WBM Podcast aka Witty Banter Media
The Three Best Bros anybody could have (feat. Oski, xFer, & Merc) sit down and go into all sorts of topics while also diverging into wild content. Anime! Pop culture, video games, movies, books, science fiction and actual science. Nothing is safe from the Witty Banter Media treatment. Every episode tends to take an unexpected left turn, so listener discretion advised. However, follow along and you will see they always bring it back full circle. Do not take the WBM Podcast team too seriously because they will never be above a witty joke!
WBM Podcast aka Witty Banter Media
First Form; Fire Breathing Fyreworks Festival!!!
"She waited 500 years for him in the afterlife." Akaza's redemption arc in Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle has us questioning who the real demons are. Oski recaps his Bandai "Fyre Fest for Duelist" weekend. Join our deep dive into the most emotional moments of this epic anime.
#DemonSlayer #InfiniteCastle #Bandai
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good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you so much for tuning in to the wbm podcast. This is one of your hosts. It's your boy, merc yo welcome back everybody's, your boy, xfam and here's your boy oski in the mix, guys do?
Speaker 3:we have one fun episode for you that's right guys we're gonna talk about the number one movie in in America's box office two weeks in a row. That's right, guys.
Speaker 1:The biggest anime film out there currently. Today, we are talking about the one and only Demon Slayer, infinity Castle.
Speaker 2:Part one.
Speaker 1:In addition, we're also going to be talking.
Speaker 3:We went to Bandai Car Fest. We made regionals for the Gundam Car Game. That's right, it was the fire fest of car game shows for duelists, let's go.
Speaker 1:But yeah, tune in, uh, strap in and get ready for this one, you guys, ready, ready, let's go.
Speaker 3:This is your ASMR Minute of the podcast.
Speaker 2:That's right, guys. Thank you, that was sponsored by Marlboro.
Speaker 1:Use them all, Reds.
Speaker 2:Yes, I do not advertise guys.
Speaker 1:We don't smoke them, we just advertise. Anyway, don't do it. But yeah, no. So Demon Slayer dropped this weekend or this past week.
Speaker 3:This past week this past week this past week. It's only second weekend.
Speaker 1:It or this past week, this past week, this past week this past week.
Speaker 2:It's only second weekend.
Speaker 1:It was phenomenal.
Speaker 2:We got a chance to watch it, and that's when they disappeared.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, I was like, huh, that's a little, I forgot what that instrument is called.
Speaker 2:My parents went to Japan and they were in the area of Shibuya and they were. There was the release midnight premiere of demons.
Speaker 3:They saw like a long line in japan.
Speaker 2:There was the line for it. That would give you something to weigh, but it was that it's for, you know, just like us, like I saw some photos and, yeah, I mean over there the hype was real.
Speaker 3:I know the hype is real here in the states, but over there in japan people were like waiting out, like at midnight yeah they're like sleeping on the streets well, no, it's exciting man it's a good movie.
Speaker 1:It was what? 87.3 million dollars? Yeah, opening weekend, or whatever.
Speaker 3:It'd be pokemon, pokemon back in the day was 85. That's true. That's true, I think. Pokemon, was it 2000 or the original? I think the original, the original pokemon movie pokemon in 1999, when ash, when ash at me, that one pants, that's right. And the pokemon tears brought.
Speaker 1:I think the original the original. Pokemon movie. Pokemon movie In 1999.
Speaker 2:Wow, when Ash and Mewtwo threw hands.
Speaker 1:That's right and the Pokemon tears brought him back to life.
Speaker 3:You know what I'm saying For 25 years.
Speaker 1:25 years, bro, that's number one, I mean Ash, had them hands though that's why Mewtwo had to shield.
Speaker 3:Had he not shielded, it would have been a knockout.
Speaker 2:You don't understand. He could shoot us like human Use right hand.
Speaker 1:All the feats that he's actually done in the series, bro. If you compare them.
Speaker 2:He's wrestled and picked up ridiculously big, he's strong, bro, don't let him fool you. He's got a super build. Yeah, bro, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1:He's taking punches to the guts, no by other. Pokemon and stuff. He's a real one, bro.
Speaker 3:But anyways, sorry for the tangent Demon Slayer has done even better than that movie. Yes, it did, and in the second weekend it also was the number one at the box office. Which is it just had so many. It didn't have much competition really, but underwhelming openings for any other movies, so it's just doing so good. It shows how popular anime has gotten.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Jordan Peele's had a movie that came out. Him, it came out with terrible reviews. Apparently it wasn't marketed well and this movie ended up superseding that. But hey, a Jordan Peele film came out and Demon Slayer did better than it.
Speaker 3:That's wild. I mean Demon Slayer had some big names in the movie Channing Tatum.
Speaker 1:Channing Tatum thank you he played the mentor for Akazai.
Speaker 3:Yes, the mentor for Hiyaku Hirokui. Wasn't it Yakuza, or I forgot his human name?
Speaker 2:Yes, akazan Akazan Mentor. Right Akazan mentor.
Speaker 3:Akazan's mentor. Yeah, there you go. I'm trying to think of a human name. I forgot Harajuki.
Speaker 2:Harajuki something like that he had a human name you gotta remember the two sides major spoilers, by the way. We're about to get into it. I like to break it down.
Speaker 3:We're about to go right into it the names matter Like. Akasa is actually a different person, I think, than his human version, you know, because Akasa I could not forgive for killing Rengoku. Yeah, look at his backstory as Hirohiki.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah yeah, look at his human backstory.
Speaker 3:You know you could forgive him for everything he did as a demon reasonable crash out reasonable crash out.
