Ghost in the shell: Stand Alone Complex (anime)

March 29, 2020March 29, 2020 / kuromatsu122 / 2 Comments

Overview

With the TV version of Ghost in the Shell (Kokaku Kidotai) director Kenji Kamiyama (and his production team — including the full support of original creator Shirow Masamune) is bringing a new dimension to the standard police detective drama adding a techno-cyberpunk flavour. Not only is this a very high quality show visually (HD full-digital screen to satisfy even the most hard-core fan!), but it is also full of exciting, intelligent storytelling. You can see that the writers really put forward their best efforts to attract viewers.

The story is set in a future Tokyo populated with high-tech doohickeys, and lots of cyborgs and androids. Fans of Ghost in the Shell find out immediately that this story is quite different from the manga or games. It’s a kind of alternate world created for the TV series, closer to what was already developed for the movie. The manga is funny and set in a fictitious future (lots of made-up names) where Section 9 is an international anti-terrorist unit. The TV series’ setting feels less like a militaristic anti-terrorist outfit and more like a special police force dealing with cyber crimes. It is more serious and more realistic. Nevertheless, like the movie, which was based mostly on the manga, the TV series is using bits and pieces of the manga’s story. We could consider the TV series as a prequel to the movie, whereas the new manga, Man-Machine Interface, is the direct sequel of the original manga.

So what do they mean by “Stand Alone Complex”? It could mean that the series is mostly made of stand alone episodes (self contained stories), with a few more complex episodes (the “Laughing Man” story arc). However, episode 6 also provides another explanation: it refers to the fact that Laughing Man’s imitators are independent copycats, created without an original. To me it seems that Production I.G.’s writers want to make the point that “It’s extremely difficult and almost impossible today to stand alone in this complex society of computers and networks.” Each episode throws enormous amounts of technical information and detail about computers, science and politics for the viewer to digest. At first, for an average nincompoop like myself, the contents of this show can be too much, but with a bit of patience it’s certainly educational. I think, in a way, it’s charming to see so much information on technology. Compared to ordinary anime shows, the amount of dialogue and information is quite huge.

You really have to sit down and watch this TV show over and over again to catch the small details and to understand better. In this respect it shares much in common with its source, the manga. On the other hand, despite all this, the show can also be watched as an intelligent police/detective drama. The viewers can try to solve crimes with Section 9 members and get great satisfaction to see the conclusion of each cyber-crimes case. But don’t think that the show is as slow paced as the film — there is still a lot of action!

The characters seem to be like normal humans, but in fact most of them are cyborgs (or with some sort of cybernetic enhancement). I wonder if, in the near future, when humans begin to replace body-parts to improve their lives and live more comfortably, we’ll have different kinds of crimes? It’s the same type of premise as in Patlabor : if technology takes us there, the nature of crime will change. Of course we’re all human, but how in the world can we live and “stand” with our own personalities in this extremely complex society of the future? In this show, all criminals are making statements of a kind (politically, individually or otherwise).

This is certainly a strong series evolved from speculative fiction, with excellent (and exotic Russian sounding) music by Yoko Kannno (Cowboy Bebop, Escaflowne and Macross Plus) and viewers will enjoy this full-action crime fighting anime! In our opinion, this series clearly shows one thing: good writing and storytelling make a great difference! There are many shows with high quality visuals, but with weak stories. Ghost in the Shell is one of the best shows to come down the road in the last few years and hearkens back to a period where stories and strong characters were the main focus. I’d like to send out enthusiastic applause to the creators of this show!

Despite its high quality animation and intelligent story, the show has a few annoying details: the original opening is much better than the 3D one which starts with episode 3 and there are some technical impossibilities (like the cloaking devices which are not consistent with those in the movie).

This anime won’t disappoint you — in fact, you’ll be totally hooked! A must see show that I’d recommend to anyone. In order to understand the TV series a bit better it is recommended to have seen the movie or read the manga (you would already know the characters and technological background), but you will probably manage anyway if you just dive straight in (you’ll find some helpful information, right after the jump). The series was very well received with critics’ rating of 8.5 on IMDb and of 67% / 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. Enjoy !

>> Please, read the warning for possible spoilers <<

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GITS: Stand Alone Complex Official Log, Vol. 1

March 27, 2020 / Clodjee / Leave a comment

This superb book is an Official Guide to the Stand Alone Complex TV series and offers an in-depth analysis of the background story as well as the production development. It features an introduction to the Ghost In The Shell’s world (manga, movies, video games, etc.), character profiles and designs, mechanical designs, synopses and background notes for the first 19 episodes, interviews with the creative staff and an essay on the science of Ghost In The Shell. It also includes an exclusive 90-min. DVD with never-before-seen footage, a documentary on the digital animation techniques used for the series and more interviews with the staff and cast.

This type of high-quality art book usually comes in a larger format, but if the 6 x 8.5 inches size is more practical it also means fewer and smaller illustrations presented in a more cramped layout. Still, the Official Log is quite useful when it comes to better understanding the complex story of the Ghost In The Shell TV series. It is a must-have for all serious anime fans!

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex Official Log, Vol. 1 (by collective; editor, Robert Place Napton). [Cypress, CA] : Bandai / Manga Entertainment / Production I.G., October 2005. 148 pages (64 in colour) [DVD: Cat.# 25180, Subtitled, 90 min.]; Limited Edition (only 15,000 copy released), $49.98 US, rated 13+, ISBN: 1-59409-571-X. stars-4-0

Review originally published in PA #87 : 63 (December 2005 / January 2006). There is also a second volume but I haven’t seen it and therefore cannot comment on it. The book is old but seems to still be available online.

[ Amazon • Goodreads • Google • WorldCat ]

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Revue de ‘zines [002.019.364]

December 30, 2019 / Clodjee / 2 Comments

Bon, c’est de temps de passer en revue, encore une fois, quelques périodiques consacrés à la BD et aux manga pour voir ce qui ce fait d’intéressant…

Animeland #228 (Sept.-Nov. 2019)

Dans la section “Anime” de ce numéro, on note d’abord un dossier sur la SF dans l’anime (en six impacts: Astro Boy, Mazinger Z, Yamato, Gundam [avec un entretien avec Yoshiyuki Tomino], Evangelion et Haruhi Suzumiya), puis un article sur le dernier Makoto Shinkai: Tenki no ko / Weathering with you, sur les séries Demon Slayer, Vinland Saga, Given, Dr. Stone, Arifureta shogokyô de Sekai Saikyô, Kanata no Astra, et Ensemble Stars! On retrouve aussi des interviews avec Kiyotaka Oshiyama (Dennô Coil, Flip Flappers, Space Dandy) et Nobuyoshi Habara (co-créateur du studio Xebec), ainsi qu’un reportage sur Kyoto Animation.

Dans la section “Manga”, je remarque, entre autre, un dossier sur les trente ans de Glénat manga, le reportage sur “Comment éditer un manga 4: Communication, Presse et Marketing”, des chroniques sur Demon Slayer, Himizu, Valkyrie Apocalypse, Gigant, Chiisako Garden, Quand Takagi me taquine, un portrait de Junichi Nôjô (L’Empereur du Japon), des interviews avec Tsuyoshi Takaki (Black Torch, Heart Gear), Ryo Sumiyoshi (Centaures, MADK), Daiki Kobayashi (Ragna Crimson), Inio Asano (Bonne nuit punpun, Errance), Rie Aruga (Perfect World), et Suehiro Maruo (Dr Inugami, Vampyre, La chenille).

Comme d’habitude, un numéro riche en information. stars-3-0

dBD #138 (Novembre 2019)

Dans les actualités nous découvrons que Kurokawa lance la collection Kuro Savoir consacrés à l’adaptation pour adolescents (16+) de classiques littéraires. Cela rappel beaucoup ce que faisait Soleil Classique. La collection débute entre autre avec Le Capital de Karl Marx (par Iwashita Hiromi), Ainsi parlait Zarathoustra de Friedrich Nietzsche (par Ichiro et Aki) et Psychologie des foules de Gustave Le Bon (par Team Banmikas). On mentionne également que les éditions Ynnis ont publié un autre ouvrage de référence thématique: Hommage à Akira: Héritage de l’apocalypse par Stéphanie Chaptal.

À la une on retrouve une interview avec Jérôme Félix et Paul Gastine sur leur western Jusqu’au dernier (Éditions Bamboo, Coll. Grand Angle). Le magazine poursuit avec des interviews de Mathieu Kassovitz (cinéaste et acteur connu pour son adaptation de Cauchemar blanc de Moebius) sur l’influence qu’a eut Métal Hurlant sur son travail, avec Matz au sujet de son prequel à Transperceneige: Extinctions t.1 (avec Rochette chez Casterman) et sur le volume trois de Tango: À l’ombre du panama (avec Xavier chez Le Lombard), avec Jean-Claude Carrière et Jean-Marie Michaud sur leur volumineuse adaptation Le Mahâbhârata (chez les Éditions Hozhoni, 440 pages), avec Riff Reb’s pour l’adaptation de Jack London Le Vagabond des étoiles t.1 (chez Soleil, coll. Noctambule), avec Antoine Ozanam sur Klaw t.11: Coma (avec Jurion chez Le Lombard), et avec Flix sur Spirou à Berlin (chez Dupuis).

