Archives for category: Events

Summer Wars (2009): Review

November 22, 09 //
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I was stupid lucky enough this Friday to make the 400+ mile round journey up north to the Leeds International Film Festival for the day. Given the length of the journey and the insane price of train tickets here in the UK that might seem a bit excessive to catch a couple of movies, but the festival’s anime weekend was being kicked off by an unmissable double bill. First off was Mamoru Oshii’s lost, experimental classic Angel’s Egg (more on that to follow), being shown in the UK for the first time in over 20 years, but the real incentive for me was to see the UK premiere of Momoru Hosoda’s latest blockbuster Summer Wars.
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London Expo – October 2009

October 28, 09 //
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I guess it must be pretty obvious by now that I’m not exactly what you’d call – if such a thing even exists – a ‘typical’ anime fan. I don’t refer to myself as an otaku. I hate J-Pop. Mainly due to being a 35 year-old heterosexual man, both Yaoi and Shojo anime holds no more interest for me than an episode of Ugly Betty or Gossip Girl. I don’t collect figures of little girls with their pantsu showing – although I do have a few Gundams, Labors and Totoros lying around the house. Fanservice at the very least bores me, and at worst makes me uncomfortable. I despise, rather than lust after, Asuka from Evangelion. And perhaps most shockingly, until this last weekend, I’d never been to an anime con before.
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