Speaker 1:Unfortunately, it is a reasonable crash out and it is justified for him. So I got that part, but like the way he was teasing Rengoku, but you know what, though, okay, I did see something, bro, where they were like you know what? It would have been the same ending for his ass, bro, and he was marked. He was already turned up to his next level, as far as he could have gone, and Hakuyi, hakuchi, hakuchi. Yeah right, that's it.
Speaker 3:His human name Hakuchi Hakuchi.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's what you got to remember is Rengoku didn't have a mark. No mark, fam. He took him on. On, yeah, and he would have taken him out and he would have he cut him.
Speaker 2:Yeah, just hold him to the daylight, because that was the whole battle plan. It was to not fight him to the death, but to hold him out until daylight yeah.
Speaker 2:Which was the whole point of like the, and that's the writing. I had a conversation with merc was like the a to b plot of demon slayer is very basic, is here here's a bad guy, douchebag, here's a good guy, you know, and in all the ways. But once you start breaking in the, the characters within the storyline, how complex their, their origins are, is what makes demon slayer so special. In regards to the storyline, me wanting to wait because I was telling Tico, bro, I'm just going to read the plot, move on with my life. But Ufotable what they do, because they show you like panel to panel, which is just like a one horrible rush art by the author, and then what Ufotable does, mwah shake kiss.
Speaker 3:The way they expand on the manga is just wild.
Speaker 1:It's intense.
Speaker 3:I mean the way they do these battles Like Giyu versus Akasawa. That was going off, that was going off we saw it in 4DX. That was good, oh man.
Speaker 1:Watching that shit in 4DX was so freaking. Dope dog, yeah man, so fun.
Speaker 3:But yeah, I oh dog, so fun. But yeah, I mean, it's still rangoku. I think he stood up to it, I don't think giyu could have won me that because I want to win.
Speaker 1:No, I don't think he could have done it, but he needed tanjiro there and he would have also died if it was a 1v1, and tanjiro is like evolving past, just having a mark right yeah, I love that they gave him credit. They were like he's hashida level now bro past hashida level.
Speaker 3:He's probably stronger than some of the other Hashiras. Yeah, bro, even then, the fact that he saved his.
Speaker 1:He was like I was saved by Tanjiro. Nah, it was, it was fire. It was so peak at that point In my mind. You know, the fact that we got the chance To see him do his Fire breathing On the big screen, which was really freaking epic. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2:Since Mugen Train, and I'm using this based on what they say so far about the storyline, because I haven't read it. I just got as far as the movie. But pretty much it's like yin and yang. So Tanjiro is the yang to Muzan's yin, because Muzan was a rich, privileged boy with the weak frame who had everything and in him, when he became a demon, he cursed his generations to come. Tanjiro was the yang because he comes from a poor house and he grew strong, remember, because he was like plowing through remember what do you call it? Some wood showed his strength from the very beginning of the first episode so that's the yang to muzan.
Speaker 2:So, like tanjiro is the answer to nature, like nature created Muzan. Therefore, like the universe responded with Tanjiro, so he's Buddha in the Swains, because with some of these demons throughout the storyline who didn't want to become demon, they kind of get like in Catholicism is like a confession, like they get a chance to redeem and observe their deeds they were done. But then you realize the harsh environment they came from.
Speaker 1:You're like, oh, it's kind of justifiable, right, why they became demons yes, and you know that's true, because some of them do get a chance to redeem and other ones go out the flaming bastard they were the entire time yeah, go back to the most recent. Some of them don't get a redemption yeah, homeboy, who was a liar the whole time.
Speaker 3:Remember that guy yeah, he didn't get a redemption never got a redemption arc and there's some other ones, like the one that was in the bases and he was all about water. Yeah, he didn't even give him a bunch of a backstory, he was just just a bad guy straight.
Speaker 2:You get no backstory yeah, this season is done, but I did, I got that because akasan, remember, that was frustrating, that was frustrated tanjiro, because, when I'm tying it back to what you guys say, why he's stronger than Ashida, is because it was not so much where, like Tanjiro figuring out Akazan, akazan was figuring out how to defeat Tanjiro in this battle, like it kind of it kind of switched here, that's true, and then Akazan in his frustration saying why can I obtain the peace that this guy has, you know? So like I feel like that. It was like the one cool thing about that is, I guess I'm trying to figure out how to beat.
Speaker 1:And you're right. He does say that in the film. He's like he's a problem, like he's the issue.
Speaker 3:Yeah, at one point he's like I gotta. He doesn't understand what techniques Sanji was using, but everything in my body's telling me I gotta take him out now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that moment, bro. Like his spider sense what it's like his fighting instinct. He's like he knows he is the threat. Yeah, he could beat. He's like that one, but hypothetically, if it did come down to akasan, overwhelming because he said like the higher your battle spirit, the stronger he becomes right. But who are anime characters that can like take that like? I'm gonna put it right now all my like, I can even see all my doing the whole scene again, like now for a lesson you know like they really really give it to akasan.
Speaker 3:All might did not have all for one anymore, he had already passed it on right, yeah it's true, he still called on enough with his power to be yeah, all my would like prime, all might would overwhelm yeah, one for well he would overwhelm akasan, like even though there's some battle, strength increases like prime what if scenarios? Oh two is overwhelming like it's like, I think even like krillian might give him the business oh yeah he's gonna run the hands.
Speaker 1:Yeah, for sure, for sure. But here's my issue, though I like it they already couldn't take out Zelda back in the day that was an issue right infinite regeneration. It took him more time.
Speaker 2:Goku's winning, bro Goku's winning.
Speaker 1:All day, bro Goku's winning but I'm saying the regeneration factor is something that's a problem because, remember, he's coming back from almost nothing. The fact that he should've died after his head and this motherfucker was like, I'm not done yet I was like oh no man.
