Short Takes: 'Witchcraft Works Vol. 2' January 15, 2015
Second verse of this fantasy-comedy, a bit less interesting than the first, as coincidence and contrivance take precedence over invention and storytelling
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Short Takes: 'Witchcraft Works Vol. 1' December 3, 2014
Magical hijinks in high school are the jumping-off point for this enjoyable story with no small amount of potential, but also unnecessarily confusing visuals
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'Izo': Takashi Miike's Death (And Resurrection) Mantra November 11, 2019
Even longtime Takashi Miike fans were alienated by this mix of Miike's fetishes, 'Slaughterhouse-Five', and William S. Burroughs's space-age shamanism, but it deserves fresh eyes and open minds
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'Dream Fossil': How A Master Mimics Life November 8, 2019
Satoshi Kon's collection of short manga, from early in his career, show off all the sides he later brought to full fruition as an anime director
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'Genius Party / Genius Party Beyond': Visions Of Twelve October 28, 2019
These two anthology showcases of boundary-pushing animation are now at last enshrined on disc for English-speaking audiences, as they've always deserved to be
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'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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