News

Shojo anime are designed with young female audiences in mind. They consider what's important to girls that age. Naturally, love and friendship play a key role in the lives of growing girls. However, fashion can be just as important, as young girls want to look their best to fit in with their peers.

While many fans are aware of the themes of friendship and romance in shojo anime, fewer may know how important fashion can be. In several shojo anime, characters are constantly changing their outfits to look their best, even as they're saving the world. These ten shojo anime are the best for fashionista fans looking to get some style tips from a good anime.

Child Actors Always Look Their Best in Kodocha These Kids Stay Stylish

Kodocha, short for Kodomo no Omocha, is a 90s romantic comedy anime based on the manga by Miho Obana. The series follows...

When Adam Changes, a Canadian animated film about an awkward teenager in suburban Quebec, won the Grand Prix at the Niigata International Animation Film Festival (Niaff).

The festival, now in its second year, ran from March 15-20 in Niigata, a port city two hours north of Tokyo.

Written and directed by Joël Vaudreuil, When Adam Changes premiered at last year’s Annecy International Animation Film Festival. “Coming here and meeting so many people, and being able to meet and talk with the other competition directors was a gift in itself,” said Vaudreuil, acceping the award at Niaff’s closing ceremony.

Lonely Castle in the Mirror is a well-meaning anime film. The latest film to come to North America courtesy of Gkids tackles teenage issues that have haunted generations with a deft hand, infusing its central character with a resonant and impactful arc that largely works in an understated way. It's occasionally gorgeous, and it knows when to pull back and let the characters do the heavy lifting. It has the makings of something great -- just not necessarily a movie. The problem is that the anime quickly overloads itself with too large of a cast and too deliberate of a pace. The central arc gets muddied and even dull when it tries to expand to the rest of the story. While Lonely Castle in the Mirror is an occasionally effective tearjerker, adapting the story to a longer-form medium like television might have better served its central ideas and characters.

Lonely Castle in the Mirror...

Playing games can be educational and otherwise beneficial. It is not necessarily about winning, whatever and however it might be, but more of something more long-term, even permanent, such as lessons learnt and friends made. And some, maybe even most of the in-game stuff, could be translated to the outer, real world that tends to be more cruel than the usual product of human imagination. That could serve as the point of Mizuki Tsujimura's novel and Keiichi Hara's animated feature “Lonely Castle in the Mirror”. The source novel achieved bestseller status in Japan, while the film entered distribution in the East Asian cinemas before its festival showing.

Lonely Castle in the Mirror is screening at Nippon Connection

Our protagonist Kokori lives a life of the middle school's outsider and bottom-feeder. She is bullied by the clique of the school's popular “alpha-bitch”, she does not have many friends and...

Summer theatrical release lined up.

GKids has acquired all North American rights to Keiichi Hara’s Rotterdam selection Lonely Castle In The Mirror.

The film was the first Japanese animation to premiere at Rotterdam International Film Festival and recently received its US premiere at New York International Children’s Film Festival.

Lonely Castle In The Mirror follows shy school student Kokoro who enters a castle through a portal in her bedroom mirror where she and six other students must accept a challenge by a girl wearing a wolf mask.

The youngsters work together to uncover the mysterious connection that unites them,...

Gkids has snapped up North American rights to Keiichi Hara’s Lonely Castle in the Mirror, after serving as the distributor in the territory for his past animated features Summer Days with Coo and Miss Hokusai. The film based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Mizuki Tsujimura, featuring animation from A-1 Pictures, is slated for a theatrical release in both its original Japanese language and an all-new English dub this summer.

Reuniting Hara with collaborators including screenwriter Miho Maruo, composer Harumi Fuuki and artist Ilya Kuvshinov, Lonely Castle in the Mirror follows shy outcast Kokoro, who has been avoiding school for weeks when she discovers a portal in her bedroom mirror. She reaches through and finds herself transported to an enchanting castle where she is joined by six other students. And when a girl in a wolf mask explains that they have been invited to play a game,...

Features the voices of: Mayu Matsuoka, Anne Watanabe, Kumiko Asô, Nao Tôyama, Keiji Fujiwara, Akiko Yajima, Masachika Ichimura | Written by Miho Maruo | Directed by Keiichi Hara

Outside of literally three or four movies, my viewing of Japanese animated movies is completely reliant on Studio Ghibili. That said, I adore the studio and every one of its movies, with Spirited Away being one of my all time favourites. So it was about time I checked out the output from other animation filmmakers in Japan.

As the title would suggest, The Wonderland does have a few influences from Alice in Wonderland. But to be honest, there’s nothing too obvious and it definitely does not feel like a retread of that story. The day before her birthday, a young girl, Akane, meets an alchemist named Hippocrates and his student Pipo. Along with an antique shop owner, Chii, who she is kind of friends with,...

Days away from her birthday, teenage girl Akane feels listless as she comes up with excuses to stay in bed rather than attending school or going outside. She is even less thrilled as her mother tells her to visit her aunt Chii, the owner of a little bric-a-brac store, in order to receive her birthday present. However, as Chii is looking for her present and Akane browses the store, out of the blue a hidden trap door to the basement opens and a tall man appears accompanied by a small apprentice called Pipo.

As the man introduces himself as Hippocrates, a world-famous alchemist, he tells Akane that she is the Goddess of the Green Wind and he has been looking all over for her. Eventually the girl and her aunt accompany the two men to the world beyond, a world on the brink of chaos, a world which only Akane may be able to save.

New Japanese feature animation ‘Miss Hokusai’ is hitting the theatres in Los Angeles, New York and various North American cities starting from October 14.

Film distributer Gkids has released an list of currently confirmed theatres here.

