Jared’s a bit under the weather so it’s time for him and Anne Ladyem (anneladyem.com) to do reach deep into the grab bag and talk about multiple topics. We discuss the latest Nintendo Direct and the announcements associated with that. Jared and AL went through Final Fantasy XV Pocket Edition HD because Jared thought it might be a good way to play that game. It wasn’t. Finally, Jared played through Marvel’s Spider-Man and wanted to talk heavily about swinging, the story, and the strange relationship with police the game has.

Anne Ladyem (anneladyem.com) and Jared discuss an anime from earlier this year with A Place Further Than The Universe. AL recently decided to watch it so we break down the show episode-by-episode and talk about what makes the series so good and especially episode 11.

CONTENT WARNING: Talks of suicide and parental death in this episode.

Anne Ladyem (anneladyem.com) and Jared discuss this very website's 2015 second best game of the year since AL has just now played it. We discuss each individual episode, the story as a whole, AL's initial thoughts having just completed it, and how this game can make you feel emotions you don't expect.

Jared and Anne Ladyem (anneladyem.com) see how Aqours deals with the dilemma of having to perform in two places on the same day. Do they split up, prioritize one or the other, or attempt to pull off performing twice at full strength?

Jared and Anne Ladyem (anneladyem.com) see that Aqours now have a deadline to get prospective students and they split up into two groups to try and come up with two different songs for the forthcoming Love Live competitions.

Jared and Anne Ladyem (anneladyem.com) are ready to shine again with the season two premiere of Love Live! Sunshine!!. We see what happened with Aqours' performance in the last Love Live and how the group has to come together to try to save the school.

Jared and Anne Ladyem (anneladyem.com) reach the final episode of season one and see how the group does at the Love Live regionals. We are also given a strange recap of the entire season and learn that Love Live is basically a sports anime. Al gives her thoughts of what she is expecting out of season two. 

Jared and Anne Ladyem (anneladyem.com) reach the penultimate episode of season one where Aqours heads back to Tokyo to meet up with Saint Snow and try to figure out why they want to win while also visiting Otonokizaka High School.

Jared and Anne Ladyem (anneladyem.com) say YOUSORO as we watch You have to go through some issues of confidence and friendship as Aqours prepares to perform for the first time without Riko.

Jared and Anne Ladyem (anneladyem.com) take a break from all the drama and chill out with a somewhat filler episode where Aqours works at a beachside food stall and Chika learns of a piano recital that Riko has been invited to.

Jared and Anne Ladyem (anneladyem.com) are ready to finally have the third years get together and settle their intense beef to move on with the series and potentially get a full group.

Jared and Anne Ladyem (anneladyem.com) get to see Saint Snow's first performance and how Aqours handles hitting rock bottom by getting zero votes from the event.

Jared and Anne Ladyem (anneladyem.com) see Aqours take their first trip to Tokyo for a big performance and run into the talented duo known as Saint Snow.

The debate between subs and dubs will rage on until we are long gone. In reality, it is an absolutely silly fight as you should watch which version you are more comfortable with and will enjoy better. When I decided to get back into anime in 2013, one show I constantly saw gifs of on Tumblr was of the 2009-2010 series, K-ON!. For whatever reason, I decided upon the Sentai Filmworks English dub of the series (not to be confused with the other English dub that preceded Sentai) and breezed through both seasons and the movie. The performances of the cast are good on their own and accentuated the show for me in many ways. Looking at the cast of the dub today, it is clear that the K-ON! dub should be viewed as an all-star cast and perhaps one of the best dubs of the 2010s.

Professional wrestling is at times bad, amazing, fun, ridiculous, or intense. Within this year alone, there have been all time classic matches in multiple organizations, an empty arena match inside the Tokyo Dome, and the tragic loss of Daryl the cat. Yet, with everything that has happened in wrestling over the past year, my favorite thing has been a wrestling anime of all things. Tiger Mask W hit the airwaves in October of 2016 as a sequel to the original Tiger Mask series.

Boy, 2017 sure was bad. Video games were one of the few bright spots of the year. As per previous years, there will be supplemental awards first before we dive into the Top 10. There will be spoilers so please beware as you read.

It’s no secret there is a divide within the entirety of the Persona franchise. A large and vocal majority came with the releases of Persona 3 and Persona 4, with even more coming in after the recent release of Persona 5. Of course, as the names of those games suggest, they are not the beginning of the series. For that, you have to go back all the way to September and November of 1996 to the release of Revelations: Persona in different regions. Both versions of Persona 2 would come even later with Innocent Sin coming in June 1999 for Japan and Eternal Punishment in June and December 2000 for Japan and America. One of the big reasons that people have a hard time going back to the first three games is that they are different than the games that would come later. The battles, demon negotiating, dungeons, and lack of social links make the split in the series a large divide. If you were like me and somewhat disappointed with Persona 5, perhaps now is the time to take a look back and see exactly what makes up the earlier games and in particular, Persona 2 Eternal Punishment.

Back on the Seasonal Anime Checkup OVA Episode #18, I mentioned how Persona 5 was currently my least favorite game in the series. That statement might lessen when I decide to attempt a second English (third overall if we’re counting the Japanese version) playthrough, but as of now, and with other facets surrounding the game, it remains that I am disappointed with the game. The game does have good aspects, like revamping the battle mechanics and a good majority of the cooperation/confidant social link characters are great and some of the best in the series. However, Persona 5 is by no means perfect or the greatest game ever made. It may in fact be your game of the year for 2017 and I cannot dispute that as opinions are subjective, but the game is not infallible to criticism like some people might think it is.