NEO Magaz

7 EPIC NEW ANIME MOVIES EXPLORED
WE DELVE INTO THE

ZATOICHI CINEMATIC HISTORY
OF JAPAN’S ICONIC
FEATURE LENGTH ADVENTURES IN TIME FOR WINTER! BLIND SWORDSMAN
ANIME • ASIAN FILM • MANGA • COSPLAY • MUSIC
www.neomag.co.uk Issue 182

GUNDAM THUNDERBOLT: DECEMBER SKY / GRANBLUE FANTASY
THAT TIME I GOT REINCARNATED AS A SLIME / POSTERS / J-LIFE /
THE GIRL IN TWILIGHT / NARUTO SHIPPUDEN / COMPETITION /
FIREWORKS
MOVIES GALORE FOR THE WINTER MONTHS! © 2017 TOHO / Aniplex / SHAFT /
KADOKAWA / TOY’S FACTORY / JR Kikaku /
Lawson HMV Entertainment / LINE
SIX CHEERLEADERS OF CUTE

UK KAWAII TONY CHING
THE MASTER OF ACTION
COSTUME QUEEN
HIKARI GREEN ON COSPLAYING
SHARE THEIR STORIES WITH US! FILMMAKING INTERVIEWED ACROSS THE WORLD
£4.75
CONTENTS
008
MOVIE MAGIC HEADED YOUR WAY
THIS WINTER: GET READY FOR
SOME SILVER SCREEN ACTION!
© SOTSU • SUNRISE.
008
038 REVIEWS
038 FIREWORKS
060 IN ANOTHER WORLD WITH MY SMARTPHONE
062 STEEL RAIN
062 GRANBLUE FANTASY 2
063 GUNDAM THUNDERBOLT: DECEMBER SKY
064 JUNJO ROMANTICA 2
064 SOULCALIBUR VI
068 CODE GEASS MOVIE 1: INITIATION
068 MARCH COMES IN LIKE A LION 2
069 HIGURASHI SEASON 3 (“REI”)
069 DIGIMON ADVENTURE TRI MOVIE 6
069 ILLANG: THE WOLF BRIGADE
070 NO GAME NO LIFE: ZERO
071 MY HERO’S ONE JUSTICE
071 NARUTO SHIPPUDEN 34
076 THE NIGHT COMES FOR US
088 ANIME ROUND-UP
090 JACKIE CHAN’S PROJECT A & PROJECT A II
004 N E O M A G A Z I N E N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 8
072 CONTENTS
FEATURES
008 BIG SCREEN BONANZA! 072 A LIFE IN ACTION
What to expect from the David West speaks to action movie
upcoming months when it comes maestro Tony Ching Siu-Tung about
to movie magic, as we celebrate his life in ilm
a slew of big and small screen
anime licks! 098 ZATOICHI
Everything you need to know about
038 KAWAII UK Japan’s icon of cinema, Zatoichi the
From across the country, we’ve blind swordsman
gathered a host of people who
have made cute their way of life
LIFESTYLE
032 J-LIFE 074 MAHIRU’S PAGE
Mark Guthrie speaks to the people Take a trip to Tokyo’s Disney parks to
working to regenerate rural Japan celebrate Mahiru’s favourite holiday:
Halloween!
042 COSPLAY INTERVIEW
Hikari Green speaks about
cosplaying across the globe
058 ARTIST SHOWCASE

Another reader shares their
amazing talent with us
028 030
NEW IN JAPAN
036 028 THE GIRL IN TWILIGHT 054 MANGA SNAPSHOT
he girls of the Crystal Radio Jonathan Clements reports on a
Club do a bit of accidental parallel small and discreet little package
universe hopping... that’s sure to get you hot around
the collar
030 THAT TIME I GOT
REINCARNATED AS A SLIME
Satoru gets reincarnated in a
fantasy world... when you’re a
slime, the only way is up!
REGULARS
006 EDITORIAL 066 COMPETITION
Meet the team behind this issue Lucky readers could bag
of NEO magazine! themselves one of three copies of
Jackie Chan’s Project A & Project
016 NEWS NETWORK A Part II on Blu-ray!
SUBSCRIPTION GIFT! Events, new releases, music

charts, gigs, premieres and more: 078 MANGA EXTRACT
Plus, out how to save money by subscribing with a all the latest from the world of Louis Lloyd-Judson shares an
Asian entertainment extract of Apricot Cookie(s)
Direct Debit, and pay just £8.99 every three issues
022 RELEASE LISTS
Up to date information about
Turn to page 86 for more details! new anime, manga and Asian
ilm releases
www.ne omag .c o.uk 005

EDITORIAL
WELCOME
WELCOME TO issue 182 of NEO! We’re in the dark times...
No, I haven’t gone all political on you (because if I started,
I’d never stop...)! I’m talking, of course, about that lull after
Halloween and Bonfire Night, before Christmas really kicks
in, and everyone is complaining about Christmas coming too
early, it being too dark, too cold, and that Christmas has crept up on them and they
haven’t done any gift shopping yet. What better way to spend the month of November
and early December than with some excellent Asian entertainment? Well, have we
got plenty lined up for you this issue!
If you flip this magazine, you’ll find a bumper feature about the incredible
cinematic history of Zatoichi, as we celebrate the blind swordsman in all his glory in
time for the Criterion Collection’s release of his first 25 movies. David West takes a
look at the history behind the character, and reveals the secrets behind his evergreen
popularity!
We also take a look at a couple of new streaming shows in the form of he Girl
in Twilight on page 028, and hat Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime, on page 030.
And we have plenty to say about a slew of upcoming anime movies in our lead feature
which starts on page 008 and sees Jake Boniface bravely try and dissect all the big
(and small) screen offerings coming our way in the winter months.
And, don’t forget to check out our onslaught of cute, which runs from page 038
all the way to 046: the perfect antidote to those dark nights!
Until next time!
GEMMA COX, EDITOR
MEET THE TEAM

EMILY VALENTINE MITCHELL LINEHAM DAVID WEST ALEX JONES
“ This month I’ve “MCM this year has “I definitely got “After waiting
been exploring how been one of my a kick out of all year my most
Japan’s ‘kawaii’ favourites, and I interviewing Tony anticipated anime
culture of cute met Nolan North Ching for NEO this of 2018 has finally
inspires us here in the (again) and Sam month – A Chinese arrived – SSSS.
UK, by chatting to six Riegel! I’ve been Ghost Story was Gridman! I’m a huge
people with a passion playing a lot of one of the first films fan of the original
for all things cutesy and colourful from FFXIV, Dragon Ball FighterZ and My that sparked my ongoing obsession series and Trigger have been doing
up and down the country. Check it out Hero One’s Justice, and I don’t see with Hong Kong cinema. The other a magnificent job so far. So many
on page 038!” me slowing down soon.” was Jackie Chan’s Police Story. ” hidden references to be found!”
ANDREW OSMOND JACOB BONIFACE TOM SMITH JONATHAN CLEMENTS

“I interviewed the “This month, I’ve “I raided a bunch “I’m just putting the
wonderful Hikari been taking a look of Tokyo’s board finishing touches to
Green, a Japanese at some of the game shops and my new book with
cosplayer who’s cinematic gems discovered some Andrew Osmond,
seen cosplay we’ve got coming right gems! Current an account of
culture all around our way - I didn’t fave is Dwarf Slayer, Isao Takahata’s
the world. Among realise myself a game about notorious 1968 flop
other things, she explains why the quite how many were making it into Dwarf drinking culture, and drinking Little Norse Prince. For a film that
manic Halloween celebrations in theatres, so I’m definitely gonna be as much as possible without falling nobody apparently went to see, it
Tokyo aren’t really cosplay events… breaking out the popcorn a lot over asleep and being left with the bar has a lot of variants – four different,
But I’m still going!” the next few months!” tab. Much like real life…” legal subtitle sets and counting!”
© 2017 TOHO / Aniplex / SHAFT / KADOKAWA / TOY’S FACTORY
/ JR Kikaku / Lawson HMV Entertainment / LINE
BIG SCREEN
BONANZA!
he next few months promise a bumper crop of feature-length titles to while
away the long nights. nEo’s Jacob Boniface grabs some popcorn and looks at a
few upcoming cinematic stunners!
KicKing things off is a superhero smash hit that practically be the case with Two Heroes – original manga creator Kohei
needs no introduction. My Hero Academia has been one of the horikoshi has supervised the entire project, as well as creating
biggest series in shonen anime, or the medium in general, for the character designs for the movie’s new additions to the cast.
the last two years, and it’s inally making its big screen debut! And while horikoshi didn’t devise the script directly, it has still
Even better, fans of Midoriya’s heroic journey will get the been left in excellent hands, with Yosuke Kuroda writing the
chance to see the movie the way it was meant to be watched, screenplay for the movie. A veteran in the anime screenwriting
as cinemas up and down the UK will be screening the movie game, Kuroda has a slew of hits under his belt – with such works
– entitled My Hero Academia: Two Heroes – for two days in as Trigun, Highschool of the Dead, and Tenchi Muyo being just
December. he ilm, which was the fourth highest-performing a few of the beloved titles he’s worked on in the past. Add to
movie in Japan during its opening week, follows protagonist that studio Bones’ pedigree for exemplary and awe-inspiring
and ledgling hero izuku, as he and mentor All Might become animation work, and it looks like we’ve got a sureire hit on our
embroiled in a iendish plot during a visit to a convention hands!
dedicated to superheroism. As mentioned, the ilm has already performed remarkably
While the pair are no strangers to taking down super well across the countries that have already gotten a cinematic
powered bad guys at this point, the adventure of Two Heroes release – namely Japan, Australia, and the UsA. All signs point
is a situation unlike any that either hero has faced up until to Two Heroes being a more than worthy successor to the series’
now. While All Might is known around the world as a symbol excellent legacy, which makes the aforementioned UK release
of justice, his former injuries have left him nearly completely all the more exciting! he movie will be shown in dozens of
depleted, and so it’ll be up to the relatively untested izuku and cities nationwide on 4-5 December, but showings are relatively
his friends from the hero training program – as well as new ally limited, so make sure to snap up your tickets as soon as you can
and science whiz Melissa shield – to save the day from this latest to avoid missing out!
villainous threat.
Making the transition from anime series to big screen CULT HITS
side-story can often be a dicey prospect. With no original But My Hero Academia isn’t the only success story of recent
source material to draw upon and a limited runtime to develop times! in just a few short years, Love, Chunibyo & Other
both story and new characters, a lot of anime movies can be Delusions! has become a cult hit in the romantic comedy genre,
left feeling a little less impactful than their tV counterparts. thanks to its weird and wacky sensibilities. Even for anime,
however, it looks like there’s a strong possibility that this won’t this is an unconventional kind of love story – one that >>>
My hero Academia: two heroes My hero Academia: two heroes

BIG SCREEN BONANZA!
Love, chunibyo, & other Delusions! he Movie: take on Me
1. Rikka punishes >>> follows the romantic entanglements of highschooler Yuta Chunibyo, & Other Delusions! he Movie: Take On Me – seeing
wrongdoers with her and Rikka, an ostensibly mismatched pair who have history a UK release early this December. some of you lucky readers
powers. Or does she?! 2. The with what’s known as ‘chunibyo’ syndrome. for those who might already have had the chance to see the movie ahead of
ladies of Chunibyo strike haven’t seen the series, a ‘chunibyo’ is someone, usually in time, as Manga organised a special fan screening at the most
their best heroic pose! 3. Of their early teens, who adopts a fantastical persona with roots recent London comic con, but for everyone else who couldn’t
course, the team wouldn’t
in delusional behaviour, attempting to convince their peers make it, the DVD and Blu-Ray release is just a few short weeks
be complete without
Chimera the cat! and family members that they possess some form of magical away!
or supernatural powers. While Yuta has eschewed his former he latest movie sees Yuta and Rikka approaching their
life as the ‘Dark flame Master’, his new romantic interest is inal days of high school – but with adulthood on the horizon,
BLASTS FROM Rikka, who continues to act as though she is a magical antihero will Rikka’s eccentric ways become too much to take? to make
THE PAST! – namely the possessor of the cursed ‘Wicked Eye’. While matters even more dramatic, Rikka’s sister has suggested
It’s not just new their relationship threatens to drag Yuta back into a chapter that they both move to italy, which puts her relationship with
releases making a of his life that he’d rather leave behind, he and the endearing Yuta in real jeopardy! At the behest of their equally weird and
splash this season, (if bewildering) Rikka deinitely have chemistry, so much so wonderful friends in the student council, the lovestruck pair
as a few old classics that the pair’s romantic misadventures have provided enough embark on a makeshift elopement, taking one last madcap
will be getting a new mayhem to ill several series, oVAs, and a previous feature ilm! adventure before the responsibilities of adult life (and a life
breath of life in the But despite the many previous titles covering the without magical superpowers, no less) catch up to them! of
form of HD rereleases! burgeoning relationship between these two crazy kids, they’re course, with this couple, nothing goes quite as smoothly as
Makoto Shinkai’s heart still going as strong as ever, with their latest adventure – Love, planned, and there are plenty of ‘supernatural’ shenanigans
wrenching modern
classic 5 Centimeters
2 3
Per Second is finally
making the jump to
Blu-ray, as is Ghost in
the Shell 2: Innocence.
Both movies have
always been famous
for their breathtaking
visuals, so these new
formats will make them Love, chunibyo, & other Delusions! Love, chunibyo, & other Delusions!
look even better than he Movie: take on Me he Movie: take on Me
you remember!
Fireworks
Fireworks Fireworks
“ALL SIGNS POINT TO TWO HEROES BEING A MORE THAN WORTHY live-action
heroes!
As if the animated
SUCCESSOR TO THE SERIES’ EXCELLENT LEGACY, WHICH MAKES THE version of My Hero
Academia movie
AFOREMENTIONED UK RELEASE ALL THE MORE EXCITING!” wasn’t exciting
enough, it’s just
been announced
along the way! but judging by what we’ve seen so far of his new directorial that a live-action
Take On Me might well be the last caper for Yuta, Rikka, effort, Fireworks, it looks like he certainly hasn’t lost his touch! feature is reportedly
and the rest of their oddball squad, but it looks like it’ll be a Fireworks is a bittersweet coming-of-age story about a pair in the works!
perfect ending to the series. From the beginning, the series has of teens, Norimichi and Nazuna, who become romantically Movie producers
been brought to the screen by beloved studio Kyoto Animation, entangled despite the love triangle formed by the two of them Legendary, the
and fans of the show will be pleased to hear that the entire and Norimichi’s best friend Yusuke. If that all sounds pretty company responsible
original production team and voice acting cast have returned to normal fare for a director as known for weirdness as Shinbo, for the upcoming
the project, to make the latest movie everything that longtime everything changes when the kids – who decide to run away Detective Pikachu
viewers will expect from this potentially final chapter in the together – come across a supernatural orb that grants the ability and Godzilla: King of
story, and hopefully more! Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions! to reverse time. Seeing this as a chance to rewrite the decisions the Monsters, have
he Movie: Take On Me is understandably one of the season’s in their past that have led them to their current set of desperate planned to bring the
most anticipated romcom romps, but with its release coming circumstances, our protagonists begin casually screwing with movie to a worldwide
on 10 December, it’s not long until we’ll all get to make up our the space-time continuum (as you do), in an effort to improve release, making it a
minds on this movie! their lot in life. part of the superhero
Anyone who’s ever seen a time travel movie will have movie phenomenon!
LET THE FIREWORKS FLY! probably already guessed that things do not go particularly
When it comes to anime auteurs, there’s few more respected well for them from this point onwards, and events get ever
and talented working in the industry today than Akiyuki more complicated as Norimichi and Nazuna attempt to redo
Shinbo. Known for his distinct visual stylings, that combine even their do-overs and restore things to how they were in the
the cuteness so often associated with the medium with a darker, first place. Despite all the strangeness, Fireworks looks like it
more nightmarish edge, this director and animator has brought actually focuses more on the growing relationship between
to life some of the most iconic series of the last decade, such as the two new lovers, as they try to find their place in a world that
Puella Magi Madoka Magica and the Monogatari series. It’s is changing rapidly around them (occasionally due to time-
been a while since Shinbo brought anything to the big screen, travelling). >>>

BIG SCREEN BONANZA!
Mirai
Mirai
Maquia – When the Promised Flower Blooms
LAYTON
LEGACY! “MAQUIA NOT ONLY HAS A ONE HUNDRED PERCENT RATING ON REVIEW SITE
P.A. works, the
animation studio
behind the visually-
ROTTEN TOMATOES (A FEAT WHICH ONLY A RELATIVE FEW MOVIES MANAGE
stunning Maquia,
are also responsible
TO ACCOMPLISH), BUT IS ALSO UNDER CONSIDERATION TO BE ONE OF THE
for the animation
work in a number of
OSCAR NOMINEES FOR THE CATEGORY OF BEST ANIMATED FEATURE!”
other projects, such
as the PS2 classic >>> he movie, despite being the irst time the story THE MIRACULOUS MIRAI
Wild Arms 3 and the has been on the screen in an animated format, is actually an Speaking of famed and beloved anime directors, few have more
critically-acclaimed adaptation of an earlier work of the same name. he original cinematic smash hits on their resume than Mamoru Hosoda!
Professor Layton Fireworks was a live-action TV drama directed and written by His latest movie, Mirai, is also seeing a release in theatres this
series! The team also Shunji Iwai. If that name sounds familiar to you, it’s because November, which is especially exciting considering his track
worked the Professor he also penned he Case of Hana and Alice, another animated record for releasing visually stunning movies, such as Summer
Layton movie adaptation of his previous work that saw a release back in 2015. Wars and Wolf Children (though really, any of his movies would
adaptation, so their Although Iwai isn’t working on the anime version in this case, slot neatly into this category!).
movie production we’re still very excited to see what new director Shinbo can Both a writer and director, Hosoda tends to focus on
credentials are bring to the story! cinematic works that deal with the ideas of family, and Mirai is no
already well-proven! Of course, you can’t have an Akiyuki Shinbo project diferent in this instance. he story revolves around Kun, a four
without the rest of the team over at SHAFT, the studio that year-old whose world is rocked – like so many small children – by
Shinbo has been partnered with for the majority of his previous the introduction of a baby sibling, in Kun’s case the titular Mirai.
beloved works. For anyone who isn’t familiar with the studio’s Both protective of but intimidated by his new sister, Kun’s story
work, SHAFT is famous for their astounding animation, and difers from the norm when an adult version of Mirai emerges
Fireworks looks set to be no exception to that rule. Even just the from the future, to take her younger / older brother on a series of
movie’s trailer showcases some gorgeous scenes that make even adventures that will eventually help Kun to learn how to adjust
the most mundane of everyday events seem breathtakingly his life to the presence of Mirai’s infant self.
beautiful. To check the movie out for yourself in the way it was he opening salvo of Mirai’s cinematic release will have
meant to be seen, check your local cinema listings from 15 already passed us by by the time this issue goes to print, but have
November onwards, as Fireworks is joining the ever-growing no fear if you didn’t see it yet, as many cinemas up and down the
list of anime features making their way onto the big screen! country will be featuring extra screenings later in the month.
012 NEO MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2018

4
Digimon Adventure Tri 6
So keep an eye out if you want the chance to check out this movies that has had no shortage of either throughout its run. 4. Even after all these years,
exquisitely animated tale of childhood and chronomancy! Not only is the final chapter getting an individual home fan favourite Tentomon
release (from Manga Entertainment) on DVD and Blu-ray still hasn’t lost his goofy
CHILDHOOD MEMORIES early this coming December, but the same day will also herald sense of humour! 5. Climatic
events unfold in the final
While a staple of the early to mid 2000s, the Digimon franchise’s the release of a full Digimon Adventure Tri movie boxset, so
Digimon chapter, as Matt
best days were definitely behind it – or so it was thought, prior if you’ve been holding on for the story to come to its dramatic
and Gabumon look on in
to the announcement of Digimon Adventure Tri! A triumphant, digi-conclusion before taking a look, then the collection you’ve stunned disbelief. 6. A
and much-anticipated, return of the original cast of characters, been waiting for will be here before you know it! Previous new Digimon Emperor has
both nostalgic fans and intrigued newcomers have enjoyed the chapters in the Digidestined’s third adventure have certainly emerged from the darkness,
five feature-length Digimon titles that have come out over the not disappointed, so let’s hope that they stick the landing with but will our heroes be able
last few years, but now things are coming to a head with the final an equally exciting finale. With some excellent art from Toei to defeat him?
chapter in Tri’s tumultuous story in the form of the sixth movie, Animation, and a home release that includes the vocal talents of
ominously entitled Our Future. the original Digimon Adventure cast, it looks like that’s a pretty
It’s difficult to mention much of the plot of Our Future safe bet!
without spoiling things for people who haven’t gotten the chance
to catch up with the earlier chapters (although if that’s you, you OKADA’S MAQUIA
should definitely check them out!), but viewers can be sure that If you’re more interested in something even more fantastical
the Digimon Adventure Tri finale will include as much explosive to warm your heart this coming winter, then Anime Limited
action and climactic twists as you could hope for from a series of have just the movie for you, heading to your screens this >>>
5 6

