This OVA is incredibly visually creative and STUNNINGLY well-animated. It is also god-awful. Repulsive and pointless, Dead Leaves is a plotless exercise in vulgarity. It didn't offend me, but it did annoy me. I'm appalled that IG and so much of the FLCL creative team would waste their valuable time on this dreck.
I liked the first film, but it was missing a lot-- it needed more plot. This iteration is so, so much better. There is more action and more thematic focus. Oshii has a much clearer idea of what he's trying to express this time around, and some of the directions he took the story startled me. His visual style has also acheived some kind of critical mass. CGI has advanced to such a point that I think Oshii's films have now become more realistic than reality. Do with that what you will.
An overlooked gem. This is a sweet, touching film that is at the same time incredibly meaningful. Takahata has a knack for finding the profundity in the ordinary. The animation is a brand new style all its own, entirely dissimilar from every other anime ever made and yet completely Japanese. One of my favorite animated films.
Staff, most cast, return to perform original 2023 musical in NYC― The musical based on Hajime Isayama's Attack on Titan manga will have its first international performance at the New York City Center in New York on October 11-13. Attack on Titan: The Musical will be performed in Japanese with English subtitles with a returning cast and staff from the 2023 show. Presale tickets are available for Crun...
Yeah, yeah, Kaiju No. 8 has all the great action scenes, but Yatagarasu is chewing up the scenery as the royal ladies absolutely lose their minds!?― Why Aren't You Watching This Anime Yet? Yeah, yeah, Kaiju No. 8 has all the great action scenes, but Yatagarasu is chewing up the scenery as the royal ladies absolutely lose their minds!? The ANN After Show streams live on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitte...
Here we have a from-the-ground-up remake, but does this beloved classic still hold up in a modern sense, or is that praise just nostalgia talking?― It's nice when Nintendo surprises us with a remaster or re-release of one of their more difficult-to-obtain games. The original Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door for the Nintendo GameCube is a classic for many. However, since the game was never re-rele...
Miles Atherton crunched Netflix's latest numbers for some surprising anime discoveries, from the popularity of My Happy Marriage to the One Piece juggernaut.― Since the advent of streaming, it's been notoriously difficult to gauge how popular a specific anime is with international audiences, both for publishers looking to make informed decisions for a market that generates most of its revenue outsi...
Haruka Shiraishi, Jun Fukuyama star in EMT Squared anime― The official website for the television anime of Izumi Sawano's I Want to Escape from Princess Lessons (Kisaki Kyōiku kara Nigetai Watashi) light novel series opened on Wednesday and revealed the anime's teaser visuals, main cast, main staff, and 2025 premiere. The anime stars: Haruka Shiraishi as Leticia Jun Fukuyama as Clarke Uri Sugata, th...
Nakao had roles in Sega's Judgement games, live-action GTO, Godzilla films― Actor Akira Nakao died of heart failure on May 16. He was 81. The actor's health was fluctuating in the last years of his life. A close funeral was held by his wife, actress Shino Ikenami, for close relatives. Nakao was born on August 11, 1942 in Chiba prefecture. Nakao played Ryuzo Genda in Sega's Judgement games, which ar...
With seven full routes and one mini-route with a character from the previous game, if you enjoyed Cupid Paradise, Sweet & Spicy Darling is worth playing.― The first order of business is this: if you haven't played the original Cupid Parasite otome game, there isn't much point in picking up Sweet & Spicy Darling. There is one new route for this sequel, but even that relies on you knowing the backgrou...
With the release of Dead Dead Demon's Dededededestruction, Nick and Steve take a look at it and some other manga that were thought to be "unadaptable"—and see if that was truly the case.― With the release of Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction, Nick and Steve take a look at it and some other manga that were thought to be "unadaptable"—and see if that was truly the case. Disclaimer: The views and...
When even the author says this story will hurt, you know it will be bad.― When even the author says this story will hurt, you know it will be bad. That's assuming, of course, that you weren't prepared for it going in. The fate of Astrea Familia is well-known to readers and viewers (and players) of the various Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon iterations, and the most recent season of ...
The documentary was full of cool tidbits about the 82-year-old producer and the anime he's worked on—including Ninja Scroll, Pluto, and In This Corner of the World.― Late last month, Japanese television network NHK put out a documentary on anime producer Masao Maruyama as part of their Anime Manga Explosion series. In it, the show delves into the now 82-year-old producer's life, philosophies, and so...
This is where the series earns its place in anime history, setting a precedent that other magical girl shows will follow.― It's a moment of magical girl history, right there on the screen: in episode forty-six of Fairy Princess Minky Momo's original 1982-83 television series, Momo is hit by a truck and dies. Even putting aside the question of whether or not this is Truck-kun's first victim, this is ...
Teaser video streamed― Bandai Namco Filmworks announced on Saturday that the Ghost in the Shell franchise is getting a new television anime series in 2026. Science Saru will produce the anime, which is tentatively titled Kōkaku Kidōtai (The Ghost in the Shell). Bandai Namco Filmworks, Kodansha, Science Saru, and Production I.G are on the production committee for the series. Bandai Namco Filmworks al...