This blog is not actually dead, it has just been hibernating.

This year has been pretty mental for me, on a personal level. Work life has been hectic, and a series of real life tragedies have left me and my better half exhausted. Add to that the fact that I’ve been trying to get some other projects off the ground (more of that to come soon) and it has sadly meant that this site has been neglected. But that doesn’t mean I’ve been completely static.

I’m sure most of you are aware of the tragic news earlier this year of the passing of anime director Satoshi Kon. I was hugely honored to be asked to contribute to Anime News Network’s week-long retrospective of his works, for which I wrote this piece on his darkly comedic classic Tokyo Godfathers. It was a tough but fun article to write, and something I’m very proud of, and the fact it was published on the day my partner lost her father to the same cancer that took Kon’s life made it a strangely poignant event for me.

Also over the past months ANN have published my reviews of Welcome to the Space Show and Mamoru Oshii’s Musashi: Dream of the Last Samurai, both flawed but still interesting movies that are worth checking out.

Words not enough for you? Then thanks to the magical nature of the internets you can hear my voice too. Back in August Scott Spaziani was kind enough to invite me back onto his podcast “Otaku in Review” along with my good friend Ed Sizemore of Manga Worth Reading. The topic was genre, and the result of putting me and Ed together is that we will ramble on about our love of science fiction until someone stops us. like the two old geezers we truly are. Actually, It was a pretty fascinating discussion, covering more than just manga and anime, and well worth a listen. For something a bit briefer and more lighthearted check out my “20 Questions” interview with Sean Russell over at Anime 3000. Warning: my contain the most offensive curse word known to science.

And finally, something a little different. After a break of about 12 years I’ve got back into one of my old obsessions: DJing. Check out some of my mixes over on Soundcloud under my Shinohara Heavy Industries moniker.

So that’s what has been happening over the last few months of apparent inactivity – but keep an eye on this site, as hopefully it should be springing back into life on a more regular basis – I’ve got some interesting anime and manga reviews lined up for the next few weeks, so don’t go far.

Regular readers will know about my fanatical love for the animated works of Mamoru Oshii (Ghost in the Shell, Sky Crawlers), but they might not realize how much I also bug-out for his live action films. His last feature length work Avalon came out in 2001, and became an instant favourite in my household, the film getting played so much by me and my better half that we nearly wore out the DVD. Which is a good thing, considering how much I paid to import it from Japan. Anyway, with that in mind you can imagine how excited I got today when the first details were announced about his latest work, due to hit Japanese cinemas in December.

Assault Girls is a sci-fi action film about three female hunters battling huge ‘sand whales’ in a desert setting, the costume design and themes obviously referencing another great love of mine; Frank Herbert’s Dune. Anime News Network has some more details:

Elsewhere, as part of promotion for both the Sky Crawlers Blu-ray/DVD release and the cinema release of his latest project, Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai, the usually shy and quiet Oshii has been making far more media media appearances then normal. Akibanana sat down with him and talked about the new release:

Check out the full interview here, and keep an eye on this site – as always I’ll be bringing you news and details on all Oshii’s projects as soon as I get them.

A must read for all Mamoru Oshii and Production IG fans – IG have just posted up a report – in English – from their recent press conference on the forthcoming Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai movie. Oshii isn’t directing this time – he just wrote the script – handing over the helm to Mizuho Nishikubo – a long time assistant of his on projects such as Patlabor 2, Ghost in the Shell and The Sky Crawlers. Both were at the press event, along with IG head Mitsuhisa Ishikawa, and on hand to answer questions:

Ishikawa-san, can you tell us more about how this project was started?

Ishikawa: I think it was about two years ago. Oshii-san and I were at George Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch for The Sky Crawlers sound recording sessions. I recall that Oshii-san kept me awake all night talking about his dream to make a big budget movie with huge box office returns. At that time, he did not mention Miyamoto Musashi at all.

But on the next day, as we where heading for Skywalker Ranch on a car, he suddenly told me, “I want to make a movie about Musashi.” I think that was the point where everything started. That made me reflect on the fact that you can spend 10 hours just talking, but good projects need just a 10-second chat on a car.

This movie could be described as a mix of Oshii’s deep philosophical insight and cool samurai action. I’m sure this is something no-one has ever tried or seen before, so I hope you’ll enjoy it.

Oshii: I must confess that this movie has come up very different from the image I had in mind when I wrote the script. But I wouldn’t say it’s a negative thing. I knew that Nishikubo could do a good job, and to this extent, he just confirmed my expectations.

The film is set to hit Japanese theaters this summer, and while there’s no indication of when we’ll see it in the west, the fact that IG are bothering to translate events like this shows they still take us foreign fans very seriously.

Stay tuned for more news as I get it.

Anime News Network have a great scoop today – an English language teaser trailer for Oshii/Production IG‘s latest offering Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai. As reported late last year, the movie is based on the life and works of the legendary Japanese swordsman Miyamoto Musashi, author of The Book of Five Rings (五輪書, Go Rin No Sho).

Oshii himself will not be directing – like previous works Blood: The Last Vampire and Jin-Roh he came up with the concept and worked on the script – but this time Mizuho Nishikubo (Sky Crawlers, GiTS, Patlabor) is taking the helm. Oshii himself isn’t slacking this year though, he’s currently working on no less than two live action films – one a low budget art-house affair, the other an action-adventure epic of “eroticism and violence.” Plus, he’s also got another anime film in the pipeline. Busy man.

Check out the short, but very sweet, trailer and some more details here.

Not that I expected him to win, especially in the year that Academy darlings Pixar released what is arguably their finest work to date, but I have to say I was surprised and disappointed he didn’t even get a nod when the nominations were announced today. It’s especially confusing when only three films where put forward, and one of them was the decidedly average Kung Fu Panda (I haven’t seen Bolt, and can’t honestly say I’m that bothered either).

What is interesting is that all three films are completely CGI productions. Is this the death of ‘real’ animation? In the US perhaps, where the success of Pixar and the cost effectiveness of digital production seems to have killed hand-drawn animation. Certainly Disney doesn’t seem to be bothered with it anymore. Not that I’m an anti-CGI snob at all, it just seems sad that the art form has been all but abandoned by the large Hollywood studios.

Ah well, there’s always next year. Perhaps Oshii will have another chance with Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai, or Miyazaki will be back to grab his second with Ponyo.

Or it’ll be Pixar. Again. Sigh.

Looks like anime demi-god and Ghost in the Shell/Sky Crawlers director Mamoro Oshii is taking a break from his trademark dystopian futures to travel back to medieval Japan for his next flick Musashi: The Dream of the Last Samurai. Production IG have just launched a teaser site/trailer for the movie, which is due to hit Japanese theatres next summer, and the infamous auteur is backed up by an impressive staff, including Mizuho Nishikubo (GiTS, Sky Crawlers) and Kazuto Nakazawa (Kill Bill 1, Samurai Champloo) amongst others.

The film is based on the life and works of the legendary Japanese swordsman Miyamoto Musashi (1584-1645), author of The Book of Five Rings (五輪書, Go Rin No Sho), a book on strategy, tactics, and philosophy that is still studied today. Interestingly, it’s not Oshii’s only foray into sword fighting this year – he recently contributed a segment to the live action duelling anthology KIRU ~ KILL. Check the trailer below – I’m sure all you Oshii (and Avalon in particular) fans will be able to spot which clip is his…

This just occurred to me though….did they have Oshii’s signature Basset Hounds in 16th century Japan….?