Features 474
Books: Meiko Kaji
By Jasper Sharp. If nothing else, Tom Mes’ Unchained Melody: The Films of Meiko Kaji is a timely reminder that in the ever-burgeoning field of books on Japanese cinema, there has been precious little on the stars and sirens who have provided such a large part of the onscreen magic. Only two previous such book-length […]
Maquia
By Jonathan Clements. Maquia doesn’t have any real problems. She weaves at her loom; she dyes the Hibiol cloth; she hangs the sheets to dry in the tall halls of her people, the elfin Iolf race. She’s not as assertive or brave as Leilia, the girl she idolises, but that probably explains why Leilia, not […]
Manga Mania 1993-2000
by Chris Perkins. Not so long ago on this very blog, we recounted the history of Anime UK/FX –the UK’s first dedicated anime and manga magazine. It was soon joined on British newsstands by a rival named Manga Mania. This scrappy upstart would ultimately outlast its only competitor, and go on to run for some […]
Who is Kenji Kamiyama?
By Andrew Osmond. The name of Kenji Kamiyama, director of Napping Princess, is not as well-known to savvy mainstream critics as Miyazaki, Oshii or Satoshi Kon. One reason is that most of Kamiyama’s important work has been for television rather than cinema. But for anime fans, he’s been a big beast for fifteen years, for […]
After the Storm
By Andrew Osmond. Whether he likes it or not, Hirokazu Koreeda has become the ambassador of contemporary live-action Japanese film in Britain. No other Japanese live-action director has his films released in British cinemas so regularly. Koreeda brings us portraits of ordinary, contemporary Japanese people, of different ages and genders, in dramas where the strongest […]