Tag: books

November 29, 2017 · 0 comments

By Jasper Sharp. The Paramount live-action remake of Ghost in the Shell (1995) arrived with much fanfare and more than a little controversy earlier this year. Andrew Osmond’s pocket-guide companion to the anime original was initially intended to arrive in time to capitalise on its success, although for various reasons, the publication was held up […]

November 13, 2017 · 0 comments

By Jasper Sharp. Studies of Japan’s media have predominantly focused on commercial cultural products such as anime, manga, film, music and literature, while sidestepping the provocative notion that, with its variegated patchwork of sounds, flashing lights and screens that play such a key role in defining the moods and tempos of its distinct urban areas, […]

November 4, 2017 · 0 comments

By Andrew Osmond. In the afterword to his Your Name novel, now available in English from Yen On in hardcover and on Kindle, Makoto Shinkai says the book isn’t just an adaptation of his film. Rather, it was part of the film’s production process. The novel was written while Your Name was being animated, with […]

October 24, 2017 · 0 comments

By Jonathan Clements. When the first edition of The Anime Encyclopedia was published in 2001, the early days of Japanese animation were murky and ill-defined, a matter largely of hearsay and rumour. In the years since, the ongoing digital ingestion of archival materials has thrown increasing amounts of light on the period, and Frederick Litten’s […]

October 14, 2017 · 0 comments

By Jonathan Clements. Alexander Zahlten’s new book begins with an entertainingly awkward scene at the Tokyo premiere of Akira Kurosawa’s Kagemusha, when a photo opportunity went horribly wrong. Big-name producer Haruki Kadokawa came over to shake Kurosawa’s hand, but the superstar director turned away and refused to speak to him. Kadokawa had transformed Japanese cinema, […]