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Ghibli Screenings for Children at the Barbican

Date: 2006 June 08 15:11 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > Film

Ghibli fans with children will be pleased to hear about the Barbican screening's of three Ghibli films for an anime season. For three weeks, their Saturday specials will be:

Saturday 1 July - My Neighbour Totoro U, 11.00am
Saturday 8 July - Kiki's Delivery Service U, 11.00am
Saturday 15 July - Spirited Away PG, 11.00am

Please note that adults will have to be accompanied by children, so otaku parents this is an event to take your children to!

Studio Ghibli films always look fantastic on the big screen, and are worth watching and are enjoyable for Children and adults alike.
It's not clear from the release if the movies will be screened in English, or in Japanese with subtitles. We believe since the target audience for these screenings are 5 to 11 year olds, then chances are it will be dubbed in English.

Preview - Initial D: Driftracer

Date: 2006 May 09 20:19 | Posted By: Spike

Category > Anime > Film

The slopes and turns of Mount Akina have long been the haunts of local illegal racing teams, using a technique called 'drifting' to slide round corners at top speed and jousting with opposing teams for the honour of being the top team. The teams enjoy a status of being the envy of young wannabe drivers everywhere until one day during a race an unknown driver storms the course leaving the pros in his wake, just who is this 'Akina Racing God' and where did he come from? The driver is in fact local boy Takumi 'Tak' Fujiwara making a tofu delivery run for his father who would rather spend time with his love interest Natsuki than worry over cars or races, but how will he react when his new secret identity is revealed...

London Grave of the Fireflies Screening

Date: 2006 May 02 18:00 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > Film

The nice folk from the UCL Bloomsbury Theatre in London have sent us details of a screening of Grave of the Fireflies they will be running on 10th June, at 3pm. The Ghibli feature will be in Japanese with English subtitles and we recommend you watch it on the big screen, although be warned, it is a powerful film that shows the harsh reality of war.

Howl For a Pound

Date: 2006 February 02 11:56 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Events

Here at Otaku News we keep our eyes peeled on your behalf, we've noticed many of the branches of cinema chain Cineworld are now advertising Howl's Moving castle for only £1 as part of its Saturday movies for juniors promotion. Please note that over 12's need to be accompanied by a child to qualify for the offer!

Ghibli movies are always a treat especially at the cinema - so if you haven't seen Howl big screen yet go now!

Souce: Cineworld

South Bank Show Anime Special

Date: 2006 January 26 18:30 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > TV

The Folks at Manga Entertainment UK have sent us a press release about an anime special South Bank Show, which is due to air on Sunday 19th of February. Some researchers for the South Bank Show even made the steps of visiting the London Anime Club to get the low down from British anime fans. Interestingly enough the press release also has some details about Jonathan Ross' recent Asian Invasion, stating that it got over 310,000 viewers, a BBC4 record (it's now clear however if this figure is for just the first screening of the show, or if the repeat screened later in the week is included too).

ITV4 will also be screening the original Ghost In The Shell movie on Saturday 4th March (we belive it's the dub version), so if you haven't seen it yet catch it!

Johnathon Ross

Date: 2006 January 04 07:37 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Anime > TV

The BBC has finally given us another series about Asian cinema as part of BBC Four's Asian Invasion season fronted by Johnathon Ross. The first of three programmes goes out at 10pm on Tuesday the 10th of January, where Jonathon Ross interviews Mamoru Oshii.

The programme is followed by a subtitled showing of Takeshi Kitano's Kikujiro. A preview of the Asian Invasion programme is available on the BBC Four website.

Souce: BBC Four

Studio Ghibli's Next Movie Will be Earthsea

Date: 2005 December 15 17:15 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > Film

Studio Ghibli have officially announced their next movie, which is due to hit Japan in July 2006. Gedo Senki (Gedo War History) is based on Ursula K. Le Guin's Tales from Earthsea Collection. Controversially Hayao Miyazaki son, Goro Miyazaki will be directing the film.

Ghibli Season on Film 4

Date: 2005 December 02 07:18 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Anime > Film

Nausicaa.net are reporting that Film Four is having a Ghibli season in January. The films will largely be shown in English dub.

