Interview: Shouji Gatou
By Andrew Osmond.
Hands up if Full Metal Panic! was among the first anime you saw. The first 24-part FMP series, introducing the tempestuously strong-willed schoolgirl Kaname and her schoolboy/soldier guardian Sosuke, was made back in 2002. It was followed a year later by the far lighter-hearted Fumoffu, while the action-orientated The Second Raid came in 2005. A gap of thirteen years followed before the anime resumed with Invisible Victory – another very action-focused series – in spring 2018.
Full Metal Panic! is based on a series of books, and AllTheAnime jumped at the chance to interview its author Shouji Gatou on his first trip to England. In contrast to the adventures of Sosuke and Kaname, Gatou says his early years were extremely average. “I was just a normal kid, so I played football, baseball, watched anime, read books… just really normal,” he says. His favourite robot anime was Sunrise’s Armoured Trooper Votoms, which began as a TV show in 1983. Continue Reading
Books: Max Fleischer
By Raz Greenberg.
76 years after they were forced out of their own studio, a move that marked the end of their prominent role in the development of American animation, the legacy of animation pioneers brothers Max (1883-1972) and David (1894-1979) Fleischer is still alive and kicking, and nowhere is this legacy more evident than in anime productions. The Fleischers’ influence runs deep within the DNA of anime: early Japanese pioneers drew a lot of inspiration from early Fleischer productions as the Out of the Inkwell shorts and the Song Car-Tunes series; references to the Fleischer brothers’ productions can be found in Mitsuyo Seo’s ambitious animated wartime propaganda epics like Sacred Sailors; there is an unmistakable Fleischer-esque touch to the character-design style of Osamu Tezuka; and the Japanese audience’s post-war discovery of the Fleischers’ studio late works – their 1939 feature Gulliver’s Travels and their Superman cartoons – played an important part in shaping anime genres, notably robot and science fiction animation.
You won’t find any mention of this in Ray Pointer’s book The Art and Inventions of Max Fleischer: American Animation Pioneer, which by itself isn’t a problem: the book isn’t about the Fleischers’ influence on Japan. In fact, the book isn’t about the Fleischers’ influence at all, at least not of the artistic kind. You wouldn’t find any mention of the Fleischers’ contribution to the development of the superhero genre in American comics and animation, their influence on the American underground comix movement or the inspiration they provided to many developers of digital games (from Pac-Man and Donkey Kong to the more recent Cuphead) in the book either. Which, I guess, is also fair, but it highlights the book’s biggest problem: it’s more about “inventions” and less about “art”. Pointer’s book is definitely the most detailed and richly-researched historical account of the Fleischers’ rise and fall, but it’s an account that reduces their body of work to the development of technologies, techniques and work practices. It reads more like a book about rotoscoping, sound on film, color and stereo-optics than a book about Koko the Clown, Betty Boop and Popeye the Sailor. Continue Reading
NEW RELEASES: 30th July 2018
It's been a little while since we brought you one of these postings, but for good reason as this week sees a nice selection of titles to add to your collection! We're also going to be taking the opportunity to highlight some other titles you might want to check out that are also available now.
So sit back, relax, grab a cuppa and read on below for the details.
NEW RELEASES: 30TH JULY 2018
LU OVER THE WALL
FORMAT: Ltd. Collector's Ed. Blu-ray+DVD, standard Blu-ray, standard DVD
BBFC CERT.: PG
SRP: Ltd Collector's Ed. - £34.99 | Blu-ray - £19.99 | DVD - £17.99
Language: English, Japanese with English subtitles
Directed by Masaaki Yuasa (Adventure Time "Food Chain" episode, The Tatami Galaxy and Night is Short, Walk on Girl)
Synopsis: Kai has moved from Tokyo to a lonely fishing village with his father and his grandfather. One day, his classmates invite him to join their band. As he reluctantly follows them to Merfolk Island, their practice spot, they meet Lu, the mermaid girl. Since ancient times, the people of Hinashi Town have thought that mermaids brought disaster. Something happens that puts a huge rift between Lu and the townspeople. Will Kai's cry from the heart save the town?
On-disc extras: Interviews with director Masaaki Yuasa, Trailers.
