Category: anime

Grave of the Fireflies

In honor of Memorial Day, I decided to watch Grave of the Fireflies. This is an animated film about two kids who lose their mother and their home in a firebombing during World War II. I’ve had this DVD sitting on my shelf for about six months. I really hadn’t been in the mood to watch it until today. It’s a very sad, elegiac film. Aside from just giving you a different perspective on WW2 that you won’t usually see, it also makes you think about pride, responsibility, perseverance, and the difference between children and adults.

There are a lot of extras on a second disc that help put everything in perspective — an overview of the movie by Roger Ebert, an interview with the director, and a historical overview. There are a few interesting comments on the movie over at IMDB, although there are also a lot of bone-headed ones.

Wizard World Philly

I went to Wizard World Philly yesterday. It was a pretty good con, but I’ve gotten so used to San Diego that nothing really compares. I bought some neat things, including a few of the Marvel Essentials volumes — Avengers 1 and 2, and Marvel Team-Up 1. I’ve been in a Silver Age mood lately. I also got a chance to see the first couple of episodes of Captain Herlock. This may be another anime series that I need to add to my want list, although I should really stop buying anime until I’ve watched all the stuff I’ve got already.

Big Apple Anime Fest

I spent most of the weekend at Big Apple Anime Fest. One of the best moments from the con would have to be meeting Ken Knudtsen and getting a copy of My Monkey’s Name is Jennifer from him, in which he wrote “andy, hurray for huey lewis and the news! — jennifer the monkey”. I was a little confused about this for a moment, since I hadn’t mentioned my last name, but then I realized it was written on the badge around my neck. Duh.

I caught a couple of the movies they premiered, and I have to say that Tokyo Godfathers is definitely worth seeing, as is anything from Satoshi Kon. A Tree of Palme, on the other hand, was visually interesting, but didn’t really hold my attention for its two-hour-plus running time. It was just a little too out there.