Voxels | goes hard in the paint with your mom

Alan Wake 2, Remedy Games, and the 2024 Winter Season Anime Pickup.

Sadiq Talks About Alan Wake 2:

Sadiq’s Review
Mechanics
- Weak Combat
- Mind Palace shit is surprisingly fun and satisfying
Narrative
- The Dark Place
- AWEs, Parautilarians, Federal Bureau of Control
- Questioning Reality
- Warlin Door!!
  - RIP LANCE REDDICK
Music
- Anger’s Remorse
- Herald of Darkness
Comparisons to other Remedy games (Control, Quantum Break, AW1)
The Musical Level with Sam Lake starring as Sam Lake playing Alex Casey who was once Max Payne but due to IP rights is now known as Alex Casey, played by Sam Lake.

The “Winter 2024 Anime Pickup” list:

Cringe:

Hard in the paint:

Maybe hard, maybe cringe:

Could watch in front of your mom:

Chapters:

(00:43) - New Show!
(03:02) - Alan Wake 2
(33:15) - Winter 2024 Anime Pickup

Creators & Guests

Host

Cristian Colocho

I like computers, reading science fiction, manga, bad anime, rap music, and making hot takes.

Host

Sadiq Saif

What is Voxels?

A podcast on Art and Culture by Sadiq Saif and Cristian Colocho

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Hi, I'm Sadik.

And I'm Christian.

And this is episode one of Voxels.

Voxels is a new podcast that we're doing,

totally legally distinct from Shades of Brown.

We don't know what that is.

I've never heard of Shades of Brown in my life.

Listen, if there's one thing that's here, it's no brown.

Jesus Christ.

I don't know what that means.

So what's the podcast?

Because this is your idea.

So I want you to tell the audience what's going on.

So yeah, yeah, yeah.

So basically, what's going on here is, for various reasons,

we can't really do a tech podcast anymore.

But it's 2024.

And the streets have been demanding a new podcast.

You know what I mean?

People have been crying out for it.

I go outside.

People stop me in the street.

And they say, what the fuck?

What happened to the podcast?

And I say, you know what?

You right.

It's what the streets demand.

So basically, the idea is to take all of the culture stuff

from that other show that may or may not exist anymore

and pack it in here.

Because I feel like there's a lot of good art going on,

a lot of great games, books, and media.

There's more stuff to dunk on than just computers,

I guess is what I'm saying.

Computers is passe.

That's true.

And there is-- yeah, there's so much culture.

I mean, to start it off, I'll say this year,

I've been doing this combined media challenge, where

I try to watch at least one movie and read at least one

book and play at least one video game a month.

So I could have a more diverse creative media diet, I guess,

if you call it that.

So that's what I'm--

No, I get it.

Because you're at the combination Taco Bell,

you're at the combination Pizza Hut,

you're at the combination Taco Bell Pizza Hut.

You get a little bit of age.

You get a little bit of trash games.

You get a little bit of bad anime.

And you get a little bit of horny romance novels.

And that's what I call being a modern human with a good diet.

So yeah, so the first video game I started this year,

I'm still doing single player video games.

That's going to be the focus.

That was the focus last year.

And it's going to be the focus this year.

I'm just tired of playing--

Wait, are you saying you're not taking a week off of work

to play the finale of Destiny 2, the longest running

game that we've both been playing?

Jesus.

I don't even--

The thing is, it's funny, but I don't even

know what's going on in Destiny 2.

I actually see--

Given that most of the narrative staff is laid off at Bungie,

I don't think they do either.

Oh, Jesus Christ.

All right, let's talk about a video game.

This game came out last year, late last year,

I think like October, right?

Alan Wake 2, developed by the folks

over at Remedy Entertainment.

And this one was published by Epic Games Publishing,

which is why it even got made, right?

Because Alan Wake was not some massive blockbuster of a game

that was going to get a sequel.

It's like a cult classic, right?

It's like this sort of--

people who know about video games talk about Alan Wake.

It's like some sort of magical object.

It's like a game that--

So I think I have a way of putting it.

Remedy games are like how people talk about the Outer Wilds

if the Outer Wilds is actually good.

[LAUGHTER]

You're trying to piss off everybody

with the first podcast.

Oh, don't worry.

Listen, I got even worse things going on here.

Like how about you talk about Alan Wake, but don't let me--

I got some opinion on Remedy games

that are going to be universally disliked.

So you know--

OK.

So history with Remedy games.

The first Remedy game I ever played

was when you gave me a Windows Store code for Quantum Break.

I remember you giving me this code

because you couldn't use it, right?

You bought the--

So we got to take a step back.

So this is before--

I mean, the Microsoft Store is still shipped.

But this is before they had unified purchases

between the Xbox and the Windows Store.

And the Windows 10--

eight days-- I remember Windows 8.

I remember.

It was like early Xbox One era.

So they were testing out buy one,

buy one's play everywhere kind of stuff.

So if you bought out Quantum Break,

instead of it being a purchase out of your Microsoft account,

you just emailed the PC key.

So I'm like, I don't have anything to do with this key.

I might as well give it to you because I only had an Xbox.

It had a Surface.

I was back before I was on Mac or anything like that.

I was using the Surface and the Windows phone.

So I did not have a computer that could play it.

So I gave it to you.

And this is my first Remedy game.

I didn't know shit about Remedy.

What an experience.

Yeah.

Quantum-- because I don't remember

too much about Quantum Break, except I remember it having

this--

having the whole thing about Quantum Break,

the whole Microsoft pushing its video stuff.

It was all about this multimedia format.

You'd have these live action--

it's a TV-- it's like a live action--

Oh, it's a TV show.

Remember, the game-- so the game install was 60 gigabytes.

And it was 120 optional download of all of the high quality TV

episodes.

Yeah.

Apparently, with Quantum Break now,

you can't actually watch those because they took down

the CDN.

I think it's broken.

No, no, no.

They patched it.

So it's an optional download, at least on the Xbox.

I did this recently.

But nowadays, you can just stream it

for Microsoft servers.

You don't have to download it.

You can just basically--

if you want offline playback, whatever, but not stream it.

I think Quantum Break--

I don't know if I would replay it,

but I don't remember much about it.

I remember it being weird.

I remember the narrative stuff.

It had been very weird.

But at the time, this was--

like, what, 20-- it was a long time ago, like six, seven years

ago.

I don't remember anything about really the narrative

or the mechanics or anything else.

But I remember it being weird.

So what's important about Quantum Break

is, though, is that Quantum Break had a trailer for Alan

Wake 2 in it.

It did, and I watched it.

You sent me a link to it, and I watched it, and I was like,

what the fuck?

They were on this shit seven years ago.

Like, they were-- they had all this shit planned out.

They knew what they were going to do with Alan Wake and Alan

Wake 2.

They knew all this shit way back then.

That's crazy.

That's fucking wild.

