Samurai Dead Rising
Norio Shioyama worked with Capcom to create a samurai short promoting Dead Rising 2. Very pretty.
Akira Ifukube Conducts
Akira Ifukube conducts the Osaka Symphony in a selection of his Godzilla works.
48 x 61
48 vs. 61 in Rintaro and Katsushiro Otomo’s excellent bicycle racing short where the racers look kinda like Rintaro and Otomo. Also, damn fine music and possible steampunkery.
RIP, Kihachiro Kawamoto
It’s a sad week for animation with the passing of Satoshi Kon and now Kihachiro Kawamoto. A student of Jiri Trnka, Kawamoto created beautiful stop motion puppet animation grounded in Japanese bunraku and Noh theater. Here’s his short, “Oni / The Demon.”
RIP, Satoshi Kon
Creator of Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress, Tokyo Godfathers, Paranoia Agent and Paprika, Satoshi Kon has died at 46. In memoriam, Midnight Eye’s substantial interview with Kon, here. Updated: Satoshi Kon wrote a farewell.
Manga Star Wars
Manga Star Wars vs. Marvel Star Wars.
The Cultural Gutter 