Welcome back to the most special post of the year! As is tradition, we’ve gathered writers from different communities but a shared trait: a love of animation and all it encompasses. The goal, to praise at length the greatest productions and most resonant direction in all of 2018 anime, according to a series of categories. These are our yearly anime awards – the sakugabowl!
The most dazzling show of the season and perhaps 2018 altogether has finally arrived! But where does all of Revue Starlight‘s theatrical goodness laced with a palpable Ikuhara touch come from, and exactly what’s so impressive about it? That’s what we’ll be here to address all season long!
With a key episode in the bag and the series reaching its first turning point, it’s time for us to return to the world of Aikatsu Friends! for some more coverage – not just of the wonderful episode #11, but also of how the production has fared since the beginning and the way they’ve built Mio’s textured character in particular.
Our new post about a rising figure in anime isn’t about a young creator who immediately achieved success, but rather someone who had to train under various veterans for a while to hone up his skills as director. Today we won’t just talk about how Naoya Ando personally uses lighting to root his animation work in reality, but also briefly touch on the struggles of creators in kids shows to catch the eye of both fans and critics.
It’s time for more After the Rain coverage, as studio WIT’s mellow yet often poignant character piece keeps being one of this season’s highlights. The production as a whole is worth examining, but it’s the vision of the directors and the sweet surprises in that field that we’ll focus on this time.
After a final stretch of outstanding episodes. Fate/Apocrypha finally reaches its conclusion. A show that by all means should have been doomed by nature of the production issues that plagued it, yet one that continued to pull through by part of the incredible staff who were determined to burn their work into everyone’s memories. Let’s take one last look at what makes Apocrypha special, and why I’ve had so much fun following and covering it for the past half year.
Violet Evergarden is a strong candidate to becoming one of the most impressive TV anime productions of all time, so of course we’ll be covering the show in its entirety. The first episode already showcased many aspects that make it a very special production, so let’s waste no time and dig into the secrets of this project!
Good evening, good afternoon and good morning ladies and gentlemen! We find ourselves at the end of another year, recalling the good and the bad times, celebrating the lack of a hangover despite a wild night out, but also struck with the fear of hanging over a toilet bowl on New Year’s Day to keep the scales balanced. Most importantly, though, it’s the time of the year where we round up the sakubuta to present the ever-growing Sakuga Bowl and…
One of the most interesting young independent artists has made it to the professional industry in a major way, gaining notorious acclaim through her work in Land of the Lustrous in particular. We’re talking about the multitalented Yoko Kuno, whose enchanting style is bound to make waves in the world of anime. Today we’ll look at what makes her work so special, as well as the less well-known sides to her career that allowed her to get to this point….
Dissociating individual elements from productions as a whole isn’t as easy as it might seem, but sometimes it feels like some aspects are faring particularly well. We’ve had seasons of anime with many instances of outstanding voice acting, animation, and this time around I would say we’re lucky in another regard — the art direction. There’s little to no barrier to appreciating beautiful sceneries in anime, and yet it tends to stay just as that, without giving actual names and underlining…