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Scotland Loves Anime Comes to Edinburgh Friday to Sunday

The Scotland Loves Anime festival begins on Friday in Edinburgh, following last weekend's screenings in GLASGOW. It will run until Sunday October 16. The anime screenings include the new Production I.G film A Letter to Momo, directed by Hiroyuki Okiura (Jin-Roh); the film Armored Trooper Votoms: Pailsen Files (pictured); Keiichi Hara's award-winning film Colorful; the CGI videogame adaptation Tekken: Blood Vengeance; the children's fantasy In the Forest of the Fireflies (Hotarubi no Mori e); and a "mystery film."

Scotland Loves Anime runs in Edinburgh from Friday October 14 to Sunday October 16 at the Filmhouse cinema at 88 Lothian Road (map). Tickets are available from the cinema website or by ringing 0131 228 2688. Full-priced tickets are £7.50, while concessions are available.

As previously announced, Ryousuke Takahashi, the director of Armored Trooper Votoms: Pailsen Files, will appear in a Q&A after the film screening on Saturday. Takahashi will also appear in a seperate morning session on Sunday October 16 to discuss anime in general (see line-up below). This is a free event, but because of limited space, tickets must be ordered on the phone or in person at the Filmhouse. (Apart from Votoms, Takahashi's anime credits include Gasaraki, Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto and FLAG.)

There will be a "mystery film" screening on Sunday at 5.45 p.m. According to the website, the screening is "a Scottish premiere plus two big surprises... It's very different to the usual in Japan. The second surprise is a short work – fresh and imaginative."

The screenings also include a triple bill of shorter pieces: Coicent (Koisento), Five Numbers! (Norageki!) and the fiirst instalment of Towa no Quon. Coicent and Five Numbers! are two science-fiction anime "mini features" from the studio Sunrise. Coicent reunites writer/director Shuhei Moritai and character designer Daisuke Sajiki, who previously collaborated on the CGI anime hit Kakurenbo. The story takes place in the 26th century where a school trip to a rebuilt 21st century city sees teenage Shinichi chasing a talking deer.

Five Numbers! is directed by Hiroaki Ando with character designer Masaru Gotsubo (Samurai Champloo) and scripter Dai Sato (Ergo Proxy, Cowboy Bebop). Four people awake to find themselves in a prison: an ex-soldier, a beautiful woman, an average Joe and a young computer hacker. Towa no Quon is the first of a six-part theatrical anime film series by the studio Bones. The story follows a boy named Quon and others who suddenly wake up with supernatural powers. The series is being released monthly in Japanese cinemas; the fourth part opened on September 10.

The full Edinburgh line-up is as follows:

Friday October 14

6 p.m. A Letter to Momo (U)

8.45 p.m. Hotarubi no Mori e (In the Forest of the Fireflies) (12A), plus two short films from the Brains Base studio.

Saturday October 15

2 p.m. Colorful (15). Introduced by Jonathan Clements, co-author of The Anime Encyclopedia.

5.45 p.m. Armored Trooper Votoms: Pailsen Files - The Movie (12A). The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Ryousuke Takahashi.

8.40 p.m. Mardock Scramble: The First Compression and Mardock Scramble: The Second Combustion (18)

Sunday October 16

11.30 a.m. Pioneering Anime, a Q&A session with Votoms creator Ryousuke Takahashi. This is a free event, see above.

2 p.m. Tekken: Blood Vengeance (12A)

5.45 p.m. Scotland Loves Anime Mystery Film (12A)

8.30 p.m. Coicent/Five Numbers!/Towa no Quon (12A). A trio of shorter films, with a total running time of 100 minutes, see details above. Followed by an open discussion on trends in anime film with Jonathan Clements and Andrew Partridge.