The O-Talk Podcast

For today's Kicking it Old School, I'm taking a break from the classic format of me picking an old series and writing about how it's great and how influential it is to both the anime industry and fandom. This time, I picked three random OVA from the early 90's and writing a short description about it and its positive points.

Today on Kicking it Old School, I'm covering a legendary sports manga/anime that changed a generation. That title is Takehiko Inoue's Slam Dunk.

Slam Dunk is about a young delinquent that goes by the name of Hanamichi Sakuragi. In his middle school days, he was consider to be one of most dangerous around. Now that he's in high school, he is know for his troubled past and two physical features, he is very tall and he's a natural redhead. One day, he falls in love with a beautiful girl, her name is Haruko Akagi. Upon their first meeting, Haruko sees Hanamichi and thinks he's a basketball player. Since Hanamichi wants to impress Haruko, he goes along with it and tries and horribly fail at making a slam dunk. Even after he embarrassed himself, Haruko is mesmerized due to how high he can jump and thinks he's the savior of the school's basketball team. Hanamichi ends up joining Shohoku basketball team.

This is a well paced series with amazing character development. Every character is written as an actual individual and not some stereotype. Hanamichi is naturally talented at basketball but he's not some genius who knows every move possible. He slowly learns the game and improves his skills. Each basketball game is unpredictable on the first watch, you will be on the edge of your seat wondering if Shohoku will pull it off.


Slam Dunk's legacy pretty big. When the manga was being released in Weekly Shonen Jump, it was extremely popular. This series made basketball popular with the youth of Japan in the 90's. This series was also pretty popular with the ladies and many yaoi ero doujin were based on it. With such success, controversy is expected. Inoue was accused of plagiarism because some of the action scene in the manga were exactly the same as the photography in some American basketball cards. Inoue said it was a tribute to the sport he loves and it shows. If you noticed, Shokoku's home and away basketball uniforms are the same design as his favorite American basketball team, the Chicago Bulls.

If you want to watch it, the anime series is 101 episodes long and it follows the story until the high school district tournament arch. You can watch it for free on Hulu. As the manga, Viz Media is releasing it and as of right now, 17 out of the 31 volumes are currently out. I highly recommend this because it has a great human story. Hell, I hate sports and I find sports anime to be boring but I enjoyed every minute this anime. So, what are your opinions on Slam Dunk?

Today in Kicking it Old School, I'm covering a legendary shonen classic that was manly. You will be shocked by the extreme fights depicted in this anime. This battle anime does not have your cookie cutter "tough" boys but tough men who did everything in a manly way and they lived in the 90s. If you have not guessed by now, I'm talking about Fist of the North Star.

Fist of the North Star was originally a manga written by Buronson and drawn by Tetsuo Hara. It was serialized in weekly shonen jump and it ran from 1983 to 1988. As for the anime which is was I will be focusing on, it ran from 1984 to 1988.

It is the year 199X, modern civilization is at ruins due to a worldwide nuclear war. Somehow, Mankind survived and there is only one rule, the strong rule over the weak. The is one man who will protect anyone who is being oppressed by evil gangs, his name is Kenshiro. How can Kenshiro defeat countless gangs on his own? He is the successor of an ancient martial art, Hokuto Shinken. This martial art is powerful, all he has to do is just touch a vital pressure point on his enemy to cause them to explode. Yes, this is a very gory anime.

Kenshiro has one mission in life, to kill the man who murdered his master. That man is Raoh, Kenshiro's older brother. He does have two other brothers, Toki and Jagi. Toki converted his martial art to healing those who are ill. As for Jagi, he's an evil man who never mastered a martial art but deceives the weak by claiming he's Kenshiro.


As for the legacy of Fist of the North Star, it is amazing. To this day, OVA series, novels, movies, and video games are being made based on it. If you are interest in checking it out, Hulu has the entire anime series for free.

Today in Kicking it Old School, I'm covering an important anime series in the mecha genre, The Super Dimension Fortress Macross. It was made by Studio Nue, directed by Noboru Ishiguro, and Written by Shoji Kawamori.

