Category Archives: anime

Otakon 2026 Interview: Studio BONES Co-Founder Minami Masahiko

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Minami Masahiko is one of the founders of Studio BONES and was at Otakon to promote an upcoming 2027 Okinawa Animation Festival, scheduled for January 29–31. This interview was conducted on July 31, 2026.

Thank you for this interview. You are one of the founders of BONES, but you had a long career before that as well.

You—or rather, a version of you—appears in the drama Aoi Honoo. Have you seen it before, and what did you think of your depiction?

This is a live-action drama series based on a manga, and the author is Shimamoto Kazuhiko-sensei, a classmate of mine in my college years. I heard from him that I should treat it as fiction based on our time in college, and I think it should be viewed as fiction. Some parts are exaggerated.

The original Eureka Seven is one of my favorite anime, and I’ve had the opportunity to interview both Director Kyoda and Kawamori Shoji. But I wanted to hear your perspective as to what it was like to bring this project together.

I originally worked for Sunrise, which created a lot of original robot animation, and later on I worked as a producer on Mobile Fighter G Gundam. Building original robot animation myself is something I find very fulfilling, and when it comes to making a year-long series, I find it’s extremely important to collaborate with lots of different people.

Speaking of Sunrise, you worked as a producer on various titles, and I wanted to know what it was like for you working with Director Tomino, Director Imagawa, and Director Takahashi Ryousuke

First, when it comes to Director Tomino and Zeta Gundam, I only worked in production management for one episode. For G Gundam, I worked as producer, and for Layzner, I actually worked on production management but was also rotating that role with different teams.

To give a little bit more context, back during this period, the vital thing about original robot animation was the “plastic model/toy/merchandising” model So it was important to understand two pillars/aspects, as a toy product but also as an original work. What’s really memorable is that all three of these directors took this challenge very seriously.

It seems you worked the most with Director Imagawa. Would you be able to explain in detail how he dealt with this balance?

Back with G Gundam, this was the era of laser disc and DVD—Blu-ray hadn’t come out yet. But while we had to think about the business of packaging the show for those formats, shows were produced fundamentally with the television broadcast in mind. G Gundam‘s big sponsor was Bandai, and when it came to a work with the “Gundam” name, it was a matter of when the next Gundam would come out. G Gundam is a Gundam with a lot of Gundams from all over the world, and the timing with which they appeared was tied up with when the merchandise would be available. Within that, Director Imagawa is a man with a lot of great ideas, and he was focused on how to insert originality and drama into the story’s setting.

I have one more question: From a producer standpoint, what is the advantage of doing an original work over an adaptation?

First off, when it comes to works based on something, originality is derived from the creators So when we work on animated adaptations of existing work we have to think about how we can maximize the appeal of the work in animation through artistic and creative expressions. That’s our top priority.

On the other hand, when it’s our wholly original work, the sense of originality lies with us as the creators. We think about how to incorporate the appeal of animation as we proceed with the project planning—how we can incorporate the themes and also how we as the project creators can more effectively convey the work through animation.

Thank you!

Brief Thoughts on The Water Magician

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The Water Magician is the kind of series that won’t necessarily convince an isekai hater to check it out, but it’s got enough going that it’s approachable for those who are more neutral or ambivalent. I think what makes the difference for me is that Ryo, the titular magician, has a kind personality capable of outshining his inherently overpowered nature.

It makes you want to see him come in and kick ass when the other heroes are on the ropes, because it feels like his rescues come in addition to generally helping others better themselves. And because he’s so strong, it stands out all the more when an opponent can actually make him sweat. 

Ryo is an emotional support isekai hero, and that’s a fine thing to be. The slick action scenes don’t hurt either. 

Mecha vs. Isekai and Self-Examination of Power Fantasies

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A few years ago, I asked whether loving a genre was like supporting a local sports team. It was  a question that sprung out of the realization that while I’d been quite critical of isekai for just being so full of samey works that follow the formula or “defy” it in the shallowest ways possible, I reveled in the weird and obscure mediocrity of giant robot anime throughout its history. I wondered whether this was an arbitrary bias that came from me simply choosing “mecha” as my team.

