Scotland Loves Anime Festival This Year Will Be Digital

In a year that has proven challenging for films and the venues that show them, the Screen Anime channel is delighted to announce that it will host the digital line-up of Scotland Loves Anime, a celebration of Japanese animation that has attracted tens of thousands of visitors over 11 years, and help to support the local cinemas that host it.

Andrew Partridge, CEO of Anime Ltd and founder of Scotland Loves Animation explains, “Supporting cinemas through what has been a tough year is something really important to all of us at Anime Limited and Scotland Loves Animation. We can’t wait to show off what the festival has to offer on Screen Anime and help out our friends at both the Filmhouse and the Glasgow Film Theatre as much as we can.”

From 25th October until 25th November 2020, enjoy a celebration of two iconic franchises – Monkey Punch’s charismatic master thief Lupin III, and the J-Pop infused Love Live! Series with a line-up over twice the size of our usual selections. Scotland Loves Anime will also be offering exclusive work-in-progress previews of hotly anticipated anime movies to come, including Josee, the Tiger and the Fish, a moving romance from Studio BONES (My Hero Academia).

Scotland Loves Anime will also see the return of Screen Anime favourites Weathering With You, Penguin Highway, and Patema Inverted. Weathering With You will also be available with an exclusive commentary track by Festival Jury Chairman Dr. Jonathan Clements, who will also be introducing all of the films, which are as follows:

• Lupin III: The Secret of Mamo (15) – Plans to pilfer a pyramid are complicated by faked deaths, double-crosses and world-ending schemes in this 1978 adventure that endures as a celebrated yet polarising part of the master thief’s long history.
• Lupin III vs Detective Conan: The Movie (N/C 12) – One of the most ambitious crossovers in anime history sees the master thief on the run from Conan Edogawa, protagonist of the equally iconic Detective Conan (Case Closed) franchise.
• Lupin III: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine (TV Series, 15) – A 13-episode series with mind-bending visuals that recontextualizes the world’s deadliest femme fatale, and aims to uncover what thoughts lie behind her pretty face. Directed by Sayo Yamamoto (Yuri!!! On Ice), with series composition by Mari Okada (Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms).
• Lupin III: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine – Jigen’s Gravestone (N/C 15) – When Lupin III’s trusted marksman stumbles upon his own grave, Daisuke Jigen must find out why he’s in the crosshairs of a hitman with such a chilling calling card. Directed by Takeshi Koike (Redline).
• Lupin III: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine – Goemon’s Blood Spray (N/C 15) – When the modern day samurai Goemon Ishikawa fails to protect his yakuza client from the powerful “Ghost of Bermuda”, he must team up with Lupin III and Jigen to preserve his honour – with blood.
• Lupin III: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine – Fujiko’s Lie (N/C 15) – The famed femme fatale has made a living from lies, but when she’s asked to save the son of an embezzler whose fortune she’s after, will she get caught up in her own deception?
• Love Live! The School Idol Movie (N/C 12) – With their senior members’ graduation approaching, an exciting concert opportunity leads the girls of school idol champions μ’s to find meaning in their remaining together, performing in their biggest show yet!
• Love Live! The School Idol Movie: Over the Rainbow (N/C 12) – The members of Aqours are preparing for life at their new school when word of their upperclassmen going missing leads them on a journey not just to Italy, but to the realisation of how much they mean to one-another, and what they must do to take that next step forward.
• Patema Inverted (PG) – Fall into the sky with the sheer escapism of a topsy-turvy fantasy that will challenge your perceptions. Winner of the 2013 Scotland Loves Anime Jury and Audience Awards.
• Penguin Highway (12) – When cute penguins start waddling into a rural Japanese town, it piques the interest of the ever-curious schoolkid Aoyama in this cute coming-of-age story with dashes of science fiction. Based on the novel by Tomihiko Morimi.
• Weathering With You (12) – Makoto Shinkai’s beautiful storm of teen love returns to Screen Anime, this time with an exclusive optional commentary track featuring Dr. Jonathan Clements. Winner of the 2019 Scotland Loves Anime Audience Award.
• Production I.G. Short Film Collection (12) – A collection of five award-winning short films from Production I.G., the studio behind Ghost in the Shell, directed by some of the best animators in Japan.
• Work in Progress: Josee, The Tiger and the Fish (rating TBC) – Dr. Jonathan Clements and BONES’ president Masahiko Minami talk with staff of this moving film that’s still in production.
• Work in Progress: Inu-oh (rating TBC) – an early glimpse at the latest film by Science SARU and celebrated auteur Masaaki Yuasa (Night is Short, Walk on Girl).

Lupin III: The Secret of Mamo, Lupin III vs Detective Conan: The Movie, the Production I.G. short films and the Work in Progress features, will only be available in Japanese with subtitles.

New and current Screen Anime members will receive full access to the Scotland Loves Anime library. Screen Anime will also be supporting the festival’s crowdfunding efforts,  donating two-thirds of all proceeds made during the festival to its usual hosts, the Edinburgh Filmhouse and Glasgow Film Theatre cinemas.

To donate to Scotland Loves Anime’s crowdfunder, or to find out more about the campaign rewards, please visit: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/scotland-loves-anime-2020

Screen Anime is available in the UK & Ireland for only £3.98/mo or £39.98/yr. Members can take advantage of benefits including discounts at Anime Limited’s online store and more.

Screen Anime is currently available via your web browser, and supports Chromecast. Apps for TVos, iOS, Android & Amazon coming soon.

Join the curated online anime film festival channel at screenanime.com