UK Anime Distributor Anime Limited Discussion Thread

Just got out of the Sparks of Tomorrow world premiere.

Really great. For a first time director Ota has an infectious style and I think this is going to be another KyoAni gem people love.

We weren't allowed to do even audio recording so not sure if I'll be able to do much of a writeup of the panel section but it was a nice chat led by @Hanners

Unfortunately the last fan question raised the arson. Genuinely don't think the person asking meant anything ill but you could tell by the guest's response it still haunts them 😞
 
HellCat said:
Just got out of the Sparks of Tomorrow world premiere.

Really great. For a first time director Ota has an infectious style and I think this is going to be another KyoAni gem people love.

We weren't allowed to do even audio recording so not sure if I'll be able to do much of a writeup of the panel section but it was a nice chat led by @Hanners

Unfortunately the last fan question raised the arson. Genuinely don't think the person asking meant anything ill but you could tell by the guest's response it still haunts them 😞
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When he asked that question all I thought was "dude why would you go there"
 
I do wish I could have audio recorded the panel segment (I was in row 2 in clear view of everyone on stage. If I'd tried, @Hanners laser eyes would've ended me) because there was some cool stuff. Like how it takes around 2 months to make a promotional key visual and they're usually making it after production wraps, thus they want to encapsulate character's entire arcs without spoiling anything.
 
I had that same reaction to the arson question. A bit jarring considering the very cheery mood with the interview etc.

This was my first big convention and it was so difficult in those first hours but totally worth it.

I sat in the front row for the premiere, and while great to be up close my neck was aching after looking up for so long. Thoroughly enjoyed Sparks of Tomorrow, my Dad which hasn't ever seen an Anime before was with me and quite enjoyed watching it, just proves how good it was.

Afterwards at the meet and greet/signing Minoru Ota liked my Steins;Gate shirt 😁😁😁. Can't wait for this to come out in July, the comedy was quite funny imo and the more serious moments were great too.

Just like how the projector made Inako believe she was in paradise, maybe this series will do the same to me!
 
RB008 said:
I had that same reaction to the arson question. A bit jarring considering the very cheery mood with the interview etc.

This was my first big convention and it was so difficult in those first hours but totally worth it.

I sat in the front row for the premiere, and while great to be up close my neck was aching after looking up for so long. Thoroughly enjoyed Sparks of Tomorrow, my Dad which hasn't ever seen an Anime before was with me and quite enjoyed watching it, just proves how good it was.

Afterwards at the meet and greet/signing Minoru Ota liked my Steins;Gate shirt 😁😁😁. Can't wait for this to come out in July, the comedy was quite funny imo and the more serious moments were great too.

Just like how the projector made Inako believe she was in paradise, maybe this series will do the same to me!
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Evidently Ota likes Gundam too as at the interview Andy mentioned he was going to tell Ota I like it but before he could Ota pegged I was wearing a Xi Gundam shirt.

At a different time when both interviewer and interviewee weren't full of nerves, maybe we could have chatted about it.
 
At the risk of turning this thread into my blog, something I'd just like to say openly- despite all the complaining I do about their handling of a specific franchise, Anime Limited have been bloody good to me for a long while. Where others might have blacklisted (or punted me down a flight of stairs), they still stick their neck out for me even now and give me amazing opportunities to cover stuff. And that stands out all the more seeing other companies I'm much more reserved with have treated me like nothing.

If you see my complain about logistics, please know I consider the actual folk running things bloody good people and we as a regional community are lucky to have them.
 
Bit late to the table, but was also lucky enough to go to the Sparks premiere yesterday. Fab event really, such a cool opportunity. The first two episodes were awesome. The story and setting were very intriguing and enjoyable right from the get go and the pacing was really snappy for a kyoani show. The facial expressions really jumped out to me in the first 2 eps - absolutely world class character animation was on full display, which was extra impressive when the director said afterwards that they sort of tried to focus more on the background art on this show (which I can only describe as sort of Zelda: Skyward Sword impressionist-esque) instead of solely making expressive characters.

Perhaps a note for the guys next time, but in my opinion I would say perhaps the event might have been better suited to being a fringe evening event at a cinema venue or something. It sort of got lost in the massive MCM agenda and attendance can't have been more than 80-100 odd people in the room (plus my neck hurt staring up at the screen)... But that's pretty mean of me, as the Anime Ltd. guys did a great job and we're lucky to get a KyoAni preview over here at all, let alone it being the world premiere.

