Shigeru Watanabe Movies

Mamoru Oshii's Tachiguishi Retsuden attempts to convey the entire dietary history of Japan via CG animation. ("Tachiguishi" refers to the Japanese concept of "stand and eat," and includes not only traditional hamburger joints, but indigenous beef-and-rice stands found only on Japanese soil.) The underlying concept of the motion picture rests on Oshii's endless quest for the "perfect fast food," and revolves around his conviction that one can shed light on lifestyle and culture by evaluating what individuals consume during a particular period of time. The director thus uses dietary intake as a lens into the Japanese culture, mindset, and way of life -- and as a context for interpreting Japanese history, from the post-WWII era through the late '80s. The "Fast Food Grifters" of the title (who appeared, fleetingly, in the director's previous works, such as Urusei Yatsura and The Red Spectacles) are those who devise crafty means for getting away without paying for "tachiguishi." They embody the heroes of Oshii's film and reflect his satirical view of Japanese society. Aesthetically, because Oshii found both live action and traditional animation incapable of fully exploiting the film's subject, he chose an alternate, third route. The director employs a highly unusual combination of elements that the press release refers to as "3D-CG recreation of a documentary drama of a fictional post-war history staged in a small theater and performed as a simple paper puppet show." In other words, Oshii (notorious as a visual maverick) grounds the motion picture in mockumentary stylistics and approach, but even the seemingly "authentic" archival film clips that he includes are in fact artificial, staged, and created for the sake of the film. He also employs a technique called "superlivemation," whereby real people were photographed, the photographs were digitally processed, and the images were then animated -- a process that took over 20 steps, but yielded a thoroughly unprecedented visual style. Oshii adapted the work from his own novel. It stars Kenji Kawai, Katsuya Terada, Shinji Higuchi, Shoji Kawamori, Toshio Suzuki, and Kenji Kamiyama. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Katsuhiro Otomo, director of the groundbreaking anime feature Akira (1988), returns with this visually striking fusion of the past and the future. It's the Industrial Age in England, reimagined, and various and sundry inventors and scientists are arriving in Britain to hawk their products while capitalism rears its ugly head. A gadget-happy British lad named Ray (voice of Anna Paquin) receives a mysterious package from his grandfather Lloyd Steam (Patrick Stewart) -- a tiny ball that turns out to be an engine toting immense power. As it happens, several of these little balls run the O'Hara pavilion, a massive, mobile fortress. Ray later discovers that his dad and grandfather are located inside of the pavilion; his dad, Eddie, has become mesmerized by O'Hara and subject to their whims, while Lloyd suspects that O'Hara may want to use the balls for nefarious purposes, and tries to put a definitive end to those plans. Indeed, the O'Hara people soon take over the Great Exhibition and turn it into a veritable circus for weapons dealers. Meanwhile, Ray starts to develop feelings for a young girl named Scarlett O'Hara. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

It is the near future, and the line between man and machine has been blurred beyond recognition. Nearly all people are now cybernetically enhanced in some way, and dealing with crime has become a job for a special elite task force called Public Peace Section Nine. Charged with preventing technologically related terrorism, this group of ex-military and police investigate everything from cyber-crimes to murder. Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex takes place in the same universe and follows the same characters as the film Ghost in the Shell and depicts the same gritty, realistic view of Earth's grim urban future. The story takes place after the events of the movie, however, and has a broader focus on the effect of technology on society as a whole, rather than on the individual. The subtitle "Stand Alone Complex" derives from the two distinct kids of episodes that the series includes. Some episodes, clearly marked "Stand Alone" at the beginning, are conclusive within their own plotlines and can be watched independently of each other. Other episodes marked "Complex" are serial in nature and all follow a single story arc revolving around a mysterious figure called The Laughing Man. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide

Jiyu Nanohana is a high school girl turned hero in this 13-episode anime TV series. She is approached by a disciple of Yagyu Jubei, the greatest swordsman in Japan who died 300 years ago, but instructed that his successor be given the birthright of his incredible skills and his heart-shaped eye patch. Jiyu has just moved to a new town and already has her hands full before she finds out that she'll be fending off assassins from a rival clan. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide