Our journey into WoW Lore continues! With Vanilla behind us, Six and Allen guide Jen on to the early expansions: The Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King, and Cataclysm. Six forget Cataclysm existed until the middle of the recording? Yes! Does it mess things up? ...No not really! Jen cracks the riddle of The Premise of Every WoW Plot, and we can…

The latest expansion to World of Warcraft, titled The War Within, is getting rave reviews with critics and fans alike. And yet, in some ways there has never been a worse time to start WoW. Certainly, the game is the most confusing and newbie-unfriendly it's been in ages. They won't even tell you the story of the game, and they actively try to stop …

At Otakon 2024, I spoke with Justin Leach, Katrina Minett, and Christophe Ferreira of Qubic Pictures. We spoke about work in animation and production, perspectives, and bumping into the language barrier.De către Scanline Media

At Otakon 2024, I sat down with Akihiko Orikasa and Kensuke Yamamoto of Studio Orange. We spoke about the uniqueness, challanges, and misconceptions of 3D anime.De către Scanline Media

At Otakon 2024, I had the opportunity to speak with Uki Satake. We spoke about her role in crafting anime openings, interest in voice acting, and how to best take care of one's voice.De către Scanline Media

Well, we always knew this was possible... last week was a disappointing downbeat, with a series of pretty rough episodes. We all knew GT had its reputation as "the worst" for a reason, and with episodes 9 through 12, it... wait. Wait no, this is AWESOME! I mean, you know, ups and downs, but the Para Para Brothers are ALL TIME characters! This RULES…

It's not all sunshine and rainbows for our viewing. Quite early in, in spite of some refreshing episodes, we have hit our first bump in the road. Pan, Goku, and Trunks fight their way out of Imecka and land in a planet of giants, then deal with marriage obsessed catfishes. We are keeping the faith, but it will be seen if we are rewarded for it.…

Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball franchise is one of the most beloved in the world. Three great shows, a lot of video games of varying quality but with a huge fanbase all the same, and... then a black sheep. Even in a series where the missteps are treasured, there is one thing the community rejects: Dragon Ball GT. Aired immediately after the end of Z,…

The unknown journey ends, and reveals that there wasn't much mystery there at all, really. Jen, Kyrie, and Six slump in their chairs and marvel at how hard this game has flopped, and to what degree it's poisoned what came before, for them. Is Rufus the hero of this game? Do you ever see a dog and decide it must mean you're in a different dimension?…

The penultimate episode is here, and things just keep turning for the worse for our hosts. We deal with some very contrived plots, ponder over the nature of meta-narratives and it's failings, and gripe about the side missions. It's almost over, so it can't get much worse... right? A huge thank you to Jackson (@headfallsoff) for helping us with a ch…

After a slight upturn in quality at Gongaga, Chapter 10 breaks everyone's spirits as the gang makes their way into Cosmo Canyon. It also happens to be the most racist chapter in the whole game! Fun!! A huge thank you to Jackson (@headfallsoff) for helping us with a chapter breakdown for this series, and giving us clear stopping points!…

We tackle only one chapter in this episode, but boy is it a DOOZY. We travel to Gongaga, encounter too many bosses, and Tifa finds herself in the belly of the whale. Not like metaphorically like in the Hero's Journey, like a big damn whale monster. This chapter is weird. A huge thank you to Jackson (@headfallsoff) for helping us with a chapter brea…

Our podcasters finally arrive in chapter 6. Jen and Six call for some time off for some fun in the sun. Kyrie disapproves, but is outvoted. A lot of minigames later, a boss fight happens. Chapter 7 happens. Our podcasters arrive in chapter 8. Jen and Six call for some time fun in the Gold Saucer. Kyrie disapproves, but is outvoted. A lot of minigam…

After defeating a giant snake, the gang finds themselves deep in some mines, spilling out into the Junon area. We face off with some Turks, explore the world, and get into one big confusing parade. This game is certainly making... choices. A huge thank you to Jackson (@headfallsoff) for helping us with a chapter breakdown for this series, and givin…

Six and Kyrie are back to settle it. One number was never enough, so we have come back to scour the Dragonball Xenoverse 2 cast to try and stump the mighty dragon Shenron. Things get a little silly. Recorded in honor of Akira Toriyama's 69th birthday.De către Scanline Media

One of the most eagerly anticipated releases of the year, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth cast a long shadow over the release schedule. Not only that, but our coverage plans, too: with press getting early copies, dropping reviews day-and-date with the launch, what merit was there to us crunching and rushing to release a podcast about it a week later (and…

Six took some time to go to the movies! Attending the LA Premiere, Six was able to see the US release of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Freedom! Kyrie and Six hash it out about what is, all told, a pretty strange and fascinating movie. We talk about cool robots, bad wars, and the experience of attending the premiere. This was supported by our patrons over…

