• December 2024 – Reviewing Metaphor ReFantazio and Learning the True Meaning of Christmas
    Dec 6 2024

    For our December episode, we go deep with Atlus’ outstanding new JRPG, Metaphor: ReFantazio. Like Persona 5, the team’s previous game, this is a work deeply involved in the political and existential questions of our present time, and gives us a lot to chew on as we break down what is easily one of 2024’s best games. In our Show n’ Tell segment, Sean gives his first impressions on Sony’s PS5 Pro and the range of games upgraded to work on it, Jonathan reviews Square Enix’s incredible Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake, and special guest Thomas Lack gives his thoughts on Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Thomas sticks around to play a special, very silly game celebrating the music of Atlus’ video game library – particularly those songs by rapper extraordinaire Lotus Juice – and for The Monthly Ten, Sean ranks the Top 10 Media that Most Embody Christmas, helping us to learn the true meaning of the season.

    Enjoy, and we’ll be see you in the new year when we count down the Top 10 Video Games of 2024. What kinds of things do you think we’re going to learn next time?

    Time Chart:

    Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:12:11

    Show n’ Tell: 0:12:11 – 1:33:03

    Topic (Metaphor): 1:33:03 – 3:12:05

    Game Time: 3:12:05 – 3:31:10

    The Monthly Ten: 3:31:10 – 3:58:51

    Outro: 3:58:51 – 4:00:23

    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://japanimationstation.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

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    4 hrs
  • November 2024 – Gamera Heisei Trilogy, Metaphor ReFantazio Impressions, and Sean’s Best Birthday Gifts
    Nov 8 2024

    It’s our busiest episode yet, with a giant six-hour extravaganza to get you through the month of November. Our main topic concerns the Gamera Heisei trilogy from the 1990s; directed by Kaneko Shusuke with special effects by Higuchi Shinji, these movies are towering classics of the Kaiju genre, and secretly some of the greatest superhero films ever made – and they’re very fun to talk about. For the news segment, we discuss 343 Industries becoming Halo Studios and speculate about the future of the franchise; talk about the end of Firewalk, the studio behind Sony’s massive bomb Firewalk; laugh about the bizarre state of Disney’s Star Wars movies, and question what the hell is up at Warner Bros. In the Show n’ Tell section, we give our first impressions on Atlus’ amazing new JRPG Metaphor ReFantazio, alongside thoughts on Dragon Ball Sparking! Zero and Sonic x Shadow Generations, and take a trip to Sean’s Beta Corner to discuss Monster Hunter Wilds. We debut a brand new segment, Hey, Listen!, in which Jonathan tries to explain what ‘Brat Summer’ is/was to a very confused Sean, and for The Monthly Ten, Jonathan ranks the 10 absolute best gifts we could get Sean for his birthday this month.

    So yes – it’s a busy, silly, very fun episode. And we know it’s coming at a not particularly fun or silly time for America and the world, so Jonathan recorded an extra message at the top of the show reflecting on this week’s events.

    Enjoy, and we’ll be back next month to dive much deeper with Metaphor ReFantazio, in the grand tradition of our long Persona spoiler-casts. What kinds of things do you think we’re going to learn next time?

    Time Chart:

    A Few Words from Jonathan: 0:00:00 – 0:19:19

    Intro: 0:19:19 – 0:40:13

    News: 0:40:13 – 1:52:12

    Show n’ Tell: 1:52:12 – 2:57:27

    Topic (Gamera): 2:57:27 – 5:30:08

    Hey, Listen: 5:30:08 – 5:41:14

    The Monthly Ten: 5:41:14 – 6:03:22

    Outro: 6:03:22 – 6:04:21

    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://japanimationstation.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

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    6 hrs and 4 mins
  • October 2024 - Halloween Trilogy, Astro Bot, PS5 Pro, Nihilistic Anime & More!
    Oct 11 2024

    For the October installment of Purely Academic, Jonathan and Sean embrace the spooky season by talking Halloween – specifically, the recent Halloween reboot/sequel trilogy directed by David Gordon Green and starring Jamie Lee Curtis, with the hosts debating whether these films are muddled messes or interesting revisionist takes on the slasher genre. We break down some recent News, including Sony’s controversial unveiling of the PS5 Pro, several new game announcements including Ghost of Yōtei and Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, and news of Kyoto Animation making an exciting new film and TV series in 2025. In our ‘Show ‘n Tell’ segment, we discuss what we’ve been playing and watching recently, with Jonathan talking about the terrible new Joker movie, his experiences at the Denver Silent Film Festival, and finally finishing Tsukihime: A Piece of Blue Glass Moon, while Sean shares his thoughts on the 5.0 update of Genshin Impact, and we both discuss the outstanding new PS5 game Astro Bot. And finally, in the ‘Monthly Ten’ segment, Sean is challenged by Jonathan to rank the Top 10 Anime That Aren’t About the Power of Friendship.