It's cool to see these, especially Alan Wake 2,

but also in Control, right?

Control is like--

I remember playing Control when it came out in 2019.

Control was like--

I think, for most people, Remedy became

a thing in the public consciousness with Control.

I think Control sort of had enough of a massive popularity.

It became big enough of a game.

It sold enough copies to the point

where I think Remedy's most successful game is still

probably Control at this point.

And I remember playing Control.

I remember all the narrative stuff in there.

It's just like, what the fuck is going on with these cutscenes,

like these FMV cutscenes and this weird Finnish character

who speaks in riddles?

What the fuck is an AWE?

All this shit in there.

And Control had a DLC.

That is like the Alan Wake DLC.

I don't know if you played Control's Alan Wake DLC.

That one I did not play.

But I want to take a step back before we can get into Control.

I think there's a straight line that you

can draw between all of Remedy's most recent games, right?

Quantum Break-- Alan Wake 1, because I played Alan Wake 1.

You did not.

But I played Alan Wake 1 on a 360.

That's like a narrative exploration.

And then Quantum Break is like a scope in combat sort

of exploration, right, with the video stuff and all

the combat stuff they were doing,

because it was time-based mechanics.

You would stop speed, time, right, pass up a round.

That was the combat in the game.

And that leads into Control, where I think Control

was more like a control, for play on words, of that scope,

where they brought it down enough

to make it actually make sense and work, minus the combat,

but for the narrative stuff.

And then it leads into Alan Wake 2.

But with Control, though, I think Control was just like--

it's how much detail they packed in it,

because there's graphically impressive games,

and then there's artistically impressive games.

And to me, Control felt to be artistically impressive

with how each set piece was designed and how--

because you could say Control in one way

is a hallway simulator, right?

But it never feels like that.

It never feels like-- it feels open and sparse,

even though it's a building.

Because every level, every set piece is designed as is.

I think this is one thing I think Remedy is really good at,

is designing set pieces.

They are really, really good at doing the set dressing.

It doesn't feel like you're just going through a corridor

or you're in this closed room.

Every aspect of the game, Control,

felt like somebody put in some thought into this.

Every boss fight, even if I didn't like the boss fight,

there were some boss fights in Control.

They were just garbage, like garbage boss design.

For sure, there was some garbage boss design in Control.

But even when I was playing through these bad bosses,

I was like, wow, this is so cool.

Because everything is meticulously crafted.

It feels very authored, right?

It feels like you're playing almost like some sort of theater

play.

It's all very tightly controlled.

Especially it feels more like that with Alan Wake 2

than it did with Control.

But Control definitely had that sort of Remedy narrative shit

going on.

It was cool.

But the thing about Control as well, especially leading in Alan

Wake 2 is--

Quantum Break had a lot of weird shit in it.

But Control, I think, was a step back in it

to try and make a more cohesive narrative.

But Alan Wake, I think they've managed

to bridge the gap between both of making a cohesive narrative

and going 10 million feet into that weird shit

and having it make sense, which is a skill.

Because I guess we relate to albums.

We relate to albums for a minute.

You have-- what's an artist recently

who's gone to some experimental stuff?

Maybe Beyonce's past albums, right?

You could say Lemonade is a culmination for prior albums

with one cohesive narrative.

And then you go into Renaissance.

And Renaissance is cohesive narrative-ish,

but it just gets weird and expansive

the amount of genres it's playing with.

And it's done so tactfully that you don't--

it can be so easily made sloppy, right?

And I think that's where Alan Wake 2 comes in,

where they try and go for that Quantum Break austere,

but they actually still manage to make something

that is cohesive and fun.

The thing about Alan Wake 2 is that I

think it's remedy operating at peak performance

when it comes to their creative form.

It's just every aspect of the game,

I think it's just gorgeous.

Like, just the opening of the game,

you're in this Pacific Northwest setting.

You're in Washington state.

There's trees everywhere.

It's dark.

It's rainy.

It's like-- and there's all this weird shit happening.

And it's just the vibes are immaculate.

Like, it's just-- every aspect is just so, so, so good.

Like, Alan Wake 2--

I was-- going into Alan Wake 2, I was a little skeptical.

This is one of the reasons I'm playing it now and not when

it came out was that I wasn't sure if I

was going to enjoy Alan Wake 2.

Like, I was a little bit like--

I don't know.

It seems a little too--

maybe a little too focused on narrative,

or it's a little too up its own ass or whatever.

But it's not.

Like, it is as good as everybody's

been sort of talking about.

Like, everybody's been like, yeah, this is great.

Except for-- except for, like, I would say all the narrative

stuff is really, really good.

The music is-- holy fucking shit.

The old gods of Asgard are back.

And they have these songs in the game.

And holy shit, they are--

honestly, the music of this game is--

I want an official OST.

Like, I would buy a physical copy of this.

Like, give me-- remedy, please sell me

on a physical audio release of the OST.

But it's just-- like, all this stuff in there,

like the references to control, like the references--

I remember the first time you get a reference

to control in the game.

It's like very early on.

Like, basically the first section of the game,

you get a reference to control.

And you're just like, oh, I know that.

Like, I know what they're referring to.

And that's really cool.

I love this sort of interconnected remedy.

I mean, do you not realize that the Sheriff guy is Jack Joyce

from Quantum Break?

Same fucking character model.

Yeah, I know.

I was about to--

I was about to get to that before you said it.

I was about to say the Quantum Break reference, where

the Sheriff Breaker is played by the same actor

as the main character of Quantum Break, right?

And I was-- that's obviously, like, another reference, right?

And it's filled with this stuff.

It's filled with control references.

It's filled with, like, Alan Wake 1 references.

It's filled with, like, you know, some Max Payne references.

Like, it's there.

But it's like, Max Payne is kind of--

What do you mean?

Alex Casey is fucking Max Payne.

OK, so I am not familiar with Max Payne at all.

Like, Max Payne was before I gave a shit about video games.

OK, OK, so Max Payne 1, right?

The character model of Max Payne is literally Sam Lake.

While I'm talking, look up Max Payne 1,

just any clip of it on YouTube, while I talk through this.

Because I am now going to--

I just put one part in our show notes

that says the musical level where Sam Lake starring

Sam Lake playing Alex Casey, who was once Max Payne,

but due to IP rights, is now known as Alex Casey played

by Sam Lake.

Because it is-- it starts to break the third dimension,

or fourth wall, I should say, in, like, the best way possible.

In that there's a clip, right, where--

it's one episode of Mr. Door, where they're asking Alan Wake,

how does he feel about adaptations of his work?

And then he just looks at Sam Lake,

and he's like, it's just not mine.

Yeah, I love that Sam Lake is just, like--

he just plays characters in his own video games.

And that is just, like--

like, that's just--

I love that shit.

Like, I don't know if I would have appreciated, like,

Backward Control is a thing where I play Kawata Break,

but nowadays, that kind of meta fourth wall breaking shit,

I'm just like, give me more of that.

