Although horror anime is often defined by how successfully a show scares its viewers, how it chooses to do so is flexible, allowing authors and directors to approach the genre from numerous different angles to create vastly different experiences. While many fans are used to the blood, gore, and jumpscares often associated with horror, there is another sub-genre that can be just as frightening in a far more subtle way: psychological horror. Instead of relying on overt scare tactics, psychological horror aims to spook the audience by using their own mind and sanity against them. By testing the character's emotional boundaries alongside their physical ones, in moments of great distress, viewers are treated to mind-bending yet terrifying experiences that may make or break a character's entire psyche. Sometimes, the monster is merely just a monster, but occasionally, it's something far harder to comprehend, and it's that unpredictable threat that makes this genre so thrilling.
- 5/3/2024
- by Nubia Jade Brice
- AsianMoviePulse
You Are Ms. Servant (known as Kimi wa Meido-sama in Japan), an upcoming TV anime based on the romantic comedy manga, has revealed a wealth of new information for the series, including the main cast, key staff members, a new teaser visual, and a new teaser trailer. The series will broadcast in Japan on the TV Asahi / Bs TV Asahi networks as part of the “NUMAnimation” programming block beginning in October of 2024. The main cast for the series includes: Hitoyoshi Yokoya voiced by Toshiki Kumagai Hitoyoshi Yokoya character visual Yuki / Xue voiced by Reina Ueda (Rena Natsukawa in Hokkaido Gals Are Super Adorable! ) Yuki / Xue character visual The original You Are Ms. Servant by Shotan is serialized in Shogakukan's Sunday Webry shonen manga magazine, and an English language version is also available from Shogakukan Asia. Ayumu Watanabe directs the TV anime at animation studio FelixFilm. Deko Akao provides the series composition,...
- 3/21/2024
- by Paul Chapman
- Crunchyroll
Mermaid fairy tales have enjoyed lasting popularity since Andersen's “The Little Sea Maid” and La Motte-Fouqué's “Undine”. Recent (unequal) reboots can further attest to this enduring appeal. Nothing surprising when considering the universality of these legendary creatures across civilizations and times. As for Japanese folklore, the Ningyo has gained a significant prominence not long ago through Miyazaki's “Ponyo” (2008). Just a decade later, the director of the celebrated “Mind Game” (2004), Masaaki Yuasa, developed his own rendition, this time in the form of a coming-of-age narrative.
on Amazon by clicking on the image below
Kai Ashimoto, a taciturn and disillusioned middle school student, is raised in a small coastal town by a single father in the handcrafted umbrella shop of his grandfather, a retired fisherman. After being exposed for posting music demos online, he agrees to join his classmates, the wannabe Yuho and the carefree Kunio, in a rock band named Seiren,...
on Amazon by clicking on the image below
Kai Ashimoto, a taciturn and disillusioned middle school student, is raised in a small coastal town by a single father in the handcrafted umbrella shop of his grandfather, a retired fisherman. After being exposed for posting music demos online, he agrees to join his classmates, the wannabe Yuho and the carefree Kunio, in a rock band named Seiren,...
- 3/2/2024
- by Jean Claude
- AsianMoviePulse
As mentioned last year, it seems that anime are experiencing another golden era, which started in 2021 and continued in full bloom in 2022. The box office success of a number of movies the new trend of series that are not based on manga and the release of much awaited titles as in the case of “Chainsaw Man” continued to boost the industry, additionally giving it an international presence that I do not thing ever took place in the past. And all this, while the new Miyazaki movie is going to come out this summer, probably becoming the new biggest box office hit in the history of Japanese cinema.
Without further ado, here are the 12 Best Anime Series of 2022, in reverse order, in a list that includes titles whose season or the whole series ended in 2022.
12. World Trigger Season 3
The focus this time is on Chika and her inability to shoot anyone with real bullets,...
Without further ado, here are the 12 Best Anime Series of 2022, in reverse order, in a list that includes titles whose season or the whole series ended in 2022.
12. World Trigger Season 3
The focus this time is on Chika and her inability to shoot anyone with real bullets,...
- 3/31/2023
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Back in 2006, “When they Cry” was considered among the best anime of its time, particularly due the repetition of the same events with slight differences eventually revealing a supernatural time-looping conspiracy a group of kids were trying to prevent by changing their choice of action every time they looped back in the same timeline. Now, “Summer Time Rendering”, an anime based on the homonymous manga series written and illustrated by Yasuki Tanaka, implements the same approach once more, going, though, much further in its script.
Following the death of his parents, Shinpei Ajiro grew up with the Kofune sisters Ushio and Mio before heading to Tokyo to live alone. Two years later, he returns to his hometown of Hitogashima Island, Wakayama Prefecture to attend Ushio's funeral following news of her drowning. Old sentiments, traumas, and the “politics” of the remote locations resurface almost immediately, but things become really complicated when Shinpei,...
Following the death of his parents, Shinpei Ajiro grew up with the Kofune sisters Ushio and Mio before heading to Tokyo to live alone. Two years later, he returns to his hometown of Hitogashima Island, Wakayama Prefecture to attend Ushio's funeral following news of her drowning. Old sentiments, traumas, and the “politics” of the remote locations resurface almost immediately, but things become really complicated when Shinpei,...
- 3/29/2023
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Director Ayumu Watanabe navigates the growing pains of a young girl, coping with life on a houseboat with her mother and the tragicomic dramas of school life
Compared to the cosmically grand anime Children of the Sea, Ayumu Watanabe’s new film is a more intimately scaled coming-of-age story that acutely understands the embarrassment that teenagers have towards their parents once puberty hits. A rotund woman with a bubbly personality, Lady Nikuko – “the Meaty Lady” – has a weakness for food, questionable dirtbags and corny puns. Her snoring rumbles through her modest houseboat like a mini earthquake. To her shy, scrawny daughter Kikurin, she is simply too much.
