In planning to do a retrospective of the work of Satoshi Kon (Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress, Tokyo Godfathers, Paprika, Paranoia Agent), I thought first I’d look at one of his early works – he was the scriptwriter, layout artist and art director for Magnetic Rose, the first segment of Katsuhiro Otomo’s (Akira, Steamboy, Robot Carnival, Short Peace) … Read more
Just for fun, I had a look at the BBFC’s website to see why this and the next volume were rated “18”. Episodes 1-4: Contains some sexualised nudity. Ok. Nothing new. Deep breath, I can handle that. Episodes 5-7: Contains sexualised nudity and moderate sex references. Ok. Ok, more of the same. Got it. Episodes 8-11: … Read more
Well, that woman sure has eyebrows, I thought as I saw the main character’s image on the box. And boy, she sure knows how to wield them, I thought after watching this thoroughly odd movie. Based on a historical manga by Hinako Sugiura, it relates a collection of disparate vignettes in the life of Katsushika Oi … Read more
Another family-friendly choice, this film makes an interesting complement/counterpoint to my recently reviewed A Letter to Momo in that this Chinese-produced animation also explores Eastern concepts of the afterlife from a young person’s perspective. When I picked it up, I didn’t even realise this wasn’t Japanese anime – though it most certainly looks like anime. The characters wouldn’t look … Read more
Part of a bundle of cheap DVDs from my local HMV store, I chose Momo as the first of them to watch (and also as it was one of the few child-friendly ones I could share with my son). This is a 2011 theatrical anime release directed by Hiroyuki Okiura, whose most prominent previous directorial work was … Read more