Purely Academic with Jonathan Lack & Sean Chapman

It’s a 2-part episode of Purely Academic as we discuss the recent Nintendo Direct presentation – our first big event from Nintendo since the launch of the Switch 2 – before reviewing the biggest movie in the world right now: Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie – Infinity Castle. The first part of a trilogy adapting the final arc of Gotouge Koyoharu’s manga, it’s an incredible film, depicting three major battles across its 155-minute runtime, and executing on all of it at the same insanely high level we’ve come to expect from ufotable over the years. This is a movie with some of the most jaw-dropping animated spectacle you’ll ever see in a theater, but as always, its heart is with the characters, their backstories, and their interiority, and this film’s focus on the villain Akaza proves to be some of the most effective material in the life of the entire series. We talk about all of it and more, including the terrific vocal performances and killer soundtrack, as Kimetsu no Yaiba truly kicks off the beginning of the end.  Enjoy! Time ChartNintendo Direct: 0:00:00 – 0:51:14Demon Slayer: 0:51:14 – 3:14:36 Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.comSubscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://japanimationstation.comRead Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vKSubscribe to our YouTube channels! Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation  Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcastSupport the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuffOriginal Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

Our August episode of Purely Academic is one of our busiest recordings to date, as Sean and Jonathan break down how they spent their summer vacations, and talk about the start of the new school year. Sean tells us about some of the legal insanity affecting education in Texas, while Jonathan explains why he created a bunch of feature-length anime fan edits for various classes he’s teaching this semester. We discuss a bunch of video games both old and new, from Donkey Kong Bananza and Mafia: The Old Country, to Sean falling down the Dark Souls rabbit hole again and Jonathan finding himself many hours into a new playthrough of the original Pokémon Blue. Jonathan also talks about binging the entire run of Showtime’s Dexter, and finally, Sean is up for The Monthly Ten, counting down the Top 10 podcast topics he would most dread doing. Time ChartIntro: 0:00:00 – 0:08:50News: 0:08:50 – 0:35:33School Talk: 0:35:33 – 1:27:31Jonathan’s Anime Edits: 1:27:31 – 1:48:20Dexter: 1:48:20 – 2:16:53Berserk & Dark Souls: 2:16:53 – 2:44:57Pokémon Blue: 2:44:57 – 2:52:28Donkey Kong Bananza: 2:52:28 – 3:01:57Mafia: The Old Country: 3:01:57 – 3:17:06The Monthly Ten: 3:17:06 – 3:40:13 Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.comSubscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://japanimationstation.comRead Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vKSubscribe to our YouTube channels! Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation  Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcastSupport the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuffOriginal Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

After looking back over all the previous attempts to bring Marvel’s Fantastic Four to the big screen last month, we review the introduction to Marvel’s first family into the MCU: The Fantastic Four: First Steps, directed by Matt Shakman and starring Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Joseph Quinn. It’s easily the most these characters have ever been done justice on film, with great lead performances, excellent retro-futuristic production design, and a particularly fun second act in the depths of outer space. We discuss how the film could stand to take a few more risks and go a bit deeper with its characters and themes, as First Steps ultimately plays things safe in the way most Marvel movies do, but this is still the best film to come out of the MCU in a long time.  Enjoy!  Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.comSubscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://japanimationstation.comRead Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vKSubscribe to our YouTube channels! Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation  Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcastSupport the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuffOriginal Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

We’re back sooner than usual, with a special episode focused entirely on James Gunn’s SUPERMAN! The film is the official launch of the new DCU, but much more importantly, it’s an actual Superman movie, one that truly gets the character and his world in a way no live-action Superman film has in our lifetimes. Jonathan reviewed the film in writing last week at Fade to Lack, but we dive much deeper here with a full spoiler-filled discussion, breaking down all the characters, performances, themes, set pieces, and more! We have a few criticisms here and there, but for the most part agree this is a pretty wonderful superhero movie – and it’s truly awesome to finally have this much fun talking about Superman on a podcast. Enjoy!  Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.comSubscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://japanimationstation.comRead Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vKSubscribe to our YouTube channels! Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation  Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcastSupport the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuffOriginal Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

