Geek of Oz

The Japanese Film Festival is, without a doubt, one of my favourite events of the year. Not only is it incredibly well organised, but the line up is always assured to be top notch. But what happens if you miss out on seeing one of your most anticipated films? Running from the 9th to the 13th of July 2014,   JFF ENCORE  has got you covered! You can now see some of the best, Academy Award winning Japanese films of recent years. I sat down to have a chat to Masafumi Konomi, Artistic Director of Japan Foundation Sydney, to find out what we can expect from JFF ENCORE. Ryan: First of all, how did JFF Encore come to be?  Mr Konomi: 2014 marks the 18th year of the Japanese Film Festival, our main event in the JFF calendar. Over the years, more than 300 titles from a range of genres have been enjoyed by audiences across Australia. The Japanese Film Festival is traditionally held each year between October and December. As Artistic Director, I try to select the most...

Just when you thought the Japanese Film Festival couldn't get any bigger, the Japan Foundation Sydney have announced that Western Sydney Wanderer's star Shinji Ono is the festival's official Cultural Ambassador. Full details after the jump.

One of our absolute favourite film festivals returns this year with a ridiculously awesome line up. There's something for everyone this year at Japan Foundation's 17th annual Japanese Film Festival.  Over the last couple of years Geek of Oz has brought you a whole bunch of JFF reviews and 2013 is no different, expect reviews to start popping up over the next couple of weeks. 

In only 5 days time, Japan Foundation Sydney are bringing the highly acclaimed Evangelion Art Exhibition to Sydney. In what is yet another boon for the Sydney anime scene, Japan Foundation and SMASH! have announced a very special guest at this years show. The voice of Ichigo from the smash hit Bleach and Barnaby Brooks Jr from Tiger & Bunny, Masakazu Morita is a certified superstar. Having previously visited Australia for the Gold Coast Film Festival, Morita returns to our fair shores but this time exclusively thanks to Japan Foundation and the Sydney Manga and Anime Show!

Currently touring Australia is the incredibly exciting Evangelion Art Exhibition. After wowing audiences on the Gold Coast, Shinji and friends will be heading to Sydney where the good folks at the Japan Foundation will be holding a very special Q&A with Japanese voice actress Yuko Miyamura, the voice of Asuka!  To add some icing to that already tasty cake, the Q&A will be facilitated by yours truly! Looking forward to seeing you there. Follow on after the jump for all of the details and don't forget to book ahead of time, seats are strictly limited!

It's nearly here! One of our most anticipated events of the year! The 2013 Evangelion Art Exhibition is only a couple of months away so put it in your diary. Not only will there be a whole bunch of art on display, but you will also be able to stock up on exclusive merchandise which will be available at each stop. So don't just put it in your diary, also START SAVING!  Evangelion has been a fan favourite since its release and was an introduction to anime for many an anime geek so needless to say, this exhibition is kind of a big deal. Follow on for more information.

Thermae Romae is an ambitious film which has one of the most peculiar premises I have seen in a long time. Set in Ancient Rome (128 AD), we meet Lucius (Hiroshi Abe), a frustrated architect who wants to return Rome’s bathhouses to their former glory. Whilst taking a bath, Lucius is sucked through a small hole which transports him to a modern-day bath house in Japan. Amazed by the inventive aspects of Japan’s bathing culture, Lucius returns to Ancient Rome and becomes somewhat of a celebrity as he implements the modern day ideas in Rome. Whilst travelling back and forth, Lucius is assisted by an aspiring artist Mami (Aya Ueto) which results in a very funny and thoroughly entertaining film. I was immediately impressed by the production design of this film, directed by Hideki Takeuchi. The opening sequence shows Lucius and a friend making their way through crowded market places and intricate alleyways all of which invest in hundreds of extras on screen at any time. This gives the fil...

Afro Tanaka sounds like a weird title for a film, but it's the perfect title for a weird film. Based on a manga series of the same name by Masaharu Noritsuke, Afro Tanaka is a quirky film that manages to juggle off the wall manga inspired scenes and larger than life characters while still injecting some honest concerns held by young Japanese men. Bullied as a child for his long curly hair, the decidedly uncool Tanaka opts for an afro, convinced that it will turn his luck around. But several years and a series of poor decisions later, he’s 24, stuck in a crappy job, single and still a virgin. With a high school friend about to marry, the pressure is on for the hapless Tanaka to find a date and fulfill a childhood pact. The situation looks grim, but can his afro save the day? An enjoyably awkward comedy based on the popular manga series of the same name - Japan Foundation

Tenchi: The Samurai Astronomer is a strange beast of incredible pedigree. Yojiro Takita may not be the biggest name director in Western circles, but his most successful film, Departures, has drawn critical and financial acclaim from all corners of the globe. No stranger to manga and novel adaptations, he has now set his sights on Tenchi which is based on the novel of the same name by Tow Ubukata, somewhat of a celebrity in his own right. As the writer of Fafner, Heroic Age and Mardock Scramble, Ubukata is best known for his work in science fiction and fantasy circles however this time, his story is far more grounded. Young samurai Santetsu is an avid astronomer with a passion for mathematical puzzles. So when he is asked to devise a new calendar – a task which involves charting the stars across the length and breadth of Japan – he throws himself into the project with gusto. However, the idea of a new calendar and the ideological change it could bring poses a threat to certai...

Based on the manga and anime series of the same name, the Rurouni Kenshin film tells the story of Kenshin, a young samurai who was once renowned for his deadly skill. However, after the fall of the Tokugawa Shogunate, Kenshin vows never to kill again. Rurouni Kenshin was a resounding success when released in Japan and now it is a success in Australia. In a massive coup for the Japanese Film Festival , they have completely sold out their first screening and will be holding second screenings in Sydney and Melbourne on the very same day!  Get in quick and secure your tickets because if history repeats itself, they won't last long! Rurouni Kenshin is screening in Sydney on the 21st of November and in Melbourne on the 5th of December.