Hammerboy on Toonami

Date: 2005 November 14 12:15 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Anime > TV

Korean animation Hammerboy will be screened on the UK Toonami channel on the Friday 5:30 film slot.

Miyazaki Features at The London Children's Film Festival

Date: 2005 October 17 18:15 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > Film

Otaku News have just discovered that the London Children's Film Festival will feature at least two excellent Miyazaki productions. My Neighbour Totoro, which is a simply magical feature that all children should watch will be screened on Sunday 13th November 2.15pm. Totoro was so popular, it because Studio Ghibli's logo, and is one of the most loved icons of Japan.

The Crimson Pig (better known as Porco Rosso in anime circles), is a film showing Miyazaki's love of aircraft and pigs. Much has been said about this excellent film. Younger children will enjoy it's light hearted comedy elements, while older children and adults will notice more in depth side of the story about a man sick of war and the rise of fascism. Porco Rosso will be screened on Saturday 12th November at 1:30pm, Sunday 13th at 2pm and Wednesday 16th at 4pm. For more in depth details on each film check out Nausicaa.net

Souce: London Children\'s Film Festival

Exclusive Howl's Moving Castle Preview Screening Offer

Date: 2005 September 15 18:57 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > Film

With Howl's Moving Castle being launched in the UK from September 23rd every British anime fan is counting the days until they can see it on the big screen. It's already had a few special art house and festival showings in the UK, but these sold out ridiculously quickly. For our UK readers in the Hertfordshire area, we've managed to get exclusive preview screening tickets.

The good people at Cineworld in Stevenage have decided that Otaku News readers can come to this advanced screening for free! All you have to do is download this flyer, and be able to get to Stevenage Cineworld on Wednesday 21st September 2005 for 8:15pm. Present the flyer to the Cineworld staff to attend the screening. Please note that seats are subject to availability so turn up early if you really want to see Howl's Moving Castle!

Please note that the flyer is in PDF format, so if you have problems printing the file try downloading Adobe Acrobat.

Souce: Cineworld Stevenage

Howl's Moving Castle Media Clips

Date: 2005 September 15 18:48 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > Film

With Studio Ghibli excellent Howl's Moving Castle being released in the UK next week, we thought it would be a nice idea for you to take a look at some of the media trailers available.

Sight and Sound Magazine - Castles In The Sky

Date: 2005 September 13 15:59 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > Film

With the up coming UK release of Howl's Moving Castle on the 23rd of September, BFI's Sight and Sound Magazine have posted an feature by Andrew Osmond, on the movie. Unlike some standard press fodder Andrew knows his stuff, he is a fan of Miyazaki's works and is active in UK anime fandom. It's nice to see that the BFI are using good sources and publishing articles on Miyazaki and his works.

Souce: BFI - Sight & Sound

Time Out UK Magazine Give Away Howl Tickets

Date: 2005 September 05 15:08 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > Film

Courtesy of Optimum Releasing, Time Out Magazine have 200 Howl's Moving Castle tickets for a special preview screening to give away! To enter read the instructions on their website and send a Stamped Address Envelope to them by the 13th of September.

Souce: Time Out

Firecracker Showcase 2005

Date: 2005 August 30 15:30 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > Film

Jonathan Clements has sent us details of the Firecracker Showcase 2005 in London, which will be screening Studio Ghibli's excellent Howl's Moving Castle, Appleseed, along with a Sonny Chiba triple bill featuring the live action version of Golgo 13 too (otaku will know Sonny plays Hattori Hanzo in Kill Bill).

Godzilla Uncut for the UK

Date: 2005 August 30 14:13 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Anime > Film

An uncut version of the original 1954 classic Godzilla will be released on 14th October for the first time uncut in the UK on DVD and for a limited run at selected cinemas. If you’ve seen the original Godzilla dubbed it’s likely to be the American re-edit which also featured Raymond Burr, so the uncut version is definatly worth a look for a darker take on everyones' favourite giant monster.