Dans le Cahier Critique je note Le Mahâbhârata par Carrière & Michaud chez Hozhoni (Top! “Après trois ans de travail acharné (…) le résultat est prodigieux”), la réédition de Kirihito par Osamu Tezuka chez Delcourt (Top! “Graphiquement (…) c’est plein d’expérimentation, tant dans l’expression des émotions que dans le découpages. Cela se lit d’une traite”), une BD sur Mishima, Ma mort est mon chef-d’oeuvre, par Li-An & Weber chez Vents d’Ouest (Super), Dans l’abîme du temps une autre superbe adaptation de Lovecraft par Gou Tanabe chez Ki-oon (Super, “Quelle ambiance oppressante (…) Ki-oon (…) a une nouvelle fois soigné à l’extrême la fabrication de son album”), L’Empereur du Japon t.1 par Eifuku, Hando, Shiba & Nojo chez Delcourt (Super, “Superbement dessiné”) et Une femme et la guerre où Yoko Kondô adapte deux nouvelles par Ango Sakaguchi chez Picquier (Top! “Une belle lecture à la gloire de la complexité humaine”).

Un numéro riche en découvertes. stars-3-5

dBD #139 (Déc.-Janv. 2019/20)

Un numéro “double” (128 pages) où les actualités annoncent un manga de Persona 5 par Hisato Murasaki chez Mana Books et où la une nous offre un interview avec Philippe Druillet, Dimitri Avramoglou et Xavier Czaux-Zago sur Babel, un ambitieux remake de Lone Sloane chez Glénat. Ce numéro se poursuit avec des interviews de Christophe Blain au sujet de Blueberry t.1: Amertume apache (chez Dargaud, en collaboration avec Sfar), avec Balak et Bastien Vivès sur Lastman t.12 (chez Casterman), avec Juan Giménez sur sa série de La Caste des Méta-Barons (aux Humanoïdes Associés), avec Stéphane Levallois sur Léonard 2 Vinci (chez Le Louvre/Futuropolis), avec Minaverry sur Dora t.4: Amsel, Vogel, Hahn (chez L’Agrume) et Rebecca Rosen pour Morveuse (chez L’Employé du moi).

Au coeur de ce numéro on retrouve un spécial sur les cinq coups de coeur de fin de l’année qui offre des interviews avec des artistes dont l’oeuvre a été négligé par la rédaction: Jérémie Moreau pour Penss et les plis du monde (chez Delcourt), Alfred pour Senso (chez Delcourt), Georges Bess pour Dracula (chez Glénat), David Lopez pour Black Hand & Iron Head (chez Urban Comics), et Marc-Antoine Boidin & Jean-André Yerlès pour Legio Patria Nostra t.1: Le tambour (chez Glénat). Le numéro se conclu sur un article commémorant le soixantième anniversaire de la série Tanguy et Laverdure, qui avait débuté dans le premier numéro du magazine Pilote en 1959 sous la plume de Charlier et Uderzo et qui se poursuit avec un trente-troisième album, Retour aux Cigognes, par Zumbiehl, Buendia & Philippe (chez Dargaud).

Dans le Cahier Critique je note La fille de Vercingétorix par Ferri & Conrad chez Albert René (Super; cet album réponds à tous les critères qui font un bon Astérix mais les aventures des héros “n’ont plus la même saveur que quand nous étions adolescents. Pire nous ne sommes pas sûrs qu’après avoir refermé ce livre, nous penserons à le relire, contrairement aux premiers albums de la série”), Samurai 8 t.1 par Masashi Kishimoto & Akira Okubo chez Kana (Bien, “un air retrofuturiste inédit (…) mais la mise en scène ne suit pas (…) tout va trop vite (…) trop de digressions, trop de nouvelles intrigues parallèles (…) dommage car (…) l’univers créé par Kishimoto est, lui, vraiment intéressant”), Mon cancer couillon par Kazuyoshi Takeda chez Pika (Bien, manga autobiographique [Sayonara Tama-chan / lit. “Adieu mon petit testicule”] où l’ancien assistant de Hiroya Oku [Gantz] raconte sa lutte contre le cancer), ainsi que Natsuko no sake t.1 par Akira Oze chez Vega (Super, une histoire sur les coulisses du monde de la production de sake originalement publié en 1988, “belle histoire à l’ancienne (…) la narration est douce, le dessin de bonne facture”).

Des tonnes de suggestions de lectures pour les vacances et l’année à venir… stars-3-5

Animeland #229 (Déc. 2019 – Fév. 2020)

Dans la section “Anime” de ce numéro, on note d’abord un dossier sur la tendance des éditeurs de manga à créer des nouvelles collections pour adultes qui traitent de sujets plus réfléchi et sérieux: comme la collection “Moonlight” chez Delcourt/Tonkam et la collection “Life” chez Kana. Puis on retrouve un autre dossier sur la série Chihayafuru (incluant un interview avec son directeur, Morio Asaka). S’ajoute des chroniques, entre autre, sur Weathering with You, Violet Evergarden, L’Habitant de l’infini, Beastars, No Guns Life, Hoshiai no Sora, Babylon, Cobra et un interview avec Tadayoshi Yamamuro (Dragon Ball).

Côté manga, on note dans les nouvelles parutions le premier volume de l’édition intégrale (pour le 90e anniversaire!) de Phénix: L’Oiseau de feu de Osamu Tezuka chez Delcourt/Tonkam dès le 8 janvier, Sengo [Areyo Hoshizuku] par Sansuke Yamada chez Casterman dès le 22 janvier (un manga gay situé dans l’après-guerre), L’Amant (d’après le roman de Marguerite Duras) par Kan Takahama chez Rue de Sèvre aussi le 22 janvier, ainsi que La couleur tombée du ciel une adaptation de Lovecraft par Gou Tanabe chez Ki-oon dès le 5 mars. On retrouve également un dossier sur les quinze ans de Ki-oon, de nombreuses chroniques sur Jujutsu Kaisen (Ki-oon), Shaman King (Kana), Asadora ! (de Naoki Urasawa!, chez Kana), Samurai 8 (Kana), Doppelgänger (Kazé), Aria (Ki-oon), The Quintessential Quintuplets (Pika), Elle ne rentre pas celle de mon mari (Lézard Noir), Zenkamono (Lézard Noir), En proie au silence (Akata), Libraire jusqu’à l’os (Soleil), Parasite / Neo-Parasite (Glénat), Un monde formidable (Kana), Inio Asano Anthology (Kana), La petite faiseuse de livres (Komikku), Dans le sens du vent (Soleil), Les liens du sang (Ki-oon), et My Pretty Policeman (Boys Love IDP). La section se conclue sur des interviews avec Takeshi Obata (Hikaru no go, Death Note, Bakuman, Platinum End), Taiyô Matsumoto (Amer Béton, Sunny), Ken Wakui (Tokyo Revengers) et Laura Negro (assistante d’édition chez Akata) ainsi que l’article “Comment éditer un manga 5 (dernière partie): Diffusion, Librairie et lecteurs…”

Comme toujours, un numéro riche en information et en découverte. stars-3-5

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Japanese film festival

August 26, 2019 / Clodjee / 2 Comments

The 36th edition of the Japanese Film Festival will be held from Friday September 20th to Sunday September 22nd at the Cinémathèque québécoise (335 De Maisonneuve Blvd East, Montreal, QC). This annual event is presented by the Japan Foundation in collaboration with the Consulate General of Japan in Montreal. It offers four free Japanese movie screenings (in Japanese with English subtitles; Limited seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis; no reservations required).

Where I belong (しゃぼん玉 / Shabondama): Japan, 2016, 108 mins; Dir./Scr.: Shinji Azuma (based on a novel by Asa Nonami); Phot.: Wataru Miyamoto; Ed.: Shinya Tadano; Cast: Kazuyuki Aijima, Mina Fujii, Kento Hayashi.

[ AsianWiki • IMDb • JFDB • Official • Youtube ]

After committing robbery, Shoto’s flight from the cops takes him to the mountains of Miyazaki in southern Japan where he helps an injured elderly woman. This serendipitous encounter will softly coax him into changing and set him on the path to redemption. The Japanese countryside comes to life through beautiful cinematography in this simple and unhurried reflection on what it means to have a place where to belong.

Friday September 20 at 6:30 p.m. / 18h30

The Night I Swam (泳ぎすぎた夜 / Oyogisugita yoru): Japan/France, 2017, 79 mins; Dir.: Kohei Igarashi / Damien Manivel; Phot.: Wataru Takahashi; Ed.: William Laboury; Music: Jérôme Petit; Cast: Takara Kogawa, Keiki Kogawa, Takashi Kogawa.

