WHAT IS LA-AFF?
Los Angeles Anime Film Festival aka LA-AFF, is a combination of ideas from Rydgen Inc. and Azoland Pictures. This 3 day event showcased multiple anime films at the Regal LA LIVE in Los Angeles, CA on September 15th-17th, 2017. What was great about that weekend, other than showcasing all these different anime films and the wonderful celebrities that attended the event, was that this would celebrate the 100 years since the birth of anime in Japan. We were able to watch the very first anime short film, Namakura Gatana, but I can talk about that later. Let’s begin with how the event went!
Red Carpet GALA
There were all sorts of celebrities attending the event. Both actors and directors involved in these films, but as well as other celebrities who enjoy anime. It was a pleasure speaking with some of them and meeting the people behind the voices, so it was a ton of fun! Here were the celebrities that dropped by:
Kiki Sukezane
Movie Listing
Alright, and now, to the good stuff! There were plenty of films to choose from throughout the weekend, from the old to the new. If you were interested, you would be able to check out all these films throughout the day, and were able to get a ticket for each of the movies. What was cool about the day of the event that if you came in early enough and happened to be one of the early attendees, you were given exclusive No Game No Life Zero bag of goodies! If you were to attend the other days, these were the list of films that you could check out that weekend:
OPENING FILM
NO GAME NO LIFE ZERO (English Dub World Premiere)
- My Neighbor Totoro
- King of Prism
- The Red Turtle
- Love Live! The School Idol Movie
- Miss Hokusai
- Kiki’s Delivery Service
- Ghost in the Shell
- Ghost in the Shell 2: INNOCENCE
- Porco Rosso
- Paprika
- Summer Wars
- Pigtails
- 009 RE:CYBORG 3D
- Anohana The Movie: The Flower We Saw That Day
- Osamu Tezuka’s Metropolis
- Cowboy Bebop: The Movie
- New Theatrical Movie Initial D Legend 1: Awakening
CLOSING FILM
AKIRA (Sub/Dub)
No Game No Life Zero ©Yuu Kamiya,PUBLISHED BY KADOKAWA CORPORATION /NO GAME NO LIFE ZERO PARTNERS
Since we were able to attend the first day, we were able to watch the opening film, No Game No Life Zero, but LA-AFF had something else in store for us! I was super stoked for what happened next!
Namakura Gatana
We were surprised with more than just one film, but two. We were presented with a silent film called, “Namakura Gatana,” which is a comedy film about a swordsman who checks out his dull sword and sees how strong it is by attacking people, but with his bad luck, he ends up always getting attacked.
This film was a pleasure to watch and just being able to see the first anime film out there definitely gave me a feeling of happiness and it was an honor being able to see it. There were no subtitles or words PERIOD! for the matter, but was just pure motion and emotion. There were tons of LAUGHs in the audience, as well as AWWs. It was a film that I enjoyed. If you are able to find this film, I would suggest watching it because it’s nice to know some of the history behind anime.
After that, we were finally able to check out No Game No Life Zero.
No Game No Life Zero English Dub World Premiere
This was the world premiere of the No Game No Life Zero English Dub. I was so stoked for this! I wanted to make sure I didn’t know the background or the summary behind this film, but seeing the same characters, as well as new characters definitely peeked my interest!
*Before I begin, I want to let you guys know that this is not a review, so I won’t spoil this for you guys who haven’t seen it.
All I want to let you guys know is that this film is definitely not what you expect. It gives off more of a LOVE and SERIOUS feel than just all fun and comedy that you got from the NGNL series. It was more of a prequel to the series, so if you enjoyed the series and wanted to know more about the backstory, I highly suggest watching it!
All I want to say is “I LOVE SHUVI!” xD
Overall, this experience was really fun! Even though I was only able to attend the premiere event and experience the red carpet gala, there is something about being able to watch our favorite anime films in theaters and being in the presence of other otakus made this experience so much better. If you were able to attend the event, GREAT! If not, aw it will be okay… If you ever find out that an anime film is available in the theaters near you, I highly suggest checking it out. It’s a completely different experience than watching it on your computer or tv.
Thank you Rydgen Inc. and Azoland Pictures for having me and for hosting this wonderful event. I can’t wait to see what you guys have in store for next year! 😀
SOCIAL MEDIA
Follow their social media down below for some information and details of the past event and for future events!
Instagram: @LAAnimeFF
Twitter: @LAAnimeFF
Facebook: facebook.com/LAAnimeFF
Website: www.la-aff.com/