Speaker 3:It's crazy because at the end it's like, okay, we're saying Tanjiro and Giyu won, but they didn't. I guess I took him somehow.
Speaker 1:Yeah, bro, he's like I'm done fighting, bro, my girl's here Rage quit, yeah he's like ha ha, how do I exit? I'm unplugging. Just unplug it, bro Rainsquid, yeah, rainsquid, for sure I don't want to regenerate anymore.
Speaker 3:Stop, he smashed the keyboard so technically they didn't even beat him like he had to take himself out.
Speaker 1:But okay, something that I thought was admirable as shit report. Ffk, ffk. His fiance slash wife waited 500 years for him, bro, in the afterlife. That's how old he was.
Speaker 2:That's when.
Speaker 3:I'm running. The theater was like I'm not crying, You're crying, Bro. It was real. That shit got me I ain't gonna lie.
Speaker 2:He's like.
Speaker 1:look his mentor and his dad were like, or the person who was his father His dad too.
Speaker 3:Yeah, he was like look, I'm sorry.
Speaker 1:Yeah his dad and the mentor, I'll make the decision and I'll go with you, and that's why they both go in flames.
Speaker 3:Because they show up and like, hey, you know you can't come with us, but we're proud of you. Yeah, and he breaks down. But then Musan shows up.
Speaker 1:And he's like get your shit together, boy yeah.
Speaker 3:He's like weren't you going to be the strongest, or?
Speaker 1:whatever, how are you going to protect him?
Speaker 3:And then the wife wraps his hands around him is like you know it's okay, you can stop, it's something to protect.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, bro, bro, damn, damn.
Speaker 2:That's what I'm saying, and the fact that he appeared. Like that's the thing about Musan. He's such a great villain where, like you would think that, like you suspect that the storyline is that, like the demon he is, give him a deal Like hey, you know if you cut a deal with me, and then it turned out like that.
Speaker 3:That's how most of the backstories have gone, Even Homegirl Tamayo the one with the demon, with the blue eyes, that's helping the demon slayers.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:It's like they talk about how she was turned. It's like I just didn't want to die. I didn't want to like turn into a demon and kill my whole family.
Speaker 1:There's a theory as to why he doesn't remember anything. Obviously, some demons do forget all their memories, and once one they're being cleansed.
Speaker 2:Well, yeah, he fucking stabbed him right through the fucking dome.
Speaker 1:So that's the theory.
Speaker 2:That's literally the frontal lobe. It's gone.
Speaker 3:Yeah, they say either it was the hit, so he basically destroyed his brain.
Speaker 1:Or just the trauma right.
Speaker 3:Or he purposely erased him because he knew that that type of personality wouldn't Go well with he wouldn't bend right yeah that type of personality wouldn't necessarily bend and become demon.
Speaker 1:He would continue to fight if he took off all this.
Speaker 3:It's interesting because Leave some of the tidbits on there, like even as a demon, one of the tidbits that is in the manga. I don't know if it's in the anime, but he doesn't eat any woman Really. He doesn't kill or eat any women, only men, and that's why he hates oh, the number two, or whatever right.
Speaker 1:That's why he hates upper two, because he only eats women, because he goes for women. They had that beef in the castle. I remember that in the previous seasons.
Speaker 3:Subconsciously, like he's subconscious, some of his personality is still there, so he hates him, naturally, because he eats women and he doesn't eat women because Because? Of his girl Because of the way he tried to protect.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because he always had a protecting nature, His dad, he was ill. He really stole because of the medicine. That man, that whole Dude, that whole story that Dude that whole
Speaker 1:story that was crazy and we hated him. At the end of the Mugan train, bro. Yeah, he was the worst person ever. You took out our boy Rengoku. Remember when Tanjiro threw the sword? You punk, ass you better run, you better run.
Speaker 3:You didn't win this shit.
Speaker 1:Rengoku won, bro. That's what you did to Tanjiro.
Speaker 2:Because, remember he's, I hate weaklings, I hate weaklings. Tanjiro made him realize that, bro, you ran away from the fight, bro, and he's like I hate you, I hate you for reminding me. I think that's what triggered, like the first trigger, he didn't want to go back.
Speaker 1:There was a moment remember he was like oh, I just think at the time I just had it that's why he's like his human Hakuji.
Speaker 3:That's why he's a redeemable character, yeah, and so I think somebody brought it up but talked about it. It's like he had that protective nature. But what really sucks about his backstory is like he never came back in time to protect, like he wasn't there.
Speaker 2:He wasn't there when his uh, wife and he just went to go say to his dad hey, I'm getting married, I'll be right back, yeah or his dad, even his dad.
Speaker 3:When his dad hung himself, he just wasn't there.
Speaker 1:That was sad, so he couldn't protect. That's right.
Speaker 3:He wanted to protect, but he just couldn't do it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that was very, very disappointing because he became strong for those reasons and it makes you think who are the real demons?
Speaker 2:Is it really the demons or the humans? Because if you realize that was so cruel.
Speaker 3:Players.
Speaker 2:Putting poison on the well Just to get rid of two people, and you have like 67 swords. It goes to show you the cruelty of the time.
Speaker 3:Like the Envy. They just couldn't beat him, so they decided to kill him.
Speaker 1:I'm also curious who said that? It was never shown in the film? You just heard somebody say it right in the background they were poisoned by this other clan. We don't know who did it. Who said it?
Speaker 3:It's just insinuating.
Speaker 1:I guess it's insinuated, but I think it would be interesting If it was somebody totally different and he just fucking went with it bro. That's why he's going in there murdering everybody. They have no idea what's going on, dog, and they just got massacred. What are swords, bro? I got fists. He broke a guy's neck with a simple Internal organs were splattered, Rib cages and skulls Fist.
