The (Dis)Illusion Of Life July 5, 2017
How CGI in anime, whether fancifully fantastic or forensically realistic, can work well
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The Long And Winding Review October 31, 2016
Covering an ongoing series can become an exercise in minutiae or futility. Here's the strategy I chose to keep my involvement active without also having it eat me alive
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'Berserk' (2016): What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted? October 10, 2016
The return of Kentarō Miura's violent fantasy epic to the little screen brings with it a fidelity to its strong characterization and powerful story -- and a renewed appreciation of all that was problematic the first time
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In Defense Of 'Berserk', Both Old And New July 5, 2016
The new 'Berserk' is a welcome extension to the original TV series, but it doesn't come at the expense of the '97 original -- what could?
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'Berserk': War Is A Force That Gives Us Meaning October 6, 2014
Limited and fragmented as it is, this brutal fantasy still achieves wonders, thanks to the sheer strength of its storytelling and the force of its vision
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Anime: Now A Major Motion Picture May 27, 2014
How the practice of shifting anime from TV broadcast or video to theatrical release first has delivered a new form factor -- and a new aesthetic
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'Berserk: The Golden Age Arc III: The Advent' April 28, 2014
The third of the 'Berserk' films brings us to the long-awaited end of the beginning, and reminds us the TV series still did some things totally right
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Honor Between Thieves April 21, 2014
If Hollywood is allegedly plundering anime for ideas and inspirations, that only shows it has good taste -- but it's an awkward thesis at best
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'Berserk': Rebooted But Not Yet Reborn November 25, 2013
For all its flaws, the original 'Berserk' anime had a gritty power the remake somehow lacks
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More at Ganriki
'Rashōmon': The Post-Truth Condition October 7, 2019
Ryūnosuke Akutagawa's story, and Akira Kurosawa's movie, have endured to tell us something about the nature of truth in a time when we can hardly trust the words we hear in our own heads
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'Carole & Tuesday': The Mars Volta September 23, 2019
Shinichiro Watanabe's new series, about two young women trying to make their music their way, either needed more SF or less of it to really work
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'Promare': The Burning World September 15, 2019
Studio Trigger's first theatrical film is so dazzling it threatens to melt the eyes right out of the head, but suffers from feeling like a TV series truncated into a two-hour slot
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Akio Jissōji's 'The Buddhist Trilogy' September 9, 2019
Almost totally unseen outside Japan, these three art projects by a director best known for his 'Ultraman' work are anything but easy viewing, but also seething with vision and ambition
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Tomihiko Morimi's 'The Night Is Short, Walk on Girl': How One Thing Leads To Another September 2, 2019
This newly translated novel, the basis for Masaaki Yuasa's madcap movie, is just as wild as its successor, with the advantage of slightly more insight into its female protagonist
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'Tomie': The Infinite Bad Penny August 12, 2019
Like all great horror, Junji Ito's now-classic series about an undying supernatural siren has something to say other than "boo!"
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'Princess Jellyfish': Girls, Be Ambitious! August 5, 2019
A sly treatise on gender roles and presentation, wrapped in a screwball romantic farce and delivered with great affection
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Katsuhiro Ōtomo's 'Domu': A Child's Book Of Nightmares July 15, 2019
A shame that any of Katsuhiro Ōtomo's work should still be out of print, especially this precusor to 'AKIRA' that pits psionic warriors against each other in a high-rise apartment complex
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'No-No Boy': John Okada's First, Last, And Only July 8, 2019
The first major piece of fiction by an Asian-American originally vanished from sight, and seemed all but gone after the death of its author, but found new life in reissues across the decades
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'Unforgiven'/'Yurusarezarumono': From The Wild West To The Deep North July 1, 2019
Sang-Il Lee's Meiji-era remake of Clint Eastwood's now-classic Western doesn't quite eclipse its predecessor, but it doesn't need to; it stands very nicely on its own
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