another anime movie review

By Shelley Pallis. In the year 2049, Tokyo teen Yuma is suitably blasé about all the technology that is supposed to help his life, particularly the irritating Nanako, a robot personal assistant who often seems like little more than a device for remote parental nagging. Yuma is particularly annoyed because there should be more to […] http://dlvr.it/SZFMZj

By Jonathan Clements. Unsure of what direction to take in life, high-school graduate Hiwa Natsunagi (Haruka Fukuhara) decides to become a professional hula dancer, like her late sister Mari. But she soon begins to wonder if hula dancing is the thing for her, when she proves to be the clumsiest, least hula-competent girl in her […] http://dlvr.it/SZ37Nq

By Shelley Pallis. Mamoru and Aya have known each other since they were six years old, but now they are awkward teens… well, he is an awkward teen, unable to express his true feelings for his childhood friend, and panicking now that she is about to move away. In a moment of weakness, he proposes […] http://dlvr.it/SYvJDB

By Jonathan Clements. Tamaki Tsuru ignores her mother’s complaints and applies to Aonagi University in That Fancy Tokyo, where she intends to make friends, fall in love and maybe do some studying eventually. Much more important is the selection of the right school club, because that will be the talent pool that supplies her future […] http://dlvr.it/SYj2Ss

By Andrew Osmond. The film Mobile Suit Gundam: Cucuruz Doan’s Island goes all the way back to the start of the Gundam franchise. Gundam is like Star Trek; it may have had umpteen different iterations over the decades, but the original has a mystique that’s never truly equalled. In Gundam’s case, that’s the 1979 TV […] http://dlvr.it/SYXKXG

By Tom Wilmot. In the spring before her first year of high school, the shy Yuna feels lost when her best friend moves away. However, it isn’t long before she’s thrown into the company of Akari, a spritely girl who has moved into the same apartment building. To begin with, the two couldn’t be more […] http://dlvr.it/SYLbFb

By Jonathan Clements. Nigella Lawson, Britain’s very own kitchen goddess, introduced the housewives of middle England to frankfurters marinaded and baked in honey and soy sauce, something that soon became a Christmas staple in my own house. She neglected to mention in Nigella Express, however, that this dish was not an invention of her own, […] http://dlvr.it/SY8mFc

By Andrew Osmond. Gundam Seed Destiny is the direct sequel to the earlier series Gundam Seed, which was covered on this blog here. Like the previous series, Destiny was created by Mitsuo Fukuda (director) and his wife Chiaki Morosawa (lead writer). It sees the return of several of the first Seed’s characters, though they’re joined […] http://dlvr.it/SY2wPZ

Another month has slipped by, and we’re already seeing the odd Pumpkin Spice Latte crop up in the office to let you know that we’re moving into the autumn. But you don’t care about what we’re drinking in the office, you want new releases! So allow me to set down my mug of tea (it’s […] http://dlvr.it/SXwvJD

By Jasper Sharp. There are many paths one might take through the vast and varied terrain of Japanese cinema. Peter Cowie’s addition to the ever-expanding range of publications on a subject – so thoroughly pioneered, surveyed and demarcated by fans, pundits and scholars alike over the decades – provides cause for thought that there is […] http://dlvr.it/SXqZfR

By Jonathan Clements. Playfully beginning with a little Austen pastiche, as in “It is a truth universally acknowledged…” the hero of My Friend’s Little Sister Has it in For Me starts as he means to go on, ranting about the simplistic stereotypes of so-called romances in the world of anime and light novels. With all […] http://dlvr.it/SXhbbX