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J-pop Go Returns

Date: 2005 June 06 13:26 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Events

Following on from its recent success J-pop Go is back at Fluid on the 13th July. Please click Read More for the latest press release.

IMAF 2005

Date: 2005 June 04 14:58 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Press Releases

Following on from last year’s competition, IMAF have announced a 2005 event and competition. The event part will this time will run for 5 days. The details have yet to be confirmed please click ‘ Read More’ for the press release.

Blood At AyaCon

Date: 2005 May 19 17:57 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

The popular UK anime convention AyaCon have announced that their guests for this year will be visual kei band Blood. The last AyaCon had MegaTokyo artist Fred Gallagher who proved to be an excellent choice (a detailed report can be found here).

This seems like an interesting choice for guests, since Blood do not have a direct connection to Anime fandom, unlike MegaTokyo which is read by many anime fans. The Otaku News Crew wonder if more Visual Kei, J-Pop and J-Rock fans will register for the convention, who have no real interested in anime, with just over 300 places left at the time of writing this article AyaCon is selling out fast normally the last 200 or so places tend to go very quickly. We also wonder if the popular J-Pop/Rock party at AmeCon last year had any influence on the committee members.

It's good to see that UK anime conventions are experimenting with the type of guests they have and also take the standard anime convention in a new direction. This is the fifth AyaCon, and based on our previous experiences there the convention is normally very well run and certainlly well worth attending.

Interaction to Preview Howl's Moving Castle

Date: 2005 May 12 18:47 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > Film

We've just received some very exciting news about Interaction, the 63rd World Science Fiction Convention, which will be previewing Howl's Moving Castle. It's the long awaited latest movie from Studio Ghibli director Hayao Miyazaki, who is also responsible for Spirited Away (the first anime film to have won an Oscar).

They'll also be showing anime musical Interstella 5555, with music from Daft Punk, it's directed by Leiji Matsumoto & Kazuhisa Takenôchi, and has the distinctive Matsumoto character designs, even if they are blue aliens instead of humans! The convention are even screening Appleseed, a CGI movie based on the popular manga by Masamune Shirow (who is best known for Ghost In The Shell).

It appears that the event coordinator David 'Dragon' Cotterill has been a busy man, not only has he helped to secure the film screenings, but he has also managed to get leading anime experts like Jonathan Clements (co-author of the Anime Encyclopedia and the Dorama Encyclopedia: A Guide to Japanese TV Drama since 1953), to step onboard to run panels and discussions.

The Otaku News Crew are pleased to report that this makes the convention worth while for anime fans, since the film line up is interesting, and being the first to see Howl's Moving Castle in the UK makes it worth the visit alone! It's also refreshing to see that they've got established and experienced anime experts who actually know what they are talking about, more recently we've noticed that there are quite self declared experts appearing at smaller events who have only really got into anime because it's "cool", in reality such people jumping on the bandwagon know little and often turn events into disasters. We've seen Jonathan at previous events and found him to be entertaining and informative.

ADV Films Launches New Titles Exclusively At London Expo

Date: 2005 May 12 17:49 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

With the London Expo this weekend, the anime village is beginning to sound more exciting the more we hear about it. Sweatdrop will be there, and ADV Films UK have just revealed that they will screening some of their titles in exclusive first showings! This includes Gravion, DNAngel and Mezzo.

Manga Art Competition At London Expo

Date: 2005 May 10 18:20 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

Sonia Leong from UK manga style art group Sweatdrop Studios has just sent us the details of a Manga Art Competition which will be held at the London Expo this weekend. The competition is sponsored by Letraset who will be giving the winners some highly desirable colour professional Letraset Tria Marker collections, worth over £70 each.

