The Wonders Of Anime Matsuri - Kieran

A special event took place at the Sydney leg of the 14th Japanese Film Festival. For the first time we held a special "Anime Matsuri". A hallmark of Japanese Cinema and Television, Anime has been around in some form since the early 1900's and we are delighted to have put on this mini 7 hour marathon of this artistic expression.

The event was co-hosted by SMASH! Sydney Anime and Manga Show and was such a mammoth event that it took place in 2 parts. Part 1 featured the short music video "Precious" and the feature length version of the futuristic sci-fi piece "Time of Eve". Part 2 consisted of a special Naoyoshi Shiotani double feature with the romance tale "Tokyo Marble Chocolate" and the new 3D CGI Production I.G piece "Oblivion Island: Haruka and the Magic Mirror".

We decided to ask SMASH! about the wonders of anime and their thoughts about this matsuri (Matsuri is Japanese for festival). Read on to hear the thoughts of the event runner Alexia Zahra-Newman!

"JFF: How did SMASH! come about?

SMASH!: SMASH! was founded in 2007 by a Sydney artist and anime fan Katie Huang. She wanted to make an event for fans, artists and creators that could be both affordable and entertaining. Our first meetings were in Hyde Park and I don’t think anyone ever imagined that the convention would come as far as it has since. 

JFF: Tell us a bit about SMASH!

SMASH!: We have about 40 staff, all working voluntarily in whatever spare time they have around full time employment or study. Our key objectives are to provide an event dedicated to Japanese animation, art and culture that is affordable, educational and entertaining.  In particular we want to ensure that local artists have an opportunity to not only learn from professionals and develop their skills, but also to sell their works to the public. We run a large number of events over the course of a day including cosplay, karaoke, video game tournaments, Gundam model making workshops, academic and craft panels, trivia as well as a range of activities and games.

JFF: What does the future hold for SMASH?

SMASH!: Since our first year we’ve continued to grow bigger and better and we hope to continue that. Already we’ve confirmed a brand new venue at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre and we hope that very shortly we can announce some very exciting events and talents that will feature at the show. We’re a volunteer organisation and as such we’re always looking for people with new ideas and a willingness to help out. We’ll have information on our website soon for those interested in volunteering, but until then anyone can contact our staff at volunteers@smash.org.au

JFF: Why do people get so involved in Anime, cosplay etc?

SMASH!: People are drawn to anime for a variety of reasons. The breadth of anime is one of those reasons. Because it is animated, it is restricted only by the imagination of its creators. There is anime for fans of sports, cars, martial arts, magical girls, robots, spaceships, high school romance and politics with settings that range from the extraordinary to the mundane.

Narrative appeals to yet others. While it is more common in the West than it once was, it is still frequently the case that Western televised drama will continue for years, often rotating characters, with no larger fixed story other than the plot of the episode of that week. While such self-contained stories have their appeal, anime caters to the fan looking for a narrative with a longer, but nevertheless, defined arc. Finally, it has blue hair. And shirts made entirely out of buckles. And frogs that are vampires. Well, maybe not the last bit. But that's coming next year for sure.

JFF: How do you intend to get more people interested in manga/anime?

SMASH!: We believe that anime has something for everyone and the biggest barrier is merely people's preconceptions. In Australia, we grow up with a very rigid view of what the cartoon is useful for - humour. Although television shows such as South Park and The Simpsons have pushed the age groups which are permitted to enjoy animation it is still, at heart, about laughter.

This is why events such as the JFF are important. They provide an opportunity for people to realise that animation can be used to explore themes which are serious, sad, uplifting and challenging. People enjoy good storytelling and once the medium is no longer seen as restrictive to what storytelling can take place, we believe people will reach for an anime DVD as easily as they reach out for the next episode of Mad Men.

JFF: Are you excited to be involved with JFF?