Take a breath, y'all! Dragon's Dogma 2 released a few hours ago, so we're good! No more big video game releases for 2024, we can all go home! And hey, while you're at home, chillin, why don't you listen to what we've been up to? Kyrie has been digging Vanillaware's latest, the strategy RPG Unicorn Overlord. Jen has answered the siren call of presti…

It all comes down to this: Best Game. Game of the Year. Call it what you like. We play a lot of games, and every year we make ourselves pick an overall winner. And people keep telling me 2023 was an incredible year for games, so surely this is gonna be a really hard list to cut down! The Nominees Are:The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the KingdomParanor…

When Scanline Media started, we wanted to focus on games. But over the years, from doing weekly anime podcasts and where our general interests as a site went, anime and manga became so much of our coverage. Here are the anime and manga that stood out to us as some of the best of the year. The Nominees Are:GunbusterTenchi UniverseTrigunRecord of Lod…

In our longest category, we decided to let 2023 sing it's heart out. These tracks, be them anime OP or standalone songs, struck a chord with us. The Nominees Are:Iron Lotus (Library of Ruina)Anger's Remorse (Alan Wake II)Yoton Yo (Alan Wake II)Dark Ocean Summoning (Alan Wake II)This Road (Alan Wake II)Herald of Darkness (Alan Wake II)Togenkyo Alien…

Instrumental tracks have often gotten the short end of the stick in our Gimmick Awards, and it's high time we changed that. These tracks backed some unforgettable moments or created an unmistakable atmosphere in 2023, and the following stood out to us. The Nominees Are:H.T. (Trigun)It's Pizza Time! (Pizza Tower)Theme of Kai (Gravity Circuit)Mystery…

Every year, we fight over fighting games. We're enthusiastic about the genre (that's an understatement) and it's a delight to see the new ideas and spins on characters that surface as new games and DLC release. Sometimes, it's the little things that make all the difference: a few tweaks to a classic character to reinvent them. Sometimes it's an ent…

Most fictional writing runs on characters, and it is to these characters that fandoms attach themselves. It's these personalities, and often their visual designs as well, that people find so magnetic. Well, we're not looking for the most magnetic person here: some of these folks are not exactly easy to stan! That's fine. We're here for broken peopl…

I am open to other perspectives, but a lot of the love of games to me is down to how it feels to hit a button. When the jump feels bad, the game is bad. When the jump feels good, the game is good. That's oversimplifying, intentionally. But so many games ARE just a collection of button presses, and how good they feel to hit. Platformers, action game…

While we have catagories for entire games and shows, it's important to hightlight the moments too. Sometimes the entire work isn't a winner, but that's what can make a moment more remarkable. These moments from games, shows, and real life stood out in 2023. The Nominees Are:"We Sing" (Alan Wake II)The volume slider/"Always remember me" (Paranormasi…

I don't mean to shock anyone, but I, Six, am a bit of a jaded exhausted 30-something. Depending on who you are, you might consider that a redundant descriptor. Regardless, a lot of my experience these days is seeing a game or anime release, and knowing pretty quickly whether or not I will care. And, frankly, usually being right! Not that this is an…

2023 was... listen. We're here to celebrate. To have fun. But it wasn't a great year, all in all. There was a lot of dark shit. And when talking about it, even in a fun "year end podcast" situation, it's easy to get grim and depressed about everything. It's not that that's wrong. It's worth dwelling on the world's ills. But the Gimmick Awards aren'…

Ok. So we know what characters we're looking for from the gacha. We know what characters we can't get from the gacha. And we know about some truly spectacular dresses, though that's not particularly helpful. There's nothing left but to roll the gacha. Again. And again. And again. ...Hey Kyrie did we want to set like a MAX, or- This is the latest in…

Granblue Fantasy hits its tenth anniversary this year. For the mega-popular gacha game, what better celebration than a bunch of other products to hook in those who aren't into the gacha? This has inspired Granblue the Animation, the action RPG Granblue Fantasy: Relink, and yes, Granblue Fantasy Versus, and its sequel Rising. As you might expect, th…

Scott Pilgrim, huh? I dunno what anyone sees in this guy. Regardless this new Netflix anime follows a new story in the Scott Pilgrim series, commenting on the series impact on culture, reflections on the characters, and a lot of video game and anime references. We bring on Jackie of Ultimate Despair Reprise to gush about this new anime. Spoilers ah…

As the holiday season ramps up, we here at Scanline are prepared for a yearly ritual: playing all the games that we feel like we should have an opinion on before we record the Gimmick Awards, our yearly Game of the Year (and more than game) awards. That makes this the last stop of us just chatting normal games before we dizzy ourselves with our obl…

The Nintendo 64, PlayStation 1, and Saturn were a pivotal moments for video games. 3D video games had arrived in full force, and the industry has never turned back. But Jennifer, Kyrie, and Six turned back the clock to dive into nearly 50 games that defined the generation, and we decided to sort the best of the best.…

Fighting game tournaments are great, and a LOT of work to run. Shoutouts to the tournament organizers, the streamers, the casters, and more that make these tournaments run. But think about this for a moment: if a King of Fighters XV tournament is hard to run, how difficult is it in-universe to get these lunatics with magic powers and demonic posses…

