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PODCAST

Best Seat on the Couch

Alex, Iris, Marcus, and Michael

A podcast where 4 close friends discuss their favorite animated movies and TV shows together. Come for the intelligent discourse, stay for the lighthearted humor, and follow for the hottest takes.

leisure animation & manga

All Episodes

00:57:57

85 | Hoodwinked!

Best Seat on the Couch ·

2022/06/14

In this latest episode of Best Seat on the Couch: Civil War, the gang is split on our opinions of computer-animated 2005 film Hoodwinked, which is regarded to be the most profitable animated film in movie history - one of its many accolades. It's undeniable that this movie is probably the worst-looking animated movie we've ever seen, perhaps looking even worse than Polar Express, but the story is a fun twist on the classic Little Red Riding Hood folktale with some real bangers of dubiously necessary

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00:06:53

Special | The Prestige: The Couch Gets Hoodwinked

Best Seat on the Couch ·

2022/06/14

In Episode 1 of Best Seat on the Couch - yes, our first recorded episode, on Avatar: The Last Airbender - we not only embarked on a podcasting journey that has spanned over 2 years, but Alex also surfaced a cherished memory of U-Pick Live that we, for a very long time, believed was lost to the aether. But fear not, dear listeners. It is lost no longer.Content warning: bamboozles

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01:15:26

84 | Death Parade

Best Seat on the Couch ·

2022/06/07

Death Parade is a home-brewed anime series that rests at a short 12 episodes and talks about purgatory, the meaning of life, and the philosophical ramifications of life after death. It's beautifully animated and emotionally heavy, has a banger opening track, and relies heavily on its audience to humor it as it asks thought-provoking questions and explores interesting topics about life and death. Not into that? Fret not, dear listener - Michael adds a dissenting perspective to the anime's

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01:27:40

83 | Pokémon

Best Seat on the Couch ·

2022/05/31

Pokémon has had an arguably larger impact on millennial/Gen Z culture over the past 20 years than similar elementary school foundational pillar Yu-Gi-Oh!, and in addition to the popular trading card game and campy Japanese anime that the two franchises share, there's a whole suite of award-winning video games, not-so-award-winning movies, and Detective Pikachu too. This episode discusses the very first animated film, Pokémon: The First Movie - Mewtwo Strikes Back, and our thoughts on the characters

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00:59:20

82 | Megamind

Best Seat on the Couch ·

2022/05/24

Megamind is another Dreamworks staple from 2010 that seemed to miss a lot of us on the Couch, but it's experienced a bit of a resurgence in the pop culture sphere as of late, so we gave it a watch. It's unassuming and well animated, and has an interesting subversion to its plot, but it's actually quite well-written and has wonderful characters and voice acting, plus Tighten is a pretty complex and well-portrayed character considering he's basically an incel. Ultimately, with the superhero genre so

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01:15:30

81 | The Legend of Vox Machina

Best Seat on the Couch ·

2022/05/10

If you've ever dabbled in Dungeons and Dragons, then you've likely heard of the immensely successful web series Critical Role, where critically acclaimed voice actor Matt Mercer runs a D&D campaign for a bunch of other big name voice actor friends. After a record-breaking Kickstarter, the group was able to take their first campaign and translate it into an animated TV series (a feat never done before with a D&D campaign!) and it's...actually pretty good! It is at once a faithful rendition of

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01:13:10

80 | Laid-Back Camp

Best Seat on the Couch ·

2022/05/03

The Couch has suffered great emotional trauma over the last few months thanks to Alex's brutal anime recommendations, so as penance Alex brings us Laid-Back Camp, known as Yuru Camp in Japan, to soothe our souls. It's the epitome of slice-of-life, moreso than Bofuri was, but still hits excellent emotional notes while presenting a lovely story about high school girls camping around Japan's picturesque landscapes, cooking up deliciously animated meals, bringing some legitimately useful camping advice,

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00:58:57

79 | The Lego Movie

Best Seat on the Couch ·

2022/04/26

Season 8 on the Couch starts with yet another nostalgia trip for the gang, as we deep-dive into our childhoods filled with buckets upon buckets of Legos and how special these little plastic building blocks were in our lives. Naturally we're all very high on The Lego Movie and what it brings to the table - and boy does it bring a lot to the table! The pseudo-stop motion, photorealistic animation is unlike everything we've ever seen before, from the fingerprints on the individual minifigures

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00:57:55

78 | Over the Hedge

Best Seat on the Couch ·

2022/04/19

Somewhere in the realm between Shrek and Bee Movie in the Dreamworks pantheon, Over the Hedge is an initially unassuming and formulaic animated movie of the 2010s, but Marcus's dad really loves this movie, so what exactly does he see that we don't? Well, it's got a crew of surprisingly dynamic and memorable characters voiced by a weirdly B-list voice cast (hi Avril Lavigne!), genuine character development for RJ and Verne, great humor and excellent callbacks which one could describe as poetry, and

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01:11:07

77 | Encanto

Best Seat on the Couch ·

2022/04/12

Encanto! With its songs all over the radio and memes all over the internet, we figured we'd talk about Disney's latest big hit, touching upon Lin-Manuel Miranda's spellbinding soundtrack, the beautifully animated scenes of Colombian countryside and the Casita, the unorthodox no-villain plot structure and unique conflicts that arise in the movie, but decidedly not talking about Bruno. Plenty of differing opinions in this episode however, especially surrounding the story's strength