In fact, despite the title, the film is all about Kikurin’s internal world, as the young girl navigates friend-drama at school and her secret crush on the equally timid Ninomiya, a boy who likes to make outrageously silly faces when no one is watching.
Compared to the cosmically grand anime Children of the Sea, Ayumu Watanabe’s new film is a more intimately scaled coming-of-age story that acutely understands the embarrassment that teenagers have towards their parents once puberty hits. A rotund woman with a bubbly personality, Lady Nikuko – “the Meaty Lady” – has a weakness for food, questionable dirtbags and corny puns. Her snoring rumbles through her modest houseboat like a mini earthquake. To her shy, scrawny daughter Kikurin, she is simply too much.
In fact, despite the title, the film is all about Kikurin’s internal world, as the young girl navigates friend-drama at school and her secret crush on the equally timid Ninomiya, a boy who likes to make outrageously silly faces when no one is watching.
- 8/11/2022
- by Phuong Le
- The Guardian - Film News
A gleaming and delightful anime with a large appetite for tenderness and laughter, director Ayumu Watanabe’s mother-daughter saga “Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko” boundlessly adores its titular character even when it lingers a tad too long on her happy-go-lucky naiveté or ample love of food.
We get introduced to Nikuko (Shinobu Ôtake), a charming thirtysomething living with her young daughter, Kikuko (Cocomi), as she contentedly works at a local grill house in a small port town in Northern Japan. Heavyset, carefree and irrepressibly joyful in a manner that both puzzles and disarms everyone around her, she is known as “the cheery plump lady who wound up living here” to townsfolk. There is a lot of truth to that, as the film’s stunning opening montage recaps, guided largely by Kikuko’s voiceover, like the rest of the movie.
Being a punch-drunk romantic a little too trusting of scheming men who mercilessly take advantage of her,...
We get introduced to Nikuko (Shinobu Ôtake), a charming thirtysomething living with her young daughter, Kikuko (Cocomi), as she contentedly works at a local grill house in a small port town in Northern Japan. Heavyset, carefree and irrepressibly joyful in a manner that both puzzles and disarms everyone around her, she is known as “the cheery plump lady who wound up living here” to townsfolk. There is a lot of truth to that, as the film’s stunning opening montage recaps, guided largely by Kikuko’s voiceover, like the rest of the movie.
Being a punch-drunk romantic a little too trusting of scheming men who mercilessly take advantage of her,...
- 6/3/2022
- by Tomris Laffly
- Variety Film + TV
There’s more warmth than wisdom in the animated Japanese coming-of-age drama “Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko,” an exceptionally well-realized variation on a by-now familiar anime story: a young girl learns how to love herself and her life in a picturesque seaside town.
The typically impressive craftsmen at the Japanese animation studio Studio 4°C have successfully highlighted the most endearing parts of this mother-daughter dramedy, which is as much about going through puberty as it is about accepting a parent or guardian for who they are.
Director Ayumu Watanabe and supervising animation director–character designer Kenichi Konishi (“Children of the Sea”) capture the halting rhythms and awkward splendor of daily life in a small port town. That makes all the difference in this story about a shy pre-teen who learns not only to look forward to her adolescence, but also how to empathize with her embarrassing single mother.
Also Read:
Crunchyroll...
The typically impressive craftsmen at the Japanese animation studio Studio 4°C have successfully highlighted the most endearing parts of this mother-daughter dramedy, which is as much about going through puberty as it is about accepting a parent or guardian for who they are.
Director Ayumu Watanabe and supervising animation director–character designer Kenichi Konishi (“Children of the Sea”) capture the halting rhythms and awkward splendor of daily life in a small port town. That makes all the difference in this story about a shy pre-teen who learns not only to look forward to her adolescence, but also how to empathize with her embarrassing single mother.
Also Read:
Crunchyroll...
- 6/2/2022
- by Simon Abrams
- The Wrap
Following the impressive “Children of the Sea”, the golden team of Ayumu Watanabe and Studio 4ºC, once more focus on a school girl, Kikuko, although this time she is attending elementary while her mother, the titular Nikuko, is an even bigger part of the picture (pun intended).
“Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko” is screening at Sdaff Spring Showcase
Nikuko, whose name means something on the lines of ‘meat child’, has settled in a seaside town with her daughter, Kikuko, following a series of relationships with men who either exploited or abandoned her, or even both, as the impressive, initial montage eloquently presents. She works in the local tavern, while her daughter, on the cusp of adolescence, attends the local elementary, with all the ‘romance and the politics’ that come with the age being in full blossom. The two of them, however, could not be more different, as Nikuko is big, loud and immature while Kikuko,...
“Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko” is screening at Sdaff Spring Showcase
Nikuko, whose name means something on the lines of ‘meat child’, has settled in a seaside town with her daughter, Kikuko, following a series of relationships with men who either exploited or abandoned her, or even both, as the impressive, initial montage eloquently presents. She works in the local tavern, while her daughter, on the cusp of adolescence, attends the local elementary, with all the ‘romance and the politics’ that come with the age being in full blossom. The two of them, however, could not be more different, as Nikuko is big, loud and immature while Kikuko,...
- 4/23/2022
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Gkids, the producer and distributor of animation for adult and family audiences, announced that it has acquired the North American distribution rights for Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko (Gyoko no Nikuko-chan).
Produced by Japanese comedy legend Sanma Akashiya, this is a cinematic adaptation of the novel of the same name by Kanako Nishi. The film is the next collaboration between Gkids, Studio 4°C , and director Ayumu Wantanabe. Gkids plans to release the animated feature theatrically early next year.
