Japanimation Station Season 6 - TOMINO-THON!

Jonathan Lack & Sean Chapman
  • 4.6 (46)
  • ANIMATION & MANGA
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Japanimation Station is an anime podcast where hosts Jonathan Lack and Sean Chapman, creators of Weekly Suit Gundam, create deep dive conversations not just on individual shows, but on complete bodies of work, approaching these shows not just as fans, but with a fresh pair of critical eyes. We get deep into the stories, characters, and aesthetics, but also place the series and their creators into the proper contexts of history, backstory, and behind the scenes details that make these works so special. And, hopefully, we’ll have some fun along the way. Welcome to Japanimation Station.

  1. S6E8 - TOMINO-THON! Combat Mecha XABUNGLE Part 2 (Episodes 27-50) & XABUNGLE GRAFFITI Review

    15H AGO

    S6E8 - TOMINO-THON! Combat Mecha XABUNGLE Part 2 (Episodes 27-50) & XABUNGLE GRAFFITI Review

    The second half of Combat Mecha Xabungle – episodes 27 through 50 – plays like a second season, with the action moving to Planet Zola’s snowy tundra, a new group of characters arriving on the scene in the form of the freedom-fighting Salt crew, and the kidnapping of the Iron Gear’s captain, Elchi Cargo, leading to a new set of stakes for the series’ second half. It doesn’t all work, as Xabungle falls into some unfortunately repetitive patterns down the home stretch, blunting some of the great character work and world-building done in the first. But these episodes are not without their considerable high points, and if nothing else, the compilation movie – Xabungle Grafitti – is one of the weirder such films we’ve ever looked at. If the journey matters more than the destination, then Xabungle is definitely a journey we’re happy to have taken.  Enjoy, and come back next week as we cross through the aura road and enter the world of Byston Well with the first 19 episodes of Aura Battler Dunbine!  Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:37 Xabungle Part 2 Review: 0:01:37 – 1:02:42 Eyecatch Break: 1:02:42 – 1:02:23 Xabungle Part 2 Review Continued: 1:02:23 – 2:10:37 End Theme: 2:10:37 – 2:12:46 Subscribe to our YouTube channels!  Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation   Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com Subscribe to PURELY ACADEMIC, our monthly variety podcast about movies, video games, TV, and more: https://purelyacademic.simplecast.com Follow Japanimation Station on Instagram and Threads @JapanimationStationPodhttps://www.instagram.com/japanimationstationpod/ Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK “Tominoson-G Mk. V” – Music by Thomas Lack, Lyrics by Sean Chapman, featuring Hatsune Miku & KAITO. “The World You See” – Music & Lyrics by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com

    2h 13m
  2. S6E7 - TOMINO-THON! Combat Mecha XABUNGLE Part 1 (Episodes 1-26) History & Review

    APR 27

    S6E7 - TOMINO-THON! Combat Mecha XABUNGLE Part 1 (Episodes 1-26) History & Review

    Beginning an historic, uninterrupted run of 5 back-to-back 50-episode anime series airing from 1982 to 1987, Combat Mecha Xabungle marks an exciting turning point in Tomino Yoshiyuki’s career. After really giving his ‘Kill ‘em All’ ethos a workout on Space Runaway Ideon, Tomino set himself a very different challenge with Xabungle: What if this could be a ‘Nobody Dies’ show? The result is a vibrant mecha action comedy set in what is basically the wild west (albeit on the planet Zola), with a ragtag cast of vibrant characters battling their way through some of Tomino’s richest and most intriguing world-building. In this week’s conversation, we look at the history of the show and discuss the first 26 episodes, which we found to be absolutely delightful from top to bottom.  Enjoy, and come back next week as we finish Xabungle with episodes 27-50 and the compilation movie, Xabungle Grafitti!  Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:37 Intro and History: 0:01:37 – 1:29:51 Eyecatch Break: 1:29:51 – 1:30:33 Xabungle Part 1 Review: 1:30:33 – 3:11:35  End Theme: 3:11:35 – 3:13:50 Subscribe to our YouTube channels!  Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation   Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com Subscribe to PURELY ACADEMIC, our monthly variety podcast about movies, video games, TV, and more: https://purelyacademic.simplecast.com Follow Japanimation Station on Instagram and Threads @JapanimationStationPodhttps://www.instagram.com/japanimationstationpod/ Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK “Tominoson-G Mk. V” – Music by Thomas Lack, Lyrics by Sean Chapman, featuring Hatsune Miku & KAITO. “The World You See” – Music & Lyrics by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com

