Category: Features

October 24, 2021 · 0 comments

By Jonathan Clements. And then a pile of books fell on top of her, and she was dead. That can’t possibly be the beginning of a tale, can it? But Miya Kazuki’s fantasy series Ascendance of a Bookworm wastes little time describing the humdrum, Earthbound life of its heroine, Urano, before it kills her off […]

October 21, 2021 · 0 comments

By Tom Wilmot. As the 1960s wore on, Japanese filmmaker Yasuzo Masumura survived in a studio system in decline. Financial strictures meant that the director’s projects had scaled down in recent years, though the cinematic explorations at the core of his work remained in sharp focus. A prime example of this is his 1969 film, Blind […]

October 15, 2021 · 0 comments

By Motoko Tamamuro. A salt mine controlled by the Empire of Zol is attacked by a pack of dogs. The workers and slaves are all bitten, and within days, everyone falls ill. Van, a former leader of a fearsome militant group and now a slave finds himself being the sole survivor there, bar an infant […]

October 12, 2021 · 1 comment

By Jeannette Ng. I was running out of To Your Eternity (also by Yoshitoki Oima), which I was also absolutely loving, so I thought I’d read about the adventures of Shoya Ishida, repentant class bully. My interest in redemption arcs tends towards the melodramatic and fantastical – grand, blood-drenched villains who discover their heart of […]

October 6, 2021 · 5 comments

By Jonathan Clements. Mamoru Hosoda’s latest film mines contemporary issues for its storyline, touching on social anxiety, online identity, cancel culture and the fragility of Internet fame. Its leading lady is Suzu, a shy teenager who finds a new outlet for her desires and ambitions by signing up to the virtual reality service “U”, an […]