“We’re thrilled to work with director Ayumu Watanabe and creative producer Sanma Akashiya on a film that puts their unique artistry and talents on full display,” said Gkids’ president David Jesteadt. “Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko is a big-hearted coming-of-age story with unforgettable characters and a poignant mix of comedy and drama that is sure to leave an impact on audiences here next year.”
Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko follows the lives of loud...
Produced by Japanese comedy legend Sanma Akashiya, this is a cinematic adaptation of the novel of the same name by Kanako Nishi. The film is the next collaboration between Gkids, Studio 4°C , and director Ayumu Wantanabe. Gkids plans to release the animated feature theatrically early next year.
“We’re thrilled to work with director Ayumu Watanabe and creative producer Sanma Akashiya on a film that puts their unique artistry and talents on full display,” said Gkids’ president David Jesteadt. “Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko is a big-hearted coming-of-age story with unforgettable characters and a poignant mix of comedy and drama that is sure to leave an impact on audiences here next year.”
Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko follows the lives of loud...
- 11/23/2021
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
Distributor plans awards run on latest collaboration with Studio 4°C.
GKids has acquired North American rights to Studio 4°C’s Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko (Gyoko No Nikuko-chan) and will submit it for awards consideration this season.
Ayumu Watanabe directed the story based on the novel by Kanako Nishi about a brash, passionate mother and her quiet 11-year-old daughter in a sleepy seaside town whose relationship is threatened by a shocking revelation.
Shinobu Otake, Cocomi and Natsuki Hanae lead the voice cast. Satomi Oshima wrote the screenplay and Japanese comedian Sanma Akashiya served as producer.
GKids, whose credits last season included Cartoon Saloon’s Wolfwalkers,...
GKids has acquired North American rights to Studio 4°C’s Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko (Gyoko No Nikuko-chan) and will submit it for awards consideration this season.
Ayumu Watanabe directed the story based on the novel by Kanako Nishi about a brash, passionate mother and her quiet 11-year-old daughter in a sleepy seaside town whose relationship is threatened by a shocking revelation.
Shinobu Otake, Cocomi and Natsuki Hanae lead the voice cast. Satomi Oshima wrote the screenplay and Japanese comedian Sanma Akashiya served as producer.
GKids, whose credits last season included Cartoon Saloon’s Wolfwalkers,...
- 11/23/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
After a year-long delay due to the pandemic, the Animation Is Film festival returns this year for its fourth edition, taking place Oct. 22-24. The festival will be held, as it traditionally has been, at the Tcl Chinese 6 Theatres in Hollywood and will feature a competition lineup of the best animation films of the year, as well as other special events.
“If you look at the lineup, you’ll see that there are titles … that have played at Sundance and Cannes and Annecy, and the festival is an opportunity for everyone to see these films,” says Matt Kaszanek, director, Animation Is Film. “We’re really happy with the lineup we were able to put together this year in the strange times of 2021, so we’re really excited for the program and we hope everyone else is too.”
The festival kicks off with the North American premiere of the Netflix feature “The Summit of the Gods,...
“If you look at the lineup, you’ll see that there are titles … that have played at Sundance and Cannes and Annecy, and the festival is an opportunity for everyone to see these films,” says Matt Kaszanek, director, Animation Is Film. “We’re really happy with the lineup we were able to put together this year in the strange times of 2021, so we’re really excited for the program and we hope everyone else is too.”
The festival kicks off with the North American premiere of the Netflix feature “The Summit of the Gods,...
- 10/23/2021
- by Katie Song
- Variety Film + TV
Nominations in the 14th Asia Pacific Screen Awards (Apsa) were revealed today with nods for 38 films from 25 Asia Pacific countries and regions. Winners will be announced on Thursday, November 11, at the 14th Apsa Ceremony on the Australia Gold Coast. Nominations include Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car, which won the best screenplay award at Cannes, Asghar Farhadi’s Cannes Grand Prix winning, film A Hero, and the TIFF Platform award winning film Yuni directed by Kamila Andini.
Apsa celebrates cinema from over 70 countries, with an enhanced focus on content that reflects the region’s diversity.
Below is the full list of nominees.
Best Feature Film
A Hero (Ghahreman)
Directed by Asghar Farhadi
A Night of Knowing Nothing
Directed by Payal Kapadia
Drive My Car
Directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi
The Pencil (Prostoy karandash)
Directed by Natalya Nazarova
There is No Evil (Sheytan vojud nadarad)
Directed by Mohammad Rasoulof
Best Youth Feature...
Apsa celebrates cinema from over 70 countries, with an enhanced focus on content that reflects the region’s diversity.
Below is the full list of nominees.
Best Feature Film
A Hero (Ghahreman)
Directed by Asghar Farhadi
A Night of Knowing Nothing
Directed by Payal Kapadia
Drive My Car
Directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi
The Pencil (Prostoy karandash)
Directed by Natalya Nazarova
There is No Evil (Sheytan vojud nadarad)
Directed by Mohammad Rasoulof
Best Youth Feature...
- 10/13/2021
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
Winners will be announced on November 11.
Cannes winners Drive My Car, directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, and Asghar Farhadi’s A Hero lead the nominations at the Asia Pacific Screen Academy (Apsa) awards.
Drive My Car is Japan’s entry for the best international feature Oscar and the Cannes 2021 Competition best screenplay winner. It follows a theatre actor and director who is grappling with grief for his lost wife.
A Hero, which won the grand prix at Cannes, is a French-Iranian co-production which looks at what happens when an unlikely hero finds himself caught up in a social media storm.
Both...
Cannes winners Drive My Car, directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, and Asghar Farhadi’s A Hero lead the nominations at the Asia Pacific Screen Academy (Apsa) awards.
Drive My Car is Japan’s entry for the best international feature Oscar and the Cannes 2021 Competition best screenplay winner. It follows a theatre actor and director who is grappling with grief for his lost wife.
