A simple bamboo cutter goes about his work in the forest when he suddenly comes across a miniature princess growing from a flower. When he takes the princess home to his wife, she transforms into a human baby before their eyes. The childless couple, believing …Read more »
Rewatching Ghibli’s Porco Rosso the other day, I was reminded that, before live- action films starting relying increasingly on computer effects (what percentage of, say, Gravity is actually filmed footage?), animation used to be the exclusive home of a kind of breathtaking movement impossible in …Read more »
You know right from the start of Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Rebellion that something is terribly wrong, because everything is very, very right. Puella Magi Madoka Magica , or "Mado-Magi" as it's colloquially known, was one of the biggest anime sensations of 2011. Written by …Read more »
Every time I’ve written about some iteration of Masamune Shirow’s Appleseed , I’ve led with a comparison to Warhammer 40K by Games Workshop, but I promised myself that I wouldn’t do it again. The comparison is apt; both Appleseed and 40K combine a grimdark concept—a …Read more »
On Saturday, October 19, 2013, Cartoon Network premiered the 16th Pokémon movie, Pokémon the Movie: Genesect and the Legend Awakened , three months after its successful theatrical run in Japan, the quickest trip to a U.S. showing in the entire history of Pokémon movies. This …Read more »
Like him or not, it’s clear director Shinji Aramaki is at the forefront of Japan’s 3D, computer-generated animation movement. Beginning his directorial career with traditional, hand-drawn anime OAVs like Megazone 23 and MADOX-01 , Aramaki turned to computers to create 2004’s Appleseed . Since then, …Read more »
One of the most hotly anticipated anime of this season has been Kill la Kill , which comes from relatively fresh anime studio Trigger ( Little Witch Academia , Inferno Cop ). While they've already managed to make quite a name for themselves in a …Read more »
Katsuhiro Otomo likes to take his time. The legendary artist and anime director, best known for his magnum opus Akira , took almost 15 years between that film and his next major work, Steamboy . So fans of Otomo take note whenever he’s involved in …Read more »
When machines of peace are used as weapons of war, does the creator bear responsibility? That’s the question underpinning The Wind Rises , the first film from master filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki since 2008’s Ponyo . Unlike Ponyo, this is definitely not a kids’ film. The …Read more »
Why is the animation quality of the Ghost in the Shell franchise evolving in reverse? The original Ghost in the Shell film, released in 1994, was and remains a stunning, fluid piece of animation with both characters and backgrounds alike packed with detail, nuance and …Read more »
Ok, first, before I say anything else, I have to get one thing out right off the bat: This box set is STUFFED with extras. It is truly amazing how much is present here. That’s the first impression I had when I cracked open the …Read more »
A contradictory scene in rural Japan: by the bank of a river, a master and his apprentices dye traditional Japanese fabric by hand, the way it’s been done for hundreds of years. In the river, a human-shaped robot plays in the water, trying to catch …Read more »
Fans of director Masaaki Yuasa made their way to Tokyo’s Roppongi district May 26th for a one-of-a-kind event – the premiere of the long-awaited Kickstarter-backed short Kick-Heart . While backers await their imminent DVDs and download codes, a few lucky folks got a first glimpse …Read more »
A tsunami of recent nostalgia releases is wreaking havoc with my Vault of Error. I planned to review Demon City Shinjuku , but that title is once again readily available courtesy of Discotek Media. I considered examining Dominion: Tank Police and Black Magic M-66 , …Read more »
I decided to wait until at least episode three to gather my thoughts on the Flowers of Evil anime adaptation for a few reasons. The primary factor is pacing. While I've read all five volumes of Shuzo Oshimi's manga (you can read the latest review …Read more »
Matt Schley
Ryotaro Aoki
Paul Thomas Chapman
Brian Camp
Joseph Luster
Darius Washington
