Return To The Past: A Code Lyoko Retrospective

After weeks of teasing, we're finally showing you the goods. How well does The Pretender hold up, actually? Does it fly high like a crow possessed, or buckle under the weight of its awkwardness and casual racism? Will David be validated, or stomp away in an impotent rage like a Waluigi fan after E3? The answer may shock you! And speaking of Smash Bros, which characters would the Lyoko Warriors main? Are we childish enough to stop the show dead in its tracks to laugh at a fake used car ad and troll Ben's sweet mother with incomprehensible coolkid lingo? Well, you probably know the answer to one of those questions already. Tune in for the other one. === The Code Lyoko DVD raffle is still going until August 31st! Sign up to become a patron for entry! Click here for Big Bill Hell's (language warning): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sZuN0xXWLc  Click here for SLOTH: https://78.media.tumblr.com/fa598ba0b918f5e1f4ff11764db818c3/tumblr_pbnfotBbw61v8ntgio1_500.jpg  Click here for the horngus of a dongfish: https:/

Cards on the table: this episode is roughly 50% plot and 50% stinky feet jokes. Which, fun fact, none of us actually remembered until we were about five minutes into the episode! And the weirdest thing about that is, it's still just as poignant as we thought it was back then. It gives us a ton to think about as far as Aelita's relationship with her father and her memories of her past, a big moment of tension with her and Jeremie, and one of the greatest moments of emotional maturity Odd has ever exhibited. But also there's foot stink. Just all of it, all the jokes.  (But don't worry too much about that - we're still making our OWN jokes! Including one that made Ben literally spit water all over his room.) IN OTHER NEWS! You've heard us talk about this for months, but we're finally doing it! To celebrate the long-awaited release of Teen Titans Go! to the Movies (not really), we're doing RAFFLES RAFFLES RAFFLES! That's right, three Funimation Code Lyoko DVDs are up for grabs, and all you have to do for a chance

We have a lot of fun here at Return to the Past, but every one in a while, an episode comes along that leaves us scratching our heads.   Is it Code Lyoko's attempt at being topical and political (it features both anthrax and Tamagotchi), recycled from a script for a mid-90s Jim Carrey movie that would never be, or simply an adaptation of a NyQuil fever dream the writers had one night? We'll probably never know.   Were Tamagotchi still a thing in 2006? Why does one of the government agents sound like Michael Jaleel White? Is there a God? Why did Danimals retire all their animal mascots except for the monkey when clearly the Strawberry Kiwi alligator was the far superior spokesman? These and many other questions will not be answered on our show today, with Mary, Ben, David, and our special celebrity guest, Mary's dog. Click here for a Man in Black shooting lightning out of his mouth: http://img.codelyoko.fr/galeries/56_fausse_piste/Fausse_piste_255.jpg  === We are again calling on our listeners to do all they c

Just a heads up - both David and Ben had some audio issues in this episode, so apologies for any static! Would you eat an apple that had fallen on the floor? What if that happle had been part of a giant killer food golem? That and other questions will be explored in today's episode of Return to the Past. Our goofy cartoon villain conjures a food monster, our plucky kid heroes learn a moral about healthy eating, and the Russians are screwing with us again. It's like we're back in the eighties! Anybody got some cocaine? === We are again calling on our listeners to do all they can to fight back against injustice at the U.S. border and in the immigration system: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/06/how-you-can-fight-family-separation-at-the-border.html  ===== Questions? Comments? Email us at rttppodcast@gmail.com or follow us on Twitter at @rttppodcast. Or find our bonus content on Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/supernucleargroup Cover art by the very skilled Ingram! Find their work at @ingramcomix or

Season three introduces its big new gimmick: Waelita (that's our name for Evil Aelita - we're trying to make it happen) and her penchant for deleting Lyoko one sector at a time. If only it hadn't done it in one of the lamest episodes since season one! The puns fly as fast as the ancient memes and Homestuck references as Mary, Ben, and David once again attempt to grapple with their feelings towards the latter half of the show. Only one thing is certain: at least one of us is getting fired. A lot. Click here for A1's cover of "Take on Me" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOXmyeMn_aM  === We are again calling on our listeners to do all they can to fight back against injustice at the U.S. border and in the immigration system: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/06/how-you-can-fight-family-separation-at-the-border.html  ===== Questions? Comments? Email us at rttppodcast@gmail.com or follow us on Twitter at @rttppodcast. Or find our bonus content on Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/supernucleargroup Cover

