Purely Academic with Jonathan Lack & Sean Chapman

For our October episode, we’ve got a giant News section, including more awful news from the world of video games, despair over the Paramount/Warner Bros. merger, and some potentially hopeful news about the future of Doctor Who. Then we have 3 recent video games to review: Onimusha: Way of the Sword, which we gave first impressions on last month; Jonathan’s take on Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave, which he’s only played a paltry 90 hours of as of this recording, and Sean’s thoughts on Star Wars: Zero Company, the Xcom-style tactics game in a galaxy far, far away. And finally, for The Monthly Ten, Jonathan is sharing 10 ideas for holiday gimmick horror movies, and they are, indeed, very silly.

Enjoy!

Time Chart:

Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:14:42

News: 0:14:42 – 1:47:30

Onimusha: 1:47:30 – 2:18:00

Fire Emblem: 2:18:00 – 2:42:10

Star Wars Zero Company: 2:42:10 – 3:08:58

The Monthly Ten: 3:08:58 – 3:28:32

Read Jonathan's Criterion Collection essay on Neon Genesis Evangelion at https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/9281-the-inner-worlds-of-neon-genesis-evangelion

Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com/

Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://www.japanimation-station.com

Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK

Subscribe to our YouTube channels!

Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation

Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast

Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff

Original Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/

©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

It’s a jam packed video game-focused episode for September, as we review Capcom’s third straight home run of the year in Onimusha: Way of the Sword, give thoughts on the beta weekends for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, discuss the latest stupidity from Sony and Microsoft, and give our reactions to the full half-hour gameplay reveal of Grand Theft Auto VI, which is shaping up to be something special. Sean also talks about his ongoing Ultraman adventures with the series Ultraman Ginga, Jonathan continues regaling us with stories of his Street Fighter 6 obsession, and for The Monthly Ten segment, Sean envisions ten possible hyperfixations that might befall Jonathan in the future, from least to most personally ruinous.

Enjoy!

Time Chart:

Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:21:05

GTA VI Reveal: 0:21:05 – 0:35:26

Gaming News: 0:35:26 – 1:03:58

Modern Warfare 4 Beta: 1:03:58 – 1:24:09

Onimusha Way of the Sword: 1:24:09 – 1:59:36

Ultraman Ginga: 1:59:36 – 2:13:10

Street Fighter: 2:13:10 – 2:23:05

The Monthly Ten: 2:23:05 – 2:57:13

Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com/

Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://www.japanimation-station.com

Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK

Subscribe to our YouTube channels!

Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation

Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast

Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff

Original Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/

©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

We’re back for a loose, fun ‘Monthly Stuff’ episode diving deep into what we’ve been up to over the summer break. Sean talks about the latest Ultraman series he’s been watching, the new 7.0 update to Genshin Impact, and his continuing adventures with Super Robot Wars, while Jonathan talks about his life-consuming obsession with Street Fighter 6, his journey through the James Bond movies, and his thoughts on the new Halo: Campaign Evolved remake. We also cover some recent news from Marvel Studios and discuss the string of wild successes various films have enjoyed at the box-office this year, as cinema fully rebounds from its post-COVID slump. And finally, we treat you to the darkest Monthly Ten segment we have ever done, as Jonathan counts down 10 variant future for the video game industry, most of which also implicate humanity in various states of decimation.

Enjoy?

Time Chart:

Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:08:40

Movie News: 0:08:40 – 1:08:45

Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle: 1:08:45 – 1:25:34

James Bond: 1:25:34 – 1:37:58

Genshin Impact: 1:37:58 – 1:56:25

Street Fighter: 1:56:25 – 2:13:35

Super Robot Wars V: 2:13:35 – 2:36:45

Halo Campaign Evolved: 2:36:45 – 3:00:54

The Monthly Ten: 3:00:54 – 3:25:40

Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com/

Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://www.japanimation-station.com

Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK

Subscribe to our YouTube channels!

Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation

Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast

Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff

Original Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/

©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

Christopher Nolan is dominating theaters once again with his adaptation of The Odyssey starring Matt Damon, so we’re taking the opportunity to not just talk about the new movie – which is excellent, though our hosts slightly disagree on how much – but the original poem by Homer. Well, not exactly the original, since neither of us read Ancient Greek – but we took a look at the 2017 translation by Emily Wilson for this episode (which partially inspired Nolan’s film), and talk about a few other translations we’ve read over the years, as we appreciate a work that’s endured for millennia for good reason. If you like the ‘academic’ in Purely Academic, this is the episode for you.

Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com/

Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://www.japanimation-station.com

Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK

Subscribe to our YouTube channels!

Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation

Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast

Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff

Original Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/

©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

It’s been perhaps the darkest few weeks for video games in either of our lifetimes, so we’re back to discuss the ongoing Video Game Apocalypse, from Xbox executing thousands of layoffs and divesting themselves of a half-dozen studios, to PlayStation ending physical media on their consoles even as they close the digital storefront on legacy systems, to ongoing price hikes making the entire hobby unaffordable for everyone. It’s really never been this bad, but at least we can commiserate about it together! And after that, this episode has plenty of fun, too, as Sean talks about the latest Ultraman shows he’s seen and ongoing adventures in Super Robot Wars Y, while Jonathan shares his experiences falling down the Street Fighter 6 rabbit hole and watching all the James Bond movies after playing 007: First Light. And we’ve got a great Odyssey-inspired Monthly Ten for you about unlikely adaptation ideas for pre-modern literature.

Enjoy!

TIME CHART:

Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:04:48

Video Game News: 0:04:48 0:23:44

PlayStation News: 0:23:44 0:54:14

Xbox Layoffs: 0:54:14 1:22:28

Doctor Who News: 1:22:28 1:31:54

Ultraman Max & Mebius: 1:31:54 1:44:42

007: 1:44:42 2:01:08

Super Robot Wars Y: 2:01:08 2:34:21

Street Fighter: 2:34:21 2:56:09

Monthly Ten: 2:56:09 3:26:19

Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com/

Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://www.japanimation-station.com

Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK

Subscribe to our YouTube channels!

Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation

Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast

Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff

Original Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/

©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

This month marks the 60th anniversary of the premiere of Japan’s most iconic tokusatsu franchise: ULTRAMAN! Created by the legendary special effects wizards at Tsuburaya Productions, Ultraman premiered on July 17th, 1966, and has been a phenomenon in Japan and around the world ever since. To mark the occasion, today we’re taking a look at 15 episodes from 5 different Ultraman series directed by the series’ most infamous filmmaker: the one and only Jissōji Akio, whose bizarre and innovative camerawork has proved an indelible influence on generation of Japanese filmmakers, including famous anime auteurs like Neon Genesis Evangelion’s Anno Hideaki. It’s some of the most inspired, bravura directing ever seen on television, and whether you’re a longtime Ultraman super-fan (like Sean) or a relative newcomer (like Jonathan), you will have a blast watching these amazing episodes.

Enjoy!

TIME CHART:

Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:18:18

Ultraman History: 0:18:18 – 0:43:30

Ultraman ‘66 Episodes: 0:43:30 – 1:37:08

Ultraseven Episodes: 1:37:08 – 2:20:02

Ultraman Tiga Episodes: 2:20:02 – 2:45:40

Ultraman Dyna Episode: 2:45:40 – 3:00:18

Ultraman Max Episode: 3:00:18 – 3:25:42

The full list of episodes we watched for this podcast:

ULTRAMAN (1966) - Episodes 14 (The Pearl Defense Directive), 15 (Terrifying Cosmic Rays), 22 (Overthrow the Surface), 23 (My Home is Earth), 34 (A Gift from the Sky), and 35 (The Monster Graveyard)

ULTRASEVEN (1967) - Episodes 8 (The Marked Town), 12 (From Another Planet with Love), 43 (Nightmare of Planet No. 4) and 45 (The Saucers Have Come)

ULTRAMAN TIGA (1997) - Episodes 37 (Flower) and 40 (Dream)

ULTRAMAN DYNA (1998) - Episode 38 (Kaiju Play)

ULTRAMAN MAX (2005) - Episodes 22 (Butterfly Dream) and 24 (The Unmarked Town)

Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com/

Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://www.japanimation-station.com

Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK

Subscribe to our YouTube channels!

Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation

Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast

Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff

Original Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/

©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

The most wonderful and/or tedious time of the year has come once more: It’s Not-E3 2026, when all of the video game giants share their biggest announcements for the year. As always, we’re here to recap it, with thoughts on Sony’s State of Play, the Summer Game Fest, and the Xbox Showcase, across which we saw the unveiling of God of War Laufey, the sooner-than-expected Final Fantasy VII Revelation, the long-awaited reveal of Persona 6 and more gameplay of Persona 4 Revival, and much more, including Xbox’s completely incoherent exclusivity ‘strategy.’ We also find some time to quickly review Saros, the new PS5 exclusive from Housemarque, and talk about 007 First Light from Hitman developers IO Interactive. A very silly Monthly Ten rounds out the episode, in which Jonathan pitches 10 Star Wars projects for Disney to announce and then quickly abandon.