Souce: BFI

Howl's Moving Castle Premiere in the UK

Date: 2005 August 24 07:19 | Posted By: Davie

Category > Anime

According to Anime News Network the premiere of Howl’s Moving Castle in the U.K is set to be on the 2nd of September at 19:30 hrs at The British Academy (BAFTA - Princess Anne Theatre) 195 Piccadilly London, UK, to inaugurate BAFTA's London Japanese Film Festival.

A reception hosted by the Japanese Embassy at 18:30 is to be held before the screening. Tickets are £10 for the combined event for non BAFTA members. More information may be found on the BAFTA website.

Otaku will note that this is not the first screening of Howl's Moving Castle in the UK, since the first public screening was held in Cambridge and featured a Question and Answers session with Howl's original author Diana Wynne Jones.

Optimum Releasing have also launched www.howlsmovingcastlemovie.co.uk which features some lovely wallpaper in their downloads section.

Souce: Anime News Network

Millennium Actress to Feature Atlantic Accents

Date: 2005 August 22 17:38 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Anime > Film

It seems that Millennium actress will have Atlantic accents according to reports from Eyeonanime.co.uk. It’s a bit of a shame for fans that were genuinely excited to see a real British dub, but it seems that Manga Entertainment feel that it will be too jarring to hear English voices on a dub.

Souce: Eyeonanime.co.uk

Millenium Actress to Feature British Dub

Date: 2005 August 19 09:44 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Anime > Film

The UK release of Millenium Actress will contain a dub. Animeton are reporting it will feature a dub using British voice over talent, a rarity for Western anime releases. Neo Magazine also state in their next issue that they will feature an article on dubbing the film.

Souce: Animeuknews.net

NFT Screenings - Japanese Animation: Manga to Miyazaki

Date: 2005 July 28 17:53 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > Film

It's always nice when you mention events before the press release is sent out, as we did with the Japanese Animation: Manga to Miyazaki season at the National Film Theatre.

The films selected are all a real treat, and anime who can get to London are spoilt for choice this August, Satoshi Kon's work is great and almost everyone would have heard about Hayao Miyazaki's superb films.

The Otaku News Crew will be attending a few of the screenings too, so if you see us (and know what we look like ^_-) don't be afraid to come up to us and say hello!

Makoto Shinkai in London

Date: 2005 July 27 11:57 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Events

Makoto Shinkai will be in London on August 12th to attend a screening of Voices of a Distant Star and She and Her cat at the NFT, which will be followed by a talk by the creator himself. VODS was animated, written and directed by Shinkai himself. We highly recommend it. For those who can’t make it the DVD is still available from ADV UK.

More information on the screening can be found on the NFT website . As we previously reported the NFT are screening several other anime as part of an anime season. For more information on the film click read more for the ADV Films UK press release.

DB Movies on Toonami

Date: 2005 July 24 10:42 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Anime > TV

UK-Anime.net have spotted that Toonami are airing several Dragon Ball (as opposed to DBZ) movies on their Friday 4pm slot. These are:

5th of August - Sleeping Beauty in Devil Castle
12th of August - Mystical Adventure
19th of August - Four Star Dragon Ball is the Proof of Courage

The following week the 26th of August will repeat the DBZ movie Fight! 10 Billion Power Warriors.

Souce: UK-Anime.net

Spirited Away Makes BFI Must See List

Date: 2005 July 20 07:01 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > Film

According to BBC News, the British Film Institute have complied a list of films that every child should have watched by the age of 14.

The list was put together with help from the public and is intended to spark debate about what children should watch.

Unsurprisingly, The Wizard of Oz, ET and Toy Story are listed, but it also seems that BFI (or perhaps the public in general) know what they're talking about by suggesting Spirited Away, Hayao Miyazaki's tale of a girl drawn into a world of magic after her parents pig out on forbidden food.

The BFI selected 50 films and eventually whittled them down to 10.

Souce: BBC News

Spirited Away Open Air Screening in London

Date: 2005 July 18 15:08 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > Film

FilmFour have teamed up with Somerset House "to create a night at the movies like no other". They mention the "cutting edge technology and the splendour of the 18th century courtyard" and rightly so.

