Studio Ghibli has produced some amazing animations in its history, and it looks like When Marnie Was There is yet another in a long line of triumphs. The box office results in Japan were poor for this one, but the critical reaction was positive to the point of acclaim, and this is another beautiful feature length production in the Miyazaki style. It will be premiering in New York and Los Angeles on May 22nd, and go into wider (but still limited) release after that. If you are lucky enough to be in a town where you can catch it on the big screen, you should try to do so.
The first track here by Country Yard is called Hold On, the second one is I’ll Be With You. I really like this band, they have some great skill sets and excellent music; I am really hoping to hear a lot more from them. Like the third song here, Starry Night, or the 4th, In Your Room.
This is the NSFW trailer for the 2015 Anime version of the latest Ghost In The Shell story, and it takes a bit of a look back at its predecessors. Along with Akira, this franchise changed the face of Anime in the west, and it was one of the best Cyberpunk stories I have ever read or watched. It will be in theaters in Japan in June, I am hoping it makes it to some in the US shortly after that.
Rurouni Kenshin 3: The Legend Ends completes the trilogy about the Samurai assassin who decided he would kill no more, and protect the weak and helpless. One OK Rock continues to be featured on the soundtrack, and the action is intense. You can find out more at the RuroKen Fan Site. The movie came out last September in Japan, and has been making the festival rounds; Amazon carries an all region DVD in stock, but somehow the release date went right past me without my noticing. This trailer was posted because it is about to be released in the UK.
From their 7th album, 35xxxv, which went on sale on 11Feb15, this is new from One OK Rock, the song Cry Out. This is also the album release for their amazing song Mighty Long Fall (previously out as their 9th single). I am thinking the selection of tracks for the US 7th release was meant to be a push for more American airplay and to seriously build their North American fan base. That fan base is already large enough that they give you a choice of Japanese or English when you go to their home page. This was my favorite band last year, and no one has come along to take that title from them yet this year.
Rurouni Kenshin 2: Kyoto Inferno looks to be every bit as intense as the first film, and there is one more to go after this before the series is complete. A former assassin wanders through Japan promising to defend those in need without killing. If the story seems familiar and you haven’t seen the 2012 movie that began the live action film series, you may have read the manga it is based on, or perhaps seen the 1996 through 2008 anime series Rurouni Kenshin: Wandering Samurai. The anime ran 95 episodes, with breaks of several years sometimes between story segments, so it took a while to make. The song you hear playing in the background in the trailer is One OK Rock‘s hit Mighty Long Fall, which I posted here previously if you want to hear the whole thing. They are an amazing band, and you can pick up their songs on iTunes.