Suffering of Ninko
By Jasper Sharp.
Ninko is a zealous young Buddhist monk of the Edo era. The cause of his suffering, his cross to bear so to speak, is that he is catnip to the ladies. And oh, how he suffers! A simple trip into town on his daily alms round runs the risk of him being overrun by the local lovelies. He is no safer from lascivious eyes back in the cloistered all-male confines of his temple, either. Continue Reading
Books: Coproducing Asia
By Jasper Sharp.
Stephanie DeBoer’s scholarly study Coproducing Asia: Locating Japanese-Chinese Regional Film and Media is not the general overview of Asian co-productions that its title might suggest. Its focus is more on the construction of a new cinematic and televisual idea of “Asia” in the post-war and post-colonial era. It details how forces within the Far East have attempted to overcome national borders and the legacies of conflict to create regional networks independent from Hollywood and the West. Continue Reading
[UNBOXING] Lu Over the Wall. Ltd Collector's Ed. Blu-ray+DVD set out on 30th July 2018!.
We're under two weeks away from our release of a film we know a lot of you have been excited about, Lu Over the Wall! Today we're delighted to bring you an unboxing of our Ltd Collector's Ed. set that will be available from 30th July!
Read on below for all the details.
ABOUT LU OVER THE WALL
(Poster used to promote our theatrical screenings in December 2017)
Studio: Science SARU
Director: Masaaki Yuasa
Director Masaaki Yuasa delivers a colourful and striking tale of the power of love, friendship and music in this fun-filled family film.
Synopsis: After the divorce of his parents sees him move to a sleepy rural village, middle school student Kai is left lonely and bored aside from his sole passion for creating and uploading music online. Even when two of his classmates invite him to join their fledgling band, Kai is reluctant to get involved, but when he’s dragged to a practice session on a deserted island he finds himself coming face-to-face with Hinashi Town’s most feared legend – a mermaid, shunned by the populace as a siren of despair responsible for the loss of many fisherman in years gone by.
However, the fun-loving and curious Lu couldn’t be more different than the mermaids spoken of in legend, and her infectious love of music and dancing might just be the key to not only unlocking Kai’s heart, but also saving Hinashi Town from danger.
You can watch a trailer for the film below
WHAT'S INSIDE? WHAT'S ON THE DISCS?
Our Ltd Collector's Ed. Blu-ray+DVD set comes packed in a rigid case that houses a digipack to store the two discs (1 x Blu-ray + 1 x DVD). Also included is a 52 page artbook.
On the discs themselves you get the main feature with options to watch it with the original Japanese audio (with English subtitles) as well as the English language audio. (Both of those options being in 5.1) Also on the discs are trailers for the film plus a 28 minute interview with the director of the film, Masaaki Yuasa.
Focusing on the 52-page art book for a moment, that is divided into multiple sections:
- Cast & Characters: which showcases some wonderful art of the many characters you see in the film and even includes some background information on the some of the Japanese voice actors too.
- Settings: showing off some of the locations you see in the film
- Artworks: showing off some promotional artwork for the film
But that’s not all! In addition to three sections of art there are also two more sections:
- Interviews: we have two interviews to bring you! The first being with the director of the film, Masaaki Yuasa – a different interview from the one that’s a bonus on the disc, and then we have an interview with two producers on the film, Eunyoung Choi and Yuka Okuyasu. Both make for great reading and we know you’ll get a kick out of them!
- SINK OR SWIM, An Essay By Jonathan Clements: and is if the above wasn’t enough we even have an essay about the film written by Dr. Jonathan Clements (author of Anime: A History, co-author of the Anime Encyclopedia and the book that came with our recent release of Momotaro: Sacred Sailors “Sacred Sailors: The Life and Works of Seo Mitsuyo”)
As you can tell, there’s a lot packed into this release!
WHERE CAN I ORDER THIS?
You can pre-order your copy ahead of its release on 30th July from retailers including:
order at Amazon
Order at Zavvi
Order at Base
Order at HMV Online
Order at Anime-on-Line
Order at All The Anime
WHAT DOES THE FINISHED PRODUCT LOOK LIKE?
And now it's time for photos of the finished product itself. As a note, you can click on them enlarge them too if you want. Continue Reading
The Third Murder
by Jeremy Clarke.
For a director usually associated with family dramas like I Wish, Like Father Like Son and After The Storm, Hirokazu Kore-eda’s The Third Murder might seem like a change of direction. It begins with a murder, and focussed on a lawyer trying to uncover what actually happened, a narrative template familiar from countless films about journalists in search of a story, detectives trying to solve crimes and courtroom dramas of lawyers at work. Continue Reading
Books: The Early Miyazaki
By Andrew Osmond.
It’s been only months since the publication of Princess Mononoke: Understanding Studio Ghibli’s Monster Princess, an anthology of papers about Miyazaki’s fantasy blockbuster (reviewed here). Today Bloomsbury releases another Miyazaki book, Hayao Miyazaki: Exploring the Early Work of Japan’s Greatest Animator. This one’s by a solo writer, Raz Greenberg, who’s written on anime with both academic and fan hats on. Continue Reading