All Posts: Page 24
August 20, 2023 · 0 comments
Nizo Yamamoto (1953-2023)
The background artist Nizo Yamamoto, who died on 19th August, spent his whole life working in the Japanese animation sector. Born on the Goto islands in Nagasaki Prefecture, he developed an interest in painting and architecture at school before studying at the Tokyo Designer Gakuin. He was not yet out of college when he found […]
August 18, 2023 · 3 comments
Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water
By Andrew Osmond. Speaking at 2014’s Tokyo Film Festival, Hideaki Anno mentioned that he once watched a rerun of his series Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, and was pleased how well it held up. “I was really impressed… The young me was really enjoyable!” He was right. Nadia is more than enjoyable. At best, it’s superb, an […]
August 16, 2023 · 0 comments
Garden of Words onstage
By Andrew Osmond. Makoto Shinkai’s original Garden of Words was about no-touch intimacy, as a schoolboy and a woman met in a Tokyo park awning to shelter from the rain. The ingenious new London stage version of Garden of Words has its own strong intimacy, by virtue of its venue. That’s the Park Theatre, two […]
August 15, 2023 · 0 comments
Over the Sky
By Andrew Osmond. Over The Sky, a cinema fantasy adventure, is a close relative to Keiichi Hara’s 2019 film Birthday Wonderand. They’re both family-friendly anime, without violence or vulgarity, though Over the Sky has threats and even anguish in its closing stretch. Aug 15, 2023Jonathan Clements
August 12, 2023 · 0 comments
Gunbuster Files: Shattered Jewels
By Jonathan Clements. The title of the fifth episode of Gunbuster derives directly from Robert Heinlein’s 1973 novel Time Enough for Love, which ironically had very little to do with time dilation. It was, in fact an exploration of, among other things, immortality, longevity, incest, polyamory and time travel, but ultimately kept returning to romance […]
August 9, 2023 · 0 comments
Katsuhito Ishii as Animator
By Tom Wilmot. For those clued up on modern Japanese cinema, the name Katsuhito Ishii is sure to ring a bell. Renowned for his surreal imagery and off-kilter comedy, Ishii’s films range from the violent and zany to the soft and serene. However, while the director is most widely recognised for his work in live-action, […]