The Witches of the Orient. How volleyball helped spawn an anime genre..
by Jeremy Clarke.
This sports documentary, just out in UK and Irish cinemas, opens with a scene from the anime short Danemon’s Monster Hunt at Shojiji (Yoshitaro Kataoka, 1935) in which the hero, trying to save the damsel in distress from the web of the evil spider witch, learns too late that the damsel is the evil spider witch and has lured him to his fate. You don’t really expect a film about a women’s volleyball team to start with animated horror, even if the team in question became known as “the Witches of the Orient.” “To refer to people as witches is not very kind,” says Katsumi Matsumura, a surviving member of the team. “But then, witches have supernatural powers. So that suited us fine.”
Lupin III The First. Punching Nazis and stealing their treasure....
by Jeremy Clarke.
A character with a long history in Japan in anime, manga artist Monkey Punch’s celebrated gentleman thief Arsène Lupin III is a descendant of the character created by Frenchman Maurice Leblanc in a series of early 20th century novels. Stories of the old Lupin are enjoying a new lease of life thanks to the 2021 live-action Netflix series LUPIN, in which Omar Sy plays a thief inspired by the original. The original Lupin also features in the backstory to this animated tale of his supposed grandson.
Books: Batman – The Animated Series. A new monograph overlooks anime and comic links..
By Raz Greenberg.
Perhaps the most surprising thing about Joe Sutliff Sanders new book, Batman: The Animated Series, which analyzes the superhero show as part of Wayne State University Press' TV Milestones brand, is that it took so long to happen.
The show, which debuted in 1992, is indeed a milestone, not just in the development of American TV animation but also in that of superhero television shows in general. Produced following Tim Burton's two Batman films, the show took Burton's approach in both creating a dark and intimidating atmosphere, highly unusual at the time for an American children's cartoon, along with self-aware references to the long history of the title character and the genre that surrounds him. Its elaborate style is what made Batman: The Animated Series so dear to the heart of many anime fans.
Anime Limited licenses Love Live! Superstar!!. Series streaming on Crunchyroll in the UK and Ireland.
Over recent years, Anime Limited has become the home of Love Live! in the UK, and today we're thrilled to confirm that will continue, as we can confirm that we've acquired the rights to the brand-new series Love Live! Superstar!!, which begins airing this week.
You'll be able to catch the series simulcasting weekly via our friends at Crunchyroll, with episodes airing every week on Tuesdays for viewers in the UK and Ireland at 3AM BST - episode one is available now, so why not check it out right here and now?
About Love Live! Superstar!!
The new me begins now!
Idols at school – the start of a new school drama linking five young girls!
The first students have arrived at Yuigaoka Girls’ High School, a new academy built on the crossroads of three Tokyo neighborhoods—Omotesando, Harajuku, and Aoyama. With no history, no upperclassmen to rely on, and no name to speak of, this school’s totally starting from scratch!
In the midst of this, a team of five girls led by Kanon Shibuya discover “school idols.”
—I love singing! I really do! And I want to accomplish something with it!
So the hopes of these stars, still small in stature, begin to accumulate…and so begins the “School Idol Project” of five girls with a blank slate and infinite potential.
Time for our Love Live to take flight!
We hope you're excited about joining another generation of school idols on their adventures; be sure to let us know what you're enjoying as the series progresses!
Josee, the Tiger and the Fish. "We are analogue creatures and it is better for us to be together.”.
By Jonathan Clements.
Struggling to make ends meet, Tsuneo is scrimping together all his spare cash to fund the trip of a lifetime – a graduate posting in Mexico where he can indulge his love of diving. He is so set on this aim that he doesn’t realise that his co-worker Mai is carrying a torch for him, even though his best friend Hayato repeatedly tries to point this out. But Tsuneo’s life changes after an evening encounter with Kumiko, a girl in a runaway wheelchair.
“They come from different backgrounds, they think differently and they would never usually meet,” says producer Masahiko Minami. “But this film starts with them meeting, and when I read the script I thought this was a really sweet, really endearing, realistic but also fantastic story.”