Japanimation Station returns on March 15th, 2026 for its 6th season, and it’s one listeners have been demanding for a long time: our Tomino-thon! Throughout 2026, we’ll be peering into the delightfully deranged mind of Tomino Yoshiyuki, creator of Mobile Suit Gundam, which kicked off this entire podcast journey with our ‘Weekly Suit Gundam’ series back in 2019. Now, we’ll be returning to the world of Tomino with deep dives into every TV series and film he’s ever directed. In this special preview episode, we outline the season’s first half, “The New Anime Era,” in which we’ll be analyzing each of Tomino’s shows from 1977’s Invincible Super Man Zambot 3 through 1984’s Heavy Metal L-Gaim. Season 6 Part 1 will run for 12 episodes uninterrupted through May. After a summer break, we’ll then return in the fall for a second half picking up with 1985’s Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam. Will you be able to survive?

Enjoy, and we hope to see you here for the season premiere on March 15th. Episodes will premiere on YouTube on Sundays at 6pm CT, and release on Mondays on podcast platforms everywhere.

Subscribe to our YouTube channels!

Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation

Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast

Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com

Subscribe to PURELY ACADEMIC, our monthly variety podcast about movies, video games, TV, and more: https://purelyacademic.simplecast.com

Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK

“Welcome to Japanimation Station” – Music by Thomas Lack, Lyrics by Sean Chapman, featuring Hatsune Miku. “Ice” – Music & Lyrics by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com

We’re back in Kyoto again to look at another new work from our friends at Kyoto Animation: Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid: A Lonely Dragon Wants To Be Loved, the feature film sequel to the beloved (and bizarre) slice-of-life TV comedy. Originally directed by Takemoto Yasuhiro in its first season before his tragic death in the 2019 arson attack, the series originally returned for a second season directed by KyoAni stalwart Ishihara Tatsuya, who again takes the helm for this film sequel. But with a more focused and bombastic story centering on the character Kanna, with much of the action taking place in the dragon realm, A Lonely Dragon Wants To Be Loved proves an even better fit for Ishihara’s talents than the TV series was, making for a surprisingly exciting and affecting film that delivers astonishing animation and some big emotional reactions. With the film now having screened in the US thanks to Crunchyroll, we break it all down, and look forward to the next era of Kyoto Animation as this one draws to a close.

Enjoy!

Time Chart:

Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:30

Intro and History: 0:01:12 – 0:52:17

Eyecatch Break: 0:52:17 – 0:53:01

Movie Review: 0:53:01 – 2:04:08

End Theme: 2:04:08 – 2:05:09

Subscribe to our YouTube channels!

Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation

Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast

Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com

Subscribe to PURELY ACADEMIC, our monthly variety podcast about movies, video games, TV, and more: https://purelyacademic.simplecast.com

Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK

“Welcome to Japanimation Station” – Music by Thomas Lack, Lyrics by Sean Chapman, featuring Hatsune Miku. “Happily Ever After” – Music & Lyrics by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com

After spending a full year chronicling the history of Kyoto Animation in 2024, we’re back for a brief return trip to review CITY: THE ANIMATION, the latest anime series from the renowned studio. Directed by Violet Evergarden helmer Ishidate Taichi and based on the manga Nichijou author Arawi Keiichi, CITY is one of the absolute greatest series KyoAni has produced to date, a return not only to Arawi’s zany comic stylings, but to the bold, experimental spirit of KyoAni’s early work. Seamlessly blending wild, anarchical comedy with heartfelt, shockingly rich storytelling about friendship, nostalgia, and community, CITY isn’t just a triumph: it’s an outright masterpiece, and we couldn’t be happier to talk about it at length on today’s show.

Enjoy!

Time Chart:

Theme Song: 0:00:00 – 0:01:30

Intro and History: 0:01:12 – 1:03:52

Eyecatch Break: 1:03:52 – 1:04:37

City the Animation Review: 1:04:37 – 3:29:08

End Theme: 3:29:08 – 3:30:10

Subscribe to our YouTube channels!

Japanimation Station: https://www.youtube.com/c/japanimationstation

Purely Academic: https://www.youtube.com/@purelyacademicpodcast

Read Jonathan Lack’s movie reviews and stay up to date with all our podcast projects at https://www.jonathanlack.com

Subscribe to PURELY ACADEMIC, our monthly variety podcast about movies, video games, TV, and more: https://purelyacademic.simplecast.com

Read Jonathan’s book 200 Reviews in Paperback or on Kindle – https://a.co/d/bLx53vK

“Welcome to Japanimation Station” – Music by Thomas Lack, Lyrics by Sean Chapman, featuring Hatsune Miku. “Happily Ever After” – Music & Lyrics by Thomas Lack, featuring Hatsune Miku. https://www.thomaslack.com