Like, that--

Wait, is Sam Lake in control?

Who does-- does Sam Lake play someone in control?

I don't remember.

He might be, but I don't-- he probably is,

but I don't remember.

He probably is in some capacity, but I

don't remember, like, if he was, like, a major part of it.

But he probably is.

I wouldn't be surprised if Sam Lake made

an appearance in control.

Like, it's-- just Remedy just does that kind of stuff

all the time.

So-- and, like, obviously, we've got to talk about Worland Door.

Worland Door-- and, of course, we've

got to talk about-- rest in peace to Lance Reddick, who

played the original--

in Kawata Break.

This was the Kawata Break character.

Door was, like, the villain, right?

Patch, right?

The antagonist in--

Patch.

Get it?

Door hatch?

Yeah.

Yeah, love, love it.

So, yeah, Lance Reddick played the--

played-- played the character in-- in Kawata Door,

but obviously, Lance Reddick passed away way before,

I would imagine, like, the--

the recording for the game.

So I-- we have a different actor playing Lance Reddick.

And I just wish Lance Reddick was here, man.

Like, no offense to this actor.

He did a great job.

Like, no-- I'm not throwing any shade of this actor,

but, man, Lance Reddick would have just--

I would have loved to see, like, Lance Reddick sort

of reprise his role here.

But I--

Sorry, I need to interrupt for one moment.

He's RIP Lance Reddick.

Zavala, you a real one.

But Hideo Kojima has put Sam Lake in Death Stranding.

Did you know that?

He's a character who looks just like Sam Lake

in Death Stranding.

Look up "veteran porter."

"Veteran porter, Death Stranding, Google Images."

Oh, my god.

Goddamn it, Hideo Kojima.

Yeah, so musical level, I think, is probably my, like,

most favorite set piece I've seen in a video game

in a minute.

It's up there with the--

what's the maze called in Control?

I forget.

"Ashtray."

The "Ashtray" maze, right?

Oh, something like that.

I forget.

The Control-- there's a section in Control

where there's a fucking banging soundtrack to, like,

you go through this weird-ass maze,

and it's one of the best things in the game.

And this musical level in the game just felt so--

like, it felt like everybody who made it had so much fun making

it.

And it's just incredible.

It's just incredible to play, and the song is incredible.

The song is really, really well done.

The sort of musical production, like, the old gods of Asgard,

great vocals, great guitar work.

Like, it's just solid all the way through.

So my question to you is, are you going to play "Yall and Me?"

I don't think you've played it, right?

I don't think you've played "Yall and Me," too.

So I watched all the cut scenes, and I

watched all the important stuff.

And here's my reason as to why.

I will buy the game and support Remedy,

because I think they deserve it.

But I can't do Remedy combat.

I'm going to just keep it real with you that I can't.

"Quantum Break" and "Control" have both, like-- I'm two for two

on the combat being to the point where

I turn on the one-hit-kill mode.

And I do not see "Allan Wake" changing that.

OK, so I--

combat is definitely, like, the weakest spot in this game.

And I think it's especially bad in the "Allan Wake" section.

So in "Allan Wake 2," there's two sets, like, sections.

Like, you either play as Alan, or you play as Saga

Anderson, the FBI agent.

So the combat in both is very sort of simplistic.

And in Saga Anderson's sort of sections,

like, the amount of enemy variety is very--

the enemy variety is extremely low.

And, like, it doesn't change that much

throughout the whole game.

And "Allan Wake"--

"Allan's" sections, like, are just, like,

literally one type of enemy.

Like, the shadows.

Like, literally just the one type of enemy.

It just does, like, the exact same attack

throughout the entire game.

So it just feels a bit tedious, which

is why I play the game on the story difficulty,

because I was just like, I'm not here for the combat.

Like, I know I've heard people talking about this game

and saying that the combat is just kind of there.

It doesn't feel, like, incredible or mind-blowing

or any way.

Like, it just-- like, I felt like when

I was playing the "Allan Wake" section, especially, that it

was just sort of this thing I had

to do to get between the interesting parts of the game,

the narrative stuff.

Like, the narrative stuff in the "Allan Wake" section

is really, really fucking good.

And that's the stuff I'm interested in,

not, like, the mid-combat, right?

Like, it's just--

Well, and the issue with the combat with Remedy Games, too,

is that their movement system, their physics system

is tied really great towards interactive, immersive gameplay

experiences, where you're, like, exploring,

you're puzzle solving, all of that.

That is what I believe the priority is when

they're designing the levels, which is not a bad thing.

But the problem is that the combat with that movement

system doesn't feel tight.

The shooting feels weird.

And the ability is--

it feels loose.

It just does not feel tight.

Yeah, it does.

It feels-- like, especially with "Allan,"

like, it just feels, like, a little bit off.

Like, it doesn't feel great to shoot as "Allan," which,

to be fair to the game, is thematically accurate.

Because "Allan" is supposed to be, like, a writer, right?

He's not-- he's not, like, a combat veteran.

Like, he's not, like, a fucking soldier.

He's not an FBI agent like Saga Addison, right?

But still, it still feels like--

But it still feels like you're playing "Call of Duty"

through a G-Force-style connection on 2.4 gigahertz

Wi-Fi.

Yeah, it doesn't feel good.

I would definitely say to people who

want to play this game and are worried about not enjoying

the combat, I would say just play on the story mode

difficulty.

Because, like, you're not--

like, you're not really missing out on it.

Do they still have the one-hit kill mode from Control?

Any accessibility options?

As far as I know, no.

I'm not 100% on that.

But when I did check the accessibility settings,

I didn't see--

That's whack.

Because Control had a great mode where every enemy died

of one hit.

And let me tell you--

let me tell you, that was the best way to play that game.

They added that in much later.

To be fair to everybody, they added that in much later,

which I think is a-- they understood, I think,

internally that combat was definitely a bit of a--

and this is the thing I said in my review,

is that I would love to see Remedy make, like,

a full-on quote-unquote "walking simulator" game.

Like, they can do it.

Like, they have the ability and the skills.

And I would just love to see them make a game where

there is no combat.

Like, just like a narrative-focused, like,

mind-fuck narrative video game, right, without any combat.

Like, I would love to see them--

like, with this game, at least, they were trying to do--

I mean, it's a survival horror game.

Like, it follows the survival horror genre,

which having played Resident Evil 4 remake last year, yeah.

Like, it does it--

like, in comparison, like, Resident Evil 4's remakes

combat feels, like, miles ahead in the survival horror genre

compared to this, right.

So it's like, I just want Remedy to focus on what they're

actually good at, which is the narrative bullshit

and the, like, incredible set pieces and visual, like,

level design and music and all that shit.

Like, just get the combat out of here.

Like, if the combat wasn't here, like, I don't know.

Or stop trying to make games where you shoot.

Like, I unironically think--

like, maybe their combat design folks

wouldn't be up to the task.

