This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman (2003), the third theatrical film in the DC Animated Universe, produced during The New Batman Adventures era and arriving after Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero and Mask of the Phantasm.

The film introduces three new characters who could plausibly be the new Batwoman: Kathy Duquesne, the daughter of a Gotham crime boss; Dr. Roxanne "Rocky" Ballantine, a scientist at Wayne Enterprises; and Detective Sonia Alcana of the Gotham PD. All three have motive. All three have capability. Kathy's father is directly involved with the Penguin and Rupert Thorne in a weapons deal that Batwoman has been targeting. Rocky has the technical means. Sonia has the training.

The film also introduces Bane as a hired muscle character for the Penguin-Thorne operation, and features Kevin Conroy and Efrem Zimbalist Jr. in typically excellent form. Just a shame that the film totally fumbles its three new women and clearly doesn’t know what it wants to be.

We discuss where Mystery of the Batwoman sits in the DCAU theatrical run, whether the composite-Batwoman reveal earns its execution, what the film does with its villain roster, and whether the Bruce-Kathy romance is a feature or a bug.

🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing watch-through of Batman: The Animated Series and the DC Animated Universe!

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Ocean Dub Episode 26: "The Battle Ends,” the conclusion of the Saiyan Saga, and one of the single most consequential moments in the franchise.

Gohan's Great Ape transformation, triggered by the artificial moon Vegeta created, has him rampaging uncontrollably, and Vegeta, still recovering from the Spirit Bomb, is right underneath him when Gohan reverts to normal and falls. Crushed under a child, barely conscious, Vegeta is now genuinely helpless for the first time in the entire arc. Krillin picks up Yajirobe's sword. He is in a completely reasonable position to end this. Then Goku, broken and unable to move, contacts Krillin telepathically and asks him not to. His reasoning, that Vegeta might change, as Piccolo did, and that the fight was the most exciting thing that has happened to him in his life, is presented by the dub as a moral argument.

It isn't really that, or at least not in the original version: Goku wants to fight him again when they're both at full strength. The Ocean Dub softens this into something more overtly heroic, and the distinction matters for how you read everything Goku does afterward. Krillin relents. Vegeta, mortally wounded and humiliated, escapes in his space pod. The Saiyan Saga is over. Gohan, Krillin, and a barely-surviving Goku are the only ones left.

We do a full Saiyan Saga retrospective, discuss the mercy decision and what the dub's framing does to Goku's characterisation, and talk about what the state of the cast at the end of this arc sets up for the Namek Saga.

🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing watch-through of Dragon Ball Z in the Ocean Dub!

📌 Topics covered this episode:

– DBZ Ocean Dub Episode 26 "The Battle Ends" recap & review

– Saiyan Saga retrospective

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Episodes 19 and 20: "Prophecy of Doom" and "Feat of Clay, Part 1."

"Prophecy of Doom" introduces Nostromos, a self-styled seer who has built a loyal Brotherhood of wealthy Gotham citizens by delivering accurate predictions of disaster, disasters his assistant Lucas has been engineering in advance. When Bruce Wayne's friend Ethan Clark invites him to a Brotherhood event and Nostromos singles Bruce out as being in mortal danger, Batman sees through the scam immediately and sets about unravelling it. The animation was by AKOM, the studio notorious for driving Bruce Timm batty, so expect a lot of weird shots.

Then "Feat of Clay, Part 1" arrives and the show changes register entirely. Matt Hagen was once one of the most celebrated film actors in the country, before a car accident left him disfigured. A substance called Renuyu, developed by Roland Daggett's company, allows him to reshape his features without makeup, but Daggett has been using the addiction as leverage, forcing Hagen to impersonate people in service of increasingly criminal schemes. When Hagen uses Renuyu to impersonate Bruce Wayne and assault Lucius Fox, Daggett decides the liability has become too great. His men force-feed Hagen an overdose of the compound and leave him for dead. But, he doesn't die. He wakes up in his car, reaches for his rearview mirror, and sees what he's become, leading to one of the series' best origin stories.

We dig into what "Feat of Clay" does better than almost any other villain origin in the run, what Daggett establishes as a recurring corporate villain archetype for the series, and the choice to end Part 1 on the rearview mirror rather than the transformation.

🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing episode-by-episode watch-through of Batman: The Animated Series!

📌 Topics covered this episode:

– Batman: TAS Episode 19 "Prophecy of Doom" recap & review

– Batman: TAS Episode 20 "Feat of Clay, Part 1" recap & review

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Escaflowne: The Movie (2000), the theatrical reimagining of The Vision of Escaflowne, which takes the same characters, setting, and mecha and tells an almost entirely different story about them.

Hitomi Kanzaki begins the film in a state of profound depression, estranged from her only friend and holding an unsent farewell letter. She is pulled to Gaea not by a glowing boy on a track field but by a call from the world itself. Apparently, she is the deity figure the world's people have been waiting for, a Winged Goddess prophesied to revive the mech Escaflowne. Van here is no eager young king but a blood-soaked loner with a death wish and no kingdom left to fight for.

Allen is recast as a rebel leader rather than a knight-errant. Folken, stripped of his TV series' more nuanced arc, becomes a nihilist who wants to destroy Gaea and himself along with it, a villain whose motivation is, essentially, that he has decided the world does not deserve to exist, which puts him in an interesting conversation with Hitomi's opening scene. The film threads together depression, the desire for annihilation, and the idea that being called from your world into another might be the universe responding to a wish you didn't know you were making. The animation is exceptional throughout. The Yoko Kanno score is one of her finest. The compressed 96-minute runtime leaves almost no room to breathe, and several characters who matter in the series exist here only as faces in a crowd.

We discuss how the film functions as a standalone work versus how it functions as an adaptation, what its darker tonal register accomplishes and where it falls short, and whether the "suicidal protagonist summoned to a world that needed her" premise is a compelling reframe or a step too far from what made the TV series work.

🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing watch-through of Toonami and Adult Swim's most iconic anime films and series!

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Ocean Dub Episodes 24 and 25: "Vegeta... Saiyan Style!" and "Stop Vegeta Now!"

"Vegeta... Saiyan Style!" opens with Goku already at the limit of what his body can handle and Vegeta nowhere near done. When Goku gathers energy for the Spirit Bomb, Vegeta notices and blasts him before he can release it. Running out of options, Goku pushes to Kaio-ken ×3, and then ×4, a multiplier King Kai explicitly told him not to use, and hits Vegeta with a full Kamehameha that sends him into the upper atmosphere.

Vegeta survives, produces an artificial moon, and transforms into a Great Ape. Goku, broken and running on nothing, tries to fight, but is unable to overcome Vegeta. That is until Yajirobe, who has been lurking in a car eating snacks throughout most of this fight, cuts off the Great Ape's tail with his sword, reverting Vegeta to normal size. In the chaos, Goku manages to pass what's left of the Spirit Bomb to Krillin, who throws it at Vegeta.

Vegeta jumps over it. Gohan, alerted by Goku telepathically, deflects it back.

We break down why the Great Ape sequence works better than it should, what Yajirobe's presence throughout this fight does for the tone, and if the Spirit Bomb should have ended this fight.

🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing watch-through of Dragon Ball Z in the Ocean Dub!

📌 Topics covered this episode:

– DBZ Ocean Dub Episode 24 "Vegeta... Saiyan Style!" recap & review

– DBZ Ocean Dub Episode 25 "Stop Vegeta Now!" recap & review

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Episodes 17 and 18: "See No Evil" and "Beware the Gray Ghost."

"See No Evil" opens with a string of gem thefts committed by a man no one can see. The thief turns out to be Lloyd Ventrix, an ex-con who stole an experimental invisibility suit from Wayne Enterprises, a suit that turns out to be slowly poisoning him, and has been using it to visit his estranged daughter Kimmy, who has been calling the invisible man "Mojo" and treating him as an imaginary friend, unaware that it's her father breaking into her room through the window (yeah, its as creepy as it sounds).

Then "Beware the Gray Ghost" arrives, and the show goes somewhere different. A series of mysterious bombings are plaguing Gotham, and Batman finds himself unable to identify the pattern, until he makes a connection to a black-and-white pulp adventure show called The Gray Ghost that he watched obsessively as a child, a show that may have contributed more than anything else to why Bruce Wayne became the kind of man who puts on a cape. To find the missing episode he needs, Batman tracks down Simon Trent, the actor who played the Gray Ghost, now broke, blacklisted, and reduced to selling his own merchandise to pay rent. Simon Trent is played by Adam West, whose casting turns the episode into something the show rarely is: a genuine act of self-reflection about what popular heroes mean to the people who grow up with them, and what it costs the people who embody them.

We discuss why "Beware the Gray Ghost" is one of the most emotionally resonant episodes in the entire run, what Adam West brings to the role that no one else could, and what it means that this version of Bruce Wayne was inspired not by tragedy alone but by a fictional hero in a cape.

🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing episode-by-episode watch-through of Batman: The Animated Series!

📌 Topics covered this episode:

– Batman: TAS Episode 17 "See No Evil" recap & review

– Batman: TAS Episode 18 "Beware the Gray Ghost" recap & review

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone. the first entry in the Rebuild of Evangelion tetralogy, and the beginning of an ambitious project that would take nearly fifteen years to complete.

The film covers roughly the first six episodes of the original TV series: Shinji Ikari is called to Tokyo-3 by his estranged father Gendo, placed in Unit-01, and told to fight the Angels, despite having no training, no preparation, and no particular desire to be there. He fights the Fourth Angel, nearly loses himself to the Eva during the process, and slowly forms something approaching a relationship with Rei Ayanami in the lead-up to Operation Yashima, the precision long-range attack against the Fifth Angel Ramiel, here dramatically redesigned from a floating octahedron into a continuously morphing geometric entity that transforms between attacks in a way the 1995 budget could never have managed. Kaworu Nagisa makes a very brief appearance at the end that should not be possible given where he appears in the TV series timeline, in a scene that the film declines to explain.

Much of 1.0 plays as a faithful, shot-for-shot re-animation with a significantly upgraded budget, the city of Tokyo-3, the Angel designs, the synchronisation sequences all look extraordinary. What it does not do, yet, is substantially diverge from the story everyone already knows. That comes later. We discuss what 1.0 accomplishes on its own terms, what it means as an entry point versus a re-entry point, how the Ramiel sequence elevates the source material, and what that final scene is setting up for 2.0.

🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing watch-through of Toonami and Adult Swim's most iconic anime films and series!

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Ocean Dub Episodes 22 and 23: "Goku Strikes Back" and "Goku vs. Vegeta... A Saiyan Duel!"

"Goku Strikes Back" gives Nappa precisely as much of a fight as he deserves: Goku dodges his every attack with casual effort, lands a blow for each friend Nappa sent to the Other Dimension. Nappa crawls to Vegeta for help, but Vegeta throws him into the sky and destroys him for the crime of being weak, which is one of the series' early great character moments.

