Isao Takahata: FINALLY a book in English

Cover of the book The Many Worlds of Isao Takahata. A warm brown background has a banner image about half an inch below the top of the cover. The image from The Tale of the Princess Kaguya shows Kaguya, a young Japanese woman in an Edo-era pink kimono, laughing as she catches falling cherry blossom petals. The title and author information is below in the same soft pink as her kimono.

The great Isao Takahata, without whom the Hayao Miyazaki we know would not exist, was and remains an influential figure in Japanese animation. Finally, a book in English explores his work and gives a clear picture of how and why …