INTERVIEW: MAMORU OSHII As his long-awaited new film Innocence hits US screens, Midnight Eye had a talk with the unique Mamoru Oshii.

FEATURE: PIONEERS OF JAPANESE ANIMATION
The first part of our in-depth and revealing look at the early days of Japanese animation, in conjunction with the retrospective held at Korea's PIFan Festival.

REVIEWS:
STEAMBOY
To call it anticipated would be an understatement: sixteen years after Akira, Katsuhiro Otomo returns to directing a feature film.

JOURNEY TO THE WEST One of the early colour animations from the Toei studio, based on the legend of Saiyuki, better known to some as the irrepressible Monkey.

CUTIE HONEY Hideaki Anno's candy-coloured live action adaptation of Go Nagai's ribald manga and animation.

ROUND-UP: ANIME SPECIAL A quartet of films that show the degree of diversity in Japanese animation.

BOOK REVIEW:

STRAY DOG OF ANIME: THE FILMS OF MAMORU OSHII Brian Ruh's groundbreaking first study of the work of one of Japanese cinema's true originals.