SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO, Part 12
Author: Tim Eldred, Starblazers.com and Greasemonkeybook.com

Posters for the new film YAMATO REBIRTH. ©2009 Yamato Studio.

A SciFi JAPAN EXCLUSIVE

If you give an older anime fan a chance to wax poetic, you’ll hear wistful stories of what it was like before the internet came along. Don’t get me wrong, the internet is a perfect tool to follow the hobby and it delivers exponentially more than we could get in the “old days.” But at the same time, the internet makes it too easy. It requires less of you. When your only search engine was your own brain and email had to be hand-delivered on paper, the demands of being an anime fan were intensely challenging.

All my fondest memories of that time resulted from rising to that challenge, and when I learned that SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO: REBIRTH CHAPTER would open in Japanese movie theatres on December 12, 2009, the challenge had been issued anew. YAMATO was what got me into anime in the first place. Seeking it out in all its forms has been a steady preoccupation for me since 1980. I could’ve continued to do that online and waited a few months for a DVD, but that just seemed wrong. Here, at last, was a chance to see it the way it was meant to be seen, on a big screen with big sound and surrounded by a big merchandising campaign. Going to Japan to see that in person was a new opportunity not just to relive the challenges of yesteryear but also to experience them in real time as Japanese fans did. I knew I’d regret it if I let the opportunity pass. And now I regret nothing.
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Get the 20TH CENTURY BOYS 1: BEGINNING OF THE END DVD and More for Free, Courtesy of VIZ Pictures and SciFi Japan
Source: VIZ Pictures
Official Movie Site: 20thboysfilms.com (US), 20th Boys (Japanese)
Special Thanks to Rieko Fuji

VIZ Pictures is offering SciFi Japan readers the chance to win
a 20TH CENTURY BOYS 1: BEGINNING OF THE END Gift Pack
containing the DVD, poster, and button. Photo courtesy of
VIZ Pictures. © 1999, 2006 Naoki Urasawa, Studio Nuts
/Shogakukan © 2008 “20th Century Boys” Film Partners

A SciFi JAPAN EXCLUSIVE

The popular 20TH CENTURY BOYS (20-Seki Shonen) live-action movie trilogy is coming to Region 1 DVD from VIZ Pictures and VIZ Media, starting this month with 20TH CENTURY BOYS 1: BEGINNING OF THE END. The films are based on the critically acclaimed 20th Century Boys manga series created by Naoki Urasawa, which is a national phenomenon in Japan, selling over 20 million copies to date. The first 20TH CENTURY BOYS movie was released in Japan by Toho on August 30, 2008 and quickly shot to the top of the box office. The film premiered at the VIZ Cinema in San Francisco on August 15, 2009.

To celebrate this release, VIZ Pictures is giving SciFi Japan readers in the United States and Canada a chance to win one of three “20TH CENTURY BOYS DVD Otoshi-dama Gift Packs” ['Otoshi-dama' refers to a Japanese gift of good fortune for a new year]. Each Gift Pack includes the 20TH CENTURY BOYS 1: BEGINNING OF THE END DVD, the US theatrical poster, and a 20TH CENTURY BOYS button.

The 20TH CENTURY BOYS 1: BEGINNING OF THE END DVD will be available for purchase on December 15.
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The cast of MEGA MONSTER BATTLE: ULTRA GALAXY with Ultraman Belial, Gomora, and Ultraman Zero. Photo by Jim M. Ballard

Exclusive Photos From The Premiere Of The New Ultraman Movie
Author: Jim M. Ballard
Official Movie Site: Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy

The official premiere of the latest Ultraman movie MEGA MONSTER BATTLE: ULTRA GALAXY (Daikaiju Battoru Urutora Ginga Densetsu The Movie) was held today in Kawasaki.

Prior to the screening, a special Ultra hero stage show was held in an event space at the centre of the Lazona Plaza shopping mall, where up to 500 Ultraman masks were freely distributed to members of the audience.