But I think, like, an Alan Wake-style game that

had more hand-to-hand combat on it,

like, with a little brawler influence, would be interesting,

right.

Like, a Remedy game where you're just punching people

all the time, that could be rad.

That, you know, instead of it just being, like,

teleportation and shooting because that's so

many other games nowadays.

Yeah, I--

Basically, think about this.

Yakuza, mix of Remedy, or is it Like a Dragon now,

I guess, is what it's called?

It's called-- it's Like a Dragon.

Yeah, Like a Dragon.

And the thing is, I love the, like, Yakuza Like a Dragon.

I love Yakuza 0, Yakuza Kiyoabi 1 and 2.

Like, that studio is doing some incredible work on-- especially

with combat design.

Like, their combat is fantastic.

Like, the brawler stuff in, like, the earlier Yakuza games

is honestly pretty fun.

And yeah, it would be cool.

But I don't know if that is in Remedy's sort of wheelhouse.

Not that that's--

Partner for another studio.

That's the combination you need.

I feel like Remedy's one of those--

Maybe they just want to, like, do all this shit in-house.

Like, they have an in-house style.

And I can see why because, like, they

want everything to look a certain way and feel a certain way.

So they have, like, this incredible-- and I

hope the success of Alan Wake 2--

can let them buy Quantum Break IP back from Microsoft

because Quantum Break is still the best Remedy game.

So we can get a Quantum Break 2.

Wait, hold on.

Does Microsoft own the IP on that?

Yeah, that is why there's not more Quantum Break integration.

And it's just-- it's like a Max Payne, right?

It's one-off hints.

That's why it's Mr. Door, not Hatch.

They can't use the same character names

because Quantum Break is a Microsoft IP right now.

So they have to buy it back.

Because remember, no, no, no.

Microsoft owned Alan Wake.

They bought Alan Wake back from Microsoft.

Or they did.

Yeah, they did buy Alan Wake.

OK, Alan Wake-- and they remastered the first Alan Wake

game as well.

So, like, I--

OK, so my question to you here is, I know you played Alan Wake

Would you say it's worth replaying Alan Wake 1?

Like, would you play-- like, would you--

OK, you got to put up with some real shit combat.

So here's how Alan Wake combat works.

You have a pistol or a shotgun.

And you have to shine a flashlight at enemies in order

to get them to a state where you can damage them.

At 30 FPS.

So, OK.

Like, the thing is, you say that that's basically

Alan's combat in Alan Wake 2 as well.

You just have to shine your flashlight.

But imagine a less good version of that.

Can you put that up with no accessibility options

to make it easier?

Can you-- this is a game that was released in, like, 2008,

2009.

Oh, OK, yeah.

Probably not.

Like, I was wondering if I should, like--

now that I, like, played Alan Wake 2,

if I should, like, go back and play, like, the first game,

like, because when I bought Alan Wake 2 on the Epic Game Store,

they gave you--

they give you Alan Wake remastered for free with it.

So--

I mean, now check it out.

You would know within--

the game starts with a combat section.

So you will know within the first five to 10 minutes

if you are-- if you are here for it.

OK.

I would personally, if anybody's enjoyed, like, Control,

if anybody's enjoyed Alan Wake, like,

you got to play Alan Wake 2.

Like, it's already-- this is, like, the first game

I played this year, already on the game of the year list.

But this year, like, straight up, like,

it's not even a question.

Just, like, criticisms of the combat aside, like,

I just love the narrative shit that they're doing.

And at the ending of the game, just, like,

I was just like, what the fuck?

Like, what is-- like, I still don't really, like,

fully comprehend.

I feel like--

I feel like this is one of those games which

is just, like, you just have to sit with it.

Like, you're just like, what is actually happening?

What's-- who died?

Who didn't die?

Who-- what is, like, the actual reality of the situation?

Because the whole thing with Alan Wake is, like, reality

is warped, right?

Like, it's like, it's this whole thing about warping reality.

Like, I don't know what's going on.

Like, the ending of that game, I was just like, I don't know.

Like, it's weird.

I love it.

I love-- the Alan Wake games end on all those interesting voice

lines, because Alan Wake 1 ended on, like, it's not a lake.

It's an ocean.

And it still hasn't been explained.

And then this game ends on, it's not a loop.

It's a spiral.

Yeah, it's not a loop.

It's a spiral, which I was just like, what does that mean,

though?

Like, what the fuck?

Like, are we getting DLC for this game?

Like, what's going on?

Like, I don't know.

So--

Here's how you get Quantum Break to bring them back, though.

Quantum Break with the time stuff, like, we're already there.

We're already there.

See, basically, what I'm saying is someone--

you know, fuck going to space.

Tell a billionaire to give Sam Lake enough money

to buy back the rights from--

to Max Payne from Rockstar, because Rockstar owns--

or Take-Two, rather, owns Max Payne.

Microsoft owns Quantum Break.

Buy both of those back, and then make a Quantum Break 2

that bridges all of them together.

Holy shit.

That would be something.

Like, that would just-- that would be incredible.

I don't know if that's going to happen, though.

I don't know if Microsoft's interested in--

I mean, Microsoft's interested in selling the IP there.

Microsoft is interested in having

games that will make people want to pay for Game Pass,

and that is one game that would.

Yep.

Yep, exactly.

Exactly.

I wonder if the next game they make is going to be, like--

I thought it was Control 2, isn't it?

It's Control 2, yeah.

Right, let me check here.

Control 2--

I think-- I'm pretty sure it's Control 2, yeah.

Like, I think--

I know they're making, like, a spin-off Control game that's,

like, a shooter.

I think--

Oh, shit.

Wait a minute.

They're remaking Max Payne 1 and 2 as well.

Oh, so they have the IP from Rockstar in that case?

So yeah, so Control 2 and remakes of Max Payne 1 and 2

are in development.

This is an article from Game Informer

from October 31, 2023.

They're in production, ready to stage.

OK.

That's cool.

I like that.

That's cool.

I would love to see--

Two expansions also coming out on way 2.

Oh, man, I'm not ready.

I'm not ready for the expansions, man.

The expansions are going to be so good.

All right.

Oh, yeah.

It did strike into a Rockstar.

So it doesn't own the IP per se.

But you got to know for a fact, this is, like--

I trust Remedy enough to do this.

But, like, they need to go Final Fantasy VII Rebirth on this,

a remake on it.

You know what I mean?

Like, it's a remake, sure.

But it's also a remake.

Oh, my god.

Fucking-- yeah, they would-- it's

going to be some meta bullshit going on, like, for sure.

And I would love to play the--

because I've never played any of the Max Payne games.

So it'd be cool to, like, actually have those games

to play in, like, a more modern system and a modern engine

and whatnot.

So that'd be cool.

Is there anything else that we want to say about Alan Wake 2

before we sort of dive into anime trash corner?

