At 27, Arata Kaizaki (voice by Micah Solusod), the central character of the school comedy ReLIFE (2016), is a NEET: An acronym that stands for Not in Education, Employment or Training. The term is generally applied to young men who are seen as not contributing to the Japanese economy—or much of anything else. Although he […]

Based on the shojo (girl’s) manga by Ichigo Takano, the broadcast series Orange (2016) mixes questions about the possibility of time travel changing the past with high school heartache and angst. Naho Takamiya (Jill Harris) is a somewhat timid but otherwise normal 16-year-old student at Azalea Hill Public High School in the mountainous region of […]

With more than 220 million books of the manga in print—about half the total of the “Harry Potter” series, sales of tens of millions of DVD and Blu-ray discs, as well as countless consumer products, Naruto has become a global phenomenon. In Japanese folklore, some evil spirits grow multiple tails as they age and their […]

A new trailer for the upcoming anime feature Godzilla: Monster Planet has been released – and it looks pretty spectacular. The film, a combination of hand drawn and CG, was directed by Kōbun Shizuno (Detective Conan) and Hiroyuki Seshita (Ajin) and animated at Polygon Pictures (Transformers Prime). It is considered the 32nd film in the […]

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 […]

The prelude story of Ash and Pikachu’s iconic friendship topped the box office charts in its opening weekend where the Pokémon franchise first began – in Japan last summer. Now, The Pokémon Company International and Fathom Events are bringing the new animated feature film Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You! to US movie theaters on […]