One of the biggest things that intrigued me about Tekkon Kinkreet is not just the reception it already received in Japan, nor the fact that it was produced by Studio 4ºC (Though that is the major reason I first took notice of this movie), but the fact that it was directed by an American. A rookie American director, at that. Though Micheal Arias has lived in Japan for 15 years and has worked with Studio 4ºC in the past on projects like the Animatrix, this is the time a westerner was at the helm of a Japanese animated feature.

And, more importantly, AniPages Daily has an excellent interview with the man! There's also information after the interview about the premier of the movie in New York City on April 25-30 for those who are in the area.

Normally, I don't have many anticipated up-and-coming anime that I'm waiting for. I seem to have more of a wait-and-see attitude, and often will wait until others of watched and discussed the anime before I start watching. As it is, I already have quite a backlog of anime waiting to be watched. I find that this serves me well, and it's rare that I watch an anime that disappoints me. But sometimes, based on previous experiences with certain creators or an intriguing concept, I'll find myself looking forward to several animes, like right now. There's a number of anime, mostly films, coming out of Japan that I am keeping an eye out for.

Courtesy of this post on the CGSociety forums.

In the past year, I've been made aware of an animation company named Studio 4℃ which is known to create rather experimental and unusual anime that is often not well known outside of Japan, well, except for Memories, Spriggan, The Animatrix and Steamboy that is. Unfortunately, it's the work that doesn't get licensed across the Pacific from Japan that I find to be some of the most brilliant work in anime, including insanely high-energy Noiseman Sound Insect, the violent and absolutely beautiful Comedy, the childishly dark magical-girl series Mahou Shoujo Tai Arusu, or the absolutely brilliant psychological movie Mind Game.

Where am I going with all of this? Well, I tend to follow up and watch whatever Studio 4℃ makes as they have rarely let me down with their work, and they had released a new movie just before Christmas called Tekkon Kinkreet, based on the manga called Black and White.