So actually, the one thing you want to see--

I want to last one wrapped up on way 2 is, you know,

there's-- sometimes people problematically say they don't

make them like this anymore.

But they don't make games like this anymore.

And it's because, like, this is not--

to be extremely clear, I'm pretty sure what's funding

Remedy right now is their deal with Tencent

for that Crossfire X game that's like Huge in Asia.

Like, I'm pretty sure, like, that's

the stuff that's actually funding

Remedy and not these games.

And it's just-- I hope they make enough money from this

to keep funding it, to keep funding these types of games,

because they--

I-- Epic Games funded this one, right?

Like, Epic Games had a major--

like, this is the reason it's exclusive to Epic Games

store on PC.

And it's--

Right, well, more publishers should fund this stuff,

is what I'm saying, right?

Like, this should be something that you have--

you know, like, you have the Halo car theory, right?

Where you have, like, the cars people buy,

then you have Halo cars.

Max-- or Alan Wake, rather, this game is--

I think is a Halo car game in that this is, like,

that weird shit that's not for everyone

but is artistically important.

It's-- you know, you have, like, your shooter crossfire game.

And then you have this.

And this is the stuff that people look to

for actual artistic inspiration.

Yeah, exactly.

I-- it's-- it's in my review.

It's a game.

It's a piece of art that loves art, right?

Like, it's just, like, a love letter to art as a thing,

like, which is--

I just-- yeah, more of that shit, please.

Like, please.

It's good shit.

So speaking of-- speaking of trash art,

let's talk about anime, which apparently is--

So let me introduce a segment.

Let me introduce a segment.

I'm stealing your segue.

So with this new show, I'm no longer

banned from talking about anime.

So it's the start of a new anime season.

So this is going to be a quarterly, I guess,

you know, section.

Yeah, we could probably do it at the beginning of a season,

end of a season, called the anime pickup, you know?

Go through all the new animes that I've seen so far.

And I'm going to try and sell you on them,

I think is my idea here.

I'm going to describe it, talk about the show,

and try and sell you on it.

And we have-- good lord, I didn't count this number out--

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18,

19-- 19 individual shows I have seen so far.

I do not have a high dive.

And there's some shows that are not

airing anywhere that I have to go to IRC and XDC,

a copy of The Rip.

And I did not do that for some of those shows.

So it's not all shows that are airing.

But it's 19 out of the 30 or 20 something

that are airing this season.

Some maybe haven't started yet.

We're two weeks into the season.

So there's only so much time we can actually wait.

But yes, so we're going to try and sell you on those.

And let's go through-- let's make fun--

let's talk our shit first.

Let's go through the ones I put in fringe.

Shows you shouldn't watch, shows that I'm probably going to drop.

So first one here we have is Delusional Monthly Magazine.

So this is a show about a guy who

gets a job at a science magazine about weird psychic phenomenon

and stuff, supernatural phenomenon, which

could be a good idea.

But the animation quality is pretty low.

It has a fairly predictable plot.

The characters are extremely one-sided.

And it's one of those shows that 15 minutes into it,

I'm like, what is going on?

You just-- the narrative is not consistent.

It was just a boring show.

So that's why it's cringe.

Because it could have been a good idea,

but it's not even problematic cringe.

It's just like, this is low effort, low effort anime.

It's just not-- yeah, there's low effort.

Like, those animators should have

been doing a better show.

And I don't blame the animators.

It's always production committee's fault

with this stuff.

Pay them more, put them on a more fulfilling project.

Now this one here, next up we got bottom tier character

Tomizaki, which is another cringe show.

Why is this cringe?

So I'm just going to explain the premise of this.

Because it's season two, season one, or five years ago.

So guy is a hardcore fighting game player,

plays a lot of fighting games, ranks online.

He has a rivalry builds up.

They chat online, healthy gamer competition, fair enough.

And he meets up--

yes, yes, wait, let me finish the description.

You do know this one.

So he meets up with that person, ends up

being a girl who goes to school.

And she's disappointed that he's just like, not even

a shaggy dude, but just like someone who just cares

about playing video games.

15, 16, whatever.

People are in that part of their life.

And her goal is to rehabilitate him

by meeting with him after school to turn social norms and stuff

into quests in real life to make him level up as a person.

Yeah, I remember this now.

So every episode, it's like--

I mean, it's an interesting folly

if it wasn't one-sided or two-dimensional, I guess.

We're basically like, here's a social situation.

We're going to address this like it's a video game quest.

And here's the problem with that.

That does not make you a healthy person who's

capable of sustaining normal relationships.

If you once you turn 18 and you're like, oh, my friend's

going through a tough time, let me go--

let me have a musical episode on this

where the old guards of Asgard are playing songs.

We can figure out our problems.

No, it's not how that works.

It's not how that works.

So I, of course, have watched every episode

the first season.

And I am watching every episode the second season

because I like pain.

But this is very cringe.

It's extremely cringe.

Next one up is Sosofsky and Peeps.

So this one's pretty interesting.

It's like an isekai, but you can go between, but no one dies.

So office worker buys a bird because he's like,

you know what, working at an office sucks.

I want to get an animal, a little cute animal.

That bird ends up being a magician from another world

who grants him magical powers and they go back

to each world.

And he's doing normal stuff of selling electronics

from our world and the other world to try and gain money

and get super rich, whatever.

Traditional trash is probably put a mid-tier instead of cringe.

What makes it cringe is every main female character

in this story is under 18.

Automatic cringe tag, automatic cringe tag.

- Oh, yeah, that's a red flag.

So would you say that isekai is still like a major trend

in like new yearing anime?

- It's turned itself into a genre at this point.

It's gone from trend to, I think, to like a magical anime.

Right?

Well, those never fell out of style.

It's waned in popularity for sure, but it's just there.

It exists.

You know, it's just here to stay.

It's just a trend.

Next show in the cringe category is

The Strongest Tanks Labyrinth Raids,

a tank with a rare 999 resistance skill

got kicked from the hero's party.

- This is a terrible title.

This is a fucking terrible.

First of all, this title is cringe.

- So actually, so we got two reasons why it's cringe.

One, the guy has a sister complex, the main character,

so no, and then two, it's I'm gonna say these hoes.

Like the second character is a slave girl he meets,

who of course he liberates.

- Oh, okay.

Yeah, yeah.

I, yeah, that's, so is this like an isekai too,

or is this just like, I'll get to, I'll get to stuff.

- No, it's just a fantasy anime where like video game skills,

but in real life, everyone has skills.

And if you don't have a skill,

you're not a useful human being.

- Okay.

- Or whatever, but okay.

So yeah, it's a cringe, cringe.

But the last cringe one we have here is,

Hokkaido gals are super adorable.

Now this is like a traditional romance anime.

And the reason it's cringe is,

the reason it's cringe is one, it's 2024.

We need to stop writing male characters as young dude

who squeals whenever anyone touches him or pokes him.

You know what I mean?