SMASH!: Definitely! We think that anything that promotes anime and Japan to audiences in Sydney is a fantastic thing and we’re more than happy to work with the Japan Foundation in producing the Anime Matsuri. We hope that the Festival will reach a whole new bunch of people who haven’t yet discovered anime and Japanese culture.

JFF: What sort of special events were at the Anime Matsuri?

SMASH!: We want to show attendees that might not know much about SMASH! and other Anime conventions what the feeling is to be at one of these conventions. So we have put together a mini one for this event, including a Cosplay runway. This will be where members of the audience can come down from their seats to the front of the cinema and show everyone their great cosplay, to win great prizes.

JFF: Are you excited for the future?

SMASH!: Yes, the screenings were great. I know a few people had seen these films through their own means but this is the first time for many and personally we think they are a great introduction to anime for anyone new to the culture. We would love to work with the Japan foundation in the future and grow Sydney’s awareness and love for Japanese, Anime and popular culture."

The event was a great success, with cosplay, prizes and guests galore. We had over 1,000 people attend, from young children to anime veterans. Special thanks to Alexia for that interview and to the whole SMASH! team for the wonderful event.

We hope to work with you guys in the future too!

(Shodo Girls) Martial Crafts - Richard

Today saw 800 plus students and teachers fill Cinema 4 at Event Cinemas all in the name of "Shodo Girls". In what has become a major annual event, our special school screening at the Japanese Film Festival was a massive hit. The session sold out in a matter of days, with tens of schools having to be turned away due to high demand. See what all the fuss is about with the repeat session of "Shodo Girls", this Saturday at 1:00pm. Tickets are still available but will surely be in demand. Richard Gray continues his look at the festival with a review into the martial arts calligraphy piece that is "Shodo Girls".

"The thing that has always excites me about cinema is that I am constantly learning new things. Prior to Shodo Girls, I had no idea that there was such a thing as competition performance calligraphy. Yes, the gentle art of fancy lettering is a no-holds-barred bloodletting that gets pretty fierce. Plus, it’s all based on a true story! Well, except for the bloodletting part. I just got kind of carried away. One has to admit, that theatrical poster (to the left) does make this look like an action epic. That aside, Shodo Girls is one of the most unlikely delights I have seen in quite some time.

Satoko (Riko Narumi) leads her high-school calligraphy club, but struggles to keep the numbers of people up. Their little world is rocked when a new substitute teacher, Ikezawa (Nobuaki Kaneko, Crows Zero II) arrives and brings a fresh new approach to calligraphy. Resigned to the fact that their calligraphy is boring, the girls decide to revitalise their economically ailing town by staging a bit of performance calligraphy. After some false starts, and a Rocky-style training montage with music (the second of the festival, following Feel the Wind), the girls enter themselves in the “Shodo Girls Koshien”, in which they must make calligraphy on giant sheets of paper to music.

The tension between traditional and radical modernisation is a theme that runs strong throughout Japanese cinema, and indeed throughout Japan, and Shodo Girls conveys this tension effectively. Yet in some ways the films can’t escape another cinematic tradition: that of a small team of misfits overcoming great odds at competition level. Indeed, some of the similar themes can be seen in this year’s festival hits Feel the Wind and Solanin to a lesser extent. However, Shodo Girls manages to transcend this cliché to some degree via a cast of terrific characters that the script spends some time getting to know.

The film’s lead, Riko Narumi, has been in a number of similar films over the last few years. Indeed, her most recent film before this one, Bushido Sixteen, is about a rivalry that grows during kendo training, leading up to one final tournament. Her character is at first somewhat overbearing, but thanks to the other members of the team – including singer/actress Mitsuki Takahata, who is absolutely wonderful in the role of the overly earnest Kiyomi, whose beaming enthusiasm inspires the rest of the group – manages to become a rousing leader capable of drawing words on big pieces of paper with the best of them.