Speaker 2:Yeah man, that was it. He broke a guy's neck with a simple uh Bro.
Speaker 1:Internal organs were splattered.
Speaker 2:Rib cages and skulls were crushed. Brain and eye matter along the walls.
Speaker 3:Brother.
Speaker 2:Six seven.
Speaker 1:Six seven, Six seven people, yeah, bro.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's crazy. Hilarious and they were like so we can send 75? Or we send 75? Or we send you 89?.
Speaker 1:Or what are we doing? No, bro, it was a wrap-up to that he was like all right well, I'm going to go and walk out.
Speaker 3:And that's what happened after that. But, anyway, it's good man, I mean I think it's the best part of the movie.
Speaker 2:His fight scenes, bro. They're all fireworks. You photo balls like a mess. Like the manga is cool, I could read it, but again you photo ball man.
Speaker 1:The firework battle, bro, his alt like it was a firework show pretty much, you know like it's a callback to whatever everything is so many things with his wife with his wife.
Speaker 3:He sees the fireworks. There's the jersey symbol again, even though he doesn't like remember, like all his fight moves are named after fireworks subconsciously.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he's doing it all in memory for her.
Speaker 3:And the kicks man, what a fight. The moves, they're snowflakes, right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the snowflakes, which is like the pins. You can see it, yeah.
Speaker 2:And the cool thing is in that fight with Giyu bro was doing the lightsaber ding ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding ding. But the whole Tanjiro bro was like there is no fireworks.
Speaker 1:The fireworks is in the mind he went ultra angsty, dead ass bro and everybody in the theater. He's like do it, tanjiro, do it before he notices you, I'm gonna do it bro everybody in the theater.
Speaker 3:I'm about to cut your shit off. Everybody, everybody just said I knew it.
Speaker 1:I'm about to cut your shit off, everybody, everybody just said, I knew it, that was a classic and he still did it he told him Larry Bird, over there, bro, I'm going to tell you. I'm about to do it. I'm going to shoot a three from right there and you can't stop me.
Speaker 2:Christmas prism, or wrap it for you. I'm going to cut a three from right there and you can't stop me. It's going to be a Christmas prism. I'll wrap it for you.
Speaker 3:I'm going to cut your head off. The whole part, the characters, the fight, the backstory, that was the best of the movie. And that's not even without getting into the Sunitsu fight and the Shinobu fight.
Speaker 1:Okay, so Shinobu, can we get into that one next? I know there's a lot, even more that I'm sure that we missed. Yeah, but the Shinobu fight, bro, was absolutely wild because I didn't expect her to put up as much of a fight as she did. I thought it was going to be a little bit. Yeah, honestly, I didn't think she was going to die, bro.
Speaker 3:I didn't think she was going to die. I didn't think she was going to die. I knew she was going to die first or just after a quick fight Bro.
Speaker 1:And the way she went out was so wild. Again he slashed half her torso, bro, her collarbone, lung ribs. What else did he say?
Speaker 2:Yeah, her lung. Like broke the ribs yeah one of her lungs was getting filled with blood.
Speaker 1:Yeah, he's like oh, that must be agonizing.
Speaker 2:You saw, it's such a fucking oh god professional rage.
Speaker 3:Better, bro, I do like the way they break it down it's like medically, there's all these things that like says you should you should not be standing up right now.
Speaker 1:How are you doing I?
Speaker 3:do like it because she's like she's still a hashida, so she's still like the best of the best right oh man so man, so she can stand up and put up a fight.
Speaker 1:What I thought was so interesting, though, was that even she acknowledged her shortcomings. She was like man. I wish I was just a little bit bigger. If only I could have been a little bit more of this.
Speaker 2:If only I could have been a little bit taller. I wish I was a baller. Yeah, bro.
Speaker 1:I'm a baller 100% pretty much, but it was.
Speaker 3:it was that sad moment for her, in my opinion, where she was just like man. Why can't I kill you? You know like it was wild.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that was a tough one bro and then her death, of course in 4k, though how was her death man?
Speaker 3:4k 4d that death. You know, whenever he breaks her back, you literally feel it, you feel it, you take that back shot with her pause, but yeah, but yeah. Her fight was awesome.
Speaker 1:The centipede technique was fucking cool as shit yeah, man, the the fact that she was as fast as she was. He even gives her the credit. He's like man, if you just went for the headshot you probably might have won yeah, you might have won, she just didn't have. Well, first off, she didn't have the blade designed for it and I don't know. I mean she could have tried, but I just don't think she had the blade I think it might have broke.
Speaker 3:I mean, the poison was interesting because it's like she kept messing with the poison, so it could be try to be effective yeah, so it was a really cool concept. Yeah, and then her seeing her sister. You know that's when he got sad yeah, yeah, that was really she went out like a g and you know, and hopefully they get to destroy him the next season.
Speaker 1:Yeah, man two years, yeah, but I will say, okay, the last thing her death bro. When he absorbed her I was like, oh man.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I couldn't believe he was absorbing her. He tells Kanao and she's like hold up, let me finish absorbing this girl.
Speaker 1:I was like hell she's so tender and sweet though I was like that's professional rage baiters, bro, professional rage baiters. But I was like they can't even bury her. I was like Rengoku had a funeral, bro, like she got nothing.
Speaker 2:For real.
Speaker 3:Anyway, and then Zenitsu, zenitsu, with the aura farming Zenitsu with the aura farming.
Speaker 1:Here's my beef with Zenitsu. He won and they didn't announce his win.
Speaker 3:Not a single crow acknowledged his death. Hey, he beat upper six, bro. Was it upper five, though?
Speaker 1:I saw a funny ass meme where it was three guys that were all being spoken. So he's like you can't take out an upper, an upper rank by yourself. He's like he's talking to y'all. He ain't talking to me. He's talking to y'all because I know he ain't talking to me oh shit, that's crazy.