So if you can draw and will be at the London Expo then why not give it a shot? ^_^

Typhoon 4 - International East Asian Playreading Festival

Date: 2005 May 10 17:46 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Culture

We know Otaku News readers are a very cultured group, which is why we've just been sent details about the Yellow Earth Theatre, who will be performing Typhoon 4 - International East Asian Playreading Festival. Billed from Tuesday 17th to Saturday 21st May 2005 at the Soho Theatre in London, it looks like an entertaining showcase for fans of the Far East.

J-Pop Go Report - A Successful Night!

Date: 2005 May 05 07:13 | Posted By: Voxie

Category > Culture

J-Pop Go, possibly the first night of its kind in London town – a club night dedicated to pleasing its crowd with Japanese pop and rock sounds! And that it was, with popular classics from the likes of J-rockstars L’Arc En Ciel, to some of the latest from J-pop groups HALCALI and Puffy.

The night was held at the Japanese-themed social spot Fluid, and the best of its kind I’ve seen so far! Coloured in striking red shades, two floors/bars, with artwork, katakana and anime clips playing across the walls, it proved a perfect venue for the night! The catering was in check, there was Asahi beer and sushi on the menus, as well as some interesting cocktails, including a ‘wasabi martini’! You could only get away with it in a bar like this one!

Anime Costumes Required For WorldCon

Date: 2005 May 02 16:56 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Fandom

We've had news from Miki Dennis who is currently organising an international costume display at Worldcon 2005. Currently she is looking for top quality anime costumes, only one or two will be selected, with no money, or prizes involved, but plenty of prestige. She promises transport and secure safe display for the costumes. If you want to take part, e-mail one full length photo per costume to Miki Dennis. The winners costumes will be seen by thousands of people, so cosplayers get submitting! ^_^

Souce: Miki Dennis

J-Pop Go - Wednesday 4th May

Date: 2005 April 19 16:14 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

The people over at J-Pop Go have just sent us an update. The event is scheduled to take place at Fluid in Charterhouse Street, London from 7:00pm to 12:00am on Wednesday 4th May. Tickets are priced at £8 each and are now available online.

Souce: J-Pop Go

IMAF Announce Winners

Date: 2005 April 19 13:51 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

The International Manga and Anime Festival have just announced the winners of their first international competition. The London based event started last year as a trial run and has proved very successful indeed. The entrants work was displayed in London County Hall in December. This was a very high profile event, located near the famous London Eye, with a $75,000 prize fund which even ran adverts in national newspapers. We covered the story originally here.

The Otaku News Crew would like to congratulate all the winners in this competition, especially talented artist Wing Yun Man, who is well known in UK anime fandom as part of the Sweatdrop Team, she is also a member of the Otaku News Crew and finds time post the occasional story and draw lovely artwork for us!

Sky Blue At Raindance East

Date: 2005 April 17 16:38 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Events

Sky Blue aka Wonderful days is showing as part of the Raindance: East film festival, and will be screened on Friday 22nd April at the UGC West India Quay and Wednesday 27th April at Genesis Mile End. Also showing which may interest fans of Asian film is 'Red trousers' which stars Mortal Kombat’s Robin Shou, and ‘THREE...EXTREMES’ (24th April) which features films by Takashi Miike,Fruit Chan & Park Chan-Wook. Films can be booked independently or a pass can be bought for £25

Souce: Raindance:East

Tokyo Godfathers Charity London Screening

Date: 2005 April 16 12:46 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

The Phoenix Cinema in East Finchley, London UK, have teamed up with Hope and Homes for Children, to screen Tokyo Godfathers. Considering the movie is about three homeless people finding an abandonded baby, it could not be a more appropirate choice for the charity! This Sataoshi Kon film is a superb comedy, with great animation and one you must see at least once on the big screen.

