another anime movie review

By Jonathan Clements. Producer Toshio Suzuki was entertainingly underwhelmed when he was approached by agents for the pop stars Chage and Aska, who asked if Studio Ghibli would do the video for their new single “On Your Mark.” Fact is, he said, he’d never heard of them. Later versions of the story have tried to […] http://dlvr.it/Sk1BZc

By Shelley Pallis. He was the greatest swordsman in the world. He advanced through every stage, mastered every trick, and learned every technique. He reached the highest possible levels of achievement, able to defeat elite soldiers without a sword, since he was just as handy with a bit of wood. He achieved a Zen nirvana […] http://dlvr.it/SjvgQ3

“Manga artist Leiji Matsumoto has departed for the sea of stars.” That was how his daughter Makiko Matsumoto, who heads his office Studio Leijisha, announced Matsumoto’s death on 13th February of acute heart failure in a Tokyo hospital, at the age of 85. Born in 1938, during the Second Sino-Japanese War, Matsumoto grew up on […] http://dlvr.it/SjkBS9

By Andrew Osmond. Just days after the news broke that Anime Limited licensed the soundtrack to Makoto Shinkai’s Suzume, the company has announced it also has the soundtrack to Trigun Stampede. Just to clarify, this is the brand-new series now streaming on Crunchyroll, made by the CG studio Orange (Beastars, Land of the Lustrous). It’s […] http://dlvr.it/SjbZQB

By Jonathan Clements. When we first see Akira, he is gripped in the jaws of a mutant dog. Nafuse’s Rebuild World ditches the tiresome induction scene of many a “light novel“ – there is no sob-story about someone from our world magically transported elsewhere. Instead, we have an author who seems confident in his own […] http://dlvr.it/SjR608

By Shelley Pallis. Ichi and Tae are a pair of those perennial manga clichés, “childhood friends.” And, this being the self-aware, post-modern 2020s, Ichi has read enough manga to know what that means. Now that they are teenagers, they are sure to find themselves struggling with their feelings for each other – can they still […] http://dlvr.it/SjHWGT

By Tom Wilmot. Few long-running franchises touch as many mediums as Vampire Hunter D. The brainchild of prolific author Hideyuki Kikuchi, the series has spawned over thirty novels, two animated movies, a video game, a manga series, and several radio dramas. As well as making a mark domestically, Vampire Hunter D is widely recognised in […] http://dlvr.it/Sj7vGX

By Tom Wilmot. Writers tend to have a motif, an idea or theme that persists throughout their work, distinguishing their projects and allowing them to form an artistic identity. In the case of Makoto Ueda, this idea is one of time. The co-founder of the theatre group Europe Kikaku has toiled on many wonderous sci-fi […] http://dlvr.it/ShzjY4

By Andrew Osmond. Makoto Shinkai’s new film Suzume isn’t in British cinemas yet – as of writing, it’s scheduled for release on 14th April. However, Anime Limited is distributing the Japanese import version of the film’s vinyl soundtrack, which will be followed by the company’s own CD and vinyl editions later this year. The least […] http://dlvr.it/ShsRg6