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100 Meters review – mesmerising anime of young athletes in search of physical and spiritual high
Dazzling rotoscoped running sequences make up for a lack of narrative subtlety in Kenji Iwaisawa’s filmMuch ha…
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Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle review – battle anime brings the visual flair
In the first of a film trilogy, teenage Tanjiro seeks vengeance for his murdered family in what is a great tas…
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Johatsu review – poignant account of Japan’s ‘voluntarily disappeared’
Melancholy documentary follows the owner of a ‘night moving’ business in Japan, helping people abandon their o…
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The Colors Within review – musical teen anime is a synaesthetic joy
Three adolescent misfits form a band in this luminous feature from Liz and the Blue Bird director Naoko Yamada…
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Detective Conan: The Million-Dollar Pentagram review – cult anime goes on wild treasure hunt
The latest outing for the high school sleuth sees him join forces with his arch enemy, a master thief. Despite…
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Spy x Family Code: White review – ingenious espionage antics with special-power family
Popular manga characters receive their first film adaptation as they seek out a villainous colonel and an elus…
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Blue Giant review – electrifying animation captures the ecstasy of live music
A sublime score from Hiromi Uehara drives this coming-of-age-anime, which brings three young jazz musicians to…
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Junk Head review – astonishing stop-motion trip through a nightmarish future
Existential quandaries meet expressionist monsters in Takahide Hori’s dystopian worldEnvisioning a dystopian f…
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Fortune Favours Lady Nikuko review – anime teen embarrassed by ‘Meaty Lady’ mum
Director Ayumu Watanabe navigates the growing pains of a young girl, coping with life on a houseboat with her …
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The Deer King review – Studio Ghibli graduates take on dystopian deer tamer saga
Two grandees of Japanese animation adapt a Nahoko Uehashi fantasy novel that covers too much ground to take fl…
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Fruits Basket: Prelude review – heartrending anime series gets the ending no one deserves
A laboured recap and unsettling romance frustrates a potentially engrossing plot in a coda that might be offpu…
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Pompo: The Cinephile review – a cliched manga love letter to movie-making
Takayuki Hirao’s animated feature is set in the fictional Nyallywood, where a B-movie producer in pigtails and…
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Jujutsu Kaisen 0 review – sorcerer anime series gets a spectacular prequel
This masterful coming-of-age tale sees the process of coming to terms with past traumas through a horror-fanta…
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The Witches of the Orient review – very strange but true sports history
Julien Faraut’s documentary recounts how a Japanese women’s volleyball team recruited from factory workers bec…
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Violet Evergarden: The Movie review – a breathtaking return for Kyoto Animation
Stunning visual details, from blooming flowers to morning dew, illustrate our troubled hero’s growth in this b…
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Ride or Die review – bloody revenge and blossoming love in shocking Japanese thriller
A young woman hits the road with the killer of her abusive husband in Ryūichi Hiroki’s adaptation of cult mang…