Ltd Collector's Ed. set comes in rigid case with a digipack to hold the DVD and Blu-ray discs. Also included is a 52 page booklet divided into the following sections: Cast & Characters, Settings, Artworks, Interviews with director Masaaki Yuasa and two producers on the film, Eunyoung Choi & Yuka Okuyasu, and an essay by Jonathan Clements: SINK OR SWIM.
You can watch a trailer for the film below
WHERE CAN I BUY THIS?
order at Amazon
Order at Zavvi
Order at Base
Order at HMV Online
Order at Anime-on-Line
Order at All The Anime
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
-- See a full unboxing for the Ltd Collector's Ed. set at out blog HERE
Makoto Shinkai Twin-pack:
"The Place promised in our EARLY DAY"
+ VOICES OF A DISTANT STAR
FORMAT: Standard Blu-ray (pictured), standard DVD
BBFC CERT.: 12
SRP: Blu-ray - £19.99 | DVD - £17.99
Language: English, Japanese with English subtitles
From Makoto Shinkai (Your Name., Five Centimeters Per Second, Journey to Agartha) comes the start of his career in anime in one package.
The Place Promised In Our Early Days
Synopsis: In 1996, an enormous tower is constructed on the southern shore of Hokkaido, it’s purpose-unknown. Curious, three school children make a vow to discover the mysterious tower’s secrets. Will this promise have to be left unfulfilled when one of the three falls into a coma?
WHERE CAN I BUY THIS?
Order at Zavvi
Order at Base
Order at HMV Online
Order at Anime-on-Line
Order at All The Anime
-- Want to know more about Voices of a Distant Star? Read this piece by Raz Greenberg at our blog HERE
Sword Art Online II: Part 3
FORMAT: Standard Blu-ray
(Ltd Collector's Ed. Blu-ray+DVD set and standard DVD versions previously released)
BBFC CERT.: 12
SRP: Blu-ray - £19.99
Language: English, Japanese with English subtitles
News spreads among the players that the legendary Holy Sword Excalibur has been discovered inside ALO. This was actually the very sword that Kirito and Leafa found in the underground realm of Jotunheim several months ago when they saved Tonky. Hearing the news, they decide to acquire Excalibur before the other players. Summoning Asuna, Klein, Sinon and the others, they set off for the dungeon in Jotunheim for an exciting new mission!
ARC 3: MOTHER'S ROSARIO
Hearing rumors about an undefeated player known as Zekken, Asuna decides to mount a challenge. Zekken has been seeking opponents to duel for an ultra-fast 11-hit combo original sword skill. Not a single challenger has been successful so far, will Asuna succeed where so many have failed?
Not seen any of Sword Art Online II before? Watch a trailer for the first arc of this season, Phantom Bullet, below
WHERE CAN I BUY THIS?
Order at Zavvi
Order at Base
Order at HMV Online
Order at Anime-on-Line
Order at All The Anime
Also released during July:
SWORD of the Stranger
FORMAT: Standard Blu-ray (pictured), Standard DVD
(Ltd Collector's Ed. Blu-ray+DVD set (not out-of-print) previously released)
BBFC CERT.: 12
SRP: Blu-ray - £19.99 | DVD - £17.99
Language: English, Japanese with English subtitles
Synopsis: With breathtaking animation that keeps you at the edge of your seat, this classic tale from Studio BONES is a hidden gem of its time.
Set in feudal-era Japan, a young boy named Kotaro and his faithful dog Tobimaru are caught in the turmoil of a grim prophecy. At the request of the Ming Dynasty's aging emperor, the boy is pursued by a band of formidable Chinese assassins. After escaping the destruction of the temple that took him in, he runs into a mysterious stranger who gets pulled into the chase.
When Kotaro's dog is poisoned, the nameless stranger reluctantly accepts payment to escort them to a temple in Shirato. The unlikely companions form a bond over saving Tobimaru's life, but unrest is brewing all around them. The Chinese assassins clash with the local lord as they build a religious tower, and a blond-haired, bloodthirsty swordsman among them seeks a worthy opponent. Chaos erupts when the assassins find Kotaro, and the Stranger must face his past before a horrible fate is met again.
