Screening on Saturday 13^th February 2021

JAFWA returns in February, though we will have a non-optional mask wearing policy due to the recent COVID scare.
Relevant post lockdown procedures will be implemented as per government specifications.
The good news is that you can see the new Studio Ghibli movie Earwig and the Witch at the cinemas this week. The version I saw was dubbed, but excellently so..

We do have a preview episode this week, and unfortunately we have had to bump “Vinland Saga” to next week in order to fit the preview episode in.

As a matter of interest, Madman has sales on until the end of the month.

We continue taking precautions to limit the possible second wave of CoVid-19, and we ask that you co-operate and even help where possible with our efforts to keep you safe – some social distancing, extra cleaning with antiseptic, library under limited access, etc. Also, we must ask that anyone unfortunate enough to be infected to not attend JAFWA until they are contagion free.
Help would be welcome during set-up and pack-up due to the extra duties imposed by COVID-19. Please arrive early to confirm personal details due to COVID 19 regulations. There will be Contract Tracing, either by the SafeWA app on your keitai (mobile phones), or by signing in at the contact tracing sheet at the front desk. And we need to wipe the chairs down with disinfectant before they are stacked away.

Below is the tentative program for the evening of Saturday February 13^th, 2021.

All items in the original Japanese language with English subtitles. With assistance from a grant from and

5:15pm	Fruits Basket	Ep 22/25
5:40pm	Arte	Ep 5/12
6:05pm	Appare Ranman!	Ep 5/13
6:30pm	dinner break
7:15pm	door prize drawing, and announcements
7:30pm	Dr Stone: Stone Wars	Ep 3/?
7:55pm	Revolutionary Girl Utena	Ep 5/39	(retro)
8:20pm	Ascendance of a Bookworm	Ep 5/26
8:45pm	Promised Neverland Season 2	Ep 3/?	(v)
9:10pm	Late Break
9:20pm	Akudama Drive	Ep 1	(preview)
9:45pm	In/Spectre	Ep 4/12	(v)
10:10pm	Mahjong Legend Akagi	Ep 21/26	(v)

Doors Open before Screening:~5:00 PM

Program Finishes:~10:45 PM

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Dates of Interest

Barring a resurgence of COVID-19 pestilence, these events are scheduled to happen:

• From Thursday February 4^th 2021 — In cinemas Earwig and the Witcht. first CGI Studio Ghibli film
  To enter to win a double pass, send an email to japanesefilmfestival@jpf.org.au> with your name, address and why you want to see the film. More news from the Japanese Film Festival.
  
• From Thursday February 25^th 2021 — In cinemas the “Demon Slayer” movie Mugen Train. All Screenings in Japanese with English Subtitles (though dubs may become available later).
• Saturday April 17^th 2021, 9AM-12PM — Nexus Toy Fair Victoria Park Leisure Centres – Aqualife and Leisurelife.
• Saturday April 24^th 2021, from 1:30PM — JAFWA’s next marathon length screening.

Synopsis

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Fruits Basket (2020) season 2

After a family tragedy turns her life upside down, plucky high schooler Tohru Honda takes matters into her own hands and moves out into a tent. Unfortunately for her, she pitches her new home on private land belonging to the mysterious Sohma clan, and it isn’t long before the owners discover her secret. But, as Tohru quickly finds out when the family offers to take her in, the Sohmas have a secret of their own–when stressed or grasped by the opposite sex, they turn into the animals of the Chinese Zodiac.

This evening’s Episode: “That Isn’t What I Want!”

Yuki (the Rat) continues to explain his odd fascination for Tohru. How dare he discuss such things with a non-Sohma like Nabe-san? Meanwhile Tohru and Kyo (the Cat) have the work cut out rehearsing for the class play of “Cinderella” at the Culture Festival.

Arte

16th century Firenze, Italy. The birthplace of the Renaissance Era, where art is thriving. In one small corner of this vast city, one sheltered girl’s journey begins. Arte dreams of becoming an artist, an impossible career for a girl born into a noble family. In those days, art was an exclusively male profession, with women facing strong discrimination. In spite of these challenges, Arte perseveres with hard work and a positive attitude
.

This evening’s Episode: “Inescapable Bond”

Arte struggles with hunger due to Leo’s unusual meal practices. One of Leo’s least favorite customers, Ubertino, commissions a painting, but the colors he wants are so expensive, Leo risks losing money and must negotiate. Arte offers to go in his place, but after her first attempt fails, she asks Veronica to teach her conversational skills.

Appare Ranman! (aka “Appare in Full Bloom!”)

After a certain mishap, the brilliant but socially inept engineer Appare Sorano and the shrewd but cowardly samurai Kosame Isshiki find themselves drifting on a boat from Japan to America. Broke, the two decide to compete in the Trans-America Wild Race to win the prize and return to Japan. The two battle crazy rivals, outlaws, and the great outdoors itself as they race through the wild West from the starting line in Los Angeles to the finish line in New York — in the steam-powered car they built.

This evening’s Episode: “The Eve, and…”

On the eve of the Trans-America Wild Race, Kosame quits his part-time job at Bob’s Café and the team attends a pre-start party. They meet Seth Rich Carter and the other competitors, Crazy TJ, Gil T. Cigar, and his partner, Chase. The rules are explained to the competitors which encourage the use of gasoline as the fuel. The end of the flashback approaches.

