Studio 4°C – (Ayumu Watanabe / Michael Arias)
Studio 4°C is one of the most diversified studios featured in this guide. They used to be known primarily for their OVA contributions to collections including The Animatrix, Genius Party, Genius Party Beyond, Batman: Gotham Knight, and Halo Legends, but have in more recent years been expanding their slate of original anime movies. Studio 4°C has numerous TV series, music videos, short films, and even video games under its belt if you want to experience more of their work, but let’s take a look at some of their best orignal anime films.
Ayumu Watanabe
Ayumu Watanabe has been active in the anime industry since the mid-1980s, but he really started to make a name for himself as an anime director by directing some of the yearly Doraemon theatrical films starting in 2003. Since then, Watanabe has showed he can helm dazzling and innovative productions — his star is on the rise and we look forward to him sharing his unique vision for anime for years to come.
Children of the Sea (2019)
Kaijū no Kodomo (海獣の子供)
Review coming soon.
Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko (2021)
Gyokō no Nikuko-chan (漁港の肉子ちゃん) (lit. “Nikuko of the Fishing Harbor“)
Less about Nikuko herself and more of a coming-of-age story about her daughter Kikuko, after a tonally inconsistent first act Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko coalesces into what may have become one of my favourite anime movies. At a high level, the plot follows Kikuko as she experiences standard middle school drama while living on a small house boat with her brash, confident mother Nikuko after having a turbulent childhood moving across Japan as Nikuko followed one failed relationship after another. While generally light-hearted, themes of poverty, trauma, and disability are all surprisingly woven throughout the fabric of the film in ways even more progressive live-action dramas often shy away from. Keep an eye out for multiple references to My Neighbor Totoro spinkled throughout! Fun, poignant, and beautifully animated, Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko‘s message of self-actualization is as important now as ever — do yourself a favour and check out this gem of an anime movie.
Michael Arias
Michael Arias isn’t a very Japanese-sounding name, is it? That would be because ethnically, Arias is a Chicano/Spanish American. He’s been living in Japan for years, though, and is pretty much as Japanese as an American-born person can be. His movies aren’t overly family friendly, but also not super-disturbing, so his works are essentially middle of the road in relation to general family appropriateness.
Tekkon Kinkreet (2006)
Tekkon Kinkurīto (鉄コン筋クリート)
A good many people find beauty in the unique homeliness of the art-style of this anime movie and I am certainly one of them. The real gem here isn’t even the art-direction, but rather the unique and sordid story of two street urchins Kuro (Black) and Shiro (White) as they try to fight crime and deal with their own poverty. The story, while often departing from what one would normally refer to as reality, is truly a tour de force and is both touching and not to be missed. Whether or not you appreciate this anime’s visual style, I would still urge you to do yourself a favour and check it out. This is not an anime for children, but viewers old enough to view R-rated anime are sure to be impressed.