A Hero, which won the grand prix at Cannes, is a French-Iranian co-production which looks at what happens when an unlikely hero finds himself caught up in a social media storm.
Both...
- 10/13/2021
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
The fourth edition of the Animation Is Film festival (Aif) returns in-person October 22-24 to the Tcl Chinese 6 in Hollywood, and will kick off opening night with the North American premiere of Netflix’s “The Summit of the Gods,” the breathtaking French 2D feature from director Patrick Imbert (“The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales”), who will do an in-person Q&a.
“The Summit of the Gods” (opening November 24 in select theaters and streaming November 30) is adapted from the popular manga and concerns a Japanese adventure photographer and mountain climber obsessed with finding a legendary climber obsessed with scaling Mount Everest.
Other highlights include the West Coast premieres of GKids’ “Belle” on October 23 and Neon’s award-winning “Flee” on October 24. “Belle” is the musical fantasy 2D reworking of “Beauty and the Beast” from Oscar-nominated anime master Mamoru Hosoda (“Mirai”), who will do an in-person Q&a. “Flee” (December 3) is the...
“The Summit of the Gods” (opening November 24 in select theaters and streaming November 30) is adapted from the popular manga and concerns a Japanese adventure photographer and mountain climber obsessed with finding a legendary climber obsessed with scaling Mount Everest.
Other highlights include the West Coast premieres of GKids’ “Belle” on October 23 and Neon’s award-winning “Flee” on October 24. “Belle” is the musical fantasy 2D reworking of “Beauty and the Beast” from Oscar-nominated anime master Mamoru Hosoda (“Mirai”), who will do an in-person Q&a. “Flee” (December 3) is the...
- 9/22/2021
- by Bill Desowitz
- Indiewire
Korean director Hong Eui-jeong’s debut feature “Voice of Silence” stood out at Montreal’s Fantasia Film Festival as the year’s best film from its Cheval Noir main competition section. The film, about two men who clean up after an organized crime organization, has enjoyed an impressive international festival run, having built up strong buzz as a project when it was selected to Venice’s Biennale College Cinema program in 2016.
“In a film festival that’s known as a melting pot of genres, ‘Voice of Silence’ feels like an excellent representative for the top prize in the Cheval Noir section. It’s earnest and sincere in tone but also unpredictable and experimental, impossible to pin down, and truly idiosyncratic,” said the jury in a statement accompanying the announcement.
Basque filmmaker Igor Legarreta was honored as the year’s best director for his sophomore effort “All the Moons,” a 19th...
“In a film festival that’s known as a melting pot of genres, ‘Voice of Silence’ feels like an excellent representative for the top prize in the Cheval Noir section. It’s earnest and sincere in tone but also unpredictable and experimental, impossible to pin down, and truly idiosyncratic,” said the jury in a statement accompanying the announcement.
Basque filmmaker Igor Legarreta was honored as the year’s best director for his sophomore effort “All the Moons,” a 19th...
- 8/26/2021
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Yoo Ah-in (Voice Of Silence), Zelda Adams (Hellbender) win acting prizes.
EuiJeong Hong’s South Korean thriller Voice Of Silence has won the 25th anniversary edition Fantasia International Film Festival’s Cheval Noir award for best film.
Hong’s film follows a mute low-level gangster tasked with taking charge of an 11-year-old kidnapped girl from a wealthy family. The jury described Voice Of Silence as “impossible to pin down, and truly idiosyncratic. Put simply, it’s unlike anything we’d seen before”.
Juried awards
In other Cheval Noir awards Yoo Ah-in who plays the mute man won best actor while...
EuiJeong Hong’s South Korean thriller Voice Of Silence has won the 25th anniversary edition Fantasia International Film Festival’s Cheval Noir award for best film.
Hong’s film follows a mute low-level gangster tasked with taking charge of an 11-year-old kidnapped girl from a wealthy family. The jury described Voice Of Silence as “impossible to pin down, and truly idiosyncratic. Put simply, it’s unlike anything we’d seen before”.
Juried awards
In other Cheval Noir awards Yoo Ah-in who plays the mute man won best actor while...
- 8/26/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Following the impressive “Children of the Sea”, the golden team of Ayumu Watanabe and Studio 4ºC, once more focus on a school girl, Kikuko, although this time she is attending elementary while her mother, the titular Nikuko, is an even bigger part of the picture (pun intended).
“Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko” is screening at Fantasia International Film Festival
Nikuko, whose name means something on the lines of ‘meat child’, has settled in a seaside town with her daughter, Kikuko, following a series of relationships with men who either exploited or abandoned her, or even both, as the impressive, initial montage eloquently presents. She works in the local tavern, while her daughter, on the cusp of adolescence, attends the local elementary, with all the ‘romance and the politics’ that come with the age being in full blossom. The two of them, however, could not be more different, as Nikuko is big,...
“Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko” is screening at Fantasia International Film Festival
Nikuko, whose name means something on the lines of ‘meat child’, has settled in a seaside town with her daughter, Kikuko, following a series of relationships with men who either exploited or abandoned her, or even both, as the impressive, initial montage eloquently presents. She works in the local tavern, while her daughter, on the cusp of adolescence, attends the local elementary, with all the ‘romance and the politics’ that come with the age being in full blossom. The two of them, however, could not be more different, as Nikuko is big,...
- 8/14/2021
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Fantasia 2021 will run from August 5th to the 25th. A great number of films will be available to watch on-demand on the Festival’s virtual streaming platform (powered by Festival Scope and Shift72). Some virtual screenings will be scheduled at a specific date and time, check out the website to know when to tune in! Several films will be shown in person at Montreal’s Cinéma Impérial, Cinéma du Musée, or outdoors at Place de la Paix. Click here to see which ones! All panels, talks, masterclasses and special events will once again be completely free and accessible worldwide on Zoom or YouTube.