Perhaps what is most surprising about Shodo Girls is that it is all based on a true story. Like Happy Family Plan in 2009, Shodo Girls is designed to act as something of a cultural ambassador to the Japanese Film Festival, complete with language learning activities for the school groups who have no doubt bought out the first session of this film. After all, where else but Japan would performance calligraphy be met with such unbridled enthusiasm? It is the perfect antidote to the overbearing high-school glee clubs from High School Musical, Spectacular! or TV’s Glee, and instead takes us on a gentle journey through personal development, complete with male cheerleaders. Along with giving us an insight into the importance of this gentle art of the Japanese psyche, it is designed as a wholesale “feel good” picture that is guaranteed to having people roused and ready to enrol in calligraphy lessons by the end of its swift running time.

Like the art it portrays, Shodo Girls is a film with charms that become more apparent the longer one reflects on them. Director Ryuichi Inomata has a strong history of television film production, and his previous feature film – 2007′s weepy dog-drama A Tale of Mari and Three Puppies, a film I randomly managed to catch on television in Hiroshima late last year – had a distinctly “movie of the week” feel to it. Although Shodo Girls pays a strong debt to these traditions, it is nevertheless a thoroughly enjoyable character-driven piece that is sure to be a crowd-pleaser at this year’s festival circuit." by Richard Gray, DVD Bits.

"Shodo Girls" is a part of our stellar Saturday lineup, which features 8 films across 6 sessions. Come along and experience the 14th Japanese Film Festival, before it moves on to Melbourne. See you at the festival!

(Zero Focus) Drama Of My Life - Samson

Wicked Wednesday continues with Samson's look at "Zero Focus", which stars a wealth of talented Japanese actresses. Check out his thoughts on "Dear Doctor" also on the JFF blog. Remember to stay tuned to the blog over the next week as we will have live reports from the festival and even a few giveaways.

"If I were to make a film about my life right now, Zero Focus would be a most appropriate title. But no, the Japanese film Zero Focus is not about some dude who is overworked, underpaid, struggling to juggle multiple commitments, while trying to watch as many good films as possible, all resulting in chronic sleep deprivation and therefore a pathologically shortened attention span. Instead, it is a suspense mystery drama.

The main character is Teiko (Ryoko Hirosue, recently featured in the JFF Newsletter), a newly married beautiful young woman who has found happiness in her life. This turns out to be short-lived, however, as her husband fails to return after leaving home for work in another city. So Teiko goes on a journey to find her husband, and in doing so learns a lot that she did not know about him...

"Zero Focus" wasn’t really what I expected. Having read the synopsis and seen the keywords ‘suspense’ and ‘mystery’, I was expecting a movie that has an intricate web of plot twists culminating in a climax with a final revelation that would just blow me away. "Zero Focus" is not like that. Very early on in the film, viewers get to find out what happens to Teiko’s disappeared husband and not before long, it becomes obvious who is responsible for his disappearance. So if you watch this film expecting an exciting whodunit thriller, you may be disappointed.

As a drama, however, this film is certainly a success, thanks to the great performances by all three of the lead actresses - Ryoko Hirosue, Miki Nakatani (Memories of Matsuko – 12th JFF) and Tae Kimura (All Around Us – 13th JFF). Lead actress Ryoko Hirosue is certainly on a hot streak at the moment. Following the success of the Oscar-winning Departures, she has starred in a number of major productions. Just look at how many films showing at this year’s Japanese Film Festival have her starring in them, and you will get an idea how hot she is right now. In "Zero Focus", she plays Teiko with an innocence and naivety that are truly believable. The other two main actresses also give solid performances. Miki Nakatani is most credible in her performance as the wife of a tycoon, while Tae Kimura has a smaller role as a receptionist but her acting here is no less impressive.

"Zero Focus" is a movie worth seeing even just for the acting alone. Viewers who like fine dramas will enjoy it, while fans of Ryoko Hirosue should put this on their must-see list, as the actress plays a much bigger role here than say in Goemon (13th JFF) or even Departures (12th JFF). And if unlike me, you have previously read the original novel by Seicho Matsumoto, on which this picture is based, I will be most interested in hearing what you think about the film!" - by Samson Kwok

Thanks to Samson for his great entries on the blog. If you are attending the festival next week, feel free to write up about it, from what you expect from the films to what you thought of the experience. Send it to us here at the blog and you may just get featured! All entries should be sent to assistantcoordinator@jpf.org.au.