Enjoy!

TIME CHART:

Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:04:33

General Gaming News: 0:04:33 – 0:31:08

Sony State of Play: 0:31:08 – 1:13:12

Summer Game Fest: 1:13:12 – 1:59:45

Xbox Showcase: 1:59:45 – 2:47:34

Saros: 2:47:34 – 2:53:50

007 First Light: 2:53:50 – 3:14:39

The Monthly Ten: 3:14:39 – 3:46:59

Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com/

Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://www.japanimation-station.com

Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK

Subscribe to our YouTube channels!

Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation

Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast

Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff

Original Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/

©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

We’re back for a fun, variety-filled Monthly Stuff episode filled with our own personal obsessions. After going over some Nintendo and Xbox news, including the announcement of Star Fox for Switch 2 and a changing direction for Game Pass, Jonathan talks about recent news surrounding the One Piece anime remake by Wit Studio, before going in-depth on the Netflix live-action series after finally watching it over the last month. Sean talks about the recently-finished Journal with Witch anime (starring podcast fave Sawashiro Miyuki), and then goes deep on his continuing Resident Evil completionist adventures, with particular attention paid to finally playing the much-maligned Resident Evil 6. And finally, for The Monthly Ten, Sean is challenged to come up with 10 marketing campaign for Xbox that are even dumber than the ‘This is an Xbox’ slogan. He doesn’t manage to do that, because that slogan truly cannot be beaten, but he comes up with some good ones all the same.

TIME CHART:

Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:13:55

Nintendo News: 0:13:55 – 0:36:25

Xbox News: 0:36:25 – 1:02:13

One Piece News: 1:02:13 – 1:13:33

Netflix’s Live-Action One Piece Thoughts: 1:13:33 – 1:39:19

Journal With Witch: 1:39:19 – 1:56:50

Sean’s Resident Evil Adventures Pt. 2: 1:56:50 – 2:54:35

The Monthly Ten: 2:54:35 – 3:14:28

Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com/

Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://www.japanimation-station.com

Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK

Subscribe to our YouTube channels!

Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation

Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast

Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff

Original Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/

©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

The news just won’t stop coming, so we once again have an overstuffed Monthly Stuff episode to break it all down, from the reveal of Nvidia’s horrific slop-fueled DLSS 5, to Sony raising prices dramatically on PS5 systems, to the announcement of a new Lord of the Rings movie from Stephen Colbert, and more! Once we’re doing breaking all that down, Jonathan tells us all about his adventures in Pokémon Pokopia, while Sean explains how he spent spring break playing - *checks notes* - 7 different Resident Evil games. And finally, Jonathan is on deck for The Monthly Ten, as Sean tasks him to come up with 10 increasingly ridiculous new acronyms for the State of Texas’ annual standardized tests.

Enjoy!

TIME CHART:

Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:04:37

Video Game News: 0:04:37 – 1:20:00

Movie News: 1:20:00 – 1:55:31

Anime News: 1:55:31 – 2:01:33

Jonathan’s New Computer Stories: 2:01:33 – 2:17:00

Ultraman Nexus: 2:17:00 – 2:33:50

Pokemon Pokopia: 2:33:50 – 2:50:27

Sean’s Resident Evil Adventures: 2:50:27 – 3:26:23

The Monthly Ten: 3:26:23 – 3:43:57

Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com/

Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://www.japanimation-station.com

Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK

Subscribe to our YouTube channels!

Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation

Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast

Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff

Original Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/

©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

There’s very little we enjoy talking about more than Resident Evil here at Purely Academic, as the series has been on one of the most amazing hot streaks in the history of gaming over this past decade. The latest entry, Resident Evil Requiem, is a stirring summation of everything these games have done well as of late, combining the survival horror and bombastic action the series has perfected across Resident Evil 7 and Village and the Resident Evil 2 and 4 remakes all into one incredible package. With a great new protagonist in Grace Ashcroft and a new story for series favorite Leon S. Kennedy, Requiem is as good a time we’ve had playing – or talking about – a game in a very long time.

Enjoy!