Dr Stone season 2 “Stone Wars”

Modern society is lost when a mysterious light leaves everyone petrified in stone. Thousands of years in the future, super genius Senku awakens and begins restoring civilization with his Kingdom of Science. Now as he sets down blueprints for a smartphone in the stone world, Tsukasa and his Empire of Might prepare for the upcoming war.

This evening’s Episode: “Call from the Dead ”

Deep in the Tsukasa’s Empire of Might, Taiju and Yuzuriha finally make contact with Senku by phone. Can they keep this secret from Nikki-san the guard that Tsukasa placed over them? Now the Empire of Science must subvert Tsukasa’s soldiers one by one. The hardest one will be the first conversion. Meanwhile Gen and company must evade Ukyo, the archer with the insane hearing.

Ascendance of a Bookworm (Honzuki no Gekokujou: Shisho ni Naru Tame niwa Shudan o Erandeiraremasen)

The story follows Motosu Urano, a book-loving post-secondary student and soon-to-be librarian who ends up crushed to death beneath a pile of books during an earthquake. With her dying breath, she wishes to be reincarnated in a world where she can read books forever. Urano awakens in the body of a weak, five-year-old girl named Myne in a world where books are scarce and only available to elites. Myne, retaining her memories from her previous life, decides to create and print her own books so that she can read again.

Tonight’s Episode: “Baptisms and Strange Fevers ”

Tuuli’s baptism day arrives and her hair ornament is the talk of the neighborhood. Though he wants to stay and watch the parade, her father Gunther is forced to work, so he brings Myne with him to the gate. Later, Gunther gives Myne a knife and tells her that she will now be the house helper instead. However, she comes up with the idea to carve tree bark into wooden planks to write on, similar to that of ancient China.

retro – Shoujo Kakuemi Utena (Revolutionary Girl Utena)

Utena Tenjou, a teenage girl who expresses her desire to be a prince through her strong-willed personality and tomboyish manner of dress. She finds herself drawn into a series of sword duels at Ohyori Academy, to win the hand of Anthy Himemiya, a mysterious girl known as the “Rose Bride” who possesses the “power to revolutionize the world”.

Tonight’s Episode: “The Sunlit Garden – Finale”

Student Council secretary Miki avidly denies wanting to duel for control over Anthy’s life, but subtle manipulation from Touga and another surprising player make him greatly fearful for the traits he loves in her.

Yakusoku no Neverland (The Promised Neverland) season 2

Emma is an 11-year-old orphan living in Grace Field House, a small orphanage housing her and her 37 siblings. Life had never been better; with food that tasted gourmet, plush beds, snow-white uniforms, and the love of their “Mother” (the caretaker) Isabella, as well the litany of daily exams that Emma always aced with her two best friends Ray and Norman. The orphans are basically allowed to do whatever they want, except to venture out of the compounds or the gate that connects the house to the outside world. Then she finds out the truth. Determined to break out of Grace Field House, Norman and Emma partner up with Ray to peel away at the façade of the farm and find a way to escape with all their other siblings. But escape and freedom has its own dangers.

Tonight’s Episode: “Episode 3 ”

At the edge of the forest, the children part ways with Sonju and Mujika who gives Emma an amulet to remember them by. The children then head into a wasteland towards William Minerva’s coordinates, unaware of the demons’ plans. The children arrive at the coordinates, but see nothing.

preview item – Akudama Drive

In a dystopian future where Kansai became a vassal state of Kantou, multiple highly skilled criminals, called Akudama, are sent a message from an anonymous client to free a death row prisoner named Cutthroat before he is executed. Pursued by the government, although one of them is an ordinary citizen who decides to take a fake identity to survive.

Tonight’s Episode: “Se7en ”

As criminals known as Akudama terrorize Kansai, an ordinary citizen gets dragged into danger when her good intentions steer her wrong after an encounter with Courier. The two meet Brawler, Doctor, Hacker, and Hoodlum. The ordinary citizen ends up helping Courier in destroying a tank drone. Together, they attempt to rescue Cutthroat from being executed.

In/Spectre

When she was still just a girl, Kotoko was kidnapped by yokai. These spirits made her into a powerful intermediary between the spirit and human worlds, but this power came at a price: an eye and a leg. Now, years later, she watches out for dangerous yokai while developing feelings for a young man named Kuro, who is also special: an incident with a yokai has given him healing powers. He’s surprised when Kotoko asks him to team up to handle renegade yokai, preserving the thin line between reality and the supernatural.

Tonight’s Episode: “A Monster of the Imagination ”

Kotoko watches Kuro before Saki arrives in time to see Nanase crush Kuro’s head, only for it to regrow. Saki is concerned that Kuro still seems unconcerned. Kuro approaches Nanase, dodges her attack and restrains her, using the power of the second yokai he ate.

Retro – Touhai Densetsu Akagi (Mahjong Legend Akagi)

After a death-defying game of chicken one evening in 1958, Akagi nonchalantly enters a yakuza mahjong parlor to shake the police’s trail. Although he is unfamiliar with the rules of mahjong, his gambling intuition saves a small-time gambler, Nangou, and grants him a seat at the gambling table. Thus begins Akagi’s legend among the Yakuaza as the best player and gambler of Mahjong.

Tonight’s Episode: “The Shackles of Artifice”

Having read through Washizu’s hand, Akagi headbumps the 3-Man tile that Suzuki deals to Washizu. Finally Akagi explains why he won’t replenish his blood.