Animation studio Light Chaser Animation has released seven films with ones most likely known in North America being White Snake (2019), New Gods: Nezha Reborn (2021), and Green Snake (2021), the latter two likely because of their accessibility on Netflix…. Read More ›
Every story ever told really happened. Stories are where memories go when they’re forgotten. – Doctor Who, Season 9 Episode “Hell Bent” Adapted from novelist Hideo Furukawa’s “The Tale of the Heike: The Inu-Oh Chapters,” Inu-Oh is a tale of… Read More ›
When we’re children, the world appears small. It’s filled with the things that we can perceive and, often, little else. This means that what stresses us out, what keeps us up at night, seem huge because we lack the perspective… Read More ›
Adaptations, in live action or animation, are the lifeblood of storytelling. We, as audiences, like to think that the magic comes from original stories, but, more often than not, that thing you love is an adaptation of a story originating… Read More ›
One of the greater mysteries in life is whether or not there’s something after the living world. It’s a question that’s been explored through faith, philosophy, and art. Depending on the community or culture you come up within, the afterlife… Read More ›
If you go down in the woods today, you’re sure of a big surprise If you go down in the woods today, you’d better go in disguise For every bear that ever there was Will gather there for certain because… Read More ›
As long as there are children who grow into adulthood via adolescence, there will always be coming-of-age stories. They may not be indicative of your experience, but they will speak to the universal ideas of growing up, shifting from an… Read More ›
After hitting the festival circuit in 2021, writer/director Mamoru Hosoda’s musical drama BELLE landed in select U.S. theaters in January of 2022 and then shelves the following April. Both times, my reviews of the film lauded the look and sound… Read More ›
One of the oldest storytelling conveyances is the oral tradition. Before we could write or read, we spoke and the sounds we made transfixed audiences, transporting them to times before their present. With the advent of the written-word, one might… Read More ›
The latest GKids Films release, Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko, is set to arrive on home video from Shout! Factory with a host of special features that celebrate the last adaptation of author Kanako Nishi’s work. In this case, the adaptation… Read More ›
It all begins with three words: Lights. Camera. Action! Sure, with the changing of technology, the specific terms have changed, but they all go back to these three. Three words which, while not large, immediately call to mind tales of… Read More ›
Author Kanako Nishi has written 22 novels, as well as assorted illustrated and nonfiction works. Five of her novels have been adapted for theaters with her 2011 novel, Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko, being the fifth. This adaption, a collaboration between… Read More ›
One can never really predict what we’ll discover with art — what emotions, what memories, what reactions will be triggered through an artist’s work. When I first learned of writer/director Mamoru Hosoda’s BELLE, I presumed, like most, that it would… Read More ›
If there’s one thing that all cinephiles share, it’s that excited feeling when the house lights turn down low, the screen lights up, and the possibilities are endless for the adventure to come. It doesn’t really matter if you’re in… Read More ›
In a career spanning over 20 years, writer/director Mamoru Hosoda has cultivated a filmography of works which communicate to the general masses (Digimon: The Movie (2000)) and to a specific niche audience (Summer Wars (2009); Mirai (2018)). Full disclosure: Mirai… Read More ›
Across four films, Irish animation studio Cartoon Saloon has earned four Academy Award nominations, each time for Best Animated Feature. If you’ve seen even one of their films — The Secret of Kells (2009), Song of the Sea (2017), The… Read More ›
Somehow, in one way or another, stories transcend times and locations, growing to become global phenomena. We’ve seen it with the characters of DC Comics and Marvel Comics, the Transformers series (based on the run of Hasbro toys), and, of… Read More ›
February 2021 saw the theatrical release of a new Studio Ghibli film, Earwig and the Witch, and it wasn’t quite as well received as hoped. While the switch from hand-drawn animation to 3D CG was, initially, off-putting, the real issue… Read More ›
Studio Ghibli’s Earwig and the Witch marks their 22nd feature film and their first 3D animated feature. Adapted from the 2011 novel by Diana Wynne Jones (the second film of theirs adapted from her books, the first being Howl’s Moving… Read More ›
First created by artist Monkey Punch in 1967, the adventures of gentlemen thief Lupin III have generated multiple mangas, tv series, and films depicting a variety of escapades. During a press interview for Lupin III vs. Detective Conan: The Movie… Read More ›