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 »
One of the big changes to Namco Bandai's upcoming fighter, Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 , involves interactive arenas, and the latest trailer shows this gameplay tweak in action. Developed as usual by CyberConnect2 ( .hack series, Asura's Wrath ), Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 …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 »
At this point, director Kenji Kamiyama has pretty much become the filmmaking equivalent to a cover band for Mamoru Oshii. Between constantly hiring Oshii mainstay Kenji Kawai to do his musical scores and a penchant for inserting complex real world politics and, lately, religious allusions, …Read more »
Sitting in a theatre full of people wearing 3D glasses, watching stock characters spouting clunky dialogue with the most wooden delivery imaginable, while a nonsensical jumble of third rate science fiction/war movie/zombie horror clichés simply occurs at you with merciless disregard for motivation, plot development …Read more »
Happy (belated) Halloween! Another perfect night for reading manga, whether you're passing the time between trick-or-treaters at your door, trying to scare your own pants off or simply wind down from a great big sugar rush after you get home. Unfortunately there isn't a lot …Read more »
Tokusatsu is, if anything, a genre of extremes. At its best, it's basically live-action anime as the 12-year-old boy in us remembers it, full of cool vehicles, explosions, and gratuitously convoluted storylines full of cool-sounding buzzwords that boil down to a simple framework. At its …Read more »
Halloween comes but once a year, and what better way to celebrate the bewitching season than with an anime about things that go bump in the night? Unfortunately, very few horror-themed anime receive commercial releases in English-speaking countries, and most of them have more in …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 »
It's that time again, folks, because the latest edition of Otaku USA e-News—our free newsletter loaded with exclusive bonus content—is now available! If you haven't received it, all you have to do is head here to sign up free of charge. In this issue we …Read more »
Those of you holding out to read the new issue of Otaku USA digitally need wait no longer. The December 2012 issue—which includes a cover story on Penguin Drum , plus features on Toriko , Ninja Scroll , and a bunch of reviews covering anime, …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 »
Matt Schley
Joseph Luster
Fernando Ramos
Ian Martin
Lissa Pattillo
Paul Thomas Chapman