More recently, however, I’ve come to think there is a difference. Namely, I find there to be a major shortcoming of modern isekai in that it very consistently fails to scrutinize and investigate its own power fantasy. That’s not to say good isekai stories aren’t told or that one has to be self-critical; I can name plenty I’ve enjoyed and even consider myself a fan of. However, the most you often get is “reincarnation into a supposedly weak being that is actually secretly strong” or “the reincarnated are extra amazing but it comes with drawbacks” or “This is an excuse for a cozier title,” or at most maybe “What if reincarnated heroes affect the other world negatively?” When you compare isekai fare to what we get from giant robots, there’s such a stark contrast. Even if you set aside titles that are famous for presenting wrinkles to its characters’ vast abilities, there are also so many smaller mecha titles that at least try to be a little bit introspective, or if not, the giant robot is a power that must be learned and mastered over time.

Granted, all this was historically done in mecha while trying to sell viewers merch, and many of the works that did challenge tropes did so as a way to not fully succumb to that capitalist engine. G Gundam had staff that purposely tried to make robot designs that would be hard to adapt into model kits. Tomino Yoshiyuki directed works like Zambot 3, Gundam, and Ideon to  “break patterns” set by previous series and to do more with the genre:

“In anime, you can only express drama through cinematic functions. But why do people think that when a robot shows up, it instantly becomes ‘robot anime’ and you’re not creating drama anymore? That’s my question. There are also people like that, who don’t get drama, among the sponsors. To them, robot anime is only about things like robots in action, docking, and new robots appearing. That’s why Gundam was canceled.”

The late Nagahama Tadao (Combattler V, Voltes V, Daimos) wasn’t quite so subversive, but he still wanted to make good stories for children. Tomino, speaking about what he learned from Nagahama in 2009, said:

“I worked with director Nagahama for several years before Gundam, and what I learned from him was the sense of right in stories aimed towards children. When creating works for children, it should not be biased in one way or another or leaning more in a political sense, but to provide a very pure and good story.”

Perhaps I’ve simply not been exposed enough to isekai creators and their thoughts, but I don’t feel this struggle against the profit engine or to break established patterns. In fact, in modern times, I get a greater sense that they want to just support the power fantasy thoroughly and play into the patterns completely, and much of what came before that is housed in titles that are shoujo or at least lean towards a female audience: Magic Knight Rayearth, Vision of Escaflowne, Twelve Kingdoms, etc.

To go back to the sports team analogy, it is notable that the New York Knicks won the 2026 NBA championships this year. I admittedly never followed basketball very closely, but I know how despite the 53-year drought that they managed to overcome, they also have gotten close to the top on a few occasions, providing glimmers of hope here and there before the big one. In the context of mecha, I feel like those bright spots—those works that take a deeper and more intelligent look at the inherent power fantasy of mecha—help to make the mediocre (and worse) titles more charming. I don’t expect a genre to be constantly undermining its own established rules, but I like to think of those rules as building blocks, and the less generic things get, the more potential there is for something to be done with—and to—these building blocks.

I hope that I can someday feel a similar way about isekai.

PS: Completely off-topic, but talking about the Knicks and giant robots, I feel obliged to post the classic Mango Sentinel:

Soul of Chogokin Godmars and Respect for the Late Murakami Katsushi

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A trip to Japan earlier this year put me in a great position to buy things I had put off because of the whole tariffs fiasco, and I came out of it with a Soul of Chogokin Shinkalion E5 Hayabusa. But I also had some extra luggage space and a favorable exchange rate, so after some serious deliberation, I came away with another robot: the Soul of Chogokin Godmars, or more specifically the 50th anniversary edition. 

Rokushin Gattai Godmars is not one of my all-time favorite mecha series, but it is one whose role in history always intrigues me. As an early work that developed a large female following and was even a Comic Market doujin darling, it’s essentially the predecessor to shows like Gundam Wing. Granted, none of that factors into the robot merch, but another part of the legacy of Godmars is that its original toy sold very well—enough for the show itself to end up over 60 episodes.

While the Soul of Chogokin version sacrifices some of the ease of playability for a more pleasing visual aesthetic that tries to capture the heroic proportions of the anime version, one thing shines through: Godmars is an inherently entertaining design for hands-on play. While it’s infamously lacking in terms of animation quality—Godmars moves more like a slide show than a fighting hero—that goes out the window when you take in its simplicity and elegance. The six individual robots are fun, joining them together is satisfying, and the resulting combination just looks awesome. The fact that it manages to have such a nice aesthetic with virtually no sharp or angular parts jutting out is impressive in its own way. After getting jabbed over and over putting together the Shinkalion, this was a welcome change. 

