Sep 24th 2017 O.A.
LA Anime Film Festival
North America’s largest Japanese anime film festival, LA Anime Film Festival happened for 3 days from September 15th at Downtown LA. This event was made possible by the Rydgen Inc. and the cooperation of the film distributor, Azoland Pictures.20 titles were shown including new titles that had their North American premiere and classic titles that received high reviews overseas.This year is the 100th anniversary since anime was first produced in Japan, so one of its first anime film was also shown. On its first day, one of the main events of this festival, the premiere of the English dubbed anime movie “No Game No Life Zero” was shown. VIP guests and English voice actors were invited. “No Game No Life Zero” is an anime film based on a popular TV series where the main character battles in a fantasy world where “Everything is decided through games.” This is the first time being shown in the states as it will be introduced in theaters all over the US in October. About 6,000 people attended to this 3 day event. Q&A session with the creators were also held and fans enjoyed the Japanese anime.
A Luncheon of Senior Citizen’s Day at Sakura Gardens
A luncheon happened on Friday, September 8th at Sakura Gardens in Boyle Heights to celebrate Senior Citizen’s Day. Every 3rd Monday of September is Senior Citizen’s Day in Japan. To celebrate the elders’ hard work towards our society, a luncheon was held at Sakura Gardens as well.
Regional VP of Operations for the Northstar Senior Living, John Peters commented “We are very grateful to our powerful seniors for teaching us something new everyday.” Lunch menu included: sashimi, black cod and red-white buns with bean paste fillings. that provides care for the Japanese American seniors and volunteers made this event possible. Currently, 128 residents live in Sakura Garden and 50 residents are over 90 years old. Each names were called at the awarding ceremony and gifts were handed to them. 3 people were the eldest being 98 years old. After lunch, enka ballad songs and Japanese dances were performed. Choir group by the Sakura Gardens residents, “Baachans” energetically performed 4 songs like “The Bear Song” and “Beautiful Spring.”