They'll be screening the Japanese version of the film with English subtitles on Sunday April 24th, at 11am. Tickets will be £7 and £5 for concessions. The film is rated 12. If you can get to East Finchley to see it then give the box office a ring on 020 8444 6789 and mention you heard about the screening on Otaku News too! ^_-

Souce: Hope and Homes for Children

Sweatdrop At London Expo

Date: 2005 March 24 12:14 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Press Releases

UK manga style art group Sweatdrop Studios has announced that they will be attending the London MCM Expo and will be running the artists alley section of the 'anime village'. The MCM Expo is running on the 14 & 15th May.

Comic Expo UK -Tokyopop Rising Stars Competition Opens To The UK

Date: 2005 March 21 13:17 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Events

Comic Expo is a new UK comic convention in Bristol 14th - 15th MAY 2005. Which seems to be making an effort to include manga fans within the convention. The biggest news is that Tokyopop UK will be launching its new 'Rising Stars of Manga' competition which for the first time will be open to UK artists. The convention also lists a "Tokyopop cine-manga night" but there are no details so it's hard to understand what this means.
Tokyopop Cine-manga are comics made out of animation screenshots (which with Tokyopop aren't all based on anime e.g. Disney), so it's unclear if it's some sort of presentation, anime screening or broader animation screening.

Also of interest is a talk by Paul Gravett which is billed as 'PAUL GRAVETT gets Re-Animeted. Celebrating 60 years of the genre.'

London Symphony Orchestra with Ayako Uehara

Date: 2005 March 16 17:36 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

The more cultured London based otaku will want to get to Barbican Hall, on Wednesday 23rd March, for a 7:30pm performance by the London Symphony Orchestra of Respighi, Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky which features Ayako Uehara on piano.

I'm sure many of our readers would have heard of young Japanese pianist Ayako Uehara who became the first woman to win the 1st prize at the 12th International Tchaikovsky Competition held in Moscow in 2002. Last year she had great success at her London debut recital at Wigmore Hall. In this concert programme with the LSO, conducted by Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, she plays Tchaikovsky's masterpiece, the wonderfully romantic First Piano Concerto.

Programme:
Tchaikovsky: Piano concerto No 1
Respighi: The Fountains of Rome
Stravinsky: The Firebird - Suite (1919)

Box office: 020 7638 8891

Souce: London Symphony Orchestra

Kyoto Jazz Massive In Edinburgh

Date: 2005 March 16 17:26 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

Trendy jazz otaku in Edinburgh will want to get to The Cellar Bar, 1a Chambers Street on Friday 18 March to see Kyoto Jazz Massive -

Kyoto Jazz Massive are two brothers, Shuya Okino and Yoshiro Okino, famous for being DJs, producers, club-runners, label/record-shop owners (Especial) and worldwide re-mixers. They have been among Bossa Electronic Jazz pioneers in Japan since the late 1980s. Older brother Shuya used to be the artistic director of Mondo Grosso and is also part of the Cosmic Village Project. Their work with artists such as Sleepwalker (Masato Nakamura, Hajime Yoshizawa, Tomokazu Sugimoto, Nobuaki Fujii) and legendary American saxophonist Pharoah Sanders is currently exciting audiences across the world.

11pm - 3am, The Cellar Bar, 1a Chambers Street, Edinburgh EH1 1HU
www.getintotrouble.com
Nice!

Souce: Trouble @ The Cellar Bar

A Last Minute Anime Convention for London!

Date: 2005 March 06 22:07 | Posted By: Voxie

Category > Events

I say last minute, because anime conventions are usually given advance notice months in advance. However with the RHUL Anime & Manga convention, it's being held in little over two weeks from now! Held by the society at Royal Holloway University, the event is open to the public. And despite the late notice, it seems they've got everything set up, including anime showings, gaming, a cosplay competition, a raffle, and on-site games including 'Hunt the Mews Mews!' and 'Find the Chibi'..! Representatives of ADV, TokyoPop and Manga Entertainment will also be there. And did we mention the on-the-door entrance fee is just a mere £1.50?? What more reason do you need?

There are rarely any events like this in the London area, so I'd recommend this to anyone who doesn't 'do' conventions becuase they're too far!

J-Pop Go Update!

Date: 2005 February 27 08:00 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Events

The folks at J-PopGo! have updated their site and given an updated date Wednesday May 4th for the event.

Competition: Bondi Nami

Date: 2005 February 22 18:04 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

Here at Otaku News we love working with people to provide you with free stuff. We've teamed up with the people organising the London Australian Film Festival to give our London readers a chance of winning a pair of tickets to see the first Japanese Road Movie in Australia - Bondi Nami.

Competition: Sci-Fi-London Anime On Tour

Date: 2005 February 22 17:48 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > Film

For our lucky UK readers we've got a pair of tickets for each leg of the Sci-Fi-London Anime On Tour event around the country. They'll be showing an anime all nighter, which includes Parasite Dolls and RahXephon. Read the rest of this article for full details.

Bondi Nami Hits London's Barbican Screen

Date: 2005 February 21 16:46 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

We've just got details in about the London Australian Film Festival screening of Bondi Nami, what's that you cry? Otaku News is supposed to be "News For Fans Of Japan", not "News For Fans of Down Under", well the more clever otaku readers (which is about 99% of our readers) will know that this film is being marketed as "The first Japanese Road Movie in Australia". So if you're in London or can get there, get down to the Barbican Cinema Centre for 9pm Saturday 5th March.

Sci-Fi-London Anime On Tour

Date: 2005 February 14 18:57 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

Following on from the successful Sci-Fi-London Festival at the beginning of this month, the UK's only international sci-fi and fantasy film festival will be on tour throughout February and March.

Lucky otaku in Edinburgh, Liverpool, York and Exeter will get a chance to see the anime all nighter which includes Parasite Dolls and the RahXephon Movie.

London MCM Expo Celebrates Anime - Manga & Cosplay

Date: 2005 February 13 17:18 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

The folks over at the London Expo Event have sent us details of their anime and manga lineup. Not only will they have Cosplay events on both days, but they've also arranged sponsorship from MVM and Neo Magazine.

Guest wise, the Expo has Teryleryl Rothery who plays Dr. Janet Frasier in Stargate SG-1 and has been a voice actress in Dragon Ball playing Agent Mai in the 1995 dub and Raven in the first Dragon Ball Movie. She's also played A-ko Magami in Project A-Ko and Kodachi Kuno in various Ranma ½ features.

Shogun: The Life of Lord Tokugawa Ieyasu

Date: 2005 February 10 11:52 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

Since our readership pride themselves on being cultured, I'm sure you'd be interested to know about a major Japanese Exhibition held at The Royal Armouries. Their summer 2005 exhibition will be Shogun: The Life of Lord Tokugawa Ieyasu. British otaku better head over to Leeds sometime this year!

Extra Steamboy Showing In London

Date: 2005 January 24 02:59 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > Film

London tickets sales for Steamboy at the Curzon Cinema on February 5th have sold out already! So the organisers have arranged for an extra screening on Thursday 3rd February at 11pm. Steamboy is being screened as part of the Sci-Fi-London Festival. The Otaku News crew hope that more screenings of the film will be scheduled for London soon, lots of people really want to see Steamboy and since the film is set in London it deserves a bigger screening in it's home city.

Souce: Sci-Fi-London

Anime All Nighter In London

Date: 2005 January 19 18:03 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > Film

Lucky otaku who can get to London in the first weekend of February are in for a real treat. The Sci-Fi-London event will be running an anime all nighter with support from Redbull and Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream (make mine Chocolate Fudge Brownie) and with free Tea and Coffee everyone's sure to stay awake from the midnight starting time until 9:30 am the next day!
They'll be screening:

- Lady Death
- Parasite Dolls
- Sky Blue (a Korean animation also known as Wonderful Days)
- RahXephon The Movie.

We suggest that hardcore otaku go to the London Anime Club afterwards for a total weekend of anime!

