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The official X (formerly Twitter) for the three-member vocal unit Kalafina 's staff announced today that their reunion concert, titled "Kalafina Anniversary Live 2025," is set to be held at Tokyo Garden Theater on January 15, 2025. Kalafina, consisting of three female singers — Wakana, Keiko, and Hikaru, started their activities as composer Yuki Kajiura's musical project in 2008, releasing 21 singles and five original albums. After Kajiura left her and the unit's agency Space Craft Produce in February 2018, the unit announced their breakup in March 2019. It has been six years since their breakup. The statement reads: To all of you who support Kalafina. We are pleased to announce that we will be holding the 'Kalafina Anniversary Live 2025.' We have decided to sing together again as a trio, as we have received your heartfelt support for Kalafina while we have been working as solo artists. We look forward to seeing you at the venue!

There was no guarantee that there would be an anime feature film adaptation of Takehiko Inoue’s hugely popular basketball manga series “Slam Dunk,” especially after its successful anime TV series. But not only did Toei Animation bring the beloved ’90s manga — about basketball as a psychological rite of passage through the overcoming of pain and hardship — to the big screen, but “The First Slam Dunk” (playing theatrically from GKids) is now the fifth highest-grossing anime of all time and the winner of the Japan Academy Prize for Best Animated Film.

But it took five years of 2D and CG prototyping by Toei Animation (led by producer Toshiyuki Matsui) to perfect the visual look before getting the greenlight from Inoue. But he didn’t consider himself the director until later in production, after participating in the writing, mo-cap basketball action, voice acting, and score (Satoshi Takebe and Takuma Mitamura of...

Hayao Miyazaki — easily the most recognizable face behind Studio Ghibli — has long said that he would retire. Since then, all eyes have turned to his first son and heir, Goro Miyazaki. Goro Miyazaki seems to chafe under his father’s strictly traditional ways; his most recent release, “Earwig and the Witch” (2020) made a splash along Cannes headlines for being the first CGI film produced by the mostly paper-and-paint-based studio. In turn, his earlier work “From up on Poppy Hill” feels like an externalization of Goro’s internal struggle. Modernity and tradition collide again in this postwar port city, where a single executive move might tear down a historic building. It takes the entirety of a school to salvage what might otherwise be erased forever.

As per every other Ghibli film, “From Up on Poppy Hill” follows a young female protagonist. In 1963 Yokohama, Umi Matsuzaki (Masami Nagasawa) is...

Like it or not, Studio Ghibli has finally embraced CG with the magical fantasy, “Earwig and the Witch” (GKids), directed by Goro Miyazaki, son of the legendary Hayao Miyazaki. It’s a controversial step, to be sure, departing from Ghibli’s renowned hand-drawn 2D legacy, but Goro found it necessary, both for his artistic independence and for Ghibli’s continued survival during its current downsizing.

“For Studio Ghibli, it’s important for us to constantly try new things, whether it goes down well or not,” said the younger Miyazaki. “It’s not enough just to carry on the legacy of what they have built because it would only be a copy and an inferior version of that even. And, for me, that was to try the first CG movie at the studio. I’ve seen hand-drawn animators, who have huge talent and have done great work outside of Studio Ghibli,...

Odd List Ivan Radford 7 Jan 2014 - 06:37

Last year may only be a memory, but its film themes linger in the mind. Here's Ivan's pick of 2013's best soundtracks...

Just a quick scan down the list below reveals an extraordinary breadth of genres and subject matters, from imposing, expensive science fiction films to quiet, intimate stories about men at sea on boats or outlaws breaking out of prison to be with their wives. Disparate though the films are, they're all linked by at least one common motif: their music is utterly brilliant.

So with 2014 already well underway, and an entire new wave of films with great music in them beckoning, join us as we look back to the movies of last year, their finest soundtracks, and the must-listen pieces of music you can dig out on each one.

1. Gravity (Steven Price)

Must-listen track: Don't Let Go

When does sound...

Being the son of animation’s unequivocal living master who’s body of work ranks among the best cinematic creations ever made, Goro Miyazaki understandably had much trepidation about taking up his father, Hayao’s craft, eventually to be put in comparison to each other, for better or worse. When he finally succumbed to the family business after being approached by Toshio Suzuki, one of Studio Ghibli’s longest running producorial collaborators, neither Ghibli’s seasoned animators or the majesty of the company’s lineage could save Goro’s paltry debut, Tales from Earthsea. Notably missing Hayao’s direct involvement thanks to familiar disagreements, the film, rich with dragons and magic, became one of the least enchanting releases of Ghibli’s generally pristine catalog. Approaching Goro’s sophomore effort with the same apprehension he began his directorial career, with doubts of creative significance lingering in the long, overbearing shadow of his father,...

★★★★☆ It's fitting that as My Neighbour Totoro celebrates its 25th anniversary, Studio Ghibli's From Up on Poppy Hill (2011) hits UK shores. A tiny film about tiny things, it seems like a slight addition to the Ghibli catalogue, but under the surface lies a big heart. It starts, as all good things do, with breakfast - and a song. In Yokohama, 1963, Umi (Masami Nagasawa) runs the house while her mother studies abroad. When Umi's not looking after her younger sister and grandmother, she's going to school or raising the flags by their cliff-top house in memory of her dad, who died in the Korean War. One day, Umi meets a Shun (Junichi Okada).

That's the whole plot of the film. But the couple's romance carries big consequences for their petite world. Shun runs the school newspaper, which is based in the old clubhouse. When he's not making stencils and printing the headlines,...

Kids On A Bike: Goro’s Seaside Sophomore Effort Floats

Being the son of animation’s unequivocal living master who’s body of work ranks among the greatest cinematic creations ever made, Goro Miyazaki understandably had much trepidation about taking up his father, Hayao’s craft. When he finally succumbed to the family business after being approached by Toshio Suzuki, one of Studio Ghibli’s longest running producorial collaborators, neither Ghibli’s seasoned animators or the majesty of the company’s lineage could save Goro’s paltry debut, Tales from Earthsea. Notably missing Hayao’s direct involvement thanks to familiar disagreements, the film, rich with dragons and magic, became one of the least enchanting releases of Ghibli’s generally pristine catalog. Approaching Goro’s sophomore effort with the same apprehension he began his directorial career, with doubts of creative significance lingering in the long, overbearing shadow of his father, we...

On Sunday, the awards for the 3rd Nippon Theater Staff Film Festival were presented to the winners at a ceremony in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo. The awards are voted on by cinema staff members from all over Japan.

Mao Inoue took home the award for Best Actress for her performance in Izuru Narushima’s Rebirth (Youkame no Semi), playing a woman who’s forced to deal with her unusual upbringing, having been kidnapped as an infant.

Masami Nagasawa took home the Best Supporting Actress award for Love Strikes! (Moteki), but she was unable to attend due to her filming schedule. In a written statement, she referred to her immersion in the world of film as a “blissful time”.

The big winner was Koki Mitani’s comedy A Ghost of a Chance, which was responsible for three separate awards - Best Movie, Best Director, and Best Supporting actor.

Here’s the full list...