Like, like that's just, that's what needs to die.

You know, I want, I want romance animes

where both characters are like regular people

with flaws and stuff and not like, you know,

she's like a super pretty girl

and I'm like an average dude and she likes me.

You don't know, what do I do?

But she puts up with my bullshit like, no, no, no, no, no, no,

that's not, that's not, that's not the vibe we're on anymore.

So that's why that's cringe.

Now I got my next category.

We got, these are the ones I'm actually trying to sell you on.

We got hard in the paint.

Once again, FlockaVelly just turned 10 years old.

Walka Flocka plays best album.

That's a real one.

So first one, seven time loop.

The villainess enjoys a carefree life

married to her worst enemy.

So this is a time loop and a villainess trend.

This is a trend that you left anime before it started.

There's a lot of shows where it's like,

I'm the evil villain bitch that no one likes,

but actually we're gonna, we're gonna take that idea

and try and flesh me out into a full character

and give me another chance.

It's not, it's not washed yet, the trend.

So I'm enjoying it.

It's eventually it's gonna be like enough of these shows,

but a lot of these have like Yuri stories with them and stuff.

So it, I think it's because of the trend

that's mostly written by women.

It has a lot more staying power

and a lot more depth to it than these other trends.

So I fuck with it for now.

Tends to be a lot of woman first writers

who are writing this and, you know,

it's always a good thing.

Women writing women anime is something I'm here for.

But here's the thing.

So this show is, she gets disowned by her family.

And each time she dies and she's earned 20.

So she's lived seven lives and each live

she like does one thing.

One, she would become a merchant.

Another she learned how to fight, an archer, a doctor,

et cetera.

And this show picks up on her seventh time loop

where the guy who killed her in all the prior loops

is not wanting her to marry, is wanting to marry her.

And she's trying to play him to get him

so she doesn't die this time.

Oh, I see.

I see.

That's a--

And it's like not problematic.

It's like, there's some anime tropes in it.

But it's actually like a pretty compelling kind of narrative.

And the first episode was good.

The animation quality was good.

And this character is really, really like actually a person,

right?

Flaws, but thanks.

And it's something I fuck with.

I was enjoying this watch.

I think it's one that you would not feel bad watching.

Next up, we got solo leveling.

So this is another trend that has

been going on since you stop watching anime, which is Korean

manga, I think they call it manhwaas, are getting adapted.

So solo leveling is a Korean show

that is getting adapted.

It's a battle anime.

Basically, the world has portals open up randomly one day

where people start going to dungeons.

And the idea is you can never level up.

You're assigned a certain rank.

But this guy is the first one who's able to level up.

And the thing that's good about this is he's like--

it is a shonen show where it's a weak guy gets strong,

but he's not an annoying protagonist.

In the actual voice acting in that,

it's like a realistic person who just doesn't want to give up,

but has flaws and recognizes them.

And I appreciate that depth.

As well, the animation is so fucking good.

The battle, it is extremely well animated.

And it goes hard.

This one goes hard in pain.

Actually, I'm kind of sold on this one, actually.

This sounds good.

I haven't watched shonen anime in a long time.

Oh, here's the good thing about the Korean ones.

They're short.

This is like five or six volumes for the entire memoir.

It's not like the Japanese ones where they go on for fucking 10

million years.

So this has been over for a while,

has a definitive ending, and is a self-contained story.

Yeah, that's cool.

That's cool.

I like this.

All right, this one I'm kind of interested in

because I haven't--

I like-- there's been a minute since I've watched shonen,

and it's just kind of fun.

So what's the next one?

We got Classroom of the Elite.

So this one is cringe or hard in the paint.

I didn't put in the maybe category

because that goes hard in the paint.

But the reason is, the main character is a sociopath,

but everyone recognizes that.

He is fucked up, but it's fucked up in a way

that we all recognize the fact that this dude's fucked up

because this is not a season three of the show.

So basically, it's a guy who enrolls in a school where

it's like, autocracy up the ass.

So everyone is in this metacritical--

meritachrical?

Meritachrical?

I've never pronounced that-- system.

And the thing is, he purposely puts himself

in the lowest rank just so he could work himself up.

So it's like a show about him just playing a bunch of people.

And it makes no qualms about the fact

that he's kind of a shitty character.

But it's just fun seeing him get the upper hand.

You know, it's like, I'm going to take off my actually

reasonable person hat and just watch a succession style

show where someone just made a shitty person.

OK.

It's good, though.

It is good.

It's going to be watching for three seasons.

So I unfortunately have to say it goes hard in the paint.

Yeah, I'm with season three that's airing right now.

This one goes hard in the paint.

Next one is a new show for this season, the wrong way

to use healing magic.

So what is this show about?

This show is about-- it's an isekai, yes.

But the main character is given healing magic,

but it flips it on its head.

Instead of him being a healer, he heals himself

so he can beat the shit out of other people

and be like a fighting character.

It's just an interesting use of healing magic.

You know what I mean?

In most games, you heal yourself or you heal other people.

But it's never like I'm going to go beat up someone.

That'd be a great fucking Overwatch character,

by the way, a fist fighting healer who just consistently

can heal themselves and keep going hard.

That's kind of interesting, actually.

I kind of like that concept of turning healing on its--

healing and an offensive healer character.

That's kind of cool.

Yeah, so it might be cringe so far.

That's only been two episodes in.

But yeah, it's pretty all right.

And the last one in Hardin to Paint

is the weakest tamer began a journey to pick up trash.

So this one is technically isekai,

but it doesn't really--

I think it's just setting or window dressing for it.

It's not really a main drive to the show.

But what this one is about is a girl

is born who does not have any stars.

And so I think the allegory is here is that she'd be

considered disabled in our world.

So her parents leave her to die.

Her only skill is that she can tame monsters,

but only extremely weak monsters.

So she tames like a super weak slime.

And she starts presenting herself as a boy

and goes around and trying to make

the journey to the main kingdom.

That's all we have from the first episode.

But the animation quality in this shit is fucking beautiful.

And I did spoil a little bit of the lighting out for myself.

Not a huge spoiler for anyone who's going to watch it.

But the point of the show is not for her to get strong,

but for her to just outwit people.

It's one of those where it's like she

stays consistently weak.

And that's the folly in which all of her narratives

or dilemmas are presented.

And it's more of like using what skills

she does have to outsmart other people and to survive.

So it's a good-- it's a sweet show from what I've seen so far.

And yeah, I think it's really--

a show about showing what happens to people--

I feel like it's a disabled allegory.

I might be wrong.

But to me, it seems like the way of presenting it

is this person is what we would consider disabled

and showing it from their perspective,

how they try and survive and how adults can treat children

who are disabled in various shitty ways.

So that's what I'm deviving from it.

So I'm here for it.

That goes hard in the paint.

So we got our next category.

Maybe hard, maybe cringe.

I don't know.

