by neon10 | 29, Mar 2011 | For Main Blog
Tom Smith on the late, great Eri Kawai, lyricist on Bamboo Blade. Responsible for some of the most memorable jingles and themes to hit Japanese television, Eri Kawai recorded and wrote everything from catchy commercials, to the opening songs of countless films, dramas...
by neon10 | 26, Mar 2011 | For Main Blog
Jonathan Clements gets into the hidden meanings of Mamoru Hosoda’s Summer Wars. “You know,” says Mamoru Hosoda, “I have been directing films for over a decade, and until now I haven’t killed off a single human being. I’m a little bit proud of that. I ask another...
by neon10 | 23, Mar 2011 | For Main Blog
Helen McCarthy takes on Japan’s walking dead in Tokyo Zombie. Tadanobu Asano is a magnificent actor, the Toshiro Mifune of his generation. He works with great directors – Takashi Miike, Nagisa Oshima, Takeshi Kitano. He can play comedy and tragedy, is...
by neon10 | 17, Mar 2011 | For Main Blog
Japanese pop star Takanori Nishikawa caught in public toilet with foreign journalist… oh, wait, it’s only Tom Smith. “YO!” chirps Takanori Nishikawa, the man behind the J-pop sensation T.M. Revolution. Active since the 1990s, his music spreads much further than the...
by neon10 | 14, Mar 2011 | For Main Blog
Andrew Osmond looks at the cream of the homebrew anime crop. Makoto Shinkai is one of the most famous anime directors in the world today, but he took the toughest path to the top. He initially decided to make complete anime films by himself, starting with the...