Sweatdrop At The Artists & Illustrators Exhibition 2005

Date: 2005 January 09 15:16 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

We've just got news from the nice people at UK manga style art studio Sweatdrop that they'll be representing the UK manga community at the Artists & Illustrators Exhibition 2005 event and also provide workshops, and four 90 minute long presentations covering aspects of Manga-styled art and it's creation.

The event is scheduled for July 21st - 24th at London's Business Design Centre, last years event attracted over 14,000 visitors!

The Sweatdrop crew can be seen regulary at UK anime events, such at the London Anime Club and other UK anime conventions like AyaCon and AmeCon. Recently Sweatdrop also ran a stall at the London Comic Festival, with great success. Regular readers of Otaku News, will also remeber some of our lovely Christmas Desktop Wallpaper created by Sweatdrop artist Wing Yun Man.

London MCM Expo 2005 Is Interested In Anime/Manga Presence!

Date: 2004 December 15 19:30 | Posted By: Voxie

Category > Events

Following up a post made on the boards at www.anime.org.uk, it seems the organisers are very interested in adding some anime and manga presence to the event, held in mid-May next year.

According to the post, plans are already on the go, with anime/manga distributors MVM due to attend. There are also other plans for cosplay and prizes to be up for grabs.

The post also reads that if you (as in anime/manga fans) have any further ideas in mind, you should email them directly at info@londonexpo.com and it is much appreciated.

The event will be held from 14-15th May 2005, at Royal Victoria, London E16. Advance tickets are now available to buy.

London MCM Expo Website: http://www.londonexpo.com

Souce: Anime.org.uk

AyaCon Five: Launch Announcement

Date: 2004 December 14 18:40 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

I've just received the details for AyaCon 5, the next edition of the successful UK anime and manga convention which always proves popular. AyaCon 5 will be held from 19-21 August 2005. Their venue will be the Warwick Arts Centre (University of Warwick near Coventry).

The convention will have use of the entire Arts Centre and extra faclities including a bar, restaurant and additional conference rooms, along with the full nightclub facilities in the nearby Students' Union for two parties on the Friday and Saturday evenings.

Manga Tour of Japan 2005

Date: 2004 December 13 18:08 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

Those alert people over at BritAnime have discovered a manga package holiday from 29 March to April 2005 for our British readers.

The price seems good considering the flights and everything, although personally I prefer to go around Japan without a tour guide, discovering things by yourself is a lot of fun! However it is nice to have the option for the less adventurous, or for those who enjoy the convenience of having everything ready for them, especially since many anime fans have a limited Japanese vocabulary, including words such as baka (idiot), which doesn't really go down well when you're trying to book a hotel room!

The 8 day trip includes a visit to the Tokyo International Animation Fair, the fantastic Ghibli Museum, a visit to Akihabara (for all your electronic needs) and also the wonderful Meiji shrine, with huge Tori gates by it's entrance.

Souce: JapanJourneys.co.uk

December 2004 London Anime Club Update.

Date: 2004 December 08 18:47 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Fandom

Following on from our previous article, where we guessed that the Christmas London Anime Club attendance would be higher than their last largest recorded attendance in April, when over 206 anime fans visited for the club's 10th anniversary.

This months LAC attendance was high, but not high enough to beat their previous record with around 165 anime fans showing up. As always Christmas treats were available with free entry to the London Anime Club for December, along with a raffle where people won items ranging from an Xbox to Newtype USA and Neo Magazine. Interestingly, there were lots of new faces at this months LAC. There are always new people showing up, but for some reason this month seemed to have a larger amount of new attendees than normal.

Souce: Otaku News

December 2004 Biggest London Anime Club yet?

Date: 2004 December 04 15:58 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Fandom

The London Anime Club is the largest anime club in the UK, in some ways it's a bit like a mini anime convention, but with fewer a cosplayers. Located in the City of London the LAC's central location means anime fans from around the country make a monthly trip every first Sunday of the month to watch anime and talk to like minded fans.

To date the London Anime Club's largest recorded attendance was 206 people for their 10th anniversary in April 2004. The Otaku News Crew are guessing that tomorrows LAC will be the biggest one yet, since more people are getting into anime and manga all the time and Christmas LACs tend to have high attendances. Fans often like to meet up around Christmas time too, especially since the London Anime Club does not run in January, as the first Sunday of the year is in the Holiday season. The Otaku News Crew will report back with the attendance figures as soon as we get them! Before we do, some of us (as always) will be at the London Anime Club, if you're there too, find us and say hello! We want to know what our readers think! ^_-

Souce: Otaku News

Steamboy At Sci-Fi-London

Date: 2004 December 04 13:21 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > Film

The keen eyed people at Anime-Europe have noticed that Sci-Fi-London will be screening Katsuhiro Otomo's latest anime film Steamboy. The festival will run in February 2005 and has screened anime with great success in previous years.

The folks over at Anime UK News have also discovered that the latest issue (December 2004) of Impact Magazine has a Steamboy Cover, along with features on Steamboy and Ghost In The Shell 2: Innocence.

Every otaku should already know Katsuhiro Otomo wrote the classic manga Akira and directed the huge smash hit anime version. Steamboy is a steampunk movie set in London just before the First World Expo in 1851.

Apart from being very high quality anime, it is noted for having authentic looking locations around London, with British bobbies on the beat and other landmarks, which makes a change from seeing Tokyo landmarks all the time in anime! ^_-

Souce: Sci-Fi-London

Auchinawa Glasgow Convention for Otaku

Date: 2004 November 29 08:53 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

One of our contributors Voxie from MAME has just discovered plans in Scotland for Auchinawa which "strives not to be an "Anime Convention" but an "Otaku Convention". Our Mission is to create a Convention/Expo in Scotland, the first of its kind, which caters for your needs and wants as fans."

They plan to screen anime, have DDR machines and will also be catering for J-Music fanatics and furries.

It's not set to run until the summer of 2006 so many of the details aren't finalised yet. However it's always good to plan ahead and conventions in the UK often get booked out quickly, so go take a look and get saving to get to Glasgow, if you're not near there already.

Souce: Auchinawa

J-Pop Go In London

Date: 2004 November 07 14:35 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

Otaku News have learned about an event scheduled soon in London. J-Pop Go promises to be an evening celebrating a broad range of popular Japanese music, from J-Pop to J-Rock and everything in-between! The event is planned for a central London venue and they'll post up more information regarding tickets, pricing, playlists etc in due course. If you have suggestions, ideas or queries then you can always contact them too. If you're interested in attending then you add yourself to their mailing list for future updates.

We've seen posters, flyers and spoken to the even organisers and they've got lots of cool ideas about this event, so if you're into the Japanese music scene then go take a look.

Souce: J-Pop Go

International Manga and Anime Festival Launches

Date: 2004 October 27 18:20 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime

We've just got a press release from a group called IMAF, who will be holding an international competition to find the best manga and anime talent in the world, entrants stand a chance to win big bucks with a total prize fund of $75,000!

The entrants work will be shown at London County Hall from 16th - 19th December. Judges include Koike Kazuo who is best known for writing Lone Wolf and Cub and Crying Freeman.

TokyoPop and Sweatdrop Attract Interest At London Comic Festival

Date: 2004 October 23 17:51 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Manga

The Otaku News Crew have just returned from the London Comic Festival, an event that focuses on the British Comic Book industry, it consists largely of underground/independent UK comic book publishers. Representing the UK manga/anime scene were professional manga publishers TokyoPop UK and original UK manga studio Sweatdrop. It was nice to see the interest and enthusiasm both groups generated. All the exhibitors there had a fair number of visitors to the their tables, I didn't do a proper count or survey, but throughout the day it was clear that both TokyoPop and Sweatdrop generated a large amount of interest, more so than any of the other comic book publishers.

