[Specials]
17 Nov 2008
Posted by Martin [Tags: Detroit Metal City, Live events]
There’s a reason why I haven’t had chance to catch up on posting or replying to comments in the past couple of days: I met up with the UK-A crew for a weekend of socialising (for a change!) and cinematic viewing at the 22nd Leeds International Film Festival. There were some great pieces of J-cinema on offer this year (I missed L: Change the World because I wanted my lunch), some of which were interesting anime movies I’d been looking forward to watching.

This isn’t me. Cool artwork though
Leeds is a great place for this sort of thing: there are some great venues (The Light is nice and central, while the Hyde Park Picture House is wonderfully retro), it’s only an hour’s train ride away from where I live and the prices of tickets and food/drink are slightly cheaper than those in London. It might lack the glamour of the capital but it’s a great event to keep me going until the next Sci-Fi London weekend. In any case, this year I caught Sword of the Stranger, Mind Game, 20th Century Boys and Detroit Metal City. Not bad for 24 hours.
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Reading stats: 1056 words & 5 images; estimated reading time 4:13 mins
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[Anime Reviews]
21 Sep 2008
Posted by Martin [Tags: Detroit Metal City, Huerrgh!]
I can’t believe this is directed by the same guy who did Mushishi.
Sasa told me that I had to see Detroit Metal City. It’s yet another occasion where I ask myself “How exactly did this slip underneath my radar?” because this sort of thing could be made specifically for my twisted sense of humour; whether the joke will wear thin to leave nothing but shock value afterward remains to be seen, but for the first few episodes I was in stitches.

Imagine Beck remade in the style of Spïnal Tap while the studio staff are raped by Cradle of Filth. With a tambourine. Dressed as Kiss. This rock ‘n’ roll violation of the senses is served up by the pirennially underrated Studio 4°C, who never fail to create something out of the ordinary. Whether the source material, from Berserk publisher Young Animal, is extreme as this, I don’t know; the art style is I suspect mostly down to the studio, and it fits like a glove. A leather, studded glove with an Air Guitar glued to it.
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Reading stats: 1097 words & 3 images; estimated reading time 4:23 mins
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