Then "Goku vs. Vegeta... A Saiyan Duel!" opens the real fight, and immediately establishes that these two are not comparable to anything that came before. Vegeta is stronger, faster, and strategically smarter than Nappa in every way. The episode also contains the Ocean Dub's infamous claim that Goku's father Bardock was "a brilliant scientist," which is not a description that applies to Bardock in any version of events, and which has never been satisfactorily explained.

We get into why this fight is so good, why early Vegeta just works, and the brilliant scientist situation.

🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing watch-through of Dragon Ball Z in the Ocean Dub!

📌 Topics covered this episode:

– DBZ Ocean Dub Episode 22 "Goku Strikes Back" recap & review

– DBZ Ocean Dub Episode 23 "Goku vs. Vegeta... A Saiyan Duel!" recap & review

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Episodes 15 and 16: "The Cat and the Claw, Part 1" and "The Cat and the Claw, Part 2,” the two-part premiere episode that introduced Catwoman to Batman: The Animated Series, and which aired first despite being produced fifteenth.

"The Cat and the Claw, Part 1" opens with a rooftop chase: a cat burglar in a form-fitting suit outruns Batman across Gotham's skyline, kisses him, and disappears. Meanwhile, at a charity function Bruce Wayne encounters Selina Kyle, passionate wildlife conservationist, and instantly feels a spark. He has no idea these are the same woman.

Adrienne Barbeau voices Selina with a warmth and steel that makes her immediately one of the most compelling characters in the series. Thus, its a shame the episode's secondary plot sucks, as it focuses on Red Claw, a weird European woman who wants to steal a virus for poorly-defined reasons (who is voiced by Kate Mulgrew approximately six months before being cast as Janeway).

We get into what Barbeau and Mulgrew bring to these episodes, why the Batman-Catwoman dynamic works as well as it does, and why this episode shows that less is sometimes more when it comes to Batman storylines.

🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing episode-by-episode watch-through of Batman: The Animated Series!

📌 Topics covered this episode:

– Batman: TAS Episode 15 "The Cat and the Claw, Part 1" recap & review

– Batman: TAS Episode 16 "The Cat and the Claw, Part 2" recap & review

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (2000), and we are going to talk a lot about the censored cut.

The film opens in a future Gotham where Terry McGinnis has been Batman for some time, and a new gang of Joker-themed criminals, the Jokerz, are suddenly operating with equipment far beyond what a street gang should have access to. Then the Joker himself shows up, physically present, at full power, exactly as he always was, and nobody can explain how.

Even worse, Bruce won’t tell Terry what happened to the original Joker. Until we learn in the worst possible way, Tim Drake, the second Robin, was kidnapped by the Joker and Harley Quinn and subjected to three weeks of physical and psychological torture until the Joker had transformed him into a miniature version of himself. However, through sheer force of will, Tim turned the Joker's own weapon on him and fired, ending both the crown prince of crime and his life as a crimefighter.

It is darker and more violent than previous animation Batman offerings, and naturally, Warner Bros were not having any of it, creating a censored cut that must be seen to be believed. Bonk's clearly lethal spear-to-the-chest becomes ambiguous Joker gas; the Joker's knife is removed and replaced with a punch (but not the wound caused by the knife, leading to a really dumb plot hole); and a Bugs Bunny cartoon playing in the background was muted because a cartoon character says "I wish I were dead."

We’re going to talk about all of them and question if, censorship aside, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker still holds up.

🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing watch-through of Batman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, and the DC Animated Universe!

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Ocean Dub Episodes 20 and 21: "Time's Up!" and "The Return of Goku."

"Time's Up!" closes the three-hour window and opens on Nappa, refreshed, resuming his methodical destruction of what remains of Earth's defenders. Gohan and Krillin are running on empty. Piccolo is doing what he can.

The episode builds its entire tension on a single question: can these three survive long enough to get help from Goku? Nappa targets Gohan with a point-blank blast. Piccolo steps in front of it, giving himself for the boy he’s grown to love. Alas, with Piccolo gone, Kami goes too, and with Kami goes the Dragon Balls. Every wish. Every resurrection. Every plan that involved gathering the balls is now off the table.

Thus, when Goku lands on the battlefield, he attacks Nappa with a brutality we’ve never seen him employ, easily dominating Nappa and bouncing him around the place like a pinball, making it clear that Goku will not let his friends’ pain go unpunished.

We talk about what Piccolo's sacrifice does for both characters, Oceans’ terrible attempt at censoring this episode, and why Goku's arrival hits as hard as it does after twenty episodes of build.

🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing watch-through of Dragon Ball Z in the Ocean Dub!

📌 Topics covered this episode:

– DBZ Ocean Dub Episode 20 "Time's Up!" recap & review

– DBZ Ocean Dub Episode 21 "The Return of Goku" recap & review

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Episodes 13 and 14: "I've Got Batman in My Basement" and "Heart of Ice."

"I've Got Batman in My Basement" introduces the Penguin, here designed to resemble Danny DeVito's portrayal in Batman Returns. His Fabergé egg heist goes wrong when Batman confronts his giant South American vulture. However, Batman soon gets it worse as he gets sprayed with nerve gas from Penguin’s umbrella, staggers into the Batmobile, and collapses. Thankfull, two children see this and quickly drive the Batmobile through the streets of Gotham before hiding Batman on their basement couch. The episode is not the series at its best. It is, however, the Trope Namer for a specific kind of story, which is something.

Then "Heart of Ice" arrives and everything changes. Written by Paul Dini, directed by Bruce Timm, voiced by Michael Ansara, and designed by Hellboy creator Mike Mignola, this is the episode that took Mr. Freeze, a gimmick villain from a 1959 Batman comic, and turned him into a genuine tragic figure. Victor Fries was a cryogenics scientist who froze his terminally ill wife Nora in a stasis chamber he built himself, hoping to keep her alive until a cure could be found. However, GothCorp CEO Ferris Boyle had him thrown into the chemicals to shut the project down. Freeze survived, transformed, and has spent however long since building a weapon and a revenge list. The episode won a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Writing in an Animated Program. Its version of Mr. Freeze's origin has been used in virtually every subsequent adaptation, including Batman & Robin.

We discuss the jarring tonal whiplash of watching these two episodes back to back, what makes "Heart of Ice" a landmark in animated television, and what Paul Dini and Bruce Timm understood about Mr. Freeze that sixty years of comics hadn't.

🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing episode-by-episode watch-through of Batman: The Animated Series!

📌 Topics covered this episode:

– Batman: TAS Episode 13 "I've Got Batman in My Basement" recap & review

– Batman: TAS Episode 14 "Heart of Ice" recap & review

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Team Go-Getters Out of the Gate!, the 2006 Cartoon Network special that served to promote the then-new Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team.

The special opens on a boy who has woken up as a Squirtle, in a Pokémon world now beset by natural disasters. He soon meets a Charmander and Chikorita, who immediately identify him as a potential rescue team member for Team Go-Getters. Their first mission arrives quickly: Pichu's older brother Pikachu has been kidnapped by a rogue Skarmory. Team Go-Getters set off to rescue him — only to encounter Team Meanies, a rival rescue team led by the scheming Gengar, who would very much like to be the one who saves the day. So the two teams quickly race to the mountain, hoping to be the ones to grab the glory for themselves!

We talk about how this special captures the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series' specific atmosphere in a 30-minute runtime, if its worth finding today, and if Pokémon rewired the millennial mind.

🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing watch-through of Toonami and Adult Swim's most iconic anime and animated specials!

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Ocean Dub Episodes 18 and 19: "Nappa... The Invincible?" and "Tien Goes All Out!!,” and officially reached our limit with the "Other Dimension" euphemism.

"Nappa... The Invincible?" picks up from the Saibamen massacre with Nappa himself stepping into the field. His first move is to rip off Tien's arm. The dub, unable to depict this as a permanent injury, gives us Tien telling Nappa to "just wait until that grows back!,” which Tien has never demonstrated the ability to do and never will. Chiaotzu, with no other options, latches onto Nappa's back and self-destructs, which does absolutely nothing to slow Nappa down.

Tien, now one-armed and running on fumes and grief, fires his Tri-Beam, pouring every remaining joule of his life force into an attack that still doesn't put Nappa down, with terrible results (that the dub didn’t want to show)

Vegeta, keen to fight Goku, calls a three-hour truce before sending Nappa off to amuse himself by destroying helicopters and an entire navy. But, when Goku fails to show, Piccolo is left trying to find a way to take down the two Saiyans with what little energy he has left. The episode ends with Nappa powering up for the next assault while Gohan and Krillin realize that the answer to "can they stop this" is probably no.

We break down the Ocean Dub's increasingly strained commitment to the fiction that nobody is dying, why Chiaotzu and Tien's send-off still hits despite the editing, and how many times in two episodes someone is sent to the Other Dimension.

🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing watch-through of Dragon Ball Z in the Ocean Dub!

📌 Topics covered this episode:

– DBZ Ocean Dub Episode 18 "Nappa... The Invincible?" recap & review

– DBZ Ocean Dub Episode 19 "Tien Goes All Out!!" recap & review

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Episodes 11 and 12: "Two-Face, Part 2" and "It's Never Too Late."

"Two-Face, Part 2" opens with Gotham's criminal underworld realizing something has changed. Two-Face, now operating with a crew of his own and a very specific obsession with the number two, has been systematically dismantling Rupert Thorne's criminal operation. Naturally, Thorne puts out a two million dollar bounty on him (one million per face, he says with typical Gotham criminal wit) and then realises that the fastest way to get to Two-Face is through Grace, his former fiancée, who Two-Face has been secretly watching over her from a distance. Naturally, this leads to a painful confrontation, where Bruce is force to stop his former friend while also protecting him against a mob who are keen to end his story once and for all.

Then "It's Never Too Late" pivots entirely. Rupert Thorne is now losing a mob war against Gotham's previous reigning crime lord, ageing boss Arnold Stromwell. Stromwell's son Joey is missing and he's convinced Thorne has him. Batman, naturally, decides to play Ghost Of Christmas Yet To Come and takes Stromwell on what amounts to a very grim tour of Gotham, showing him his ex-wife, his estranged brother Michael who lost a leg saving Arnold from a childhood train accident that Arnold let himself believe was more serious, and his son Joey, who is currently in a rehabilitation centre. So if you’ve ever wanted to see the Batman x Catholic Church crossover, this is the episode for you!

We discuss how "Two-Face, Part 2" compares to Part 1, if the silver dollar scene is a god ending, and how "It's Never Too Late" is a brave but weird attempt to make Batman more than a dude who punches stuff.

🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing episode-by-episode watch-through of Batman: The Animated Series!

📌 Topics covered this episode:

– Batman: TAS Episode 11 "Two-Face, Part 2" recap & review

– Batman: TAS Episode 12 "It's Never Too Late" recap & review

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Yu Yu Hakusho: The Movie – Poltergeist Report (1994), the second and final full-length Yu Yu Hakusho theatrical film, and the only piece of Yu Yu Hakusho media that Funimation has never been able to redub, because Central Park Media got the rights before Funimation started dubbing the series.