I was also lucky enough to ask a question myself, though I sort of jumbled my words when I got to the mic & there was quite strong feedback on the sound system, so the interpreter was giving me the devils by the time I had finished my question (I asked about the music), but in any case the pair of them gave an insightful answer.

The guy who asked the arson question at the end really did ask it with the best and most noble of intentions, but it was nonetheless a real downer and probably would have been best left unsaid. I thought the director/producer handled it like pros in fairness - their answer which was 'we just want to continue making anime' was a completely perfect response.
 
William278 said:
Bit late to the table, but was also lucky enough to go to the Sparks premiere yesterday. Fab event really, such a cool opportunity. The first two episodes were awesome. The story and setting were very intriguing and enjoyable right from the get go and the pacing was really snappy for a kyoani show. The facial expressions really jumped out to me in the first 2 eps - absolutely world class character animation was on full display, which was extra impressive when the director said afterwards that they sort of tried to focus more on the background art on this show (which I can only describe as sort of Zelda: Skyward Sword impressionist-esque) instead of solely making expressive characters.

Perhaps a note for the guys next time, but in my opinion I would say perhaps the event might have been better suited to being a fringe evening event at a cinema venue or something. It sort of got lost in the massive MCM agenda and attendance can't have been more than 80-100 odd people in the room (plus my neck hurt staring up at the screen)... But that's pretty mean of me, as the Anime Ltd. guys did a great job and we're lucky to get a KyoAni preview over here at all, let alone it being the world premiere.

I was also lucky enough to ask a question myself, though I sort of jumbled my words when I got to the mic & there was quite strong feedback on the sound system, so the interpreter was giving me the devils by the time I had finished my question (I asked about the music), but in any case the pair of them gave an insightful answer.

The guy who asked the arson question at the end really did ask it with the best and most noble of intentions, but it was nonetheless a real downer and probably would have been best left unsaid. I thought the director/producer handled it like pros in fairness - their answer which was 'we just want to continue making anime' was a completely perfect response.
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I don't mind that they kept it on site. They had to get people to a signing immediately after and to be honest hosting it in a below ground area really helped beat the humidity in the wider building. I was more annoyed that MCM staff had no clue what was happening, to the point of telling us who showed up early to go away and come back at the time the panel was listed to start. Much like in the exact same area the day prior I was shunted between 8 different staff in 5 minutes as I arrived for the Gundam panel, ALL telling me something different and expecting me to obey it.

I wouldn't worry about Bethan. Had the privilege of doing several AL arranged interviews with her as interpreter and she's very easy going. Plus you'll never top me in 2016 rattling off 10 obscure mobile suit names, leaving her to give me a "...Seriously?" look 😂😅

EDIT- the impression I got being sat right next to the mic was that the person who dropped the arson question was on the spectrum, so potentially aware it was a thing but not inherently aware not something you just drop like that on strangers. In the last few years I've learnt I'm near certainly more mildly on the spectrum myself (an autistic Gundam fan. Truly we're all shocked.) so not trying to be mean, just an observation.
 
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HellCat said:
Someone elsewhere brought up the idea Hathaway isn't coming until Autumn because it'll be folded into SLA. Don't want to go down the conspiracy theory path (stop laughing!) but after what happened last year with CCA and EW, I could see it.
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Speaking with an SLA point of view - I can put that to bed and say it's not the case :). The fact is Anime Ltd have to work with not only a packed line-up but also a very busy blockbuster summer where something like Hathaway would be harder to place.

Also - re CCA and EW at SLA - those were actually programmed by an external programmer too as opposed to part of the regular programming. At present there's no plans to roll it into SLA although if timing lined up and we could get something cool like the director, you never know!

PS - Hello folks too, generally floating around every so often but not active here now whatwith the new job! But as this was more an SLA point I figured I'd chime in.

Hope folks are well and no doubt see people at events over Autumn time when I'm back in a European time zone!

Andrew
 
anime_andrew said:
Speaking with an SLA point of view - I can put that to bed and say it's not the case :). The fact is Anime Ltd have to work with not only a packed line-up but also a very busy blockbuster summer where something like Hathaway would be harder to place.