On Thursday 18th August, 6:30pm they'll be screening Studio Ghibli's superb Spirited Away, the only Japanese anime film to have won an Oscar. Tickets cost £12.50, with all phone and web bookings carrying an £1.75 charge per booking (not per ticket). As of yet it's not clear if the screening will be subbed or dubbed, but we will chase it up and post more details as soon as we find out.

If you haven't seen Spirited Away on a cinema screen yet, the Otaku News Crew highly recommend it.

Souce: Somerset House

Sky Blue eCard

Date: 2005 July 01 18:38 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > Film

To remind our readers about the UK 8th July release of Sky Blue (the English name for Korean animation Wonderful Days), we're hosting a little eCard for you to feast your eyes on.

A Summer of Anime for the UK

Date: 2005 June 23 12:53 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Anime > Film

This summer is a great time to see some big name anime at UK film festivals. There’s the Cambridge Film Festival which is showing among others; Howl’s Moving Castle, Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence and Steamboy. The NFT will also be having a Japanese animation season, no details are on the site but it’s rumoured that they are scheduling a number of Ghibli films. Neo Magazine is also running a competition in it’s current issue to win tickets to Sky Blue.

Souce: Otaku News

Kung Fu Hustle and Cat Returns at the BFI

Date: 2005 May 31 04:44 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Anime > Film

The British Film Institute will be showing Kung Fu Hustle and The Cat Returns. Kung Fu Hustle is showing on the 7th of June, whilst Cat Returns is showing on the 25th and 26th of June.

Souce: BFI

Dragon Ball Z Week on Toonami

Date: 2005 May 24 06:39 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Anime > TV

Toonami will be premiering five of the Dragon Ball Z movies half term week (30th May-Friday 3rd June) on Toonami. A new movie will show each day at 11am and 6pm. However looking at the titles I have my suspicions that some of them may be the same dubs are were released in UK and not the Ocean/FUNimation casts from the US DVDs.

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.

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

Cat Returns To Hit The UK In June

Date: 2005 March 14 17:56 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > Film

Otaku News have been sent details from Optimum Releasing for the UK release of The Cat Returns. The Ghibli film will have a theatrical run in June. The exact release date and details are still to be confirmed. They will also be releasing Hayao Miyazaki's latest masterpiece Howl's Moving Castle in UK cinemas later this year with several more Ghibli titles on DVD.

Otaku News will keep you updated with further information when we have it!

Souce: Optimum Releasing

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.

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.

More Ghibli Theatrical Releases

Date: 2005 February 03 14:04 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Production > Studio Ghibli

Optimum Releasing has released further information on the UK theatrical releases of the Ghibli films " The Cat Returns" and "Howl’s moving Castle". The Cat Returns will be released in May as both dub and sub. Six other films will then be released culminating with the latest Ghibli film Howl’s Moving Castle in autumn. These films were designed to be big screen, so we recommended you take the chance to catch a few if you can!

Souce: Neo Magazine

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!

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

Howl Confirmed for UK

Date: 2004 November 27 06:31 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Production > Studio Ghibli

Yet more Howl news as a UK release is announced . Optimum Releasing have confirmed they have the rights to distribute Howl in the UK. An exact date has yet to be confirmed, as they have to wait for the English soundtrack to be finished.

UK Sci-Fi channel Japanese Horror Weekend 6-7 November 2004

Date: 2004 October 25 17:14 | Posted By: Azure

Category > Anime > TV

The UK Sci-Fi channel is having a Japanese horror weekend 6-7th November to celebrate the release of 'The Grudge' a remake of cult Japanese horror film Ju-on. Fans of the Ring series of horror films will be pleased to know that three of the Japanese Ring films are to be screened one after the other.

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

Mamoru Oshii to Answer Fan's Questions On-line

Date: 2004 September 03 13:57 | Posted By: Joe

Category > Anime > Film

We've just had details in from the folks at Dreamworks.
Mamoru Oshii the director of Ghost In the Shell 2: Innocence will be answering questions posted to the offical Ghost In the Shell 2 Site's forum. Sign up and Join this thread - http://www.ghost2.com/board/showthread.php?t=62.

Fans will already know that Oshii was behind the original Ghost in the Shell Movie, and the first two Mobile Police Patlabor Movies.

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