Speaker 2:This is his aura farming every time he was on screen, bro, yeah man like the crow see everything, bro, like there was, like the whole infinite castle was beautiful, like the way it compounded, expanded like that design and then like yeah as the the. You see, not like the main characters, but like everyone is fighting bro, like even zoro got lost and he was there too. He was there. Just go look again. He's in the corner, he found that one piece his aura was green in the corner.
Speaker 1:Holy shit, that's awesome, but no man. That concept of like the literal infinite castle, it was like a cube inside of a cube inside of an infinite universe and I was like what are we watching? Bro what's going on? They put science in this shit, bro. What yeah? It was badass fucking, epic fucking epic.
Speaker 3:Yeah, no, dead ass. It was an amazing, freaking movie, I think the movie. Some people have criticisms with the spacing and stuff, but I'm like if you're mad about the pacing, then you haven't been watching Demon Slayer. I mean, the pacing was exactly how it's been and he left you on a, or were you just waiting for the next part?
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 3:So it was epic yeah.
Speaker 1:For me it was just an anime, it was a whole season that just didn't get like no cuts.
Speaker 3:And I'm sure here's the thing the next movie's going to come out in two years. I'm sure they're going to break it down into episodes, maybe add a little couple scenes here and there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, a little more flavor at the can see that happening for sure.
Speaker 3:Yeah, they'll do like intermission and then, and then the year after the next movie and finish with some creepy like ring goku's voice in the deep end.
Speaker 2:Remember how they finished that last season.
Speaker 3:Yeah yeah, yeah I forgot about that. That was a good one that was good man, when you hear his voice yeah, he was really here he was really just here yeah, it's good, but no, I mean the.
Speaker 1:The movie is dope.
Speaker 2:I'm looking forward to the future of it yeah, I imagine the next movie's gonna be upper moon one, upper moon two and then eventually the third one in the final god willing we have. The world is still here and we're all live, god I know it's gonna be epic absolutely yeah, but speaking of demons later, speaking of demons. You know what car game demon slayer is?
Speaker 3:in what they're in Bandai's car game Union Arena.
Speaker 1:That's right, let's go.
Speaker 3:And speaking of Bandai car games, let me get some of this stuff to show you guys.
Speaker 1:We have some toys like your mom likes to show you. Please fill in the dead face.
Speaker 2:You know what man Mom? I did love it. I loved everything about the movie.
Speaker 1:There we go, Dead, face over Dead face over that face over, there we go. I was going to say my you got some Gundam balls.
Speaker 2:These are the actual balls they put on the Gundam.
Speaker 3:They put it like this we went to Hang. I went to Bandai Card Game Fest, got invited to it. Nice Well, we didn't get invited. I applied paid to go paid to join the tournament. Damn. But Bandai Card Game Fest 2026, 2025 in Dallas.
Speaker 1:Ooh D-Town, he was a competitor.
Speaker 3:Ladies and gentlemen, I played in the Gundam tournament regionals, the first regionals of the Gundam card game.
Speaker 1:He was there.
Speaker 3:Big fan of Gundam so I started collecting the card game. I've done card games before we talked about card games here, yeah but started doing gundam. This is just some uh, this is just some of the goodies they give you. But man, I gotta say it was. This year was, first of all, it was crowded and there were fucking lines everywhere. I mean, some people were joking, it was the fire fest of uh conventions. They were calling it the Bandai Line Fest.
Speaker 1:Damn. Everything was a line huh, here's the thing.
Speaker 3:This is just Bandai's event. There's nothing else at the event but Bandai Car Game, and they have their retail shop.
Speaker 2:And, of course, everybody's starting to get. You're buying retail.
Speaker 3:Everybody's starting to get to the retail shop to buy their product and to buy the exclusives that you can only get at the event the product and to buy like the exclusives that you can only get at the event.
Speaker 3:Oh, to scout, yes, but that's the big problem. Like for the lines, there was a big mix-up with the lines, like because there was a competitors. Competitors were supposed to get in first, get first dibs and then general entry, but then at saturday they just kind of rushed everything and the lines got mixed up and they had a system where you scan a qr code and you reserve a time slot. Apparently, like one of the people on the inside, the volunteers leaked the qr code, so all the time slots were taken for the first hour and, of course, everything sold out in the first hour so it's like somebody on the inside leaked it to like the scalpers and they got it and everything was sold out.
Speaker 3:There was a restock on the second day, but I mean there were so many people Sunday I got there late on Saturday so I didn't even get a chance to go to retail. And then I played in the tournament. I won my first game, my boy Playing Red Green, playing a Sion Neo, sion Red Green deck, rush Deck or Midrange if you call it.
Speaker 2:I'll share the deck list if you know his fat deck list I'll share the deck list on our socials.
Speaker 3:I won the first one and I lost the second one, and then I lost the third one and I could stay in the tournament. But uh, let's think about these events. You gotta make a decision is are you gonna play or are you gonna go get some of the free promos or try to get to the retry?
Speaker 3:to get in line for the retail shop. So after I lost lost two I was like, okay, let me try to do the retail shop or try to get some of the free promos, and I decided to get that. So I dropped out of the tournament and the tournament was going to go like nine rounds Nice, Nine rounds is crazy. Yeah, because it was like 360 people in the tournament, so in order to pick somebody to go undefeated, they have to go nine rounds and every match is 30 minutes.
Speaker 1:Jesus, apparently part of this is my first big card game tournament and probably part of it is like endurance oh, that's crazy you sit in there going nine rounds, game after game after game do they even have like places for you to buy food and stuff there? Yeah, they had a little food court inside but you can't even walk away for that long, because you know you gotta say you gotta be back in there, you gotta be back, so you gotta bring food. Did you bring?