BIG SCREEN BONANZA!
Gundam hunderbolt: December Sky
Robotic >>> December. Maquia – When the Promised Flower Blooms down, even after nearly 40 years of anime series, manga,
RecoRd- is the latest directorial masterpiece from Mari Okada, one of games, and of course movies. he latest movie, December Sky,
bReakeR! the most proliic talents working today in the world of anime. adapts the irst season of the saga – originally broadcast as an
This year was an
While Okada is relatively new to the director’s seat, she’s had a online-only miniseries – into a thrilling action sci-i epic that
important milestone
long and storied career in anime screenwriting, having been at will see a UK release later this November.
for the Gundam
least partially responsible for such series as Lupin the hird and December Sky, which was in turn based on an original
series, as June saw
Black Butler. manga series by Yasuo Ohtagaki, chronicles the exploits of
it become the 15th
Maquia follows the eponymous heroine through a journey Io Fleming, an ace in the forces of the Moore Brotherhood,
highest-grossing
of love, loss, and newfound family, across a picturesque a squadron of Gundam pilots who seek revenge on the
media franchise of
fantasy realm. Maquia is a child of a near-immortal race Principality of Zeon for the destruction of their home. Despite
all time! With toys,
of beings known as Iorph, who live idyllic lives removed his prodigious skills, Io inds a nemesis and rival in the form
manga, anime, novels,
from the ordinary humans of the world. But when Maquia’s of Zeon’s best sniper, the tenacious Daryl Lorenz. Fueled
and of course movies,
village is attacked by villains seeking the secret of the Iorphs’ by vengeance and bloodlust, the pair duel across the stellar
all on the ever-popular
supernaturally long lifespan, her life is thrown into conlict and battleield of the hunderbolt Sector. However, as the war rages
subject of giant robots
chaos. Separated from her people, and inding herself suddenly on, will either of this pair of warriors be able to prevail against
fighting, it’s no surprise
responsible for the care of a human baby, Maquia must adjust the other?
that Gundam has now
to both a new way of life, and what is efectively a new world to Gundam fans and collectors across the country will
made more than 15
live in, as the movie follows her and her adopted child, Ariel, likely have been frustrated that we haven’t had a release of
billion US dollars!
through the trials and adventures that await them. the hunderbolt saga until now, and while Anime Limited
While we haven’t had the chance to treat ourselves to a are inally bringing this sci-i skirmish to your screens, the
screening of Maquia yet over here in the UK, it looks like it December Sky Blu-ray will only be released on a limited edition
will do just as well when it makes its way to our shores as it has run, so make sure to snap up a copy if you’ve been waiting to
across the rest of the world – Maquia not only has a one hundred experience the title for yourself! On the plus side, the release
percent rating on review site Rotten Tomatoes (a feat which of the Collector’s Edition comes with not only an illustration-
only a relatively few movies manage to accomplish), but is also plastered rigid body case for the movie, but also an A3 poster
currently under consideration to be one of the Oscar nominees and set of art cards!
for the category of Best Animated Feature! here’s deinitely enough variety and excitement in this
season’s cavalcade of anime features to keep even the most
GO GO GUNDAM! voracious of movie bufs busy until 2019. Whether you’re into
While new and original works are all well and good, there’s sci-i action, superhero epics, or heartfelt romance, the next
certainly something comforting about a classic franchise as few months have got you covered! But of course, to know which
well! And few carry the same weight, or have the legions of fans, releases are truly worth your time, make sure to keep an eye on
as Gundam. he Gundam universe shows no signs of slowing future issues of NEO for the verdicts!
digi-dramatics!
Last year saw the
production of another re-
telling of the Digidestineds’
story, a theatrical stage
play version of the Digimon
Adventure Tri story!
Entitled The August 1st
Adventure, the stage play
featured a host of well-
known Japanese play
actors as both the human
characters and their
Digimon counterparts,
and was met with huge
acclaim!
©Akiyoshi Hongo, Toei Animation

Film©2015 Toei Animation Co., Ltd.
little forest
LONDON KOREAN FILM FESTIVAL on tour 16-25 november

Korean film fans take note – the london Korean film festival is taking festivals, and promises a relatable look at urban life.
three great movies on a UK tour between 16-25 november, including he Return, finally, based on the manga of the same name comes Little Forest (2017), a story
Microhabitat and Little Forest. about rediscovering your childhood, as director Yim soon-rye creates a foodie
Director marlene Choi, a Danish-Korean adoptee, blurs the lines between adventure starring he Handmaiden’s Kim Tae-ri as Hye-won. returning to the
fact and iction in her movie he Return (2018), which follows Karoline (played home she grew up in from a failed jaunt to the big city, Hye-won inds her mother’s
by Karoline soie lee, also an adoptee) returning to Korea in order to track down handwritten notes, or ‘little forest’, chronicling her quest to cherish her child
her birth parents. Karoline’s personal experiences are channelled into genuine through homemaking and meal preparation.
interactions that have created a deeply afecting and emotional journey. he festival tours to Glasgow film heatre, edinburgh film House, manchester
also following a young woman’s journey in Korea is Jeon Go-woon’s Home, sheield showroom, nottingham Broadway Cinema, and Belfast Queen’s
Microhabitat (2018), which examines the struggles of Korean 30-somethings. mi- film heatre. find out more here online at koreanilm.co.uk/site/the-2018-festival/
so is forced from her apartment and must make her way back into her bandmate’s touring-programme. You can also follow the festival on social media through
lives in order to protect the basic necessities of her life: cigarettes, whisky, and her facebook (@thelKff), Twitter (@koreanilmfest), and instagram (@london_
boyfriend. he movie has already picked up awards at the Busan and fantasia ilm korean_ilm_festival).
he return microhabitat

sTarmYU
NEW EXPO,
he return
NEW ANIME!
Titles announced this october
a BiannUal evenT, the london mCm Comic Con
brings with it more than just the chance to empty your
wallet in a buying frenzy and take photos with your
favourite celebs – it’s also a chance to discover the new
titles heading our way courtesy of our favourite anime
distributors.
Taking to Twitter, mvm had a bevy of new titles to
announce, including Katsugeki: Touken Ranbu, Cells
at Work!, Record of Grancrest War, Sagrada Reset,
STARMYU, Seven Mortal Sins, Scum’s Wish, and he
Heroic Legend of Arslan season two. hey will also be
releasing the Fate/Stay night movies, Fate/stay night:
Heaven’s Feel I. presage lower, and Fate/stay night:
Heaven’s Feel II. lost butterly. You can preorder many
of these titles directly through mvm via their online
little forest retailer site, www.anime-on-line.com, and check their
release dates at the same time.
manga entertainment was proud to announce that
it was bringing Dragon Ball Super: Broly the movie to
microhabitat theatres in January. Head to their website at brolysback.
co.uk for ticket alerts!
last but not least, anime limited were on hand to
bury us with a further avalanche of titles, including
Cyber City Oedo 808 (on Blu-ray with its original english
soundtrack and dub), Jin-Roh: he Wolf Brigade (also on
Blu-ray), Calamity of a Zombie Girl, Sword Art Online:
Alicization (following its streaming on Crunchyroll),
Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online,
MEGALOBOX, Bartender, Welcome to the Ballroom,
Magic Knight Rayearth (on Blu-ray) and PERSONA5: he
Day Breakers.
make sure you pick up the next issue of neo for that
all important 2019 preview!
NEO AWARDS 2018

sponsored by seGa
You still have time to vote in the annual neo awards,
sponsored this year by seGa. it’s easy to vote online
with our form, which will be posted on our social media
accounts at twitter.com/neo_magazine, and facebook.com/
neomagazineuk. all you have to do is select your winner in
our categories, and leave the calculating to us! he results will
be published in neo 184, which is on sale 17 January, and you
have until 3 December to vote!

WAY!
DOMINATED LONDON! FILM ON THE
NEO’S
TOPTEN 2
Our roundup of the hottest tracks currently
blasting on the office stereo
B.T.S. – iDOL
15 NOvEMBEr!
The Korean boyband recently smashed the UK with their
debut performance in the country, despite one member
being chair-bound. A message was read aloud just as they
were about to hit the stage, stating that “approximately two
hours ago, Jungkook was lightly stretching in the waiting room when
W O R D S B Y T O M S MI T H he collided with floor furnishings and suffered an injury to his heel…
Following the advice of medical staff, Jungkook will take part in the
performance tonight, but remain seated without choreography”.
1
BABYMETAL – STArLighT While that statement leaves us with more questions than it answers,
OuT NOw! one thing is confirmed by the end of the evening; B.T.S. are far from a fad
and the thousands of fans that packed out London’s O2 Arena for two
No BABYMETAL news for yonks, and then it all comes at once! nights are proof of that. At the teary finale, rapper RM commented, “We
The bad news first; YUIMETAL will officially leave the group. have waited for today for like, years! When we first heard about breaking
Rumours have been rife ever since the youngest member the UK charts, it was so amazing and surprising because the UK chart is
remained mysteriously absent from BABYMETAL’s American so well respected. You have the greatest musicians in your country, and
tour earlier this year. A statement released on babymetal.com reads in this city, so we feel so grateful for that. We’ll never take it for granted.
“YUIMETAL came to a decision that she will no longer be a part of Thank you so much. We love you London!”
BABYMETAL. We thank her for all of her contributions and wish her all An 85-minute documentary film Burn The Stage will be hitting UK
the best in her future endeavours”. YUIMETAL also released a statement cinemas on 15 November. Check www.burnthestagethemovie.com.
expressing sorrow for inconveniencing fans and that she wants to
OW!
NEW SINGLE! NEW ALBUM! UK SH
“advance towards [her] dreams as Yui Mizuno”.
The announcement came simultaneously with the release of new
single Starlight. At the time of writing its video on YouTube has passed
one million views and led to many fans commenting to links in the song
and video to the passing of Kami Band guitarist Mikio Fujioka, as well as
the departure of YUIMETAL. The ending of the video also teases about
what’s to come next as seven figures cloaked in red look to the stars.
Then, if that wasn’t enough BABYMETAL drama to keep you busy,
a graphic novel has just landed too! Entitled Apocrypha: The Legend Of
BABYMETAL, the 144-pager promises to be an “original story based on
BABYMETAL you’ve never heard before”. The book tracks the original
trio’s journey through various eras and forms slaying the dark forces
as they go. The work has been penned by award-winning writer and
illustrator GMB Chomichuk and is out now priced at £22.99.
L!
NEW SINGLE! NEW GRAPHIC NOVE
3
LOvEBiTES – riSiNg
21 NOvEMBEr
Competing with BABYMETAL for making the most
announcements at once is Tokyo’s power metal heroines,
LOVEBITES! The “Best New Band 2018” Metal Hammer award
winners have just revealed their electric new band image, the
artwork for their upcoming sophomore album Clockwork Immortality, and
they’ve unleashed the first single from the record too!
New single Rising is available now ahead of its music video, which is due
to strike YouTube around the time of this issue’s release. The track is every
bit as ferocious, thunderous and dramatic as expected, and delivers the
kind of bite only these ladies can muster. LOVEBITES are back in London on
Wednesday 21 November to conclude their first proper European tour with
a headline show at the O2 Academy Islington. Tickets are on sale now for
£17.40. Follow label JPU Records for further news on Clockwork Immortality.

5
CrYSTAL LAKE
MuTANT MONSTEr – NEW ALBUM! UK TOUR!
4 BuB BuB BuBBLE – ThE CirCLE

uNTiL 21 NOvEMBEr! 11-15 DECEMBEr!
Tokyo metalcore heroes CRYSTAL
The punk trio are teaching us a popular Japanese LAKE released their brilliant new single
phrase with the release of their overseas exclusive THE CIRCLE earlier this year following
album NEKOKABURI. On the back of the case it a string of European festival appearances. Now
simply reads “NEKOKABURI = Lion in Cats Clothing”, a much they’re back for another set of fist-swinging,
cuter take on English’s own “wolf in sheep’s clothing”. The ear-splitting concerts across the continent, this
CD features ten new songs, including two that have yet to time as support for metal heavyweight Bury
be released in Japan! Those that prefer their music provided Tomorrow and 36 Crazyfists. The boys will be
through digital services won’t have access to the two new playing at SWX in Bristol on 11 December, O2
songs, which have been swapped with Sparkling Energy Institute Birmingham on 12 December, Glasgow’s
and Summer Ticket, the UK exclusive tracks from the band’s Garage on 13 December, Manchester’s O2 Ritz on
previous album, available digitally for the first time. 14 December, before concluding the tour at the
Remaining dates in their UK tour include HYPER JAPAN O2 Forum in London. Tickets are on sale now for
on 15 and 16 November, Manchester on 18, Birmingham on 20 £21.50 – please note that the Manchester date has
and London’s Oslo on the 21st. already sold out.
LONDON DATE!
7
BANZAi JAPAN –
6
ONE OK rOCK –
ChANgE SENSu gA NAi!!!!!
5 DECEMBEr 16, 18 DECEMBEr!
The BJ girls (no, they actually
The ONE OK ROCK boys are back in
initialise themselves as BJ…) are an
town this December for a headline
idol group who pride themselves on
show at Heaven in London on 5
representing all aspects of Japanese culture to
December. The band released latest single Change
the world, from sushi to otaku and everything in-
earlier this year ahead of their domestic tour, and
between. Each member represents a prefecture
it’s available on YouTube in two versions; English
in Japan and according to their biography
or Japanese, with only about 15 seconds of
they’re on a secret mission too – whatever that
differences between them.
means. They’re also coming to London for
The song itself is a change for the band, with
HYPER JAPAN and will be performing on Friday
vocalist Taka even going as far as saying that it’s
and Sunday. They performed at Japan Expo in
the most pop song the band has written so far.
Paris earlier in the year and could be a lot of fun
Hear it for yourself in London later this year, and let
for those wanting to witness J-idols live.
us know what you think!
NEW SINGLE! NEW ALBUM! NEW SINGLE!
9
POLYPhiA fT.
iChiKA – DEATh
NOTE OuT NOw!
Texas tech-instrumentalists
Polyphia just released latest
album New Levels New Devils
and have teamed up with Japanese guitarist
Ichika for one of the tracks. Ichika started
gaining popularity outside of Japan via
Instagram videos that caught his finger-
10
based wizardry as he zapped his fret board LADYBABY –
8
PASSCODE – with lightning speed. His track with Polyphia
DAMEDAME
is called Death Note and available to listen,
TONighT stream and watch now from all the usual TONO
Idol noisemakers PassCode have hit the
ground running. They’ve just finished
places. Polyphia will tour the UK in February.
OuT NOw
their biggest tour yet in Japan; they’ve OUT NOW! Within weeks of releasing the
released overseas exclusive album Bite Me music video, the LADYBABY girls have
Ex Libris PassCode which packs some of their released another brand-new song and video;
best songs to date and includes one entirely new damedame tono. The video’s description on
recording; and now they’ve released two videos YouTube states “Overcoming many difficulties,
for each song of their double A single Tonight / LADYBABY reached the paradise. Introducing
Take You Out. Tonight is less aggressive than Take J-pop in heavy sound, the evolved ‘KAWAII-
You Out but still features riffs that will get heads-a- DEATH’ was born here!”. See for yourself on their
banging. Get it now on iTunes or Spotify. YT channel.

ONE BAD APPLE
JONATHAN CLEMENTS SOLVES A DIGITAL MYSTERY
A
nders Gonsalves da Silva lit up the 1
Twittersphere in September with a screed
aimed at Apple, accusing them not only of
deleting ilms from his iTunes library without
warning, but also ofering him nothing but a
couple of “rentals” in compensation. he Interweb was soon
out in the street with pitchforks and torches, decrying the
theft of a consumer’s property.
A few days later, someone pointed out some critical
missing information. Da Silva had recently moved house,
not just down the road, but from Australia to Canada. He had
paid for his videos in Australia, but the sale of an Australian
version did not amount to the sale of an identical Canadian
version. But it wasn’t until the three ilms were named –
Cars, Cars 2 and Grand Budapest Hotel – that I realised what
had happened. Apple did not delete his ilms. He deleted his
1. Buying a digital copy of a
right to the versions he had bought, by moving to a territory 2
movie like Cars in one territory
where they were no longer the same ilms. hey were not does not guarantee you access
actually “identical” at all. to the same title in another.
Yes, indeed, we’re back in the world of territorial lockout 2. Harv’s calling with a reality
– familiar to anime fans in days of yore – whereby the tape check, but who is he going to
or disc you buy to watch in one territory is only watchable sound like? That depends on
in that territory, unless you have a special player. he digital where you live...
version, however, seems a little more complicated.
I can’t speak as to the international variance for Grand
Budapest Hotel, but having bought copies of Cars in several
diferent countries, I can see precisely why the ilm rights
would be slightly diferent. Many Pixar ilms drop in a little
bit of targeted hyper-localisation, efectively turning each
territory’s version into a unique work. In the original Cars,
for example, Lightning McQueen’s of-screen agent Harv is
played by Jeremy Piven in North America, plainly reprising
his character as Ari Gold from Entourage. But in the UK
release (which is presumably the one released in Australia),
Harv’s voice is provided by Top Gear’s producer-punching
petrol-head Jeremy Clarkson, struggling a little to be quite as
Californian.
As the Internet ire has died down, it seems that da
Silva can “easily” access his ilms again by moving back to
Australia, or by convincing Apple that he has done so with
the use of a VPN and an Australian home address on his
credit card. But since it would be cheaper to just buy them
again in Canada, I guess that’s where we are. If he’d just
stuck to DVDs, we wouldn’t be in this mess.
Before you ask, in the Japanese dub of Cars, Harv is
played by the late Tomoyuki Dan, an actor best known in the
anime world as Ishikawa in Ghost in the Shell: ARISE, and as
the Japanese voice of Ben Stiller.
“YES, INDEED, WE’RE BACK IN THE WORLD OF TERRITORIAL LOCKOUT – FAMILIAR TO ANIME
FANS IN DAYS OF YORE – WHEREBY THE TAPE OR DISC YOU BUY TO WATCH IN ONE TERRITORY
IS ONLY WATCHABLE IN THAT TERRITORY, UNLESS YOU HAVE A SPECIAL PLAYER. THE DIGITAL
VERSION, HOWEVER, SEEMS A LITTLE MORE COMPLICATED.”
0 20 NEO MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2018
UK release schedule
Date title Distributor
15/11 Nekogahara: stray Cat samurai 5 Kodansha
15/11 land of the lustrous 7 Kodansha
15/11 Waiting for spring 9 Kodansha
15/11 Golosseum 4 Kodansha
15/11 alita: battle angel Movie tie-in edition Kodansha
15/11 black Clover 13 shonen Jump
15/11 black torch 2 shonen Jump
15/11 bleach 74 shonen Jump
15/11 Demon slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba 3 shonen Jump
15/11 Dr. stone Vol 2 shonen Jump
15/11 Dragon ball: that time i Got reincarnated as Yamcha! shonen Jump
15/11 Fullmetal alchemist: Fullmetal edition 3 ViZ Media
15/11 Haikyu!! 29 shonen Jump
15/11 Jojo’s bizarre adventure Part 3 stardust Crusades 9 VM shonen Jump advanced
15/11 Kaguya-sama: love is War 5 shonen Jump
15/11 one Piece 88 shonen Jump
22/11 sweetness and lightning 11 Kodansha
22/11 Welcome to the ballroom 10 Kodansha
ANIME
22/11
22/11
27/11
uQ Holder 15
Monogatari series box set
Katanagatari 1
Kodansha
Vertical
Vertical
29/11 Grand blue Dreaming 3 Kodansha
19/11 When they Cry series 1-3 (Collector’s blu-ray) MVM 29/11 the seven Deadly sins 29 Kodansha
19/11 No Game No life: Zero (DVD) MVM 29/11 Fullmetal alchemist: the Complete art of ViZ Media
19/11 Naruto shippuden box 34 (DVD) Manga 29/11 rWbY oicial Manga anthology Vol 3 ViZ Media
19/11 Junjo romantica season 2 (blu-ray) anime limited 06/12 i am space Dandy 1 Kodansha
19/11 Mobile suit Gundam thunderbolt: December sky limited edition anime limited 06/12 attack on titan 26 Kodansha
26/11 When they Cry: Kai s2 (DVD) MVM 06/12 attack on titan: before the Fall 15 Kodansha
26/11 Code Geass -lelouch of the rebellion- Film 1 (ltd ed blu-ray) anime limited 06/12 Kiss Me at the stroke of Midnight 8 Kodansha
26/11 Fireworks (Collector’s edition, DVD, blu-ray) anime limited 13/12 Noragami: stray God 19 Kodansha
26/11 love live! sunshine!! season 1 (blu-ray) anime limited 13/12 again!! 6 Kodansha
26/11 March Comes in like a lion 1:2 (Collector’s blu-ray) anime limited 13/12 Descending stories: showa Genroku rakugo shinju 10 Kodansha
03/12 Flip Flappers Collection (blu-ray) MVM 13/12 in/spectre 9 Kodansha
03/12 No Game No life: Zero (Collector’s blu-ray) MVM 13/12 to Your eternity 8 Kodansha
03/12 Granblue Fantasy Part 2 (blu-ray) MVM
03/12 sword oratoria Collection (DVD, blu-ray) MVM
03/12 Digimon adventure tri 6 (DVD, blu-ray) Manga
03/12 Digimon adventure tri: Complete Movie Collection (DVD, blu-ray) Manga
03/12 Dragon ball Gt seasons 1-2 (DVD) Manga
10/12 Dragon ball Kai: the Final Chapters Part 3 (DVD, blu-ray) Manga
10/12 love, Chunibyo & other Delusions! the Movie: take on Me (DVD, blu-ray) Manga
17/12 When they Cry: rei s3 (DVD) MVM
17/12 one Piece (uncut) Collection 20 (DVD) Manga
07/01 Grimoire of Zero Collection (DVD, blu-ray) MVM
14/01 When they Cry series 1 Collection (blu-ray) MVM
ASIAN
AS
Date
FILM
title Distributor
19/11 orgies of edo arrow Video
19/11 Zatoichi the blind swordsman Criterion Collection sony Pictures
23/11 shopliters thunderbird releasing
30/11 Dead souls iCa Films
10/12 Dragon Fist 88 Films
10/12 to Kill With intrigue 88 Films
10/12 once upon a time in China trilogy eureka
MANGA
14/12
24/12
01/01
an elephant sitting still
Paradox
spider lillies
New Wave Films
universal Pictures
Parasol Pictures
01/02 burning thunderbird releasing
15/11 sailor Moon eternal edition 2 Kodansha 06/02 alita: battle angel 20th Century Fox
15/11 lDK 12 Kodansha 24/02 sword of the assassin Koch Media

