Alex has been writing for UK Anime Network since 2014, and has been raised on a nutritional diet of anime, giant robots and spandex-wearing superheroes.
Wales' very own Kotatsu Japanese Animation Festival will return to Cardiff's Chapter Arts Centre between Friday 29th September 2017 and Sunday 1st October 2017, with an additional date at the Aberystwyth Arts Centre following on Saturday 28th October 2017.
Now in it's seventh year, the festival was launched by Eiko Ishii Meredith and aims to bring the best in Japanese animation and culture to a wider audience. In the past screenings have included the likes of Psycho Pass: The Movie, A Letter to Momo, Evangelion 3.0, Arietty and more. The full programme for 2017 has been released, including screenings, workshops, and more. The schedule is as follows:
Friday 29th September
Saturday 30th September
Sunday 1st October
Both days will also host a marketplace filled with everything from manga and DVDs to toys, food and so on. Additionally the Kotatsu Festival Stand will offer a range of second-hand goods with the money raised there going towards funding future events. While at the Kotatsu Display (Saturday only) attendees will have the opportunity to try out a genuine kotatsu table. There will also be stalls from Cardiff-based store Super Tomato, kawaii merchants Keep It Secret (Saturday only), handmade items seller The WeaponShop and geek tattoo specialists Iconic Toos.
The programme for the Aberystwyth leg of the festival is as follows:
Saturday 27th October
Tickets are now available for each individual screening via the Chapter and Aberystwyth Arts Centre websites, as well as places for the manga and calligraphy workshops via the Kotatsu website.
