Zannen, Canada
Film, TV & Pop Culture
About
Zannen, Canada offers indepth discussion and interviews exploring the many relationships between anime and Canadian media.
Episodes
- Ep.109 - The Real Numbers Behind Anime in Canada
Some listeners may be perturbed to learn that much of the discussion on this program about the trends and traditions of anime in our country is built on a foundation of assumptions. Mind you, this is not the same thing as a foundation of l…
- Ep.108 - Le Petit Castor/Don Chuck Monogatari
You may assume that the most popular anime to air in Quebec in the 1980s was Captain Harlock or Candy Candy, but that's probably because those are shows you'd find interesting on the surface. If you want to look at what was actually popula…
- Ep.107 - Anime Parallels in Heated Rivalry
It's time for Zannen, Canada to fulfill its mandated 30% yaoi quota by diving into Heated Rivalry. And why SHOULDN'T we talk about the greatest Canadian television show of all time? The fact that we can make numerous connections to anime,…
- Ep.106 - Mean Gene Fowler
Gene Fowler is something of a mythical figure of the Maritime animation scene, having founded two studios (Fatkat Studios and Loogaroo Studios) and keeping up a steady stream of projects despite having a bit of an outsider status in the Ca…
- Ep.105 - Ginban Kaleidoscope, or: A Figure Skater Eats Tomatoes Alone at a Canadian Restaurant
Ginban Kaleidoscope is an anime series from 2005. It tells the story of self-absorbed Japanese figure skating champion who becomes possessed by the ghost of Canadian stunt pilot who crashes his plane near one of her qualifying performances…
- Ep.104 - Underdiscussed Vancouver Fandom History
I've finally found the courage to talk about the sometimes tumultuous history of anime fandom in Vancouver, including stores like Anime Jyanai, clubs like VJAS, well-remember cons like Anime Evolution and not-so-well-remembered cons like A…
- Ep.103- Why Isn't K-Pop Demon Hunters Canadian
K-Pop Demon Hunters, Netflix's most successful movie ever and the seismic cultural force of the summer, was made almost entirely by Canadian creative staff. So why isn't it a Canadian movie? Most of us probably understand that it's because…
- Ep.102 - Tokens for Shouta Aoi
There were simply too may conventions going on in August, but we tried our best to keep our bases covered! Chris gives us the lowdown on his last minute trip to Animethon in Edmonton, while Pierre and myself talk about our fun (but very ho…
- Ep.101- God's in His Heaven All's Right with the World
I've likely committed some kind of crime by going an entire decade without devoting an episode to Isao Takahata's 1979 Anne of Green Gables anime series, but here it is at long last. One of the greatest literary adaptations of all time, an…
- Ep.100 - Inuyasha Finalis Actum
The Zannen, Canada podcast has now been around for 10 years and I'm determined to not make a big deal about it! Sarah/Kittea joins me for the first time in some years to help me work through the headspace that results from dealing with tra…
- Ep.99- The Nadeshiko Club and Quebec's Lost Anime Generation
We may be facing tumultuous times as a nation, but this has only helped make the bond between Anglophone and Francophone anime fans stronger than ever! Patricia Gosselin is co-founder of the Nadeshiko Club, a group of esteemed scholars and…
- Ep.98 - Hervé Bédard, the Architect Behind Cybersix
After the last episode exploring Cybersix, I felt that we still needed to dig deeper into the story behind the incredible Japanese-Canadian co-production. There was one major perspective missing, and I was very fortunate to not only get in…
- Ep.97 - Bionix Omega: Death Note
We're not done celebration the 20th anniversary of Bionix yet! This time we're looking at the show that effectively marked the end of the block that we loved: Death Note! And we're not only looking at Death Note in the context of YTV, but…
- Ep.96 - Bionix Alpha: Witch Hunter Robin
Since I'm pretty much obligated to do something in observance of the 20th anniversary of YTV's Bionix block, Sammy and I are talking about its one debut anime we haven't touched on: Witch Hunter Robin! While it's not a super interesting sh…
- Ep.95 - Gushing Over Otakuthon
I finally made it to Otakuthon and I already want to go back. My generous Montreal host Chris aka Kurotsuki joins me to talk about pros and cons (mostly pros) of Canada's biggest and best anime convention. We also chat a little about this…
- Ep.94 - There Is No Acronym That Can Describe Gundam SEED FREEDOM
In a move that is not at all surprising for Bandai, the demand for the long-delayed Gundam SEED FREEDOM film was drastically underestimated in Canada. Originally planned for a one night screening, the film's exhibition was expanded to a 17…
- Ep.93 - Charlotte Watch Out, Oh God What Are You Doing Bonhomme's Coming For You
It's time to look at the first anime series ever set in Canada: the pastoral Quebec tale of Wakakusa No Charlotte (Charlotte of the Young Grass). It's not a World Masterpiece Theatre title, but it's got a little of that flavour, not to men…
