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LA EigaFest to Show Live-Action Kenshin, Princess Jellyfish Films
posted on by Crystalyn Hodgkins
The Facebook page for the LA EigaFest event announced the event's full film lineup on Friday. The festival will screen the live-action Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends, Maestro, and Princess Jellyfish films, as well as The Case of Hana & Alice anime film. The festival will be held from September 25-27.
The event will open with the North American premiere of the live-action Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends film. LA EigaFest will screen the film on September 25.
Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends is the third film in Keishi Ōtomo's live-action film trilogy based on Nobuhiro Watsuki's samurai manga. The film premiered in Japan in September 2014. Warner Brothers UK describes the film as follows:
In the final chapter, Shishio (Tatsuya Fujiwara) has set sail in his ironclad ship to bring down the Meiji government and return Japan to chaos, carrying Kaoru (Emi Takei) with him. After jumping overboard into the sea, Kenshin (Takeru Satō) is saved by his former mentor, Hiko Seijuro (Masaharu Fukuyama) and in order to stop Shishio in time, Kenshin enlists the help of his old master to train for the ultimate battle between hero and villain in an epic blood-drenched showdown.
On September 26, the festival will screen the U.S. premiere of the live-action film adaptation of Akira Saso's Maestro manga, as well as the Southern California premiere of The Case of Hana & Alice anime film.
The story of Maestro begins when a group of musicians looking for new work gather at a practice room. There, they find the mysterious conductor Tendō (Toshiyuki Nishida). Although these prospective members are put off at first by this man's unknown origins and background, his unorthodox leadership guides them past their individual emotional issues and setbacks and gradually restores their confidence. The film opened in Japan in January.
The Case of Hana & Alice is Shunji Iwai's animated prequel to his 2004 coming-of-age film Hana & Alice. The film tells the story of how the two female high school leads in the first Hana & Alice live-action film met. 51-year-old film director Iwai (All About Lily Chou-Chou, Swallowtail Butterfly) conceived, wrote, and directed the original 2004 live-action film.
The original film depicted the first love and friendship of two high school girls, and it was the breakthrough performance for both actresses. The two lead actresses of Hana & Alice, Yū Aoi (live-action Rurouni Kenshin films, Tekkonkinkreet, Redline) and Anne Suzuki (Steamboy, Pokémon 4Ever, live-action Initial D), reprised their roles of Alice and Hana respectively as voice actresses in the new anime film. The film opened in Japan in February.
On September 27, the festival will screen the North American premiere of the live-action film adaptation of Akiko Higashimura's Princess Jellyfish manga. Funimation, who released the earlier TV anime adaptation, describes the story:
Plain, timid and obsessed with jellyfish, Tsukimi is a far cry from her idea of a princess. Her tepid life as a jobless illustrator comes complete with roommates who harbor diehard hobbies that solidify their status as hopeless social rejects. These wallflowers run a tight, nun-like ship, but their no-men-allowed-not-no-one-not-no-how bubble is unwittingly burst after Tsukimi brings home a rescued sea jelly and a beauty queen... who's actually a guy. When the threat of losing their cozy convent inspires this glamour boy to turn the neurotic entourage into a portrait of success, will Tsukimi take her chance to bloom, or will she end up a hot mess?
The film premiered in Japan on December 27.
LA EigaFest is celebrating its fifth anniversary and is being held this year at the LA Live Regal Cinemas.
