Period Pieces: Mai Mai Miracle
By Andrew Osmond.
The story of Mai Mai Miracle takes place in a very specific time, 1955, with some excursions back a millennium into the past. The film’s setting is Hofu, a coastal city in Yamaguchi prefecture at the bottom of Japan’s main island, Honshu. As the script mentions, in previous centuries the area used to be a province called Suo.
It’s notable that the characters in Mai Mai Miracle talk of Japan’s centuries-old past, but hardly ever refer to the country’s recent history – namely, World War II. The sole comment is made early on by Shinko’s grandfather Kotaro: “It’s ten years after the war, but that’s nothing compared to a history of a thousand years.” There are no urban bombsites, and the main characters are kids born after the war, for whom ten years might as well be a hundred. Continue Reading
Books: Anime Supremacy!
By Andrew Osmond.
Anime Supremacy!, a translated Japanese novel published by Vertical, takes on the real-life side of the anime industry, more frantic and quirky than any 2D antics. The author, Mizuki Tsujimura, is not an anime pro, which would seem to reduce the book’s interest greatly. But wait! The last pages have an impressive list of the people Tsujimara interviewed while researching her novel. The roll-call includes Kunihiko Ikuhara, creator of Utena; Genki Kawamura, producer of Your Name, Fireworks and The Boy and the Beast; and Katsuji Morishita, a Prodution I.G producer who’s handled everything from Dead Leaves to xxxHOLIC.
Notably, the author interviewed several high-placed women, including Rie Matsumoto, director of Blood Blockade Battlefront; Keiko Matsushita, producer of A Letter to Momo and Miss Hokusai; and Hitomi Hasegawa, whose animation director credits include HAL and several Attack on Titan episodes. Women may still be under-represented in anime, but they’re making gains: think of A Silent Voice, which had a woman director, Naoko Yamada (K-ON!), and the scriptwriter Reiko Yoshida, who also wrote Lu Over the Wall.
Anime Supremacy! reflects this, being told through the eyes of three women in anime. One’s a producer, one a director and one an animator, and the book tells each of their overlapping stories in turn. The women work in TV, and Anime Supremacy! focuses on one season – the three-month period in which new shows fight for attention in the niche market. This is not primarily a fight for renewal, for more episodes. Many of today’s anime are designed to run for no more than a dozen episodes. Instead, the fight is for DVD and toy sales… and, for sentimental pros who think of more than numbers, the fight is for their shows to be remembered by viewers, like the Heidis and Gundams before them. Continue Reading
Podcast #49 – 8th June 2018
All The Anime Podcast #48 - Season 3, episode #06:
"12 years!!!"
[Recorded on 8th june 2018]
It's a skeleton crew in the All The Anime office this week and Jeremy, Lauren and Andy hold down the fort to bring you lots of details on upcoming releases (that somehow may include conversation comparing characters in Love Live!! to Transformers), what we've been watching/reading recently (including Megalobox, Lupin the 3rd: Part 5 and Grand Blue Dreaming) English cast clips of Rokka premiering ahead of our release and even the metal band Epica releasing a covers EP of Attack on Titan songs!
But perhaps the main talking points this week are surrounding E3; the annual event where the shape of video games for the next year and beyond are formed. All three discuss what in particular they're looking forward; from Kingdom Hearts 3 (and the agonising and insanely long wait for its release), new IP that will be revealed (assuming they hasn't all already been) and even a prediction for what one of the team would like to see announced!
A fun show as usual! All going well we'll have another episode for you next week, but there is a chance that may get put off until the week after. But either way we'll definitely be taking about our thoughts on E3 and the big news from it on that show!
NOTE: As always please note this podcast may contain strong language and any views expressed by individuals in this podcast do not reflect those of Anime Limited.
(To download the podcast as an mp3, click on the arrow pointing down in the top right corner of the player above.)
NOTE FROM JEREMY: For anyone wanting to hear the first song Epica have made available on their YouTube from the Attack on Titan CD he mentioned, you can check it out below.
There is also a Soundcloud app available on both iTunes and Google Play, so you download and listen to our podcast through there as well.
Past Podcasts episodes:
Season 3
Podcast #43 | Podcast #44 | Podcast #45 | Podcast #46 | Podcast #47 | Podcast #48
Season 2
Podcast #23 | Podcast #24 | Podcast #25 | Podcast #26 | Podcast #27 | Podcast #28 | Podcast #29 | Podcast #30 | Podcast #31 | Podcast #32 | Podcast #33 | Podcast #34 | Podcast #35 | Podcast #36 | Podcast #37 | Podcast #38 | Podcast #39 | Podcast #40 | Podcast #41 | Podcast #42 (finale)
Season 1
Episode #1 | Episode #2 | Episode #3 | Episode #4 | Podcast #5 | Podcast #6 | Podcast #7 | Podcast #8 | Podcast #9 |Episode #10 | Episode #11 | Podcast #12 | Episode #13 | Podcast #14 | Podcast #15 | Podcast #16 | Podcast #17 | Podcast #18 | Podcast #19 | Podcast #20 | Podcast #21 | Podcast #22
Signing out~!
