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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

01:33:28

66 | ONE PIECE (Part 2)

Best Seat on the Couch ·

2022/01/04

It's another holiday season and as we all go about (safely) enjoying the holidays, Alex gathers his own group of Straw Hats for a follow-up of Episode 27: "ONE PIECE." Now at 1004 episodes total, the anime is firmly in its longest individual arc called Wano Country, and infuses feudal Japanese influences into the exciting pirate adventures of Luffy and his pirate crew. In addition to guests Katy and Kyle returning to continue their discussion where they left off a year ago, Alex's

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00:59:12

65 | Ben 10

Best Seat on the Couch ·

2021/12/21

The 2005 Ben 10 series, the O.G. of our childhoods, is a cool psuedo-superhero cartoon that works around the creativity of the Omnitrix and the myriad of cool alien powers that Ben has at his disposal. Compared to some of the newer cartoons we've discussed on the Couch, Ben 10 doesn't try to bring a lot of character development or major twists to the table, and simply relies on the unreliability and flexibility of the Omnitrix, cool factor, and fun family dynamic to make each episode entertaining

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01:05:15

64 | Star Wars: Visions

Best Seat on the Couch ·

2021/12/14

By the powers of Star Wars and anime combined, Star Wars: Visions is an incredibly bold new take on the Star Wars mythos while also being a genuine and heartfelt series of art pieces from Japanese artists and animators. In this episode the gang lightning-rounds through all 9 individual episodes, giving short opinions on each, and discussing the overarching concept of the deconstruction of Star Wars and how these works fit into the greater Star Wars experience. Content warning: SPOILERS, strong

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00:48:01

63 | Madagascar

Best Seat on the Couch ·

2021/11/30

On a scale of Iris to Michael, how much did we enjoy this movie? Those of us in favor praise this movie's varied humor, plainly enjoyable characters and jokes, and excellent voice acting performances, whereas those of us against absolutely hammer this movie for its poor through line, cringe-fest humor, forgettable characters, and aspects that really solidify why children's movies can be so painful to watch for adults. Whether or not you agree or disagree with the preaching of our one-man choir,

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00:50:03

62 | The Emperor's New Groove

Best Seat on the Couch ·

2021/11/23

Kind of underrated, The Emperor's New Groove is a slapstick buddy comedy animated Disney film about an emperor who turns into a llama. You've got a lovable idiot who you can't help but root for, a lovable people's guy who is actually also kind of an idiot, an idiot that you love to hate, an idiot that you can't help but love, and Chicha, the most badass woman of all time. It's a hilarious movie that's just long enough to keep you laughing along to a happy ending. Content warning: SPOILERS, strong

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00:59:32

61 | Howl's Moving Castle

Best Seat on the Couch ·

2021/11/16

Every Hayao Miyazaki movie is special on the Couch, and not just because it's Marcus's first time watching one - Howl's Moving Castle in particular has colors that feel more vibrant, characters that feel more whimsical, and magic that pushes the boundary of reality even further than mainstays like Spirited Away and Kiki's Delivery Service. For good or for worse, Howl's comes across as more raw and unrefined than other Miyazaki films and hits your emotional center harder, even if

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00:58:35

60 | Wallace & Gromit

Best Seat on the Couch ·

2021/11/09

Each one of us on the Couch has a different childhood story to share about our first memories with British stop-motion comedy franchise Wallace & Gromit, but we're all in agreement that this show is charming, hilarious, and had a profound impact on each of our personal developments, especially Alex's love of cheese! There's MacGyver-esque whimsical engineering, terribly eye-rolling British puns, Gromit's facial expressions, a lovely theme song, excellent stop-motion quality -

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01:05:03

59 | Death Note

Best Seat on the Couch ·

2021/11/02

Death Note is widely considered to be a pillar of modern anime shows/manga adaptations, especially among western audiences - plus, it was Michael's first cautious step into the anime rabbit hole! The gang follows the main character Light Yagami as he acquires the titular Death Note and begins to expand his colossal ego to truly galactic proportions, and we discuss just how accessible this show is to people who might get...overwhelmed...by this show's initial vibe. Stay for the mental warfare,

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00:56:11

58 | Castlevania

Best Seat on the Couch ·

2021/10/26

If I had a nickel for every anime-inspired video game adaptation TV show we've discussed on the couch, I'd have two nickels - which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it's happened twice. But unlike DOTA: Dragon's Blood, the first two seasons of Castlevania are actually pretty solid and significantly more welcoming to newcomers lore-wise than Dragon's Blood was, and the Dracula arc was overall exciting, captivating, emotional, and adventurous. Plus - vampires! Content warning: SPOILERS, strong

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00:46:50

57 | Brave

Best Seat on the Couch ·

2021/10/19

If you had the chance to create a movie heavily focused on fantasy and Scottish mythology but then two years later you get axed and the new director comes in and decides that this movie will follow the more traditional Pixar formula and the only remnant of your original vision was the fact that BEARS are so heavily involved in the story from a fantasy standpoint that it's honestly a little weird to watch and the finished product ends up trying to balance the two original artistic visions and kinda

