In the animated worlds meticulously crafted by Japanese director Naoko Yamada, however, life moves gloriously, realistically slow. Schoolchildren walk at a measured pace, pausing outside their ...

Anime filmmaker Naoko Yamada thinks of herself as a cameraman. “I don’t think of it like anime is made by drawings,” she tells The A.V. Club. “But actual people and actual backgrounds.” ...

Few artists imbue their work with visual empathy the same way director Naoko Yamada does. A master of thoughtful direction and stunning animation that leaps from the screen and into the deep ...

In The Colors Within, the latest animated feature from director Naoko Yamada, auras are real – or at least real to Totsuko. A student at an all-girl Catholic school in Nagasaki, the meek young ...