NEWS
W O R D S B Y D AV ID W E S T
BURNING
Smouldering with
resentment
Based on a story by haruki Murakami, lee Chang-
dong’s award-winning drama Burning is coming to
the UK. Jongsoo (Yoo ah-in) is beguiled by haemi
(Jeon Jong-seo) when they meet in Seoul. She claims
they went to high school together in his poor, rural
hometown, but he has no memories of her. When
she returns from a trip to africa accompanied by a
PARADOX
Wilson Yip returns to the SPl series
rich new boyfriend, Ben (Steven Yuen), Jongsoo is
both jealous and envious. When haemi disappears,
Jongsoo suspects Ben is responsible, but has no
proof of wrongdoing besides Ben’s confession that
he enjoys starting fires.
lee’s movie, which won Best film at South
BefoRe he helPeD to make a modest kung fu teacher into a legend with the Ip Man Korea’s Grand Bell awards, addresses the ever-
movies, director Wilson Yip struck box oice gold in 2005 with the action classic SPL, widening gap between the have and have-nots in
aka Kill Zone, starring Donnie Yen and Sammo hung. Cheang Pou-Soi took the director’s Korea, embodied in the conflict between the two
chair for 2015’s brilliant Kill Zone 2, starring Wu Jing, Tony Jaa and Max Zhang, but now mismatched rivals for haemi’s affections. Burning
Yip returns to the helm for the third SPL movie, Paradox. is in cinemas 1 february from Thunderbird.
he three ilms don’t share common characters or plot strands but instead they are
united by their insanely good action scenes. for Paradox, Yip reunites with Sammo hung
who serves as action director as he did for the irst two Ip Man ilms. louis Koo stars as
hong Kong cop lee Chung-Chi, whose teenage daughter Wing-Chi (hanna Chan) is
kidnapped while in Pattaya, hailand. Understandably perturbed, lee hops on a plane
to the land of smiles, where he encounters local coppers Chui Kit (Wu Kue) and Tak (Tony
Jaa), but the police department is rife with corruption and tracking down his daughter is
going to require busting a lot of heads. luckily, Tak is more than a little bit handy in that
department.
he prospect of hailand’s top martial arts star Tony Jaa working with hong
Kong’s greatest ight choreographer Sammo hung should have action fans slavering in
anticipation, while louis Koo always delivers the goods as a leading man. Paradox is
heading for DvD on 24 December, just in time for Christmas, from Universal Pictures.
The DefiniTive
Tale
fan favourite JRPG Returns
it’s been ten years since Tales Of Vesperia irst
arrived on the Xbox 360, but now the game is
heading for contemporary consoles in a fresh,
shiny Deinitive edition. he classic JRPG is
being updated with features never previously
available outside of Japan. hese include a pair of
new playable characters – the young pirate Patty
fleur and imperial Knight flynn Scifo – alongside
hD graphics, bonus costumes, plus more boss
battles and mini-games. fans can opt for the
Premium edition containing four soundtrack
CDs, an artbook, stickers, badges, and collectible
cards all wrapped up in a steel case. Tales Of
Vesperia: Definitive Edition will be released on the
PlayStation 4, nintendo Switch and PC via Steam
on 11 January from Bandai namco.

//COMING UP
NELKE & THE LEGENDARY
ALCHEMISTS
O U T: 2 0 1 9 D I S T R IB U T O R : K O E I T E C M O
The Atelier series celebrates its 20th anniversary with the

release of Nelke & The Legendary Alchemists: Ateliers
Of The New World next year for the PS4, Switch and PC.
Players take the role of Nelke, a young aristocrat responsible
for developing the town of Westwald into a thriving hub for
alchemy. Since Nelke isn’t an alchemist herself, she’ll need
help from some famous faces from the Atelier franchise!
Gameplay combines town management with turn-based
combat as Nelke’s alchemists gather resources.
WE LOVE THIS STUFF!
Check out NEO’s pick of the coolest merchandise around this month
1
1. NEW GENKI GEAR DESIGNS
4
We love Genki Gear’s
cool £10 range, and you
can get this Unfriendly
Dice design in black
for ladies and unisex
sizes now at GenkiGear.
com. Or, check out this
Chemically Inert tee, £16
in ladies and unisex in a
range of three colours!
2. CARDFIGHT!! VANGUARD
ULTRARARE MIRACLE COLLEC-
TION BOOSTER
Get your hands on the
latest booster for just
£3.99! Find out more
about what’s included
2 at en.cf-vanguard.com/
products/veb03, and
purchase from your local
friendly game shop:
findyourgamestore.
co.uk.
3. BAO BUN KITS

From School of Wok
comes these amazing
2 make at home kits so
you can create your 5
own fluffy bao buns!
Available in barbecue
and black pepper
flavours from Lakeland
and Tesco.
4. ITSU SWEET DESSERT

DUMPLINGS
Japanese-inspired
lunch chain itsu is
taking its products to
the supermarket, and
their latest offering is a
range of sweet gyoza
dumplings, available in
sweet berry, chocolate
and banana, and
caramelised apple
dessert flavours!
Available in Waitrose,
Tesco and Ocado.
3
5. HATSUNE MIKU
HALLOWEEN VERSION
It’s never too early to
start celebrating
– get ready for
Halloween 2019 with
this premium figure
from tokyotoys.com
for £32!

ANIME EXPOSÉ
THE GIRL IN TWILIGHT If K-On! went quantum
A new TV season’s underway, and unsurprisingly many of the shows are their town. Here Asuka tunes their club radio to a hopeful-looking frequency, and
familiar types. his year saw a new book, Interpreting Anime by Christopher they pray to be taken to another world.
Bolton, which cold-shoulders TV anime for that reason, arguing that they’re naturally, in the irst scene they try this and nothing happens. equally
given to “rigidly repeating formulas” (true enough) and don’t deserve serious naturally, halfway through the episode they try again… and in the blink of an
analysis like the best one-of anime for cinema and video. we reckon that’s too anime girl’s saucer eye, they’re in a golden desert surrounded by creatures who
dismissive. Formulas have their own pleasures, and the frothiest or crudest really aren’t the cute bunnies they resemble. Luckily, another girl shows up to
shows may do something interesting with them – though you may need to watch save the day – a girl who looks and sounds extraordinarily like Asuka, and is
hundreds of shows over several decades to see the patterns emerge. called Asuka, but has the diametrically diferent attitude of a humourless warrior.
Over the page we look at hat Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, which Call her Asuka-Mikasa.
is already doing something interesting with a template that looked hopelessly his Asuka warns the group to go home and never come back again. even so,
hackneyed. First, though, there’s Girl in Twilight, which you could boil down she can’t resist sampling the home comforts enjoyed by the “other” Asuka, who
to Five Feisty Girls Go on an Adventure. It’s a parallel-world adventure, where treats her newfound double as a long-lost twin. Despite the warning, soon the
the characters travel to alternative versions of our reality, ight battles and learn girls stumble into another parallel world, this one more similar to their own, and
lessons. Plus there’s an arc plot involving a multidimensional foe, and extra it doesn’t happen by accident. For the alternate Asuka isn’t the only otherworlder
versions of some of the girls complicating things. who’s noticed the girls of the Crystal Radio Club…
But it starts, like so many anime, with a humble school club. Asuka is its
high-energy founder, an ever-optimistic girl who can wear a huge red ribbon on OPen VeRDICT
her head without shame and has dragged the other members of the Crystal Radio It looks like a simple genre crossover; a cast of cute girls thrown into the
Club into an eccentric little ritual. every day, at 4.44 in the afternoon precisely, kind of parallel-world plot that most readers with a passing interest in sci-i
Asuka and her fellow females – serious Yu, sweet Mia, foulmouthed delinquent will have encountered, whether in Sliders (remember that?), Family Guy,
nana, and coolly detached Chloe – all gather at a sacred tree on a hillside above Star Trek or Doctor Who. In anime, Steins;Gate is an obvious precedent,

ALSO STREAMING…
SWORD ART ONLINE: ALICIZATION

The next Attack on Titan episodes aren’t due till spring,
cuing outraged shouts of “GET ON WITH IT!” from elderly
Titan fans waving sticks from their bath chairs. Anyway,
this means a lot of fan attention should switch to the new
incarnation of SAO. Reported to run around 50 episodes,
the series chronicles the further adventures of Kirito, based
“IN SOME WAYS, THIS COMPARES FAVOURABLY TO THE FILM on the later canonical light novels by Reki Kawahara. The
first episodes can be described uncontroversially as slow,
FIREWORKS BY SHAFT, ANOTHER PARALLEL-WORLD TALE WHICH which means, naturally, more howls of “GET ON WITH IT!”.
OFTEN SEEMED TO BE TOLD FROM THE WRONG VIEWPOINT. ”
SSSS.GRIDMAN
It’s mecha and it’s Trigger, as in Studio Trigger, purveyors
of Kill la Kill and last winter’s mecha entry Darling in the
Franxx. But SSSS.Gridman has also been promoted
as a new take on Japan’s so-called tokusatsu genre of
effects-based live-action films and series; think Ultraman
and Power Rangers. The story is a twisty-seeming affair
that involves the usual battles between giant heroes and
monsters, but also a world of memory losses and resets.
Could it be another Samurai Flamenco?
although the set-up in Girl in Twilight is closer to so. In some ways, this compares favourably to
the 12-year-old Noein, which also has “ordinary” the ilm Fireworks by the Shaft studio, another
present-day kids being confronted by darker, parallel-world tale which often seemed to be told
more grown-up versions of themselves. from the wrong viewpoint.
Based on the early episodes of Girl in he main character in Fireworks was a boy,
Twilight, we’ll have to record an open verdict. but the ilm also featured a troubled girl who
he chemistry between the girls is hardly Kyoto could have reacted to the timeloop plot in a much
Animation level; there are moments of blatant more interesting way… but she was kept oblivious
fanservice that KyoAni would never do; and to it instead. By comparison, the way that Girl in
patches of extreme silliness that spoil rather than Twilight lets nana discover her own truths is a
enhance the fun. But it has deftly planted some marked improvement.
mysteries, such as a missing kid brother who’s hat, at least, is a sympathetic way to look at RADIANT
sought by both Asukas, and at times it’s rather it. You can also see the nana / marriage storyline Here’s a show to ignite arguments about “But is it really
afecting. as collapsing into another depressing set of anime?”. Oh, it’s Japan-animated and it follows the
In particular, the second alternate world clichés; the way that nana inally comes into her Shonen Jump-y template, about a feisty boy hero – he’s
that the girls visit turns out to be a Japan with own feels awfully close to a famous game-anime an apprentice sorcerer – who’s out to fight monsters and
diferent ideas about marriage, treading on franchise. his column, though, tries to treat find glory. However, Radiant is actually based on a French
similar territory to Love and Lies. But the plotline new shows kindly whenever it can. But we won’t comic. Given the recent cinema release of the rather
lets nana, the group’s self-declared delinquent, oversell them – on the evidence so far, we don’t bloodier MFKZ, another French-Japanese crossover,
act out in unexplored directions, and realize think Girl in Twilight will ever be a patch on the maybe we’re in for a wave of Gallic-inspired anime. If so,
some important things about herself while doing excellent Noein. count us in – we’d love to see an anime Asterix.
www.ne omag .c o.uk 02 9

ANIME EXPOSÉ
THAT TIME I GOT
REINCARNATED AS A SLIME
Rise of the Ooze
Admit it, thAt’s a great grabber of a title at the top of the page. he irst time he dies, and the next few minutes are… Well, they’re rather wonderfully weird.
you see it, your reaction is probably “What?!” followed by “No, i promised hey’ll remind older anime fans of the ultra-trippy end to the original tV
myself i wouldn’t be surprised by anything that came out of Japan after JoJo’s Evangelion, but it’ll remind more viewers of the bit at the start of a computer
Bizarre Adventure / Penguindrum / Keijo / Uma Musume / all of the above.” RPG where you create a new character, setting his or her attributes for the epic
And your next thought after that may be, “But how can they make a series out of adventure…
this? i mean, the hero’s a slime?” And just like that, satoru is reincarnated as a blob of slime, in a deep dark
indeed he is. We meet him briely in his human form in the anime’s dank cave in a fantasy world. Again, it’s partly a joke for gamers; the slime was
opening minutes, where he’s an unremarkable 37-year-old tokyo salaryman the bottom-level monster in the original iconic Dragon Quest RPG from the
named satoru. By the standards of anime everymen, he looks like rakish 1980s. to amplify the point, the background music and sound efects in these
centrefold material, though he’s never had a girlfriend, and he relects ruefully scenes sound exactly like a vintage 8-bit videogame. how itting that the anime
that his virginity qualiies him as a wizard (if you’re baled by the reference, it’s is made by a studio that’s actually called 8-Bit!
an old internet meme). Gaming fans will also know the Dragon Quest slime evolved immensely over
As you could guess from the show’s name, satoru’s about to die. But the franchise, spawning numerous mutations (friendly slimes, Big Boss slimes)
whereas you might expect him to die in some jokey way, like the heroes and eventually becoming the most popular species of the franchise. here’s a
of Konosuba and In Another World With My Smartphone, satoru’s death metaphor for evolution that Richard dawkins would applaud. in much the same
scene is almost entirely straight. he meets his company junior and a female way, satoru inds that being a slime is no idle ooze; he’s upwardly mobile beyond
acquaintance outside their workplace for lunch when a goon comes out of any salaryman’s dream. today the puddle, tomorrow the world…
nowhere, wielding a massive knife. satoru shoves the younger man out of the
way – unlike Konosuba, there’s no question he saved a life – and gets skewered dRAGON’s deN
himself. Remember, in Japan, knives are feared far more than guns. many NeO readers will already know much of what’s in store for satoru,
satoru has no chance, bleeding out profusely on the pavement while his or Rimuru as he’s soon renamed. (in this show, names and the act of giving
colleagues look on in horror. Okay, there is a good joke in satoru’s last request something a name are big deal.) As a franchise, Slime has already climbed the
to his junior, relating to single men and posthumous embarrassments. hen evolutionary ladder itself, starting as an online novel like Overlord and Sword

Slime Girls!
Anime says slime can be sexy.
Let’s face it, anything can be sexy
in anime, but the medium makes
make a good case for the goop.
Suu in the racy comedy Monster
Musume often appears as a cute
blue girl, but she can return to her
basic slime form to slide sensually
into tiny cracks and crannies. As
for the slime girl Melona in the
Queen’s Blade franchise, her
name gives a clue about how she
manipulates her assets.
Slime Guys!
Animation was playing with
slime back in 1992, in the Aussie
kids’ film, Ferngully: The Last
2
Rainforest. It’s an eco-fantasy
where the villain, Hexxus, is
3 technically a sludge monster,
but he still slings slime about a
lot. If you’re not inclined to see a
children’s cartoon, then consider
that Hexxus is voiced by the
legendary Tim Curry, star of The
Rocky Horror Picture Show and
the definitive sweet transvestite
from transsexual Transylvania.
YouTube “ferngully toxic love” to
see Hexxus in his oozing glory.
1. An enigmatic girl glimpsed at the start of

the series. 2. With great power comes… you
know the rest.. 3. A slime’s best friend is his
direwolf!
Art Online, before being turned into print and manga form. As of writing,
there are eight manga books available and three print ones, so fast readers
will be well ahead in satoru’s – okay, Rimuru’s – adventures.
Just in the anime, we’ve seen him meet a pouty smaug dragon type – a
comic highlight, with both non-human creatures revealing all kinds of
humanity– and then spending a long time “leveling up” his powers most
entertainingly. Before long; our hero slime can ight, talk, absorb abilities,
and shapeshift, and we’d lay our money on him versus Conan the Barbarian
any day. Finally Rimuru lops into the sunlight, and into a very game-style
world of dwarves and goblins, ights and sorcery, but also strategy and
management skills. hose are things a former tokyo salaryman knows from
real life, not just RPG algorithms, as Rimuru starts to intervene in this world
in earnest.
so far, Slime is looking jolly good. it’s no surprise that Rimuru makes
a cute slime, and he’s also stretchily, bouncily, cartoonily expressive – and SLIME TENTACLES!
of course slime expressions look funny just by being slime expressions. he Made in 1968, The Green Slime is an early Japan / US hybrid (American
show’s opening credits have already given away a spoiler, that Rimuru will actors, Japanese filmmakers). It’s a live-action sci-fi adventure involving
take on human form – indeed, that may have happened by the time you read a spaceship overrun by tentacled slime monsters (no, not that kind of
this. however, his sticky-ball self is so well established in the irst episodes tentacle monster). Despite its laughable effects, the film does have a big
that he surely won’t forget his primordial nature. point of interest for NEO readers. The film’s director was Kinji Fukasuku,
Slime is great fun, though it could get heavy – the opening stabbing who would go on to the celebrated Battles Without Honour and
wasn’t soft-coated, while a mysterious prologue set in wartime Japan evokes Humanity, and whose last film would be the unforgettable Battle Royale.
Grave of the Fireflies. evolution can go in so many diferent ways…

REGENERATING
RURAL JAPAN
Mark Guthrie seeks out the young Japanese who are turning their backs
on the city to bring the countryside back to its natural glory.
When Atsuro Tatematsu was a kid, he had two dreams: to become an class role, bringing shame on his family? Yet he was unperturbed, and now
aircraft engineer, and an architect. While he has succeeded in his irst, the village of Miyama is renowned for its traditional thatched buildings,
working for Mitsubishi in its aeronautics division, it is the pursuit of the bringing thousands of tourists each year, and he has trained more than ten
latter that puts him on the vanguard of a new breed of young Japanese qualiied thatchers around the country, breathing new life into a skill that
rediscovering their rural roots. had been lost almost entirely.
Atsuro grew up amongst the skyscrapers of Nagoya, Japan’s fourth
largest city, but it was a chance trip to the countryside that rekindled a BRINING THE COMMUNITY TOGETHER
childhood desire that would change his life. When he was a child, each February Atsuro would accompany his father
“About ten years ago I visited Miyama, a small town in the hills of on trips to the small village of Iwamura, nestled at the foot of the Central
Kyoto, and I was overcome by the beautiful buildings in the area. hese Japanese Alps mountain range. Here his father, a great sake enthusiast,
were nothing like the high-rises of the city centre, or the lat-pack-style would enjoy the local brewery’s new batch, and Atsuro would marvel at the
homes of the suburbs, but magniicent, traditional buildings with huge local trains and the stunning countryside.
thatched roofs,” Atsuro recalls. Unfortunately, Atsuro’s father passed away while he was still in high
“I had to know how they were made, so I joined a thatching workshop school, but when he came of age and grew a taste for sake himself, Atsuro
where I met thatchers Makoto and Minoru, who let me up onto a roof and returned to Iwamura. On one of these visits, when driving around the
feel the thatch for myself. It was a fantastic, unforgettable moment for me. village’s outskirts, he came across an old building. It was dilapidated, run-
It was like an epiphany.” down, and the thatched roof leaked, but Atsuro immediately understood
its potential. He contacted the owner, and the pair, with the backing of
THE REBIRTH OF A DYING SKILL friends and the city council, sourced the funds to repair the old building.
Makoto Nakano has lived most of his life in Miyama. In the late ‘80s, when From there, the only problem was inding the professionals to complete the
Japan’s aluent ‘bubble’ period was at its height and his friends were reconstruction.
heading to the big city for high salaries and to live the high-life, he found “Traditional carpentry and thatching are dying arts,” Atsuro explains.
himself at an existential crossroads. “hough I wanted to utilise solely local talent for this community project, I
During a trip to the UK he had visited the small Bedfordshire village of eventually called in Minoru and he was able, when removing the old thatch,
Mursley, where he came across beautiful thatched roofed cottages. It was a to igure out how it was originally put together.”
revelation for him to see that these old buildings were held in such esteem It was not only Minoru that helped to rebuild the old house, but the local
by their wealthy owners while in Japan they were steeped in the stigma of community came together with people of all ages learning the traditional
the past, in direct opposition to the drive towards modernity that typiied handicrafts required to rebuild the house in its original form.
1980s Japan. Important to this was the concept of ‘yui’, or cooperation. Historically
Makoto returned to Miyama as ‘a man with a mission’: to leave behind Japanese homes were maintained by the community as a whole; Atsuro felt
his highly-paid job and learn thatching to not only reinvigorate his village, that for the redevelopment to achieve its aims, it was necessary for everyone
but to return a pride to their rural roots. When he told his grandmother to be involved, drawing people away from the insular pastimes of television,
of this plan she broke down in tears. Why did he want to take on this low- videogames and modern distractions to work together to create >>>
“I WANT TO CREATE A SOLUTION THAT KEEPS 1
OUR TRADITION ALIVE, AND FOR JAPANESE

PEOPLE TO REASSESS THE VALUE OF THEIR
HOMES BEFORE BUYING FLAT-PACKED HOUSES
THAT ARE ENVIRONMENTALLY UNFRIENDLY AND
NOT BUILT TO LAST.” ATSURO TATEMATSU
2
1. Not small, these cottages.

