuff Wordcast newsletter for regular updates and extra content!  https://weeklystuff.substack.com   Visit our website and subscribe to Japanimation Station on all podcast platforms: http://japanimationstation.com/   Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on all podcast platforms: http://www.weeklystuffpodcast.com   “Welcome to Japanimation Station!” Lyrics by Sean Chapman, Music by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com

“For the sake of someone other than yourself, you can exert infinite strength.”   The third season of the hit anime Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba recently wrapped up its hotly anticipated third season, adapting the “Swordsmith Village Arc” of Koyoharu Gotouge’s manga, and as big fans of the series who have reviewed all the prior arcs, we’re here for a deep dive with another amazing season. This set of episodes introduces us to a cast of largely new (or previously briefly seen) characters, including two Hashira with Tokito Muichiro and Mitsuri Kanroji, a mysterious demon slayer named Genya, and two ferocious upper rank demons; it’s also where the story fully starts to lay out some of its biggest themes and ideas, before arriving at a pivotal turning point leading to the start of the series’ endgame. It’s a great season of television, and it produces what is easily our most in-depth, interesting conversation about this series so far.    Enjoy, and we’ll see you again soon for Japanimation Station Season 3: The Classic Adventures of Lupin the 3rd, premiering July 4th!    Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:14 Swordsmith Village Review Part 1: 0:01:14 – 0:43:34  Eyecatch Break: 0:43:34 – 0:44:03 Swordsmith Village Review Part 2: 0:44:03 – 2:37:18 End Theme: 2:37:18 – 2:38:33   Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff   Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheWeeklyStuffPodcast   Follow The Weekly Stuff Wordcast newsletter for regular updates and extra content!  https://weeklystuff.substack.com   Visit our website and subscribe to Japanimation Station on all podcast platforms: http://japanimationstation.com/   Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on all podcast platforms: http://www.weeklystuffpodcast.com   “Welcome to Japanimation Station!” Lyrics by Sean Chapman, Music by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com

Hosts Sean Chapman and Jonathan Lack give you a special look at Season 3 of Japanimation Station, THE CLASSIC ADVENTURES OF LUPIN THE 3RD, premiering July 4th, 2023! In this 8-episode season, we will be surveying 30 years of anime history through the exploits of the infamous thief Lupin III and his friends Daisuke Jigen, Fujiko Mine, Goemon Ishikawa, and Inspector Zenigata! From the original anime in 1971 to the “Episode 0” origin-story special in 2002, we’re looking at many of Lupin’s biggest, best, weirdest, and most memorable heists, learning and laughing a lot along the way. In this preview, we give you the details on everything we’re watching and where exactly you can find it! Season 3 premieres July 4th, 2023, and will air Tuesday nights at 7pm CT for 8 uninterrupted weeks.  Visit our website and subscribe to Japanimation Station on all podcast platforms: http://japanimationstation.com/ Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheWeeklyStuffPodcast Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on all podcast platforms: http://www.weeklystuffpodcast.com Follow The Weekly Stuff Wordcast newsletter for regular updates and extra content!  https://weeklystuff.substack.com “Welcome to Japanimation Station!” Lyrics by Sean Chapman, Music by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com Season 3 Viewing Guide:  Lupin the 3rd Part I (1971) – All 23 episodes – Available on Blu-ray from Discotek, streaming on HiDive (better quality) and Crunchyroll The Mystery of Mamo (1978) – Film – Available on Blu-ray from Discotek Lupin the 3rd Part II (1977) – Episodes 1, 12, 13, 20, 21, 25, 26, 27, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 48, 57, 58, 66, 69, 85, 94, 97, 99, 112, 114, 129, 145, 148, 151, 155 – Available on DVD from Discotek, streaming on HiDive (better quality) and Crunchyroll The Castle of Cagliostro (1979) – Film – Available on Blu-ray from Discotek, and to rent/buy on digital platforms like Amazon, Apple, YouTube, Vudu, etc. Lupin the 3rd Part III (1984) – Episodes 1, 3, 7, 11, 13, 18, 23, 24, 27, 28, 30, 31, 34, 37, 38, 40, 44, 46, 49, 50 - Available on Blu-ray from Discotek, streaming on HiDive (better quality) and Crunchyroll The Legend of the Gold of Babylon (1985) – Film – Available on Blu-ray from Discotek, streaming free (English dub only) on Amazon’s Freevee, Tubi, and the Roku ChannelThe Fuma Conspiracy (1987) – Film – Out of print. See Carvioso + Jet Force torrent release for best available version Bye Bye Lady Liberty (1989) – TV Special - Available on Blu-ray from Discotek, streaming free (Japanese with subtitles) on Amazon’s Freevee Voyage to Danger (aka Orders to Assassinate Lupin, 1993) – TV Special – Available on Blu-ray from Discotek,streaming free (Japanese with subtitles) on Amazon’s Freevee, Tubi, and Pluto TVFarewell to Nostradamus (1995) – Film – Available on Blu-ray from DiscotekDead or Alive (1996) – Film – Available on Blu-ray from DiscotekIsland of Assassins (aka Walther P-38, 1997) – TV Special – Blu-ray out-of-print, streaming free (English dub only) on Tubi; available to rent or buy (English dub only) on Amazon Prime VideoTokyo Crisis (1998) – TV Special – Available on Blu-ray from Discotek, streaming free (English dub only) on Tubi; available to rent or buy (English dub only) on Amazon Prime VideoEpisode 0: First Contact (2002) – TV Special – Available on Blu-ray from Discotek, streaming free (Japanese with subtitles) on Tubi Strange Psychokinetic Strategy (1974) – Live-action movie – Sail the high seas for this one…