In 1999, a city sized spacecraft crashed in Earth. Within 10 years of reverse-engineering the alien technology, the spacecraft was rebuilt and renamed as SDF-1 Macross and created transforming fighter jets called Valkyrie by the UN Spacy. A young pilot, Hikaru Ichijyo was invited by Roy Focker to attend the first launch of the Macross. During the launch, a Zentradi space war fleet appeared. It seems that they have been tracking down the spacecraft that crashed on Earth because it belongs to their enemy, the Meltlandi. To make things worse, the Macross original system overrides the crew's commands and fires it cannon completely wiping out the Zentradi space fleet. Because of this, a war breaks out between the Earth and the Zentradi.

The other draw to Macross is the realistic character dynamics. Every character grows as a person within these 36 episodes and you feel for them. As for the main focus of the character development is a love triangle in between Hikaru Ichijyo, Lynn Minmay, an idol that works part time at the Nyan Nyan restaurant, and Misa Hayase, a commanding officer for the UN Spacy.

If you don't want to watch all 36 episodes of Macross, you can watch the movie. In 1984, The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love? was released. This is an reinterpretation of the original Macross series. I'm going to be subjective by saying this, Macross: Do You Remember Love? is in my top ten favorite anime films of all time. I love this movie, the detail to the animation was amazing for its time and the musical scores was beautiful. I can easily watch this movie 10 times in a row and find something new about it each time.


The Super Dimension Fortress Macross is a series that is worth checking out. If you're a fan of Macross Frontier, I highly recommend for you to check out the original. You will recognize many elements that you have seen while watching Frontier that came from the original series. Deculture.

Today in Kicking it Old School, I'll be covering an anime series that has one cool dude that all the women want and all the men want to be him and an adventure that spans cross the universe. I'm talking about Space Adventure Cobra.

Johnson is your mild manner fellow who works for a trading company in space. One day, his robot maid Ben(a trash can on wheels) suggested that he should go to the trip movie company, they specialize on making custom dreams the customer wants while they're sleeping. Johnson being like any normal man, he asks to dream about having a harem beautiful and exotic women and being a space commander. However, he gets another dream that seems too real for him.

Johnson dreams about being Cobra, the legendary space pirate and exploring the cosmos with his partner Lady Android. The dream ends with him being a wanted man by the pirate guild because he shot Captain Vaiken in the eye. After having such an interesting experience, Johnson drives back home but he crashed into a familiar face, Captain Vaiken. Johnson mentioned to Vaiken that he looks just like the guy he saw in his dream. Vaiken starts to question Johnson if he knew anything about Cobra, because of that Johnson lifts his left arm and shoots Vaiken with the psycho-gun, a laser gun hidden under a prosthetic arm. When Johnson returns home, he remembers that he is Cobra and that Ben was Lady Android in disguise. The both of them resume their adventures across the galaxy.

This series is dated. It has a 70s vibe to it which to some people, they may find it boring because it looks old. I find that to be a stupid reason not to watch a good show like his because they're use to bright colors and weak storytelling. For its time, it had a great story and fast pace action.

The manga, movie, and original anime never got licensed in the States. However in recent years, two OVA series and a thirteen episode series have come out and they are free to watch on Crunchyroll.

Gunbuster, known in Japan as Aim for the Top! Gunbuster, is a six episode OVA Super Robot series made by Gainax back in 1988. This was the directorial debut of Hideaki Anno, the mind behind Neon Genesis Evangelion.

The story follows Noriko Takaya, a second year student at a robot piloting training school at Okinawa, Japan. The thing is, Noriko sucks at piloting robots but the only reason why she's attending this school is because her father was a famous admiral is a space fleet that went missing. It was not until the school's coach, Koichiro Ota decided to train Noriko. Sometime has passed and Noriko has improved in her abilities and for some reason, she was chosen to train in space with the school's idol, Kazumi Amano. Mostly everyone in the school is against this and it's reveled that coach Ota was part of the fleet that Noriko's father was in charged. He wanted to train her because he saw the raw talent in her that needed to be developed. Well, they go into space and get involved in a war against the Space Monsters(That's what they call them in the anime, I'm not kinding).

This OVA was licensed multiple time in the United States. First it was U.S. Renditions, then Manga Entertainment, and now the current license holder, Bandai Entertainment. Gunbuster did get a sequel in 2004 titled, Diebuster. It was also a 6 part OVA series.


