Category: All Posts

April 3, 2017 · 0 comments

By Andrew Osmond. It’s not unknown for live-action films to have “companion” films in animation, usually made as spin-offs. The classic case is The Animatrix, a Japanese-Korean anthology made to tie in with The Matrix Reloaded, and the better of the two. Another anime anthology, Batman: Gotham Knight was theoretically tied in with The Dark […]

April 1, 2017 · 0 comments

In a hastily-convened ceremony at LA’s Japanese consulate this morning, Manhattan-born celebrity Scarlett Johansson accepted a Japanese passport, and the citizenship that comes along with it. According to a consular press release, she is “hopefully the first of many migrant workers” to participate in a new fast-track programme that awards Japanese passports to anyone who […]

March 31, 2017 · 0 comments

By Jeremy Clarke. The Lone Wolf and Cub franchise began life as a manga in 1970 by writer Kazuo Koike and artist Goseki Kojima. It proved hugely popular in Japan, where in 1972 the first four of six films appeared. Two more followed in 1973 and 1974. Criterion’s new three-disc Blu-ray release collects together all […]

March 29, 2017 · 0 comments

by Jeremy Clarke. Major (Scarlett Johansson) is the first of her kind – rescued from a refugee boat many years ago and cyber-enhanced to be the perfect soldier. Only her mind remains; the rest of her is artificial, putting her in a unique position as society faces a new threat. Cyber warfare has evolved to […]

March 28, 2017 · 0 comments

By Andrew Osmond. The first thing to clear up about this romantic anime released by Funimation is that it’s not a fairy-tale, and isn’t really a version of Snow White. The only brief nods to that story are in the opening episode, where there’s a poisoned apple – but the heroine doesn’t eat it – […]