You can buy a Festival Passport Here. Please check the Official Website for more info.
Here are, in alphabetical order, all the Asian Films:
The 12 Day Tale Of The Monster That Died In 8 | Japan Dir: Shunji Iwai
North American Premiere
Shunji Iwai’s latest is a delightfully...
You can buy a Festival Passport Here. Please check the Official Website for more info.
Here are, in alphabetical order, all the Asian Films:
The 12 Day Tale Of The Monster That Died In 8 | Japan Dir: Shunji Iwai
North American Premiere
Shunji Iwai’s latest is a delightfully...
- 7/22/2021
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival got an early 25th birthday present in the form of James Gunn’s “Suicide Squad,” which will receive a special screening on Aug. 4, the day before Fantasia officially kicks off with the world premiere of Julien Knafo’s zombie thriller “Brain Freeze.” Gunn is a long-time friend of the fest, having first attended in 1997 before later returning for the Canadian premiere of his Marvel blockbuster “Guardians of the Galaxy.”
Fantasia also unveiled its second wave of features participating at this year’s festival, joining a raft of titles announced in May, and will announce the rest of its slate in late July along with details on several virtual events and this year’s juries.
New world premieres, joining the a six-pack announced last month, include Ruth Platt’s “Martyrs Lane,” Anna Zaytseva’s feature debut “#Blue_Whale,” Jonathan Rhys Meyers-starrer “Yakuza Princes” from filmmaker Vicente Amorim,...
Fantasia also unveiled its second wave of features participating at this year’s festival, joining a raft of titles announced in May, and will announce the rest of its slate in late July along with details on several virtual events and this year’s juries.
New world premieres, joining the a six-pack announced last month, include Ruth Platt’s “Martyrs Lane,” Anna Zaytseva’s feature debut “#Blue_Whale,” Jonathan Rhys Meyers-starrer “Yakuza Princes” from filmmaker Vicente Amorim,...
- 6/23/2021
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
The Fantasia International Film Festival is celebrating its 25th anniversary edition in style, with the announcement of a special screening of James Gunn's The Suicide Squad! We also have a look at more of their impressive lineup, as their second wave has been announced (with a third wave announcement still to come):
The Fantasia International Film Festival will launch its 25th edition this summer as an exciting virtual event composed of scheduled screenings, on-demand library, panels, and workshops, taking place from August 5th to August 25th. The festival will be accessible across Canada, geo-locked to the country, and will maintain unique film admittance quantities in line with the cinema experience.
Fantasia is thrilled to reveal a second wave of programming and will return in late July with a third and final line-up announcement, including features, virtual events, and juries.
In celebration of Fantasia’s 25th anniversary, the international film...
The Fantasia International Film Festival will launch its 25th edition this summer as an exciting virtual event composed of scheduled screenings, on-demand library, panels, and workshops, taking place from August 5th to August 25th. The festival will be accessible across Canada, geo-locked to the country, and will maintain unique film admittance quantities in line with the cinema experience.
Fantasia is thrilled to reveal a second wave of programming and will return in late July with a third and final line-up announcement, including features, virtual events, and juries.
In celebration of Fantasia’s 25th anniversary, the international film...
- 6/23/2021
- by Jonathan James
- DailyDead
Animated film adaptation of the best-selling novel by Naoki Prize-winning author Kanako Nishi, planned and produced by pacific saury Akashiya. It depicts a miracle that connects the secrets of Kikuko and her mother and daughter, Meiko, who live on a boat at a fishing port. Shinobu Otake is in charge of the voice of the main character, and Cocomi and Natsuki Hanae participate as voice casts. The director is Ayumu Watanabe, such as “Children of the Sea,” and STUDIO4 ℃, known for “Tekkonkinkreet,” is in charge of animation production.
Theatrical release: June 11, 2021...
Theatrical release: June 11, 2021...
- 4/28/2021
- by Don Anelli
- AsianMoviePulse
This is the weekend American film fans have been waiting for with the release of a pair of the year’s biggest movies — Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” and Disney’s live-action version of “Mulan” — after considerable delay.
The fact that the two strategies for sharing these two movies with the public are so wildly different — Nolan insisted on releasing “Tenet” in theaters, while “Mulan” will test Disney Plus’ pricey new “Prime Access” model — shows the degree of turmoil and ingenuity within the industry, as studios do their best to adapt to the coronavirus pandemic. Will audiences find these options safe (or affordable) enough at a time of social distancing and belt-tightening?
Meanwhile, independent distributors have more or less figured out how to deliver their titles — movies that didn’t cost hundreds of millions and therefore don’t rely on grabbing as many viewers as possible over a short span of time — directly to consumers,...
The fact that the two strategies for sharing these two movies with the public are so wildly different — Nolan insisted on releasing “Tenet” in theaters, while “Mulan” will test Disney Plus’ pricey new “Prime Access” model — shows the degree of turmoil and ingenuity within the industry, as studios do their best to adapt to the coronavirus pandemic. Will audiences find these options safe (or affordable) enough at a time of social distancing and belt-tightening?
Meanwhile, independent distributors have more or less figured out how to deliver their titles — movies that didn’t cost hundreds of millions and therefore don’t rely on grabbing as many viewers as possible over a short span of time — directly to consumers,...
- 9/4/2020
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
After much thought, and taking into consideration the health of our guests and viewers, Nihon Media announced that Japan Filmfest Hamburg cannot take place this year as a traditional film festival – and will be online instead. Under the motto ‘Breaking Free – From Japan with Love’, Nihon Media will collaborate with Videocity to stream its entire programme of 70+ films in around 40 blocks globally from 19th of August to the 2nd of September.