I highly recommend this anime because for its time, the action scenes and animation is really good. It's nice to see the first anime that Anno ever directed. If you have watched this anime, what are your thoughts on it? Tell me in a comment below.

It looks like Kicking it Old School is back. This post was originally suppose to come out back in August. Then it got moved to September and eventually I forgot about it. While looking for an old post, I found this. Well, let me stop the chit-chat and talk about Armored Trooper Votoms.

Armored Trooper Votom is a hard science fiction mecha anime made by Sunrise. It was directed by Ryosuke Takahashi, written by Jinzo Toriumi, and mecha design by Kunio Okawara. This anime came out in 1983, during the realistic mecha boom. After the anime finished airing in 1984, multiple OVAs came out during the 80s and early 90s. The last OVA series came out in 2007.

The Gilgamesh Confederation and the Balarant Union have been at war with each other for over a century. The reason why this war began has been long forgotten. Now that the war is coming to an end, a truce has been settled. The main character in this anime is Chirico Cuvie, a special force Armored Trooper pilot and a former member of the Red Shoulder Battalion for the Gilgamesh Confederation. One day, Chirico and his unit were sent on a mission and without knowing, his own unit steals military secrets from their own side. Chirico is attacked by his own unit and he is left to die. Somehow, he manages to survive and is arrested for treason. He is tortured by his own people for information that he does not have. Chirico escapes prison, starting a manhunt by the Gilgamesh army and criminals that want this so called information from him. All of this, triggers Chirico to seek the truth behind this secret that many people want him dead for.

I will say this, the Votoms(Vertical One-man Tank for Offense & ManeuverS) are the best realistic mechs ever made. What I like is that the mechs' are designed in a realistic manner. These mechs look like something that would be in development during our era to surpass tanks. The weapons that are equipped to the Votoms are just machine guns, cannon, and missiles. It doesn't need jetpacks, laser guns, or even beam sabers, its simpleness is what makes it amazing. This is an anime that I gladly recommend.

Urusei Yatsura was created by world famous magaka Rumiko Takahashi. The manga ran from 1978 to 1987 with 34 volumes released. It spawned a 195 episode series and countless number of movies and OVAs.


One day, aliens from the planet Oni appear on Earth with the intent of global domination. Instead of just taking over Earth, the invaders give the human race a chance to fight back with a simple game of tag. The rules are simple, it is a one on one game of tag where the chosen human player must touch the horns on the chosen oni player within one week. Earth's chosen one is Ataru Moroboshi, perverted high school student, and for the oni side is Lum. To sum up what happens, Ataru steals Lum's bikini top and touches her horns to save Earth. However, a misunderstanding accords and now Lum thinks that she will marry Ataru and even moved in with him, and that's where the real adventure begins.

Urusei Yatsura is a very influential series for it time. Back in the late 70s and 80s, Lum was considered to the original otaku dream girl and also the original of tsundere. The musician Matthew Sweet featured clips of Lum in his music video "I've Been Waiting". Even nowadays, there anime series that are an homage to Urusei Yatsura, like To Love-Ru for example.

I highly recommend anyone to check out either the manga or anime. For those who have seen anime and/or read the manga, what are your opinions on Urusei Yatsura?

I have decided to make Kicking it Old School, a weekly post instead of bi-weekly. In celebration, today I will cover my second most favorite OVA of all time, Otaku no Video.

Otaku no Video is divided in 2 parts, 1982 and 1985. In 1982, we meet Ken Kubo, a freshmen in college. He is also part of tennis club. One day, while Kubo was out drinking, he encounters an old high school friend of his, Tanaka. He's an otaku. Because of Tanaka, Kubo is sucked into the world of anime, manga, doujinshi, cosplay, and science fiction. Slowly but surely, he become an otaku and decided that he will be the Otaking, the king of all otaku.

In 1985, Kubo and Tanaka start their own figure company. At first they start by selling their homemade figure kits via mail order catalogs. Then they open their first store and before you know it, their figure company becomes world famous. However, tragedy strikes in the form of corporate takeover. Both Kubo and Tanaka kicked out of the company and go their separate ways. Many years have passed and Kubo and Tanaka get back together to start an animation company. Long story short, Kubo opens Otakuland, an otaku themed amusement park and finally becomes the Otaking.