It seems only fitting that our first review of the 16th Japanese Film Festival, presented by the Japan Foundation, belongs to one of our favourite franchises, K-ON! (けいおん!) Long term followers of Geek Of Oz will have undoubtedly come across our overwhelming and unbridled love for the gals from Sakuragaoka Girl's High School and their shenanigans through season one and season two of the series as released locally by Madman . Five-piece girl band HO-KAGO TEA TIME have been together all throughout high school, and now it’s time to graduate. Ready to let their hair down and celebrate, they start planning a graduation trip - destination London! The band’s overseas debut is a whirlwind mix of gigs, adventures and comic mishaps, packed with K-ON style laughs, music and – of course – tea. Based on the wildly popular TV anime series, this is one for K-ON fans young and old. - Japan Foundation Check out the full review after the jump!

SMASH! 2012 was huge. Upon entering the main exhibitor floor it was immediately apparent that, compared to last year, numbers were well and truly up. Perhaps because of the fantastic line up of stars or perhaps because the state of anime fandom in Australia is on the rise. Either way, we had a ball at SMASH! and look forward to 2013. Follow on after the jump to check out a few photos from throughout the day (click to enlarge) and don't forget to check out our coverage of the Madman panel , the Hanabee panel and our interview with the lovely Sakura Tange!

Gantz: Perfect Answer is a direct continuation of the first film although it has a completely different feel to it. The dark angst remains but this film hits us with a fist full of anger and unbridled violence. When we left our hero, Kei (Kazunari Ninomiya), he was just finding his feel in this sick and twisted death match. Now when we return, he has fully embraced the power at his disposal and is a relentless killing machine. Kei and Kato return to their normal lives, albeit momentarily, and fall back into the routines of their daily routines. Kato cares for his brother while Kei focuses on a burgeoning relationship with college classmate Tae. Just when their routine begins to offer a sense of normalcy, Gantz plays the cruelest trick of all.

Gantz the film is based upon the wildly successful Gantz manga and Gantz anime series created by Hiroya Oku. This is one seriously whacked out thrill ride. Luckily, or possibly unfortunately, the film is MUCH more tame than the manga and anime. There is a good chance that if it was kept panel for panel true, it would almost certainly have been refused classification. Kei, a socially awkward college student stumbles across an old friend at a local railway station. Next thing he knows he is helping his friend save an old drunk from an oncoming train which doesn't stop in time and kills Kei and his school friend Kato. Strangely, the boys find themselves in a white room, seemingly alive. Tasked with the destruction of alien invaders, Kato and Kei must hunt down strange creatures in a sadistic and bloody game of cat and mouse. You either win your life back or die trying.

Imagine, if you will, the love-child of Naruto and Yo-Gabba-Gabba. Sure, its not the most likely of mash-ups but if you can wrap your head around it, you'd get Ninja Kids!!!  (忍たま乱太郎). Stylistically the film takes its cues from the original manga and anime series' Rakudai Ninja Rantaro by Sōbē Amako. Rantaro is born into a bottom tier, yet incredibly dedicated ninja family. In order to get the family back on track he is sent to a prestigious ninja academy to learn the sacred and spiritual art of ninjutsu. A boy who is swift of foot and pure of heart, Rantaro quickly excels at school and amasses a solid group of friends with whom he embarks on an adventure of snot covered peril. If only Rantaro could get a hang of those pesky throwing stars.... There is no way to truly explain Ninja Kids!!! You just have to see it for yourself.

For many older fans of Japanese animation, 1974's Space Battleship Yamato was the first and most enduring series which was heavily edited and subsequently screened in many western countries under the guise of " Star Blazers ". Before Star Wars, Yamato paved the way with a grand sweeping space opera which was rehashed for years to come, finally culminating in 2010's live-action blockbuster which will be screening at this years Japanese Film Festival thanks to the Japan Foundation . The year is 2199. Earth is besieged by a ruthless onslaught of nuclear attacks by an alien race, the Gamila's. To escape the radioactive wasteland above, humans have retreated underground and all but resigned themselves to eventual annihilation. In a last ditch effort the United Nations Space Administration launch their greatest weapon, Space Battleship Yamato, hoping to find a cure for their  dying planet.

Making its Australian premiere at the Japan Foundation's 15th Annual Japanese Film Festival , Buddha: The Great Departure is an animated retelling of Osamu Tezuka's manga "Buddha" which ran for 14 volumes between 1972 and 1983. Although best known as the creator of Astro Boy , Tezuka was a prolific manga creator who often created stories that were much more dark, and sometimes disturbing, that our favourite little robot boy. The manga, and more importantly the film, is a gritty insight into what life may really have been like once the rose coloured glasses of religion are removed. Traces of sex, violence and a great deal of prejudice give sense of realism and weight to what would become the great Buddha's journey. Although not always as dark as the source material, Buddha: The Great Departure takes us into a world that is just as barbaric and magical as any fantasy world.

The hardest part of writing this entire review was deciding what to name the film! In Japan it is known as The Borrower Arrietty , in the US The Secret World of Arrietty and in the UK simply Arrietty . I decided to go with the UK version, Arrietty, not only because its what the Japan Foundation call it but also because it is easier to write. Although the source material is based upon Mary Norton's "The Borrowers", there can be no doubt that this is a Studio Ghibli affair. No one, not even the House of Mouse, manages to make animated films of such a high quality and with as much soul as our dear Arrietty. This film is comparable to a big, ol' slice of chocolate mudcake. It looks delicious, its sweet and moreish and even those who aren't all that fond of mudcake will still love it.