With a lot of combining giant robot toys and figures, you can tell that they prioritize either the separate robots or the unified robot assembled from them. In the case of Godmars, however, I find that it strikes a really strong balance between the constituent parts and the unified whole. 

SoC Godmars came out in 2008, and there are aspects of the toy that show its age. The fists are awkward in that they are off-center on the forearm due to the way they fold into the robots that form Godmars’s arms. The legs also have very little articulation, and a lot of the techniques used in later years to allow things like kneeling positions and more dynamic posing just aren’t present here. I don’t consider those deal breakers, though, and I think the reason that it keeps getting reissued and updated is because the design holds up well even 18 years later.

This past week, reports came out that the original designer of Godmars, Murakami Katsushi, passed away on July 20. Not only was he the mind behind the Godmars design, but his influence extends heavily across Japanese pop culture in its anime, tokusatsu, and toys—so much so that he is called the “Father of Chogokin” and is one of the reasons anime has a “mecha designer” credit in the first place. Among his works are Leopardon from the Japanese Spider-Man, Gavan, Combattler V, Cy-Kill from Gobots, Dancouga, and Reideen. His mecha thrilled children and continue to fascinate adults as a visual and tactile experience. While this review is of the Soul of Chogokin version of one design, it’s clear that a lot of what makes it a success can be found in the original DNA provided by Murakami.

A Beaver, a Hong Kong Classic, and Three Ways to Title a Movie

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I recently remembered the Chinese Beaver meme, in which someone animated a beaver-like creature over a scene from John Woo’s A Better Tomorrow with actor Chow Yun-Fat. I ended up watching that animation over and over, both in Mandarin (as the short was first presented) and in Cantonese (the original language of the actual film). 

Mandarin

Cantonese

There are interesting differences in the two versions of Chinese, not least of which is Chow Yun-Fat’s intensity. Part of it feels like the actor’s ability, and part of it feels like the contours of the Cantonese language itself.

Ultimately, I decided to actually watch the movie itself. And yeah, it really is a classic of Hong Kong cinema that explores a lot about different perspectives toward justice and redemption in the world of organized crime, all while providing the visceral thrill of gunfire and action scenes John Woo is famous for.

But one thing I noticed about A Better Tomorrow is how different the name of the movie is in Chinese: Ying Hung Bun Sik, or “True Colors of a Hero.” This is par for the course, as a lot of what makes a title aesthetically pleasing differs between the two languages. Most other releases in other languages are based on these two titles, but one notable exception is Japanese, which presents the film as Otoko-tachi no Banka, or “The Men’s Elegy.”

You have three different titles for the same movie that present it in somewhat different lights by focusing on different aspects. A Better Tomorrow sounds like the movie is about hope for redemption, whether unfulfilled or otherwise. True Colors of a Hero makes it seem like the movie is about getting to the cores of its men and what they’re really made of in hard times. The Men’s Elegy places the emphasis on the intersection between masculinity and tragedy in a kind of macho yet emotionally expressive fashion. And all of those things are in the film!

I’m not about to argue some kind of cultural essentialism, but I do wonder if this variation in titles comes from attempts to target the particular demographics that come with each language. Do they give the audience a different impression while viewing it, or does it ultimately not matter compared to the contents of the film? 

Strong Summer Sun: Ogiue Maniax Status Update for August 2026

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July was the start of a new anime season, and what an incredible summer lineup. I’m actually worried that I don’t have enough time to watch everything I’d like, which includes Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongol, Ghost in the Shell (2026), Goodbye Lara, Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games, and so on. And that’s not even mentioning how good Star Detective Precure! has been. I’ll have to pick and choose my battles, and have enough faith in myself that I’ll circle back around to watch what I couldn’t get to initially.

You may have noticed that the past month’s blog posts have been even more VTuber-tacular than normal. There just happened to be a number of concert streams I watched and wanted to review before their watch periods expired, and the result is my heaviest month in terms of that subject matter. I don’t expect the same will happen in August.

Here are this month’s special Patreon members, whom I thank for their support:

General:

Ko Ransom

Diogo Prado

Alex

Dsy

Sue Hopkins fans:

Serxeid

Hato Kenjirou fans:

Elizabeth

Yajima Mirei fans:

Machi-Kurada

Blog Highlights from July

Two-Hit Combos: hololive EN 4th Concert “Serendipity”

I didn’t attend in person this time, but I still enjoyed the hell out of hololive EN’s 4th concert.

