By Jonathan Clements. Despite the title, which immediately and perhaps unjustly evokes Jasper Sharp’s magisterial Behind the Pink Curtain, Norman England’s Behind the Kaiju Curtain: A Journey onto Japan’s Biggest Film Sets is not an exhaustive account of an entire genre. Instead, it is a very personal snapshot of one man’s interaction with the Japanese […]
Nov 21, 2021 • Subscribe
More like this
Behind the curtain
Now here’s a hard post to write. The hardest I’ve had to write on this site, probably, even if there’s harder stuff on my other one I never…
Talks with writers: Norman England (Behind the Kaiju Curtain, 2021)
“A enlightening chat with Norman England, the author of “Behind The Kaiju Curtain” (2021)”
Heavenly Delusion – 08 – Behind the Curtain
Dr. Usami takes Kiruko and Maru past a gauntlet of people who want to ask him about their prosthetics and leads them to the room with the curtain.…
Feature: A painter behind the curtain
I came for a romance story and A painter behind the curtain gave me even more than that.
Manhwa Review | A Painter Behind the Curtain by MUNAMU
Ian is a prolific artist, but no one knows it. His artwork is sold for high prices, prized in exhibitions, and hanging on the walls of some of…
Animating an Oscar Winner (Secretly) Behind the Iron Curtain
Plus: animation news.
Behind the Yoshimoto Curtain: A Chat w. Comedian Stephen Tetsu
Stephen Tetsu is an owarai geinin (comedian) who is part of Yoshimoto Kōgyō, the largest talent agency in Japan. Aside from performing manzai as part of his
Books: The Magic in This Other World is Too Far Behind
By Shelley Pallis. Belying his humdrum title, Hitsuji Gamei’s novel The Magic in This Other World is Too Far Behind kicks off with an original and exciting double-bluff.…
Gekidol Episode 10: Before the Curtain
Some more revelations along with a big play preparation.
Kageki Shojo!! The Curtain Rises Review
Kageki Shojo!! The Curtain Rises is one of the manga that I’ve been the most excited about reading this year and I am so pleased to report that…
Gekidol Episode 11: The Curtain Rises
It’s time to finally explain what’s going on with the Sci-fi stuff. Because of that our heroines took a backseat this episode for the most part.
The Best Books
Buying books, especially old books, is a fascination and my biggest weakness. I love the old wear and tear on antiques, and sitting and pondering where the scraped…
Kageki Shojo!! The Curtain Rises Omnibus Review
Go buy this so the sequel can be licensed THANK YOU.
Pick of the Week: Overture, Curtain, Lights!
SEAN: Seven Seas has most of my attention this week, as I’m torn between the relaxing yuri feel of Days of Love at Seagull Villa and the less…
Behind the Visuals
Inspired by K’s Space is the Place posts. It probably takes me about as long as it takes to write a post as it does to make one…
Kaiju No. 8 (Volume 7) – The Start of the Kaiju Era!
Kafka and Nurumi arrived at the scene to find Director Shinomiya standing in the rubble. However, as they approached Kafka realised that it wasn’t the Director. Kaiju No.…
In the Shadow of the Beast: The Kaiju Genre & Kaiju No. 8
Grant Jones dives into the wild world of giant monsters and how Kaiju No. 8 builds on their legacy.
Books: The Japan Lights
By Jonathan Clements. Scottish-born Iain Maloney writes of the way that he always needs a body of water somewhere nearby to feel grounded, to know which way is…
Books: The Deer King
By Motoko Tamamuro. A salt mine controlled by the Empire of Zol is attacked by a pack of dogs. The workers and slaves are all bitten, and within…
Books: The Reincarnated Prince
By Jeannette Ng. Some portal fantasies are all about the wish fulfilment: being reborn beautiful, beloved and with all the “cheat skills” at your fingertips. The Reincarnated Prince…
Books: The Apothecary Diaries
By Jonathan Clements. It is the ultimate in blood-sports – hundreds of the most beautiful women in the world, locked away in a palace where their sole chance…
Project Skip the Books
Finally, time for this blog to be used for something that isn’t just the monthly reading log! Last year I gave myself a new project because I realised…
Books: The Incredible Tide
By Jonathan Clements. The novelist Alexander Key (1904-79) is best known outside anime fandom for Escape to Witch Mountain, the sci-fi story that has thrice been adapted for…
Kageki Shojo! The Curtain Rises by Kumiko Saiki
In 2013, I reviewed a manga call Kageki Shoujo!. I enjoyed it immensely. It had all the elements of a strong Shoujo manga story, but was running in…
Kaiju Transmissions podcast: Kaiju Video Games
Oh, wow! I was on the Kaiju Transmissions podcast again! Go listen to Byrd, Matt, and I chatting about kaiju video games. Find out what we think should…
Kaiju Transmissions podcast: Obscure Kaiju Movies
Kaiju Transmissions just had their 100th episode! Not ones to do anything special for such a milestone, they instead decided to chat with me about the book and…
Leave the World Behind??