“Getting to know someone is all about little moments like that, wouldn’t you agree?” In this super-sized season finale of Japanimation Station, we close out ufotable/Moon Works with two reviews: First, we discuss Today’s Menu for the Emiya Family, the 2018 original net animation spin-off of Fate/stay night that sees Shirou and all his friends making food and enjoying each other’s company. Animated by Ufotable and based on the manga by TAa, it’s a delightful and remarkably well-produced slice-of-life alternative to the action of Fate/stay night, but one that sacrifices none of the sharp characterization that makes this cast so wonderful. Second, we dive deep with Witch on the Holy Night (aka Mahoutsukai no Yoru), the visual novel based on Kinoko Nasu’s first unpublished novel, originally released in Japan in 2012 and released worldwide in a 2022 remake. The remake landed right as we started recording ufotable/Moon Works, and we wound up making references to the visual novel throughout the season, as Witch on the Holy Night is something of a ‘Rosetta Stone’ for the Nasu-verse, featuring all of his character types and major themes in a single, smaller-scale story, and we felt we had to devote some extra time to it here at the end of the season. And since ufotable will in fact be animating the story for an upcoming feature film, it will soon be another ufotable/Moon work! Thanks for listening to Season 2 of Japanimation Station, and be sure to listen through to the end of the episode to hear first details about the next two seasons, both premiering in 2023! Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:14 Intro: 0:01:14 – 0:03:36 Today’s Menu for the Emiya Family Review: 0:03:36 – 1:18:46 Eyecatch 1: 1:18:46 – 1:18:56 Witch on the Holy Night Review: 1:18:56 – 3:00:02 Eyecatch 2: 3:00:02 – 3:00:16 Closing Thoughts: 3:00:16 – 3:07:16 Season 3 and 4 Reveal: 3:07:16 – 3:14:49 End Credits: 3:14:49 – 3:16:04 Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheWeeklyStuffPodcast Visit our website and subscribe to Japanimation Station on all podcast platforms: http://japanimationstation.com/ Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on all podcast platforms: http://www.weeklystuffpodcast.com Follow The Weekly Stuff Wordcast newsletter for regular updates and extra content! https://weeklystuff.substack.com “Welcome to Japanimation Station!” Lyrics by Sean Chapman, Music by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com