The 2020 film programme features 70 current productions, from full-length feature films to experimental short films, including many German, European, and international premieres. Most of the films are shown in the original Japanese language with English subtitles. One special highlight of our programme is the gangster-ballad originally planned as the opening film for the 21st Jffh, “Paradise Next” (2018) from director and film composer Yoshihiro Hanno (“Flowers of Shanghai”). An atmospheric road-movie about the travels of three lost souls living on the edges of society,...
The 2020 film programme features 70 current productions, from full-length feature films to experimental short films, including many German, European, and international premieres. Most of the films are shown in the original Japanese language with English subtitles. One special highlight of our programme is the gangster-ballad originally planned as the opening film for the 21st Jffh, “Paradise Next” (2018) from director and film composer Yoshihiro Hanno (“Flowers of Shanghai”). An atmospheric road-movie about the travels of three lost souls living on the edges of society,...
- 8/10/2020
- by Grace Han
- AsianMoviePulse
Gkids has secured the North American distribution rights to Lupin III: The First, a Japanese anime feature which stems from the Lupin the 3rd franchise originally created by Monkey Punch. From writer-director Takashi Yamazaki, the film will get a theatrical release this year in Japanese and an all-new English language dub.
The pic follows “gentleman thief” Lupin III who, along with his colorful underworld companions, races to uncover the secrets of the mysterious Bresson Diary, before it falls into the hands of a dark cabal that will stop at nothing to resurrect the Third Reich.
More from DeadlineWith 'Marona's Fantastic Tale,' Director Anca Damian Depicts The World As Experienced By A Dog, Examining Themes Of Empathy & Connection'Children Of The Sea' Director Ayumu Watanabe Discusses Message Of His Manga Adaptation: "You Are One Of Many People On This Earth, And We're All Connected"Director Makoto Shinkai Examines Climate Change & Weather-Related...
The pic follows “gentleman thief” Lupin III who, along with his colorful underworld companions, races to uncover the secrets of the mysterious Bresson Diary, before it falls into the hands of a dark cabal that will stop at nothing to resurrect the Third Reich.
More from DeadlineWith 'Marona's Fantastic Tale,' Director Anca Damian Depicts The World As Experienced By A Dog, Examining Themes Of Empathy & Connection'Children Of The Sea' Director Ayumu Watanabe Discusses Message Of His Manga Adaptation: "You Are One Of Many People On This Earth, And We're All Connected"Director Makoto Shinkai Examines Climate Change & Weather-Related...
- 3/26/2020
- by Amanda N'Duka
- Deadline Film + TV
Water, as a conduit for romance and spirituality, has been en vogue as of late in Japanese feature animation. Entries in this wet subgenre, where young characters grapple with torrential rain and oceans to dazzling effect, as well as life lessons submerged in nature-based metaphors, include Makoto Shinkai’s box office hit “Weathering With You,” Ayumu Watanabe’s upcoming “Children of the Sea,” and Masaaki Yuasa’s mermaid tale “Lu Over the Wall.”
Returning to that liquid magic, Yuasa, who produces films through his own company Science Saru, makes a new splash with his third feature in three years “Ride Your Wave,” written by Reiko Yoshida, who also penned recent anime standouts “Okko’s Inn,” “A Silent Voice,” and “Liz and the Blue Bird.” Notwithstanding the saturation of H2O-fueled teen movies, the director-screenwriter pair filter a love story through an oddball premise addressing heroism and perseverance with robust notes of graphic originality.
Returning to that liquid magic, Yuasa, who produces films through his own company Science Saru, makes a new splash with his third feature in three years “Ride Your Wave,” written by Reiko Yoshida, who also penned recent anime standouts “Okko’s Inn,” “A Silent Voice,” and “Liz and the Blue Bird.” Notwithstanding the saturation of H2O-fueled teen movies, the director-screenwriter pair filter a love story through an oddball premise addressing heroism and perseverance with robust notes of graphic originality.
- 2/21/2020
- by Carlos Aguilar
- The Wrap
"The entire ocean has begun moving." GKids has unveiled an official Us trailer for the Japanese anime film titled Children of the Sea, which has been playing at a few film festivals last year (after initially opening in Japan in the summer). This is the latest feature made by Japan's Studio 4°C, and is directed by Ayumu Watanabe, with a score by award-winning composer and longtime Studio Ghibli collaborator Joe Hisaishi. The story involves a young girl named Ruka who is drawn into a mystery involving sealife around the world, in which two mysterious water-connected boys are involved. Of course, she falls in love with one of them. Starring the voices of Mana Ashida, Hiiro Ishibashi, Seishû Uragami, and Win Morisaki in the original version. It's a funky film, with a few quirky, odd moments, along with the usual cute, fun moments in so many anime films these ...
- 2/18/2020
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
With Children of the Sea, director Ayumu Watanabe adapted a manga by Daisuke Igarashi, striving to retain the qualities in the source material that he’d originally responded to, while making the changes necessary to bring its characters into a new medium.
The director’s Oscar-contending animated feature centers on Ruka, a young girl who finds herself drawn into a mystery of the sea. Encountering two boys that were raised in the ocean, at the aquarium where her father works, the girl seeks answers about their supernatural powers, and how they’re connected to strange events involving sea creatures around the world.
When Watanabe first read the manga on which his Gkids film is based, he responded immediately to its visual style. “I was reading [Igarashi’s] manga before Children of the Sea came out, so I was already a fan, and I knew his artwork well,” the director tells Deadline. “For me,...
The director’s Oscar-contending animated feature centers on Ruka, a young girl who finds herself drawn into a mystery of the sea. Encountering two boys that were raised in the ocean, at the aquarium where her father works, the girl seeks answers about their supernatural powers, and how they’re connected to strange events involving sea creatures around the world.