TIME CHART:

Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:04:36

Jonathan Talks Twin Peaks & Alamo Drafthouse: 0:04:36 – 0:34:46

Sean Talks Nioh 3: 0:34:46 – 0:55:22

Resident Evil Requiem Review: 0:55:22 – 02:43:27

Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com/

Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://www.japanimation-station.com

Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK

Subscribe to our YouTube channels!

Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation

Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast

Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff

Original Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/

©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

It’s been a big – and depressing – few weeks of news in the entertainment industry, so we’re back for the March ‘Monthly Stuff’ episode to break it all down. First up we have Sony’s sudden (and infuriating) closure of Bluepoint, the studio behind many top-of-the-line remakes and remasters including 2020’s Demon Souls, which prompts a broader discussion about the issues Sony has had during the PS5 generation. Then we have the news of Phil Spencer’s retirement at Xbox, and the installation of one of Microsoft’s AI executives into the job. And then there’s the matter of Netflix bowing out of their proposed acquisition of Warner Bros., leaving the road open for Paramount (and the Ellison family) to gobble up Hollywood’s oldest, most storied institution. With all that terrible news, we needed a pick-me-up at the end, which comes in the form of a very silly Monthly Ten, in which Sean imagines 10 games that steal the premise of Pokémon Pokopia by putting a Ditto front and center in the middle of the action.

TIME CHART:

Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:05:22

Bluepoint & PlayStation News: 0:05:22 – 1:01:12

Xbox News: 1:01:12 – 1:33:31

Video Game News: 1:33:31 – 1:57:52

Anime News: 1:57:52 – 2:10:20

Hollywood News: 2:10:20 – 2:28:45

Monthly Ten: 2:28:45 – 2:51:16

Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com/

Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://www.japanimation-station.com

Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK

Subscribe to our YouTube channels!

Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation

Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast

Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff

Original Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/

©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

In a very video game-centric episode of the podcast, we talk all the news out of this month’s Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase and Sony State of Play, including the announcement of a God of War trilogy remake, a new Castlevania game from the Dead Cells team, and more! Sean fills us in on the controversies surrounding Yakuza Kiwami 3, and we commiserate over the continued desecration of the video game market due to AI gobbling up the RAM supply. Jonathan talks about playing through Dragon Quest IV and Dragon Quest V, the latter for the first time – if you haven’t heard, it’s a masterpiece – while Sean tells us about his adventures going to San Antonio for a conference. And finally, for The Monthly Ten, Jonathan pitches Capcom on 10 increasingly silly ideas for Resident Evil crossovers and spin-offs, in honor of next week’s release of Resident Evil Requiem.

Enjoy!

TIME CHART:

Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:09:45

Lucasfilm/Star Wars News: 0:09:45 – 0:32:50

Assorted Video Game News: 0:32:50 – 1:11:22

Nintendo Direct: 1:11:22 – 1:25:00

Sony State of Play: 1:25:00 – 2:09:25

Sean’s Conference Adventures: 2:09:25 – 2:42:02

Jonathan’s Dragon Quest Adventures: 2:42:02 – 3:09:17

The Monthly Ten: 3:09:17 – 3:34:44

Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com/

Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://www.japanimation-station.com

Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK

Subscribe to our YouTube channels!

Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation

Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast

Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff

Original Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/

©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

Our sister podcast, the anime history and review show Japanimation Station, returns on March 15th, 2026 for its 6th season, and it’s one listeners have been demanding for a long time: our Tomino-thon! Throughout 2026, we’ll be peering into the delightfully deranged mind of Tomino Yoshiyuki, creator of Mobile Suit Gundam, which kicked off our entire anime podcasting journey with our ‘Weekly Suit Gundam’ series back in 2019. Now, we’ll be returning to the world of Tomino with deep dives into every TV series and film he’s ever directed. In this special preview episode, we outline the season’s first half, “The New Anime Era,” in which we’ll be analyzing each of Tomino’s shows from 1977’s Invincible Super Man Zambot 3 through 1984’s Heavy Metal L-Gaim. Season 6 Part 1 will run for 12 episodes uninterrupted through May. After a summer break, we’ll then return in the fall for a second half picking up with 1985’s Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam. Will you be able to survive?

Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com/

Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://www.japanimation-station.com

Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK

Subscribe to our YouTube channels!

Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation

Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast

Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff

Original Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/

©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

The time has come, once again: Sean and Jonathan are here to count down the Top 10 Video Games of 2025. It was an undeniably weird year for the medium, with some exciting developments – like the launch of Nintendo’s Switch 2 and a strong first year of exclusive – marred by a lot of depressing industry upheaval, and the AAA space was largely pretty thin. We go quite a bit off the beaten path this year discussing our favorites, and while you’ve heard us talk about some of these before, there are a lot of surprises along the way. And this is the only Game of the Year podcast where you won’t hear anyone talk about Clair Obscur, because we simply didn’t play it. If nothing else, our lists are very unique.

TIME CHART:

Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:15:27

#10: 0:15:27 – 0:32:00

#9: 0:32:00 – 0:48:23

#8: 0:48:23 – 1:03:48

#7: 1:03:48 – 1:20:06

#6: 1:20:06 – 1:44:22

#5: 1:44:22 – 2:07:28

#4: 2:07:28 – 2:21:02

#3: 2:21:02 – 2:39:17

#2: 2:39:17 – 3:06:48

#1 GOTY Picks: 3:06:48 – 3:39:40

Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com/

Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://www.japanimation-station.com

Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK

Subscribe to our YouTube channels!

Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation

Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast

Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff

Original Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/

©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

For our first show of 2026, we look back on the best movies of 2025, as Jonathan talks us through his list of the 20 best films to come out last year, from undisputed favorites like Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another, to anime stunners like the Chainsaw Man and Kimetsu no Yaiba movies, to some weirder, smaller, and more personal picks. Then, Sean talks us through his busy winter vacation spent in the world of Digimon, reviewing the latest Digimon Story game, Time Stranger, alongside the 2021 Digimon anime Digimon Ghost Game and the first cours of the brand new Digimon Beatbreak. Finally, we round out the episode with a very depressing Monthly Ten where Sean is tasked with imagining ten ways we could sell our souls to become more popular podcasters.

Enjoy, and come back next week for our Top 10 Video Games of 2025 episode!

TIME CHART:

Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:08:33

News: 0:08:33 – 0:40:16

Jonathan’s Favorite Films of 2025: 0:40:16 – 1:58:40

Sean’s Digimon Adventures: 1:58:40 – 2:58:38

The Monthly Ten: 2:58:38 – 3:27:20

Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com/

Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://www.japanimation-station.com

Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK

Subscribe to our YouTube channels!

Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation

Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast

Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff

Original Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/

©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

Fair warning: this month’s episode starts out as a major bummer, what with news of the Netflix/WB merger and the pricing madness around RAM spelling doom for both Hollywood and the gaming industry, topics we dive deep on to make ourselves extremely sad. But once you get past all that, we start having some fun, as Jonathan reviews the flawed but extremely fun Metroid Prime 4: Beyond on Nintendo Switch and Sean talks at length about falling down the Super Robot Wars rabbit hole, which is an absolutely amazing segment. Then we finish things off with a very misanthropic – but very funny – Monthly Ten segment in which Jonathan lists 10 ways to improve Christmas in 2025, most of which involve taking aim at traditions people love. Pa rum pa pum pum.

Enjoy!

TIME CHART:

Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:08:50

Netflix/WB Merger: 0:08:50 – 0:26:50

Star Wars News: 0:26:50 – 0:35:45

Steam Machines: 0:35:45 – 0:51:42

RAM Madness: 0:51:42 – 1:14:38

Call of Duty and Game Award News: 1:14:38 – 1:54:35

Metroid Prime 4: 1:54:35 – 2:38:02

Ultraman Cosmos: 2:38:02 – 2:55:00

Super Robot Wars: 2:55:00 – 3:24:04

Monthly Ten: 3:24:04 – 3:52:10

Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com/

Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://www.japanimation-station.com

Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK

Subscribe to our YouTube channels!

Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation

Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast

Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff

Original Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/

©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

For our November topic – coming just in time for the start of December – we celebrate the release of Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein with a three-part retrospective on one of the most famous stories in the English language. First, we take a look at the original 1818 novel by Mary Shelley – which has been one of Sean’s favorite books, but was new to Jonathan – and celebrate its tremendous accomplishments, all of which still feel revelatory today. Then we talk about the classic 1931 Universal movie, directed by James Whale and starring Boris Karloff, which doesn’t take much from the book, but establishes much of the story’s endearing iconography. And finally, we give a full review of the brand new version, directed by the inimitable Guillermo del Toro, who leave his own original stamp on the material in ways that are very much worth discussing.

Enjoy!

