ANIME • ASIAN FILM • MANGA • MUSIC • COSPLAY

www.neomag.co.uk Issue 161 £4.75

PERSONA 3
EvErything you wantEd to know about thE moviE saga!
©ATLUS ©SEGA/PERSONA3 the Movie Committee

A SiLent VOiCe
Director Naoko YamaDa oN her
SCum’S WiSh
is this the best aNime of the
CLASSiC Anime
a look back oN rumiko
touchiNg New movie New seasoN’s shows? takahashi’s maisoN ikkoku

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 008

038 REVIEWS
038 SERIAL EXPERIMENTS LAIN
056 SEOUL STATION
057 KING KONG VS GODZILLA / KING
KONG ESCAPES
057 GHOST IN THE SHELL DELUXE
062 SNOW WHITE WITH THE RED HAIR
063 THREE
074 HEAVY OBJECT
076 1-2-SWITCH
076 LEGEND OF ZELDA: BOTW
077 KINMOZA! COMPLETE
077 LONE WOLF AND CUB CRITERION
078 BUSOU SHINKI
078 ONE PIECE UNCUT 16
080 ANIME ROUND-UP
082 THE AGE OF SHADOWS

004 N E O M A G A Z I N E A P R I L 2 0 1 7

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 028 CONTENTS
FEATURES
008 CHARTING PERSONA
Our handy primer of the
incredible Persona franchise
028 ALDIOUS: GIRL POWER
Discover Japan’s number one all-
girl metal band. No, for real!
044 THE AGE OF SHADOWS
Our exclusive interview with
director Kim jee-woon
LIFESTYLE
026 STUFF
Our favourite goodies, trinkets
and T-shirts
034 SETSUBUN
032 030 Throw some beans at a demon
for good luck, Japan style!
036 MANGA SCHOOL
Learn how to fill your characters
with personality
NEW IN JAPAN
036 030 BLUE EXORCIST:
KYOTO SAGA
Rin and his crew have returned,
but the story has been reset...
Find out more!
032 SCUM’S WISH
Discover why Andrew Osmond
considers this to be the best TV
anime of the entire season
REGULARS
006 MEET THE NEO TEAM
Find out about the writers who
contributed to this month’s issue!
014 NEWS NETWORK
SUBSCRIBE TODAY! Events, new releases, music
charts, gigs, premieres and more:
Find out how to save money by subscribing with a all the latest from the world of
Direct Debit, and pay just £8.99 every three issues Asian entertainment
022 RELEASE LISTS
Up to date information about
Turn to page 72 for more details! new anime, manga and Asian
film releases
004-5_NEO161[Contents]CTGC.indd 2
058 A SILENT VOICE
Director Naoko Yamada chats
with us about her new film
098 GHOST IN THE SHELL
Takashi Kitano on Hollywood,
budgets, and making Scarlett
Johansson hold his cue cards
064 ARTIST SHOWCASE
Discover the talent behind the
fantastic designs of Genki Gear
068 COSPLAY CORNER
We share incredible cosplay,
costumes, and photography
040 MANGA SNAPSHOT
Jonathan Clements grapples
with a romantic manga
anthology that sets its sights
beyond the happy ever after
054 NEO NATION
NEO readers share their favourite
Naruto Shippuden memories
066 COMPETITION
Five readers can nab themselves
a Blu-ray copy of The Heroic
Legend of Arslan Series One Part
Two right here!
086 MANGA
Jamie Me shares an extract from
his upcoming work: this time it’s
superhero tale START AGAIN
www.ne omag .c o.uk 005
03/03/2017 16:34
 EDITORIAL

WELCOME
WELCOME TO issue 161 of NEO! You may have noticed that
your issue of the mag costs more this month – to the tune of
an extra shiny 50 pence piece, to be precise. Price increases
are something we always want to avoid, so much so that we
haven’t changed the cost of the magazine since NEO 50. Due
to UK-wide rate increases for paper and postage, we’ve had no choice but to raise
the price of the magazine, so we hope you’ll forgive us. But don’t forget, you can save
money with a subscription (head to page 072!) which remains the same. And our
digital issue hasn’t gone up either – it’s still £2.99 – because, yes, there’s no postage or
paper to buy...
I’m really excited to feature our flipper cover this issue for the new Ghost in the
Shell live action movie. I know that opinions are mixed, and like any live action
adaptation, comparisons with the source material are not always favourable to the
newcomer. However, after hearing Rupert Sanders, Scarlett Johansson and Takeshi
Kitano speak so passionately of the project in Tokyo, I’m really looking forward to
seeing how that passion plays out on the screen. And let’s not forget, the world of Ghost
in the Shell has always been a famously fluid one – you only have to take a look at the
original manga to realise that. Which is exactly what we’ve done over on page 057!
Anyway, I don’t have time to chat right now; our Switch console has literally just
arrived,fresh from an hour long journey from Nintendo HQ. With Breath of the Wild to
work through, some Just Dancing to be getting on with, and some awkward face to face
cow milking to done, this weekend’s activities have been nicely sorted. Cheers Nintendo!
Until next time!

Gemma Cox, editor

MEET THE TEAM

ANDREW OSMOND DAVID WEST ADAM MILLER JONATHAN CLEMENTS
“I recommend “This month I was “In southern Japan “‘And the Oscar for
Scum’s Wish –won’t unfeasibly pleased cherry blossoms are Best Feature goes
be to everyone’s to watch grown already blooming to La La Land! No,
tastes, but it’s so men in monster and soon the whole sorry, I meant Your
much more adult suits bash each country will be Name by Makoto
than most TV fare. I other in King Kong awash with drunken Shinkai. Did I say La
also encourage you VS Godzilla. I doubt picnics under these La Land? I meant
to watch A Silent Voice, a splendid the American remake, out in 2020, beautiful trees. It may only last a short Your Name.’ Give Faye Dunaway
film. And I hope there’s another is going to feature men in monster while, but this is one of the friendliest £500 and she’ll say anything.
splendid film this March…” suits. It’s their loss.” times to be in Japan.” Fake news…”

AMELIA COOK LEEANN HAMILTON JACOB BONIFACE TOM SMITH

“I’ve just booked “Have you guys “This month I’ve “X Japan at
tickets to a been enjoying my been checking Wembley! BAND-
couple of anime manga tutorials? out the sublime- MAID in the UK
conventions in the I ask because looking Persona 3 charts! SCANDAL’s
US! I’ve never been recently I’ve been movies and other massive 36-track
to a truly massive hired as a part assorted titles in the best album out on
con or events time lecturer for franchise, as well as CD! New releases
outside the UK, and I have high Pulse College in Dublin! I’m teaching enjoying finally getting the chance from the GazettE, and now Otoboke
expectations for the panels, guests, design and 2D graphics for games. to catch up with the return of Blue Beaver and MIYAVI gigs on the
and of course cosplay.” Not bad!” Exorcist to the world of anime!” horizon. Happy days!”

006 N E O M A G A Z I N E A P R I L 2 0 1 7

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 Persona
Premieres!
The Persona franchise means a lot of different things to fans of anime and
video games, growing as it has from a popular RPG franchise to a multimedia
sensation! This month, NEO’s Jacob Boniface is investigating the latest
emerging incarnation of the series...
It’s aN aNImE tale as old as time: a young man arrives in his
new town, enrols in his new school, and soon thereafter, finds
that he has hitherto undiscovered supernatural abilities! With
his newfound superpowers and a group of best buds in tow, he
fights an ultimate incarnation of evil and saves the world!
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it – and this month we’re checking
out one of the ultimate examples of this classic story – the
release of the first three parts of the Persona 3 movie series,
coming to us from the good people at anime Limited!
sPring of Birth
13 march heralds the release of Persona 3 The Movie: #2
Midsummer Knight’s Dream, which continues to follow the
monster-slaying club as they come to get to know one another
through the summer holidays and their shared love of late-
night paranormal heroism. and things get even darker upon
the debut of Persona 3 The Movie: #3 Falling Down, which
comes out on 10 april and sees the team make great strides – and
sacrifices – as they come ever closer to unravelling the secrets
of the Dark Hours, shadow creatures, and the enigmatic evil
behind all of it...
as you might already know, the Persona series isn’t just
a set of movies, and actually started out as part of the multiple
decade- and console-spanning Megami Tensei video game
franchise by atlus. Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 was the
first instalment of the series to be released on the Ps2, way
back in the summer of 2006 – and can definitely be said to still
resonate with fans, if these new releases are anything to go
by! Containing some darker themes and plotlines than more
of the most recent titles in the Persona series, Persona 3 has a
special place in the heart of gamers who like their RPGs to come
with a dark side, while still retaining the long-form character
development and plot progression that has become a staple of
the series.
In fact, Persona 3 was the first game in the franchise to use
the ‘social Link’ system that has become almost synonymous
with the Persona franchise. Throughout the in-game year,
players are encouraged to spend time with their newfound
friends and comrades in the sEEs club – undertaking various
008-13_NEO161[LeadFeature]CTGC.indd 2
activities and bonding experiences to better come to know
each of the diverse team members. aside from being a subtle
and artful way of encouraging character development across
the course of the game’s famously long playtime, the system
also gives the player access to new and more powerful forms
of the Persona ability when summoning alongside characters
with whom the protagonist shares a powerful bond. However,
maintaining bad social experiences with the other characters
(or two-timing multiple characters) can negatively affect the
player’s ability to battle, or even permanently remove certain
Personas from the game entirely!
according to the staff who worked on the new movie
adaptations, one of the most difficult challenges in bringing
such a well-loved game to the screen was in translating these
elements of the game, which occur as a result of its open-
ended nature, into a fixed narrative on the screen. During
development, series script writer Jun Kumagai wanted to create
an experience that would be both compelling for newcomers to
the world of Persona, as well as one that would resonate with
those who were long-time fans of the original game. some of
the game’s mechanics were altered to better fit into the format
of the movie – and this might also account for the series’ four-
part format, as opposed to the more traditional form of adapting
a game into a trilogy or even a single instalment. since the
plotline and mechanics of the game rely so heavily on the
characters and their relationship to the protagonist, extra care,
and time, had to be taken with this series to ensure that each of
the cast received a chance to shine.
translating the Cast
Of course, gamers and movie lovers alike will both agree – an
RPG, or movie series, is only as good as its characters! But as
you might expect from a franchise that is such a critical and
commercial success as this, the Persona 3 movies are chock
full of interesting and compelling characters. The playable
characters – and sEEs members – included in both the game
and the movies include makoto’s best friend, the broadsword-
wielding Junpei; the cheerful yet lonely love interest (not to
mention expert archer) Yukari; mitsuru, the calm and >>>
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01/03/2017 09:28
 Persona PreMIeres
The FinesT
hour!
We’re definitely being
spoiled with the
quick release of the
first three Persona 3
movies, but that’s not
all there is to the series!
Released last January
in Japan, the fourth
and final instalment
in the Persona 3 saga
– entitled Winter of
Rebirth – follows the
final days of the most
tumultuous year of
Makoto and team’s life,
as they come face to
face with the villain in
the shadows. Winter
of Rebirth looks set
to see a release here
from Anime Limited
early this summer, on
5 June!
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>>> collected student council president; boxer and sEEs co-
founder akihiko; the shy yet strong-willed Fuuka; the tortured
ex-sEEs member shinjiro; precocious youngster Ken; aigis, an
android created as a weapon to combat the shadow creatures –
and of course, Koromaru, a shrine-dwelling dog who is also
capable of summoning Personas.
While the primary cast of characters is still plenty for viewers
to be getting to know, the original game had a much larger cast,
some of whom have also made their way into the big-screen
version. Though this was definitely a huge challenge for the
movies’ creative team, they rose to the occasion with enthusiasm,
led by director Noriaki akitaya, best known for his work on super-
successful series such as Bakuman and Code Geass.
But the main hurdle for director akitaya and writer
Kumagai was in bringing the most important part of the game
– the main character – to the movies. In the original Persona 3,
the protagonist character is something of a blank slate – with
their name, and responses to most in-game conversations and
events, dictated by the player. Obviously, the main character of
a movie, especially when that movie has three sequels planned,
needs to have a little more substance than that – which meant
that the creative team on the Persona 3 movie franchise had to
develop that character (who later became known as makoto
Yuki) in a way that would make him likable and engaging to the
movies’ viewers, while still keeping close to the plotline as seen
in the series’ source material.
Though akitaya expressed worries during development of
the first movie that the character might not be able to live up to
the version that gamers had in their minds when controlling
the character as a part of the game, fans and newcomers alike
seem to have taken to this newest portrayal of the protagonist
– with his introduction and initial development that comprise
much of Spring of Birth being incredibly well-received. The
character’s new design, as well as those of the supporting
teammates, were also noted by Persona devotees as being a
particularly positive aspect of the adaptations, keeping in line
with the game’s dark tone while simultaneously bringing the
characters and settings to modern animation and artistic styles,
as well as a host of new fans and viewers!
It’ll be interesting to see if the movies do as well in the UK
as they have with Japanese audiences, but with each title in the
series getting both a Blu-ray and Collector’s Edition release, it
wouldn’t be surprising if each instalment was a hit over here
as well!
Persona 4
Persona 3 isn’t the first game in the series to receive an
animated adaptation. Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4, arguably
the most popular Persona game to date, received two anime
retellings of the game’s story.
much like Persona 3, the fourth instalment follows a
young high schooler who possesses the summoning power
of Personas, in this case the silver-coiffed Yu Narukami, who
moves to live with his uncle and cousin in the rural town
of Inaba – which, it soon becomes apparent, is also plagued
by a different supernatural curse, this time lurking in the
technicolour shadows of the parallel ‘tV World’, which is the
cause of a series of mysterious deaths throughout Inaba.
Joined by another gang of colourful characters, which
include class clown Yosuke, athletic Chie, and naturally, the
wise-cracking anthropomorphic teddy bear… teddy, Yu’s
murder-mystery adventure was an instant hit with series
mainstays and new gamers alike, bringing the Persona series
into the spotlight as one of the RPG titans to be reckoned with.
01/03/2017 09:28
 2

the Persona series is shoWing no signs of sloWing doWn 1. makoto, yukari and Junpei
brave the grim fortress of
tartarus, home to the
WhatsoeVer! KeeP an eye out this sPring for the neWest entry – demonic shadows. 2. Just as
in the game, makoto spends

Persona 5 – Being released for the Ps3 and Ps4 on 4 aPril. some quality time with close
friends and allies. 3. heroine
yukari is the most popular girl
in school, but is she hiding a
although the story of Persona 4 had a much lighter tone is a huge cultural phenomenon in Japan, dating back to its first grim and tragic past? 4. new
than its predecessor, this time opting for a supernatural take release, 1987’s Digital Devil Story for the NEs. Once the series wardrobe! makoto received
on the detective mystery genre, it was just as popular with took off, however, it wasn’t long before atlus started licensing its a redesign in both looks and
lovers of the series, so much so that one adaptation of the game games for a number of adaptations, in the form of OVas, anime personality for the cinematic
simply wasn’t enough! after the game’s Playstation Vita re- series, and even one live-action retelling of Devil Summoner in adaptation.
release, Persona 4 Golden, in 2011, a-1 Pictures soon got to work the late ‘90s! But perhaps the two other best-known animated
on a brand-new animated series that would focus to a greater Megami Tensei adventures are 2013’s Devil Survivor 2 The
extent on the scenarios and characters added in the new Golden Animation, and 2008’s Persona Trinity Soul. ChiBi
version of the game. Like the newer movies, both versions of Trinity Soul, actually a spin-off series from Persona 3, follows CrossoVer!
Persona 4: The Animation split their focus between exploring the exploits of the Kanzato brothers – shin, Ryo, and Jun. When If these Persona
the unfolding and mysterious narrative, and developing the shin and Jun, the two younger brothers, return home to the adventures seem
various characters that appear in the game. However, while coastal ayanagi City, their blossoming abilities with the power of a bit doom-and-
it continues to be widely regarded as a fun and engaging Personas lead to them getting drawn into the gruesome ‘Reverse’ gloom, check out the
series, some viewers criticised the first series for having an off- case – a spate of serial killings in which the victims are found 2014 3DS dungeon-
puttingly disparate split between the high-school hijinks that turned inside out. alongside their estranged older brother Ryo, crawler Persona Q!
adapt the game’s social Link activities, and the darker tones now the career-oriented Police superintendent of ayanagi City, Transplanting the
of the main plotline’s adventure. still, its popularity definitely the Kanzatos delve deeper into the dark world of both Persona, casts of Personas 3
paved the way for the Persona 3 movies, and many of the staff and its supernatural connections to the crime wave sweeping and 4 into a chibi-
members on Persona 4’s animated versions actually ended up as their home town. fied world, the title
part of the creative team for the new big-screen adventures! The series also features the return of akihiko, the saw rave reviews,
aforementioned ex-sEEs member, now consulting with the drawing elements
a storied history police about this new case’s similarity to the events of Persona from both games, as
But Persona 4: The Animation was far from being the first of the 3, which took place ten years prior, and with which akihiko is well as Atlus’ other
Megami Tensei games to see an animated version. The franchise obviously intimately familiar! as with the animated version >>> releases.

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 Persona PreMIeres

>>> of Persona 4 Golden, Trinity Soul was also created by A-1
Pictures – who are more recently known for series such as Erased
and Blue Exorcist: Kyoto Saga – and its often cold tone and art
style made it too a success with fans of Persona 3, who found it
Console similar to the sombre stylings of the game, while being original
Cameos enough to stand as its own addition to the franchise.
If these movies leave But if Trinity Soul is cold and understated, then Devil
you hungry for still Survivor 2 is the exact opposite. Based on the Megami Tensei
more action from game of the same name for the Nintendo Ds, Devil Survivor
the members of introduces viewers to Hibiki Kuze, who, when a mobile app
SEES, then check out eerily informs him of his impending demise, is given a chance
Persona 4 Arena and to cheat death, not to mention the ability to download demonic
its special edition re- monstrosities from his newly superpowered smartphone. Drawn
release Ultimax, which into a worldwide conflict between summoners, Hibiki levels
feature a large number up his connection with his devilish new allies, all the while
of characters from the attempting to survive almost certain death at the hands of rival
roster of Persona 3! summoners, cataclysmic disasters, and murky government
Unlike almost all the types with their own agenda for our hero...
other games in the as mentioned, Devil Survivor definitely departs from the
franchise, Persona 4 grim and solemn tones that abound in the Persona side of the
Arena isn’t an RPG but franchise. Bold, brash, and boisterous, the series packs some
a 2D fighting game, memorably flashy battles and explosive action into its relatively
in which characters short run. also unlike many of the other Megami Tensei
from across the two adaptations, which were produced by big-name studios such
games find themselves as aniplex and the previously-mentioned a-1 Pictures, Devil
involved in another Survivor 2 was created by Bridge, a lesser-known studio who
shadowy ‘TV World’ have nonetheless had a hand in some modern classics, such as
adventure – only this Sword Art Online and Kids on the Slope.
time they’re forced to But if this still isn’t enough from the franchise, then don’t
fight not with monsters worry, because the Persona series is showing no signs of slowing
and demons, but with down whatsoever! Keep an eye out this spring for the newest
each other! entry – Persona 5 – being released for the Ps3 and Ps4 on 4 april.
Hotly anticipated by fans of the series, the game follows an
unnamed protagonist who begins a new life in a heavily stylised
version of modern-day tokyo after being accused of a crime he
didn’t commit.
after suffering such an injustice, it’s not long before – you
guessed it – he finds that he can summon spiritual entities to
defend the world against the shadowy evildoers that would do
it harm. teaming up with some like-minded Persona wielders,
the protagonist forms the vigilante team known as ‘The
Phantom Thieves of Hearts’, who enter a parallel version of the
surroundings and use their gifts to steal the causes of various
problems that plague the city.
Though much of the core mechanics in Persona 5 remain the
same as previous titles in the series, it looks like this latest release
will have a greater emphasis on different types of gameplay –
allowing the player to use stealth and guile to evade enemies,
while introducing more puzzle elements to the dungeons than
previous games have had. The game also includes a revamped
version of the social Link system that made the last two mainline
titles such a success – dubbed the ‘Cooperation system’, it’ll be
interesting to see how that affects the game and its characters!
If any of these paranormal and psychological adventures
have piqued your interest, then there’s never been a better time
than right now for you to get involved with this huge series and
its many fascinating titles! and if you’re still on the fence, then
you can always keep an eye on our review section in the next few
months, where we’ll have the scoop on the upcoming Persona 3
movies and much, much more!
The first Persona 3 Movie, Spring of Birth, is out now in the
UK from anime Limited, while the second, third and fourth
movies in the series will be seeing releases on 13 march, 10 april,
and 5 June respectively!

012 NEO MAGAZINE APRIL 2017

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 the Persona series isn’t Just a set of moVies, and aCtually
started out as Part of the multiPle deCade- and Console-sPanning
megami tensei Video game franChise By atlus.