3 4
2. Creating these thatches
takes time and skill. 3. All
smiles from the team! 4. The
next generation of traditional
carpenter plying his trade. 5.
Learning how to make support
beams is interesting stuff. 6. A
thatched roof in Miyama starts
to take shape. The slope is steep
to withstand the heavy winter
snow.
5 6
All images by Atsuro Tatematsu with permission

REGENERATING RURAL JAPAN
All images by Atsuro Tatematsu with permission
“DURING A TRIP TO THE UK HE HAD VISITED THE SMALL BEDFORDSHIRE VILLAGE OF MURSLEY,
WHERE HE CAME ACROSS BEAUTIFUL THATCHED ROOFED COTTAGES. IT WAS A REVELATION
FOR HIM TO SEE THAT THESE OLD BUILDINGS WERE HELD IN SUCH ESTEEM BY THEIR WEALTHY
OWNERS WHILE IN JAPAN THEY WERE STEEPED IN THE STIGMA OF THE PAST, IN DIRECT
OPPOSITION TO THE DRIVE TOWARDS MODERNITY THAT TYPIFIED 1980S JAPAN.”
>>> something tangible that now stands as a focal point and centrepiece of cottage is to be redeveloped as a space for young children to engage with
the old town about which they can all be proud. nature, with the aim of fostering a love for traditional Japanese customs
within the next generation, and the one after that.
THE COMMUNITY COMING TOGETHER AGAIN
Yutaka Murakami has lived in Yamaoka, a small kanten seaweed farming A DREAM BECOMING REALITY
village to the west of Iwamura, since he was a small child. His father, like hrough these community projects Atsuro too has changed his outlook on life.
Makoto, had eschewed the prosperity of the bubble years and, longing Whereas previously architecture was a dream and thatching a hobby, he is
for a simpler, healthier life, left their home in the city to relocate to the currently in the process of qualifying to become a traditional architect.
countryside. Since then, however, the thatched cottage in which they lived “hese old houses require a lot of skill, a lot of efort and qualiied
had fallen into disrepair. But then, one day, Makoto saw Atsuro at work in professionals, which is a problem. In addition, thanks to modern regulations,
Iwamura. few architects are able to design houses in the traditional Japanese style. I want
“He asked me if I could help him with his own renovation. I told him to create a solution that keeps our tradition alive, and for Japanese people to
that the susuki silver grass to roof the house alone would cost a lot of money. reassess the value of their homes before buying lat-packed houses that are
He thanked me for my time and then left,” Atsuro remembers. “hen, eight environmentally unfriendly and not built to last,” says Atsuro.
years later I bumped into him quite coincidentally. He told me that in that “More than anything I would love to see traditional homes with thatched
time he had been growing and cultivating the susuki himself, and had roofs amongst the skyscrapers of the city. Who knows? We could even make
2,000 bundles of it, enough for the thatch. I was very surprised, but even English-style pubs serving sake and beer! hat is my new dream, and it will
more impressed.” take a lot of work to persuade people.”
So impressed was Atsuro that he has once again rallied together the Don’t bet against him achieving it.
local community and friends from the city, to help rebuild this 160-year- If you are interested in the rural regeneration happening in Japan, why not
old cottage, and the process has begun once more. his time, however, the check out what Atsuro and his friends are doing at iezukuri.strikingly.com?

W O R D S B Y A L E X J O NE S
[ANIME REVIEW]
FIREWORKS
Best viewed from the front
again with a new perspective, much like how a diferent
2 6 N O V E MBE R // A NIME L IMI T E D // 1 2 // R O M A N C E // £ 1 7. 9 9 ( D V D) , perspective on ireworks can seemingly radically change
£ 1 9 . 9 9 ( B L U - R AY ) , £ 3 4 . 9 9 (C O L L E C T O R ’ S B L U - R AY/ D V D) // 9 0 MINS // the way we view them. It’s a rather long-winded metaphor
to say the least, but as a running theme throughout the ilm
gives a little more depth than you may perceive from just
PLOT School friends Norimichi and Yusuke are both the question itself.
smitten with their classmate Nazuna. But when a he strange thing is though, if you were to begin
mysterious object gives Norimichi the chance to step watching Fireworks without the slightest idea of what it
back in time and redo previous events, he’s able to whisk was about, then a dose of sci-i fantasy would probably
Nazuna away from her troubles on an adventure against a be the last thing you’d be expecting. he ilm’s fairly low
festival skyline lit by fireworks. key opening instead focuses on its slice of life elements,
establishing the friendship between Norimichi and Yusuke
F
ireworks, or to use its full name of Fireworks, Should as well as their romantic rivalry when it comes the afections
We See it from the Side or the Bottom?, begs to ask of the seemingly aloof Nazuna. his early section does a
a question that you’ve probably never even thought particularly good job of building up a basic love triangle
about before. When we watch ireworks, just what between the characters.
ADAPTATION angle are we seeing them from? It’s an ongoing Following this Yusuke quickly falls into the background,
Fireworks is an question that’s peppered throughout the ilm, not only as the only real focal point when it comes to characters here
adaptation of an working to humorous efect but also surreal enough that is the time Norimichi and Nazuna spend together. With
award-winning you’ll quickly ind yourself questioning the idea just by Norimichi starting out as shy and awkward and Nazuna
1993 television
matter of osmosis. something of a manic pixie dream girl, they don’t have a
drama film of
However there is a purpose to this rather odd question, whole lot to go of when it comes to personality, but the
the same name
by Shunji Iwai.
working as an important thematic parallel to the ilm’s ideas dynamic between them is what manages to make them
The drama was when it comes to time travel. Fireworks is a ilm that’s less remarkable. He becomes more conident and assertive,
later released in about the act of time travel itself (making only a handful of as she’s able to gradually let go of her troubles and be the
Japanese cinemas leaps into the past that cover a mere few hours at the most), person she wants to be. here’s nothing particularly complex
in 1995. and more about the opportunities it presents. Knowledge about any of it, but the emotions are strong enough to keep
of how events play out give Norimichi the ability to try the story compelling.
he fact that it’s so easy to get sucked into the realism other. Some sequences are told through fantastical visuals,
of Fireworks’ setting is what makes the sudden appearance but the heart lies in them learning about each other as they
of time travel all the more surprising, though the surprise avoid both Norimichi’s friends and Nazuna’s parents whilst
itself might be a little easier to swallow if the execution planning their next move. Even if it doesn’t manage to
didn’t feel so half-baked. With next to no explanation as to take you back to your childhood, there still manages to be
what the mysterious object that causes this phenomenon something thoroughly relatable about the whole situation.
is, compounded by an even more perplexing visual But much like its namesake, Fireworks is a ilm that
representation at the ilm’s climax, anyone expecting prioritises spectacle. Animated by studio Shaft as well as co-
directed by Bakemonogatari and Madoka Magica maestro
“FIREWORKS TAKES MORE PRIDE IN WHAT Akiyuki Shinbou, Fireworks is a ilm completely conident
in its production staf and values. From the rich, detailed
ITS JOURNEY HAS TO OFFER, RATHER THAN scenery to the memorable character designs, there isn’t a
visual element that has gone forgotten. As if it were testing
THE SPECIFICS OF JUST HOW IT GOES itself, each set piece manages to look more beautiful than
the last – culminating in a inale that combines 2D and CG
ABOUT IT.” animation that truly takes Fireworks into the realms of the
fantastical.
Of course, Shaft fans can look forward to all those staple KEY TALENT
logic might ind themselves disappointed. Fireworks takes sequences that have helped make the studio so beloved Fireworks’ lead trio
more pride in what its journey has to ofer, rather than the over the years, such as winding spiral staircases and the are played by high
speciics of just how it goes about it. obligatory “Shaft head tilt”. profile Japanese
actors Suzu Hirose
So instead what follows isn’t a high-stakes scenario Although Fireworks’ sci-fi element often seems muddled
(Nazuna) and Masaki
for the runaway couple, but something that every teenage and underdeveloped, the film remains a charming and
Suda (Norimichi),
romantic will have dreamt about at one stage – the fantastical tale of young romance. As well as tackling the along with voice actor
opportunity to spend just one night with the girl they’ve concept of choice and perspective through the most curious legend Mamoru Miyano
fallen for. here’s never anything especially extravagant of metaphors, Shaft deliver a visual spectacle that lives up to (Yusuke) – Death Note’s
about the time Norimichi and Nazuna spend together, that the studio’s high benchmark. Light Yagami and much
instead comes from the escapism that they ind in each much more!

WHAT IS KAWAII?
‘Kawaii’ (or かわいい) is the Japanese
word for ‘cute’, ‘lovable’ or ‘adorable’
that now seems to sum up a whole
sub-culture. Think cutesy cartoon
characters, rainbow coloured fashion,
and the playful shopping streets of
Harajuku, Tokyo. It’s become much
more than just an aesthetic though;
kawaii culture sprinkles a little magic
into our lives, sparks positivity, and
gives us a chance to get our creativity
flowing. And it’s not just in Japan that
kawaii culture has a cult following; here
in the UK we’ve embraced it with open
arms! We caught up with six people
from up and down the country, all with
a passion for kawaii, to find out how
Japan’s culture of cute has influenced
their personal and professional lives.
For more
about Lizzie’s
looks, turn to
page 041!
UK KAWAII
Emily Valentine takes a tour around the UK to find six people who have embraced
the Japanese ideal of cute as a way of life!

DANNY
I’ve been a fan of kawaii characters for most of my
life. As a kid, watching Sailor Moon got me into
anime and this encouraged me to learn more about
Japanese pop culture and ‘kawaii’ brands. I was 19
when I irst visited Tokyo and every time I visit my
collection just keeps growing. I think kawaii is just
an aspect of who I am now, it’s something very much
engrained into my interests and personality. I’m into
things that make me feel nostalgic so love characters
from the early 2000s. I enjoy collecting vintage San-x
characters (like Afro Ken and Kogepan) but also
love Sumikko Gurashi. Badtz Maru and Keroppi are
my favourite Sanrio characters and I’m really into
Yuru-Chara too, Chiitan is my current favourite.
My fashion style is probably on the grungy side of
kawaii, but there’s usually always a cute character
somewhere on my outit.
One of my favourite anime series this year
has been Sanrio Danshi, I think it did a great job of
breaking gender stereotypes. As a guy, it can be a
diicult hobby to explain to people outside of the
fandom. Society and the media often label cute
things as ‘feminine’ or purely aimed at women. I
think gender stereotypes can be quite damaging,
and think for these perceptions to change it’s
important that there’s representation and a
welcoming attitude within any fandom for everyone
regardless of gender, sexuality, race or religion.
@whimsicalboy
ELLA GOODWIN
My irst venture into kawaii was whilst staying
at a friend’s house as a child. She had a Japanese
mother and would always have colourful, super
cute stationery illustrated with smiling characters.
I had serious envy! Later on I discovered the FRUiTS
books and an interest became an obsession. I studied
animation and chose to write my dissertation on
Japanese youth culture entitled ‘he Plagiarisers
become the Plagiarised’. I was fascinated with the
constant swapping of cultures and fashions. hese
were often inspired by something I was already
familiar with, but the kawaii kids of Tokyo would
put such an original and exciting twist on it.
I went to Japan in 2003 as part of my research
(basically an excuse to go) and spent 10 days in Tokyo
and Hakone sucking it all up, guzzling up ive storey
fabric shops and tentatively wandering the streets
of Harajuku on my own. I was also lucky enough
to see the Super Flat exhibition in Rippongi which
spawned a new obsession with Takeshi Murakami
and also Chiho Aoshima (whose work I have tattooed
down my arm). Since then I have been back three
more times and go back again in May 2019. My work
is inspired by kawaii, Japanese folklore and cats
(and other creatures). It has a light-hearted aesthetic
based on the way that kawaii makes me feel; you can
so easily jump into a diferent, softer world that you
can really immerse yourself in.
@missellaillustrator
Emily Valentine photography.

RACHEL
Growing up I was really into kawaii characters
Hello Kitty and Gloomy Bear. I then discovered
lolita fashion (an elegant, feminine alternative
Japanese fashion style) and my interest in other
alternative Japanese fashion and Tokyo street
styles grew. I found my favourite sub-style called
‘Fairy Kei’ which allowed me to feel more like
myself, and be more creative with outits. I knew it
was the style for me. Now almost everything I own
is cute and colourful!
Wearing cute clothes and being surrounded by
all things kawaii truly brings me joy. I’ve also met
some amazing people through Harajuku fashion
events and meet-ups in the UK, and have become
close friends with some.
Highlights include meeting Sebastian Masuda
(designer of fashion brand 6% DOKIDOKI) and
Haruka Kurebayashi (Harajuku fashion model).
I’ve also learnt lots about Japan through kawaii;
the food, traditional culture, and pop culture. And
fashion of course! hrough my YouTube videos
I try and use my knowledge and experience to
help people out; my most popular video being
‘Fairy Kei for Beginners’. I’m a strong believer that
kawaii culture and fashion is for everyone, and
anyone! I doesn’t matter what age, gender, race,
religion etc. you are, as long as it brings you joy,
that’s all that matters.
@pastelhorror
ROXIE
SWEETHEART
I was irst introduced to Japanese street fashion and
‘kawaii’ from the book FRUiTS and Gwen Stefani’s
album Love. Angel. Music. Baby. he vibrancy,
whimsicality and sheer (sometimes twisted)
cuteness of Japanese art, design and fashion has
always inspired me. Japanese design is unafraid
to explore colour, texture and innovative ideas. I
initially created the concept of ‘Roxie Sweetheart’
when I was studying Fashion and Textiles Enterprise
at university, and my brand and personal style has
really developed since then. I take inspiration from
so many sources including Harajuku fashion and
vintage children’s toys – speciically from my own
childhood nostalgia (My Little Pony, Polly Pocket
and Care Bears) and more recently from the world of
drag. I’ve always been a highly creative and artistic
person who needed a constant outlet and freedom
to express myself. So having my own brand was
deinitely the way forward. I’ve come to the point
where I don’t think there is much of a line between
whether my brand inluences my style or vice versa!
Day to day I’d say my fashion is much more ‘toned
down’, but most of my wardrobe pieces are still pretty
OTT in comparison to most people’s clothing I guess.
I still like to make an efort every day because feeling
‘kawaii’ and unique gives me more conidence.
@roxiesweetheart

LIZZIE
“In order to be noticed, you have to be different.”
Hands up if you’ve ever heard of something
similar to this before? No matter what you do
in life, there’s this overwhelming pressure
that you’ve got to be over-the-top in order to be
noticed. When I first fell in love with Hello Kitty
and kawaii fashion (through tumblr, no less) I
thought I had to collect every Hello Kitty related
item in existence in order to elevate my “kawaii
status”. A similar thing happened when I found
out about gyaru fashion and I did my absolute
best to stand out. I followed all of the tutorials,
bought the most over-the-top clothes, and even
though my bank balance suffered, I was happy.
Years later, I started to tone down my style. Call
it the adult life, but I just couldn’t keep being
incredibly dramatic in my style anymore. As soon
as I ditched my agejo gyaru style for something
more comfortable, I felt as if I was fading into the
background. I was, as some would call it, starting
to look “normal”. It took me a while, but I realised
that the most important thing was that I was
enjoying the clothes I wear, and not forcing myself
to go over-the-top just so that I can be accepted
by the J-fashion community. Just because I was
toning down didn’t mean that I loved Japanese
fashion and kawaii any less, I just had a different
way of showing it.
@hellolizziebee
SANTI STORM
When I first visited Tokyo at 19 I spent hours
wandering the magical streets of Harajuku. I knew
it was a world I needed to be a part of, and a style I
wanted to use to inspire my creativity, looks and
performances as a London club kid, performer,
host, and gogo boy. Working across clubs and
venues all over the city and the world, this style has
helped me to stand out and be unique.
Everything I wear and do is inspired by
Japanese kawaii culture. I’ve always wanted
to create a fantasy that expresses over the top
cuteness with a London edge to it. It makes me feel
adorable yet fierce, beautiful but untouchable. I
also hope to radiate those feelings on to anyone
that comes across me; Santi Storm, London’s most
kawaii club kid! I stick as many gems as possible
on my face, wear bows in my hair and always
try and involve some sort of cutesy character
into my looks. Despite my adorable appearance
kawaii culture makes me feel powerful. I want to
show that femininity and cuteness doesn’t mean
Santi Storm photos © Matt Parker
weakness but actually means the opposite! Being

a feminine kawaii cute boy shows strength and is
something to be proud of.
@santistorm
Visit all our kawaii kids online at Instagram

using their handles at the end of each section!

