Kotatsu Festival 2022 Details

Date: 2022 October 11 21:07

Posted by Joe

The good folks from The Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival have revealed their film line up for this autumn 2022. The long running Welsh Anime film festival always proves popular!

The festival will be hosted at the following venues:

Chapter Arts, Cardiff 1st - 2nd Oct 2022
Aberystwyth Arts Centre 28th Oct - 1st Nov 2022
Pontio, Bangor 31st Oct - 5th Nov 2022.

Each venue has pretty much something for everyone.
If you haven't caught them yet, we strongly recommend Inu-Oh, Pompo the Cinephile and Fortune Favours Lady Nikuko.

There's plenty of other titles to discover and explore!

Full Story

Press release as follows:



Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival

The Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival, returns this autumn, with another excellent line-up of films for the audiences in the UK.

Chapter Arts, Cardiff 1st - 2nd Oct 2022
Aberystwyth Arts Centre 28th Oct - 1st Nov 2022
Pontio, Bangor 31st Oct - 5th Nov 2022

This year's great selection includes Inu-Oh, the latest film from the acclaimed award-winning director Masaaki Yuasa, the much loved Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero and stop-motion indie animation Junk Head. Director Takehide Hori's film debut took 7 years to complete, and the film was highly praised by Director Guillermo del Toro.

Since the festival's inception, one of its goals has been to act as a gateway into the diverse world of Japanese animation. This year, a short film by Akiwashi called Living in a World Without Magic is being showcased. This animated music video was her university graduation project and also the first creation of Euluca Lab, the creator team to which she belongs.

New this year, at Chapter and Aberystwyth Arts Center there will also be a free reading corner, giving fans the opportunity to read some of their favourite manga, or general Anime/Japan-related books and magazines for all ages, and of course they are in English and Japanese. Any Kotatsu fans who may not be able to afford as many tickets as they'd hoped this year because of the ongoing cost of living crisis, can still go along, join in the festivities, and feel included!

Any pre-loved comics/books/magazines are very welcome, so please take them along to Chapter if you are happy to donate them to a good cause. Please don't take them home afterwards, so others can also get a chance to enjoy them!

At Chapter and Aberystwyth Arts Center, there will be an all day festival marketplace, selling a variety of Japan/Anime/Manga related goods.

Finally, there is the festival raffle, which will be held at Chapter and Aberystwyth Arts Center to fundraise for future events. The prizes are all listed on their website at...

http://www.kotatsufestival.com/raffle/

Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival Timetable (All times are UK/GMT)

Venue: Chapter

1st Oct

11:30 Inu-Oh
13:40 Living in a World Without Magic + Fortune Favours Lady Nikuko
16:00 Eternal 831
18:00 Reception in Cinema Foyer
19:45 Pompo the Cinephile

2nd Oct

11:30 Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero
14:00 Junk Head
16:15 Raffle
17:00 Over the Sky
18:45 After Party in Cinema Foyer

Venue: Aberystwyth Arts Center

28th Oct

17:30 Goodbye, Don Glees!
19:45 Patlabor 1

29th Oct

11:20 The House of the Lost on the Cape
13:30 Inu-OH
15:25 Living in a World Without Magic (short) + Fortune Favours Lady Nikuko
17:30 Raffle Draw/Pompo the Cinephile
19:45 Junk Head

30th Oct

13:15 Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero
15:15 Finding Magical Doremi the movie
17:05 Raffle Draw/Over the Sky

31st Oct

13:30 Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero
15:30 Eternal 831
17:30 The Relative Worlds

1st Nov

14:00 Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero
16:00 Free: Final Stroke Part 1
17:50 Inu-OH
19:45 Patlabor 2

Venue: Pontio, Bangor

Mon 31st Sep 2.00pm Pompo the Cinephile

Tue 1st Oct 2.00pm Eternal 831

Wed 2nd Oct 2.00pm Inu-OH

Thu 3rd Oct 2.00pm Junk Head

Fri 4th Oct 2.00pm Over the Sky

Sat 5th Oct 11.00am Living in a World Without Magic (short)
+ Fortune Favours Lady Nikuko

2.00pm Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero

Any changes to the published films/times will be made available via our official website.

Film Details

Inu-Oh

A rock opera about a 14th-century superstar whose dance moves take Japan by storm. Born to an esteemed family, Inu-oh is afflicted with an ancient curse that has left him on the margins of society. When he meets the blind musician Tomona, a young biwa priest haunted by his past, Inu-oh discovers a captivating ability to dance. The pair quickly become business partners and inseparable friends as crowds flock to their electric, larger- than-life concerts. But when those in power threaten to break up the band, Inu-oh and Tomona must dance and sing to uncover the truth behind their creative gifts. A bombastic vision from visionary director Masaaki Yuasa, hailed as "one of the most creatively unbridled minds in all of modern animation".

2021 | 98' | 15 | Masaaki Yuasa | Japanese with English subtitles

Fortune Favours Lady Nikuko

Brash single mother Nikuko is well-known for her bold spirit, much to the embarrassment of Kikuko, her pensive yet imaginative daughter. In contrast to her mother, Kikuko wants nothing more than to fit in
as she navigates the everyday social dramas of middle school. Life in the harbour is peaceful until a shocking revelation from the past threatens to uproot the pair's tender relationship.

2021 | 97' | PG | Ayumu Watanabe | Japanese with English subtitles

Living in a World Without Magic

In this music video by philo we find a story that connects the present with a world that certainly existed, a world with witches and magic. This is her university graduation work, created to show on YouTube as the first creation of creator team Euluca Lab. Includes trailer and full animation.