008-13_NEO161[LeadFeature]CTGC.indd 6 01/03/2017 09:28


A YeAr Of
MCM CoMiC Cons
Exciting plans ahead for the nation’s favourite pop culture shows
This yEar is shaping up to be a great one for fans of MCM Comic Cons
across the country, with a slate of events scheduled – see our boxout on this
page for dates and locations!
“MCM London Comic Con celebrates its 15th anniversary this year – and
it’s looking like this May’s event is going to be our biggest and best yet,” said
MCM Central CEO Bryan Cooney. “Watching the show grow from a small
autograph event into a huge Us-style comic con has been very special for us –
but more exciting is that London Comic Con continues to grow and evolve to
embrace new trends and cover new ground.
“We’re also keen to continue to expand our regional events – newer shows
such as Manchester, scotland and the recent Liverpool Comic Cons have proven
especially popular with fans, while 2017 also sees the return of overseas shows
in Belfast, Dublin and hannover. We’re also excited to be involved in summer
in the City – the UK’s largest youTube festival and a really excellent event! –
which MCM acquired last year.”
One of the most exciting aspects of the MCM Comic Cons is the host of
special guests booked to attend, and 2017 is shaping up to be no different.
scheduled for the Birmingham event is Billie Piper of Doctor Who and
Penny Dreadful fame, who will be joined by Greg austin (Charlie smith)
and Fady Elsayed (ram singh) from Doctor Who spin-off Class. it’ll be a
star-studded affair for anime fans as well, featuring Vic Mignogna (Edward
Elric, Fullmetal Alchemist), and two stars from Attack on Titan, Bryce
014 NEO MAGAZINE APRIL 2017
014-5_NEO161[News]CTGC.indd 1
MCM Comic Con photos by Juliette Crawford.
Papenbrook (Eren Jaeger) and Trina Nishimura (Mikasa ackerman). But
wait, there’s more! Eugene Clarke, aka Big Daddy from Land of the Dead
will also be in attendance, as well Starsky and Hutch stars Paul Michael
Glaser (starsky), David soul (hutch) and antonio Fargas (huggy Bear).
Even though the first London event is still a couple of months away,
special guests are already being booked in, including Nichelle Nichols
(Star Trek), hynden Walch (Adventure Time, Gurren Lagann, Teen Titans),
summer Glau (Firefly, Serenity, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles),
and sam Jones (Flash Gordon). if you want to find out about scheduled
guests ahead of time, make sure to visit the mini site for the event you’re
attending – see our event boxout on this spread for the details.
Don’t forget that NEO will be attending the two London shows too,
which are held on 26-28 May and 27-29 October. “We’re really excited to be
attending these hugely popular shows,” said Bianca Trent, our events co-
ordinator. “Visitors can expect exclusive offers, with a 12-issue subscription
offer at £30 that includes lower prices and four anime DVDs to choose from
as a special gift. We’ll also have three and six issue offers at £8 and £15
respectively that come with four manga titles to choose from, so we have
offers for a range of budgets!”
Of course, we’ll also be reporting about the happenings at the London
events, and interviewing special guests stars to bring you in on the action.
see you there!
03/03/2017 14:31

2017 EVENTS
• MCM Birmingham Comic Con: 18 – 19 March
www.mcmcomiccon.com/birmingham
• MCM Hannover Comic Con: 20 – 21 May
www.mcmcomiccon.com/hannover
• MCM London Comic Con: 26 – 28 May
www.mcmcomiccon.com/london
• MCM Northern Ireland Comic Con: 24 – 25 June
www.mcmcomiccon.com/belfast
• MCM Ireland Comic Con: 1 – 2 July
www.mcmcomiccon.com/ireland
• MCM Manchester Comic Con: 29 – 30 July
www.mcmcomiccon.com/manchester
• MCM Scotland Comic Con: 23 – 24 September
www.mcmcomiccon.com/scotland
• MCM London Comic Con: 27 – 29 October
www.mcmcomiccon.com/london*
• MCM Birmingham Comic Con: 18 – 19 November
www.mcmcomiccon.com/birmingham*
* Tickets available nearer the date
014-5_NEO161[News]CTGC.indd 2
STOKE CON TRENT
More event madness
April will see the sixth Stoke Con Trent event take place on Sunday
9th – tickets are available for £14 for adults, £10 for concessions, and
£8 for children aged 5-16 (under 5s are free). Stoke Con Trent is based
at Staffordshire University on the Leek Road Campus, and is open for
all comers to hunt down autographs, chat with guests, check out the
attractions (like props from cult TV shows and movies), and to cosplay!
Guests confirmed so far include Ian McElhinney (Game of Thrones), Doug
Naylor (writer and director, Red Dwarf), Nathalie Cuzner (PZ-4CO in Star
Wars: The Force Awakens), Lew Temple (Axel, The Walking Dead), comedy
duo Trev & Simon, and Sophie Aldred (Ace from Doctor Who). Snap your
tickets up early to avoid disappointment!
I AM SETSUNA
Square-Enix JRPG joined Switch launch
Square-Enix’s I Am Setsuna was part of the launch line-up for
Nintendo’s Switch console, which made its debut earlier this month.
The game is available to download now for Switch, PlayStation 4 and
Steam. Deliberately designed to evoke memories of SNES era gameplay,
I Am Setsuna was developed by Tokyo RPG Factory and is set in a land of
perpetual winter. It follows the titular Setsuna, a maiden who has been
marked as a sacrifice to the demons who ravage the lands. Her journey
sees her acquire a group of companions, many of whom have had fi rst-
hand experience of the horror that the demons can infl ict.
Using the active time battle system previously used in Final Fantasy
and Chrono Trigger, it sees players navigating a top-down environment
with their party of characters. I Am Setsuna is not for the faint-hearted,
with a sombre tone and atmospheric music and artwork. It made a
welcome addition to the Switch launch lineup, which contained a
variety of games across the genres, including 1-2-Switch and The Legend
of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, both reviewed on page 076.
www.ne omag .c o.uk 015
03/03/2017 16:38
 //COMING UP
RAILROAD TIGERS
O U T: 8 M AY // D I S T R IB U T O R : K A L E ID O S C O P E
H O M E E N T E R TA INM E N T
Following its blink-and-you -missed-it UK
cinema release, Ding Sheng’s Railroad Tigers
heads for DVD and Blu-ray. During the Sino-
Japanese War, Ma Yuan (Jackie Chan) is a
railroad worker leading a group of ragtag
volunteers (is there any other kind?) on a
mission to steal a train full of explosives so they
can blow up a vital bridge. It’s the third film
from Chan and Ding after Little Big Soldier and
Police Story: Lockdown. Fingers crossed they
haven’t lost their touch!

016_NEO161[Upcoming]CTGC.indd 1 01/03/2017 09:29

Untitled-103 1 02/03/2017 14:18
 The
Cosplay
lynCh-
Mob
Jonathan Clements on
fandom’s appetite for self-
destruCtion
I
t was an odd internet scandal even by the standards of
our post-truth age. Donald Trump’s press secretary, Sean
Spicer, a man whose grasp of the truth makes Comical Ali
look like George Washington, was “outed” in January by
the Kotaku fan site, whose minions had been trawling his
social media posts looking for something to laugh at. They
found it, seemingly, on his Twitter feed for 2013, where he
had been enthusiastically hash-tagging a Gundam costume
he saw at Katsucon.
Could it really be that, in the year that America jumped
the shark, the frowning White House press secretary was a
recovering anime fan? And if so, could it be that he was That
Guy… you know, That Guy?
“‘Anime fAndom wAs AwAsh with giggly
glee As they tried to hunt down five-
yeAr-old cosplAy photogrAphs. high-
level nerds were put to work on fAciAl
recognition softwAre.“
No, I didn’t know That Guy, but enthusiastic chatter soon
enlightened me – a man at American conventions of a few
years back, who dressed up as pathological whiner Shinji
from Evangelion. What better illustration of his oft-repeated
catch-phrase, “I Mustn’t Run Away”, than appending it to a
picture of Spicer standing before the press corps, unreliably
informing them that black was white, that crowds were
much more biglier than people remembered, and that
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018_NEO161[AnimeColumn]CTGC.indd 1
1
2
1. probably the face that sean
spicer makes before every press
conference. 2. “hello, mr spicer?
is your refrigerator running?
Better go cAtch it!”
Evangelion 4.0 was sure to be released very, very soon?
Anime fandom was awash with giggly glee as they tried to
hunt down five-year-old cosplay photographs. High-level
nerds were put to work on facial recognition software.
Everybody was mobilised to get him… but I didn’t understand
what for.
“Wait,” I asked. “If that’s really Spicer dressed as Shinji,
why would you laugh at him? Because he’s a cosplayer?
Because he likes Japanese cartoons?” Isn’t that shooting
all your fellow anime fans in the feet? It seemed like an
oddly mean-spirited and self-destructive form of protest,
discovering that one’s enemy was a bit like you, and then
laughing at him for it.
Spicer and I are the same age, and the world is a small
place – it turned out we had a mutual acquaintance. He’d
been a hard-core otaku at the same college as Spicer, and
reported that he had zero interest in anime in the 1990s. If
he were a fan, he was something of a late bloomer, and these
days probably had other things on his mind than assuring
people they have five minutes until the planet explodes. But
fandom should lay off trying to shame itself.
01/03/2017 09:29
ads.indd 1 03/03/2017 15:59
 New Album + Show!

NEO’S
TOPTEN
2
Our roundup of the hottest tracks currently MIyavI – LIve tO DIe
anOther Day
blasting on the office stereo
aprIL + May!
W O R D S B Y T O m S mi T h Rock star, actor and self-named “guitar samurai” MIYAVI

1
will make his overdue return to London with an intimate
performance at the O2 Academy Islington on 7 May. It will
OtObOke beaver – LOve Is shOrt be the only UK date of his Fire Bird 2017 tour, which sees him slap-
March + May guitar his way across 23 venues in the United States and Europe over a
two-month period.
Kyoto riot grrrls Otoboke Beaver will be back in the UK for a rare Also announced is the artist’s first best album, entitled DAY 2. The
overseas tour this May. Despite receiving praise and love during regular edition will feature 20 tracks, including five re-recorded songs
their last tour of the British Isles, the ladies still hold full time jobs along with new track Live to Die Another Day, while a special 2-CD and
in Japan and struggle to get time off for more than a few days. DVD edition features a mighty track list of 33 songs. DAY 2 is scheduled
Thankfully, the start of May is Golden Week in their homeland, a time where for release from 5 April in Japan. There is currently no news of a UK CD
offices close and people spend time with their loved ones. In Otoboke’s release, but considering Wrasse Records released his last album Fire
case, those loved ones are you lucky people! They will headline at London’s Bird over here, we reckon there’s a high chance this collection of classic
100 Club on 1 May, followed by Exchange in Bristol, CCA in Glasgow and tracks will be released too.
The Musician in Leicester in the days that follow, and will be joined on tour
by Korea’s Say Sue Me for all dates.
Ahead of the tour, latest EP Love is Short will be released, out from 24 New Album!
March via their label and tour company Damnably. It’s the band’s second
EP and third release overseas, and includes three tracks. Title track Love Is
short sees the band rock out to themes of gender frustration. Introduce me
to your family playfully relates relationships as a kind of personal war, and
19-second closer Ikezu (meaning “Mean”) is a stamping flash of anger.
Otoboke Beaver will also be joining MIYAVI and other guests from
Japan at this year’s SXSW festival in America, playing a special showcase
at Maggie Mae’s Rooftoop on 16 March.

New eP + Tour!

3
banD-MaID – DOn’t yOu teLL Me
Out nOw
Despite latest album Just Bring It being out in the UK since last
issue, we still can’t stop playing it! Especially this track, Don’t
you tell ME, which is also their latest YouTube video and sees the
ladies trash a posh party that they’re supposed to be providing
maid services for.
Just Bring It has been doing tremendously well in the UK, with it being
picked up by HMV in their recommended section across the country, as
well as getting into the top 20 of the official UK rock charts (where it was
the third highest selling new album of the week). The limited-edition CD
and T-shirt bundle from JPU Records has also become the biggest, fastest
selling release from the label, ever, and has caused delays as the company
struggles to keep up with demand. Watch this space, we reckon the girls
will be back in England very soon…

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 4 5
New DVD + New Album! the Gazette –
taion
March + april!
We told you it’s going to be a busy
few months from visual kei veterans
the GazettE! Following their tour
finale footage, released on iTunes last issue, is the
DVD and Blu-ray release of their latest world tour
documentary. On JPU Records from 25 March,
the release features English subtitles and a poster
when ordered direct from the label. This will be
followed by the release of TRACES VOL.2, a new
compilation album featuring 12 classic tracks from
the band, all re-recorded. JPU’s initial print will be
the same as Japan’s special ed (featuring unique
packaging and extra tracks), and will include lyric
translations. Direct orders will also include a poster.
6 7
uK Tour! YaMato: the
DruMMers of
Japan
March–april!
Japan’s mighty Taiko drum squad
Yamato have a huge 23-city tour, starting with
an 11-date stint at London’s Peacock Theatre
from 14 March. Tickets start at just £15 and
there are shows scheduled for everywhere
from Torquay in Devon to Inverness in
Scotland. Check out the details on the website
yamatodrummers.com.
The group has also released their live album
Bakuon: Legend of the Heartbeat, available now
from iTunes.
9
GYze – pirates
of upas
22-24 March!
Japan’s power metal trio GYZE
will join Finnish heavy metallers
Battle Beast on their upcoming
tour, which includes Slade Rooms in
Wolverhampton on 22 March, Ruby Lounge
uK Tour!
in Manchester on 23 and ending at The
8
Underworld, London on 24 March. Their first
crossfaith – time in Europe was at Wacken Open Air in
revolution Germany ahead of their debut album.
14-22 april eNglAND Tour
Electro-party-rockers Crossfaith
are back, chugging bottles of
Jägermeister and creating mosh pits
across eight cities as they join Bury Tomorrow on
their upcoming tour.
It all begins in Birmingham on 14 April,
followed by shows in Manchester, Glasgow
and Newcastle, before taking a day off
and continuing on 19 April in Leeds, then
Nottingham, Cardiff, and concluding at
London’s O2 Forum Kentish Town.
020-1_NEO161[MusicTop10]CTGC.indd 2
nobuo ueMatsu
– final fantasY
concerto
20 June!
Tickets are now on sale for Symphonic
Odysseys London; the UK’s first concert dedicated
to Nobuo Uematsu! Taking place at The Barbican
in London on 20 June, the celebration will include
the famous video game composer’s themes from
Blue Dragon, The Last Story, Lost Odyssey and Final
Fantasy. The legend himself will be in attendance
and conducting a special ticketed talk before the
show. The concert will be conducted by Eckehard
Stier, together with the London Symphony Chorus.
Video game fans should also look out for Distant
Worlds: London 30th Anniversary at the Royal
Albert Hall on 4 November.
saY sue Me –
one Week
april-MaY
They have a Japanese sounding
English name; the members hail
from Busan in South Korean; and
they play a mixture of ‘60s surf and ‘90s indie
rock. Say Sue Me are certainly a quirky bunch,
and they’re on tour of the UK with label buddies
Otoboke Beaver this May, following the release
of their self-titled compilation album, out from
14 April via Damnably. The CD contains several
the foursome’s best tracks from their career
so far, available for the first time in one handy,
introductory compact disc.
loNDoN show!
10
Matenrou
opera –
panDora
1 JulY
Even more power metal is
on the way courtesy of Matenrou Opera! They
have their first headline show in the UK set
to take place at The Underworld in London
on 1 July. A limited amount of VIP tickets are
available that include early entry and a hi-five
with the band for ¤50 from weezevent.com,
while general entry will set you back £32 from
theunderworldcamden.co.uk.
www.ne omag .c o.uk 02 1
03/03/2017 16:28
 UK release schedule
DATE TITLE DISTRIBUTOR
16/03 Genshiken: Second Season 10 Kodansha
16/03 Ghost in the Shell Novel Vertical
16/03 LDK 9 Kodansha
16/03 Mysterious Girlfriend X 5 Vertical
16/03 OTOMO: A Global Tribute to the Genius Behind Akira Kodansha
16/03 The Prince in His Dark Days 4 Kodansha
16/03 UQ Holder 10 Kodansha
16/03 Vampire Hunter D Volume 25: Island of Immortality Dark Horse
23/03 Bleach 69 VIZ Media
23/03 Haikyu!! 09 VIZ Media
23/03 Hunter X Hunter 33 VIZ Media
23/03 Legend of Zelda: Legendary Edition 3 VIZ Media
23/03 Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess 1 VIZ Media
23/03 Naruto: Sasuke’s Story – Sunrise VIZ Media
23/03 Nisekoi 20 VIZ Media
23/03 One Piece 3-in-1 Edition 19 VIZ Media
23/03 One-Punch Man 11 VIZ Media
23/03 Platinum End 2 VIZ Media

ANIME
DATE TITLE DISTRIBUTOR
23/03
23/03
23/03
Tegami Bachi 20
BLAME! 3
Clockwork Planet 1
VIZ Media
Vertical
Kodansha
23/03 Fairy Tail Master’s Edition 4 Kodansha
20/03 Snow White with the Red Hair Part 1 (Blu-ray) Funimation  23/03 Forget Me Not Volume 7 Kodansha
20/03 Heavy Object Part 1 (Blu-ray) Funimation  23/03 That Wolf-Boy Is Mine 4 Kodansha
20/03 Daimidaler vs. Penguin Empire (Blu-ray+DVD combi) Funimation  23/03 Welcome to the Ballroom 4 Kodansha
20/03 Ghost in the Shell (DVD / Blu-ray / Ltd Ed Steelbook) Manga 30/03 Attack on Titan Adventure Kodansha
20/03 Ghost in the Shell Movie Double Pack (DVD / Blu-ray) Manga 30/03 Fairy Tail 59 Kodansha
20/03 Ghost In The Shell: SAC – Individual Eleven (DVD / Blu-ray) Manga 30/03 Flying Witch 1 Vertical
20/03 Ghost In The Shell: SAC – Solid State Society (DVD / Blu-ray) Manga 30/03 Real Account 6 Kodansha
20/03 Ghost In The Shell: SAC – The Laughing Man(DVD / Blu-ray) Manga 30/03 RG Veda Omnibus 2 Dark Horse
27/03 Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam Part 2 (Blu-ray) Anime Limited
27/03 Escaflowne [TV Series + Movie] (DVD) Anime Limited
27/03 Shimoneta (Blu-ray, DVD) Funimation 
27/03 Serial Experiments Lain (Collector’s Blu-ray and DVD) MVM
27/03 One Piece (Uncut) Collection 16 (DVD) Manga
03/04 Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo (Blu-ray) Anime Limited
03/04 Busou Shinki: Armored War Goddess Collection (Blu-ray / DVD) MVM
10/04 Persona 3: Movie #3 Falling Down (Ltd Ed Blu-ray+DVD, DVD) Anime Limited
10/04 Shomin Sample (Blu-ray, DVD) Funimation
10/04 Little Busters Series One (Blu-ray / DVD) MVM
17/04 Berserk Collection (Blu-ray) MVM
24/04 Durarara x2 – The Second Arc: Ten (DVD, Ltd Ed Blu-ray+DVD) Anime Limited
24/04 Belladonna of Sadness (Blu-ray) Anime Limited
24/04 Your Lie In April Part 2 (DVD, Ltd Ed Blu-ray) Anime Limited
24/04 Evangelion 1.11 (Ltd Ed Blu-ray+DVD) Anime Limited

ASIAN FILM
DATE TITLE DISTRIBUTOR
24/03 The Age Of Shadows Soda Pictures
27/03 Dead Or Alive Trilogy Arrow Video
27/03 Lone Wolf And Cub Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
27/03 Killer Constable 88 Films
31/03 Ghost In The Shell Paramount
10/04 Battle Royale Arrow Video
10/04 Destruction Babies Third Window
10/04 Ip Man The Series KSM Films
10/04 Sword Master Kaleidoscope Home Entertainment
14/04 The Handmaiden Curzon Artificial Eye
24/04 The Life Of Oharu Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

MANGA
DATE TITLE DISTRIBUTOR
24/04
24/04
24/04
Bloody Muscle Bodybuilder In Hell
Drunken Master
Operation Mekong
Terror-cotta
Eureka
Trinity Films
24/04 The Goddess BFI
16/03 Attack on Titan: The Anime Guide Kodansha 24/04 Wolf Guy Arrow Video
16/03 Complex Age 4 Kodansha 01/05 Tampopo Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

0 22 NEO MAGAZINE APRIL 2017

022_NEO161[Incoming]CTGC.indd 1 03/03/2017 14:32

ads.indd 1 03/03/2017 17:41
 nEWS
W o r d S B Y d AV Id W E S t

The Life Of Oharu

Mizoguchi’s tale of tragedy
tHe aMerican critic robert ebert called
it, “the saddest film i have ever seen about the
life of a woman.” director Kenji Mizoguchi’s
The Life of oharu is a portrait of one woman’s
fall from nobility to a poor, hungry prostitute.
adapted from a 17th century novel, the film
stars Kinuyo tanaka as oharu, who was once
a lady-in-waiting at court but who is cast out
following an affair with a handsome young

IntroducIng Boruto
page. Thereafter, she struggles to survive
in a society that regards her as essentially
valueless beyond her ability to please men.
The Life of oharu comes to Blu-ray for the first
time on 24 april from criterion/sony Pictures
Hokage and son Home entertainment, accompanied by a
beautifully illustrated booklet containing an
Forget Lone WoLf And Cub, it’s time for a new father-son duo to rule the action roost. essay by critic gilberto Perez. What it should
Boruto: naruto The Movie is the first feature film in Masashi Kishimoto’s Start of A new era come with is a handkerchief for all the tears
Project, taking his characters into the future after the close of the manga series. you’ll cry watching it.
naruto has finally achieved his dream of becoming Hokage of the Hidden Leaf village,
but he’s so snowed under with work that he struggles to spend any time with his family,
much to the growing resentment of his son Boruto. desperate for his father’s attention and
approval – just as naruto once craved the acclaim of his comrades – Boruto asks sasuke to Meian Maid
train him, hoping to become powerful enough to outshine his neglectful dad. But when
naruto is trapped in another dimension by two powerful shinobi seeking to capture the
invasion
strength of the nine-tails, sasuke, Boruto and all the other Kage must team up to launch a soMe are sWeet, some are spooky, but
rescue mission. they’re all kawaii – they’re the members of
When released in Japan in 2015, Boruto: naruto The Movie was the eleventh top- the Meian Maid café. inspired by the famous
grossing film of the year and became the most successful naruto feature film to date. it’s establishments of akihabara, the Meian Maids
directed by Hiroyuki Yamashita, who learned his craft as an animator on previous movies hold pop-up cafés at events around the UK
in the franchise including Road To ninja, Blood Prison and Will of fire, while Masashi where they serve food and snacks, sing and
Kishimoto himself wrote the screenplay. Following in the tradition of Junko takeuchi dance, and play games to entertain customers.
voicing naruto, voice actress Yuko sanpei plays the titular young hero. to find out where they’re appearing next, visit
Boruto: naruto The Movie comes to Blu-ray on 1 May from Manga entertainment. www.meianmaids.com.