1
COSPLAY QUEEN
Neo’s andrew osmond speaks to dedicated Japanese cosplayer Hikari green – who has
cosplayed all around the world – about cosplay life and cosplay culture in Japan and globally.
Here, in her own words, is her story!
17 years ago, I was a school student and there was a big reason why I started day, from top to bottom.
cosplay. I was bullied in my school because I had a medical condition. other he most complicated costumes take me three or four days to make, and they
students, mainly male, bullied me – “You are virus, we don’t want to touch you, use many more fabrics than the simple ones. Ten years ago, I cosplayed Ky Kiske in
we don’t want to talk with you.” I was so hurt. I didn’t have a place in the school, I the Guilty Gear game and had to prepare six or seven metres of white cloth, and a
couldn’t feel comfortable there or be myself. big sword. My mother was asking, “What’s that?” (laughs). For the sword, I bought
I was so happy to read manga or watch anime because I can take a trip to a plastic board and carved and shaped it, then used a colour spray and steel wire…
another world. and one day I went to a really small cosplay event in Tokyo. I felt so Today cosplay is really open in Japan, but ten years ago it was really hard
scared because my self-esteem was so low. I’m not pretty, I’m not even normal, to get fabric or get a wig. Cosplayers like me had to keep what they did secret
that was my self-image. at the event, there were so many beautiful cosplayers… I from society and their parents. hey had a really hard time just making a
was walking around and two beautiful Vietnamese cosplayers came over to me costume, it was a big deal. Mainly I make male costumes, but sometimes I do
and told me, “you are so pretty, can I take your picture?” It was a huge surprise; I female characters. My Kiki costume looks simple and the dress is a one-piece, of
felt that my world was breaking up! You are beautiful, but you say I’m pretty? course, but I also made the bag, and it was very hard to make the hair-ribbon stand
and then my obsession began and I thought, I can be pretty; I want to change properly, and cut the wig to the right length.
myself, I want to make an effort, I would really like to be them [the Vietnamese I thought it was more diicult to express myself in male costumes, so I wanted
cosplayers]. In the next ive years, I met other people who were also obsessed to make them. I’ve seen many photobooks, and many photo-shoots around the
with cosplay, people who were bullied, who didn’t have a place to talk. Instead, world, and if I ind an impressive photo, I think a lot about why it’s good, why the
they found their place in cosplay. I want to help such people to ind themselves. cosplayers’ expressions are good, and I want to take some essence from them. I have
sometimes I’m asked, “you are too old to be cosplaying, why are you doing this?” to ind what are the best points in my body and face and show them up the most.
sometimes I feel scared – of course I’m human – but I want to behave like I am But on the other hand, I don’t need to hide my bad points. Five years ago, I worried
proud of doing that. about my face being circular, but now I think, my face is circular, that’s that, so
there’s no need to hide it.
CREATING THE COSTUMES
For me, I make my costumes by myself, hundreds of them. It’s really good to COSPLAYING ABROAD
understand myself more; only I know which fabrics are most suitable for me. Before cosplaying abroad, I was already a backpacker. I’ve been to over 50
Making costumes has got faster and faster. I can make a complete costume in one countries by myself, like russia, Israel, alaska, syria… I’m a person who doesn’t

2 3
1. Cosplay of Mami from Puella

Magi Madoka Magica. 2. Kiki
from Kiki’s Delivery Service. 3.
Hikari as America from Hetalia.
PEOPLE LIKE TO SAY, “I’M OTAKU!” THEY WANT TO SAY, I AM SOMETHING SPECIAL, I’M SO DIFFERENT FROM
YOU. IF I SAID I WAS AN OTAKU 20 YEARS AGO, PEOPLE WOULD SAY, “ARE YOU OKAY? DO YOU HAVE A
PROBLEM IN YOUR PRIVATE LIFE?”
want to do the same things as other people. and I thought all the world is the China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and the Netherlands. at a United states convention,
same, people are the same. people were just enjoying having an exciting time; it was like a party.
Ten years ago, I went to a cosplay event in hailand. even then, Japanese Conventions in europe are more into self-expression, making their own
people were more concerned about whether an outit was kawaii and beautiful. costumes in detail.
hey weren’t so interested in the efort that had been spent on the costume or
expression, but on the cosplayer’s face and body. sometimes that meant that COSPLAY COMMUNITY
people would aim for an external measure of beauty, not to be themselves. I feel I know that in other countries, people can go to the convention site already in
a little disgusted about that, because for me cosplay is self-expression, to feel costume. But in Japan, it is frowned upon… [Japanese events announce that
more comfortable and happy for yourself. In Japan, some people say “I’m more attendees should not arrive in costume.] Cosplayers themselves will photograph
kawaii, so I’m more than you,” or something like that. any cosplayers they see breaking the rules, and post the picture online. he cosplay
But in hailand, people were just enjoying the event, being happy community will get angry, because the rulebreakers are hurting their reputation.
wearing their costumes. If they ind someone who wears a costume from the he cosplay community has evolved and is getting bigger every year. right
same manga or anime, they speak to each other and become friends. I really now, I think there are two kinds of cosplayers. one kind are the cosplayers who
liked that. want to be idols, they want to get more followers, more fame. hey really like
at that time, Hetalia was popular – I was crazy for Hetalia myself, posting cosplaying Love Live!, where you can “be” an idol in a pretty costume.
my Hetalia cosplays on the Deviant art website, and because Hetalia was on the other hand, there are the cosplayers who really want to express the
famous all over the world, that meant my photos spread round the world too. anime or manga that they love in their own way. hey don’t choose the anime or
I’ve now been to cosplay events in germany, France, spain, mainland manga because of the costume, but because of how good it is. >>>

4 5
6 7
“IN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS, I MET OTHER PEOPLE WHO WERE ALSO OBSESSED WITH COSPLAY, PEOPLE WHO
WERE BULLIED, WHO DIDN’T HAVE A PLACE TO TALK. INSTEAD, THEY FOUND THEIR PLACE IN COSPLAY.”
4. Izumi Sena from Ensemble >>> BIG IN JAPANESE COSPLAY summer and winter), which draws hundreds of thousands of
Stars. 5. It’s MEIKO of Vocaloid
Fate is famous for cosplayers... here are many fujoshi fans who people. some business people think, Oh, otaku make money!
fame! 6. A portrait of Hikari as
herself! 7. Hetalia’s America, like putting characters into couples, so Hetalia is popular for and they focus on the otaku market… Moreover, cosplay is
enjoying some refreshments! cosplayers. If I cosplay UK (the character) and my friend cosplays international, and international is a word that Japanese people
Us, we can get photos of us as a couple and it’s great fun (laughs). really like. I’m international…
hen there are people cosplaying as mascot characters
from commercials to make people laugh. Disney princesses are
WHY HALLOWEEN ISN’T REALLY A
popular in Japanese cosplay – sleeping Beauty, Little Mermaid…
Many Disney cosplayers rush to the Halloween cosplay events “COSPLAY” EVENT IN JAPAN
at Tokyo Disneyland. of the “original” character cosplays, goth Many people asked me, Are you going to Halloween?, implying
Lolita is popular – cosplay and gothic Lolita are really close. that because I’m a cosplayer, I must be going to Halloween.
Visual kei cosplay is big too. But that’s a question asked by people who don’t know otaku
and cosplayers. Halloween is for normal people who want to
A NEW TREND change. hey want to do something out of the ordinary and
In Japan, otaku is a kind of fashion right now. People like to say, feel excited for one night… but it’s only on Halloween night.
“I’m otaku!” hey want to say, I am something special, I’m so hey don’t keep on cosplaying.
diferent from you. If I said I was an otaku 20 years ago, people I’ve done cosplay for 17 years because I really like manga
would say, “are you okay? Do you have a problem in your private and anime, and I want to express my love for the characters
life?” (laughs) by cosplaying, by expressing something, and I want to let
I’ve been asked so many times why otaku became a fashion people know, his character is so cool, this anime is really
in Japan. In my opinion, dojinshi (amateur Japanese manga) good, please check it out! I want to meet fans of the anime and
was a factor. some people think otaku must make big money. manga, and make friends and share discussions.
here’s Comiket (the huge three-day dojinshi event in Tokyo in Join the discussion and find Hikari online: see next page! >>>

Asuna from Sword Art Online.
FIND HIKARI GREEN ONLINE!

Website: hikarigreen.com
Instagram: instagram.com/hikari_green
Facebook: facebook.com/atsuko.s.hikari
Brand website: atukotokyo.com

©Hasetsu Townspeople/Yuri!!! on ICE PROJECT
© 2017 TOHO / Aniplex / SHAFT / KADOKAWA / TOY’S FACTORY / JR Kikaku / Lawson HMV Entertainment / LINE
©SUNRISE/PROJECT L-GEASS
Character Design©2006-2017 CLAMP • ST
2
“TEENS LOVE”
Believe it or not, it has
taken until 2017 for the
Teens Love sub-genre,
which is to say, erotica
for women, to officially
get an anime show,
arriving in the form
of On a Lustful Night
Mingling with a Priest,
which broadcast
in a PG-version on
normal telly, a 15-rated
version late-night on
AT-X, and an R18-rated
version on a dedicated
1
streaming site.

MANGA SNAPSHOT
MINI SUGAR
Jonathan Clements turns into a dangerous night butterly
I S S UE # 4 0 // D E B U T Y E A R : 2 0 0 9 // PA GE C O UN T: C . 3 5 0 // P UB L I S HE R : S HU S UI S H A // P R I C E : 5 0 0 Y E N (£ 3 . 5 0) // C Y C L E : BIM O N T HLY
Mini Sugar (1) magazine is super-discreet, small with the discovery that he’s woken up in a girl’s body. One
enough to it into your handbag, promising new manga and senses in such stories a degree of schadenfreude, as the female
acknowledged masterpieces (they mean reprints) for the reader watches a man having to deal with the kind of nonsense
young reader who “turns dangerous night butterly.” that a girl has to deal with every day – in social expectations,
he girl on the cover seems a little taken aback, as you interactions and assumptions. his, however, is all a rather
would be if you not only discovered a tuning knob on your bra, thin veneer over the real intentions, which is to deliver
but a man leering over you, trying to get Radio 4 on it. i jest, multiple sequences of ayumu nakedly enjoying his/her voyage
of course – unfamiliar with modern lingerie trends, i don’t of discovery.
actually know what that thing is supposed to be. he cover Such roles are reversed in another story in the magazine,
promises racy content, and, indeed, many of the pages within Kohai-kun and the Complicated 28-Year-Old OL (4), which
are too naughty to print in neO. Mini Sugar purports to be a tells the story of a torrid afair between Seto and Kazumi,
“Teens Love” manga, but i have my doubts. two college classmates unexpectedly reunited at the
in what is presumably a story inspired by, or at least workplace, where he is a junior (kohai) in the oice hierarchy,
commissioned in the wake of makoto Shinkai’s Your name, whereas the virginal Kazumi has precisely zero experience
nemuko Takayama’s Discoveries of a Transformed Woman (2) in the bedroom. Ritsuko Kamuro’s manga plays with the
features a boy who is cursed (or possibly blessed) by a vengeful expectations in an asymmetrical romance – Kazumi loves
angel to wake up in a girl’s body. Seto’s stamina and enthusiasm, although since she has no
he rules of modern gender politics require me to frame of reference, she is not sure where to rate him on a scale
use a pronoun that acknowledges the protagonist’s self- of one to ten. meanwhile, although they are relatively evenly
identiication as male or female, but in this case s/he literally matched in the bedroom, they are in wildly diferent power
can’t make up his/her mind. S/he wonders if a bright career positions in the oice, leaving Kazumi constantly fretful
awaits as a manga author or an agony aunt, but soon embraces about the degree to which she is abusing her power over a man
new-found femininity when she goes out on a date with a who is her underling, even if he does shyly confess to having
former classmate. worshipped her from afar for two years.
Takayama’s manga relies on the richly fertile ground of We’re back in the oice with hirties OL and Her
sexual politics, as our protagonist fumbles around the correct Passionate Kohai (5), except this time the man is also junior in
forms of address and modes of conversation – in Japanese, years. mio, the titular lady, very much enjoys his attentions,
girls are traditionally expected to use fungible, fudging verb- but can’t decide whether she wants something more serious,
forms, leaving the possibility open that some man might or should run a mile from a man who proclaims he loves her
need to correct them. and so our protagonist frantically tries without thinking through the implications it might have for
to mind her Ps and Qs, carefully using vague declensions as their life together. i will observe, for the record, that neither
if her every opinion, even about the weather, awaits a man’s of these people in the two last-mentioned manga are “teens”,
approval. When her would-be boyfriend seizes her in a clinch but that’s part of the confusion with this sub-genre, which is
in a park bench, however, she giggles to herself about how sometimes about teens, and sometimes for them. and, legally
much fun it is to let someone else take control every once speaking these days, more like 20-somethings anyway.
in a while. Yes, she’s pretty much decided to stay a she, in a Teens Love is a relatively new genre in manga publishing
manga that might appear on the surface to be sexist, but in fact – there have been romance manga for girls for decades, of
explores many aspects of modern gender roles with humour course, but they didn’t pursue love stories all the way into the
and pragmatism. bed and under the sheets. Historians like to date the origin
and she’s not the only one in this issue, with ayumu, the of heterosexual manga erotica for teenage girls to 1995, with
titular BonQbon Boy (3), by Kaya Kurata, similarly struggling the publication of L-Teen Comic, but in doing so, they enter >>>
w ww.ne omag .c o.uk 055

MANGA SNAPSHOT MINI SUGAR
4 5
>>> a mineield of misattributions and aspirations. L-Teen

Comic, say the cognoscenti, might have been the irst manga “MANY MAGAZINES, PARTICULARLY
magazine to openly court the racy teenage romance market,
but it did so on the coat-tails of 1992’s Young Love Comic Aya,
which purported to be for housewives and happy singletons,
IN THE YOUTH MARKET, NEED TO
but really catered to a slightly younger demographic.
i don’t know about you, but i’m fascinated by such
MAKE A FATEFUL EDITORIAL DECISION
contradictions. many magazines, particularly in the youth
market, need to make a fateful editorial decision if they are IF THEY ARE LUCKY ENOUGH TO
lucky enough to survive for a few years. Do they age with
their readership, or do they let the readers move on? he SURVIVE FOR A FEW YEARS. DO THEY
varied answers to this question have created many of the
SEXUAL CHAOS
WORLD
manga schisms and rebrandings of recent times, with serials
migrating to new homes to serve older or younger readers, or
AGE WITH THEIR READERSHIP, OR DO
Mini Sugar features
agony aunt Nensu
rebooting to serve the same age bracket for new readers.
Some magazines pretend to be for one group in order
THEY LET THE READERS MOVE ON?”
Nyanbara and her to lure in another – most famously, the critic Kinko ito has
advice strip Sexual suggested that You magazine, supposedly the lagship of title for women in their 30s. it’s not for teenage girls, and so by
CHAOS World. the yuppie oice lady, served a not-so-secret readership of Japan’s relatively liberal trading standards traditions, that means
Problems include the provincial shopgirls and lonely housewives, and indeed began we shouldn’t expect teenage girls to be corrupted by it, much as i
fiancée convinced that life as a spin-of from a magazine called Seventeen. and who am unlikely to be bored to death by accidentally acquiring a copy
her husband-to-be can forget WAai! Boys in Skirts (neO 92), which supposedly of a trainspotting magazine. But the moment we start admitting
fancies her hot sister, the served a cross-dressing readership, but which your a magazine is for teenagers, we suddenly come under much
girlfriend whose BF can’t correspondent timidly suggested might have been designed as greater scrutiny and legal exposure. and this is indeed what
help comparing her a means of showing lat-chested jailbait in a more censorious happened with the Teens Love market, the straplines for which
physical dimensions to climate? started to carefully parse its stories as “romance for dirty virgins,”
those of his ex, and the reporting not on supposed true stories like housewives’ mags,
frustrated teen who’s FORBIDDEN LOVES but on possible hazards to be avoided by young innocents. See,
just discovered that the Censorship, or rather, the threat of it, has been a constant issue it’s educational. hat, however, was not good enough for Tokyo
man of her dreams is her with the Teens Love market. his column examined a 2017 copy authorities, who insisted that the previously teenage girls of the
long-lost brother. of Young Love Comic Aya in neO 161, and pronounced it to be a magazines should be speciically and clearly marked as over-18s.

6 7
here’s a whole diferent set of problems in Too Much facility promising that the most nimble workers can pull of a
Passion (6) by mitsuki Oda, in which our heroine is baled by her daily income of £350 a day. “You only have to use your hands!”
boyfriend’s lack of interest in sleeping over. Does he not like her, proclaims the advert, along with some little musical notes that
she wonders. Or is he afraid of getting intimate? imply this is some sort of theme song. employees are ofered
Well, Kento has some sort of childhood trauma he’s working the chance to pre-screen clients behind a “magic mirror” so
through, although it doesn’t take that long, because after they’ve that they don’t have to touch anyone they don’t like the look of,
talked about his tragic childhood sweetheart, they spend the rest as well as an “alibi company” – which is to say, there is a whole
of the story in bed together. secondary business set up to make everything look legitimate on
Unsurprisingly, Mini Sugar excels at stories of bank statements, and in case curious relatives call up wondering
straightforward erotica, but stumbles when it tries to inject any where you are. although “legitimate” is a diicult word to deine
note of seriousness or depth. Night Face of the Vigorous Lawyer here when dealing with Japanese law, since such establishments
(7), by Oko makurou, teases its readership with an opening apparently count as health clinics, rather than brothels.
sequence of what appears to be hair-pulling, face-slapping Other perks include FRee PaRKing for all workers, and free COSPLAY
assault, only for the participants to be revealed as actors staging lifts to the ibaraki branch, which is clearly having trouble inding CINDERELLA
a re-enactment for the camera. When it’s time for lawyer mr the staf. One imagines the 20-something (they do specify that) Cospo Made Me a
mihashi to escort the fake “victim” home, he conides to a reader seeing the advert and doing the sums in her head. “if i pop Cinderella, by Zawakko
colleague that this is going to be his third-time lucky. Sure in for the lunchtime shift, i won’t have to pay for parking! i’ll save is an advertorial about
enough, he persuades her to stop at a love hotel on the way, where three quid and make some pocket money!” a cosplaying app that
they enjoy a passionate hour or so... until his companion realises hat, at least is the matter-of-fact attitude towards such allows a directionless
that he wasn’t using protection. Well, she says wistfully, what content that advertisers in a magazine like Mini Sugar seems office worker to show
can possibly go wrong...? i mean, you love me, don’t you...? to expect, although the editorial tone itself is somewhat more off online and become
no, i’m not that sure that mr mihashi does, which leaves cautious. Readers’ letters in this issue include miss Kazamaru a celebrity. You too, it
the To Be Continued logo that closes this threatening to dump a (25) from Tokyo, who is keen to get kinky in her oice boardroom. proclaims, can live the
whole new set of dramas onto our already dramatic cast. no, warn the editors, don’t make life diicult for yourself or for dream like the famous
But the most dramatic thing in Mini Sugar, at least for me, your lucky colleague. Keep work and sex separate, and don’t give (?) “L8-eluha” featured
is not to be found in the manga at all, but in the adverts, which Personnel a reason to ire you. here, although
paint a very diferent picture of the readership. Shocking even in other words, the editorial team still regard their magazine common to many
your unshockable correspondent is the advert on the back cover as a harmless, semi-educational fantasy for curious and fairy tales, the article
for a company called Hotire, recruiting dextrous young ladies to inexperienced young ladies. he advertisers, however, think neglects to mention
work in a hands-on capacity at a special kind of massage parlour. of the readership as a bunch of potential recruits for the sex the actual talent or
it ofers morning, afternoon and evening slots at a city centre industry. Which one is right...? drive required.
w ww.ne omag .c o.uk 057

1
NEO ARTIST SHOWCASE
THE BEST IN
WESTERN TALENT
EVERY ISSUE, NEO WILL BE FEATURING OUR FAVOURITE WORK
FROM ARTISTS INSPIRED BY ANIME, MANGA AND GAMES
NAME BLUEFAYT, ART BY KATIE

2
AGE 27
BASED IN HUDDERSFIELD
PROFESSION I’M A FULL TIME ARTIST!
FAVOURITE MANGA BERSERK FOR
SURE, IT’S SO GOOD!
BIOGRAPHY
Much like most artists, I’ve drawn for as long as I can remember. One of my
earliest memories is of a drawing I did of a lizard from a wildlife book. I was
thrilled with it, but when I showed my Dad, he asked me why one foot had
three toes and the other five. From that moment I knew what it was to be an
artist; to observe, and to do better next time. Since that moment I’ve tried to
live by that sentiment.
While I have no formal art education (unless you count a ‘C’ in GCSE
Art, and an ‘E’ in A-Level art) it hasn’t stopped me from working hard and
teaching myself how to draw. I went to university to study psychology
and sociology, and continued to draw as a hobby. It wasn’t until I started
attending conventions that I realised that you could in fact, make a career
out of art. Around this time Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure had a huge impact on
me and greatly influenced my art style and colour choices, as did Berserk. I
fell in love with the characters and strove to make a fanart that I could feel
showed the emotions Kento Miura poured into his work. I tried and failed
many times on this, but in that trying I found my art style changed for the
3
better too! Sharing my passion for my favourite characters naturally led me
to selling my art at conventions. I haven’t looked back since, and I’m now
making a career of it with support from my followers, friends and partner!
Visit me online at instagram.com/bluefayt.
1. Honeko the Skeleton Girl: Honeko’s my favourite OC to draw, she’s able to make any part of her body
invisible, so likes to leave her skeleton showing a lot! This was also my first try at using traditional line art
with digital colouring. 2. Vangaard the Half-Orc Barbarian: Van is my D&D character, and one of my first
male OCs. He’s been very fun to learn to draw male muscles with! 3. Gut’s Love: This is my love letter to
Berserk. It took me 25 hours, and three re-draws, but I think I managed to show Guts’ lonely love for Casca.
INSPIRATION
My biggest inspiration by far is the manga Berserk: the artwork is just NEO WANTS YOU
phenomenal! Dungeons & Dragons has really impacted me too. My character, If you are interested in submitting work to be featured in the NEO ARTIST
Vangaard, is the leader and living up to that role requires a lot of creativity! I SHOWCASE, please email mail@neomag.co.uk with ‘ARTIST SHOWCASE’ as
also find inspiration from the world, finding beauty in nature. I weirdly really like your subject header, along with an internet link with examples of your work.
skeletons.