    Enjoy, and we’ll be back next month for an exciting episode reviewing the Heisei-era Gamera trilogy, a series of classic Kaiju films we’ve been promising to discuss for years now. What kinds of things do you think we’re going to learn next time?

    Time Chart:

    Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:13:20

    News: 0:13:20 – 1:03:07

    Show n’ Tell: 1:03:07 – 2:22:27

    Topic (Halloween!): 2:22:27 – 3:56:06

    The Monthly Ten: 3:56:06 – 4:14:20

    Outro: 4:14:20 – 4:16:56

    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://japanimationstation.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

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    4 hrs and 17 mins
  • September 2024 - Series Premiere! Introducing Ourselves and the New Podcast!
    Sep 6 2024

    For the first episode of this new incarnation of the podcast, Jonathan and Sean introduce (or reintroduce) themselves to listeners by interviewing each other, with a mix of questions equal parts insightful and ridiculous. Then for our first ‘Show ‘n Tell’ segment, we discuss what we’ve been playing and watching recently, with Sean discussing HoYoverse’s Zenless Zone Zero and his ongoing adventures with Ultraman, while Jonathan shares his thoughts on the recently localized Tsukihime remake and what it was like seeing a LiSA concert film in an American theater. And finally, for the debut of our new ‘Monthly Ten’ segment, Jonathan ranks the 10 best episodes of our previous podcast, The Weekly Stuff, and challenges Sean to make a very strange top 10 list for next month.

    Enjoy, and we’ll be back Friday, October 4th for an exciting episode reviewing the recent David Gordon Green Halloween trilogy. What kinds of things do you think we’re going to learn next time?

    Time Chart:

    Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:07:15

    Topic – (re)Introducing Ourselves: 0:07:15 – 1:58:33

    Show n’ Tell – Zenless Zone Zero, Tsukihime, Ultraman 80 & More: 1:58:33 – 2:40:45

    The Monthly Ten: 2:40:45 – 3:02:14

    Outro: 3:02:14 – 3:04:54

    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://japanimationstation.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

    Show More Show Less
    3 hrs and 5 mins
  • UPDATES! Fade to Lack Subscriptions & New Podcast Premiere Date!
    Aug 5 2024

    The Weekly Stuff Podcast may be dead, but that doesn't mean we are! Sean and Jonathan are here for a quick update to remind you that we're working on the next incarnation of the show behind the scenes, and announcing its premiere in September! Jonathan also tells you all about the new subscriptions at his site, www.JonathanLack.com, where you can get weekly classic film reviews and more! There is a lot of exciting stuff coming from us in the final months of 2024, including the end of Japanimation Station Season 4, and in this short check-in, we tell you what to expect and when.

    Read all of Jonathan's past and future writing at Fade to Lack https://www.jonathanlack.com

    Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff

    Read the book 200 Reviews by Jonathan R. Lack in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK

    Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our sister series about the wide, wacky world of anime: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation

    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://japanimationstation.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

    Show More Show Less
    20 mins
  • The Weekly Stuff #500 - Our Top 10 Favorite Anime Ending Themes & Doctor Who S14E7-8 Reviews
    Jun 25 2024

    For our 500th episode, we’ve prepared one of the biggest and best podcasts we’ve ever made. Following up on episode 499, where we counted down our favorite anime opening themes, our main topic today is our Top 10 Favorite Anime Ending Themes, and this one is even more exciting, with endings from shows like Dragon Ball, Haruhi Suzumiya, multiple Gundam shows, Clannad, and more tugging at our heartstrings and contributing massively to our connection with each of these great shows. Sean and Jonathan also talk about playing the Persona and Like a Dragon games the other person was playing a few months ago, recap this week’s surprisingly packed Nintendo Direct, and review the final episodes of the new Doctor Who season, “The Legend of Ruby Sunday” and “Empire of Death.” There’s also a very exciting surprise announcement about the future of the podcast, and our in-house composer Thomas Lack has not only helped us produce a spectacular opening song, but written a brand new anime-style end theme for The Weekly Stuff itself you’ll get to see at the end of the show!

