The (first?) Flying Dog Festival included many moments one wouldn’t normally expect at an event supposedly held to celebrate 10 years of the Flying Dog record label. Like Kouichi “Spike” Yamadera barking on stage, or 13,000 people roaring to video’s of Gunbuster, or name dropping the Bahamut from Megazone 23, or Shoji Kawamori giving a short lecture to a packed sports stadium on the history of Macross.

On the other hand, much of what fans were expecting didn’t necessarily happen as planned, with Yoko Kanno pulling out of the event on hours before the doors opened due to a bad bout of influenza.

So what happened? How did things go down? Join us this episode to find out!

Photo courtesy of Yoshiki Fukuyama’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/yoshikifukuyama

It’s time to take a look back at all the developments and happenings in the Macross franchise over the last year. Before that though, we need to get the new year started. And what better way to do so than visit the Macross Bakuon Film Festival to watch Macross Plus and Do You Remember Love?

The latest chapter of Blue Blazes recounts author Kazuhiko Shimamoto’s reaction to the original Macross OP.

It’s a question that seems to pop up more and more frequently as of late, given its global popularity – just what exactly IS anime?

This episode, following bribes involving copious amounts of pizza, we gather a panel of experts, academics and industry insiders to try come up with an answer to this question which is as old as anime fandom itself (spoiler alert – we fail spectacularly).

Featuring special guests Callum May from The Canipa Effect, Kim Morrissy from Anime News Network, Craig Norris from the University of Tasmania and the SpeakerPODcast Crew.

Be afraid – we’re armed with flashcards and we aren’t afraid to use them!