2022 | 7' | advPG | Akiwashi Japanese with English subtitles

The Eternal 831

In the present day, the world is in turmoil due to an unprecedented disaster. A young man living in Tokyo, Suzushiro, has a secret he cannot tell anyone. That secret is that he can stop the time around him and one day, he meets a girl named Nazuna who has the same power. When he learns that she is being used in a crime, he impulsively reaches out to help her.

2021 | 84' | 15 | Kenji Kamiyama | Japanese with English subtitles

Pompo The Cinephile

Pompo is a talented and gutsy producer in Nyallywood, the movie-making capital of the world. One day she tells her apprehensive assistant Gene that he will direct her next script: a delicate drama about a tormented artistic genius, starring the legendary brooding actor Martin Braddock, and a young actress seeking her first break. But when the production heads towards chaos, can Gene rise to Pompo's challenge, and succeed as a first-time director?

2021 | 94' | 12a | Takayuki Hirao | Japanese with English subtitles

Junk Head

In an underground world the clones that man created have formed their own society and other creatures have sprouted up around them. An incredibly imaginative and surreal stop-motion animation, created almost entirely by Takahide Hori, with steampunk.

2021 | 104' | adv15 TBC | Takahide Hori | Japanese with English subtitle

Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero

Namekian Piccolo is hanging out on Earth helping Gohan train his daughter Pan in the fine art of power ups and warcraft, but the school is interrupted by the arrival of an android warriors Gamma 1 and Gamma 2 sent by the Red Ribbon Army. Taking a new approach to Dragon Ball, this is a digitally animated update with fresh villains and a focus on the Goku's legacy.

2022 | 100' | 12a | Tetsuro Kodama | Japanese with English subtitles

Over The Sky

Mio has long had feelings for her childhood friend Shin, but has never acted on them. One day, after a silly fight she goes to make peace and is involved in a traffic accident. When she awakes she is in a mysterious and unfamiliar world.

2020 | 95' | PG | Yoshinobu Sena | Japanese with English subtitles

Patlabor 1

Set in 1999, Tokyo is undergoing a huge redevelopment program: old suburbs are being demolished and human-made islands are being constructed in Tokyo Bay under the Babylon Project. Dominating the scene is the Ark, a huge man-made island that serves at the Project's nerve center and chief Labor manufacturing facility. However, several of the Labors being used in Tokyo, specifically those built by Shinohara Heavy Industries, suddenly go haywire even while unattended.

1989 | 98' | PG | Mamoru Oshii | Japanese with English subtitles

Patlabor 2

Set in 2002, three years after the events of the first movie, Noa Izumi and Asuma Shinohara are now testing new Labors at a facility run by the Metropolitan Police. Suspicious events begin to materialize after the Yokohama Bay Bridge is destroyed by a missile.

1989 | 113' | PG | Mamoru Oshii | Japanese with English subtitles

The Relative Worlds

Set in Japan year 2020, Shin Hazama, a third-year high school student who just lost his father encounters a version of himself who has spent a different life in another Japan, Jin. Everyday life starts to crack, and the battle between another world and another self begins.

2019 | 93' | 15 | Yuhei Sakuragi | Japanese with English subtitles

Goodbye, Don Glees!

Teen misfits Roma, Toto, and Drop call themselves the "Don Glees," an informal name for their backyard adventures. One day, when the trio gets blamed for a nearby forest fire, they set off into the woods to prove their innocence. As disaster strikes their expedition, tensions flare between the friends as they realise that growing up has taken them on wildly different paths in life.

2022 | 95' | 12A TBC | Atsuko Ishizuka | Japanese with English subtitles

The House of the Lost on the Cape

Haruka Nanase's new stage to take on the world is Sydney - a place he once visited, a place of dreams. One day, while taking a short break before his departure, Haruka coincidentally runs into a swimmer that competed at the All Japan National Championships, and is burning for a challenge.

With the feelings of his friends whom he swam together brimming in his heart, Haruka steps forward into a brand new world. What awaits him is the world champion, Albert Volandel.

2021| 86' | PG | Eisaku Kawanami | Japanese with English subtitles

Looking For Magical Doremi

The story follows three adult women from the generation who grew up watching Ojamajo Doremi. A new magical story begins once they embark on a journey together.

2020 | 91' | PG | Yu Kamatani & Junichi Sato | Japanese with English subtitles

The Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival relies on sponsors and donors to help us deliver screenings. If you would like to support us, you can do so with a voluntary contribution at the festival's Patreon page. Alternatively you can support the festival without paying extra money by signing up at Easyfundraising.org.uk and choosing to support the Kotatsu Festival. When you shop via the Easyfundraising website, a small percentage of your purchase will be automatically donated to the festival. If you'd prefer to remain anonymous, enable the setting that allows you to be an anonymous supporter.

We are also registered with Amazon Smile, please choose to support Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival as your chosen charity, and then just carry on shopping. A percentage of your purchase will be automatically donated to the festival.

About Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival (CIO)

Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival is a charitable organisation run by a small team of staff and volunteers. It has been running since November 2010 and its mission is to bring Japanese animation and culture to audiences in Wales. The festival screens a wide variety of films and provides educational and cultural learning opportunities such as animation workshops and masterclasses with leading animators from Japan. It has expanded over the years and can be experienced yearly at Chapter in Cardiff, the Aberystwyth Arts Centre in Aberystwyth, and Pontio in Bangor.