The Shinkai Effect?
By Andrew Osmond. This June an eye-catching TV advert debuted in Japan, promoting the humble cup noodle. The advert reinterpreted, of all things, Kiki’s Delivery Service. Technically, that’s not the...
View ArticleAjin: Demi-Human
By Andrew Osmond. Based on a red-hot manga by Gamon Sakurai, Ajin is part of the resurgence of horror anime which began with the world-beating Attack on Titan. The protagonist is Kei Nagi, a withdrawn...
View ArticleBooks: Ambient Media
By Jasper Sharp. Studies of Japan’s media have predominantly focused on commercial cultural products such as anime, manga, film, music and literature, while sidestepping the provocative notion that,...
View ArticleEureka Seven
By Andrew Osmond. In April 2005, Japanese viewers turning on their TVs on Sunday morning were greeted by a boy on a flying board, soaring above clouds and leaving a trail of green fire, set to...
View ArticleBlack Butler Music: AKIRA
By Tom Smith. Fashion and music often go hand-in-hand (Kyary Pamyu Pamyu and 6%DOKIDOKI, Kanye West and Yeezus, Lady Gaga and steak), but Black Butler end theme provider AKIRA takes it one step further...
View ArticleDurarara!!x2: Ten
By Andrew Osmond. For the benefit of newbies to this franchise, Durarara!!x2: Ten is not where you want to start. This release is effectively volume three of a madcap crime-comedy-fantasy series set in...
View ArticleInterview: Satoshi Kon
Minor-league pop idol Mima ditches her girl group to become a solo artist and serious actress. When her managers push her towards sleazy “grown-up” roles, one self-styled avid fan exacts deadly...
View ArticleBooks: Ghost in the Shell
By Jasper Sharp. The Paramount live-action remake of Ghost in the Shell (1995) arrived with much fanfare and more than a little controversy earlier this year. Andrew Osmond’s pocket-guide companion to...
View ArticleHyouka
By Andrew Osmond. Following the release of the acclaimed A Silent Voice this year, new anime fans may be looking at the backlist of the studio which made it, Kyoto Animation. They may be surprised to...
View ArticleRonja the Robber’s Daughter
By Andrew Osmond. Recently, I wrote a mildly provocative piece suggesting that Ghibli’s acclaimed, proudly old-fashioned filmmaking might be commercially outmoded by slicker crowd-pleasers like Your...
View ArticleGenius Party and Beyond
By Andrew Osmond. If you follow Anime Limited’s releases, you’ll know short is beautiful in animation. Titles such as Garden of Words, HAL and Tokyo Marble Chocolate do more in 40 or 50 minutes than...
View ArticleSword of the Stranger
By Andrew Osmond. If you saw the film title Sword of the Stranger without knowing anything else about it, you might guess it was a no-nonsense action flick, perhaps with a Man With No Name hero and a...
View ArticleBooks: Chinese Animation… Again
By Jonathan Clements. As its subtitle suggests, Wu Weihua’s book Chinese Animation: Creative Industries and Digital Culture delves into two specific elements of cartoons in China – the effects of...
View ArticleMai Mai Miracle: The Origins
By Andrew Osmond. In 2009, Mai Mai Miracle’s director Sunao Kutabuchi released an unusual adjunct to his film, a self-published free magazine called The Days Blown By Mai Mai Miracle. It included his...
View ArticleJapan Foundation Tour 2018
By Jasper Sharp. Mere days before Christmas, the Japan Foundation has announced its annual batch of seasonal goodies to get us film fans through the dark and gloomy post-festive doldrums of early 2018....
View ArticleCyber City Oedo 808
By Raz Greenberg. In the last two decades of the 20th century, Yoshiaki Kawajiri was the king of exciting, ultra-violent action mixed with the erotic. His urban and historical fantasies – Wicked City,...
View ArticleYuri!!! on Ice
By Roxy Simons. Throw an imaginary rock at the anime industry and it won’t take you long before you hit a sports anime. There’s a series dedicated to almost every sport out there, and even in the...
View ArticleMusic: Fuki
By Roxy Simons. “I don’t want to have any regrets when I die,” Japanese singer Fuki says backstage after finishing her last performance at Hyper Japan. The 30-year-old singer beams as she says this,...
View ArticleNo-Rin
By Andrew Osmond. No-Rin is about farming, pop idols and big boobs, but most of all it’s about being silly. You might see it as a companion piece to Baka and Test a few years ago, which had both...
View ArticleAnime Streaming Guide 2018
By Chris Perkins. The world of anime streaming is a fast-moving one. So much so that since the last time we published one of our UK anime streaming guides there have been some major shifts in the...
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