Dir. SHIOTA Akihiko (The World of You) Born in Maizuru City, Kyoto Prefecture in 1961, Shiota has been a regular participant in the Locarno International Film Festival since 1999, where two of his films, Moonlight Whisperand Dokoni mo Iko were both released simultaneously to high accl
News - Chicago Japan Film Collective
May 14, 2022 • Subscribe
More like this
Director Spotlight #11:
Dir. SATO Yoshinori (Shinjuku Tiger) Yoshinori Sato was born in Aichi, Japan on February 1975. After graduating high school, he went to the…
Director Spotlight #12:
Dir. NISHIKORI Yoshinari (The Takatsu River) Film director and screenwriter. Born in January 1962 in Izumo, the birthplace of Kabuki, Sake and Sumo…
News - Chicago Japan Film Collective
Izumo, Nichijou - My Ordinary Life: Episode 0, Nichijou - My Ordinary Life
Director Spotlight #10: “Underdogs”
Dir. KUMETA Tsuyoshi (Underdogs) Born in Aichi Prefecture in 1969. Graduated from the Department of Sociology and Cultural Anthropology at…
Director Spotlight #7: “Resonance”
Dir. TANAKA Toshinori (Resonance) Born in 1981 in Fukuyama City, Hiroshima, Japan, Tanaka is a Filmmaker, a Lecturer at Fukuyama University, and the…
Director Spotlight: Takayuki Hirao
One of the most promising young anime directors that has come on the scene during the last decade is Takayuki Hirao [平尾隆之], who first came into my…
Director Spotlight #2: “Backlight”
Dir. SUDO Ren (New Director) (Backlight) Born in Tokyo in 1996. While studying law at Keio University, he began working as a…
Director Spotlight #3: “Cafune”
Dir. KINEMURA Haruki (New Director) (Cafune) Born in Nishinomiya City, Hyogo Prefecture in 2001, Japan. After enrolling in Osaka University…
Director Spotlight #6: “NOT BEER”
Dir. NAKAGAWA Hirotaka (NOT BEER) Hirotaka Nakagawa was born in Aichi Prefecture and studied film production at university in Japan. He has worked…
Director Spotlight #1: “Angry Son”
Dir. IIZUKA Kasho (Angry Son) Born in 1990 in Gunma Prefecture. He studied under film director NEGISHI Yoshitaro and screenwriter Masato Kato while…
Director Spotlight #8: “Toward Zero”
Dir. ITO Takashi (Toward Zero) ITO was born in Fukuoka in 1956. While studying in university, his experimental film SPACY(1981), premiered at MATSUMOTO…
Director Spotlight #9: “Twilight Cinema Blues”
Dir. JOJO Hideo (Twilight Cinema Blues) Born in 975 in Hachioji City, Tokyo. Jojo graduated from Musashino Art University and accumulated a career…
Director Spotlight #5: “I Quit Being “Friends””
Dir. IMAMURA Ayako (I Quit Being “Friends”) From Nagoya/President of Studio AYA Graduated from Aichi Education University, Faculty of Education/Studied film…
Director Spotlight #4: “Hoarder on the Border”
Dir. KAYANO Hirotaka (Hoarder on the Border) Kayano graduated from the Department of Image Design, Faculty of Arts and Engineering…
Takashi Nakamura spotlight
Yoshinori Kanada might be the most influential Japanese animator, but he isn’t the only one whose work revolutionized anime. Almost as important as him is Takashi Nakamura. Nakamura…
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Shashinkan, The Hakkenden: Legend of the Dog Warriors, Catnapped, Fantastic Children
Spotlight: Kumota Haruko
For #BLush801, I focus my spotlight on Kumota Haruko’s works and the different reasons why her adorable works are worth the journey.
Indie Spotlight: Dreambound
Indie dev, Two and a Half Studios recently launched the Kickstarter campaign for their upcoming mystery boys love visual novel, Dreambound! I played the demo for this game…
Vendor Spotlight: Flamingopunch
Flamingopunch is a vendor that I have frequently bought art from in person at various conventions as well as online at Emblemcon. She is a creator that I’ve…
Indie Spotlight: Speakeasy
Speakeasy is a steamy 1920's romp that takes players on a whirlwind of forbidden, decadent romances in the depths of an exclusive jazz club.
Vendor Spotlight: Colorworld
It’s only natural that at some point I was going to put Colorworld on the list of vendors that I acknowledge in my vendor spotlight. Colorworld is a…
VTuber Spotlight: Ecotone
We had the pleasure of interviewing Ecotone. Learn how they introduced themselves, and what they had to say about their streams.
Artist spotlight: Kôji Itô
I’ve mentioned that the sudden wave of Kanada-style animators in the first half of the 80s is as much due to Kanada as to one of his most…
Spotlight: Unico’s Friend, Ragon!
Now that it's the Year of the Dragon, I wanted to create a post focused on Unico's friend, Ragon. Come learn about Ragon's origins and more!