Did it really take President Obama’s film Leave the World Behind to awaken the sleeping masses to the existence of predictive programming in film and tv?
The Truths Behind Higehiro
Higehiro, better known as Hige wo Soru. Soshite Joshikousei wo Hirou., is one of my favorite animes of 2021. The compelling morals are what captivates my attention especially…
Higehiro: After Being Rejected, I Shaved and Took in a High School Runaway, High School Girls
Toilet Kaiju
Deku takes to the sky, the Straw Hats stand together again, and Chris gets a stark reminder that Bakuman was actually pretty dumb. My Hero Academia 283 - 2:36Kaiju…
World Trigger, Ayakashi, Ayakashi Triangle, Black Clover, Chainsaw Man
Books & Sake
「高円寺古本酒場ものがたり」狩野俊 Story of Koenji Books & Sake, by Suguru Karino The “Story of Koenji Books & Sake” is Suguru Karino’s account of how he started a bookstore and…
Books & Sake
「高円寺古本酒場ものがたり」狩野俊 Story of Koenji Books & Sake, by Suguru Karino The “Story of Koenji Books & Sake” is Suguru Karino’s account of how he started a bookstore and…
Books: Sexiled
By Shelley Pallis. Tanya is twenty-five years old. She’s got half a decade of adventuring behind her, looting treasure from dungeons, spell-casting to protect her friends from goblins…
Books: Ghibliotheque
By Andrew Osmond. The Ghibliotheque podcast started in 2018, and soon became an institution. It offered a journey through the films of Studio Ghibli, presented by Michael Leader…
Books: Orienting
By Jonathan Clements. “My stay here has been so short,” said Rabindranath Tagore to Japanese students in 1916, “that one may think I have not earned my right…
Books: The Unwanted Undead Adventurer
By Shelley Pallis. The trouble with Rentt Faina is that he isn’t very good at his job. He’s spent ten years wandering the ruins of a haunted dungeon,…
Books: The Impact of Akira
By Andrew Osmond. If you were asked which singer comes to mind in connection with Akira, most readers would think of Kanye West cosplaying Tetsuo in his pants…
Books: The Ethics of Affect
By Jonathan Clements. Those silly do-gooders in Akihabara, making a computer game company take down a mere advertising billboard on the grounds it might offend, shock or otherwise…
Books: The History of Sushi
By Jonathan Clements. Eric C. Rath observes that in the anime series Sushi Police, fish are portrayed weeping at the injustices done to them by culinary criminals. Luckily,…
The Cat Who Saved Books
Japanese Title: 本を守ろうとする猫の話 (Hon o mamorō to suru neko no hanashi)Author: Sosuke Natsukawa (夏川 草介)Translator: Louise Heal KawaiPublication Year: 2017 (Japan); 2021 (United States)Press: HarperColli…
Books: The Garden of Words
By Andrew Osmond. This August, Makoto Shinkai’s film The Garden of Words – soon to have a new Blu-ray/CD Steelbook – will be adapted as a London stage…
Books: Grave of the Fireflies
By Jonathan Clements. Long overdue for inclusion in the BFI’s Film Classics series, Isao Takahata’s Grave of the Fireflies finally gets the critical treatment, courtesy of Alex Dudok…
Books: Eavesdropping on the Emperor
By Jonathan Clements. In 1939, Japanese embassy personnel in London were ordered to destroy stacks of compromising documents, and made the mistake of hiring a local company called…
Books: Batman – The Animated Series
By Raz Greenberg. Perhaps the most surprising thing about Joe Sutliff Sanders new book, Batman: The Animated Series, which analyzes the superhero show as part of Wayne State…
Books: The White Cat’s Revenge
By Jeannette Ng. The ever-lengthening ever more direct yet elaborate light novel title is a commonly observed phenomenon and The White Cat’s Revenge as Plotted from the Dragon…
The Books of Monster Hunter
Want to see ALL videos early? Support me on patreon for exclusive access! https://www.patreon.com/oceaniz TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 - Intro 01:44 - Artbooks 07:30 - Lorebooks 15:21 - Guidebooks Books shown/discussed in this video: Monster Hunter World Editors…
Behind the Scenes!! (with ShaeGeeksOut)
Covers all seven volumes of Behind the Scenes!! by Bisco HatoriWhat if Ouran High School Host Club, but with college students who are members of the “art squad”?…
Behind The Scenes: June 2021
It’s easy to fall into a routine these days, so I took this month as an opportunity to do things a little differently. That beaches and pools have…
Kamen Rider: Behind the Mask
Most people don’t know that Kamen Rider’s inception was the result of a long and troubled pre-production stage; months of shifting ideas marred by disputes over budgetary constraints…
