Studio Ghibli has been a powerful part of both of our lives as otaku, inspiring nightmares, empowerment and the hope that we can each be heroes in our own way. It’s safe to say that its legacy wouldn’t have held quite the same place in our hearts without co-founder Isao […]
Western fantasy and sci-fi literature has long proven influential for anime, and an early example, shortly after the glamour of Howl’s Moving Castle, was the less well-known Studio Ghibli effort Tales from Earthsea. The late, great Ursula K. Le Guin, who sadly passed away in January, had broken through to literary greatness […]
Hyper Japan will be back for its next fest at Tobacco Dock, London from July 14th to 16th, and so will Kihara Hirokatsu. An anime professional who worked on the production desk for Laputa, My Neighbour Totoro and Kiki’s Delivery Service, he was a guest at last year’s Hyper Japan too. But he ruffled a […]
We were both left stunned and saddened by Carrie Fisher’s death in December. It seemed she was gone before we really had a chance to appreciate all the hope and joy she brought to the world. As you might know, we’re both huge fans of Star Wars and the Princess-General […]
The set-ups of certain of Hayao Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli films make you feel as though you’ve returned to Disney’s fairytales. In Howl’s Moving Castle, downtrodden hat maker Sophie has her Cinderella moment when she’s waltzed across the sky by Howl. And the enduring curse catalyst is flipped onto the male […]
Dropping round for a cup of tea and a hearty discussion of some deeply meaningful anime, it’s Daziigirl of UNOTAKU. Stay with us a while, and see which anime she ranked among the best that deal with the real big issues. You might just go away with the series that […]
As the great beast snores his belly can be seen rising right from the entrance of his hideout if you’re close enough. Above, the trees breathe with him. The forest’s heart and hands, though he sleeps he’s on guard for any child who finds it in the long grass. […]
We at the blog have been utterly charmed by the bright and restful Amanchu!, new girl in town Futaba echoing our quiet wonder as she experiences her new home by the sea. There, she meets Hikari Kohinata. With her arresting self-confidence and unrestrainably bonkers joy, Hikari has been diving off the […]
Even after surviving World War II, beloved manga artist Shigeru Mizuki always kept his verve in both life and creativity. As you might expect, such a life left a wise imprint, but when he passed away last year at the age of 93, he left us with the lingering enchantment of […]
