Only Yesterday is an animated film by Studio Ghibli, released in 1991. The film is based on the manga of the same name by Hotaru Okamoto and Yuko Tone, set in the backdrop of Showa-era Japan. Directed by Isao Takahata, who is renowned for his realistic approach in Japanese animation, this film explores the journey of Taeko, a young woman from the city who...
“Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-” is a Japanese TV animation series based on a light novel, first broadcast on TV in 2016 and later in 2020, 2021 and 2024 (planned). Synopsis On his way home from the convenience store, the main character ‘Subaru Natsuki’ is suddenly summoned to another world. In a different world where there is nothing he can rely on, the...
MY NEIGHBOUR TOTORO is an animated feature film produced by Studio Ghibli and released in 1988. It is the fourth feature-length animated film by Hayao Miyazaki and is a fantasy set in Japan. Screening concurrently was GRAVE of the FIREFLIES.According to director Hayao Miyazaki, he originally intended to use MY NEIGHBOUR TOTORO as a picture book. The attendance was approximately 800,000. With a distribution...
Whisper of the Heart, an animated film by Japan’s renowned Studio Ghibli, is a coming-of-age story directed by Yoshifumi Kondō, released in 1995. The movie is based on a manga of the same name by Aoi Hiiragi, serialized in the 1989 issue of the magazine Ribon. This heartwarming story, written by Hayao Miyazaki, combines romance with a deep exploration of self-discovery and ambition. Known...
“SPYxFAMILY” is a manga series by Tatsuya Endo that began serialization in 2019. The anime was televised from 2022. It is a home comedy in which a spy man, an assassin woman, and a psychic girl, who were strangers, establish a “temporary family” and struggle with daily troubles in order to live a “normal life as a family”. Synopsis It was a time when...
The Cat Returns is an animated film produced by Studio Ghibli and released in Japan in 2002. The film is a spin-off story that revisits characters from Hayao Miyazaki’s masterpiece “Whisper of the heart”. Directed by Hiroyuki Morita, the film is based on the novel “Baron the Cat Returns” by Japanese author Aoi Hiiragi. The animation was highly acclaimed not only in Japan but...
“Pokémon” quickly became popular among children all over Japan when ‘Pokemon Red and Green’ for Nintendo’s Game Boy was released in 1996. Recently, the company has been focusing on attracting the adult segment by actively developing products, plans, and storylines that are geared not only toward children, but also toward adults.Many people, both in Japan and abroad, continue to be fans of Pokemon even...
Howl’s Moving Castle is one of Studio Ghibli’s iconic films, directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Released in Japan in 2004, it is based on a novel of the same name by British author Diana Wynne Jones. The movie follows the adventures of Sophie, a young girl cursed by a witch, and her quest to break the spell with the help of a mysterious wizard named...