MayheM In
Medway
no april’s Fools Here
tHere’s notHing Better to blow away the
grey of winter than a springtime convention,
and Medway comic and screen Festival comes
to Medway Park, gillingham, Kent, on 1 april.
guests will include actors from fan-favourite
franchises like Star Wars and Doctor Who,
alongside comic artists and cosplay stars
including Ju tsukino and Maggzy cosplay. For
info and tickets, visit www.mcsf.co.uk.

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Untitled-103 1 02/03/2017 14:19
 WE LOVE THIS STUFF!
Check out NEO’s pick of the coolest merchandise around this month
1. TOFU CUTE PANDA 4
LUCKY BAG
At www.tofucute.com
from £29.99, these new
Panda design Lucky
Bags are packed full of
surprises! Inside you’ll
find fun Japanese
snacks and a cute
Amuse plush – different
sizes and prices are
available!

2. GENKI GEAR BADGES

Nab yourself some
of Genki Gear’s new
badges – three sets are
now available, priced
at £2 each, from www.
genkigear.co.uk.

1
3. SPRING SEASONAL
JAPANESE KIT KATS
2 Check out these rare
Japanese Kit Kats from 5
www.tofucute.com for
just £2.50 a pair. These
limited edition flavours
aren’t around for long –
the latest spring choices
include Hot Ginger Tea
and Sakura and Roasted
Soybean!

4. VOCALOID HATSUNE
MIKU FIGURE
We love this gorgeous
winter costume
version of Hatsune
Miku – available now 6
for £26.99 from www.
AnimUK.co.uk.

5. MEGUMIN NENDOROID
From Kono Subarashii
Sekai ni Shukufuku wo! 2,
preorder this figure from
nendoworld.com now.

3 5. BREATH OF THE WILD LINK

If you’re going crazy for
The Legend of Zelda:
Breath of the Wild and
Nintendo’s new Switch
console, you’ll love this
First 4 Figures piece
available to pre-order
from middlerealm.com
for £59.99 with free UK
delivery! The figure has a
specially designed base,
stands approximately
25cm tall, and is
expected to be available
this month.

0 26 NEO MAGAZINE APRIL 2017

026_NEO161[Stuff]CTGC.indd 1 03/03/2017 16:40

ads.indd 1 03/03/2017 16:00
 Girl Power!
Tom Smith meets the princesses taking metal to new places
Long before bAbYMeTAL demanded chocolate, before bAnD-MAID’s
vocalist switched shifts at the maid café for gigs in the rock scene, and before
anyone had heard the term “kawaii metal”, there was Aldious. At that time,
they were among the first all-female metal bands to break into Japan’s charts,
and have been widely credited for pioneering the ensuing “girls metal band
boom”. now, the self-dubbed “female warriors” have their eyes set overseas
with the international release of latest album Radiant A.
Aldious, a portmanteau of the Japanese spelling of Ultimate and
Melodious, had been on our collective peripheral vision for a while – it’s
kind of hard not to notice a gang of girls rocking out in pink bows and heels.
Yet, it wasn’t until last Halloween when we were able to get a dose of their
princess metal first hand. We’d ditched the packed streets of Shibuya (and its
costumed shenanigans) in favour of a small bar in Tokyo’s suburbs. In fact,
we were the only people there until Aldious’ drummer Marina walks in at
silly o’clock in the morning, along with one of her visual kei band buddies and
the boss of a very famous indie label, who instantly recognises us and begins
pushing Marina in our general direction.
“This is Marina from Japan’s number one all-girl metal band, you should
talk to her,” he says as he gives her one more poke and then orders a bottle of
wine. It’s a line we hear a lot, bands telling us they’re the number one this or
that. We’re used to dismissing it as a joke, but on this trip we found out it was
legit after seeing the band perform live. They blew us away! not least because
we’ve never seen people headbang while keeping their hair in immaculate
condition before.
0 28 NEO MAGAZINE APRIL 2017
028-9_NEO161[MUSIC]CTGC.indd 1
A few days later we’d see another metal band made up entirely of women,
who were signed to a major label. Their label manager would do the usual
spiel; “these girls are the number one female metal band in Japan right now!”.
So we decided it’d be funny to see what happens if we mention that we saw
Aldious last week. He flapped back “oh, oh, ummm... I meant they’re number
one, after Aldious!”
FOR THE GIRLS
now, nearly ten years on from when they began, Aldious is starting to turn
heads overseas, while continually gaining chart positions with every release.
founding guitarist Yoshi tells us that part of the reason they are where
they are today is because of Japan’s strong indie music scene. “When we
started, there were a lot of girl metal bands playing local venues. We had to
really push ourselves to keep up and become stronger because of them. now
we’ve reached a point where girls are coming to us and saying “I made a band
because of you”; it makes me so happy!”
Take note, sarcastic wazzocks everywhere; you can’t say “they dress
that way to pander to their following of pervy old men”. nope, take your
small minded, ill-informed comments elsewhere! Aldious has a strong
following from rockers of all genders, especially women. Their visual style
just happened to be a result of what was happening in the world of fashion at
the time. Yoshi continues, “When we started, a lot of the girl bands we looked
up to were quite masculine in how they looked. I remember several of them
commenting how unusual we were in comparison to them, but around the
01/03/2017 09:33

Life Before Aldious same time, a lot of bands were starting to make music and adopt
each member has a cute and girly look. There was a magazine called Koaukma
been in different Ageha that promoted the big hair and dress look at that time, so
bands prior to Aldious. that had a big impact on girls in Japan. Plus, kids our age were
In fact, when they first starting to work in hostess clubs and that kind of thing, so that
formed, Yoshi was a fashion was becoming more wide-spread and accepted.”
member in four other “Things are very different now,” comments bass player
bands, including an Sawa (who the band tells us is their most popular member with
Arch enemy cover overseas fans). “now, I see so many female fronted rock bands!
band with Sawa. When we started, it was quite rare.”
re:no was in a death guitarist Toki adds, “When I get ready to hit the stage,
metal group before putting on my outfit feels like I’m putting on my battle armour.
Yoshi nagged her into I look at myself in the mirror and see a shinier version of
joining Aldious, and myself looking back, I feel like a super hero! It gives me a huge
Toki and Marina were confidence boost.”
in visual kei and punk
bands respectively. MEETING THE MEMBERS
each member brings something different to Aldious,
something Yoshi feels is important to keep things balanced.
“You could have the five greatest musicians in the world form
a band, but it wouldn’t work. There would be a lot of clashes
of wills and nothing would get done. I think that’s what
happens when everyone shares the same motivations and
have equal duties. We’ve come this far because although we’re
028-9_NEO161[MUSIC]CTGC.indd 2
“IT’S LIkE I’M puTTING ON My BaTTLE
aRMOuR!” – TOkI, GuITaR
all different, we keep things balanced. We never meant to be a
professional band. When our songs got into the charts, we were
as surprised as everyone else – I actually cried seeing our CDs in
proper shops for the first time!”
Vocalist re:no sees the band like a family. “Yoshi is the
father, always working hard and never at home; Toki’s the
youngest sister who’s starting to become rebellious; Marina’s
the middle child who acts like she’s got her act together, but
really she just wants to grab all of mum’s attention; I’m the
oldest sister; and then there’s Sawa, she’s like a stray cat who
used to come around for food but now’s become part of the
family, ha ha.”
“Yes! Just like that!” says Sawa. “I would definitely be the
pet! but I think Marina would be the family mum.”
“Sawa’s like a doll!” laughs Marina, “I love seeing her thrash
out on stage. We all bring something unique to the table. re:no
has a distinct style and charisma. Toki’s a natural born [at]
performing, she knows how to connect with the crowd and
get them going, Yoshi has an amazing balance of feminine and
masculine personality traits. I’m really proud to be part of such
a band featuring these amazing women.”
Aldious’ Radiant A will be available on CD and digital
formats from 17 March via JPU Records.
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03/03/2017 16:25
 ANIME EXPOSé
Blue exorcist:
Kyoto saga The return of Rin!
NoRmally the RetuRN of an anime as popular as Blue Exorcist would hog
all the attention in fandom. In the event, this action-fantasy sequel must fight
for hype against the upcoming return of an even bigger franchise – Attack on
Titan this april. Then again, Blue Exorcist’s studio a-1 Pictures seems to have
plenty of confidence in its fans.
In fact, the studio seems so confident that it makes no attempt to cater to
Blue Exorcist newbies with the new anime, though it’s been five years since the
first series ended. In other words, anyone watching Kyoto Saga is presumed to
know the score with the half-demon schoolboy Rin, his classmates, his ever-
worried brother-teacher yukio, and all the other characters. (If you don’t know
them, the first Blue Exorcist series is available from manga entertainment.)
however, Kyoto Saga isn’t a straightforward sequel to the first anime
series. It’s more a case of a half-sequel, half-retcon, and it requires some
explanation. The original Exorcist anime was adapted from a manga by Kazue
Kato, serialised in Jump SQ magazine. more than half the anime followed the
manga faithfully, but the anime diverged from the manga completely in the
later episodes. The reason, we’d guess, is that a-1 Pictures wanted to round off
the series with something that felt like a “final battle,” with superbombs and a
genocidal campaign against demons. actually, it wasn’t the end: a film sequel
followed in 2012, Blue Exorcist: The Movie. Kyoto Saga takes a bold approach,
scrubbing the tV climax and the movie and returning to the manga. Rather
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than going all the way back to the beginning of the story and starting again
(as Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood did), the series rewinds Blue Exorcist
to the specific point where the manga and anime diverged, and sets out from
there. luckily, there was a clear division point in the story. It was during the
calamitous camping expedition, when Rin was forced to reveal he was the son
of Satan to his shocked friends.
to be precise, the division point is from the end of part 15 in the original
anime series, or in book three in the manga. While a few later scenes in the
first anime do resemble things in the manga, Kyoto Saga includes altered
flashbacks that indicate everything after part 15 is on a different timeline. (For
example, the first anime had a plotline about Rin’s friends going to Kyoto to
fix his damaged sword for him, which is retconned in Kyoto Saga – it wasn’t
in the manga, so it didn’t happen!) By the way, it would have been far harder
to do this with Fullmetal Alchemist. In that case, the original anime – recently
reissued by anime limited – diverged from the manga bit by bit, rather than
splitting from its source in a clean break.
moRe PaIN, moRe DRama
In story terms, things play out very differently in Kyoto Saga. In the first
anime version, Rin’s classmates were shocked to learn he was Satan’s son,
but they got over it within a few episodes. In Kyoto Saga, it’s a much bigger,
01/03/2017 09:33

“KyOtO SAgA ISN’t A StrAIghtfOrwArd SEquEl tO thE fIrSt
ANIME; It’S MOrE Of A hAlf-SEquEl, hAlf-rEtcON.”
more painful issue between them. one reason
is that Rin’s male classmates Bon, Renzo and
Konekomaru all lost family members in the so-
called “Blue Night” disaster 15 years ago, when
Satan unleashed his power. of the girls, even the
sweet-natured, plant-nurturing Shiemi is trying
to avoid Rin. Weirdly, the grumpy tsundere Izumo
is the only one who supports him from the start,
but then she’s had more reason to think about
friends and exclusion.
all the frictions are crackling when an
emergency strikes the Blue Exorcist world.
Criminals, mysterious but plainly ruthless, steal
a dangerous magic artefact, the left eye of the
Impure King. They also try stealing the right one,
attacking the exorcists in Kyoto. The true Cross
academy youngsters are bundled off to the city,
theoretically just to bandage up the exorcists
wounded in the assault, but things will plainly
escalate. We learn a lot more about the Kyoto-
born student Bon, and the issues he has with
030-1_NEO161[Expose]CTGC.indd 2
his dad, a once-respected priest who seems to
be degenerating into a bum. Now he’s one of the
suspects for the attack on the eye…
Kyoto Saga promises to be a very involved
mystery-adventure. It should test all the
youngsters emotionally, and let us see familiar
characters in new lights. Supporting players like
Rin’s taskmistress Shura and his cute cat demon,
Kuro, are present too, though it’s less clear how
much they’ll have to do. meanwhile, Rin’s brother
yukio is split off into his own investigation, with
ominous hints that he may face an even worse
trial… and given how he ended up acting in the
first anime version, we wouldn’t recommend Rin
relies on him!
New HelmsmaN
Whereas the earlier anime series was directed
by Tensai Okamura, Koichi Hatsumi steps up
for this sequel – he previously directed the gory
Deadman Wonderland.
Also streAming…
ACCA: 13-TERRITORY
INSPECTION DEPARTMENT
A slow-burning drama about a fictional modern nation,
the bureaucrats who run it, and the skulduggery
between them. Reportedly, this series is taking a long
time to reveal its true shape, although the Japanese
viewers who’ve read the source manga by Natsume Ono
are presumably well ahead of us. The anime is produced
by Madhouse studio, and directed by Shingo Natsume,
no less.
MASAMUNE-KUN’S REVENGE
School anime shows are going strange ways. Over the
page, we profile the bitter Scum’s Wish, which skewers
rom-com clichés while not actually being a comedy.
Masamune-kun’s Revenge, meanwhile, is a comedy,
about a hot highschool boy who plots payback on the
beautiful girl who once rejected him. We don’t think
it’s heading for a bloodbath ending, but anything is
possible… Masamune (the boy) is voiced by Natsuki
Hanae, who piloted mecha as Inaho in Aldnoah.Zero.
DESCENDING STORIES: SHOWA
GENROKU RAKUGO SHINJU
This is the sequel to Showa Geroku Rakugo Shinju,
about the performers of rakugo, a declining Japanese
style of stage storytelling. The original series crossed
the decades – we profiled it in NEO 148, commenting
that “It’s almost a miracle it got made.” Well, the
miracle continues, with the sequel taking the surviving
characters into the 1980s. (Japan’s “showa” period
ended in 1989 with the death of Emperor Hirohito.)
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 ANIME EXPOSé
Scum’S WiSh Teen anime grows up
Scum’S WiSh is looking to be the TV anime of the season, and perhaps
more than that. if it doesn’t have the brand-name power of Blue Exorcist,
it’s the series that’s pushing boundaries. it feels like the madoka magica of
teen romance anime, but with something madoka lacked: adult, sensual
sexuality, straight and gay.
Scum’s Wish isn’t hiding itself away on some cable channel. On the
contrary, it’s as prominent as a late-night anime can be, on the long-
established “Noitamina” timeslot on Fuji TV (see boxout). Despite being
screened at midnight, it’s already had criticism. According to Anime News
Network, Japan’s Broadcasting Ethics and Program improvement (BPO)
complained about “an extreme kiss scene with high school students… it was a
late-night timeslot, but it’s not the kind of content to broadcast on an airborne
signal that anyone can easily view.” Kissing? This is anime we’re talking
about, where the typical “meet cute” is a girl and boy bumping into each other,
falling, and the boy getting his hands planted on the girl’s boobs. But as fans
noted, the BPO must have been referring to part two of Scum’s Wish, where
the kissing does go a bit far. There are tongues. There’s drool. Actually, the
saliva may have looked raunchier than the twined tongues in Japan, a country
which made a whole anime about sexy drool, mysterious Girlfriend X.
FAmiliAr TErriTOry?
As we said, Scum’s Wish starts in what seems like familiar anime territory.
school girl Hanabi is in love with an older 20-something man whom she calls
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“brother.” No, it’s not that kind of anime. The young man in question, Narumi,
is her neighbour and a friend to her one-parent family from when she was
little. Now, he’s started teaching at Hanabi’s school, but she’s dismayed at his
closeness to a pretty female music teacher, minagawa.
Enter a boy Hanabi’s age, called mugi. Despite the lad’s disinterested
demeanour, Hanabi can see he’s as smitten with miss minagawa as she is with
Narumi. (To strengthen the parallel, minagawa was mugi’s teacher at his
previous school, where the boy first formed the attraction.) mugi and Hanabi
find they can talk about their heartbreaks, and they start moping together.
And then one day… Hanabi is messing around in mugi’s room, and finds
herself putting her arms round mugi and pretending he’s the “brother” of her
desires. she invites mugi to imagine she’s miss minagawa, and he complies. so
begins their relationship in a consenting sham, as “scum” students who’ll use
each other until their true loves are available.
The situation isn’t so novel in anime. you might see it as a mix of, for
example, Toradora! (where the two main characters were each smitten with
other people) and Nisekoi (about two more students who are forced to fake
a relationship). There was even a ‘surrogate lover’ fantasy subplot in Vision
of Escaflowne. The difference, though, is that Scum’s Wish isn’t a comedy,
nor a fantasy. it’s a far darker, more bitter series. it’s a show about toxic
relationships, to be filed alongside Flowers of Evil, or those creepy obsessional
bits of Penguindrum or Paranoia Agent… though quite honestly, Scum’s Wish
is its own thing.
01/03/2017 09:36
 noitamina
Scum’s Wish is the 58th series to
play in Fuji TV’s Noitamina slot,
which began in 2005, screening
anime by a range of studios
and creators. Notable titles
included Eden of the East, Tatami
Galaxy, Anohana, Bunny Drop,
Guilty Crown, Kids on the Slope,
Psycho-Pass, Silver Spoon, Ping
Pong, Terror in Resonance, Your
Lie in April, Punch Line, Erased
and Kabaneri. In 2010, Noitamina
signed a streaming deal with
Funimation, followed by one with
Amazon Prime last year.

The Assassins
2 Scum’s Wish seems to have come
out of nowhere. The main link
between its creators seems to be
3 the very different anime version
of Assassination Classroom,
which involved the same “Series
Compositor,” Makoto Uezu and
its Animation Director, Keiko
Kurosawa. (Uezu, admittedly, is
prolific; he’s also the compositor
on KonoSuba, Arslan, Is This
a Zombie? and many others.)
Scum’s Wish and Assassination
Classroom were also made by
the same studio, Lerche, which
made last season’s Magical Girl
Raising Project.

1. Supporting character Noriko is obsessed

with Mugi. 2. An example of Scum’s Wish’s use
of multiple manga-style frames. 3. The music
teacher Minagawa, desired by both Narumi
and Mugi.

Scum’s Wish is about how relationships hurt; both the relationship that
you’re in, and the one you want to be in. For example, Hanabi’s only close girl
friend is Ecchan (real name sanae), with whom she can relax and have girly
sleepovers. But unknown to her, Ecchan has been in love with Hanabi for a
long time. Worse, she senses Hanabi isn’t truly in love with her “boyfriend.”
And if Hanabi can use a boy she cares nothing about as a stand-in for her
oniisan, then why can’t she use her own dear friend in the same way?
These agonies are gorgeously depicted in a presentation that’s both
stylised and lush. it’s nothing like the mathematical abstraction of the shaft
studio, but it’s equally far from, say, the hyper-prettiness of Orange. There
are breathtakingly lovely images and realistic backgrounds, but also many
manga touches; split screens, inky clouds, images set in other images. in one
scene, Hanabi snuggles in bed beside migu. At first their heads are shown in
separate frames, side by side. Hanabi snuggles closer and her head appears in
his frame (though his head doesn’t appear in hers). But his awareness of being Double Vision
close to her isn’t romantic; rather it’s horribly embarrassed, even after all Scum’s Wish is also being shown by Fuji TV as a live-action drama
they’ve done with tongues and drool. you see, he’s just had a sexy dream, and series. The anime and live-action versions come from a manga by
his body is at attention… Mengo Yokoyari, which has run seven volumes and will end this spring.
Both Fuji adaptations are reportedly based on the whole manga story,
Director cV
which has some fans grumbling, as the anime seems likely to run only
Masaomi Ando’s previous director credits were on White Album 2, a 12 or 13 episodes. Still, that’s more screen time than the new A Silent
reportedly innocuous school series, and the rather more subversive Voice movie, based on a seven-book manga…
School-Live, in which… We won’t spoil it!

