Category: Features
November 17, 2020 · 0 comments
Warning from Space
by Jeremy Clarke. The first Japanese science fiction film to be made in colour, Warning from Space (1956) features peaceful, star-shaped aliens, one of whom transforms herself into a nightclub singer to make contact with Japanese scientists. Not that the aliens possess any discernible gender themselves, but the human likenesses into which they are transformed […]
November 11, 2020 · 0 comments
Promised Neverland
By Andrew Osmond. One of the many mysteries in Promised Neverland, based on a bestselling Shonen Jump manga nearer Death Note than Naruto, is the enigmatic title. It might be a Peter Pan reference; after the first episode, you could understand the child characters not wanting to become grown-ups. Or you may see “Neverland” as […]
November 5, 2020 · 0 comments
Demon Slayer
By Andrew Osmond Demon Slayer’s hero is a boy, Tanjiro, in Taisho-period Japan – in other words, the reign of the Taisho Emperor (1912-26) – Japan’s “Edwardian” era. However, Demon Slayer often feels like a story of a much older Japan – centuries older, even. Tanjiro is visiting town to sell charcoal, which his humble […]
October 29, 2020 · 0 comments
Jury Notes: Ride Your Wave
By Jonathan Clements. “For its emotional effect and its deep meaning, its polish and its heart, the jury confers this year’s Judges Award on Ride Your Wave by Masaaki Yuasa.” Not a sentence that I ever expected to be reading out to an Edinburgh crowd, who gasped with surprise, and then burst into applause. And […]
October 26, 2020 · 0 comments
Pigtails and Others
By Andrew Osmond. The collection of anime called Pigtails and Other I.G Shorts encompasses anime going in bold new directions, as well as established directors – namely Masaaki Yuasa and Hiroyuki Imaishi – flaunting their signature styles.