Zipangu Fest bring ero-guro animation to Bristol's Encounters International Film Festival

by Chris MaGee

We are just over a month away from the inaugural Zipangu Fest programmed by author and film historian Japser Sharp in London, but Sharp has been lining up some great screenings to lead up to the festival. One of these is a really special event, a collection of animation that will not only appeal to fans of Japanese animation, but to horror fans as well.

On Friday, November 19th at Bristol's Cube Microplex Zipangu and the 16th annual Encounters International Film Festival will be presenting a night of Ero-Guro animation. Many if you will already know that ero-guro stands for "erotic/ grotesque" and is typified by sexual/ sensual and horrific subject matter. The work of two directors will be represented - artist/ illustrator/ animator Hiroshi Harada and animator and kamishibai performer Naoyuki Niiya. Harada's contributions will be 1992's "Midori: The Girl in the Freak Show" (above) and 1995's "The Death Lullaby", while Niiya's 1993 film "Metempsychosis (Squid Festival)" and 2008's "Man-Eater Mountain" will be featured.

I was lucky enough to see "Man-Eater Mountain" at this year's Nippon Connection Japanese Film Festival in Frankfurt (with subtitles by Jasper Sharp), and I can guarantee you that it's a truly unique and hair-raising experience. You can get a taste of it in the trailer below. For more details on this great event head to the Zipangu Fest website here.