Neo Magazine Issue 162/ 2017/05

ANIME • ASIAN FILM • MANGA • MUSIC • COSPLAY
www.neomag.co.uk Issue 162 £4.75
BORUTO
LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON: THE DYNASTY CONTINUES
© 2002 MASASHI KISHIMOTO/2007 SHIPPUDEN © BMP 2015
KUNG FU GUIDE
HOW TO ID KUNG FU STYLES IN
J-PREVIEWS
THE DRAGON DENTIST AND
GHIBLI FLICK
MICHAEL DUDOK DE WIT
CLASSIC ASIAN MOVIES NEW STREAMING SHOWS DISCUSSES THE RED TURTLE
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ads.indd 1 31/03/2017 12:35
CONTENTS
098
PERSONA 5: THE LATEST
ADDITION TO THE MEGAMI
TENSEI FRANCHISE
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008
038 REVIEWS
038 GHOST IN THE SHELL
056 SWORD ART ONLINE THE MOVIE:
ORDINAL SCALE
057 DESTRUCTION BABIES
057 YU-GI-OH! GX SEASON THREE
062 TOKYO MARBLE CHOCOLATE
063 THE LIFE OF OHARU
074 SHIMONETA
076 THE RED TURTLE
077 FAST RMX
077 JUST DANCE 2017
078 NISEKOI: FALSE LOVE 2:2
078 SWORD MASTER
080 ANIME ROUND-UP
082 THE HANDMAIDEN
004 N E O M A G A Z I N E M A Y 2 0 1 7
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028 CONTENTS
FEATURES
008 SHINOBI AND SON 058 THE RED TURTLE
Make way for the new Uzumaki David West speaks to Michael
in town: can Boruto steal your Dudok de Wit about working with
heart like his father before him? Studio Ghibli on his new film
044 YOUR KUNG FU GUIDE 098 PERSONA 5

When you’re watching a kung Unravel the mysteries behind
fu flick, use our handy guide to the latest addition to the Megami
martial arts to work out which Tensei franchise from Japanese
style is on show. Hung Kuen? Tai developer Atlus
Chi? Find out here!
LIFESTYLE
026 STUFF 036 MANGA SCHOOL
Our favourite goodies, trinkets Ruth Keattch encourages you to go
and T-shirts bold with your artwork
028 J-FASHION 064 ARTIST SHOWCASE

030
Leeann Hamilton and Laura Hayley Hyuga shares her
Watton present chibi street style enthusiasm for the Hull art scene
034 MAN IN JAPAN 068 COSPLAY CORNER

Adam Miller pays tribute to Incredible photos from our talented
director Seijun Suzuki readers and fans!
032
NEW IN JAPAN
098 030 ACCA: 13-TERRITORY 040 MANGA SNAPSHOT
INSPECTION DEPT. Get your curtains ready for
Set in a parallel world, this a’twitchin’: Jonathan Clements is
mystery show is filled with tackling Carnage of Adultery
drama, intrigue, and cakes
032 THE DRAGON DENTIST

Discover this impressive TV
special produced by Evangelion
director Hideaki Anno
REGULARS
006 MEET THE NEO TEAM 054 NEO NATION
Find out about the writers who Fans share their thoughts about
contributed to this month’s issue! anime in the cinema
014 NEWS NETWORK 066 COMPETITION

SUBSCRIBE TODAY! Events, new releases, music
charts, gigs, premieres and more:
Win one of ten copies of Seoul
Station (the prequel to Train
Find out how to save money by subscribing with a all the latest from the world of to Busan) on DVD, thanks to
Direct Debit, and pay just £8.99 every three issues Asian entertainment distributors StudioCanal!
022 RELEASE LISTS 086 MANGA

Up to date information about Hanna Rose shares with us an
Turn to page 72 for more details! new anime, manga and Asian extract of her shonen mystery
film releases series, Nightshade
www.ne omag .c o.uk 005
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EDITORIAL
WELCOME
WELCOME TO issue 162 of NEO! Since the last time you read
this editorial, the NEO team are still wandering around
Hyrule, milking every second out of Nintendo’s truly epic
flagship title, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. While
some speed-runners have managed to complete the entire
game in an astonishing 43 minutes (that’s the current record, anyway), we prefer to
take the slow and steady approach. Frankly, once the game is over, we’ll have no idea
what to do with ourselves.
As I write this, the embargo for the new live action Ghost in the Shell movie has
been lifted, and the reviews are pouring in. A mixed bag, it’s fair to say, and dare I
add that I actually enjoyed it? For anime fans, it’s always going to be more than the
sum of its parts – we take with us the baggage that comes with years of dissecting the
original movie, devouring sequels, pouring over the manga, discussing the themes
and bemoaning the controversies. Some of the core questions presented in the movie
about identity have been played out again and again since the film and manga were
both released – indeed, they weren’t new when Ghost in the Shell was made.
I’m writing this before the box office information is available, but I wonder how
well the mainstream audience will take to this slick sci-fi flick. No matter how much
we may wish this movie could have been made with Japanese actors, it’s safe to say
that there are fewer leads who could bring in as much dough as Scarlett Johansson.
And there are few actresses who could translate the super-sexualised aspects of
Shirow’s manga to the big screen as effortlessly. A solid three out of five ain’t bad. For
all its controversies, this may well be the best-received anime adaptation ever.
Well, there’s always Netflix’s Death Note...
Gemma Cox, editor
MEET THE TEAM

DAVID WEST TOM SMITH RUTH KEATTCH ANDREW OSMOND
“This month I “I’m so happy to “It’s an exciting I saw the new
got to see Ghost see Waku Waku 7 ramp up for this Ghost in the Shell
in the Shell on a on the Nintendo year – still chugging and enjoyed it,
preposterously Switch! This game away at the graphic though with plenty
large movie screen, was one of the first novel work, and of reservations.
but I still found it anime-style games I’ve been doing Believe me, it’s best
underwhelming. I’d played as a kid, regular art practice to take it in on a
No doubt it had a fraction of GITS’ in an arcade in Great Yarmouth. It to start writing a handy guide on how HUGE screen. I hope that eventually I
resources, but I found The Red Turtle blew me away how a game can be to improve your drawing, especially can see the Japanese dub, which has
far more compelling.” cute and violent at the same time!” when you’re not feeling motivated!” the original anime’s voice-cast!
ADAM MILLER LAURA WATTON JACOB BONIFACE LEEANN HAMILTON

“My dad is in town “KERA fashion “I was sad to see “I’ve been on this
for a few weeks to magazine is no the end of the latest Earth for a few
enjoy the cherry longer going to be in season of Blue decades, and the
blossoms. I always print, and neither will Exorcist in March, constants in life are
love having guests, the Gothic and Lolita but this is a great death, taxes and
because it gives Bible. I hope their month for anime! the price of anime/
me an excuse to digital incarnations I’m especially manga products. I
discover new things about Japan continue to inspire. NEO’s J-fashion excited about the new series of My write this as a grown woman wailing
during my vacation, when I’d chibi feature would not have existed Hero Academia and of course, the about a $200+ Dariusburst Figma of
otherwise just sleep!” without these iconic titles!” debut of Boruto!” one of the game’s boss monsters.”
006 N E O M A G A Z I N E M A Y 2 0 1 7
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Shinobi
W o r d S B Y d AV id W e S t
And Son
Everything I Needed To Know About Life, I Learned From Naruto (and Boruto)
BoruTo uzumAKI Is mad. His dad, Naruto uzumaki, is Piece. Goku, for all his strength and power, is essentially a
always too busy with his duties as Hokage of the Hidden child at heart. He sees every battle, no matter how intense, as
Leaf Village to spend time with either Boruto or his kid sister an opportunity to test his strength, and he’s only too happy
Himawari. Naruto even sends a shadow clone to Himawari’s to spare a defeated opponent if it means another chance to
birthday party rather than attend in person. fight them again later. For Goku, even when the fate of the
Boruto is sick of his old man and his broken promises to world is at stake, fighting is fun and life is a game. He becomes
his children. Determined to outdo his father, he asks sasuke, a husband and a father, but while he constantly grows in
Naruto’s greatest rival, to become his master, and starts using strength, he never really grows up, maintaining the same
a scientific Ninja device that allows him to unleash advanced simple child-like innocence and naivety.
jutsu techniques without the need to train and develop his Luffy, well… the captain of the straw Hat Pirates is a
own chakra first. completely different kettle of fish. He is, to all intents and
When two incredibly powerful shinobi attack the Hidden purposes, a psychopath. He’s self-obsessed, narcissistic with
Leaf in pursuit of the power of the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon a hugely inflated sense of his own greatness, takes dangerous
inside Naruto, the impetuous Boruto is going to have to learn but needless risks, acts without thought for the consequences,
some hard truths about responsibility, and the price of taking and is a delinquent prone to criminal behaviour (he wants
shortcuts in training and in life. to be King of The Pirates, not Commander-in-Chief of The
marines). Luffy surrounds himself with people who are useful
A different Breed of Hero in his quest to become King of The Pirates, but he’ll readily
The best stories, and that certainly includes the best anime, risk all their lives. Naruto couldn’t be more different to both
tend to have one thing in common – they address or reveal Goku and Luffy, and the root of those differences lies in his
some fundamental truth about life. masashi Kishimoto’s traumatic beginnings.
creation Naruto is a case in point. spider-man, Batman, Naruto. They all have one thing in
It’s been an incredible success in Japan with more than common; they’re orphans. Naruto was born in a moment of
100 million copies of the manga volumes in print, a hit anime tragedy as his father, minato, had to use his new born son’s
series, and, with the arrival of Boruto: Naruto The Movie, body to contain the rampaging Nine-Tailed Demon Fox that
11 feature films. on the surface, Naruto is cut from the same threatened to obliterate the Hidden Leaf Village and everyone
cloth as its contemporaries in the ranks of Weekly Shonen within it. minato and his wife Kushino died in the process,
Jump, the anthology where it debuted back in 1999. and Naruto was forced to grow up alone.
Like Dragon Ball Z and One Piece, it’s an action series As an orphan – and one cursed to carry the Demon Fox
with a visually striking hero who consistently beats the odds. inside his small body – Naruto was an outcast amongst the
But those similarities are superficial. There’s much more to children of the Hidden Leaf. That’s a tough burden for any kid
Naruto uzumaki than the heroes of Dragon Ball Z and One to bear, but it’s particularly pointed in Japanese culture >>>

Shinobi And Son
>>> where children are always encouraged to belong to a else – sasuke – might be the one to win all the acclaim strikes
kumi – a group or unit – and to conform with their peers. To be to the heart of young Naruto’s insecurities. Even Naruto’s
excluded, to suffer the fate of nakama hazure, being cut out of youthful crush on sakura can be viewed through the prism of
the group, is to be a social pariah. his rivalry with sasuke as a form of competition.
That, sad to say, was Naruto’s first experience of other All of that showing off and his often insufferable boasting
children and of life in the Hidden Leaf. on the one hand, it are just the negative forms of his attention-seeking, but as he
made him an angry little kid with a chip on his shoulder, matures, particularly after the jump forwards in time when
but at the same time it fostered within him a burning desire the anime becomes Naturo Shippuden, he finds more positive
for acceptance. And in his mind, the ultimate symbol of ways to express the same feelings. This is clearest in the fight
acceptance was to become Hokage, to so impress the residents to protect the Hidden Leaf Village during Pain’s attack, when
of the village that they would choose him as their leader. This Naruto comes perilously close to death in his bid to stop Pain’s
is the prime directive of Naruto’s life, and the current that destructive onslaught.
runs through the series right up to Boruto: Naruto The Movie. The confrontation with Pain reveals another facet of what
Where Goku fights for fun and Luffy fights for himself, Naruto makes Naruto such an engaging character, and so distinct
fights for acceptance. from other one-dimensional shonen heroes like Luffy and
Goku. After he has stopped Pain’s devastating attack on the
Boys only it tAkeS A VillAge Hidden Leaf, Naruto confronts the person behind it, Nagato.
The one character who As the proverb goes, it takes a whole village to raise a child. In any other series, like Dragon Ball Z or One Piece, this would
really doesn’t get much That was certainly the case with Naruto, who needed to find be a simple matter of exacting retribution for the suffering
screen time in Boruto: alternative sources of security and encouragement in lieu unleashed by Nagato, but Naruto is one of the most empathetic
Naruto The Movie is of his deceased parents. He had Lady Tsunade and Kakashi heroes in all manga and anime. He confronts Nagato not out
the title star’s little as role models, but just as importantly, he had his first of the desire to kill him in the name of revenge, but to try to
sister Himawari. This experience of belonging to a group as a member of Team seven understand what could possibly drive someone to act with
may simply reflect the alongside sasuke and sakura. such frightening hatred.
shonen demographic one of the most common criticisms levelled at the Nagato is ultimately undone not by combat, but through
of Weekly Shonen character, particularly in the first half of the epic when Naruto empathy, and the two enemies, Naruto and Nagato, seeing the
Jump readers, but is still a young boy, is that Naruto can be obnoxious and world through each other’s eyes. It’s Naruto’s worldview, one
hopefully future grating. of course he is. He’s a child desperate for attention based on the belief in the possibility of peace, that emerges
adventures will allow and affection. He longs for the approval of his peers and his triumphant. When he’s embraced by the residents of the
Naruto’s daughter a elders, hence all the bragging about how he’s going to be Hidden Leaf Village after this victory, it represents a huge
moment or two to take Hokage when he grows up, and the intensity of his rivalry moment for the former outcast and the validation of all his
the spotlight. with the far more talented sasuke. The thought that someone sacrifice and struggle.
010 N E O M A G A Z I N E M A Y 2 0 1 7

2
“WHere goku figHtS for fun And luffY figHtS for HiMSelf, nAruto 1. You know you’ve made it
to the top when you get your
own cape. 2. it’s either a
figHtS for AcceptAnce.” young david Bowie with his
distinctive heterochromia,
or it’s Sasuke. 3. it seems
the uzumakis are not the
MoVing on only masters of the Shadow
A striking difference between American comic books and nor fear amongst fans of any of those things being ret-conned clone jutsu! 4. to fist bump or
manga is how the heroes of us comics remain in a state of out of existence at the whim of an editor or publisher. not to fist bump, that is the
stasis. There may be temporary changes to their lives, but There may be pragmatic reasons for shifting the focus question!
sooner or later the status quo is reasserted. Iconic characters from Naruto to his son. Boruto is now much closer to the
like superman and spider-man have both been married franchise’s target demographic age group than his grown-
in their fictional lives, but both these relationships were up pop, but the series has always addressed concepts about
subsequently removed from their continuity. It reflects the legacies and heritage, the passing of the torch. In Naruto’s
fact that the us comic book industry is intensely reliant on pivotal confrontation with Nagato, they argue over which Voice of
a handful of properties for its very existence – superman, of them is the truer, rightful heir to their late master Jiraiya. The fuTure
Batman, the X-men, spider-man, the Avengers. superman similarly, Naruto’s dream of becoming Hokage involves Boruto has already
debuted in 1938 and DC has been churning out his adventures walking in his father’s footsteps, but when he finally gets the been voiced by two
ever since. job, it’s not what he was expecting. different actresses
By contrast, the manga industry seems far more open to In Boruto: Naruto The Movie, the former impulsive in Japan. He was
new concepts and tends to give creators far more ownership hothead who longed to go on daring adventures and played by Kokoro
of their characters than their us counterparts. As a result, dangerous missions as a teen is now a stressed out, Kikuchi for his brief
even smash hit series like Ranma ½ and Death Note tend overworked Hokage. An adult watching this might well feel appearance in The
to have finite fictional lives. When a creator feels that they a strong sense of kinship with this salaryman Naruto who Last: Naruto The
have completed their story with a particular character or struggles to find time to attend his daughter’s birthday party Movie, but Yuko
concept, they wrap it up and move on to something new. This because the piles of paperwork in his office are taller than Sanpei takes over in
means both a steady stream of fresh material and it prevents he is. This brings to mind the old maxim that defines spider- Boruto: Naruto The
characters being stuck in limbo. man’s philosophy of life – with great power comes great Movie, with Kikuchi
Naruto has grown from a child to a teen to a man. Boruto: responsibility. For Naruto, with great responsibility comes a switching characters
Naruto The Movie marks the beginning of the next stage of his terrible work-life balance. Not very catchy, but true. to play Sarada, the
life. He’s an adult, married to Hinata, and has two children, But kids don’t want to see a series about someone daughter of Sasuke
and, unlike with superman and spidey, there’s no expectation heroically working late again – they want energy, action >>> and Sakura.

Shinobi And Son
tHe BeSt StorieS, And tHAt certAinlY includeS tHe BeSt AniMe, tend to HAVe one
tHing in coMMon – tHeY AddreSS or reVeAl SoMe fundAMentAl trutH ABout life.
MASASHi kiSHiMoto’S creAtion nAruto iS A cASe in point.
>>> and excitement. They want Boruto. He certainly takes Now that Naruto is older and wiser, he has to be a role
after his old man physically. With his spikey blond hair, blue model for the younger shinobi of the Hidden Leaf and it’s not
eyes, cheeky grin and those distinctive facial markings, he something that comes naturally. In an interview, he’s asked
couldn’t really be anyone else’s offspring. In some respects, what advice he has for the Genin hoping to become Chunin at
Boruto can feel like a shadow Clone of Naruto, because he too the upcoming exam. “Just remember these three things,” says
is desperate for attention. The twist in this instance is that Naruto, “Teamwork and perseverance…That’s all.”
Boruto’s negative behaviours – cheating in the Chunin exams, Despite his lack of numerical accuracy, those two concepts
nexT Gen throwing tantrums and generally being just as obnoxious as are central to the life lesson offered by Boruto: Naruto The
ninjas his father was at that age – stem from a very specific craving Movie for both father and son. one of the reasons that Naruto
Boruto: Naruto The for his father’s time and affection, whereas Naruto felt the is so swamped under at work is that he insists on doing
Movie is part of need to constantly seek approval from everyone around him, everything himself. sure, it helps that he can summon a legion
Masashi Kishimoto’s all of the time. of shadow Clones but really, he needs to start delegating some
plans for taking his responsibility instead of carrying the world on his shoulders.
hit franchise into the That’s teamwork.
future. This manifests As for perseverance, Boruto has to realise that there are
itself in a new manga no shortcuts to success as a shinobi. relying on a scientific
series starring Boruto, Ninja prototype is simply no substitute for what the Japanese
this feature length call gambare – effort and persistence. For example, look at
adventure, and the Naruto’s buddy rock Lee. unable to use jutsu techniques, rock
upcoming new anime Lee became an accomplished shinobi by applying himself to
series Boruto: Naruto mastering taijutsu – hand-to-hand combat – instead. If you
Next Generations want to see how Naruto and Boruto come to these conclusions
which just debuted in for yourself, check out Boruto: Naruto The Movie when it comes
Japan on 5 April. to DVD and Blu-ray on 5 June from manga Entertainment.
012 NEO MAGAZINE MAY 2017


AttAck on titAn
NEO NatiON
REacts
NIck y HENry
Amazing! Love the big head
RetuRns
Titan, the music for the trailer is
awesome too! Hurry up April, we
need our Attack on Titan fix!
Abby GrEEN- cOultON

I wanna see it so bad, but I’ve
Mammoth franchise is back for season two read the manga and I don’t
wanna see some scenes. My
heart can’t take it again.
One Of the most popular anime titles of recent years has returned for a second season, screening on Japanese tV
by the time you read this. Wit Studios launched a stunning teaser trailer in the run-up last month, sending fans into lEONIE ANsEtt
a frenzy. Is that a monkey Titan? Is that a
It’s been a long wait for the second season. The first debuted in Japan in 2013, creating a painful four year gap Titan in the wall? Oh my gosh,
for those hungry for more. Luckily, there are regular manga releases to tide everyone over, with volume 21 set to be awesomeness!
on sale in the UK on 20 April from Kodansha. Plus, there are plenty of spin-offs and video games, merchandise and
stories, all trying to sate the hunger of the titan that is the rabid AOT fanbase. But of course, the anime is perhaps the ZANdAlEE ÖluNd
most high profile of all, and with all the trailers and interviews that have been released so far, we’ve been treated to a I’ve waited for so long!! I just
few surprises already. turn away now if you’re avoiding spoilers… loved this trailer and can’t wait
One thing is for sure, PetA wouldn’t approve of all the horse-slinging that’s going on – with that and to see the anime!
cannonballs flying through the air, there’s violence aplenty on display. But then this is a show about man-eating
giants, so we wouldn’t expect anything less. One thing we do know from trailers it that the titans may not be as dEANNA FItZpAtrIck
united a destructive force as we first assumed, with some titans actually fighting to protect the wall. We even get a The camera angles used in the
shot of a giant hairy titan at the end of the promo – and get this… he talks. That’s right, the Beast titan has appeared, trailer are epic! If the season is
and we know he’ll be a major part of the plot in this next season. Of course, it wouldn’t be Attack on Titan without as cool as this trailer looks, I’ll be
some surprises, and even for fans of the manga there may be a few changes to keep things fresh, with some tweaks very happy!
and changes made to the original plot.
With 25 episodes scheduled to air, there’s plenty more to be revealed in Attack on Titan season two, which has pHIlIp GrAy
been licenced for the US by funimation. Online streaming service CrunchyRoll have also announced they have the Horse baseball... coming to a
rights the series, with details such as scheduling yet to be announced. sporting arena near you.
Make sure to pick up neO 163, on sale 11 May, for a titan-esque feature on the new season!
014-5_NEO162[News]CTGC.indd 1 31/03/2017 16:04

