The adventures of the swimmers in the Free! (2013) series proved so popular, they spawned follow-up series and feature films High Speed! Free! Starting Days (2015) is a prequel to the original series: Four talented young athletes enter Iwatobi Middle School. Kind, soft-spoken Makoto (Johnny Yong Bosch) tries to look after everyone. Introverted Haruka (Todd […]
Posts Tagged ‘Anime’
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ANIME REVIEW: “The Tibetan Dog”
August 26th, 2018 
Charles Solomon Based on a best-selling Chinese children’s book, Tibetan Dog (2011) was produced at Japan’s Madhouse studio in a rare Chinese-Japanese deal. Since his parents separated, Tenzin (Tatsuomi Hamada) has grown up in the city of Xi’an in Shaanxi province with his mother. He learned to play the flute from her and had an unremarkable urban […]
ANIME REVIEW: “Tsuki-Ga Kire: The Complete Series”
June 12th, 2018 Charles Solomon In the first episode of the 2017 broadcast series Tsuki-ga kirei (in Japanese Tsuki-ga kirei means “As the moon, so beautiful”), Kotaro Azumi (Stephen Sanders), a 9th grader at Kawagoe City Daisan Junior High, quotes Osamu Dazai: “How excruciating, arduous and unbearable it is to live.” Kotaro adds, “He must have been talking about middle […]
ANIME TRAILER: “Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle”
May 18th, 2018 Jerry Beck Humanity’s desperate battle to reclaim the Earth from Godzilla continues. The key to defeating the King of the Monsters may be Mechagodzilla, a robotic weapon thought to have been lost nearly 20,000 years ago. Part 2 of the new anime Godzilla trilogy from Toho (and destined for Netflix here in the US). Godzilla: City on […]
ANIME REVIEW: “Kiss Him, Not Me: The Complete Series”
March 19th, 2018 Charles Solomon Like Ouran High School Host Club (2006), the teen romcom Kiss Him, Not Me (2016), plays off the distaff equivalent of the harem comedy. Based on the award-winning 2013 manga by Junko, the Japanese title Watashi ga Motete Dōsunda literally means “What’s the Point of Me Getting Popular?” High school junior Kae Serinuma (voice by […]
ANIME REVIEW: “Yamada-kun and the 7 Witches”
March 4th, 2018 Charles Solomon A featherweight supernatural romantic farce, Yamada-kun and the 7 Witches (2015) turns the conventions of the popular anime genre of the harem comedy topsy-turvy. The original manga by Miki Yoshikawa, which sold almost four million copies, has been made into a live action series, as well as an animated one. Students at Suzaku High dismiss […]
GKIds Acquires “Satellite Girl And Milk Cow”
February 9th, 2018 Jerry Beck GKIDS, acclaimed distributor of animation for adult and family audiences, announced that it is has acquired the North American distribution rights to Satellite Girl And Milk Cow, from acclaimed Korean director Chang Hyung-yun. Sales agent INDIESTORY represents the title worldwide. Satellite Girl And Milk Cow is available for streaming now via the VRV Select channel […]
ANIME REVIEW: “The Morose Mononokean”
January 27th, 2018 Charles Solomon We don’t really have a word in English that corresponds to the Japanese yokai. They aren’t ghosts as we think of them; nor do they correspond to Western demons or ogres. Their appearance is often monstrous, but they’re not all huge or ugly. Yokai can be grotesque, hideous, funny-looking or even attractive. There doesn’t seem […]
Gkids Acquires Three Features by Masaaki Yuasa for 2018 US Release
January 2nd, 2018 Jerry Beck GKIDS announced today that it has acquired the North American distribution rights for a slate of films from internationally acclaimed director Masaaki Yuasa. The deal includes the cult classic Mind Game as well as Yuasa’s two new feature films, Lu Over The Wall and Night Is Short, Walk On Girl. GKIDS will release all three […]
ANIME REVIEW: “Ranma ½: OVA & Movies Collection”
December 7th, 2017 Charles Solomon Rumiko Takahashi’s gender-bending martial arts comedy Ranma ½ debuted as a manga in “Shonen Sunday Comics” in 1988 and in animation soon after. Three decades later, it remains hugely popular in both Japan and the United States. Although Takahashi has said she wasn’t commenting on gender roles in Japan, its absurd premise suggests otherwise. Wiry, […]
TRAILER: “Batman Ninja”
December 5th, 2017 Jerry Beck You can’t really tell how good a movie is by the trailer – but this teaser for Batman Ninja looks amazing. Warner Bros. Japan is releasing, Jumpei Mizusaki (JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure’s) is directing from a script by Kazuki Nakashima (Kamen Rider Fourze). Character designer Takashi Okazaki (Afro Samurai) and animator Kamaikaze Douga take Batman (and […]
ANIME REVIEW: “ReLIFE: Season One”
November 11th, 2017 Charles Solomon 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 […]
ANIME REVIEW: “Orange: The Complete Series”
November 5th, 2017 Charles Solomon 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 […]
ANIME REVIEW: “Naruto Shippuden the Movie: Rasengan Collection”
November 2nd, 2017 Charles Solomon 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 […]
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 […]
