Animazement 2022

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Raleigh Convention Center

500 S Salisbury St.

Raleigh, NC 27601

May 26 – 28, 2023

I'm finally going to cons again. Animazement is the largest anime convention in NC. It's held at the Raleigh, NC Civic Center. The venue required vaccination proof and masks inside.

Conventions have become hybrids. You can attend in person or virtually. I think this is great. If you can afford to go or can't attend in person for other reasons you can still catch the cool panels offered.

It wasn't as large as it has been but it was its first time back since the pandemic started.

I spend most of my time in Artist Alley and the vendors' room. I've included pics I took of cosplays and cool things you could buy.

I didn't get to any panels. But I did stop in on the one with the lady who sings the Sailor Moon theme song...guess what else she is famous for? The Hot Pockets ad song!

I've wanted to make this comic book dress for a while. I debuted it at Animazement. A trial run for future comicons.

I'll have a post about how I made it soon!

COSPLAYS

I didn't know a lot of the anime characters because I only follow a few. Mainly Jujutsu Kaisen and Demon Slayer. But there was a Michael Myers (he had a speaker playing his theme music).

One of my favorite shows form this year is Our Flag Means Death. This cosplayer nailed Lucius.

I don't know this group's reference but they put a lot of work into it.

Awesome gender-bender Sukuna and Akaza

This was the artists' room (taken early on Friday when it wasn't that busy yet)

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There were big banks of prize vending machines. You bought tokens and used them to get mini figures of your favorite animes

You can't have an anime con without long stuffed huggable cat pillows. They love their plushies!

Loved these crocheted nerd things. 

Cool fantasy goblets and shot glasses.

So many dragons! I wanted a magic lamp so bad!

Check out the cool details on these earrings!

I could kick myself for not buying this!

Murder chicken!

So many awesome artists!

I did buy this little dude :)

Bought some fanart of big villains!

(Akaza from Demon Slayer, Sukuna from Jujutsu Kaisen, and Sangwoo from Killing Stalking which is a webcomic)

Got some fanart of the K-pop ground Stray Kids (my favorite!)

Even the business cards of artists are worth grabbing!

Movie Review: Demon Slayer - Kimetsu No Yaiba - The Movie: Mugen Train

Demon Slayer - Kimetsu No Yaiba - The Movie: Mugen Train

Apr 23, 2021 

Director: Haruo Sotozaki

Writer: Koyoharu Gotoge, studio ufotable
Cast: Zach Aguilar (Tanjiro Kamado), Abby Trott (Nezuko Kamado), Aleks Le (Zenitsu Agatsuma), Bryce Papenbrook (Inosuke Hashibira), Mark Whitten (Kyojuro Rengoku)
Runtime: 1h 57m

Rating: R (Violence and Bloody Images)
Genre: Fantasy, Anime, Adventure, shonen
Original Language: Japanese

https://demonslayer-anime.com/
Falling forever into an endless dream... Tanjiro and the group have completed their rehabilitation training at the Butterfly Mansion, and they arrive to their next mission on the Mugen Train, where over 40 people have disappeared in a very short period of time. Tanjiro and Nezuko, along with Zenitsu and Inosuke, join one of the most powerful swordsmen within the Demon Slayer Corps, Flame Hashira Kyojuro Rengoku, to face the demon aboard the Mugen Train on track to despair.

There is a lot to unpack with Demon Slayer - Kimetsu No Yaiba - The Movie: Mugen Train. I'm gonna try to keep it short and to the point. 

I saw it with my 20-year-old daughter (she'd already seen it once) and she's seen the TV series. I hadn't heard much about it before seeing the movie. Some people say you need to see the TV series first, but that's not the case. I still loved the movie...it rocked!

Here is a little background about Demon Slayer:

-Feb 2016-May 2020 the Demon Slayer manga* created by Koyoharu Gotouge appeared in the manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump.

*Set during Taishō-era Japan (1912-1926), it follows a young boy named Tanjiro in his quest to join the secret society known as the Demon Slayer Corps in order to find a cure for his sister, who has been turned into a demon.