DeAth note
Live action teaser trailer dropped
netflix’s exclusive live action adaptation of Death Note hits the streaming
service on 25 August, and last month they launched the first look of the
movie so far, with a tantalisingly short teaser trailer that revealed very little.
Death Note is the second western live action adaptation of an anime
title to be launched this year, joining Paramount’s Ghost in the Shell (see our
review on page 038). Both titles are arguably two of anime’s most successful,
and complex, tales, and editing them down to feature-length is sure to be no
easy task – and both productions have been accused of whitewashing the
cast, shutting out Asian actors.
Death Note is directed by Adam Wingard (Blair Witch, You’re Next) and
stars nat Wolff, Margaret Qualley, Lakeith Stanfield, Paul nakauchi, and
Shea Whigham, with Willem Dafoe providing the big name talent.
BirminghAm
comic convention
29 April
Get yourself to the edgbaston Stadium on Saturday 29 April for two floors
of comic, film and tV fun, courtesy of the Birmingham Comic Convention!
There’s free parking, a café on site, disabled access, and over 100 traders on
hand, plus special guests, panels, talks, exhibits, cosplay and more, so you
won’t run out of things to do! head to www.thecomicfestival.com for more.
PlaNEt FOlkEstONE
7 May
With guests including Chris Barrie (Red Dwarf), Sophie Aldred (Doctor
Who), and hugo Myatt (Knightmare), you’ll definitely want to beam
down to Planet folkestone this summer. There are traders, photo booths,
VR demos and more to look forward to, so head to their site at facebook.
com/Planetfolkestone for more info.
014-5_NEO162[News]CTGC.indd 2 31/03/2017 16:04

//COMING UP
HARMONIUM
O U T: 5 M AY // D I S T R IB U T O R : E UR E K A
A family unravels in Koji Fukada’s Harmonium,
but it all starts innocently enough. Toshio
(Kanji Furutachi) runs his own metal-work
business, which he lives above with his
Christian wife Akie (Mariko Tsutsui) and
daughter Hotaru (Momone Shinokawa). It’s all
fine and dandy until Toshio inexplicably invites
an old acquaintance, Yasaka (Tadanobu
Asano), to move in, bringing with him a secret
that threatens to destroy their mundane lives.
Harmonium opens in cinemas in May before a
home entertainment release in June.
016_NEO162[Upcoming]CTGC.indd 1 30/03/2017 12:39

Untitled-77 1 30/03/2017 12:31
Things
1
Unheard
Jonathan Clements is
fretting in the dark
I
would very much like to be enjoying A Silent Voice, but I
have a bunch of other things to worry about. Just before
the lights go down in the cinema, I get the word that
1. when they tell you your q&a
session has dropped to 20
the promised 40-minute post-film Q&A had suddenly
minutes, just cover your ears
dropped to 20 minutes – shoving an extra half-hour onto and carry on regardless. 2. front
a slot’s running time often disappears in the cracks between row attendee, ready to ask the
schedulers, projectionists, front-of-house and cleaners. burning question... where do
The woman who tells me this also warns me that we are you get all your ideas from?!
starting 15 minutes late, because someone who shall remain
nameless went off to the bogs, and we couldn’t start the film
without them.
Anime Limited want to film the Q&A event for a DVD
extra. Kyoto Animation are in the house with their own
camera. Naoko Yamada is sitting next to me and has no idea
about the blind panic unfolding in my mind over the next
two hours. 2
She’s already sat through a 40-minute meeting where
we talk over the likely questions, and her minders steer me
towards the areas they most want to discuss. But now I am
feverishly calculating and re-calculating the logistics.
“How mucH tIme do I actually Have?

assumIng tHat I am not tHrown out tHe
moment I take tHe stage, Is tHere enougH
tIme for audIence questIons at all?“
How much time do I actually have? Assuming that I The cameras are running, the audience are laughing.
am not thrown out the moment I take the stage, is there I even relax the interrogation a little and we seem to have
enough time for audience questions at all? If I drop audience time for audience questions. Later on, I find out why – the
questions (and risk the wrath of fans), will there be still time person tasked with signalling me that we are out of time has
to talk about the staff at Kyoto Animation, as I have been decided to simply lie about it. We run over, which means that
requested to do, or do we now have to make this all-Naoko, cinema-goers two films behind us might find themselves
all the time? Maybe if I rush. hard-pressed to make it for the last bus.
Maybe if I just fire questions at her like an interrogator. Someone is going to get into trouble over this, but it’s
Maybe if I drop all questions about the manga and pre- a judgement call that saves the event. For the half-hour
production and just get her talking about her work, I can that the event lasts, it all looks smooth. Nobody saw the
salvage something. negotiations beforehand, the fretting throughout the film,
The lights go up. I take to the stage and introduce the or the slap on the wrist that the distributor got from the
director of A Silent Voice, and catch myself glancing at Glasgow Film Festival authorities for playing havoc with
my watch when the applause goes on too long. Too much their schedule. It’s our job to make this all look easy, but
applause will cost me another question! sometimes it really isn’t.
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Untitled-77 1 30/03/2017 12:31
new DvD / Blu-ray!
NEO’S
TOPTEN 2
Our roundup of the hottest tracks currently
blasting on the office stereo
X JapaN – la VeNus
1 May!
It’s been an amazing year for legendary rock band X Japan.
They managed to bring London’s Oxford Street to a stand-
still when they turned up at HMV for a mega rare signing
session, causing chaos on the streets and making the store
W O R D S B Y T O m S mi T h run out of their latest CD; We Are X Soundtrack. That same CD then
1
went on to reach number one in the official UK rock charts, boosted
further by a packed show at Wembley’s SSE Arena earlier in the week,
Crossfaith – New age warriors which well and truly rocked our socks off!
april aNd May! From 1 May Manga Entertainment will be releasing X Japan’s epic
documentary We Are X, for the first time on DVD and limited edition
If you’ve had the pleasure of experiencing a Crossfaith show, you’ll Blu-ray steelbook. A short 60-minute version of the film was shown at
know that this is a band that doesn’t do things in half measures the band’s concert, but Manga’s version boasts a 95-minute cut plus
– especially when it comes to Jägermeister, the dark liquor that extras (and a swanky case!).
the group has devoted an entire song to! In February, Crossfaith
announced the release of EP New Age Warriors Remix, containing remixes
new eP anD Tour!

from the likes of Japan’s KSUKE, and Shikari Soundsystem and The
Qemists. Crossfaith’s vocalist Kenta Koie comments, “We believe there’s no
border between rock and dance music. You guys will find new possibilities
through these remixes. Don’t miss it!!”. That’s not all, though, the band will
also be part of TWO tours of the United Kingdom, and a festival date over
the months of April and May.
From 14 April Crossfaith will join Bury Tomorrow as their main support,
with shows taking place in Cardiff, Manchester, Glasgow, Newcastle, Leeds,
Birmingham and London until 22 April. Then they’ll recharge, ready for
another support tour. This time they’ll be joining Enter Shikari as the St.
Albans band take to the road to celebrate the tenth anniversary of their
debut album, with a show at Academy in Dublin on 23 May and Limelight in
Belfast on 24 May. Then, the Crossfaith boys will be hitting all three days of
SlamDunk festival in Birmingham, Leeds and Hatfield between 17-19 May.
Two Tours, one FesTival!
3
otoboke beaVer –
loVe is short 1-4 May!
Love Is Short is the new EP from punk noise makers Otoboke
Beaver. It also isn’t the only thing that’s short. So are holidays
from work, especially in Japan where getting more than a
couple of days off can be a real struggle; just ask Kyoto’s
Otoboke Beaver. They’re back in the UK for four days only, which they only
managed to wrangle off work because that week is a public holiday. They’ll
be joined by Korea’s Say Sue Me, and play London’s 100 Club on 1 May,
Bristol’s Exchange on 2 May, Glasgow’s CCA on 3 May, and conclude at The
Musician in Leicester on 4 May before jetting back home to the day job.
The new EP is a flurry of gritty guitar work, complex arrangements,
and lyrics sung in Japanese and English. Their Riot Grrrl attitudes and
passion for noise-rock make them stand out as true renegades in the
underground scene.
0 20 NEO MAGAZINE MAY 2017
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4 5
Nobuo ueMatsu
lonDon show! MiyaVi – afraid – spreadiNg your
to be Cool wiNgs
7 May! 20 JuNe!
Guitarist and movie man MIYAVI will
make his overdue return to England An evening of all things Nobuo Uematsu
with an intimate show at London’s O2 will take place at The Barbican in London on 20 June.
Academy on 7 May. It’s been a busy 2017 for the Entitled Symphonic Odysseys London, the concert
star, who recently went to America to perform at will be the UK’s first in honour of the famed video
SXSW. He also starred in blockbuster Kong: Skull game composer, who will also be in attendance.
Island, which led to the film’s director Jordan Vogt- Expect themes from Blue Dragon, The Last Story,
Roberts to post a selfie together on Twitter and say; Lost Odyssey and, of course, Final Fantasy, all
“[MIYAVI] has a small but crucial role in this film. His performed by the London Symphony Orchestra
scene is one of my favourites. This dude has more and conducted by Eckehard Stier, together with the
talent in his pinky than I do in my whole soul”. London Symphony Chorus, pianist Mischa Cheung
Latest album Firebird was released here via and a full kazoo fanfare. It will also include revised
Wrasse Records, with best of album DAY 2 out now arrangements from Jonne Valtonen and Roger
in Japan – but still no news of a localised release… Wanamo, the composing team behind the best-
selling album of Final Fantasy music, Final Symphony.
6 7
lonDon DaTes! torieNa –
Nobuo ueMatsu
pulse fighter
– oNe wiNged
14-16 July!
aNgel
Armed with her trusty GameBoy, 4 NoVeMber!
which she uses to compose and
Not only will Uematsu-san be
arrange all her tunes, is Japan’s chiptune heroine
heading to London for a show
TORIENA, bringing geek chic to the music scene.
dedicated to his music at The Barbican in
She’ll be delivering her distinctive hard-core
June, he’ll also be back for a very special
techno and 8-bit vibes to London’s Tobacco
Distant Worlds show called “Final Fantasy
Dock between 14-16 July.
30th Anniversary – JIRITSU”. This musical
TORIENA has already played a number of
tribute to the Final Fantasy franchise will take
shows overseas, including dates in China, Italy
place at The Royal Albert Hall in London on 4
and Australia. Her debut music video Pulse
November, with a performance at 2:30pm, and
Fighter became an online hit upon its release
another at 7:30pm.
in 2014.
9
MateNrou new single!
opera –
paNdora
1 July
Symphonic speed metallers
Matenrou Opera have booked their only UK
show of 2017 at The Underworld in Camden
new uK Tour! Town, London, on 1 July. The band originally
8 10
toured Europe with Versailles back in 2008,
geNeratioNs but missed out on a London performance.
PHOENIX is the band’s latest single, out
MeguMi hay-
froM eXile tribe from 12 April. The music video is out now ashibara
2 JuNe! on YouTube. – iMawa No
J-pop boy band GENERATIONS from
EXILE TRIBE will be back in London
lonDon show! shiNigaMi
for their second show in the capital on 1 July
Friday 2 June at Troxy in East London. Formed Voice actress queen Megumi Hayashibara
in 2012 under the leadership of EXILE’s DNA, the has just released her 42nd single Imawa no
group has gone on to have massive success in Shinigami digitally through Gan Shin Records.
Japan with their debut album going gold and a She was huge in the ‘90s, with prominent roles
tour with an attendance of over 222,400 people. in Neon Genesis Evangelion, Cowboy Bebop and
Now they seek similar levels of stardom overseas, many more. The song is currently being used as
with shows scheduled in Taipei, Macato, Los the opening theme for Showa Genroku Rakugo
Angeles, New York, Paris and London. Shinju: Sukeroku A new Arc.
www.ne omag .c o.uk 02 1
020-1_NEO162[MusicTop10]CTGC.indd 2 31/03/2017 15:00

UK release schedule
DATE TITLE DISTRIBUTOR
13/04 Danganronpa: The Animation Volume 4 Dark Horse
13/04 Devil’s Line Volume 6 Vertical
13/04 Happiness 4 Kodansha
13/04 Maga-tsuki 8 Kodansha
13/04 Nekogahara: Stray Cat Samurai 3 Kodansha
20/04 7th Garden 4 VIZ Media
20/04 Assassination Classroom 15 VIZ Media
20/04 Black Clover 6 VIZ Media
20/04 Boruto 1 VIZ Media
20/04 Don’t Be Cruel 3: Akira Takanashi’s Story VIZ Media
20/04 Food Wars 17 VIZ Media
20/04 Haikyu!! 10 VIZ Media
20/04 Kuroko’s Basketball 2-in-1 Edition 5 VIZ Media
20/04 Magi 23 VIZ Media
20/04 Naruto 3-in-1 Edition 18 VIZ Media
20/04 Rurouni Kenshin 3-in-1 Edition 2 (vols 4, 5, 6) VIZ Media
20/04 Tokyo Ghoul 12 VIZ Media
20/04 Tokyo Ghoul: Past VIZ Media
ANIME
20/04
20/04
20/04
Twin Star Exorcists 8
World Trigger 15
Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V 1
VIZ Media
VIZ Media
VIZ Media
20/04 Attack on Titan 21 Kodansha
17/04 Nisekoi Season 2 Part 1 (Blu-ray / DVD) Manga 20/04 Attack on Titan: Before the Fall 10 Kodansha
17/04 Nisekoi Season 2 Part 2 (Blu-ray / DVD) Manga 20/04 Kiss Him, Not Me 10 Kodansha
17/04 Little Busters Season 1 Collection (Blu-ray / DVD) MVM 20/04 Maga-tsuki 7 Kodansha
17/04 Berserk Collection (standard Blu-ray) MVM 20/04 Tokyo ESP, Volume 8 Vertical
24/04 Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam Part 2 (Blu-ray) Anime Limited 27/04 Bakemonogatari, Part 3 Vertical
24/04 Evangelion 1.11 (Ltd Ed Blu-ray+DVD) Anime Limited 27/04 Fairy Girls 4 (Fairy Tail) Kodansha
24/04 Shimoneta: A Boring World… (Blu-ray / DVD) Funimation 27/04 Immortal Hounds 4 Vertical
24/04 Daimidaler: Prince vs. Penguin Empire (Blu-ray) Funimation 27/04 Missions of Love 14 Kodansha
08/05 Yu-Gi-Oh GX Season 3 Manga
08/05 Outlaw Star (Blu-ray) Anime Limited
08/05 Your Lie In April Part 2 (Blu-ray / DVD) Anime Limited
08/05 Fairy Tail Part 14 DVD Funimation
08/05 Little Busters Refrain Season 2 (Blu-ray / DVD) MVM
15/05 Gatchaman Crowds Insight (Combo Pack) Manga
15/05 Selector Infected WIXOSS (DVD / Ltd Ed Blu-ray) Anime Limited
15/05 Amagami SS Collection (Blu-ray / DVD) MVM
22/05 Owarimonogatari Part 2 (Blu-ray / DVD) MVM
26/05 The Red Turtle Studio Canal
29/05 Ghost In The Shell: SAC – Individual Eleven (Blu-ray) Manga
29/05 Ghost In The Shell: SAC – The Laughing Man (Blu-ray) Manga
05/06 Boruto The Movie Manga
05/06 Little Busters EX OVA Collection (Blu-ray / DVD) MVM
12/06 Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon? Season 1 Manga
ASIAN FILM
14/04 The Handmaiden Curzon Artificial Eye
24/04 The Life Of Oharu Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
24/04 Bloody Muscle Bodybuilder In Hell Terror-cotta
24/04 Drunken Master Eureka
24/04 Lady Bloodfight Icon
24/04 The Goddess BFI
24/04 Wolf Guy Arrow Video
01/05 Tampopo Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
05/05 Harmonium [theatrical] Eureka
08/05 Railroad Tigers Kaleidoscope Home Entertainment
08/05 Silence Studio Canal
MANGA
08/05
15/05
15/05
The Eagle Huntress
The Hidden Fortress
Throne Of Blood
Altitude
BFI
BFI
15/05 Yojimbo BFI
13/04 Astro Boy Omnibus Volume 7 Dark Horse 15/05 The Masked Avengers 88 Films
13/04 Cells at Work! 4 Kodansha 22/05 Cops Vs Thugs Arrow Video
022_NEO162[Incoming]CTGC.indd 1 30/03/2017 14:09

Untitled-77 1 30/03/2017 12:32
NeWs
W o r d s B Y d aV Id W e s t
After the Storm

deadbeat dad Seeks
redemption
the lAteSt FroM hirokazu Kore-eda,
Japan’s modern master of the understated
family drama, After The Storm debuted at the
2016 cannes Film Festival, before making
its UK debut at the BFi london Film Festival.
now it has the chance to reach a wider
audience with a full cinema release.
The story follows ryota (hiroshi Abe), who
Brotherhood of Blades
wrote one successful novel, but 15 years later,
he’s still failing to work on the follow-up.
instead he scrambles through life working
for a private detective agency, although all
one For All And All For The cash his money ever feeds is his gambling habit.
he longs to be close to his son Shingo (taiyo
in the cloSing years of the Ming dynasty, the eunuch wei Zhongxian (Jin Shijie) Yoshizawa) who lives with ryota’s ex-wife
has amassed considerable power, but when the young, new emperor chongzhen (Ye Kyoko (Yoko Maki). when all three are forced
Xiangming) takes the throne, he decides its past time to put the eunuch in his place. not under the same roof by a typhoon, ryota
wanting to get his own hands dirty, the emperor hires three swordsmen to whittle away hopes for a reconciliation. After The Storm
the members of the eunuch’s powerful and deadly secret police. opens in cinemas on 2 June from Arrow Films.
each of the warriors in question is in it for the money – Shen lian (chang chen) is
saving up to buy the freedom of Miaotong (liu Shishi), the courtesan with whom he is
infatuated; Jin Yichuan (ethan li) needs funds to pay off a blackmailer while trying to
woo a doctor’s daughter; and lu Jianxing (wang Qianyuan) needs the cash so he can buy Sword Art
himself a promotion by greasing the right palms. They might not be the most noble of
heroes, but they’re available, they’re motivated, and they’re good in a fight. Unfortunately,
ScreeningS
the imperial court is rife with intrigue and their mission soon becomes as compromised as iF YoU wAnt to catch Sword Art Online The
their morals. Movie: Ordinal Scale on the big screen, but
lu Yang’s Brotherhood Of Blades has won praise for both its story and for the action aren’t sure when and where to see it, then
choreography by Sang lin who worked on John woo’s Red Cliff. Unusually for a period help is at hand. Just head over to the website
wu xia film, the fight scenes don’t rely on excessive high-flying wirework, earning saothemovie.co.uk for a full list of venues
comparisons with the classic swordplay films from Shaw Brothers of the ‘60s and ‘70s. hosting special preview screenings on 19 April
Brotherhood Of Blades comes to dVd and Blu-ray from 10 April from Second Sight. before it opens in select cinemas around the UK
on 21 April. Sorted.
Suzuki’S TaiSho
Trilogy
Three From The Maverick
AFter getting Fired from nikkatsu
Studios in the late ‘60s, Seijun Suzuki returned
to making feature films in the 1980s with a trio
of strange supernatural dramas known as The
Taisho Trilogy – Zigeunerweisen (which won
Best director and Best Film at the Japanese
Academy Awards), Kageroza, and Yumeji.
Arrow Academy will bring all three to Blu-ray
on 5 June.
024_NEO162[News]CTGC.indd 1 31/03/2017 14:59

ads.indd 1 31/03/2017 12:35
we love this stUFF!
Check out NEO’s pick of the coolest merchandise around this month
1. Tofu CuTe Kawaii a5 4
NoTebooKs
Produced by ARTBOX
and designed by
Tofu Cute, these A5
notebooks are plain
inside, perfect for you to
jot down your thoughts!
On sale for £1.99 from
www.tofucute.com.
2. Yuri!! oN iCe soCKs