Speaker 3:food. Well, like I said, I dropped out of the tournament. Oh okay, but damn, that's, that's a lot yeah, yeah, it's a lot, I mean, and they started late, so they were supposed to be a lunch break, but since they started late, they're like now we're just gonna play through, and I don't know. I mean, I'm sure the tournament went all the way. I don't know how many rounds it ended up being, but at one point. It was like, yeah, there's gonna be nine rounds wow, nine rounds is a lot dog 30 minutes each bro.
Speaker 3:That's fucking, that's intense it's wild, but I I did get some freebies, so you got another deck box, bro, that's. That's from a local event oh, okay, okay, okay here we go. This is the uh. Oh, this is dragon for me. Check it out. Nice special being canon. Go ahead and his dad go ahead and pops, bro, let's see you can kind of see that, oh, this is the one piece promo that we're giving out. This is why I was like talking about afro luffy afro luffy this promo it gives you more power, that's cool I'm not sure how much it's going for now, but uh, I sold.
Speaker 3:I got two of them. I sold one on the spot for $25. Damn.
Speaker 1:I only got one left, but apparently that one's going for some money.
Speaker 3:Damn playeriness, but anyway, yeah, the Digimon promo. Digimon is like. I think it's a really popular game, but I have no idea how those cards are Neither, unfortunately. Evangelion for Union Arena. Union Arena is like the one where every set is a different anime. Yeah, I have seen this one that was Evangelion. And then the little packet had one promo of each card game. The Gundam promo was the chase that everybody was going for. Did you get it? I did, I actually got two of them.
Speaker 1:Nice. So here really is the ad for this recently on like Twitter or their Instagram account.
Speaker 2:Is that a special card or what is it?
Speaker 3:It's an EX base. It's a playable like in the game. You have your base and the opponent is trying to destroy your. Quote, unquote base. These promos are being sold for 60 bucks. Dude, that's crazy.
Speaker 3:It's crazy because, I mean, again, you get it free upon entry, you know $60. And it's wild because some of these people, the scalpers, you know they're already posting it online and they got stacks. They got like a stack of 10 of these promos and it's like man, how did these people get that many? You know, I got two because I didn't go alone and my friend just gave it to me Dope, so I'm not a scalper and I didn't cheat anybody out of it he totally I only got two of the packs because my friend, you know, he's not into car games, so he just gave it to me.
Speaker 3:Uh, so, and the other one. The other problem that I got this one's going for 30 people were selling them for 30 dollars, but he's the resource from the scavenger hunt. This one's from the g quack series oh yeah, the new one, oh that's from the new series, yeah that looks player and it's with Machu and the Jigwag Gundam, and these ones are going for $30.
Speaker 3:And again, people were like man, it's crazy how the scalpers just kind of set up with a basket of all the products that they bought, or they bought of people and they're like reselling it on the spot Like no shame. People are trying to like still get in line for the retail shop and you have the scalpers already ripped up at the food court.
Speaker 3:You know there was a zuleta playmat. Zuleta is the main character from witch for mercury. That's the one that I was kind of chasing. 49.99. It comes with the playmat and a special card. People were selling for 220. That was like the market rate that people were selling for four times the cost. And the thing is it was moving because I mean I guess people, people do buy it, huh people were buying it because, I mean, this is like a limited thing.
Speaker 3:It was gonna it was supposed to only be available at this event. Who knows if they're gonna like have it at other events. But again, supply was so limited that you know you're gonna pay for what you're gonna pay for. It's kind of like, hey, this is one chance to have it. You're not gonna like see this again it's the final countdown I mean, I guess that's the problem with the scalper.
Speaker 3:Kind of thing is like well, a scalper is gonna scalp as long as people yeah and people will buy for that much, because some of this stuff is really limited, like this, this right here. This is what I was able to get the Gundam card game first combat premium set. I actually got it. I haven't even opened it, but it has a play mat and it has 10 special resource cards. Oh shit, this thing is going for $300 online, but I think it was $80. I forgot how much I paid for it.
Speaker 3:What Dog the markup is crazy it's crazy dog it's going for $300 online and people were selling it, like the scalpers had it there and people were paying cash for it, like $270, like I saw somebody pay cash $270, but this thing is $80, you know. So it's crazy.
Speaker 1:It's a doggy dog world out there. It's a doggy dog world out there.
Speaker 3:It's a doggy dog world and I talked a little bit about Saturday when I played and I didn't get to do any shopping. But I was able to get the free promos Sunday. I'm like, okay, let me get their 5 am lineup, because there was already a line. Yeah, so I'm like get their 5 am lineup and then they changed everything. Like some people started a second line at another door right and they opened that door for some reason. And that line, that second line, they rushed in and there was like a brawl.
Speaker 2:Some people got ran over, so they kicked everybody out.
Speaker 3:You could see on the Bandai Car Game official Twitter that they're like hey, for safety, we're only going to let the competitors in today. The people that were playing Sunday, and I'm like man, I played yesterday.
Speaker 1:And.
Speaker 3:I just didn't pick it up. I played yesterday and since I was playing I didn't get to go to retail shop and they're like. That's why I came here at 5 am to line up.
Speaker 1:There's a line of us, because you're not playing today, you can't come in.
Speaker 3:You can't come in Because you're not playing today, you can't come in. You can't come in. And they let the One Piece players in because they had their tournament today, and the Union Arena players in because they had their tournament today. And they switched the system from QR code to tickets. But the tickets were randomized with time slots Damn. So you could get an 11 am ticket or a fucking 4 pm ticket, so you could just be there all day just fucking waiting bro.