For the July installment of ‘The Monthly Stuff,’ we break down the news of Xbox’s latest round of devastating layoffs, give fuller impressions of the Nintendo Switch 2 after a full month of play, and discuss recent games and TV shows we’ve experienced. Jonathan gives thoughts on Fast Fusion and Raidou Remastered, alongside continued impressions of Mario Kart World, while Sean talks about playing Indiana Jones and the Great Circle on the PS5, watchingUltraman Gaia, and the second season of Disney+’s acclaimed Star Wars series Andor. And for The Monthly Ten, Jonathan counts down the 10 craziest ideas for superhero movies he could think of. A fun time is had by all. Enjoy! Time Chart: Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:03:35News: 0:03:35 – 0:59:35Indiana Jones and the Great Circle: 0:59:35 – 1:24:20Switch 2 Adventures: 1:24:20 – 2:06:57 Ultraman Gaia: 2:06:57 – 2:20:09 Andor: 2:20:09 – 2:33:37The Monthly Ten: 2:33:37 – 3:05:34  Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.comSubscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://japanimationstation.comRead Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vKSubscribe to our YouTube channels! Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation  Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcastSupport the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuffOriginal Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

With Marvel’s ‘first family’ finally joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe next month in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, we thought it would be a good time to look back at the theatrical history of this extremely troubled franchise. There have been three attempts across four movies to make the Fantastic Four work on the silver screen, from the unreleased 1994 Roger Corman production, to the two Tim Story-directed films at 20th Century Fox in 2005 and 2007, to the ill-fated production of 2015’s Fant4stic, which might just be the worst superhero movie ever made. Some of these movies are better than their reputations suggest – the Tim Story films, with a charming cast and good sense of tone, are fine, if not particularly special – but on the whole, Hollywood has never known what to do with these characters, and surveying these 30 years of failed attempts to bring the Fantastic Four into the cinematic mainstream makes for a fun and fascinating conversation. Enjoy!  Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.comSubscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://japanimationstation.comRead Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vKSubscribe to our YouTube channels! Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation  Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcastSupport the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuffOriginal Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

It’s a jam-packed ‘Monthly Stuff’ episode for June as we give our first impressions of the Nintendo Switch 2 at launch and react to the latest season of Doctor Who. First, Sean gives us his review of Doom: The Dark Ages, while Jonathan talks about watching the classic Takahata Isao anime Heidi, Girl of the Alps. Then we go through some not-E3 2025 news, including the announcement of a Persona 4 remake and Xbox’s first branded handheld, before diving into all things Nintendo Switch 2. Jonathan had the system for about 3 days before recording, and played a ton of games, from brand new experiences like Mario Kart World to upgraded classics like Breath of the Wild. There’s a lot to like here, and a lot to talk about. And finally, we break down what the hell happened with this year’s Doctor Who episodes, as the series fully melted down on its way to a surprise regeneration and desperate last-minute twist. Time Chart: Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:05:22Doom: The Dark Ages: 0:05:22 – 0:19:58Heidi, Girl of the Alps: 0:19:58 – 0:40:53Not-E3 2025 News: 0:40:53 – 1:20:36Nintendo Switch 2 Impressions: 1:20:36 – 2:24:14Doctor Who Season 2: 2:24:14 – 3:32:18Monthly Ten: 3:32:18 – 3:55:24  Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.comSubscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://japanimationstation.comRead Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vKSubscribe to our YouTube channels! Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation  Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcastSupport the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuffOriginal Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

Purely Academic continues its new format, with our second episode for May focusing on the month’s topic: In this case, we’re celebrating the release of DOOM: The Dark Ages with a retrospective on the original PC DOOM games from the 1990s. Over 30 years later, we still find the original DOOM and DOOM II utterly captivating, and we wanted to finally devote a podcast to discussing why they remain such great, singular staples of the first-person shooter genre. And if that wasn’t enough, we also decided to torture ourselves by watching the DOOM movie from 2005, starring Karl Urban and The Rock, which mostly has nothing to do with DOOM, but has one kinda-sorta interesting first-person sequence. It’s bad. But DOOM itself – the real DOOM – is anything but. Enjoy! Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.comSubscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://japanimationstation.comRead Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vKSubscribe to our YouTube channels! Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation  Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcastSupport the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuffOriginal 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.comSubscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://japanimationstation.comRead Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vKSubscribe to our YouTube channels! Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation  Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcastSupport the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuffOriginal Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

Purely Academic has a new format starting this month, where we’ll be releasing two episodes a month: One focused on a specific topic, and the other featuring all the other up-to-date variety of News, ‘Show n’ Tell,’ the Monthly Ten, and more! The latter, which we’re nostalgically calling ‘The Monthly Stuff,’ is what you’re listening to today, and it’s a busy one! There was some big video game news with Nintendo Switch 2 preorders and enormous Xbox price hikes; Sean has been playing some big PS5 games in Monster Hunter Wilds and Assassin’s Creed Shadows; and Jonathan is in charge of May’s ‘Monthly Ten,’ sharing with us 10 increasingly ridiculous ideas for Nintendo Switch 2 accessories that probably won’t happen, but would be very funny if they did. Enjoy, and join us again in 2 weeks for May’s topic, which is all about the classic DOOM games from the 1990s!  Time Chart: Intro & Housekeeping: 0:00:00 – 0:17:40News: 0:17:40 – 1:15:02 Thunderbolts: 1:15:02 – 1:28:37Monster Hunter Wilds: 1:28:37 – 1:49:25Forza Horizon 5 on PS5: 1:49:25 – 1:58:20 Assassin’s Creed Shadows: 1:58:20 – 2:35:15 The Monthly Ten: 2:35:15 – 3:00:59 Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.comSubscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://japanimationstation.comRead Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vKSubscribe to our YouTube channels! Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation  Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcastSupport the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuffOriginal Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

