The premise of these reviews is simple: watch the first episode of a series and then immediately sit down to record a review mini-podcast. The reviews are five- to ten-minutes long and entirely off the cuff. As always we only review new shows (so no sequels or continuations) and try to avoid anything that just looks outright awful. Here are the last two from the new season:

Listen – Episode 1 of Hyouka from Kyoto Animation with the opening "Reason of Kindness" by Chouchou.

The premise of these reviews is simple: watch the first episode of a series and then immediately sit down to record a review mini-podcast. The reviews are five- to ten-minutes long and entirely off the cuff. As always we only review new shows (so no sequels or continuations) and try to avoid anything that just looks outright awful. Here are the last two from the new season:

Listen – Episode 1 of Arashi no Yoru ni from Group TAC with the opening "Friendship Birthday" by Sea☆A.

Drink #028: The Portal Two-A Talk About Sequels, Re-tellings, and Extended Universes

Inspired by the new season of shows that include a new Lupin III, more Eureka Seven, and newbie-friendly Saint Seiya, we jump into a discussion about anime which expand their settings or characters over time. Not every series is written in a way to extend it into an ongoing franchise so when a series is ridiculously popular the creators usually have to work some major mojo to be able to create new material. The simplest way it to create a sequel or a prequel but you can't always do that especially when a story has a very hard beginning, middle, and end. Sometimes they must find a way to retell the same story with a new twist. Other times they explore different parts of the universe they created away from or only tangentially related to the original story. This podcast focuses on what works and what does not when you expand on a story. Also we give our secret wish list to what stories we would love to see more of.

And now your helpful bartenders at The Speakeasy present your drink:

The Portal Two

• Blue Curacao
• Vodka Lemonade 
• Cointreau Rum 
• Orangina

“This drink is, of course, designed to resemble the two coloured portals from the excellent sci-fi puzzle game. For the blue version, get a small tumbler and pour in 10ml of Blue Curacao, 10ml of vodka and top up with lemonade. For orange you’ll need another tumbler, this time filled with 10ml of Cointreau, 10ml of rum and Orangina. If you fancy, you can jazz the glasses up with coloured sugar rims. Simply pour some sugar into a sandwich bag with the relevant food colouring, shake them up, pour the resulting mix into a dish and dip your tumbler in. “You can mix the portals together if you like,” says James. “It’s a very orangey flavour, which we thought tied in with The Orange Box, the compilation in which the original Portal appeared.”

Episode 1 of Ginga e Kickoff!! from TYO Animations with the opening "Across my world" by knotlamp.

The premise of these reviews is simple: watch the first episode of a series and then immediately sit down to record a review mini-podcast. The reviews are five- to ten-minutes long and entirely off the cuff. As always we only review new shows (so no sequels or continuations) and try to avoid anything that just looks outright awful.

Episode 1 of Dusk Maiden of Amnesia from SILVER LINK with the opening "CHOIR JAIL" by Konomi Suzuki and is streaming on Crunchyroll.

The premise of these reviews is simple: watch the first episode of a series and then immediately sit down to record a review mini-podcast. The reviews are five- to ten-minutes long and entirely off the cuff. As always we only review new shows (so no sequels or continuations) and try to avoid anything that just looks outright awful.

Episode 1 of Jormungand from  White Fox with the opening "Borderland" by Mami Kawada and is streaming on Funimation.

The premise of these reviews is simple: watch the first episode of a series and then immediately sit down to record a review mini-podcast. The reviews are five- to ten-minutes long and entirely off the cuff. As always we only review new shows (so no sequels or continuations) and try to avoid anything that just looks outright awful.

Episode 1 of Tsuritama from A-1 Pictures with the opening "Tsurezure Monochrome" by FUJIFABRIC and is streaming on Crunchyroll.

The premise of these reviews is simple: watch the first episode of a series and then immediately sit down to record a review mini-podcast. The reviews are five- to ten-minutes long and entirely off the cuff. As always we only review new shows (so no sequels or continuations) and try to avoid anything that just looks outright awful.

Episode 1 of Eureka Seven: AO from Bones with the ending "Stand by me" by Stereopony.

The premise of these reviews is simple: watch the first episode of a series and then immediately sit down to record a review mini-podcast. The reviews are five- to ten-minutes long and entirely off the cuff. As always we only review new shows (so no sequels or continuations) and try to avoid anything that just looks outright awful.

Episode 1 of Kids on the Slope from MAPPA and Tezuka Productions with the opening "Sakamichi no Melody" by YUKI and is streaming on Crunchyroll.

The premise of these reviews is simple: watch the first episode of a series and then immediately sit down to record a review mini-podcast. The reviews are five- to ten-minutes long and entirely off the cuff. As always we only review new shows (so no sequels or continuations) and try to avoid anything that just looks outright awful.

Episode 1 of Natsuiro Kiseki from Sunrise with the opening "Non stop road" by Sphere.

The premise of these reviews is simple: watch the first episode of a series and then immediately sit down to record a review mini-podcast. The reviews are five- to ten-minutes long and entirely off the cuff. As always we only review new shows (so no sequels or continuations) and try to avoid anything that just looks outright awful.