[ IMDb • JFDB • Official ]

In the early hours of the morning in snowy northern Japan, a boy is woken up by the noise of his father leaving for work. Later, the boy deviates from the path to school and heads towards the fish market where his father works. This Japan-France coproduction has no dialogue, no narration, but instead captivates its audience with the power of images and everyday sounds, revealing in poetic silence the charming simplicity of a child’s world.

Saturday September 21 at 2:15 p.m. / 14h15

Drowning Love (溺れるナイフ / Oboreru naifu): Japan, 2016, 111 mins; Dir.: Yûki Yamato; Scr.: Yûki Yamato, Kishu Izuchi (based on the manga by George Asakura); Phot.: Takahide Shibanushi; Ed.: Kenichi Hirai; Cast: Nana Komatsu, Masaki Suda, Daiki Shigeoka, Mone Kamishiraishi, Nazuki Amano, Mickey Curtis, Masami Horiuchi.

[ AsianWiki • IMDb • JFDB • Official • Wikipedia ]

Two of Japan’s rising stars take on the roles of a teenage fashion model from Tokyo and a successor to a family of Shinto priests, portraying together dreams of freedom and fragile teenage love, intense and tragic.

Saturday September 21 at 4 p.m. / 16h00

Summer Wars (サマーウォーズ / Samâ uôzu): Japan, 2009, 114 mins; Dir.: Mamoru Hosoda.

[ ANN • IMDb • Official • Wikipedia ]

When a timid high school math whiz unwittingly unlocks a rogue AI program able to destroy the real world, calling on the bonds of family and human compassion might be the only way to counter this menacing mayhem. A timely 10th anniversary screening of this Mamoru Hosoda and Madhouse masterpiece which seamlessly blends the beauty of traditional Japan with Superflat colorful computer graphics.

Sunday September 22 at 2 p.m. / 14h00

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Battle Angel (OVA)

August 24, 2019 / Clodjee / 2 Comments

Battle Angel (銃夢 / Ganmu [Gunnm] / lit. “Weapon dream”) compiles two OVAs released in Japan in June and August 1993. An English subtitled version was released by A.D. Vision on VHS in September 1993 and on DVD (with both dubbed and subtitled versions) in December 1999. The first OVA, “Rusty Angel”, introduces us to Gally and Scrapcity, and tells of the combat against Grewcica. The second OVA, “Tears Sign”, focuses on her friendship with Yugo and his dream to get to Zalem. [It was reviewed in PA #27: 37]

For the early 90s the quality of the animation was excellent, but unfortunately it looks disappointing by today’s standards. It still looks good though and offers excellent production value (nice storytelling and music soundtrack). However, one point that really bothers me is the editing which annoyingly and constantly cut the action to switch to scenes with other characters and then to cut back into the action.

The storytelling succeeds to condense the first part of the manga into two 25-minute OVAs and still manage to smooth the story so it is easier to understand. The manga had the advantage to have several graphic novels to tell the story (the first OVA covers the first volume and half, while the second tell the story up to the end of the third volume). The numerous battles — which felt a little sketchy and tedious on paper — look much more realistic and entertaining in the animation (although the Alita live-action movies does an even better job at rendering the battle sequences). Lastly, the anime has a better success in giving life and expressing the emotions of the characters. It makes the drama much more tangible.

It is a nice anime that deserves to be seen. Unfortunately, it seems to be difficult to find now-a-day. Hopefully, with the success of the movie, it will be released again on DVD.

Battle Angel : Japan, 1993, 2 x 25 mins.; Dir.: Hiroshi Fukutomi; Scr.: Akinori Endō (based on Yukito Kishiro’s manga); Art Dir.: Hidematsu Kaneko; Char. Des.: Nobuteru Yuki; Anim. Dir.: Nobuteru Yuki & Futoshi Fujikawa; Phot.: Hitoshi Yamaguchi; Ed.: Yukiko Ito & Satoshi Terauchi; Music: Kaoru Wada; Studio: Madhouse; Jap. Cast: Kappei Yamaguchi (Yugo), Miki Itō (Gally), Shunsuke Kariya (Dr. Daisuke Ido). stars-3-0

To learn more about this title you can consult the following web sites:

[ ANN — Amazon — Google — IMDb — Wikipedia ]

I have recently also commented on the Gunnm / Alita manga and the live-action movie.

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Fantasia 2019

June 30, 2019July 1, 2019 / Clodjee / Leave a comment

The 23rd edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival, the top genre film festival in North America, will be held (mostly) at the Concordia Théâtre Hall from July 11 to August 1st 2019. The festival will open with Hideo Nakata latest movie, Sadako. It will also showcase over an hundred feature films & shorts in horror, sci-fi or fantasy genres and many filmmakers and actors will be attending to introduce their production — including Yamamoto Kiyoshi (Director of Brave Father Online – Our Story of Final Fantasy XIV), Yaguchi Shinobu & Kanekoa Ryon (director and producer of Dance with me), Makoto Tezuka (dir. of The Legend of the Stardust Brothers), Takahiro Umehara (dir. & writer for Moon in the hidden woods), Nao Yoshighai (retrospective), Oshiyama Kiyotaka (dir. of the short Shishigari) and Keita Amemiya (dir. of Garo and speaker of the Master Class on Wed July 31, 2019 7:00 PM at the York Amphitheatre). Tickets will be available at Concordia’s box office and online starting July 6th.

Movies from all over the world will be presented (including five from China, five from Hong Kong, twenty-four from South Korea and two from Taiwan), but here we are interested mostly in the forty-five production from Japan:

Anime

Cencoroll Connect (2019, Atsuya Uki, 75 mins)
The Death Vendor (2019, Jeon Jinkyu, 6 mins)
Fluffiction (2018, Yoshiki Imazu, 7 mins)
Ghost in the Shell: Virtual Reality Diver (2017, Hiroaki Higashi, 15 mins)
The Girl from the Other Side (2019, Yutaro Kubo, Satomi Maiya, 10 mins)
The House Rattler (2019, Shinobu Soejima, 6 mins)
Human Lost (2019, Fuminori Kizaki, 109 mins, inspired by Osamu Dazai’s novel No Longer Human)
A Japanese Boy Who Draws (2018, Masanao Kawajiri, 20 mins)
The Moon in the Hidden Woods (2018, Umehara Takahiro, 97 mins, South Korean movie with a Japanese director)
My Little Goat (2018, Tomoki Misato, 10 mins)
Promare (2019, Hiroyuki Imaishi, 111 mins)
The Relative Worlds (2019, Yuhei Sakuragi, 93 mins)
Ride Your Wave (2019, Masaaki Yuasa, 95 mins)
Shishigari (2019, Kiyotaka Oshiyama, 17 mins)
Tempura (2013, Ujicha, 3 mins)
Twilight (2019, Yutaka Yamamoto, 53 mins)
UNK (1979, Makoto Tezuka, 15 mins)
The Wonderland (2019, Keiichi Hara, 115 mins, adapted from Sachiko Kashiwaba’s 1988 children’s book Strange Journey From the Basement)

Live-Action

21st Century Girl (2019, U-ki Yamato, 120 mins, an anthology assembling 14 emerging filmmakers about the world view of young Japanese women)
Almost a Miracle (2019, Yuya Ishii, 120 mins, based on Yuki Ando’s manga The World of Machida Kun)
And Your Bird Can Sing (2018, Sho Miyake, 106 mins, adapted from a novella by late writer Yasushi Sato)
Brave Father Online: Our Story of Final Fantasy XIV (2019, Teruo Noguchi, Kiyoshi Yamamoto, 114 mins)
Chiwawa (2019, Ken Ninomiya, 104 mins)
Dance With Me (2019, Shinobu Yaguchi, 103 mins)
Dare To Stop Us (2018, Kazuya Shiraishi, 118 mins)
Day and Night (2019, Michihito Fujii, 134 mins)
The Fable (2019, Kan Eguchi, 123 mins, based on Katsuhisa Minami’s manga)
Fly Me to the Saitama (2019, Hideki Takeuchi, 107 mins, based on Yuichi Tokunaga’s 1982 manga)
Garo: Under the Moonbow (2019, Keita Amemiya, 106 mins)
Gintama 2: Rules Are Made to Be Broken (2018, Yuichi Fukuda, 134 mins, based on the manga series by Hideaki Sorachi)
Grand Bouquet (2018, Nao Yoshigai, 14 mins)
Hard-Core (2018, Nobuhiro Yamashita, 124 mins)
His Bad Blood (2019, Koichiro Oyama, 108 mins)
Hottamaru Days (2015, Nao Yoshigai, 37 mins)
The Island of Cats (2019, Mitsuaki Iwago, 103 mins, based on Nekomaki’s manga The old man and his cat)
It Comes (2018, Tetsuya Nakashima, 135 mins, an adaptation of Ichi Sawamura’s famous novel)
Kingdom (2019, Shinsuke Sato, 134 mins, an adaptation of Yasuhisa Hara’s novel)
The Legend of the Stardust Brothers (1985, Makoto Tezuka, 100 mins, directed by Osamu Tezuka’s son)
The Pear and the Fang (2018, Nao Yoshigai, 30 mins)
Ratri (2019, Jeremy Rubier, 16 mins, co-production Canada/Japan/Austria/Thaïland)
The Realm Below (2018, Souichi Umezawa, 9 mins)
Sadako (2019, Hideo Nakata, 99 mins, another sequel to Ring)
Stare (2019, Hirotaka Adachi, 98 mins)
Stories Floating on the Wind (2018, Nao Yoshigai, 9 mins)
Tokyo Ghoul ‘S‘ (2019, Kazuhiko Hiramaki, Takuya Kawasaki, 101 mins, an adaptation of the urban-horror manga by Sui Ishida)
We Are Little Zombies (2018, Makoto Nagahisa, 120 mins)

This year there’s lots of horror and lots of shorts, many anime and a few titles to watch closely (like Human Lost, The Relative worlds, Garo, Gintama 2, and The island of cats).

