SUNDAY  9TH NOVEMBER 2025 – 17:00 

The journey from page to screen isn’t always a smooth one.

Ryan Parish from the Birmingham Anime Film Festival introduces two episodes from two popular anime series – Tenchi Muyo, which started life as an OVA (Original Video Animation) before founding a successful franchise, and Samurai Champloo from celebrated TV director Shinichirō Watanabe, which was cancelled two thirds of the way into its original series before finding a more forgiving audience overseas.

WEDNESDAY 1ST OCTOBER – 21:20

 

Set during a time that very much resembles Europe during the Middle Ages, BESERK is a story of revenge set in the castle town of Midland. Recently, the town has seen the rise of a wicked king, who uses demonic minions to control and victimise his subjects. However, when a lone soldier enters the town calling himself the Black Swordsman and armed to the teeth, many sense that the king’s days of unchecked oppression are over.

WEDNESDAY 1ST OCTOBER 20:10

 

Sought by the greed of Men since the dawn of Humankind, but only bestowed upon the woman whose fate it forever scars: The Witchblade. Now a new bearer has been chosen and she must discover the answers for herself.

WEDNESDAY 1ST OCTOBER – 19:00

 

There is a world around us, a world of people, tactile sensation, and culture. There is also a wired world, inside the computer, of images, personalities, virtual experiences, and a culture all of its own. The day after a classmate commits suicide, Lain, a 13 year old girl, discovers how closely the 2 worlds are linked when she receives an e-mail from the dead girl: I still live here.

Uta — the most beloved singer in the world. Renowned for concealing her own identity when performing, her voice has come to be described as “otherworldly.”

Now, for the first time ever, Uta will reveal herself to the world at a live concert. As the venue fills with all kinds of Uta fans — excited pirates, the Navy watching closely, and the Straw Hats led by Luffy who simply came to enjoy her sonorous performance — the voice that the whole world has been waiting for is about to resound.

SUNDAY 28TH SEPTEMBER – 20:30

Seele orders an all-out attack on NERV, aiming to destroy the Evas before Gendo can trigger Third Impact and Instrumentality under his control.

Set three years after the first film, Patlabor 2 draws police commanders Ki’ichi Gotoh and Shinobu Nagumo into the hunt for Tsuge, a rogue officer of the Japan Self-Defense Force connected with an escalating wave of terrorist attacks. But the investigation into the plot is guarded by secrets both personal and political, as the awakening fear of terror in Tokyo is slowly answered by the dream-like fade of democracy into martial law. Ominous, beautiful, suspenseful, and poetic, Patlabor 2 deserves the term visionary in every sense of the word.

The year is 1999 and Tokyo’s Mobile Police have a new weapon in the war on crime – advanced robots called Labors are used to combat the criminals who would use the new technology for illegal means. The suicide of a mysterious man on the massive Babylon Project construction site sets off a cascade of events that may signal the destruction of Tokyo. What is the connection between the suicide, the new mobile Police AV-XO Zero Labor, and a berserk prototype tank?

SUNDAY 28TH SEPTEMBER  – 14:00 

After her father passes, 11-year-old Momo moves with her mother to a small island town. When she arrives, she encounters three goblins that others cannot see who try to help her to cope with the loss of her father and the changes in her life.

SUNDAY 38TH SEPTEMBER – 12:30

Following the events of SEED Destiny the battle isn’t over yet, with an independence movement arising and an invasion by Blue Cosmos, calling for the expulsion of the Coordinator.

In order to calm down the situation, the world peace monitoring organization “Compass” is established.

SUNDAY 28TH SEPTEMBER  – 11:00  (10:00 INCLUDING WORKSHOP) 

After losing her parents, Okko goes to live in the countryside with her grandmother, who runs a traditional inn near an ancient spring said to have healing waters. Okko soon discovers there are spirits living there only she can see – not scary ones, but welcoming ghosts who keep her company, play games and help her navigate her new environment.

High school freshman Hodaka Morishima leaves his home on an isolated island and moves to Tokyo, but he quickly finds himself in financial trouble. Living his days in isolation, he eventually lands a job as a writer for a shady occult magazine.

Then one day in an alley, Hodaka meets a young girl named Hina Amano, bright and strong-­willed, who possesses a strange and wonderful ability: the power to stop the rain and clear the sky.

A bold interpretation of Hideo Furukawa’s novel, The Tale of the Heike: The Inu-Oh Chapters. Bringing hip-hop and psychedelic rock sensibilities to 14th century Japan, this is both a cautionary tale against fame and success and a celebration of self-expression in the arts.

Two teenagers share a profound, magical connection upon discovering they are swapping bodies. Things manage to become even more complicated when the boy and girl decide to meet in person.

Shibuya teen musician Ichika meets virtual singer Hatsune Miku after hearing her song in a store. The pair work together to help Miku forge emotional connections through music.

Life hasn’t been easy for Asuna since her father passed.  Her mother forced to work long hours to make ends meet, Asuna spends most of her time alone, listening to the crystal radio her father left behind. It’s a curious thing, requiring neither electricity nor an amplifier, but the strange music that plays over it is an even greater mystery. Where does it come from? And what does it mean?

Penguins suddenly appear in the town with no explanation. Aoyama finds that the penguin species is known to follow a singular path known as the “Penguin Highway,” which leads to the woods. Aoyama is determined to find out more, and he joins his new crush in researching the penguins.

5 CENTIMETERS PER SECOND

Takaki and Akari became best friends after transferring into the same elementary school. However, the two are separated following their elementary school graduation. As they place their feelings for each other behind them, time simply passes by.

GARDEN OF WORDS

When Takao, a young high school student who dreams of becoming a shoe designer, decides to skip school one day in favour of sketching in a rainy garden, he has no idea how much his life will change when he encounters Yukino.

In 1996, an enormous tower is constructed on the southern shore of Hokkaido, it’s purpose – unknown.

Curious, three school children make a vow to discover the mysterious tower’s secrets. Will this promise have to be left unfulfilled when one of the three falls into a coma

Leaving the world of J-pop behind her, Mima Kirigoe begins life as an actress on a crime drama show called Double Blind. When offered a lead role in the show as a S.A. victim, Mima accepts the role despite reservations from her manager.

However, the backlash from fans over her career change and a strange website called ‘Mima’s Room’ written by a fake Mima begin to worry her.

A young girl, Chihiro, becomes trapped in a strange new world of spirits. When her parents undergo a mysterious transformation, she must call upon the courage she never knew she had to free her family.

Prepare to enter the realm of fantasy and imagination — where reality and dreams collide in a kaleidoscopic mindscape of sheer visual genius. The magical tale centers on a revolutionary machine that allows scientists to enter and record a subject’s dream.

After being stolen, a fearless detective and brilliant therapist join forces to recover the device, searching both the real and dream worlds.

Gentleman thief Lupin III, grandson to Maurice Leblanc’s French literary master thief Arsène Lupin. After successfully robbing a casino of, unfortunately, counterfeit bills, Lupin III attempts to rescue a princess from a villainous count while uncovering a counterfeiting scheme.

Mamoru Oshii’s stunning animated 2029-set anime classic centres on Public Security Section 9’s hunt for supreme hacker The Puppet Master. One of the most influential anime films of all time, raising philosophical questions around transhumanism that are more relevant than ever.

Join us at Birmingham Botanical Gardens for an unforgettable open-air screening as we present Hayao Miyazaki’s Oscar Winning Spirited Away