The film was released in Japanese theatres on April 9, 1994, during the height of the show's original run, and later dubbed into English by Central Park Media in 1998, predating the Funimation TV dub by three years. Thus, it uses an entirely different cast. Hence: Kuwahara.

After the Spirit World is flooded by an overflowing the River Styx, a powerful enemy from a previously unmentioned fourth realm called the Netherworld begins invading the human world to seize control of it and remake it in his own image.

It is, structurally, a very standard non-canon anime film, elevated almost entirely by 1994 theatrical animation that looks genuinely gorgeous, fluid, detailed, and operating at a level of polish the TV series could rarely afford. The fights are good, but new lore is immediately irrelevant to the series.

Alas, the dub is wooden and clunky and half of the characters have zero personality. For example, Kuwabara (who Central Park Meda call Kuwahara for the duration) speaks formally, something that is an utter culture shock if you’re familiar with the Funimation version of the show.

We get into the strangeness of encountering beloved characters through an entirely unfamiliar voice cast, why the Central Park Media kinda sucks, and whether the dub is an ordeal or an experience. (Answer: both. It is both.)

🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing watch-through of Yu Yu Hakusho and the full Toonami and Adult Swim library!

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Ocean Dub Episodes 16 and 17: "The Battle Begins... Goku Where Are You?" and "The Saibamen Strike,” the moment the Saiyan Saga decides that we need less characters.

In "The Battle Begins" Piccolo, Gohan, Yamcha, Krillin, and Tien finally come face-to-face with the Saiyans. However, problems quickly arise as Nappa decides to have some fun destroying helicopters while Ocean furiously adds lines to suggest the pilots parachuted to safety (they clearly did not). However, just when you think the battle is about to start, Nappa pulls out six Saibamen pods and plants them group, offering the Z Fighters the little green men as a warm-up round.

Then "The Saibamen Strike" delivers one of the franchise’s most iconic shots, Krillin wants to fight but Yamcha cuts in. Yamcha fights a Saibaman, appears to win, turns to challenge the remaining four simultaneously, only for the fallen Saibaman to grab him and blow itself up, leading to the most iconic pose in Dragon Ball Z (and likely anime) history.

We talk about what makes the Saibamen arc so effective as a structural device, the Ocean dub's increasingly creative attempts to paper over mass death with reassurances that everyone had a parachute, and what Yamcha's death means for the stakes of everything that follows.

🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing watch-through of Dragon Ball Z in the Ocean Dub!

📌 Topics covered:

– DBZ Ocean Dub Episode 16 "The Battle Begins... Goku Where Are You?" recap & review

– DBZ Ocean Dub Episode 17 "The Saibamen Strike" recap & review

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover "Be a Clown" and "Two-Face, Part 1," and this pairing is doing a lot of heavy lifting for the season.

"Be a Clown" triggers when Mayor Hill, mid-speech, calls Batman just as dangerous as the Joker. Insulted at being compared to a vigilante, the Joker disguises himself as "Jekko the Clown" and infiltrates Hill's son Jordan's birthday party. However, Jordan, feeling unloved and ignored by his politically obsessed father, stows away in Jekko's van thinking he's found a genuine mentor, only to find himself in the Joker’s abandoned amusement park hideout (because of course Gotham has an abandoned amusement park).

"Two-Face, Part 1" is the series operating at its full dramatic height: Harvey Dent, Bruce Wayne's oldest friend and Gotham's most promising DA, is revealed to have been carrying a violent alter ego called "Big Bad Harv" since childhood, held in check through therapy and sheer willpower. However, when crime boss Rupert Thorne gets hold of Dent's psychiatric records and tries to blackmail him, Big Bad Harv surfaces and starts causing chaos. Batman arrives to help, only to make thing much worse, leading to the birth of Two-Face.

We discuss "Be a Clown" and its inherent weirdness and talk about "Two-Face, Part 1" and why Harvey Dent's origin is one of the most carefully constructed villain backstories in the whole series.

🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing episode-by-episode watch-through of Batman: The Animated Series!

📌 Topics covered:

– Batman: TAS Episode 9 "Be a Clown" recap & review

– Batman: TAS Episode 10 "Two-Face, Part 1" recap & review

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Dragon Ball Z: Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan (1993), the eighth DBZ film and the one that introduced one of the franchise's most enduring non-canon characters.

The setup involves Paragus, one of numerous Saiyans who happened to miss the whole “destruction of Planet Vegeta” thing flattering Vegeta into becoming the figurehead king of a new Saiyan colony, hoping to take Vegeta out so he can later invade Earth and make it his new kingdom.

Alas, the moment Goku shows up, Paragus' son Broly starts acting weird. It turns out they were born on the same day; Goku cried constantly as an infant, keeping Broly awake, and the infant-level grudge has apparently only intensified over the decades.

Broly eventually snaps and this film ends with a legendary battle between Broly's Legendary Super Saiyan form against Goku, Gohan, Trunks, Vegeta, and Piccolo look like noise. Though Piccolo has to literally drag Vegeta into the fight as the mere sight of Broly is enough to make the legendary Saiyan prince give up all hope.

We discuss Broly's enduring popularity despite his non-canon status, where this film sits in our wider DBZ movie ranking, and how the different dubs handled this beloved Dragon Ball Z film.

🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing watch-through of Toonami and Adult Swim's most iconic anime films!

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Ocean Dub Episodes 14 and 15: "The Legend of the Saiyans" and "A Black Day for Planet Earth,” the end of Goku's training and the moment the Saiyan Saga finally actually [kinda] starts.

"The Legend of the Saiyans" wraps up Goku's time on King Kai's planet with his second and final training exercise: chasing Gregory, King Kai's lightning-fast grasshopper, around the planet with a sledgehammer. During this King Kai, decides to tell Goku the history of the Saiyan race, though this only happens in the anime, so enjoy the totally non-cannon history of the Tuffles, and the fact that King Kai things Vegeta and Nappa are the strongest warriors in the universe.

Then "A Black Day for Planet Earth" things take a dark turn, as King Kai finishes the lesson, checks his math, and realizes with genuine horror that he forgot to factor in the time it would take Goku to run back down Snake Way. The Saiyans will arrive a full day before Goku can reach Earth. Master Roshi uses the Dragon Balls to wish Goku back to life immediately, throwing Goku into a race against time to get back before Vegeta and Nappa can destroy everything.

The Saiyans' pods land in the middle of East City and Nappa destroys a several-block radius just to announce they've arrived. Unless you’re watching the Ocean dub, which tries to explain away a citywide massacre by insisting the district was "evacuated" in the space of about 20 seconds, or that East City has an abandoned warehouse district.

We laugh at King Kai's totally wrong Saiyan history, question if Ocean dub's censorship choices actually works, and what it feels like when Dragon Ball Z finally stops clearing its throat and actually begins.

🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing watch-through of Dragon Ball Z in the Ocean Dub!

📌 Topics covered:

– DBZ Ocean Dub Episode 14 "The Legend of the Saiyans" recap & review

– DBZ Ocean Dub Episode 15 "A Black Day for Planet Earth" recap & review

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover "P.O.V." and "The Forgotten."

"P.O.V." opens in the aftermath of a blown sting operation. Lieutenant Hackle from Internal Affairs has Bullock, Officer Montoya, and rookie Officer Wilkes explain what happens, but their accounts of the evening contradict each other.

Naturally, Renee Montoya doesn’t take the order to go home and wait for the investigation to end seriously, and tracks the suspects to the docks, where she ends up having to save Batman. This episode is very important, as its one of the early voice roles of Ron Perlman, who appears as one of the gang's thugs.

Then "The Forgotten" finds Bruce Wayne going undercover to investigate disappearing homeless men, only for a bonk on the head to give him amnesia, leading to him getting kidnapped and shipped to a remote mining camp. Thankfully, Alfred decides to jump into the action and hunt Bruce down, giving us a rare moment of Alfred out of the Batcave, though that doesn’t mean the episode is any less weird.

We talk about these two weird one-offs, question why fans rarely bring them up, and debate if "The Forgotten", a fan-acknowledged weaker entry, is more interesting to talk about than it is to watch.

🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing episode-by-episode watch-through of Batman: The Animated Series!

📌 Topics covered:

– Batman: TAS Episode 7 "P.O.V." recap & review

– Batman: TAS Episode 8 "The Forgotten" recap & review

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: The Beginning (2002): the 90-minute pilot movie that launched the 2002 He-Man reboot series. But in the spirit of full transparency, we want to admit upfront that we actively avoided talking about it for as long as we reasonably could.

The plot is what you expect, Skeletor's forces return and start to attack Eternia, forcing a young, generally useless Prince Adam to go to Castle Grayskull. In this castle, he accepts the Sword of Power and becomes He-Man, giving him the power to fight back.

It's a perfectly competent, perfectly serviceable piece of early-2000s pilot television, one where you can guess every plot beat about 10 minutes before it happens. It is also, we discovered, almost impossible to talk about for an entire episode, which sent us careening sideways into the live-action 2026 Masters of the Universe film starring Jared Leto as Skeletor (or more specifically, us questioning how he still gets work), Alyx and Sam trying to convince Jon to watch Kevin Smith's Masters of the Universe: Revelation, and a fairly long detour into Alan Thicke.

We talk about why 2002's The Beginning struggles to leave much of an impression compared to its successors, and question if its better to be wild and terrible, or solid but boring.

🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing watch-through of Toonami and Adult Swim's most iconic shows and movies.

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Ocean Dub Episodes 12 and 13: "The End of Snake Way" and "A Fight Against Gravity... Catch Bubbles!"

"The End of Snake Way" finally delivers Goku to King Kai's tiny planet after his agonisingly long journey. However, King Kai’s training not what anyone is expecting: before he'll train Goku at all, Goku has to make him laugh, and then catch King Kai's pet monkey, Bubbles, while crushed under ten times Earth's gravity.

Meanwhile, back on Earth, Gohan's tail grows back and he transforms into a Great Ape for the second time after spotting an artificial "moon" projected from Goku's old crashed space pod, yep, the filler really be fillerin this week!

We get into why King Kai's is one of Goku’s best mentors, why King Kai presented a genuine problem for the dubbers, and if this early filler was the right choice.

🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing watch-through of Dragon Ball Z in the Ocean Dub!

📌 Topics covered this episode:

– DBZ Ocean Dub Episode 12 "The End of Snake Way" recap & review

– DBZ Ocean Dub Episode 13 "A Fight Against Gravity... Catch Bubbles!" recap & review

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Episodes 5 and 6: "Pretty Poison" and "The Underdwellers."

"Pretty Poison" introduces Poison Ivy via a dinner date gone wrong: District Attorney Harvey Dent collapses after a meal with his new fiancée, botanist Pamela Isley.