This month, we’re trying something new by releasing the individual segments once a week, to spread the mountain of content we recorded out over the whole month. And that continues with this month’s main topic, where our resident English teacher, Sean Chapman, assigned us a very important reading: F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the Great American Novel turning the ripe old age of 100 this month! We discuss the novel itself, along with two of its cinematic adaptations – the 1974 film directed by Jack Clayton, and the 2013 film directed by Baz Luhrmann – and try to untangle why such an amazing book as never produced a halfway-decent movie. Enjoy!   Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.comSubscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://japanimationstation.comRead Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vKSubscribe to our YouTube channels! Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation  Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcastSupport the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuffOriginal Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

This month, we’re trying something new by releasing the individual segments once a week, to spread the mountain of content we recorded out over the whole month. And that concludes with the month’s last segment, but certainly not its least: The Monthly Ten, the part of the show where Sean and Jonathan challenge each other to make increasingly ridiculous Top 10 lists. In this month’s installment, Jonathan tasked Sean with ranking the Top 10 most unlikely creative collaborations for the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise, in honor of the currently airing GQuuuuuuX, a partnership between Gundam creators Sunrise and the Neon Genesis Evangelion vets at Studio Khara. What Sean comes up with will surprise you, and maybe just make you wish to see some creative miracles unfold. Enjoy!   Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.comSubscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://japanimationstation.comRead Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vKSubscribe to our YouTube channels! Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation  Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcastSupport the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuffOriginal Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

This month, we’re trying something new by releasing the individual segments once a week, to spread the mountain of content we recorded out over the whole month. And that continues with this week’s ‘Show n’ Tell’ segment, in which Sean and Jonathan discuss what they’ve been watching and playing over the last month. Sean talks about the new Like a Dragon game, Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, while Jonathan raves about belatedly catching up on Netflix’s Daredevil and watching the revival series, Born Again, on Disney+. Sean also reviews a classic anime, Studio Gainax’s Jules Verne-inspired Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, and Jonathan gives final thoughts on Dynasty Warriors Origins. Enjoy!     Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.comSubscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://japanimationstation.comRead Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vKSubscribe to our YouTube channels! Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation  Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcastSupport the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuffOriginal Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

This month, we’re trying something new by releasing the individual segments once a week, to spread the mountain of content we recorded out over the whole month. And that begins with a super-sized news segment, in which we break down Nintendo’s official unveiling of the Nintendo Switch 2, an announcement met with simultaneous excitement, controversy, and uncertainty. The price, and the possibility that it might skyrocket thanks to a certain dumbass’ Tariff policy, was the biggest news, but the system also turned out to be a lot more powerful and performant than either of us were expecting – and the games revealed, from expected first-party titles like Mario Kart World to surprising third-party support like a brand new exclusive by FromSoftware, look very good. It gives us a lot to break down on this very busy episode! Enjoy!   Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.comSubscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://japanimationstation.comRead Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vKSubscribe to our YouTube channels! Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation  Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcastSupport the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuffOriginal Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

For March, we’ve put together a really fun grab-bag of an episode, including a topic segment where we answer a big pile of listener mail from our amazing audience members! Sean and I respond to your questions about our favorite directors, how we analyze art when preparing for podcasts, what we would program if we owned our own movie theater, and much more! In the News segment, we discuss the reveal of instant GOTY 2025 frontrunner Digimon Story Time Stranger, Microsoft’s stupid new Project Muse AI initiative, and the unfortunate closure of Monolith, the studio behind games like Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor. For our ‘Show n’ Tell,’ Sean talks about watching Ultraman Dyna, Jonathan reviews the Max original The Pitt and the new Yu-Gi-Oh! Early Days collection, and we continue discussing the insanely fun Dynasty Warriors Origins. Sean introduces a brand new segment to the podcast with Mr. Chapman’s Book Report, in which he tells us all about John Steinbeck’s East of Eden, and for The Monthly Ten, Jonathan counts down the top 10 TV shows that should take a cue from Dragon Ball Daima and transform their adult casts into children. It’s a wild one.  Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.comSubscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://japanimationstation.comRead Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vKSubscribe to our YouTube channels! Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation  Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcastSupport the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuffOriginal Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

