Distributor GKIDS has announced that it will release Studio Ghibli’s Ocean Waves, which has been unreleased in the U.S. until now. The film will play starting on December 28th at IFC Center in New York, and one night only in Los Angeles at the Egyptian Theatre, in a new 4K restoration. The film will then […]

Dropping today is the teaser trailer for Mary and The Witch’s Flower, the first animated feature from Studio Ponoc, the latest directorial effort from former top Ghibli animator Hiromasa Yonebayashi (director, When Marnie Was There, The Secret World of Arriety). Based on “The Little Broomstick” by Mary Stewart, the screenplay was adapted by Riko Sakaguchi […]

Writer-director Makoto Shinkai’s runaway hit Your Name. (Kimi No Na Wa) is the year’s number one box office hit in Japan and the sixth-highest grossing film of all time there. Since it opened in August, it’s earned more than ¥19.4 billion (about US $174 million), more than any animated film not directed by Hayao Miyazaki. […]

Warner Bros. just posted a trailer for a new anime film by director Kenji Kamiyama – (Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Eden of the East) – Napping Princess: The Story of the Unknown Me. I.G Port’s anime subsidiary Signal.MD is animating the film as its first anime film project. The film opens March […]

Based on a manga by Asa Higuchi, the 2007 broadcast series Big Windup! turns the clichés of the anime sports genre upside down. The main character is neither an ace who needs to be taught the importance of teamwork, like Ryoma in Prince of Tennis, nor a newbie who discovers his exceptional talent as he […]

The animated film Miss Hokusai has been one of a handful of features that has been garnering awards attention, and justly so. Gorgeously filmed, sophisticated, and meaningful, it’s a movie that should been seen and considered both the critics awards and arthouse audiences. We spoke to director Keiichi Hara about bringing famed and important feminist […]