Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou‘s contemplative view on the passage of time and inevitable decadence made it a greatly melancholic work upon release. Decades later, that feeling has strengthened, and the influence of those who brought it into anime form quietly endures still.
Tomomi Mochizuki’s seamless, all-encompassing approach to animated storytelling made him one of anime’s most brilliant directors in the 80s and 90s, setting him on a path he’s still walking through nowadays. Time for a primer on this terrific yet overlooked director!
Back in May of 1993, Japanese audiences got to experience a curious experiment: studio Ghibli’s first and essentially last large-scale TV project, a film meant to put their younger staff under the spotlight for a change. Let’s look back at a fascinating little chapter in their story, since both its achievements and shortcomings are rarely discussed with the full context in mind.