Zannen, Canada

It is amazing to think that, a little over a decade ago, some low-level staffer from ARMS Studio traveled to Coquitlam, BC, marveled at the Real Canadian Superstore off Lougheed Highway and thought to himself, "yes, this needs to be immortalized in an anime about wizard lawyers". OK, I don't actually know if that happened, but a trip to the liminal Loblaws spin-off "Storesuper" is only one of the inexplicable Canadian references that can be found in Wizard Barristers, staring the inexplicably half-Canadian Cecil Sudou. Karl joins me after an extended hiatus to marvel at this kind-of notable Yasuomi Umetsu joint from 2014.

It's unusal for any major media franchise from outside of this country to frequently and specifically reference Canada, but Mobile Suit Gundam is fairly well known for it. I don't know why Amuro's birthplace was established as Prince Rupert, BC in Gundam Movie 1, why there's a military fortress in Fort Severn, Ontario in Gundam X or why the insidious Earth Federation training academy from Ecole du Ciel was set up in Montreal, but I'm more than happy to interpret it as a compliment. Gundam super fan Yazy returns to the show to discuss.

Andy Coyle is probably best known as the director of Hilda, the animated adaptation of the UK novel series by Mercury Filmworks. More recently, he's been tinkering away at Don't Walk Home Alone After Dark, an animated horror anthology that has blown up in popularity over the past few years on YouTube and may very well be one of the coolest things happening in Canadian animation today. I talk to him about the struggle of getting a show like this made in the our modern production ecosystem, as well as his youthful days watching graphic and exploitative anime OVAs from his local video store in New Brunswick - an essential diet for any growing animator.

You probably didn't know there was an Emily of New Moon anime. Unless, that is, unless you live in an Arabic-speaking country, where it just happens to be one of the most popular anime series of this century despite being forgotten in every other region. I'll admit, I was kind of dreading the obligation of sitting through TMS and NHK's 2007 adaptation featuring Lucy Maud Montgomery's second most popular precocious child from PEI, but I kind of loved it despite some surprising changes from the source material. Mike Toole and Sherly Kyorkis also loved it, and they join me to talk about its surprising pedigree and ponder its runaway cross-cultural success on Spacetoon.

Some listeners may be perturbed to learn that much of the discussion on this program about the trends and traditions of anime in our country is built on a foundation of assumptions. Mind you, this is not the same thing as a foundation of lies, because these assumptions are based on the qualified observations and deductions of sensible people, but some out there will not accept anything less than a quantified take. Well, that's what I'm delivering this episode, and I've invited Miles Atherton of Quest for the Best and White Box Entertainment to give us a look at the real numbers underlying audience trends, which shows have been truly impactful and which province has the trashiest taste in anime.

You may assume that the most popular anime to air in Quebec in the 1980s was Captain Harlock or Candy Candy, but that's probably because those are shows you'd find interesting on the surface. If you want to look at what was actually popular with French-Canadian children, you should shift your attention to a surprisingly violent talking beaver cartoon that was actually a repurposed advertisement for a Japanese amusement park put out by the same studio that made Chargeman Ken. Le Petit Castor (known as Don Chuck Monogatari in Japan) was a Quebec dub made for a Quebec audience, and is fondly remembered despite having no English translation in existence. Patricia and Dez join me for this discussion!

It's time for Zannen, Canada to fulfill its mandated 30% yaoi quota by diving into Heated Rivalry. And why SHOULDN'T we talk about the greatest Canadian television show of all time? The fact that we can make numerous connections to anime, such as using innovative budget techniques and its status as an Evangelion-like social phenomenon, is really just a bonus. Ian and Randy are both back to discuss!

Gene Fowler is something of a mythical figure of the Maritime animation scene, having founded two studios (Fatkat Studios and Loogaroo Studios) and keeping up a steady stream of projects despite having a bit of an outsider status in the Canadian animation industry. And hoo-boy does he have some things to say about that industry! Even if you disagree, he'll sure as hell give you something to think about.

Ginban Kaleidoscope is an anime series from 2005. It tells the story of self-absorbed Japanese figure skating champion who becomes possessed by the ghost of Canadian stunt pilot who crashes his plane near one of her qualifying performances in Montreal. The premise is ridiculous, the animation is mediocre at best, and the final episode famously carries an Alan Smithee directing credit. Did we have a good time watching it? Well... we had a good time talking about it, that's for sure. Dawn from The Anime Nostalgia podcast guest stars!