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00:59:07

56 | Kill la Kill

Best Seat on the Couch ·

2021/10/12

Kill la Kill is Studio Trigger's magnum opus, the spiritual successor of Gurren Lagann and the precursor to Little Witch Academia, two shows we've already touched on on the Couch. It is an anime unlike any other anime the gang ever seen before - it breaks an almost uncountable number of traditional boundaries, anime tropes, and uh...PG-limits...while barraging the audience with top-tier music, incredible fight scenes, and raw hype from the minute Ryuko arrives in Honnouji Academy in episode

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00:58:15

55 | WALL-E

Best Seat on the Couch ·

2021/09/28

WALL-E is decidedly top 3 in Pixar's repertoire, and is another universally loved entry in the gang's podcasting library. It's got a spectacular and unique opening sequence, lovable - and truly human - non-human characters, and strong emotional moments. Not much else to say about a movie this legendary :) Content warning: strong language.

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00:48:23

54 | Erased

Best Seat on the Couch ·

2021/09/21

This week Alex brings us another heavy-hitting and emotionally rich anime in Erased, which combines the murder mystery genre with a warm and nostalgic TV show about childhood, a mother's love, and the power of friendship. At only 12 episodes it's impressive that this show can be so story-rich yet also pace itself in its slow moments, and it certainly doesn't make the show any less emotionally heavy to experience. Plus - time travel! Content warning: SPOILERS, strong language.

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00:54:46

53 | Young Justice

Best Seat on the Couch ·

2021/09/14

Nestled somewhere in between our previous episodes on Batman Beyond and Teen Titans, Young Justice has a rich world, excellent storytelling and plot buildup, and a really impressive voice cast that gives it all the tools to be a really excellent entry in the animated DC universe. The gang delves into a passionate discussion about the trailblazing that Young Justice did for a show of its time, and how Iris's upbringing with the show compares and contrasts with the Alex's, Michael's, and

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01:02:12

52 | Invincible

Best Seat on the Couch ·

2021/09/07

For a genre as saturated with a variety of content as the superhero genre, it's pretty incredible that an animated superhero TV series brings something fresh to the table - almost as fresh as the steaming pile of guts from the biblical levels of gore shown on screen. But Invincible is more than its violence, and is bolstered by its star-studded voice acting cast, excellent fight scenes, extremely strong trio of main characters in Nolan, Debbie, and Mark, and how their relationship unravels over time

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00:50:32

51 | Shark Tale

Best Seat on the Couch ·

2021/08/24

If the movie Shark Tale was a pathetic, lowly little fish, then the Best Seat gang would be a pack of hungry (decidedly not vegetarian) sharks circling its next meal, seconds away from ripping and tearing apart this sad excuse of a movie to shreds. Released alongside greats like The Incredibles and Shrek 2 and on the heels of Disney/Pixar's Finding Nemo, it's honestly pretty incredible that Shark Tale was a box office success, because it's got...a lot of things wrong with it, to say the least. Take

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00:47:54

50 | Space Jam

Best Seat on the Couch ·

2021/08/17

To celebrate our 50th episode on the Best Seat on the Couch podcast (wooo! Now if only this coincided with our one year anniversary...) we're blurring the lines of what makes an animated movie with the unholy matrimony of professional basketball and Looney Toons - the original Space Jam! Its sequel is in the news these days and Marcus and Michael think this movie is an absolute classic, but does that make the movie good? Are professional basketball players decent actors? Are professional cartoons

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00:55:20

49 | Your Lie in April

Best Seat on the Couch ·

2021/08/03

There isn't much to say in a description of Your Lie in April, as its hard to put its powerful emotional impact into words, and even harder to describe how it made us feel. But its genuine portrayal of the rigorous and strenuous life of a child musician, its lovely and beautifully animated quiet moments, and its visualization of the emotion and struggle in each character's relationship with music are all highlights of what I'd say is a truly one-of-a-kind anime series. Content warning: SPOILERS,

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01:00:53

48 | Kiki's Delivery Service

Best Seat on the Couch ·

2021/07/27

Miyazaki's films are officially a mainstay on the Best Seat podcast these days, but it's always nice to have a little debate once in a while about movies that never really get any worse than "really good" - Kiki's Delivery Service is a charming tale about a girl who learns how to live on her own, make a living for herself, meet new people, and find her niche in a brave new world. It paints a world where everyone's friendly, life is comfortable, and every smile makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside :)

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01:09:58

47 | DOTA: Dragon's Blood

Best Seat on the Couch ·

2021/07/20

Marcus and Iris put literal thousands of hours into Dota 2, the wildly popular Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) video game, and in this episode we finally see a benefit come out of all of that playtime in our discussion of the spinoff anime series DOTA: Dragon's Blood. The show definitely hits different depending on your background knowledge of Dota lore, and Alex and Michael don't hold back on clarifying questions or WTF moments as Marcus and Iris spearhead our discussion on the

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208 results

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