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SetSubun
When good luck meets evil personified
It would be easy to write off the annual celebration of Setsubun as just another
Japanese eccentricity, but there is a lot of history and culture to unpack from this
long-standing tradition, Adam Miller explains.
soybeans for everyone!
Setsubun is held on 3 February and supposedly marks spring kicking
winter out the way and taking the spotlight. The ceremony helps cleanse
households and ensure they have a healthy and happy year. This cleansing
is done by scaring away the personification of ill fortune and fear, the
demonic oni.
Oni are huge creatures with tiger-stripe loin cloths, sharp claws and
fangs, curly black hair and pointed horns. (You might remember the dress
code from Urusei Yatsura!) When an oni appears (or someone dressed up as
one, at least) you must pelt dried soybeans at their face whilst shouting, “Go
away oni; come here luck!” Once they have retreated, you can eat one bean
for every year of your life – and an extra one to make sure the coming year
will be a good one.
You can also eat an extra-long sushi roll, but you must face in a certain
direction (north-north-west this year, south-south-east for 2018) and
eat the entire thing in complete silence. You can buy these long rolls
everywhere, from convenience stores to supermarkets, lunch-box venders
to stalls hastily set up outside restaurants. If you’re lucky you can pick them
up for a fraction of the price on 4 February, and although the luck they carry
might have worn off, they are still pretty tasty!
Setsubun is also often used by opportunistic parents and teachers
of young children. The kids are scared out of their wits, unable to see the
demons through tear-soaked eyes, let alone throw beans at them. This fear
lingers and you’ll hear adults menacingly threaten their kids: “Eat your
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1
greens or the oni will get you!” I’ve seen mothers mimic horns on their head
with their fingers, and that was enough to get their kids in line!
school trip
I run a small preschool, so in order to celebrate Setsubun, I took my students
to a much more gentle affair. We entered a small local Nagoya shrine, called
Ryougiin, taking off our shoes and promising to be quiet. We then sat facing
an altar, with a Buddhist monk chanting in front of us, whilst someone to the
side banged steadily on a huge taiko drum. Once he had finished, the monk
approached me and the seated children, cracking some flint against rock to
send some sparks flying in our general direction. He then pressed a rolled up
piece of cloth against our head, shoulders and back, and we were suitably
blessed and cleansed to throw our beans. First we faced east, then south, and
finally west – we didn’t throw it in the northern direction as we would have
pelted the altar and the god that dwells inside.
After this, we were presented with a huge grab bag of blessed items
(actually a variety of rice crackers and fruit jelly) and invited into the dining
area for noodles, sweetened rice and freshly cut and peeled apple. This really is a
rare treat, and no doubt it was the kids’ cuteness that allowed me to enjoy it.
Most other shrines are a little more bombastic, with an oni running
rampant, or garish wooden displays, but this more somber affair suited us
down to the ground! We got all of the luck without any of the scares, so back
at the school, the kids collapsed onto their futons, each taking a long nap
uninterrupted by nightmares.
02/03/2017 14:45
 2 3

1. they don’t look so scary! local

4 5
shrines decorated with posters
and wooden figures. 2. i’m not
sure if priest or monk is the
correct terminology, but he was
very friendly either way! 3. the
poster says “setsubun party:
bean throwing. february 3rd
10am-2pm”. 4. the sacred beans,
ready to throw. 5. tucking into
some udon noodles!

MANGA OF THE MONTH

This month’s choice from independent comic publisher Big Ugly Robot is Uzo Muzo,
a collection of improvisational comics written and drawn by a six different artists.
Every story in the book was created in 12 grueling hours, so although they might not
be perfectly polished, they allow you an unedited view of the artists’ personalities. The
artwork is as varied as the stories within, some fantastical, others biographical, but most
sprinkled with a healthy dose of humour.
The back pages also have individually drawn adverts, which are almost as cool as
the comics themselves, thanking those that put up some cash upfront to help get the
project off the ground. It is a fun read, and will hopefully whet your appetite enough
to search for other works created by the same artists. Check out the website at http://
biguglyrobot.storenvy.com.

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 MANGA SCHOOL with Leeann Hamilton

CharaCter aCting
This monTh’s lesson is all abouT making your characTer designs pop
wiTh life and aTTiTude. designing cosTumes is fun, buT whaT abouT The
‘acTor’ underneaTh? read on for our eXperT adVice!

1 2

1. Strike A PoSe
It’s a typical thing to feel, when first drawing a character, that
designing their appearance and accessories is the fun part. The
costume will ultimately be the eye catching feature. But if your
character base is a still, lifeless mannequin? Totally fine if you
need reference for the costume and so on, but it will do little 3
to describe the character’s personality to other people. This is
a requisite for the promotional character art you might spot in
anime and game articles, especially after the production stage.
Study what your favourite character illustration tells you about
them, and break down their poses.

2. red oni, Blue oni

Another point of note for drawing poses is to convey their
personalities almost immediately. In the visual example here,
characters who are shy would avoid eye contact, and their
movement would be restricted and subtle. Outgoing characters
keep their head up, and are poised for any challenges that come
their way. Not only would this inform how their costumes
work, but provide a neat contrast between two completely
different characters.

3. interACtion iS keY
Plotting out poses early, with consideration to the kinds of
characters you are drawing, will also aid in planning out
storyboards and comic scenarios. Very often, a test of character
could see your creations pitted against their worst fears, or a
particularly interesting situation they have to solve. If nothing
is happening to your characters in the story, you could end up
boring the viewer. Have your actors interact!

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 4a
POSING YOUR CHARACTER
If you want to develop this further, pick up NEO 155,
which contains our tutorial about how to pose your
character. Being able to identify your character from
just a silhouette is key to developing a really memorable
personality. Think about some of the most iconic anime
characters in history; how many of those are easily
identified by just their outlines? We’ll show you how to
develop your character’s pose and add in finer details!

4b

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!

4A. line of ACtion

A quick way to jot down character movement and acting is by first drawing a ‘line of
action’. This is a means to find the centre of gravity of the figure as it is moving. You can
edit the character pose early in the drawing with this method, without erasing too much
of the work, and being open to experiment with other poses.

4B. ConStruCtion
Once you are confident with the character’s pose, build up the rest of the design. You can
gauge if your character’s costume would also be appropriate for their personality (like in
the Red Oni, Blue Oni tip), and push it a step beyond drawing a basic character turnaround.

So what are your character drawings conveying? Send them into NEO Magazine!

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[ANIme ReVIeW]
COlleCtOR’S eDitiOn Blu-RAY/DVD COmBi
Serial experimentS lain
Psychological cyberpunk on the ghost in the machine
27 M a r c h // MVM // 12 // S c i - fi // £ 3 4.9 9 (D ua l f o r M at
co l l e c to r ’ S e D i t i o n) £ 39.9 9 (B lu - r ay ) // 32 5 M i nS // 13
e P iS o D e S
PLOT Middle school girl Lain Iwakura receives email from
a classmate who recently killed herself, motivating her
to seek access to the virtual reality ‘Wired’. Surrounded
by friends who don’t understand her and an emotionally
distant family, she explores her identity online and
discovers her life is not what it seems.
F
rom almost every angle, Serial Experiments Lain is a
Behind the show of two faces: the surface layer accepted as truth,
SceneS and the hidden underbelly. This is visually clear as soon
The writer divided as you see that shadows in Lain’s otherwise ordinary
Lain’s lines into world contain red blotches reminiscent of pools of blood.
three persons for It becomes thematically clear as soon as Lain strips down to
her voice actor: her slip to tool around with her Navi (computer) and hook up
unplugged Lain,
to the Wired (internet), suddenly completely different from the
her name written
reserved, covered-up Lain her school friends see.
in kanji; Wired
The viewers who truly love Serial Experiments Lain
Lain, written in
katakana; and troll will be those who enjoy getting their teeth into meaty
Lain, written in philosophical ideas a la Neon Genesis Evangelion or Ghost
romaji. in the Shell and / or appreciate stories told through more
metaphorical visuals, such as Revolutionary Girl Utena or
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W O R D S B Y A me l i A C O O k
Angel’s Egg (Mamoru Oshii fans should definitely check Lain
out). While these are the most obvious elements to Lain, it
also has a much more grounded side, telling a story about our
relationship with the internet which remains surprisingly
relevant for an anime made 19 years ago.
Evangelion and Lain ask similar questions on identity,
isolation and omnipotence. However, battling monsters in
giant robots just isn’t relatable in the way a girl learning how
to modify her own computer, hooking up to the internet
and finding a new side of herself will be relatable for many
NEO readers. Lain has an abstract side, which it pushes front
and centre early on, but like Evangelion it also invites you to
empathise with a believable main character and follow her on
a relatively linear journey of discovery and growth.
Perhaps most impressive about Lain is how well such
a technology-focused story has aged. There are certain
hallmarks of its 1998 air date which will resonate more
strongly with older viewers, such as being actively introduced
to the internet rather than just growing up with it. For the
most part though, the relationship with technology presented
by the show is surprisingly relevant to a 2017 audience. Two
men show up with eye devices which could be 1990s versions
of Google Glass. A boy plays a virtual reality game, just now
becoming a reality through Oculus Rift and competitors. The
online environment is simultaneously welcoming and hostile.
In her first session in the Wired, Lain encounters
conversations about illegal surveillance, drug deals and
blackmail. Identify theft occurs repeatedly. The concept
03/03/2017 14:35
 of freedom of information comes up, both in terms of
invading privacy and in conspiracy theories. Deeply personal
information is stolen and spread around for amusement.
Shadowy groups come together without knowing each
other’s identities to work towards a common goal. People are
essentially doxed, and suffer for it. What seemed like science
fiction in 1998 is reality in 2017.
“What seemed like science fiction in
1998 is reality in 2017.”
In Lain as in life, the online persona you craft can have
an effect on your real life personality, which offline people
may respond to negatively. Lain’s online persona is bolder
than her shy real world self, but when she shows some of that
confidence to her friends and family they become concerned
for her. Her friends assume that only real world socialising
will make her happy, and are distrustful or even resentful of
her new hobby. Lain ends up going to a club with her friends
only to get home, wipe off the lipstick and log in to her Navi
straight away.
That all said, as solid and accessible as some elements of
Lain are, others are flimsy to the point of frustrating. There are
side characters and subplots which offer either no context or
context which doesn’t make sense. Opposite to most anime,
the abstract visuals and philosophical questions are what Lain
038-9_NEO161[DPSreview]CTGC.indd 2
puts front and centre; staying down to earth and following the
story are the parts that take work, and not everyone will be
invested enough to be willing to put in that effort.
However, for those who are willing, Lain has enormous
rewatch value. It is as visually and thematically rich as the
eternally popular Evangelion, packing in information on
multiple levels while leaving gaps open to interpretation.
The writers were not jumping on the Evangelion bandwagon
though, instead pointing to an eclectic mix of influences
including Alice in Wonderland, Jean-Luc Godard and The
Exorcist. The series contains references to sources as diverse as
American adverts and French novels. It is in many ways very
accessible to western viewers, at least those who enjoy a more
challenging viewing experience.
Not everyone enjoys this kind of show, and anyone looking
for an airtight story or straightforward character development
will probably get less from it. Those who enjoy the process
of building an interpretation – or several – of denser, more
artistic sci-fi with moments of horror will find Lain extremely
rewarding, and be surprised that it has not seen the same
success as comparable anime.
Trivia
Navis are based on
A polarising anime, Serial Experiments Lain is a
Apple computers,
demanding and thought-provoking viewing experience
which most of the
with unexpected relevance to a 2017 audience. Fans of
staff used, and the
Neon Genesis Evangelion or Ghost in the Shell in particular episode titles are read
are likely to enjoy watching, reflecting on, analysing and by Apple’s speech
rewatching this avant-garde, cyberpunk seinen show. synthesis programme,
PlainTalk.
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03/03/2017 16:41
 2

SEX & THE CITY

Young Love Comic
Aya also features an
erotic confessions
page, where this
month Remi (26),
an “associate of the
publisher”, tells all
about her explosive
wedding night in
frankly medical
detail. Manga style
illustrations are
provided of her
enthusiastic reactions,
none of which we are
able to print in a family
1
magazine.

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 ManGa snapsHot
Young Love ComiC AYA Jonathan Clements has one boob bigger than the other
I S S U E #16 // D E B U T Y E A R : 19 87 ? // PAG E CO U N T: C . 5 0 0 // P U B l I S h E R : O h zO R A // P R I C E : 6 3 0 Y E N (£4.43) // M O N T h lY
The Cover lines of Young Love Comic Aya (1) promise adult
passion and romance in a series of one-shot stories. The cover
art boasts a blushing bride who is clearly very much enjoying
a clinch with her groom, with the strapline “firsT niGhT.”
This wouldn’t be the first Japanese magazine to look beyond the
“happy ever after” of many a love story, but just how far does
it look? Princess Ring (2) by Anonymous is ready to go for the
fairy story in a Game of Thronesy sense, with a swashbuckling
knight ravishing a fair maiden in his castle.
seira shimotsuki’s Secret Love: A Pledge (3), meanwhile,
presents a dress-up version of the same fantasy, as medieval
Japanese nobility snuggle together in the bedroom, in a scene
that is vaguely set up as the daydream of a tourist in modern-
day Kyoto.
Happily EvEr aftEr
Many decades ago, suicidal hipster osamu Dazai published
his short story Lanterns of Romance, which asked exactly how
the fairy tale heroine rapunzel was likely to get on after she
married her handsome prince. Dazai’s answer was predictably
droll and depressing, but Young Love Comic Aya seemingly
pushes a refreshingly different agenda, suggesting that there
can indeed be such a thing as happily ever after – a new world of
adult issues, married sex and/or bawdy hook-ups. life begins,
as the cover implies, on the wedding night, when you get to
undress all that dressing-up, and sleep with someone who will
still be there in the morning.
That, at least, is the impression given by the cover art and
the editorial, but how young is the young love in this magazine?
The inside front cover has an advert for an “adult” dating agency
for ages 30-75, as well a bridal agency that seems to pitch itself
as a last-chance saloon for the hopeless wallflower. Meanwhile,
the competition prizes on offer include twee Beatrix Potter
phone cards and ridiculous “leg refre” booties, which are
effectively electric leg-warmers. other adverts include the
usual cluster of fortune-tellers, electric er… massagers, and a
woman who goes by the fantastic name of fujiko Miserable,
who offers a series of muscular exercises designed to even up the
size of your boobs. no, really, her name is fujiko Miserable, and
there’s a pronunciation guideline to make sure you say it like
that, and not like Les Miserables.
reading between the lines of all this material, the implied
reader is not necessarily married at all, but instead plainly of
040-3_NEO161[MangaSnapshot]CTGC.indd 2
independent means – a 30-something with a place of her own
and possibly too much time on her hands to fret about cold
feet and signs in the stars; a woman who very much enjoys
the freedom of being single, but who can’t avoid the nagging
concern that she might not want to be for much longer, who has
an interest in the opposite sex, but finds the real-world samples
sent her way so far somewhat disappointing.
advEnturEs for WallfloWErs
in the meantime, what sort of adventures can she have? for the
prim, bespectacled hotel manager Mei in Trained by My Own
Pet (4), it’s a whirlwind of role-playing fun, after she picks up
a gangly man in the street who claims to be a lost dog. Takeru
has a thing going on about feigning a canine sense of loyalty,
addressing her at all times as his mistress and queen, and it’s not
long before he is snuffling around her crotch.
At work the next day, she is unsure whether it was a
dream or not. Did she have some sort of addled fantasy…?
Artist Panda harumiya, presumably deliberately, has Mei
speculating on such matters in the presence of Takeru the office
boy, who calls her “chief” at all times and might conceivably
be her dream beau. it’s only a few pages later when the focus
suddenly sharpens, when the boss’s son turns up and is a far
more exacting match for the man with whom she spent the
night… or did she? such faffery is soon resolved with more sex
scenes when it becomes clear that Mei is indeed sleeping with
the son of the man who owns her company, leading to many
office ruminations about what she thinks she is doing. her
staff meanwhile, comment that she seems to have something
of a spring in her step, causing her to fret that they are passive-
aggressively telling her that they know what she is doing and
whom she is doing it with.
in fact, her whirlwind romance with Takeru comes to an
end… only to be resurrected some time later when he turns up
in a suit as a colleague. over much arguing over who exactly
was a pet to whom, he reveals that her no-nonsense managerial
attitude has turned him into a respectable company man.
And by the way, he was wondering what the hotel’s wedding
reception bookings were looking like in the near future.
Your correspondent is a sucker for stories like this. on the
surface, this synopsis looks like a thousand Mills-and-Boon
potboilers, but Mei’s narrative comes packed with insightful
comments on the politics of both the office and the bedroom. >>>
www.ne omag .c o.uk 041
01/03/2017 10:11
 ManGa snapsHot younG lovE CoMiC aya
6 6
>>> And while it does appear to end with a marriage proposal,
Mei has already shown herself to be the kind of woman who is
not afraid to say no.
in Make Me a Bride (5) by saya Dandoh, we are treated to a
whistle-stop, jump-cut rush through the romance of reiichi
and Toko as they flirt in the college dining hall and bicker on
dates, all up until the moment where he persuades her it’s time
for their “first night”. This is not quite what was implied on the
cover. first night, here, implies the loss of her virginity, which
she has been saving for her future husband. Which all sounds
vaguely conservative and traditional, until the implication
that she will eventually marry reiichi means that they can get
that “first night” business out of the way, right now! lovingly
rendered erotica follows as they get on with it, far too explicit to
OUR SURVEY show in neo magazine – Wh smith’s would have conniptions,
SAYS… and it is revealed that far from being the indifferent heel that
It’s sex, sex, sex with she has sometimes assumed him to be, reiichi has kept and
this lot. The readership treasured for years the prayer that Toko once tied on a temple
survey this month asks tree: “Make me a bride.”
if Comic Aya readers Snogged by an Idol (6), by Mizu hashiba drifts closer to the
fancy themselves as humdrum world of Mills and Boon, as prim, bespectacled (i
knowing their way repeat these stereotypes because the magazine seems to!) office
around a particularly lady Chiyo discovers not only that she is obliged to work with a
pervy technique. rakish boy-band, but that their bed-haired leading man used
38% say yes, there is to be her elementary school sweetheart. This backstory, we
something nasty they assume, is inserted in an attempt to make his behaviour seem
are particularly good remotely predestined or acceptable, since he begins by sexually
at in the bedroom, harassing her, treats her pretty meanly for several pages,
although most of these and eventually condescends to bang her feebly-protesting
shocking skills appear form on the bed. The tale ends with some vague idea that she
to include “back rubs.” now has the chance to be his manager, although frankly it’s
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“tHis Wouldn’t bE tHE first
JapanEsE MaGazinE to look
bEyond tHE “Happy EvEr aftEr”
of Many a lovE story, but Just
HoW far doEs it look?”
a borderline rape-fantasy in which the female lead has very
little agency except that suggested by the possibility that she is
destined to be with the boy she knew as a child. for those that
were wondering, my translation of the title uses “snog” for the
original’s dekiai kiss (infatuated kiss).
Although it might occasionally excite feminist ire,
Young Love Comic Aya is an undeniably entertaining manga
magazine. The tendency to harlequin romance (the global term
for Mills and Boon) might annoy some readers – all men are
wild animals tamed by the love of a good women… all women,
in fact, are good women, unless they are hussies after your
man, in which case they’ll get their come-uppance. But it seems
that many of the writers and artists within regard those very
stereotypes as a challenge, and their approaches to those stories
are often fresh and original. The erotic element, meanwhile, is
bawdy in the extreme – no discrete tailing off behind three dots,
here. There may not be a happily ever after, but there are plenty
of happy endings.
01/03/2017 10:11
 THE GREAT I
There’s another haughty but apparently love-worthy male on
show in Getting Into My Arrogant Boyfriend by Momoka Kou.
Kou’s romance unfolds on a college campus, artfully exploiting
the insecurities of the teaching assistants, who are, by their own
admission, practically still school kids themselves, yet thrust
into a liminal role where they are obliged to be lecturers half
the time, and students for the rest. In doing so, she appears to
have stumbled onto the perfect loophole in school romances,
and is able to depict breathless cheerleaders flirting with their
“teacher”, without having to barricade her whole manga behind
DO NOT CROSS police tape.
Heroine Saya is drawn as bright-eyed and earnest, a self-
image that sees itself as competing with fellow students who are
drawn like supermodels. But her rough-spoken, rakish “teacher”
turns out to have eyes only for her, proclaiming “I like ya”,
presumably with an unscripted and casual sniff. That’s not to say
he isn’t occasionally irked by her helpless girlishness, particularly
in a scene where she stumbles out of the rain, and he heartlessly
flings her a towel, before relenting and roughly tousling her hair
with it. For the attention-starved Saya, it’s tantamount to a hug.
Why anyone would be interested in such a diffident tosswit
is beyond me, but fortunately, men like him are not my problem.
When he leans in to kiss Saya, Kou’s artwork makes the rest of
the world disappear in a deft use of blank space. The sex scene
that inevitably follows is presented as a great equalising, as
beauty finally tames the arrogant beast, or at the very least, finds
a place for him to put his self-assurance to good use.
Seeing the word oresama used to mean “arrogant” is a real
blast from the past. I first encountered the word in KO Century
Beast Warriors (1992), where its conflation of a tough-guy “I”
and an honorific – “The Great I”, “Wonderful Me” – was used to
denote the narcissism of self-styled evil genius V-Daan. Only a
simpleton, as my Japanese teacher once memorably said, would
ever use an honorific like –san, or –chan or –sama when referring
to themselves. And yet, in the last ten years, the term oresama
has entered Japanese popular parlance, where it has come to
reflect a buffoon’s clueless sense of his own importance. I expect
to see it a lot in contemporary news subtitling of American
presidential speeches.

“only a siMplEton, as My
JapanEsE tEaCHEr onCE
MEMorably said, Would EvEr
usE an HonorifiC likE –san, or –
CHan or –saMa WHEn rEfErrinG
to tHEMsElvEs.”

