Best known for Astro Boy, Osamu Tezuka also helped create one of animation’s boldest experiments: the Animerama Trilogy. Comprising A Thousand and One Nights, Cleopatra, and Belladonna of Sadness, these films pushed the boundaries of adult animation with sex, surrealism, and social critique. This essay explores their evolution and legacy.
Tag: Osamu Tezuka
Belladonna of Sadness (1973) – Review
To call Belladonna of Sadness a “movie” feels like calling a cathedral a “building.” It’s a hallucination stretched across 93 minutes. It’s what happens when you paint a nightmare in watercolours and then set it on fire. And yet, despite its hypnotic beauty, this is not an easy watch, nor should it be. At its…
Cleopatra (1970) – Review
Let’s get one thing out of the way: Osamu Tezuka’s Cleopatra is not your average historical epic. It’s also not your average anime. It’s… well, it’s what happens when the “God of Manga” watches Barbarella, chugs a vat of sake, and says, “Let’s do Ben-Hur, but horny and in space-time.”