Best Seat on the Couch

Real fans know how special the Avatar franchise is to the gang, and bringing the newest Avatar feature film was always going to supersede whatever episode we had lined up next, Xitter leaks and streaming services be damned. And Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender is a great time! It's gorgeously animated, develops some really cool airbending techniques, gives us a broadly well-contained story, and...well, at least Aang has some decent character growth! It's a film that's not without its flaws, and to us superfans of the franchise some of those flaws are particularly egregious, but as far some beautiful bending action in the big '26, this is not so bad :) Content warning: SPOILERS, strong language.

After taking the magnifying glass to Disney's impressively lucrative Zootopia 2, the gang continues joyriding the sequel train to talk about Frozen 2, another movie that made a cool 1.5 Billy B's but perhaps doesn't hold under our impressively scrutinizing gaze. Indeed, there seem to have been some...disconnects...that occurred as this film was being written; the plot beats seem recycled and haphazardly stitched together, the characters range from being completely shafted (Kristoff) to having negative character growth (honestly both Anna and Elsa), the magic system is nonsensical, and perhaps worst of all, the gang can't even agree whether the stranded Arendellians and Nortuldrans are actually fighting! The gang actually spends, like, half this episode's runtime discussing this completely innocuous scene because Iris can't seem to understand that Sterling K. Brown lowering his guard isn't an indication that these two groups haven't been actively in conflict for 36 years jfc. I'm done writing this blurb honestly this movie's far in the rear view for me, but I hope you get a kick out of this one. Content warning: SPOILERS, strong language, Marcus accidentally calling Kristoff Hans like 10 times during his favorite scene.

Alex hits the gang with the one-two punch this week, following up our discussion on the Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius film a month ago with our favorite characters, moments, and features of the 2002 TV series, The Adventures of...et cetera. And it's a hit! Even Iris, without the nostalgia the rest of the gang frolics in all episode, is broadly impressed with the show post-season 1 and we're all impressed with this show's writing, its characters, and the very flying-by-the-seat-of-their-pants vibe the writers seemed to have as they put out these wacky and psuedo-scientific obstacles in front of Jimmy, Sheen, Carl, and Cindy. One thing's for sure: it's a brain blast from start to finish. Content warning: strong language.

Six years ago, the gang paid homage to one of television's most legendary cartoon franchises by bringing Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! to the couch, even though the series we actually watched as kids was 2002's What's New, Scooby-Doo? alongside those 4 direct-to-video Scooby-Doo films released in that Kids' WB era. This one, Cyber Chase, was close to our hearts as video game enthusiasts and Michael and Iris for sure watched this one dozens of times as kids, so...it's a real shame that this one doesn't really hold up. Whether it's the lack of true suspense or conflicting memories on just how much of this 70-minute movie actually takes place within the game, the gang dejectedly feels the sands of time grind away at our childhood memories and replace them with harsh adult reality in real time. But aside from all that, we've got commentary on the two Mystery Gangs, the lack of detective work typical of Scooby-Doo episodes, the return of some classic villains, true Artificial Intelligence, and how the turn of the century really made us feel like space lasers could beam us into genuine computer code. Content warning: SPOILERS, strong language.

It's been a little while since the gang has discussed an animated Star Wars movie or series here on the couch, but Marcus promptly rectifies that mistake post-Gundam gauntlet with Dave Filoni's newest project, Maul – Shadow Lord. The show continues Maul's journey post-Clone Wars and perhaps bridges a few story gaps up to Maul's appearance in Star Wars Rebels, with a couple of hype lightsaber fights and absolutely gorgeous animated art and backdrops to support, and overall we're very pleased if a little unimpressed with the narrative that hearkens back to many stories already told in the Star Wars universe. Has the gang finally soured on Star Wars hallway scenes and gratuitous Sith aura farming? Will ANY Star Wars content ever be as good as Andor? Give us a listen and find out. Content warning: SPOILERS, strong language, a couple of really excellent Kermit the Frog impressions.