The show started at 2.00pm with an introduction by Ultraman Dyna, star of the 1997 TV series of the same name, who also features prominently in the new movie.
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The premiere screening of the newly restored, HD transfer of MOTHRA was recently held at Sony Pictures Studios. © 1961 Toho Co., Ltd.

Author: Keith Aiken
Special Thanks to Kai Saari

Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, CA. Photo courtesy of the Japan Film Society.

On the evening of Thursday, November 19th, the Japan Film Society and Sony Pictures Entertainment hosted a special premiere screening of the fully restored Toho sci-fi classic MOTHRA (Mosura, 1961). The invitation-only event was held in the Jimmy Stuart Building on the Sony Studios lot in Culver City for members of the press and Japanese Entertainment Industry in Southern California.

Sony’s connection to MOTHRA dates back to 1961 when Columbia Pictures— now a subsidiary of Sony— helped finance the movie’s production and later distributed it theatrically, to television, and on home video in the United States. Last month’s screening was spearheaded by Kai Saari, Coordinator for Digital Media for Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE) as well as Marketing Director for the newly formed Japan Film Society.
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Eva Unit 01 dashes full throttle to confront the Eighth Angel in EVANGELION 2.0: YOU CAN (NOT) ADVANCE, the latest chapter in the “Rebuild of Evangelion”
feature film series. Photo courtesy of EIN’s M&M. © 2009 Khara/Gainax

Author: Kim Song-ho
Source: Korean press materials
Official Movie Site: evangelion.co.jp (Japan), Naver EVANGELION 2.0 Official Cafe (Korea)

Korean poster art for EVANGELION 2.0: YOU CAN (NOT)
ADVANCE. The tagline reads “Destruction is the beginning
of evolution!” Photo courtesy of EIN’s M&M. © 2009
Khara/Gainax

SPOILER WARNING: This article contains plot details for a new movie.

EVANGELION 2.0: YOU CAN (NOT) ADVANCE (Evangelion Shin Gekijoban: Ha, 2009), the latest chapter of the “Rebuild of Evangelion” tetralogy, will be theatrically released in Korea starting December 3.

The “Rebuild of Evangelion” is a series of new projects for the Evangelion franchise, conceived by creator Hideaki Anno himself. He established a separate company called Khara Co., Ltd. to focus on the projects, but have kept working with much of the staff from Gainax, the company which launched the original TV animated series NEON GENESIS EVANGELION (Shin Seiki Evangelion, 1995). The core of the “Rebuild of Evangelion” project is four newly-produced animated features: EVANGELION 1.0: YOU ARE (NOT) ALONE (Evangelion Shin Gekijoban: Jo, 2007), EVANGELION 2.0: YOU CAN (NOT) ADVANCE, EVANGELION 3.0: Q (Evangelion Shin Gekijoban: Q) and the currently untitled fourth feature.

EVANGELION 1.0, which was first released in Japan on September 1, 2007, was basically a retelling of episodes 1 to 6 of the original TV series. However, the producers did not use a single cel of the original animation. Instead, they created new footage based on the original cels, many of which were combined with computer-generated images.
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Bigger than big! A full scale statue of the classic manga/anime robot Tetsujin 28 (aka Gigantor) has been built in Kobe, Japan.
Photo by Daisuke Ishizuka. © 2009 Kobe Tetsujin Project.

“Life Size” Statue of Giant Robot in Creator’s Hometown
Author: Daisuke Ishizuka
Official Site: Kobe Tetsujin Project (Japan)

TETSUJIN 28-GO (Tetsujin Nijyu-Hachi-Go) is a popular robot comic (launched 1956) and animation TV series (1963) created by Mr. Mitsuteru Yokoyama. The animated series was aired in America as the English dubbed GIGANTOR (1966).