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 Shadow Play
Director Kim Jee-woon speaks exclusively to NEO’s David West about the political
complexities surrounding the Japanese occupation of Korea, why he was awestruck on set,
and exploring the darkness in The Age Of Shadows.
ThE JapaNEsE OccupaTiON of Korea, from 1910 to 1945, was a period
marked by the brutal suppression of dissent by the occupying authorities.
Kim Jee-soon’s brilliant The Age Of Shadows unfolds against this backdrop.
Lee Jung-chool (song Kang-ho) is a police captain working for the occupiers,
while Kim Woo-jin (Gong Yoo) is a resistance member hoping to enlist Lee’s
help in smuggling explosives into seoul, even as the policeman’s Japanese
superiors question his loyalty.
NOrTh aND sOuTh
The film was inspired by the real men and women who resisted the
occupation, although their struggle is politically contentious in
contemporary south Korea as some of those who fought the invaders
subsequently allied themselves with communist North Korea.
“Before the year 2000, many of the stories of the independence activists
who had chosen the south (i.e. the conservative right-wingers) were well-
known,” says director Kim. “in contrast, more recently awareness has
been growing about the independence efforts of those affiliated with the
progressive left wing. The Age of Shadows also deals with the activities of the
heroic corps. it was the most notorious and fearsome armed anti-Japanese
group during the Japanese colonial era and the head of the heroic corps, Kim
Won-bong, was a figure affiliated with the progressive left-wingers.
“Kim Won-bong is an example of someone who, with the country
divided, had chosen the south but who moved back to the North. he was
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extremely angered and disappointed because a pro-Japanese snitch who
had tortured him was not only not punished, but was also now working as a
police officer for the south Korean government, and arrested Kim again. But
even in the North he was forsaken. he was unable to stand the absurdity of
a one-man dictatorship, and after protesting, he ended up being purged by
the North.”
and people wonder why Korean movies often feature unhappy endings!
a uNiquE TaLENT
The Age Of Shadows marks the fourth film that Kim and song Kang-ho have
made together, although originally the director conceived of a younger actor
playing Lee Jung-chool, to match Gong Yoo as Kim Woo-jin.
“however, as the screenplay was polished off, it felt as though the role of
Lee Jung-chool should be someone who had endured through hardship and
history itself,” says the director. “i thought that Kim had a sense of duty and
responsibility, a burning conviction to fight for his country’s independence,
naïve in his open determination, and passionate, while Lee seemed like
someone whose feelings are more obscure, someone seasoned, a person who
acted out of dignity because of his expert disposition.
“Because of that, i thought of Gong Yoo who was able to skilfully express
the naivety of Kim’s character, the sense of responsibility, courage, and
self-sacrifice. and i thought that the person to fill the role of Lee Jung-chool
should be song Kang-ho, one of Korea’s exemplary character actors, someone
03/03/2017 14:36

“EvEryonE took part in thE indEpEndEncE Effort – mEn, womEn, young, old – and thE couragE
and activism of womEn activists, unrivallEd by mEn, is wEll-rEcordEd in history. and in thE
agE of shadows i also wantEd to dEpict thE couragE and sElf-sacrificE of womEn activists.”
who’s able to express complex feelings and real thoughts. i think song is
unique in his ability to freeze the atmosphere for an instant and then loosen
the tension with his unique brand of humour and sensibility.”
sTrucK WiTh aWE
asked which performer most surprised him with what they brought to their
character, Kim replies, “They all had one or two moments when they had me
awestruck, but the most surprising actor was song Kang-ho.
“in his first meeting with Kim Woo-jin, he approaches him and asks him
to evaluate the stuff he’s brought with him and then reveals his true identity
it’s a scene that reveals that both Kim and Lee are each other’s enemy. The
scene is bubbling with tension, and Lee takes a big breath, softly exhales,
and reads the line. it’s a scene where Lee’s dignity and generous broad-
mindedness is revealed. if song had, for example, read the lines too stiffly or
if it had been too over-the-top ,then i wouldn’t have been able to paint a subtle
picture of these two characters’ strategic closeness. i wonder if that single
breath, while calmly allowing them to get close to each other, enables the
story’s events to continue on smoothly, in one decisive action.”
Kim is full of praise for his leading man’s performance, which
is tremendous as Lee grapples with his conflicted loyalties. “song is
irreplaceable as an actor when it comes to persuading the viewer of the
character’s inner world with a single look or breath,” says Kim. “Lee Jung-
chool must express minute changes in his mind not by some particular line
or a decisive motive but through a darkened expression. song is able to pursue
a role instinctively and act with competence and intricacy. he’s unrivalled in
his interpretation and his command of distinct nuances.”
WOmEN Of ThE rEvOLuTiON
actress han Ji-min’s character Yun Gye-soon adds some glamour to the tale
and was modelled on the women who resisted the occupation.
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Resistance
Man
“I believed in his
potential and he met
my expectations
exquisitely,” says Kim
about Gong Yoo’s
performance. “Even
though in a single
scene he appears
alongside big actors
like Song Kang-ho
and Lee Byung-hun,
as a young actor he
sufficiently showed his
ability to hold his own
against big stars.”
“actually, at the time of the bomb smuggling carried out to attack the
main institutions affiliated with the Japanese Governor-General of Korea,
a woman called hyeon Gye-ok took on an extremely difficult but important
role and posed as the wife of a hungarian bomb expert, magyar, and
smuggled explosives into seoul,” says Kim.
“she served as a model for the independence movement. at that time in
the anti-Japanese struggle there were many courageous women activists.
in particular, the patriot Yu Gwansun’s struggles in prison and her writings
became the catalyst for nationwide anti-Japanese efforts. Everyone took part
in the independence effort – men, women, young, old – and the courage and
activism of women activists, unrivalled by men, is well-recorded in history.
and in The Age of Shadows i also wanted to depict the courage and self-
sacrifice of women activists.”
shingo Tsurumi plays Lee Jung-chool’s boss, police Bureau chief higashi.
Despite the unsavoury history surrounding the Japanese occupation,
Tsurumji had no compunctions about taking the part.
“i think he accepted the role naturally, similar to a German actor playing
the role of a German soldier in a Nazi film,” says Kim. “in Japan, Tsurumi is a
revered veteran actor. he chose to join the cast based on the story and quality
of the work, and i thought that rather than portray this Japanese character as
a simple, tough-talking figure, he’d show the viewer one instrumental person
swept up in the mania of the time. higashi, like Lee Jung-chool, was just a
product of the dark and tragic time he lived in. Through these characters, i
thought i’d be able to tell the story of the contradictions of the era.”
it seems time has only partially healed the wounds of the occupation
which Kim describes as, “a momentous tragic event suffered by the Korean
people.” Keep your eyes peeled for more from director Kim about the film in
an upcoming issue.
Experience the best thriller of the year when The Age Of Shadows opens
in cinemas on 24 march from soda pictures.
www.ne omag .c o.uk 045
03/03/2017 14:36
 NEO VAULT: CLASSICS REDISCOVERED
MAISON IKKOKU
Andrew Osmond explores the connections between
Ghost in the Shell and the sitcoms of yesteryear…
We’re cOunting Off the last days until the live-action Ghost in the Shell,
featured on our flipper cover this issue! We’ve also been looking back at the
1995 anime film, reissued in cinema and home formats. But what’s usually
overlooked is how that film’s history is rooted in the comedies of manga-ka
rumiko takahashi.
takahashi may be the greatest female star in manga; the goddess of
manga, perhaps. Her golden age was the 1980s, when she had a succession of
manga megahits, all turned into long anime franchises. The first was Urusei
Yatsura, about a useless Japanese schoolboy who becomes engaged to Lum,
a bewitching alien girl with a penchant for tiger bikinis. The anime ran to
nearly two hundred episodes.
Weird though it may seem, this light-hearted whimsy was the launchpad
for a young director called Mamoru Oshii, the future director of Ghost in
the Shell. Oshii handled the first hundred episodes, and is praised for them
– some fans even claim he improved on the manga by making it crazier and
funnier in animation. However, Oshii himself said he could never really love
takahashi’s characters, even as he took them deeper into surreality. The end-
point was Oshii’s 1984 film Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer, which mixes
Groundhog Day timeloops, a giant space turtle and a pig that eats dreams. The
film was entirely written by Oshii; he said that he asked takahashi if she liked
it, but she barely said anything.
Maybe she was just exhausted. from 1980, takahashi was writing two
ongoing comics: Urusei Yatsura and the very different Maison Ikkoku. “i
created Maison Ikkoku to be a love story that could take place in the real
world,” takahashi told Animerica. A sitcom and romcom, Maison Ikkoku
revolves around the title tenement building where people live practically
on top of each other. Most are adults living joyously and disgracefully, like
the good-time girl, Akemi, who wanders round in transparent negligees; a
cackling, rotund older woman, Hanae, who’s pretty much unique in anime;
and a mystery man, Yotsuya, who lounges with the self-possessed cool of
Lupin the Third.
Much of the comedy comes from how these characters mercilessly tease
and torment the youngest boarder, who’s the 20-year-old godai. When we
meet him, he’s struggling to get into university, hampered and infuriated by
his neighbours’ endless parties, pranks and mooching of his food. But there’s
an unexpected arrival in the first episode: the building’s new manager. She’s a
Spare roomS
The anime Maison
Ikkoku began in 1986 in
the TV slot vacated by
Urusei Yatsura. Many
cast and crew simply
switched over. Actor
Issei Futamata, who
voiced Godai in Maison
Ikkoku, had played Chibi
in Urusei Yatsura.
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guilelessly lovely woman, Kyoko, with the Japanese voice of nausicaa (actress
Sumi Shimamoto). godai, like the audience, is smitten with her. She’s only
a couple of years older than him, but she’s far more emotionally mature,
for reasons we learn several episodes into the story. Spoiler: she’s a widow,
devastated by the early death of her husband.
The 96-episode series is based around godai’s and Kyoko’s awkward,
sometimes tortured relationship. Will they, should they, can they, ever
become a couple? There are sweet hints of something that’s more than
friendship. There are also cringemaking bust-ups and moments of high farce,
like godai getting drunk, sweeping Kyoko up to his room in the manner of
richard gere, and then lying passed out on the floor while she pummels him
on the head, shocked that she let him carry her away. Part of the scene’s power
is that on one level it’s not funny; it’s uneasy, troubling drama in all senses of
the word.
One of the main writers on the show was Kazunori ito, the future
scriptwriter of Ghost in the Shell. Okay, so he was adapting takahashi’s
story, but it surely gave him a grounding in writing adult characters with
unrequited emotions. Before Ghost, ito partnered with Oshii on Patlabor;
fans of that franchise need only think of the hidden tensions between the
characters goto and Shinobu. And in Ghost in the Shell itself, is it any wonder
that Batou seems to have more than purely professional feelings toward his
cyborg comrade, Major Kusanagi?
Perhaps the funniest
Japanese performer,
though, is Shigeru Chiba,
who voices both the
supercool Yotsuya and
Kyoko’s dog Soichiro. His
other roles include Megane
in Urusei Yatsura and the
ill-fated garbage man in
Ghost in the Shell.
02/03/2017 14:54

1 2
3 (though it was the basis for the harem
Given that Maison Ikkoku
is a non-fantasy story,
it’s unsurprising that it’s
also been turned into
live-action. A cinema
film appeared in 1986,
the same year the anime
debuted. Two more TV
films followed in 2007-8
with a different cast.
046-7_NEO161[Vault]CTGC.indd 2
LoST IN
TraNSLaTIoN?
The anime versions of
Takahashi’s works haven’t
thrived in Britain. For example,
an attempt to release the 2000
series Inuyasha on UK DVD was
truncated after 12 episodes
(of 167!). The Maison Ikkoku
anime never had a release at all,
probably because it didn’t have
many big robots (okay, any big
robots) and because anime art
styles have changed so much
in the three decades since it
was made. Still, films like the
new A Silent Voice continue to
open up people’s ideas of what
stories anime can tell. How
about Kyoto Animation doing a
remake of Maison Ikkoku?
mYSTerIoUS
maISoN
According to Takahashi, Maison
Ikkoku originated in her time as an
impoverished student, living in a
room in a cheap apartment building.
She became intrigued by another
apartment building just behind it, and
wondered about the people who
lived there. By the time she wrote the
manga, she claimed this kind of lifestyle
was less common for Japanese people
comedy Love Hina a decade later).
Today, the Ikkoku lifestyle, warts and
all, is familiar to foreigners in Tokyo,
for whom some of the cheapest long-
term accommodation is in shared
“gaijin” (foreigner) houses.
1. “We only drink wine that matches the tablecloth.”
2. Sleeping on the job is a great way to get out of
chores. 3. Our house, it has a crowd. There’s always
something happening, and it’s usually quite loud.
Of the live-action versions,
the 1986 film featured
music by Miyazaki’s
regular composer Joe
Hisaishi. On the other
hand, the later episodes of
the Maison Ikkoku anime
had music by Kenji Kawai…
yes, the future composer
of Ghost in the Shell!
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 ©ATLUS ©SEGA/PERSONA3 the Movie Committee

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050-1_NEO161[centreposter]CTGC.indd 1 01/03/2017 10:15
 ©LRIG/Project Selector

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052_NEO161[poster]CTGC.indd 1
©2014 Ryohgo Narita/PUBLISHED BY KADOKAWA CORPORATION ASCII MEDIA WORKS/Ikebukuro Dollars

01/03/2017 10:16
ads.indd 1 03/03/2017 16:51
 NEO NATION
WE’RE ALL TALKING ABOUT…

NARUTO
SHIPPUDEN
Naruto Shippuden turns ten this year, and after
a decade of shinobi action, we wanted to know
the readers’ favourite memories of the show!
DREW HURLEY
Getting a tattoo from Kishimoto himself!
ALBERT SELINE
When Naruto returns to Konoha in the
first episode... it’s good to see him more grown up,
experienced, but still the same lovable Naruto. Also
it’s the start of a new adventure for the character.
LAURENCE GREEN
The fight with Pain was easily the high point
of the series – an epic battle, but with real emotional
weight to it too.
HELEN KING
Seeing Sakura go from a backbench
character to a strong skilled medical ninja and seeing
Drew’s amazing
tattoo by Kishimoto!
that after everything, Itachi really was looking out
for Sasuke. I really liked all the action scenes and the
soundtrack – in fact I liked everything, and am still
enjoying it.
CALLUM NAYLOR
Easily Sasori vs Sakura. It was the first real
time we saw Sakura kick ass.

HUSKEYNINJA
I cosplay one of my favourite characters
from Naruto – Tsunade, as she is a strong character
NARUTO SHIPPUDEN THE TV ADAPTATION OF NARUTO
and she puts her whole heart into anything she SHIPPUDEN LAUNCHED ON 15 FEBRUARY 2007 IN JAPAN,
MAKING THE SERIES TEN YEARS OLD THIS YEAR. IN 2009, TV
does. She became the first female Hokage and is
one of the three Sannin.

MRMIZU TOKYO BEGAN TO STREAM NEW EPISODES ONLINE WITHIN AN

@MORGAN_WHITLOCK
@NEO_Magazine Might Guy using the Eight Gates HOUR OF THEIR JAPANESE PREMIERE!
against Madara. Finally after hearing the legend of it
for so long we get to see its power!

AMY WALKER
The all-time best for me was watching
the fight between Sasuke and Itachi. The well Sakura
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BORUTO THE LATEST MOVIE IN THE NARUTO FRANCHISE IS
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054 NEO MAGAZINE APRIL 2017

054_NEO161[NEO Nation]CTGC.indd 1 03/03/2017 14:10

ads.indd 1 03/03/2017 16:00
 w o r d S B y d aV id w e S t

[ANIME REVIEW]

Seoul Station
A scathing attack on Korean society… with zombies!
2 7 M a r c h ( d i gi ta l d o w nl o a d) , 3 a p r il ( d V d , B l u - r ay ) //
S t ud i o c a n a l // 1 5 // h o r r o r // £ 1 9 . 9 9 ( d V d) / £ 24 . 9 9 ( B l u - r ay ) //
9 2 MinS
PLOT A zombie outbreak that begins in Seoul Station
quickly sends the city spiralling into chaos. Fresh from a
break-up with her loser boyfriend Ki-woong, who wants
to pimp her out on the internet, Hye-sun is caught up in
the undead rampage while her estranged father Suk-kyu
frantically searches for her.
The zombie outbreak begins with a homeless man
staggering through the crowded train station, in obvious
distress, but everyone turns away from him. He’s effectively
a non-person, too far down the social ladder to warrant the
slightest compassion or care. When a group of zombies besieges
a police station, one of the cops calls for help claiming that the
homeless are running riot. It’s a pointed critique of how the
poor and destitute are de-humanized. The way the government
responds to the outbreak by sending in the military adds
another layer to Yeon’s message, essaying just how little the
authorities care for their citizenry, willing to sacrifice the

Y
healthy along with the infected just to protect the status quo.
eon Sang-ho’s Train To Busan was nothing less than The voice actors are all excellent, with a cast of Korean
a colossal hit across Asia, and now his animated screen veterans including Shim Eun-kyung as Hye-sun,
prologue Seoul Station arrives as an addendum to the Ryu Seung-ryong as Suk-kyu, and singer-turned-actor Lee
Trivia tale. It’s a much smaller scale affair than Yeon’s live Joon as Ki-woong. The animation looks like it was done with
Shim Eun-kyung, action blockbuster, but it still offers a sharp critique rotoscoping, which helps to ground the action with realistic
the voice of Hye- of South Korean society amidst the horror, the zombies, the figures, facial expressions and movements. As in Train To
sun, has a cameo in running, and the chomping of human flesh. Busan, the zombies are heedless of their own injuries as they
Train To Busan as One of the main threads is the country’s rampant hurl themselves after their prey. While there’s nothing here to
the girl who brings
misogyny. Hye-sun is a runaway who was forced to work compete with the most spectacular moments of the live action
the zombie virus
in a brothel to survive. She hoped her new boyfriend would film, danger and death always feel frighteningly close at hand.
onto the train at
the start of the film.
provide for them but he’s got no job and his only idea to Just when you think matters can’t become any more
Train to Busan is make any money for their rent is to force Hye-sun back into desperate for poor Hye-sun, a final twist takes Seoul Station
out now on DVD prostitution. Ki-woong is thoroughly despicable in the early into even darker territory. A worthy addition to the canon
and Blu-ray from scenes with his attempts to manipulate Hye-sun, and it’s easy of great zombie movies, this is both brutally effective and
StudioCanal! to see how Seoul Station comes from the same director as the ruthlessly suspenseful.
hopelessly bleak The King Of Pigs from 2011.

056 N E O M A G A Z I N E A P R I L 2 0 1 7

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 W o r D s B y r o Be r t me l l ins

[MANGA REVIEW]

The GhosT The shell Deluxe eDitions

Acceptable in the ‘80s
o u t n o W // K o D a ns h a C o mi C s // s C i - f i // £ 2 5 . 0 0 ( v 1 a nD v 2 ) /
£ 1 6 . 9 9 ( v 1 . 5 ) // m a s a mune s hir o W
PLOT Three volumes of the collected works of Masamune
Shirow have been rereleased in a luxury hardback format,
complete with colour pages where applicable. The full set
The GhosT includes The Ghost in the Shell, Ghost in the Shell 2: Man-
The phrase ‘ghost Machine Interface and Ghost in the Shell 1.5: Human-Error
in the machine’ was
Processor, all sold separately.
coined by British
philosopher Gilbert
Ryle to describe The Ghost in the Shell is decadent, gratuitous, and salacious – in
mind-body dualism. your face with action, drama and cyberpunk. The franchise has
now spanned decades and spawned a host of incarnations, most
recently with the forthcoming Hollywood adaptation. But this
is where it all began, reproduced in three complete volumes in a
glorious hardback edition.
If you’re only familiar with the Major from her po-faced
portraits and have never picked up or watched any GITS,
you may in for a shock here. There’s nudity, blood, classic
manga-style gurning and slapstick, alongside philosophy
and the deeper questions regarding the nature of humanity
and technology, and how the two will interact as the lines are
blurred between them. The ambition and scope of this series
was enough to sow the seeds for a sci-fi epic that has captured
the imaginations of readers, viewers, auteurs and creatives
for almost 30 years, but it’s delivered in an intense, dense, and
occasionally frustrating manner.
Complex, classic, distracting, frustrating; essential.
W o r D s B y D av iD W e s t

[FILM REVIEW]

KinG KonG Vs Godzilla / KinG KonG escapes

passes out. Unlike the models in 1933’s King Kong, special
o u t n o W // uni v e r s a l // P G // K a i ju // £ 1 0 . 9 9 ( B l u - r ay ) effects maestro Eiji Tsuburaya uses his trademark Suitmation
e a C h // 9 6 mins e a C h technique, although his first Kong suit in King Kong VS
Key TalenT Godzilla looks very awkward. King Kong Escapes features
A special effects PLOT The atomic lizard tangles with the world’s mightiest ape an improved ape suit, although it’s still obviously a man in a
pioneer, Eiji in King Kong VS Godzilla. In King Kong Escapes, the evil Dr Who costume. Tsuburaya’s miniature sets and vehicles are always
Tsuburaya not (Eisei Amamoto) attempts to harness Kong’s power to retrieve a delight, while King Kong Escapes features an enormously
only helped bring a subterranean cache of the radioactive Element X. entertaining tussle between Kong and a dinosaur, compared
Godzilla to life, he
to which Godzilla’s much-hyped showdown with Kong is
was the mastermind
Dating from 1962 and 1967, these two outings from director somewhat anti-climactic.
behind a host of
Japanese screen Ishiro Honda are cheesy and lightweight compared to the Both films can be unintentionally hilarious but these
icons including serious anti-nuclear message of Honda’s original 1954 Godzilla. two kaiju adventures constitute perfect, late night, creature
Mothra, Ghidorah, King Kong VS Godzilla is best enjoyed as pure camp. There’s feature fodder. Anyone who loves the tokusatsu action of
and Ultraman. an unexpected musical number as the natives on Faro Island shows like Power Rangers will feel right at home.
serenade Kong after he fights a giant octopus, gets drunk and