It’s February, the month of love, and we’re celebrating it in style, first by talking about one of our most beloved (and oft-referenced) movies, Orson Welles’ 1941 masterpiece Citizen Kane, and then by having Sean count down the Top 10 Weirdest Anime ‘Ships he could think of, complete with original fan-fic excerpts for each and every one. We also pay tribute to David Lynch, a filmmaker both Sean and Jonathan loved dearly, after his passing at the age of 78 in January; talk about Nintendo’s first unveiling of the Switch 2 console; the rapidly approaching death of the Xbox brand with news of more key franchises going multiplatform; and give first impressions of Dynasty Warriors Origins on the PS5, which is absolutely incredible. Enjoy!  Time Chart:Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:04:25News: 0:04:25 – 0:51:58Show n’ Tell: 0:51:58 – 1:34:39Topic (Citizen Kane): 1:34:39 – 2:52:47The Monthly Ten: 2:52:47 – 3:25:18Outro: 3:25:18 – 3:26:05  Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.comSubscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://japanimationstation.comRead Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vKSubscribe to our YouTube channels! Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation  Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcastSupport the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuffOriginal Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

For our first episode of 2025, we take a look back at the very best in video games from 2024, with Sean and Jonathan both presenting their picks for the 10 greatest video games of the year, a diverse collection of titles including several games we’ve never discussed on the show before! In our Show n’ Tell segment, Jonathan talks about his adventures graduating, moving, and preparing for a new job, Sean talks about watching old Gamera movies and Ultraman Tiga, and we review the Doctor Who Christmas Special, “Joy to the World.” And finally, for The Monthly Ten, Sean challenged Jonathan to rank the 10 best years in human history divisible by the number five, but Jonathan had a slightly different take on the assignment. Enjoy, and come back in February when, after years of mentioning it over and over again on the podcast, we finally devote an entire episode to Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane. It’s going to be highly educational.  Time Chart:Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:15:32Show n’ Tell: 0:15:32 – 1:25:28Topic (Top 10 Games of 2024): 1:25:28 – 4:29:15The Monthly Ten: 4:29:15 – 4:41:27Outro: 4:41:27 – 4:43:45  Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.comSubscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://japanimationstation.comRead Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vKSubscribe to our YouTube channels! Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation  Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcastSupport the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuffOriginal Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

In this special bonus episode, Jonathan Lack counts down the Top 10 Films of 2024! You can read the text of this episode, and see links to full reviews of every film discussed, at https://www.jonathanlack.com/p/the-top-10-films-of-2024Time Chart: Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:02:38 Honorable Mentions: 0:02:38 – 0:10:54 #10: 0:10:54 – 0:16:12#9: 0:16:12 – 0:20:22#8: 0:20:22 – 0:24:53 #7: 0:24:53 – 0:29:36#6: 0:29:36 – 0:33:12 #5: 0:33:12 – 0:37:51 #4: 0:37:51 – 0:41:35 #3: 0:41:35 – 0:46:02#2: 0:46:02 – 0:49:51 #1: 0:49:51 – 0:56:57 Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.comSubscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://japanimationstation.comRead Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vKSubscribe to our YouTube channels! Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation  Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcastSupport the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuffOriginal Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

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 – 0:12:11Show n’ Tell: 0:12:11 – 1:33:03Topic (Metaphor): 1:33:03 – 3:12:05Game Time: 3:12:05 – 3:31:10The Monthly Ten: 3:31:10 – 3:58:51Outro: 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.comSubscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://japanimationstation.comRead Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vKSubscribe to our YouTube channels! Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation  Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcastSupport the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuffOriginal Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

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 – 0:19:19Intro: 0:19:19 – 0:40:13News: 0:40:13 – 1:52:12Show n’ Tell: 1:52:12 – 2:57:27Topic (Gamera): 2:57:27 – 5:30:08Hey, Listen: 5:30:08 – 5:41:14The Monthly Ten: 5:41:14 – 6:03:22Outro: 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.comSubscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://japanimationstation.comRead Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vKSubscribe to our YouTube channels! Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation  Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcastSupport the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuffOriginal Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

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 – 0:13:20News: 0:13:20 – 1:03:07Show n’ Tell: 1:03:07 – 2:22:27Topic (Halloween!): 2:22:27 – 3:56:06The Monthly Ten: 3:56:06 – 4:14:20Outro: 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.comSubscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://japanimationstation.comRead Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vKSubscribe to our YouTube channels! Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation  Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcastSupport the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuffOriginal Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman