WATCH ANIME: Made in Abyss (2017)

Made in Abyss (Japanese: メイドインアビス Hepburn: Meido in Abisu) is a manga series by Akihito Tsukushi about a young girl who finds and befriends a humanoid robot and descends with him into the titular Abyss in search of her mother. It has been serialized online in Takeshobo's digital publication Web Comic Gamma since 2012, and has been collected into six tankōbon volumes. An animetelevision series adaptation by Kinema Citrus aired its first season from July 7 to September 29, 2017, and a sequel is in production.

WATCH Coco (2017)

Coco is a 2017 American 3D computer-animated fantasy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures.Based on an original idea by Lee Unkrich, it is directed by Unkrich and co-directed by Adrian Molina. The story follows a 12-year-old boy named Miguel Rivera who is accidentally transported to the land of the dead, where he seeks the help of his deceased musician great-great-grandfather to return him to his family among the living.

The concept for Coco is based on the Mexican holiday of the Day of the Dead. The film was scripted by Molina and Matthew Aldrich from a story by Unkrich, Jason Katz, Aldrich and Molina. Pixar began developing the animation in 2016; Unkrich and some of the film's crew visited Mexico for inspiration. Composer Michael Giacchino, who had worked on prior Pixar animated features, composed the score. The film's voice cast stars Anthony Gonzalez, Gael García Bernal, Benjamin Bratt, Alanna Ubach, Renée Victor, Ana Ofelia Murguía, and Edward James Olmos. Coco is the first-ever motion picture with a nine-figure budget to feature an all-Latino cast, with a cost of $175–200 million.

Coco premiered on October 20, 2017, during the Morelia International Film Festival in Morelia, Mexico. It was theatrically released in Mexico the following week, the weekend before Día de Muertos, and became the highest-grossing film of all-time in the country It was released in the United States on November 22, 2017, and has grossed nearly $745 million worldwide. The film received acclaim for its animation, vocal performances, music, emotional story and respect to Mexican culture. The film was chosen by the National Board of Review as the best animated film of 2017, and earned numerous accolades; it won Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song ("Remember Me"), as well as winning a BAFTA Award, Golden Globe Award, Critic's Choice Movie Award, and Annie Award for the Best Animated Film category.

WATCH ANIME: Knight's and Magic (2017)

Knight's & Magic (Japanese: ナイツ＆マジック Hepburn: Naitsu to Majikku) is a Japanese light novel series written by Hisago Amazake-no and illustrated by Kurogin. The series tells the story of a young Japanese man who dies in a car accident and reincarnates as a child in an alternate world where magic and giant robots are real, dedicating himself since then to fulfill his longtime dream of building and piloting his own mecha. It originated as a web novel before being picked up for print publication by Shufunotomo. A mangaadaptation by Takuji Katō is published by Square Enix, and an anime television series adaptation by 8-Bit aired from July to September 2017.

WATCH The Shape of Water (2017)

The Shape of Water is a 2017 American fantasy drama filmdirected by Guillermo del Toro and written by del Toro and Vanessa Taylor. The film stars Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins, Doug Jones, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Octavia Spencer. Set in Baltimore in 1962, the plot follows a mute custodian at a high-security government laboratory who befriends a captured humanoid-amphibian creature.

The film was screened in the main competition section of the 74th Venice International Film Festival, where it premiered on August 31, 2017,and was awarded the Golden Lion for best film in the competition. It also screened at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival. The film received praise for its performances, screenplay, direction, production, design, and musical score. Many critics declared it del Toro's best film since Pan's Labyrinth.

The Shape of Water began a limited release in two theaters in New York City on December 1, 2017, before expanding starting December 8, 2017, and has grossed $74 million worldwide. A novelized adaptation of the film, written by del Toro and Daniel Kraus, will be released on February 27, 2018.

The American Film Institute selected it as one of the top 10 films of the year.At the 90th Academy Awards, the film received a leading 13 nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Actress for Hawkins, Best Supporting Actor for Jenkins, and Best Supporting Actress for Spencer. It also won for Best Director and Best Original Score at the 75th Golden Globe Awards, on top of five other nominations. At the 71st British Academy Film Awards, the film received 12 nominations, including Best Film.