Patlabor 2 The Movie
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The Calm Before The Storm

Don't you just get sick of the run up to Christmas (or Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or insert-festival-here?) The pressure to buy ever more extravagant gifts year on year, the ceaseless commercialism of the season, the inescapable torrent of advertising? The fact that bugger all seems to be happening outside of the festive vacuum? Next week promises to have a flood of events scrambling to fit themselves onto the calendar before the last of the mulled wine is sipped but this week's been a pretty tame one, with one notable convention and little else. The calm before the storm, if you will.

Auchinawa Attacks

The last 'big event' for anime fandom in the UK for 2006 was held this weekend at the Quality Hotel in Glasgow, Scotland. Auchinawa, affectionately known as Auchi, was the first convention of its kind in the highlands and had one or two events on offer. The Omake – a sketch show performed by con-goers – was arguably the most popular event with attendees, filling the hall it was held in almost beyond capacity. 

The keynote guests were webcomic creators Scott Ramsoomair of VG Cats and Dave Cheung and Jamal Joseph Jnr of Chugworth Academy – both responsible for more than their fair share of memes and sayings invading the lexicon of their readers. Jan Scott Frazier, one of the first (and still decidedly few) western animators to make a successful career in Japan, gave a talk on how to attempt getting started in the anime industry as an outsider, while Paul Gravett, author of 'Manga: Sixty Years of Japanese Comics', hosted a panel and Q+A session. Curiously, Scott and Dave seem open to seduction, games of pool and beer by strange English boys... 

Throw in the staples of a dealer's room, bring and buy, karaoke, cosplay, a games room and copious amounts of alcohol and Auchinawa was a well-rounded convention and a sterling first time effort from the organisers. A couple of school boy errors – such as no schedules in the convention packs, leaving people to find them pinned to walls dotted around the venue – were the only notable downsides to an otherwise exceptional event. The next Auchinawa, whenever it is held, should be even more enjoyable.

Feel that funky J-Pop beat!

Back down in Birmingham, this weekend sees the Sunflower Lounge play host to J-Pop Brum, a small club night similar but unrelated to London's J-Pop Go. From 8pm until midnight, J-Pop Brum will be playing a mix of various Japanese music, covering all genres. Currently scheduled as a one-time-only deal, the success of the launch night will determine whether future nights will go ahead. The organisers also have plans to expand into the realms of C-Pop and K-Pop (Chinese and Korean, respectively) should the response to J-Pop Brum be positive enough. Since the Birmingham International Comics Show will be wrapping up earlier that day and there's a fair crossover between comics and anime/Japanese fandom, there could potentially be a lot of interest in something like this.

New UK DVD Picks for 11/12/2006

Patlabor 2 The Movie 

Similar to the collector's edition for the first movie, this set contains an impressive number of bonuses, both physical and on-disc. Two weighty books are included in the package, one containing the complete storyboards and one called 'Archives', with information on the movie. A making of, trailers and original Japanese adverts grace the disc itself and everything is housed in a sturdy and beautiful art box illustrated by Yutaka Izubuchi, mecha designer for the Patlabor series. Directed by Mamoru Oshii (Ghost in the Shell), this is nigh on unmissable and a wonderful collector's piece too.

Star Wars: Original Trilogy Tin Set

Do you recall the episode of The Simpsons where Lisa helps develop a new, positive female role model doll but is thwarted by rivals releasing a Malibu Stacy with a new hat? Well, Fox have pulled a Malibu Stacy here. Yes, this is the same DVDs that were in the trilogy collection released months ago; two discs a piece with an array of extras. The only difference is these discs are housed in a shiny tin case. Horribly commercial and blatantly targeting Christmas shoppers, obsessive Star Wars completists and possibly even magpies but not terribly over-priced. And the packaging is very shiny…

Monster House

Executive produced by Robert Zemeckis and Steven Spielberg, Monster House was a surprisingly enjoyable kids film, with enough of a dark undercurrent to stand out from the rest of this year's CGI schmaltz. The extras are fairly extensive – audio commentary for the main feature, behind the scenes featurettes, an image gallery and an evolution sequence charting scenes from storyboard to finished product – but nothing too extraordinary. 

That’s it for this week. Thoughts? Comments? Hatemail? Contact me at mattkamen@gmail.com