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01:14:25

76 | Land of the Lustrous

Best Seat on the Couch ·

2022/03/29

Somehow, Alex manages to bring us the most emotionally traumatic animes ever constructed under the guise that they're "beautifully animated" and "a fun watch" and keeps getting away with it! Land of the Lustrous is strikingly similar in tangibles to Steven Universe as these shows are both about agender female-presenting gemstone/alien beings that are fun and varied in personality, but that is where the similarities end - this anime tackles hard-hitting topics such as the concept of self, the folly

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01:01:23

75 | The Lion King

Best Seat on the Couch ·

2022/03/22

Disney's The Lion King is synonymous with "classic" and feels like Disney's strongest entry in their Renaissance era, which in itself might make it Disney's best animated film of all time - OF ALL TIME! Jeremy Irons and James Earl Jones put on absolutely masterful voice performances, it's perhaps the best 2D animated work of its time, it has some iconic musical-style numbers that elevate the movie's beats to new heights, and it's got a proverbial vibe that makes it a lovely story both children and

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01:29:28

74 | Halo Legends

Best Seat on the Couch ·

2022/03/08

We've been seeing quite a few video game-related animated anthology series popping up on the Couch and our latest one brings the magic of Bungie's longstanding Halo franchise to our podcast, with an anime twist - and also brings special guest Andrew to join us! Similar to our Star Wars: Visions episode a few months ago, Halo Legends presents 7 anime-inspired minisodes that each bring a unique Japanese twist to Halo's lore, Spartans, and the heroism of humanity, which the five of us pick apart

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01:01:09

73 | Porco Rosso

Best Seat on the Couch ·

2022/03/01

We return to the Miyazaki pantheon with 1992's Porco Rosso, which seemingly flies under the radar among Ghibli fans even though it was the #1 film in Japan the year it released. On the Couch however, this ranks as one of Michael's favorite movies and has also rapidly ascended to Marcus's top 3 Ghibli movies he's seen so far, so we have quite a bit of praise to put on this film, whether it be the wonderful Fio, beautiful score, or gorgeous animated Italian countryside. And while

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01:13:43

72 | Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters

Best Seat on the Couch ·

2022/02/22

There is practically no TV show more formative in our elementary school years than Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters, and that's in no small part to the immensely popular Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card game that swept the nation back in 2002, which all of us played - religiously. The show is also a hilariously messy and wacky story about Yugi, a boy who plays a life-or-death monsters game that, frankly, doesn't have any rules, and how the power of friendship and belief in the Heart of the Cards practically

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00:59:52

71 | Atlantis: The Lost Empire

Best Seat on the Couch ·

2022/02/15

It must be guest starring season on the Couch as we bring back our podcast's number 1 fan, Sarah, to talk about one of her childhood favorite Disney (cult) classics, Atlantis: The Lost Empire! And, well, I suppose it might not be as...classic...as its reputation suggests. It's a fine story, with some wonderful characters, an entertaining adventure sequence, and worldbuilding with plenty of potential, but it falls flat on one too many aspects. But that doesn't stop us and Sarah from having a fun time

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00:57:19

70 | What If...?

Best Seat on the Couch ·

2022/02/08

What if...the gang dove back into the Marvel cinematic MULTIverse? A charming anthology show based off of the Marvel comic series of the same name, What If...? is a fun and entertaining look at our favorite Marvel characters in strange and unique situations, channeling the comic vibe and resulting in some real bangers...and maybe some stragglers too. There's cool cel-shaded animation, great voice acting performances, and plenty of fan service! Content warning: SPOILERS, strong language.

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00:57:03

69 | Bee Movie

Best Seat on the Couch ·

2022/02/01

This week on the couch, the gang takes a nice break from some of the heavier hitters of our recent episodes to talk about Bee Movie, which experienced a sort of meme renaissance a few years ago and is a very important nexus event in Alex and Iris's childhoods. But don't get us wrong - this movie is not good. It is a monument to Jerry Seinfeld's sins and disrespects children, adults, biologists, cinephiles, and Sting at the same time. Thank the heavens for Patrick Warburton, at least. Oh,

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01:28:58

68 | Arcane

Best Seat on the Couch ·

2022/01/25

First DOTA: Dragon's Blood, then Castlevania, and now Arcane, and soon Marcus will get his wish about discussing video games full time on the Couch. But unlike its predecessors, Arcane is a worldwide phenomenon that has skyrocketed in popularity and ratings and is honestly a masterclass in animation, voice acting, storytelling, and worldbuilding. To celebrate, we bring back our first ever returning guest Jess, who offers her own unique perspective on Arcane and her favorite character/waifu Jinx

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00:56:26

67 | The Polar Express

Best Seat on the Couch ·

2022/01/18

The Polar Express is a...special film. It's a landmark work in computer-generated animation and was one of the first such movies to use extensive motion capture technology, which culminates in a final product that is at the same time immensely creepy and visually wondrous. Tom Hanks plays half the cast, "Hero Girl" looks like some kind of demon, Marcus cannot even with the blatant disregard of the laws of physics, Michael learns about Christianity, and Iris drops an absolutely molten take on what

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208 results

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