    3h 14m
  3. S6E6 - TOMINO-THON! THE IDEON Movies – A CONTACT & BE INVOKED (1982) History & Review

    APR 20

    S6E6 - TOMINO-THON! THE IDEON Movies – A CONTACT & BE INVOKED (1982) History & Review

    Many years before Anno Hideaki remade the ending to his audacious but unfinished sci-fi TV series with an avant-garde theatrical tour-de-force in The End of Evangelion, Tomino Yoshiyuki blazed the trail with The Ideon: Be Invoked, providing the full ending Space Runaway Ideon never got on television in spectacular (and spectacularly violent) fashion. Alongside its companion film, A Contact – which recaps the story of the TV series – Be Invoked completes the Ideon experience in the most purely Tomino ways imaginable, with incredibly intense action, an absolutely astonishing amount of bloodletting, and, in the end, a transcendental vision of collective human consciousness breaking free from these shackles we call bodies. It is one of the darkest, strangest, and most spectacularly produced anime films of all time, a crucial step not just in the career of Tomino Yoshiyuki, but in the history of Japanese animation itself.  Enjoy, and come back next week for something completely different: Tomino’s delightful Western mecha comedy Combat Mecha Xabungle!  Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:37 History and A Contact Review: 0:01:37 – 1:03:44 Eyecatch Break: 1:03:44 – 1:04:28  Be Invoked Review: 1:04:28 – 3:17:29 End Theme: 3:17:29 – 3:19:43  Subscribe to our YouTube channels!  Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation   Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcßast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com Subscribe to PURELY ACADEMIC, our monthly variety podcast about movies, video games, TV, and more: https://purelyacademic.simplecast.com Follow Japanimation Station on Instagram and Threads @JapanimationStationPodhttps://www.instagram.com/japanimationstationpod/ Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK “Tominoson-G Mk. V” – Music by Thomas Lack, Lyrics by Sean Chapman, featuring Hatsune Miku & KAITO. “The World You See” – Music & Lyrics by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com

    3h 20m
  4. S6E5 - TOMINO-THON! Space Runaway IDEON (1980) TV Series History & Review

    APR 13

    S6E5 - TOMINO-THON! Space Runaway IDEON (1980) TV Series History & Review

    It’s finally time to discuss what is almost certainly Tomino’s best-known and most widely renowned work outside the world of Gundam: 1980’s Space Runaway Ideon, the 39-episode TV series that begins with a relatively similar premise to Mobile Suit Gundam – a ragtag crew of space colonists flee an invading army, with a mysterious and powerful mecha in tow – before quickly spinning into much stranger, darker, and more philosophical territory. In fact, Ideon might be something closer to a horror anime than a traditional mecha show. But however one defines it, Ideon is undoubtedly one of Tomino’s finest hours, bold and brutal and artistically extraordinary at every turn. For today’s show, we look specifically at the original TV series, which ends abruptly (albiet distinctively); on next week’s episode, we’ll look at the two films Tomino and Sunrise produced in 1981 to recap and ultimately finish the story. The Ideon is simply way too big to contain in a single episode.   Enjoy, and come back next week for our review of The Ideon movies: A Contact and Be Invoked!   Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:37 Intro and History: 0:01:37 – 1:24:34 Eyecatch Break: 1:24:34 – 1:25:17  Ideon TV Series Review: 1:25:17 – 3:56:28 End Theme: 3:56:28 – 3:58:38  Subscribe to our YouTube channels!  Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation   Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com Subscribe to PURELY ACADEMIC, our monthly variety podcast about movies, video games, TV, and more: https://purelyacademic.simplecast.com Follow Japanimation Station on Instagram and Threads @JapanimationStationPodhttps://www.instagram.com/japanimationstationpod/ Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK “Tominoson-G Mk. V” – Music by Thomas Lack, Lyrics by Sean Chapman, featuring Hatsune Miku & KAITO. “The World You See” – Music & Lyrics by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com

