Category: Features

July 1, 2022 · 1 comment

By Andrew Osmond. There’s a lovely moment in El-Hazard: The Alternative World, soon after the characters, many of whom were whisked from Earth to a new world once already, are transported into an all-new world. These characters include Makoto Mizuhara, hero of the franchise, who was a Japanese schoolboy until not very long ago, and […]

June 28, 2022 · 0 comments

By Shelley Pallis. The American-born composer Evan Call has become a particular favourite of Kyoto Animation, contributing scores to Tokyo ESP and Violet Evergarden, among others. But arguably some of his best work is now showcased in the double-disc collection of the original sound track from Kotaro Tamura’s Josee, the Tiger and the Fish, the […]

June 22, 2022 · 0 comments

By Jonathan Clements. The inauguration of Barazoku (“Rose Tribe”), a magazine for gay men in 1971, brought with it a sop to the ladies, in the form of a page for lesbians, for which author Ito Bungaku coined the term yuri-zoku, the “Lily Tribe.” Ever since, lesbian media have officially been a thing in Japan, […]

June 19, 2022 · 0 comments

By Jonathan Clements. Hikaru likes to sing while she is sweeping up at work. But she is good at it. Good enough to turn it in to a career? Nobody would take it that seriously, until her old friend Ran-chan returns from the Big City and announces that she is going to audition for a […]

June 16, 2022 · 0 comments

By Jeannette Ng. Violet Evergarden: The Movie is a film about second chances, piecing oneself together after tragedy and allowing oneself the luxury of love despite the overwhelming guilt of survival. The very real tragedy of the arson attack on Kyoto Animation’s studio haunts the film. It is one of the reasons for the film’s […]