However, as Batman digs deeper, he finds that Pamela Isley is Poison Ivy, a supervillain who won’t stop until she gets revenge for an endangered rose. Written by Paul Dini, this episode combines fun classic detective action with modern Batman action, really showing that Batman: TAS was drawing inspiration from all eras of Batman.

Then comes "The Underdwellers," one of the show’s most forgotten episodes. A string of weird crimes leads Batman into Gotham's sewer system, where he discovers an entire community of homeless children captured and commanded by the tyrannical Sewer King. This episode is genuinely weird, feeling like a rare misstep in an otherwise perfect series, especially as the plot doesn’t make sense when you step back and think about it.

We talk about Poison Ivy's introduction as one of the show's better rogues debuts, and how "The Underdwellers" is likely best left forgotten.

🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing episode-by-episode watch-through of Batman: The Animated Series!

📌 Topics covered this episode:

– Batman: TAS Episode 5 "Pretty Poison" recap & review

– Batman: TAS Episode 6 "The Underdwellers" recap & review

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Summer Wars (2009), the Madhouse-produced film that cemented Hosoda as one of the defining voices in modern anime.

Kenji Koiso moonlights as a low-level moderator of OZ, a sprawling, billion-user virtual world that has become so deeply embedded in daily life that hospitals, governments, and infrastructure systems all run through it. When Kenji unknowingly solves a math puzzle sent to his phone, he hands the keys to a rogue AI called Love Machine, which proceeds to hijack OZ and start causing real-world chaos.

What follows is a film that swings between giant multiplayer avatar battles inside OZ and a surprisingly tender, lived-in portrait of an enormous extended family coming together. It is also, structurally, a spiritual successor to Hosoda's earlier Digimon Adventure short Our War Game!, expanded into something far more ambitious.

We talk about how Summer Wars balances its sci-fi spectacle against its family drama, what the film says about technology's place in everyday life nearly two decades on, and where it sits in Hosoda's filmography.

🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing watch-through of Toonami and Adult Swim's most iconic anime films and series!

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Ocean Dub Episodes 10 and 11: "Escape from Piccolo" and "Showdown in the Past,” and we need to talk about the fact that "Escape from Piccolo" is a technically a Banned Episode.

"Escape from Piccolo" follows Gohan as he tries to sneak home to see his mother without Piccolo noticing, and along the way encounters a group of homeless orphan children being rounded up by the authorities to be placed in an orphanage.However, due to it showing social workers as evil, stick-wielding cops and features a scene where Gohan beats one of them up, it was pulled from the original 1996-1998 first-run syndication broadcast entirely. It wasn't shown in North America until Cartoon Network picked up the series and showed the episode like nothing happened.

Then "Showdown in the Past" shifts gears completely: Krillin, Yamcha, Tien, and Chiaotzu enter the Pendulum Room to fight illusory recreations of two Saiyan warriors from the past, in a filler scene that has us genuinely confused about the Dragon Ball Z timeline.

We dig into why "Escape from Piccolo" got pulled, why it is Saban at their most Saban-ey, and how the Pendulum Room ruins the stakes for the looming Saiyan invasion.

🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing watch-through of Dragon Ball Z in the Ocean Dub!

📌 Topics covered this episode:

– DBZ Ocean Dub Episode 10 "Escape from Piccolo" recap & review

– DBZ Ocean Dub Episode 11 "Showdown in the Past" recap & review

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Batman: The Animated Series Episodes 3 and 4: "Nothing to Fear" and "The Last Laugh."

"Nothing to Fear" give u our first exposure to Dr. Jonathan Crane, aka the Scarecrow. He has a plan to destroy Gotham State University after being fired for his unorthodox teaching methods. Batman tries to stop this, but a quick spray of Scarecrow’s fear toxin and he’s dealing with a hallucination of Thomas Wayne, ragging him out for his life choices. It's a remarkably dark beat for the third episode of a children's cartoon, and it sets the template for Scarecrow being one of the show's most unexpectedly dark villains.

Then "The Last Laugh" brings the Joker back for another shot at the Batman as he unleashes a city-wide laughing toxin via a massive garbage boat. This episode also introduces the Joker’s robotic buddy Captain Clown, and sees the animators learn an important lesson: Standards And Practices will let you do anything you want to a robot.

We dig into how these two episodes establish Scarecrow and the Joker as legitimate threats, the surprisingly dark places the series is willing to go this early, and question how a show can be this good from the very start.

🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing episode-by-episode watch-through of Batman: The Animated Series!

📌 Topics covered this episode:

– Batman: TAS Episode 3 "Nothing to Fear" recap & review

– Batman: TAS Episode 4 "The Last Laugh" recap & review

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Dragon Ball Z: Super Android 13! (1992), the seventh DBZ film and the first to feature all three Super Saiyans: Goku, Vegeta, and Future Trunks.

After Dr. Gero is taken out, his computer makes three new Androids: Androids 13, 14, and 15 all of whom quickly hunt down Goku and start beating him up. Naturally, Piccolo shows up, because Piccolo always shows up. Vegeta also turns up to aura farm, because that is what he does in the movies.

But naturally, we spend most of the time talking about Android 13. Who, due to his southern accent and trucker hat, is the funniest Android ever created, and the creator of the funniest and most-memed line in Dragon Ball movie history:

"Don't you lecture me with your thirty dollar haircut!"

We discuss if Super Android 13 works well as a DBZ movie, where it fits in the wider Dragon Ball Z continuity, and if all Androids should have had southern accents and trucker hats.

🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing watch-through of Toonami and Adult Swim's most iconic anime films and series!

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Ocean Dub Episodes 8 and 9: "Home for Infinite Losers" and "Princess Snake's Hospitality".

And yes, we will be defending the decision to call it HFIL.

"Home for Infinite Losers" sends Goku plummeting off Snake Way into the realm below, which the Japanese version calls Hell. Naturally, the Ocean/Saban dub couldn’t let that fly and opts to rechristen it as the Home for Infinite Losers, one of the most infamous bits of censorship in anime history.

We would like to go on record that HFIL is an inspired piece of localization and we will not be taking questions.

After Goku escapes, we go into "Princess Snake's Hospitality,” where Goku arrives at a palace on Snake Way. Naturally, Goku assumes this is King Kai's home, only to find Princess Snake, the palace’s true owner, is actually a giant snake who wants to marry Goku or eat him (her moods change quickly).

We discuss if Dragon Ball Z’s pacing holds up today and get into why the HFIL rename, actually makes sense when you consider the rest of the arc.

🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing watch-through of the Dragon Ball Z Ocean Dub!

📌 Topics covered this episode:

– DBZ Ocean Dub Episode 8 "Home for Infinite Losers" recap & review

– DBZ Ocean Dub Episode 9 "Princess Snake's Hospitality" recap & review

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam start a brand new series: Batman: The Animated Series, we’re going to be covering the show from the very first episode (in production order).

"On Leather Wings" is the premiere and it starts in classic monster movie fashion as Batman tracks down Dr. Kirk Langstrom, a scientist who has developed a formula to turn himself into a fusion of man and bat. A Man-Bat if you will.

Then "Christmas with the Joker" sees Mark Hamill make his debut as the Joker, in a story where Joker captures Gotham PD’s top brass on Christmas Eve and throws Batman into a race against time to save them.

We discuss if Batman: TAS holds up today, the significance of Kevin Conroy's voice work, and how this show has heavily shaped all of our lives and all superhero media that followed it.

🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing episode-by-episode watch-through of Batman: The Animated Series!

📌 Topics covered this episode:

– Batman: TAS Episode 1 "On Leather Wings" recap & review

– Batman: TAS Episode 2 "Christmas with the Joker" recap & review

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Resident Evil: Death Island (2023), the fourth Resident Evil CGI film and Capcom’s attempt to do Avengers for Resident Evil characters.

Set in 2015, a year after Vendetta and two years after the events of Resident Evil 6, Death Island brings together the largest cast of Resident Evil characters yet. Most notably, Jill Valentine, fresh of Wesker’s latest dumb plan, makes her CGI movie debut, meaning we finally get to see most of the original cast work together (except Barry, Barry is never in these things).

When Alcatraz is been turned into a bio-weapons staging ground by a guy called Diego, everyone heads to San Francisco to kick him a good old-fashioned kicking, which is very much a Resident Evil film doing what a Resident Evil film does.

We discuss what Death Island adds to the CGI franchise, if Jill’s first movie outing is good, and how all the CGI Resident Evil movies stack up.

🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing watch-through of the Resident Evil animated films!

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Ocean Dub Episodes 6 and 7: "Gohan Makes a Friend" and "Trouble on Arlia."

"Gohan Makes a Friend" continues the ongoing survival arc as Piccolo watches from a distance while Gohan makes a new friend who quickly meets a terrible fate (as is the norm for all Dragon Ball Z filler characters) Meanwhile, we learn that Yamcha has become a baseball player, as Krillin goes to recruit him for the battle against the Saiyans.

Then "Trouble on Arlia" has Vegeta and Nappa stop off on Planet Arlia and fight everyone they come across, just because they think it would be fun. Once they’ve done this, Vegeta destroys the planet from orbit, just to make sure nobody gets the wrong idea about what this trip was.

We discuss if Dragon Ball Z’s early filler was a good idea, question how Trouble on Arlia made it past Saban’s censors and discuss if the Ocean dub is the best way to experience Dragon Ball Z.

🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing watch-through of Dragon Ball Z from the very beginning!

📌 Topics covered:

– DBZ Ocean Dub Episode 6 "Gohan Makes a Friend" recap & review

– DBZ Ocean Dub Episode 7 "Trouble on Arlia" recap & review

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover "The Agenda (Part 3)" the conclusion of the Beast Wars Season 2 finale and one of the weirdest endings in the franchise's history.

With Megatron captured and aboard Ravage's transwarp cruiser, the situation looks like it's finally wrapping up, until Megatron reveals that this plan was just a front for this other, even more evil plan.At the same time Blackarachnia and Silverbolt uncover the Ark, the crashed Autobot ship that contains every dormant G1 hero and villain who will go on to fight in the original Transformers series. Naturally, Megatron gets in and fires a full-powered blast directly into the face of the sleeping original Optimus Prime, causing a time paradox that seems to wipe out everyone and render the storyline null and void.

Naturally, Alyx (being a massive Transformers fan) has to break this down to Jon and Sam, who are very confused about this whole thing. We talk about what this episode does well, what it lacks and guess what this cliffhanger means going into Season 3, and ponder if anyone can replace Dinobot.

🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing coverage of Beast Wars from the very beginning!

📌 Topics covered this episode:

– Beast Wars Season 2 Episode 13 "The Agenda (Part 3)" recap & review

– Beast Wars Season 2 retrospective

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Resident Evil: Vendetta (2017), the third Capcom CGI film and the one that finally brings Chris, Leon, and Rebecca into the same story.

