Category: Features

February 18, 2021 · 0 comments

By Jasper Sharp. So, what happened at the Japanese box office in 2020? The critics lists and industry stats from the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan, or Eiren, are all now in, so it’s time once more for my annual mull over the figures, trends and top titles of another year in Japanese cinema. 2020 […]

February 15, 2021 · 2 comments

By Andrew Osmond. If you were asked which singer comes to mind in connection with Akira, most readers would think of Kanye West cosplaying Tetsuo in his pants in the “Stronger” video. A few of you might remember Michael and Janet Jackson’s video for “Scream,” which samples Akira in its last moments. But in his […]

February 15, 2021 · 0 comments

By Jonathan Clements. Tokyo, 2036. A revolution in medical treatments has conquered death. Thanks to the SHELL system, which controls a benign plague of nanomachines, human beings no longer suffer from diseases or death. A 120-year lifespan is entirely possible, but this glimpse of quasi-immortality has also warped modern Japan. Drunk on their own extended […]

February 11, 2021 · 0 comments

By Jeannette Ng. Kill la Kill rests on a panoply of ridiculous puns, the central pair of which work just as well in English due to them being loanwords: “fascist” and “fashion” do sound very similar. The title itself plays on another set of puns that only really works in Japanese: “to kill” (キル kiru), […]

February 8, 2021 · 0 comments

By Tom Wilmot. One of the most appealing aspects of animation is that the form offers so much variety. From traditional hand-drawn cel animation to stop-motion work, the medium has continued to grow, giving creators numerous ways to express themselves. And then there’s geki-mation, the production method that 35-year-old auteur Ujicha uses to bring his […]