Andrew Osmond 44
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 […]
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 […]
Books: The Early Miyazaki
By Andrew Osmond. It’s been only months since the publication of Princess Mononoke: Understanding Studio Ghibli’s Monster Princess, an anthology of papers about Miyazaki’s fantasy blockbuster (reviewed here). Today Bloomsbury releases another Miyazaki book, Hayao Miyazaki: Exploring the Early Work of Japan’s Greatest Animator. This one’s by a solo writer, Raz Greenberg, who’s written on […]
Your Name: Another Side
By Andrew Osmond. First, this translated spin-off book is not a sequel to Makoto Shinkai’s blockbuster Your Name. Rather it’s an “alternative” retelling of parts of the story, complementing the straight novelisation, which we’ve reviewed elsewhere. Another Side: Earthbound presumes you’ve seen the film, as it leaves out large parts of its plot. The book’s […]
Interview: Mateusz Urbanowicz
By Andrew Osmond. If you’ve wondered about the artists who created the incredible backgrounds for Makoto Shinkai’s Your Name, then meet Mateusz Urbanowicz. The Polish-born artist painted more than 120 backgrounds for Shinkai’s blockbuster (examples). He also contributed almost a hundred others to The Case of Hana and Alice (examples) and worked on an episode […]