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Revue de zines (02.19.167)

June 16, 2019July 21, 2019 / Clodjee / Leave a comment

Encore une fois, je passe en revue quelques récents périodiques consacrés à la bande dessinée et au manga…

AnimeLand #226 (mars-mai 2019)

Un autre superbe numéro de AnimeLand très riche en information. Comme le note l’éditorial, si l’on se fit aux récents titres, l’air est à la nostalgie. Ce numéro nous présente donc la couverture des films de Dragon Ball Super: Broly et de City Hunter: Shinjuku Private Eyes, de la nouvelle série de Saint Seiya: Saintia Shô, et souligne la consécration de Rumiko Takahashi à Angoulème avec un article qui analyse une scène de Maison Ikkuku! Tout cela ravive des souvenirs vieux de plusieurs décennies…

Ce qui rend ce numéro particulièrement intéressant c’est surtout l’interview avec Akemi Takada (character design de Urusei Yatsura et Kimagure Orange Road) et les articles sur le genre shôjo (“la vie quotidienne d’une héroïne de shôjo: du premier amour à la survie de l’humanité” un article de huit pages [rare dans AL] tout à fait fascinant!), sur “Comment éditer un manga part. 2: Édito, traduction et maquette” et sur le film “live” de Lady Oscar (pour souligner son quarantième anniversaire!).

Ce numéro m’a également permis de découvrir la série télé Révisions (12 eps, sur Netflix) ainsi que les mangas Félin Pour l’autre! (un shônen nekketsu par Wataru Nadatani chez Doki Doki où un garçon tente de sauver des chats errants) et Magus of the Library (par Mitsu Izumi chez Ki-oon où Shino est passionné par les livres et échappe à la réalité en se réfugiant dans leur pages!). stars-4-0

dBD #133 (mai 2019)

En couverture, dBD nous offre un interview avec Olivier Dupont qui s’est associé au scénariste Régis Loisel pour Un putain de salopard (Rue de Sèvres), l’histoire d’un jeune homme qui part à la recherche de son père en Amazonie. On retrouve également des interviews avec Jean-Marc Rochette (Le loup, chez Casterman), François Boucq (Jérôme Moucherot t.6, chez Lombard), Philippe Richelle (Algérie, une guerre française t.1 chez Glénat), Oscar Martin & Alvaro Iglesias (Solo t.4 chez Delcourt, une histoire anthropomorphique qui met en scène des tribus de rats, chats, chiens, hyènes, etc.), et Julien Lambert (VilleVermine t.2 chez Sarbacane).

Côté manga, dans le cahier critiques, on y parle de The red rat in Hollywood t.1 (Osamu Yamamoto, chez Vega), Les liens du sang t.1 (Shuzo Oshimi chez Ki-oon), Buchimaru chaos t.1 (Tsutomu Ohno chez Doki Doki), Genocidal organ t.2 (Gatô Asô chez Pika), Le bateau de Thésée t.1 (Higashimoto Toshiya chez Vega, qui offre une sorte de Quartier lointain en thriller avec “un scénario solide à rebondissements multiples”), et Contamination t.3 (Ao Acato chez Kana, un seinen catastrophe qui “maintient le lecteur en haleine”). Intéressant mais rien de bien excitant… stars-3-0

dBD #134 (juin 2019)

À la une, dBD nous offre une interview avec François Schuiten, Laurent Durieux, Jaco van Dormael & Thomas Gunzig qui proposent une aventure avec des Blake & Mortimer “vieillis, séparés par le temps et mis en péril” (Le dernier Pharaon, aux Éd. Blake & Mortimer). On en profite pour parler de l’exposition consacré à cette BD au musée des Arts et Métiers. On retrouve également des interviews avec Jean-Luc Istin (Mages t.1, avec K. Duarte chez Soleil), Tillie Walden (Spinning, Dans un rayon de soleil et J’adore ce passage, chez Gallimard), Inès Léraud (Algues vertes: l’histoire interdite, chez La revue dessinée/Delcourt), Gani Jakupi (Enquête sur El Comandante Yankee, chez La table ronde/Aire Libre).

Dans les actualités, on mentionne brièvement le décès de Kazuo Koike en avril, l’adaptation cinématographique de La Quête de l’oiseau du temps (Le Tendre & Loisel) par le réalisateur Danois Anders Walter, et la tenu du 20e Japan Expo au Parc d’exposition Paris-Nord Villepinte du 4 au 7 juillet.

Côté manga, dans le cahier critiques, on y parle de Jusqu’à ce que nos os pourrissent t.7 (Yae Utsumi, chez Pika), Versailles of the dead t.1 (Rumiko Suekane, chez Kana — Marie-Antoinette contre les zombies, “tant d’incohérences et d’absurdités”), Echoes t.1 (Kei Sanbe, chez Ki-oon — “thriller plus sombre (…) l’horreur de la folie humaine”). Ce numéro m’offre peu de découvertes intéressantes mais demeure tout même assez informatif… stars-3-0

Étrangement, aucun de ces deux récents numéros de dBD ne mentionne le deuxième tome de Bug par Enki Bilal, paru chez Casterman en avril et que j’attendais avec impatience! dBD en a probablement parlé dans une numéro que je n’ai pas lu…

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Revue de ‘zines

April 30, 2019June 15, 2019 / Clodjee / Leave a comment

Je prends un peu le temps de faire le tour des périodiques consacrés à la bande dessinée (principalement dBD et Animeland) pour voir si je ne peux pas y faire quelques découvertes intéressantes…

dBD #132 (Avril) nous offre principalement un entretien avec Peeters & Schuiten (sur la quatrième et dernière intégrale des Cités obscures) et un article sur la BD Turque (un pays où il ne fait pas bon être caricaturiste). Dans les actualités, je note que le 46e grand prix d’Angoulême a été décerné à Rumiko Takahashi (Urusei Yatsura, Maison Ikkoku et Ranma 1/2) pour la diversité de son oeuvre. Ce n’est que la deuxième femme à recevoir cet honneur (après Florence Cestac en 2000). Je note également le livre de cuisine graphique L’Art du sushi, par Franckie Alarcon chez Delcourt. Dans le cahier critique, on retrouve The empire of corpses t. 3 par Toh & Tomoyuki chez Pika (une suite cyberpunk décevante au roman de Frankenstein) et Akû t. 1 par Kaneshiro & Fujimura chez Ki-oon [erreur de dBD, c’est en fait chez Pika!] (un manga préhistorique plaisant à lire). Rien de bien significatif. C’est donc une récolte décevante ce mois-ci… stars-3-0

J’ai eu beaucoup de peine à mettre la main sur Animeland #225 (Décembre 2018-Février 2019) car ma bibliothèque ne semble plus le tenir (ou un retard de livraison? Et je n’ai reçu aucune réponse à mes demandes de service de presse!). Le magazine est maintenant trimestriel mais offre un format plus grand (22.5 x 29.7 cm) et volumineux (148 pages). On remarque dans ce numéro à double couverture des articles sur Macross, Mirai ma petite soeur, Le château de Cagliostro, sur la postproduction d’anime, sur Gunnm (Alita: Battle Angel), Vinland Saga, et sur “Comment éditer un manga, part 1.” Dans la sélection anime (animathèque) je note la deuxième saison de Golden Kamui (chez Crunchyroll). Dans la mangathèque, je note MW d’Osamu Tezuka chez Delcourt/Tonkam. Encore une fois, un numéro plein d’information… stars-3-5

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Mirai

April 20, 2019April 20, 2019 / Clodjee / Leave a comment

“From acclaimed director Mamoru Hosoda (Wolf Children) comes a daringly original story of love passed down through generations. When four-year-old Kun meets his new baby sister, his world is turned upside down. Named Mirai (meaning “future”), the baby quickly wins the hearts of Kun’s entire family. Kun becomes increasingly jealous of her, until one day he storms off into the garden, where he encounters strange guests from the past and future – including his sister Mirai, as a teenager. Together, Kun and Mirai go on a journey through time and space, uncovering their family’s incredible story, in this magical and emotionally soaring adventure about the ties that bring families together and make us who we are.” (From Universal website)

Mirai (未来のミライ / Mirai no Mirai / lit. “Mirai of the Future”) is a beautiful story about good parenting and loving our siblings or family. Kun is a young boy who is jealous of his newborn sister Mirai. However, the genealogical tree that sits in the courtyard of their small house in Yokohama shows him scene of past and future life of his family members (his teenage sister, his mother, his great-grand-father, even the family dog!) so he can relate to them and learn to appreciate them better. Or this is a boy with an extraordinary imagination!