Juufuutei Raiden Has a Thunderbolt Fantasy Collab?!

Now this was unexpected! Two of my favorite things, together? I hope this draws more eyes to both Thunderbolt Fantasy and hololive.

A Spirit for Revenge, the Sculpted Physique of a Pollo: Rooster Fighter

Rooster Fighter surprised me in the best way. I hope you check out this review and the series.

Kio Shimoku

Kio Shimoku Twitter Highlights July 2026

Kio gives some thoughts about new versions of old classics.

Closing

A new hololive mobile game came out, and while it’s pretty fun, I’m wary of the way these things try to monopolize all my attention. I actively have tried to avoid doing dailies because I know they’re an insidiously easy time sink. I’ll have to let you all know if I’ve fallen victim to its charms by September.

Also, by the time this goes out, Otakon will be wrapping up. Hope it was a good con for all attending!

Kio Shimoku Twitter Highlights July 2026

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This month, Kio visits the Afternoon exhibit and gives thoughts about the new Ghost in the Shell anime.

Kio dreads (correctly) the chances of Japan getting through the World Cup when their potential path includes Brazil, Morocco, and France.

https://twitter.com/kioshimoku1/status/2073795500185383116
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Genderswap character art for Kio’s Star Wars parody, Sister Wars. Luke Skywalker was raised as a boy (father is Padmé, mother is Anakin), Han is basically Han, and Leia is an otoko no ko.

Kio explains that Sister Wars is not necessarily a “genderswap” alternate universe but one where only girls are allowed to become Jedi, and to defy that, some hide their gender.

Kio watched the new Ghost in the Shell and was grinning all the way through.

“If we say it’s all technically Ghost in the Shell, can we adapt all of Masamune Shirow’s works?”

Wishing fellow manga artist Kusada a happy birthday. (Kio interacts with Kusada pretty often.)

Kio likes the Dodge Danko anime.

https://twitter.com/kioshimoku1/status/2076689010588868704

Kio is impressed by Asano Inio’s 3D modeling of a room and shows his own attempt at 3D modeling he gave up on.

The official account for the mascot of anime store Fantasista reposts Kio’s drawing of her. She recommends everyone read Hashikko Ensemble.

Kio excited about the television airing schedule for Patlabor EZY File 2.

After the World Cup finals, Kio gives his thoughts. He’s impressed by Messi as always. He also finds it interesting that what ultimately overcame Argentina was not the power, technique, and speed of France, but rather the way Spain evaded and made Argentina crumble. He also jokes that defeating Argentina meant engaging in duels rather than playing a game.

Showing off the photo spot for the Genshiken exhibit at the Afternoon 40th Anniversary exhibit. According to Kio, it’s the color spread from a particular chapter.

Some ads for the exhibit, featuring Genshiken and Big Wind-Up.

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Kio at the exhibit!

The 2026 Ghost in the Shell adapts the manga chapters “Revolt of the Robots” and “The Making of a Cyborg” in a pretty direct manner, which is pretty surprising to Kio. He thinks they worked well adapting to anime, and he likes the conversation between Batou and the Fuchikoma.

Kio finds the use of Ohtsuka Akio (the original voice of Batou) here interesting in a funny way.

Phew, the Witch Hat Atelier Anime Turned Out Amazing

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One of my most anticipated anime adaptations of the past few years was Witch Hat Atelier. The manga is, without exaggeration, one of the greatest masterpieces of comics and fiction in general for how wonderfully it weaves together great characters, a fascinating world, and a powerful story that both excites readers and challenges us to think about difficult philosophical and political questions.

But while production on an anime was officially confirmed back in April 2022, it only came out in April 2026 after multiple delays—including one that was declared to be “to present the charm of the project at an even higher quality.” That’s literally four years for this thing to get out in the world, and I would expect people to ask, “Does it even live up to the hype after so long?”

The answer is a resounding “hell yes.” If you haven’t ever read the manga, this is a fantastic opportunity to get into one of the best works of fiction you’ll ever see. And if you have read the original manga by Shirahama Kamome, this anime does such a fantastic job of bringing it to the screen that you will likely want to see how the characters and the world move, breathe, and live. Also, while it’s more or less a direct adaptation, it does add a few things here and there that help it work better in animation.