See you at the festival.

What I Like About Japan - Ivan

Another day, another entry here on the JFF blog! The festival is fast approaching and we have so much to cover. Just a quick note, we are running a competition over on the JFF website, where you can win a great Onitsuka Tiger prize pack including a double pass to Feel the Wind. Get your entry in now.

Today festival volunteer Ivan Tongue takes a look at what it is that intrigues us about Japan. After reading below, let us know what your favourite things about Japan are!

"Playstation, Hello Kitty, Toyota, sushi, anime, cosplay, karaoke. Do all these words sound familiar? That’s right. They all come from Japan. With the 14th Japanese Film Festival just around the corner, I’d like to know from anyone attending the festival, what do you like about Japanese culture? Do you have a favourite manga, anime or Playstation game? What Japanese delicacies do you like to eat or would like to try? Do you love karaoke, like cosplaying or do you simply enjoy the Japanese culture?

Here is a list of what I love about Japan.

MANGA:

I don’t have an encyclopedia-sized collection of manga that more avid and crazy fans have and I don’t consider myself as an otaku. But I do collect manga, mostly my favourite titles, and like many other otaku of manga series, I am one of those eager fans who read scanlated versions of manga that are released weekly on several manga fan sites.

So far I have a collection of Claymore and Bleach manga (not all that have been released so far, but most) as you can see below. I will soon begin collecting the Fullmetal Alchemist series, which, after watching the Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood series not too long ago, has become my favourite Japanese anime/manga. All of these titles and many more can be bought at Kinokuniya, located at the Galeries in Town Hall.

My manga collection ...

… cannot compare to the collection from these crazy but dedicated manga fans.

ANIME:

In my opinion Japanese anime series have some of the most interesting and unique stories and characters in the world, which is probably why Hollywood cannot make one good film adaptation of a Japanese anime or manga (remember the Dragonball movie released last year?). Nevertheless, Hollywood is planning on producing a number of live-action films based on several manga and anime series. Rumors have it that these series will be adapted: Akira, Battle Angel Alita, Bleach, Cowboy Bebop, Death Note, a reboot of Dragonball, Evangelion, Ghost in the Shell, Macross/Robotech and Ninja Scroll. Whatever happens, I hope they do a much more better job at it then they did on Dragonball, Streetfighter, and even Resident Evil. And with word that Steven Spielberg and James Cameron will be involved in several of these projects, it’s possible.

So going back to my favourite anime series, it’s very hard to decide because of how good many of these anime series are. I’ve already said that Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood is my favourite anime/manga but not far behind are series such as Death Note, Trigun, Ghost in the Shell, Claymore (excluding the ending), Bleach (excluding the fillers), Samurai 7, Gurren Lagann, Burst Angel, Scrapped Princess and Kenichi. There are probably many other series that I haven’t watched that could be added to the list, but with so many to choose from, it’s easier said than done. I’ve also excluded my childhood favourites such as Pokémon, Digimon, Dragonball and Zoids. Most of these anime series can be found at JB Hi-Fi.

FILMS:

I’ll admit I haven’t watched as many Japanese films as I should, and from the films I have already watched, it’s a shame that I haven’t watched more because Japan offers a number of remarkable and memorable films. That said, it’s probably no surprise that Hayao Miyazaki is one of my favourite directors. His animated films are both fantastical and visually inventive. Princess Mononoke is my favourite from Miyazaki because the animations are just as stunning as his artistry while the narrative is deep, complex and thought provoking. 

The film is about a boy named Ashitaka who has been cursed with a wound on his arm that will eventually kill him. He seeks to find a cure for the curse but ends up in the middle of a struggle between creatures who live to protect the forest and humans from a village called Iron Town who consume the forest’s resources. It is an incredible film and a must watch for those who have enjoyed Miyazaki’s other works such as Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle and Ponyo.