Speaker 3:And the thing is so you can just be there all day just fucking waiting, bro, and I think it's the 4 pm Ticket everything's gonna be sold out. Yeah, so unless you get that 10 am Ticket or whatever, that was it, yeah, if you get it, if you get the tickets were random and if you get the ticket that's 4 pm.
Speaker 2:I got a 4 pm Ticket.
Speaker 3:I actually had somebody else buy this for me.
Speaker 1:Look, dog, here's a hundred bucks. Just do me the favor, dog, here's $100.
Speaker 3:Just do me the favor, I still pay my $20.
Speaker 1:That's not an outrageous thing to do, bro.
Speaker 3:It's somebody I'm cool with, so he's like man, you know, he's an extra $20. He's like no dude, I'm only going to charge you retail he's like oh okay, for next time Can I get this little payment? He's like nah, I'm buying that one.
Speaker 1:Come on, bro. You said you were cool.
Speaker 3:No, I'm like he's gonna tell over himself, but I actually had to have somebody else buy this for me. You know, gave me a little extra bro but, at least I didn't pay 300 dollars like yeah, you didn't do anything, crazy man and uh, I mean I am gonna try to move some of these promos, not gonna lie.
Speaker 3:Like I said I I sold that afro luffy on the spot for 25 bucks. That's so I'm new. I am new to the card game and to like how the collecting and how the selling is, and it's all the hype right now. People are talking about stock investors are getting into Pokemon to diversify their portfolio.
Speaker 2:Yeah, pretty much what.
Speaker 3:That's crazy. If you read that article. Yeah, it's possible. It was an actual article, it's millennial stock shares. Like they can afford a $10,000 card yeah sure, and they can afford a $10,000 card and they'll go up.
Speaker 2:It's like a stock the thing is you have $10,000 sitting there in the bank. You can either put it on a card, like a Pokecard, which is going to become $20,000 In 15 years, or it's just $10,000 in the bank or you just sit there.
Speaker 3:So, to diversify your portfolio, people are looking at Pokemon cards. It's possible and again. It's just like stocks it could either double, so to diversify your portfolio people are looking at Pokemon cards.
Speaker 2:It's possible, and again it's just like socks.
Speaker 3:I've seen crazy traction. It could either double or drop.
Speaker 1:Have you seen those original first packs, bro? Some of them run like half a million dollars, $300,000.
Speaker 3:Like the booster packs and stuff Like bro, Some of those booster packs, just a pack.
Speaker 1:It's stupid money and I'm like what but if? You hit dogs.
Speaker 3:Some of them are crazy, Obviously with the hype. The hype this year apparently a band of first for what I was hearing is like the last couple of band of face have have not been this crazy. But the hype for the Gundam car game made it like out of control because they had this new exclusive items. That Gundam car game is in his first year, so people don't know if, like, the cards are going to hold value or not, but the first year items are going to. Those are the items that the first edition.
Speaker 2:Bandai is a big, fucking big household name especially. Gundam. Gundam is in the 70s. It's like. I mean, yeah, it's pretty much like I can see it. It started with figures and then expanding this market keeps expanding. Bro, I can see bandai just being there yeah, bro, card games nintendo's been for 100 years bro and again.
Speaker 3:One of the criticisms was like hey, gundam should know that there's demand for their product, so why wouldn't they bring more product to their own event?
Speaker 2:I imagine limited right makes it sexy, like if it's like I mean I can make a million, but then you won't buy it if it's a dollar.
Speaker 3:I don't know Because, okay, the retail for it is 80. So if it gets resold, Bandai doesn't Okay.
Speaker 2:Oh wait, wait, Hold on, hold on. What am I? Am I thinking this as a fan of Bandai, or am I thinking this as a capitalist?
Speaker 3:Just in general, just in general, well, just in your own. No, no, no.
Speaker 2:Because if I'm a hardcore capitalist then no, I'm going to limit this shit. I'm trying to maximize my profit.
Speaker 3:No, no, no. But I mean again, you don't make more Like, okay, this box is going for $300 in the aftermarket right, yeah, but the people who paid it. For it, though, In the car game black market. So this box is making $300. But is making $300. But the company is going to make $80 of it regardless. It doesn't matter how much more it goes for in the aftermarket. You as the company, you already set the price right, but making it limited do you still create more demand for your game.
Speaker 2:Yeah, pretty much.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you make more demand for the game. Honestly, when you said it like that, I'm like yeah.
Speaker 3:When you make it more limited, yes. But if you don't have more product, you're not making money.
Speaker 2:You make another product that you just sell, the same concept again and again and again.
Speaker 1:They're going to change the color of the box or give you a different card.
Speaker 3:Yeah, like that Wing Gundam box that they put out. That's it.
Speaker 1:And look, and now they'll charge $90 on the next one because it's something different or slightly more limited, or I'll even hire analysts and see hey, which products didn't sell?
Speaker 2:These products didn't sell, All right, so let's sell the ones that didn't sell, and then let's make a red version, but with the gold color in it, and make it the 10-year anniversary.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, that's it. It's like Pokemon, bro. We bought three versions of the same game.
Speaker 2:It depends If I'm a loyal Bandai is like I like.
Speaker 1:like certain things because I like certain like brand. I started with one thing that we talked about is like adidas minus new balance bandai. It started with one thing and then you start figuring out like oh, what else are they guys?