Mr. Yokoyama was born in Kobe in 1934, and died at the of age of 69 in 1995. His works include Giant Robo (adapted as the live action series JOHNNY SOKKO AND HIS FLYING ROBOT), Babel II, Princess Comet (Comet-san) and Kamen no Ninjya Akakage (adapted several times, including the 2001 movie RED SHADOW). Tetsujin is considered to be his masterpiece. The character has become a beloved figure in Japan, starring in several animated series as well as a 2005 live action film. Imagi Studios, the animation house behind the CG films TMNT and ASTRO BOY, has produced test footage for a potential computer animated TETSUJIN 28 movie.

The Kobe area was hit by the Great Hanshin earthquake on January 17th, 1995. Nearly 6,500 people were killed and 300,000 lost their homes. As the 15th anniversary of the tragedy draws near, a full scale, 18 meter (59 foot) tall statue of Tetsujin has been built in Kobe as a symbol of the city’s revival and as a guardian from future disasters.
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Japan’s yokai as they appeared in the classic YOKAI MONSTERS trilogy made by Daiei Motion Picture Company in the 1960s. © 1968 Kadokawa Pictures, Inc.

Authors: Melanie Bourgeois and Dan Ross
Source: VIZ Media
Special Thanks to Erik Jansen

Author Matt Alt signs Yokai Attack! for fans at the Yokai University exhibit.

From October 23rd though November 6th, Viz Media and the New People Center in San Francisco’s Japantown hosted a spooky gallery of Japanese goblins known as yokai. The “Yokai University: San Francisco Campus” exhibit located in the lobby of Viz Cinema showcased original woodblock prints from classic Ukio-e master Hokusai to more contemporary manga artist Shigeru Mizuki, creator of GeGeGe No Kitaro. Along with the prints were video reels of yokai street parades and in glass cases, many classic and modern netsuke and toys. All in all a colorful, fun and educational display.

On October 31st at Viz Cinema, Matt Alt, founder of AltJapan and co-writer of the book Yokai Attack!: The Japanese Monster Survival Guide, gave a free presentation on what yokai are all about. My wife Melanie and I attended. After Matt’s informative and fun talk and a book signing in the lobby, Melanie and I caught up with him for a few minutes to talk about the presentation from both our perspectives, and also looked in on the latest happenings at AltJapan.
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Director Shusuke Kaneko is in Korea for the 2009 Megabox Japanese Film Festival, which will screen all three 1990s Gamera films.
Photo courtesy of Megabox. GAMERA 3: AWAKENING OF IRYS © 1999 Kadokawa Pictures, Inc.

Heisei Trilogy will be screened at Japanese Film Festival in Korea
Author: Kim Song-ho
Official Site: The 6th Megabox Japanese Film Festival

Poster art for the 6th Megabox Japanese Film Festival.
Photo courtesy of Megabox. © 2009 Megabox

The Heisei Gamera trilogy — GAMERA: GUARDIAN OF THE UNIVERSE (Gamera: Daikaiju Kuchu Kessen, 1995), GAMERA 2: ADVENT OF LEGION (Gamera 2: Region Shurai, aka GAMERA: ATTACK OF LEGION, 1996) and GAMERA 3: AWAKENING OF IRYS (Gamera 3: Iris Kakusei, aka GAMERA: REVENGE OF IRIS, 1999) — will be screened in Korea at the 6th Megabox Japanese Film Festival, running November 11 to 15 (Korean date). Shusuke Kaneko, director of the Gamera trilogy, is visiting Korea for the festival and will meet the audience in person for most of the showings.

Megabox Japanese Film Festival (J-MEFF) is a collaboration between Megabox Cineplex, a large cinema chain in Korea, and the Agency for Cultural Affairs of Japan. Since the premiere festival in 2004, J-MEFF is held in November. Each year it introduces both new and classic Japanese films to Korean audiences and is now one of the most well-known Japan-related film festivals among Korean film buffs.

Kim Song-ho previews what attendees can expect to see at this year’s Megabox Japanese Film Festival, and looks back at the history of Gamera in South Korea.
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Space Station Gamma III is menaced by THE GREEN SLIME. The Los Angeles Comic Book and Science Fiction Convention is hosting a 40th anniversary
screening with stars Robert Horton and Luciana Paluzzi. © 1969 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc.

