Category: Features

July 15, 2020 · 0 comments

By Jonathan Clements. In a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp in 1942, interpreter Lawrence (Tom Conti) struggles to maintain the uneasy peace, as camp commandant Yonoi (Ryuichi Sakamoto) feuds with the charismatic prisoner Celliers (David Bowie). The love-hate between the two is mirrored in a different sort of relationship between Lawrence and the brutal officer Hara (Takeshi […]

July 12, 2020 · 0 comments

By Eija Niskanen. Makoto Shinkai has built a notable career as a central figure of the post-Ghibli generation of anime directors. The difference is that Shinkai was not initially connected with any single studio name, but has built his profile by working alternatively alone, and later with a few other colleagues, mostly composer Tenmon. His […]

July 9, 2020 · 0 comments

by Andrew Osmond. Following the blog’s hunts for Easter Eggs in the Gundam franchise, this article focuses on Eggs relating to Makoto Shinkai’s biggest blockbusters, Your Name and Weathering With You. Warning – SPOILERS for both films.

July 6, 2020 · 0 comments

By Jasper Sharp. Hanagatami (2017) has to be among the most important Japanese films of the last 20 years. This sweeping, emotive and flamboyant tale of love and friendship among a group of six college-age teenagers whose lives are about to be changed irrevocably by WW2 is an undisputable masterpiece for Nobuhiko Obayashi, a filmmaker […]

July 3, 2020 · 0 comments

By Jonathan Clements. Now available as a free PDF from the University of Niigata, the second volume of Minori Ishida and Kim Joon Yang’s Archiving Movements continues to assemble interesting articles about the world of Japanese animation – the editors are keen to stress that their journal is open to discussions of many forms of […]