A short manga recently found in a used bookstore catalog is reported to be a very early work by “God of manga” and anime pioneer Osamu Tezuka, creator of Astro Boy and Phoenix . The manga depicts Japan’s food shortage problem after World War II, …Read more »
It’s been a rather Mamoru Oshii-influenced week, with the premiere of 009 Re:Cyborg , directed by Oshii protege Kenji Kamiyama, and the successful backing of Kick-Heart , the short on which Oshii is consulting. The veteran director of classics like Ghost in the Shell and …Read more »
This week marked the deadline for the funding of Kick-Heart , the crowd-funded anime short by Production I.G. and Masaaki Yuasa. With the ringing of the closing bell came good news: not only had Kick-Heart met its $150,000 goal, backers had helped reach a total …Read more »
Japanese rock duo Boom Boom Satellites, known in the west for a number of contributions to popular anime and films, have announced the release of their first album in two years, entitled Embrace. The album will feature the single “Broken Mirror,” which was used as …Read more »
Residents of the Tokyo Metropolitan District continue to face a barrage of advertising in the face of the impending release of Evangelion 3.0: You Can (Not) Redo . The latest and greatest promotion comes at the hands of the high-end department store chain Lumine, which …Read more »
Director Koji Wakamatsu, a revered filmmaker in the world of Japanese cinema, passed away October 17th after being hit by a taxi in Tokyo at age 76. Wakamatsu, who directed over 100 films, had recently won Asian Filmmaker of the Year at the Busan Film …Read more »
Here’s a story that nicely dovetails our love of anime and pop idol/Harajuku hero/incessant Twitter user Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. The 19-year-old, best known in the U.S. for last year’s “Pon Pon Pon” and accompanying insane music video, has been busy lately. This past week saw …Read more »
“Huh. That’s something I bet our readers would love to see.” That’s a thought that your Man In Japan (aka me!) has at least once a day walking around town. Tokyo is nothing if not a visual feast, and we’ve decided to share the love …Read more »
Akihabara, Tokyo’s district for electronics and mecca for anime fans around the globe, continues to astound with its variety of hyper-niche cafes, restaurants and emporia catering to all walks of geek life. Maid cafes? Old news. At Soine-ya, the latest establishment designed to substitute for …Read more »
October 3rd marked the 30th anniversary of the premiere of the first episode of Super Dimension Fortress Macross, the seminal robots, pop singers ‘n’ love triangles series that launched a franchise still going strong today. In celebration, a live-action stage musical called Macross the Musicalture …Read more »
While this week’s biggest crowd-funding story was that of Production I.G.’s Kick-Heart , it wasn’t the only game in town. Japan-based manga website J-Comi, which offers free, legal digital versions of classic manga, held its own crowd-funding project in recent days, offering up digital sets …Read more »
As we recently reported , last week saw the announcement of an extremely ambitious and exciting project from animation house Production I.G. and director Masaaki Yuasa: Kick-Heart , an animated short to be paid for by fan contributions via crowd-funding website Kickstarter. Kick-Heart , a …Read more »
Toho Cinemas in Roppongi, Tokyo, will be celebrating the upcoming release of the seminal Cowboy Bebop on Blu-ray with an all-night event entitled Cowboy Bebop Night Selection. The event, set to take place on October 13th, will consist of screenings of some of the series’ …Read more »
Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, the J-pop idol sometimes referred to as the “Japanese Lady Gaga” for her bizarre dress and music videos, has released a new music video in anticipation of her new song. The single, called “Fashion Monster,” is her first since March’s “Candy Candy.” …Read more »
Bandai Namco Games recently debuted a promotional video for its new Naruto game, Naruto SD: Powerful Shippuden. The new game, which will appear in Japan November 29th on the Nintendo 3DS, is based on this year’s Naruto spin-off anime series, Rock Lee and his Ninja …Read more »
Matt Schley