When Watanabe first read the manga on which his Gkids film is based, he responded immediately to its visual style. “I was reading [Igarashi’s] manga before Children of the Sea came out, so I was already a fan, and I knew his artwork well,” the director tells Deadline. “For me,...
- 12/26/2019
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
At age 14, Ruka feels adrift in the world. At school, she doesn’t have any friends. At home, her parents are absent or distracted most of the time: Ruka’s dad works at the local aquarium, while her mother spends her days drinking beer. , thanks to the splendid attention to detail and seemingly boundless imagination that characterizes “Children of the Sea,” director Ayumu Watanabe’s stunning adaptation of the prize-winning manga by Daisuke Igarashi.
Some audiences won’t go anywhere near anime, no matter how enthusiastic the endorsement, whereas others limit their exposure to only Studio Ghibli movies. But now that Hayao Miyazaki has more or less thrown in the towel, it’s time to open our minds to what Japan’s other great toon outfits are capable of — and in that respect, “Children of the Sea” is something to be celebrated. This latest feat from Studio 4°C (the team...
Some audiences won’t go anywhere near anime, no matter how enthusiastic the endorsement, whereas others limit their exposure to only Studio Ghibli movies. But now that Hayao Miyazaki has more or less thrown in the towel, it’s time to open our minds to what Japan’s other great toon outfits are capable of — and in that respect, “Children of the Sea” is something to be celebrated. This latest feat from Studio 4°C (the team...
- 10/27/2019
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
“I Lost My Body,” the curious story of a disembodied hand searching to reunite with its body, won the grand prize at the Animation is Film Festival, held Oct. 18-20 in Los Angeles. The audience prize was split between two films, Makoto Shinkai’s “Weathering With You” and “The Swallows of Kabul” by Zabou Breitman and Elea Gobbe-Mevellec.
Netflix acquired the worldwide rights to “I Lost My Body,” directed by Jérémy Clapin, after the film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May. The French film — which bested its live-action competition to win the top prize in Critics’ Week at Cannes — screened in its original language at Animation Is Film. Netflix has also prepared an English dub featuring the voices of Dev Patel, Alia Shawkat and George Wendt, which will be available to Netflix subscribers on Nov. 29, two weeks after the French version receives its Oscar-qualifying run on Nov. 15.
“The...
Netflix acquired the worldwide rights to “I Lost My Body,” directed by Jérémy Clapin, after the film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May. The French film — which bested its live-action competition to win the top prize in Critics’ Week at Cannes — screened in its original language at Animation Is Film. Netflix has also prepared an English dub featuring the voices of Dev Patel, Alia Shawkat and George Wendt, which will be available to Netflix subscribers on Nov. 29, two weeks after the French version receives its Oscar-qualifying run on Nov. 15.
“The...
- 10/22/2019
- by LaTesha Harris
- Variety Film + TV
Studio 4°C, the Japanese animation studio founded by Eiko Tanaka and Koji Morimoto in 1986, that produced successes such as Japan Academy Award winner, “Tekkonkinkreet” and “Mfkz”, is now behind the adaptation of Daisuke Igarashi’s award-winning fantasy manga Kaiju no Kodomo / Children of the Sea.
Directed by Ayumu Watanabe, “Children of the Sea” looks as gorgeous as the original source material. The original music score is by renown composer Joe Hisayshi while the theme song “Umi no Yuurei”, was written, composed, arranged, and performed by young singer-songwriter Kenshi Yonezu who is an early fan of the original Manga. Kenichi Konishi is in charge of character design.
The movie will debut June 7th in Japan before making a debut in the Us later this year, courtesy of prestigious, New York-based distributor Gkids (Funan, Perfect Blue, Mirai)
Synopsis:
During a summer vacation, Ruka, an introverted and disaffected junior high school student, meets...
Directed by Ayumu Watanabe, “Children of the Sea” looks as gorgeous as the original source material. The original music score is by renown composer Joe Hisayshi while the theme song “Umi no Yuurei”, was written, composed, arranged, and performed by young singer-songwriter Kenshi Yonezu who is an early fan of the original Manga. Kenichi Konishi is in charge of character design.
The movie will debut June 7th in Japan before making a debut in the Us later this year, courtesy of prestigious, New York-based distributor Gkids (Funan, Perfect Blue, Mirai)
Synopsis:
During a summer vacation, Ruka, an introverted and disaffected junior high school student, meets...
- 6/4/2019
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
Indie distributor GKids has added “Another Day of Life” to its slate of animated Oscar contenders with a fall theatrical release. Based on famed author/journalist Ryszard Kapuściński’s novel, and directed by Raúl De Lafuente and Damian Nenow, the political drama documents the horrors of the Angola civil war of 1975 by mixing graphic, mo-cap style animation (a more advanced “Waltz with Bashir”) with archival footage and interviews.
Kapuściński takes a deep dive into the chaos of the civil war (following Angola’s independence from Portugal), driving south into the heart of the conflict to find the isolated rebel leader Farrusco (a legendary figure that evokes Kurtz from both “Heart of Darkness” and “Apocalypse Now”). The Goya Award winner and Cannes entry made its U.S. premiere at last year’s Animation Is Film festival.
The Polish-Spanish-Belgian-German-Hungarian feature takes its title from the Portuguese word “confusao.” It’s about the...
Kapuściński takes a deep dive into the chaos of the civil war (following Angola’s independence from Portugal), driving south into the heart of the conflict to find the isolated rebel leader Farrusco (a legendary figure that evokes Kurtz from both “Heart of Darkness” and “Apocalypse Now”). The Goya Award winner and Cannes entry made its U.S. premiere at last year’s Animation Is Film festival.
The Polish-Spanish-Belgian-German-Hungarian feature takes its title from the Portuguese word “confusao.” It’s about the...