[ANIME REVIEW]
IN ANOTHER WORLD WITH MY

SMARTPHONE COMPLETE SERIES
In Another World With My Male Privilege
killed, and action scenes are passable rather than impressive.
O U T N O W // S O N Y P I C T UR E S H O ME E N T E R TA INME N T // 1 2 // Yet as the series develops with more and more young women
FA N TA S Y // £ 2 7. 9 9 ( D U A L F O R M AT ) // 3 0 0 MINS // 1 2 E P I S O D E S joining the cast, it morphs into a fully-ledged harem show.
Most harem series tend to fall into two broad camps, irstly
PLOT After a stray thunderbolt kills teenager Touya those where the hero has to choose between a squad of women
Mochizuki, he accepts an offer from God to be brought back competing for his afections; secondly those where the hero
to life in an alternate fantasy world. There Touya learns to has one true love but there’s a large female cast to bump up the
use magic, has adventures, spars with kings, and befriends a fanservice quotient. In Another World doesn’t go for either of
group of young women who all fall in love with him. those scenarios. Instead, (spoiler) Touya gets all the girls. hey
all decide to share him in a polygamous marriage, so it’s pure
male wish fulilment.
he one regard in which the series is completely true to the
harem genre is the way Touya is a blank slate. here’s no sense
I
n Another World With My Smartphone starts in one place at all of what his life was like before God’s thunderbolt took him
and ends up somewhere else entirely. At the outset, it out, he never mentions his old existence and he sufers zero
positions itself as a fantasy series, albeit rather a lightweight culture shock despite arriving in a world populated by demi-
one, as Touya arrives in his new world and sets about humans. Moreover, despite being the newcomer to both magic
exploring it, with the aid of his smartphone. How does he and adventuring, Touya instantly takes charge of battles and
EXTRAS have a signal in a world with no electricity where even the tactics and the girls all gladly let him because he’s a man. Looks
The English dub
humble telegraph hasn’t been invented yet? Now is not the time like the patriarchy is just as real as the spells and dragons in this
is a very good
for such questions. particular fantasy land.
one and there
are commentary
he hero soon makes some friends, all of whom happen to In Another World doesn’t exactly demand to be taken
tracks from some be young women, foremost among them sisters Elze and Linze seriously. he world-building mixes elements at random and
of the voice actors Silhoueska and samurai girl Yae Kokonoe. hey join a guild and the character designs aren’t very memorable but, gender
on two of the 12 undertake missions, dealing with monster wolves and a castle politics aside, it’s watchable and inofensive so although it
episodes. infested with slimes. It’s lufy but fun. here’s zero sense of never soars, it never drags either.
real danger, it’s obvious no one is going to get hurt never mind
[FILM REVIEW]
STEEL RAIN Two Minutes To Midnight In Korea

Northerner is a brainwashed, unfeeling Communist drone.
O U T N O W // NE T F L I X // 1 5 // T HR IL L E R // S T R E A MIN G // 1 3 9 MINS
he screenplay, of course, allows them to discover what
they have in common, although interestingly all the action
PLOT A missile strike on North Korea’s Great Leader heralds hero stuf is left to Eom, while Kwak’s forte is diplomacy
a military coup that threatens to reignite the Korean War. and analysis. Yang’s script throws all manner of interesting
IF YOU As both sides prepare for nuclear conflict, the only men obstacles into their path and never resorts to depicting South
LIKE THIS
There’s more
who can stop the impending war are Northern agent Eom Korea as sunshine and joy versus the dour North – urged on by
Cheol-u (Jung Woo-sung) and Southern Security Secretary the US, it’s the President of the South who wants to launch a
espionage and pre-emptive nuclear strike, despite the cost in civilian deaths.
Kwak Cheol-u (Kwak Do-won).
action in Ryoo
Action scenes are brutal and fast, and there’s a distinctly
Seung-wan’s The
Yang Woo-seok’s thriller is a slickly constructed blend of Korean sense of tragedy.
Berlin File and Park
Chan -wook’s JSA,
political intrigue and action movie spectacle boosted by strong his takes a far less cynical view of humanity than that
while Park Kwang- performances from its leading actors. he two men, one from found in other North-South thrillers like Ryoo Seung-wan’s he
hyun’s Welcome To each side of the 38th parallel, view one another through the Berlin File, but Steel Rain is tightly paced and irmly grounded
Dongmakgol is a prisms of their own prejudices. Eom regards the Southerner emotionally by the two contrasting characters called Cheol-u.
brilliant anti-war film. as a decadent American puppet, while Kwak thinks the
W O R D S B Y A ND R E W O S M O ND
[ANIME REVIEW]
GRANBLUE FANTASY THE ANIMATION PART 2

give into despair. She’s just learned about her mysterious origins;
3 D E C E MBE R // M V M // 1 2 // FA N TA S Y, A D V E N T UR E // £ 24 . 9 9 ( B L U -
it’s very familiar stuf, but the show does its best to make us care.
R AY ) // 1 7 0 MINS // 7 E P I S O D E S ( IN C L UD IN G 2 O AV E P I S O D E S)
Disappointments include a noisy but unexciting inale that
resolves nothing. According to reports last year, a second TV
PLOT Gran and Lyria grow closer during their continuing season was planned, but it’s still not conirmed. he anti-climax
journey through the sky, but Lyria has very dark dreams... rudely shoehorns in loads of out-of-nowhere guest appearances
from what are presumably characters in the source game.
We were snify about Granblue Fantasy last month, so let’s give it he two video episodes are luf, which is annoying when
its due. It remains impressively attractive for TV: a Venetian-style they have a great idea. hey’re set in an alternate timeline where
city is particularly good. he show’s earnest appeals to love and the magic princess is paired up with a heroic girl, rather than the
friendship are touching, as when the youngsters go on what’s standard-order boy. But rather than do anything interesting with
EXTRAS basically their irst date through the fantasy Venice. this bold change, their adventures are merely time illing.
Japanese and Later, when they’re in a much darker place, there’s even he highlights are better than the irst volume, but there
English tracks. some truly emotional character animation – something the still aren’t enough of them.
show’s mostly starved of – as the hero begs his girlfriend not to
GUNDAM THUNDERBOLT:
DECEMBER SKY
Mecha and madmen
lightning discharges in the region of outer space where the
1 9 N O V E MBE R // A NIME L IMI T E D // 1 5 // S C I - F I , WA R , D R A M A // £ 3 4 . 9 9 story’s set. On one side are the survivors of a shattered space
( B L U - R AY ) // 7 0 MINS colony, whose wreckage provides a lurid but somber backdrop.
Smashed skyscrapers loat like manmade asteroids, but there
PLOT During the terrible “One Year” spacewar, a battle are also school buses drifting in the void, even tricycles, random
amid the ruins of a giant colony becomes the stage for a memories of countless dead. Opposing the colony survivors is a
bitter feud between two men... Zeon unit of soldiers who are amputees but still serve as snipers,
hiding in the giant ruin of their enemies’ home.
he main characters – on opposite sides, naturally – are Io, an
G
undam hunderbolt: December Sky is tremendous and adrenaline-addicted mecha pilot, and Daryl, a paraplegic Zeon
indigestible. In terms of technical quality, it’s on a level sniper. Each slaughters the other’s comrades, starting a feud
with practically any cinema anime, and yet it’s so hard that escalates as they’re given new technology. he ilm focuses,
TRIVIA to take in on a single viewing that it’s better suited to with needlepoint irony, on how war is stoked by love and hate
Japanese and
English tracks.
home formats, to be re-viewed at your convenience. In working together. Each character is humanised by his friends
While the that respect, the fact the ilm’s “only” 70 minutes long is a plus – and lovers, who also cement the men’s mutual hate.
original Gundam believe us, it’s a packed 70 minutes. Io is initially set up as a “Space Ace” pulp type, but that
originated as an One limitation is that, like Gundam: he Origin, the ilms caricature slips away, replaced by an overgrown boy who
anime, this film is assumes familiarity with the original 1979 Gundam. December thinks he’s a space ace. Daryl determinedly thinks of himself as
based on a manga Sky has no guest star characters, but it assumes you’re up a hero rather than the victim of an appalling experiment that’s
published in the to speed with the Earth-Zeon conlict, space colonies, and efectively a horrid spoof of the old Six Million Dollar Man (we
2010s, written by references to Minovsky Particles (though pointedly there are can rebuild him indeed!)
Yasuo Ohtagaki.
no cute Haro ball-bots). But paradoxically, it’s tempting to see Visually amazing, the ilm is hampered by its visual-story
The anime first
hunderbolt not as a side-story, but rather as a reboot where overload and by a few battle sequences that are just too fast
appeared as
an online serial
characters like Char don’t exist. Unlike Origin, hunderbolt isn’t to follow. Its integrity also feels marred by a sequel-hook end
before being that kind of Gundam. sequence, leading into the second hunderbolt ilm, Bandit
compiled into the Even more than the original show, the ilm cuts between Flower.
two Thunderbolt the two sides of the conlict with godlike impartiality. Indeed, A sometimes staggering film, but it may take several
feature films. one of the hunderbolt’s oddities is that for all its gritty darkness, watches to process.
it invokes literal-feeling deus ex machinas, courtesy of the

W O R D S B Y L A UR E N C E GR E E N
[ANIME REVIEW]
JUNJO ROMANTICA SEASON 2

many the wrong way. It’s a shame, as the show’s approach to
1 9 N O V E MBE R // A NIME LT D // 1 5 // C O ME D Y, R O M A N C E // £ 2 2 . 9 9
romance is refreshingly adult in tone – especially when set in
( B L U - R AY ) , £ 2 6 . 6 8 ( D V D) // 3 0 0 MINS // 1 2 E P I S O D E S
contrast to the countless high-school sweetheart stories anime
IF YOU PLOT Three couples. Three loosely interconnected
has given us over the years. Junjo Romantica isn’t afraid to show
the sharper complexities of love, baring everything – quite
LIKE THIS love-stories. Picking up where season one left off, Junjo
Romantica continues to examine the trials and tribulations
literally – in the process.
Look no further But it’s not enough. For all that its needy, narcissistic
than Junjo of romance in all its shapes and forms. Facing off against
characters ofer a certain thrill for a while, Junjo Romantica lays
Romantica unrequited love, jealousy and power games, can these six
it on so thickly the show soon starts to feel like a bad soap opera.
creator Shungiku gentlemen ever find true happiness?
Coupled with comedy that largely falls lat and visuals that – at ten
Nakamura’s other
hit series: The Famed as the most popular of all Boys Love manga to make years old – look remarkably dated already, this is one romance that
World’s Greatest the transition to anime, Junjo Romantica is in many ways the feels all too much like a product of its time.
First Love, based in deinition of a marmite series. Any rom-com lives and dies by his trio of romances ofers surprising bite, but if you struggle to
the hectic world of how much the audience can invest in and relate to its leads, and warm to its cast of love-stuck lads, there’s little to keep you hooked.
the manga industry! while the guys might look the part, their personalities will rub
W O R D S B Y MI T C HE L L L INE H A M
[GAME REVIEW]
WARRIORS
FROM
ANOTHER
SOULCALIBUR VI Lost to History?
seeing both opponents push away from one another, only
LAND O U T N O W // B A ND A I N A M C O // 1 6 // F I GH T IN G // £4 9 . 9 9 ( P C ) , £ 5 4 . 9 9
( P S 4 ) , £ 5 4 . 9 9 ( X B O X O NE )
to soar back into action with whichever attack, or defensive
SoulCalibur VI action, you’ve chosen to utilise. his sometimes slows the game
features Geralt down, especially if it’s spammed, but it’s a cool mechanic which
from The Witcher PLOT SoulCalibur VI is the first game in the series in six years, wonderfully its the core mechanics.
and 2B from and it’s the series’ last chance to prove itself as a mainstay he game features an abundance of single-player content,
NieR:Automata as franchise. Serving as a soft reboot, VI takes you back to the but it fails to captivate. here’s plenty of world-building but the
guest characters.
beginning to uncover secrets that were thought to have been world struggles to be interesting, and you bounce from battle
Guests in the past
lost to history. to battle with very little to split them up outside of the dull text-
have included Yoda
and Darth Vader heavy segments. It’s easy to appreciate the volume of content, but
from Star Wars, Boasting unique weapons-based gameplay, each character in the it quickly shows how shallow the gameplay can be, and very little
Spawn, and Link roster of SCVI feels wildly diferent. It’s almost like rock-paper- story progress is made in spite of the loods of text.
from The Legend of scissors in how you approach each battle, mixing up a variety of SoulCalibur VI is a competent ighting game with solid
Zelda. low, middle and high attacks as you try to outwit your opponent. mechanics and an in-depth narrative.
he new Reversal Edge system puts this gameplay into focus,
WIN JACKIE CHAN’S PROJECT A &
PROJECT A PART II
Have we got a special prize for you this issue?! From distributors Eureka, we’ve got
three copies of Jackie Chan’s Project A & Project A Part II on Blu-ray to give away,
containing some of Chan’s best work, and representing a massive leap forward for
Hong Kong ilmmaking.
Turn to page 090 for more about the movie itself, which earned 5/5 from our
reviewer David West, who called 1983’s Project A, “a highwater mark in Jackie Chan’s
career, a brilliant blend of stunts and comedy that broke new ground for Hong Kong’s
action ilmmakers.” his special edition from Eureka brings these two classic ilms
to UK audiences with brand new 2k restorations and in a fully uncut format. he
special boxset is limited to only 4000 copies, and contains scores of features including
an export cut of 1987’s Project A Part II with a unique English dub track, along with
interviews with director Jackie Chan, actors Lee Hoi San, Yuen Biao, Dick Wei, and
Michael Chan Wai-Man, composer Michael Lai, and stuntmen Antony Carpio and
Mars. It also features deleted scenes, behind the scenes footage, and a collector’s
booklet for each ilm with new essays by James Oliver.
If you’d like to win a copy of this limited edition Blu-ray set, all you have to do to be
entered into the draw is answer the following question correctly.
WHEN WAS PROJECT A RELEASED IN HONG KONG

ORIGINALLY?
A) 1982 B) 1983 C) 1987
You can enter by emailing your answer along with your name and address to
neomagcomp@gmail.com, with the subject header NEO 182 Jackie Chan’s Project A
& Project A Part II competition. Alternatively, you can enter by sending the correct
answer on the back of a postcard, along with your address, to the Uncooked Media
editorial address printed on page 084. Closing date: 20 December
TERMS AND CONDITIONS

No correspondence will be entered into. No employees of Uncooked Media or the companies providing the prizes may enter. No cash alternative is offered to these prizes.
Entries are only valid if they reach us by the closure date. Multiple entries will be disregarded. The publisher’s decision is final. Good luck!

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ISSUE 39 OUT NOW

NEWS & REVIEWS nnnnnnnn AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY nnnnnnnn INDUSTRY INTERVIEWS
PRO ADVICE nnnnnnn THE HOTTEST TECH nnnnnn BUYER’S GUIDE nnnnnn & MORE
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W O R D S B Y A L E X J O NE S
[ANIME REVIEW]
CODE GEASS: LELOUCH OF THE

REBELLION I – INITIATION A Rebellious Recap to cover, the ilm has absolutely no time to mess around, resulting
2 6 N O V E MBE R // A NIME L IMI T E D // 1 5 // A D V E N T UR E // £ 3 4 . 9 9 in pretty much everything that doesn’t involve Lelouch’s rebellion
( B L U - R AY ) // 1 3 5 MINS
SAME LOOK, against Britannia ending up on the cutting room loor. On the one
hand, this means a far more streamlined approach to Code Geass
NEW SOUND PLOT The world is dominated by the Holy Britannian that sticks to the main points, but on the other, it results in several
Initiation uses pre- Empire, and in Area 11, resistance seems futile. Exiled characters having their stories stripped away completely – leaving
existing footage
Britannian prince Lelouch Lamperouge works to take the ilm rather bare when it comes to developed cast members.
from the series, but
revenge on the Empire that has forsaken him. he ilm features a brand new opening sequence featuring all new
all the dialogue for
both this film and footage, but other than that there’s very little in the way of new
the following two Announced as part of Code Geass’ tenth anniversary celebrations, content to entice existing fans.
instalments has Initiation is the irst of three ilms recapping the events of the irst While Initiation simply can’t match up to the experience of
been completely two seasons of the show in preparation for its third season due in watching Code Geass, it’s a perfectly serviceable abridged version.
re-recorded. the very near future. With roughly 17 episodes’ worth of content
[ANIME REVIEW]
MARCH COMES IN LIKE A LION SEASON 1: PART 2

absorption. his man is no standard inspirational igure; rather
26 NO V EMBER // A NIME LIMI T ED // T BC // DR A M A , C OMEDY, C OMPE T I T ION he’s a dimensional character who’s illed out over the volume
// £ 59.99 (BLU -R AY ) // 2 7 5 MINS // 11 EPISODES until you may root for him over Rei.
As Rei’s perspective broadens, he travels outside Tokyo
PLOT Rei’s progress in the shogi world is about to be derailed... – there’s a warm depiction of a country town clinging on in
which may be exactly what he needs... Japan’s sticks, populated by hardy OAPs. here are tortuously
tense tournaments, and scary shogi-obsessed boy maniacs
he second volume of this unique anime maintains the heights of who conduct arguments like warfare. here are also great gags,
the irst. Rei is still troubled, but the series won’t let him slip back involving a certain Hollywood blockbuster ilm and a single
into the doldrums we’ve already seen. True, he inds perverse man’s love for his cat – yes, the cats go on proliferating. Shaft’s
reasons for staying away from the ever-welcoming sister trio, outstanding presentation still blends emotional dynamism with
EXTRAS who take a reduced role this volume. But instead, Rei will the studio’s artful switches in visual style, making a ine story
Japanese and develop a compelling relationship with one of his shogi rivals, even more absorbing.
English tracks. a deceptively colourless-seeming older man who’ll become As good as the great first volume – roll on season two!
one of his most important teachers and lift him out of his self-
[ANIME REVIEW]
HIGURASHI SEASON 3 (“REI”) One more time (slip)

she can seem inhuman. Nor is this an exciting action drama
1 7 D E C E MBE R // M V M // C E R T 1 5 // FA N TA S Y, M Y S T E R Y // D V D (£ 1 9 . 9 9) like much of season two. Instead, it’s a quieter, relective
// 1 5 0 MINS coda, the kind of thing anime spinofs sometimes do when
there’s no obvious way to continue the story.
PLOT Shrine maiden Rika is shocked to slip, yet again, into an As such, it’s a good example of its type. It’s slow and talk-
EXTRAS alternate-timeline version of her town Hinamizawa – but one heavy, and some viewers may hate how it ends (with lots of
Japanese which differs significantly from anything she’s experienced... talk), but it’s genuinely interesting if you dug Higurashi’s
soundtrack. A Blu- concepts, themes and its underlying journey beyond the
ray edition will be
Higurashi deinitely seemed to end in the second TV season. recurring bloody violence. As for the other two episodes,
released in March
his “season three” is a much smaller spinof, containing they’re super-broad, out-of-continuity gag-fests. he irst
next year. Further
just ive video episodes (though at 30 minutes each, they’re episode escalates so ridiculously that it’s quite amusing, with
Higurashi OAVs
were released in longer than TV episodes). Really you can forget the irst and pool hijinks and swimming trunks. he last episode, though,
Japan, but there’s last parts; it’s the story in the middle three that’s interesting. is just pants.
no word on if they’ll It’s not a horror story like the irst season, though it has No thriller like the outstanding TV show, but a good
get to the UK. some dark elements, demonstrating that while Rika looks epilogue if you’re prepared for something slow and thinky.
like a cute child, her experiences have hardened her so that
W O R D S B Y MI T C HE L L L INE H A M W O R D S B Y D AV ID W E S T
[ANIME REVIEW]
[FILM REVIEW]
DIGIMON ADVENTURE TRI – THE
MOVIE PART 6: OUR FUTURE ILLANG: THE WOLF BRIGADE
3 D E C E MBE R // M A N G A UK // C E R T 1 2 // A C T I O N , C O ME D Y, S C I - F I // £ 1 9 . 9 9 ( D V D) , O U T N O W // NE T F L I X // C E R T 1 5 // A C T I O N , T HR IL L E R // S T R E A MIN G // 1 4 0 MINS
£ 24 . 9 9 ( B L U - R AY ) // 9 8 MINS
In Kim Jee-woon’s adaptation of Mamoru Oshii’s anime classic Jin-Roh:
Picking up directly after the shocking events of the end of the ifth movie, Our he Wolf Brigade, now streaming on Netlix in the UK, the setting is
Future sees the DigiDestined battle against an intruder who has appeared in the switched from post-war Japan to Korea in the near future.
human world. With each character doing their best, can they do more than their he story concerns the struggle for power between Public Security,
duties as the DigiDestined? commanded by Han (Kim Moo-Yul, A Muse, Snatch Up), and the Special
Our Future is as much a story of the cast growing up as it is of them saving Unit, an elite anti-terror force. Han orders undercover operative Lee
the world, which gets to the heart of what Digimon is – a tale of friendship and Yun-hee (Han Hyo-joo, Cold Eyes, Beauty Inside) to frame Special Unit
doing what’s good. member Im Joong-kyung (Gang Don-won, A Violent Prosecutor, also
he full party might not be together for a good chunk of this movie, upcoming Hollywood movie Tsunami LA), but Yun-hee’s feelings for Im
but they’re all ighting the same battle to protect two worlds. A giant battle threaten the mission.
and several heart-felt moments will tug at your heartstrings, and there’re a Oshii’s original story is a brilliant and harrowing look at the
few surprises that might take you unaware as the movie reaches its climax. dehumanising efects of power and violence, but Illang loses sight of that
Omnimon is still the coolest Digimon around! message amidst all the impressively staged action scenes.
Our Future is a fitting end to tri. and it still feels like a natural Kim’s film offers a predictable clash of good versus evil with a
progression for the series, although is not the strongest entry overall. disappointingly weak conclusion.

W O R D S B Y J A C O B B O NIFA C E
[ANIME REVIEW]
NO GAME NO LIFE: ZERO

Zeroes to Heroes!
of the robotic ‘Ex Machina’ whose deviation from her hive-
1 9 / 1 1 ( D V D) , 0 3 / 1 2 (C O L L E C T O R ’ S B L U - R AY ) // M V M // 1 5 // S C I - mind’s programming has rendered her innocent but alone.
F I , R O M A N C E // £ 1 9 . 9 9 ( D V D) , £ 3 4 . 9 9 (C O L L E C T O R ’ S) // 1 0 5 MINS his plotline deinitely has its moments, and what starts
out looking like it could be a fairly trope-ridden afair actually
PLOT Six millennia before the events of the original series, ends up having more than a few genuinely heartfelt moments
Riku, the tormented leader of a desperate colony of humans, over the course of the movie. hat being said, this is arguably
finds his war-torn life changed forever when he comes the title’s Achilles heel as well, as the relationship between the
across Schwi, an outcast android who seeks to understand two lead characters can feel a little forced at times, with the pair
the workings of the human heart. Together, will they be professing undying afection by the culmination of the movie’s
able to understand each other, and survive the conflict that relatively short runtime. Obviously, this is par for the course
ravages their world? compared to a full-length series or even the light novels that No
Game No Life is based on, but some viewers might ind the lack
of development a little disappointing.
W
hile the world of No Game No Life is a However, something that doesn’t disappoint is the
technicoloured and often joyful place for its visuals. No Game No Life is already a series known for its
VOICE characters to inhabit, it wasn’t always that way!

