Anyone else going along to the International Manga and Anime Festival 2005? It runs from 21st - 25th October, held at the County Hall on London's South Bank (just by the London Eye), and is entirely FREE to enter. There's going to be various talks, events and screenings, including a rare UK showing of Samurai Champloo, which has got to be worth the (non-existant) entrance fee alone.
Oh, and I'll be on a panel and various other bits and bobs to do with publishing UK Manga, so it'd be nice to see any familar (or even unfamiliar) faces that manage to make it along.
SCHEDULE OF MANGA EVENTS FOR IMAF 2005 AT COUNTY HALL
Friday Oct 21 2-3pm : Manga for Beginners: Are you new to Japanese comics? Puzzled by their big eyes and reading them backwards? Discover the secrets of manga with this illustrated introduction by Paul Gravett, author of Manga: 60 Years of Japanese Comics (Laurence King).
Saturday Oct 22 4-5pm : Make Mine Manga! : Join a panel discussion with artists and writers making manga in the UK and Ireland, including Ilya-san, author of the Manga Drawing Kit (Thunder Bay Press), and Edward Berridge and others from new anthology MangaQuake.
Sunday Oct 23 12-1pm : Massive Wall-Sized Manga Happening! : You can suggest ideas, twists and turns as Ilya-san, Craig Conlan, Edward Berridge and other writers and artists create a giant manga story before your very eyes.
Sunday Oct 23 2-3pm : The Best Manga and Graphic Novels: Are comics becoming 21st century graphic literature? Discover some of the modern masterpieces of comics, from Japan and around the world, with Paul Gravett, author of Graphic Novels: Stories To Change Your Life (Aurum Press).
Monday Oct 24 2-3pm : Manga for Everyone: Shonen, shojo, seinen, hentai, yaoi, redikomi, gurume, golfu and more mean there really is something for everyone. Sample some of the wild varieties of Japanese comics with Paul Gravett, author of Manga: 60 Years of Japanese Comics (Laurence King).
Tuesday Oct 25 12-1pm : The Next Big Thing: What are the big hit series on the horizon and coming here soon? Who are Japan's hot new creators of the future? And how are Japanese comics changing now you can read them online and on your mobile phone? A look ahead with Paul Gravett and guests at the shape of manga to come.
Tuesday Oct 25 5-6pm : MEET JUNKO MIZUNO - IMAF's Very Special Guest Mangaka from Tokyo is Junko Mizuno, Japan's Queen of the Cute and Creepy, the original 'Hell Baby', whose fractured fairytales Cinderalla [sic], Hansel & Gretel and Princess Mermaid are translated into English by Viz Comics and whose dark debut graphic novel Pure Trance has just been published by Jap Press/Last Gasp. She will be in conversation, demonstrating her stunning artistry and signing her books.