Okay, admittedly, our previous discussion on Zootopia was a *little* heavy for what we can all agree is a pretty palatable and fun children's movie. The sequel introduces...well, a new kind of societal racism-adjacent allegory for our heroes Judy and Nick to tackle, tacks on a wonderful Ke Huy Quan as Gary De'Snake, and ends up making 1.8 billy B's. But does it pass our sequel test? Michael's opinions on this film are mixed, Iris dubs this film boring and predictable, and Marcus genuinely feels like he didn't ingest the movie correctly the first time, so there's a fair bit of good discussion to be had here. Join us as we talk about Nick and Judy's relationship as partners and as partners, the character known as Pawbert, Patrick Warburton, and the Federal Burrow of Investigation. Content warning: SPOILERS, strong language.

The gang returns from its unforeseen hiatus to bring you, our beloved audience, the second film from our 2023 April Fools' episode to receive a genuine standalone episode, Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius. What may be surprising to hear is that this film actually predates the far more popular TV series—it essentially served as the series' pilot—so you can kind of see why the film was written the way it was, in a sense, if you know that none of the characters in the movie had ever been introduced before. It's charming in its own deeply early-2000's way, a fair bit of the movie makes no sense, and Sir Patrick Stewart absolutely devours the scenery as King Goobot V. One thing's for certain: we're the kids in America. Content warning: strong language.

Iris takes the wheel to deliver our discussion on Season 4 of Invincible as soon as humanly possible, because by god we are BACK baby. Our discussion on Season 3 last year left us pleased with the Invincible War and arrival of Conquest arcs, and we certainly had plenty of praise for the dynamics between Mark/Debbie/Oliver plus Eve, but also somewhat hesitant for what this series could deliver that felt novel and exciting like the magic of Season 1. But now that Nolan has returned to Earth for good, and that we've finally received some long-awaited lore on the Viltrumite Empire, we're getting back to what made Invincible so special; and we're introducing the Oliver/Nolan dynamic, and we get to have Optimus Prime at the forefront of the resistance and Thranduil command every scene he's in purely by aura farming. It's safe to say that the gang has completely renewed our hype for Season 5 and that we had an absolute blast talking about these last 8 episodes, so we hope you have a blast listening to us. Content warning: SPOILERS, strong language.

Marcus's fourth and final entry in this Mobile Suit Gundam saga, thankfully saving Iris from a descent into true madness, is a very recent 2021 theatrical entry that is the first of a planned trilogy in the Universal Century timeline. This film, Hathaway, introduces Hathaway Noa, a next-generation protagonist that carries on the legacy of previous UC greats like Amuro Ray and Char Aznable, as he navigates a narrative that's a little less action-heavy and more introspective as far as Gundam media goes—and we're here for it! We are especially pleased with Hathaway's character and his interactions with Gigi, Kenneth, and just the random civilians living in this new post-Neo Zeon world, and perhaps are most disappointed with the weak character development and less-than-exciting ending which are common symptoms of first-movie-in-a-planned-trilogy-itis. Content warning: SPOILERS, strong language.

A long-awaited threequel to our episodes on Wallace & Gromit and legendary film Chicken Run, our discussion on the final DreamWorks & Aardman collaborative feature film Flushed Away feels somewhat bittersweet to Alex, resident Aardman enjoyer, who laments that perhaps the soul of the Aardman way is lost on this film's exclusively CGI production. But it's perhaps the opposite for Iris, who finds herself joining Marcus and Michael as a member of the awful-early-2000s-animated-movie-enjoyers on this episode, and to be completely honest there's quite a bit to praise about this box-office bomb: it's still got that trademark British humor, its voice cast is superb, the characters are refreshingly mature and intelligent as they navigate their issues, and the slugs perform an ingenious role in this film that Despicable Me's Minions will never come close to mimicking. Perhaps next time we'll be recording from the UK! Content warning: SPOILERS, strong language.