“I’ll show you a miracle.” The journey of Fate/stay night comes to a close with the third and final chapter of the Heaven’s Feel trilogy, Spring Song, and Sean and Jonathan are both in absolute awe at what this film achieves. Bringing the stories of Shirou, Sakura, Rin, Ilya, and the other surviving characters to a surprising, incredibly emotional conclusion, this final film is a true tour-de-force, with the full weight of ufotable’s animation abilities brought to bear on some of Kinoko Nasu’s best storytelling. Few stories close with as immense a sense of pay-off as Heaven’s Feel, bringing us circling back not only to prior Fate/Zero and Fate/stay night discussions, but also The Garden of Sinners – all of it was leading to this point. Add in some jaw-dropping fight scenes, more incredible music by Yuki Kajiura and Aimer, and a heaping helping of everybody’s favorite evil priest, Kirei Kotomine, and you’ve got an animated masterpiece for the ages. Enjoy, and come back next week for our Season 2 finale, as we dive deep with the recently re-released visual novel Witch on the Holy Night, aka Mahoutsukai no Yoru, and head on over to Shirou’s house for a tasty meal with the anime mini-series Today’s Menu for the Emiya Family! Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:14 Heaven’s Feel III Review: 0:01:14 – 1:13:23 Eyecatch: 1:13:23 – 1:13:37 Heaven’s Feel III Review (Cont.): 1:13:37 – 3:02:14 End Credits: 3:02:14 – 3:03:30 Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheWeeklyStuffPodcast Visit our website and subscribe to Japanimation Station on all podcast platforms: http://japanimationstation.com/ Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on all podcast platforms: http://www.weeklystuffpodcast.com Follow The Weekly Stuff Wordcast newsletter for regular updates and extra content! https://weeklystuff.substack.com “Welcome to Japanimation Station!” Lyrics by Sean Chapman, Music by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com

“She’s all I want to protect.” The dark saga that is Heaven’s Feel enters its especially dark middle chapter with Lost Butterfly, the second film in the trilogy, and one that delivers an enormous, eventful, complicated slice of movie for us to break down. Filled to the brim with surprising revelations, major plot turns, and huge character moments, the film sees Shirou and Sakura becoming more and more entwined in each others’ lives, and presents the viewer with a bracing, challenging depiction of abuse and the cycles of violence and pain it creates. It also sees ufotable at the top of their production game, with some of the most stunning animation ever committed to film, not just in the bravura action sequences, but in intense character moments that are rendered here so beautifully and powerfully that it’s hard to imagine anyone making it through this film without a tear or two. It’s another outstanding movie, and one that leaves us on the edge of our seats to finish the entire Fate/stay night project next week. Enjoy, and come back next week as we review the third and final film in the Fate/stay night: Heaven’s Feel trilogy, Spring Song! Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:14 Heaven’s Feel II Review: 0:01:14 – 1:23:40 Eyecatch: 1:23:40 – 1:23:50 Heaven’s Feel II Review (Cont.): 1:23:50 – 2:32:19 End Credits: 2:32:19 – 2:33:34 Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheWeeklyStuffPodcast Visit our website and subscribe to Japanimation Station on all podcast platforms: http://japanimationstation.com/ Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on all podcast platforms: http://www.weeklystuffpodcast.com Follow The Weekly Stuff Wordcast newsletter for regular updates and extra content! https://weeklystuff.substack.com “Welcome to Japanimation Station!” Lyrics by Sean Chapman, Music by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com

“If I ever did something bad, would you forgive me?” We enter the final phase of ufotable/Moon Works with the first part of the Fate/stay night: Heaven’s Feel trilogy, Presage Flower, the first of three films adapting the third and final route of the original Fate/stay night visual novel. And whether you’re experiencing the story in its original visual novel setting or coming to it through ufotable’s anime adaptations, Heaven’s Feel is meticulously designed to throw you off balance, with a Holy Grail War that quickly becomes corrupted by dark forces unlike anything we’ve seen before, and a violent, horror-tinged tone more reminiscent of The Garden of Sinners than Fate/Zero or Unlimited Blade Works. This time around, the story focuses on Shirou Emiya’s relationship with Sakura Matou, an extremely different character than Rin Tohsaka, and one whose mysterious, trauma-filled past brings out new shadings in our would-be hero. It’s a terrific film, boasting ufotable’s finest production values thus far and a tremendous score by Yuki Kajiura, and it’s only the tip of the iceberg, as we still have two films to go. Enjoy, and come back next week as we review the second film in the Fate/stay night: Heaven’s Feel trilogy, Lost Butterfly! Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:14 Heaven’s Feel I Review: 0:01:14 – 1:12:25 Eyecatch: 1:12:25 – 1:12:42 Heaven's Feel I Review (Cont.): 1:12:42 – 2:16:11 End Credits: 2:16:11 – 2:17:26 Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheWeeklyStuffPodcast Visit our website and subscribe to Japanimation Station on all podcast platforms: http://japanimationstation.com/ Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on all podcast platforms: http://www.weeklystuffpodcast.com Follow The Weekly Stuff Wordcast newsletter for regular updates and extra content! https://weeklystuff.substack.com “Welcome to Japanimation Station!” Lyrics by Sean Chapman, Music by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com