- Ep.92 - Scott Pilgrim Did Not, Evidently, Get It Together
Scott Pilgrim means a lot of things to a lot of people. He especially means a lot of things to his creator, Bryan Lee O'Malley, which led to a few surprises in the recent anime series Scott Pilgrim Takes Off. And now that Scott Pilgrim is…
- Ep.91 - Anxiously Awaiting the Electric Bones Christmas Special
For the first time in three years, Zannen, Canada is back in the holiday spirit, although as usual this episode has less to do with the holidays as it does looking back at our favourite media of the past year. This is in itself may be an a…
- Ep.90 - Heidi Delivers Your Weekly Dose of Pastoral Escapism
Beloved in most of the non-English-speaking world, Heidi: Girl of the Alps is quite possibly the most high profile series to have its French dub produced in Quebec. Isao Takahata's graceful and nuanced adaptation of Johanna Spyri's classic…
- Ep.89 - There Are Worse Ways To Spend Twenty Years of Your Life
Zannen, Canada is now twenty years old, and we're celebrating with a very classic discussion. Karl and I look back on the history of the blog and podcast going back to 2003, discuss the recent demise of English-language Teletoon and finall…
- Ep.88 - Crying Freeman Exposes the Secret Yakuza Armies of Vancouver
The 1995 Crying Freeman movie is notoriously difficult to watch, which means that it has to be the most amazing thing ever right? Well, in addition to being a stellar live action adaptation of a manga, it has a few things going for it: Mar…
- Ep.87 - The Psi Cops Guys Are Here At Last!
I sit down with Chris Nielsen and Bart Bachelor, the key creatives behind Night Sweats, to discuss their brand new blisteringly fast-paced paranormal comedy, Psi Cops - Adult Swim Canada's first English-language original series! The premie…
- Ep.86 - Cybersix: Finding Perfection In Teletoon Co-Production Chaos
It is an interesting coincidence that the imminent death of the Teletoon brand on English-language television lined up with our long-awaited discussion of Cybersix, perhaps their finest program, but I'm more than happy to make this my trib…
- Ep.85 - Fables Of The Green Forest And Other TVO Hallucinations
Long before foreign TV shows were neatly catalogued and sourced on streaming sites and Wikipedia pages, they were haphazardly dumped onto the schedules of provincial educational broadcasters such as TVO and Knowledge Network and aired as a…
- Ep.84 - Pornography and Inuyasha: The Most Pressing Matters of Our Time
In what will hopefully be my last news roundup episode ever, Geoff and Yazy return to discuss all of the explosive anime industry news of the last few months, although we spend most of the time talking about how Sony buying out RightStuf w…
- Ep.83 - G-Saviour: A Part of Our Heritage
If Gundam is a franchise known for its fun references and connections to Canada, then the live-action direct-to-TV movie G-Saviour is certainly the least amusing of them all. Made to celebrate Gundam's 20th anniversary in 1999 (and missing…
- Ep.82 - Tachikomas Will Make You Love Dystopian Military Robotics
If you're anything like me, Blade Runner: Black Lotus may have made you a bit nostalgic for the last time a Corus-owned station ran a cyberpunk anime directed by Kenji Kamiyama every week at midnight. Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Comple…
- Ep.81 - Let's Not Get Too Optimistic, Now
Corus is set to premiere an adult-targeted anime on one of their broadcast stations for the first time in over a decade on November 13, 2021 - Blade Runner: Black Lotus on Adult Swim Canada. Excited? Well, Warner and their awkwardly synerg…
- Ep.80 - The Lonely Disco Space Journey of Ulysses 31
The success of Star Wars drove children's entertainment to do a lot of dumb things in the late 70s and early 80s, but throwing the characters and basic concept of HOMER'S Odyssey into space in the 31st century was definitely not one of the…
- Ep.79 - Canadian Tezuka Dubs - The Legal and Not-So-Legal
While many tend to associate franchises like Dragon Ball and Gundam with their historical ties to Canadian dubbing, the works of the godfather of anime, Osamu Tezuka, have a surprising hidden history within that designation as well. From t…
- Ep.78 - Cathy Weseluck From Shampoo to Yuma
Cathy Weseluck is widely known as a prolific character actor who has provided the voices of Shampoo from Ranma 1/2, Spike in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Yuma in World Trigger and Cybersix, to list only a scant few. However, there'…
- Ep.77 - Cardcaptors and the Siren Curse of Froggy Mix
To say that opinions are divided on Cardcaptors would be an understatement. To those who were more attuned to anime fandom in 2000, Nelvana's incredibly loose adaptation of Cardcaptor Sakura was living evidence of why Canadian companies sh…
- Ep.76 - An Evening with Cole Howard
From currently unlicensed Bandai Entertainment dubs from the mid-2000s, to My Little Pony to Dragon Prince and Zoids WILD, Cole Howard has spent years mastering the intricate art behind voice acting wide-eyed teenage protagonists. Evidentl…
- Ep.75 - If the Women Don't Find You Handsome...
