August 2020 | Otaku No Culture |

The Kung Fu Credo Shines in The Paper Tigers

The talented up-and-coming writer/director Quoc Bao Tran must have trained too, and he’s taken those lessons he learned at the kwoon (dojo) and put them to heart when penning The Paper Tigers.

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Playing at Fantasia Digital Film Festival 2020 on Sept 1st, 5:30pm PST. Buy your virtual ticket here. Canadian Residents only.

Making its US debut at 36th Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival (Sept 24-Oct 31st)

All hail The Paper Tigers! This martial arts comedy shows what three former students–now past their prime–are up to since they stopped practising. When their sifu (Roger Yuan, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny) die under mysterious circumstances, they reunite to figure out what’s going on, and along the way, try to get back their mojo.

While the humour is light, the mystery is heavy. However, the heart and soul of the film belong to those aphorisms you’d take away from after certain films or television. In this case, it’s Kung Fu, the original series.

Continue reading “The Kung Fu Credo Shines in The Paper Tigers”

When “Jumbo” is a Tilt-a-Hurl in this Quirky Romance

Her only escape is when she’s at work, alone with her amusement park rides. One night, she checks out the latest installation, a high-flying hurl-a-whirl (as shown in the movie poster) she calls “Jumbo.”

Jumbo (2020) By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Playing at Fantasia Digital Film Festival 2020 on Aug 31, 23:15 EST. Buy your virtual ticket here.

Spielberg doesn’t really need to mentor the talented Zoé Wittock. Her shorts offer great ideas featuring female protagonists struggling with their identity, and her feature film debut certainly shines. It’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Iron Giant. We will never know the origins of the park ride attraction that Jeanne (Noémie Merlant) finds a connection with.

Her rambunctious mother (Emmanuelle Bercot) and beau of the week don’t make for a simple home life. She’s not really connected with her peers either. Her only escape is when she’s at work, alone with her amusement park rides. One night, she checks out the latest installation, a high-flying hurl-a-whirl (as shown in the movie poster) she calls “Jumbo.”

Continue reading “When “Jumbo” is a Tilt-a-Hurl in this Quirky Romance”

Fly Me to Saitama and Let Me Play Among the Stars

When put to live action, this movie does not hold back. Fly Me to Saitama film delivers a tale straight out of a Charles Dickens novel. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity…”

Playing at Fantasia Digital Film Festival 2020 On Demand till Sept 2. Buy your virtual ticket here.

Fly Me To Saitama does more than take inspiration from a certain Frank Sinatra song. This film easily extols why Japanese anime and manga content producers are in love with the Baroque. The Rose of Versailles anime and manga is perhaps the most well-known example. The extraordinary detail in the art and acute sense of grandeur is part of the style which spanned from the 17th-18th century. When realized in live action, you can’t help but marvel at the attention to detail in the costume and set design.

Traditionally, the term is used to describe art and music more than society (where the plot lays). The lifestyle is not about flamboyance, but rather exuberance. The hubris lays with how people changed in an era which followed the Renaissance. Societal norms were being challenged, and there was an awakening.

Continue reading “Fly Me to Saitama and Let Me Play Among the Stars”

Project Dreams at Fantasia 2020! How to Build Mazinger Z’s Hanger

We already have a real world project to build a 1:1 scale moving Gundam, so why can’t we have Mazinger Z too?

Paper Tigers By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Fantasia Digital Film Festival 2020
International Premiere
August 29th, 2020

Just when you think real life can’t imitate fantasy–namely making a full scale RX-78-2 Gundam that can move–cinema has upped the scale by postulating if we can build a working underwater hanger bay to house the Mazinger Z. The ambition is there, with an appropriate soundtrack to boot, and I couldn’t help but cheer and yell, “gambatte”. The question is, can the civil engineering company Maeda Corporation (fantasy marketing division) build it?

To note: Yes, this company is real and yes, they actually made actual plans to build this for real.

Continue reading “Project Dreams at Fantasia 2020! How to Build Mazinger Z’s Hanger”

The Children of the Sea Arrives on Home Video Sept 1st!

To get the most out of understanding this anime, I recommend watching the companion documentary, Turep – Looking for Children of the Sea.

Children of the Sea Blu-Ray + DVD Case — Available to preorder on Amazon USA

GKIDS & Shout! Factory

Release Date:
Sept 1, 2020

I’m sure the themes of life, death and rebirth play into the cinematic adaptation of Daisuke Igarashi’s manga series, Children of the Sea. The story simply begins on how Ruka gets kicked to the grind. She’s a bit of an outcast and being with others really doesn’t bode well for her. One troubled incident leads her to be kicked out of summer activities at school and having a crisis of faith.

Mom is no help (she’s an alcoholic) and Dad is too busy at work. He’s been “recruited” by the military to study the strange happenings going on with aquatic life in the seaside town they live in, and they somehow involve Umi and Sora. They’re slightly older boys and a relationship develops between the three.

Continue reading “The Children of the Sea Arrives on Home Video Sept 1st!”

Wotakoi: On Why Love is Hard for Otaku in this Movie Review

This parody on otaku life updates viewers on the term and it doesn’t have to be derogatory. Some folks can get overboard with some aspect of Japanese fandom, but how is that different from Star Wars fans with rooms dedicated to merchandise since its release in 1977? Or how about Transformers or KISS?

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Fantasia Festival 2020
North American Premiere
Aug 29, 2020

Based on the manga of the same name, Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku (ヲタクに恋は難しい,) by Fujita is a hilarious live action musical comedy that doesn’t require audiences to know anything about the source material.

Narumi Momose (Mitsuki Takahata) is a young office worker who reads yaoi manga. She keeps this fact hidden very well. Also, she likes Hirotaka Nifuji (Kento Yamazaki). They knew each other when really young, and now he’s working in the same building as her. He’s always had difficulty expressing his feelings to her and it’s very amusing to watch them rekindle their relationship. She’s high strung and he’s mild mannered.

Continue reading “Wotakoi: On Why Love is Hard for Otaku in this Movie Review”