Dir. TANAKA Toshinori (Resonance) Born in 1981 in Fukuyama City, Hiroshima, Japan, Tanaka is a Filmmaker, a Lecturer at Fukuyama University, and the Vice Director of Nonprofit Organization iD Onomichi. After studying Filmmaking at Cavendish College London, Tanaka worked on many films, commercia
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Director Spotlight #7: “Leave in Summer”
Born in Hokkaido in 1996. “Tokeru” (2016) which Igashi made in college was officially selected for the 70th Cannes Film Festival, Cinéfondation category. She made her theatrical debut…


Director Spotlight #13:
Dir. SHIOTA Akihiko (The World of You) Born in Maizuru City, Kyoto Prefecture in 1961, Shiota has been a regular participant in the…
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…
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Director Spotlight #10: “Qualia”
Born in 1980, he first gained recognition as a finalist in the 1996 Junon Super Boy Contest, leading to work primarily as a model in advertising. In 2001,…


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: 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 #3: “Cafune”
Dir. KINEMURA Haruki (New Director) (Cafune) Born in Nishinomiya City, Hyogo Prefecture in 2001, Japan. After enrolling in Osaka University…


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 #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 #5: “The Girls”
Born on April 20, 1984, in Tokyo, the director debuted with Dynamite Graffiti (2016), exploring Japan’s GAL culture. His next feature, Goodbye Silence (2018), depicts young people discovering…
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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 #6: “House of Sayuri”
Born on June 1, 1973, in Fukuoka Prefecture, Shiraishi made his mark on the film scene with Violent Man (1997), co-directed with Akihiro Kasai, which won the Screenplay…


Director Spotlight #2: “Bring Minyo Back!”
Born in 1982, Moriwaki began his career in advertising after graduating from Waseda University and later moved into production editing, establishing his independent career in 2011. Based in…


Director Spotlight #1: “99% Cloudy... Always”
SANAGOUMI Midori is an actor and voice actor who began studying filmmaking in 2020. Her short film Under the Bridge won the newly introduced Special Jury Award at…


Director Spotlight #3: “Copo a Copo”
Born in Sakai City, Osaka Prefecture. After working as an assistant director for notable productions, including the TV dramas like From the North Country '98, Private Detective Mike…


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 #9: “Not Born Yesterday”
Born in Niigata Prefecture in 1949, FUKUMA Kenji was a widely active poet, critic, and translator. He became engrossed in cinema during middle school, influenced by directors such…


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…


Director Spotlight #8: “New Nemuro Pro Wrestling Story”
Born in 1976 in Sapporo, Hokkaido, he graduated from the Nihon University College of Art, majoring in film directing. He has directed a wide range of television programming,…


Anime Review: Terror in Resonance
There are very few anime scenes that leave me feeling choked up and the last scene of Terror in Resonance was one of them. Warning: This post contains spoilers, reveals…


Director Spotlight #11: “Till The Day I Can Laugh About My Blues”
Born in 1997, Takeda is a graduate of Tokyo Polytechnic University’s Department of Imaging Arts. Since her university days, she has worked on numerous professional and amateur film…


Director Spotlight #4: “Esper X Private Detective Agency - Searching for Good-Bye -”
Born September 1, 1973, in Tokyo and raised in Saitama, Koba is known for his unique blend of comedy, sci-fi, and fantasy. He launched his feature film career…


Record of Ragnarok (Episode 21) – Resonance
Raiden Tameemon struggled with his strength to begin with. However, his mother told him it was a gift from the gods and that he should use it to…
First Impressions of Terror In Resonance
This series is quite short with only 11 episodes, and the 1st episode is intriguing enough that I think I’ll watch the series. In the first scene Nine…


The trans resonance of Haibane Renmei
The series’ use of transformation and body horror resonate with the physical experiences of dysphoria and transitioning; its depictions of mental health struggles, particularly self-harm and suicide, may…


Soul Eater – The Black Blood Resonance Battle!
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Resonance – The Man Hiding in Plain Sight
Resonance is a point-and-click adventure game released a couple of months back by Wadjet Eye Games, the makers of Gemini Rue. It’s a solid play for you point-and-click…
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The Language Barrier: Musical Resonance in Anime
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Random Rant: Lisa Mishima (Terror In Resonance)
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Day 7 of Hotsui Matsuri: Girls/Boys Day Sibling Spotlight
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(REVIEW) The Last Flight of DRAGONAUT – THE RESONANCE
Despite a decent following in its day, the 2007 GONZO dragon-mecha show has largely been forgotten by history. Let’s find out why.


Terror in Resonance – Can’t Leave the Darkness Behind
This post feels like a long time coming in some ways. For now, I am closing out the Shinichiro Watanabe arc on Mechanical Anime Reviews. with Terror in…


Queer resonance and critiquing heteronormativity in Spy x Family
Spy x Family is a great example of how a story might have queer resonances and queer themes even if it cannot be classed as queer fiction.


Summer Time Rendering (Volume 2) – Orbital Resonance / Bitter Enemies
After the tragedy at the Summer Festival, Shinpei finds himself back on July 22nd, although something has changed. Regardless, he needs to find Ryunosuke Nagumo. She may hold…


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Vtuber Spotlight: Meli
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Vtuber Spotlight: Fallenartisia
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Vtuber Spotlight: Yrense
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Vtuber Spotlight: SCARNON
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Vtuber Spotlight: KingTheKeeper
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Vtuber Spotlight: ZoomieVT
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Vtuber Spotlight: Shadax
I have often said that I am a romantic at heart. I’m very supportive of others in their relationships through the good times and bad. Earlier I did…