OTABU

Kingdom (キングダム) live action

Release Date: April 19, 2019

Set in Qin Dynasty during the warring states period in ancient China. Shin (Kento Yamazaki) was a war orphan. He has a dream of becoming a great general Shin has a fateful encounter with young King Eisei (Ryo Yoshizawa). King Eisei aims to unify all of China.

Trailer

Happy International Women’s Day!

We started the Badass Women in Japanese History series because we wanted to highlight the amazing lives and sheer badassery of historical Japanese women.

Take some time today to learn about and celebrate some of these lovely Japanese ladies!

Tomoe Gozen: A warrior worth a thousand men

Murasaki Shikibu: The world’s first novelist

Queen Himiko: Loved by the people, the gods, but not historians

Higuchi Ichiyō: Returned Japanese literature to its roots

Even as a child, I sensed something different about cartoons like Robotech and Voltron. Compared to other shows, they struck me as serious, dramatic and stylish. Each episode contributed to a longer narrative and when something changed, it remained that way for the rest of the series. The straight-lined art affected me me in a way other cartoons’ softer, rounded styles never did.

Something was different, though I couldn’t put my finger on it.

At the time I didn’t know these cartoons came from Japan, where they had different titles, and occasionally different narratives. I didn’t know that one day I’d become a fan of the medium, a style of cartoon called anime.

Anime differed from standard Western cartoons. Back then anime fans would tell you, Japanese anime is better. Cartoons are “kids’ stuff.” With complicated stories, deep character development and themes fit for adults, anime eschews the label of cartoon and makes claims on being a higher art-form.

Of course anime’s visuals fuel its purported pedigree. Fans laud anime for its detailed art, style and fluid animation. Wait… fluid animation?!

嘘つき! Liar!

In reality, what set anime apart from other styles is its deliberate lack of fluidity and use of limited-animation. By ignoring the era’s animation standards, animation studio Mushi Pro revolutionized the medium.

And by taking advantage of two factors – television’s access to Japanese households and the popular manga series Astro Boy – Mushi Pro created both Japan’s first anime as well as its first anime boom. Mushi Pro’s ingenuity created a controversial style of animation that lacked animation and this deceptive style and marketing tradition continues today.