Set between Resident Evil 6 and Resident Evil 7 starts with Chris Redfield trying to hunt down Glenn Arias, a black market weapons dealer with a new virus and a very personal revenge plan.

Alas, Arias escapes forcing Chris to team up with Leon S. Kennedy and Rebecca Chambers, to bring him down. Alas, Arias becomes fixated on Rebecca Chambers due to her resemblance to his dead wife. Thus, Leon grabs a motorcycle and joins Chris on a race through New York to save Rebecca and stop Arias before he can turn everyone into zombies.

We discuss how Vendetta compares to Degeneration and Damnation, what we think about Rebecca's return to the franchise after fifteen years absence, and if Capcom actually understands what Resident Evil fans actually want from a movie version.

🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing watch-through of Toonami and Adult Swim's most iconic films and franchise deep cuts!

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Dragon Ball Z in two different dubs: Ocean Dub Episode 5, "Gohan's Metamorphosis," and then the franchise's very first filler episode: Episode 9 in the original dub, "The Strangest Robot."

"No Time Like the Present" wraps up the immediate aftermath of Raditz's death and sets the one-year clock ticking. Piccolo hauls Gohan out into the wilderness for training, something that leads to him destroying the Moon when he learns the true secret of the Saiyans. At the same time, Goku begins his journey down Snake Way.

Then Episode 9, "The Strangest Robot," takes a sharp left turn into pure filler: Gohan falls into an underground ruin and discovers a probe robot that has been buried there for eighty years. The robot is grumpy. Gohan is crying and refuses to leave it alone, but despite this, they become unlikely companions.

It is the first time in Dragon Ball Z's history that an episode departs entirely from the manga, and it is a gentle, melancholy little thing about a boy learning that people who look after you don't always get to stay. But is it worth watching?

We compare how the two dubs handle the transition between these early episodes, what "The Strangest Robot" tells us about the anime industry and if Dragon Ball Z’s filler is worth watching.

🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing week-by-week watch-through of Dragon Ball Z!

📌 Topics covered this episode:

– DBZ [Ocean Dub] Episode 5 "No Time Like the Present" recap & review

– DBZ [Funimation Dub] Episode 9 "The Strangest Robot" recap & review

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover "The Agenda (Part 1)" and "The Agenda (Part 2)" the first two thirds of the Season 2 finale.

"The Agenda (Part 1)" opens with the transwarp wave from the Planet Buster's destruction reaching Cybertronian space which the Maximals take as their rescue signal, until the Tripredacus Council quietly intercepts and suppresses it. They don't want Cybertron finding out what's been happening in the Beast Wars. They don't want Megatron brought back publicly. So, they send Covert Agent Ravage to Earth to bring Megatron.

Then "The Agenda (Part 2)" shows why this is a terrible idea, as after Megatron reveals the ultimate power of the Golden Disc, Ravage switches sides immediately. Thus, the Maximals are now once again on the back foot, having to put down Megatron’s latest plan before he can do something horrible.

We discuss what the Ravage reveal means for the show's relationship with G1, and debate if season 2’s ending will be better than season 1’s infamous cliffhanger.

🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing coverage of Beast Wars from the very beginning!

📌 Topics covered this episode:

– Beast Wars Season 2 Episode 11 "The Agenda (Part 1)" recap & review

– Beast Wars Season 2 Episode 12 "The Agenda (Part 2)" recap & review

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam continue our Resident Evil movie retrospective with Resident Evil: Damnation (2012), the second Capcom CGI film and the direct follow-up to Degeneration.

Set roughly six years after the fall of Raccoon City and one year after Resident Evil 4, the film drops Leon into a civil war in the Eastern Slav Republic, a country where rebel insurgents are using Las Plagas parasites as weapons, with predictably catastrophic results.

However, when Leon meets a rebel leader named Buddy and a fighter named JD, he quickly learns that there may be more to this war than meets the eye, forcing Leon to dive head-first into the conspiracy. Plus, Ada Wong is here, doing Ada Wong things, like tricking the government of the Eastern Slav Republic, flirting with Leon, and enraging in fights that are 90% bullet time and 5% random pro-wrestling moves.

We talk about how Damnation compares to Degeneration, and how this film suggests Capcom were surprised by the former film’s success.

🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing watch-through of Toonami and Adult Swim's most iconic films and franchise deep cuts!

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Dragon Ball Z Ocean Dub Episodes 3 and 4: "Gohan's Hidden Powers" and "Goku's Unusual Journey."

Episode 3 escalates the Raditz fight in the worst way, as Raditz seems completely untouchable. That is until Gohan deploys Dragon Ball Z’s funniest named attack “Leave My Daddy Alone!” stunning Raditz for just long enough for Goku to get into the fight. However, Goku still has to make the ultimate sacrifice to put his brother down for good.

Episode 4 turns the victory into a defeat though, as Raditz's dying taunt that two far more powerful Saiyans are already on their way makes Piccolo takes Gohan for special training, realizing that when Vegeta and Nappa arrive, he’ll need all the help he can get. At the same time, Goku startss his long trek up Snake Way to meet King Kai.

We dig into what makes this opening arc so effective as a tonal reset from Dragon Ball, what the Ocean voice cast brings to these early episodes, and how Saban’s edits change Dragon Ball Z’s feel.

🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing watch-through of Dragon Ball Z from the very beginning!

📌 Topics covered this episode:

– DBZ Ocean Dub Episode 3 "Gohan's Hidden Powers" recap & review

– DBZ Ocean Dub Episode 4 "Goku's Unusual Journey" recap & review

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover the two most emotionally devastating episodes of Season 2.

"Code of Hero" opens with Dinobot alone in his quarters, quietly contemplating whether to end it all. But as the existential crisis that's been building all season reaches its peak, Dinobot questions if a deed done that can't be undone, and whether his fate was ever truly his own. But when Megatron locates a valley of early proto-humans and attempts to rewrite history, Dinobot heads out alone to find the answer.

What follows is one of the most acclaimed episodes in the entire Transformers franchise: a dying warrior giving it his all against impossible odds to prove that, when push came to shove, they were more good than they believed.

Then "Transmutate" takes it up a notch. A badly damaged stasis pod produces something that can't transform, barely communicates, and has the mind of a child, a being both sides immediately want to dispose of. However, Rampage and Silverbolt don’t see a freak, but a kindred spirit and both start arguing about what to do with it.

However, this episode is also infamous due to a fake script leak that suggested this episode would feature a very unexpected scene….

We talk about why these two episodes hit so hard, what "Code of Hero" means for the rest of the season, and whether Beast Wars has any right to be this good.

🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing coverage of Beast Wars from the very beginning!

📌 Topics covered this episode:

– Beast Wars Season 2 Episode 9 "Code of Hero" recap & review

– Beast Wars Season 2 Episode 10 "Transmutate" recap & review

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Together, they represent the two milestones for Resident Evil animation: the first CG Resident Evil movie and the first feature-length CG Resident Evil movie.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover both back to back.

Biohazard 4D-Executer (2000) is set concurrently with Resident Evil 2 and 3 and follows a five-person UBCS squad sent into Raccoon City to locate a missing Umbrella scientist named Dr. Cameron and retrieve her research. The Cameron Virus she was developing turns out to function like The Thing: it infects any living creature, jumps between hosts, and produces increasingly nightmarish hybrid forms. But, as it was designed as a 3D motion-seat attraction for Japanese theme parks, everything zombie decides to jump at the camera, rather than the characters. It also features a first-person POV sequence from inside a zombified cockroach, which might be a new sentence.

Resident Evil: Degeneration (2008) is a different animal entirely. Set one year after Resident Evil 4, the film opens with Claire Redfield caught in a T-virus outbreak at Harvardville Airport when a crashed plane releases infected passengers into a crowded terminal. Thankfully, the most American man ever made, Leon S. Kennedy is dispatched to handle it.

The pair reunite in almost exactly the same way they met in RE2. But, this isn’t any regular zombie outbreak, as Leon and Claire quickly find themselves entangled in a conspiracy that features the shadowy WilPharma Corporation, the G-virus, a man named Curtis Miller who is the most Capcom-looking man ever created.

We dig into the history of Resident Evil on film, talk about what Executer says about where the franchise was at the turn of the millennium, and question how Degeneration holds up as the first serious attempt at a game-canon RE film.

🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing watch-through of Toonami and Adult Swim's most iconic anime, films, and deep-cut franchise lore!

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Dragon Ball Z Episodes 1 and 2 as they aired in the original 1996 Ocean/Saban dub: "The Arrival of Raditz" and "The World's Strongest Team."

Episode 1 opens five years after the end of Dragon Ball. There's a farmer with a shotgun, alas his lovely rural day is ruined when a space pod crashes and a long-haired alien steps out claiming to be Goku's brother. Even worse he’s angry that Goku has failed to wipe out all life on Earth.

When Raditz finds Goku, he turns Dragon Ball’s lore on its head, instantly drawing a hard line between Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z. Episode 2 escalates immediately: the only way to beat Raditz is if Goku and Piccolo fight together, and that means the series' hero and its former final villain have to put their old rivalry aside and become brothers-in-arms.

Ian Corlett's Goku, Brian Drummond's Vegeta-era voice work, the Rock the Dragon theme, Shuki Levy's score, this is the version of DBZ that a lot of North American audiences met first, and there's something genuinely time-capsule-worthy about revisiting it from the start.

We get into how the Ocean Dub was made, how it holds up and makes these two episodes such an effective opening for a series that was about to completely redefine what Western audiences expected from anime, and what it meant to encounter DBZ for the first time on a Saturday morning in 1996.

🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing watch-through of Toonami and Adult Swim's greatest shows, films, and the dubbing choices that shaped a generation!

📌 Topics covered this episode:

– DBZ Ocean Dub Episode 1 "The Arrival of Raditz" recap & review

– DBZ Ocean Dub Episode 2 "The World's Strongest Team" recap & review

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover "Other Visits (Part 2)" and "Bad Spark."

"Other Visits (Part 2)" continues the show’s alien arc as Megatron uses the Alien Disk to gain access to the Metal Hunter (an alien space ship) and charts a course back to Cybertron, triggering a race against time to take the ship out of the sky before Megatron can activate his teleport.

Then "Bad Spark" takes a completely different turn: a damaged stasis pod produces Protoform X, a monstrous Transformer whose spark cannot be destroyed. Both Maximals and Predacons are terrified of him. But despite the horrors, Silverbolt and Blackarachnia find the time to have a little bit of romance, even if Silverbolt is a little too dumb to work out what is going on.

We discuss the episodes as well as Beast Wars Season 2’s odd tone changes (we’ve gone from cowboys to Universal Monsters in about 3 episodes) and discuss the dropped plot points that were originally planned to build on “Bad Sparks” most interesting plot points.

🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing coverage of Beast Wars from the very beginning!

📌 Topics covered this episode:

– Beast Wars Season 2 Episode 7 "Other Visits (Part 2)" recap & review

– Beast Wars Season 2 Episode 8 "Bad Spark" recap & review

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Dragon Ball Z: The Return of Cooler (1992), the direct sequel to Cooler's Revenge and the first DBZ film to feature Vegeta.

