Richmond, Shawn and AJ offer a tribute Akira Toriyama(鳥山明) likely one of the most influential artists and creators of our lifetimes. After his tragic passing in March of 2024 - we discuss his life and work and how it has penetrated and enriched our lives. Rest in Peace, 鳥山明.

**SPOILERS - The Boy and The Heron will be discussed at length and spoiled. Go watch it first! (or not)...**
Richmond, James and Mike Judge(@goro_toro) have an impromptu podcast immediately after coming out of the latest Hayao Miyazaki film, The Boy and The Heron. The crew explores the film's artistry, structure and Miyazaki's influences and development as a director coming into possibly his actual last film.

SPOILERS - On Gaku will be discussed at length and spoiled. Go watch it first! (or not)...
Richmond and James have an impromptu discussion after immediately after rolling the credits on the 2019 film On Gaku: Our Sound(音楽) written, directed and animated by Kenji Iwaisawa and based on the 2005 self-published manga - Ongaku to Manga by Hiroyuki Oohashi.

We return to being fans rather than creators. A year of renewal and rebirth. Richmond, Thomas and AJ take some time to talk about the things they legitimately enjoyed as a fan in 2023. 

The Art Eater Crew catches up, Richmond discusses his Gamescom and Devcom trip plus a casual postgame discussion of 2023's Gamescom focusing on the smaller upcoming games that we are excited about with plenty of tangents.

Thomas welcomes Zeno and Federico, the two talented developers from Tmesis Studios (https://twitter.com/tmesis_studio) working on the upcoming European comics inspired game "Universe For Sale". They dive into what makes Italian and French comics unique, how it influenced the game, and share references of (very) local artists and publications that defined their childhood and sensibilities.

Join Richmond live from Germany chatting with Shawn and Thomas for a bit of a pre-game to discuss games we are excited to see more from at Gamescom 2023. We talk Mortal Kombat 1, Model kits, Persona 3 to Web vs. Game UI as well as Akira Toriyama's love of military hardware and the cultural artistry of Black Myth: Wukong.

Richmond, Shawn and Professor Andy gather for some undirected initial impressions of Larian Studios' latest CRPG, Baldur's Gate 3 as well as some discussion of older Baldur's gate titles, glowing cats, the game design philosophy, XCOM, turn-based Metal Gear and some storied encounters, fun gameplay tips and more. More Baldur's Gate 3 episodes to come!