    Enjoy!

    Time Chart:

    Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:02:57

    Intro: 0:02:57 – 0:12:19

    Stuff: 0:12:19 – 1:18:45

    Nintendo Direct News: 1:18:45 – 1:48:17

    Top 10 Anime Endings: 1:48:17 – 4:55:00

    Special Announcement: 4:55:00 – 5:04:14

    Doctor Who Finale: 5:04:14 – 5:56:59

    Final Thoughts: 5:56:59 – 6:46:56

    Ending Theme: 6:46:56 – 6:50:34

    Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff

    Read the book 200 Reviews by Jonathan R. Lack in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK

    Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our sister series about the wide, wacky world of anime: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation

    Explore our archives and subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on all podcasting platforms:

    https://weeklystuffpodcast.com

    Follow The Weekly Stuff Wordcast newsletter for regular updates and extra content!

    https://weeklystuff.substack.com

    Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/

    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://japanimationstation.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

    Show More Show Less
    6 hrs and 51 mins
  • The Weekly Stuff #499 - Our Top 10 Favorite Anime Opening Themes & Doctor Who S14E5-6 Reviews
    Jun 10 2024

    This month, The Weekly Stuff Podcast is reaching its 500th episode, and we’re celebrating with two massive episodes counting down our Top 10 Favorite Anime Opening & Ending Themes. The former is the main topic of today’s show, as Sean and Jonathan share their respective 10 favorite Anime Openings, from obvious favorites like Dragon Ball Z andNeon Genesis Evangelion, to deeper cuts including Maison Ikkoku and Patlabor. It’s an extremely fun countdown, with a few big surprises along the way, and it’s only one part of this massive, 5-hour episode! We also review the latest two episodes of Doctor Who, “Dot and Bubble” and “Rogue,” talk about recent games we’ve been playing and movies we’ve been watching, and break down a bit of news from the Xbox event at Not-E3 2024.

    Enjoy, and be sure to come back in two weeks for our landmark 500th episode, where we’ll be counting down the Top 10 Anime Endings, reviewing the Doctor Who season finale, and making a big announcement about the future of the podcast!

    Time Chart:

    Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:07:30

    Stuff: 0:07:30– 0:57:34

    Not-E3 2024 News: 0:57:34 – 1:20:22

    Our Top 10 Anime Openings: 1:20:22 – 4:23:52

    Doctor Who S14E5-6: 4:23:52 – 5:16:09

    Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff

    Read the book 200 Reviews by Jonathan R. Lack in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK

    Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our sister series about the wide, wacky world of anime: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation

    Explore our archives and subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on all podcasting platforms:

    https://weeklystuffpodcast.com

    Follow The Weekly Stuff Wordcast newsletter for regular updates and extra content!

    https://weeklystuff.substack.com

    Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/

    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://japanimationstation.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

    Show More Show Less
    5 hrs and 16 mins
  • The Weekly Stuff #498 - The Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Episode (& Doctor Who S14E3-4)
    May 28 2024

    After many months and hundreds of hours of play, Sean and Jonathan have finally both finished Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, the second installment in Square Enix’s remake trilogy, and … we didn’t really like it. So today, we’re going to tell you why, diving into a game that starts out promising but turns out to be a very flat, frequently frustrating, extraordinarily long experience that ends with an unbelievably frustrating series of narrative decisions. We also review the latest episodes of Doctor Who – “Boom” and “73 Yards” – and talk a little bit about Furiosa and some recent books we’ve been reading.

    Enjoy, and be sure to listen to the end to hear all about our big plans for the very special episodes 499 and 500!

    Time Chart:

    Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:05:26

    Stuff: 0:05:26 – 0:34:52

    Final Fantasy VII Rebirth: 0:34:52 – 2:43:04

    Doctor Who: 2:43:04 – 3:23:07

    Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff

    Read the book 200 Reviews by Jonathan R. Lack in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK

    Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our sister series about the wide, wacky world of anime: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation

    Explore our archives and subscribe to The Weekly Stuff Podcast on all podcasting platforms:

    https://weeklystuffpodcast.com

    Follow The Weekly Stuff Wordcast newsletter for regular updates and extra content!

    https://weeklystuff.substack.com

    Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/

    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://japanimationstation.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

    Show More Show Less
    3 hrs and 23 mins