This may not come as a surprise to any of you, but watching the start of Season 3 for the first time in a decade has confirmed for Mary and Ben that yes, they were in fact remembering it through the eyes of bitter angry teens. (David has well and proper gotten his revenge for "firmly grasp it.") So we've come at Straight to Heart again with fresh new eyes, and in the process we've discovered more to love about it! We spent ten minutes trying to figure out French summer vacation system, sang the praises of Hiroki 2.0, and slowly but surely realized that slamming the brakes on the Yumi/Ulrich train was very much the best thing for Yumi to do. We also carefully sidestepped trying to understand Time Cube, and instead basked in all the glorious emails we've gotten over the past week! Thank you so much, again, for this peer validation and peer approval.  ===== We are again calling on our listeners to do all they can to fight back against injustice at the U.S. border and in the immigration system: https://slate.com/

Jess joins us yet again to discuss the second half of the much-debated prequel. Who will change their mind? Who will change their ground? Who will embarrassingly fail to remember where "firmly grasp it in your hand" comes from? (It's David. The third one is David.) This is probably our fastest time from starting the episode to getting into the meats, but don't you think for a second that we are not back on our usual bullsh*t. From UFOs and mosquitos to the "gamer" episode of The X-Files and Ben's weird thing about orcs, today's episode is guaranteed to delight!* *Not guaranteed at all. Click here to see Mulder's Lyoko form: https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--NSFFidVZ--/c_scale,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/nyfucsdmnxkb2atfx2nl.png  Scully's, too: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/rnZr_2PHxfo/maxresdefault.jpg  ===== We are again calling on our listeners to do all they can to fight back against injustice at the U.S. border and in the immigration system: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/06/h

Friend of the show and Bigfoot enthusiast Jess - co-host of the Lupin Lottery and The Spooky Spot podcasts - joins us for the first time to geek about cryptids and Rod Serling with David. Meanwhile, the adults in the room, Mary and Ben, talk about the infamous Code Lyoko prequel (as adults are wont to do). No one seems to agree on this thing - we're not even sure if it's the first episode of the series, the last episode of season two, the first of season three, or the last of season four! Is it good? Does it suck? Did it give us too much background or not nearly enough? If you have nothing better to do in the next two hours, give us a click and find out! (Don't worry - we know you don't.) This episode of Code Lyoko carries a content warning for racism/racist comments. === You can find Jess's podcasts on iTunes or wheresoever you get your podcasts, or on Twitter @lupinlottery ( https://twitter.com/lupinlottery ) and @thespookyspot ( https://twitter.com/TheSpookySpot ). Questions? Comments? Email us at rttppodc

Our season break continues with a return to Fanfiction Theater, featuring the show's first unofficial official unofficial Halloween special. William cosplays as Michael Jackson in this one - the sort of thing the show was always missing, if you ask us. We also go over some spreadsheets, content that we are told is popular with today's savvy teens (don't ask us, we're just sad adults) and take an extra deep dive into our mailbag. Give us a click and join the fun! ===== Click here to read Cat Man Do! https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12868443/1/Cat-Man-Do  Questions? Comments? Email us at rttppodcast@gmail.com or follow us on Twitter at @rttppodcast. Or find our bonus content on Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/supernucleargroup Cover art by the very skilled Ingram! Find their work at @ingramcomix or www.ingramcomix.com. Opener: "Un Monde Sans Danger" by Franck Keller and Ygal Amar Outro: "S'Envoler" by Herman Martin, Serge Tavitan, and The Subdigitals

This episode of Code Lyoko carries a content warning for attempted suicide from 5:38-5:57 and from 6:50 to 7:20 in the Youtube edition. This episode of Return to the Past carries a content warning for discussion of attempted suicide throughout, primarily between 44:00 and 1:00:00. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (USA): 1-800-273-8255 Trans Lifeline: US: (877) 565-8860 CANADA: (877) 330-6366 The Trevor Project: 1-866-488-7386  Global lifelines: http://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/  ===== In some ways The Key is every bit as beautiful as we remembered that it was, with intricate storytelling, intense plot developments, and hints at a greater and more challenging battle yet to come. On the other hand... how did we not remember the RIDICULOUS levels of mood whiplash in this episode? Some of the most intense and upsetting moments in the entire series are bookended with school dance drama, and would that we could reach into the past and change that. Still, we hope you enjoy this episode, where we cel

