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 contact with him, but have him agree to come on the podcast: Hervé Bédard, executive producer of Cybersix and …

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 also for the franchise's many connections to the city of Vancouver largely due to the amazing English dubbing w…

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 show on its own, it did offer a lot to chew on as part of a well-curated programming block. We also have what I b…

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 year's Anime Revolution in Vancouver, and I certainly had some things to say on that.…

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 day run, as screenings in most major cities frantically sold out. Could this film possibly live up to this lev…

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 mention heaps of retro shoujo melodrama, so I knew that it was time to bring Dawn from the Anime Nostalgia podcast…

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 officially anime... well we've gotta talk about him! Hazel and Bell return to chat about the impact Scott Pilgr…

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 activity best left until the beginning of the following year, but let's not worry about that. Hazel and Bell ret…

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 novels was a high point of Radio-Canada's programming and was making an impact a full two years before it woul…

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 finally find the courage to tackle the impending regulation of streaming services in Canada. (As a side note, I can a…

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: Mark Dacascos in a starring role, well staged and edited action scenes and Vancouver playing Vancouver for once. D…

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 premiere is Sunday, June 4, 2023 (technically Monday, June 5, 2023) at 12:30am ET, with streaming on StackTV and (I a…

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 tribute. A 1999 collaboration between TMS and NOA Network of Animation based on a surprisingly visceral Argentinian…

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 continuous fever dream with little context or reasoning. One such show was Fables of the Green Forest, the pro…

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 will make it a lot harder to import hentai into Canada. We also talk about Uzumaki's constantly delayed Adult Sw…

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 that mark by more than a full year with a release in 2000), G-Saviour was filmed entirely in Vancouver, BC and…

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 Complex was a stand-out title on YTV's Bionix block for many reasons, not the least of which include the internationa…

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 synergized partners sure hope you are! But wait, does this mean we're getting Toonami? And shouldn't they have run th…

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 them. While Ulysses 31 is cherished almost entirely by a small segment of GenXers who managed to catch it on TV du…

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 the first anime ever aired on television in France, to the OTHER 80s Astro Boy dub, to a Kimba the White Lion du…

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's a very good chance that you've heard her in commercials, documentaries or other narration without even realiz…

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 should not be allowed to wholly license and distribute anime. To the kids who didn't listen to weird adults on th…

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. Evidently, it's worked out rather well for him. Cole joins us to talk about his work on titles like Mai-HiME and Law of…

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 Chan in Crunchyroll's Anime Awards - a distinction that probably holds more weight than the actual award winner…

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 Funimation's purchase of Crunchyroll, we all kind of struggle to pin down media that brought us some degree of joy i…

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. However, that doesn't mean you should skip Sherlock Hound! Known simply as "Sherlock Holmes" in French, this I…

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 Crave last month. Karl and Kyle join me to talk about why this launch led to an explosion on social media, des…

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 and the beginning of their slump in the realm of anime dubbing in the late 2000s. We also talk about the exciti…

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 that this didn't happened. Even fewer were surprised that this dub hasn't seen the light of day since. But shoul…

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 collaborator with Yoko Kanno and Kevin Penkin. He talks about his recent work on Tower of God, the strengths of the…

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 process of working with Trigger, how she enlisted Giant Ant Studios for animating the ED as well as her thoughts on l…

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 the legal nightmare that has now consumed this classic OVA series.…

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 anime in North America. Not only was it the first anime dub ever produced in Canada, it was the first anime ever p…

March 18, 2020 marks the 5th anniversary of the Zannen, Canada podcast.Ko-Fi: ko-fi.com/zannencanadaTwitter: @jbetteridgePodcast Twitter: @zannencanadaFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/zannencanada/E-mail: zannencanada@gmail.comPar Jesse Betteridge

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. Karl and I tend to be really bad at predicting things, so we discuss some current news items that will likely hav…

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's at work behind the scenes! Randy and I share our thoughts on all of the anime films released in Canada in 20…

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-up throughout the 70s and 80s, but was scrubbed off the face of the earth in the 90s amid legal turmoil. Join Da…

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 media from 2019 including Seiss Manos, Alita, The Dragon Prince, O Maidens in Your Savage Season, and a whole lot…

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 these channels is Teletoon, although it is very different from the Teletoon we know today. It is bold, it is amb…

This episode is all about Animethon, Canada's oldest anime convention, despite denying being an anime convention for a significant portion of that time. Eryn Cerise, Ian Horner and Brendan "Beej" Dery help paint a picture of how what started as a membership booster for an Edmonton anime club grew into one of the epicentres of anime fandom in Wester…

In 1997, CBC's Undercurrents ran a legendary exposé on otaku as obsessive collectors of data. It featured William Gibson, Hitoshi Doi, as well as a charming fellow with an overzealous fixation on Sailor Mercury. That fellow was Gregory Taylor, and he joins me in this episode to talk about the segment, as well Sailor Moon chat groups in the 1990s, r…

Information on donating to Kyoto Animation directly: https://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2019/07/24-1/kyoto-animation-officially-starts-accepting-donations-through-bank-transferGoFundMe donations through Sentai Filmworks: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-kyoani-healKarl and Corey share their thoughts on the horrific arson attack at Kyoto Animatio…

Ashley Hakker joins me to talk about the remarkable, unstoppable life-form that is Anime North. All of the planning in the world could never have prepared me to properly absorb this convention in one go, and together we talk about its history and the exact ingredients that caused it to become the giant glorious mess that it is today.…

Not to be confused with the Margaret Atwood novel, Cat's Eye (or "Signé Cat's Eyes") aired in French on Radio-Canada in the late 80s and early 90s, and oh boy did it stick out like a sore thumb on that line-up. Chris joins me once again to share his own experiences watching the show. Dawn from the Anime Nostalgia Podcast also appears to give her ow…

With little notice, Corus launched the world's first ever 24/7 Adult Swim network, and the good certainly seems to outweigh the bad... at least if you ignore the lack of streaming options! Sketch from the Toonami Faithful Podcast, as well as Karl, help me take a close look at what this new channel does right, what it does wrong, and what it still n…

With nine different voice actors for Goku and a LOT of bad theme songs, the Dragon Ball franchise has been an odd patchwork in Canada, but not one that has derailed its success in any way. Geoff and Yazy join me to talk about discovering and following Dragon Ball/Z/GT through all its different dubs, and try our best to clear up some misconceptions …

Lots of amazing theatrical anime release happened in 2018... but you may have noticed that very few of them came to Canada, especially compared to the previous two years. Randy joins me to try and explain the many factors that may have led to this somewhat sorry state of affairs. We also talk about all of the great anime films we did manage to see,…

Curating the many great anime, TV shows, films, comics and music of 2018 is pretty much an impossible task, but Dave Merrill and Chris (aka Kurotsuki) join me in this holiday special to at least help navigate their personal favourite pieces of media of the year. Hear us discuss about Cells at Work, Joe Pera Talks With You, Hereditary and one really…

Few things compare to the sheer might in which Goldorak (the French version of UFO Robo Grendizer) took French-speaking Canada by storm when it first debuted in 1978. While not particularly well-loved in Japan, Goldorak has proven to be one of Go Nagai's most impactful creations worldwide, and has influenced youth programming in ways you may not ex…

WOW Unlimited will be launching a new television channel soon in collaboration with Bell Media, and the chances are looking very good that it will feature an anime line-up of some kind. Why should anyone care about a linear television channel in this day and age? With some notable heavy hitters behind the scenes, as well as an incredibly strong str…