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A Silent Voice
Andrew Osmond interviews Naoko Yamada, director of Anime Limited’s new movie –
an emotional story of the power of redemption.
NAOkO YAmAdA is in London, and not for the first time. The director (who’s
one of the most prominent women in anime) swung by a few years ago, when
she was prepping K-On! The Movie, in which a band of perky girl musicians
visited our capital. Today, Yamada isn’t prepping a film, but promoting one –
A Silent Voice, her opus about Japanese teens with troubled pasts, out now in
British and irish cinemas.
Based on a seven-volume manga by Yoshitoki Oima (another female
artist), A Silent Voice is the story of a boy called shoya. in the film’s first scene,
we see him tying up his affairs – quitting his job, leaving an envelope full
of yen for his mom. Then he’s standing on a high bridge, picturing himself
climbing on the railing and falling off. it’s dark stuff, and so are the next few
scenes, an extended flashback that explains how shoya got to this point.
The answer lies in his primary school days, when a shy new girl joined
shoya’s class, called shoko. she was deaf, and shoya soon got hacked off
with her strange voice, and her special needs. He started bullying her, and
the results were terrible, for her and for him. Now the teen shoya has a
reputation as a bully, a deep self-loathing about what he did, and a feeling
that the world would be better off without him. And then he meets shoko
again and… things change.
The Journey
We should say that while A Silent Voice begins in a dark place, it’s a journey
through a great many emotions, good and bad. shoya is given the hope of
making friends again, and many of the film’s scenes are joyous and funny. A
Silent Voice still has an unusually serious, realistic subject for an anime about
students, but when we ask if Yamada thinks it’s a new kind of film, she says no.
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“i wasn’t thinking that. Yes, it is a serious movie; we deal with bullying
and dark thoughts, but that’s not the whole theme of the film. i think many
people can empathise with the dark thoughts, the seriousness, but i didn’t
want the audience to be drawn into that negativity. i wanted to put in some
positive aspects; there are happy moments in everyone.”
But even so, we ask, isn’t A Silent Voice something of a new direction for
its studio, kyoto Animation? After all, when many fans think of the studio’s
name, they think of light, cheery fare like Yamada’s own K-On! (she directed
both TV seasons as well as the movie), as well as Free! and Nichijou, and this
season’s Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid. Again, though, Yamada doesn’t
see it that way. she even suggests A Silent Voice isn’t so different from K-On!
“They’re different things, but the basic concepts i was thinking of when i
made both are the human spirit, love, emotions and understanding.”
Understanding is central to A Silent Voice. “i think the whole theme of
the film is about communication, understanding and not understanding,”
says Yamada. The young shoya bullies shoko because he can’t understand
her. Older and guilt-ridden, the teenage shoya tentatively tries to form a
friendship with his former victim, even learning sign language to better
talk to her. However, he’s always unsure what shoko really feels about their
renewed acquaintance.
“One of the things i discussed with the manga author Oima was that,
‘it’s the story of shoya, so don’t deal with anything that he can’t see and
understand,’” says Yamada. “if shoya can’t understand why shoko is
behaving this way or that way, then we don’t deal with that. However, as a
filmmaker, i couldn’t not put in things… so i used the point of view of Yuzuru
[a character who has a close relationship with shoko, though it’s not what
03/03/2017 16:03

Leading
Voice
Miyu Irino voices the
troubled teenage
Shoya. He’s also
the hero Sora in the
Kingdom Hearts
game franchise;
Haku in Miyazaki’s
Spirited Away (the
boy who’s really a
dragon) and Takao,
the boy in Makoto
Shinkai’s Garden of
Words. In A Silent
Voice’s flashbacks,
the preteen Shoya
is voiced by actress
Mayu Matsuoka.
058-61_NEO161[SilentVoice]CTGC.indd 2
3 4
“I thInk the whole theme of the fIlm Is about communIcatIon, understandIng
and not understandIng.” naoko Yamada
it first appears to be] or shoko’s mother or grandmother. Their
behaviour, their ideas could give people a clue about who shoko
is and why she behaves as she does. i used these other people’s
viewpoints.”
Page To Screen
Yamada concedes there were many difficulties in adapting the
manga as a film. “With a manga, readers can read at their own
pace. in a movie, the time goes as the film goes. For example,
there’s a scene where shoko’s mother slaps shoya. in the manga,
it’s a page – you turn to the page, bang! But in the film, i had to
describe how shoya felt before he was hit, and when he was hit,
and after, and also how the mother felt before, during and after.
And i wanted the audience to understand the emotions, so i had
to take time to make that, and that one page is much longer in
the movie. it was very difficult to give the same impact as the
manga (in the film).”
The mother slapping shoya is not the only violence in the
film. At the risk of harping on negativity, some of A Silent
Voices’s most arresting scenes are fights – there’s an early,
furious altercation between the young shoya and shoko in
2
1. shoko at primary school -
what happens here will shape
everything that follows in
the film. 2. the world as the
teenage shoya sees it, where
he’s forbidden to communicate
with his classmates. 3. shoya
tries to communicate with
the girl he bulled as a child. 4.
shoya’s default demeanour;
the onetime cocky kid, now
terrified of the world.
primary school, and later an even rawer bust-up between
characters outside a hospital. Yamada created these scenes in
storyboard form. “When i did the storyboard, i became all the
characters. i’m the one who’s angry, or the one who’s falling…”
Animated films often use live-action reference, people
acting out motions for real. did Yamada have people thwack
each other in front of her when she was planning out the
fights? “When i’m directing it, i don’t need real people,” she
laughs. “But i think the actual animators do it themselves.
i know they shoot each other, shoot videos, to see how the
action should work.” Like many anime directors, Yamada
has experience as an animator herself, on titles such as the
original Haruhi Suzumiya.
“in order to create realistic fight scenes, you don’t really
want to be too realistic,” Yamada adds. “You have to find a way
to make it work as an animation. You don’t want to stick to
reality too much, in terms of actions anyway.”
A minute later, she thoughtfully makes sure to stress that
this is just her personal view. “Obviously different directors
have different opinions on this. it also depends on the kind of
film being made.” >>>
www.ne omag .c o.uk 059
03/03/2017 16:03

“one of the most Important thIngs for me In makIng thIs fIlm In anImatIon was that I
could control everYthIng. colours; what lens You use; the characters… everY movement of
everYone, of everYthIng, even a blInk, I can control It as I want It to be.” naoko Yamada
>>> TranSlaTing emoTion
That brings up another point. A Silent Voice is the kind of story
that could have been told in a live-action film or TV series. That’s
true of many other anime, from When Marnie Was There to
Your Name, but it’s more obvious with A Silent Voice because
of its complete lack of fantasy elements (or perhaps its almost
complete lack.) so, what are the advantages of making the story
in animation?
For Yamada, the key is control. “One of the most important
things for me in making this film in animation was that i could
control everything. Colours; what lens you use; the characters…
Every movement of everyone, of everything, even a blink, i can
Kyoto Movies control it as i want it to be. That also applies to small objects,
A Silent Voice is the here and there… i can control the whole world in the film. Yes,
tenth cinema film A Silent Voice would work in live-action, but in live-action
released by Kyoto unexpected things happen. That’s great – actors bring their
Animation, but the own things (to a live-action film), but for me, the advantage of
first that’s not linked animation is i can control every single aspect.”
to a previous anime stylistically, A Silent Voice is often cut fast, edited with
made for TV or video. quick-fire images, torrents of visual information crammed into
Yamada directed seconds. (The same was also true of Your Name.) Yamada agrees
two previous films that fast editing is trending in the media, but she also suggests
for the studio, the that it’s less a way of cramming in information, more a means
K-On! film in 2011, and of conveying emotion. “it’s not all about what you can see on
2014’s Tamako Love screen. it’s the emotions behind it that you can’t see; i really
Story, a spinoff from wanted to convey those. Emotions are vibration, so i thought
her TV series Tamako fast cuts were the best way to convey the invisible emotions the
Market. characters are feeling.”
060 NEO MAGAZINE APRIL 2017
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5
One fast-cut sequence, quite near the start, introduces
shoya as a primary schooler in the midst of his friends and
classmates, before shoko arrives. The sequence is set to a
familiar British anthem – My Generation by The Who. Anyone
thinking about generations might reflect that the song itself is
52 years old this year.
“i was talking to the film’s sound director,” Yamada says,
“and he said he wanted to use something evergreen that anyone
can relate to, not just the Japanese audience. i was thinking of
shoya as a schoolboy and the song came to me, basically. shoya
was bored, really restless, but at the same time he was really
invincible. i thought My Generation fitted his characteristics,
and obviously the song appeals to everyone.”
WanTing To be WanTed
While shoya and shoko are the central characters in A Silent
Voice, there’s a large supporting cast around them. (They
divide into two groups: people who knew shoya and shoko at
primary school, and those who shoya meets later.) One of the
most prominent characters is Tomohiro, a bubble-haired boy
who’s pitifully desperate to make friends, and who latches
onto the teen shoya with scary intensity. The girl shoko also
seems desperate for acceptance, even by people who’ve treated
her horribly. does Yamada see Tomohiro and shoko as being
similar characters?
“That’s very interesting, i never thought of it really,” says
Yamada, thinking. “i thought you meant shoya (rather than
Tomohiro), because shoya and shoko are pretty much similar,
03/03/2017 16:03
 5. Shoya’s former girlfriend
6
Ueno is incredulous at his new
relationship with Shoko. 6. As
the film tells the story from
Shoya’s viewpoint, Shoko is a
far more enigmatic character. 7.
Finding it hard to speak, Shoko
often communicates through a
notebook or through texts sent
from her mobile phone. 8. Most
of the film takes place in the
period from blossom-covered
spring into summer.

7 8

they both want to be wanted. And that’s just common for everyone. Everyone Yamada seems slightly nonplussed by the question. “I didn’t really think
wants to have friends, to be wanted, to communicate that feeling to another much about it, to be honest. And probably readers of the manga wouldn’t be
person. I didn’t really think about Shoko and Tomohiro myself, but you’re aware that Oima is a woman.” It’s a similar situation to Fullmetal Alchemist;
probably right.” the managa version was written by another woman with a gender-neutral
Tomohiro brightens up the film after its rather grim start: he’s both name, Hiromu Arakawa.
annoyingly loveable and loveably annoying. One scene has Tomohiro “I think fundamentally that Oima and I have got more in common,”
acting in a weirdly “cool” way after he watches a movie with Shoya. We Yamada reflects. “With Reiko Yoshida, it was more like she was balancing us
wonder if there was a particular Japanese reference in the way he was two, I feel like she is a mum to me. I think the overall tone of A Silent Voice is
acting, but Yamada meant the joke to be universal. “Tomohiro is being one sort of affectionate, maybe there’s a little bit more love.”
of the characters in the film he just saw, that’s why he’s behaving in that A Silent Voice is being shown in selected cinemas across the country from
way.” (There’s a Japanese word for that behaviour: chunibyo, as in the Kyoto 17 March. Book tickets at http://asilentvoice.co.uk.
Animation series Love, Chunibyo and Other Delusions.)
On the subject of Japanese reference points, we ask where the film takes
place. A Silent Voice is set neither in Tokyo or Kyoto but a city called Ogaki, SAORI hAYAMI
which is in the central prefecture of Gifu. (Your Name’s country scenes were Shoko is voiced by 25-year-old
also set in Gifu, but in a far more rural area.) actress and singer Saori Hayami,
“The water is really beautiful,” says Yamada of Ogaki; the city’s canals who’s not deaf but still gives
play a prominent role in the film. In one scene, Shoko and Shoya both jump a heartbreakingly beautiful
into a canal from a bridge. Have any over-enthusiastic anime fans tried to performance. You may know her as
imitate them since the film opened? “The water’s actually quite shallow Saki, the heroine in Eden of the East;
there,” Yamada laughs, “so it’s a bit dangerous!” Shinoa in Seraph of the End; or the
As the interview wraps up, we ask Yamada if she sees any significance ill-fated Sachi in an early Sword Art
in the number of women on the film. Even for a Kyoto Animation picture, Online episode. To add to her tally of
it’s unusual in having three high-level female credits. Along with Yamada characters whose names start with
as director, there’s the veteran scriptwriter Reiko Yoshida, who previously “S,” Hayami voices Shirayuki in the
worked with Yamada on K-On! and Tamako Market. (Her other credits range newly-released Snow White with the
from The Cat Returns to Romeo X Juliet.) Then there’s Yoshitoki Oima, who Red Hair, pictured.
wrote the source A Silent Voice manga.

www.ne omag .c o.uk 061

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[ANIme ReVIeW]
PaRt 1
Snow white with the ReD haiR
And it started so well…
O u t n O w // F unim at i O n // C E R t 1 2 // R O m a n C E / S l i C E O F l iF E /
Fa n ta S y // £ 3 4 . 9 9 ( B l u - R ay ) // 2 7 5 minS // 1 2 E P iS O D E S
PLOT In a medieval-style world, an intrepid red-haired
woman flees the unwanted attentions of one prince,
only to be drawn to another prince in the neighbouring
kingdom. As she develops as a herbal healer, where will
her emotional life take her?
D
eceptive title alert! This is not a fairy tale. There are
a couple of passing references to the Snow White
story in the first episode – keep away from those
apples – but no wicked queens, doughty dwarves or
magic mirrors. In recent years, the highest-profile
version of Snow White was Hollywood’s Snow White and
ADAPTATION the Huntsman, directed by Rupert Sanders, who’s now
The Snow moved on to butt-kicking cyborgs. Yes, we’ll shoehorn in
White story was a reference to Ghost in the Shell if it kills us!
previously adapted Meanwhile, this anime’s director is Masahiro
for kids in anime. Ando, who previously handled the actioner Sword of
A 1994 series ran the Stranger. Snow White represents a radical change
52(!) episodes,
of pace, and begins most promisingly. The heroine is
while 2001’s
actually called Shirayuki, who leads a life of inquiry and
Pretear (not to
be confused with
discovery as a herbalist, collecting plants to help the sick
Precure) reworked and injured. There’s a nice touch at the beginning when
the story with a she stoops in the woods, apparently to pick some pretty
girl surrounded by flowers, only to choose a much uglier plant instead.
seven cute guys. When she’s told that the local fop prince wants her as
his concubine, she doesn’t hang around forlornly singing
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w O R D S B y a nD R E w O S m O nD
Disney “I want” songs. No, Shirayuki cuts her luxuriant
red hair and sets off looking for a new home. It’s a great
opening, politically progressive and well-told. The viewer
settles back for a quality series…
…And gets a dismayingly boring one instead. Look,
we’ve got nothing against low-key, slice of life fantasies
about relationships rather than battles, like Spice and
Wolf or Ghibli’s Princess Kaguya. But there’s just so little
of interest here. In the first episode, Shirayuki meets
another prince in the neighbouring kingdom. He helps
her evade the fop she’s fleeing, and they realise they like
and respect each other. And, er, there’s extremely little
development from that point.
Most of the episodes after the first couple are
chronically, laughably unexciting. There’s no romcom
back-and-forth, or any real comedy to speak of, and
the emotional conflict is mostly feeble. There’s just no
convincing impediment to the couple’s relationship,
nor any interesting evolution of it. There are a couple of
promising touches, like the prince’s older brother who
turns up halfway through the series and disapproves of
the new friendship, and some backstory details that are
more interesting than anything else. But it’s terribly little
nourishment for 12 episodes.
Produced by Bones, Snow White’s first two episodes
are visually lovely, only for the show to look far less
interesting as it goes on. It’s a sadly apt reflection of the
series as a whole.
Starts well, descends into stupendous boredom.
03/03/2017 17:18
 w O r d s B Y d av id w e s t

[FILM REVIEW]

Three
Johnnie To directs Casualty and it’s awesome
O u t N O w // K a l e id O s c O p e e N t e r ta iNme N t // 1 5 // t hr il l e r //
d i gi ta l d O w Nl O a d // 8 8 miNs
PLOT Dr Tong Qian (Vicky Zhao) is a neurosurgeon
determined to prove she hasn’t lost her touch after two
successive operations end badly. Shun (Wallace Chung)
is a criminal with a bullet lodged in his head, while Chief
Inspector Chan (Louis Koo) is trying to cover up how it
got there.
any information on the whereabouts of his gang – who are
busy running amuk committing armed robberies – but he
openly mocks his captor. Chung’s performance is guilty of
going over the top, but a good chunk of that responsibility
lies in the writing. Why is a man who robs jewellery stores
quoting Bertrand Russell and the Hippocratic Oath from
memory? He really should be winning pub quizzes, not
leading a gang.
Louis Koo simmers with stress as Chan, trying to
maintain a respectable façade in front of the hospital staff
while privately telling his team, “We break the law to uphold

J
the law.” Koo is great at barely suppressed fury, yet the script
ohnnie To’s Three is essentially a play revolving around doesn’t provide much opportunity for him to do a great deal
a trio of characters, each with their own agenda. It’s else, or any wider sense of Chief Inspector Chan’s personality.
something of a departure for To, focussing squarely on the The bulk of the movie is all mind games and power-plays
shifting dynamics between Tong, Chan and Shun as each within the confines of the hospital ward, but when To finally
Key TalenT attempts to assert control of the situation. lets go with the action, he crafts a scene of spectacular style
Lo Hoi-Pang, Since this is a Johnnie To movie, Lam Suet has an and invention. Most of the sequence unfolds in a single take,
who plays a important supporting role as a bumbling cop, but it’s also with the camera prowling around the characters as bullets
rambunctious noteworthy that while To’s thrillers typically focus on male and bodies sail through the air in a destructive ballet.
elderly patient in characters – see Election, Exiled, The Mission – it’s really Vicky Compared to the hard-boiled, no frills violence of Election
Three, has been
Zhao who has the most substantial role this time. Tong is and Exiled, Three sees Johnnie To beating John Woo at his own
acting since the
proud of her career accomplishments and refuses to let anyone game with this one magnificent moment of pure cinema.
1970s and was in
entertain the notion that she owes her success to simple luck. Three lacks the elegiac mood of The Mission or Exiled
Sammo Hung’s
directorial debut, So when her surgeries start to go awry and she’s confronted and the depth of character that made Election so
The Iron-Fisted by a furious patient claiming that she’s left him paralysed, it compelling, but it’s fascinating to see To exploring a
Monk, way back strikes right to her core identity. different style of storytelling, and that climactic shootout
in 1977. Likewise, Chan is under incredible duress. He may have will take your breath away.
Shun in custody, but the criminal not only refuses to provide

www.ne omag .c o.uk 063

063_NEO161[Three]CTGC.indd 1 03/03/2017 14:26

 1

064-5_NEO161[ARTISTSHOWCASE]CTGC.indd 1 02/03/2017 14:58

 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 Phil English

AGE 47
BASED IN ManchEstEr
PROFESSION DEsign DirEctor at
gEnki gEar ltD
FAvOuRItE AutHOR h P lovEcraft:
gothic horror contrasts with My
cutE art stylE.

BIOGRAPHY
I have always loved drawing from an early age and was happiest when I was
messing around with pens and paper. My art training has been limited to O
level standards, as I was torn between science and art as a career. I foolishly
chose science (but that didn’t last long), but using my technical mind I got
a job at a CAD operator in the home furnishing industry. I would have been
quite happy staying there if it wasn’t for my wife suggesting I should do
something more fulfilling with my artistic nature, and so Genki Gear Ltd
2
was born – and that was 11 years ago! For over a decade I have been happily
producing cute creations for our range of Genki Gear T-shirts, which also
represent my strange sense of humour.
In the past, I used to sketch out a design and then scan it into my
computer, but now I forego that and work directly in Photoshop. Years of
experience in the design industry have given me an extremely steady hand,
and it’s helpful that I can draw smooth flowing lines without resorting to
vectors. One of my personal bug-bears is using off the peg fonts, so I always
hand draw all of my lettering. It takes a lot longer but it gives me a great
satisfaction, as it is more representative of my style.
I would never have imagined ten years ago that Genki Gear Ltd would
have taken off and that it would be a full time job, with us spending nearly
every weekend travelling around the country, attending conventions… and
I can assure you, it is the best job in the world. If you have a passion in art I
would recommend making a career in it; hard work and diligence does pay
off. Visit our site at www.GenkiGear.com to see my work!
1. Cute Tower: Expanding on a previous convention
3
T-shirt. I went for an extremely pink colourway. 2.
Kitten of Joy: An example of my strange humour… it
is still lovely though, right? 3. Critical Hit: One for
all the roleplayers out there. Much respect for you
geeky warriors.

NEO WANTS YOU

if you are interested in
submitting work to be featured
INSPIRAtION in the nEo artist showcasE,
please email mail@neomag.
My main influences at the moment are a mixture of low-brow pop culture art,
co.uk with ‘artist showcasE’
fashion and Japanese artists. tara Mcpherson, gama-go, and ugetsu hakua really
as your subject header, along
inspire my creative output.
with an internet link with
h P lovecraft is a great influence; i love the dark subject matter and his examples of your work.
verbose style always raises a smile, but i don’t think that was his intention.

www.ne omag .c o.uk 065

064-5_NEO161[ARTISTSHOWCASE]CTGC.indd 2 02/03/2017 14:58

 WIN 5 Blu-ray Copies of
The heroIc LegeNd of ArsLAN serIes
oNe PArT TWo
Five lucky NeO readers this issue will be able to bag
themselves an awesome prize, courtesy of universal Studios!
We have five copies of of The Heroic Legend of Arslan Series
One Part Two in a special limited edition set to give away.
The collector’s edition contains a host of amazing goodies,
including 12 artcards, character cards, a double-sided poster,
and 100 page book of character profiles, background info, and
artwork from the creative staff. Also on the disc are bonus
features including music clips and a comedy short.
The action follows Arslan and his companions as they try
to defend themselves against the Shindra army, which is led by
Prince Rajendra. This soon leads to a power struggle between
the prince and his brother Gadevi – but can Arslan turn this
into his advantage? And what about all the other obstacles in
his way – double crossers, huge armies, spies, and duels in the
desert await before he can reach his final goal!
if you want to win one of five Blu-ray copies of this special
edition of The Heroic Legend of Arslan Series One Part Two,
simply answer the following question correctly to be placed
into our prize draw!

