To celebrate October (one of my favorite months), I will be posting Japanese folklore in their original English versions. You can find modernized versions of these and other stories in my compilati…
Oct 3, 2021 • Subscribe
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Ex-Arm
This was bad. Poorly conceived, poorly executed, and ugly. I never criticize a real effort to try something new and different, to try to move the world of…
Watanabe Kills the Great Spider
This week continues spooky October with another Watanabe and Raiko monster adventure. You can find modernized versions of these and other stories in my compilation “Tales from Old…
Remembering Watanabe Chuumei
Composer Watanabe Chuumei (real name Watanabe Michiaki) died on June 23, 2022 at the age of 96. At first, the name didn’t ring a bell for me, but…
Behind the Monogatari Series – Akio Watanabe
The post Behind the Monogatari Series – Akio Watanabe appeared first on Full Frontal.
Noisemaker cuts through the noise and cuts deep on Pushing My Back.
This week has been chock full of rock tracks that go HARD. Pushing My Back from Noisemaker continues the trend in fine fashion. What’s even better about this…
Director Digest: Shinichiro Watanabe
Welcome, dear readers! My blog series Director Digest will take a look at a selected anime director each time. In this case, it’s Shinichiro Watanabe, and very famous…
Interview with Shinichiro Watanabe
The post Interview with Shinichiro Watanabe appeared first on Full Frontal.
Ex-Arm – Episode 1
Ex-Arm is everything that can probably go wrong making an anime, beating out even Kemono Friends and Gibiate in production values.
Episode 141 - EX-ARM
This week, Shaun has had enough of the quality shows covered on this podcast. His method of fixing that is by having Remington watch 3 episodes of the…
Off the “Record”
This ended up being a more interesting show than I was willing to give it credit for. I have reched (reached! Reached! Or maybe I have reched a…
Keiichiro Watanabe: Jujutsu Kaisen #02
Most of the time I do this kind of analysis on twitter because aside from reaching a larger audience much faster, I also feel less of a need…
Space Dandy Episode 1: The Shinichirou Watanabe Effect
I fail to comprehend the difference in treatment that Space Dandy enjoys compared to other anime this season. It’s times like these that I feel that the community…
Children of the Sea Review (2019, Ayumu Watanabe)
Given that adaptations are the bread and butter of the anime industry, it is only natural that many of the most popular series are based on pre-existing manga,…
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Someone Didn’t Skip Arm Day! HGUC Gundam TR-1 [Hazel Owsla] Gigantic Arm Unit
Ever since Premium Bandai started releasing slew of crazy Advance of Zeta kits back in 2019, I have made a personal commitment of dedicating a year just to…
Off to the Races!!
Ever since I was little I really enjoyed watching animated TV, not jut because of the colors and sometimes obnoxious characters, but because someone behind the scenes drew…
Irina: The Vampire Cosmonaut – 06 – Moon Shot in the Arm
Traumatized by what she saw at the crash site, Irina has a nightmare about suffering the same fate as all those poor test dogs. But as usual, she…
Techno Brothers (テクノブラザーズ, Hirobumi Watanabe, 2023)
Hirobumi Watanabe has sometimes cast himself in his films as a misunderstood, struggling filmmaker at the mercy of his own thwarted ambitions and the vagaries of the Japanese…
１９ （ナインティーン） Director: Kazushi Watanabe (2001)
１９ （ナインティーン） Director: Kazushi Watanabe (2001)
493 – Manben Machinations 1 – Wataru Watanabe
It's time to examine Naoki Urasawa's Manben! We'll be diving into the episode on Wataru Watanabe and discussing his signature series, Yowamushi Pedal! We also talk about Anime…
Koi Ja Nee Kara: Watanabe Peko
After two and a half years of living my vicarious bookstore life through online shops and international couriers, I have finally set foot in a Japanese bookstore again,…
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The Legend and The Butterfly (2023) [Japan Cuts 2023]
The combination of historical anchor points, a phantasmatic romance to link those points together, and satisfying burst of action will surely be able to satisfy those who thirst…
on the Bright Side Reviews (BS reviews): Ex-Arm
BS reviews is a series where Edy and I look for the unseen genius in anime that have not been widely recognized by the public. Today, we will…
The Bad to End All Bad – Ex-Arm Retrospective
Back when it was first coming out, I made the poor (in quality terms) decision to watch Ex-Arm for my seasonal write-ups. And in all honesty, I was…
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Talking The Pictures (2019) review [Japan Cuts 2021]
“Mayayuki’s celebration of cinematic history deeply satisfies the spectator’s desire to see cinema as an experience that can touch our being and the art of the benshi triumph.R…
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Hiroku The Goblin (1991) review [Japan Cuts 2021]
‘A classic that offers an unforgettable experience that is as touchingly lighthearted as is it disturbingly horrifying.’