Stars Robert Horton and Luciana Paluzzi to Attend Screening at the Los Angeles Comic Book and Science Fiction Convention
Official Site: Los Angeles Comic Book and Science Fiction Convention

US poster art for THE GREEN SLIME. © 1969 Metro-
Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc.

Celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Japanese/US/Italian co-production THE GREEN SLIME (Gamma Sango Uchu Daisakusen, 1968) with a special screening and appearance by two stars of the sci-fi cult classic at the Los Angeles Comic Book and Science Fiction Convention. The convention will show a rare film print of THE GREEN SLIME at 12:00pm on Sunday, November 8th. Actors Robert Horton and Luciana Paluzzi will attend from 11:00am-4:00pm to sign autographs and take part in post-screening interview about the making of the movie.

This weekend’s screening will be included as part of the general admission for the Los Angeles Comic Book and Science Fiction Convention. Robert Horton and Luciana Paluzzi are charging for autographs, but each signatures includes a choice of photo.
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Twenty-one Films, Six Cities
Source: Japan Foundation, Sydney
Official Site: japanesefilmfestival.net
Special Thanks to Evon Fung

The 13th annual Japanese Film Festival begins November 24
in Sydney, Australia. © 2009 The Japan Foundation, Sydney

This year, the 13th annual Japanese Film Festival will be delivering another fantastic line-up of Japanese cinema to fans in Australia. The event begins November 24th at Event Cinemas George Street, Sydney, and December 3rd at ACMI Cinemas, Melbourne, and will also include screenings in Brisbane, Hobart, and Canberra.

Among the many movies being shown are THE CHEF OF THE SOUTH POLE, OPPAI VOLLEYBALL, K-20: LEGEND OF THE MASK, PANDEMIC, SUMMER DAYS WITH COO, THE CHERRY TREE IN THE HILLS, GRAVITY’S CLOWNS, KAMOGAWA HORUMO- BATTLE LEAGUE IN TOKYO, PENGUINS IN THE SKY: ASAHIYAMA ZOO, THE HANDSOME SUIT, ALL AROUND US, DETROIT METAL CITY, and GOEMON.
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New York-Tokyo presents the North American premiere of Kazuaki Kiriya’s new movie GOEMON next month in NYC. © 2009 “Goemon” Film Partners.

Screening at the ImaginAsian Theater on November 4th
Source: New York-Tokyo press release
Official Movie Site: Goemon (Japan)

The media company New York-Tokyo continues their “Nippon Eiga Series” with the North American premiere of GOEMON at the ImaginAsian Theater in New York City on November 4th. GOEMON is about the “Japanese Robin Hood” who tangles himself in a brutal warfare amongst the warlords, honor and love. This highly stylized film is directed by visionary director, Kazuaki Kiriya (CASSHERN).
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Advertisement for the VIZ Cinema screenings of BATTLE LEAGUE HORUMO. Photo courtesy of VIZ Pictures. © 2009 Kamogawa Horumo Film Partners

NEW PEOPLE Yokai Event Celebrates the Halloween spirit Japanese style!
Source: VIZ Media, MediaLab press releases
Official Site: NewPeopleWorld.com
Special Thanks to Erik Jansen

Kitaro and his yokai friends appear in promotional art
for the free “Yokai University San Francisco Campus”
exhibit starting this week at NEW PEOPLE. Photo
courtesy of VIZ Media. © 2009 VIZ Media, LLC

Did you know that the Japanese yokai (immortal spirits) are attending their fall semester in San Francisco?

NEW PEOPLE, the new pop culture center in San Francisco’s Japantown, delivers Halloween— Japanese style— as it opens “Yokai University: San Francisco Campus”, a fun and spooky free exhibition of demons, monsters and other creepy creatures running October 23rd through November 6th at the VIZ Cinema lobby. The event will feature yokai related books, art prints and other media, including Japanese Ukiyo-e woodblock prints by master artist Hokusai Katsushika, and artwork by yokai manga pioneer Shigeru Mizuki, creator of the popular series GeGeGe No Kitaro.