We return to our regularly scheduled programming this week with part one of the non-two-parter two-part finale. Here, you'll finally learn the Big Secret we've been spoiling relentlessly since we started this whole ridiculous enterprise, so please act surprised! As our first post-McElboy episode, we have an extra hefty mailbag to sift through, as well as ridiculously cool fight scenes, awful looking mashed potatoes, and one of the more harrowing near-deaths in CL history. ===== Click here to view boxer brief underwear with wolves on them. Slightly NSFW: https://78.media.tumblr.com/2f329f3b5e84305b32be4b1e6f16f4e1/tumblr_p9ayvtSTM41qdmeh0o1_1280.png  Click here to learn more about the Back to Reality casting call! https://www.castingcall.club/projects/back-to-reality-cast-auditions  Questions? Comments? Email us at rttppodcast@gmail.com or follow us on Twitter at @rttppodcast. Or find our bonus content on Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/supernucleargroup Cover art by the very skilled Ingram! Find their wor

Note before we start: We are experimenting with making the Rec Rooms explicit-rated which in this case just means we don't bleep out the swears. Be on the lookout for some HECKIN ROUGH LANGUAGE. It's time to take a break from high-octane (for a certain value of "high-octane") Lyoko action and just shoot the breeze for a little while. Call it the calm before the storm that the two-part season finale represents. We tell stories about our experiences with Code Lyoko fandom, argue about our favorite eras of Cartoon Network, and talk about the time Mark Hamill went from hanging out with a gay robot to playing one on adult swim. We also bite down hard on a juicy interview with Sophie Decroisette that contradicts everything you thought you knew about Code Lyoko! Well, maybe. And hey, what's this? We put an ad out on a slightly more popular podcast? You'd better believe it! If you're a McElboy fan, here for the first time, welcome! And, er, you might wanna start with literally any other episode. This one's kind of a

!si tahw sseug reven ll'ouY .sretcarahc dna ecneidua eht morf noitamrofni edih ot rehpyc revelc a esu sretirw eht ,edosipe siht nI Nah, but we kid, this episode is good. The plot keeps thickening and the characters keep making the same kind of nonsensical, boneheaded decisions we've come to love them for. We poke a lot of fun at them, but there was a point in our lives when this was as serious as it got for us. Ah, to be slightly younger again! ===== Questions? Comments? Email us at rttppodcast@gmail.com or follow us on Twitter at @rttppodcast. Or find our bonus content on Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/supernucleargroup Cover art by the very skilled Ingram! Find their work at @ingramcomix or www.ingramcomix.com. Opener: "Un Monde Sans Danger" by Franck Keller and Ygal Amar Outro: "S'Envoler" by Herman Martin, Serge Tavitan, and The Subdigitals

Note: You may notice some audio echo in this episode. I did my best to get rid of it, but if any remains, let me know! ===== A weird old guy shows up in the factory, and despite the fact that he doesn't appear to eat, sleep, or get out of his cahir, he's totally not a XANA attack, you guys.  He's here to fix absolutely everything that's ever gone wrong for the Lyoko Warriors, convince Yumi that she has brain cancer, and maliciously ostracize Jeremie from the group (and on his BIRTHDAY, too!). Thankfully, this is one of the episodes where he (Jeremie) gets to be heroic. We're also the luckiest viewers ever this time because we get to meet The Man, The Myth, The Legend, #1 Best At Dad Michel Belpois. Not a doormat like Jean-Pierre, not passive-aggressive like Yumi's parents, and not a total dick like Ulrich's dad. Just a nice, normal dude who loves his son and wants him to succeed. And call his parents more often. ===== Questions? Comments? Email us at rttppodcast@gmail.com or follow us on Twitter at @rttppodca

Who's ready to get heckin' spoopy? Our second kind-of-but-not-really quasi-Halloween special reveals that ghosts exist in the Code Lyoko universe! I mean, it doesn't make much of a difference, if any at all, but it's there. They canon'd it; they can't un-canon it. Oh and also Sissi's into witchcraft apparently. This episode is special because it's the only one penned by guest writers Neil Gaiman and Tim Burton! Nah, just kidding, it's just Bruno Merle and Jean-Remi Francois again. But we totally had you going for a second there, didn't we? ...oh, we didn't? Well, shoot. We'll try harder next time. Join us for ominous Latin chanting, Powerpuff Girls references (an RTTP rarity!), and another awkward attempt to shoehorn Code Lyoko into a popular meme. In other words, the good sh*t that keeps you coming back. Enjoy! ===== Questions? Comments? Email us at rttppodcast@gmail.com or follow us on Twitter at @rttppodcast. Or find our bonus content on Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/supernucleargroup Cover art by th

