When Marnie Was There
Released in 2014, When Marnie Was There was Studio Ghibli’s final film – until 2020’s How Do You Live? was announced by Hayao Miyazaki, a man who comes out of retirement almost as often […]
Tag Archives: Japan
Executive Koala
From the director of Crab Goalkeeper and Calamari Wrestler, Executive Koala is a 2005 Japanese (obviously) comedy/psychological thriller about an executive koala. The low-fi, live-action (apart from a cute cartoon intro/song) absurdist drama follows […]
Pom Poko
Isao Takahata’s Pom Poko follows a gang of shapeshifting raccoons as they hatch a series of fur-brained schemes to stop humans from destroying their forest home. Let’s call it Avotter. Where Studio Ghibli’s […]
Kiki’s Delivery Service
The first Studio Ghibli movie to become a hit in America (thanks to a distribution deal with Disney), Kiki’s Delivery Service is the story of a young girl (Minami Takayama) who travels to […]
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
Isao Takahata’s swansong is based on The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, believed to be the oldest Japanese narrative in existence. The tale of a tiny princess discovered inside a bamboo shoot […]
Mary and the Witch’s Flower
I’d like to start this review by crediting Cineworld for trying to resolve the age-old subbing vs. dubbing debate once and for all by attempting to screen a Japanese film […]
Princess Mononoke
A demonic curse leads the young prince Ashitaka (Yōji Matsuda) to San (Yuriko Ishida) AKA Princess Mononoke; a raised-by-wolves eco-warrior and a princess in name only, like Leia or Eugenie. The war between civilisation […]