The animation is excellent and offers very realistic background illustrations that you would think it’s CGI but they are actually hand-drawn (although there is CGI in the movie). In fact, it is so crisp that it feels a little cold. For such a story about family I would have preferred a style that evoke more warmth. I particularly like the design of the modern house, conceived by the father (who’s an architect), that takes advantage of the narrow space and the hill to build in several level, with lots of steps.

Animated by Studio Chizu and distributed by Toho (GKids in North America), Mirai was created, written and directed by Mamoru Hosoda (The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Summer Wars and The Boy and the Beast), with character designs by Hiroyuki Aoyama, animation direction by Ayako Hata & Hiroyuki Aoyama, art direction by Takashi Omori & Yohei Takamatsu and music by Masakatsu Takagi. The voice cast includes Haru Kuroki / Victoria Grace as Mirai, Moka Kamishiraishi / Jaden Waldman as Kun, Gen Hoshino / John Cho as Father, Kōji Yakusho / Victor Brandt as Grandfather, Kumiko Asou / Rebecca Hall as Mother, Masaharu Fukuyama / Daniel Dae Kim as great-grandfather, and Mitsuo Yoshihara / Crispin Freeman as Yukko the dog. 98 min., rated PG (for thematic elements including some scary images). It was favourably received by the audience (rating of 7.1 on IMDb and of 92% / 83% on Rotten Tomatoes). It’s a fine exemple of Japanese animation that everyone should see. stars-3-5

To learn more about this title you can consult the following web sites:

[ Amazon — ANN — Google — IMDb — Official — Wikipedia — Youtube ]

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Haikara-San: Here Comes Miss Modern

April 16, 2019April 19, 2019 / Clodjee / Leave a comment

My wife read an interview of Waki Yamato in Fujin Kōron (a Japanese women’s public opinion magazine) where she was talking about a recent anime adaption of her manga Haikara-san. My wife, who enjoyed the manga when she was a teenager, told me she would like to see this animation. Therefore I obliged.

Excerpt from the manga (from Frederik L. Schodt Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics, p. 90).

Haikara-San: Here Comes Miss Modern (はいからさんが通る / Haikara-san ga tōru) is one of those shōjo manga published in the 70s that I wish would be one day translated either in French or English so I could read them. This traditional shōjo style might not be very popular amongst today’s manga reader, but it was beautiful in many ways and their stories were always quite compelling. The manga was serialized in Shōjo Friend between 1975 and 1977 and compiled into 8 volumes by Kodansha. The manga was first adapted into an animated TV series (TV Asahi, 42 eps, 1978-1979), then into several live-action TV movies (on KTV in 1979, on Fuji TV in 1985, by Toei in 1987, and on TBS in 2002) and was even the subject of a Takarazuka revue in 2017. Finally, it was adapted into two anime movies: Gekijōban Haikara-san ga Tōru Zenpen – Benio, Hana no 17-sai [劇場版はいからさんが通る前編～紅緒、花の17歳～ / lit. “Theatrical version, Here comes miss modern, first part: Benio, 17 years’ flower”] (November 2017, 97 mins, already available on Blu-ray from The Right Stuf) and Gekijōban Haikara-san ga Tōru Kōhen – Tokyo Dai Roman [劇場版はいからさんが通る後編～花の東京大ロマン～ / lit. “Theatrical version, Here comes miss modern, second part: Tokyo great romance of flower”] (October 2018, 105 mins).

[ ¡ WARNING: The following MAY contain traces of spoilers! People allergic to the discussion of any plot’s elements before seeing/reading the story themselves are strongly advised to take the necessary precautions for their safety and should avoid reading further ! ]

In the first movie, we follow the life of 17-year-old Benio Hanamura who was raised by her military father. She is a tomboy who likes to practise kendo with the girly neighbour Ranmaru (who was raised to become a kabuki actor). The story is set in the Taishō era, when Japan is trying to “occidentalize” itself. She wants to be “modern” and believes in a woman’s right to have a career and to marry for love. Unfortunately, her father want to arrange a marriage with one of his young subordinate, lieutenant Shinobu Ijuin, because their grand-parents were in love but could never marry and made the pact that the Hanamura and Ijuin families would be one day reunited. Benio refuses and tries to elope with Ranmaru, who is secretly in love with her. She also discovers that her best friend Tamaki is in love with Shinobu. She is nevertheless sent to Shinobu’s household to help and learn the domestic duties of a wife. As she is finally falling in love with him, she infuriates her father’s superior and Shinobu is sent to the front in Siberia. Not long after, he is reported missing in action or maybe dead…

The movie was written and directed by Kazuhiro Furuhashi, with character designs by Terumi Nishii, art direction by Kentaro Akiyama and music by Michiru Oshima. The cast includes Mamoru Miyano as Shinobu, Saori Hayami as Benio, Asami Seto as Tamaki, Yuuki Kaji as Ranmaru, and Unshō Ishizuka as Major Hanamura.

In the second movie, Benio tries to go on with her life and hopes that Shinobu might come back one day. In the meantime, she keeps taking care of his grandparents household and tries to find a job. After many unsuccessful attempts she is finally hired as reporter by a small newspaper headed by Tosei, a handsome but misogynistic editor (he’s literally allergic to women due to issues with his mother). She goes to Manchuria to investigate a band of rebels supposedly headed by a Japanese deserter. She meets with him and discovers he is Onijima, a friend of Shinobu in the army, who tells her how Shinobu got missing after saving his life. Later, back in Tokyo, she is covering the visit of a Russian noble couple in exile, Count Michaellov and countess Larisa. Benio is shocked to see that the count looks exactly like Shinobu. Actually, it’s him but he suffers from amnesia. Larisa saved and nursed him to replace her dead husband Sasha (who was in fact Shinobu’s younger half-brother, because Shinobu’s German mother left to marry a Russian noble—yes, I know, it’s complicated). When Shinobu eventually recovers his memory, he cannot marry Benio because he is now married to Larisa and feels indebted to her as she is dying of tuberculosis. Heartbroken, Benio decides to marry Tosei instead (who has discovered that he actually loves her). But on their wedding day the great Kanto earthquake occurs and Larisa finally dies of her disease. Benio and Shinobu can finally be reunited…

The second movie was directed by Toshiaki Kidokoro, with a script by Kazuhiro Furuhashi, character designs by Terumi Nishii, art direction by Kentaro Akiyama and music by Michiru Oshima. The cast includes, besides the cast from the first movie, Kazuya Nakai as Shingo Onijima, Maaya Sakamoto as Larisa, and Takahiro Sakurai as Tōsei Aoe.

[ ¡ END of possible spoilers warning ! ]

Haikara-San movies are beautifully animated, with crisp, up-to-date quality animation (quite different from the style of late-70s anime, which tend not to age very well—although the TV series is now also available on blu-ray in Japan). The story offers typical Japanese romantic drama filled with lots of comedy. However, despite the funny antics of the characters, the story tackles very serious subjects like feminism and war. I enjoyed it a lot and I highly recommend you to, at least, have a look. If only someone would translated the manga… stars-3-5

For more information you can consult the following web sites:

[ ANN — Google — IMDb — Official — Right Stuf — Wikipedia — Youtube ]

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M.S. Gundam Unicorn (UC)

April 8, 2019April 10, 2019 / Clodjee / Leave a comment

Overview

I have not watch any Japanese animation in a while and I must admit that it feels great. I have never been a big fan of Gundam, but I have always admired the complexity of its plots, particularly its political and philosophical aspects and the variety of its character and mechanical designs. The fact that this is an Original Video Animation (OVA) mini-series — streaming on Netflix — makes it easier to reacquaint myself with the genre and the story. It is also a good way to introduce a novice to the phenomenon. Therefore, as in the good old days of P.A., here is an “Anime Story” (although a little shorter and with links — it’s fun, I should do this more often!).

Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn (UC) (機動戦士ガンダムUC(ユニコーン) / Kidō Senshi Gandamu Yunikōn) is a sequel to the Mobile Suit Gundam story created by Yoshiyuki Tomino (made famous by its plentiful line of plastic models known as Gunpla). It takes place in the main timeline of the series, known as Universal Century (宇宙世紀 / Uchū Seiki). Earth is colonizing space by putting colonies (big space stations known as “Side”) in stable orbits around the planet (A.K.A. Lagrange Points).