“That’s Hell you’re walking into.” Where the first season of Unlimited Blade Works provided a lot of essential character work, the second season – episodes 13 through 25 – is where the plot kicks into high gear, and there’s a lot to break down on this episode, as the show doles out revelations about Archer and Shirou, brings Gilgamesh and his monstrous narcissism into the fray, and delivers twists, betrayals, and surprise alliances aplenty. It’s a terrific, instant-classic stretch of anime that’s left a major impact on pop culture, and offers us plenty to discuss as we cut to the heart of Fate/stay night and what Kinoko Nasu’s story is doing with the many intertwined themes and characters. And as always, it’s a magnificent production from ufotable, as the studio continues to hone its craft and forge its identity as one of Japan’s most accomplished and cutting-edge anime studios. Enjoy, and come back next week as we review the first film in the Fate/stay night: Heaven’s Feel trilogy, Presage Flower! Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:52 Unlimited Blade Works Season 2 Review: 0:01:54 – 1:41:59 Eyecatch: 1:41:59 – 1:42:12 Unlimited Blade Works Season 2 Review (Cont.): 1:42:12 – 2:41:36 End Credits: 2:41:36 – 2:42:51 Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheWeeklyStuffPodcast Visit our website and subscribe to Japanimation Station on all podcast platforms: http://japanimationstation.com/ Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on all podcast platforms: http://www.weeklystuffpodcast.com Follow The Weekly Stuff Wordcast newsletter for regular updates and extra content! https://weeklystuff.substack.com “Welcome to Japanimation Station!” Lyrics by Sean Chapman, Music by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com Additional music by Thomas Lack, from the album Foundations.https://music.apple.com/us/album/foundations-a-journey-original-score-ep/1652362921

“Starting now, things are gonna get real flashy!”     The premiere of the Swordsmith Village Arc is just two days away – on April 9th – and we’re finishing out our reviews of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, ufotable’s extraordinary anime adaptation of Kyoharu Gotouge’s hit manga, with a look at the show’s singular second season. Fresh off the unprecedented success of the Mugen Train film, Season 2 is shaped unlike just about any other anime season out there: An original episode with fan favorite Kyojuro Rengoku, then a 6-episode TV edit of Mugen Train complete with a new theme song and end credits, and finally an all new 11-episode adaptation of the manga’s Entertainment District Arc, featuring a double-length premiere and a 1.5x length finale. It’s all fantastic, of course, particularly the new material of the Entertainment District Arc, the point in the manga where Gotouge’s sense of staging action really comes into focus, giving ufotable more than enough to craft some of the most incredible images ever aired on television. With sound hashira Tengen Uzui, his three wives, and an upper-rank demon split across two separate bodies along for the ride, the Entertainment District Arc is an edge-of-your-seat adventure, and more than worthy of another look ahead of Season 3.    We will be back to review the entire Swordsmith Village arc when it finishes airing this summer, and be sure to continue listening to Japanimation Station Season 2 – ufotable/Moon Works – premiering every Tuesday night at 7pm CT on YouTube!    Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:14 Intro: 0:01:14 – 0:03:48 Eyecatch 1: 0:03:48 – 0:03:56 Mugen Train Arc: 0:03:56 – 0:23:45 Eyecatch 2: 0:23:45 – 0:23:55 Entertainment District Arc: 0:23:55 – 2:28:30  End Credits: 2:28:30 – 2:29:45    Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff   Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheWeeklyStuffPodcast   Visit our website and subscribe to Japanimation Station on all podcast platforms: http://japanimationstation.com/   Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on all podcast platforms: http://www.weeklystuffpodcast.com   Follow The Weekly Stuff Wordcast newsletter for regular updates and extra content!  https://weeklystuff.substack.com   “Welcome to Japanimation Station!” Lyrics by Sean Chapman, Music by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com