- 5/8/2019
- by Bill Desowitz
- Indiewire
With “Funan” (opening June 7th), director Dennis Do explores nightmarish atrocities in his acclaimed survival story about the cruelties of Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge in 1975. The Annecy and Animation Is Film (Aif) award-winner might also secure the 12th Oscar nomination for indie distributor GKids.
“Funan,” a French-Luxembourg-Belgium production, follows a young woman and her husband separated from their four-year-old son as a result of the Khmer Rouge’s forced exile from their village into internment camps. It features the voices of Bérénice Bejo (“The Artist”) and Louis Garrel (“The Dreamers”). “‘Funan’ is the story of a family. Of a woman…My mother,” the director explained in the production notes. “I wish to explore feelings, relationships, the whole complexity of human connection in a context of extreme oppression. Good and evil is not the point. The movie immerses us into the lives of normal people, exhausted by suffering…. Animation is an...
“Funan,” a French-Luxembourg-Belgium production, follows a young woman and her husband separated from their four-year-old son as a result of the Khmer Rouge’s forced exile from their village into internment camps. It features the voices of Bérénice Bejo (“The Artist”) and Louis Garrel (“The Dreamers”). “‘Funan’ is the story of a family. Of a woman…My mother,” the director explained in the production notes. “I wish to explore feelings, relationships, the whole complexity of human connection in a context of extreme oppression. Good and evil is not the point. The movie immerses us into the lives of normal people, exhausted by suffering…. Animation is an...
- 5/7/2019
- by Bill Desowitz
- Indiewire
The animation festival has also launched the Contrechamp competition.
Anders Matthesen and Thorbjørn Christoffersen’s Checkered Ninja, which has taken the Danish box office by storm, will be one of eight features showcased in the Annecy Festival’s new-look Features competition section for animated films later this year (June 10-15).
The Features line-up also includes three titles from Japan – Masaaki Yuasa’s Ride Your Wave, Yuhei Sakuragi’s The Relative Worlds and Keiichi Hara’s The Wonderland.
Annecy has also introduced a parallel competition called Contrechamp, ’for the most unique feature films, as well as those that create more challenges...
Anders Matthesen and Thorbjørn Christoffersen’s Checkered Ninja, which has taken the Danish box office by storm, will be one of eight features showcased in the Annecy Festival’s new-look Features competition section for animated films later this year (June 10-15).
The Features line-up also includes three titles from Japan – Masaaki Yuasa’s Ride Your Wave, Yuhei Sakuragi’s The Relative Worlds and Keiichi Hara’s The Wonderland.
Annecy has also introduced a parallel competition called Contrechamp, ’for the most unique feature films, as well as those that create more challenges...
- 4/16/2019
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
The animation festival has also launched the Contrechamp competition.
Anders Matthesen and Thorbjørn Christoffersen’s Checkered Ninja, which has taken the Danish box office by storm, will be one of eight features showcased in the Annecy Festival’s new-look Features competition section for animated films later this year (June 10-15).
The Features line-up also includes three titles from Japan – Masaaki Yuasa’s Ride Your Wave, Yuhei Sakuragi’s The Relative Worlds and Keiichi Hara’s The Wonderland.
Annecy has also introduced a parallel competition called Contrechamp, ’for the most unique feature films, as well as those that create more challenges...
Anders Matthesen and Thorbjørn Christoffersen’s Checkered Ninja, which has taken the Danish box office by storm, will be one of eight features showcased in the Annecy Festival’s new-look Features competition section for animated films later this year (June 10-15).
The Features line-up also includes three titles from Japan – Masaaki Yuasa’s Ride Your Wave, Yuhei Sakuragi’s The Relative Worlds and Keiichi Hara’s The Wonderland.
Annecy has also introduced a parallel competition called Contrechamp, ’for the most unique feature films, as well as those that create more challenges...
- 4/16/2019
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Indie distributor Gkids has acquired North American distribution rights to the animated feature Children of the Sea, an adaptation from the manga of the same name by Daisuke Igarashi.
Gkids will release the film theatrically later this year in North America in both Japanese- and English-language versions. It is set to premiere June 7 in Japan.
Children of the Sea is the latest feature from Japan’s STUDIO4°C (Tekkonkinkreet, Mfkz, Mind Game) and is directed by Ayumu Watanabe, with a score by composer Joe Hisaishi (Spirited Away).
The story follows Ruka, who is drawn toward the aquarium where her father works ...
Gkids will release the film theatrically later this year in North America in both Japanese- and English-language versions. It is set to premiere June 7 in Japan.
Children of the Sea is the latest feature from Japan’s STUDIO4°C (Tekkonkinkreet, Mfkz, Mind Game) and is directed by Ayumu Watanabe, with a score by composer Joe Hisaishi (Spirited Away).
The story follows Ruka, who is drawn toward the aquarium where her father works ...
- 3/20/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Indie distributor Gkids has acquired North American distribution rights to the animated feature Children of the Sea, an adaptation from the manga of the same name by Daisuke Igarashi.
Gkids will release the film theatrically later this year in North America in both Japanese- and English-language versions. It is set to premiere June 7 in Japan.
Children of the Sea is the latest feature from Japan’s STUDIO4°C (Tekkonkinkreet, Mfkz, Mind Game) and is directed by Ayumu Watanabe, with a score by composer Joe Hisaishi (Spirited Away).
The story follows Ruka, who is drawn toward the aquarium where her father works ...
Gkids will release the film theatrically later this year in North America in both Japanese- and English-language versions. It is set to premiere June 7 in Japan.
Children of the Sea is the latest feature from Japan’s STUDIO4°C (Tekkonkinkreet, Mfkz, Mind Game) and is directed by Ayumu Watanabe, with a score by composer Joe Hisaishi (Spirited Away).
The story follows Ruka, who is drawn toward the aquarium where her father works ...
- 3/20/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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