OSMcast! Show #163: Stars Align

Sometimes, an anime is about a sport. Sometimes, it’s about other things entirely. Sometimes, it’s about other things entirely but also absolutely needs the sport in question to get to the things the anime wants to talk about. This time, that sport is Soft Tennis and this anime is called Stars Align. And it is about Soft Tennis, but not entirely. It is also a show written and directed by Kazuki Akane along with the studio Eight Bit. It is also pretty great! But you may have figured that out when we released a podcast all about it.

OSMnotes!

Anime News Network also had an excellent pair of interviews with the writer and director of Stars Align Kazuki Akane, that we talked about during the podcast. You can find Part One here, and Part Two here. To mix up some sports metaphors, Kim Morrissy absolutely knocked these interviews out of the park! They really showed some wonderful insights into this show.

And while we may be podcasting about a show full of kids, we are definitely some old men! You can tell this by our Moments of OSMs, that are all inadvertently synced up about us yearning for our childhoods. Huh. The things you notice as you actually put together the show descriptions and Time Cues: 

OSMquest! Be Prepared: A Weekend at Camp Oostanaula, Finale

It’s been a one hell of a weekend over at Camp Oostanaula! Salt lines have been broken, things have been unleashed. Our poor generic nondescript scouts are being hounded by a Terror, but for some reason no one seems to believe them! Out of escape routes, out of options. Except one: It’s time to take it to the Terror itself. Come join us as we kick some tires and light some fires as we play this final installment of Be Prepared, by Grant Howitt. 

OSMquest! Be Prepared: A Weekend at Camp Oostanaula, Part Three

Hey… hey Baxter! You know what would be funny? Going through this creepy old farm house from who knows when! Only… our scouts did that. Lines were crossed. And redrawn. And then probably crossed again. Look, it was 1994, you know? They didn’t know any better. And if they don’t play their cards right, they never will. Things take a few turns for our brave and noble scouts as we once again play some of Be Prepared, by Grant Howitt.

The Carbuncle Chronicle Issue 7: Patch 5.3 Impressions, The Rising 2020, and Yo-kai Watch Returns!

Hello Adventurers! The time has finally come, the long wait is over, Patch 5.3 has arrived! And with it, we have received an absolute embarrassment of riches. So for this issue of the Carbuncle Chronicle, we dive right on in!

We start with some updates about the upcoming Ishgardian Restoration, as well as new housing plots are being added!? Then we get into some of those juicy yet not very spoilery impressions of Patch 5.3. How we felt the story wrapped up, convincing Dylan that it’s okay to do the Nier raids, flying in ARR, how awesome dwarves are, all sorts of things. We also talk about The Rising 2020 event happening right now, until September 17th. And we wrap up with remembering and chatting about some good, good yo-kai grinding.

And if you are in need of some help figuring out what to do and where to go for the Yo-kai Watch event, this is a really helpful visual guide made by KaiyokoStar:

OSMquest! Be Prepared: A Weekend at Camp Oostanaula, Part Two

When we last left our adventuring trademark non-descript scouts at Camp Oostanaula, they were goofing off in a cave, and found a door that they shouldn’t have. Where will they go, and what terrors will they unlock, and how will they deal with them? Come back in time with us as well play Be Prepared, by Grant Howitt. One thing is for sure, you will never predict the twists and turns that happen in this episode of the OSMquest!

OSMquest! Be Prepared: A Weekend at Camp Oostanaula, Part One

It’s 2020, but camping is still a thing… Right? Maybe? Well if you can pretend with us back to the year 1994, you very much can! In this first part of a new OSMquest series, we are playing Be Prepared, by Grant Howitt. The idea is that some scouts have taken a camping trip back in 1994. Hijinks ensue! But unknown to the campers, there is something else afoot. Something… contained. And as idiot teenagers so often do dumb things as they do, that something may not stat contained for long.

The Carbuncle Chronicle Issue 6: Letter from the Producer LIVE Part LIX

Hello Adventurers! Hope you are all bunkered down and looking forward to the very fast upcoming Final Fantasy XIV Patch 5.3, because we sure are! To help get some of that excitement out of our systems*, we recorded an episode of the Carbuncle Chronicle about the latest Live Letter that happened two weeks previous. From ponderings on what secrets the trailer holds, to the inevitability of once again grinding for more Yo-kai Watch weapons, and the grind for powering up those Resistance Weapons in the Bozjan southern front, we cover it all! Or at least try to, anyway.

And if you want to go through the information in a more text-able format, they have also just recently released the text digest version. But really, if you need extra links to click on we recommend that sweet new album they announced, Pulse: FINAL FANTASY XIV Remix Album. It’s hitting September 30th, so even next week we’re stuff waiting for more FFXIV goodness. It’s an embarrassment of riches to be sure.

*It did not work. We are still very excited.

OSMcast! Show #162: NieR: Automata

When in doubt, sleep in and have androids do the work. Especially if humanity is is threated by extinction via machines sent for our doom by space aliens. At least that seems to be the case for our latest episode!  We are talking about Yoko Taro’s NieR: Automata, developed by PlatinumGames and published by Square Enix. We also talk about some other classic OSMcast topics like TV shows from Norway, manga, and Pokemon! And at the end, feelings.

OSMnotes

Hope everyone enjoyed the episode! We also just want to take a moment and point out that A.) Our wonderful editor Anna is very good and she deserves all the praise one can give. B.) Basil really should make a list of things to say at the end so he never forgets that. C.) That the actual sequel to NieR: Automata is happening in Final Fantasy XIV and somehow we for got to mention that in this episode! Thankfully, we have a whole FFXIV podcast now we can mention that for next time…

But until then, have some Time Cues!

The Carbuncle Chronicle Issue 5: The Dungeons of A Realm Reborn (Part 2)

Hello Adventurers! We are once again canvasing memory lane, bringing you the back half of the dungeons of A Realm Reborn. From Patch 2.1 all the way to Patch 2.5. Let us regale you with times long past, back when these level 50 dungeons were once the height of difficulty! The heady salad days of Final Fantasy XIV dungeons where you would get three, three whole new dungeons to a patch! The good, the bad, and the puns that graced the required quests to open them, in this issue of the Carbuncle Chronicle. 

OSMquest! Adventure Skeletons: The Journey to Villageburg

Hark! What’s that,  you hear? The grand return of the OSMquest?! Forsooth! It IS!!! So here’s the game. Sometimes, you feel like a skeleton. In a dungeon. And you get bored. So you go on a road trip. Some may call it… An adventure. Especially if you are playing the game Adventure Skeletons by Grant Howitt and Chris Taylor. Which… we were! You can find the game we played, and a whole bunch more, over at https://gshowitt.itch.io/!