Keep your toes toasty
with these Yuri!! On Ice
socks – £5.99 per pair
from www.AnimUK.
co.uk. There are Yuri
Katsuki, Yuri Plisetsky
and Victor designs
available.
1
3. GeNKi Gear
DesiGN Preview 5
Debuting at May’s
London Comic Con are
these new designs from
Genki Gear – so new
that details (including
colours) are still to be
confirmed! Head to
genkigear.co.uk for
more details.
4.fiGma LiNK
Available now at www.
eyeonasia.co.uk from
only £45.99 is this
figma articulated action
figure from Good Smile
Company featuring Link
(A Link Between Worlds
version). Regular and
deluxe versions are
available. 6
2
5. NeNDoroiD siNoN
Celebrate the release of
3 Sword Art Online The
Movie – Ordinal Scale
with Nendoroid Sinon!
Available now from
nendoworld.com priced
at £49.99 with free UK
delivery.
6. saKura KiNomoTo
NeNDoroiD
For £45 from www.
TokyoToys.com, this is
an adorable Nendoroid
Co-de of Sakura
Kinomoto in a Black Cat
Maid costume. We don’t
think she’s big enough to
serve tea, though!
026_NEO162[StuffNEW]CTGC.indd 1 31/03/2017 17:59

ads.indd 1 31/03/2017 12:35
CHIBI STREET STYLE
WEARING THE PANTS
Welcome to NEO’s semi-regular fashion feature, with amazing illustrations from Leeann
Hamilton (The Cool Bean) and excitable writing by Laura Watton (PinkAppleJam).
The following styles are lolita fashion for boys... or girls who don’t want to wear skirts and
dresses! “Boystyle” is a generic term that covers a male-biased equivalent to lolita fashion. As
far as we can see, there are no parallel substyles like in lolita (e.g., sweet lolita, pirate lolita…)
Flexible and interchangeable with many wardrobe pieces, boystyle is fun to wear
and experiment with, utilising many pre-existing pieces in your lolita fashion
wardrobe, however you identify.
KODONA
“Kodona” is a term coined by band member Ryutaro, of Plastic Tree. A Japanese word used to describe
a style of Gothic and Lolita clothing, it refers to the general Ouji style. The literal meaning seems to be
“being at puberty age who is neither quite adult nor child” – a cultural word used for kids over ten years,
to describe middle / high school aged awkwardness. A translation could be “little prince”, but essentially
it also means “kidult”, or possibly “tween boystyle”.
‘Prince pants’ are common, short-shorts that stop above the knee and have accessories attached
(possibly suspenders, bowties, bowler caps and over the knee socks). Spats, top hats, capes and canes are
also used, but are all combined to create a boyish look to make the style separate from the more mature
Aristocrat/EGA style.
ARISTOCRAT
A.K.A. ELEGANT GOTHIC ARISTOCRAT / E.G.A.
This is a more mature style, and has much in common with a western ‘Romantic Gothic’
themed style. Corsets (all types) are common, plus fitted jackets with tail coats are popular. Cravats, frilled
shirts, top hats, even veils are all welcome. Nothing cute is visible (i.e. no sweet prints, bows etc), skirts are long
(but can be shorter with bell or A-line petticoats). Hair can be involved with the style of look you are aiming for.
Intricately styled moustaches and beards fit perfectly with an Aristocrat look. Black, black like your heart… with
flashes of burgundy, purple and perhaps navy, too.
Of interest… A mysterious “J-dandy” term has been seen floating about online. Whilst not defined
specifically, it has been assumed to be a mature boystyle with long pants instead of shorts... dapper, but not
quite the aristocrat look, with a dash more colour and dark shades of makeup.
028-9_NEO162[Fashion]CTGC.indd 1 31/03/2017 14:58

OUJI
Ouji (can also be written “Ōji” or the more respectful “Ōji-sama”), means “prince”, and is often not
considered specifically part of lolita fashion – as it does not have a typical puffy-skirt silhouette.
Ouji also includes blouses and shirts, knickerbockers and other styles of short trousers, knee high
socks, top hats and caps. The colours usually used are black, white, blue and burgundy, though the
feminine versions of the fashion utilise a wider palette.
Rich materials can be worn such as velvet and silks – not just cottons. Accessories like crowns,
collar chains, and costume-jewellery like bulky rings work well. We haven’t seen any written rules
about the showing of knees (usually a no-no in lolita fashion). Hair is worn in a boyish style (shorter).
Boots, platform shoes, heeled leather footwear and even wooden clogs can be matched.
There is such a lot of crossover so Ouji and Kodona are often conflated. In our
opinion, this is fine, because boystyle is about the individual’s looks – not labels.
PUNKTHEMED BOYSTYLE
Punk and Gothic style is a long-running and accessible introductory look at the world of Elegant Gothic
Lolita and Punk Fashion. It can be very westernised in many forms; many pieces are interchangeable with US
brands such as Emily the Strange and select pieces from Hot Topic.
Putumayo is a Japanese alternate fashion clothing line that specializes in punk items, and punk
lolita. Fitted shirts can have bat-wing styled edging, giving a punk-vampire-boy look. Stripy socks are
commonplace, as well as medium-sized top hats, usually worn at a jaunty angle, and shorter hair (or wig, if
you prefer), perhaps even worn with some vampiric fangs for effect.
Black, brunette or light silver wigs are frequently worn. Rounded shoes with square buckles and thick
soles are also common. Contact lenses that colour the eyes red, purple, or silver makes a small but unusual
difference. Fake (or maybe not?) blood dripping from the corner of the mouth adds a cute but creepy finishing
touch! Avoid glitter for Twilighty reasons.
GET INSPIRED!
J-fashion brands that cater for boystyle include Black Peace Now, Atelier
Boz, Alice and the Pirates, Miho Matsuda, Algonquins, Atelier Pierrot,
Deorart, Excentrique, h.NAOTO, Metamorphose, Moi-même-Moitié and
Putumayo. Don’t forget – if you feel it, then flaunt it! Do you create your
own characters from your personal fashion or comic book influences? Do
send your artwork to NEO magazine – we always love to see it!
Illustrations by Leeann Hamilton (www.TheCoolBean.net)

Text by Laura Watton (www.PinkAppleJam.com)
028-9_NEO162[Fashion]CTGC.indd 2 31/03/2017 14:58

ANIME EXPOSé
AccA: 13-TerriTory
inspecTion DepT. Building a nation
There are a small number of anime series where you can watch the first often feeling like a slice of life anime. Its characters are obsessed with cigarettes (a
episode, or even the first few episodes, and still not be sure what the anime’s prized luxury in Dowa), and even more with devouring cakes and sweetbreads.
about, or what kind of series it is. With ACCA: 13-Territory Inspection Dept., Innumerable scenes take place in cafés and patisseries. For heaven’s sake, do not
that holds true for a good half the series, which seems to be asking a lot of the play a drinking game based on ACCA’s cake scenes – you won’t survive! Whatever
TV audience! the intention, ACCA’s obsession with cakes comes off as a weird parody of moe
In Japan, it’s not really so risky, for ACCA is based on a well-established anime, as if Dowa’s citizens were channeling a million sweet-toothed schoolgirls.
manga by artist Natsume Ono. (She previously wrote another strip which was ACCA is also a mystery series, with overtones of spy drama. The story
turned into an anime, the samurai drama House of Five Leaves, though its anime revolves around Jean Otus, a young man who’s seemingly a mere travelling
version had completely different credits from this new show.) The ACCA manga bureaucrat. he’s part of a nationwide organisation called aCCa, and his job is to
is finished – it ran six volumes – and presumably many of the Japanese people go to the different districts of Dowa and make sure they’re running smoothly.
watching the anime have read it already. The snag, though, is the ACCA manga Behind Jean’s back, though, someone is briefing against him. One of aCCa’s
isn’t available in english, so confused anglophone viewers must make do with chiefs claims that Jean’s involved in the rumoured conspiracy to cause a coup
articles like this one! in Dowa, while another official – an intimidatingly beautiful woman, voiced by
ACCA is a parallel-world series, set in an imaginary federal nation called the atsuko “Major Kusanagi” Tanaka – asks Jean to investigate the conspiracy as he
Dowa Kingdom. Parts of Dowa resemble america, parts resemble europe. Some travels the nation.
parts are modern, with aeroplanes and mobile phones, but other Dowa districts There are more strands, such as Dowa’s benign-seeming King approaching
seem stuck two centuries ago. In particular, one district called Suitsu feels like his hundredth birthday, while his heir waits impatiently for his turn on the
revolutionary-era France – a setting immortalised by anime in the 1970s classic throne. (We can’t help wonder if Natsume Ono was influenced by the British
Rose of Versailles. monarchy…) Then there’s Jean’s best friend Nino, who’s apparently just a
Indeed, many characters in ACCA are convinced that a revolution in the journalist… except that he also spies on Jean under orders from aCCa. Oh, and
Kingdom is imminent, even if the details are vague – it’s not clear who will revolt, don’t forget Jean’s devoted younger sister Lotta, who turns heads wherever she
or why. In the meantime, most of Dowa seems peaceful. This is a slow show, goes, and even intrigues Dowa’s prince in waiting.
030-1_NEO161[Expose]CTGC.indd 1 30/03/2017 14:10

Also streAming…
idol incidenTs
We’re covering some lighter winter titles this month,
starting with this singing-girl offering in which idols
run for election to the Japanese Parliament (the Diet).
Perhaps they’ve looked at politics in some other parts of
the world and decided that idol politicians would make
“A SlOw ShOw thAt fEElS SOMEtIMES lIkE k-ON!, SOMEtIMES

things more sensible… The animation is co-produced
with the young MAPPA studio, which previously made
heavyweight anime like Terror in Resonance and
lIkE AN Alt-wOrld JOhN lE CArré drAMA.” acclaimed film, In This Corner of the World.
AkibA’s Trip
“Akiba” is short for Akihabara, the Tokyo district famous
and notorious for its links with otaku culture. Naturally,
an otaku boy is at the centre of this show; he sees people
turning into zombie types and finds himself in the midst
of mad battles and crazy girls. Business as usual, really,
but with extra violence, fanservice and otaku-culture
jokes. The title’s a fanservice pun – just read it a couple of
times. It’s based on a game franchise and animated by the
Gonzo studio.
MySTerIeS aND MaShuPS world’s most boring subject. he’s voiced in Japanese
ACCA is animated by the Madhouse studio and by hiro Shimono, in a role close to his real age. Jean
directed by Shingo Natsume (One Punch Man, is in his 30s, ancient in anime terms! (Shimono’s
Space Dandy). as a slow show which sometimes debut, 15 years ago, was as the hero of the landmark
feels like K-On!, sometimes like alt-world John mecha series RahXephon.)
Le Carré, ACCA will appeal to fans who like Oh, and for anyone who’s just started ACCA and
unpredictability and guessing games. There are is despairing of the series going anywhere, there are
many clues dropped into the script, so forget big story revelations two-thirds of the way through.
the drinking games and come to the series with They’ll have many viewers facepalming and
your notebook and deerstalker. The mishmash shouting, “How can I not have seen that?” while a
of cultures is another draw. Dowa’s union of smaller group in their metaphorical deerstalkers
districts is reminiscent of the uSa, but it’s ruled chuckle smugly, “Heh heh heh…”
by an old european-style monarchy. The different kemono Friends
districts resemble hawaii and California, but also The strangest success story of the season, at least
Switzerland and, as noted, long-ago France. among Japanese viewers. Based on a phone game,
Jean’s and Lotta’s own home city resembles this show follows a human girl lost in a giant nature
New york. as the protagonist, Jean’s in line with reserve in which the animals have turned into – yes,
EastEr Egg
the calm, eerily unflappable youths who show up you’re ahead of us – cute girls. Their catchphrases
a lot in recent anime (Aldnoah.Zero, Alderamin on One of the most visually pleasing parts of were endlessly “memed” on Twitter, and the show
the Sky, the Persona 3 films). an implicit joke of the show is the end-credits animation, which snowballed into a genuine cult. A vital point seems to
the series is that while a great many characters are demonstrates how good animation doesn’t have be that the show wasn’t created with cultdom in mind,
interested in Jean, he seems to regard himself as the to be ‘smooth.’ Check it out! and its success reportedly freaked out its creators…

ANIME EXPOSé
The Dragon DenTisT Monster’s Maw
A couple of issues ago, we covered Little Witch Academia, which originated Bell was a victim of the conflict – we later learn his “end” was ignominious,
as a couple of short(ish) films and is now being broadcast as a long TV series all murdered by his own side. However, the lives of the Dragon Dentists have little
the way into summer. The Dragon Dentist is another small seed that’s been in common with the ground troops. for the Dentists, their existence revolves
allowed to grow. The first version, made in 2014, was an eight-minute short around the great beasts, like the relationship of legend between the “crocodile
by Studio Khara. That’s the studio founded by Hideaki Anno to make his 21st bird” and the crocodile.
century Evangelion films. Now Dragon Dentist has been remade by Khara as a The first half of Dragon Dentist has Bell trying to come to terms with
TV special, which was shown in two 45-minute episodes this february. his death and resurrection, and make sense of this world in the sky. There
Whether this version is meant to be a complete story, or whether there are creatures, strange entities which eat away at the dragon’s teeth. The
might be more to come, is not quite clear. What is clear is that it’s a bold, consequences for the dragon could be far worse than toothache. The Dentists
often original fantasy, which begins rather whimsically and ends in tragedy must destroy these invaders, sometimes at the cost of their own lives. The
and apocalypse. That’s not unusual for anime, of course, and certainly not strange battlefield recalls Fantastic Voyage, with the characters placed like
for Hideaki Anno, who’s credited as the anime’s executive producer and antibodies inside an impossibly giant creature.
sound director. The actual director is a frequent Anno collaborator, Kazuya of course, the notion of people cleaning a dragon’s teeth sounds like a gag
Tsurumaki. He co-directed Khara’s three Evangelion films and has worked in a newspaper cartoon, but the anime plays it straight. It’s quickly obvious
with Anno since the days of Gunbuster and Secret of Blue Water. that the dragon’s teeth are not just gnashers, but gateways between life and
Now Tsuramaki and Anno present a strange story of a dead boy who finds death, enamel versions of The Gate in Fullmetal Alchemist. While Bell is the only
himself resurrected, not in heaven or hell, but in the mouth of an enormous character who has actually returned from the dead, he later finds that Nonoko
dragon, soaring above the earth. The boy, called Bellnard or Bell, is yanked out and the other “Dentists” have also seen the inside of the Dragon’s Teeth… and
of one of the dragon’s huge teeth by Nonoko, a girl who lives in the monster’s that they know a grim truth most mortals are spared.
maw as part of a community of “Dragon Dentists.” If you think that sounds odd,
wait till you hear the rest. BAcK To eArTH
Dragon Dentist is set on what appears to be a parallel earth, where humans The second half of the anime takes Bell and Nonoko to ground level, where they’re
fight a familiar-looking world war with trenches, biplanes and battleships. immediately caught up in the war, and in exceptionally-drawn action. There are

Maijo and Enokido
While the main text highlights
director Tsurumaki and producer
Anno, we mustn’t overlook
Dragon Dentist’s writer, Otaro
Maijo. A prolific novelist, he wrote
the original short version of
the anime in 2014, and was the
credited director as well (though
Tsurumaki was the animation
director). Maijo scripted the long
version in collaboration with Yoji
Enokido, who’s a big name in
anime. Enokido’s credits include
the movie Redline; Gainax’s
FLCL; series composition on
Utena; and script contributions
to Evangelion (the TV series) and
RahXephon.
2
3
Origin Story
The boy Bell did not appear in
the earlier Dragon Dentist short
film. Rather, it tells the story of
how the girl Nonoko became
a Dragon Dentist. A modified
version of the film is incorporated
into part one of the TV version as
a flashback, when Nonoko tells
Bell the story. The original short
was made for Khara’s “Animator
Expo” website (animatorexpo.
com); it was the site’s debut
short, presented by Anno at the
Tokyo International Film Festival
in November 2014.
1. Do you think she’s noticed it? 2. Yes, they

really are dentists, and those really are teeth.
3. Flying low: the surface world recalls the
battlefields of the last century.
thrilling fights on a plane, a brutal body count, and psychedelic plunges into the
dragon’s teeth, falling down into time and memory. For lovers of gorgeously revved-
up, tripped-out drawings, there are sequences to make them weep.
Dragon Dentist goes where others have been before. There’ve been plenty of
anime adventures in the sky, after all. In the last couple of TV seasons, there’s been
a trend for alt-World War fantasies such as Izetta The Last Witch . Dragon Dentist
seemingly riffs on Miyazaki too. Yet Khara’s film is no Xerox, and it comes loaded
with character of its own. Its attractively fluid style can slide into verdant watercolour
beauty, or else into grotesque apocalypse, with mountains of bodies.
Yet while Dragon Dentist dazzles with its visuals and intrigues with its ideas,
big questions go unanswered. For instance, the dragons are supposedly “above”
intervening in human battles directly, but it’s not at all clear how they are used in war.
More critically, we don’t get emotionally invested in the humans, plucky as they are,
to really care about their fates… and while we ostensibly see the fates of both Bell and
Nonoko, the anime’s end leaves still further questions unanswered. Though that Khara X GainaX
could hint we’ve not seen the last of Dragon Dentist’s world… Dragon Dentist’s studio Khara is closely linked with Gainax. Khara was
set up by Hideaki Anno to adapt the Evangelion TV series (made by him
and Gainax) as a series of new cinema films, starting with Evangelion 1.11:
You Are (Not) Alone in 2007. However, fans were startled last December
Dragon Waterloo when Khara sued Gainax over a 100 million yen debt (about £715,000).
If you love the idea of dragons in historical battles, try the Temeraire novels by It only added to Gainax’s woes; the studio’s income is reportedly a tenth
Naomi Novik, which has the beasties in the Napoleonic Wars. The first book is of what it earned five years ago.
His Majesty’s Dragon.

RIP
Seijun Suzuki
Adam remembers this odd filmmaker, so you don’t have to...
My first experience of seijun suzuki was watching a grainy VHs of and a more straightforward yakuza flick. Whether it was a middle finger to the
Branded to Kill in a tiny, drafty screening room in my university library. studio, or a pure artistic choice, nikkatsu did not appreciate suzuki releasing
Whilst film noir is said to have breathed its dying breath with Orson Welles’ Branded to Kill as a black and white picture in the late ‘60s, when audiences
1958 classic, A Touch of Evil, Branded to Kill was a film made in 1967 with expected full colour. either way, they were so disgruntled that they fired
every noir trapping, from a violent plot, to a femme fatale, deep shadows suzuki, a decision they did not expect any kick back from, and one that shaped
and stylized shots; it was even shot in black and white! it was mixed in with the latter half of suzuki’s career.
some undeniable oddness, such as killing a man by shooting a pistol up his
drainpipe, or a rogue butterfly foiling an assassination. i found the film so Suing the Studio
compelling that i had to watch more of suzuki’s work. seijun suzuki felt shortchanged by the dismissal, and after months of back
My next suzuki experience was both a stark contrast, yet also oddly and forth and trying to come to an amicable outcome, he sued the studio.
familiar. Tokyo Drifter (1966) is another yakuza inspired film, but has a The lengthy battle ended in suzuki being awarded over 7 million yen in
psychedelic colour palette, and even a lengthy singing section that seems to damages. not only that, but Kyusaku Hori had to write a letter of apology
have been transplanted from a musical, but somehow fits the film perfectly. to three major newspapers, after he claimed that suzuki’s entire catalogue
Both films remain amongst my favorite Japanese movies of all time, up of films were unwatchable. suzuki may have won the battle, but he was
there with the original Gojira, Yojimbo, Ugetsu Monogatari and Akira. i unofficially black listed, relegated to tV movies, low budget independent
didn’t know then that these two particular films changed suzuki’s life, and films and sporadic work on television series and commercials.
whilst they might be seen as classics today, they were surrounded in such perhaps his most famous post-firing movie is Zigeunerweisen, made in
controversy in the late 1960s that they got him blacklisted for a decade. 1980, a film i briefly mentioned in my 2016 review article, as the producer
of that film, Genjiro Arato, died in november of last year. The film is a
“Suzuki may have Won the battle, but he masterpiece in and of itself, and widely seen as one of the best Japanese
films of the 1980s, but with much of seijun suzuki’s work, it is the story
surrounding the piece that makes it so amazing. Once the film had wrapped
WaS unofficially black liSted, relegated and was literally in the can, suzuki and Arato couldn’t find a distributor
to bring the project to the masses, so it would have passed unwatched
to tv movieS, loW budget independent and forgotten. instead of admitting defeat, the pair toured an inflatable
cinema around the country, allowing people the chance to see the film. The
filmS and Sporadic Work on televiSion spectacle may have drawn in crowds, but the movie grabbed the patrons’
attention and it was both popular and critically acclaimed as well, so their
SerieS and commercialS!” outrageous gamble somehow paid off.

for the last 30 years of his life, suzuki slowed down a little and none of
his later work really stands out as historically epic. 2001’s Pistol Opera is a
spiritual sequel to Branded to Kill, with a female protagonist, and whilst
Working at the film factory the film is interesting and Makiko esumi is great in everything she does, it
suzuki was employed by nikkatsu to churn out films at an extraordinary doesn’t have the weight of its predecessor.
rate, one, two and sometimes three films a year. He started out as a director’s in 1997 suzuki did an extensive interview with the Japan foundation
assistant, then screenwriter, and was given his own directorial project in 1956 and filmforum, segments of which you can find on youtube with english
with a movie called Victory is Mine – a 65 minute music video for a pop group subtitles. suzuki talks candidly, stroking his sculpted goatee whilst letting
masquerading as a love story with gangsters thrown in for good measure. it us know his films were often edited in a single day, and that constraints
wasn’t the most outstanding of films, but it guaranteed his place in nikkatsu of time, space or continuity never held him back creatively. you get the
as a reliable and steady filmmaker. His films always had budgets and schedules impression that he saw himself as more of a craftsman than an artist, a
that were extremely tight, but because the films did not represent a huge director for hire who might not give you exactly what you wanted, but
investment or financial risk, and as suzuki was seen as a safe pair of hands, something you won’t be quick to forget.
he was given relative freedom to explore the medium of cinema, so long as the
movie was finished and ready to roll when the release date came around. He remembering the legend
slowly built a loyal fanbase and won the respect of most of the people he worked His passing sent a few ripples through Japan, a mention on yahoo’s top page
alongside, with the noticeable exception of studio president Kyusaku Hori, who and eulogies in the major newspapers, but most people won’t lose too much
hated almost everything suzuki made. sleep over his death – indeed, it’s unfortunate to say they probably have no
suzuki famously grumbled about the factory approach to filmmaking idea who he was.
he was locked into, but he kept himself entertained by making his projects But for those that knew his work and his eccentric lifestyle, the lack of
increasingly experimental. The aforementioned Tokyo Drifter was too odd for tributes make his work that much more important, hidden gems that lay
the studio executives, and they demanded his next project be less colourful unpolished and undiscovered, waiting for their chance to shine…
034-5_NEO162[Jlife]CTGC.indd 1 31/03/2017 14:57