    3h 59m
  5. S6E4 - TOMINO-THON! The Revolutionary Creation of MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM (1979)

    APR 6

    S6E4 - TOMINO-THON! The Revolutionary Creation of MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM (1979)

    Considering Japanimation Station started its life in 2019 as Weekly Suit Gundam – which itself started with a six-part podcast miniseries following Sean and Jonathan discussing every aspect of the original Mobile Suit Gundam series from 1979 – it’s safe to say we’ve already reviewed the legendary ‘First Gundam’ on this show. So for today’s episode, we’re doing something a bit different to celebrate the most crucial turning point in the career of Tomino Yoshiyuki: Narrating the history of the series from its conception through the release of the Gundam movie trilogy, which heralded the dawn of a ‘New Anime Era.’ It’s our most scripted episode to date, as we share original research and writing on the creation and historical impact of Gundam, while also making space to discuss how we see the show itself in the light of our ongoing ‘Tomino-thon’ project. Even if you’ve heard us talk about Gundam many times before, this is an episode you won’t want to miss.  Enjoy, and come back next week as we look at the original 39 episodes of 1980’s Space Runaway Ideon!  Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:37 The Making of Gundam ‘79: 0:01:37 – 1:39:41 Eyecatch Break: 1:39:41 – 1:40:27 Dawn of the New Anime Era: 1:40:27 – 2:10:38  End Theme: 2:10:38 – 2:12:47  Subscribe to our YouTube channels!  Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation   Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com Subscribe to PURELY ACADEMIC, our monthly variety podcast about movies, video games, TV, and more: https://purelyacademic.simplecast.com Follow Japanimation Station on Instagram and Threads @JapanimationStationPodhttps://www.instagram.com/japanimationstationpod/ Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK “Tominoson-G Mk. V” – Music by Thomas Lack, Lyrics by Sean Chapman, featuring Hatsune Miku & KAITO. “The World You See” – Music & Lyrics by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com

    2h 13m
  6. S6E3 - TOMINO-THON! Invincible Steel Man DAITARN 3 (1978) History & Review

    MAR 30

    S6E3 - TOMINO-THON! Invincible Steel Man DAITARN 3 (1978) History & Review

    “Exhilaration, humor, and pathos” – these are the three pillars Tomino Yoshiyuki outlined in a pre-production memo for the series that became 1978’s Invincible Steel Man Daitarn 3. And the 40-episode show that followed very much fulfilled those goals, as this blend of super robot and Kamen Rider-style super hero action – also taking copious influence from the worlds of Star Wars and James Bond – is a fun and, in the end, surprisingly impactful series. It’s also the show where Tomino drilled down and learned how to perfect an episodic TV formula, telling a different and distinct story every week. While it gets off to a slow start, Daitarn 3 gets better and better as it goes on, building to a finale that proves to be one of Tomino’s finest directorial efforts, and which signals the full artistic flourishing of the man who would create Gundam.  Enjoy, and come back next week as we arrive at the dawn of the new anime era: 1979’s legendary Mobile Suit Gundam!  Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:37 Intro and History: 0:01:37 – 1:27:25 Eyecatch Break: 1:27:25 – 1:28:10  Daitarn 3 Review: 1:28:10 – 2:41:53 End Theme: 2:41:53 – 2:44:02  Subscribe to our YouTube channels!  Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation   Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com Subscribe to PURELY ACADEMIC, our monthly variety podcast about movies, video games, TV, and more: https://purelyacademic.simplecast.com Follow Japanimation Station on Instagram and Threads @JapanimationStationPodhttps://www.instagram.com/japanimationstationpod/ Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK “Tominoson-G Mk. V” – Music by Thomas Lack, Lyrics by Sean Chapman, featuring Hatsune Miku & KAITO. “The World You See” – Music & Lyrics by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com

    2h 44m
  7. S6E2 - TOMINO-THON! Invincible Super Man ZAMBOT 3 (1977) History & Review

