ANIME CLASSICS – STEAMBOY (スチームボーイ, Suchīmubōi)

• dir Katsuhiro Ōtomo
• 2004 / Japan / 126mins / Japanese with English subtitles
• Doors: 7pm / Intro + Film: 7:30pm / Food served to 9pm / Event: 18+

“FROM THE DIRECTOR OF AKIRA.”

In 1860s Britain, a boy inventor –  Ray Steam – finds himself caught in the middle of a deadly conflict over a revolutionary advance in steam power.

Epic in every meaning of the word, STEAMBOY (2004) was ten years in production and cost an extravagant $20.2 million to produce, the most expensive Japanese anime title at that time.

Director Katsuhiro Ōtomo concluded his long search for a suitable feature-length film to follow AKIRA (1988) with a story that mirrors his masterpiece in many ways: the battle to control a world-changing energy source results in epic scenes of mass destruction (The Anime Encyclopaedia). 

What sets STEAMBOY apart are its wonderfully intricate Victorian steampunk settings – an imaginary version of England in the 1860s as London prepares for the Great Exhibition – that resemble the CANNON FODDER sequence Ōtomo wrote and directed for MEMORIES (1995).

“A worthy successor to AKIRA… Only Ōtomo is capable of pulling off a masterpiece like STEAMBOY.”

Anime Insider

ANIME CLASSICS is a celebration of Japanese animation, hosted by queer film fanatic Token Homo (BAR TRASH). All films screen in Japanese with English subtitles and an introduction. Tickets £3.