Author: Jonathan Clements

November 30, 2015 · 0 comments

By Jonathan Clements. Shigeru Mizuki, who died today, was one of the most enduring and influential creators in the manga tradition. His career arguably pre-dated manga itself, in the chaos of the post-war period, when the young Mizuki arrived back in Japan with the world’s most unimpressive CV. Maimed in an American attack on a […]

November 28, 2015 · 0 comments

By Meghan Ellis. “Films sure are organic”, quips Hayao Miyazaki, legendary anime director and 72-year-old man in a bear apron. It’s this quote, and the meaning behind it, that explains just why The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness works so well. An all-access documentary following the staff of Studio Ghibli during the production of The […]

November 25, 2015 · 0 comments

By Andrew Osmond. A couple of days after my audience with Yoshiyuki Tomino, I’m once more sitting in a Shinjuku hotel room above the glowering head of Godzilla. This time, I’m interviewing Yoshikazu Yasuhiko, who was Character Designer and Animation Director on the 1979 Gundam, though many anime fans met him through his 1980s films […]

November 22, 2015 · 0 comments

By Paul Browne The critically acclaimed 2007 anime series Gurren Lagann won praise for its combination of traditional mecha anime with comedy and drama elements. The series was also well-equipped musically with the blistering opening theme ‘Sorario Days’ performed by Shoko Nakagawa. Hailing from Tokyo, Shoko Nakagawa has worn many hats in the creative arts […]

November 19, 2015 · 1 comment

By Andrew Osmond. I’m head-high with the Big G and girding my loins to meet the fabled father of Gundam. Or to put it another way, I’m in the eighth-floor lobby of the Hotel Gracery Shinjuku in Tokyo, looking out the window at a life-sized head of Godzilla. Perhaps the King of Monsters is glowering […]