Around here, Bethesda's games are pretty divisive. We can all agree they're deeply flawed games, but to what extent their unique charms prevail against those weaknesses varies person to person. Jen still holds some affection for Skyrim, Six can't stand it, and neither have anything but disdain for Fallout 4. So what's the vibe with Starfield, their…

Life moves pretty fast. Despite that, we all found times for a few games that we weren't playing for other podcasts this month, and time enough to sit down to talk about them. This year has seen Jen finally coming to appreciate baseball, and by extension baseball video games in MLB The Show 23. Kyrie has fallen for familiar comforts under friendly …

They really did get our trust back only to throw it away, huh? After a messy first cours, G-Witch came back strong with the first three episodes of cours 2, and our early check-in was quite positive. It continued strong for a while, but of course, the same production troubles were bubbling beneath the surface, and that strong start began to collaps…

It's Not E3! Barring some stupid revival, it will never be E3 again! And yet game companies are still rushing to show us the Reason for the Season. Summer Games Fest, Future Games Show, PC Gaming Show, Wholesome Direct, Ubisoft Forward, Xbox Games Showcase, PlayStation Showcase, the list goes on... and on... and what does it all mean? Jen, Kyrie an…

SPOILER WARNING for early- to mid-game of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Six years have passed since the release of Breath of the Wild. Six years, then, since our podcast about Breath of the Wild, which was the first time we had Kyrie on a pod. And hey, also, my name is Six! Dang, this is starting to feel pretty important. I guess we sh…

I have never much liked theaters, even from a young age. So it takes a lot to get me to go see a movie in theater. Adding extra hurdles like it being a limited release, during a pandemic, only makes it less likely. But when it finally hit home streaming, I, Allen, and Harri were eager to check out the Kaguya-sama: Love Is War movie, The First Kiss …

At the end of the last cour, Allen and I (Six) talked about whether we wanted to come back and cover the second cour episode by episode, like we did the first. Our conclusion was "probably not, but who knows?" Now that we're decently into it, we're here to say... no. Definitely not. But, we felt the need to make that official, and we might as well …

You know with all the podcasts we put out, it's amazing we find time to do much else. But luckily we find time to relax occasionally. Six took some time with Resident Evil 4 Remake while on travel, finding the experience a little lacking. Meanwhile Jennifer paddled her raft to the middle of a spooky lake, finding herself charmed by the world Dredge…

Belts, as you know, are the most important meal of the day. You get up every morning, and say, "I love my pants, but I just wish I had control over how tight they were!" This is because you are naive, innocent of the world. Guilty Gear is here to tell you, belts for pants? Sure, I guess. But what about belts for gloves. For sleeves! For tightening …

It's a new season of Racing Line, and the gang is back at it with our look at the latest season of Drive to Survive! Allen, Rose, and Danny hash it out- trying their best to keep it together through Max Verstappen's Discord rants, Guenther's vacation in North Carolina, and the future of F1. You can find Allen at Chatz: A Television Podcast with gre…

You'd think after everything, we'd be free of games by now. But no- games returned, despite everything. Jen takes point with Metroid Prime Remastered, which finally got her to spend more time with the certified all-timer. Then Six explains their befuddlement at the strange tone and choices of Like a Dragon Ishin!, where historical fiction meets... …

It all comes down to this. No more left, it's time we declared Scanline Media's Game of the Year! The Nominees Are:DrainusElden RingGran Turismo 7ImmortalityKirby and the Forgotten LandsLive A LivePentimentPokèmon Legends: ArceusPotionomicsSignalisSplatoon 3Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy OriginThe QuarryTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's…

Critters. Monsters. Creatures. Little guys. Whatever you call them, games employ wonderful artists to imagine what sort of beings might reside in their worlds. This one's for all the friends out there. Join Jen, Kyrie, Six, and guest Allen as we find out the Best Creature of 2022. The Nominees Are:Kleavor (Pokemon Legends: Arceus)Hisuian Typhlosion…

There's always the moments, right? The ones you tell your friends about, the ones you clip, the ones you tweet about. The ones you tweet AROUND because they're too cool to spoil. Every year generates a lot of them, and 2022 was no exception. It's nice to sit around and celebrate things. But in any meeting of minds, there must be a loser. The Nomine…

You've heard the Best Anime Character (or you should have, go listen!), and so you probably guessed from that name that there's a Best Game Character. Well guess what- you're right. And we're gonna decide who wins it right now. The Nominees Are:Iron Fist Alexander (Elden Ring)Livingway (Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker)Shez/Arval (Fire Emblem Three Hop…

Time brings wisdom and perspective. Or, that's the theory anyway. My Game of the Year for 2012 was Tokyo Jungle. At the time, I was writing for a site called Press X or Die. Jen wrote for that site too, and while the articles part of that site died years ago, its forums at least are still kicking. (She didn't write a GotY for 2012, though her 2011 …