At the time of its release, Gainax's debut feature WINGS OF HONNEAMISE was the most expensive animated feature from Japan, with a budget of eight million yen. Yet while the movie earned critical raves it was a stunning commercial disaster. It was not until approximately seven years later that WINGS OF HONNEAMISE finally turned a profit. Today it is … [Read more...]

Over the past few years I've grown fond of Japanese anime action films. My favorites are "Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children", "Appleseed", "Karas: The Prophecy and Revelation", and "Ghost In the Shell." Yeah, I also like a lot of the artsy stuff like "5 Centimeters Per Second", "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time", and the most of the Studio Ghibli … [Read more...]

I really loved the movie and how it was written. It was scripted specifically for fans of the series who needed that empty void filled. I know many of you probably waited almost 20 years for this. As for myself I just finished the series in the summer and fell in loved with the series and cried at the ending or lack of. Visually, the movie is a … [Read more...]

Eye-watering Japanimation might not have all the spit-shined polish afforded a Miyazaki production, though any excuse offered from the same studio that provided many eclectic animated thrills with the Animatrix compilation could only be explained by admiring their unabashed passion for detail. Nearly every frame of this marvelous, Manga-adapted … [Read more...]

There have been other movies which explored the subject of dreams to varying degrees...Akira Kurosawa's "Yume" (Dreams),"Dreamscape", "Nightmare on Elm Street" and "Wizard of OZ" come to mind, but none have quite did it in such a surreal, fascinating and inventive way as Satoshi Kon's recent anime feature "Paprika". I was really looking forward … [Read more...]

There seems to be some hope of decent video game to movie translation. While not a direct translation of the Final Fantasy video game franchise, it is written by the series creator, whose name I cannot remember. On top of that, his video game company branched off into a film company (Square Pictures) just to go and make this movie. At least one … [Read more...]

On the surface, the Appleseed Ex Machina may appear to be a glitzy, shoot'em-up anime mecha action show. And on that, it is fabulously rendered. But there is more, much more in the offerings for those who are willing to appreciate them. For those with open mind and are willing to peer into the multi-thread story lines, they are in for visual … [Read more...]