    MAR 23

    S6E2 - TOMINO-THON! Invincible Super Man ZAMBOT 3 (1977) History & Review

    Our Tomino-thon reaches its first full review of the season with 1977’s Invincible Super Man Zambot 3, the debut series from a newly independent Sunrise, and the first original show directed in full by Tomino Yoshiyuki. Combining fantastical, episodic ‘super robot’ action with traces of the darker, more psychologically dense storytelling Tomino would eventually be known for, Zambot 3 also sees several members of the future Mobile Suit Gundam team working together for the first time, including character designer Yasuhiko Yoshikazu, mechanical designer Okawara Kunio (who drew the Bandok fortress, the series’ most striking design), and musical composers Watanabe Takeo and Matsuyama Yuji. And it’s the show that would, with its legendarily brutal finale, birth the legend of ‘Kill ‘em All’ Tomino. Enjoy, and come back next week as we meet the suave Haran Banjō in Invincible Steel Man Daitarn 3!  Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:37 Intro and History: 0:01:37 – 0:51:57 Eyecatch Break: 0:51:57 – 0:52:41 Zambot 3 Review: 0:52:41 – 2:24:13 End Theme: 2:24:13 – 2:26:22 Subscribe to our YouTube channels!  Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation   Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com Subscribe to PURELY ACADEMIC, our monthly variety podcast about movies, video games, TV, and more: https://purelyacademic.simplecast.com Follow Japanimation Station on Instagram and Threads @JapanimationStationPod https://www.instagram.com/japanimationstationpod/ Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK “Tominoson-G Mk. V” – Music by Thomas Lack, Lyrics by Sean Chapman, featuring Hatsune Miku & KAITO. “The World You See” – Music & Lyrics by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com

    2h 27m
  8. S6E1 - Tomino-thon Begins! The Origins of Tomino Yoshiyuki, including MIGHTY ATOM and TRITON OF THE SEA

    MAR 16

    S6E1 - Tomino-thon Begins! The Origins of Tomino Yoshiyuki, including MIGHTY ATOM and TRITON OF THE SEA

    Our Tomino-thon kicks off with a history-focused episode exploring the origins of Tomino Yoshiyuki leading up to the creation of his first full original series, Zambot 3 (which we’ll be reviewing next week). Where did this mad creative genius come from, and what was he up to in the years before he earned his ‘Kill ‘em all’ moniker? This episode takes us from the political climate in Japan during Tomino’s college years, to Tomino’s time at Mushi Pro becoming one of the most prolific episode directors on Tezuka Osamu’s Mighty Atom (aka Astro Boy), to his first directorial project, a (very loose) adaptation of Tezuka’s Triton of the Sea manga. We explore how he became known as the anime industry’s ‘wandering storyboard man’ in the 1970s, and end with the creation of the studio that became Sunrise, Tomino’s creative home for the bulk of his career. It’s a very fun, extremely informative episode that lays the foundation for the season to come.  Enjoy, and come back next week as we review Invincible Super Man Zambot 3, the show which first earned Tomino his ‘kill ‘em all’ moniker!  Time Chart: Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:37 Intro and Tomino Origins Part 1: 0:01:37 – 0:16:30 Mighty Atom/Astro Boy: 0:16:30 – 0:59:04 Tomino Origins Part 2: 0:59:04 – 1:09:25 Eyecatch Break: 1:09:25 – 1:10:37 Triton of the Sea: 1:10:37 – 1:48:23 Wrap-up: 1:48:23 – 1:54:54 End Theme: 1:54:54 – 1:57:03 Subscribe to our YouTube channels!  Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation   Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com Subscribe to PURELY ACADEMIC, our monthly variety podcast about movies, video games, TV, and more: https://purelyacademic.simplecast.com Follow Japanimation Station on Instagram and Threads @JapanimationStationPodhttps://www.instagram.com/japanimationstationpod/ Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK “Tominoson-G Mk. V” – Music by Thomas Lack, Lyrics by Sean Chapman, featuring Hatsune Miku & KAITO. “The World You See” – Music & Lyrics by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com

    1h 57m
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About

Japanimation Station is an anime podcast where hosts Jonathan Lack and Sean Chapman, creators of Weekly Suit Gundam, create deep dive conversations not just on individual shows, but on complete bodies of work, approaching these shows not just as fans, but with a fresh pair of critical eyes. We get deep into the stories, characters, and aesthetics, but also place the series and their creators into the proper contexts of history, backstory, and behind the scenes details that make these works so special. And, hopefully, we’ll have some fun along the way. Welcome to Japanimation Station.

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