Maybe hard, maybe cringe could go hard in the paint.

Could make me want to cancel my crunchy prescription

and charge back every purchase from it.

So we have the foolish angel dances with the devil.

So this show is basically about a demon

who goes to Earth to recruit people to kill all the angels.

And he tries to recruit someone who actually is an angel.

And she puts him into bondage with him.

Do you mean that in a--

The show doesn't go that far.

But the way they depict it, you know what I mean?

After she claims him as her own, she does a thing

where she lights a candle.

OK, so it's aware.

It's aware.

Next to him lying down.

You know what I mean?

Yeah.

Yeah, I don't know.

It's only one episode, so it could go hard in the paint.

It could be cringe.

I'm going to keep watching more.

This next one is 'Tis Time for Torture, Princess.

And that is not words I thought I'd ever say out loud.

But basically, it's about a princess

who just wants to play video games, who gets tortured

by being offered delicious food to spill secrets

about the state.

OK.

Yeah.

That premise is why it's maybe heart-breaking.

I don't fucking know.

It's just been one episode.

I think it's a gag show.

I don't really know.

Like, I'm going to just be--

I'll watch a couple more.

I probably end up dropping it.

But sure.

This one here, 'The Unwanted Undead Adventure.'

So this is one where it's just a guy who's hunting monsters.

He gets killed.

And he wakes up as an undead monster.

There's not enough plot for me to know where this goes.

So the first episode is a lot of set dressing, window dressing.

So I don't know where it goes.

So this is another one.

These three are going to be ones I'll check out.

I think 'Undead Unwanted' might stay on the list.

'Foolish Angel' I'll probably keep watching because I--

hey, listen.

We all have our things.

'Torture Princess' one?

No.

And we have the last segment here.

Could watch 'In Front of Your Mom.'

'A Sign of Affection' I'm going to talk about this one for a while.

This is a show that I think you should watch.

'Romance Enemy of a Death Girl.'

Oh, yo, this shit's going to make me cry.

I already know it.

I already know this shit's going to be--

So basically, Yuki is a death character who's in college.

She went to a super small school for the death of a kid of like four people, right, in her grade.

Because it is a disability, of course, that people do have.

But it's not a huge one, right?

So you naturally have smaller class sizes than if you're in a public school or whatever.

So she's in college and she meets this random guy and they start hitting it off.

And it's really cute so far, especially with how she tries to like convey herself to him.

Because she can only read lips, right, if someone doesn't speak sign.

So he's trying to learn sign language for her.

They're hitting it off.

It's only two episodes in.

There's only one part, but I feel like every romance show needs a Foley.

And of course, the childhood friend who actually knows sign language, who's a little too stubborn for his own good, right?

It's like be mean to your crush thing, but you never grow out of that when you're an adult, like that kind of thing.

So I don't know how annoying that's going to be because that's been done right or wrong, especially if he's given a redemption arc.

Not even like a main love interest, but he could be given a redemption arc.

I don't know how it's going to go, but it's well animated.

And the sound design specifically when it's her scenes are great because the music stops, right?

Multiple times will cut all the sound and just present things from her perspective.

And I really appreciate that attention to detail with it on top of how great the animation is.

So I fuck with this show.

I think you should watch it.

I think you would enjoy it.

I do.

Next one up here.

Did I name this category?

This is the could watch from your mom category.

I don't know if I said that.

But it shows you could watch in front of your mom.

We got Fluffy Paradise.

This is an isekai.

And basically her power is that animals will let her pet them.

OK, yeah, great power.

It's just a good like popcorn watch, you know what I mean?

It's just a good watch for someone just kid pets, animals, magic dragons and shit.

And I don't know if there's any plot.

I don't particularly care because I'm just here to watch, you know, animals be having their best life being happy.

You know what?

Yeah, it seems very, very chill.

Yeah, that's cool.

In a similar vein, we have our next one, Mr. Villain's Day Off.

So this is not going to win any awards for the world's most serious anime or anything like that.

But this is OK.

You have like an evil world organization, the general leader, leader of villainous people, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Spends his day fighting, you know, all the good guys.

What happens on his day off?

He's just a dude who likes to go to the fucking zoo and watch pandas.

I see.

That's just it.

It's just him on his day off going to the zoo to watch pandas.

You know, he's going to go ahead and get some ice cream at the store.

It's just a dude being a dude, you know what I mean?

And sometimes you need that shit.

Sometimes you just need a dude being dudes being dudes is sometimes problematic, but not in this case.

Also, I opened the page up for this one.

Like it says on the corner of the poster, you Morikawa Square Enix.

What is Square Enix doing?

Square Enix has a huge anime publishing arm.

You didn't know that?

I did not know that, actually.

That's news to me.

OK, cool.

Bandai Namco 2.

A lot of video game publishers also publish anime.

Oh, I see.

OK, all right.

Makes sense.

Cool.

You know Bandai Namco has a huge idol thing, right?

Like Idol Master and stuff like that?

Yeah, Idol Master, Bangju, all that kind of stuff.

That's like the music Bandai Namco owns.

Yeah, OK, that's cool.

I don't know Square Enix.

Square Enix goes hard in pain.

OK.

So we got our next one.

This is another manhua.

Manhua, if I'm butchering the pronunciation of it, please actually, please roast me for real.

Because I've never heard anyone saying it out loud.

But OK, so we have Dr. Elise, the royal lady of a lamp.

So this is another villainess show.

Another one.

So this one is kind of French Revolution as princess era lady gets killed at the stake.

For being a bad person.

So it's like Mary, Mary Antoinette kind of situation?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Being a bad person, all that kind of stuff.

And then is reborn in the modern day and becomes a world renowned surgeon and is in a plane crash.

And as the last saving act, she makes sure everyone on the plane crash survives.

But she dies in the process of doing so.

So she then issekai's back to her original life 10 years before her death.

And this is her with that knowledge of living in our world now trying to, you know, atone for her sins and make sure she doesn't get killed at the stake in this life.

Oh, I see.

I see.

OK, so so we're trying to like a redeem the bourgeoisie kind of kind of vibes kind of kind of vibes here.

I see.

I get more of like a give health care to the common people kind of vibes.

Which you know what, like if you're rich and that's like your life's goal, you know, I think I think I think that you may be not net positive.

You're net zero.

Your carbon emissions are net zero, I think at that point.

Yeah, you're offsetting your being rich.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

You know, get free health care to the commoners.

I'm down with that.

OK.

All right.

And the last one we have here, Delicious in Dungeons, this one's on Netflix.

So this is basically like what if there is D&D dungeons in the real world?

Right.

And the entire premise of this show is what if you cooked in them?

It's just about cooking in the dungeon.

Oh, so it's like it's like it's like a cooking anime.

OK, like.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

It's about cooking monsters and shit is literally what the show is about.

OK.

I like that idea.

It's so good.

It's it's it's it's good.

It's also like another popcorn one, but it's animated well.