Seasonal Selection – Ex-Arm Episode 11
The animationIt burns! My eyes, it burns them!Please, take it away! Welcome to the Climax Episode! Not a lot happens, so it can be summarized very quickly: Beta…
Seasonal Selection – Ex-Arm Episode 6
Haiku summation: Animation gets better, The writing gets worse. Live reaction audio and details after the cut. So, this time we start with Skeletor creating his spheres of…
Seasonal Selection – Ex-Arm Episode 8
Uninvested fightsCyberspace looks like garbageSurprise villain why?! Ex-Arm once again screws up in ways I wouldn’t even have expected. Pretty much the whole episode is just a brawl…
Seasonal Selection – Ex-Arm Episode 10
A decent fight sceneSome needless complicationsNo impact at heart So, today’s episode of Ex-Arm had two major lines: Akira versus Beta and Alma versus Soma. Second one first.…
Seasonal Selection – Ex-Arm Episode 7
3D Arab PrinceTragic pasts not well set-up Clippy’s the bad guy Wow, this episode was scattered. Instead of nothing really happening, everything happened at once without the setup,…
Winter 2021 New Anime – EX-ARM
I didn’t really plan to do any single-episode posts this season for reasons that have been stated repeatedly by now. But I had a suspicion that I might…
Seasonal Selection – Ex-Arm Episode 2
Reaction of the episode (Paraphrased): “Blink. Blink. BLINK! Blink already, you soulless Barbie Doll!” So, for this episode, we’ve decided to record live reactions. Fair warning, it’s mostly…
Seasonal Selection – Ex-Arm Episode 3
Like last week, we’ve got a live reaction video for you, after the cut. The short version is that there’s more competence shown than previously, but it’s still…
Seasonal Selection – Ex-Arm Episode 9
Speeches everywhereFriendship, revenge, blah, blah, blahPacing is a lie. This episode is mostly focused on getting Alma back. The fight in the tunnel is as badly choreographed as…
Seasonal Selection – Ex-Arm Episode 5
It was bad enough that the animation, slowly improving though it is, should never have made it to the screen. Up until now, that was the worst thing;…
Seasonal Selection – Ex-Arm Episode 12
Last week, and endingThis week, new bad from nowhereAt long last, silence So, after the previous episode in which Beta was destroyed and our hero flew off into…
Seasonal Selection – Ex-Arm Episode 4
Look, I get it. If you’re going to steal visual designs, Neon Genesis Evangelion is probably a good choice. It’s got some good designs. But if you’re going…
Ex-Arm – 01 (First Impressions) – NOPE
Nope. Nope Nope Nope. NOPE.
Why is Ex-Arm so Horrible?
…Aside from “because it just is”, that is.
JAPAN CUTS Announces 2024 Lineup
At Japan Society New York from July 10 to 21
JAPAN CUTS Announces 2023 Lineup
At Japan Society New York July 26 to Aug. 6
Off The Tracks: The Promised Neverland
I wasn’t planning to post this piece this week. I had something else, about Insomniacs at Night, I think. BUUUT, we ended up having an actual discussion last…
Carole & Tuesday by Watanabe Shinichiro / Yamataka Morito
I picked up the first two volumes of the rock-and-roll futuristic fantasy, Carole & Tuesday at my library. You’ll have to do the same, if you’re interested, because…
Case 3 – Off The Radar
Sorry for the delay everyone but now we are back and we are not alone. Our friends from the AniManga Podcast, Jammer and Dominic, are going to be…
Episode 693, "Left Arm of the Unpopular One" (with TotallyNotMark
On this week’s episode of The One Piece Podcast we have the hosts Zach, Steve and Alex! We are joined this week by very special guest, translator of One Piece in Shonen Jump and Manga Plus Stephen Paul, YouTuber…
Episode 693, "Left Arm of the Unpopular One" (with TotallyNotMark
On this week’s episode of The One Piece Podcast we have the hosts Zach, Steve and Alex! We are joined this week by very special guest, translator of One Piece in Shonen Jump and Manga Plus Stephen Paul, YouTuber…
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All The Long Nights (2024) review [Japan Cuts 2024]
A splendid drama that shows how symptoms can disturb a subject’s life and how the social field attains its cruel complexity due to the riddle of desire.
Japan Cuts 2018 Film Festival at the Japan Society
This past few weeks I volunteered for the Japan Society Film Department’s annual Japan Cuts film festival, which screens a host of new Japanese blockbusters, avant-garde films, and…
Kimizero - Episode 11 - Nicole Holds Date Arm
Nicole went to an aquarium for a date with her ex-boyfriend. She was so happy! But it all came crashing down a few hours later. Kimizero - Episode…
Flying Off
The day has finally come. I can hardly believe it. In a few short hours, I will be on a flight to…Incheon, South Korea, followed by a long…