Award-winning director Keiichi Hara and creators of Ghost in the Shell Production I.G produced a remarkable story of O-Ei, the coming-of-age daughter of Japanese legendary illustrator Hokusai.

Synopsis:

When all of Edo swarm to see the works of famous painter Hokusai, his daughter O-Ei strives inside his studio, unknown to the public. Her masterful portraits, dragons and erotic sketches, sold under her father’s name, are popular among the upper class. Totally different from her image in public, O-Ei is as brash and uninhibited as her father when she is at home. But despite her talent and fiercely independent spirit, O-Ei struggles under the domineering influence of her father and is ridiculed for lacking...

There’s this nutty old man who painted a huge Dharma on a huge sheet of paper and draws sparrows on tiny rice grains. Some may know him as Hokusai the painter, but his daughter, O-Ei, knows him as Tetsuzo.

A new trailer for Keiichi Hara’s animated coming-of-age tale, “Miss Hokusai,” has just been released, courtesy of Gkids and Japanese powerhouse Production I.G. The film follows the remarkable story of the daughter behind one of history’s most famous artists.

As all of Edo flocks to see the work of the revered painter Hokusai (voiced by Yutaka Matsushige), his daughter O-Ei (Anne Watanabe) toils diligently inside his studio. The latest trailer shows her as she begins to work on her own masterful portraits – sold under the name of her father – which are coveted by upper crust Lords and journeyman print makers alike.

Read More: ‘Kubo and the Two Strings...

The New York distributor has bought North American rights to Keiichi Hara’s award-winning animated coming-of-age tale.

New York-based Gkids has bought North American distribution rights to Keiichi Hara’s Miss Hokusai and has set the award-winning animated coming-of-age tale for an October release.

The film, the latest feature from Japanese animation house Production I.G (whose A Letter To Momo was also handled by Gkids), will open in New York and Los Angeles on October 14, with a North American expansion to follow.

Miss Hokusai, adapted from Hinako Sugiura’s manga Sarusuberi by Miho Maruo, won the Jury Prize at last year’s Annecy festival and was named best animated feature at the Sitges festival. Set in Edo period Japan, the film tells the story of O-Ei, daughter and artistic collaborator of renowned Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai, as she struggles with her identity as an artist and her emerging sexuality.

Gkids is set...

The New York distributor has bought North American rights to Keiichi Hara’s award-winning animated coming-of-age tale.

New York-based Gkids has bought North American distribution rights to Keiichi Hara’s Miss Hokusai and has set the award-winning animated coming-of-age tale for an October release.

The film, the latest feature from Japanese animation house Production I.G (whose A Letter To Momo was also handled by Gkids), will open in New York and Los Angeles on October 14, with a North American expansion to follow.

Miss Hokusai, adapted from Hinako Sugiura’s manga Sarusuberi by Miho Maruo, won the Jury Prize at last year’s Annecy festival and was named best animated feature at the Sitges festival. Set in Edo period Japan, the film tells the story of O-Ei, daughter and artistic collaborator of renowned Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai, as she struggles with her identity as an artist and her emerging sexuality.

Gkids is set...

Cast: Anne Watanabe, Michitaka Tsutsui, Yutaka Matsushige, Kumiko Asô, Shion Shimizu, Gaku Hamada, Kengo Kôra | Written by Miho Maruo | Based on the manga by Hinako Sugiura | Directed by Keiichi Hara

Choosing to depict an artist’s life in a form close to their own can be a tightrope walk. Miss Hokusai dares to examine the work and lives of two Japanese artists in the form of anime, but this turns out to be a natural fit: the broad brushstrokes of its principals stand in harmonious contrast to the considerably less stylised but no less lovely animation of the film. It’s a shame that this is the only aspect of the film that really strikes a chord.

Set in 19th-century Edo (later known as Tokyo), Miss Hokusai centers on talented young artist O-Ei and her father, the Hokusai of the film’s title, also a painter but with far greater success.

Montreal’s genre film festival wraps with over 100,000 spectators attending across its 23 days of screenings.

Sion Sono’s Tag was among the winners at this year’s Fantasia International Film Festival, which wrapped yesterday [Aug 4] with the Canadian premiere of Shinji Higuchi’s Attack on Titan.

This year saw over 100,000 spectators attending across the festival’s 23 days of screenings, including 195 indoor screenings, three outdoor screenings, eight virtual reality films and other special events, such as the debut international performance of Glass Eye Pix’s live horror radio show Tales from Beyond the Pale.

Over 900 international guests, including more than 400 film industry professionals, visited the festival and its Frontières Market which saw two deals close during the market. Raven Banner boarded worldwide sales on Gigi Saul Guerrero’s El Gigante, while Frank Murray of Lux Capta Films signed on as producer of Renaud Gauthier’s ‘Lude Behavior.

Guests included Jon Watts and Kevin Bacon for Cop Car, Michael Ironside, [link...

The 19th Annual Fantasia Film Festival is only a week away, beginning July 14 and running through August 4. And as promised for today, they’ve revealed their full line-up of films screening at 2015’s festival in Montreal.

This year’s line-up boasts 22 World Premieres, 13 International Premieres, and 21 North American Premieres. Both Marvel’s Ant-Man and the animated Miss Hokusai were previously announced, but now they’ve added the much anticipated Attack on Titan movie as their closing night film. Other highlights include the Sundance darlings Cooties, starring Elijah Wood and Rainn Wilson, Cop Car, starring Kevin Bacon and directed by the upcoming Spider-man director Jon Watts, and a trio of films from horror auteur Sion Sono.

See the full line-up announcement of films below via Fantasia’s Facebook page, and be sure to check out their website at fantasiafestival.com for additional information.

****

Fantasia 2015:

36 Countries, 135 Features, and Nearly 300 Short Films

- Including 22 World Premieres,...