Karl and I cautiously enter the unpredictable realm of 2021 by lamenting the lack of a theatrical review episode this year (sorry Randy!), but celebrate the two big nominations for Vancouver animator and former Zannen, Canada guest Genice…
- Ep.74 - Zannen, Canada's Worst Christmas Ever
The boys at The Anime Roundtable podcast finally put aside their differences and join me to wrap up this terrible, terrible year. After recognizing the recent (and shocking) passing of Kirby Morrow as well as the unsurprising news of Funim…
- Ep.73 - He's More of a Sherlock Corgi
If you haven't experienced a version of Sherlock Holmes where he drives around in steampunk vehicles, repairs bi-planes mid-air and is also a dog, then chances are you have experienced significantly more faithful versions of the character.…
- Ep.72 - Only Nerds Watch Tubi
For years it's felt like we've been asking the rest of the world to take our word for it that Sailor Moon was a Canadian cultural phenomenon, but at long last we have seen a distinct example of that in practice with Sailor Moon's launch on…
- Ep.71 - Don't Meme Up the Scripts
Michelle Clough served as a Script Adapter for multiple Ocean Studios projects including Death Note, Pretty Cure, My Otome and The Story of Saiunkoku. She joins me to talk about working for Ocean during what was possibly both their heyday…
- Ep.70 - Super Cure Pretty Fans
The Calgary-produced dub of the original Futari wa Pretty Cure hit the airwaves on YTV right as anime was reaching its decline on the station. Many had hoped the series would be a hit and bring about a second wind, but few were surprised t…
- Ep.69 - In Quarantine with Raj Ramayya
Raj Ramayya joins me from quarantine in Saskatchewan to talk about his work and what he's been up to since his last appearance on the podcast. Best known as a vocalist for Cowboy Bebop, Wolf's Rain and Made in Abyss, Raj is a frequent coll…
- Ep.68 - Genice Chan Makes Anime
Genice Chan is an illustrator and animator from Vancouver, BC who recently provided concept art and directed the ending credit sequence for the Netflix anime BNA (Brand New Animal) from Studio Trigger. She joins me to talk about the proces…
- Ep.67 - Dedicated to all Pioneers
Ashley joins me to complete our exploration of late night anime on Teletoon in the late nineties with a laid back chat about Macross Plus. We talk about its accessibility, connections to Cowboy Bebop, alternate Bryan Cranston-free dubs and…
- Ep.66 - Minifée Has Lost Faith in Humanity
Minifée, the Montreal-produced dub of the original Sally the Witch, may not at first seem terribly notable. However, it doesn't take a lot of digging to find out that it one of the most crucial, overlooked productions in the history of ani…
- Five Years of Zannen, Canada
March 18, 2020 marks the 5th anniversary of the Zannen, Canada podcast. Ko-Fi: ko-fi.com/zannencanada Twitter: @jbetteridge Podcast Twitter: @zannencanada Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zannencanada/ E-mail: zannencanada@gmail.com
- Ep.65 - I Wouldn't Make That Bet
Will Studio Ghibli films ever become available to stream in Canada? You might not want to put your money on that one. Will Crunchyroll have to produce Canadian Content to comply with possible future regulations? Probably not a good bet. Ka…
- Ep.64 - Your New Cinema Monopoly Overlords
UK theatre chain Cineworld (owners of Regal Cinemas in the US) has purchased Cineplex, meaning that our movie media monopoly is no longer even Canadian! What does this mean for anime? Almost certainly nothing, but it's crucial to know what…
- Ep.63 - Don't Worry Candy, He's Just in the Hospital
Forty years ago, the entire non-English speaking world was captivated by Candy Candy, the chronicles of the endless tragedies befalling an spunky and adorable freckled orphan. This shoujo classic was a staple of Radio-Canada's anime line-u…
- Ep.62 - Zannen Molting Day Celebration
The annual Zannen, Canada holiday special has arrived! This year, voice actors Caitlyn Bairstow, Ian Hanlin, Brian Doe and Disney-approved Spider-Man actor Cole Howard join me live from GGRP Studios in Vancouver to share their favourite me…
- Ep.61 - Not Recommended for Family Viewing
The year is 1997. After years of careful planning, Canadian broadcasting consortiums have unleashed upon the public an assortment of new cable channels, all of which are wildly experimental in their attempts to gain your attention. Among t…