Word: nobutaka
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...Christmas setting?that gives Tokyo Godfathers its unique character. That even the grittiest scenes possess a careful beauty is the result of meticulous work by Kon's team of artists, considered by many to be the best in the business. Chief among them is Kon's longtime art director Nobutaka Ike. To prepare for the task of rending Tokyo into anim?, Ike spent months prowling the city with a digital camera. In the process he discovered the beauty of Tokyo's grungy, cluttered back alleys?normally passed over by filmmakers in favor of the city's sleek, sterile thoroughfares...
...sense of alienation and desperation deepens with every headline decrying the nation's unemployment rate or senseless schoolyard violence. The collective yearning for someone?anyone?to check the country's spiritual drift is palpable. "People are seeking mental healing during this time of continuous bad news," says Nobutaka Inoue, a professor of religious studies at Tokyo's Kokugakuin University...
...anything other than the traditional Buddhist, Shinto and Christian sects. There is one group whose leader claims that he doesn't need to eat, bathe or sleep because of his superhuman powers; another outfit worships feet. "People are seeking mental healing during this time of continuous bad news," says Nobutaka Inoue, a professor of religious studies at Tokyo's Kokugakuin University...
...Survivor didn't cast Japanese teens. In Battle Royale, a film released in December, youthful miscreants are dropped on a deserted island. Each is given a different weapon--assault rifle, machete, crossbow--and ordered to kill until only one is left standing. Bloodshed--lots of it--ensues. Education Minister NOBUTAKA MACHIMURA had urged the filmmakers to tone down the brutality, while members of parliament sought to ban the film. The bluster led to long lines outside theaters two days before its premiere. As Japan has seen a rash of violent youth crimes recently, the film hits close to home...