Story

The story begins as the Earth Federation Prime Minister is about to unveil a new era of space exploration as well as a new Federation charter. The current era (A.D.) ends as the Universal Century begins. However, the Laplace space station—where the calendar change ceremony is taking place—is destroyed in a terrorist attack. The young Syam Vist discover a secret in the station wreckage: the Laplace’s Box, which contains a truth so terrible that it must never be revealed as it could destabilize the Federation — it also becomes a source of political power upon which he will build the Vist Foundation.

The story unfolds ninety-five years later, in UC 0096 (sixteen years after the One Year War), as the young orphan Banagher Links is going to school on the Industrial 7 space station. He will encounter a girl named Audrey Burne and get caught up in the struggle to locate and possess the Laplace’s Box…

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Détour

March 31, 2019March 31, 2019 / Clodjee / Leave a comment

Detour Les week-ends se déroulent rarement comme prévu. Je planifiais de faire de menus travaux, de la comptabilité, de lire et commenter des mangas (surtout Isabella Bird et Moriarty) et je me retrouve finalement à lire (relire?) des vieilles BDs de Moebius, à regarder des animés sur Netflix (Gundam Unicorn !) et à rechercher une nouvelle adaptation animée d’un vieux manga shōjo des années ’70 par nulle autre que Waki Yamato (Haikara-san ga tōru) et dont je parlerai sans doute amplement dans un futur proche…

Encore un coup de nostalgie. Cela faisait un bout de temps que j’avais pas regardé d’animés… C’est bon. Ça fait du bien. Et sur Netflix, qui plus est (quoiqu’on y retrouve rien de bien nouveau puisque Gundam Unicorn date déjà de 2010). Et ce n’est pas fini puisque Netflix a annoncé plusieurs titres d’animés à venir (dont Evangelion en juin, Saint Seiya plus tard dans l’été et Ghost In The Shell Stand Alone Complex en 2020 !!!). Ce n’est vraiment plus de la culture populaire (geeky stuff) mais cela commence à faire partie de la culture courante (mainstream)…

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Memorable music

February 19, 2019February 24, 2019 / Clodjee / 1 Comment

After watching on NHK World a documentary on the songs of Studio Ghibli’s animated movies (like Nausicaä or Laputa), I started listening to an old playlist of anime background music (BGM) and songs collections from my late-20s and 30s. I had forgotten how much those tunes could get stuck in your head (particularly “Konya Wa Hurricane” from Bubblegum Crisis, “Ai-Oboe te i masuka” from Macross, the crashing song from Megazone 23 Part 2, or any songs from Kimagure Orange Road). I realize that this is something missing from recent anime that I’ve seen: memorable music. I really miss that. And it makes me sad — and very nostalgic!

My playlist also includes a few hits from great J-pop artists like Aikawa Nanase, Glay, Globe, Namie Amuro, TRF, Yoko Kanno and even a few Enka songs by Misora Hibari!

Do you have anime or J-pop favourite songs ?

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[ Update – 2019/02/23 ] For the curious, here’s the full playlist (recently augmented)—and I have added plenty of links so you can sample them :

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Animeland #224

February 12, 2019February 29, 2020 / Clodjee / Leave a comment

La nostalgie n’aura jamais autant été d’actualité ! Cowboy Bebop, une des plus grandes séries animées, fête ses 20 ans cette année ! Retrouvez dans le magazine un dossier spécial consacré à ses créateurs, interviewés pour l’occasion.

Retrouvez aussi notre dossier éco, cette fois consacré aux fan-arts (et à leur business !), un dossier anime dédié à Monogatari, la rubrique pop-corn et ses reviews de films (Flavor of Youth, My Hero Academia: Two Heroes, Bungo Stray Dogs: Dead Apple…), les chroniques anime et manga, la suite de notre dossier manga consacré à L’Attaque des Titans, la review du jeu vidéo Octopath, notre rubrique Portrait de voix…

J’avais planifié de commenter AnimeLand régulièrement mais je me suis retrouvé assez occupé (et la bibliothèque où je le lis ne le reçoit pas toujours de façon très assidue — si j’avais un service de presse comme dans le bon vieux temps cela serait tellement plus simple!). Alors quand un nouveau numéro paraissait, je retournais simplement celui qui trainait sur le coin de mon bureau sans l’avoir commenté. J’ai donc passé quatre numéros sans les commenter. Toutefois, quand j’ai vu ce numéro “Double” (148 pages au lieu de 116, et dans un format légèrement plus grand) je me suis dis qu’il fallait absolument que j’en parle. Alors voilà…

D’abord, il faut rappeler que AnimeLand est sans conteste le meilleur magazine d’information (en dehors du Japon, bien sûr) sur l’anime et le manga (qui sont couvert en part égale, avec un peu d’espace consacré au cinéma, aux jeux vidéos et à la paraphernalia, i.e. figurines, modèles réduits, etc.). Que ce soit tant pour ses informations (voir leur fil de nouvelle sur le site internet: anime et manga), leur dossiers, interviews ou critiques, ce magazine demeure une lecture incontournable pour tout les fans qui se respecte.

Dans ce numéro (pour les détails voir le sommaire du numéro sur le site du magazine) j’ai été tout particulièrement intéressé à la sélection de séries télé de la rédaction (je note Holmes of Kyoto, une série de 12 épisodes sur Crunchyroll où le personnage et son assistante font des enquêtes) ainsi que sa sélection de mangas récents (je note La fille du temple aux chats [Makoto Ojiro, Soleil], Les montagnes hallucinées [Gô Tanabe adaptant H.P. Lovecraft!, Ki-oon], Le vieil homme et son chat [Nekkomaki, Casterman] et la réédition de La vie de Bouddha [Osamu Tezuka, Delcourt/Tonkam]), un article de huit pages sur la saga Monogatari, une série d’articles et d’interview qui célèbrent les 20 ans de Cowboy Bepop, un article sur Visions d’Escaflowne, un très intéressant article sur la dernière étape de production d’une animation: le compositing, un petit article sur Noise — le plus récent manga de Tetsuya Tsutsui chez Ki-oon, un article sur le mangaka Kenji Tsuruta (Spirit of Wonder, Emanon, L’Île errante), et un article sur Le signe des rêves de Naoki Urasawa.

Il y a tant de choses à découvrir dans un seul numéro d’AnimeLand! C’est beaucoup de petits sujets (une ou deux pages) ce qui me donne l’impression que les articles sont toujours trop courts… J’aimerais bien de temps en temps voir de véritable articles de fond avec analyse, présentation des personnages, synopsis des épisodes, interview avec le directeur, etc.

Dans un magazine comme AnimeLand, quand on a soif de découverte, même les publicités peuvent être une source d’information. J’ai ainsi appris qu’AnimeLand, en partenariat avec les éditions Ynnis, sortait le livre 100 Films d’animation japonais, un répertoire des films les plus marquants et qui constituera sans aucun doute une des rares références en français sur ce genre (208 pages, 29,90 €, paru en Octobre). Avec le même partenariat, le magazine a aussi annoncé la parution de Quiz Animeland, un jeu questionnaire qui permettra au amateurs de tester leurs connaissances manga et anime en 500 questions, divisées en cinq rubriques: manga, film, anime, classique et expert (14,95 €, novembre 2018).

Je crois qu’AnimeLand a bien compris qu’une publication périodique ne peut être que marginalement profitable et que pour survivre il faut multiplier le plus possible les publications parallèles (c’est ce que j’avais l’intention de faire avec PA…). Depuis longtemps déjà, l’équipe du magazine produit de nombreux numéros spéciaux (AnimeLand X-Tra) et Hors-Série (dont le plus récent, dédié au mangas, passe en revue l’année 2018 en mangas) — que ma bibliothèque ne reçoit malheureusement pas! Depuis quelques années, ils ont aussi produits de nombreux livres (consacrés aux studios Disney ou Ghibli, au 30ème anniversaire du Club Dorothée ou au centenaire de l’animation Japonaise (que j’ai déjà commenté), ou encore à la culture japonaise (son quotidien, ses “stars”). Ces ouvrages ne sont toutefois pas toujours facile à trouver outre atlantique (encore une fois, des services de presse seraient appréciés!)…

Finalement, on ne s’ennui jamais avec AnimeLand. Et je suis impatient de voir le prochain numéro dédié à Gunnm (Battle Angel Alita) et Mirai, Ma Petite Soeur.

AnimeLand #224 — Octobre/Novembre 2018 [Collectif dirigé par Émilie Jollois et Christopher Macdonald]. Paris, AM Media Network, septembre 2018. 148 p. 12.00 € / C$18.40. ISSN 1148-0807. Lectorat adolescent (12+). stars-3-5

Pour plus d’information vous pouvez aussi consulter les sites suivants:

[ Amazon — Biblio — Goodreads — Wikipedia — WorldCat ]

Voir aussi mes commentaires sur des numéros précédents:

/ #217-218-219 / #216 / #214-215 / #209 / etc. /

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20 Years of Protoculture

December 31, 2018January 2, 2019 / Clodjee / 3 Comments

20YoP-heading

This article was first published in Protoculture Addicts #94 (Nov.-Dec. 2007): 21-27. It was celebrating the 20th anniversary of the magazine. For this version, I have added a few details and corrections, and I have omitted some illustrations (but added some new ones), as well as removed the sidebars (Uh?! for episodes 1-6, Top Uh?!, Where are they now) and the articles’ index that were part of the original article.

