AXCN: Ninja Scroll 30th Anniversary
Anime Expo Cinema Nights Presents the classic anime Ninja Scroll’s 30th Anniversary with an all-new exclusive interview with director Yoshiaki Kawajiri. A mysterious vagabond sets out on a journey to confront his past. Little does he know he is up against a demonic force of killers, with a ghost from his past as the leader.
AXCN: Osamu Tezuka’s Metropolis
Anime Expo Cinema Nights Presents: Osamu Tezuka’s Metropolis, where it's man against machine in this film based on the classic manga (comic) by Osamu Tezuka, the godfather of Japanese anime and manga. In the late 1940s, long before Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion established Osamu Tezuka as one of the most influential animators of all time, the legendary illustrator created the classic manga Metropolis. Set in the future, Metropolis is a grand city-state populated by humans and robots, the cohabitants of a strictly segmented society. Detective Shunsaku Ban and his sidekick Ken-ichi search for a rebel scientist, to arrest him and seize his latest creation, Tima, a beautiful young girl. But when they locate him, Shunsaku quickly realizes that the eccentric genius is protected by a powerful man and beyond their reach. A retro-futuristic cautionary tale, Metropolis is spectacularly rendered, combining the best in Japanese cel animation with the latest in digital technology.
AXCN: BABYMETAL Legend—43 The Movie
Anime Expo Cinema Nights Presents a special concert film of the band BABYMETAL with their worldwide tour Legend-43. In April 2023, SU-METAL (Vocal, Dance), MOAMETAL (Scream, Dance), and MOMOMETAL (Scream, Dance) entered a new stage as the newly born BABYMETAL. Since then, they have embarked on their largest world tour, "BABYMETAL WORLD TOUR 2023 - 2024," which took them to 25 countries, including Japan. The headline tour, excluding festivals and guest acts, drew a cumulative audience of more than 280,000 people for a total of 98 performances. The final chapter of the world tour, the first Okinawa performance "TOUR FINAL IN JAPAN LEGEND - 43", has been fully filmed. The film is BABYMETAL's first live film that allows viewers to experience all of the diverse music, unique worldview, production that only a tour final can offer, and the overwhelming performance of BABYMETAL, which has evolved even further during their world tour.
AXCN: Paprika 4K – 15th Anniversary
Anime Expo Cinema Nights presents the 15th anniversary and a 4K restoration of the last film ever made by visionary director Satoshi Kon with his mind-bending thriller PAPRIKA. When a machine that allows therapists to enter their patients’ dreams is stolen, all hell breaks loose. Only a young female therapist, Paprika, can stop it.
AXCN 2025: Cowboy Bebop: The Movie
Anime Expo Cinema Nights presents COWBOY BEBOP: THE MOVIE. Caught up in a world of dreams, lost in the cruelty of reality. What should have been an easy bounty turns into biological war after a terrorist gets hold of a deadly virus. Drawn in by the pretty price on the mastermind's head, Spike and the Bebop crew are ready to collect a much-needed reward. Unfortunately, the gang's about to find themselves in more trouble than money when the terrorist threatens to unleash the virus on Halloween--effectively killing everyone on Mars. With little time and leads that seem more dreamy than helpful, they'll have to use their own bag of tricks to stop a dangerous plot.