Many films often depict the “superhero of justice” with conceptual uncertainty about the icon. While 009 RE: CYBORG (Dir. Kenji, Kamiyama,2012) is classified as a film of that sort, it presents a different view of the issue of justice in a peculiar way with images and sounds. Referring to the Critique of Violence (Benjamin) and Force de Loi (Derrida), I examine the peculiarity of the film as putting into question the representation of violence,integrated with the function of concealment, which forms a pivotal condition to realize the concept of “justice.” In the film, the question of justice is developed in the two dominant manners of expression: (1) the auditory composition of “His Voice” that compels the listener to violently execute justice, and (2) the visual composition of “Angels” that lead the protagonist, Joe, to establish a new relationship with His Voice, thus releasing himself from a mere execution of justice. Based on the analysis of them, this article concludes that the representation of the hero in the animation film effectively resists the execution of justice, as well as addressing the presence of it.

This essay aims to clarify Satoshi Kon’s personality, the creative process of the animation works he directed, and the interrelations between the person and his directorial work, applying a life story approach and employing life history as a qualitative research method based on historical materials, such as Kon’s animation works, storyboards, diaries, blogs, websites, essays, audio commentaries, and articles. As a result, it is made clear that Satoshi Kon attempted to establish his identity and expressed himself through his profession as an animation film directorin collaboration with his colleagues.

Kon continuously created innovative animation films by expanding his imagination through drawing. His ideas sprang from confrontation with reality, mostly in the form of unexpected events or incidentalencounters. He was particularly influenced by Susumu Hirasawa’s music and Yasutaka Tsutsui’s novels, whose world views he animated in his works. Furthermore, his daily-life impressions also went into his works. This essay reaches the conclusion that Satoshi Kon’s pursuitof meanings in his life led him to continuously deal with them as themes of his animation works.

Japanese CGI animation has only recently become popular in its domestic market. In 2014, topical movies such as Rakuen Tsuiho: Expelled from Paradise and Stand by Me, Doraemon were released, and TV series such as Knights of Sidonia and Ronia the Robberʼs Daughter were broadcast. The second decade of the 21st century sees more CGI animation films produced and released with an increasing number of their audience than the beginning of the century. Furthermore, CGI animators have improved their skills, which has led to high-quality CGI animation, appealing to the Japanese market. In this paper, I analyze the trends of CGI animation in the Japanese market, focusing on Rakuen Tsuiho: Expelled from Paradise.

The Czech director Jiří Brdečka, consideredas one of the masters of world animation inthe 1960sand 1970s,has beenforgotten forthe last thirty years becauseof the unavailability of his films. This essayaims at redressing the oblivion,discussing the inspiration, the styleand the times of the filmmaker, whom we could consider “the ErnstLubitsch of animation.”