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Japanese anime film reviews

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Japanese anime film reviews
The latest news, analysis and opinion on Japanese anime film reviews. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.
A still from A New Dawn, directed by Yoshitoshi Shinomiya. Lead characters voiced by Riku Hagiwara and Kotone Furukawa. Photo: A New Dawn Film Partners
Asian cinema: Japanese films

Review | A New Dawn: climate crisis meets fireworks in confusing Japanese anime

Yoshitoshi Shinomiya’s beautiful debut feature is sure to excite fans of Studio Ghibli’s Hayao Miyazaki, even if a muddled plot lets it down.

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Asian cinema: Japanese films

Review | All You Need Is Kill: Japanese novel behind Edge of Tomorrow gets animated

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Asian cinema: Japanese films

Review | Scarlet: Mamoru Hosoda’s Hamlet-inspired anime set to divide viewers

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Asian cinema: Japanese films

Review | Dream Animals: The Movie – biscuit-inspired Japanese animation is great fun

This cute animated film could have simply been an advertisement for the snacks it’s based on, but instead delivers thoughtful family-friendly fun.

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A still from Dream Animals: The Movie.
Asian cinema: Japanese films

Review | Kaiju No. 8: Mission Recon – sci-fi anime film is for diehard fans only

Kaiju No. 8: Mission Recon offers a big-screen compilation of the anime, but character development and emotional nuance are stripped away.

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Asian cinema: Japanese films

Review | Look Back is a nostalgic Japanese film about manga and friendship

Fujino (voiced by Yuumi Kawai) is a schoolgirl who has built a fan base for her comic strip and who becomes jealous of another girl (Mizuki Yoshida) who is also a popular artist. Then they team up.

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Video | ‘For people like us’: Japan anime studio hires autistic artists

Shake Hands aims to help people with autism, who usually struggle to cope in Japan’s stressful work environment.

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Photo: SCMP
Asian cinema: Japanese films

Review | Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction Part 2 – chaotic finish

The end of humanity and an alien invasion vie for attention with the escapades of a group of young women in part two of a story that stumbles in its efforts to fully realise the potential promised in part one.

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Asian cinema: Japanese films

Review | Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction Part 1: great sci-fi soap opera

Japanese anime Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction Part 1 mixes the dramas of a group of teenagers and an alien invasion of Tokyo to great effect, leaving us eagerly awaiting Part 2.

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Asian cinema: Japanese films

Review | The Imaginary: Japanese animated fantasy lacks imagination

Netflix anime The Imaginary follows an imaginary friend (voiced by Kokoro Terada) trying to get back to his human companion Amanda (Rio Suzuki) in a story that is heavily inspired by the films of Studio Ghibli.

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A still from The Imaginary. Photo: Netflix/Ponoc
Asian cinema: Japanese films

Review | Ultraman: Rising – English-language reimagining of superhero is great fun

A baseball star who returns to Japan and inherits the superman role adopts a baby monster in Ultraman fan Shannon Tindle’s playful debut feature film.

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A still from Ultraman: Rising. Photo: Netflix
Asian cinema: Japanese films

Review | My Oni Girl: Japanese anime on Netflix is frustratingly familiar

Tomotaka Shibayama’s animated fantasy My Oni Girl on Netflix looks good but feels pedestrian and predictable, and sadly lacks the spark and inventiveness of a Studio Ghibli film.

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‘Overwhelmed by sadness’: fans mourn Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama’s death

Akira Toriyama died at the age of 68 because of a blood clot on the brain, a statement posted to the official Dragon Ball account on X, said.

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Asian cinema: Japanese films

Review | The Birth of Kitaro: Mystery of GeGeGe – anime series’ violent, deep prequel

The movie prequel to the popular Japanese anime series, The Birth of Kitaro: Mystery of GeGeGe is extremely violent and dark, but is a profound and rewarding watch for more mature viewers.

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A still from The Birth of Kitaro: Mystery of GeGeGe (category: IIB, Japanese), directed by Go Koga and voiced by Toshihiko Seki and Hidenobu Kiuchi. .
Asian cinema: Japanese films

Review | Maboroshi: annoying adolescent angst in Netflix’s Japanese fantasy anime

Written and directed by prolific manga artist Mari Okada, Netflix’s Maboroshi is a Japanese fantasy anime in which an environmental disaster traps a small-town community in a bizarre time freeze.

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Itsumi in a still from “Maboroshi”.
Asian cinema: Japanese films

Review | The Boy and the Heron: Hayao Miyazaki goes out on a high

Hayao Miyazaki’s latest and possibly last anime is about a boy searching for his mother in wartime Japan. He moves to a farm, where he meets a goblin that looks like a heron and tells him his mother is still alive.

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Asian cinema: Japanese films

Review | Blue Giant: Hiromi Uehara’s dazzling jazz the star of Japanese anime

Directed by Yuzuru Tachikawa and starring Yuki Yamada, Japanese anime Blue Giant will delight viewers with its absorbing story and superb soundtrack from jazz pianist Hiromi Uehara.

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Asian cinema: Japanese films

Review | Suzume: Makoto Shinkai’s beguiling coming-of-age fantasy

In competition at the Berlin International Film Festival, Suzume is an extraordinary achievement. Smart, sassy and weaving fantasy elements into a contemporary story, it is inspired by the 2011 Tohoku earthquake.

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A still from Suzume by Japanese director Makoto Shinkai. Inspired by the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami that struck northeast Japan, the film is in competition at the 2023 Berlin International Film Festival.
Asian cinema: Japanese films

Review | The First Slam Dunk: 5-star basketball drama is an instant classic

The latest addition to Takehiko Inoue’s Slam Dunk manga series, The First Slam Dunk intersperses some of the best animated basketball scenes of all time with compelling character drama.

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Asian cinema: Japanese films

Review | The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes: Japanese teen romance anime

Two melancholy teens find a magical tunnel that transports them to the past, and they begin to forge a romance, in Tomohisa Taguchi’s beautifully realised film.

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Asian cinema: Japanese films

Review | Laid-Back Camp the Movie: anime celebration of the Japanese countryside

This uneventful but intensely soothing movie is a follow-up to a hit Japanese anime series, and follows a group of young women as they camp in Japan’s breathtaking countryside.

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A still from Laid-Back Camp the Movie.
Asian cinema: Japanese films

Review | Jujutsu Kaisen 0: teen angst and horror in Japan’s animated blockbuster

A feature-length prequel to the hugely successful Jujutsu Kaisen anime series, Jujutsu Kaisen 0 follows a young bullied teenager trying to master a monstrous curse that has hold of him.

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Yuta in a still from Jujutsu Kaisen 0.
Asian cinema: Japanese films

Review | Bubble: Japanese anime on Netflix is shamelessly derivative

Netflix’s Bubble is a Japanese animated feature by Attack on Titan’s Tetsuro Araki – but this cyberpunk retelling of The Little Mermaid has been related in better ways before.

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Asian cinema: Japanese films

Review | Child of Kamiari Month: guilt and grief in sombre Netflix anime

Netflix’s Japanese anime Child of Kamiari Month examines the lingering impact of grief as it follows a 12-year-old who discovers that her deceased mother’s godly duties have fallen to her.

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A still from Child of Kamiari Month.
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