-April-Sept 2019 it was a 26-episode anime television series adaptation produced by Ufotable

-Oct 2020 Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train was released in Japan. The events Mugen Train happen between season 1 of the TV series and season 2.

-2021: The TV series second season will air.

Okay, now I can talk about the movie.

The Demon Slayer movie is the highest-grossing film EVER in Japan! What makes it different from other shonen* anime is addition of a horror element. It is rated R.

*Manga marketed to a teen male audience ages of 12-18

If you enjoy animated action movies then this is a must-see. The action scenes are insane! The final battle lasted like 30 minutes (I might be exaggerating but it seemed like it) and it was epic. 

Not only do you get lots of action, you get character development. The "good guys" are so pure of heart and wholesome you can't help but love them. The "bad guys" demons are done in true anime style. I've always loved they way Japanese animators portray demons...mouths everywhere! lol.

The movie centers around two heroes. They young Tanjiro Kamado wants to become a hashira in the Demon Slayer Corps and he wants to be trained by the best Flame Hashira Kyojuro Rengoku. Rengoku only had a small part in the TV series so this is kind of his backstory.

The movie will also touch your heart...I shed a tear at one point. They balance a good amount of humor with the heavier moments.

The artists didn't use normal animation. They combined hand-drawn animation and digital effects to create 3D sequences. It took a few for me to adjust to the style but once you do you will be hooked.

Oh, it's subtitled if that is something you don't like. There is a great use of music with the action too.

Holly and I give it 4 1/2 "Hashira" Sheep

SharonS

Sheep Movie Review: Promare (2019)

Promare (2019)
Promare: Puromea (original title)
24 May 2019 (Japan)
Director: Hiroyuki Imaishi
Writing Credits: Kazuki Nakashima (original work), Kazuki Nakashima (scriptwriter), Michael Schneider (scriptwriter) (English version)
Stars: John Eric Bentley, Steve Blum, Johnny Yong Bosch |
Studio: Trigger
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 1h 51min
Genre: Animation, Action, Adventure
Promare uses a bold cel-shaded visual style to tell a blistering action-adventure story, and is the spiritual successor to many of director Imaishi’s former works.

Thirty years has passed since the appearance of Burnish, a race of flame-wielding mutant beings, who destroyed half of the world with fire. When a new group of aggressive mutants calling themselves "Mad Burnish" appears, the epic battle between Galo Thymos, a new member of the anti-Burnish rescue team “Burning Rescue,” and Lio Fotia, the leader of “Mad Burnish" begins.

This exclusive encore event will feature a special prequel short "SIDE: GALO" with a look at Galo's first day with Burning Rescue!

Promare is a full-length Japanese animation from Trigger Studios that had a small limited run about a month ago. It did so well they brought it back for a one day limited run on Dec 8. I had heard a lot of great things about it and had seen some awesome fan art so I checked it out.

The Burning Rescue team!

What a lot of fun! The world has been destroyed by the Burnish--people who mysteriously gained the power to create a living fire. Burnish were hunted down and imprisoned and the city of Promopilos was created to keep citizens safe. Burning Rescue is a fire department that fights "living" fires using robotic suits! Kind of like Jaegers in Pacific Rim.

The over the top shirtless hero (he has the big hair to prove it), Galo! He has a burning firefighter's soul! He likes to yell this at the fire before he goes in to stop it.

What sounded like a simple plot was actually a complex story with unique world-building. I can't get into that because it would spoil the unfolding mystery of the Burnish. The characters in Promare are over the top classic archetypes you find in anime. There is a big dose of silly humor to balance out the dark themes of government genocide and prejudice.

Lio is the leader of the resistance and pain in Galo's ass.

The character designs are imaginative and the animation is eclectic and combined well with the music score. My favorite character designs were the Mad Burnish (the antagonists). The whole idea of "living" fire and how the creators showed it was awesome.

Definitely, a must-see for fans of anime action movies. It is subtitled. Also, stay after the credits because there is a ten minute-ish, informative and funny round-table discussion of the movie by the creators.

Check out the trailer. It gives you a good feel for the movie. If you find it entertaining then you'll want to catch this one!

4.5 "burning sheep soul!"

SharonS