The highly anticipated second season of 2023's Frieren anime has arrived, and the gang spent a couple of evenings IRL together watching this season's 10 episodes and has now hopped on the mic to share our thoughts. In many ways, it returns to form, continuing to tell a slower paced and vaguely slice-of-life narrative that loves its flashbacks and references to Himmel the Hero and the original party's memory. But in other ways, this season falters a bit, feeling more like a "filler" season with Season 3's announcement for October 2027, and in some cases becoming almost formulaic in its use of flashback scenes and Frieren's aloof nature. But the phenomenal animation (especially in this season's big arc, the Revolte arc) and wonderful soundtrack both return in full force, and you gotta give this season credit for giving us the "Frieren looking up" meme, especially for Alex. Content warning: SPOILERS, strong language.

From the same team that brought you 4 seasons of The Legend of Vox Machina (with a 5th on the way!) comes another Dungeons & Dragons campaign that's a little darker, a little grittier, and a lot of fun: The Mighty Nein. If Vox Machina was Critical Role's first attempt at a more traditional, capital-Q-quest-style of campaign with plenty of Big Bad Evil Guys and grandiose battles, then Mighty Nein is a more mature, serious-toned show where the characters draw the focus and their backstories suggest that there's...a LOT of unpacking to do. We especially love Caleb's deep lore and "personal episode" in this season, and Michael and Iris (our resident Critters) are amazed at how the showrunners constructed the narrative of an animated series that differs fairly significantly from how events played out on YouTube. And don't forget to tune in to our *brand new* Iris-hosted bonus segment called the Conspiracy Corkboard at the end of this episode! Content warning: SPOILERS, strong language.

Ya like jazz? Marcus's third Mobile Suit Gundam entry continues the gang's discussion on the Universal Century and the One Year War, with a grittier, more self-contained narrative than what we discussed in our episode on Unicorn. Musically unique and visually stunning, Thunderbolt gets our praise primarily because it feels less focused on the minutia of Mobile Suit Gundam and more focused on being a war movie: it hits a lot harder this time around thanks to its adult main characters, more terrifying and dramatic combat, and more mature war-centric themes like drug abuse or child soldiers. It's not a winner for everyone—Iris might have thrown in the towel on Gundam as a whole this episode—but the gang has a lot of praise for this short, two-sided ballad where nobody wins in the end. Content warning: SPOILERS, strong language.

With our episode on Toy Story 3 fresh in our minds, the gang picks up where we left off with 2019's Toy Story 4, a film that cements itself as the—wait a minute, why'd they make another one? Toy Story is literally the best trilogy of all time! Join us as we try and figure out the most important question of all: does this movie have a reason to exist? Some of us say yes: the animation is ridiculously high quality now, Woody still has genuine character growth to experience, and Forky ends up being a fairly interesting new character to the main cast, at least at the beginning of the movie. Some of us say no: Buzz gets character assassinated, there's a noticeable drop in narrative quality compared to Toy Story 3, and the ending simply doesn't hit the emotional notes it needs to. Should this movie just be called Woody? Good shout, Josh. Content warning: SPOILERS, strong language.

If Alex can make Iris break with his episode intro, you know it's gonna be a banger.

Praised as one of 2021's best anime series, Odd Taxi is a short mystery-esque series set in Tokyo where all of the characters are anthropomorphic animals, centering our walrus-man Odokawa, the taxi driver. The show initially touches on the pleasant sentimentality of meeting all of these people with their own unique lives with trials and tribulations, but soon ups the stakes when Odokawa gets tangled up with a missing highschooler, a gangster, and someone who's trying to murder him. There's some excellent writing in this well-contained single season, with touching slow moments and some really emotionally rich dialogue as the audience uncovers the mystery of not only what's going on, but who Odokawa really is. Content warning: SPOILERS, strong language.