Jeremy
The Toys That Made Us
By Raz Greenberg. 
In case you missed the hype, The Toys that Made Us is a Netflix documentary show devoted to successful toy brands, made from an unapologetic fannish perspective. With each episode telling the story of a different brand, the show’s producers treat such cultural landmarks as Lego and cynical moneymakers as Masters of the Universe with equal respect. Even when the show takes a more critical tone, it’s always aimed at specific marketing decisions rather than the overall phenomenon of trying to make as much money as possible from children crying in front of their parents in a toy store (in fact, an interviewee in the episode devoted to Masters of the Universe described witnessing this exact scene in a toy store with a very big, satisfied smile on his face). This approach, coupled with YouTube-like aesthetics, define the show’s target audience pretty clearly: it’s a nostalgic treat for the children of ‘80s. Being a child of the 1980s, I certainly had fun watching the first four-episode season, but going into the second season (which debuted on 25th May) I knew better than to expect serious journalism.
But I was pleasantly surprised. The show’s producers really tried harder this time around. While still being overtly forgiving towards dirty marketing ploys in the name of its admiration for the brands it covers, The Toys that Made Us definitely attempts to go deeper in its second season, as evident by the two episodes devoted to Japanese brands and their way to the North American market – Transformers and Hello Kitty. Continue Reading
[UNBOXING] Lupin the 3rd: Part IV. Check out our (subtitled only) Ltd. Collector's Ed. Blu-ray release!.
A little while ago we told you about what to expect from our release of the series Lupin the 3rd: Part IV and today ahead of its release on Monday 11th June 2018, we're delighted to show you photos of the finished product! If you have read about all the details on this release, you can catchup on a large amount of it by reading on below or by visiting the post we published earlier this month detailing our plans.
ABOUT LUPIN THE 3RD PART IV
A beloved classic franchise, Lupin the 3rd (2015) is the first full-fledged Lupin the 3rd series since 1984.
Synopsis: Master thief Lupin the Third returns to the spotlight when he's poised to marry the danger-loving, Italian superstar Rebecca Rossellini. But once his high-profile wedding is interrupted by his eternal rival Inspector Zenigata, the chase is on! In this clever and colorful series, Lupin gallivants across Italy and beyond, chasing treasure and pleasure. No mission is impossible for Lupin: exploring haunted houses,fighting the mafia, running from zombies, swiping the Mona Lisa, escaping a custom-made prison,or even just lending a hand to strangers in need.
He's aided by the loyal gunslinger Jigen and the ace swordsman Goemon, while his beautiful partner-slash-rival Fujiko Mine keeps him on his toes. But this time, the super-powered MI6 agent Nyx is eager to bring Lupin down. And could that bearded street artist really be the great Leonardo da Vinci, back from the dead? The mysteries of the Dream of Italy will be revealed as Lupin the Third takes on the Italian Adventure!
You can watch a preview for show, that was published prior to its airing in Japan, below
hang on, this is "PART 4"?!
In short, yes. But in our honest opinion you can jump into this series whether you have some prior knowledge of the franchise, a lot, or even no knowledge at all. The entire series of "Part 4" is one self-contained story. You'll become very acclimated with the characters quickly too, so you have nothing to fear on that front.
WHAT'S inside? what's on the discs?
This will be the first time a full Lupin the 3rd series is being released on home video in the UK, so we wanted to make sure we utilise some of the gorgeous art from the series! in case you haven't seen it already, here's what our Ltd Collector's Edition Blu-ray will look like -
It will come packed in a rigid case with a digipak to hold the four Blu-ray discs. Also included is a 60-page art book that looks at characters from the series, props (i.e. gadgets, vehicles and more), backgrounds and concept art. The rigid case will come with an o-card (aka slipcover) around it too.
When it comes to the episodes themselves, in this Ltd Collector's Ed. Blu-ray release each episode is in Japanese with English subtitles only. You get the entire series, which includes the two episodes "Venice of the Dead" and "Non Rendezvous", which were released separately in Japan as bonus OVA episodes.
WHERE CAN I ORDER THIS?
You can pre-order this from retailers now including the following:
Order at Amazon
Order at Zavvi
Order at Base.com
Order at HMV Online
Order at Anime-On-Line
Order at All The Anime
PHOTOS OF THE FINISHED PRODUCT!
And now it's time to show you photos of the finished product itself. Worth noting that you can click on the photos to enlarge them too! Continue Reading