Film Jan 24, 2020
Remembering Satoshi Kon, one of anime's best-loved creators
by Matt Schley
The Annie Awards bestows a posthumous honor on anime director Satoshi Kon, who died in 2010 at the age of 46.
Business / Corporate Jan 21, 2020
Netflix to stream Studio Ghibli anime globally — except in Japan and North America
Netflix Inc. will start streaming animated films from director Hayao Miyazaki's Studio Ghibli globally, excluding the United States, Canada and Japan, starting next month. "This is a dream come true for Netflix," said Aram Yacoubian, director of original animation at Netflix, pointing out that Studio ...
Business Jan 20, 2020
From anime to reality: Mobile 25-ton Gundam robot to be built in Yokohama
by Kazuaki Nagata
What was once thought limited to the realm of animation is set to become reality in Yokohama this fall when an 18-meter mobile Gundam robot steps into action. Fans of the iconic anime series will be able to get an up-close look at the 25-ton ...
Film / Reviews Jan 9, 2020
'On-Gaku: Our Sound': Indie anime seven years in the making is a surefire classic
by James Hadfield
Director Kenji Iwaisawa's hand-drawn anime, with voice acting by former Yura Yura Teikoku frontman Shintaro Sakamoto, taps into the riotous power of music.
Culture | CULTURE SMASH Jan 6, 2020
When American country meets Japanese anime
by Roland Kelts
The lineup of artists onstage at the Tokyo premiere of "Sturgill Simpson Presents: Sound & Fury" was as eclectic as the film they'd all made: a 41-minute anime music video set to an entire album by the Grammy-winning Simpson.
Film | 2019 in Review Dec 25, 2019
2019 brought both tragedy and triumph to Japan's anime industry
by Matt Schley
While the anime world was rocked by a fatal arson attack at the studios of Kyoto Animation, a diverse range of new films and series gave the year a creative boost.
National | Regional Voices: Hokkaido Dec 13, 2019
U.S. digital publisher boosts reach of Japanese 'light novels' in English-speaking world
"Isekai Rebuilding Project," a fantasy novel by a Hokkaido-based writer who publishes under the pseudonym Yukika Minamino, has become available to English-reading audiences through a website run by an American digital publisher of Japanese novels aimed at teenagers and young adults. The addition of Minamino's ...
Film Dec 6, 2019
How the artwork from anime classic 'Akira' was given a permanent home in the U.S.
by Matt Schley
More than 30 years after the anime world was set alight by 'Akira,' the original artwork from the film has found a permanent home in the United States.
National / Crime & Legal Dec 5, 2019
Chief of 'Evangelion' anime studio Gainax arrested for alleged molestation and topless photos
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department arrested the president of anime studio Gainax Co. on Thursday for allegedly coercing a teenage woman into posing for nude images and touching her, on the pretext that he was training her for photo shoots as an entertainer. Tomohiro Maki, ...
National Dec 5, 2019
Internationally renowned Japanese cartoonist Leiji Matsumoto released from Italian hospital
Famed manga and anime creator Leiji Matsumoto returned to Japan Thursday from Italy, where he had been undergoing treatment for pneumonia since mid-November. "I'm feeling very good and happy to return home," the 81-year-old told reporters as he sat in a wheelchair at Narita Airport ...
Entertainment News Dec 3, 2019
Makoto Shinkai's anime 'Weathering With You' nominated for Annie Awards
The anime film "Weathering With You" by Makoto Shinkai has been nominated in four categories in the 47th annual Annie Awards, including best animated independent feature, the international animated film society ASIFA-Hollywood said Monday. Two other anime directed by Japanese were nominated in the same ...
Culture | CULTURE SMASH Dec 2, 2019
Gkids brings anime's best to big screens in the U.S.
by Roland Kelts
Though relatively unheralded, Gkids scored the rights to U.S. re-releases of the work of anime giants — including Isao Takahata and Makoto Shinkai — by only showing them in cinemas.