Uniqlo presents: We Love Anime

Written by A. H. on 14 Feb 2011

Last October brought us the joys of the inaugural Scotland Loves Anime festival, which included two weekends in Glasgow and Edinburgh respectively packed with fantastic movies and top-notch special guests in front of an adoring crowd.  There can be little doubt about the event's critical success, bringing packed houses for screenings which included a UK debut for Trigun: Badlands Rumble (as well as a visit from the film's director Satoshi Nishimura and producer Shigeru Kitayama) and the European premiere of The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, and it's that success which seemed to whet the appetite of anime fans in the UK for more similar events, particularly for those south of the Scottish border.

If you're one of those people who dreamed of seeing more anime-related screenings across the country, then today is your day with the official launch of the We Love Anime programme, which aims to bring some great animated movies to a number of events across the country in conjunction with its sponsor, clothing company Uniqlo.

So, what is We Love Anime all about and will it be coming to a location near you?  Allow us to exclusively reveal all for you as we discuss the events and confirmed films which make up this series of events thus far.

What's it all about?

Let's kick off by explaining the goals of We Love Anime - it won't take long as it's a simple enough premise.  In short, We Love Anime is a combined effort from Manga Entertainment, Kazé's expanding UK presence and Optimum Releasing (the home of Studio Ghibli's works in the UK) to showcase anime movies which will be coming to the UK on DVD and/or Blu-Ray over the course of 2011 and 2012.

"What movies do you speak of?" I hear you cry.  Well, we'll be getting to that in just a moment.

Where and when is it?

Now, without further ado onto the most important information of all - when and where you'll be able to leap upon the proverbial We Love Anime bandwagon as it hits various events and locations across the UK during the course of the year.

We Love Anime will be splitting itself across seven venues from late March to early July, from Edinburgh through to London and Dublin to Newcastle.  Here's the full breakdown of when are where the festival will be in action.

Edinburgh
The Edinburgh Filmhouse will host We Love Anime's opening dates for a weekend at the end of March, taking up Saturday the 26th and Sunday the 27th of the month.

Birmingham
At the same time as those Edinburgh dates, Saturday March 26th will also see We Love Anime hit Birmingham's Electric Cinema as part of the Flatpack Film Festival.

Leeds
Moving on one weekend to Saturday April 2nd and we find that the Leeds Young People's Film Festival will be taking We Love Anime under its wing for a day, as the event makes it presence felt at the Hyde Park Cinema in the city.

Dublin
Mid-may sees the festivities jump across the water to Dublin's Cineworld, taking a berth within the Cinemagic event which runs for three days between Friday the 13th and Sunday the 15th of May.

Dumfries
At an as-yet unconfirmed date in June, the Robert Burns Centre Film Theatre in Dumfries will play host to the We Love Anime road show.

Newcastle
Speaking of unconfirmed dates, Newcastle's Tyneside Cinema is also on the event's roster - more news on when this particular date will fall as we get it.

London
The Barbican Theatre, the home of plenty of anime screenings in the past, will close out We Love Anime in July, with the festival coming to a close on Monday July 4th.

Now you know when to look out for We Love Anime in your area, we'd suggest going and booking some time off work right now for the dates of your choice to ensure you don't miss out!  Once you've done that, click over the page for a quick run-down of some of the offerings you'll be able to see during these events.