Speaker 3:obviously, obviously I wanted the gundam card game like exclusive stuff. But the one piece stuff, like I know the one piece stuff has a good resale value and I could trade it for like other high value condom cards. So if I was able to get into, I didn't get into a retail. Well, I got a 4 pm slot but I wasn't gonna stay till 4 pm for fucking like a chance to buy some lame shit. So but if I got into a retail shop I probably my plan was to buy some of those one piece limited items because I know I could trade them for like high level cards yeah, what's cool for you is that you don't have any sentimental value to the cards they're like ah, they're just good products you can also like trade it for gundams as you.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's more money in his pocket you know, just for getting free like I know some people were asking, like the dragon ball fans, you know, I know that shit, I know that shit which is it too?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I can see that one being popular. Dragon Ball yeah, dragon Ball yeah those cars are surprisingly popular. Going up, yeah, but I mean again but Ganyu's a household name, though, like it's up there with the rest of these big fellers. Yeah, it is yeah.
Speaker 1:Oh, I'm surprised they say did they have any models?
Speaker 3:No models, no models. The retail shop was all about the cars and they had some figures from Tamashii Nations.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, but those ones are super cool.
Speaker 3:It was all about the cars and the limited items, but it was a shit show. I mean, I'm sure some people were able to get their stuff, but the way the scalpers were just reselling everything, man, that's hard. Do better Bandai. Hard, do better bandai. Help us out, bro. And the thing is is my first time going to a bandai event, going to a big car game for for bandai, but I'm into million conventions you know, oh yeah, I never seen one that was so poorly organized that's unfortunate.
Speaker 3:Better bandai yeah, do better the fire fest of the bandai car game fire fest, you know that's funny well, anyway, next thing, you know I'm gonna get banned. Hey, we heard you hey, bro.
Speaker 1:So we don't really agree with how you disagreed with us.
Speaker 3:Obviously I love the game. I'm still buying the product.
Speaker 1:No, no, no you said what you said, bro. You said what you said. Don't try to take it.
Speaker 3:I was actually able to trade for some cool stuff. So these cars I bought for like some stupid money. Uh, ages gundam Sinanju, this one you might like the Togis.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's sick.
Speaker 3:You can show the Togis to the camera, but that's the Alt Art that one's going for like $45, $45, $20. Dang those I was able to trade with other players for those are fuego bro. I mean, I still met a lot I had a toggy's toy.
Speaker 2:I think I still have.
Speaker 1:I gotta find it action figure action figure I had a doll that was a gundam bro. It was crazy gundam, muddle.
Speaker 2:Excuse me, no, not gunpla, not gunpla, it was an actual yeah, it was an actual action, it was this, like this one, and you like you, can play with it and put the toy.
Speaker 1:It wasn't the no ham, I would never buy a gunpla bro, my dad bought me one one time and I know what I was doing and I broke shit before I even got it, before he got there and he's like, why didn't you wait bro? I just told you to wait. I was gonna help you with my bad.
Speaker 2:You think it's built?
Speaker 3:yeah, it's not, it's not completely off topic, but uh, completely off topic, but bandai kargan was in dallas. What? And saturday night. This is a dangerous thing.
Speaker 1:I went to medieval times oh, I thought I said, bro said I'm about to say the same thing I went to medieval times.
Speaker 3:I got me a oh it's actually kind of heavy.
Speaker 2:There's no cheap plastic like the Disney one.
Speaker 3:I watched Nights go at it with metal swords and sparks and jousting.
Speaker 1:You had a big-ass turkey leg, didn't you? That's cool.
Speaker 3:I had a big-ass half a chicken that they give you with no utensils. You got to eat everything with your hands. That's badass. They save on silverware and you watch the tournament. You know, I've never been it. It's obviously like for kids, but like adults go to. There was like this bridal party, like on the on the low, like they were having the time of their life just screaming because every section gets to root for a night like the black and white night, the green night, the red night. You obviously had the black and white night. We were at the black and white night and the bridal party was just going off trying to get his attention. Nice.
Speaker 1:This is cool.
Speaker 3:So random, random, but since I was in Dallas and they had a Medieval Times Two for one and Cable Guy is one of my favorite movies- I love that shit, dude.
Speaker 1:That's awesome.
Speaker 3:Checked out Medieval Times in Dallas. This would fuck somebody up, bro, that would fuck somebody up.
Speaker 1:That would fuck somebody up.
Speaker 2:I was going to say it's pretty heavy.
Speaker 3:Like Disney ones, nah bro when I saw it on the wall Disney, do better. I thought it was like, is this foam? And then I grabbed it and I'm like, oh no, that's not.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah that would hurt leave that in your car, bro, you can fuck somebody so whenever I go to a Texas Ram Fest, I'm definitely gonna take this on. Yo ho ho, ladies and gentlemen, yo ho yo anyway random.
Speaker 3:I went on a random side quest after the shit show that was the Bandai.
Speaker 1:Car Fest and we're not sponsored by the Medieval Times, ladies and gentlemen, not yet.
Speaker 3:And hopefully we just lost our Bandai sponsorship.
Speaker 1:Bandai do better. Bandai do better.
Speaker 3:No, but I had fun in the tournament and I love the card game, so sponsor us. Suki went with you, bro. Right, suki went with you, bro right, suki went with you to the band? Yeah, she did. What are your thoughts?
Speaker 1:All right, Guys. Wbm Podcast is one of your hosts. It's your boy, Mark. Please make sure you guys are following us on our socials at WBM underscore podcast.
Speaker 2:And this your boy X-Fan. You should be following us on Apple Podcast, amazon Podcast, stitcher, iheartradio, spotify, all that jazz. And it's your boy, tico and the Migs and the.
Speaker 3:Migs as I go in my Bandai car name app. As always, check out the website WBMPodcastcom. You can find a whole library of episodes. Go back to seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. And if you want to support the show, there's a link on the website every episode description where you can support the show.
Speaker 2:Sign up to WBM plus a big shout out to one of our fans. Let me your mom. He gives a shout out.
Speaker 1:He's a big fan of the podcast guys, we'll see you in the next one. Peace.