Nakama Britannica

This week’s ‘Ghost in the Shell’: What’s inside the Shell? is very short and covers the scene occuring directly after the last scene we critqued which was the scene involving the Puppet Master and Its attempt to define itself, at least if we read between the lines it was practically begging for life in a [...]

This week’s ‘Ghost in the Shell’: What’s inside the Shell critiques one of my favourite scenes from the film. This week we going diving with Kusanagi both in the computerised sense as well as to the bottom of the sea. The scene is a perfect scene and is a representation of the heights that can be [...]

When an iconic anime series comes along, we all tend to sit up and pay attention, whether it be ‘Neon Genesis Evangelion’, ‘ Cowboy Bebop’, or ‘Gurren Lagann’ , to name but three on whose superior qualities critics and fans alike seem to agree. But I’m certain that everyone has their own secret favourite series [...]

This week’s ‘Ghost in the Shell’: What’s inside the Shell? will examine scene three, the scene in which The Republic of Gavel is introduced as a side plot operating as a shroud to distract the viewer from the real story. We also explore scenes four, five and six which are about the hunt for the Puppet Master and its various puppets. The scenes are linked [...]

“In the near future- corporate networks reach out to the stars, electrons and light flow throughout the universe.The advance of computerisation, however, has not yet wiped out nations and ethnic groups.”
Oshii and Shirow have a lot to say in their masterpiece(s). This introductory paragraph is no exception. Setting the scene it illustrates the rate at [...]

I’ve found that often being a fan of anime and manga goes hand-in-hand with an interest in Japanese culture and tradition. The influence Western media has had on them is well-known of course, but to my mind it had more of a bearing on the superficial, aesthetic side of things; from a thematic and character-driven [...]

‘Ghost in the Shell’ is one of the classic anime. It is certainly, and will be in the future, regarded as one of the greatest films of the genre. In many ways Oshii created a philosophically and aesthetically beautiful film. However, just what is inside that beautifully crafted, yet Byzantine, shell? Well, this article is [...]

Having just reviewed the Trinity Blood series, the creativity, or lack of it, in the anime industry - something I often think about, and which my thoughts have been trying to give shape to in the back of my mind recently - seems like an appropriate subject for this article.
It struck me, when the point [...]

Once your eyes have passed over the last few words of this very article, Nakama Britannica will be finished! For a few months, anyway. Having contributed some 28 articles since late April, we intend to enjoy some well-earned holiday for the next few months and will return at some point in October. So, once things [...]

Not the normal kind of question posed by an anime, but Galaxy Express 999 is no ordinary series. On my recent trip to Tokyo, I was lucky enough to visit the animation studio Toei, the people also responsible for One Peice and Dragon Ball Z. Whilst wondering around their gallery I stumbled across the above [...]