With our episode on Toy Story 2 fresh in our minds, the gang picks up where we left off with 2010's Toy Story 3, a film that cements itself as the conclusion to one of the best film trilogies of all time. With many years having passed between 2 and 3 both IRL and in-universe, we here on the Couch get to feel like we've grown up with Andy, and get hit with some of the best emotional payoff at the end of the film that we've ever seen: Andy goes to college, Woody finds new purpose with a new kid but understands the emotional weight of saying goodbye to Andy, and the acceptance of moving on from a journey that's offered so much to both Andy and the toys. There's so much to love about this film, whether it's Lotso as an antagonist, Woody's continued character growth, the gorgeous and continually improving animation quality, and the film's climax—so stick around and listen to us love it! Content warning: SPOILERS, strong language.

Marcus's second entry in our multi-month saga in the Mobile Suit Gundam Universe takes us into the franchise's Universal Century, but (perhaps questionably) the gang is starting at the very end, with 2010's Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn. Everyone's intros can be boiled down to some variation of "this show doesn't work without prior knowledge of the Universal Century," and by far our biggest criticism of the show is that it's a confusing, lore-heavy, politically flip-floppy series; when you combine those two shortcomings, you get a show that's almost impossible to grasp as a first-time watcher. It's a real shame that, at its core, Unicorn shows genuine promise with some excellent political and anti-war messaging, and it's flanked by an incredible Hiroyuki Sawano soundtrack and some of the best animation in the series, but it looks like Marcus should probably provide a primer for the gang next time around. Content warning: SPOILERS, strong language.

Once again the gang turns back the clocks to follow up our episode on Toy Story with our discussion on 1999's Toy Story 2, a film that really kickstarts the Pixar meme of "so what if ____ had feelings?" and sets the foundation for the entire Toy Story franchise...that's still going on to this day! This movie introduces Jessie and Woody's Roundup, the evil Emperor Zurg, and the philosophical conundrums of identity, mortality, and immortality! It's a fantastic evolution of the foundational idea of Toy Story, shows significantly improved computer-generated animation made in 4 years of progress, raises the stakes significantly for Woody and Buzz and doesn't retread their character arcs from the first film, and does all this while still being a fantastically fun children's movie to watch even as an adult. That all being said, it's still not a better sequel than Shrek 2. Content warning: strong language.

Just in time for New Year's resolutions to begin falling apart, the gang brings a full-blown Japanese PSYOP anime designed specifically to get the single Otakus to hit the gym: How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift? So the question is...does it succeed? As far as edutainment animes go, Iris said it best: the 'edu' part is good, the 'tainment' part is where we have some issues. It's got excellent advice for beginners or those who have no gym experience while also providing post-credit workouts and fun alternatives to exercising outside of a gym, like climbing a thousand flight of stairs! But on the other hand, trash anime and its gratuitous fan service comes in many forms, and few of them are as disappointingly awful as the kind shown in Dumbbells, which the gang lambasts thoroughly. Overall, though, some of us actually got some physical workouts in during and after watching this show, so...thanks, Alex! Content warning: SPOILERS, strong language.

ONE PIECE fans around the world can finally close the book on Eiichiro Oda's 1155-episode first season, with the Elbaph arc kicking off season 2 in April 2026! Okay, people who actually watch this anime know we're on season 21, but it's a funny meme. Alex once again assembles panelists Ayana, Katy, Lony, and Owen to discuss the episodes that aired in 2025 and bounce ideas around some reasonably important stuff like the Knights of God, Scopper Gaban, Imu using the Domi Reversi, and more. We love to see Luffy succeed via the power of friendship, we must deconstruct the God Valley flashback, and we can't finish a ONE PIECE episode on the couch without a couple of theories to cap off the session. Perhaps Iris, Marcus, and Michael might finally have their chance to join in on the fun with the upcoming The One Piece Remake coming to Netflix at the end of this year. Content warning: SPOILERS, strong language.