The design and legacy of Kunio Okawara’s Zaku II.
Category: Features
The Most Dangerous Year: Future War 198X
The excitement of the Cold War turned hot, animated on the silver screen! What could go wrong?
AWAKE – Opening Animation of Japan S.P.F.X. Convention III
A largely forgotten example of doujin anime, circa 1984.
Mecha Before Macross: Studio Nue, 1981
A brief look inside one of the most important design studios in the history of Japanese animation.
Like a Pig in Mud: Hayao Miyazaki Goes to War
The World War II manga by one of Japan’s greatest directors.
Masamune Shirow’s Neuro Hard
If you were a fan in the ’90s, you probably remember that people wouldn’t shut up about Shirow. Here’s one series most diehards never got to read.
Katsuhiro Otomo’s Farewell to Weapons
Farewell to Weapons includes many of the hallmarks that would define Otomo’s success: intricate artwork, a post-apocalyptic setting, obsessively-detailed rubble, and man fighting against his own creation.
The Chunky Comfort of Robot Vinyl Toys
Who needs fancy features and detailed accessories, anyways?
The Un-Gunpla: U.C. Hard Graph
First released in 2006, U.C. Hard Graph was a range of kits that focused on everything modern gunpla didn’t (and still doesn’t) bother with. In other words, just about anything that isn’t a giant robot.
FamilySoft’s PC-98 Gundam Games
Beginning with Mobile Suit Gundam: Classic Operation in 1990, FamilySoft would release seven core Gundam simulation titles plus expansions. Of these, only three would feature original stories and a pedigree brought by artists that had previously worked on Gundam anime and manga.