Osamu Tezuka 6
Podcast – 17th April 2020 (w/ Dr. Jonathan Clements)
“Why is that giant robot skipping?” Dr. Jonathan Clements returns to bring some fascinating insight on a number of topics that also gives him a chance to discuss reindeer herders and his love of Gunbuster! We conclude the week with Jeremy and Andy welcoming Dr. Jonathan Clements back to the show to provide a (what […]
Animerama
[WARNING: Content potentially Not Safe For Work] By Jasper Sharp. The three titles in Mushi Pro’s short-lived “Animerama” series, A Thousand & One Nights (1969), Cleopatra (1970) and Belladonna of Sadness (1973), arrived at an interesting juncture in the history of Japanese animation and Osamu Tezuka’s Mushi Production.
Pieta in the Toilet
By Andrew Osmond. Pieta in the Toilet is the oddest-titled film in the Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme, now running in selected cinemas through February and March. No, it’s not a gross-out comedy; instead, it’s a very human drama about an extremely sombre topic, but shot through with humour and low-key spirituality. While Pieta’s not […]
Osamu Tezuka’s Metropolis
By Hugh David. In the bustling future city of Metropolis, Japanese detective Shunsaku Ban and his nephew-assistant Kenichi arrive in search of fugitive scientist Dr Laughton. They find themselves embroiled in a family affair with wider repercussions for all across the city, for Laughton is working on a secret project for premier wealthy industrialist Duke […]
Isao Tomita 1932-2016
Isao Tomita, who died on 5th May, was not just a composer, but also a performer and a pioneer in electronic music. Born in what is now Suginami ward in Tokyo, he spent much of his childhood in China, where his father Kiyoshi was a physician at the Kanebo textile mill in Qingdao. It was […]