Tag Archives: Anime

The Fantasy and Where to Find Summer Ghost After Fantasia 2022

25 Jul

Summer Ghost

GKIDS

Summer Ghost is a sweet short movie by Loundraw about three teenagers who want to meet a ghost. Instead of fashioning a scary story, his tale is more about dealing with life. The story he wrote and the film he directed is very thoughtful. Difficult challenges are facing the girl and two boys–Aoi (Miyuri Shimabukuro, Miyuri), Tomoya (Chiaki Kobayashi), and Ryou (Nobunaga Shimazaki)–and none of them know what to do with their lives. 

Because they barely know each other, having just met on social media, to help each other out seems out of the question. In fact, they think communicating with the dead can lead to better results. While their idea of seeking guidance from the other side seems unusual, that’s because one of them has terminal cancer.

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Wild and Carefree. Pompo the Cinephile on Home Video!

11 Jul

GKIDS & Shout! Factory
Release Date: July 12, 2022

Pompo the Cinephile is coming to home video this Tuesday, and it’s a wonderful film to add to any collection. I’ve reviewed this film when it debuted at Fantasia Film Festival, and what I’ll look at is the bonus material. There isn’t a lot of added footage save for the commentary, storyboards and a nice looking postcard.

Here, Takayuki Hirao talks about the Hollywood directors whom he really wanted to pay homage to. Also, He explains why he started this movie with a huge musical number.

This animated movie looks at what goes on behind the cameras. The added commentary discusses differences between the Japanese way of making films to Hollywood and gives some afterthoughts to why the team like certain scenes more than others. Here, second unit director, Kenji Imura and editor, Tsuyoshi Imai not only break down how a few scenes were layered but also discuss what drives a few characters, especially Gene. He’s the focus in this piece, and Pompo is along for the ride.

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Fantasia Film Festival 2022’s 15 Top Picks to Feast Upon

5 Jul

Fantasia Film Festival

Fantasia Film Festival is back as an in-person event in 2022! There’s over 80 films being offered during the course of the two week event in Montreal, Quebec, and if I was to average two a day, that’s barely scratching the surface. There’s also all the special events, panels, and  shorts to consider and they will be held at the Concordia Hall,  J.A. de Sève cinemas, the Cinémathèque Québécoise, Cinéma du Musée and McCord Museum.

Ticket pre-sales will open at the end of this week, on July 9, 1:00 EST, and people travelling this event might want to consider booking their hotels now. Anyone still concerned about the pandemic are advised to still wear face masks and use personal descretion until the Health Authority declares otherwise.

Polaris-movie-film-action-revenge-2022-Viva-Lee-Fantasia-posterThe film to begin the festivities is Polaris, a Canadian sci-fi eco-adventure and I get the feeling its a work that’ll rival the cult film, Turbo-Kid (2015). I’m glad to say that I got the early bird ticket on a few flicks.  One work I admire is The Witch 2: The Other Side (review link), which received limited screenings across North America courtesy of Well GO USA. Another is The Girl From The Other Side which first screened at Fantasia 2019 as a short, and this year, it’s been expanded to a feature length movie! It’s a parable that I throughly enjoyed (review link) when it played at the Los Angeles Asian Film Festival a few months ago. All the detailing in this work really must be seen on the big screen!

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The Secret of Blue Water is Out! Nadia is all Blu-Ray in this 4K Restoration

3 Jun
Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water

Release Date: August 2, 2022
GKIDS & Shout! Factory

A sci-fi adventure on the high seas, Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water is the acclaimed television series from visionary director Hideaki Anno (Neon Genesis Evangelion). This award-winning show is loosely based on the works of Jules Verne, and its popularity later inspired a film, manga, and video games.

This release boasts an all-new 4K restoration, and includes all 39 episodes of the series in both the original Japanese and an English dub, as well as a number of bonus features including a new booklet featuring character and mechanical designs from the series, a sneak-preview featurette, a TV spot, and more! Fans can preorder their copies now by visiting ShoutFactory.com or GKIDS.com

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The Child of Kamiari Month is the Owner of a Lonely Heart

21 Mar

Child of Kamiari Month poster.jpgAvailable on Netflix

Kanna doesn’t want to be a messenger of the gods anymore in the animated movie Child of Kamiari Month (神在月のこども). She just wants her mother back, and the Japanese gods she’s supposed to help aren’t all that kind in helping this 12-year-old girl to see Okasan even in the afterlife. They’re getting ready to party because it’s Kannazuki time. It’s a celebration where the gods don’t interact with the mortal world as much during the month of October. They have gathered to discuss end of harvest affairs, and they need that one person to race all over Japan to take the offerings placed at their shrines, and deliver the goods to a place known as Izumo.

Yayoi was supposed to do that, but she passed away. Her daughter, Kanna, is required to take the mantle, but she’s not ready. This young girl also loves the sport of running according to the dubbed version, but I suspect there’s more to the narrative that isn’t translated over, and I had to see it again in its Japanese form (subtitled) to understand the missing details.

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