Over the decades, there have been so many anime based on gorgeously drawn manga that have utterly failed to capture what makes their art so exquisite, and there was always a fear in me that Witch Hat Atelier would suffer the same fate. Seeing it all in motion lifted a weight off my heart, and renewed some of my faith in the industry. I know not every manga will be this fortunate, but I’m glad we have such a great example of when things go right. 

Juufuutei Raiden Has a Thunderbolt Fantasy Collab?!

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Juufuutei Raden watching a video of herself, which has an elaborate puppet version of her on screen.

I never expected a crossover between the Taiwan-Japan puppet series Thunderbolt Fantasy and arts and culture VTuber Juufuutei Raden of hololive, but it seems the world favors me specifically. 

Raden recently showed on stream a video of her trip to Taiwan and a visit to Pili: the studio behind Thunderbolt Fantasy with a long history of doing elaborate, action-packed puppet shows for TV and film. It’s a perfect fit for Raden, who not only has degrees in art and art history, but whose enthusiasm for the topics has helped drive traffic to galleries, and is even currently doing collaborations with museums around the world. They even made a special Raden puppet, based on the yandere princess Cháo Fěng.

I actually interviewed Pili last year at Anime Central, where they screened the finale of Thunderbolt Fantasy. (You’ll even see some of the same faces that appear in Raden’s video!) I got a lot of insight into their thought process and methods, but this video tour along with Raden’s own commentary provides some awesome new details that help give me an even better understanding. For example, there’s a lot of footage about puppet construction, including how they paint the faces and how they construct the weapons from acrylic. I didn’t know they use 3D printers to make the models either!

The video is only in Japanese, so unfortunately, not everyone is going to be able to understand what’s being said. However, there are a lot of visual details that I think it’s still a learning experience worth watching.

As part of this collab, the Raden puppet will be on display in Yurakucho, Tokyo July 25–August 9, where they’ll be selling limited edition merch! Right now, it looks like the only way to get anything, and I won’t lie when I say I’m really tempted to try, despite tariffs and all the other headaches right now. An exhibition will also follow in Taipei from September 12–October 12.

She also did a watchalong of the first season!

Incidentally, one of Pili’s other works was recently released officially in English on blu-ray: Legend of the Sacred Stone. I hope this opens up a path for a physical release of Thunderbolt Fantasy too, and the long-shot prospect of getting to see the Raden puppet in person as well.

A Spirit for Revenge, the Sculpted Physique of a Pollo: Rooster Fighter

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Rooster Fighter is an anime and manga whose title is both self-explanatory and woefully inadequate for capturing its full scope. The rooster indeed fights, but he also does so much more.

Cut from the same cloth as classic manly action series like Fist of the North Star and Golgo 13, the simple twist of Rooster Fighter is that its gruff and grizzled hero is the literal cock of the walk. Keiji is a chicken seemingly without peer, and the very fact of his existence could be enough to carry a comedy series. However, as tongue-in-cheek as it can be, Rooster Fighter plays itself mostly straight, and the result is a surprisingly good overarching story that continuously escalates and delivers shock and awe in the best ways. 

My initial impression just from promotional material was that this chicken is much larger than normal, a la Chicken Boo. I was wrong; he’s a normal-sized bird. So what does this small Rooster Fighter fight? Why, giant house-sized Demons of course. How does he fight them? With talons, but also a super cock-a-doodle-doo beam (or kokkekoko in Japanese). Why is he fighting Demons? Because one of them kidnapped his little sister. Of course.

The series is somehow able to hit every trope you can think of while also feeling oddly fresh and exciting. For example, Keiji slowly gathers a crew (whether he wants to or not), and they pretty much slot in perfectly with Kenshiro’s group. You have the kid sidekick, the girl who’s more about gadgets and intelligence, and so on…yet while they certainly give Keiji the biggest spotlight, the rest of the team is shown accomplishing feats and making up for his oversights and shortcomings. On top of that, every twist is legitimately surprising, possibly because “standard character detail or story development” takes on an added wrinkle when you follow it with “and also they’re all chickens.” For instance, the hen can communicate with humans using a smartphone???!

Rooster Fighter is a ridiculous work, but the most ridiculous thing of all is how legitimately good it is. If you turned everyone into humans and kept everything largely the same, you would still end up with a well above average battle series. Making everyone a bunch of cluckers elevates it beyond satire and irony into the realm of hyper sincerity, where most series wish they could be.