Live Listener Q&A: Anime, Movies & 100 Awkward Conversations

Recorded live in September 2021, Henrique Couto and Michelle celebrate 100 installments of This Show is Awkward with listener questions, technical mishaps and the unpredictable rhythm of audience chat. Looking back to the podcast’s November 2019 beginning, they consider what it means to create a weekly conversation with no fixed subject—simply two longtime friends making each other laugh without a script or commercial goal.The questions turn Michelle’s difficulty choosing “starter anime” into a lively recommendation list. Attack on Titan, Death Note, Cowboy Bebop, the first season of My Hero Academia, Erased and Steins;Gate all enter the debate, with Re:Zero offered as an example of a more demanding starting point. Michelle also tells the story behind her song Banned at Mugshots, inspired in part by the Crass song Banned from the Roxy and a memorable Philadelphia café performance.Movies, food and creativity keep the live show moving. The hosts revisit Phantasm, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Gone Girl and Planes, Trains and Automobiles; compare favorite dishes including Mexican rice and beans, soup, pesto and udon; and discuss Inktober and conversational improv. Henrique reflects on his early Ustream broadcasts and explains why this informal podcast gives him a creative outlet distinct from the more produced Weekly Spooky.A filmmaking question brings practical perspective from Henrique’s directing career: be friendly, arrive on time, stay sober and understand that a screen actor often performs for the director rather than a responsive crowd. He contrasts stage feedback with the quiet concentration of a film set and names Nothing Good Ever Happens among his proudest projects. Audience identities, health claims and stale promotions have been omitted, leaving an energetic milestone built around friendship, anime, movies and making art for its own sake.LinksEmail the hosts: [email protected]