A Hardy Developer's Journal – as written by indie adventure game developers

Layton and Luke are invited to a mysterious opera called “The Eternal Kingdom”

From the get-go, it is pretty clear that one of the main objectives of making the film was marketing the Professor Layton puzzle games. The DVD opens briskly with a trailer for Professor Layton and the Lost Future (you should skip it, if you haven’t finished the game yet!). But what about the movie itself? Is it more than just a marketing tool?
Can it stand on its own? (more…)

Hayao Miyazaki’s Laputa: Castle in the Sky was Studio Ghiblis’ debut in terms of feature films and is considered a great homage to Jules Verne and Jonathan Swift‘s Gulliver’s Travels – an acknowledged inspiration.

The film starts with a neck breaking sequence of gunshots and bottles to the head as a young girl – Sheeta – attempts to escape her captors from a dirigible. (more…)

This is one of my favorite movies, regardless of the fact that it’s an anime. It also happened to be the movie to  introduce me to the genius of Satoshi Kon, but let’s take it from the start. For those who haven’t seen the movie, feel free to read as there aren’t any spoilers.
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Following our recent review of a disturbing horror production, I decided to write about a disturbing horror production of a different sort – a certain indie anime feature film.  I know what you’re thinking – anime films trying to shock the viewer with all sorts of nastiness and breaking all sorts of taboos are actually dime a dozen, but rarely offer anything interesting beyond having those ambitions. Midori aka Shoujo Tsubaki is different. For once, it was all written, drawn and animated in the course 5 years by a single man – a certain Hiroshi Harada, who was a recognized professional animator in the 70s and 80s, but grew disgruntled over the conservatism of the big studios and went solo once he was able to afford it. (more…)

This original anime series of Captain Harlock from the 70s was my first direct contact with Leiji Matsumoto‘s work. Before watching it I was certainly intrigued by glimpses at the well-known creator’s unique style, but couldn’t really figure out which series from his very large and interconnected body of work was the best point to get started.

What ultimately led me to Space Pirate Captain Harlock was the composer of its music – Seiji Yokoyama – whose work I loved from the anime Saint Seiya and I was actively looking for another production that used his talents. I can right away reveal that I wasn’t disappointed by his work here either – a sometimes epic and sometimes nostalgic soundtrack perfect for illustrating the times of great battles, of great heroes and the vastness, beauty, but also loneliness and sadness of space. (more…)

Being a big fan of the original Captain Harlock TV series from the 70s I looked forward to the new breed of Leji Matsumoto‘s productions. Unfortunately I was mostly disappointed in the way they treated the well known characters and in the quality of storytelling in general. Cosmo Warrior Zero is one of the very few to be actually true to the origins and at the same time presenting some fresh, interesting ideas.

For Harlock fans the very premise is a treat already. We follow Captain Warrius Zero who is a sworn enemy of Captain Harlock and promises to give everything he’s got to hunt down the legendary pirate. The conflict is grounded in the different ways the two men perceive where their honor and duties lie, so it won’t be settled just by the revelation they both have good intentions and qualities they respect a lot. (more…)

the good (very good in fact) anime to watch and its main heroes - Galaxy Express 999

What you know, I’ve just learned about a place where you can legally watch some good (and bad) classic anime (as classic as it gets) on the internet. Specifically some of the series that I will be writing about in this blog. I decided this qualifies for a worthwhile news as those anime titles aren’t easy to come by in every part of the world. On the other hand, I’m a bit embarrassed to recommend the website (more…)