And you know what, sometimes you do an Italy premise like that.

So personally, I am interested in a few of these.

Solo leveling is the one I said it's it seems like kind of fun shounen anime stuff.

The wrong way to use healing magic also seems cool.

Weakest tamer?

Maybe.

I don't know.

Sign of affection.

Definitely.

Sign of affection is probably like the one that's like.

I kind of want to watch it because I'm just curious.

Like I haven't watched like a good romance anime in a long, long time.

So but I don't know if I want to subscribe to Crunchyroll.

Maybe I will.

I got a 14 day free trial.

Let's let's let's.

I mean, listen, listen here.

Look, look, look.

This this podcast in no way, you know, endorses going to IRC.Rise.net

and slash.

Actually, nobody go to RISE.

RISE is a bad place.

Is it even worse nowadays?

I haven't been in RISE in probably a decade.

So I was going to say a decade ago, if you wanted all the free anime,

you go to the RISE on chat.

Go to RISE.

Yeah.

I don't know if you should do that in 2024.

No, I don't.

I wouldn't use RISE for that anyway.

But oh, no, they have a 4chan logo on the.

Oh, OK.

I guess it got worse than like home to home.

That many high profile websites is 4chan.

What the fuck is he, Republic?

Oh, my God.

Now I got to look this up.

I'm opening a private window for this.

Oh, it's oh, OK, great.

It's just a it's a it's a web browser.

I'm a mo.

What the.

We're we're we're discovering things about IRC now.

Bait your citizen.

Now, that's that sounds problematic.

I don't like it.

I can run the app on the Mac App Store.

Um, anyways.

Yeah.

So, you know, at least out of affection, it was a show that I would watch.

I would watch that show.

Yeah.

A sign of affection is the one that seems most interesting to me.

There was a similar I don't know if there was this movie.

I think it was.

Yeah.

Silent Voice.

I remember.

Shout out.

You are not the one who recommended this to me.

Actually, I think it was mint who recommended this to me.

Shout out to mint.

And I remember watching a silent voice.

And I remember this movie just makes you cry all it's just it's just like a sound voice

is really, really good.

Uh, that's really, really fucking good.

Uh, so sign of affection.

I'm interested in that one for sure.

Uh, so I'm curious.

Uh, will I watch any of these?

That's a great question.

Like now that I say that I'm interested in that doesn't mean I'm actually going to watch

them.

This is the thing with anime is that Christian has been trying to like, I don't know, tell

me about anime for the past, uh, I don't know, five years, seven years.

Um, and it's, I'm just not really picked up any anime seriously, uh, for, for a long time.

So it's, it's, it's, it'll be like, it's uncertain that if I actually watch it, uh, we'll see.

At least it sounds or a sign of affection that one, that is the one that like is you

being, you know, like I watch this and I'm like, you know what?

That goes hard in the paint for you.

I put that I could watch it for your mom, but that's like, it goes hard in the paint with

your mom.

Yeah.

So, uh, if it, so with all of these into this, which, which is like, is sign of affection,

the one that you'd probably say is like the best one that you're enjoying right now, or

is that like another one that's like, like really, like really, like really, really good,

like for you specifically.

So I mean, it's like a future cast, right?

What is still going on the list coming into the season, right?

When we do the end of the season, Roundup sign of affection.

Fluffy Paradise, Dr. Elise, The Foolish Angel, probably because I need that one cringe show.

The villainous one and Classroom Elite and Solo Leveling and Tamer, I think would be

the ones, would be the ones that stay out of the 19.

Uh, so that's, that was a good, I would say one hour.

Uh, we, we actually, my audacity says we're approaching one hour.

Uh, so episode one of Voxels.

Uh, I, of course, if you, I think a lot of people who are listening to the podcast that

shall not be named, uh, will also be listening to this one, but I'll, I'm curious about

feedback.

We have a feedback address, right?

Uh, what's, what's the feel?

Yeah.

So, um, here's, I should have practiced this.

So this has been Voxels, as you said, episode one, you can find a show at voxels.fm,

words for the, for the, for the big kid domain.

And if you have any feedback for the show, you can send it to feedback@voxels.fm as well.

You can find me on Mastodon at lo-fi carrots at mast, m-s-t-d, blah, blah, dot plus.

I don't know what, if you go to voxels.fm, click on the episode link.

There'll be links to both of our websites and our Mastodon pages there.

Um, yeah.

And where can people find you on the internet?

If you remember your handle.

Yeah, I am, I am Sadiq.

You can find me on Mastodon at packetcat at tinforward.social or all my stuff is linked

on sadiqsafe.com and please go check out my blog.

I'm fully committed to blogging in the year of the lower 2024.

So go to nullrouted.space, read my blog post, put it in your RSS feed reader,

subscribe to the newsletter that goes out weekly.

Shout out, shout out the button down.

And this podcast actually, I think Transistor gets a shout out.

I think they're, they're, they're good.

Oh, Transistor was great.

I used to use them in the past and like I even have a YouTube uploads now.

I turned off personalized ad for YouTube uploads.

So I don't know how like this YouTube upload thing's going to go, but we have YouTube

uploads now.

If you go to voxels.fm/subscribe, you can find us on Overcast Apple Podcasts, Google

Podcasts, RRP, YouTube Music, YouTube, Deezer, Amazon Music.

So, Antennapod for the Android people.

We have a native listing in Antennapod now for all y'all Android people who don't like

Google Apps being on their, on their devices.

So wherever you, like, as they say, wherever you get your podcasts, you can find, you can

find voxels.

If you like, if you enjoyed the podcast, please, you know, share on your socials or share

with a friend, et cetera.

You know, I love, I love all of this.

So please send us feedback.

Tell us about the trash anime.

You watch, I want to hear like your, your pet theory about Alan Wake 2, please.

Please tell me.

Also, please stop listening on Alexa devices.

I haven't even shared the link of anyone yet.

And I checked our analytics and someone was listening on an Alexa.

Oh my God.

Come on, Christian.

You can't, you can't, you can't roast our listeners for, for listening.

You know what?

Okay, fine.

Let's flip this over.

Please.

If you're going to listen to Alexa, someone needs to send me a photo of them listening

to it in a terminal only podcast app on a ThinkPad from 2004.

Okay.

All right.

That's the, that's the listener request.

Please, please do your homework.

Um, always.

All right.

Um, this, this has been a good time.

I am glad to be, I don't know how often we're going to do these.

I don't think we decided on like a schedule for episodes.

But, uh, maybe once every two weeks, like every two weeks.

Yeah.

Every two weeks, I think we can, we'll figure it out.

It depends on, depends.

It will, we'll, we'll run into a flow, but yeah, please subscribe.

And, and please, um, I guess since we're on YouTube, smash that like button.

Smash that like button.

I'm sorry.

All right.

Let us end this now.

Yeah.

Let us end this.

Uh, goodbye everyone.

Bye.