After being blasted into the sun at the end of Cooler's Revenge, Cooler's remains drifted through space until they merged with a massive mechanical entity called the Big Gete Star scoops him up.

Now he’s launched an attack on New Namek and begun using the Namekian population as biological fuel, forcing the Z-Fighters travel to New Namek so Piccolo, Gohan, Krillin, and the others can give him a good kicking. However, Goku soon finds himself going head-to-head with Meta-Cooler a cybernetic, self-regenerating version of Cooler who won’t stay down. Can Vegeta (who is here for reasons) turn the tide? Or will Namek fall (again).

We discuss the movie and its production and figure out where Return of Cooler sits in the wider DBZ film ranking now that we've seen both halves of the Cooler duology.

🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing watch-through of Toonami and Adult Swim's most iconic anime films and series!

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Yu Yu Hakusho Episode 25: "Kuwabara's Fight of Love" the final episode of Yu Yu Hakusho season one, the finale of the Spirit Detective Saga and the conclusion of the Yukina Rescue Arc.

The Toguro Brothers are waiting. Elder Toguro has already transformed himself into a giant sword for his brother to wield, and Younger Toguro is ready to show that, up until this point, he’s been holding back. Yusuke gives the fight all he has, but as is tradition, he quickly finds himself getting tossed around like a sack of potatoes. However, Kuwabara won’t let Yukina suffer any longer, so he launches one of the stupidest attacks in anime history…

🔔 Subscribe for our week-by-week watch-through of Yu Yu Hakusho and every other Toonami classic!

📌 Topics covered this episode:

– Yu Yu Hakusho Episode 25 "Kuwabara's Fight of Love" recap & review

– Spirit Detective Saga retrospective

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover "Maximal, No More" and "Other Visits (Part 1)."

"Maximal, No More" shows Dinobot at his best as, after being captured, he makes the calculated decision to ask Megatron for permission to rejoin the Predacons. An action that forces him to hand over the Golden Disk.While he eventually does return to the Maximals the Disk remains gone, setting in motion a chain of events that will change the Beast Wars forever.

Then "Other Visits (Part 1)" opens the aliens-are-back arc in dramatic fashion: Tigatron and Airazor get abducted by aliens. Rhinox tries to work out what happened, only to find that Megatron’s study of the Alien Disks have allowed him to put an evil plan into motion. Tarantulas is also on his way, because of course he is.

🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing coverage of Beast Wars from the very beginning!

📌 Topics covered this episode:

– Beast Wars Season 2 Episode 5 "Maximal, No More" recap & review

– Beast Wars Season 2 Episode 6 "Other Visits (Part 1)" recap & review

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Dragon Ball Z: Cooler's Revenge (1991), the fifth DBZ film and the one that introduces one of the franchise's most beloved non-canon villains.

The film opens with a flashback that recontextualises everything we know about Goku's escape from Planet Vegeta: turns out Cooler's ship detected the infant's pod leaving the system, but Cooler opted to let it go.

However, when Cooler learns that Frieza has been destroyed by a Saiyan, he summons his (surprisingly French) Armored Squadron and heads to Earth to finish Goku off once and for all. In a surprising break from tradition, Cooler nearly succeeds, leaving Gohan, Krillin, and eventually a Piccolo to hold things together long enough for a Senzu Bean to arrive.

But Cooler has a trick up his sleeve, turns out Frieza isn’t the only one in the family who can transform!

We dig into why Cooler is so cool, how this film sidesteps many of the DBZ films' problems, how it uses Piccolo and Gohan more effectively, how the numerous dubbing firms handled the movie, and where Cooler's Revenge stands in our ongoing DBZ movie ranking.

🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing watch-through of Toonami and Adult Swim's most iconic anime films and series!

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Yu Yu Hakusho Episodes 23 and 24: "The Toguro Brothers Gang" and "The Deadly Triad."

Episode 23 sees Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Botan fight their way up through waves of demon guards while Tarukane and his Black Black club bet on how far they get.

On paper, episode 24, "The Deadly Triad," sounds like a blast, as it make Yusuke run the gauntlet against three of Tarukane's elite fighters: Miyuki, Inmaki, and the massive Gokumonki. However, in reality it is one of the most painful episodes of Yu Yu Hakusho as the fight with Miyuki reminds us that this show was made in the ‘90s, leading to some painful gender jokes.

We talk about these episodes, both what they’re doing well and how badly this episode has dated. We also discuss how Toonami had to edit these episodes to make them suitable for young viewers, which means fixing the Miyuki fight and trying to find a way to cover up the fact that Sakyo is constantly smoking.

🔔 Subscribe for our week-by-week watch-through of Yu Yu Hakusho and every other Toonami classic!

📌 Topics covered this episode:

– Yu Yu Hakusho Episode 23 "The Toguro Brothers Gang" recap & review

– Yu Yu Hakusho Episode 24 "The Deadly Triad" recap & review

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover "Coming of the Fuzors (Part 2)" and "Tangled Web.”

"Coming of the Fuzors (Part 2)" picks up with the Maximals badly outnumbered. Rattrap, Cheetor, and Dinobot holding off Megatron's full Predacon force. While they do this, Rhinox decides to go on a psychedelic magical mystery tour in a big to bring back Optimus Primal, but can he do it in time (the answer is year, clearly. Optimus Primial is still in the opening titles after all).

Then "Tangled Web" arrives. Yep, as the name suggests this is almost entirely a Tarantulas and Blackarachnia episode. Megatron assigns the two scheming spider-bots (plus Quickstrike) to build an energon refuelling station, which immediately becomes a vehicle for Tarantulas to plot against Megatron.

Meanwhile Waspinator has another mission, one with a lot less backstabbing (but that’s why we love him).

We discuss how the second season is going, how the Fuzors mixup the group dynamics, and how much Tarantulas is too much Tarantulas. (Spoiler Alert: we may be approaching that limit.)

🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing coverage of Beast Wars from the very beginning!

📌 Topics covered this episode:

– Beast Wars Season 2 Episode 3 "Coming of the Fuzors (Part 2)" recap & review

– Beast Wars Season 2 Episode 4 "Tangled Web" recap & review

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover the 2003 Cartoon Network film Hot Wheels: World Race. And I’m going to be honest with you, none of us were quite ready for what this movie actually is.

On paper: a racing film where 35 drivers compete for a multi-million dollar prize on the most extreme tracks in the world. Think Cannonball Run if it was trying to sell you toys for the entire runtime.

In practice: Dr. Peter Tezla is sending a load of drivers onto Highway 35, a racetrack in an alternative dimension that was built by aliens (who we never see). His goal, to collect the Wheel of Power, a magical artifact created by the aliens that can produce unlimited energy.

I want to remind you, this is a Hot Wheels movie.

But hey, this is made by Mainframe Productions, the team behind Transformers Beast Wars, so it can’t all be bad right?

Plus, we scan some old interviews to find some fascinating behind-the-scenes stories about this film (turns out, it was originally meant to be even weirder!)

🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing watch-through of Toonami and Adult Swim's greatest shows, films, and things that surprised us more than they had any right to!

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Yu Yu Hakusho Episodes 21 and 22: "Yusuke's Sacrifice" and "Lamenting Beauty."

Episode 21 brings the Suzaku fight to its conclusion as Yusuke, running on almost nothing, blasts all seven of Suzaku's clones simultaneously with his Spirit Shotgun in one of the most cathartic moments in the entire arc. Also one of the most romantic, as Kuwabara once again shows that he is the ultimate best buddy.

Then Episode 22 pivots to a new mission entirely: a beautiful ice apparition named Yukina is being held captive by a human crime lord named Tarukane. Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Botan are dispatched to rescue her. But turns out this mission has a strange link to Hiei, one that will cause a lot of problem. Plus, the Toguro Brothers, Tarukane’s new bodyguards seem to know way more than they’re letting on about the whole thing.

🔔 Subscribe for our week-by-week watch-through of Yu Yu Hakusho and every other Toonami classic!

📌 Topics covered this episode:

– Yu Yu Hakusho Episode 21 "Yusuke's Sacrifice" recap & review

– Yu Yu Hakusho Episode 22 "Lamenting Beauty" recap & review

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam kick off Beast Wars Season 2 with "Aftermath" and "Coming of the Fuzors (Part 1)."

"Aftermath" deals with the shockwave from the destruction of the Vok's alien moon, which kills Terrorsaur and Scorponok on the spot, and transforms Rattrap, Cheetor, and Megatron into their new Transmetal forms.

Then "Coming of the Fuzors" introduces two stasis pods that malfunction mid-scan, producing a brand new type of Transformer: the Fuzors. Quickstrike, a half-scorpion half-snake menace, and Silverbolt, a half-wolf half-eagle Predacon, who seemingly thinks he is Sir Lancelot.

Meanwhile, Dinobot steals the Golden Disks and takes a moment to deliver a little bit of Shakespeare. Who said Transformers can’t be cultured?

🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing coverage of Beast Wars from the very beginning!

📌 Topics covered this episode:

– Beast Wars Season 2 Episode 1 "Aftermath" recap & review

– Beast Wars Season 2 Episode 2 "Coming of the Fuzors (Part 1)" recap & review

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam sit down with Howl's Moving Castle (2004), Studio Ghibli's adaptation of Diana Wynne Jones' beloved fantasy novel. While Toonami left this out of their month of Miyazaki, we couldn’t go through this project without stopping to say hi to Howl.

We dig into both the film itself (sharing our opinions on Sophie, Howl, and the rest of the weird and wonderful characters), discuss the movie’s interesting production history, and its odd reception in America, where the film ended up overshadowed by Hayao Miyazaki’s previous films.

Plus, we lament the biggest change from the original Howl’s Moving Castle book, Miyazaki’s refusal to make Howl Welsh.

🔔 Subscribe for weekly deep dives into Toonami and Adult Swim's most iconic anime films and series!

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Yu Yu Hakusho Episodes 19 and 20: "Suzaku, Leader of the Beasts" and "Seven Ways to Die."

In Episode 19, Yusuke reaches Suzaku's tower while Kuwabara, Kurama, and Hiei hold off an endless wave of zombie-like Cultivated Humans below. But Suzaku's plan is already in motion as Botan and Keiko are forced to fight off a horde of zombies who will stop at nothing to get their hands on Keiko.

Then Episode 20 reveals exactly why Suzaku is the leader of the Saint Beasts: the man can split himself into seven separate beings, forcing Yusuke to fight a whole horde of powerful monsters with zero backup.

🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing watch-through of every Toonami classic!

Topics covered this episode:

– Yu Yu Hakusho Episode 19 "Suzaku, Leader of the Beasts" recap & review

– Yu Yu Hakusho Episode 20 "Seven Ways to Die" recap & review

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover Episodes 7, 8, and 9 of Season 2: "Sleeper," "Jerk," and "Urges."