J-HORROR:

Among other Japanese films I’ve seen are the original Ring and The Grudge films. Unlike the failures of live-action adaptations of anime and manga series, it seems Hollywood is much better at remaking Japanese horror films such as The Ring, The Grudge, Dark Water, One Missed Call and Pulse. It’s easy to understand why these films have become so popular among Western audiences. The original Ring and The Grudge series are among the most terrifying yet thrilling horror films that I have ever seen and ranks among my favourite horror films.

Another film I have found interest in is Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, a computer-animated sequel to the Playstation game, Final Fantasy VII. I didn’t particularly enjoy the film itself despite the visually stunning graphics the film had to offer. However, I was particularly impressed with the release of the Limited Edition Collector’s Set of Advent Children. It included: a 2-Disc DVD set of the film, the script, the novel and some postcards containing very amazing artwork from Tetsuya Nomura, all packed in a specially designed box. It’s a must have for any Final Fantasy fan like me, and can be purchased at JB Hi-Fi.

GAMES:

Speaking of Final Fantasy, these are among my favourite games to play. From the ones I have played (IX, X, X-2, Tactics) IX has been my favourite, closely followed by X. The reason IX is my favourite is because of the gameplay, which I find to be the most important factor for a game. While the storyline could have been better, it was the extra quests and minigames that convinced me. The storyline to X is one of the best I have seen and the Blitzball minigame is both fun and addictive, but there wasn’t much variety to the sidequests.

Among other titles I have played, including Chrono Cross, Grandia, Legend of Dragoon (I love Japanese RPG games), Chrono Cross is my all time favourite game. It’s unique battle system, complex narrative and vast selection of characters really made it a worthwhile game to play and finish over and over again with its new game plus feature.

ANIME CONVENTIONS:

While the anime conventions held in Sydney and around Australia can in no way compete with the size and grandeur of those held in Japan and the United States, they are still a great place for fans and geeks alike to come together to share their same appreciation for manga and anime series. 

The three major conventions in Sydney are Supanova, Animania and SMASH! (which is one of the special event partners of the Japanese Film Festival). I’ve had the privilege of attending and volunteering for these events, and its clear to see why it attracts thousands of people. 

One of the major features of these conventions is the hundreds of otaku who cosplay in their favourite characters. It’s amazing to see how much time and effort these hardcore fans put in to like their heroes. Check out the cosplayers below!

JAPANESE CUISINE:

Sushi is no doubt the most popular Japanese delicacy in Australia and probably in the world. It really doesn’t matter what type of fillings and toppings are included in them but to me they all taste exquisite. Whether it’s seafood, vegetables or meat, they are a treat. Many sushi restaurants can be found in Sydney. There is a Sushi Train restaurant located right next to Event Cinemas for all you sushi enthusiasts.

Apart from sushi, other Japanese cuisines I enjoy include sashimi, ramen, tempura, and teriyaki. If there is one thing I don’t enjoy it would be Miso soup. There’s just something in that soup that makes me cringe every time I taste it. Nevertheless there is an abundance of Japanese restaurants in the Sydney CBD so if you’re preparing to have lunch or dinner before watching a film at the festival try these places: 

Ichiban – located next to Kinokuniya in The Galeries

Sakura – Pitt Street

Tetsuya’s – Kent Street

Kushiyaki Azuma – George Street

And if you’re up for some good old fashioned KARAOKE try Mizuya Japanese Restaurant & Karaoke located on George Street.

So there you have it: my list of what I like about Japan. There’s so much more I can put into this list but this post will go on for ages. If there is something that you enjoy about Japan that I haven’t mentioned fell free to comment about it :)" - Ivan Tongue

WOW! There really are so many interesting things about Japan! What is it that fascinates you? Post your reply below so we can all find out the best tidbits about Japanese Culture that may have passed us by.