Source: Barbican Centre, Sarah Harvey Publicity press release Special Thanks to Laura Bushell In June the Barbican Centre in London continues their JAPANIMATION event series with a night of Mitsuteru Yokoyama`s classic robot anime TETSUJIN 28 on the big screen. The screening will be introduced by anime expert Helen McCarthy (The Anime! Movie Guide, Hayao Miyazaki: Master of Japanese Animation, and founder of the magazine AnimeFX). Mitsuteru Yokoyama was one of Osamu Tezuka`s legion of assistants, and shared his scepticism about Japan`s wholesale rush to embrace technology as an unmixed blessing. His best-known work in the West, TETSUJIN 28-GO (screened in the USA in 1966 as GIGANTOR) has the same deep, dark undercurrents as Tezuka`s TETSUWAN ATOM, and just as much of ATOM`s darkness was glossed over for his American debut as ASTRO BOY, the depths of Yokoyama`s original manga were ignored in GIGANTOR`s American TV incarnation. Shin Togashi made some attempt to re-inject darkness into the TETSUJIN 28 formula in his 2005 live-action movie, but was hampered by the need to have a cute child protagonist and the pantomime potential of dastardly villains in a real city. Luckily, Yokoyama fan Yasuhiro Imagawa had already provided a definitively dark reading of the manga in his 2004 TV series. The first three episodes lead us in to a world of intrigue, corruption, selfishness and arrogance in which nobody, not even an innocent child, can escape the residual guilt and pain of the war. barbican film Tuesday 30 June, 8.30pm JAPANIMATION: TETSUJIN 28 (2004) Director: Yasuhiro Imagawa Episodes 1 - 3 75 min. In Japanese with English subtitles Cert. 12 In post-WWII Japan, Prof. Shikishima has built up Shikishima Industries to be a technological powerhouse developing robots. However, at the heart of their success lurks a dark secret from the war, something that cost the life of his mentor Prof. Kaneda. The series opens as Kaneda`s son, the genius boy detective Shotaro Kaneda is in hot pursuit of his arch-enemies, the Murasame Brothers. As he searches for them near the Tokyo Tower construction site he is suddenly captured and taken hostage. Meanwhile, a giant missile is detected heading straight for Tokyo. Fired from a remote southern island that has been uninhabited since the end of the war, this mysterious missile and its payload will change Shotaro`s life forever. Ticket prices Book online and save up to £2 off every ticket! Standard: £7.50 online (£9.50 full price) Barbican Members: £6.50 online (£7.50 full price) Concessions: £7.50 Under 15: £4.50 Barbican Centre Cinema Hotline: 0845 120 7527