From the opening of Yamamoto Satsuo’s first entry in the Shinobi series, Band of Assassins, we’re thrust into a tangled web of battling clans, all vying to be the first to kill bloodthirsty warlord Oda Nobunaga (Wakayama Tomisaburô). Even within individual factions, duplicity reigns supreme, with all the double crosses and dual identities obfuscating and complicating the motives of every virtually every major character. The film tends toward convolution through the flurry of personal and clan names constantly being introduced, but this tactic of disorientation is ultimately a deliberate and effective one that’s very much in line with the tactics deployed by its ninjas.
Among all these embittered and embattled clans is Ishikawa Goemon (Raizo Ichikawa), a highly skilled young ninja looking to quickly rise through the ranks. Like many of the lower-level ninjas and samurai in Band of Assassins, he, too, falls victim to the Machiavellian...
Among all these embittered and embattled clans is Ishikawa Goemon (Raizo Ichikawa), a highly skilled young ninja looking to quickly rise through the ranks. Like many of the lower-level ninjas and samurai in Band of Assassins, he, too, falls victim to the Machiavellian...
- 5/26/2024
- by Derek Smith
- Slant Magazine
In one story, a school of gifted children hides a terrible secret. In the other, teens Maru and Kiruko wander the post-apocalypse looking for “Heaven.” One is heaven, one is hell. Or is it the other way around? That’s Heavenly Delusion (also known as Tengoku Daimakyo ), a manga series by Masakazu Ishiguro that was adapted into animation last year. It shares his affinity for comedy, horror, and carefully constructed mysteries. The Heavenly Delusion adaptation featured many of the anime industry’s most prestigious artists: director of photography Kentarou Waki, art director Yuuji Kaneko and composer Kensuke Ushio. The director, Hirotaka Mori, was a fresh face. But Mori did a fantastic job, delivering one of the best series of the year. He’s a director to watch closely in the future. Crunchyroll News had the opportunity to speak to Mori virtually during his visit to Anime Central about his process.
- 5/25/2024
- by Adam Wescott
- Crunchyroll
Kentaro Miura’s death in 2021 left a big question for his magnum opus, Berserk. Fans were depressed as they could not find out about the ending of one of the most popular anime and manga series in the world. However, Miura’s best friend, Kouji Mori, decided to take on his legacy and is now continuing the story.
Berserk | Studio Gaga
Mori was the only one who knew the ending of Berserk. This is why he collaborated with Studio Gaga, which was the manga production studio of Berserk. Together, they are now working on bringing Berserk to fruition with the help of the ending that was originally planned by Miura before he passed away.
However, contrary to popular belief, Berserk’s ending might not be as dark as the original storyline. This was stated by Miura in an interview when he explained that he had already planned the ending of...
Berserk | Studio Gaga
Mori was the only one who knew the ending of Berserk. This is why he collaborated with Studio Gaga, which was the manga production studio of Berserk. Together, they are now working on bringing Berserk to fruition with the help of the ending that was originally planned by Miura before he passed away.
However, contrary to popular belief, Berserk’s ending might not be as dark as the original storyline. This was stated by Miura in an interview when he explained that he had already planned the ending of...
- 5/21/2024
- by Tarun Kohli
- FandomWire
A momentary lapse in the frenzied disorder escalating uncontrollably from the urban machine, two young women detach themselves from the city's pulsating rhythm and flow: one, a musician, confides to her parents on the phone her dream may not be as attainable as previously hoped; the other, a callgirl, patiently awaits for her driver as she flits in and out of the phone conversation unfolding just feet away from her, the realizations made and the desires to quit striking a chord as she sips on her green tea through a straw. This precursory distraction, a fleeting moment of intense introspection, distinguishes “Detouring Blue”'s ravishing torpor with neither the promise nor the hope of resolution. Instead, Ryo Kimura submerges his cast and his audience deep into an unfulfilling emptiness, one where escape feels permanently out of reach.
“Detouring Blue” screened at Osaka Asian Film Festival
From the backseat of her driver's car,...
“Detouring Blue” screened at Osaka Asian Film Festival
From the backseat of her driver's car,...
- 3/24/2023
- by JC Cansdale-Cook
- AsianMoviePulse
Brian Eno is one of a number of friends and fellow artists to contribute to a project by Reverend and the Makers for their forthcoming album, Heatwave in the Cold North.
To mark the release of the band’s new single “A Letter to My 21-Year-Old Self”, frontman Jon McClure asked fans and friends to write their own letters imparting wisdom to their past selves with an exhibition held in Sheffield last night.
Read Eno’s letter below:
Dear Brian,
As clever as you think you are you could benefit from a little more humility. You hold very strong views but I suspect that this is often because you admire the other people who hold those views and hope that some of their worldliness will rub off onto you. Sometimes, you must admit, you haven’t thought those matters through very carefully, and yet you argue for them as though...
To mark the release of the band’s new single “A Letter to My 21-Year-Old Self”, frontman Jon McClure asked fans and friends to write their own letters imparting wisdom to their past selves with an exhibition held in Sheffield last night.
Read Eno’s letter below:
Dear Brian,
As clever as you think you are you could benefit from a little more humility. You hold very strong views but I suspect that this is often because you admire the other people who hold those views and hope that some of their worldliness will rub off onto you. Sometimes, you must admit, you haven’t thought those matters through very carefully, and yet you argue for them as though...
- 3/24/2023
- by Roisin O'Connor
- The Independent - Music
Depeche Mode, the post-synth-pop group that made sensual broodiness a part of the mainstream, have returned with a new album titled Memento Mori. You can stream it below.
Memento Mori, their first album in five years, is also their official return after the loss of founding member Andrew “Fletch” Fletcher in 2022. Their 15th record and much like many others of the last few years, Memento Mori is rooted in the unexpectedly free time the pandemic granted. The loneliness it bred thematically strings the tracks together, along with some more characteristically defining tropes of the group, like the binary between depuration and delight, and delusive devotion. Production by James Ford and Marta Salogni was key in communicating such rich yet glum atmospheres.
In an interview with Zane Lowe from Apple Music 1, Dave Gahan touched on how minimalism was a part of the group’s approach to the new album. “Some of...
Memento Mori, their first album in five years, is also their official return after the loss of founding member Andrew “Fletch” Fletcher in 2022. Their 15th record and much like many others of the last few years, Memento Mori is rooted in the unexpectedly free time the pandemic granted. The loneliness it bred thematically strings the tracks together, along with some more characteristically defining tropes of the group, like the binary between depuration and delight, and delusive devotion. Production by James Ford and Marta Salogni was key in communicating such rich yet glum atmospheres.
In an interview with Zane Lowe from Apple Music 1, Dave Gahan touched on how minimalism was a part of the group’s approach to the new album. “Some of...
- 3/24/2023
- by Cervanté Pope
- Consequence - Music
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