Contains the film on Blu-Ray with both the English dub and the original Japanese track with English subtitles.
On-Disc extras (all exclusive to Blu-ray disc only): Making Of, Japanese Cast Interview, Pilot, TV and Cinema Trailers.
Watch a trailer for the film below -
WHERE CAN I BUY THIS?
-- Want to know more about the film? Read the piece written by Andrew Osmond at our blog HERE
Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust
FORMAT: Standard Blu-ray, Standard DVD
(AllTheAnime.com Exclusive Ltd Collector's Ed. Blu-ray+DVD set previously released)
BBFC CERT.: 12
SRP: Blu-ray - £19.99 | DVD - £17.99
Language: English, Japanese with English subtitles
Synopsis: Directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri (Ninja Scroll, X, Wicked City)
Synopsis: "Baron Meier Link is of a dying race, but the vampire doesn't intend to remain lonely much longer. Abducting women in the night is common for his kind, so what's one more? But Charlotte's father has plenty of money, and there's no price he won't pay to get his daughter back. That's why he hires D.
D is a Dunpeal, a breed rarer than that of the vampires - after all, he's half of one. When it comes to hunting those with fangs like his own, he's the best in the business. But that doesn't mean he's the only game in town. The Markus Brothers are on the vampire's trail as well, and they're not about to lose. It's a race, not only between the rival Hunters, but for the vampire and his bride-to-be. But it might be more than just a job to D. Is Charlotte really a captive? Or will another Dunpeal be born to this world?"
On-disc extras: US Theatrical Trailer, US Television Spot, Japanese Theatrical Trailer, Japanese Television Spot, Korean Theatrical Trailer, Behind the Scenes Featurette, Storyboard to Screen and an Art Gallery.
Watch a trailer for the film below -
WHERE CAN I BUY THIS?
Order at Zavvi
Order at Base
Order at HMV Online
Order at Anime-on-Line
Order at All The Anime
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
-- See an full unboxing for the AllTheAnime.com Exclusive Ltd. Collector's Ed. set HERE
And that wraps up this post! If you're in the need to add some anime to your collection, as you can see there's a nice variety waiting for you!
Signing out~!
Jeremy
Books: Ishiro Honda
By Jasper Sharp.
Ishiro Honda is an easy filmmaker to ridicule. Here is a man whose name, more by accident than design, looks set to be forever identified with a certain giant fire-breathing lizard, and by extension Japan’s entire home-grown strain of giant monster movies that followed in its wake, featuring men in rubber suits laying waste to scale-model replicas of the country’s urban centres.
Indeed, rather than “the director of Godzilla”, it might be more apt to refer to him as “Godzilla’s director.” Japan’s most celebrated cinematic offspring pretty much owned him for the latter half of his career. Perhaps it is inevitable that Honda has avoided the kind of meticulous in-depth scrutiny afforded to contemporaries such as Ozu, Naruse and Kurosawa, even though his films have reached far wider global audiences. Continue Reading
Relatives for Rent
By Andrew Osmond.
This April, an eye-poppingly extraordinary article about Japan appeared, not in a specialist otaku magazine, but in that august English-language journal, The New Yorker. Its opening line looks like it should start a science-fiction story, like Orwell’s clocks striking thirteen or Ballard’s protagonist eating dog in High Rise. The article, written by Elif Batuman, begins:“Two years ago, Kazushige Nishida, a Tokyo salaryman in his sixties, started renting a part-time wife and daughter.”
It’s not science-fiction. It’s a non-fiction story about what is described as “Japan’s rent-a-family phenomenon,” about Japanese agencies which rent out actors to paying clients, for a wide range of reasons. In the case of Mr Nishida, his real wife had died, his daughter had moved out, and he was lonely. So he paid forty thousand yen (about £270) to a rental company, Family Romance, and met two female actors supplied by the company, ready to behave as his wife and daughter.
Batuman writes, “The (rental) wife cooked okonomiyaki, a kind of pancake that Nishida’s late wife had made, while Nishida chatted with the daughter. Then they ate dinner together and watched television.” You can almost see the ghost of Philip K. Dick standing over the happy family, applauding. Continue Reading