This post was originally shared on Kanzenshuu’s Patreon page in November 2025. I am reposting it here for posterity and larger exposure for the work that we do. If you enjoy this kind of work, be sure to check out the actual website… and after that, you’ll assuredly want to become a Patron!
Exactly 20 years ago today I launched our podcast at what was then still Daizenshuu EX.
Reflecting back on the news of the day (FUNimation box sets, Dragon Box: The Movies…), it’s actually really hard to put myself back where I was at that time. I’ve talked about “the old days” (and “history” in general) so much, that this era has taken on a kind of weird, ethereal, legendary, mythical kind of quality.
Were things better back then? Were we better back then? The answer is probably “no”… but it’s hard not to think back fondly on it all, right?
I’m psyched to share our 530th podcast episode today, in which we (in part) take a look back at November 2005. (The YouTube version is embedded at the top of this post, but rest assured your MP3 enclosure in an RSS feed is never going away.) We talk about the box sets, we talk about Sparking!, we talk about the podcast itself… it’s all there, and I hope you’ll enjoy this trip down memory lane the same way I did. (Feels like we’ve done a lot of that lately…)
As I wrapped up editing the show, writing up all the links and resources, and doing all the little website checks I need to go through, a bunch of memories started flooding in. From convention gatherings, to the Manga Review of Awesomeness, to marriages and kids, to everything in between… we’ve kinda seen it all.
Our show pre-dates things like the iPhone (for the millionth time, I have to stress that our podcast launch was contemporary with the PlayStation 2), so I have some photos kicking around as physical photographs, and a few on some ancient digital cameras… so just know that I’ve done my best here!
The RadioShack Equipment
I can’t find any photos of us actually using this equipment, but I still have it! This is what I ran down to RadioShack and bought back in November 2005. I had no idea what I needed, why I needed it, how to connect it… or anything at all, really. Apologies for the podcast sounding terrible for something like 112 episodes.
The Apartment Setup
We were still living in our first apartment when the podcast launched; I wouldn’t have my prized basement for another three-ish years. I upgraded microphones and mixers in the meantime, though. Here’s a sideways glance at the setup. That’s my trusty ol’ MXL 990 up front. I’m not sure what microphone is in the back… maybe one of Jeff’s?
Speaking of Jeff, I can only imagine what he just said that warranted this response. We’ll never know.
Reviews of Awesomeness
I know the “Manga Review of Awesomeness” is a perennial favorite. I loved it too, but I almost want to take on a complete re-do with everything that I’ve learned in the time since! Gosh, we were still saying “Saiya-jin” in the early days here! Maybe once we’ve finished releasing all the “Dragon Ball GT Review of Awesomeness” episodes (which are totally, absolutely, legitimately done and just sitting on a hard drive somewhere in this basement), we’ll loop back around again. Ka is a wheel, after all.
Besides, it would give us an excuse to have another cake!
The Basement
Once we had a real house and a real basement, boy oh boy, did I go buck wild. As I look around this same room today, I can’t help but laugh at how simple and barren this room was back in 2009. You can’t take one step in here without tripping over a Saikyo Jump now!
Laptops
As I continued through my career, luxuries like “laptops” suddenly became a very real possibility! Looking at the episode number on this, it seems like I’m editing our first big Dragon Ball Evolution review, where Julian handled the Japanese theatrical debut and I handled the Junior Novelization. This photo is at my in-laws’ so I must have been cramming to get this one done despite being out and about.
Album Art
Something that I think goes extremely under-appreciated is our podcast’s album artwork. Karan reached out to me (totally unprompted!) at some point long ago and presented me with new podcast artwork. Up to that point, I had been using this as the show’s artwork:
WOOF! Karan is a designer by trade, and ended up putting together this incredible, tankobon-inspired piece of awesomeness:
When we re-launched as Kanzenshuu in 2012, I reached back out to Karan and asked about interest in updating the artwork with the new site name. I got back three incredible options, but we opted to go with an overall direct update to the original design, which is the one we continue to use to this day!
I remember there being a little push-back from the community when Karan switched to the actual Toriyama artwork (instead of the smoothed out traced version from the Daizenshuu EX version before it). I like both!
Notes
We really changed how how we’ve done notes and show prep over the years. I’ve shared some of this before, but I’m so happy to still have and be able to re-share some of the earliest hand-written podcast show notes we have… including ones for the very first episode! I definitely still stand by all of this with regard to Sparking! here in its original outing.
Funny story about these notes: when I posted them on Twitter a couple years back, someone saw the “2011” at the top of the pad and accused us of fabricating them (insinuating that the legal pad was released in 2011, so therefore it couldn’t have notes as originally written in 2005). Obviously that was ridiculous, but it annoyed me so much that I brought it to the Patreon chat and we did a little research. SPR-2011 is the product/model number on this legal pad! (Thanks, Shoe!)
A couple pages into the pad, I started listing out a bunch of potential podcast ideas. Some of these encompass the first episode itself, so I wonder why I started taking notes on the game ahead of these episode ideas. Maybe I knew for sure what’s what we would lead with?
A few pages later I have a pretty substantial and concrete overview for what would be the second episode of the podcast. Love the Roman numerals for the sections!
While looking through the notes, a loose page fell out which Julian clearly had written. This pre-dates the podcast, and must have been for our Dragon Ball AF prank in 2004! I think he had shoved this in with some DVDs he off-loaded onto me, and I in turn shoved it in with the podcast notes so I wouldn’t lose it.
This is a little bit “notes” and a little bit “collateral” at the same time, but I also happened to dig up the flyer we distributed at our MangaNEXT panel in 2007, which turned into our 97th podcast episode. Was this our first live episode…?!
This isn’t really “notes”-related, but speaking of conventions: I absolutely treasure all the times I’ve been able to speak and present about Dragon Ball and Akira Toriyama himself. Here’s a bonus video screenshot of Heath/Mike/Meri from Otakon 2010 (which I’m still angry about due to the lack of a space between the “Daizenshuu” and the “EX”):
This archival photo of our notes from our 252nd episode is a pretty special one, because it was this weekend that Heath and I formally agreed to move ahead with merging our sites! Note the “Kanzenshuu EX” there in the opening statement. Yes, I actually printed out individual note sheets for everyone! (You’ll just have to either imagine or go back and listen to what Corey’s title was.)
Today
I certainly have a lot of thoughts and feelings as I browse through these old photos! The one thing that really sticks out to me is how scrappy and DIY the whole thing always has been. I love that about the podcast, and about the site as a whole. We’re not selling you a mattress and we don’t have banners crashing your browser. We do this because we love it, and because we can’t stop.
Finally, a special shout-out to this girl (seen here circa 2010). The podcast just turned 20, and so did Tara. This secret special podcast host has been with us the entire time!
With love and appreciation, and looking forward to the next 20 years…
-Mike
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