"Sleeper" brings in Hulk Hogan and Slash as guests and somehow both of them utterly suck. "Jerk" pairs Space Ghost with Sandra Bernhard and sees him growing increasingly frustrated as everyone, from the guests, to Zorak, Moltar keep calling him a jerk. This leads to the weirdest phone-in segment ever seen on television, and the oddest guest in Space Ghost history.

Then "Urges" takes things in a whole new direction: it's mating season on Zorak's home planet, and he wants to go, no matter the cost. Thankfully, this episode was co-written by Joel Hodgson, meaning that Zorak’s desires manifest as references to 1960s sitcoms.

Together, these three episodes show how Coast to Coast was struggling to work out if it wanted to remain as chat show parody or become more of sketch show or sitcom.

🔔 Subscribe so you never miss an episode of our watch-throughs of Toonami and Adult Swim's greatest shows!

📌 Topics covered this episode:

– Space Ghost: Coast to Coast S2E7 "Sleeper" (feat. Hulk Hogan & Slash) recap & review

– Space Ghost: Coast to Coast S2E8 "Jerk" (feat. Sandra Bernhard) recap & review

– Space Ghost: Coast to Coast S2E9 "Urges" (feat. Catherine Bach & Matthew Sweet) recap & review

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam sit down with *Princess Mononoke* (1997), Studio Ghibli's epic fantasy film that changed the conversation about what anime could be in the West.

We discuss the film's jaw-dropping animation and the story that refuses to give you the comfortable ending you expect. We also explore the massive role Princess Mononoke played in bringing anime to mainstream American audiences including Toonami's "Month of Miyazaki" programming events and what the film's arrival in the US via Miramax meant for the anime industry.

🔔 Subscribe for weekly deep dives into Toonami and Adult Swim's most iconic anime films and series!

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam cover YuYu Hakusho Episodes 17 and 18: "Byakko's Lair" and "Seiryu, the Blue Dragon."

Kuwabara gets his most brutal showcase yet as he takes on Byakko for a second time in a lava-filled arena pouring every last drop of his spirit energy into a fight that ends in a genuinely spectacular moment of sacrifice and clever strategy (turns out Kuwabara isn’t as dumb as he looks!)

Then, in one of the most iconic scenes in the Saint Beasts arc, Seiryu the Blue Dragon reveals just how cold (literally) these villains can be, before Hiei steps forward and delivers arguably the most efficient beatdown in the entire series showing that Yusuke got *really* lucky in their first fight.

We break down what makes these two episodes such compelling TV, how Hiei's character gets a crucial early moment of complexity, and why the Saint Beasts arc as a whole is a masterclass in escalating stakes and action writing.

🔔 Subscribe and follow along as we watch all of YuYu Hakusho from the very beginning!

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fire Drill is one of the seasons most surprising episodes as Space Ghost is joined by David Byrne and Donny Osmond. This does not go how you expect as while David Byrne struggles with Space Ghost, Donny Osmond takes it like a champ, leading to one of the show’s funniest segments.

Le Livre d'Histoire is a clip show, featuring part of Storybook House (from earlier in the season) and interviews with Jim Carrey and director of The Mask, Chuck Russell, both of which were originally a special feature on VHS copies of The Mask. Meaning that this Lokar fronted episode features little new content.

Space Ghost: Coast to Coast is one of the most important shows in the Adult Swim and Cartoon Network lineage it laid the DNA for Adult Swim as well as everything from Aqua Teen Hunger Force to Robot Chicken and we're watching it from the very beginning.

🔔 Subscribe so you never miss an episode of our chronological watch-through of Toonami and Adult Swim's greatest shows!

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon (who has never seen this film before), and Sam take on *The Transformers: The Movie* (1986) one of the most audacious, brutal, and beloved animated films in the history of American animation.

We break down everything: the shocking deaths of classic Autobots and Decepticons in the opening act, the introduction of Galvatron and Hot Rod, Unicron as one of animation's greatest villains, the iconic soundtrack (featuring "The Touch" by Stan Bush and an oddly censored version of "Dare To Be Stupid" by Weird Al), and the film's absolutely unhinged legacy as a toy commercial that accidentally became a rite of passage for an entire generation.

We also talk about the film's complicated reception a box office disappointment that became a cult masterpiece

🔔 Subscribe for our weekly coverage of Toonami and Adult Swim's greatest films and shows!

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam dive into YuYu Hakusho Episodes 15 and 16: "Genbu, the Stone Beast" and "Byakko, the White Tiger."

Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, and Hiei are deep inside Maze Castle, fighting their way through the Four Saint Beasts to stop the Makai Insects from turning humanity into a zombie army.

First up: Kurama faces Genbu, a stone-controlling demon who fights using fragments of his own body. Then Kuwabara gets his moment to shine, or at least tries to, as the fearsome white tiger Byakko makes his entrance and insists on testing the gang. But can Kuwabara’s sword even make a dent in the tiger’s mighty hide?

We also dig into YuYu Hakusho's complicated history with Toonami censorship, the infamous edits that plagued the show's US broadcast, and how this arc stands up as one of the series' most underappreciated story runs.

🔔 Subscribe for our ongoing watch-through of every Toonami classic!

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Toonami Absolution, Alyx, Jon, and Sam dig into Episodes 3 and 4 of SG:C2C Season 2: "Girlie Show" and "Hungry." We break down how these two wildly different episodes capture what makes Coast to Coast so groundbreaking: the deadpan surrealism, the bizarre celebrity cameos, and the way it was quietly rewriting what a "cartoon" could even be on Cartoon Network in the mid-90s.

Plus, we talk about what Michael Stipe of R.E.M. and a famous TV dog have in common when Space Ghost gets peckish. And, in the most 1990s joke ever, we get a cameo from Mujibur and Sirajul, two characters from the Late Show.

Space Ghost: Coast to Coast is one of the most important shows in the Adult Swim and Cartoon Network lineage it laid the DNA for Adult Swim as well as everything from Aqua Teen Hunger Force to Robot Chicken and we're watching it from the very beginning.

🔔 Subscribe so you never miss an episode of our chronological watch-through of Toonami and Adult Swim's greatest shows!

📌 Topics covered this episode:

– Space Ghost: Coast to Coast Season 2 Episode 3 "Girlie Show" recap & review

– Space Ghost: Coast to Coast Season 2 Episode 4 "Hungry" recap & review

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transformers Armanda is a fascinating show as the series has a confusing production history as the show was rushed to air, meaning that not only is the animation shoddy, but the English dub is a confused mess that often gets the plot outright wrong. However, in one small highlight, Optimus Prime and Megatron are voiced by the people who did Transformers Beast Wars!

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Yusuke may have finished his training with Genkai, but that doesn’t mean he can relax as the Four Saint Beasts have an evil plan to take over the world, one only the Spirit Detective can stop.

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Second we have “Story Book” (also called “Storybook House”) where Kirk The Storyteller tells us classic tales of Space Ghost (which amounts to him redrawing old episodes). It is going to be a weird week, but what do you expect with Space Ghost: Coast to Coast?

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Digimon: The Movie is a fascinating film, as its actually three Japanese films (Digimon Adventure, Digimon Adventure: Our War Game!, and Digimon Adventure 02: Hurricane Touchdown!!) squished into one film.

Join as us we watch and react to this anime classic and dig into its weird production history, discussing exactly why Fox and Saban opted to Frankenstein three Digimon films together and talking about the weirdest bits of the film (including the infamous Angela Anaconda short that was glued to it)

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We also talk about how Genkai’s mere existence led to numerous problems when Yu Yu Hakusho made its way to Toonami, leading to some of the sloppiest edits ever seen on American television.

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The highlight here is A Perfidious Pie Man is Simon, which introduces a brand-new Batman villain in the form of Simon The Pieman, a nursery rhyme-obsessed creep who somehow has enough cash to open up a theme park in the centre of Gotham. Its clear that The Adventures Of Batman writers thought they had something with this character, as they go our of their way to make him seem like Batman’s greatest foe (seriously, Batman struggles with him more than he does Joker in this series).

We also get the weird sight of Superboy tricking some gangsters by pretending to the devil and Aquaman and Superman fighting a fish-alien who wants to flood the desert for reasons that are never made clear.

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

While mostly forgotten today, Duel Masters has a fascinating history, as it was Wizards Of The Coast’s attempt to make a kid-friendly TCG to make up for them losing the licence to the Pokemon TCG. However, in a weird decision, they decided the best way to promote their new card game, was to give their new anime a Ghost Stories-esq gag dub.

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Force Phantom sees Superman do battle with an alien energy monster that threatens to destroy rocket launch bases across the world, forcing Superman to fly into space to put a stop to the evil plan.

The Cool, Cruel Mr. Freeze sees Batman take on Mr Freeze. However, this is 1960s Mr. Freeze, long before Batman: The Animated Series gave the character his now-beloved tragic backstory, meaning that Mr. Freeze is just a random bald dude who likes firing an ice gun at stuff.

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Search Begins, YuYu Hakusho’s 9th episode starts a new arc, with Yusuke having to enter the Genkai tournament to learn the special energy wave attack known by Genkai. However, he’ll have to be on high alert, as the evil demon Rando has entered the tournament in disguise, meaning Yusuke has to work out who the demon is before it is too late.

In episode 10, Kuwabara's Spirit Sword Genkai starts pitting the fighters against each other in a series of battles that take place in total darkness. Kuwabara is up first, and he quickly learns that if he hopes to get to the next part of the tournament, he’s going to have up his game.

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alas, this draws the attention of the mysterious Diva, who plans to use Kaiba’s actions for this own ends, forcing Yugi to once again grab his deck and duel for his very survival.

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We also get another slice of Superman with The Two Faces Of Superman, where Superman is forced to battle The Toyman, one of his biggest foes from the 1940s. Toyman has built a robot version of Superman, but can the Man Of Steel stop it before it ruins his reputation.

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 7, Gouki and Kurama sees Yusuke finish off his fight with Gouki before heading out to do battle with Kurama, hoping he can stop him using the Forlorn Hope. However, this plan takes a sudden turn when it turns out that Kurama may not be all he seems.

Episode 8, The Three Eyes of Hiei, sees Yusuke clash with Hiei, the third and final Spirit World criminal. However, Yusuke quickly learns that Hiei is way out of his league, forcing him to fight harder than ever to protect his friends.

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This movie also introduces one of the weirdest forms in Dragon Ball history, in the form of Pseudo-Super Saiyan (or Fake Super Saiyan) meaning that this film holds a special (if weird) place in history.

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we have Super Friends vs Super Friends, an episode that desperately wants to convince you that you like Aquaman, despite the entire story being about how useless he is when he can’t call on a whale for help.

We follow it up with The Big Birthday Caper, a Batman cartoon that was clearly drawing inspiration from the live-action Adam West Batman series. However, it doesn’t quite stick the landing, leading to one of the most surreal cartoons ever made.

