Of all the manga and anime properties out there, Hikaru Nakamura's madcap Arakawa Under the Bridge seemed like the least likely candidate to be a made into a live-action movie, let alone a live-action show. The slick anime adaptation by Akiyuki Shinbo aside, Japanese live-action, …Read more »
“This ain't a laughing matter, guys! You're gonna die!” Filming had just started. Action director Eiji Kamikura's first shot of the day would be the obligatory crowd running from monster shot – a crowd just shy of a dozen people in casual wear, but a …Read more »
Let’s get one thing out of the way: I frankly don’t know much about K-On! and have minimal emotional attachment to the antics of the five members making up the Hokago Tea Time. I can already foresee some furious fan, clattering away at their keyboard …Read more »
If you see a Western, English-speaking foreigner in Japan, chances are pretty good that they are an English teacher. There are no shortage of blogs, forums and website spin-offs of anime magazines where people while away their free time talking about the peculiarities of the …Read more »
Goro Miyazaki has to be the unluckiest man in the anime industry. His legendary parentage aside, no one could envy his position of having been promoted from landscape architect to suddenly directing a movie based on an epic fantasy universe spanning a half-dozen books. …Read more »
“The next Miyazaki.” In an industry seen as slowly drying of talent, perhaps no other person in anime has had this label applied to them more than Makoto Shinkai. This might owe more to his staunchly self-driven, independent approach to animation than to his actual …Read more »
With glimpses into Japanese subculture mostly supplied by the likes of Genshiken and the future of Japan given pessimistic overtones in Eden of the East —not to mention the countless headlines in the news at home and abroad of Japan's shrinking birthrate, debt-ridden economy and …Read more »
Christianity gets all the good movies. Oh sure, they get quite a few stinkers, but if a Left Behind is what it takes to get a Jesus of Montreal or The Gospel According to Matthew (which was produced by a gay communist for crying out …Read more »
When the first Gantz live-action film hit theaters with a surprisingly wide American theatrical release (which our Dear Leader Patrick Macias covered ), the reactions were mixed to say the least. The fact that Hiroya Oku's bleak world drenched in sex, violence and bucketloads of …Read more »
I’m just a guy who writes nice fluffy articles about cartoons. In talking about cartoons, you don’t expect to be involved in hard news like historical natural disasters. Oh sure, certain sites in town are labeled with bilingual notices clearly stating where the evacuation zones …Read more »
After a while, Japan starts becoming the equivalent of finding out that Santa doesn’t exist. There is no denying that the halls of Nakano Broadway are full of magic and wonder, and Harajuku has rows of lolitas strutting down in their platform boots if you …Read more »
"What are you doing here? Sightseeing?" "I'm here to see the Pedestrian Paradise re-opening." "Oh, it's just the street closed off, it's gonna be pretty boring. Why not come with me instead?" She had just passed me a flyer for one of those maid escort …Read more »
Akihabara can be a dirty place. Whether it be posters for the latest high school mini-skirt parade or the no fewer than two multi-story “novelty item” stores that hug the town’s entrance, there certainly is a case to be made for that. Harmless wish fulfillment …Read more »
Living in the future leads to mixed feelings. Even five years ago, we struggled against our 56kb connections to get even the smallest scrap of news. Nowadays, we got information on all sides: Facebook on the window behind, Twitter on the iPhone and some podcast …Read more »
“Congratulations! You’ve won our lottery! You may be one who died with a great sin, BUT, we’re going to give you a second chance, you lucky soul!” Thus begins Colorful , a new film based on an award-winning 1999 novel and directed by Keiichi Hara, …Read more »
Fernando Ramos