1
1. branded to kill, a study in

2 film noir. 2. tokyo drifter, a
movie with a psychedelic
colour palette. 3. femme
fatales, stylised shots and deep
shadows in branded to kill!
034-5_NEO162[Jlife]CTGC.indd 2 31/03/2017 14:57

MANGA SCHOOL with Ruth Keattch
Go Bold
Using thick, bold lines can be worrying for a lot of artists. it can look
overdone and way too dark for the art. oUr tUtorial will help yoU
conqUer yoUr fear of big dramatic lines – not only are they fUn to draw,
bUt yoU’ll grow as an artist drawing things oUtside yoUr comfort zone!
1 2
1. Set Up For SUcceSS

Starting with your base sketch (I’ve sketched my character
Lilah from my manga series Jarred) try to pick a nice
downwards angle so you can get those sharper facial angles,
and more interesting finger and hand shapes. The more extreme
the angle you choose to view your character from, the more
extreme shapes you’ll make – and therefore make it way bolder! 3
You’re going to be using thicker lines, so don’t worry too much
about being messy here.
2. preliminary inking
Now for the first ink layer over the top. This is where you want
to finalise the details as you would without the dynamic, bold
lines, and adding the dark speed lines in the background really
help draw the eye in towards your character. To get this effect,
sketch lines down towards your character’s face and then
improvise the amount of black you want to add!
3. Seek Balance
Now you’ve got your basic sketch – we’ll come back to the inks
after this step. Removing the sketch lines underneath will help
you get a better look at your sketch as a whole, and be able to see
the parts where the lines can be thickened to emulate darker
shadows. The difference you see now shows that there isn’t
enough balance in the composition – so let’s get inking again!
4. Bold Shadowing
Lines really stand out when you thicken them up towards
where a shadow would naturally be – under the chin and the
hairs going against the forehead are good examples of this.
This bolder shadowing technique can be used all across the
0 36 neo magaZine MAy 2017
036-7_NEO162[MangaSchool]CTGC.indd 1 30/03/2017 14:11

4
ChAMeLeoN PeNS
Chameleon Color Tones is an innovative marker system,
where a single marker allows you to achieve multiple
tones. Initially launching the highly acclaimed Deluxe Set,
a pack of 20 markers allowing you to get over 100 tones,
and the new palette of 30 new colours (50 in total) will
leave artists with near endless possibilities.
Visit www.chameleonpens.com for more
information about the range!
composition – the creases of the shirt and the fingers and hands. As you add these thicker
lines, you’ll notice that your image will start to gain more depth, and fit in more with the craft the mood
background. Unity!
As you can see from our image, this kind of bold line
drawing is really suited to shonen, action series. Stories
5. add contraSt about sport, fighting, science fiction and so on will
To finish up your image, really show that shadow off by adding a dramatic mid-grey to your
always benefit from bolder lines, because they create a
character, simulating them being shown in a contrasting light. Make sure you pick out the
feeling of urgent action, drama and impact.
cheek and eyes with the shading so that your character can look bold and energetic. Lilah’s
In contrast, gentler, shoujo style series will often use
ready for her netball game!
lighter lines to create a romantic, dreamy effect that
suits rom-coms and slice of life tales. But even those
6. over to yoU! titles occasionally bust out stronger lines for action
This technique can be used for all sorts of angles, but really stands out with this kind of
scenes. Flick through some to see!
downwards angle. Give your characters a little bit of extra ink and let them feel their own
dramatic moment!
036-7_NEO162[MangaSchool]CTGC.indd 2 30/03/2017 14:11

W O r D S B Y D av iD W E S T
[FILM REVIEW]
Ghost In the shell

Lost In Translation
one another perfectly. Kitano is woefully underused in the
O U T N O W // Pa r a m O UN T // C E r T 1 2 a // S C i - F i // T hE aT r i C a l role, sleepwalking through a performance that asks nothing
// 1 0 7 miNS of him as an actor.
Then there’s the controversial matter of the Major’s
PLOT Major Mira Killian (Scarlett Johansson) is the first nationality and the ‘whitewashing’ of the protagonist by
of her kind, a human brain in a cyborg body. With her casting a Caucasian American actress. The secret of the Major’s
teammates in Section 9 she hunts cyber-criminals, but true identity, and the past life she can’t remember before
when a hacker called Kuze (Michael Pitt) targets Hanka her cyborg rebirth, are central to the story, and the film does
Robotics, the company that built the Major’s body, address her Japanese background directly. But it never feels
questions surface about her past. compelling and doesn’t make for an interesting dramatic core
to the film.
D
Johansson is remarkably flat in the lead role, acting as
irector Rupert Sanders’ live action adaptation of though she has mistaken playing a cyborg – a human mind
Masamune Shirow’s Ghost in the Shell franchise in a synthetic body – for being a robot. She’s stiff and cold.
Battle probably works best taken as a stand-alone film,

rather than as an interpretation of the cyberpunk
Even a sequence in which the Major visits a female sex worker
fails to light any sparks and feels like a very calculated, if
angel classic. While there are several overt nods to the source pointless, way to reference the infamous lesbian orgy scene of
There are more material, including a basset hound and a tachikoma (called a the original manga. But there’s no sex on the screen here and
American manga spider tank here), it doesn’t require any previous knowledge of certainly no hint of passion in this chilly encounter.
adaptations on the GITS universe to understand the film. In the supporting cast, Pilou Asbaek manages to bring
the way. Robert
One of the problems that Sanders and scriptwriters Jamie some likability to the burly Batou and the script reveals how
Rodriguez, director
Moss and William Wheeler really seem to have struggled with he came by his cybernetic eyes, while Juliette Binoche injects
of the Spy Kids
is how to balance the Japanese character of the franchise with some desperately needed warmth to the proceedings as Dr
movies, is working
on a version of the desire to appeal to an international audience. Thus, the Oulet, the cybernetics expert who repairs the Major every
Yukito Kishiro’s sci- story unfolds in an unnamed Asian city where the head of time she gets busted up in a fight.
fi epic Alita: Battle Section 9, Aramaki (Takeshi Kitano), speaks only in Japanese As for the antagonists of the tale, Michael Pitt is the
Angel. to his team, who all reply in English. It’s not clear why they angst-ridden, angry rebel with a cause as Kuze, but Peter
are speaking two different languages yet can all understand Fernadino is paper-thin as Cutter, Head of Looking Menacing
0 38 N E O M A G A Z I N E M A Y 2 0 1 7
038-9_NEO162[DPSreview]CTGC.indd 1 31/03/2017 18:01

2 3
And Looming In Shadows at Hanka Robotics. One of the early on when the Major has to deep dive into the memory of 1. Decked out in a white,
weaknesses in the screenplay is that none of the supporting a robotic geisha in an attempt to track down the hacker who’s skintight body suit, it’s hard
characters has a meaningful story arc of their own. Batou going after Hanka Robotics. It manages to be both visually to believe the major can turn
gets new eyes, but he’s fundamentally the same person at arresting and unsettling at the same time, and more of this invisible, but she can.
the end of the film as he was at the beginning. The same for would have been welcome.
2. Just as in the original
manga, there’s fanservice
Alas, the film is very light on the cyberpunk front and
aplenty. 3. Ghost in the Shell
“ThE Film iS vErY liGhT ON ThE scrapes at the surface of the philosophical questions that were
the heart of Mamoru Oshii’s two anime features – where is the
definitely has the looks of a
stylish sci-fi flick. 4. a tense
CYBErPUNk FrONT aND SCraPES aT line between human and machine? In a world where you no
longer need a human body to exist as a consciousness, what
moment for mira.
ThE SUrFaCE OF ThE PhilOSOPhiCal does it mean to be alive? It seems these were considered too
weighty for an action blockbuster, so instead it all boils down
qUESTiONS ThaT WErE ThE hEarT OF to, ‘Who was the Major before she was a cyborg?’ which is far
less thought-provoking.
mamOrU OShii’S TWO aNimE FEaTUrES.” Action scenes pop up at regular, perfunctory intervals. The
iconic image of the Major leaping from the top of a skyscraper
is presented not once but twice, while the shootouts make
Aramaki and the rest of Section 9. The Major’s own arc is fairly excessive use of slow motion. One fight scene is poorly
straightforward as she goes from being unhappy in her status misjudged as the Major spends all of it in invisibility mode, so Controversy
as the first of her kind, to embracing it. The fact that this has instead of a cool Matrix-style fight you get to watch someone Mamoru Oshii
to be communicated via voiceover speaks volumes to the throwing themselves around like a particularly acrobatic has rejected
the controversy
weakness of the writing. drunkard as they’re struck by an assailant you can’t see.
surrounding the
Visually, the scenes of the city, a clutter of high rise Whatever happened to the ribald humour and energy of
casting of Scarlett
buildings dominated by colossal holographic advertisements, Masamune Shirow’s manga and the philosophical depth of
Johansson. In an
borrow liberally from Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner and the Mamoru Oshii’s two films? Offered instead is a remarkably interview with IGN, he
film overall is crying out for more splashes of colour to break humourless action movie that is essentially an origin story. This described the Major’s
up the gloomy monotony of greys and black, particularly in Ghost is visually impressive, but ultimately insubstantial. physical identity as ‘an
the second half. One of the most striking sequences comes entirely assumed one.’

2
“ARRANGED
MARRIAGES”
It’s odd to see a
Japanese comic
character actively
looking down on
marriage bureaux
in To Say Nothing of
Her. Although omiai
arrangements, in
which a professional
agency sets up meet-
ups with suitable
spouses, are regarded
as old-fashioned,
they still account for
6.2% of Japanese
weddings. It’s how
Gundam’s Yoshiyuki
Tomino met Mrs
1
Tomino, for starters.
040-3_NEO162[MangaSnapshot]CTGC.indd 1 30/03/2017 14:12

ManGa snaPshOT
Carnage of adultery Jonathan Clements is no better than he ought to be
I S S U E #1? // D E B U T Y E A R : 2 017 // PAG E CO U N T: C . 5 0 0 // P U B l I S h E R : B U N k A-S h A // P R I C E : 5 0 0 Y E N (£ 3. 5 4) // I R R E G U l A R
“A reAder sAw it!” shrieks the headline. “A lust-crazed into Fukumi on the arm of an older man, and pointedly asks
woman and a ghastly man, caught in the act!” him if he’s her dad (3).
regular readers of NeO magazine’s trusty Manga snapshot In the hands of another artist, in a different publication,
feature should be able to tell what’s going on in this issue’s the Kanako-Fukumi axis would soon play out as a situational
magazine just by looking at the cover (1). [Go on, take a look. The comedy, with Fukumi as the ever-forgiving ingénue, and
text isn’t going anywhere... ed.] Kanako as the tactless foil. But Ono’s version consistently
The cover is so busy with text that there’s barely room for denies the comedy from every situation, soon turning darker as
the imagery, which shows a man and a woman plainly unhappy Kanako walks in on her husband and Fukumi in a secret clinch.
to be noticed. A smaller image shows a pair of simmering Only we, the readers, know that Fukumi had been heroically
frenemies, giving each other the threatening side-eye. resisting a sexual assault (4) – will the ladies patch it up, or will
Yes! It’s another manga magazine for the gossipy housewife, this lead to handbags at dawn?
crammed with adverts for fortune tellers, cures for a sexless
marriage and a merkin for that all-important outing to the hot One COin Trash
springs. Your correspondent isn’t all that sure why the Venus Back in 1998, the steely editor character in the TV drama Tabloid
Veil pubic wig is such a big thing in ladies’ manga magazines – gave stern advice to his new top reporter, slumming it from a
the advert implies that it allows one to enter a sauna seemingly broadsheet. The average commuter, he said, has 120 yen in his
naked, but actually hiding one’s privates beneath fake pubes. pocket and a split-second to decide whether to spend it at the
No, I don’t know how this is supposed to help, either, but as the station on a coffee-in-a-can or a magazine. And that’s why the
blurb says: “Thank you, Venus Veil!” I’d order one for NeO’s headlines have to be so lurid and eye-catching. Prices might
editor to road-test, but they cost a shocking £140 apiece. have gone up, but editorial style seems to be forever – this issue
As well as devoting an odd amount of time to obsessing of Carnage of Adultery proudly boasts that it is a “one-coin”
over body hair – its removal, relocation and obscuring – the purchase, the cover price set at 463 yen, so that it costs a single
implied reader of One Coin Ladies’ Comic Carnage of Adultery 500-yen piece after sales tax.
also seems to speak a strange patois of slangy Japanese. I’ve It all seems like suitable fodder for trash television,
been using the language on a professional basis for 25 years, but including such crowd pleasers as saori Kirino’s A Woman
writing this month’s snapshot had me repeatedly scurrying of Lies, which begins with someone’s dead husband getting
to the dictionary to look up the cant and argot of the Tokyo dumped in the river so the police won’t find him. Thankfully,
curtain-twitcher, riddled with words that I don’t get to use all this isn’t based on a reader’s letter, but on a real-life criminal
that often, like hussy, jailbait, homewrecker, and pram-face. case from 2009 in shizuoka. And then there’s sei Hazuki’s
still, who doesn’t love a challenge? This month’s Manga She Who Laughs Last, in which a housewife who looks
snapshot is so caught up in the dialect and slang of real unfortunately like david Cameron is forced to endure the
housewives because it’s they, supposedly, who have supplied hateful taunts of friends and relatives over an apparent
the storylines. downturn in her marital happiness.
To Say Nothing of Her (2), by Takumi Ono is based on a letter Takumi Ono is back Whose Child is This? (5), the confession
from reader “T.O.”, a company employee from Okayama whose of a 35-year-old from saitama, although it is not clear whether
initials are suspiciously the same as the artist’s. In a startling this is “K’s” own story, or just something she heard at the
change from the usual self-image of manga protagonists, our hairdressers. Heroine Maya sugiyama discovers that she is
heroine Kanako is visibly plain. she gets married at 31, after pregnant, but is a little unclear on just whose bed she might
meeting her man through an introductions agency – a fact have been in eight weeks earlier. Co-worker shinji seems to
about which her friends cannot help but snicker. Only Fukumi, be the most likely candidate, and proves to be a charming,
her fat and happy bestie from school, seems genuinely pleased happy and eager helpmeet, swiftly marrying his knocked-up
for her, a fact which Kanako seemingly forgets when she runs girlfriend and thanking her profusely for bringing a bundle >>>

ManGa snaPshOT CarnaGe Of adulTery
6 6
>>> of joy into his life. Maya’s story, however, is much more tied
up with her inner experience – how it feels to have aching feet “iT’s anOTher ManGa MaGazine
fOr The GOssiPy hOusewife,
on the train when nobody gives up their seat, and how it feels to
have her mother constantly berating her about what a scarlet
woman she is. shinji meekly shrugs the diatribe off, observing
that times have changed and that he is happy beyond belief to
get an instant family.
CraMMed wiTh adverTs fOr
Ono’s manga fast-forwards through several months of
young parenthood, capturing vignettes of sleepless nights and
fOrTune Tellers, Cures fOr a
messy dinners, only to bring the readers back to earth with a
thump by reminding us that Maya was never 100% sure who
sexless MarriaGe and a Merkin
BROUGHT TO
MOOK
the real father was.
In a bold and provocative move, the story ends not with a fOr ThaT all-iMPOrTanT OuTinG
Small print in this
magazine describes
resolution, but with Maya thinking through the dilemma she
might face. As a blood test looms for her baby, she speculates TO The hOT sPrinGs.”
it as a mook – a on whether she would stay in a happy but deceptive marriage,
“magazine book”, or come clean and run the risk of possibly ruining her
betraying its origins newfound domestic bliss. Carnage of Adultery magazine, is actually not really focused
as a collection of Usually, however, the men in this magazine get short on the fact of adultery. what concerns her more is how that
reprints from other shrift, and largely comprise a carnival of heels and cheaters. makes her heroine feel, in a manga that tracks Yuki’s journey
Bunka-sha titles. “Y.K.” from Nagano has a horror story of her own for artist along the familiar stages of grief: denial, Anger, Bargaining…
Other clues include Miwako Fujii, about the tribulations of a woman in Nagano and so on.
the preponderance of called Yuki Kitamura… er… they really haven’t got the hang of Carnage of Adultery magazine recognises that while the
murky printing where this whole obscuring-identity thing, have they? situations in which its readers might find themselves are going
former colour sections In what must have been a cutting-edge techno-thriller to be radically different from the sensational events depicted
have been reprinted when it first appeared a few years ago, Yuki uncovers her between its covers, they will often recognise many of the
in black and white, husband’s infidelity by looking through the text messages on emotions that are shown.
and that perennial his phone. Imagine that. Arguably, by showing them in their extreme forms,
indicator: mobile But while the technology might offer a modern feel to the the artists in Carnage of Adultery magazine inoculate their
phones a decade story of An Unimaginable Family (6), artist Fujii’s interest readers against some of the more mundane crises that life
behind the times. in the story, like those of almost all her fellow creatives in might throw at them.

THE HAPPY DIVORCEE
37-year-old “H.A.”, a nurse from from Aichi, supplies the storyline
for The Road to Divorce by Piyoko Marui, in which 37-year-old
nurse Hiromi Araki (did they remember to actually change the
name!?) is shocked to receive pictures sent to her phone of her
husband entering a hotel with an unknown woman. The game’s
afoot, because there’s money at stake. If both parties agree to
a divorce in Japan, getting one involves a matter as simple as
filling in a form and giving the local government office a week
to process the paperwork. It’s only if the couple cannot agree
terms that matters are referred to a court, which all sounds very
modern and friendly, except when one remembers that this
is not a trip to the beach we are talking about. It is a divorce. If
they could sit down and work things out in the first place, they
wouldn’t be throwing saucepans at each other in the kitchen!
Meanwhile, according to Japanese common practice, if
one of the partners has been unfaithful or violent in some way,
the aggrieved party can claim an alimony payment, sometimes
delivered as a single lump sum. This is why private investigators
are such big business in Japan, because a few yen for the right
photograph can prove to be a windfall. Has Hiromi really lost her
husband, or has she just won the lottery…?
Such logistics form a large part of this rather talky manga,
as Hiromi and her co-workers debate the pros and cons of a
quick and clean divorce. Assuming that her husband is guilty
of adultery (a matter frankly given less consideration than the
paperwork), Hiromi’s dilemma then centres around how much
she wants to hurt him back, and indeed, whether she really
wants to hurt him at all. Intriguingly, though, the story treats the
entire matter as a quickie divorce, a resolution regarded as being
to the better psychological well-being of both partners, without
considering their children for a moment. Hiromi and her cheating
husband have two kids, who are glimpsed only momentarily
in the back of a couple of panels. There’s a lot of right-on talk
about how a marriage isn’t necessarily a failure if it lasts for five
years, but little mention of who is going to be picking up the kids
from school, and indeed paying for them to get through college.
While The Road to Divorce is sweetly positive in its feel-good
approach to separation, it seems to be so at the expense of some
rather more pressing real-world logistics.
“There’s a lOT Of riGhT-On Talk

abOuT hOw a MarriaGe isn’T
neCessarily a failure if iT
lasTs fOr five years, buT liTTle
MenTiOn Of whO is GOinG TO
be PiCkinG uP The kids frOM
sChOOl.”

