For many Filipinos, their childhood was never complete without running home from school to catch their favorite anime on TV.  This year, the Japanese Film Festival is bringing back some old school fun with a throwback lineup of anime films as it makes its first stop at the Red Carpet Cinema in Shangri-La Plaza, the go-to for world cinema in the Philippines, from February 1 to 11.

Relive all the court action with everyone’s favorite basketball anime, The First Slam Dunk, following the Shohoku High School basketball team as they take on a high-stakes national basketball tournament. Directed by legendary mangaka Takehiko Inoue, The First Slam Dunk is a sure treat for diehard anime enthusiasts and curious moviegoers alike, as it returns to the Philippine big screens exclusively for the fest.

You’ll stay on the edge of your seats with two Detective Conan titles at the fest. Detective Conan The Movie: The Time-Bombed Skyscraper is a tension-filled romp by Kenji Kodama where Conan races against time to solve a series of bombings. Detective Conan The Movie: The Private Eyes’ Requiem, the series’ 10th anniversary film directed by Yasuichiro Yamamoto, revolves around a mysterious man who has figured out Conan’s real identity and threatened him to solve a crime to save his friends.

Unpack the cinematic conclusion of the Voltes V series with Voltes V: The Liberation, a nostalgic 1999 Tadao Nagahama animated film where the Voltes Team faces Prince Zardoz in an epic showdown. And for some live-action fun, don’t forget to volt in and watch the proudly Pinoy-produced Voltes V: Legacy – The Cinematic Experience, a retelling of the beloved anime helmed by Mark Reyes.

The fest is hitting more topics close to home with Angry Son by writer-director Kashou Iizuka. It centers around a Filipina hostess and her gay teenage son, whose complex relationship is further tangled when the single mom reveals she wants to marry her boyfriend. A sensitive coming-of-age tale, the film is screening at Shang on February 3 at 6:30PM, followed by an exclusive Director’s Talk with Iizuka himself to offer Filipino cinephiles the opportunity to engage with the filmmaker and ask questions.  

Made possible with Shang’s longtime partner Japan Foundation, Manila, the Japanese Film Festival is also taking everyone on an exciting ride with a roster of entertaining flicks and art films. Fans of the mystery genre will also enjoy the intriguing world of A Man,a gripping tale by Kei Ishikawa about a widow as she copes with the sudden death of her husband who might have been someone else all along. Feel the thrill and sting of high school crushes with And Yet, You Are So Sweet by director Takehiko Shinjo.

Directed by Nobuhiro Doi, We Made a Beautiful Bouquet stars Masaki Suda (who also starred in Studio Ghibli’s latest hit The Boy and the Heron) and the renowned Kasumi Arimura in a bittersweet tale about a pair of young lovers who struggle to balance love, career, and their dreams in the big city. Laugh out loud with Mondays: See You “This” Week!, the debut film of  Ryo Takebayashi that follows a trio of advertising company workers as they go on a shenanigan-filled journey to stop a time loop that traps them in a cycle of dreaded Mondays.

Film buffs are also in for a treat as the festival offers a rare chance to see one of the most important films ever made, Tokyo Story, the 1953 drama by auteur Yasujiro Ozu, an icon of international art-house cinema. It centers around a country-dwelling elderly couple set off on a trip to Tokyo to visit their adult children. It’s a classic tale of intergenerational discord set against the backdrop of a rapidly changing post-war Japan.

Feel the rush of nostalgia and the joy of going to the movies with Japanese Film Festival as it debuts its 2024 lineup at the Red Carpet Cinema in Shang from February 1 to 11!

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