It might be hard to believe, but this magazine has been in publication for twenty years. I, myself, am amazed by this fact. Twenty years already? It didn’t feel that long. But, yeah, I’ve spent nearly half my life working on Protoculture Addicts, and I don’t regret a single moment of it. Like any anniversary, it makes me nostalgic (well, the fact that I am listening to soundtracks from Macross, Mospeada and Robotech while writing this certainly add to this feeling). It makes me think of the good ol’ years, of friends that I have not seen in a long time. But there’s no time for melancholy— anniversaries need to be celebrated! In the past, when I wanted to do a special issue, I usually added more colour.

Unfortunately, I cannot do that now since we are already full-colour and we are still not big enough to add goodies like a free DVD. However, I quickly realized that the best way to celebrate the magazine was to tell you its story. I am sure that, once you know a little more about where it’s coming from, you’ll better appreciate the magazine. After all, it started like an episode of Comic Party or Doujin Work—a crazy idea in the mind of a bunch of idle college kids. So please, gather around, be quiet (gee, I feel like Uncle Carl when he was telling one of his anecdotes), and listen to this very special anime story…

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Fantasia 2018

July 9, 2018July 28, 2018 / Clodjee / Leave a comment

The 22nd edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival will be held in Montreal from July 12th to August 2nd 2018. It specializes in animated and live-action genre cinema (fantasy, horror, action, science-fiction, etc.), but mostly horror and asian action movies. It will open with Daniel Roby’s “Dans la brume” (a Canada-France co-production). As usual, the festival will be offering “over 125 features and 220 shorts, featuring the premieres of more than 100 cutting-edge visions from across the world.”

The asian movies line-up (our main interest here) includes eight movies from China (six from Hong Kong), twenty-four from South-Korea, one from Vietnam and, of course, twenty-eight from Japan (including six anime). Here’s the list of Japanese movies:

Anime

Aragne: Sign of Vermillion (2018, Saku Sakamoto, 75 mins) [IMDb, Vimeo]
Fireworks (2017, Akiyuki Shinbo & Noboyuki Takeuchi, 89 mins) adapted from the mid-’90s live-action TV series created by Shunji Iwai. [Vimeo, Wikipedia]
Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms (2018, Mari Okada, 115 mins) [Youtube, Wikipedia]
Penguin Highway (2018, Hiroyasu Ishida, 120 mins) adaptation of a novel by Tomihiko Morimi. [Youtube, Wikipedia]
Violence Voyager (2017, Ujicha, 83 mins) [IMDb, Vimeo]
Walking Meat (2018, Shinya Sugai, 21 mins) presented with Aragne: Sign of Vermillion.

Live-Action

Ajin: Demi-Human (2017, Katsuyuki Motohiro, 109 mins) adapted from Gamon Sakurai’s manga series. [AsianWiki, Youtube, Wikipedia]
Amiko (2017, Yoko Yamanaka, 66 mins)
Being Natural (2018, Tadashi Nagayama, 96 mins) [IMDb, Vimeo]
Bleach (2018, Shinsuke Sato, 108 mins) adapted from Tite Kubo’s popular manga. [AsianWiki]
Destiny: The Tale of Kamakura (2017, Takashi Yamazaki, 129 mins) adaptation of a manga by Ryohei Saigan. [AsianWiki, IMDb, Wikipedia, Dailymotion]
Hanagatami (2017, Nobuhiko Obayashi, 169 mins) adapted from Kazuo Dan‘s novel. [AsianWiki]
I am a Hero (2016, Shinsuke Sato, 147 mins) based on Kengo Hanazawa’s manga. [AsianWiki]
Inuyashiki (2018, Shinsuke Sato, 127 mins) [AsianWiki]
KASANE -Beauty and Fate- (2018, Yuichi Sato, 110 mins) adapted from Daruma Matsuura’s manga. [AsianWiki]
Laplace’s Witch (2018, Takashi Miike, 116 mins) Based on a novel by Keigo Higashino. [AsianWiki]
Laughing Under the Clouds (2018, Katsuyuki Motohiro, 94 mins) adapted from Karakara-Kemuri’s manga. [AsianWiki]
LOUDER! Can’t Hear What You’re Singin’, Wimp (2018, Satoshi Miki, 106 mins) [AsianWiki]
One Cut of the Dead (2017, Shinichiro Ueda, 96 mins) [IMDb, Nikkatsu, Youtube]
Punk Samurai Slash Down (2018, Gakuryu Ishii, 130 mins) adaptation of Ko Machida’s 2004 novel. [AsianWiki]
River’s Edge (2018, Isao Yukisada, 118 mins) adapted from Kyoko Okazaki’s manga. [AsianWiki]
Rokuroku: The Promise of the Witch (2017, Yudai Yamaguchi, 91 mins) co-written by Keita Amemiya! [AsianWiki]
Room Laundering (2018, Kenji Katagiri, 109 mins) [AsianWiki]
Tokyo Vampire Hotel (2017, Sion Sono, 142 mins) [IMDb, Wikipedia, Youtube]
Tornado Girl (2017, Hitoshi Ône, 100 mins) based on Shibuya Chokaku’s manga series. [IMDb, AsianWiki]
The Travelling Cat Chronicles (2018, Kôichirö Miki, 118 mins) adapted from a novel by Hiro Arikawa. [AsianWiki, IMDb]
Tremble All You Want (2017, Akiko Ohku, 117 mins) adapted from Risa Wataya‘s novel. [AsianWiki, IMDb, Youtube]
Wilderness, Part 1-2 (2017, Yoshiyuki Kishi, 304 mins) adaptation of Shuji Terayama’s 1966 novel. [AsianWiki 1, AsianWiki 2]

It is interesting to note that a large majority of those movies are manga or novel adaptations. I am particularly interested in seeing The Travelling Cat Chronicles and Tremble All You Want — unfortunately I don’t have time to attend the festival… Check the festival website for more details (description, cast & crew info, schedule, location, etc).

Update: You can read a comment (in French) by Claude R. Blouin on some of those movies, “Sept fantaisies japonaises au festival Fantasia 2018” (Shomingeki)

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Découvertes de janvier

January 29, 2018January 29, 2018 / Clodjee / 4 Comments

Que ce soit en déballant des boites de nouveautés à la bibliothèque, en bouquinant dans une librairie ou en parcourant les nombreux dédales de l’internet je fais souvent la découverte de nouveautés littéraires qui m’avaient jusqu’alors échappées. Et généralement, je m’empresse de les partager avec vous.

Dans ce cas-ci, j’ai découvert le premier titre grâce à une entrée sur la page facebook de l’auteure. Les deux autres, je les ai découvert en feuilletant le dernier numéro du magazine Animeland. Le dernier je l’ai découvert sur le site de l’éditeur…

Découvrez-les après le saut de page >>
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Animeland

January 28, 2018June 15, 2019 / Clodjee / 6 Comments

AnimeLand est le 1er magazine français sur l’animation japonaise et internationale, les mangas et tout l’univers otaku en France. C’est probablement le meilleurs magazine du genre à l’extérieur du Japon. Dans chaque numéro on nous offre des dossiers sur les anime, les mangas et les jeux vidéos qui se sont récemment démarqués. On y retrouve aussi des portraits et des interviews avec des artisans du milieu (seiyu, animateurs, etc.), ainsi que des actualités et commentaires sur les parutions récentes. Pour le contenu détaillé de chaque numéro, vous pouvez consulter le site du magazine: animeland.fr.

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Interviews

January 24, 2018January 24, 2018 / Clodjee / Leave a comment

I recently stumbled on a couple of interviews I did in 2003-2004 when I was editor-in-chief for a magazine dedicated to Japanese popular culture (mostly anime and manga). It is strange to reminisce about this period of my life but I thought it would be amusing to share them with you here.

The first interview was done online with a couple of high-school students for a school assignment. It was done in French but I also translated it in English :

The second one was done with Fred Patten for an article in Comics Buyer’s Guide :

Interview: On Protoculture Addicts History

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The Controversial Art of Reviewing

January 2, 2018May 4, 2020 / Clodjee / 2 Comments

Last September I wrote an essay on the “Subtile art of writing a review/commentary” (in French, but it is also available in a machine-translated English version). It is an essay I wanted to write for a long time, explaining how I was approaching the writing of a book or movie review — which I did for twenty years for a magazine. The funny thing is that I discovered a few weeks ago that I had already written that article in 2009 (in English) and forgot about it! I was checking out some old hard drives looking for something and stumble upon this article that I had written for a special issue (PAX #3) of the magazine I was working for, but we stop publication before it was released. It is based on the guidelines I wrote for our staff writers. My views on how to write a review have not change much since then. I thought it would be interesting to share it with the readers of this blog.

