The Japan Foundation, Toronto and the Toronto Animation Arts Festival International (TAAFI) are presenting a series of anime film screenings and lectures for free.
The lectures are to complement the film screenings. I haven’t seen the one lecture that has already happened. There is one taking place tomorrow explaining how anime is a media mix. It starts at 6:30 p.m. at The Japan Foundation, Toronto’s office at The Colonnade, 131 Bloor Street West.
Last week I went to see Chibi Maruko-Chain at Innis Town Hall. The film tells the simple story and everyday life of Sakura Momoko, a little girl in the third grade, and some of her friends. Sakura is referred to a ‘Chibi Maruko-chan’ because of her small size and lives together with her parents, grandparents and her older sister.
Two boys in Sakura’s class, Ono and Sugiyama, are not only rowdy and bossy but also best friends. During a sports festival, the boys argue and, to the surprise of Maruko and the rest of her class, begin giving each other the cold shoulder. Ono and Sugiyama are brought back together through a school winter concert only to fall out of friendship again over another fight. The class finds out that Ono’s dad found a job in Tokyo which means Ono is transferring schools. Will Ono and Sugiyama reconcile before it’s too late?
It was a nice, cute movie to watch and something different to what I would normally watch. It may be a tad long for children as a few of kids that came with their parents started stomping around the stage almost towards the end of the movie.