Don’t try this At home Did you know you can get your kung fu training in without leaving
your front room? NEO will show you how to study the noble art
without even breaking a sweat.
HavE yOu EvEr been watching a kung fu movie and thought, “I should exercises in ‘hard’ styles like Hung Kuen). Based on Taoist concepts, Pa Kau
learn how to do this in case I too am ever attacked by ninjas who fall from Chang is all about circles. If the fighter is moving their hands in smooth,
the ceiling and leap from the shadows?” But then you weren’t sure exactly circular patterns to redirect blows, and employing an abundance of footwork
what style of kung fu you’re watching? Those days are behind you now. that involves moving as if around the circumference of a circle, then it’s
Here at NEO we’re proud to present our handy pull-out guide (as long as probably Pa Kau Chang. In Ip Man 2, Ip has a match with a Pa Kua Chang
you cut the pages yourself) to the most popular styles of kung fu you’ll master played by Fung Hak-O; there are circles aplenty in The Grandmaster
encounter on screen. David West adopts his riding Horse stance and his courtesy of Zhang Ziyi’s character Gong Er, while Steven Seagal even gets in
legs totally aren’t wobbling. on the art in Ching Siu-Tung’s Belly Of The Beast.
1. Wing Chun 5. DrunKen Kung Fu

Legend has it that this style was created by a nun called Wing Chun. But there Zui Quan, better known as Drunken Kung Fu or Drunken Boxing, was
are a lot of legends in the history of kung fu and most of them are nonsense. popularised by yuen Wo-Ping’s Drunken Master in which Jackie Chan
This art is associated with the city of Foshan, home to famous Wing Chun memorably performs the Eight Drunken Gods form. But it’s worth
adepts Leung Chan and Ip Man. While the trilogy (soon to be a tetralogy) of Ip remembering that yuen invented that form just for his movie to showcase
Man films starring Donnie yen has introduced this style to a new audience, Chan’s incredible acrobatics. To perform Zui Quan, the hands should be
the definitive Wing Chun films are Sammo Hung’s Warriors Two and in the shape of someone holding a cup (you’re supposed to be drinking,
Prodigal Son, both of which explore Leung Chan’s life in different ways. Key remember), and the forms include moves intended to replicate the weaving
indicators of Wing Chun in a movie include short range, straight punches, and staggering of the intoxicated to baffle your opponent. alas, while Jackie
chi sau (sticky hands) used to tangle up on opponent’s arms, and the butterfly Chan looks amazing doing the Eight Drunken Gods, the style has never fared
knives and long pole forms. well in practice against less esoteric systems.
2. hung Kuen 6. Praying ManTis

For years, Hung Kuen – or Hung Gar – was the predominant style in the It’s known by a handful of aliases – Seven Star Praying Mantis, Northern
kung fu movies made at Shaw Brothers studios, thanks to the efforts of fight Mantis or Shandong Praying Mantis – but this style is instantly recognisable
choreographer and director Lau Kar-Leung. The style traces its origins back to by its stance, with the hands and forearms mimicking the limbs of the
Shaolin Temple where master Luk ah-Choi taught it to the anti-Qing fighter mantis. It purports to have been formulated by the Shaolin monk Wang Lang
Hung Hey-Kwun, who spread the art around South-Eastern China (although who got the idea from watching a mantis fighting a cricket (or possibly a
Hung’s Fist is not named after him, but after the first Ming Dynasty emperor). cicada, accounts vary, but a friend-of-a-friend of mine saw the whole thing).
One of the most famous Hung Kuen exponents was Wong Fei-Hung, whose The basic idea is to tie up the opponent’s limbs, force them off balance and
fictional deeds have been immortalised in more than 80 movies, but the best create opportunities to land strikes and perform throws. The best example
places to see the style remain the films of Lau Kar-Leung. Heroes Two and of Northern Mantis on film has to be Lau Kar-Leung’s Shaolin Mantis
Executioners From Shaolin offer two different accounts of the creation of the (aka Deadly Mantis) starring David Chiang and for further study, seeing
famous Tiger and Crane form of Hung Kuen, while Lau impressively struts Thundering Mantis starring Leung Kar-yan.
his stuff in New Kids In Town. To spot Hung Kuen, look for the low riding
Horse stance, the iconic ‘To Conquer The Centre With a Single Finger’ pose, 7. BaK Mei
and the Five animals form – Tiger, Crane, Leopard, Snake, Dragon. you know someone’s the bad guy in a kung fu movie when they bust out some
Bak Mei moves. The style is allegedly named after the White Eyebrow Monk
3. Tai Chi (the name means white eyebrows) who betrayed the Shaolin Temple to the
Back to the legends! Tai Chi claims to have been formulated by Chang San- soldiers of the evil Qing emperor in 1768. you can recognise Bak Mei because
Feng, a member of the Wu Dang monastery, who created it to be superior the fists are held with the knuckles of the forefinger sticking out slightly. The
to the Shaolin arts. Tai Chi is one of the ‘internal’ martial arts, emphasising aim is to drive the protruding knuckle into all the softest, most vulnerable
pliability, suppleness and redirecting – rather than overpowering – an parts of your opponent. you can find examples of Bak Mei in the first Ip Man
opponent’s force. Jet Li played Chang San-Feng in Tai Chi Master but the film, where it’s used by Master Liu (Chen Zhihui), and in The One, where the
choreography in the film contains few instances of Tai Chi forms. Instead, villainous Lawless uses it against the Pa Kua Chang of good guy Gabe (both
look to Keanu reeves’ Man Of Tai Chi starring Tiger Chen, or ang Lee’s played by Jet Li). Lo Lieh memorably played the villain who gave the style its
excellent Pushing Hands. Indicators Tai Chi is on display include circular name in both Executioners From Shaolin and Clan Of The White Lotus.
movements, a blend of grappling with strikes, and moves with such
wonderful names as ‘repulse The Monkey’ and ‘Wave Hands Like Clouds’. So, if knowledge is power, you’re basically already a grandmaster, ready to
face a legion of ninjas in battle. The only hard part will be deciding which
4. Pa Kau Chang form you want to bust out from your vast and varied repertoire. But use
another of the styles considered part of the ‘internal’ arts along with Tai Chi your skills wisely, my friend. Because if you don’t, we’ll totally deny ever
and Hsing yi (although it’s a false distinction, there are plenty of internal telling you any of this.
044-5_NEO162[Movie]CTGC.indd 1 31/03/2017 15:23

1 2
Warriors Two Executioners from Shaolin
3 4
Man of Tai Chi
Monkey See, Monkey Do

Less commonly found in films, Monkey Kung Fu involves
aping (see what we did there?) the movements of a monkey.
The definitive showcase of the style is Lau Kar-Leung’s Mad
Monkey Kung Fu and the director later mixed it with Zui
Quan for his movie Drunken Monkey starring Jacky Wu. Ip Man 2
6 5
Shaolin Mantis
Drunken Master
Fly like An eAgle

Another style seen rather infrequently, Ying
Jow Pai – Eagle Claw Kung Fu – uses the
thumb and first two fingers to grab, gouge
and generally poke at your opponent as if your
hands are an eagle’s talons. Yuen Wah uses
the style in the final battle of Sammo Hung’s
Ip Man Eastern Condors.
044-5_NEO162[Movie]CTGC.indd 2 31/03/2017 15:23

NEO VAULT: CLASSICS REDISCOVERED
BRANDED TO KILL
In 1967, Seijun Suzuki made a gangster movie so unusual and outlandish that it got him fired.
David West revisits the infamous Branded To Kill.
NoWaDayS, SeIjuN SuzuKI’S Branded To Kill is considered one of the has a very particular fetish – he’s aroused by the smell of cooking rice – much
director’s finest films, hailed as his masterpiece by directors including jim to the dismay of his wife Mami (Mariko ogawa) who must his endure his
jarmusch and Quentin Tarrantino, but at the time it was made, it almost cost predilections. But Mami becomes insanely jealous when Hanada becomes
him his career and it certainly cost him his job. obsessed with Misako (Mari annu), the mysterious beauty who hires Hanada
In 1967, Suzuki had been churning out films for Nikkatsu Studios for for a hit that goes awry.
almost a decade, knocking out an impressive total of 40 B-movies during Many of the plot elements will sound familiar to any fan of the yakuza
his tenure there, most notably a string of inventive yakuza films in which genre – there’s Misako as the femme fatale, and there’s even a washed-up
Suzuki slowly but surely subverted the genre. Branded To Kill was originally former hitman who tries to find his forgotten courage in booze – but Suzuki
commissioned by Nikkatsu when another production was cancelled and they refuses to play by the rules. Hanada’s hits become weirder with every
desperately needed to plug a hole in their release schedule on short notice. assignment – he kills one target by shooting him through the plughole of a
Thus Suzuki and the other members of the Guryu Hachiro group, a collection sink, and he escapes one crime scene by riding away on a balloon. The one
of other directors and writers who collaborated on scripts together, knocked time Hanada misses his prey, it’s because a butterfly lands on his rifle scoop
out the screenplay for Branded To Kill and the cameras started rolling. just as he pulls the trigger, obscuring his shot. It’s a beautiful image, but one
When it was finished, Nikkatsu’s president Kyusaku Hori hated it so much completely out of keeping with the standard machismo expected of hard-
that he pulled the film from cinemas once it had completed its initial run. In boiled gangsters. What sort of killer gets distracted by a butterfly?
april 1968, Suzuki was effectively fired by Nikkatsu when they told him they and then there’s the sheer wilful strangeness of the protagonist’s fetish
wouldn’t be paying his salary anymore, which led to a lawsuit between the for the odour of rice, which sees Hanada sitting with his arms wrapped
filmmaker and the studio. The case was eventually decided in Suzuki’s favour around a rice cooker, lost in bliss. No wonder his wife calls him a hentai! jo
in 1971, but his standing in the film industry took quite a knock and he didn’t Shishido is great in the lead, although he looks even more like a hamster than
make another film until 1977’s A Tale Of Sorrow. usual – the actor’s distinctive appearance was the result of surgical cheek
Remarkably, he enjoyed a critical resurgence in the ‘80s after his drama implants. Perhaps it takes an oddball to play one.
Zigeunerweisen won a slew of japanese academy awards, leading to a second
spell of creativity throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s. His final film, the delightfully
colourful musical Princess Raccoon starring zhang ziyi, was released in
2005, 57 years after he first entered the movie business as an assistant director
at Shochiku Studios.
HENTAI ASSASSIN
Boiled down to its essence, Branded To Kill is a fairly straightforward story
about the struggle for supremacy in japan’s criminal underworld, where the
top-ranked hitmen compete for the prestigious number one spot. In practice,
it’s anything but straightforward, unfolding as a delirious, unpredictable
fever dream.
Goro Hanada (jo Shishido) is the third ranked assassin-for-hire, who goes
from assignment to assignment, hoping to work his way up to the coveted
top spot held by an anonymous killer referred to only as a phantom. Hanada
Four oF The BesT From suzuki

Kanto Wanderer (1963), In Youth Of The Beast,
sees Suzuki starting a former detective (Jo
to satirise the yakuza Shishido) plays two yakuza
genre with a tale about gangs off against each
an honourable gangster other, plotting to bring
Katsuta who’s out of them both down. Often
step with the times, hailed as Suzuki’s breakout
but it’s the beautiful movie, this established his
cinematography that flamboyant, colour-coded
most impresses. visual style.
046-7_NEO162[Vaultv2]CTGC.indd 1 31/03/2017 15:24

every BeasT
has iTs Day
In 2012, it was announced that
Hong Kong director John
Woo would helm a remake
of Suzuki’s gangland thriller
Youth Of The Beast under the
title Day Of The Beast. The film
was touted as marking Woo’s
return to English language
filmmaking – his first since
the 2004 made-for-TV film
The Robinsons: Lost In Space.
However, since then there’s
been no sign of the film,
although it was supposed to
be made in honour of Nikkatsu
Studios’ 100th anniversary.
Given the manner of Nikkatsu’s
split with Seijun Suzuki, it’s
remarkable how the studio has
enthusiastically re-embraced
the late director’s work.
1 2 GhosT DoG
Fans of Branded To Kill include the
American filmmaker Jim Jarmusch,
and it’s easy to see the influence
of Suzuki’s classic on Jarmusch’s
1999 thriller Ghost Dog: Way Of The
Samurai. Forrest Whittaker plays
the titular Ghost Dog, an assassin-
for-hire living in New York who lives
by the bushido code, practicing
swordsmanship and obsessively
reading Tsunetomo Yamamoto’s
book Hagakure, widely considered
3 the definitive writing on the tenets of
bushido. One of his assignments sees
Ghost Dog shoot his target from below
through the plughole of a sink, in a
clear homage to one of Hanada’s hits in
Branded To Kill.
1. “Look, I wear sunglasses inside because I’m cool.

Okay?” 2. Weird, violent, beautiful: Branded To Kill.
3. There are plenty of familiar elements from the
yakuza genre on display in this subversive film.
Fighting Elegy is one of A wonderful exercise

Suzuki’s most subversive in stylistic flair, Tokyo
films, exploring how a Drifter follows Tetsu, an
repressed young man ex-yakuza trying – and
eventually succumbs failing – to stay out of
to the allure of fascism. trouble. Highlights include
Suzuki tackles the a bar room brawl staged
subject through a mix like a Hollywood musical
of comedy, farce and number and Tetsu singing
ultimately tragedy. his own theme song.
046-7_NEO162[Vaultv2]CTGC.indd 2 31/03/2017 15:24

048_NEO162[poster]CTGC.indd 1 30/03/2017 14:12
©KADOKAWA CORPORATION ENTERBRAIN/”AMAGAMI SS” Production Committee
049_NEO162[poster]CTGC.indd 1
30/03/2017 14:13
050-1_NEO162[centreposter]CTGC.indd 1 30/03/2017 14:13
©LRIG/Project Selector
050-1_NEO162[centreposter]CTGC.indd 2 31/03/2017 15:48

052_NEO162[poster]CTGC.indd 1
Ann as Ashe Heartseeker from League of Legends (facebook.com/annkarincosplay). Photo: Nico Lemus / Instagram: @nostralemus
30/03/2017 14:15
ads.indd 1 31/03/2017 12:36
NEO NATION
WE’RE ALL TALKING ABOUT…
ANIME IN
THE CINEMA
With Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale’s
theatrical release, we wanted to know what
“What?! There’s anime at the cinema!?”
NEO readers thought of anime in the cinema!
DAVID ‘SETH’ WALKER showed the Boruto movie in a cinema near me but KRZYSZTOF BUCZYNSKI
Booked ticket this morning for SAO, would other than that they have never shown them before. More anime in theatres gives me reason
be the second time seeing anime in the cinema to actually go to cinemas more often. I already
(DBZ Resurrection F, being first). But believe need RACHEL LOUISE HAND booked my tickets like a week ago and I cannot
a larger distribution for anime in cinemas in UK, if Saw Your Name and A Silent Voice in the wait to see it. I wish they will show more anime in
going to be successful. cinema and I will be going to watch SAO… It’s a nice cinemas, maybe older ones like Cowboy Bebop or
experience, watching anime on the big screen. something less old like Fate/Stay Night.
MEGAN PARRY
Honestly they need to show more anime
in cinema. I know the ones closest to me just show
the same as pretty much every other cinema in the
country. I would love to see something like The Wolf
MOVIES IN JAPAN THE TOP THREE GROSSING ANIME MOVIES IN
Children or even Studio Ghibli films! JAPAN ARE YOUR NAME , SPIRITED AWAY AND HOWL’S MOVING
HANNAH POWELL CASTLE. YOUR NAME IS THE ONLY NON-GHIBLI MOVIE IN THE
I recently watched Your Name and A Silent
Voice at the cinema and I love the atmosphere, TOP FOUR, AND KNOCKED SPIRITED AWAY FROM ITS PERCH
it feels a lot different than the usual cinema
experience. Maybe because I cried. I cried a lot. SOME 15 YEARS AFTER ITS RELEASE.
At both films.
GET IN TOUCH
CAKES WITH FACES @
CAKESWITHFACES
@NEO_Magazine Hoping the success of Your Name
opens up mainstream cinemas to anime.
SEND US MESSAGES, COSPLAY AND
LOUISE BAKER Yes QUESTIONS VIA SOCIAL MEDIA OR DIRECT
Love watching in the cinema when able No 58%
to. Saw Your Name, Ghost in the Shell and A Silent 42% TO OUR EMAIL OR MAILING ADDRESS
Voice recently and all were excellent. Just wish I
could watch them at local cinemas at better mail@neomag.co.uk
times and at not raised ticket prices because
they aren’t mainstream. facebook.com/neomagazineuk
NATASHA @I_ AM_ TWITTER @neo_magazine
NASHER POLL
Have you seen anime at the cinema?
@NEO_Magazine I was surprised when they
NEO Letters,
Uncooked Media Ltd,
YOUR NAME IS THE HIGHEST GROSSING ANIME WORLDWIDE,
AND HAD A RECORD-BREAKING SINGLE DAY GROSS FOR AN PO Box 6337, Bournemouth,
ANIME IN THE UK, BEATING SPIRITED AWAY. BH1 9EH
054_NEO162[NEO Nation]CTGC.indd 1 31/03/2017 14:56

Untitled-77 1 30/03/2017 12:32
W o R d S B Y d Av Id W e S t
[ANIME REVIEW]
Sword ArT online The

Movie: ordinAl ScAle
Nothing very much augmented about this one
one scene, he confronts a member of Klein’s group who is
1 9 A P R IL // A nIme Lt d // 1 2 A // A c t I o n // t he At R I c A L // 1 2 0 mInS never seen again thereafter. Did he murder him? Why does
no one care? And why is Eiji beating people up anyway? It
doesn’t help advance his mission.
PLOT In the virtual reality of Sword Art Online, Kirito Another missing point is that when Kirito tries playing
‘The Black Swordsman’ was the top-ranked player, but Ordinal Scale, he’s rubbish because in real life, as opposed
now Augmented Reality is all the rage with the latest hot to Virtual Reality, he’s neither athletic nor a master
game Ordinal Scale. When Kirito’s girlfriend Asuna loses swordsman. Then when Asuna is in danger and he’s forced
her memories after playing Ordinal Scale, he becomes to fight in Augmented Reality again, suddenly he’s totally
suspicious of the new technology. badass. It feels like the story skipped a beat or three there
T
and it takes a long time for the main plot to emerge.
he first feature-length outing for the SAO franchise The production values are stronger than those of the
has a script co-written by creator Reki Kawahara series, with impressive, not to mention very loud, sound
SAO Live and director Tomohiko Ito, who helmed the two design, rousing music, and slick, if soulless, action scenes.
US-based seasons of the TV anime adaptation. But it’s the However, when it’s time for another expo dump, the
Skydance Media screenplay and Ito’s leaden direction that make this animation becomes far less impressive and every time the
is developing such a disappointment. The movie opens with a massive characters activate Ordinal Scale, the film replays the exact
a live action expo dump and thereafter continues to dish out huge, same sequence showing the city transformed by Augmented
SAO TV series.
unwieldy chunks of dialogue that drag the pacing down Reality, which looks like a money-saving shortcut.
Laeta Kalogridis,
to a crawl. Ignoring the maxim of ‘show, don’t tell’, Ito Despite all the time expended on the AR technology,
who wrote the
screenplay for
and Kawahara even resort to static shots of guests on a TV the final battle takes place back in SAO’s Virtual Reality
Robert Rodriguez’s programme exhaustively explaining the mechanics of the which feels like a major cop out, complete with last-minute
upcoming Alita: new Augmented Reality technology. obligatory cameos from a score of series regulars with
Battle Angel movie, Despite all the verbosity, the script skips over several nothing better to do.
is writing the pilot important plot points (SPOILERS!). The number two ranked Adhering to the rule that spin-off movies can’t change the
episode. player in Ordinal Scale is Eiji, who is ruthlessly targeting status quo, this leaves the SAO universe exactly as it found it.
people who used to play SAO, attacking them in real life. In
056 N E O M A G A Z I N E M A Y 2 0 1 7
056_NEO162[SAO]CTGC.indd 1 31/03/2017 15:56

W o r d S B y J o n aT h a n W r o o T
[FILM REVIEW]
Destruction BaBies
Smells Like Violent Teen Spirit on-screen. This is predominantly through Yagira’s acting and
violence, which is likely to remind viewers of Mifune’s raw energy
in Seven Samurai, especially through his stares and scowls. Taira
1 0 a P r IL // T hIr d W Ind o W // C e r T 1 8 // d r a m a // d V d (£ 1 4 . 9 9) / is both enigmatic and simple to understand from the beginning.
B L u - r ay (£ 1 9 . 9 9 ) // 1 0 8 mInS
YounG He has nothing left to lose, and feels he has nothing left to live for.
Destruction Babies also presents the consequences of violence,
talent PLOT Teen Taira (Yuya Yagira) suddenly leaves his coastal through the foolish and savage actions of Yuya and their effect on
Despite only being hometown to randomly pick fights in a nearby city. While the kidnapped Nana. A complaint could be the lack of plot and
35, director Tetsuya his brother tries to track him down, Yuya (Masaki Suda) is explanation for Taira’s actions, but the efforts of his brother reveal
Mariko had already
inspired to join in with Taira’s relentless violence, leading key clues about the background they have come from. While it is
worked on a few
them to eventually kidnap Nana (Nana Komatsu). Uh oh! not a pleasant experience, Destruction Babies is still gripping stuff.
other films, TV
episodes and shorts
Third Window’s releases continue to explore the theme of
before making It’s an odd comparison to make, but Destruction Babies leaves this frustrated youth in Japan. Comparisons can be made with the
Destruction Babies. impression: what would have happened if Toshiro Mifune had violent content in Pornostar and Fight Club, but Destruction Babies
Keep an eye on this starred in Quadrophenia? There are no mopeds in Third Window’s is less stylised and reveals the raw nerves of its characters.
emerging talent! latest, but the theme of frustrated youth is played out explicitly
W o r d S B y J a C o B B o nIfa C e
[ANIME REVIEW]
Duelist
Yu-Gi-oh! GX SeaSon Three
of ‘so-bad-they’re-good’ jokes and self-aware humour about
DeBut! 0 8 m ay // m a n g a // C e r T 1 2 // C a r d g a me S // £ 3 9 . 9 9 ( d V d) // 1 0 7 0
mInS // 5 1 e P I S o d e S
the melodramatic ridiculousness that is Yu-Gi-Oh!
As mentioned, However, as with any sequel to a well-loved series, it
this new season can be tough to measure up, especially to a show that’s as
adds a bunch of PLOT The first two years of Jaden’s duel school career have coloured by nostalgia as the original seasons of Yu-Gi-Oh!
new characters, been challenging enough – between tussling against fierce so often are. Though the characters have definitely felt some
including good- rivals and mystical forces alike. But the Duel Academy’s top development by this point in the series, they never quite
natured rival Jesse
student has even more in store for him in this new series! seem to have the kind of flair necessary for viewers to truly
Anderson and
buy into the plot – and it doesn’t help that the franchise’s
new teacher (and
winner of the most
Though some fans of the franchise have a love / hate animations have never been astounding by any means. Still,
ludicrously evil relationship with this sequel series, the third season of for lovers of GX, this much-improved season is definitely a
name competition) Yu-Gi-Oh! GX mostly finds its feet in a way that previous must-watch.
– Professor instalments haven’t, throwing a bunch more weird and This is certainly a step in the right direction for Yu-Gi-Oh!
Thelonius Viper! wacky duelists into the mix, as well as treating viewers to a GX, adding much-needed helping of both irony and intensity.
script that is much sharper than before, cramming in a lot
057_NEO162[DOUBLEREVIEW]CTGC.indd 1 31/03/2017 15:04