In between segments, there are these live action short call Portrait of an Otaku. In these shorts, there are fake interviews with different types of otaku. Some of them are humorous but there are some that feel too real.

The best way to describe Otaku no Video, it's a time capsule. It shows small examples of how it was like to be an otaku during the 80s and early 90s. Older anime fans who watch this will probably have a flood memories come to them because they lived during those times.

Today in Kicking it Old School, I will be covering, Saint Seiya. This is a very special anime to me because it was the first anime that I have ever seen.

The story follows five warriors who fight while wearing magical armor. The designs of the armors are based on the astronomical constellations. These saints have sworn to protect the reincarnation of the Greek goddess Athena in her battle against the other Olympian gods that are trying to take over the world.

The five saints are, Pegasus Seiya, Dragon Shiryu, Cygnus Hyoga, Andromeda Shun and Phoenix Ikki. I feel bad for these character because they have the worst childhood I have seen in an anime. They are all orphans, who were forced to various parts of the world to train in ordered to earn the armor under their respected guardian symbol and they are only 13 years old.

The story mainly focus on Seiya. He was sent to Greece to become the pegasus saint at the age of 7 years old. After his long training, he returns to Japan to find his long lost older sister. However, Athena forces him to take part in a tournament against the other Saints and if he wins, Athena will help him find his sister.

This series suffers the shonen battle series syndrome. It has power levels, superhuman abilities, long winded battles, and the character's scream out the name of their attacks. It may sound generic, but at least it has heart.

The anime series covers the first 2 arcs from the manga and a filler arc. It was until 2002, the final arc from the manga was made into an OVA that spanned over 6 years. If you have seen Saint Seiya, what are your opinions on it?

It was 1980s, Mobile Suit Gundam had just ended. Writer and director Yoshiyuki Tomino immediately started working on a new mecha series. 5 months later, Space Runaway Ideon aired.

In the distant future, human started colonizing on different planets across the galaxy. On the planet Solo, archeologists discovered a large spaceship and 3 giant armored vehicles. One day, the alien races known as the Buff Clan appear at Solo. Karala, the daughter of military commando visits Solo to investigate. Karala gets lost while on Solo and Buff Clan thinks that the humans have kidnapped her. The Buff Clan begins to attack Solo.

The shows main protagonist, Cosmo Yuki and his 2 friends jump into the 3 armored vehicles and activate them to create Ideon. They manage to fend off the Buff Clan forces. However, there's a second attack on Solo from the Buff Clan because they learned of the power of Ideon and want it for themselves. A group of humans leave Solo on the large spaceship with Ideon in order to protect the remaining inhabitants on Solo.

Space Runaway Ideon is an interesting anime with great action and storytelling. It is a shame that it was canceled after 39 episodes. But a year later, 2 Ideon movies came out, The Ideon: A Contact and The Ideon: Be Invoked. A Contact was pretty much the television series condensed to 2 hours. Be Invoked was the cinematic conclusion of the Ideon series. It was an awesome an movie and ending is jaw dropping.

If you are big fan of Neon Genesis Evangelion, I highly recommend this series to you. This is the series that influenced Hideaki Anno to create Evangelion. Leave a comment below if you are interested in watching this anime or if you have seen it, tell me what you think of it.

Starting today I'm unveiling my new bi-weekly segment, Kicking it Old School. The idea came from seeing new and younger anime fans steering away from older anime and manga classics because they look old. Instead of ranting about new and younger fans only caring about the aesthetic and not the story, I decided to write about great older series that should be given a chance. The first series that I will be covering Kinnikuman.

Created by the manga duo of Yudetamago, Kinnikuman started as a gag manga about a superhero from another planet who fights monsters on Earth but fails to do so because he sucks at it. As the story develops, Kinnikuman decides to enter the 20th Choujin Olympics to prove to the world that he is a capable superhero. The thing is the Choujin Olympics is actually a wrestling tournament involving supermen from around the world.

I will say it that I'm glad that this series evolved into a action wrestling manga because if it continued being only a gag manga with poop and fart jokes, it would get boring fast. As for the wrestling matches, they are pretty extreme and violent. Most of the matches end in knock-Out but some do end in horrible deaths.

It was until 1983, an anime adaption was made. Unlike the manga, the violence is toned down. Below is the first opener of the series.