2023 Film Schedule – Promare | Birmingham Anime Film Festival 2024

Words: Laura-Rose – World’s Apart Birmingham

What is Promare about?

Screening as part of our Worlds Apart Birmingham Double Bill

From the brilliant minds of Hiroyuki Imaishi and Kazuki Nakashima, comes a visually punching and fast-paced animation that features that classic Trigger style, that is as striking as it is wondrous to watch.

Promare brings the topics of discrimination, injustice and bureaucracy to the table with some stunning storytelling and tongue-in-cheek humour, all presented on screen by a compelling cast of characters.

Promare Synopsis

Thirty years ago the world experienced the great catastrophe known as the Great World Blaze. This caused mass devastation across half the globe in a blaze of fire and created a mutation amongst people, a new race, known as Burnish; humans that spontaneously combust and thereafter possess pyrokinetic abilities.

Now, in the shining metropolis of Promepolis, where peace has been restored with ways to combat any instances of burnish, we follow a firefighting group called Burning Rescue, a team that responds to those fiery incidents and endeavours to keep the city’s people safe at all costs.

At the forefront of the fight–with his firefighting soul–is the team’s rookie; the boisterous and gutsy Galo Thymos, who dives into every fight with his trusty “Matoi-tech” (which is based on the Matoi banners that firefighting units used in Edo Period Japan). Galo unintentionally–though not unenthusiastically–becomes mixed up in the business of the renowned radical burnish group known as Mad Burnish. A group of so-called terrorists who spread anarchy and chaos in the newly restored peace, all in the name of burnish.

Most of Mad Burnish have been captured throughout the years, but the top two generals and their leader have yet to be stopped. But if there’s one thing that Galo Thymos has it’s gallant determination and when he and the elusive leader, Lio Fotia, come face to face–secrets, mysteries and mecha battles will pave the way to a blazing future for Promepolis.

Why we chose Promare

Though it has been four years since Promare was released, it still holds a torch with anime fans and Trigger Inc fans alike. Both for its creative storytelling and its hyperbolic animation, as well as its wonderfully crafted characters and environments, it holds that same spark that Trigger manages to produce in so many of their works.

Hiroyuki Imaishi, the director of Promare, founded Trigger Inc alongside Masahiko Ōtsuka–a fellow former Gainax employee–after his success with Gurren Lagann.

Trigger Inc itself is somewhat of a successor to Gainax, a studio that created some well known anime features such as Neon Genesis Evangelion and Nadia: Secret of Blue Water. A lot of the projects created by Studio Trigger have carried the same visual style and humour as Gurren Lagann in the legacy they’ve managed to craft, becoming fan-favourites in their own rights.

From the wholesome series of Little Witch Academia to the indulgent, over-the-top Kill la Kill, the studio has never failed to give 100% to whatever they create. Though more recent viewers may recognise their signature style from two episodes in season one of Star Wars: Visions or their last released project–Cyberpunk: Edgerunners.

Their unique brand of storytelling always favours the characters and the environment they create whilst still hitting those crucial story beats. Whether it be in the form of an episodic anime where the story builds episode-by-episode, or in film format, with the constraint of a smaller time frame, neither are ever made with any less effort, or any less grandiose. Trigger’s projects always uphold the compelling animation style that sets them apart with bold and eye-catching character designs and a seemingly effortless stage to set them all in.

Promare is, at its heart, a great popcorn flick. It is something to watch when you want a fun, fast-paced and altogether over the top film that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Plot-light and visual-heavy, with some truly fantastic voice work that breathes soul into the characters and really brings to life the chemistry between the main protagonists. All accompanied with a brilliant soundtrack by the talented Hiroyuki Sawano, known for his work on Attack on Titan and Mobile Suit Gundam: Unicorn amongst many others.

Promare is simply a visual and audio treat.

For me personally though, whilst I love an anime film that keeps me guessing, or has me on the edge of my seat. Tugs on every emotion or has me diligently following the twists and turns of a story from start to finish, there are times where I just need something to watch that is, for want of a better word, simple. And Promare is exactly that.

And that isn’t an insult! Sometimes as an audience member you need something that isn’t encased in a sprawling plot. Rather, something that you can sit back and enjoy with a little less brain power but still expect to be visually enthralled and entirely entertained by.

Though this can often come at a cost; with the characters feeling disposable or the film being forgettable once the end credits roll. However, creating such a film, while avoiding this is the very thing that Trigger has managed to master with Promare and it is a prime example of what makes Trigger Inc such a brilliant studio.

With Promare, they present a simple, uncomplicated plot line that still manages to give the audience an array of intriguing and captivating characters. The story that, whilst fantastical, is grounded in real-world issues and doesn’t miss those important emotional moments, even with the facetious humour. And all of that is presented with fantastic, hard-hitting visuals that, even in the categorisation of “simple”, are at worst, aesthetic, but at best, completely magnetic and full of wondrous colour palettes and a eccentric flare that have always been a personal favourite of mine.

For Trigger as a whole, their visuals have always, always, been a huge part of what makes them a stand-out animation company and Promare truly is a prime example of what their hard work, creativity and passion for storytelling can really bring to the table.

Promare was also nominated for an Annie Award for Best Animated Feature — Independent in 2019.

Where can I see Promare?

A Silent Voice | 129 mins | rated 12 | Mockingbird Cinema, Screen 1 | Saturday 30th September 2023, 20:15

Tickets

If you like this, consider A Silent Voice (12)

©2015 REKI KAWAHARA/PUBLISHED BY KADOKAWA CORPORATION ASCII MEDIA WORKS/AWIB Project

As part of our Double Bill with Worlds Apart Birmingham

Nishimiya Shouko is an elementary school girl with a hearing impairment who, upon transferring schools, meets a boy named Ishida Shoya in her new class. Shoya leads the class in bullying Shouko because of her impairment. As the bullying continues, the class starts to bully Shoya for bullying Shouko.

After graduating from elementary school, Shouko and Shoya go their separate ways… until many years later, when Shoya, tormented over his past, decides he must see Shouko once more. Shoya wants to make amends for what he did in elementary school and be Shouko’s friend.

A Silent Voice | 129 mins | rated 12 | Mockingbird Cinema, Screen 1 | Saturday 30th September 2023, 20:15

Tickets

Worlds Apart Birmingham

Worlds Apart Birmingham

Comics, manga and graphic novels.

Worlds Apart (formerly Nostalgia and Comics) on Smallbrook Queensway, Birmingham city centre, is the oldest comic book shop in the UK.

Established in 1976, this geeky retailer has been serving Brummies and the world over in comic geekery for almost 50 years from their premises in Birmingham city centre. Worlds Apart sell comics, manga, graphic novels, figures and collectables, plushies and more. Their staff are friendly, passionate and brimming with comic book knowledge which means they will look after you whether you’re a newcomer or comic veteran.

They have a fantastic Anime and Manga Discord you can join here

They’re open seven days a week. You can order online via the Forbidden Planet website, over the phone or send them a message on any of their social media handles. We would recommend following their Facebook, Instagram and Twitter where they post daily about their new stock items. You can also put in requests for particular items if they don’t have them in stock.