Enter the Anime is a 2019 American–Japanese documentary film. It features Tania Nolan trying to explain the popularity of anime by interviewing Shinji Aramaki, Kôzô Morishita and Yoko Takahashi, the creators behind well-known productions like Castlevania, Aggretsuko and Kengan Ashura.[1][2][3] The documentary was released by Netflix on August 5, 2019.
| Enter the Anime | |
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 Film poster | |
| Directed by | Alex Burunova |
| Written by |
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| Produced by |
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| Starring |
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| Narrated by | Tania Nolan |
| Cinematography | Yohei Tateishi |
| Distributed by | Netflix |
Release date |
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Running time | 58 minutes |
| Countries | United States, Japan |
| Languages | English, Japanese |
Plot
editTania Nolan interviews anime creators, saying at the beginning of the film that she does not know anything about anime.[4] Nolan's goal is to teach herself what anime is and how Japanese culture can produce such animation. The film depicts interviews with people who worked on anime series that were licensed by Netflix. The first person Nolan interviews is Adi Shankar, who was the executive producer of the anime-inspired Castlevania series.[4] All of the interviewees have worked on Netflix licensed series, but no anime that is not licensed by Netflix is mentioned.[3] An early article by Geek.com stated that the documentary would help people who are new to anime learn about it, although reviews published after the film's release disagreed with this assessment.[4][3][5][6][7]
Release
editEnter the Anime was released on August 5, 2019, on Netflix streaming.[8]
Reception
editEnter the Anime was panned by critics. Brian Costello of Common Sense Media wrote, "Any potentially interesting discussion on the history of anime, Japanese culture, and the creative processes of anime's greatest artists is short-circuited by the obnoxious presentation and bombastic overproduction".[6] John Serba, writing for Decider, stated, "Enter the Anime is such thinly disguised promotional content, it's like throwing a twin-sized bedsheet over a nuclear missile and insisting it's just a firecracker".[3] A review by John Maher of Thrillist says, "Anything that has the potential to bring in new fans to the medium is a positive, even an effort this misbegotten. But Enter the Anime is a documentary that fails every audience, refusing to explain anything fans don't know and offering no context for curious outsiders".[7]
References
edit- ^ Thakurta, Anish (July 21, 2019). "Enter the Anime Netflix Documentary to unravel the World of Anime". The Geek Herald. Archived from the original on July 22, 2019. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
- ^ Chin, Mallory (July 17, 2019). "Netflix's 'Enter the Anime' Documentary Explores the History and Rise of the Genre". Hype Beast. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
- ^ a b c d Serba, John (August 6, 2019). "Stream It Or Skip It: 'Enter the Anime' on Netflix, a Netflix-produced Documentary About How Great Netflix Anime Is". Decider. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
- ^ a b c Baron, Reuben (August 6, 2019). "Review: Netflix's Enter the Anime Is the Cringiest Anime Doc in Ages". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
- ^ Valera, Stephanie (August 1, 2019). "'Enter the Anime': New Netflix Documentary Explores History of Anime". Geek.com. Archived from the original on August 7, 2019. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
- ^ a b Costello, Brian (August 6, 2019). "Enter the Anime". Common Sense Media. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
- ^ a b Maher, John (August 6, 2019). "Do Not, Under Any Circumstance, 'Enter the Anime'". Thrillist. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
- ^ Enter the Anime. Netflix.