I've finally found the courage to talk about the sometimes tumultuous history of anime fandom in Vancouver, including stores like Anime Jyanai, clubs like VJAS, well-remember cons like Anime Evolution and not-so-well-remembered cons like AKA Con. Hieu Phan joins me for a fun and civil discussion.

K-Pop Demon Hunters, Netflix's most successful movie ever and the seismic cultural force of the summer, was made almost entirely by Canadian creative staff. So why isn't it a Canadian movie? Most of us probably understand that it's because it was made by American producers with American money. However, outside of some media puff pieces about the Canadian creator and co-director Maggie Kang, there isn't a lot of discussion about why we aren't doing anything to move away from being a thankless land of oursourcing. Luckily, Wildbrain animation staffer Kristian Lobb agreed with me that cartoons can be the ultimate "Nation Building project" and the two of us talk about how we could benefit from all of that pop culture soft power if we just only we moved the pieces around a little bit.

There were simply too may conventions going on in August, but we tried our best to keep our bases covered! Chris gives us the lowdown on his last minute trip to Animethon in Edmonton, while Pierre and myself talk about our fun (but very hot!) weekend at Otakuthon in Montreal!

I've likely committed some kind of crime by going an entire decade without devoting an episode to Isao Takahata's 1979 Anne of Green Gables anime series, but here it is at long last. One of the greatest literary adaptations of all time, and maybe one the greatest television shows of all time. Dave Merrill and Patricia Gosselin chat with me about the legacy of Lucy Maude Montgomery's work, the idolatry of Anne Shirley in Japan, the anime's broadcast in French-speaking Canada and why its only English dub was produced in South Africa.

The Zannen, Canada podcast has now been around for 10 years and I'm determined to not make a big deal about it! Sarah/Kittea joins me for the first time in some years to help me work through the headspace that results from dealing with trade wars and challenges to sovereignty day in and day out, and what this means for anime fans! We also chat about Inuyasha: The Final Act which is now available for on-demand streaming in this country for the first time EVER.

We may be facing tumultuous times as a nation, but this has only helped make the bond between Anglophone and Francophone anime fans stronger than ever! Patricia Gosselin is co-founder of the Nadeshiko Club, a group of esteemed scholars and panelists who have worked hard to elevate the culture of French-Canadian anime fandom and conventions. She joins me to talk about the background of the club, the lost decade that emerged after anime disappeared from Quebec television in the 1990s and the history of Quebec dubbing reaching back to JA Lapointe in the 1960s.

After the last episode exploring Cybersix, I felt that we still needed to dig deeper into the story behind the incredible Japanese-Canadian co-production. There was one major perspective missing, and I was very fortunate to not only get in contact with him, but have him agree to come on the podcast: Hervé Bédard, executive producer of Cybersix and founder of Network of Animation! Zee the Raccoon and Brady Hartel once again join me, although we spend most of this interview completely spellbound at the perspective Bédard had to offer, not only on the production of Cybersix, but on his incredible personal history in the animation industry, as well as the relationship between art and society.

We're not done celebration the 20th anniversary of Bionix yet! This time we're looking at the show that effectively marked the end of the block that we loved: Death Note! And we're not only looking at Death Note in the context of YTV, but also for the franchise's many connections to the city of Vancouver largely due to the amazing English dubbing work by Ocean Studios. And yes, we do talk about that other connection it has to Vancouver.

Since I'm pretty much obligated to do something in observance of the 20th anniversary of YTV's Bionix block, Sammy and I are talking about its one debut anime we haven't touched on: Witch Hunter Robin! While it's not a super interesting show on its own, it did offer a lot to chew on as part of a well-curated programming block. We also have what I believe to be an exclusive look at the canceled live action Witch Hunter Robin series, courtesy of showrunner Joe Menosky. (Seriously, he just emailed it to me out of the blue!)

I finally made it to Otakuthon and I already want to go back. My generous Montreal host Chris aka Kurotsuki joins me to talk about pros and cons (mostly pros) of Canada's biggest and best anime convention. We also chat a little about this year's Anime Revolution in Vancouver, and I certainly had some things to say on that.

In a move that is not at all surprising for Bandai, the demand for the long-delayed Gundam SEED FREEDOM film was drastically underestimated in Canada. Originally planned for a one night screening, the film's exhibition was expanded to a 17 day run, as screenings in most major cities frantically sold out. Could this film possibly live up to this level of hype over 15 years after Destiny burned us so badly? And... hey is that Trevor Devall back as Mu La Flaga?!