Category: Features
June 28, 2022 · 0 comments
Music: Josee, the Tiger and the Fish
By Shelley Pallis. The American-born composer Evan Call has become a particular favourite of Kyoto Animation, contributing scores to Tokyo ESP and Violet Evergarden, among others. But arguably some of his best work is now showcased in the double-disc collection of the original sound track from Kotaro Tamura’s Josee, the Tiger and the Fish, the […]
June 22, 2022 · 0 comments
Books: By Your Side
By Jonathan Clements. The inauguration of Barazoku (“Rose Tribe”), a magazine for gay men in 1971, brought with it a sop to the ladies, in the form of a page for lesbians, for which author Ito Bungaku coined the term yuri-zoku, the “Lily Tribe.” Ever since, lesbian media have officially been a thing in Japan, […]
June 19, 2022 · 0 comments
Manga: Hikaru in the Light
By Jonathan Clements. Hikaru likes to sing while she is sweeping up at work. But she is good at it. Good enough to turn it in to a career? Nobody would take it that seriously, until her old friend Ran-chan returns from the Big City and announces that she is going to audition for a […]
June 16, 2022 · 0 comments
Violet Evergarden: The Movie
By Jeannette Ng. Violet Evergarden: The Movie is a film about second chances, piecing oneself together after tragedy and allowing oneself the luxury of love despite the overwhelming guilt of survival. The very real tragedy of the arson attack on Kyoto Animation’s studio haunts the film. It is one of the reasons for the film’s […]
June 13, 2022 · 0 comments
Books: Otherside Picnic
By Shelley Pallis. Sorawo Kamikoshi is a loner, a twenty-year-old nerd studying cultural anthropology at a Saitama university, whose hobby is exploring spooky places. Nor are these randomly and doubtfully “haunted houses” – she has found numerous portals to an alternate world, the titular “Otherside” where all sorts of rumours, urban legends, horror stories and […]