1
Dream Of
The reD TurTle
Director Michael Dudok de Wit tells NEO’s David West about collaborating with the world
famous Japanese animation studio, the importance of breathing, and finding the right laugh.
The Red TuRTle is the extraordinary debut feature from Michael Dudok de director rather than seeing it as a production company feature,” he says. “Apart
Wit, telling the story of a man shipwrecked on a remote desert island. In 2006, from the fact that I would like to work with them and I like Japan and so on,
de Wit, who hails from Holland but calls London home, was an animator with they’ve got an attitude towards feature films which I deeply, deeply admire.”
a handful of critically acclaimed short films to his name – The Monk And The So the animator accepted an offer he’d scarcely ever dreamed about and
Fish and Father And daughter, the latter of which won the Grand Prix at the Toshio Suzuki and Isao Takahata from Studio Ghibli produced the film along
Hiroshima International Animation Film Festival. with Vincent Maraval from Wild Bunch. The aesthetic of Studio Ghibli’s films is
Despite the awards and respect of his peers, de Wit had no dreams of almost inseparable from the works of Hayao Miyazaki, so de Wit wasn’t sure if
making a feature film until he received an email from the legendary Studio that’s what Ghibli wanted him to try to do.
Ghibli. “I thought literally a feature is too big to convince people to invest in “I said, ‘You mean you want it to be in the style of Japanese films in general?’
someone like me,” says de Wit. “Like many animators, I’m not a salesman, I’m They said, ‘No, no, just propose something.’ ‘Do you want it to be Ghibli-ish?’
not pushy, I’m best when I sit at a drawing table drawing. To knock on doors They said no. I made a short film called Father And daughter, I said, ‘Are you
relentlessly for years saying, ‘Invest in my film, this is going to be a good film,’ thinking of something in the style of Father And daughter?’ They said, ‘No,
it’s not natural for us animators. not necessarily as long as it’s very you.’ They meant my sensitivity. I like their
“I’ve seen colleagues doing it and coming back disappointed saying, ‘I’ve sensitivity, I’ve got mine and we met on that level. I knew from the beginning
tried for years and it’s not working, I’m very bitter.’ I thought, I like short films I wanted something semi-realistic, not cartoony, inspired by for instance
so much, I’m not going to explore the feature, but when Studio Ghibli wrote to Tintin, Moebius and other quite realistic artists. Not totally realistic, it still has
me, I think my decision to say yes was taken within a couple of seconds.” a line, it’s still stylised but the design should be fairly realistic as well as the
movements of the characters.”
An Offer YOu CAn’t refuse As a result, The Red Turtle has a look and style unique in the Studio Ghibli
That’s not to suggest that the director wasn’t surprised by the famed Japanese catalogue, one that draws influence and inspiration from the Franco-Belgian
studio’s interest in producing his next project. “They’ve worked in the past with graphic novel tradition, including the late, great Hergé. “Tintin is a huge
Moebius [the celebrated French graphic novel artist]. Moebius is super famous, influence on people on the Continent and for me it was like number one and
a total genius, you can understand that Studio Ghibli would say, ‘Hey, let’s work there was no number two and no number three,” says de Wit. “Then much later
together.’ I did some nice short films but I’m not like Moebius,” he says. came lucky luke, all the comic strips and artists of France and Belgium.”
However, de Wit was impressed by the way Studio Ghibli treats the Like Hergé’s Tintin, The Red Turtle renders its characters with clean, strong
filmmakers they work with. “They are auteur-oriented, they respect the lines and small black eyes. “People attribute the line to Hergé, but I think it
058-61_NEO162[RedTurtle]CTGC.indd 1 30/03/2017 14:17

2
1. when you’re just trying to fit

3 4
in with the locals. 2. something
stirs beneath the waves... 3.
nope, nobody on this side of
the island either. 4. whatcha
found there, little fella?
Global
The Red Turtle is
“The oTher side of being a casTaway on a deserT island is, who are you really?
a truly global film.
The animation team
who would you be if you were alone in naTure?”
worked at Prima Linea
Productions in Paris already existed,” says the filmmaker. “The simple line and also or unconsciously, but we are not the same when we are really
and Angoulême, simple eyes which are very un-Japanese, but the UK made films alone, and that I found interesting. During my teenage angst
France, Studio Ghibli – the films by Raymond Briggs – where the eyes are little dots years as an adolescent, I asked myself the question, ‘Who am
producers Isao and not big circles with irises. I don’t feel I picked on one artist I really?’ And it’s a beautiful question, beautiful, everybody
Takahata and Toshio particularly, there are influences from all directions.” should ask that of themselves.”
Suzuki live in Japan
but visited the team BeAutiful QuestiOns sOunds Of silenCe
in France during In 2007, de Wit began work on the screenplay, storyboards and In exploring this beautiful question, de Wit didn’t want
production, while de animatic, before the film finally started production in 2013. The his protagonist to have an obvious origin or to live in a
Wit is a Dutchman who concept for The Red Turtle began with de Wit’s interest in desert particular time period and, as a result, there is no dialogue
lives in London. island scenarios, which he says have fascinated him since he in the entire film.
was a child. But he didn’t just want to re-tread the same ground “He arrives totally a virgin on the island, you don’t know
covered in Robinson Crusoe or Cast Away with Tom Hanks, which century, which nationality, which profession, which
as he feels he’s already seen enough films dealing with the status he has in society, nothing,” explains the director. “You
questions of how does the survivor find fresh water, find food, just know he has a shirt, trousers, and he arrives on an island. I
build a fire, and so on. like that simplicity a lot.”
“The other side of being a castaway on a desert island is, who Not even the appearance of other people on the castaway’s
are you really?” he says. “Who would you be if you were alone island could convince the director to change his mind. “At
in nature? Totally alone and you know it and you know it won’t one point, there was some dialogue in the film, I thought he
change, you’re really alone in nature for months, years, or even needed to say a few sentences just to keep the story clear,” he
decades. We relate so much to everybody around us consciously says. “For God’s sake, when you meet a woman, you say >>>

5
“Like many animators, i’m not a saLesman, i’m not pushy, i’m best when i sit at a drawing tabLe
drawing. to knock on doors reLentLessLy for years saying, ‘invest in my fiLm, this is going to
be a good fiLm,’ it’s not naturaL for us animators.”
>>> something – but it felt odd. I had two versions, French and was a very young work experience person, 16 years old, and
English. Suddenly you say, ‘Oh, he speaks English,’ ‘Oh, he’s Christine asked him, ‘Are you good at acting?’ ‘I don’t know.’
French!’ It just felt wrong and the strength of the protagonist So we tried him, because he had to sound about 12 years old. We
is that you don’t know where he comes from. I found that said ‘Okay, just laugh’ and we made some jokes and within ten
interesting, so that’s one of the reasons why the dialogue was minutes we had the recording.”
dropped all together.”
That’s not to say that de Wit didn’t need voice actors – you Definitely not Disney
can hear the characters breathing, crying out, and laughing. The castaway is not entirely alone but shares his island home
Breathing might sound like a small detail, but it proved to be with a chorus of crabs, sea birds, a seal, lizards, and assorted
crucial in bringing the characters to life. creatures that fly, burrow and crawl. Add to that the sound
“We decided, let’s record the breathing of the characters of the ocean, the wind blowing through the trees, and it feels
throughout the whole film so when we see the man, we hear like nature is every bit as much a character in the film as the
Master Studies breathing. We asked the actor just to breathe. Not just the human at the heart of the story. This animistic view of the
“I really needed heavy breathing when he runs, but also quiet breathing and world feels in tune with Studio Ghibli films from Nausicaa Of
to learn a lot,” that added an extra quality of empathy to the film that I didn’t The Valley Of Wind to Princess Mononoke and Pom Poko.
says de Wit about expect and then I realised that we immediately connect with “That’s what I’ve always felt from my own experience
working with Isao the person we hear breathing. Before that he was a silent for two reasons,” says de Wit about the animism of The Red
Takahata, “not just animated character, and when he started breathing suddenly Turtle, “simply because I grew up with lots of nature and I’ve
technically with the he was real.” maintained that even though I live in a city like London. I’ve
complex storytelling To help bring out the best from his cast, de Wit worked with maintained that sensitivity just by walking in the park or
techniques but how voice recording specialist Christine Seznec. “She had more going away from London and so on.
he arrived at his experience so she knew how to coax certain things out of a “The other thing is when you travel, your parameters
sensitivity and how person,” he says. “At one point in the film there is a young boy change and you’re very clear about your sense of nature.
he translates that in laughing, now that’s really one of the most difficult things to Nature is water, it’s plants, it’s animals that have brains but
his films – he’s not get and have it sound spontaneous. We had an actor and he did not like ours, it’s very, very clear. Then you start travelling
even an animator, he laugh and it was awful. It was so fake like, ‘Ha, ha, ha, ha.’ ‘No and you start having some experiences in nature in other
doesn’t draw at all, laugh, really.’ ‘Ha, ha, ha, ha.’ When he left, I said to Christine, countries and you question how solid that perspective is.
and I really like that.” ‘There’s no way we can use any of this!’ And a day later there From travelling I feel we are not that far from the animals. I’m

5. what was that song by sting?
6
fields of gold? That’s it. boy, was
that lame. 6. a picture is worth
a thousand words. 7. The best
laid plans are so easily foiled. 8.
it’s a good thing he’s read raft
building for dummies.
7 8
not saying that I’m going to start speaking to a squirrel but it’s more on an like I had with commercials or something, but it will be a larger group and
intuitive level. It’s not a Disney approach where animals speak like human we’ll be together for years and we will work very intimately on my ideas. In
beings, it’s much more intuitive and I recognise that in Japanese philosophy, other words, we will be a really nice bunch of friends, which we were, so the
in their behaviour, in their traditions, in their Shinto religion.” fact that I had to delegate was compensated by the fact that we were just a
The titular red turtle introduces the supernatural side of the story very, very nice bunch of friends, very harmonious. We have to be harmonious
although de Wit was worried this could feel disruptive. “I showed the otherwise it’s hell because you work with your most private creativity, which
animatic (it’s a filmed storyboard) to producers, to colleagues, it pulled is very vulnerable and very hard to control. To work together in a small town
them out of the story,” says de Wit, who worked with co-writer Pascale in France, to sit in the same building, go for a drink afterwards, go to each
Ferran to smooth out the transition. “The co-writer said, right from the other’s homes, that I really, really enjoyed. We were super good friends, so I
beginning, ‘The moment where you change from realism to surrealism or actually learned how to delegate but it was also a pleasure.”
mythology, that’s too shocking. You have to introduce it very subtly.’ It’s still The Red Turtle opens in cinemas on 26 May from Studio Canal.
shocking but there are little hints so unconsciously the spectator thinks,
‘Hang on, something is going to happen.’”
AWARD SEASON
Building friendships Michael Dudok de Wit’s 2001 short
Animation can be an intensely solitary experience, requiring hours alone at animated film, Father And Daughter,
a drawing board, but for his first feature, de Wit knew he couldn’t possibly won a host of awards, including the
do everything himself. Jean-Christophe Lie, a veteran of Disney’s The Academy Award for Best Animated
hunchback Of Notre dame and Tarzan, served as de Wit’s chief animator and Short Film, a BAFTA, and both the
the director came to savour bringing new people into the fold to realise his Audience Award and the Grand
vision for The Red Turtle. Prix at the Hiroshima International
“When they approached me saying let’s make a feature, I liked a number Animation Festival. The Red Turtle
of things,” he says. “I’m going to work with Studio Ghibli in Japan – fabulous! won the Special Jury Prize in the Un
Fabulous! Even if the whole thing collapses I will have worked with Studio Certain Regard section at the Cannes
Ghibli in Japan. Secondly, I’m going to do a big adventure, I’m going to make Film Festival in 2016, but lost out to
a feature, this is a new way of exploring landscapes, of exploring characters, Zootopia for Best Animated Feature
exploring emotions. Fabulous also. I was really excited. But the third feeling at the Academy Awards.
was, I’m going to have a group of people around me not for a couple of months

W o r d S B y A nd r e W o S m o nd
[ANIme ReVIeW]
TokYo Marble ChoColaTe

A rom-com told twice
leaves gaps in the story, things unexplained. The “second”
24 A p r il // A nime l imi t e d // C e r t t B C // r o m - C o m // £ 3 4 . 9 9 episode fills those gaps in. Given the anime was made
( B l u - r Ay/ d V d C o mBi pA C k ) // 5 5 minS // 2 e p i S o d e S a decade ago, it’s interesting how much it anticipates
the blockbuster Your Name, which was also structured
PLOT From the legendary Production I.G, home of intricately around male and female viewpoints.
Ghost in the Shell, comes… a rom-com about a hopeless- Tokyo Marble Chocolate can seem slight on first
seeming dating couple in present-day Tokyo. But the man viewing, but it gains in retrospect. There are lovely story
and woman have the strangest, hairiest of Cupids to help subtleties, especially something that happens near the end
them come to terms – a Mini Donkey! of each episode involving a little box. One character drops
Y
it, the other character catches it, but each of them sees its
ou could call Tokyo Marble Chocolate a boutique significance very differently.
anime. It’s small, fastidiously made, and it feels like The character that may spoil things for some viewers
it’s aimed at a different kind of customer from the is the Mini Donkey. Ahem. This hairy, snuffling, toothily
average buyer. Like two earlier releases from Anime grinning critter is the “wrong present” mentioned earlier,
Limited, Garden of Words and HAL, it’s a compact, and it plays a big part in both episodes. We weren’t
poignant love story (only 55 minutes total). Unlike them, expecting such a cartoon animal; it’s almost as jarring as if
it has comic touches that sometimes take it near Bridget it had popped up between the couple in Garden of Words.
Director Jones or Richard Curtis territory. If you can accept the donkey’s starring role, then it’s
Incredibly, Tokyo This is a two-part anime with a trick. It tells the same actually a funny, original creation, but some viewers may
Marble Chocolate story twice, once from his point of view, once from hers. find it a whimsy too far.
is directed by He and she are Yudai and Chizuru, a young couple dating The texture of the anime is beautiful without spectacle.
Naoyoshi Shiotani,
in Tokyo; they’re both attractive, shy and klutzy. When Don’t expect to have your eyes popped. Do expect some
who went on to
we meet them, they’ve each made different decisions exquisite character details amid broader gags, like the
direct all of the
Psycho-Pass
about their relationship. But before they can act, loads characters’ hilarious flashbacks to past disastrous dates.
franchise. It’s as of things happen, starting with wrong presents and The softly drawn look recalls the recent British animation
if Robocop’s Paul lost phones, and climaxing with the characters clinging Ethel and Ernest, only here the couple’s fumbling
Verhoeven had petrified to each other in the framework of Tokyo Tower, awkwardness is lit up by moments of true zaniness.
directed a Bridget without a safety rail. This refreshingly different, cheerily bittersweet anime
Jones film! You can watch the two episodes in whichever order may seem slight at first, but it rewards repeat viewing.
you prefer. Either way, you’ll find the “first” episode
062 N E O M A G A Z I N E M A Y 2 0 1 7
062_NEO162[Tokyo]CTGC.indd 1 31/03/2017 14:04

W o R D S B y D Av ID W e S t
[FILM REVIEW]
The Life Of Oharu

Everything that can go wrong goes wrong
Konoe) since his wife, Lady Matsudaira (Hisako Yamane)
1 7 A P R IL // S o n y / C R I t e R I o n // P G // D R A m A // £ 1 7. 9 9 ( B L u - R Ay ) can’t conceive.
// 1 3 7 mInS Alas, the moment Oharu has duly produced an heir for
his Lordship, the little nipper is snatched from her arms
PLOT Kenji Mizoguchi’s classic drama tells the unhappy and Oharu is given the bum’s rush out the gate. “She’s of no
tale of Oharu (Kinuyo Tanaka). Born into a noble family, further use,” states one of Matsudaira’s subordinates.
she is banished from Kyoto for the crime of having an To add insult to injury, despite being left effectively
affair with a low-ranked page, Katsunosuke (Toshiro destitute, not to mention without her baby, when Oharu turns
Mifune). She becomes a concubine to a powerful lord, to prostitution to eke out a living, she receives nothing but
then a prostitute, scorned by society. contempt from every man she encounters. The only kindness
G
she receives comes from the other prostitutes who take her in
iven the lack of female directors in Japan, a 20th and offer her emotional support and encouragement.
century problem just as much as now, it was The Life Of Oharu has a restrained shooting style.
Mizoguchi who explored the plight of Japanese Mizoguchi only moves the camera or cuts a shot when the
women in masterpieces like Sansho The Bailiff, Street action demands it. Otherwise he prefers to let his actors
Extras Of Shame and Women Of The Night. inhabit the frame and live out their performances. Kinuyo
This Criterion “Why is it wrong for a man and a woman to fall in love?” Tanaka is excellent as Oharu whose physical frailty – there
edition includes demands Oharu when her dalliance with Katsunosuke is is a lot of dramatic swooning – conceals her unbreakable
an excellent audio brought to life, “Why is it immoral?” The central premise of spirit. Her final rejection of the expectations placed on her,
essay by critic Mizoguchi’s 1952 film is that it is not Oharu who is immoral, to be youthful, to be beautiful, to be sexually available, is a
Dudley Andrew,
it’s the society that values her only for her beauty and fertility. powerful act of defiance in the face of society’s intransigence
and the 31-minute
When those fade, she becomes worthless. and unshakeable indifference.
documentary The
Adapted from the 17th century novel The Life Of There’s no denying that Mizoguchi’s tragic tale veers
Travels Of Kinuyo
Tanaka about the An Amorous Woman – sort of a Secret Diary Of A Call towards melodrama on occasion, but it’s anchored by the
actress’s often Girl in feudal Japan – Mizoguchi’s movie dials down the presence of Kinuyo Tanaka and the beautiful design and
controversial life salaciousness and seriously ups the tragedy. Oharu’s parents camerawork. A sure-fire tearjerker, The Life Of Oharu is an
and career. think they’ve finally hit the big time when she is chosen elegant essay in sadness.
as concubine for the powerful Lord Matsudaira (Toshiaki
063_NEO162[Oharu]CTGC.indd 1 30/03/2017 14:18

1
064-5_NEO162[ARTISTSHOWCASE]CTGC.indd 1 30/03/2017 14:19

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 Hayley Hyuga 1. Diamond Gang: I really

2
wanted to go wild on Photoshop
AGE 23 with the colour dodge tool and
BASED IN Hull brighten up colours! 2. Alice
& Cat: I tried to get away from
PROFESSION artist and animator
traditional colours and made
FAVOURITE GAME i am currently, the trees pink which completely
totally obsessed witH Horizon zero gave mood to this image.
Dawn! 3. Hair Bun Girl: This was a
piece painted in Photoshop to
experiment with new brushes
BIOGRAPHY and practice painting skin and
shapes! 4. THINK PINK: One
I was first introduced to a pencil by my dad at the age of nine months; he
day I was listening to Take on
would show me how to draw stick people and continued by adding clothes, Me – and for some reason SHE
eventually bringing my drawings to life through shade and light. I was HAPPENED! I really wanted to
fascinated by making marks on paper that resembled things in my head. get some shine on hair!
Throughout nursery, primary school and high school (in both Hull and
Glasgow), I was always the kid in the class “who could draw”. I just couldn’t
stop – the more I observed, the more I practiced, the more I felt happy.
I failed art in school. But that only thrust me forward into college
and university; I hoped to learn other ways in creating images from
fellow artists.
I have many influences including anime, film, gigantic beasts,
Japanese culture, music, manga, all the fabulous Instagram artists, Hull’s
art community, scenery, local music, retrofuturism, indie comics and the
people around me. 3
I will forever be advancing as an artist to reach the highest level;
there is always room for improvement and drive to create bigger, better,
expressive artwork through subject, colour, mood, everything!
I have had one book run printed, filled with sketches of characters and
scenery from a comic I have been working on for the past four years. I’m
hoping to bring the series to life physically in the next couple of years (by
which point I hope to be living and working in Japan with my partner).
Hull is the UK City of Culture this year, which is very exciting for
the creative community; I’m taking part in a few projects around the
city. I love to express through doodling as well as bigger pieces – if you
would like to see them I’d love for you to keep up with my Instagram! My NEO
username is @hayleyhyuga.
WANTS YOU
if you are interested
in submitting work
4
to be featured in
the neo artist
sHowcase,
please email
mail@neomag.
co.uk with ‘artist
sHowcase’
INSPIRATION as your subject
i am heavily inspired by music, story and visuals, such as film, comics / manga and header, along with
an internet link with
game art. Films like akira, based on the book by Katsuhiro otomo, i adore its gritty
examples of your
future style. other inspirations include The Last Guardian, Death note, Ghost in the
work.
Shell, amVs and a huge, huge list of songs to work to!
064-5_NEO162[ARTISTSHOWCASE]CTGC.indd 2 31/03/2017 15:59

