East Meets West #27: Summer Wars .vs. WarGames

Before Mamoru Hosoda released Summer Wars, the concept of an "evil AI" is a trope that had been explored countless times in Western media over the past decades. Far from the benevolent computer program such as Knight Rider from the eponymous 1983 series, or JARVIS from the Iron Man franchise, this system is one that …

East Meets West #26: Japanese Digimon Movies .vs. Digimon – The Movie

Ooooh, I think it's time for another Digimon post. For this month's East Meets West, I'm going to be doing something that I've never done before here (surprisingly enough): compare the original Japanese version of a particular movie to a dubbed version. You might be wondering why I just don't do this with all the …

East Meets West #25: Little Nemo .vs. Slumberland

Last November, I learned that Netflix released a live-action adaptation of Windsor McCay's Little Nemo comics, and my first response was "What?" It seemed odd that producers would attempt to hash out a modern-day remake of a franchise that's been dormant since 1927; not to mention, how since then many popular movies with a similar …

East Meets West #24: The Disappearance Of Haruhi Suzumiya .vs. It’s A Wonderful Life

It's not uncommon to have an episode of an anime set around the Christmas period, such as in Toradora, Digimon Adventure, and basically every single slice-of-life show (K-On, Lucky Star, Azumanga Daioh to name a few). However, very few worthwhile Christmas anime movies have been made, as opposed to the barrage of Western movies dedicated …

East Meets West #23: Sword Art Online .vs. Ready Player One

Five days prior (6 November 2022) marked the start date of the events of the inaugural Sword Art Online (hereafter SAO) anime. It was on that Sunday when, in the series premiere, 10,000 users would be trapped in the video game world of Aincrad, and forced, under threat of death, to remain there until a …

East Meets West #22: Children Who Chase Lost Voices .vs. Journey To The Center Of The Earth

Jules Verne, the famous 19th-century French author of science-fiction, is not a name foreign to me. As a kid, I used to watch the clumsy 2004 adaptation of one of his stories, Around The World In 80 Days, which featured martial artist Jackie Chan and actor Steve Coogan travelling across Europe, Asia and North America …

East Meets West #21: Sonic The Hedgehog 1996 .vs. Sonic The Hedgehog 2022

Today's comparison covers another video game film, namely that of the Sonic The Hedgehog series. Although many associate his first movie appearance to have occurred in February of 2020, those who are more well-acquainted with his history actually can trace it back to 26 years prior. One could easily forgive this because of how associative …