Sankichiro Kusube (1938-2020)
Sankichiro Kusube, who died of liver cancer on the 20th March, did not lend his name to many anime productions, even though he worked on dozens. A high-ranking producer at A-Pro, and then at its successor studio Shin Ei, he used to say that the production credits should belong to the people who were actually, physically creating the anime, not those who did the deals that made them happen. But this was something of an overly modest admission from the man who was instrumental in the creation of one of anime’s iconic franchises. Continue Reading
Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade
By Andrew Osmond.
Early in Jin-roh, a young girl who’s more child than woman slumps against a wall in a sewer, a dark limbo of brick and water. She’s been running a long time, but there’s no escape. She looks up to see a soldier watching her, with infra-red eyes in a metal helmet. The girl grabs her satchel to her chest; her hand reaches to a metal ring. Jin-roh was released in 1999, when audiences might have been slower than viewers today to realise the girl’s just decided to be a suicide bomber.
The soldier aims his gun, but his voice is surprisingly soft: “Don’t.” The girl’s legs shake; she starts to pull the ring. “Why?” asks the soldier. The girl shakes her head, as if imploring him for the impossible. More soldiers appear. The click of a gun’s catch is loud in the tunnel. The girl stares into the first soldier’s infra-red eyes. Then she pulls the ring hard, snapping the connected twine. She’s clumsy; the soldier has ample time to shoot, but does not. The shadows are obliterated by white light.
Jin-roh is a science-fiction film, technically, at least, set in an alternate-history version of postwar Japan. But much of Jin-roh, like the scene just described, could be set in a great many different places. It could be a story set in the carnage of Iraq in the 2000s, for example, or in cold-war Europe, or in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. Continue Reading
Podcast – 25th March 2020
ALL THE ANIME PODCAST - 25th March 2020
"Skynet is taking seed"
Jeremy Graves and Andy Hanley are back to bring you nearly 70 minutes of fun discussion to help pass the time.
Today, while they have every intention of trying to remain on topic that quickly doesn't happen as they begin talking about many Transformers related topics including the various old school animated series as well as the variety of classic Transformers comics and now manga available!
But they do get onto anime related talk, there's some brief discussion on the fact you can stream the Konosuba movie right now on Crunchyroll, and in the "what they've been watching" pile they talk about Fate/GO and the tv series of Eureka Seven!
And of course there's more questions from the community covering a variety of topics such as the possibility of us releasing/licensing certain titles, possible anime flavoured Pepsi Max collaborations and even what anime characters would we like to/hate to be stuck in lockdown with.
A fun show as always! Our next episode will be recorded on Friday and will be focusing on the discussing (at least) the first 3 episodes of Cardcaptor Sakura, which you can stream on Channel 4's All4 service HERE.
If you want to let us know what you thought of the first three episode of Cardcaptor Sakura, you can do so via Twitter/Facebook/Instagram and be sure to including the tag #AskAllTheAnime so we know it's a comment directed for the podcast. Continue Reading
Podcast – 23rd March 2020
ALL THE ANIME PODCAST - 23rd March 2020
"All The Animals"
Join Jeremy Graves and Andy Hanley for about 70 mins of fun discussion on a whole manner of topics including the new Animal Crossing game (because chances are you'll know someone who is playing it, and it turns out one of us are), we touch on our virtual comic con from the weekend along with some details on the new products we launched - including Anonymous Noise, Never-Ending Man: Hayao Miyazaki.
Aside from Animal Crossing, we talk about other things we've been indulging in, such as Keep Your Hands off Eizouken!, One Piece, a quick mention of the first episode of Cardcaptor Sakura - ahead of our discussion on the first few episodes this coming Friday, the Manga Plus app and the manga Summer Time Rendering.
Then we round off things by answer question submitted via Twitter, covering such subjects the first anime we watched, the status of a number of upcoming titles (such Cyber City Oedo, Utena, and Tamako Market, anything with the word Gundam in it), the anime we are most proud to have released and more!
A fun a show as always, and our next episode will be recorded on Wednesday. So feel free to send over questions via Twitter/Facebook/Instagram and be sure to including the tag #AskAllTheAnime so we know it's a question for the podcast. Continue Reading
Mariko Miyagi (1927-2020)
Mariko Miyagi, who died on Saturday from malignant lymphoma, supposedly left her acting career behind in the 1980s, but remained prominent in the public eye for many further decades. A teenage vaudeville performer in the dying days of the Second World War, she swiftly rose to media stardom in the post-war era, initially as the singer of the Occupation-era toe-tapper “Nayamashi Boogie.” By 1956, she was playing the title character in Tenten Girl, one of the early TV drama hits, based on a manga by Shosuke Kurakane. In the days before video tape, she would finish her theatre performance and rush to the studio, changing costumes en route, ready to rush in front of the cameras. The samurai-era comedy-musical would also get two short movie adaptations in 1956, bringing Miyagi to the notice of the Toei studio.
Thanks to her singing voice and star appeal, Miyagi was selected to play Bai-Niang, the heroine in Toei’s animated feature White Snake Enchantress (1958, Hakujaden). This inadvertently made her one of the most prominent and influential voice actresses in the era of early anime, and the first anime pin-up. Continue Reading