To complement the exhibit, VIZ Cinema will host a special premiere of the new yokai combat action-comedy film BATTLE LEAGUE HORUMO (Kamogawa Horumo, 2009).

As part of the two week celebration, NEW PEOPLE invites the public to an informative free yokai lecture by Tokyo-based writer Matt Alt, who chronicled Japan’s long love affair with monsters and spirits in Yokai Attack!: The Japanese Monster Survival Guide, the first-ever English language yokai guidebook. Matt Alt gives history and insights on its culture on Saturday, October 31st from 1:00 – 2:30pm at VIZ Cinema. His book and a special collection of yokai themed products will also be available for purchase.
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Source: Asian Film Festival of Dallas
Special Thanks to Mike Keller

Celebrate Halloween early with the Asian Film Festival of
Dallas’ Asian Horror Double Header. Photo courtesy of AFFD.

In conjunction with Texas Frightmare Weekend, the Asian Film Festival of Dallas is holding a membership drive on October 24 at the Studio Movie Grill-Addison (5405 Beltline Rd. Dallas, TX, 75248). Scary movie fans are invited to celebrate Halloween early with a double feature of two excellent, spectacular, gory, fun Asian horror flicks, and participate in AFFD’s Costume Contest. Come dressed as your favorite Asian horror character. There will be a Prize for Best Costume plus lots of other door prizes.

9:30PM- MACABRE (Rumah Dara, 2009): A high-spirited road trip is interrupted when a group of friends pick up Dara (Shareefa Daanish), a girl who has just been robbed and offer to take her home to a mysterious house in the deep woods. No good deed goes unpunished, to the tune of severed limbs, decapitations, and several flavors of graphic mayhem.

11:30PM- VAMPIRE GIRL VS. FRANKENSTEIN GIRL (Kyuketsu Shojo tai Shojo Furanken, 2008): Two girls (Eri Otoguro and Yukie Kawamura), one boy (Takumi Saito), a mad scientist lab, and blood-laced sweet treats – high school love triangles go berzerk in this body-modified, gore-spouting, self-mutilating, seriously un-PC romp from Yoshihiro Nishimura, the director of TOKYO GORE POLICE.
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Auntie (Yoko Minamida, right) needs the blood of virgins to give her eternal life in HOUSE, a very weird haunted house story by filmmaker Nobuhiko Obayashi.
Photo courtesy of NYAFF. © 1977 Toho Co., Ltd.

Source: Janus Films
Official Movie Site: janusfilms.com/house

On July 30, 1977, Toho Co. Ltd released HOUSE (Hausu), a bizarre horror film written and directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi. Mixing scares, comedy, and psychedelic imagery— and based on an idea by the director’s 11 year-old daughter— HOUSE told the tale of seven high school girls who are trapped inside a haunted house with a bloodthirsty aunt, a demonic black cat, and killer pianos, mattresses, and chandeliers.
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Director Mashahiro Ando and Producer Mashiko Minami will attend a screening of their acclaimed anime film SWORD OF THE STRANGER at the
Barbican Centre in London. © 2007 Bones/Sword of the Stranger Film Partners

Director and Producer to Attend London Screening on October 26
Source: Barbican Centre, Sarah Harvey Publicity press release
Special Thanks to Helene Muron

The award-winning anime feature SWORD OF THE STRANGER (Sutorenjia Mukohadan, 2007) comes to London this month with a special screening at the Barbican Centre.

Following the film will be a “Studio Bones Screentalk” with anime expert Helen McCarthy (The Anime! Movie Guide, Hayao Miyazaki: Master of Japanese Animation, and founder of the magazine AnimeFX) and two specials guests: director Masahiro Ando and producer Mashiko Minami from the anime studio that made COWBOY BEBOP, FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST, SOUL EATER and SWORD OF THE STRANGER.
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