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The VII Moscow Anime Festival
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November 02-04
 The VII Moscow Anime Festival takes place on November 02-04 in 35 mm cinema and Formula Kino Horizon. This year’s festival programme was composed to cover variety of the Japanese animation as much as possible. As is generally known anime contains compositions of many genres, shot for very dissimilar audience. Directors and artists of the land of the rising sun offer us children films and family films, romantic teenage stories, futuristic actions, comedies and mysterious thrillers. This year, in addition to traditional showings, an interesting cultural programme was prepared; and organizers hope that these cultural events will be as much called-for as anime-showings themselves. Festival guests are producer Masao Maruyama and director Kojima Masayuki - authors of “Piano no Mori”.
Festival Films:
Piano no Mori (Piano in Forest)
Drama. Directed by Masayuki Kojima. Japan, 2007, 101 min. “Piano no Mori” is a tranquil tale about two boys of very different upbringings. On the one hand you have Kai, born as the son of a prostitute, who has been playing the abandoned piano in the forest near his home ever since he was young. And on the other you have Syuhei, practically breast-fed by the piano as the son of a family of prestigious pianists. Yet it is their common bond with the piano that eventually intertwines their paths in life.
Atagoul wa Neko no Mori (Cat's Magical Forest)
Fantasy. Directed by Mizuho Nishikubo. Japan, 2006, 81 min. Computer animated movie, “Atagoal wa Neko no Mori” directed by Mizuho Nishikubo is about a boisterous cat whose morality is suspect, but whose passion for life saves the day. Based on a popular manga by Hiroshi Masumura, this screenplay by Hirotoshi Kobayashi condemns mindless conformity for the sake of peaceful existence. Atagoal is a town of cats (with some humans) and Hideyoshi (Koichi Yamadera) is the biggest party animal there.
Koharu Biyori (My Favourite Robot)
Comedy. Directed by Takayuki Inagaki. Japan, 2007, 3 series 30 minutes each. Set in a near future, a time where robots are common workers for their owners. Takaya Murase has just purchased a maid robot from a robotic doll distriubutor, MaidWorks. Ready to live a normal cleaning, cooking, and serving life to her owner, Yui is purchased, by Takaya but he has other plans for her...like dressing her up in dress-costumes of his fantasies and more.
Kappa no Coo to Natsuyasumi (Summer Days with Coo)
 Fairy-tale for all ages. Directed by Keiichi Hara. Japan, 2007, 130 min. A small, lone Kappa miraculously survives over 200 years into modern day Tokyo, Japan when he is found by young Koichi. "Coo" who is secretly adopted by the whole family, faces a tragic past and the present's challenge of living in a dramatically changed environment, searches with his new human friend for places not invaded by people hoping to find any remaining of his kind. When this intelligent "water sprite" draws the popular attention of the whole city upon being discovered and then confronted with his past, it forces him to take action and make an ultimate decision, in order to preserve his kind, inner peace and well being in today's harsh world.
Toki o Kakeru Shojo (The Girl Who Leapt Through Time)
Comedy/Drama/Romance/Sci-Fi. Japan, 2006, 89 min. Directed by Mamoru Hosoda. When 17-year-old Makoto Konno gains the ability to, quite literally, "leap" backwards through time, she immediately sets about improving her grades and preventing personal mishaps. However, she soon realises that changing the past isn't as simple as it seems, and eventually, will have to rely on her new powers to shape the future of herself and her friends.
Debiru Mei Kurai (Devil May Cry)
Fantasy/Horror. Directed by Shin Itagaki. Japan, 2007, 6 series (150 min) + 6 series (150 min). Devil May Cry follows the adventures of the demon hunter Dante who himself is half demon and half human. Dante is hired through his own business named "Devil May Cry". The characters are based off of the popular capcom playstation 2 games.
Ghost Hound
Horror/Mystery. Directed by Ryutaro Nakamura. Japan, 2007-2008, 11 series (250 min) + 11 series (250 min). Production IG's 20th Anniversary Project, Ghost Hound is set in the modest town of Suiten, located in a desolate region in the island of Kyushu. The story follows the experiences of three boys who have had traumatic experiences in childhood from which they have learned to transfer their souls to a parallel world known as the "Unseen World". The Unseen World is however undergoing a change, with its ghosts starting to appear in the real world, altering it in unpredictable ways.
Nanako Katai Shinsho (Amazing Nurse Nanako)
Comedy. Directed by Hiroshi Negishi. Japan, 1999, 90 min. Nanako is a an inept apprentice nurse to the brilliant young Dr. Kouji. Now for some reason, Nanako is always being targeted by various elements which makes Nanako wonder if she has done anything wrong. But there are certain secrets to Nanako's past that only Dr. Kouji and his family know about.
