The Anime Nostalgia Podcast - ep 150: ReView: The Dagger of Kamui

 

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This month’s episode is another short ReView! What is a “ReView” episode, you might ask? Well, it’s my highly-clever (ok not really) name for episodes where I go back and revisit an older title I haven’t seen in a long time, and see if what I remember (and what my opinions on it) are still the same now that some time’s gone by. This month, Animeigo's Kickstarter bluray for Dagger of Kamui found it's way to my doorstep one cold December morning...so what better time to revisit this 80s Rintaro classic? This movie truly has everything: Ninja, monks, psychedelic flashing colors, cowboys, treasure hunts, a banger soundtrack, and even Mark Twain! But is that truly enough to make this movie great? Let's revisit it and find out!

Stream the episode above or [Direct Download]
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Relevant links:

• Watch the Trailer for the movie here!

• Buy the bluray directly from Animeigo here!

• Check out Madhouse's official page on the movie here

• Other titles mentioned in this episode: Galaxy Express 999, Wicked City, Demon City Shinjuku, Ninja Scroll

My theme song music was done by Kerobit! You can find more about them on their website!

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As always, feel free to leave me your thoughts on this episode or ideas for future episodes here—or email me directly at AnimeNostalgiaPodcast@gmail.com.

Thanks for listening! 

Cool find at Anime Frontier 2025!

Hey friends! This year, due to health reasons, I was only able to attend one day of Anime Frontier last month. But that one day was still pretty damn fruitful: not only did I get to check out their new layout for the Exhibit Hall (they now have a dedicated food hall & beer garden, with LOTS more seating, which was pretty awesome!), I stumbled upon an amazing prototype for upcoming merch for a 90s anime series I was NOT expecting--Samurai Pizza Cats!

This photo I snapped was originally posted to the podcast's instagram!

I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw these cuties! With the series' recent 35th anniversary & video game announcement, I guess Tatsunoko really wants to put out some cool stuff for the fans (which is awesome, considering that the English version of the show was never super popular, but is still considered a cult classic.) Turns out, these adorable plush versions of the Pizza Cats are made by the relatively new, small plush toy maker called Rimi Star Production. I got to talk to one of the staff running the booth, and was told that they're aiming to get these official Tatsunoko Pro collab plushies available for order sometime "this winter". Now, it might be hard to tell from the photo above, but these plush Pizza Cats are HUGE! They are around 28 inches (71 cm) long, and made with soft, cuddly materials, making them perfect to hug. They also have retractable ears (on pull-back strings, so you don't lose them!), to mimic how they're "movable" in the show!

Some examples of the Pizza Cats' movable ears from the anime

They seem to be bringing these prototypes to conventions to show them off and spread the word, so if you wanna see where they'll show next, you can follow them on their official instagram here! The person I talked to said that once these are released, if they do well they might put out more characters, as Tatsunoko was very enthusiastic about this collab! So if you wanna see more, show your support once those pre-orders go up!

As always, many thanks to Anime Frontier for the press pass so I could get the chance to see these beauties in person! I can't wait to see what the final product will look like!

Happy New Year from The Anime Nostalgia Podcast

 

 A little late, but here's a New Year's card featuring podcast mascots Ret & Ro, drawn by me! I hope 2026 is a better year for all of us.