Deep Dives
Editorials, essays and analysis.
Studio David Production: The House That JoJo Built
David Production forged one ferociously specific visual signature adapting the manga everyone called unadaptable, and turned that obsession into a brand you can spot in a single frame.
The Idol Anime Boom: From Macross to Oshi no Ko
Idol anime looks like a merchandising scheme with a plot bolted on, so why does it keep producing the medium's most durable franchises and most acclaimed dramas? The case for the format that refuses to die.
The Sakuga Tradition: When Anime Animation Becomes the Story
'Sakuga' is anime's word for animation so good it stops the show, a look at the craft, the star animators behind it, and the fan culture it built.
Studio A-1 Pictures: The Everywhere Studio
A-1 Pictures made Sword Art Online, Kaguya-sama, and Solo Leveling, so why can nobody picture an 'A-1 anime'? The case for the studio whose signature is having none.
Mamoru Hosoda: The Director Who Turned Family Into Spectacle
How Mamoru Hosoda built the modern family film, fusing intimate domestic drama with sprawling digital fantasy from Wolf Children to Belle.
How Anime Conquered the Global Box Office
From Your Name to Demon Slayer: Mugen Train to The Boy and the Heron, how anime went from arthouse curiosity to a global box-office force.
Shinichiro Watanabe: The Director Who Scores Anime Like Music
From Cowboy Bebop to Lazarus, Shinichiro Watanabe builds anime around its soundtrack. Music, rather than plot, powers his work.
The Long-Runner: Why Some Anime Keep Going
Anime that seem endless follow a form of their own, shaped by weekly broadcast economics. Filler is part of the cost of keeping that machine running.
CloverWorks and the Shape of Modern Anime
CloverWorks handles warm romance as comfortably as gothic horror. It also gambles on formal experiments that go viral, leaving its refusal to settle on one signature as the best case for the studio.