Hayao Miyazaki’s brilliant animated features have already been released on disc several times, but this new series from GKids includes additional extras about the making of the films. Each two-disc set comes with a small booklet of statements by Miyazaki, producer Toshio Suzuki, and/or producer/director Isao Takahata. The sets of Ponyo, Howl’s Moving Castle and […]
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Anime Review: “Hyouka: Part 1”
September 5th, 2017 
Charles Solomon Hotaro Oreki (voice by Adam Gibbs) might hold the record for teen-age angst. He talks about living a life that “conserves energy” by following the motto, “If I don’t have to do something, I won’t; but if I have to, I’ll do it quickly.” His cheerful best friend Takeo Katsuta (Aaron Dismuke) comments that Oreki […]
ANIME REVIEW: “And You Thought There Is Never a Girl Online?”
August 30th, 2017 Charles Solomon Hideki Nishimura (Dallas Reid), the hero of the adventure-comedy And You Thought There Is Never a Girl Online? (2016), is a typically nerdy student at Maegasaki High. He’s not a math wizard or an unshowered programming genius. He’s just an insecure, slightly out of it guy with few real friends. Nishimura finds the companionship he […]
Manga Review: “My Brother’s Husband”
August 19th, 2017 Charles Solomon Although millions of Americans, especially Americans udner 30, buy and read manga, they’re only seeing the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Manga culture remains far more complex and diverse than readers in the US realize, as Gengoroh Tagame’s singular My Brother’s Husband demonstrates. Tagame is a celebrated manga-ka, or manga artist, best known for his […]
Book Review: Hirohiko Araki’s “Manga in Theory and Practice”
July 24th, 2017 Charles Solomon Manga have become so popular in Japan and throughout the world, that an increasing number of young people aspire to become mangaka, or manga artists. As its title suggests, Hirohiko Araki’s Manga in Theory and Practice is a how-to guide, designed to help young artists find their way. Araki says, “I want this book to […]
ANIME REVIEW: “Outlaw Star”
July 10th, 2017 Charles Solomon The rollicking comedy-adventure Outlaw Star began as manga by Takehiko Ito and the artists at Morningstar Studios, who also made the animated series. In the distant future, interstellar space is divided between Pirates and the Space Forces. The self-proclaimed Outlaws scratch out a living in the odd spaces unoccupied by the two powers. Like a […]
ANIME REVIEW: “Dimension W”
July 5th, 2017 Charles Solomon Based on the manga by Yuji Iwahara, Dimension W is an oddly uneven series, alternately intriguing and muddled. The story takes place in 2036, after the discovery of a fourth Euclidean dimension solved all of Earth’s energy problems. Power flows from this little understood dimension through a series of huge stations to individual battery-receivers called […]
ANIME REVIEW: “The Big O”
June 28th, 2017 Charles Solomon The simplified, Art Deco-influenced designs in the mecha adventure The Big O give the series a look that’s closer to Warner Bros.’ old animated Batman than Gundam. Originally concieved as 26-episode adventure, The Big O premiered in October, 1999, in Japan, but was cancelled after only 13 episodes due to poor ratings. The English language […]
ANIME REVIEW: “Girls und Panzer”
June 2nd, 2017 Charles Solomon The parvenu father in Thomas Mann’s short story “The Blood of the Walsungs” tells his future son-in-law that the secret to enjoying life is never to get used to anything, to be constantly surprised. He would have loved anime. No matter how many series or features you watch, there’s always something new and unexpected. And […]
ANIME REVIEW: “One Piece: Heart of Gold”
May 20th, 2017 Charles Solomon Although it aired as a stand-alone broadcast special a week before the opening of the theatrical feature One Piece Film: Gold (2016), the two-hour One Piece: Heart of Gold (2016) is essentially a lengthy introduction to the film. Both adventures were written by Tsuomu Kuriowa and take place shortly after the “Dress Rosa” story arc […]
ANIME REVIEW: “Steins; Gate: The Movie: Load Region of Déjà Vu”
May 1st, 2017 Charles Solomon The time travel adventure Steins;Gate began as an Xbox game, which was adapted to a light novel, a manga, a radio play and a board game before it became a popular broadcast series in 2011. Two years later, two of the directors and much of the staff returned to make the theatrical feature Steins;Gate: The […]
ANIME REVIEW: “Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team #1”
April 24th, 2017 Charles Solomon Although there’s plenty of mecha battles, the 13-part OAV Mobil Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team (1996) focuses more on the character relationships than other entries in this long-running franchise. Set in 0079 UC (Universal Century), within the main Gundam continuity, 08th MS Team OAV brings Shiro Amada (Steve Cannon) to Earth to lead a […]
Anime Review: “The World’s Greatest First Love”
March 29th, 2017 Charles Solomon Shounen-ai—literally “boy’s love”–is a curious genre of anime and manga that has no American counterpart. It depicts innocent romances between bishonen (beautiful young men), but it’s created by women for female audiences. Some people use the word interchangeably with yaoi. Others maintain yaoi involves sexually explicit scenes, while shounen-ai never does. The characters may kiss […]
ANIME REVIEW: “Noragami Aragoto: Season Two”
March 15th, 2017 Charles Solomon Times are tough for Yato (voice by Jason Liebrecht), the minor god of calamity who’s at the center of the broadcast series Noragami Aragoto (2015), the sequel to Noragami (2014). He’s still knocking around Tokyo in an old warm-up suit and busted boots, offering to grant wishes for ¥5 coins. Yato may be broke, but […]
ANIME REVIEW: “Ultimate Otaku Teacher”
March 3rd, 2017 Charles Solomon The 2015 broadcast comedy Ultimate Otaku Teacher focuses on the nutty Jun’ichiro Kagami (Anthony Bowling). At 17, Kagami was a physics prodigy, authoring a paper that proved it was theoretically possible to create Doraemon’s Anywhere Door. But when he discovered the technology needed to realize his vision wouldn’t exist for at least another century, he […]
