Kokone (Mitsuki Takahata) is a teenager living two lives. When she is awake, she is a Japanese schoolgirl on the run after her father was arrested and a mysterious tablet computer was shoved into her hands. When she sleeps she … Continue reading REVIEW: Napping Princess (2017)
There is something to be said for the anime feature. Not only is the animation generally more detailed an expressive than the bulk of serialised anime, it also seems better tailored for the time-poor fans of the genre. There is … Continue reading REVIEW: Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop (2020)
Kun (Moka Kamishiraishi) is a four-year-old boy living in Japan. When his parents bring home a babysister named Mirai, he is hurt and resentful. Hating the loss of attention, he begins to misbehave until he is visited by a teenage … Continue reading REVIEW: Mirai (2018)
For some reason, anime director Masaaki Yuasa never gets quite the level of international acclaim as those for his contemporaries. Certainly it’s not for a lack of work. His debut feature Mindgame (2004) was a worthy cult hit, and subsequent works … Continue reading REVIEW: Ride Your Wave (2019)
Since the mid-1980s Studio Ghibli has been the world’s premier production house for animated films. Led by directors Hayao Miyazaki and the late Isao Takahata, Ghibli has produced more than 20 features in an unparalleled run of creative successes. They … Continue reading REVIEW: Earwig and the Witch (2020)
Or, to give its full translated title: Kazuo Oga: Ghibli’s Image Artisan: The Art Who Made Totoro’s Forest. This is a 75-minute documentary focused on Kazuo Oga, who has worked since the mid-1980s as an art director and background painter for … Continue reading REVIEW: Kazuo Oga: Ghibli’s Image Artisan (2007)
Penguin Highway, a 2018 animated feature based on the Tomihiko Morimi novel, represents the best and worst of anime. On the one hand it boasts a richly developed and wonderfully imaginative story that boasts both clever ideas and a warm, … Continue reading REVIEW: Penguin Highway (2018)
A particular kind of anime fan will likely have a ball with Blame!, a 2017 feature film based on a Tsutomi Nihei manga. Produced with fluid and impressively detailed computer-generated animation, it offers a serious science fiction story backed up with … Continue reading REVIEW: Blame! (2017)
This is one of the more unusual feature film projects that I have seen. In the mid-1980s the independent movie studio New World Pictures, run by the legendary low budget film producer Roger Corman, acquired the American rights to the … Continue reading REVIEW: In the Aftermath (1988)
Kai lives a sullen life in the coastal Hinashi Town with his umbrella-making grandfather and recently divorced father. Kai plays in a teen band with his friends Kunio and Yuho, though he is thinking of quitting. When a trip to … Continue reading REVIEW: Lu Over the Wall (2017)