WIN Ten Copies of seoul sTaTion
This issue we have ten copies of Seoul Station on DVD to give away to our lovely
NeO readers. The movie is out now on digital download, DVD and Blu-ray from
distributor studioCanal.
Seoul Station is the animated prequel to outstanding zombie action flick Train
to Busan, acting as both an introduction to the movie and a standalone story that
can be enjoyed with no prior knowledge of the original megahit.
As the sun sets around seoul station, an old man thought to have died sinks
his teeth into the warm flesh of a homeless person. soon, the streets are filled with
vicious zombies desperate to feed. hae-sun, a runaway, witnesses the frightening
sight while her father suk-gyu and boyfriend desperately search for her. As the
attacked become the attackers, the government declares a lock out of the station,
leaving the uninfected to struggle desperately against the dangerous undead.
with zombie numbers exploding, people without a home to return to now have to
flee without a place to run to, in order to survive.
if you want to witness the carnage and win one of our DVDs, all you have to do
is answer the following question correctly to be entered into our prize draw.
Seoul Station iS the Standalone prequel

to which movie?
a) ponyo
B) train to BuSan
c) Kung Fu Killer
You can enter by emailing your answer along with your name and address
to neomagcomp@gmail.com, with the subject header NeO 162 seoul station
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: 11 May
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!
066_NEO162[Compo]CTGC.indd 1 31/03/2017 15:05

ads.indd 1 31/03/2017 15:32
COSPLAY
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Kida from Atlantis by Karin.
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from League of Legends.
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all photos on this page by Nico Lemus (Instagram: @nostralemus).
068-9_NEO162[COSPLAYNEW]CTGC.indd 2 31/03/2017 18:32

COSPLAY
STAR
Ciri from The
Witcher 3
Cosplayer: Jinxy Dragon Cosplay
Photographer: Eugene Artjomenko
URLs:
facebook.com/Jinxydragoncosplay
https://500px.com/getsometea1
Location
The photo was taken at Virginia Waters, near
Windsor. We chose the location for it sheer
natural beauty. The cascading waterfalls seen
behind were quite a sight to behold.
Make-up
Ciri spends a lot of time outside, and her hair
is loosely tied out of her face and into a bun.
Her make up is worn, smudged and dark. An
interesting thing about her hair is that she tries
to cover the scar on her face which can be seen
prominently in the photos.
Shirt and corset

I made everything except from the necklace and
the boots. The shirt was easy enough to make,
but the material I used initially was too white so I
decided to tea stain the shirt to make it look more
worn and dirty. The corset I struggled with and
on my first attempt I massively failed.
Belt
The belt is 100% made from scratch, and I had to
make each silver piece. The base was made out of
two pieces of stacked foam. Then I wrapped each
piece in worbla and added the details with worbla
and googley eyes. I painted it and added a giant
googley eye for the centre stone, which I painted
with nail polish.
070_NEO162[COSPLAY]CTGC.indd 1 31/03/2017 16:00

Untitled-77 1 30/03/2017 12:33
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DM18[SA4houseAd].indd 1 31/03/2017 13:11

W o R d S B y A nd R e W o S m o nd
[ANIme ReVIeW]
Shimoneta
Wash your mouth out
to turn any thought or phrase (like, for example, “dirty
24 A P R IL // F unIm At I o n // 1 8 // S e x , C o me d y // 3 4 . 9 9 ( B L u - R Ay ) , mouth”) into one more crude joke about sex. Her dialogue
£ 2 9 . 9 9 ( d V d) // 2 7 5 mInS // 1 2 e P I S o d e S alone makes Shimoneta feel different from any other anime,
but it’s wearing a bit thin when the sexual content suddenly
PLOT It’s a nightmare; a future Japan where dirty pictures revs up. Spoiler: that happens when the hero’s pure-hearted
are burned by police and dirty jokes will get you thrown crush, Anna, turns out to be an absolute sex maniac who
in prison. Who can save humanity from this horror? Why, makes Ayame look tame.
brave young students fighting the system, spreading smut If nothing else, it’s… interesting to see a girl in the kind
and filth! of sticky physical situations that would seem relatively
innocuous if they happened to, say, any of the boys in the
Y
American Pie films. Maybe that’s equality? Code Geass
Ban It! ou may have heard of Shimoneta’s reputation as

a smutfest, and we’re here to tell you that… the
fans may remember a notorious scene with a girl and a
desk – there’s lots of that sort of thing here. There’s also a
Silly as it is,
reputation is deserved. The title means “dirty joke” and lot about the aromas of intimate female clothing, which
Shimoneta has
been seen as a the show tries furiously to find enough jokes about many characters (male and female) wear on their faces
response to a sex, sex organs, sex toys, sexual secretions and sexual in unacknowledged tribute to Hentai Kamen. Anna,
2010 bill in Japan residues to fill four hours of anime. Watching Shimoneta is meanwhile, just wants Takuma’s boxers.
aimed at outlawing an activity that can be enjoyable for a short spurt of time, But Shimoneta’s shock value is limited. You’ll feel déjà
“harmful” manga, though it gets a bit wearying in longer sessions. But it won’t vu if you’ve ever seen the old South Park movie or read Viz
called the make you go blind. comics, both of which tell sex jokes more snappily. So did
“Youth Heathy The setting is a future Japan that’s banned all lewd the anime which Shimoneta recalls perhaps most, the short-
Development media and words, and forced everyone to be pure in their lived Kekko Kamen from a quarter-century ago.
Ordinance.”
behaviour. Hero Takuma starts life at an upstanding (fnar) The show ends up being funniest for two characters –
Unfortunately its
school, where decency is protected by a student council. Ayame, certainly, but also Fuwa, a deadpan girl scientist
main proponent,
Tokyo’s mayor,
Unfortunately, one of its girl members, Ayame, is a secret whose clinical analysing of sexual madness livens up many
seemed most freedom fighter for filth. She quickly co-opts Takuma into scenes. Together, they sustain the show when the dirty
interested in her stunts to expose Japan’s young to “corrupting” thoughts jokes can’t.
banning depictions and images. Not bad, but the shock on which the series depends wears
of gay people. In the first few episodes, the biggest shocks seem to be thin over 12 episodes.
from Ayame’s dirty mouth. She’s obsessively determined
0 74 N E O M A G A Z I N E M A Y 2 0 1 7
074_NEO162[Shimoneta]CTGC.indd 1 31/03/2017 15:18

Untitled-77 1 30/03/2017 12:33
W o r d S B y d Av id W e S t
[FILM REVIEW]
The ReD TuRTle

Les Bandes Dessinées Meet Anime
While there is no overt attempt to anthropomorphise the
2 6 M Ay // S t ud i o C A n A l // P G // FA n tA S y // t he At r i C A l animals – they don’t have any human features – de Wit
// 8 1 MinS still imbues them with personalities of their own.
One of the central themes is the cyclical nature of
PLOT Shipwrecked during a storm, a man washes up on life – a crab catches a fish, a fly feeds on the rotting fish
a remote desert island. Lost and alone, the man struggles but in turn is eaten by a spider. The castaway experiences
to contend with the elements, exposure, and a turtle that this same cycle, making clothes from the hide of a dead
appears determined to foil his every attempt to leave. It seal and later raising a child of his own who lives through
seems the castaway is not the only one who is lonely. many of the same experiences and rites of passage that his
father endured on the island.
D
The introduction of other human characters to the
irected by Dutch animator Michael Dudok de castaway’s small world is the most overtly magical
Wit and produced by Studio Ghibli, The Red moment in the tale, but this isn’t the sort of film best
Turtle is, at heart, a fable. It’s a story told entirely viewed with cold, rational detachment. It belongs to the
without dialogue, yet de Wit still manages to tradition of stories that use magical or mythic events to
create compelling, engaging characters that feel reveal greater truths about the human condition. It’s
immediate and vital on the screen. easy to see why de Wit’s work would resonate with the
Points The look of the film is unlike anything else in Ghibli’s

oeuvre and a significant departure from the precedent
Japanese producers at Studio Ghibli – The Red Turtle is
infused with a powerful sense of mono-no-aware, that
of View established by Hayao Miyazaki. Instead, The Red Turtle simple acceptance of the sadness of things. The story
“I wanted to displays an aesthetic clearly informed by the European addresses family and love with the same elegant articulation
learn from their graphic novel tradition and it’s quite remarkably with which it explores the topics of loss and death. But
Japanese point
gorgeous. Right from the opening sequence of the there’s nothing sad about the film as an experience; this is
of view,” says de
unnamed castaway being tossed on the waves of an a life affirming, truly magical journey.
Wit about Studio
Ghibli producers
angry storm, de Wit crafts images that pulsate with The Red Turtle points the way forwards for a post-
Isao Takahata and energy, while the sequence involving a tidal wave is Miyazaki Studio Ghibli – find the most creative animators
Toshio Suzuki, “and stunningly powerful. in the world and give them a platform. This is a magnificent
just their human The castaway might feel alone on the island, but it accomplishment by any measure and surely one of 2017’s
point of view.” teems with life, from scuttling crabs, which provide a best films.
comic relief chorus, to seabirds, seals and sea turtles.
0 76 N E O M A G A Z I N E M A Y 2 0 1 7
076_NEO162[RedTurtle]CTGC.indd 1 31/03/2017 16:01

W O R d S b y Mi c h a e l d O d S O N
[GAme ReVIeW]
FAST RMX Feeds Our Need For Speed

franchise, but there are a few differences that set them apart.
O U T N O W // S hiN ’ e N MU lT iMe d i a // 3 // R a c iN g // £ 1 6 . 9 9 , S W i T c h Chief among these is the phase switching mechanic that has
( d i gi Ta l O Nly ) been a part of the FAST series since Wii, which tasks the player
with changing their craft’s colour from orange to blue at the tap
PLOT A deluxe, up-resed version of FAST Racing NEO, of a button to take advantage of colour matching boosts and jump
FAST RMX contains all the tracks from the original, as well pads on the track. We’ve always loved this innovation, as it keeps
coMinG up as its DLC content and six brand new courses. Alongside a us constantly on our toes as we strive to stay ahead of the pack.
Though currently standard single player progression through cups, RMX also On the downside, track designs aren’t quite as twisty-
lacking a time offers split screen multiplayer and a 2-8 player online mode. turny as we’d like, and we would have appreciated a little more
attack mode and,
personality to the presentation – something that F-Zero excels
bizarrely, a way to
In FAST RMX, you choose from a selection of antigravity vehicles at due to its colourful cast of characters.Nevertheless, FAST RMX
race against friends
online, Shi’nen
to compete to be top of the podium in a series of high-speed is a great single and multiplayer experience, certainly among the
has promised a races. Environments range from the usual desert, snow, and lava best the Switch has to offer so far.
free update with settings to the slightly more unusual mines and space stations. If you’re looking for a blindingly fast, no-frills racing
these features is Sounds a bit like F-Zero, right? It’s true, FAST RMX shares experience, then look no further than FAST RMX.
coming soon. a lot of the same DNA as Nintendo’s long-dormant racing
W O R d S b y b UNN y W i gh T
[GAme ReVIeW]
JuST DAnce 2017 Boogie on down

well you mimic them. The tracking is not sophisticated so it’s
O U T N O W // NiN T e Nd O // P e gi 3 // d a N c e g a Me // £ 3 9 . 9 9 (S W i T c h ) down to you how much you want to really feel the groove,
// NiN T e Nd O S W i T c h // Ubi S O f T // UbiS O f T and there are plenty of options that expand the gameplay, like
GoinG GAGA adventure mode and a calorie-burning section.
The Just Dance PLOT Grab yourself a Joy-Con and wiggle on down to scores The best addition to this game is the three month free
franchise is named of pop, rock and dance tracks. Keep fit, have fun, and have a trial to Just Dance Unlimited, which unlocks over 200 songs
after Lady Gaga’s laugh with your mates. instantly, making this perhaps the most comprehensive version
track of the same
of the game to date. We appreciated additions like Gangnam
name, which didn’t
Just Dance has been a popular gaming franchise for eight Style, Daddy, and Gentleman by Psy, and even Po Pi Po by
appear in a game
until Just Dance
years now, so if you’re not familiar with it, chances are it Hatsune Miku. However, note that not every single track which
2014, along with holds absolutely no interest for you. It’s appeared on previous appeared on a Just Dance game is available in this mode.
Applause – which Nintendo consoles including Wii and Wii U, but it’s been Just Dance is another great party game for the Switch.
is not available on ported comfortably to the Switch thanks to the light and small Yes, it’s nothing new, but we dare you to find anything more
Unlimited. Joy-Con controllers. You hold one in your right hand and copy fun than dancing with your friends to Rasputin.
the moves of the dancers on the screen, scoring points for how

w o r d S B y d aV Id w e S T
[FILM REVIEW]
Sword MaSter Two swords in need of sharpening

hamming it up as the terribly goth swordsman Yen, who even
1 0 a P r IL // K a L e Id o S c o P e H o me e n T e r Ta Inme n T // c e r T T B c // sleeps in a coffin at one point so great is his ennui, but Kenny Lin’s
m a r T I a L a r T S // £ 1 5 . 9 9 ( d V d) / £ 1 9 . 9 9 ( B L u - r ay ) // 1 0 8 mInS non-performance as Hsieh is utterly blank, like he thought they
were just blocking the scenes, not actually filming.
PLOT In a struggle for supremacy, Yen Shih-San (Peter The action is very heavy on wirework and people swirling
Ho) is determined to challenge the top swordsman, Hsieh about in flowing robes, so it’s not exactly Ong-Bak. The film was
Shao-Feng (Kenny Lin). However, Hsieh is sick of killing released in Chinese cinemas in 3D, but on the small screen the CG
trivia
Before he became
and longs for a quiet life, despite the protestations of his effects are just awful and can’t compete with the physical effects
betrothed, the ambitious Chiu-ti (Jiang Yi-Yan). that directors like Tsui Hark and Ching Siu-Tung employed so
a director, Derek
inventively in the ‘80s.
Yee was an actor
Derek Yee is best known for contemporary thrillers like the Despite the big names behind the camera, Sword Master
and the star of Chor
Yuen’s Death Duel
brilliant Protégé, but here he teams up with producer Tsui Hark is a clunker that’s critically hamstrung by poor CG work and
alongside Norman to remake Chor Yuen’s 1977 swordplay movie Death Duel. Alas, Kenny Lin’s somnambulistic presence. It only makes matters
Chu, who has a Sword Master proves disappointingly blunt. worse than the narrative peaks before the climactic duel even
supporting role in The film veers between melodrama, action, and comedy takes place.
Sword Master. in search of a consistent tone. Peter Ho seems to enjoy himself
w o r d S B y J a c o B B o nIfa c e
[ANIME REVIEW]
NiSekoi: FalSe love SeaSon Two ParT Two

many humorous situations as possible, while occasionally
1 7 a P r IL // m a n g a // 1 5 // r o m a n c e , c o me d y // £ 2 9 . 9 9 ( d V d) / developing the ‘will they, won’t they’ romantic plotline.
£ 3 9 . 9 9 ( B L u - r ay ) // 1 4 5 mInS // 6 e P I S o d e S However, if any of Nisekoi’s diehard fans are expecting a
If You PLOT Hapless student and yakuza heir Raku Ichijo and his
resolution to the main storyline, they might be disappointed,
as the question of who will end up as Raku’s beloved remains
LIke ThIs… gangster ‘girlfriend’ Chitoge are back for the concluding firmly up in the air by the season’s end.
For more romantic half of Nisekoi’s second season! Along with the rest of their As with the previous season-and-a-half, one of the
comedy anime over-the-top classmates and cloying criminal families, the series’ best attributes – aside from its quickfire and energetic
that has a bizarre
pair can’t help but to get into more comedic calamity. comedy – is, of course, the animation. While the manga’s
moment or two
original style is engaging, the adaptation by Shaft definitely
every episode,
why not check out Though this season of Nisekoi is a fair bit shorter than the takes it to the next level, adding the studio’s trademark flair
MVM’s recently first one, there’s definitely a lot of the rom-com chaos that to the already dynamic illustrations of the source material.
released Monthly made the preceding episodes such a lot of fun to watch. Exuberant characters, fast-paced and funny exploits; a
Girls’ Nozaki-Kun? With the series’ main hook now firmly established, the short but sweet installment of a great series.
show’s main focus is now on getting its characters into as
078 N E O M A G A Z I N E M A Y 2 0 1 7

ads.indd 1 31/03/2017 12:36
W O R D S B Y A nD R e W O S m O nD
NEO
RELEASE 1
ROUND-UP
1. Outlaw Star is coming to us on
Blu-ray in may. 2. Check out the
sharp ‘90s visuals on this baby!
3. Sorry, Kinmoza! crew, you’ll
have to wait.
The sTaTe of The UK marKeT

This monTh
T
here are times when trying to keep track of the UK
anime schedule is like trying to play a faulty copy
of Dance Dance Revolution where the arrows shift
position at the last second. Shortly after our last
issue went to press, Anime Limited, Manga and
Funimation all announced big changes to their schedules,
which is why many of the releases in last month’s column
haven’t materialised. We can only say aaargh! and sorry.
As of writing, Anime Limited’s releases of Zeta
Gundam Part 2 (Blu-ray) and Evangelion 1.11 (Collectors’
Edition Blu-ray and DVD) should both be out 24 April.
The Outlaw Star Blu-ray and the second half of Your
Lie in April (Blu-ray and DVD) are now due 8 May. The
preposterously delayed Selector Infected WIXOSS (a
2
Limited Edition Blu-ray and DVD) has a release slot on 15
May. Assassination Classroom season two, Durarara!!x2 –
The Second Arc: Ten and Belladonna are all awaiting new
release dates down the line.
On the Animatsu side, Gatchaman Crowds Insight
(Blu-ray/DVD combi pack) is now scheduled for 15 May.
That’s the same date as Manga’s box-set 28 of Naruto
Shippuden (DVD). Manga will follow that on 22 May with
a DVD of the live-action documentary We Are X, about
the band X Japan. Also on 22 May, we should get Digimon
Adventure Tri The Movie part one as a DVD and Collectors’
Edition Blu-ray.
3
Unfortunately, there’s bad news for fans of the cute
British-Japanese cast of Kinmoza!, which we actually
reviewed last issue. Manga’s release of the series has been
bumped back all the way to 9 October. is based on a dating game. Owarimonogatari part two will
Over to MVM, where the first season of Little Busters follow a week later on 22 May.
on Blu-ray and DVD should be out about now. The second Finally from Funimation, 24 April will see the Blu-ray
season, Little Busters Refrain is scheduled for 8 May. On of Daimidaler: Prince vs. Penguin Empire, a spoof robot
15 May, expect the first 26-part season of Amagami SS on adventure that reportedly has a similar sense of humour
Blu-ray and DVD. This is a teen romance, following a boy to Shimoneta. The DVD of Fairy Tail part 14 is expected on
into several alternative timelines, each of which offers a 8 May, carrying episodes 154 to 164, but the release date of
different love interest for him… Yes, as you’ve guessed, it Barakamon is TBC as of writing.
080_NEO162[RoundUp]CTGC.indd 1 31/03/2017 14:02

Untitled-77 1 30/03/2017 12:34
W o R D S B y D Av ID W E S t
1
[film REViEW]
The handmaiden
50 Shades Of Kimchi
He collects rare books, which he has Hideko read aloud to his
1 4 A P R IL // C uR z o n A R t If I C I A L E y E // C E R t 1 8 // t hR IL L E R // circle of rich friends, and he too has designs on her inheritance.
t hE At R I C A L // 1 4 5 MInS While Hideko seems a picture of innocence, the
development of her relationship with Sookee brings out
unexpected dimensions of the character, and Kim Min-hee is
PLOT Sookee (Kim Tae-ri) is a pickpocket planted in the both sympathetic and enigmatic in the role. She’s matched at
household of wealthy heiress Hideko (Kim Min-hee) as her every step by newcomer Kim Tae-ri, who is remarkably good as
new handmaiden. Sookee’s mission is to encourage Hideko Sookee. There’s an iron determination that powers her decision
to marry Count Fujiwara (Ha Jung-woo), a conman out to to join Fujiwara’s scheme to separate Hideko from her money,
claim Hideko’s fortune – but the assignment is complicated yet Kim Tae-ri simultaneously brings out Sookee’s emotional
by her infatuation with her target. vulnerability in the face of her unplanned feelings for her mark.
Ha Jung-woo makes a conniving villain as the self-
proclaimed Count Fujiwara. He’s not terrifying here the way he
T
was in Na Hong-jin’s The Chaser, but this role calls for him to be
hree years after the lukewarm response to his sole a swindler, not a serial killer, and he practically oozes lecherous
Hollywood effort Stoker, Park Chan-wook returns to intent and sleaziness. The least developed of the main characters
Korean cinema with this erotically charged thriller is the uncle, who has little sense of a developed personality, and
Key TalenT adapted from the novel Fingersmith by British writer Cho is consistently outshone by the other three leads.
Park chose Kim Sarah Waters. Park’s film unfolds in Korea during the The script is loaded with plots and counter-plots galore,
Tae-ri after Japanese occupation of the 1930s and really marks a return to throwing out a huge twist at the midway point after which
auditioning 1500
form for the director. it plunges headlong into darker, weirder territory. There’s a
actresses to play
At nearly two and a half hours, The Handmaiden is slightly central theme about how men try to exploit and control women
Sookee. Her
over long and the pacing is certainly unhurried, but it boasts to satiate their own profane desires, expressed most clearly
only prior acting
experience was outstanding performances from the two female leads and it in the second act through Hideko’s thoroughly depraved
one short film bristles with tension of both the dramatic and sexual varieties. uncle, but it’s also strongly present in the way Fujiwara tries to
and a few TV Kim Min-hee brings an impressive range to Hideko. On first manipulate and intimidate both women. The challenge for the
commercials. sight, she’s a pale, withdrawn young woman who lives in two female protagonists is to find avenues for independence
seclusion with Kouzuki (Cho Jin-woong), her uncle by marriage. in a society that considers them disposable, and that meets
082 N E O M A G A Z I N E M A Y 2 0 1 7

