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Charles Solomon’s Animation Year End Review 2020

Although he wrote them in 1859, Charles Dickens might have been thinking of animation in 2020 when he penned the celebrated lines, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the […]

ANIME REVIEW: Satoshi Kon’s “Paranoia Agent”

This first—and long overdue—release on Blu-ray of Satoshi Kon’s one television series, Paranoia Agent (2004), reminds viewers of the exceptional talent animation lost when he died a decade ago at 46. As he did in Millennium Actress and Paprika, Kon deftly blurs the boundaries between reality and fantasy: Neither the characters nor the viewer can […]

ANIME REVIEW: “Demon Slayer”

One of the big hits of 2020, the supernatural adventure Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba began as a manga by Koyohara Gotouge. It’s sold over 100 million books worldwide and been adapted to three light novels and a stage play, as well as this 2019 broadcast series. The story is set during the Taisho era […]

ANIME REVIEW: “Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna”

The theatrical feature Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna premiered in Japan in February, marking the 20th anniversary of the franchise. (A subtitled version of Last Evolution was slated for US theatrical release in late March, but the run was postponed due to COVID 19, then cancelled.) Takeru “Tai” Takaishi (Joshua Seth) and Yamato “Matt” Ishida […]

ANIME REVIEW: “Dr. Stone”

In 2017, Writer Riichiro Inagaki and illustrator Boichi scored a hit with their adventure-comedy manga Dr. Stone in “Weekly Shonen Jump.” Both a popular and critical success, Dr. Stone went on to win a Shogakukan Manga Award in 2019. (Viz has published 15 volumes of Dr. Stone in English.) For the 2019 animated adaptation, director […]

ANIME REVIEW: “Is it Wrong to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?”

The hit broadcast series Is it Wrong to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? (2015) blends elements of two popular anime genres, the fantasy adventure and the harem comedy, into an appealing mix. Long ago, the gods who dwelled above the city of Orario descended, looking for entertainment: They limited their powers and began interacting […]

ANIME REVIEW: Rumiko Takahashi’s “InuYasha”

Rumiko Takahashi’s “feudal fairy tale” InuYasha (2000) was one of the big hits of the early 21st century in Japan and the US. Kagome Higurashi (Moneca Stori), a normal 15-year-old high school girl, falls down the dry “Bone Eater’s Well” in her family’s Shinto shrine–and emerges during the “Warring States“ period (1467-1615). At the shrine, […]

MANGA REVIEW: “Blue Flag”

High school is a miserable time, when kids battle raging hormones, crushing insecurities and never-ending drama. In Kaito’s new manga Blue Flag (Ao no Flag), the students at Aohama High experience all the usual problems–plus some unusual ones. Alienated senior Taichi Ichinose has never forgiven himself for failing to prevent a cat from getting run […]

ANIME REVIEW: “How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift?”

The 2019 broadcast series How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift? (Danberu Nan-Kiro Moteru?, literally “How Many Kilograms of Dumbbell Can You Lift?”) could have been animated with ultra body-conscious Southern California in mind. Koyo Women’s Academy student Hibiki Sakura (Madeleine Morris) loves to eat. As she walks home with her friend Ayaka, she consumes […]

REVIEW: “Robotics;Notes” Part One

High school seniors Kaito Yashio (Clifford Chapin) and Akiho Senomiya (Lindsay Seidel), the heroes of the offbeat sci-fi adventure Robotics;Notes, are the last remaining members of the Robot Research Club. But Kaito’s only interest is the video game Kill-Ballad: He’s ranked as the number five player in the world. He reluctantly helps his childhood friend, […]

ANIME REVIEW: “Tokyo Godfathers”

Shout Factory!/Gkids’ re-release of Tokyo Godfathers (2003) — with an English dub for the first time — serves as a reminder of the exceptional talent the art of animation lost when Satoshi Kon died in 2010 at the age of 46. Tokyo Godfathers was his third feature, after Perfect Blue (1998) and Millennium Actress (2002). […]

ANIME REVIEW: “Kono Oto Tomare! Sounds of Life”

As every otaku knows, choosing your club is a key decision in Japanese high school life, and the kid who’s the only member of a beloved but obscure club is a standard anime character. Schools eliminate clubs with fewer than five members, so recruiting more kids is vital, whether it’s for the Classical Literature Club […]

BOOK REVIEW: “Sharing a House with the Never-Ending Man: 15 Years at Studio Ghibli”

Although there have been numerous books and countless articles published about Studio Ghibli and its creations, few, if any, journalists have been able to write about the internal workings of the studio. Steve Alpert, who speaks Japanese fluently, came to Ghibli in 1996 and spent the next decade and a half there as a senior […]

ANIME REVIEW: “Promare”

At a time when many American features look so much alike, the brilliant colors and boldly stylized imagery in Hiroyuki Imaishi’s Promare hit the viewer like a bucket of ice water. As Imaishi, screenwriter Kazuki Nakashima and many of the animators worked together on the popular series Gurren Lagann, the flamboyant visual style won’t surprise […]

ANIME REVIEW: “One Piece: Stampede”

Eiichiro Oda’s pirate comedy-adventure One Piece may well be the most popular animated franchise on the planet. The 96 paperback collections of the original manga have sold more than 450 million books–not far behind the “Harry Potter” series. More than 939 episodes of the animated TV series have been produced with no end in sight. […]