TIME CHART:

Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:19:29

The Novel: 0:19:29 – 1:27:22

The 1931 Film: 1:27:22 – 1:56:35

The 2025 Film: 1:56:35 – 3:12:26

Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com/

Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://www.japanimation-station.com

Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK

Subscribe to our YouTube channels!

Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation

Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast

Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff

Original Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/

©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

In one of our most absolutely jam-packed Monthly Stuff installments to date, we live up to our moniker with a long discussion of teaching stories and curriculum planning (but it’s fun, we promise) before moving on to talk about the avalanche of games we’ve playing recently, including Ghost of Yōtei, Pokémon Legends Z-A, Hades II, Super Robot Wars Y, and the Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake. Before all that, we discuss some recent news, including updates on Doctor Who, Halo, and One Piece, and we end the show with perhaps our best Monthly Ten segment to date, in which Sean Chapman, who had never listened to a Taylor Swift song before this month, imagines 10 future Taylor Swift songs based on dark and upsetting plot points in William Shakespeare plays. It’s a blast.

Enjoy!

TIME CHART:

Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:04:48

News: 0:04:48 – 0:54:29

School Stories: 0:54:29 – 1:51:30

Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu: 1:51:30 – 2:07:45

Plur1bus: 2:07:45 – 2:14:40

Ghost of Yōtei: 2:14:40 – 2:27:04

Hades II: 2:27:04 – 2:35:35

Pokémon Legends ZA: 2:35:35 – 2:54:30

Super Robot Wars Y: 2:54:30 – 3:01:25

Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake: 3:01:25 – 3:07:14

The Monthly Ten: 3:07:14 – 3:31:16

Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com/

Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://www.japanimation-station.com

Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK

Subscribe to our YouTube channels!

Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation

Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast

Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff

Original Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/

©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

We spent a full year chronicling the history of Kyoto Animation on our anime podcast, Japanimation Station, back in 2024, which means we are very excited to talk about CITY: THE ANIMATION, the latest anime series from the renowned studio. Directed by Violet Evergarden helmer Ishidate Taichi and based on the manga Nichijou author Arawi Keiichi, CITY is one of the absolute greatest series KyoAni has produced to date, a return not only to Arawi’s zany comic stylings, but to the bold, experimental spirit of KyoAni’s early work. Seamlessly blending wild, anarchical comedy with heartfelt, shockingly rich storytelling about friendship, nostalgia, and community, CITY isn’t just a triumph: it’s an outright masterpiece, and we couldn’t be happier to talk about it at length on today’s show.

Enjoy!

Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com/

Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://www.japanimation-station.com

Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK

Subscribe to our YouTube channels!

Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation

Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast

Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff

Original Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/

©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman

We’re back for the month of October with an exciting episode covering both the highs and lows of the video game industry in 2025. In terms of ‘low,’ we’ve got more Xbox Pricing Madness, as Microsoft once again hiked prices on Xbox hardware, before unveiling a full 50% raise to the price of Xbox Game Pass, a move that feels like the definitive end of the brand’s subscription model experiment. In terms of ‘highs,’ though, games are still great, and there’s way too many out there for us to play them all! Jonathan gives first impressions of Hades II from Supergiant, while Sean talks Ghost of Yōtei, Sucker Punch’s historical samurai sequel for the PS5. We also talk the latest Genshin Impact update, Super Robot Wars Y, and engage in a very fun, very silly Monthly Ten as we consider the lessons teenagers actually need to be taught before they get out of high school.

Enjoy!

Time Chart

Intro: 0:00:00 – 0:03:18

Xbox Pricing Madness & Other News: 0:03:18 – 1:21:14

Ghost of Yotei: 1:21:14 – 1:37:50

Hades II: 1:37:50 – 1:57:00

Genshin Impact 6.0: 1:57:00 – 2:09:54

Super Robot Wars Y: 2:09:54 – 2:31:59

The Monthly Ten: 2:31:59 – 3:10:00

Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com/

Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://japanimationstation.com/

Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK

Subscribe to our YouTube channels!

Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation

Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast

Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff

Original 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.com/

Subscribe to JAPANIMATION STATION, our podcast about the wide and wonderful world of anime: https://www.japanimation-station.com

Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK

Subscribe to our YouTube channels!

Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation

Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast

Support the show at Ko-fi ☕️ https://ko-fi.com/weeklystuff

Original Music by Thomas Lack https://www.thomaslack.com/

©2012 - Present Jonathan R. Lack & Sean Chapman