Baldr Force Exe Resolution
 Cyber punk. Directed by Takashi Yamazaki. Japan, 2006, 4 series 30 minutes each. Tohru Soma was a member of "Steppen Wolf", a group of hackers. The group decided to do one more hacking attack by attempting to hack into FLAK, a major military organization run by the United Nations to prevent cyber terrorism. However, they were discovered quickly, which resulted in the death of Yuya, Steppen Wolf's leader and Tohru's friend, as well as their arrest. In order to avoid a long term in prison, Tohru ultimately decided to join FLAK, in order to find out who killed Yuya. While Tohru tries to find the murderer of his friend, he and his new teammates are to defend the wired world from Fei Dao, an extremist group who threatens to disrupt the stability of the wired world.
Shin Hokuto no Ken (New Fist of the North Star)
Action. Directed by Takashi Watanabe. Japan, 2003, 3 series 30 minutes each. In a post-apocalyptic Earth, the water has become entirely toxic, except for some kept safe in a reservoir. A fortified zone has been created by a man named Sanga, he calls it The Lastland. A group of villagers have discovered safe water, and Sanga wants it. He and his band of killers go to kill everyone and steal it. As they do a mysterious man apperes out of nowhere, instantly killing some of Sanga's men. His name is Kenshiro, and he can beat any man with his martial art, Hokuto Shin Ken. Sanga will do anything for the water, and Kenshiro will do anything to try and stop him.
Karas
Action/Fantasy/Sci-Fi. Directed by Keiichi Satou. Japan, 2005-2006, 3-6 series (90 min). The old Karas is dead, killed by an evil ex-Karas who now named himself Ekou. He started a series of murders against humanity by making his loyal youkai drain the body fluids from humans. Otoha, a young man who just woke from a coma, is chosen to be the new Karas. He and his trainer, Yurine, start the fight against the evil forces of darkness that are trying to conquer the city of Shijuku.
Hellsing Ultimate
Action/Drama/Horror/Supernatural. Directed by Tomokazu Tokoro. Japan, 2006-2007, 3 and 4 series (100 min). Vampires exist. It is the duty of Hellsing, a secret organization sponsored by the British government, to hide that frightening fact and protect the blissfully unaware populace. Along with its own personal army, Hellsing has secret weapons. Alucard, an incredibly powerful vampire, has been controlled by Hellsing for years. It is unclear how he feels about being a servant to the Hellsing family, but he certainly enjoys his job as a vampire exterminator.
Festival Programme:
35 mm
November 02
12.00 Atagoul wa Neko no Mori (Cat's Magical Forest)
13.40 Koharu Biyori (My Favourite Robot)
15.30 Kappa no Coo to Natsuyasumi (Summer Days with Coo)
18.00 Karas
19.45 Toki o Kakeru Shojo (The Girl Who Leapt Through Time)
21.45 Debiru Mei Kurai (Devil May Cry)
00.30 Ghost Hound
November 03
11.00 Piano no Mori (Piano in Forest)
13.50 Atagoul wa Neko no Mori (Cat's Magical Forest)
15.30 Baldr Force Exe Resolution
17.50 Nanako Katai Shinsho (Amazing Nurse Nanako)
19.40 Shin Hokuto no Ken (New Fist of the North Star)
21.30 Debiru Mei Kurai (Devil May Cry)
00.30 Ghost Hound
November 04
13.00 Kappa no Coo to Natsuyasumi (Summer Days with Coo)
15.30 Toki o Kakeru Shojo (The Girl Who Leapt Through Time)
17.30 Baldr Force Exe Resolution
20.00 Shin Hokuto no Ken (New Fist of the North Star)
22.00 Hellsing Ultimate
Formula Kino Horizon
November 02
15.00 Kappa no Coo to Natsuyasumi (Summer Days with Coo)
17.30 Hellsing Ultimate
November 03
15.00 Atagoul wa Neko no Mori (Cat's Magical Forest)
17.00 Karas
November 04
15.00 Baldr Force Exe Resolution
Cultural Programme:
35 mm
November, 15:00
Lecture “First 50 Years of Anime: Japanese Animation from 1907 to 1957”. This lecture holding by Valery Korneev (editor-in-chief of AnimeGuide magazine) aims to prove how far from reality stereotypes about Japanese early animation are.
November, 11:00
Embassy of Japan in Russia and Japanese Fund present a showing of the lull-length animated film Piano no Mori (Piano in Forest). After the showing Masayuki Kojima (director) and Masao Maruyama (producer) will meet the audience.
November 04, 15:00
Representatives of MC Entertainment (leading Russian anime publisher) answer questions of Japanese animation’s fans.
More info
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