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Jamnime Festival in Thailand Screens Gundam SEED FREEDOM, Pole Princess!! Anime Films

Thai anime film distributor Japan Anime Movie (JAM) Thailand announced on December 22 that it will hold its Jamnime Festival for anime films in Thailand on February 2-4 at Paragon Cineplex, Major Cineplex Central Chiangmai, KORAT Cineplex, Central SiRacha, and Hatyai Cineplex. The festival has eight planned films, with four of them announced, including Mobile Suit Gundam Seed FREEDOM, Pole Princess!!, My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!, and Perfect Blue.

The Mobile Suit Gundam Seed FREEDOM film project will open in Japan on January 26, 2024. Mobile Suit Gundam Seed director Mitsuo Fukuda is directing the film at Bandai Namco Filmworks. Fukuda also co-wrote the script along with his late wife Chiaki Morosawa and Liu Goto. Hisashi Hirai (Mobile Suit Gundam Seed) is designing the characters.

Takanori Nishikawa (the artist also known as T.M. Revolution) is performing the film's theme song "Freedom" with producer t.komuro (Tetsuya Komuro). See-Saw will return to the franchise to perform the ending song "Sarigiwa no Romantics" (Romantics Upon Parting), the first new music from the duo in two decades. Nami Tamaki is also performing the film's "support song" "Reborn."

The film project is part of the Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Project ignited initiative, which was announced in 2021. The initiative commemorates the 20th anniversary of the original Mobile Suit Gundam Seed anime in 2022, and it has several parts. The initiative also includes a new Mobile Suit Gundam Seed game and the Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Eclipse side-story manga.

Mobile Suit Gundam Seed director Mitsuo Fukuda confirmed that the film is a sequel to the second Gundam Seed television anime, Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Destiny.

The anime film for Avex Pictures and Tatsunoko Production's original Pole Princess!! pole dancing anime opened in Japan on November 23.

The movie's story centers on the "Pole Dance Japan Cup" competition, where protagonist Hinano Hoshikita and her friends will compete as the Galaxy Princesses. They will compete with the competition's four-time champion team, Aile d'Ange.

The anime's staff debuted a prologue episode 0 on December 23, 2022, and released the first five-minute net anime episode on YouTube on January 13.

Avex Pictures and Tatsunoko Pro are both credited for the original work. Hitomi Ezoe (episode director for JoJo's Bizarre Adventure franchise, Kageki Shoujo!!, Utano☆Princesama Revolutions) directed the anime at Tatsunoko Pro. Touko Machida (Wake Up, Girls!, Show By Rock!!) wrote the scripts, and tomari was in charge of the original character designs. Yoshihiro Otobe (PriPara, KING OF PRISM by PrettyRhythm) was the CG director. Kenta Higashiohji (BUILD-DIVIDE -#000000- CODE BLACK, Pokémon the Movie: Secrets of the Jungle) composed the music at Avex Pictures. KAORI of STUDIO TRANSFORM was the pole dancing supervisor.

The movie of Satoru Yamaguchi and Nami Hidaka's My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! (Otome Game no Hametsu Flag Shika Nai Akuyaku Reijō ni Tensei Shiteshimatta...) light novels opened in Japan on December 8.

Original light novel author Satoru Yamaguchi wrote the original story for the film. Returning staff members include director Keisuke Inoue, writers Megumi Shimizu and Megumu Sasano, character designer Miwa Oshima, and animation studio SILVER LINK.

The new cast for the film includes (character name spellings not confirmed):

• Kenshō Ono as Ahkil
• Ayumu Murase as Kumit
• Akari Kitō as Nasheet
• Reina Ueda as Hati
• Yōko Hikasa as Aruks
• Rie Kugimiya as Piyo

The 1997 Perfect Blue feature film was the directorial debut for Satoshi Kon, who went on to make Millennium Actress, Tokyo Godfathers, Paranoia Agent and Paprika before his death in 2010. Set in contemporary Tokyo, the story concerns a pop singer, Mima, who tries to develop an acting career, only to experience threats and traumas as her mind breaks down and she is tormented by a ghostly version of her singer self. Manga Entertainment released the film on VHS and DVD.

Kon based his Perfect Blue anime film on Yoshikazu Takeuchi's Perfect Blue: Complete Metamorphosis novel

Source: JAM Thailand's Facebook page