“I am the bone of my sword.” After the breakout success of Fate/Zero, ufotable returned in 2014 with an adaptation of the second route in the Fate/stay night visual novel: Unlimited Blade Works. And it’s a big series, released in two seasons, with the first including three hour-long episodes, and the entire production showcasing some of the highest-quality animation ever featured on television. It’s a spectacular show, and while ufotable did not adapt the first route of the visual novel, we find that Unlimited Blade Works operates surprisingly perfectly as a direct sequel to Fate/Zero. Today’s podcast discusses the first season, from the ‘0th’ episode on through episode 12, as we break down all the major characters like Shirou Emiya and Rin Tohsaka, the featured Servants including Archer, Saber, Caster, and Lancer, and the incredible direction and production values on display throughout. Enjoy, and come back next week as we review the second season of Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works, episodes 13 through 25! Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:54 Unlimited Blade Works Season 1 Review: 0:01:54 – 1:28:37 Eyecatch: 1:28:37 – 1:28:50 Unlimited Blade Works Season 1 Review (Cont.): 1:28:50 – 2:45:54 End Credits: 2:45:54 – 2:47:10 Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheWeeklyStuffPodcast Visit our website and subscribe to Japanimation Station on all podcast platforms: http://japanimationstation.com/ Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on all podcast platforms: http://www.weeklystuffpodcast.com Follow The Weekly Stuff Wordcast newsletter for regular updates and extra content! https://weeklystuff.substack.com “Welcome to Japanimation Station!” Lyrics by Sean Chapman, Music by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com Additional music by Thomas Lack, from the album Foundations.https://music.apple.com/us/album/foundations-a-journey-original-score-ep/1652362921

“Set your heart ablaze.”    Ahead of the premiere of the Swordsmith Village Arc on April 9th, we’re revisiting a series of reviews of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, ufotable’s extraordinary anime adaptation of Kyoharu Gotouge’s hit manga. This time, we’re talking all about the 2020 feature film sensation Mugen Train, which set historic box-office records in Japan and around the world – and is just an utterly stupendous film all around. Taking one of the shorter arcs of the manga and crafting it into a well-rounded, hard-hitting, tragic film adventure, Mugen Train features some of ufotable’s finest animation to date, boasts a killer score by Yuki Kajiura and Go Shiina, and turned Kyujuro Rengoku into a worldwide anime icon. This is just about as good as it gets.    Come back next Friday for our last Demon Slayer review before Season 3, with our thoughts on Season 2’s Entertainment District Arc! And be sure to continue listening to Japanimation Station Season 2 – ufotable/Moon Works – premiering every Tuesday night at 7pm CT on YouTube!    Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:14 Intro: 0:01:14 – 0:03:39  Eyecatch: 0:03:39 – 0:03:48  Mugen Train Review: 0:03:48 – 2:05:00 End Credits: 2:05:00 – 2:06:15    Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff   Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheWeeklyStuffPodcast   Visit our website and subscribe to Japanimation Station on all podcast platforms: http://japanimationstation.com/   Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on all podcast platforms: http://www.weeklystuffpodcast.com   Follow The Weekly Stuff Wordcast newsletter for regular updates and extra content!  https://weeklystuff.substack.com   “Welcome to Japanimation Station!” Lyrics by Sean Chapman, Music by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com

“Glory lies beyond the horizon.” After covering just the double-length first episode last week, we’re back to discuss the full run of Fate/Zero, the Fate/stay night prequel that became a breakout anime hit all over the world, and given the run-time of today’s podcast, you can probably guess our thoughts on it. This is a tremendous show, whether you’re seeing it for the first time (like Jonathan) or the fifth time (like Sean), working equally well as either a prequel or the first chapter of the larger Fate story, with a giant ensemble of rich, compelling characters, a ridiculously deep bench of vocal talent, some stellar music and animation, and a tragic storyline that barrels towards its wrenching conclusion with unstoppable momentum. There is an almost endless well of amazing material to talk about here, and it leaves us more excited than ever to get into Fate/stay night itself in the weeks to come. Enjoy, and come back next week as we review the first season of Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works, episodes 0 through 12. Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:14 Fate/Zero Review: 0:01:14 – 1:40:18 Eyecatch: 1:40:18 – 1:40:29 Fate/Zero Review (Cont.): 1:40:29 – 3:20:12 End Credits: 3:20:12 – 3:21:27 Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheWeeklyStuffPodcast Visit our website and subscribe to Japanimation Station on all podcast platforms: http://japanimationstation.com/ Subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on all podcast platforms: http://www.weeklystuffpodcast.com Follow The Weekly Stuff Wordcast newsletter for regular updates and extra content! https://weeklystuff.substack.com “Welcome to Japanimation Station!” Lyrics by Sean Chapman, Music by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com