Which of these is not a character in

the heroic Legend of arsLan?
a) arsLan
B) rajah
c) rajendra
you can enter by emailing your answer along with your
name and address to neomagcomp@gmail.com, with the
subject header NeO 161 Heroic legend of Arslan 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: 13 April

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 NEO MAGAZINE APRIL 2017

066_NEO161[Compo]CTGC.indd 1 03/03/2017 16:27

ads.indd 1 03/03/2017 15:58
 COSPLAY STAR
Luna:
Sailor Moon
Queen AkAssyA

Make-up by
Melissa Ann

Photography
by Thomas H P
Jerusalem, MuTe
/ A-MOMenT-
In-TIMe.COM
Photography –
Bat Cave studios,
st Charles IL, usA

uRLs
• facebook: https://
www.facebook.com/
mutephotos
• IG @mute_
photography

068 NEO MAGAZINE APRIL 2017

068-9_NEO161[COSPLAY]CTGC.indd 1 01/03/2017 10:16

 www.ne omag .c o.uk 069

068-9_NEO161[COSPLAY]CTGC.indd 2 01/03/2017 10:17

 COSPLAY STAR
Rin Hoshizora
Cosplayer: Abi Pop
(facebook.com/Abipopcosplay)
Anime: Love Live
Photographer:
Typestatic (twitter.com/
typestatic)
CGI background:
JohanesBP (facebook.
com/Johanesbpworks)

0 70 NEO MAGAZINE APRIL 2017

070_NEO161[COSPLAY]CTGC.indd 1 01/03/2017 10:18

Untitled-103 1 02/03/2017 14:20
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ads.indd 1 03/03/2017 16:51

[ANIme ReVIeW]
PARt 1
Heavy Object
Marmite mecha
2 0 M A R C H // F uniM At i o n // 1 5 // A C t i o n / S F/ Me C H A / FA nS e R v i C e
// £ 3 4 . 9 9 ( B l u - R Ay ) // 2 7 5 MinS // 1 2 e P iS o D e S
PLOT The near future; Earth’s wars are now dominated
by giant fighting machines called “Objects.” Two boys,
Qwenthur and Havia, miraculously defeat an Object
and are hailed as heroes – then find themselves sent on
suicidal missions to all corners of the world!
H
eavy Object rings several changes on the usual mecha
show. One of the most obvious is that the fighting
machines aren’t giant Gundam humanoids, but come
in a variety of very different shapes. There are giant
metal spheres, a machine that’s basically a huge
gunship, and – best of the bunch – a glowering metal crab in
the first arc, reminiscent of the Martian machines in War of
Director the Worlds.
Heavy Object’s Another change from standard mecha fare is the main
director is Takashi characters aren’t the mecha pilots, but rather the little people
Watanabe, who who support the mecha on their side while trying to bring the
has a huge number
enemy machines down. Some of the action feels inspired by
of credits spanning
the iconic snow battle in Empire Strikes Back where soldiers
decades. He
on the ground fought giant dog-like “Walkers”. Equally, to
directed Slayers
and Shakugan no extend the similarity, the ‘side character’ motif is reminiscent of
Shana – and racier Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
fare like the first Like Empire, Heavy Object makes good use of its terrain.
Ikki Tousen. There are episodes in snow and ice; on the sea; in tropical
forests; and in mountains. The sea episodes are hampered
0 74 N E O M A G A Z I N E A P R I L 2 0 1 7
074_NEO161[HeavyObject]CTGC.indd 1
W o R D S B y A nD R e W o S M o nD
by weird-looking water, but then the mountain episodes
are coolly suspenseful, with unseen giants rumbling round
the slopes. So far the series is Earthbound – maybe the space
wars are being kept in store for volume two.
The oddest thing about Heavy Object is its tone – you’re
never sure what it’ll be next. The main characters are two
boys operating as a team to beat the enemy “Objects” (as
the mecha are called). Perhaps three-quarters of the show
is an adventure-drama… and the other quarter is fanservice
goofing. In theory, the main love interest is a cute Object-
piloting girl, but the show is really obsessed with the boys’
fearsome female CO, who believes in painful punishment and
in using all her assets.
The action periodically stops for leering straight out of
an American Pie film, with our heroes reduced to gibbering
wrecks by big boobies. Even by anime standards, this results
in very weird tonal lurches: fanservice hijinks, then soldiers
massacring civilians. Often the comedy and adventure are
kept apart, though there are some very funny bits where they
collide, including a random moment with penguins which
deserves to have an award bestowed on it by Evangelion’s
Pen-Pen.
The comedy is often tedious and sexist, though there are
some genuine (guilty) laughs. Of the females, the cute-girl
pilot is a naked cipher so far, sometimes literally, even as the
older woman gets fleshed out in a surprising way. It’s the
varied landscapes, situations and strategies that keep Heavy
Object lively; it feels inescapably trashy, but it’s smart trash.
It’s sexist, trashy, infuriating… but still fun.
03/03/2017 14:34
ads.indd 1 03/03/2017 16:01
 W O R D S B Y M AT T K A ME N

[GAME REVIEW]

1-2-SWITCH
highlighting the uniqueness and innovation of the brand
new hardware.
The games included are extraordinarily strange, ranging
from striking yoga poses to playing air ping-pong or eating

Get the party started sandwiches at super-speed. Technologically, they’re all rather
impressive, presenting uses for the highly adaptive controllers
that you’d never expect.
O U T N O W // P E GI 7 // PA R T Y G A ME // £ 3 9 . 9 9 (S W I T C H ) You won’t get to see much of that trademark Nintendo
// NIN T E ND O ingenuity and oddness unless you get a bunch of friends
together though. This is an entirely multiplayer offering,
ROMANCE? PLOT Get your friends together and prepare to feel very where you’re not even supposed to look at the TV except to
Gorilla may be uncomfortable as you pretend to milk a cow while staring watch the painfully cheery tutorials.
1-2-Switch’s
deeply into each other’s eyes. This is how Nintendo parties. Yet with a big enough group, 1-2-Switch really comes to
strangest game
life – Team Battle creates a randomised board game out of the
– you’ll beat your
chest in a rhythm
1-2-Switch is Nintendo’s showcase title for the Switch – which game’s rapid-fire insanity, while Shuffle mode keeps you on
to woo a female makes it a real shame it isn’t packed in with the console like your toes. Give this a chance and it’s genuinely a lot of fun, but
gorilla. You know Nintendo Land was for the Wii U back in 2012. the lack of solo play means it won’t get much use unless you
she’s a girl cos she Packed with 28 minigames, each making superb use have company.
wears a pink bow.... of the Joy-Con controllers or the whole Switch as a tablet, Great – if odd – with friends, useless on your own.
nothing else in the launch window does as good a job of
W O R D S B Y M AT T K A ME N

[GAME REVIEW]

THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: BREATH OF THE WILD

arsenal of more formidable (but, distressingly, breakable)
O U T N O W // P E GI 1 2 // O P E N W O R L D R P G // £ 5 9 . 9 9 (S W I T C H ) , weapons, but uncover the history of this world and the rise of
£ 5 9 . 9 9 ( W II U ) // NIN T E ND O Ganon. Despite the freedom to tackle the great evil however
you like, there’s a deep story to uncover, peppered with awe-
AROOO! PLOT Link awakens from a century in stasis to find Hyrule inspiring set-piece battles against colossal foes.
Tapping the Wolf in peril. But having failed to destroy the evil of Calamity Elsewhere, you’ll be able to cook, or hunt, or chase down
Link amiibo from Ganon a hundred years earlier, can he hope to overcome his Shrines, each with a puzzle or combat challenge to complete.
Twilight Princess greatest enemy now, when darkness has already won? Even getting into fights with random monsters is a joy, with
summons the
superb, fluid combat. Whatever path you choose, no two
lupine hero to assist
Breath of the Wild was a risk. Switching to an open world with players will have the same journey.
you in BotW! Other
Zelda series figures no set directives to follow, Nintendo could have alienated the That Nintendo is debuting BotW on Switch (while
will cause useful series’ fans. Instead, it’s resulted in the best entry yet. honouring its original plans with a Wii U release) is fitting –
gear to fall from It’s challenging though. Link emerges from his sleep this Zelda is as revolutionary as the new console it arrives on.
the sky. amnesiac, near-naked, and deprived of tools, forced to Breath of the Wild may be the perfect Zelda game.
scavenge supplies. As you explore, you not only build an

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 W o r d S B y d o mini C C u t HBe r t

[anime ReVieW]

Kinmoza! Complete SeaSon 1

Two pom blondes by men imagining what teen girls get up to, rather than reality.
So while the girls try to cool down, get decent grades or attend
the summer festival, they’re also shooting the breeze about hair
2 0 m a r C H // m a n g a e n t e r ta inme n t // 1 2 // S l i C e o f l if e / C o me d y
dye, clothing, and nothing at all.
ReaL Life // £ 3 9 . 9 9 ( B l u - r ay/ d V d C o mB o) // 3 0 0 minS // 1 2 e p i S o d e S
After simulcasting in summer 2013, the series found a
The pastoral second life in YouTube supercuts. The biggest laughs don’t
PLOT Excitable scatterbrain Shinobu goes to stay with an
England seen in come from cultural clashes, exactly, but rather semantic
anime is more English family in the Cotswolds, becoming fast friends with
misunderstandings. Sometimes Alice or Karen will deliberately
pleasant than their nervous bottle blonde / baby blue daughter, Alice.
flub their Japanese, other times they’ll slip up adorably. The
the oft-industrial Five years later, Alice transfers to Shino’s high school, with
most satisfying gag sees Alice make lunch, laying out the Union
landscape most of her childhood best friend Karen not far behind.
Jack in nori; the flag, though, bears an uncanny resemblance to
us are familiar with,
the kanji for rice, leaving Shino, tomboy-type Yoko and twin-
but Kinmoza! is
partially set at the So many of slice-of-life shows fall into the same set-ups, and tailed tsundere Aya befuddled.
real-world Wiltshire while there’s plenty familiar here, Kinmoza! is a break with If there’s any through line amid the vignettes, it’s cultural
B&B Fosse tradition. It might be that the original four-panel manga was by identity, delivered with a compelling mix of moe and gags.
Farmhouse. a woman – Yui Hara, to be precise – while others are dreamt up
W o r d S B y d aV id W e S t

[FiLm ReVieW]

Lone WoLf and Cub Criterion ColleCtion

against him. Tomisaburo Wakayama was no Jackie Chan, he’s
eXTRaS 2 7 m a r C H // S o n y / C r i t e r i o n // 1 8 // m a r t i a l a r t S // £ 8 7. 9 9
( B l u - r ay ) // 6 2 8 minS
not agile or athletic, but he’s quick on the draw and brings a
Lots of interesting menacing gravitas to his performance.
extras, including Unfortunately, the later entries become increasingly
interviews with PLOT Itto Ogami (Tomisaburo Wakayama) is framed for ridiculous. By the third film, Daigoro’s baby-cart contains
Lone Wolf creator treason by the power-hungry Lord Retsudo of the Yagyu clan. machine guns, while in White Heaven In Hell, Ogami fits the
Kazuo Koike With his infant son Daigoro (Akihiro Tomikawa) in a baby-cart, cart with skis and sleds down a mountain chased by hordes
and filmmaker Ogami travels Japan earning a living as an assassin-for-hire. of skiing ninjas. The treatment of women in Lone Wolf isn’t as
Buichi Saito, a
deplorable as the series Hanzo The Razor, but it’s close.
1937 silent film
This new Criterion Collection edition of the blood-drenched The notoriously gruesome fights have lost none of their
about Japanese
sword-making, saga of Itto Ogami looks tremendous and contains all six impact. Lone Wolf And Cub lacks the wit of Akira Kurosawa
and a French original films, plus the American release Shogun Assassin and the scathing anger of Okamoto Kihachi and Hideo
documentary edited from the first two movies. At its best, the Lone Wolf Gosha’s chanbara films, but for uncomplicated, brutal action,
about the series. And Cub series is a lean action machine as Ogami dispatches it’s a killer.
every samurai, swordswoman and ninja that the Yagyu send

www.ne omag .c o.uk 077

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 W o r d s B y d o mini C C U t HBe r t

[ANIme ReVIeW]

Busou shinki Armored WAr Goddess ColleCtion

A 290 min ad for action figures
3 A P r il // m V m // C e r t t B C // A C t i o n , s C i - f i , s l i C e o f l if e //
£ 2 9 . 9 9 ( d V d) £ 3 4 . 9 9 ( B l U - r Ay ) // 2 9 0 mins // 1 2 e P i s o d e s
PLOT After moving back to Japan to start high school,
extra Masato goes about a normal life with his harem of
against one another using digital immersive environments – think
field cards in Yu-Gi-Oh!.
Though each fall into archetypes, the user can customise each
girl any way they see fit, with armour and weapon accessories to
give the girls of Strike Witches a run for their money. The sprite-
sized waifs are, by their very nature, objects – a plot point not
helped by their basic personality profiles. Siri seems positively
conversational by comparison.

Viewing pint sized robo-girls. Though he breaks with tradition and

doesn’t force them to fight, combat always comes
For fans of Kill la Kill, the scratchy character models will look
familiar, though this series is remiss of the satire that made that
For an exploration
a-knocking! such a delight. Based on the Konami Digital Entertainment action
of artificial
intelligence,
figures, Busou Shinki is more slice of life, with its central cast
robotics and the At 15 centimetres tall, Shinki are the bleeding edge of robotics. cooking, cleaning and spending time in hot springs.
human condition, To this writer, it seems cruel to imbue them with sentience and Busou Shinki seems like a cute series. But dig a little deeper, and
look no further than emotional capacity only to make them subservient to a single the problematic gender issues show their true colours.
Time of Eve. master. Though Masato is a pacifist, most masters pit their Shinki
W o r d s B y J A C o B B o nifA C e

[ANIme ReVIeW]

one Piece UnCUt ColleCtion 16

action and goofy humour, and you can rest assured that
2 7 m A r C H // m A n G A // 1 2 // A C t i o n , C o me d y // £ 3 4 . 9 9 // 5 2 0 mins this collection has as much of both as anything that’s come
// 2 3 e P i s o d e s
crew before it.
The final episodes of the storyline that began in the
comPlete PLOT When last we sailed with the Straw Hat Pirates, they previous season are equal parts climactic and comedic, while
This season sees were in a bad way – besieged by foes on all sides with the new arc that begins definitely promises more of the same.
the Straw Hats certain death looming just a few hours away! Has the Straw The two arcs are split by a triplet of filler episodes that feel a
finally assembling Hats’ luck run out? little out of place, and as with some previous episodes, the
their entire crew!
animation is sometimes marred by time-saving repeated
It’s been over 300
It’s pretty likely that regular viewers will definitely want frames, but this is still a worthy addition to this shonen giant.
episodes in the
making, but it’s to find out how the Thriller Bark arc ends, as well as what If you’ve watched everything up to this point, then you’ll
exciting to see what new adventures the future holds in store for the most badass definitely want to see this next collection of One Piece. It
will happen now the buccaneers on the ocean! Most One Piece fans will probably might not blow you out of the water, but the staples of the
team’s complete. agree that what keeps them coming back, even after nearly series are all still there in abundance.
four hundred episodes, is the series’ mix of explosive

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 W O R D S B Y A nD R e W O S m O nD

NEO
RELEASE 1

ROUND-UP
1. Durarara!!x2 The Second Arc:
Ten 2. even headless chicks
need love. 3. Little Busters is
now due in April. 4. Check out
the centre of the mag for a
poster from Selector Infected
The sTaTe of The UK marKeT WIXOSS!

This monTh

T
2
hey’re back – a slew of continuations of big anime
titles. It’s back to school with Assassination
Classroom Season 2 Part 1, due 24 April as a
DVD and a Collector’s Edition Blu-ray from
Funimation. The same day sees a return to the
mayhem of Ikebukuro with the heftily named Durarara!!x2
The Second Arc: Ten, as a DVD and Collector’s Edition Blu-ray
from Anime Limited.
If you’re a rom-com person, Managa Entertainment is
bringing out the next helping of Nisekoi: False Love, with
Season 2 Part 1 on April 17 on DVD and Blu-ray. For fans of
tortured love stories with more soulful piano than La La
3
Land, the second half of Your Lie in April will be a DVD and
Collector’s Edition Blu-ray from Anime Limited – 24 Aprilis
the date.
Gatchaman Crowds Insight, the sequel to Gatchaman
Crowds, is due April 10 from Animatsu as a combi pack.
Noragami Aragato, the sequel to god comedy Noragami,
comes out April 24, as a DVD and Collector’s Edition Blu-ray
from Funimation.
After shorter waits, the second half of Snow White with
the Red Hair debuts as a Funimation Blu-ray on 24 April – we
review the first half this issue. After the many delays to Zeta
Gundam Part 1, the concluding half should appear 27 March
4
on Blu-ray from Anime Limited.
As for Persona 3, the second film (Midsummer Knight’s
Dream) should be available as you read this, with the third Barakamon, a higher-minded comedy about a neurotic
film, Falling Down, due 10 April. All the Persona 3 films are artist, will be a Funimation combo pack on 24 April.
being released by Anime Limited as DVDs and dual format There may be April releases of Anthem of the Heart
Collector’s Editions. (a film), and the long-delayed Selector Infected WIXOSS,
What else? Belladonna of Sadness, an erotic-horror both from Anime Limited, plus Overlord from Funimation.
psychedelic film from the 1970s, comes to Blu-ray on 24 Release dates aren’t confirmed, though.
April from Anime Limited. Season 1 of high-school friends Finally, Anime Limited will bring out a DVD of
show Little Busters comes to DVD and Blu-ray from MVM Escaflowne on 27 March, a Blu-ray standard edition of
on 10 April. The smutty Shimoneta is due from Funimation Gankutsuou on 3 April, and its delayed Collector’s combo
on Blu-ray and DVD on 27 March, followed by fanservice edition of Evangelion 1.11 on 24 April. MVM puts out a Blu-ray
comedy Shomin Sample on 10 April on the same formats. standard edition of the original Berserk TV series on 17 April.

080 NEO MAGAZINE APRIL 2017

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Untitled-103 1 02/03/2017 14:26
 W o r d S B Y d av id W e S t
1

[film REViEW]

The Age Of ShAdOwS

What price honour and homeland?
24 M a r c h // S o d a P i c t ur e S // c e r t 1 5 // t hr il l e r // t he at r i c a l
// 1 4 1 MiNS
PLOT During the Japanese occupation of Korea, police
captain Lee Jung-chool (Song Kang-ho) has thrown his lot
in with the invaders and is charged with hunting down the
resistance members causing trouble for the Japanese. But
resistance fighter Kim Woo-jin (Gong Yoo) believes Lee can
be convinced to aid their cause.
directives handed down by Police Bureau Chief Higashi
(Shingo Tsurumi), and if he wants to avoid his boss’s ire – and
the very real possibility of prison or execution – he needs to be
seen to be doing his job. The further the plot unfolds, the more
Lee becomes compromised, pushed to greater acts of cruelty
against resistance members to maintain his good standing
with Higashi, while torn by an innate desire to help the
independence movement.
Song Kang-ho is tremendous in the role. It’s a far cry
from the likeable goofs he has played in The Good, The Bad,
The Weird and Bong Joon-ho’s The Host, and he delivers a

K
superb performance that captures Lee’s conflicted loyalties
im Jee-woon’s return to filmmaking in Korea after 2013’s and a moral conscience strained to breaking point. Lee’s
forgettable The Last Stand with Arnold Schwarzenegger situation only deteriorates when he is forced to work
and Johnny Knoxville is cause for celebration. Reunited alongside Hashimoto (Um Tae-goo), a fanatically dedicated
Key TalenT with Song Kang-ho from 2008’s demented Western and maliciously cruel Japanese officer who questions the
Cinematographer adventure The Good, The Bad, The Weird, Kim is not only loyalty of his Korean comrade. Um Tae-goo oozes menace as
Kim Ji-yong back on top form, he’s outdone himself with this meticulously Hashimoto, whose perfectly groomed hair and clothes suggest
previously worked crafted, emotionally powerful thriller. a man positively obsessive about even the smallest details. The
with Kim Jee-woon The opening sequence establishes both the cracking pace and portrayal of the Japanese characters isn’t quite as broad as can
on A Bittersweet
the dilemma facing Lee Jung-chool with a bravura chase scene be found in some Hong Kong cinema of the 1970s, but there’s
Life, The Last Stand
that sees Lee running through darkened streets in pursuit of certainly no room for any sympathy or even likeability for
and the Doomsday
Book anthology.
resistance member Kim Jang-ok (Park Hee-son), while a legion of Hashimoto or Higashi. Shingo Tsurumi has the more nuanced
And he shot Yim armed police pour over the rooftops in a flood of bodies. role of the two, where Um teeters precariously on the edge of
Pil-sung’s creepy Lee’s natural inclination is to be sympathetic to the caricature with Hashimoto’s wide-eyed, barely suppressed
chiller Hansel resistance; they are his countrymen and women taking a psychopathology.
And Gretel. stand against the invaders, and he’d much rather capture The only female character of note is resistance member Yeon
them alive if at all possible. But his mission is to follow the Gye-soon, but Han Ji-min brings glamour and considerable

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082-3_NEO161[DPSreview]CTGC.indd 1 02/03/2017 14:43