No Game No Life: Zero, the new instalment in the
stunning art and animation, and this feature-length prequel
is no exception on that front. While, as mentioned, the world
ACTORS cult hit franchise, takes viewers back thousands of is somewhat more bleak than its present day counterpart, the
The keen-eared years into the past, to the appropriately-named ‘Great War’ movie still bursts with colour from every frame.
among you might between the mythical beings that seek to become deities of If you’re a committed fan of the series already, or even
be able to tell that the world, and the seemingly-helpless humans whose lives just want to kick back and watch some grade-A artwork go
Riku and Schwi are
are forfeit when they ind themselves caught in the middle by for 90 minutes or so, there’s certainly something for you
played by the same
of the battle. However, if this sounds like the premise for a to enjoy here.
voice actors as
the original series’
no-holds-barred action adventure, then you might ind this Perhaps understandably, it might not grab everyone, but
Shiro and Sora, movie to be quite diferent from what you expected. for those who can buy into the rushed but sincere storyline,
further weaving he majority of the movie focuses on the relationship No Game No Life: Zero will serve as both a gorgeous piece of
the two tales between Riku, the young but brilliant tactician who inds cinematic art, and a worthwhile narrative successor to the
together! himself in the unenviable position of trying to keep his friends previous series.
and allies alive in an altogether hostile world, and Schwi, one
0 70 N E O M A G A Z I N E N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 8
W O R D S B Y MI T C HE L L L INE H A M
[GAME REVIEW]
MY HERO ONE’S JUSTICE Almost Plus Ultra

plenty of My Hero Academia fans. Destructible environments,
O U T N O W // B A ND A I N A M C O E N T E R TA INME N T // 1 2 // F I GH T IN G // accessible gameplay, and fan-favourite characters will keep
£4 4 . 9 9 (S W I T C H ) , £4 9 . 9 9 ( P C ) , £ 5 4 . 9 9 ( P S 4 ) , £ 5 4 . 9 9 ( X B O X O NE ) you coming back, although watch out for the Todoroki family
online – they’re hard to deal with!
PLOT My Hero One’s Justice follows My Hero Academia’s You can play using “normal” controls, which implements
story, alongside some “what if” stories, from the U.A. an auto-combo system, but “manual” is preferred if you want
HERE IN Students’ fight with Stain, up until the climactic fight
between two big powerhouses. You then play through the
greater control of your combos, especially as the auto-combo
system locks you out of higher damage-dealing moves, as
SPIRIT same story, but from the villains’ point of view! well as sometimes getting in the way of performing evasive
There are a few
manoeuvres. It’s odd that it forces you to use the “normal”
Class 1-A omissions
Byking doesn’t have much experience with ighting games, control scheme in the game’s expansive Mission Mode, though.
in the roster, but
but they’ve captured the spirit of the source material. Each My Hero One’s Justice is a solid irst outing that captures
several of them
have accessories character feels distinct from the others, and their movesets the charm of the anime, but a bit more polish could’ve done
that you can use make good use of their unique Quirks – their superpowers. wonders. If there’s going to be a sequel, Byking have laid a great
to customise the One’s Justice might never make an impact in the foundation to work from with this game. Plus Ultra!
playable heroes. competitive scene, but its charm and colour are bound to please
W O R D S B Y L A UR E N C E GR E E N
[ANIME REVIEW]
TRIVIA
Like many of the
other powerful
jutsu in the
Naruto series –
NARUTO SHIPPUDEN BOX 34
ever told – inally shedding light on the origins of Sasuke’s
such as Sasuke’s 1 9 N O V E MBE R // M A N G A E N T E R TA INME N T // 1 5 // A C T I O N // £ 1 9 . 9 9
Susanoo or Itachi’s red-haired, glasses-wearing teammate Karin. It’s a brutal,
( D V D) // 3 5 0 MINS // 1 4 E P I S O D E S
Amaterasu – the heart-wrenching tale, and reminds us Naruto can still
Infinite Tsukuyomi deliver real emotional punch when it needs to.
is drawn from the PLOT As the Fourth Great Ninja War continues, the allied Following that, the show plunges into a series of episodes
name of a god in shinobi are caught under the spell of the Infinite Tsukuyomi, that essentially explore what the ninja world would have
ancient Japanese trapping them in a dreamlike world. What will their been like if certain characters had lived instead of died –
mythology. illusionary visions show them? the results are surprising, not least because they see old
Tsukuyomi literally
villains popping up in dramatically diferent circumstances.
means ‘moon
Longtime Naruto viewers are certainly having their patience Likewise, by giving us a compact alternate history of the
reading’ – rather
fitting, considering tested – with the show’s big inal battle efectively on pause show’s timeline, there’s a relective – almost melancholy –
the jutsu’s visual while we dip into more lashbacks, it’s hard not to feel tone to this set, as we’re treated to a kind of tweaked version
appearance in the frustrated with the glacial pace the series has been taking of Naruto’s ‘greatest hits’. he end is nearly in sight...
show! in reaching its conclusion. hat said, this set kicks of with he show’s side characters get a real chance to shine here.
what is arguably one of the inest backstories the show has

he late and sorely missed
Leslie Cheung gave one of his
best performances for Ching
in A Chinese Ghost Story.
A Life in ACTION
in London to give a masterclass on action ilmmaking at the Bfi, Tony Ching Siu-Tung
talks to neO’s David West about working with King Hu, Tsui Hark and Zhang Yimou,
and why he likes to throw his old ideas away.
PerHAPS iT WAS inevitable that Tony Ching Siu-Tung would wind up working Swordsman, a key ilm in the new Wave of wuxia movies that were hugely
in the movie business. His father, Ching Kong, was a director at Shaw Brothers popular in the early 1990s, and Tsui’s and Ching’s career have long intertwined.
and that was where Tony Ching started his career, irst as an extra and stunt Tsui produced A Chinese Ghost Story, while Ching was action director on many
performer, then as an action choreographer. One of his irst action director of Tsui’s best ilms including Peking Opera Blues and he Raid. One of their
credits was on 1972’s he 14 Amazons, directed by his dad, and just over a early collaborations was the notorious Dangerous Encounter – Ist Kind, which
decade later, Tony Ching turned director with the spectacular swordplay ilm was considered so violent that it was initially rejected by Hong Kong’s censors.
Duel To he Death. Since then he’s had to balance directing his own ilms, “hat’s why we need to know what the audience wants,” says Ching.
including A Chinese Ghost Story and Executioners, with a proliic career as “Sometimes you can make a movie that is too bloodthirsty, too violent for that
an action choreographer. for the latter, he’s worked with the biggest names audience, so you need to be aware of where the movie is going to be released.
in Hong Kong and Chinese cinema, including Tsui Hark, John Woo, Stephen You need to do research to make sure the movie matches up with the audience.
Chow, and Zhang Yimou. However, at the outset there was no expectation to You can’t just do your own thing in total ignorance of what’s happening out
follow in his father’s footsteps. “Basically, my father left us free to choose and he there. if you want to have a long career, you have to adapt. Otherwise, you can
hadn’t taught me anything, really, regarding the movie industry,” says Ching. put out one or two movies doing whatever you want, but afterwards you’ll
“But when i was growing up, i always liked going to the studios and watching never direct again.”
all the ilms by the famous directors like King Hu.”
King Hu, who made such classics as Come Drink With Me and A Touch STrAnGe TALeS
Of Zen, was an old friend from childhood. “Growing up, we often spent time A Chinese Ghost Story, from 1987, was ground-breaking in its use of special
together and i went over to Hu’s house,” says Ching. “When i started my career, efects in Hong Kong cinema, all of which were accomplished in the pre-CGi
i was working as an action choreographer and i was a stunt double for some of age. Loosely based on a tale from the anthology Strange Stories From A Chinese
the actors in his ilms. i like King Hu a lot and i like his movies because his ilms Studio, the movie featured stop motion animation and inventive handheld
concentrated on expressing martial arts in a poetic way and in a romantic way.” camerawork, alongside high lying action and a giant demonic tongue.
Ching, King Hu and Tsui Hark were three of the directors on 1990’s “At that stage, you couldn’t rely on post-production technology to inish

tools of he trade
It all gets a bit messy for Jay Chou in Curse Of
Ching says the
he Golden Flower, one of the collaborations
CGI revolution in
between Tony Ching and Zhang Yimou.
filmmaking hasn’t
changed the role of
action directors. “The
most important thing
is creativity, using
your brain,” he says.
“Post-production and
computer graphics,
they’re just like a piece
of equipment. You
need to provide ideas,
to give them input,
otherwise there will be
nothing.”
“IF YOU WANT TO HAVE A LONG CAREER, YOU HAVE TO ADAPT. OTHERWISE,
YOU CAN PUT OUT ONE OR TWO MOVIES DOING WHATEVER YOU WANT, BUT
AFTERWARDS YOU’LL NEVER DIRECT AGAIN.”
he master speaks – Tony Ching at

the BFI for his masterclass on action.
a movie. We had to create our own, original methods to accomplish what we with action, you can provide lots of examples of diferent ways to approach
were trying to do,” says Ching. “Most of the time i was holding the camera it for him to choose the right one for the movie. if you’re not a professional,
myself and i used a lot of wide-angle lenses while shooting that ilm. Because you might concentrate too much on your own little area of choreography
that was a ghost story, you need a bigger space to capture those ideas, so even and you’ll just keep producing lots of diferent action scenes, but they might
in a close-up i used wide angle lenses.” not be what the director wants. i’m able to work with all kinds of diferent
Wu Ma, a veteran actor and director who often played comic roles, directors and give them what they want. Sometimes in their minds, they
was cast against type as the swordsman Yin, but he delivered one of the want the action to be a certain way and they would express their ideas to me,
deining performances of his career. “He’s from a similar generation to me,” but i would think of an alternative way that’s even better and suggest it to
says Ching. “His look actually its in with the period setting and he wasn’t them and they think, wow, that’s much better. hat’s my style of working.”
involved in action roles before, so i used my own methods to help him uppermost in Ching’s mind is the desire to make something audiences
perform his action scenes and it worked well in the end. And the main lead haven’t seen before. “i’ve always believed that the movie industry has to
actors, Leslie Cheung and Joey Wang, were not really in action movies before renew itself all the time,” he says. “every movie is diferent and you can’t use
this. he original story is actually very diferent from our take on it in the the same things forever and ever. You always need new ideas to keep it fresh.
movie. We were trying to create something totally new.” even now, when i’m making movies i want new ideas. i like to throw away all
my old ideas and emerge with something even better.”
ArTHOuSe ACTiOn
When Zhang Yimou, a director known for his arthouse dramas, decided
FIGHTING WITHOUT FIGHTING
to tackle the wuxia genre, he brought in Ching as action choreography for
his ilms Hero, House Of Flying Daggers and Curse Of he Golden Flower. Ching is an expert at taking non-martial artists and helping them look like
“Working with a director like Zhang Yimou, it’s much clearer to distinguish seasoned fighting machines on screen. “For example, in the Swordsman films,
whether you’re a professional action choreographer or not,” says Ching. Brigitte Lin knew nothing about kung fu,” he says, “but in the end I managed to
“As a professional choreographer, although the director is not familiar make her look like a very good kung fu star.”

THIS IS HALLOWEEN
J-IDOL MAHIRU HITS TOKYO’S DISNEY PARKS AT HER FAVOURITE TIME OF YEAR!
Hello, MaHiru KuruMizawa here, from Japanese idol group Moso Mermaid lagoon heatre where the real ariel gave me lots of res! (i think you
Calibration! his issue i’d like to introduce Disney Halloween! his is a big event guys call this fan service in english). For example, she waved her hands and
that’s held at Tokyo Disney land and Tokyo Disney Sea (yes, there are two gave me eye contact and winks. i was sooooo happy with receiving res from
separate Disney theme parks in Tokyo!) since late September each year. During her! a real Disney princess noticed me!! last year i also cosplayed Marie from
this period you are allowed to cosplay any Disney character or thing related to he Aristocats and got lots of praise from people walking by.
Disney. For example, you could even cosplay as a dancer from one of the stage his year Shibuya has a big problem with too many people gathering at the
shows. Because of this, many cosplayers and big Disney fans make sure to scramble crossing in front of the Hachiko statue during Halloween. Previously
attend during this special time of year. crazy party people turned over a car and made lots of noise, but i feel that
i visit both Disney parks every Halloween! his year i decided to cosplay Halloween at Disney land and Sea is much more graceful and peaceful. here
Snow white and humper the rabbit from Bambi. i saw a mixture of handmade are lots of friends and couples just walking around and relaxing instead.
cosplay and readymade during the event, and all diferent levels of cosplay – all Don’t worry if you’re a cosplayer who goes to Disney without a cameraman,
is welcome! there are professional photographers at the parks too waiting to take your pic,
last year i cosplayed as ariel from he Little Mermaid and visited the which you can then purchase via the internet. as i said, i’ve been cosplaying
at the Disney Halloween event for several years, and each time more and more
people are adopting cosplay! Maybe next time i’ll see one of the Neo readers in
cosplay there too? Come, come!
[FILM REVIEW]
THE NIGHT COMES FOR US

he Raid reunion misses the bulls-eye
of the plot, which could it on the back of a napkin, and
O U T N O W // NE T F L I X // 1 8 // A C T I O N // S T R E A MIN G // 1 2 0 MINS // the lack of attention devoted to giving the characters
personalities. Regarding the irst point, the set-up is little
PLOT When Triad enforcer Ito (Joe Taslim) spares a young more than a pretext for all the mayhem that follows. Ito
girl after being ordered to eliminate her entire village, he is one of the Six Seas, the assassins that the Triads send
brings down the full wrath of the criminal organisation upon in when a job calls for the most extreme bloodshed,
him. Even his old friend Arian (Iko Uwais) is dispatched to kill so his sudden change of heart really needs to be much
Ito, but taking out a deadly assassin isn’t easy. more compelling. he girl that Ito saves, and spends the
rest of the ilm murdering people to protect, is given too
W
ith Joe Taslim, Iko Uwais, and Julie Estelle in little screen time to care about, while the actions of the
the cast, he Night Comes For Us feels like a supporting cast become increasingly inexplicable. Julie
reunion of the key players from Gareth Evans’ Estelle plays another assassin who, for reasons that never
he Raid and its sequel. Stylistically and tonally, become clear, decides to help Ito, although that’s only after
director Timo Tjanhanto reads from the same she’s tried to kill him irst. Taslim snarls his way through
IF YOU hymn sheet at Evans. he Night Comes For Us is gruesome

and relentless in its violence, giving even Kim Jee-woon’s
every scene but Uwais is the more engaging of the two,
playing against type as a villain.
LIKE THIS demented I Saw he Devil a run for its money. he ilm is As with he Raid movies, some characters are deined
For more Iko essentially a sequence of set pieces in which characters are by a gimmick – there’s a pair of female killers, one of
Uwais, The Raid stabbed, dismembered, shot, blown up, and battered to whom wields a garrotte, the other a blade – but most of the
films and Merantau
death in gleeful detail. people that Ito dispatches with such savagery are indistinct
Warrior are all
Uwais is credited as lead action choreographer and minions.
must-watch, and
he can be found
there is a good deal of creativity amongst the slaughter. Like he Raid, there’s no humour to soften the
in Beyond Skyline He’s assisted in his endeavours by Very Tri Yulisman, who desensitising efect of the parade of sufering on display here.
and Keanu Reeves’ was Baseball Bat Man in he Raid 2, and Muhammad Irvan he stunt work is bruising and inventive, but its impact is
excellent Man Of who was action coordinator on Tjanhanto’s Headshot, dulled by Tjanhanto’s failure to craft a cast worth caring
Tai Chi. which also starred Uwais and Estelle. about.
Action aside, this ilm’s weakness is the paper thinness
MANGA EXTRACT
Apricot cookie(s)
By Louis Lloyd-Judson
Thanks To auThor and artist Louis Lloyd-Judson, we have
a great extract for you this issue, which reads Japanese style,
starting on page 083! “hese few pages explore the notion
of ‘what if the protagonist wasn’t late for school?’, a staple
beginning in many a manga,” he told us, of the following
pages. “It’s an extract from the irst chapter which is very
much an introduction to the characters and the world they
inhabit. I’ve been working on the comic for several years now
and it makes me a little nostalgic to see these early pages! I’m
hoping the artwork has gradually improved over the years!
“he basic premise [of Apricot Cookie(s)] is fairly simple;
every girl in Japan is able to transform into a magical girl,
all except for one! It follows the story of apricot, a girl so
desperate to become a magical girl that she fashions her life
around what would be expected of a magical heroine. his
makes the story feel more like a parody, but as we gradually
learn more about her, the facade begins to fall away and the
story becomes more of its own thing. at its heart, it’s a story of
a girl inding her place in the world and ultimately being able
to save it against impossible odds. With many terrible jokes
along the way!”
We asked Louis what inspired him to write Apricot
Cookie(s). “I’ve always gravitated more towards ‘girly’ stories,
and magical girl stories have always held a special place in my
heart. Sailor Moon is undeniably the greatest inluence, but
the comic is my tribute to everything I love – and also hate –
about Japanese anime and manga.
“Apricot Cookie(s) is a culmination of many ideas,
scrapped projects and unused concepts. It was quite
miraculous how quickly and easily everything fell into place.
I really loved the thought of making something so unoriginal
that it became something original. I had an absolute blast
writing the comic, which is evidenced by the fact that
originally it was only meant to be 24 pages in length!”
We asked Louis to share his favourite pieces of iction with
us. “he books by roald Dahl probably had the biggest impact
on me when growing up. hat’s a very cliché answer for any
kid that grew up in Britain, but it’s undeniable that there’s
START
something incredibly special about his stories and humour. READING
Comic-wise I’ve always loved the smurfs and asterix books as ON PAGE
well as countless series from Japan. Most notably the works by 083!
rumiko Takahashi, kiyohiko azuma and CLaMP. recently
I’ve been captivated by Laid-Back Camp. hat’s the manga I
wish I had created, it’s simply wonderful!”
“Before Apricot Cookie(s) I worked with a group of comic
artists much more talented than myself on a collaborative
web comic project named Scoundrels,” he told us, of his earlier
projects. “It involved various diferent characters all sharing
the same universe. It was massively fun to work on and really
solidiied my love for making comics.
“also, earlier in the year I had an entry accepted for
Famicase which is an exhibition in Tokyo featuring imaginary
Famicom cartridges. amazingly my imaginary video game
concept was later created into actual games by a couple of
indie game developers!”
To read Apricot Cookie(s), head to https://apricotcookies.
net as well as on the Tapas and LInE Webtoon apps. You can
also follow Louis on Twitter at the handle @Louistrations.
To be
conTinued...
sTarT here
NEXT ISSUE November ’18 • Issue 182
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NEO
RELEASE
1
1. Digimon adventures courtesy

of Manga. 2. Sword Oratoria from
MVM. 3. Manga Entertainment
screened Love, Chunibyo and
ROUND-UP
Other Delusions! Take on Me
at the London MCM Comic
Con. 4. Will Christmas bring a
30th anniversary edition of My
Neighbour Totoro for you, or
have you bought it already?!
THE STATE OF THE UK MARKET
2
THIS MONTH
We’ve got a lot of reviews in this month, and the great
majority of the titles scheduled to the end of this year are
covered in the previous pages. But let’s run down the ones
that got away...
Fans of rom-coms and the work of Kyoto animation,
you lot should make a note of 10 December. hat’s when
Manga entertainment brings out Love, Chunibyo and Other
Delusions! Take on Me to Blu-ray and DvD. For anyone
worrying if it’s a feature-length clips show, fear not – it’s an
all-new movie, taking the characters nearer to the fearsome
3
territory that is the end of high school. of course, some of
you may have seen Take on Me already, as it had a preview at
the recent London Comic Con. Come to think of it, that’d be
the perfect venue for the Chunibyo characters to visit, should
they ever jet to Britain K-On! style. We’d love to see Rikka’s
Meghan Markle cosplay. Check out our bumper movie
feature on page 008 for more on the release!
Manga is also tying of its Digimon Adventure Tri epic
with two releases on 3 December. If you’ve been buying
each feature-length instalment as it came out, then the sixth
and last part, Our Future, comes out that day. If you’re not
one for serial releases, Manga is also bringing out all six Tri
4
instalments as a single Complete Movie Collection. either
way, it’s on both Blu-ray and DvD.
also on 3 December, Manga’s bringing out a collected edition. (good heavens, do such ickle idol fans exist?) a
edition of both Dragon Ball GT seasons (64 episodes) on DvD. standard Blu-ray of Love Live! Sunshine is released on 26
he third volume of Dragon Ball Z Kai Final Chapters follows November.
on Blu-ray and DvD on 10 December, and the 20th One Piece ah, and we should mention one more item that snuck
Uncut Collection sails in on 17 December. after all, there’s onto schedules recently and should be out about the time
nothing’s more Christmassy than pirates – ask Jack Sparrow. you read this. Studio Canal is releasing a “30th anniversary”
MvM has both its Blu-ray and DvD release of Sword edition of My Neighbour Totoro, which bundles in the ilm
Oratoria: Is It Wrong to Try To Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? on Blu-ray and DvD; the hardback Art of Totoro book; plus
On the Side due on 3 December. hat’s also the date of MvM’s artcards, a tote bag and a magnetic sticker. What, no doll
Blu-ray edition of Flip Flappers. of totoro in a Santa suit, bellowing “Ho ho ho”? No matter,
anime Limited, meanwhile, is targeting the fans of idols this one should be making it way under your tree if you’re a
who aren’t hardcore enough to have bought the Collector’s Studio ghibli fan!