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Even worse, Yusuke is dropped in at the deep end, as he has to recover three powerful supernatural artifacts that have been stolen by Kurama, Gouki, and Hiei, each of whom is much stronger than Yusuke. Seems like poor Yusuke can’t catch a break!

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

But can this new Mr Freeze tale live up to what came before? And how does it measure up to the other Batman: The Animated Series movie, the highly praised Batman: Mask Of The Phantasm? There is only one way to find out!

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The highlight of this being The Men From APE, where Superman fights a team of supervillain consisting of Lex Luthor and a series of 1940s Superman villains who have been lost to time, making it very funny in retrospect.

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Because of this, Kuwabara is forced into a strange situation, one that gives us a chance to appreciate how well-written YuYu Hakusho’s side characters are.

Then, continuing YuYu Hakusho’s trend of having weirdly existential episodes “Requirements for Lovers” sees Yusuke’s house get set on fire, forcing Yusuke and Botan into a race against time to protect Yusuke’s body so that he can return to life in the future.

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

However, this movie is an odd one, as it is directed by Kunihiko Ikuhara (the man who would go onto direct Revolutionary Girl Utena) who opted to take the story in an unusual direction, using the movie to flesh out Mamoru Chiba (or Tuxedo Mask’s) backstory by introducing Fiore, an alien Mamoru made a promise to when he was a young boy.

Though, as is the norm for Sailor Moon, Fiore also has an evil plan, one that Sailor Moon and the Sailor Scouts must stop before it is too late.

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After learning that Toonami showed Super Friends for a brief period in 1998, Jon decided that this show would be our next Western Cartoon block. However, Jon quickly discovered that Toonami didn’t actually show Super Friends.

Instead, they showed a different show (the Superman Batman Adventures) and simply called it Super Friends. What makes this especially odd is that the Superman Batman Adventures is a show that mixes together a load of old Filmation shorts from the 1960s, meaning that this “new” Toonami show was just a load of reruns from the 1960s.

We really feel that effect in this episode, as we’re stuck with two very wacky slices of Batman.

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

These episodes are interesting as while they have all the shonen silliness you would expect, they do treat their subject matter with a surprising amount of gravitas, with Yusuke Urameshi’s car accident being handled seriously and respectfully, something none of us saw coming.

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Naturally, this leads to all of the stylish high-octane Cowboy Bebeop action you would expect! So join Alyx, Jon, and Sam as they dig into the Bebop’s final adventure!

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Can Optimus Primal and the other Maximals find a way to stop it, or will they be undermined by the Predacons, some of whom have their own plans to exploit this quickly changing scenario.

Will this Beast Wars finale live up to the hype, or will we be craving some Other Voices ourselves? Find out in this weeks episode.

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When Cowboy Bebop first aired on TV Toyko, the network opted to only show 12 random episodes. The week after “Speak Like A Child” aired, TV Toyko broadcast Cowboy Bebop’s 13th (and at the time final) episode, Session XX: Mish-Mash Blues.

This episode sees Spike, Jet, Faye, and Edward present short monologues about the show’s characters, themes, and motifs over clips from the previously broadcast episodes. Alas this episode was never put on home media, meaning it quickly became an obscure bit of lost media.

However, Jon spent over a decade tracking down a copy. So this week we dive into the history of Cowboy Bebop’s lost episode, Mish Mash Blues

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This might be one of the worst films we’ve watched on Toonami Absolution, as it features iffy animation, bad voice acting, and a plot that has no idea what it wants to be. However, there is some light, as we get a chance to talk about Stan Lee’s attempt to make a Ringo Starr animated movie.

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Law of the Jungle is a fascinating episode as it sees Tigatron leave the team after his girlfriend is crushed, causing a rift in the Maximals, one that leads to them debating the nature of conflict. It also gives Dinobot a chance to go full Shakespeare on us.

Before the Storm sees Beast Wars’ plot finally return as Megatron puts his ultimate plan into action as we finally learn why this planet is full of Energon and models of Stonehenge. However, this episode also features a lot of weird humour mixed in with the revelations about aliens. If you’ve ever wanted to see Megatron in the bath, this is the episode for you.

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This all leads to one of the most famous endings in anime history, one that still sparks debate to this very day.

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

So, not only is the film one of the best Dragon Ball movies ever, it is also a goldmine of early-anime production histories!

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We then have The Low Road an episode full of fart jokes and an intro that dredges up uncomfortable memories of the film Alien. An episode so bad even the writers admit it is far from their best work (which only serves to make the episode sort of charming, in an oddly meta way).

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After that, Hard Luck Woman sees Faye recall more of her past, leading to one of Cowboy Bebop’s most emotional moments as Ed and Faye leave the Bebop, seemingly forever (though for one of them that forever won’t last long)

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A plan that involves kidnapping Master Roshi and giving Launch the night off (are we sure he’s a villain?). Featuring mad science, epic fights, and one impressive Spirit Bomb, this is a legendary Dragon Ball Z film for a reason!

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After that, we tackle Dark Voyage, an episode where a blinded Dinobot, Cheetor and Rattrap are thrown into a race against time as they have to get home before their Sparks vanish. An episode that is made all the funnier by Beast Wars’ behind-the-scenes issues.

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In Cowboy Funk, we’re introduced to Cowboy Andy, the funniest character in Cowboy Bebop. This white-hatted cowboy is keen to show he’s the best bounty hunter in the west, much to Spike’s dismay. While this Cowboy Bebop episode is controversial, it is one of our favorites, so saddle up and meet us on the ol’ dusty trail! 

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The G.I. Joe team made new remote control weapons. Alas, Cobra stole them, forcing the Joes to get them back before Cobra Commander can use them to cause chaos. 

However, despite its simple premise, this movie is really weird. Several characters (like Snake Eyes) are off doing their own storylines, several Cobra members are just acting weird, and the animation is so early-2000s straight-to-DVD movie it hurts. 

Yo Joe!

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

 We also tackle Spider's Game, one of the oddest episodes of Transformers: Beast Wars to date, as the show takes a sudden and unexpected turn into goofy comedy despite this episode also introducing Inferno, the newest member of the Decepticon crew.

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is followed by the creepiest Cowboy Bebop episode, “Pierrot Le Fou” where Spike comes face-to-face with an evil clown who will stop at nothing to take him out. However, is Le Fou all he seems at first glance?

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Plus, we talk about one of the best nights of Adult Swim in history!

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Due to this, we have our first encounter with "Spark" one of the most important bits of Transformers' lore!

After that, we watch "The Trigger Part 1" where a floating island threatens to end the Beast Wars once and for all! But where did this floating rock come from, and is it covered in echidnas?

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After this, things get heavy when Faye is once against to confront her past Speak Like A Child. Thus, this week's Cowboy Bebop can be summed up in two words: Emotional Whiplash.

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

However, when you hear "Tony Hawk Movie" you likely don't imagine an animated feature where Tony Hawk fights a group of evil circus clowns. Tony Hawk in Boom Boom Sabotage might the weirdest and worst film we've done so far on the podcast, so grab your helmet and knee pads, as its going to be a bumpy ride!

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, we'll be diving into three slices of festive-themed media. Sam is starting the week off with Tokyo Godfathers, Satoshi Kon's legendary tragicomedy that follows three people experiencing homelessness as they race across Tokyo on Chrismtas eve, deterimed to reunite a baby with its parents. Widely conisdered a classic, the film is always an emotional rollercoaster, so join us as we explore the Tokyo Godfather's history and its numerous memorable details.

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

However, Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa decided to buck the trend, completing the Fullmetal Alchemist storyline by throwing Edward Elric into 1930s Germany and inserting him into a political thriller that is dripping with creeping dread.

While deeply controversial within the fanbase, Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa, is a one-of-a-kind movie, and one that sparks a lot of interesting discussion.

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

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See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

But it does mean Alyx gets to flex her Ancient Egypt, meaning Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie: Pyramid of Light is a rare episode of Toonami Absolution where you may learn something.

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Plus, Jon has fun explaining why 'slag' the Transformer's fake swear of choice, is really funny for viewers in the UK.

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup's big screen outing tackles the girl's origin story including their first clash with the evil Mojo Jojo.

We also dig into the movie's weird production history and its surprising links to the early days of Adult Swim, and take a moment to enjoy some very strange critic reviews.

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alyx also fills us in on the lore surrounding Protoforms, Beast Wars' newest plot device. One that raises really weird questions about the nature of free will in the Transformers universe

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week's Cowboy Bebop drops us into Jamming With Edward and Ganymede Elegy, meaning we finally get to meet the final (and most memorable) member of the Bebop crew.

We also enjoy the most mean-spirited reference in Cowboy Bebop history, as they take a moment to make a dig at a specific magician.

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

All the while, Sam tries to escape the Bionicle hole.

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This tale of a boy and his robots made us all cry as kids and it is still making us cry over a decade later.

We also spend some time talking about how Toonami really had no idea how to market films like The Iron Giant, leading to some very confusing promos.

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We dive into how September 11th effected the Adult Swim line-up and get our first taste of Vicious, the man who will become the main antagonistic force during Cowboy Bebop's storyline.

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

An utter nostalgia bomb of a film, we dig into its weird release history, its terrible dub, and talk about how, for many 90s kids Pokémon: The First Movie, was the first anime film they ever saw.

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we start a new Western Cartoon block with Alyx's choice: Beast Wars, the weirdest entry in the Transformers franchise. Expect giant apes, dinosaur Megatron and a lot of confusing lore that only gets more tangled the longer things go on.

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Watch as Jonny, Hadji, Jessie, Race Bannon and Dr Quest attempt to stop the evil Doctor Zin and his army of weird robot bugs. Enjoy our realization that, while Toonami became a major force, it wasn't so cool in its early days.

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Plus, Space Ghost enjoys some Sonic the Hedgehog, in what might be the weirdest bit of cross-promotion in Cartoon Network history.

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In these first two episodes we meet Jet Black and Spike Spiegel, as well as Ein, the little data dog that will become the show's mascot. Also, we dive into the first night of Adult Swim!

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the second part of our trick or treat week, Jon subjects Sam and Alyx to the Scooby-Doo project, an often forgotten Cartoon Network special that dropped Mystery Inc into the Blair Witch project.

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Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To celebrate the Halloween season, we're taking a week off from Toonami to present the Absolution trick or treat. Each host has brought one spooky or Halloween-themed thing to share. Alyx is kicking us off with two episodes of Hellsing Ultimate, the 2006 vampire anime that pushed the envelope when it comes to gore.

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

****

Toonami Absolution is a weekly podcast where Alyx, Jon, and Sam revisit the Toonami and Adult Swim shows that made them, and you, you.

From the block's early days with shows like Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and Transformers: Beast Wars to the imported anime that made Toonami and Adult Swim appointment television for a generation of kids, such as Cowboy Bebop, Sailor Moon, and Dragon Ball.

****

See more Toonami Absolution stuff (including the video version of the podcast) by checking out our Linktree!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.