2 3
any feminine assertiveness with the promise of violence. This look like an oil painting come to life. He renders Hideko’s world 1. ‘What’s that lovely
brings up a quandary for Park Chan-wook. On the one hand, in muted hues, but doesn’t overplay his hand by simply draining perfume you’re wearing?’ ‘oh,
his movie concerns the struggle of these women to control the colour from the screen. The mansion where Hideko resides it’s called Back off Creep-
their own destiny. On the other, the director is never shy about with her uncle has one Japanese wing, one western wing, face.’ 2. Let’s play dress up!
letting the camera linger on the faces and bodies of Hideko allowing the production designer Ryu Seong-hie to draw upon
It totally won’t get kinky,
I promise. 3. Please allow
and Sookee. This loads several of their early encounters with a pan-continental palette of fabrics, furniture and decorations.
me to introduce myself,
simmering passion but when said passions are unleashed There’s a dash of Christian religious symbolism – a statue of I’m a man of wealth and
and clothes cast aside, it can open the film up to accusations a snake guards Kouzuki’s library, the repository of forbidden taste. Jokes. 4. hideko has
knowledge, but Park never builds on that motif. been out plucking flowers.
“It StRADDLES thE DIvIDIng LInE BEtWEEn The clash between western and Japanese fashion and
architecture seems to be a comment on the loss of a distinctly
nudge, nudge, wink, wink. oh,
behave yourself!
ERotICISM AnD SoMEthIng founD on Korean identity during this period of history. Kouzuki and
Fujiwara are both Korean men who have adopted Japanese
A WEBSItE thAt WouLD REquIRE you to names and, in the case of Kouzuki, Japanese fashions too. While
the maids who work in the house wear Korean clothes, Kouzuki
DELEtE youR BRoWSER hIStoRy…” either sports a bowtie and tails when he’s entertaining guests, or
a kimono when staying home and creeping around Hideko. She,
on the other hand, is Japanese by birth but has spent almost her
that these moments are included for titillation. The film’s final entire life in Korea. There’s that theme about identity popping
scene in particular feels unnecessarily graphic and narratively up again – is Hideko Japanese or Korean? Is Sookee a pickpocket Mood Music
redundant. One possible reading is that it is intended to show or a handmaiden? No one is quite who they appear to be at first To help the actors
understand the
how the women have reclaimed their sexual identities from glance. Or at second glance, either.
ambience he wanted
the men who tried to control them, but it straddles the dividing The plot twists are superb and both Kim Min-hee and Kim
to create in the film,
line between eroticism and something found on a website that Tae-ri deliver exceptional performances. Park leans heavily on
Park Chan-wook
would require you to delete your browser history before letting the eroticism of the story, which muddles his message about the gave his actors three
anyone else use the computer. exploitation of Hideko and Sookee, but The Handmaiden is a CDs of music that he
The movie never looks less than ravishing. Park Chan-wook’s thriller certain to engage both the mind and the libido. compiled especially
regular cinematographer Chung Chung-hoon makes everything for them.

May ’17 • Issue 162
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084 N E O M A G A Z I N E M A Y 2 0 1 7
084_NEO162[NEXTMONTH]CTGC.indd 1 31/03/2017 14:01

Untitled-77 1 30/03/2017 12:35
MANGA EXTRACT
NighTshade
In nEO thIs month, we present Nightshade by manga author
By hanna Rose
hanna Rose. “Nightshade is a shonen mystery style manga set

in a divided city which revolves around an anonymous hacker
(known as nightshade) who rises to power by manipulating
society’s worst offenders,” Rose told us, of the story. “An
unlikely and oblivious teenager seeks to unmask nightshade
and quickly becomes embroiled in a much larger plot that will
change his life forever.
“This extract is the very first scene in volume one where
you’re introduced to the nature of “Downtown” – the
unpleasant and impoverished half of the city. Conflicts like
the one in this scene are common in Downtown, but there’s
something much bigger going on behind the scenes here,
which you get your first taste of when the attackers are
mysteriously sniped.”
We asked Rose what first inspired her to write this tale.
“It started years ago when I started writing on my commute
to and from work,” she told us. “I had these ideas rolling
around in my head about online anonymity and applying it
to real-life situations. I also wanted to explore this idea of a
city with a strong division in it, and the way those different
societies react to a character like nightshade. As I went on,
I was coming up with more and more unique details about
this city and the people in it and designing bits and pieces
as I went along. It started to feel like something really worth
pursuing, and I just needed to share it and see other people
enjoy all the twists and turns in this story that had been
keeping me entertained. That was back in 2013, and through
creating Nightshade and the lessons I’ve learned in the
process, I am now working full-time as a manga artist and
author – a bit of a dream come true!”
We asked Rose to tell us more about the other projects
she’d worked on. “several manga, animation and game
projects as a character designer and lead artist,” she told us.
“The nature of this work means there’s a lot of unreleased
material that’s really exciting but I’m sworn to secrecy until
it’s released! Right now I’m working through Nightshade
Strike 2 which is a cataclysmic sequel to Nightshade, and a
couple of cool and unique indie projects I’ve had the pleasure
of being involved in are Xidera’s Edge by Cheryl harkness and
Apocalypse by Art Li.
“One other thing I can talk about right now that’s really
exciting is a light novel I’m working on called The Fear
Snatcher – it draws on the fantastical elements of shonen
manga with a unique twist. It’s very different to Nightshade,
being set in a bizarre fantasy world, but still has the eerie
mysterious edge that I like to sustain throughout my stories.”
Find Nightshade at www.nightshade-manga.com or on
Facebook at www.facebook.com/nightshademanga. Visit
hanna Rose’s art site at www.mirerose.deviantart.com.
086 N E O M A G A Z I N E M A Y 2 0 1 7
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The Thief
Of hearTs
It’s a story of Shadows and Masks, of outsiders searching for their place in society, and
troubled teens trying not to get kicked out of school while fighting to change the world.
NEO’s David West tries to unravel the mysteries of Persona 5.
093-8_NEO162[NOTFLIPfeature]CTGC.indd 1 03/04/2017 10:22

The Thief of hearTs
i
t’s never easy being the new kid in town, the late addition of society who fights against corruption in the hands of the
to your school class, struggling to navigate the swirls and powerful. While the picaresque novel fi rst emerged in Europe
eddies of well-established social hierarchies, cliques and in the sixteenth century, Hashino wanted his game to be both
group dynamics. It’s even tougher when you arrive at Shujin more contemporary and much closer to home.
High School already labelled as a troublemaker due to the Thus, the story begins with the protagonist, the
fact you’ve got a criminal record and you’re on probation after aforementioned teenager on probation, arriving in Shibuya
you tried to save a girl from an aggressive stalker. No good deed on his way to the fictional suburb of Yongenjaya, where his
goes unpunished. new home will be a small makeshift bedroom above the café
None of the teachers want to have to deal with the belonging to Sojiro Sakura, the adult charged with insuring
‘problem student’ and you’re constantly reminded that any the youngster stays on the straight and narrow henceforth.
slip up will see you bounced briskly out the door and back into Yongenjaya is based on Sangenjaya, a district to the west of
the waiting arms of the authorities. It’s a lot to deal with. Then Shibuya in Tokyo at the end of the Setagaya Line. It may have
there’s the small matter of how the school seems to transform made life easier for Hashino and the game designers at Atlus
into a castle where the dungeon corridors are occupied by that the company is located in Sangenjaya, so they were able
magical monsters and strange apparitions. to fi nd ideas for Yongenjaya right on their doorstep, including
Add to that a mysterious gang of masked teens stealing the elevated highway that runs through the area, not to
hearts, who are calling themselves the Phantom Th ieves, mention the layout of shops, streets and alleys to be explored
plus the unexpected development of your own newly during gameplay.
acquired fantastic abilities, incredibly intense dreams in “I hesitated a lot on where the character should be living,”
which a stranger anoints you ‘the Trickster’ – and let’s face it, Hashino says in an interview with YouTube channel toco
being late for class is a molehill next to the mountain of your toco TV. “With the team, we went location hunting in several
troubles. Welcome to Persona 5. places. I wanted to build the game like a picaresque novel, so
Persona 3 I needed a place that showed that the character didn’t have
UK distributor Anime enTer The rogue anywhere to go and where the character confronts adult
Limited is currently It’s been a long wait for Persona 5, which arrives nine years generations. For the place where the character should live, I
releasing the Persona after its predecessor, 2008’s Persona 4. Developed by Japanese found it nice to have a large highway that looked like it covered
3 movies, starting studio Atlus, the game was fi rst announced in 2013 for a all the city and for the character to end up in small streets at
with Spring of Birth, planned release on the PS3 in 2014. Then it was delayed. And the brink of destruction. There, he would fi nd shelter at an old
out now, and followed delayed again. Now it’s here at long last. man’s place. I thought that it would be a good place to start the
by movie two, Katsura Hashino, the project leader on this installment story there.”
Midsummer Knight’s as well as Persona 3 and Persona 4, wanted to create a game
Dream on 3 April, with a protagonist cut from the same cloth as anime icon The founT of insPiraTion
with the rest of the Arsene Lupin III, a dashing thief with wits as quick as his cat- One of the most visible landmarks in Sangenjaya is the Carrot
series planned for like reflexes. The concept was inspired by the tradition of the Tower, a commercial high-rise building which is where
throughout the year. picaresque hero, a roguish character from the lower echelons Hashino often heads when in need of inspiration.

1 2
Sales
Persona 5 hit big in Japan when it
was released there in September
2016. The PS4 version shifted over
264,000 copies, while the PS3
version sold just under 73,000 units
in the first week. That’s quite the
improvement from Persona 4 which
sold 202,338 copies on the PS2
in 2008.
“On the second floor, there is a store from the Tsutaya chain are frienDs eCLeCTiC? 1. The Queen is going to
that sells books, games, amongst other things,” he tells toco What sets the Persona series apart from its JRPG peers is be so mad when she finds
toco TV. “They offer a wide selection of manga. During my free the way the gameplay combines both social simulation and out you’ve half-inched the
time, I often come here to check the new titles. Obviously, I tend role-playing elements in equal measure. Persona 3 was the crown jewels. 2. Looking for a
to take a closer look at stories that take place in high school, trailblazer on that front, and Persona 5 continues to build and shoulder to cry on? Probably
or other titles that have a universe that shares similarities expand upon the intersection between those concepts. The
shouldn’t be your first choice.
3. sometimes you’re fighting
with Persona. I browse through the pages to see how it looks. protagonist of the game can develop his own skills and abilities
shadows in a magical Palace.
I am also currently working on a new RPG, so I make sure as he levels up, but some attributes and special skills can only sometimes you’re hanging
to check the new fantasy titles as well. It is a very stimulating be unlocked through interaction with other characters in the out with your mates. Life’s all
place. During weekends or on days when I need to find new game. It’s not enough to bash enemies; you have to be able to about balance.
ideas, which is quite often, I come here. I buy manga or other make friends too.
documentation and read them on the top floor of the Carrot Key figures in the tale include Ryuji Sakamoto, a former
Tower, at the observatory. An observatory is, by definition, far star athlete now considered Shujin High’s resident juvenile
away from the ground. Up there, I feel I can distance myself delinquent; Ann Takamaki, who is regarded as an oddity by her
from all my everyday problems. I can look down over the city classmates because she’s one-quarter American and has lived
and also see myself working down there. I can think of the core outside Japan; and Yusuke Kitagawa, a budding artistic prodigy
of my problems, the type of game I want to make in the first whose slightly aloof personality keeps others at arm’s distance.
place. It allows me to focus more on finding actual solutions.” Makoto Niijima is student council president of Shujin >>>


3
JUNG 4
Psychologist Carl Jung first
referred to personas as
the masks we wear when 5 6
interacting with other people,
taking the word from the
Roman name for the masks
worn by actors. Similarly, Jung
considered shadows to be the
2dark side of a personality, the 4
negative traits we prefer to
keep hidden.
“ParT of The ChaLLenge of The gaMe is BaLanCing The DeManDs

4. on the lam from the law!
5. These plucky teens are
ready to steal your hearts,
of Life as a Teenager – sChooL, frienDshiPs, aCTiViTies – WiTh The figuratively and quite
possibly literally. 6. There are
CaLL To aCTion When There is a Mission To CoMPLeTe, a shaDoW-

moments in life when what
you really need is maximum
firepower.
fiLLeD PaLaCe To eXPLore anD hearTs To sTeaL.”
>>> High School and thus an unlikely candidate to consider each of which will influence the behaviour of the characters. If
themselves an outsider, but appearances can be deceiving. it’s pouring with rain, they may want to stay home rather than
Futaba Sakura is a hikikomori and a computer genius. Haru hang out and socialise, just for one example. One gameplay
Okumura comes from a wealthy family; her father is a successful tactic returning to the Persona franchise with this latest
businessman and she seems to enjoy a lifestyle far removed from incarnation, after it was absent from games 3 and 4, is the
her peers. And then there’s Morgana, who, despite appearances, possibility of converting enemies, which are called Shadows,
is most definitely not a cat and who seems to have the greatest to your cause by persuading them to change their allegiances.
knowledge of the magical Palaces and their arcane laws. That might sound like some new age touchy-feely, hug-a-hoodie
What unites the characters that join the protagonist in his talk, but the stronger your friendships and social connections,
battle against corruption is that they are people who feel they the more powers you unlock – which brings us neatly to the
have lost their place in society. Their mission is to enter the personas that give the franchise its name.
palaces and steal the evil intentions from the hearts of their
targets, making the world a better place one corrupt heart at BehinD The MasK
a time. As well as spending quality time face to face with your A key premise behind Persona 5 is the notion that everyone
chums and pals-to-be on daring adventures, you can reinforce wears masks in society – not in the strictly literal sense, but
the positive vibes via the in-game SNS messaging system. Yes, rather in the manner in which people disguise their true
just like in real life, in Persona 5 you can be forever connected to natures behind the mask of their outward behaviour and
your friends through your smartphone. demeanour. Some masks are chosen, others are imposed by
Adding an extra dimension to this side of the play, the game societal pressures, but only by ripping them away can a person’s
features a day and night cycle and its own weather system, true inner nature be revealed. >>>

The Thief of hearTs
Status Quo >>> This persona is what players unleash in combat by and so on. Work that out, launch the right attack, and you can
Katsuro Hashino removing the mask that holds it within, allowing the persona drop them to the ground, creating an opportunity for a follow-
wants Persona 5 to to manifest as a supernatural entity. Ripping away a mask looks up attack before they can counter. If you knock all your enemies
express the desire of oddly gruesome in the game, but at least it’s not as shocking to the ground in two turns, this enables a Hold Up, whereby you
youngsters to shake as the method used in Persona 3, whereby characters had to can engage them in a conversation. This can be used to ask them
up Japan’s stagnant shoot themselves in the head to access their persona abilities. for something – money, special items – or try to win them to your
status quo. “We don’t Supporting party members possess one persona each, but side by correctly answering their questions. Or you can end the
want the player to just the protagonist can have access to the powers of many more fight by finishing them off with a special move, but in the long
think he had fun upon by capturing defeated enemies, recruiting new allies, and run, it’s all about building up your personas, so don’t get too crazy
clearing it,” he says, even fusing different personas together through the bonds of out there obliterating every opponent you stumble across.
“but that he acquires friendship to create more powerful forms.
some kind of wisdom, Persona 5 features a newly streamlined combat system Designer Dungeons
something that he can designed to make the fight scenes smoother and faster. The game One fan complaint about Persona 4 was the game’s use of
use in the future.” uses a turn-based combat style and rewards players for getting randomized dungeons, which after lengthy playing could
the drop on their enemies with an ambush attack. If you can become repetitive and lacked interesting designs. That’s clearly
sneak up on an unsuspecting foe and strike before they know a criticism that Katsuro Hashino and the team at Atlus have
you’re there, you effectively get a free follow up in that encounter. taken to heart, as the main dungeons, which are called Palaces in
It’s vital to discover each opponent’s weaknesses – are they Persona 5, are not randomly generated during play, but have been
vulnerable to certain types of magic, particular physical attacks, carefully designed for maximum visual and gameplay impact.
The exception is Mementos, a dungeon specifically set aside
for side quests, the layout of which will be randomly generated.
Spending time in Mementos can be a useful way to level up your
protagonist – but don’t spend all your waking hours there. The
story unfolds over a year in the protagonist’s life, so your time
is not limitless. There are the main dungeons to be cleared and
boss battles to win before your calendar is all used up.
Part of the challenge of the game is balancing the demands
of life as a teenager – school, friendships, activities – with the
call to action when there is a mission to complete, a Shadow-
filled Palace to explore and hearts to steal. No one ever said
being a hero would be easy!
Lose your heart to quite possibly the hottest Japanese game
of the year; Persona 5 arrives on the PS4 on 4 April from Deep
Silver and Atlus.
Our thanks to toco toco TV; find them online at twitter.com/
tocotocotv, or search for them on YouTube to find their channel.

Untitled-77 1 30/03/2017 12:36
ANIME • ASIAN FILM • MANGA • MUSIC • COSPLAY
www.neomag.co.uk £4.75
PERSONA 5
THE MEGA HIT JRPG FRANCHISE RETURNS – AND THE MASKS ARE OFF!
KUNG FU GUIDE
HOW TO ID KUNG FU STYLES IN
J-PREVIEWS
THE DRAGON DENTIST AND
GHIBLI FLICK
MICHAEL DUDOK DE WIT
CLASSIC ASIAN MOVIES NEW STREAMING SHOWS DISCUSSES THE RED TURTLE
100_NEO161[coverFLIPPERV3]CT.indd 1 31/03/2017 13:52

Neo Magazine Issue 162/ 2017/05

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ANIME • ASIAN FILM • MANGA • MUSIC • COSPLAY

www.neomag.co.uk Issue 162 £4.75

001_NEO162[coverv2_approved]CTGC.indd 1 31/03/2017 09:29

003_NEO162[FullPage]CTGC.indd 1 30/03/2017 12:38

004-5_NEO162[Contents]CTGC.indd 1 31/03/2017 15:16

044 YOUR KUNG FU GUIDE 098 PERSONA 5

028 J-FASHION 064 ARTIST SHOWCASE

034 MAN IN JAPAN 068 COSPLAY CORNER

032 THE DRAGON DENTIST

014 NEWS NETWORK 066 COMPETITION

022 RELEASE LISTS 086 MANGA

www.ne omag .c o.uk 005

004-5_NEO162[Contents]CTGC.indd 2 31/03/2017 15:16

Gemma Cox, editor

MEET THE TEAM

ADAM MILLER LAURA WATTON JACOB BONIFACE LEEANN HAMILTON

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www.ne omag .c o.uk 009

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012 NEO MAGAZINE MAY 2017

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008-13_NEO162[LeadFeature]CTGC.indd 6 31/03/2017 15:09

Abby GrEEN- cOultON

014 NEO MAGAZINE MAY 2017

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016_NEO162[Upcoming]CTGC.indd 1 30/03/2017 12:39

“How mucH tIme do I actually Have?

018 NEO MAGAZINE MAY 2017

018_NEO161[AnimeColumn]CTGC.indd 1 30/03/2017 12:39

new eP anD Tour!

Two Tours, one FesTival!

0 20 NEO MAGAZINE MAY 2017

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www.ne omag .c o.uk 02 1

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0 22 NEO MAGAZINE MAY 2017

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After the Storm

0 24 NEO MAGAZINE MAY 2017

024_NEO162[News]CTGC.indd 1 31/03/2017 14:59

2. Yuri!! oN iCe soCKs

026 NEO MAGAZINE MAY 2017

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0 28 NEO MAGAZINE MAY 2017

028-9_NEO162[Fashion]CTGC.indd 1 31/03/2017 14:58

Illustrations by Leeann Hamilton (www.TheCoolBean.net)

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0 30 NEO MAGAZINE MAY 2017

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“A SlOw ShOw thAt fEElS SOMEtIMES lIkE k-ON!, SOMEtIMES

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0 32 NEO MAGAZINE MAY 2017

032-3_NEO161[Expose]CTGC.indd 1 30/03/2017 14:10

1. Do you think she’s noticed it? 2. Yes, they

www.ne omag .c o.uk 03 3

032-3_NEO161[Expose]CTGC.indd 2 31/03/2017 15:45

SerieS and commercialS!” outrageous gamble somehow paid off.