[FILM REVIEW]
JACKIE CHAN’S PROJECT A &

PROJECT A PART II
When Jackie Chan reinvented action cinema
he story is divided into three acts, each culminating
O U T N O W // E UR E K A // C E R T 1 5 // A C T I O N // £ 2 9 . 9 9 ( B L U - R AY ) // in a showcase action sequence, a structure that Chan
2 1 1 MINS employed with regularity thereafter. he irst act concerns
the rivalry between the Coast Guard and the Hong Kong
police, climaxing in a huge brawl. his scene is quite
PLOT A pair of films from Jackie Chan set in the early 1900s unlike anything in any kung fu movie. For a start, it takes
in which he plays Ma Yu Lung, a sergeant in the Hong Kong place in a bar, not a teahouse or in a Shaolin Temple. It’s
Coast Guard. In the first, he faces gangsters and pirates, then a barroom brawl, a motif borrowed from the American
in the second, Ma comes to the aid of some revolutionaries western. Secondly, and crucially, there’s no kung fu. Instead
targeted for assassination. the highly rhythmic, balletic school of choreography that
deined kung fu cinema in the 1970s is replaced by Chan’s
explosive, acrobatic style. Yuen Biao plays police sergeant
Hong Tin-Tzu and the barroom ight is a highlight reel for
R
eleased in late 1983, Project A was Jackie Chan’s Biao, Chan and the stunt team as they hurl themselves and
fourth ilm as director, but it was a huge leap forwards each other into, over and through the furnishings. Forget
for both Chan as a ilmmaker and for Hong Kong the elegant poise of Alexander Fu Sheng and the precision of
action cinema itself. Chan’s previous ilms as director Lau Kar-Leung, Project A rebuilds Hong Kong action from
KEY TALENT were all kung fu comedies and up to this point Hong scratch with its wild, freeform energy.
Dick Wei was Kong martial arts cinema was almost completely dominated he ilm beneits enormously from the presence of Yuen
a martial arts
by period stories set in China, whether during the Qing Biao and Sammo Hung, who plays a thief called Cheuk Yat-
instructor in Taipei
Dynasty or early Republican period. By contrast, Project A Fei. he onscreen chemistry between the trio looks efortless
when he was
discovered by Shaw
is set in Hong Kong, not on the mainland, and was amongst and the second act focuses on Chan and Hung’s characters
Brothers director the irst action movies to articulate a distinctive Hong tussling with some gangsters, before all three come together
Chang Cheh, who Kong identity that wasn’t deined in relation to China. his for the inal act to take on the pirate Lo San Pao (Dick
persuaded him newfound identity is expressed when Ma scolds the British Wei). he peak of the middle act is an extended chase that
to move to Hong admiral for not standing up for Hong Kong’s citizens, and culminates in Ma falling of a clock tower. he sequence
Kong. there’s no sense of belonging to China. “I know that my only shows Chan’s love of Hollywood’s classic silent ilm stars
boss is the Queen,” declares Ma. and the clock tower stunt typiies his daredevil, risk-taking
090 N E O M A G A Z I N E N O V M B E R 2 0 1 8
style in the 1980s when he put his body through all manner the early 1900s setting, the clothes and hairstyles in the
of painful tests. he showdown with the pirates is superb sequel clearly betray the ilm’s production in the 1980s.
EXTRAS
Loads of interviews
and Dick Wei gives arguably the best performance of his Likewise, the heavy use of white ilters on the camera lens
featuring many of the
career as the swaggering, swashbuckling pirate lord. is unmistakeably a product of its time. he second act is cast including Yuen
heavy on comedy, with a long skit in which the characters Biao, plus two short
“THE HIGHLY RHYTHMIC, BALLETIC SCHOOL hide from each other in Maggie’s apartment and there’s a
wonderfully inventive and acrobatic chase sequence as Ma
films about Jackie’s
career and his stunt
OF CHOREOGRAPHY THAT DEFINED KUNG and Chun lee from a group of axe-wielding attackers while
handcufed together.
team, outtakes, and
introductions from
FU CINEMA IN THE 1970S IS REPLACED BY he inal act sees Ma run up against agents of the critic Tony Rayns.
Empress Dowager sent to Hong Kong to eliminate a group
CHAN’S EXPLOSIVE, ACROBATIC STYLE.” raising funds for Sun Yat-Sen. Conveniently, the Imperial
assassins team up with Chun, so Ma gets all his ducks lined
up in a row, although anyone not familiar with this period
Project A Part II, released in 1987, sufers from the of Chinese history may feel a trile confused as the script
absence of Hung and Biao in the cast. In their place, Chan makes no efort to contextualise events. he big inale is
brings in several players from 1985’s Police Story, with decent, but can’t top the irst ilm despite Chan hurling
Bill Tung playing a Chief Inspector and Maggie Cheung as himself about the screen with frightening abandon. Part II
Maggie, a socialite who is friends with the activists working feels the more dated of the pair thanks to the fashions and
for Sun Yat-Sen’s revolutionary cause. he sequel uses the cinematography, and none of Chan’s co-stars bring the same
same structure as the original ilm, although the overall charisma to their performances as Yuen Biao and Sammo
plotline involves Chan taking down a corrupt cop called Hung.
Chun (Lam Wai). he irst act builds up to Ma and three of his Project A is a highwater mark in Jackie Chan’s career, a
men tangling with a group of mobsters, played by a squad brilliant blend of stunts and comedy that broke new ground
of veteran Hong Kong heavies including Chan Wai-Man, for Hong Kong’s action ilmmakers. he sequel sufers a little
Wang Lung-Wei, and Fan Mei-Sheng. It’s a good sequence, on comparison, lacking the appeal of Biao, Hung and Dick
although not as strong as anything in the irst ilm. Wei, but still boasts some quite spectacular set pieces.
Where the original made a rough approximation of

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BLIND JUSTICE
he most successful swordsman in Japanese cinema holds an enduring appeal for chanbara fans.
NEO’s David West looks at the action, themes and legacy of Zatoichi, he Blind Swordsman, to
celebrate the new release from he Criterion Collection.
Zatoichi cover art by Ron Wimberly for the Criterion Collection. © 2018 The Criterion Collection.

BlInd JustIce
he Tale of Zatoichi
Life After Zatoichi
I
n the 1970s, the Japanese chanbara genre was dominated by and Shingo Katori have stepped into the blind swordsman’s
Shintaro Katsu’s career alienated heroes like Itto Ogami of Lone Wolf And Cub, who sandals. What is it that makes this character so compelling?
wasn’t limited to playing travelled the land on a personal mission of vengeance, leaving
Zatoichi. He starred scores of the dead in their wake. he humanism of the cinema Persona non Grata
in the notorious and of the 1950s and 1960s present in the ilms of Akira Kurosawa, he series takes place in the closing decades of the Tokugawa
exploitative Hanzo The Kihachi Okamoto and Masaki Kobayashi, faded out of fashion. Dynasty or the Edo Period. At that time, Japanese society was
Razor series, produced But between those two extremes came a cinematic hero who strictly hierarchical, from the samurai class at the top, merchants
the Lone Wolf And Cub was both an outsider, like Itto Ogami, and a profound humanist and artisans in the middle, and peasants beneath them. At the
films starring his brother standing up for the vulnerable in the face of an uncaring very bottom, below even the poorest peasant farmer, were the
Tomisaburo Wakayama, feudalism, like the heroes of Seven Samurai and Samurai hinin, the non-people, which included the handicapped. his
and gave one of his Rebellion. His name was Zatoichi, he was blind but incredibly was the class to which Zatoichi belongs by virtue of his blindness.
best performances in skilled with a sword, and he became the star of the longest It doesn’t matter that he’s brave or virtuous, his disability renders
1990’s Roningai as a running swordplay series in Japanese cinema. him almost inhuman. As a result, Zatoichi can usually be found in
swordsman who’s all he character was created by author Kan Shimozawa the company of other social outcasts, like yakuza and prostitutes.
talk and no trousers. in a short story that became the basis for 1962’s he Tale Of While the feudal system has neither sympathy nor empathy
Zatoichi, directed by Kenji Misumi. Played by Shintaro Katsu, for a blind man, one of Zatoichi’s deining characteristics is his
Zatoichi appeared in 25 ilms released between 1962 and 1973. compassion. hroughout his adventures, he comes to the aid
When Daiei, the original studio behind the series, ceased ilm of orphans and young women – invariably the former end up
production, Toho took over before the character moved onto idolising him, the latter falling in love with him.
television for four seasons. In 1989, Katsu returned to the role for he Tale Of Zatoichi establishes this motif in his inaugural
one inal big screen adventure, and in recent years Takeshi Kitano adventure. While staying with a yakuza boss called Sukegoro
(Eijiro Yanagi), Zatoichi rescues a young woman called Otane
2 (Masayo Banri) from her violent ex-husband. At the end of the
movie, when Zatoichi leaves town, she tries to follow him, but
he gives her the slip. As a hinin, Zatoichi isn’t about to let Otane
become a non-person, nor will he drag her into his life of violence,
so instead he breaks her heart. his is another deining feature of
the character. He’s a wanderer, unable to settle down. hroughout
the series he travels Japan, frequently pursued by someone out
for revenge from a previous adventure. In this regard, Zatoichi is
very much like the protagonist of Kurosawa’s ilms Sanjuro and
Yojimbo, someone living on the edges of society, haunted by their
he Tale of Zatoichi Continues blood-stained past but unable to lay down their sword lest it catch
up with them.

3
Zatoichi on the Road
In Zatoichi Goes To he Fire Festival, from 1970, the swordsman sense of humour. In Zatoichi Meets he One-Armed Swordsman, 1. Zatoichi was one of
encounters a young pimp called Umeji (Peter, aka Shinnosuke when two men try to peek in on Zatoichi with a prostitute, he Japanese cinema’s greatest
Ikehata) who wants to become a yakuza and join the gang run by the drives them away by farting at them. In Zatoichi Goes To he Fire wandering heroes, seen here
malicious Yamikubo. Zatoichi, of course, teaches him the error of his Festival, there’s a scene of pure slapstick when the hero stops at an in his 1962 debut. 2. The first
ways and steers him onto a more respectable path. In the same ilm, inn where a husband and wife engage in a very spirited squabble. two Zatoichi films were shot
Zatoichi meets Okiyo (Reiko Ohara), a beautiful young woman sent hese elements lighten the mood and provide a contrast to the ight
in black and white, but from
the third film onwards they
by Yamikubo to seduce him and then break his heart. Instead, Okiyo scenes and the barbed social commentary of the series.
were all in colour. 3. Another
is so impressed by Zatoichi’s kindness that she falls in love with him luckless foe is about to learn
and abandons her mission. True to form, at the closing of the story, QUICKDRAW MCICHI a hard lesson. 4. A few
Zatoichi refuses her love and hits the road once more, of to his next No chanbara series could be a success without thrilling ight moments of quiet before the
adventure, forever the wandering hero, kept apart from society by scenes, and the Zatoichi ilms excel on this front. Under the next yakuza war breaks out.
his low status and his legacy of violence. Tokugawa Dynasty, only the samurai class were permitted to carry 5. The shadows are Zatoichi’s
None of which is to suggest that Zatoichi is some sort of monk, katana as a mark of their status. In efect, this law wasn’t always allies!
sworn to celibacy and self-denial. he character is far more earthly enforceable – throughout the series yakuza wield katana but then
than that. He fraternises with prostitutes and is prone to falling in they live outside the law by their very nature. Zatoichi, on the other
love himself, it’s just that he never allows a relationship to blossom. hand, ights with a cane sword called a shikomi-zue. Because the he Blind
In Shintaro Katsu’s inal appearance as the character in 1989, sword has no guard to protect the wielder’s hand, Zatoichi uses his Swordswoman
Zatoichi has a sex scene with a beautiful female oyabun (yakuza weapon with a reverse grip, essentially holding it upside-down. The popularity
boss) called Ohan (Kanako Higuchi), who leads the Bosatsu clan. he character is a specialist in iaijutsu, the art of drawing the sword of Zatoichi led
It’s easy to suspect that this scene was included to latter the ego and striking in a single, luid motion. Like the fastest gunighter Shochiku Studios
of the star himself, who also directed the movie, as it feels rather in the west, he’s incredibly quick on the draw as many of his to adapt Teruo
gratuitous to the plot. opponents discover to their short-lived regret. Tanashita’s manga
Unlike the later, stoical and single-minded chanbara movies Since the character is blind, the scripts posit the idea that his about a blind
like the Lone Wolf And Cub series, the Zatoichi ilms have a lively other senses, particularly his hearing, are superhumanly >>> swordswoman.
Yoko Matsuyama
4 5 played Oichi, the
Crimson Bat, in four
films from 1969 and
1970. In addition to
rescuing orphans,
Oichi tended to fall
in love with ronin
only to be forced to
Zatoichi the Fugitive Zatoichi and the Chest of Gold
slay them.

BLIND JUSTICE
Zatoichi’s Flashing Sword
7 8
Fight, Zatoichi, Fight Zatoichi and the Doomed Man
6. Can’t a guy even have a >>> sharp, allowing him to pinpoint his targets by ear. Oftentimes, emerges from his hiding place and starts crowing about the victory.
wash in peace? 7. A man a recurring device is to stage the battles in circumstances that Zatoichi erupts in a furious outburst: “Fool! Your men are lying dead
of many talents: masseur, favour the blind swordsman over his sighted opponents, including in the boats. hey died for no reason. What’s so happy and wonderful
swordsman, baby sitter. 8. ighting in the dark of a shady forest or under murky water. Shohei about that? We gangsters are outlaws, shunned by society. hat’s
Zatoichi tries archery. It’s Miyauchi was a martial arts director on the series and outside of the why we have to honour our own code, but you act like you have the
not always the most realistic
Zatoichi ilms he worked on An Actor’s Revenge for Kon Ichikawa, right to raise your face to the sun without shame. You fool!”
series.
but some credit has to go to Katsu for performing his ight scenes he hero delivers variations on this speech throughout the
while pretending to be sightless, by either keeping his eyes shut, or series, scolding any oyabun or yakuza who takes joy in death or
by rolling his eyes into the back of his head. Either way, it must have sufering, or who forgets their place as outcasts. In Zatoichi Goes To
made his co-stars nervous to know he would be swinging a sword at he Fire Festival, yakuza boss Yamikubo runs an extortion racket,
them without being able to see what he was doing much of the time. squeezing money from the farmers and killing those who resist.
hus, in the grand inale when Zatoichi’s patience has run out, he
SOCIAL JUSTICE WARRIOR scolds Yamikubo even as he slays his men, telling him, “Gangsters
Katsu Vs When he’s not rescuing orphans or keeping women from falling into like us must always keep the backstreets, men like you walk the
Kurosawa disrepute, Zatoichi made a habit of befriending ronin – masterless highway and force aside the locals, you kill them without so much
Shintaro Katsu was samurai – that he would subsequently be forced to ight in a as a thought. And you call that making amends for your ancestors’
supposed to star in climactic duel. his was another trademark of the series established sins? People like you shouldn’t be allowed to live.”
Kagemusha for Akira right from the outset in he Tale Of Zatoichi. In this instance, the
Kurosawa, but they blind swordsman meets a ronin called Hirate (Shigeru Amachi) GUEST STARS
fell out. When filming who is dying of consumption. Determined to die an honourable Two icons of swordplay cinema had crossovers with Zatoichi.
started, Katsu brought death, Hirate insists on the duel with Zatoichi and director Kenji Toshiro Mifune co-starred in 1970’s Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo,
along a video camera Misume links the two men visually, by framing them identically in directed by the great Kihachi Okamoto. Despite the title,
so that he could record the picture before the start of their ight. It suggests the pair are tied Mifune doesn’t actually play the same character that he
and review his own together by fate and circumstance. he feudal system forces them portrayed in Akira Kurosawa’s ilms Yojimbo and Sanjuro,
performance. Noting to live and die by their blades and Zatoichi’s victory is tinged with but it’s still a treat to see him sharing the screen and crossing
that there could only profound regret even as Hirate praises him. “Magniicent!” declares swords with Katsu. In 1971, in a co-production between Hong
be one director onset, the ronin after Zatoichi has mortally wounded him. “Rather than Kong and Japan, Katsu went up against Jimmy Wang Yu in
Kurosawa promptly getting killed by scoundrels, I wanted to die by your hand.” Zatoichi And he One-Armed Swordsman. Wang’s career
replaced Katsu with At the end of the battle, when a power struggle between was built around playing warriors with a limb missing in
Tatsuya Nakadai. rival gangs has left scores of men dead, the yakuza boss Sukegoro One-Armed Swordsman and One-Armed Boxer but his

10
9
Zatoichi Goes to the Fire Festival
11
Zatoichi’s Conspiracy
9. The Criterion Collection

“AT THE VERY BOTTOM, BELOW EVEN THE POOREST PEASANT FARMER, boxset, full of extra goodies!
10. The Fire Festival really
WERE THE HININ, THE NON-PEOPLE, WHICH INCLUDED THE HANDICAPPED. lived up to its name. 11.
Sometimes even a lowly
hinin can enjoy the finer
THIS WAS THE CLASS TO WHICH ZATOICHI BELONGS BY VIRTUE OF HIS things in life, usually when a
wealthy oyabun wants to hire
BLINDNESS. IT DOESN’T MATTER THAT HE’S BRAVE OR VIRTUOUS, HIS Zatoichi’s deadly blade!
DISABILITY RENDERS HIM ALMOST INHUMAN.”

collaboration with Katsu and director Kimiyoshi Yasuda is not the format. Where Katsu’s Zatoichi was an emotional fellow, Zatoichi In
entirely successful. hat’s in part because their screen ighting full of pathos, humour and a iery sense of justice, Kitano America
styles are so diferent. Wang’s one-armed heroes spend a lot plays a much more detached character, which is typical of his In 1989, the same
of time leaping through the air with the aid of trampolines, performance style. At the closing of the ilm, Kitano parodies year that Katsu’s
and his Peking Opera style martial arts look theatrical next the ending of many chanbara ilms in which the hero walks of final Zatoichi film
to Katsu’s lethal quickdraw eiciency. But Wang clearly took into the horizon as peasants sing while labouring in the ields. was released in
a lot away from the experience and many of his later ilms, like To spoof the convention, Kitano stages a full-blown musical Japan, director
Beach Of he War Gods and Blood Of he Dragon show the number complete with tap dancing. Phillip Noyce’s Blind
inluence of Japanese chanbara cinema. Shingo Katori took the lead in 2010’s Zatoichi: he Fury came out in the
Last, which did away with the notion of the character as a west. Based on the
THE LEGACY wandering stray dog hero, giving him a wife and home. As plot from Zatoichi
Zatoichi has been revisited and reinterpreted in the years for the original, Shintaro Katsu passed away in 1997, leaving Challenged directed
since Shintaro Katsu’s inal outing in 1989. he best-known behind a legacy unparalleled in chanbara cinema. His by Kenji Misumi,
revival of the character is Takeshi Kitano’s 2003 ilm titled performance as Zatoichi remains the standard against which Noyce’s film stars
Zatoichi in which Kitano both stars and directs. he ilm ticks all others will forever be measured. Rutger Hauer as a
of many boxes for a standard Zatoichi narrative – he protects Zatoichi: he Blind Swordsman, containing the original 25 blind swordsman
two orphans and ights a climactic duel against a ronin called ilms from 1962 to 1973, is out on Blu-ray on 19 November from protecting a young
Hattori (Tadanobu Asano) – but Kitano puts his own stamp on he Criterion Collection, and is available from Amazon. >>> boy from mobsters.

BLIND JUSTICE All 25 ilms contained in Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman from the Criterion Collection

ANIME • ASIAN FILM • MANGA • COSPLAY • MUSIC
www.neomag.co.uk Issue 182 £4.75
ZATOICHI:
© 2018 The Criterion Collection
THE BLIND SWORDSMAN

FROM THE CRITERION COLLECTION
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