Note: No new episode next week! Ben is on vacation and we decided we wanted to be too. :P Tune in the week after that for Is Anybody Out There! === Good news for rubbernecks: this episode is a slow-motion train wreck, a veritable cavalcade of characters making baffling decisions and generally acting like total dicks. Do we like it anyway? Of course we do, because we're absolute sheep for Code Lyoko. I'm just saying, this time we came awfully close to only liking it ironically. ===== Questions? Comments? Email us at rttppodcast@gmail.com or follow us on Twitter at @rttppodcast. Or find our bonus content on Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/supernucleargroup Cover art by the very skilled Ingram! Find their work at @ingramcomix or www.ingramcomix.com. Opener: "Un Monde Sans Danger" by Franck Keller and Ygal Amar Outro: "S'Envoler" by Herman Martin, Serge Tavitan, and The Subdigitals

Note: At a few point during this episode, David's audio will cut out for a split second for some reason, and it's left a few jokes without punchlines. x.x My apologies! Can you believe that absolutely NO ONE saw the twist about the meaning of Aelita's visions coming at the time? Or maybe we did, and we didn't want to see it? Either way, new mysteries are afoot, new tensions are a-brewin', and after about the 13th minute of the episode we drop almost all of it to spend ten minutes flipping around on Lyoko, as has become the custom. (Somehow no memory of this survived into my twenties.) Anyway, we at RTTP SUPER hope you enjoy this one, and that those of you new to the show are on the edge of your seats, as much as you can be since we've spoiled a whole lot. As promised, we've done EXTRA emails this time! We've also wondered why anyone would go to the trouble of stealing a piano, realized that William is barely in this show, and invoked the name of K*maeda, The Forbidden One.  ===== Questions? Comments? Email us

Sporky and Shin Garrett of Going Digital join us once again to talk about Code Lyoko, but this time, we'll be discussing an actually good episode! (We're not saying we ate Davide for talking too much crap about Rock Bottom?, but we're not NOT saying it, either.) This episode is about as dark as Code Lyoko gets, putting its teenage characters in the sort of peril you don't normally see in cartoons. But don't worry - we're rolling out some of our finest jokes about rectal thermometers and unwashed sumo loincloths to defuse the tension. You're welcome. We also introduce Edna the camerawoman, quite possibly (and we don't say this lightly) the show's most splendiferous two-bit player since Thomas Jolivet. ===== Speaking of Going Digital, they're running a 72-hour charity livestream this weekend and Mary will be streaming an hour of Code Lyoko on Saturday, March 24 at 9 PM EST! It's live from March 23-25 at twitch.tv/goingcharitable . ==== Questions? Comments? Email us at rttppodcast@gmail.com or follow us on Twit

If you're the kind of viewer who feels that Code Lyoko circles around its problems but never actually address them, we have some good news: this episode invents a brand-new lifelong phobia for one of the main characters and sees him overcome it in the span of twenty-two minutes. Executives at Cartoon Network tried to put a stop to that madness, alleging that it would be unappealing to boys ages six to twelve, but MoonScoop went ahead with their bold vision for the show. Which is why France is at the pinnacle of culture and taste, and everything we filthy yanks make is consumerist garbage. Anyway, let's watch some cartoons. Of course, there's also the three of us talking nonsense, a.k.a. the main event, kind of. We make fun of Yumi's questionable Japanese, steal jokes right out of Entertainment Weekly (who even reads magazines anymore, right? lol), introduce you to the wonderful world of gay baseball metaphors, and comment on this episode's many weird Marvel references! Oh, wait, we forgot to actually bring th

Things are getting hot and heavy in the Super Nuclear group's hypothetical recording studio, and not just because Mary and David are being shmoopy again (though there is also that). Thrill as Xana attempts to divide and conquer the Lyoko Warriors through the power of cuckoldry. You into that? We bet you are. Go ahead and give us a click already! Do you like jokes about croissants wherein the croissant is a stand-in for dick? How about that urban legend about Marilyn Manson (you know the one we mean)? Masturbation and vore jokes about Richard Dawkins? Oops, that last one was too hot for general audiences. Throw us a buck on Patreon and we'll let you check out our outtakes, though. (Hey, we've gotta pay the bills somehow.) ==== Questions? Comments? Email us at rttppodcast@gmail.com or follow us on Twitter at @rttppodcast. Or find our bonus content on Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/supernucleargroup Cover art by the very skilled Ingram! Find their work at @ingramcomix or www.ingramcomix.com. Opener: "Un Mon