Artist spotlight: Kazuhiro Ochi
I decided to start this series on the development of the Kanada school with Urusei Yatsura, arguably the moment when its members really became prominent and their style…
Shorts Spotlight: Primitive Flame
Credit: 猴houge on YouTube / @nian4111 on Twitter I wanted to talk about this a week ago, but I didn’t have time until today. In fact, I still…
Vendor Spotlight: Luna Chai
I need to do these more often but I often get so caught up in conventions and anime I get really focused on them and forget. However, recently…
Indie Spotlight: Guilded Hearts
Indie studio, Gallium Games, a subsidiary of Argent Games just dropped the Kickstarter campaign for their upcoming slice-of-life boys love game, Guilded Hearts. I’ve found love on a…
Vendor Spotlight: Otaku Joe’s
So far on the vendor spotlight, I’ve highlighted great sources for anime merch; however, today let’s talk about a vendor who excels at providing the animes the merch…
Indie Spotlight: Celestial Crowns
Indie studio, Harlevin recently launched the Kickstarter campaign for their upcoming 18+ romance visual novel, Celestial Crowns. This will be a commercial release ($24.99 USD) Customize your Monarch…
VTuber Spotlight: Aruri (アルリ)
We had the pleasure of interviewing Aruri. Learn what exciting facts she had to share about herself with her fans!
Indie Spotlight – First Bite
Looking for something with a bit more bite? Check out First Bite the upcoming 18+ LGBTQ+ dark comedy visual novel from First Bite Games–a small indie team made…
Artist spotlight: Hiroyuki Imaishi
Hiroyuki Imaishi is no doubt the most important artist to rise out of the Kanada school in the last 25 years: the renewal he contributed to trigger with…
Indie Spotlight: Salty Hounds
Hey Blerdy Tribe! I recently discovered a new Kickstarter campaign for Salty Hounds a bodyguard indie otome game being developed by Korean game studio, Topping Palette. This looks to…
Character Spotlight: Touko Nanami
Bloom Into You is an anime about two young, high school girls, Yuu and Touko, who find themselves kind of, sort of dating. This ill-defined relationship spurs them…
Animator Spotlight: Yasunori Miyazawa
From humble beginnings on the beloved Moomin to the big screen under Satoshi Kon, there was one whose drawings carried an unparalleled sense of individuality. In his infinite…
Indie Spotlight: Heart Fragment
Heart Fragments follows Xani Green, a young woman whose world is turned upside-down when she discovers that strange supernatural powers.
Unlicensed Spotlight – Kingyo Chuuihou!
Kingyo Chuuihou! Kingyo Chuiho! Goldfish Warning! Goldfish Alert! きんぎょ注意報! NEKOBE Neko Shoujo – Gag, comedy, fantasy 8 Volumes (original) / 7 Volumes (shinsouban) (complete) Kodansha (Nakayos…
Indie Spotlight: Red Rebellion
Indie dev, Aikasa Collective recently launched the Kickstarter campaign for their upcoming girls love visual novel, Red Rebellion. Red Rebellion is a historical fantasy romance set in late medieval England in the…
Animator Spotlight: Pomu Rainpuff
Character animation has long been considered a weakness of web animators, but there is no proof more conclusive that the world has changed than the greatest, most important…
Vendor Spotlight: Otaku Dezign
So as usual when I find a vendor I just really enjoy shopping at I have to give them a shoutout. This was a vendor I went to at…
Indie Spotlight – Salvus: Aries
Indie dev, Rosemilk Studio recently launched the Kickstarter campaign for their upcoming indie otome game, Salvus: Aries. Salvus Aries is a mature slice of death and adventure fantasy otome visual novel…
Indie Spotlight: Belle Automata
Hey Blerdy Tribe!! There’s a brand new Kickstarter campaign for the Jellyfish Parade’s latest title, Belle Automata that needs our support! Belle Automata is an upcoming sci-fi fantasy visual novel developed by Jellyfish…
Character Spotlight: Haruka Inokuma
Chihayafuru is an amazing anime with (soon-to-be) three two-cour-long seasons under its belt. It ought to come as no surprise, then, that it has a huge and varied…
Indie Spotlight: Infinite Blue
Indie studio, Velvet Fox Games recently launched the Kickstarter campaign for their real-time instant messenger romance game, Infinite Blue!
Artist Spotlight: Iggy Starpup
Ghibli Blog is the home for fans of Studio Ghibli, animation and the movies. We feature the latest news, reviews, essays and more.
Artist spotlight: Yoshimichi Kameda
Yoshimichi Kameda is undoubtedly one of the most important animators of the last 15 years. He is also one of the last really major animators today whose style…
Artist spotlight: Shin’ya Ohira
This is just my personal opinion on the matter, but I don’t think many animators ever reached the same level of genius as Yoshinori Kanada in terms of…
The Hakkenden: Legend of the Dog Warriors, Urusei Yatsura, Bubblegum Crisis, Junkers Come Here, Megazone 23
Indie Spotlight: Error 143
Indie dev, Jenny Vi Pham recently launched the Kickstarter campaign for their Otome Jam 2022 chatroom romance visual novel, Error 143!
VTuber Spotlight: Aruri (アルリ)
We had the pleasure of interviewing Aruri. Learn what exciting facts she had to share about herself with her fans!
Artist spotlight: Shôichi Masuo
With this third artist spotlight dedicated to Shôichi Masuo, I’ll start analyzing the works of some animators who are not prominently affiliated with the Kanada school or style.…