Also - re CCA and EW at SLA - those were actually programmed by an external programmer too as opposed to part of the regular programming. At present there's no plans to roll it into SLA although if timing lined up and we could get something cool like the director, you never know!

PS - Hello folks too, generally floating around every so often but not active here now whatwith the new job! But as this was more an SLA point I figured I'd chime in.

Hope folks are well and no doubt see people at events over Autumn time when I'm back in a European time zone!

Andrew
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Fair enough but most everyone I've spoken to agrees this is likely going to drive up piracy. American fans have already been aggressively spoiling the movie and now we're facing a 4 month wait. And that wasn't committed to and given it's an AL handled Gundam release...

I for one am not particularly keen to watch this in autumn when every beat, nuance and plot point has been spoilt for me because by that point it's box ticking rather than an experience. If regions like America, Australia and wider Asia could get it around now, I have to believe there were better scheduling options. Heck, the fact Bandai had a massive wall at MCM specifically promoting this movie and its new MS rather suggests they thought so too.
 
Oh, just a quick aside- evidently we aren't then getting Urdr Hunt, the Gundam IBO movie America got a few months ago.

Not sure how I feel about that. Many say the main movie is terrible but that the new stuff that actually bridges the 2 seasons of the show was fun.

Doubt it'll happen in 2026 but it'd be nice if we had parity again with Gundam media. We actually got both SEED Freedom and GQuuuuuuX Beginning in a timely manner so what's happening with Hathaway remains baffling. I'd just really like to see Gundam stuff in the UK (theatrical and home media) treated as an event. Not this persistent vibe that'll it'll be got to when the actually important stuff leaves space.
 
Suzu said:
AL told in an e-mail that they have had technical issue where e-mails sent to outlook.com and hotmail.com addresses have not been received. They said this should be fixed by now but I did not get a reply from AL after I confirmed receipt of their message and my shipping address.

@Hanners do you know if these technical issues are still ongoing? I am asking so I know if I should switch to gmail. Thank you in advance.
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My replacement booklet still has not arrived. @Hanners should I be worried?
 
Sparks of Tomorrow interview and review now live.

animesuperhero.com

Interview: Talking "Sparks of Tomorrow" With Director Minoru Ota At MCM London Comic Con - Anime Superhero News

Prior to the world premiere of Sparks of Tomorrow, Anime Limited graciously granted us with the opportunity to pose some questions directly to series director Minoru Ota. ANIME SUPERHERO: This is your first experience as lead director. What was your career path? MINORU OTA: I started as an ani
animesuperhero.com animesuperhero.com

animesuperhero.com

Review: "Sparks of Tomorrow" World Premiere At MCM London Comic Con May 2026 - Anime Superhero News

Anime Limited have long held a strong working relationship with the famous Kyoto Animation and also a number of special screenings for UK anime fans. But the two dovetailed at this May’s MCM London Comic Con to present the world premiere of KyoAni’s Sparks of Tomorrow, due to launch on Netflix in Ju
animesuperhero.com animesuperhero.com
 
Sharing this in here as AL is part of it, my coverage of Gundam at MCM London. By my count there's well over 100 photos in this.

animesuperhero.com

Gundam At MCM London Comic Con May 2026 - Anime Superhero News

The first annual London MCM convention of 2026 has been again and once again blessed fans with a bounty of Gundam. I've spoken about this a lot in recent years but it remains a joy to see just how much of a prioritised focus the franchise now receives at the event. Although there was the standard hi
animesuperhero.com animesuperhero.com
 
I really hope The Dangers in my Heart Season 2 gets a matching Steelbook release in the US like it did for Season 1. I actually just opened my TDIMH T-shirt that I recently ordered from Crunchyroll and wore it for the first time this past week...

dangershearttshirt.jpg
 
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In the midst of redoing my press wall/wall of narcissism and have added Minoru Ota's Sparks of Tomorrow signature.

As mentioned last weekend this is apparently his first ever autograph, so it had to be top row.

Admittedly the fact apparently no one else asked after their interview has left me with existential dread for the last week I failed some kind of professionalism test 🫪59912.jpg59913.jpg
 
i need someone to ask if there is hopefully a reason how and why the levelling and spacing between four identical picture frames avoids any consistency.
Even if it’s just that one eye is higher than the other, and a wooden leg means you beer to the right. Or just to irritate people like me…
 
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