Reviewing a media product (wether it is a book, a manga, an anime series or a live-action movie) might seems an easy task, but in reality it is far from being simple. In fact, we are all doing it when we express an opinion to friends, but it is usually done in an emotional and very imprecise manner: “it was so bad, man” or “it was really cool.” In opposition, a professional reviewer—someone who does it for a living—must do his/her best to remain objective, precise and rigorous.

I admit that, if I always try to be an objective and precise reviewer, I am rarely rigorous. I am lazy and tend to keep my reviews short, introducing the subject and expressing my opinion in the most elementary manner. Today everybody is a critic as they can easily post what they think of this or that on their blog , but what makes the appraisal of a professional reviewer more interesting and valuable is experience. I’ve spent about two decades watching videos or films and reading books related to the subjects I review. I have therefore developped a methodology to assess the subject, an understanding of its workings and a set of criteria that—I hope—better equip me to examine and judge a particular media product.

In this article I have attempted to explain how I approach the writing of a review, what I think a review should be and what aspects of a medium I take in consideration when writing a review. I wanted to talked about this for a long time as I think it can offer interesting insights to both our readers and would-be reviewers.

First, there is two types of reviews: the basic or elementary review (the one I tend to favour) and the exhaustive review.

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Alita: Battle Angel trailer

December 11, 2017December 11, 2017 / Clodjee / 1 Comment

James Cameron had been talking about this project for a long time and now it seems that it is finally a reality! Cameron is writing and producing; Robert Rodriguez (Sin City) is directing. The cast includes Rosa Salazar (Alita), Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, Ed Skrein, Jackie Earle Haley, and Keean Johnson. It is scheduled for release on July 20, 2018. The teaser/trailer is available now on Youtube:

It is, of course, based on Yukito Kishiro’s manga Gunnm (銃夢 / Ganmu / lit. “gun dream”) which was translated in America as Battle Angel Alita. It was originally published in Japan by Shueisha in Business Jump magazine between 1990 and 1995, and was compiled in nine tankōbon (but republished later by Kodansha). The English version is published by Kodansha USA and the French version by Glénat. There was an animation adaptation in 1993.

Interesting facts: Cameron was first inspired by the manga when he created the TV series Dark Angel in 2000. Also, it seems that the main character will be entirely CGI animated and that Rosa Salazar is playing the role through motion-capture.

It looks quite interesting and visually faithful to the original. I can’t wait to see it and hope I won’t be disappointed.

Sources: AnimeLand, ICv2, IMdB, Wikipedia.

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34e Festival du Film japonais de Montréal

September 15, 2017December 31, 2017 / Clodjee / Leave a comment

Comme a chaque année la « Japan Foundation » de Toronto et le Consulat Général du Japon à Montréal ont le plaisir d’offrir gratuitement des projections de films japonais. Veuillez noter que la bande originale japonaise est sous-titrée en anglais. Les places sont limitées et seront attribuées selon le principe « premier-arrivé, premier-servi », sans réservation préalable.

L’événement aura lieu les vendredi 20 octobre et samedi 21 octobre à la Cinémathèque québécoise (335, boul. de Maisonneuve Est, près du métro Berri-UQAM).

[ Translate ]

Plus de détails après le saut de page >>

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Weekly notable news (W42)

October 17, 2016February 9, 2026 / Clodjee / Leave a comment

Not much happened this week. Same old, same old, as we say. Some aberrations at work keep exasperating me (but there’s only 552 more weeks to endure). On the way back from a doctor’s appointment, my wife and I walked through the mountain to admire the colours of fall. It was superb and I wonder why we don’t do this kind of walk more often. We’ve also spent time watching more of the American presidential insanities, two excellent animated features (Miss Hokusai and Osamu Tezuka’s Buddha Movie 1: The Red Desert! It’s Beautiful) as well as a new episode of Poldark. For my part, I’ve also started a promising new series (Westworld) and watched the season finale of Halt and Catch Fire. And I probably did a zillion other things (like updating my anime & manga bibliography) that I can’t even remember. But, does it really matter?

However, I do remember that I managed to find some time to stay acquainted with the affairs of the world. I therefore share with you a few notable news & links that I came across lately (in no particular order):

L’arrondissement de Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension adopte le budget 2017 (link)
Prêts de tablettes numériques dans les bibliothèques (link)
Couleur Montréal (link)
Elegant yet ef?cient: Hydroponics for the home (The Telegraph)
A frugal librarian leaves $4 million to his university (Washington Post)
Antimatter Probe May Do Proxima b Interstellar Flyby (Forbes)
Britons mark 950th anniversary of Battle of Hastings (AP)
Japan’s abdicating emperor may ignite row over succession rules (The Telegraph)
The Universe Has Almost 10 Times More Galaxies Than We Thought (NPR)
Western contact with China began long before Marco Polo, experts say (BBC)
JK Rowling plans five Fantastic Beasts films (BBC)
Is Canada’s healthcare system as bad as Donald Trump says? (BBC)
You may not have heard of Michiyo Yasuda, but you know her work (BBC)
Dementia link to sudden low blood pressure and dizziness (BBC)
Viking Music? New CD of Viking age music climbs the charts (Medievalists)
Piece of carved wood suggests Persian taught maths in Japan 1,000 years ago (The Independent)
A Most Convenient Relationship: The Rise of the Cat as a Valued Companion Animal (Medievalists)
A history of punctuation for the internet age (The New Yorker)
Why Bob Dylan Deserves His Nobel Prize (Rolling Stone)
Scientists plan to create ‘Asgardia’ nation state in space (BBC)
The day we knew that people don’t care about books anymore (Quartz)
Un premier manteau en asclépiade sur le marché (Ici.Radio-Canada)
Review: In ‘Miss Hokusai,’ an Apprentice to the Artistic Life (New York Times)
It Turns Out That ‘The Lion King’ Is A Complete Rip-Off (Hollywood.com)
Netflix on a budget: The best streaming devices under $50 (USA Today)
Gillian Anderson and Studio Ghibli Are Teaming Up Again for Amazon’s New Anime TV Series (io9)
Le vieillard fou de cinéma au FNC 2016 (Shomingeki)
Apple Pay Launches for Desjardins (iPhone in Canada, MacQuebec, Desjardins, TVA, La Presse Affairs)
BMW’s motorcycle of the future doesn’t require a helmet (Engadget)
Studio Ghibli’s TV Series Is Coming To Amazon (Kotaku)
Playing vinyl albums with an Aussie dollar note! (YouTube)
Joanne Froggatt Stars in Dark Angel (PBS, Youtube)
Panel on Emperor’s abdication convenes (NHK World)
China’s Shenzhou 11 blasts off on space station mission (BBC)
Film company Toho riding high on hits (NHK World) like Shin Godzilla and Kimi No Na Wa (links)
Shinkai’s ‘your name.’ Film Surpasses 15 Billion Yen (ANN, Forbes)
Another popular anime right now, Kyoto Animation’s A Silent Voice, sold 1.25 Million Tickets so far (ANN, Wikipedia)

Funnies

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Otaku & other popular (sub)culture phenomenons

October 11, 2016February 9, 2026 / Clodjee / Leave a comment

Many elements of the Japanese teens subculture are generated, influenced or more often simply expressed by anime & manga: otaku, enjo kōsai (teenage prostitution), hikikomori, karoshi (overwork death), idols, cosplay (as well as various fashion styles like gothic lolita, kogal or ganguro), hentai (including yaoi [“Boys’ Love”, i.e. manga showing romantic relationships between male characters], yuri [“Girls’ love”], lolicon [underage love], panchira [panties shots] and burusera [stores for panties & school uniforms fetishists]), manga café, kawaii, moe — just to name the few that quickly come to mind. Also, Japanese (pop)culture is having (as it often had in the past, i.e. “japonisme”) a great influence on our western culture (and particularly, lately, on the teen pop-culture, with the so-called Japanification).

Therefore, this is a subject particular enough to deserve a separate entry in my “Anime & Manga Bibliography”. (The titles I own are with a green background).

Index

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Otaku & other popular (sub)culture phenomenons

(Collectif). Cosplay Girls: Japan’s live animation heroines. Tokyo, DH Publishing (Cocoro books), 2003. 96 pg. $30.00 US. ISBN 978-0-9723124-2-0.

Overview

Animeland #228 (Sept.-Nov. 2019)

dBD #138 (Novembre 2019)

dBD #139 (Déc.-Janv. 2019/20)

Animeland #229 (Déc. 2019 – Fév. 2020)

Anime

Live-Action

AnimeLand #226 (mars-mai 2019)

dBD #133 (mai 2019)

dBD #134 (juin 2019)

Overview

Story

Anime

Live-Action

Funnies

Index

Otaku & other popular (sub)culture phenomenons

Index

More Anime & Manga References

General

Anime

Manga

Anime & manga-related merchandizing

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