Souce: Otaku News

Animex 05 Bookings Now Open

Date: 2004 October 22 18:22 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Production

Those of you in the animation industry should pay a visit to the next Animex International Festival of Animation. This will be the sixth Animex now, and every time it just gets bigger and better. Animex will run from 31st January to 4th February at the University of Teesside in Middlesbrough in the North East of England.

This year the emphasis on animation in gaming seems to have increased and as always attendees get a chance to discuss details with industry professionals such as Robin Linn, Director of Animation Production for the Digital Character Group at Sony Pictures Imageworks.

Souce: Animex

History of Anime - Presentation by Jonathan Clements

Date: 2004 October 19 16:17 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

We've got a tip off from one of our Welsh readers who suggests we take a look at the Swansea Animation Days 2004 Festival. Apart from covering the nuts and bolts of the animation industry, Jonathan Clements will be giving a speech under the SAND Film strand on "A History of Anime". A few otaku will know that Jonathan has given talks on this subject before and that they have gone down very well with attendees.

Souce: Swansea Animation Days 2004

Leeds International Film Festival Has Anime and Live Action Treats

Date: 2004 October 09 13:21 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

Anime-Europe has brought to our attention the Leeds International Film Festival. They mention the official UK premier of Ghost In the Shell 2: Innocence (Sat 6th Nov - 8.30pm, Sun 7th Nov - 6.15pm) and Steamboy (Sat 6th Nov - 6.15pm, Sun 7th Nov - 8.15pm), both of these films are hotly anticipated by anime fans, myself included.

Also recomended is the Fanomenon Film Strand, with some other top notch cult live action Japanese cinema.

The Otaku News crew suggest you check out:
- Electric Dragon 80,000V
- The Live Action version of Cutie Honey (directed by Hideaki Anno of Evangelion fame).
- Doppleganger
- Izo
- Ju-on: The Grudge 2

Then there's Otakus In Love the film title explains what it's about, I'll have to put that on my to watch list for the title alone! ^_-

Also if you liked Hero, you will really want to see House of Flying Daggers.

Souce: Leeds International Film Festival

V&A Exhibit - Encounters: The Meeting of Asia and Europe 1500-1800

Date: 2004 October 03 16:54 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

I've just found out that the Victoria and Albert Museum in London are running an Exhibition called Encounters: The Meeting of Asia and Europe 1500-1800. It will have some great Japanese items, including:

- a six panel gold leafed paper screen
- an elaborate painting with gold on silk
- armour from the shogun Tokugawa Hidetada
- a Portable Christian Altar
- Two Dutchmen and two courtesans Hanging scroll
- Food Box (surely they mean bento box?)

Many items are being shown for the first time, so we recommend a visit.

UK Conventions Set For 2005 And 2006

Date: 2004 September 29 18:32 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

It seems at almost exactly the same time, both AyaCon and AmeCon have officially announced more details regarding their next conventions!

It was announced at AyaCon 2003 that there would be no AyaCon in 2004, but now they've updated their website saying that "We are currently planning to stage our latest event, AyaCon Five, in Summer/Autumn 2005. We're aiming to make AyaCon bigger and better than ever!" As yet, they haven't revealed a venue for the convention.

AmeCon have also just updated their website. Stating that "The Convention will not be running in 2005, but will be running at Aston University, Birmingham, in 2006. Registrations for 2006 will open shortly."

Read More... | Souce: AyaCon / AmeCon Websites.

Terratag London Exhibition - 'Pornograffiti'

Date: 2004 September 29 17:49 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

We've just got an e-mail from Paul over at Terratag. Terratag t-shirts have been sold at most of the UK anime conventions and Paul even had a stall at the Japanese Food Festival in London this August.