 2 3
pathos to her portrayal. Kim Jee-woon’s regular leading man
Lee Byung-hun has an important supporting role as resistance
leader Jeong Che-san, but the third key player alongside
Song Kang-ho and Um Tae-goo is Gong Yoo as Kim Woo-jin,
whose photography studio and antique shop are a cover for the
resistance. Gong Yoo has a quiet charm as Kim and it’s easy to
believe that his laidback bonhomie could gently push Lee to
question where his loyalties should lie – to his employers or to his
“it’S a MaSterclaSS iN SuSPeNSe aS
lee trieS to Protect the reSiStaNce
Without tiPPiNg hiS haNd to the
alWaYS SuSPiciouS haShiMoto…”
nation. The resistance sells rare antiques to raise funds for their
campaigns and the question of whether the antiquities are real or
counterfeit neatly establishes the theme of people not being what
they appear.
The second major set piece takes place on a train from
Shanghai to Seoul as Kim Woo-jin and the rest of his group
attempt to smuggle a shipment of explosives into Korea. It’s a
masterclass in suspense as Lee tries to protect the resistance
without tipping his hand to the always suspicious Hashimoto.
Kim Ji-yong’s cinematography is beautiful, rich in shadows
082-3_NEO161[DPSreview]CTGC.indd 2
and texture and bringing 1920s Seoul and Shanghai to vivid 1. Nothing says ‘Working
life, aided by the stylish and evocative production design. The for the fascists’ like a
budget seems to be up on the screen – it can’t have hurt that this black leather coat. 2. don’t
is Warner Brothers’ first Korean-language production. Where mind me, just shopping for
Kim Jee-woon’s last Korean outing, I Saw The Devil, was a grand
explosives, nothing to see
here. 3. “did you spill my
guignol of gory violence and seemingly incessant suffering, the
pint, mate?” demanded lee
bloodshed in The Age Of Shadows is used more sparingly and Jung-chool angrily. 4. When
produces a much greater impact by virtue of that restraint. you’re being taken to the
That’s not to suggest the director has lost any of his talent drive through but you’re on
for crafting the gruesome – the torture scenes in particular
are excruciating in their intensity while the action sequences,
a diet...
choreographed by Jung Doo-hong and his stunt team, are
explosive, with a balance between visual impact and a hard-
hitting sense of realism that leaves little room for grand gestures
when there’s a character caught in a hail of gunfire.
But this is first and foremost a character-driven thriller;
it’s far less action-packed than The Good, The Bad, The Weird
or I Saw The Devil. Kim’s use of music deserves praise, as he
counterpoints a violent series of deaths with Louis Armstrong Trivia
singing When You’re Smiling, while Ravel’s militaristic and The first South
rousing Bolero is employed to great effect to build tension into Korean production
from Warner
the climactic denouement.
Brothers, The Age
Kim Jee-woon has a handful of classics under his belt,
Of Shadows topped
particularly A Bittersweet Life and The Good, The Bad, The Weird,
the local box office
but The Age Of Shadows threatens to eclipse them all. From for three straight
the gorgeous visuals to the compelling plot and Song Kang-ho’s weeks, taking over
masterful performance, Kim crafts a perfect thriller. US $51 million last
September.
www.ne omag .c o.uk 08 3
02/03/2017 14:43

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April ’17 • Issue 161
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ISSN 1744-9596
03/03/2017 14:23
ads.indd 1 03/03/2017 16:02
 MANGA EXTRACT

START AGAIN
This issue we have an extract from START AGAIN by comic
By Jamie Me

book author Jamie Me. This is a mature take on the superhero

genre – so mature, in fact, that we’ve had to censor some of the
naughty words (sorry, everyone)!
“START AGAIN is a superhero boy meets girl story set in
the British city of Leeds, and its surrounding areas,” Me told
us. “You follow Ajay (AKA superhero Jump) and Natalie as they
have a chance encounter in a nightclub toilet. Like you do.
They hit it off big time, but the man charged with protecting
Britain is haunted by the past, and their liaison quickly turns
into a worldwide scandal. This story is about love, fame and the
pressure that comes with it. it has awesome artwork by Toni
Doya, and colours by sean Callahan.”
we asked Me what inspired him to write a story about
real life superheroes. “i love telling British stories, and what is
more iconic than the ‘superhero’ in the comic industry? Not
much, if anything. i wanted to take that juggernaut of a theme
and put it in my local area. west Yorkshire is this crazy place
that is full of character, and it became addictive. The dialogue
is so much fun to write. Ajay especially shares some of my
own regional quirks. i’m now, due to writing it, super aware of
some of my speech habits.”
we loved the addition of social media in the story, so we
asked Me about its inclusion. “You can’t escape social media.
it is this monster that you are forced to acknowledge whether
you like it or not. For a superhero they’d be plastered on it day
and night. what i wanted to do was show the harsh reality of
success. The moment you fall, people will be there to mock
you for it. That isn’t to say that everyone is like that, but troll
and shame culture are strong on the internet. The situation
that Ajay is placed in is one that most people are petrified of. i
know i am.”
Me also created British political thriller Queen, which we
ran in NeO last year and features artwork by Bernard Gita and
colours by sean Callahan. “it will be returning to Kickstarter
in May 2017,” he adds. “if you are fed up of politics then this is
the perfect comic for you. Britain will change, but at what cost?
Come find out!
“i’m putting all my attention towards getting issue two of
Queen out. The Kickstarter will hit in May and you’ll be able to
pick up START AGAIN 1 in it too, so if you like the look of the
preview, follow @JamieMewrites on Twitter or Facebook, and
you’ll know the moment it hits. it would also be great to just
hear from NeO readers. i love anime and manga. i lose my mind
when Haikyu!! is on, and Code Geass is my favourite TV show
of all-time. Maybe you should suggest me new stuff to watch or
read? That would be incredible!”

086 N E O M A G A Z I N E A P R I L 2 0 1 7

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087-91_NEO161[serialisation]CTGC.indd 1 03/03/2017 14:18
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 sTarT again
conTinued
To be

087-91_NEO161[serialisation]CTGC.indd 5 03/03/2017 14:18

 UafE
asdf

issue 18 out now

News & Reviews n aeRial PhotogRaPhy n iNdustRy iNteRviews
PRo adviCe n the hottest teCh n buyeR’s guide n & moRe…

www.get-dRoNe.today
facebook.com/DRONEMagUK twitter.com/DRONEMagUK instagram.com/DRONEMagUK

DM18[SA4houseAd].indd 1 27/02/2017 10:27

 Ghost hunters
As Ghost In The Shell heads for the silver screen, Takeshi Kitano reveals why he doesn’t like speaking
English in movies, and why his friends don’t believe he’s working with Scarlett Johansson.

www.ne omag .c o.uk 093

093-5_NEO161[featurev2]CTGC.indd 1 13/03/2017 09:36

 GHoST HUNTeRS
S
Merry Christmas! he has the most advanced cybernetic body ever
Rising to fame in Japan constructed. She’s faster, stronger and tougher than any
as a comedian, Takeshi human being alive, and she’s also the deadliest operative
Kitano first showed his in Public Security Section 9, tasked with tackling terrorist
promise as an actor threats both in cyberspace and the real world. However,
in Nagisa Oshima’s the Major (Scarlett Johansson) has no idea who she used to be
prisoner-of-war drama before her cyborg rebirth. Strangely, the cyber terrorist played
Merry Christmas, Mr by Michael Pitt seems to know an awful lot about the Major’s
Lawrence, released forgotten past. Will she bring him to justice, or will he lead her
in 1983. David Bowie to the truth about her own identity?
plays Major Jack Director Rupert Sanders’ live action adaptation of Ghost
Celliers, a captured In The Shell is one of the most anticipated releases of 2017. Pitt’s
soldier locked in villain will have plenty of material to draw from from the
a psycho-sexual vast GITS universe, including the Laughing Man of the 2002
struggle with the cruel anime series Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex, which
Captain Yonoi (Ryuichi introduced the character to the universe created by mangaka
Sakamoto). Masamune Shirow way back in 1989.
In the TV show Stand Alone Complex, the Laughing Man is
an activist (or some might say, terrorist) who wants to expose
the fact that wealthy corporations were acting in cahoots with
the Japanese government to hide the existence of a cheap cure
for a disease which affected people with cybernetic implants.
A gifted hacker, the Laughing Man could access video cameras
and even cybernetic eyes in real time to conceal his identity,
hiding his face behind his signature logo, making himself
impossible to see. In the anime, the Laughing Man is a cunning
antagonist for the Major and Section 9; one whose actions
eventually lead to the Section being disbanded in a government
cover-up. But Pitt’s character will likely have a different role
094 NEO MAGAZINE APRIL 2017
093-5_NEO161[featurev2]CTGC.indd 2
to play (perhaps also based on the Puppet Master) – one tied
directly to the Major and her hidden origins.
Hail To THe CHief
Alongside Johansson and Pitt, the cast includes Japanese
comedian, TV personality and filmmaker Takeshi Kitano in the
role of Chief Aramaki, the head of Section 9. In the west, Kitano
enjoyed his greatest success as the blind swordsman Zatoichi,
but he has a long history of making arthouse gangster movies
and films exploring the challenges of creativity like Takeshis’
and Achilles And The Tortoise.
Ghost In The Shell is his first anime adaptation. “When this
animation was created, at that time I did see that it was a nice
project, compared to others, which I’d been kind of turned off
by,” says Takeshi. “It’s a pleasure to play Aramaki. Looking at
him in the animation, he’s sort of miserable. He doesn’t look
nice. So I consulted with the make-up artist and co-ordinator
and I think my make-up as Aramaki is a success.”
Takeshi’s last Hollywood venture was 1995’s Johnny
Mnemonic starring Keanu Reeves and it seems he’s not that
comfortable working in English-language productions.
“Basically, this animation was made in Japan, so we have
Section 9. But this is a Hollywood movie and they wanted me to
speak English,” he says.
“I said I didn’t really want to speak English – I said that
because I can’t speak English, actually. I was told I could speak
in Japanese. But then I also told them I can’t really memorise
lines and I need a prompter. And I also said that I can’t really
read… I made all these complaints! But I was very moved.
13/03/2017 09:36
 2
“WHeN i Told THe PeoPle aRoUNd me i WaS WoRkiNG WiTH SCaRleTT
JoHaNSSoN, Nobody believed me! THey THoUGHT i WaS boaSTiNG
aboUT SomeTHiNG THaT WaSN’T TRUe.” TakeSHi kiTaNo
Scarlett Johansson, who plays the lead, held up my cue-cards. I
wanted to get a picture of it but I just had to remember instead.”
Takeshi’s own films tend to have modest budgets, quite
the contrast to a high concept, special effects-driven visual
extravaganza like Ghost In The Shell, and he has his own
production company, Office Kitano, so he’s used to being in
control of everything. “I have been directing movies in Japan,
and in Japan, talking about staging and camera work and editing,
I actually do all of that on my own,” he says. “In Hollywood, you
have the directing or staging done by the director and camera
work by the DOP [Director of Photography]. There are usually
four or five cameras shooting, so just walking down a hallway
needs 30 takes. There’s also an editor who chooses cuts and
brings the final cut. I was amazed that the director shot that
much. Rupert told me it was for the editor to be able to choose. It’s
very different from what I’m used to.”
PRime Time
Takeshi has worked with western stars before – there was
Keanu Reeves in Johnny Mnemonic and David Bowie in Merry
Christmas, Mr Lawrence, but it seems he holds his Ghost In The
Shell co-star in the highest regard of all.
093-5_NEO161[featurev2]CTGC.indd 3
1. Scarlett Johansson’s
interpretation of The major
draws on her long career in
action and sci-fi flicks.
2. expect plenty of
revelations about the origin
of her character in this
incarnation!
“When I told the people around me I was working with
Scarlett Johansson, nobody believed me! They thought I was
boasting about something that wasn’t true,” he says.
“When they see the film, they’ll trust me that I did work
with her! As an actor, we often say people are in their prime,
but Scarlett has been working since she was a little girl, so she’s
always at her prime. Her stance towards films is: every shot that’s
taken is so fresh to her. She brings something new every time.
She’s a true professional in that respect. Every take is fresh. I
realised how careless and not serious I am. If you’re going to be a
lead actor in Hollywood, this is what it takes. Scarlett taught me
that. I’m honoured to be in the same shot with her.”
If you’re looking forward to seeing what Sanders and Logo Mania!
Johansson have done with the Major and Masamune Shirow’s Paul Nicholson
cyberpunk classic, you’re in good company. “I’ve had a little (aka TERRATAG),
glimpse of the film and it looks amazing,” says Takeshi. “I think the designer of
I could make a hundred movies with this movie’s budget, but the Laughing Man
that’s what Hollywood is about. I was very moved by the make- logo from Ghost
up, special effects, design of the figures. Because I think movies in the Shell: Stand
are an art form of a lot of things, and I was very amazed, and I’m Alone Complex, also
very pleased to be a part of this wonderful project.” designed NEO’s very
Ghost In The Shell is in cinemas 31 March from Paramount. own logo!
www.ne omag .c o.uk 095
13/03/2017 09:36
096-8_NEO161[GITS]CTGC.indd 1 13/03/2017 09:37
 Taking
The Fall
Andrew Osmond’s new book on Ghost in the Shell delves into the popularity of the original
movie, arguably one of the most influential sci-fi anime of all time.
An exclusive extract from Andrew Osmond’s upcoming book on Ghost in the Shell.
W
hat is this? A woman crouches on a tower, her eyes hidden by
shades, her face centre frame. It’s a stake-out, but she needs no
screen to surveil her prey, just wires plugged directly into the nape
of her neck. She removes her glasses, her wires, her clothes. Her
white body is a mannequin’s. She stands, looking out and down at
the high-rise sculptures of glass and concrete, the tiny cars unknowing.
She falls from the building, curving into a backward dive, her smile calm,
then eager. Inverted buildings flash by. The body snags in air as a cable snaps
taut. That’s the last we’ll see of her for the next minute or so, until the corrupt
diplomat in the building, who’s standing off against a SWAT-style security
team, protests that his country is a peace-loving democracy. The woman’s
mocking voice cuts in – “Oh, really?” A window explodes under her bullets.
JOIn THe CulT
“Ghost in the Shell is a stunning work of speculative fiction, the first truly adult
animation film to reach a level of literary and visual excellence. Its design,
the poetry of its visuals and the depth of its themes set it apart among science
fiction films. My compliments to Oshii-san – an important visionary work.”
A reproduction of James Cameron’s handwritten letter, praising the
film and its director Mamoru Oshii, was included in the Japanese laser disc
of Ghost in the Shell, released in summer 1996. The film had played in Japan’s
cinemas the previous november, but only for two weeks. Many buyers of
the laser disc would have been paid-up fans of animation and sci-fi. In other
words, they would have been followers of what Japan’s media deemed “cult”
interests, like the media in any country in 1996.
Forget geeks or nerds. The (broadly) equivalent Japanese word was
“otaku,” which fans used among themselves as a badge of honour, but had
toxic overtones in the mainstream. not long before, a religious cult had
created its own animation and preached to the country’s young, using
science-fiction ideas from comics and cartoons. In March 1995, members of
that cult – Aum Shinrikyo – released sarin gas on the Tokyo underground. It
was the first terror attack in post-war Japan.
Otaku were used to being on the margins. But the sight of Cameron’s
letter lauding GITS would have shown them the film was noticed in the wider
world. let’s not exaggerate. Certainly GITS got more foreign attention in the
1990s than most Japanese cinema, barring the horror film Ringu (which
shared GITS’s composer, Kenji Kawai). GITS was also a bestseller by the
standards of exported anime, Japanese animation – though in those days,
many people would have said “manga movies” or “Japanimation.” The film
was the first anime to top the Billboard video sales chart in America. By 2004,
it had sold over a million VHS and DVD units.
But it still seemed niche. Many mainstream reviewers found GITS
baffling, even boring, or derivative of films like Blade Runner. It was often
096-8_NEO161[GITS]CTGC.indd 2
shown in an english dub, which was badly received. But some reviewers
responded more positively to the film. For example, Barry Walters of the San
Francisco Gate found GITS “extraordinarily artful and highly adult,” closer
to european art cinema than post-Terminator actioners. If that was too high-
faluting, then the director of Terminator himself could advertise the film.
James Cameron’s letter was used heavily in marketing GITS, sometimes as a
cover blurb.
CO-prODuCTIOn
GITS wasn’t made just with Japanese money. Andy Frain of the British anime
distributor Manga entertainment had long sought to co-produce an anime
film. “I remember suggesting an animated Ghost in the Shell to Kodansha (the
publisher of the manga version),” Frain said.
“I loved Masamune Shirow’s comic and said in a meeting that it would be
great animated as a series of films. Maybe they were doing something (with
GITS) already, I don’t know. I put the co-producing idea on the table and
actively pursued it. It evolved slowly and naturally; it took several years for
GITS to be made.”
reportedly, Manga contributed roughly a third of the film’s £2.5 million
budget. Another of Manga’s staff, associate producer laurence Guinness,
described the film’s co-production to Cinefantastique magazine. “When the
script was written, I wrote a 25-page script appraisal which contained a lot of
suggestions and comments. This was discussed at length, over many days, with
the director. As a result of that, there were significant contributions on our part
to the overall story.”
The Cinefantastique interviewer, however, noted that Guinness seemed
reluctant to go into detail on these contributions. “Suffice to say, (the film)
changed in small but significant ways so that everybody was happy,” said
Guinness. “We placed a lot of trust and faith in our Japanese partners.
Obviously, since we’re based in london, there were physical limitations on
how much we could influence the actual production management of the
project. We had storyboard approval; we were involved in all the processes up
to production, but the actual physical production was managed by our partners
at production I.G.”
Oshii himself seemed dismissive of the film’s status as a co-production
when he spoke to the film magazine Empire. “I’m more interested in making
animation my way. You just have to hope that this will be acceptable to the
international audience.” The interviewer asked if Oshii made any changes to
the film on Manga’s request. “no.”
Marvin Gleicher, the American-based CeO of Manga entertainment,
said, “We did offer suggestions and made a few changes on the original script
and dialogue, but to that extent, once all the opinions of the partners were
presented, the director did what he was going to do.” >>>
www.ne omag .c o.uk 097
13/03/2017 09:37
 Sci-Fi DreamS
Reportedly, one of GITS’ fans at Hollywood was Steven
Spielberg. When the remake rights passed to DreamWorks
in 2008, Spielberg told Variety, “GITS is one of my favourite
stories, it’s a genre that has arrived.” It’s reasonable to be
sceptical of this, given Spielberg’s PR interest in talking
up the film. However, GITS was released soon before
Spielberg moved into future-world sci-fi, with A.I. Artificial
Intelligence (2001) and Minority Report (2002).

“I’m more Interested In makIng anImatIon my Way. you just have to hope that thIs WIll be
acceptable to the InternatIonal audIence.” mamoru oshII on collaboratIng WIth manga
The Legacy >>> Guinness stressed the value of keeping GITS an authentically But then a funny thing happened. The Matrix became a
One of GITS’ early Oshii film. “There’s a lot of respect due to the director for staying museum piece within a decade, while GITS kept its integrity. It
screenings was at the true to his vision. He could have made it more gratuitous, given was partly franchise management. The Matrix’s reputation was
london Film Festival the audience less time to think, and probably spoiled his vision lowered by its sequels, even as GITS was rebooted as a well-liked
in november 1995, in the interest of commerciality…He was allowed to work as he TV version, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex.
though only in a wanted to work, which is great – that was our intention.” By the time that series ended, anime was still niche, but
late-night slot in the not so closed off from the mainstream. Around the world, sci-
“Asian Showcase: HOllYWOOD CAllInG fi and fantasy were on the rise. A 2010 superhero blockbuster,
Spotlight Japan” Gleicher added, “We had requests for screenings from IlM, James Marvel’s Iron Man 2, brought a new heroine to Hollywood. Scarlett
section. The festival’s Cameron, Miramax and the Wachowskis. everybody wanted a Johansson’s Black Widow was actually closer to Kusanagi than
Opening night Gala print to look at. It created great word of mouth.”After Cameron’s Trinity had been. The character had a heavy backstory, but she was
that year was for endorsement, the Wachowskis would be GITS’s next champions. composed in her coolness. Black Widow worked with men, but
a sci-fi film with They went out of their way to acknowledge its part in their own didn’t depend on male relationships. Her big limitation was she
comparable themes, sci-fi sensation of 1999. Joel Silver, producer of The Matrix, said, wasn’t allowed to be the lead of a film.
Kathryn Bigelow’s “The Wachowskis showed me GITS. They showed me what they Back in 2003, a younger Scarlett Johansson had hunched
Strange Days, which wanted to do with that type of action and photography, and to try miserably at a hotel window, staring blankly at the grey vastness
was co-written by to make it with real people, with real actors.” of Tokyo in Lost in Translation. In GITS, there’s an oddly similar
James Cameron, In fact, GITS and Matrix aren’t that close. The Matrix’s anti- scene; Kusanagi wakes from a dream of her cyber-body’s
Bigelow’s former realist action was nearer another anime which the Wachowskis construction, then gazes out a window at an Asian city (not Tokyo).
husband. It’s rather acknowledged, Ninja Scroll. Apart from homages to individual Her expression is ambiguous. We’re not sure what she’s feeling,
less remembered shots, The Matrix’s biggest debt to GITS was its heroine. The and perhaps she isn’t sure either…
today than GITS. poster image of Trinity, a severe hacker and pro killer played by Andrew Osmond’s book on Ghost in the Shell will be published
Carrie Anne-Moss, clearly evoked Motoko Kusanagi, the high this summer by Arrow Books (www.arrowfilms.co.uk), rrp
diving assassin of GITS. £19.99. It will be available from all good bookshops and Amazon.

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ANIME • ASIAN FILM • MANGA • MUSIC • CosPlaY

www.neomag.co.uk Issue 161 £4.75

GHOST IN THE SHELL

a silent VoiCe
Director Naoko YamaDa oN
sCum’s Wish
is this the best aNime of the
ClassiC anime
a look back oN rumiko
her touchiNg New movie New seasoN’s shows? takahashi’s maisoN ikkoku

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