Megazone 23 liner notes

One of the projects I have worked on recently and forgot to mention here is that I did the liner notes for the forthcoming Blu-ray release of Megazone 23 from AninEigo. It took six viewings of the series, adding to my notes each time, a pile of image captures for my reference, digging through my books, and searching online magazine databases to gather everything I could find. I covered as much as I could, got led down some fun rabbit holes tracking down the significance of text on clothing which even led to contacting folks in the Japanese rockabilly scene. There are 89 entries and I'm sure there are things in the show I missed.

The Blu-ray should be out early next year. It is still possible to pre-order copies.

Megazone 23 Omega Edition

La Maison de Himiko

My latest recommended movie is La Maison de Himiko which I picked up as Odagiri Jō has a major role in it. I was not disappointed, he is great in this one. As with many of the films I have been adding recently this one is not available in the US but the Japanese release has subtitles.

La Maison de Himiko

Rakugo and Yose

Finally after far too long I am again starting to add entries to the Anime Companion Supplement. I hope to maintain a good speed on adding such new entries so keep an eye out for announcements.
The first two new entries are for:
Rakugo
and
Yose

August 1945

The last days of World War II were dramatic in many ways. I have added two new movies to my recommended live action cinema title list that dramatize the same events.

Japan's Longest Day from 1967 and 2015's The Emperor in August. Both films cover the same events but with a different focus. These are not filled with the explosions and raging battles of most war films, rather they show the meetings were various members of the government and military agonized over what path Japan was to take. Do they fight to the death, do they fight until they can get terms better than in the Potsdam Declaration, or do they negotiate for surrender now?

Kabukiza

I have an addition to my Recommended Japanese Live Action Cinema page. A new entry for a wonderful documentary on the Kabukiza theater in Tokyo. Kabuki-za Final Curtain.