Must-See Animations: Grave of the Fireflies
You just know an animation is good when you see these quotes about it: “Roger Ebert considers it to be one of the most powerful anti-war movies ever made,” or when animation historian Ernest Rister compares the film to Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List and says, “it is the most profoundly human animated film I’ve ever seen.” I know a lot of people said that the aging sequence from Up was the most emotional they have become watching an animation but they clearly haven’t seen Grave of the Fireflies.
Grave of the Fireflies is about the relationship between two orphaned children, pre-teen Seita and his young sister Setsuko during World War II. Studio Ghibli (best known for movies such as Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro) was hired to to do the animation production work and you can tell. The animation is beautiful looking, like everything else Studio Ghibli makes.
I don’t want to say too much more about this movie but if you have any appreciation for animation, this is a must-see film.
Osamu Tezuka’s Hand-Drawn Notebooks Published
From Anime News Network: “Shogakukan Creative will publish for the first time Tezuka Osamu Sosaku Note to Shoki Sakuhin-Shu, a collection of conceptual notes and early works from the manga pioneer Osamu Tezuka, on December 24 in Japan. Tezuka is best known for creating Mighty Atom (Astro Boy), Jungle Emperor (Kimba the White Lion), Hi no Tori(Phoenix), Metropolis, and dozens of other influential manga classics.”
There were 75 handwritten notebooks discovered after his passing and the pages contain “early story concepts, dialogue drafts, and preliminary sketches for Mighty Atom, Jungle Emperor, Metropolis, Kurubeki Sekai (Nextworld), and other stories from around 1948 to 1959.” The material was put on paper by Tezuka between 1948 and 1959 and Shogakukan Creative will publish ten of Tezuka’s notebooks on December 24th of this year.
I know I am a geek but I was really exited when I went to Japan and was able to visit the Astro Boy museum in Kyoto. So for me and many others, these books are exciting news indeed and hopefully they will gain distribution outside of Japan so the rest of the world can enjoy Tezuka’s genius.
Appleseed XIII Direct to Video Episodes
This latest adaptation of Masamune Shirow’s Appleseed manga will be composed of 13 22-minute direct-to-video anime episodes, plus two feature-length compilation films of the episodes. I am really looking forward to this series as Appleseed was one of the first anime movies I saw (along with Akira, Robotech, and Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind).
Following a world war that killed half the world’s population, the city-nation of Olympus stands as a beacon of hope in a world of chaos and conflict. The utopian metropolis is governed by Gaia, a vast artificial intelligence, and administered by a genetically engineered humanoids known as Bioroids.
Although Olympus seems like a peaceful city on the surface, racial (human vs. bioroids vs. cyborgs), religious, and political conflicts lurk underneath — threatening to overturn the delicately balanced “peace.” Security threats such as terrorists and anti-government criminals abound, so the use of force becomes a necessary evil even in this so-called “utopia.”
Deunan, a young female warrior, and Briareos, a veteran cyborg-soldier, are both partners and lovers, as well as members of ES.W.A.T., the elite special forces serving Olympus. They are deployed wherever trouble strikes.
Conspiracy, terrorism, deadly military weapons technology, greedy corporations, and power-hungry politicians — these are just some of the threats that Deunan and Briareos must contend with as they fight to protect Olympus and save mankind from plunging into another war.
See the official site or check out Anime New Network for more information.
About Me
I created my first web site in 1994 and have been working full-time designing web sites since 1996. I currently work as an UX specialist and Information Architect.