The Speakeasy #028: The Portal Two – A Talk About Sequels, Re-tellings, and Extended Universes

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Drink #028: The Portal Two
A Talk About Sequels, Re-tellings,
and Extended Universes

Inspired by the new season of shows that include a new Lupin III, more Eureka Seven, and newbie-friendly Saint Seiya, we jump into a discussion about anime which expand their settings or characters over time. Not every series is written in a way to extend it into an ongoing franchise so when a series is ridiculously popular the creators usually have to work some major mojo to be able to create new material. The simplest way it to create a sequel or a prequel but you can’t always do that especially when a story has a very hard beginning, middle, and end. Sometimes they must find a way to retell the same story with a new twist. Other times they explore different parts of the universe they created away from or only tangentially related to the original story. This podcast focuses on what works and what does not when you expand on a story. Also we give our secret wish list to what stories we would love to see more of.

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And now your helpful bartenders at The Speakeasy present your drink:

The Portal Two

  • Blue Curacao
  • Vodka Lemonade 
  • Cointreau Rum 
  • Orangina

“This drink is, of course, designed to resemble the two coloured portals from the excellent sci-fi puzzle game. For the blue version, get a small tumbler and pour in 10ml of Blue Curacao, 10ml of vodka and top up with lemonade. For orange you’ll need another tumbler, this time filled with 10ml of Cointreau, 10ml of rum and Orangina. If you fancy, you can jazz the glasses up with coloured sugar rims. Simply pour some sugar into a sandwich bag with the relevant food colouring, shake them up, pour the resulting mix into a dish and dip your tumbler in. “You can mix the portals together if you like,” says James. “It’s a very orangey flavour, which we thought tied in with The Orange Box, the compilation in which the original Portal appeared.”

All Points Bulletin: The Sexposition within Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride

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If you have any suggestions for what to highlight on an APB drop us a line via email or Twitter.

Hisui’s picks:

Narutaki’s picks:

  • New Comic Store Opening in Manhattan
    If NYC wasn’t already one of the best places to shop as a geek, it is getting yet another addition. They have staffed up and will be opening doors on the May 12th!
  • The Most Insane Gundam Cosplay
    Is of course not of a person, but of a robot. Strike Freedom blows my mind. And he seems to have a decent amount of mobility!
  • If You Can’t Get Enough of Batman You’re in Luck
    Which is pretty much all of us, right? This is the trailer for the new CG-animated series coming to Cartoon Network. There have been so many good renditions of him in animated form, it’ll be interesting to see what their show adds to the mix.
  • Mr. Toad Rides Again
    If you are familiar with the animated short Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride (or the no longer existence ride at Disney World), rejoice because he is getting a full-length feature film! Pete Candeland has signed on a director, you may be familiar with some of his work for Gorillaz. And since this was supposed to be a feature before it was cut down to a short in the past, they may already have a good idea of where to take it.
  • Totally Awesome Robot Cakes!
    There is some deliciously high-level craftsmanship going on in these. I’m partial to the K-9 one.

Speaking of One Piece, as Narutaki and I were recently discussing it, that girl from the series that no one seems to like:

Fate/Zero S2 TV #003: Heroes, Villains, Cowards, and Pawns

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This is an episode the brings home the true nature of some of the major players in Fate/Zero. It will solidify your opinion of some characters. If you thought certain people were horrible, cruel, naive, and/or noble than all doubts will be cleared away. Other people who you maybe have been sympathetic towards or felt conflicted about their motives will no longer give you a feeling that is quite so on the fence. And other people you admired might not have you looking at them the same way after this episode. But no matter what your opinion you see what happens when push comes to shove, and all the chips are on the line, what these characters have inside of them. No matter what you will find that you will have an opinion about the members of Team Lancer and Team Saber.

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