Sci-Fi London – Anime All-nighter and how to survive
Monday, May 9th, 2011
When they say all night, they really do mean all night. From 11.30pm at the Apollo Cinema all the way through till 10am the next day, you are in a kind of movie lock-in until the sun appears once more! This is my third anime all-nighter; last year was amazing with the superlative Ghost In The Shell 2.0 in glorious HD.
Before I get to the anime themselves, there are a few things you need for any Sci-Fi London all-nighter event.
Sleep. Keep your Saturday as free as possible to conserve energy. Sleep, a lot, and try to take a nap before you head out. By 11.30pm you should be fully awake for the viewing experience ahead.
Mountain Dew. Well for me it is Mountain Dew, but any energy drink works; Monster, Relentless, Red Bull… you get the idea. Coffee doesn’t really cut it but they do serve free coffee and tea during intervals which is welcomed. Most of all, stay hydrated and have a bottle of water with you.
Food. Bring snacks with you as you will get hungry as the night/morning progresses. They do give you free Haagen Dazs ice cream to keep you going.
Bio breaks. There will be 2 or 3 intervals in between showings, so make use of them. Empty that bladder and grab more supplies!
Above all, have fun and be nice to other people in the cinema. For the anime ones at least, there is always a fun atmosphere and you are with these people for a very long time, so try not to make others angry. You may also get the odd person dozing on other people’s shoulders. Do not fret, give them a gentle poke and all will be well.
This year, the May lineup looks promising.
The Anime
Akira HD. A classic and one that all anime fans should know and love. Today, it stands the test of time and now that it has been given the high definition cleanup, it looks even more amazing than before. It tells the story of Kaneda, the leader of a biker gang and their fight against their rival The Clowns. During a high speed chase, Tetsuo splits from Kaneda’s pack and crashes into a strange boy trying to escape. From here on in, Tetsuo’s life changes dramatically with Kaneda trying to save his long time friend. Seeing this on the big screen was, to put simply, awesome. I loved every minute of it; the colours are rich and vivid and it brought back so many memories of when I first saw it.
Eden of the East: Air Communication is a very condensed version of the anime series, picking out key scenes to tell the story. I love Eden of the East; Production I.G did an amazing job with the animation and storyline that captivated me from the get go. Unfortunately, because of how deep the story goes with multiple plot threads, this summary doesn’t do the anime justice. It is even worse if you have never seen Eden of the East before. For example, Mr. Outside is suddenly introduced to Takizawa and you don’t fully understand who or what he is. You can just about grasp the concept of the Seleção and the 10 billion yen they are given to save Japan but still, you are left with the echoes of why what and how in your mind. I definitely recommend seeing the anime in full, where you will be able to appreciate Eden of the East much more.
Eden of the East the Movie I: The King of Eden. This is the first movie follow up to Eden of the East. It follows on from another “Careless Monday” incident that happened at the end of the series and Takizawa’s final requests to Juiz. Saki is back looking for Takizawa 6 months after these events, who disappeared and brainwashed himself once more. The other Seleção are also looking for him, which puts Saki immediately in danger. However, an unlikely ally helps them. This is a good movie follow up and continues the storyline with much pace. I am waiting for the next movie with baited breath.
2001 Nights: Fumihiko Sori’s: TO. I have never heard of this before, so I didn’t know what to expect. The early thumping soundtrack and introduction sequence gave much promise but alas, once that faded away you are left with a very slow paced CGI animation as a backdrop for over 2 hours of empty viewing. This was in two parts; part one consisted of a very cliche story of a ship’s captain and his love for his space travelling wife. Because of the cryostasis from 15 year journeys, she is forever young while he grows old without her. Meanwhile, the ship is invaded by politically motivated rebels, taking the ship and crew by force. This is all very well, if it wasn’t for the ridiculous set pieces and long pauses in between scenes. And calling your wife “Mother” was all just too much in the end, as the whole back row, including myself, burst into fits of laughter. Oh yes, the script was hilarious by the way. The second part does not fare any better and the drunken old man in this is well… you can’t treat any of this seriously. A jellyfish type lifeform called Picard? Are you kidding me? I was waiting for slugs to come out called Data.
Redline. Ah this is much better. They showed this last year and I still enjoyed it, although it was much more entertaining the first time. When this came on, half the audience was asleep, or drifting in and out of consciousness. It didn’t matter, because it was so high octane with that amazing dance soundtrack that you couldn’t stay asleep for long. Think of it as F-Zero without Captain Falcon and with much stranger characters. The race is not easy however, as there are others trying to sabotage proceedings with insider betting behind closed doors. All the while, the racers risk their lives to get the coveted prize of winner of the Redline race. “Sweet” JP is hot on the heels of the sexy Sonoshi but who will win? Go see it and find out, you will not be disappointed.
FOOD! And the sun really, really hurts.
When everything was done and dusted, we stepped outside into the harsh sunlight to find ourselves starving with hunger. Pancakes were the order of the morning and it was oh so good. I had a great time, if tiring time, but it was well worth it.
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