Terratag are also very naughty and as a result, I've always debated if I should add them to the Pirate Anime FAQ. The more astute otaku will know there is a range of Terratag t-shirts with Gundam designs on, Terratag have not paid for a license from Bandai to use any Gundam images, or their likeness. Technically this is a copyright violation, and that generally flags them as a bootlegger. This could land Paul in trouble with Bandai's lawyers, and he could face a hefty fine at least.

Anyway, Paul wanted to point out that he's holding an art exhibition at the Notting Hill Arts Club, his show runs until November 1st, he helpfully points out on the night of October 4th there are going to be 4 scratch DJ's from Tokyo playing live. The crew is called En and features Mc Raita with Dj's Jif Rock, Kiccio and Kaitaro. There will also be a jazz/hip-hop dance crew. So fans of the Japanese music scene will want to get over there!

Japanese Swords in the British Museum

Date: 2004 September 26 17:46 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Culture

Fans of sharp pointy things will want to pay a visit to the British Museum in London, from 30th September 2004 until 17th February 2005 they have the "Cutting Edge: Japanese Swords in the British Museum" exhibition, which focuses on history of swords in Japan, including Koto (old swords), Shinto (new swords) and Shinshinto (new-new Swords). The British Museum is always a great place to visit, so we suggest you visit this exhibition while you can, especially since Japanese swords are really works of art.

For a more details visit the British Museum's Department of Asia Exhibitions page.

Souce: British Museum - Department of Asia Exhibitions

Japanese Films at The 12th Raindance Festival

Date: 2004 September 26 17:16 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Culture

London cinema otaku as always are in for a treat with the 12th Raindance Film Festival, which is dedicated to fostering and promoting independent film in the UK and around the world. For fans of Japan, check out their Way Out East strand, they'll be showing films like:

- After The Apocalypse
- Antenna
- Arakey
- Dead End Run
- Doppelganger
- Lunch Box
- Marebito
- Ramblers

If South Korean flicks are more your thing, check out Arahan and Oldboy. If you're into Chinese gothic shockers then go for Night Corridor.

Souce: Raindance Film Festival

Akita Kanto performance at the Thames Festival

Date: 2004 September 11 17:30 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

London otaku better get themselves to the the Thames Festival which "closes busy streets and transforms the river, parks and open spaces with a rich programme of new creative commissions, a riverside bazaar and night market, family oriented activities, street theatre, music, and more."

This year artistes balancing Kanto poles will be demonstraiting their skills in London while accompanied by traditional Japanese music of the taiko drum, bamboo flute and bell. On the 18th September they will be supported by taiko drummers from Gyosei International College.

Manga Live! At The ICA In London

Date: 2004 August 30 14:14 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Events

I've just found out about an event at the ICA in London. It's called Manga Live, and is divided into two events Manga Live (Fri 03 Sep) and will discuss if Manga can take off in the UK.

The second event (Sat 04 Sep) is the Manga Live! Manga Masterclass which forms a practical demonstration and workshop. The masterclass will also have a special preview screening of Rogue Farm.

Back from AmeCon!

Date: 2004 August 23 15:09 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Fandom

I've just got back from AmeCon! Gosh, I was busy! I'll try and get a full write up done tomorrow.

The convention was popular and everyone had a good time.

Monica Rial proved to be an excellent guest, signing panties (and other things), chatting away to all the con goers and even converting a few hardcore sub only zealots to English dubs!

AmeCon 2004 Chairman Interview

Date: 2004 August 09 14:12 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Fandom

Paul Bates over at Anime UK News has just posted an interview with Will Blewitt about AmeCon which is set to be a very large and funpacked convention. It makes a good read since it shows how mad running a convention can be!

I even get a mention in the interview because I've sent them a special printed version of the Pirate Anime FAQ to help out, plus I'm running a panel there too! So if you're going to AmeCon go to my panel, please ^_^;;

Souce: Anime UK News

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