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Tickets Available For February U.K. Cinema Anime Releases
posted on by Andrew Osmond
There are now websites linked to the UK and Ireland cinema releases of two new anime films, giving venue details and booking links for each. The website for Lupin the IIIrd The Movie: The Immortal Bloodline (Lupin the IIIrd The Movie: Fujimi no Ketsuzoku), released on February 21, is at https://lupintheiiirdfilm.co.uk/. The website for All You Need Is Kill, released on February 27, is at https://aynikfilm.co.uk/.
GKIDS describes the film's story:
After fending off a series of skilled assassins, gentleman thief Lupin III and his band of allies follow a strange invitation to an uncharted island. When their plane is shot down, the gang is stranded and soon hunted by the island's inhabitants, past enemies, and a monstrous immortal being known as Muom, who threatens to destroy Lupin's legacy. As a deadly toxic fog settles over them, Lupin must confront his greatest enemy in his most daring escapade yet.
Takeshi Koike (Lupin III: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine, Lupin the IIIrd: Jigen's Gravestone, Lupin the IIIrd: Goemon's Blood Spray, Lupin the IIIrd: Fujiko Mine's Lie) returned to the franchise to direct the film at Telecom Animation Film. Yūya Takahashi (Lupin the IIIrd: Jigen's Gravestone, Lupin the IIIrd: Goemon's Blood Spray, Lupin the IIIrd: Fujiko Mine's Lie, Lupin the 3rd Part 6) also returned to write the screenplay. James Shimoji returned from the three films to compose the music, and Katsuhito Ishii also returned from the three films as creative adviser. TMS Entertainment is credited with production and writing. TOHO NEXT is distributing the film. Rock band B'z perform the film's theme song "The IIIRD Eye".
According to the staff, the film is the first new 2D feature-length anime film in the franchise in nearly 30 years, since Lupin III: Dead or Alive in 1996. Since then, other anime have screened in theaters such as Lupin the IIIrd: Jigen's Gravestone, Lupin the IIIrd: Goemon's Blood Spray, and Lupin the IIIrd: Fujiko Mine's Lie, but those were not feature-length films. The 2019 film Lupin III THE FIRST was CG, and the 2013 film Lupin III vs. Detective Conan The Movie and the 2023 film Lupin III vs. Cat's Eye were both crossover films.
Kenichiro Akimoto (Children of the Sea CGI director, Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko unit director) directed the anime at STUDIO4°C. The anime retells the story from a different viewpoint than the novel and Hollywood's Edge of Tomorrow film adaptation.
The film is described as follows:
"Set in the year 20XX, All You Need Is Kill follows the story of Rita, a resourceful but isolated young woman volunteering to help rebuild Japan after the mysterious appearance of a massive alien flower known as “Darol.” When Darol unexpectedly erupts in a deadly event, unleashing monstrous creatures that decimate the population, Rita is caught in the destruction—and killed. But then she wakes up again. And again. Caught in an endless time loop, Rita must navigate the trauma and repetition of death until she crosses paths with Keiji, a shy young man trapped in the same cycle. Together, they fight to break free from the loop and find meaning in the chaos around them."
The novel inspired the live-action Hollywood movie adaptation Edge of Tomorrow in 2014, starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt. Edge of Tomorrow made over US$100 million in the U.S., US$15 million in Japan, and US$370,541,256 worldwide.
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