Nemesis On The Red Carpet: Made in Abyss Premiere
I had the distinct honor of representing Comic Crusaders at the United States premier of Made In Abyss: Journey’s Dawn the other night (read the review here). The film, made by Sentai Filmworks and being released in select Regal theaters nationwide by Fathom Events, is the anime adaption the Japanese manga Made In Abyss. Made In Abyss is also currently an anime series and this film adapts the first half of the series with a sequel to follow some time next year.
As anyone who lives in Southern California knows, traffic can be unpredictable and incredibly bad on the congested freeways we call home. Knowing this, I left several hours early for the event and was able to have a wonderful lunch at one of my favorite Mexican restaurants, Casa Gamino. One chile relleno and shredded beef taco later I was on my way again and arrived in downtown Los Angeles still early but glad to have avoided traffic and arriving late instead. I haven’t been to downtown LA in some time and I was shocked by the transformation of the city center. Once upon a time downtown Los Angeles was a place to be avoided. It was sparse, largely deserted at night once the workers fled to their homes in the surrounding areas as the area was pretty much a poster child for urban blight. Since the Los Angeles Kings and Lakers moved into their home at the Staples Center, the area has seen a steady rise in it’s fortunes. The entire area around the Staples Center is collectively known as LA Live and indeed, LA does feel alive now. Trolley cars move up and down the streets, there is a plethora of new construction going on and the center city feels more akin to Manhattan than the downtown LA of ages past.
Regal 14 Theaters at LA Live was the site of the premier and I staked my place on the red carpet while I waited for the event to start. Here I have to thank the event organizers and the theater itself for their wonderful hospitality and thoughtfulness. I am disabled and in truth I was worried about going to the event because I can have difficulty standing and operating for long amounts of time. Regal and Sentai Filmworks were very kind and accommodated my disability, finding me a place to rest and conserve my strength. I am eternally grateful to them for their kindness.
The movie itself was scheduled to start around 7:30 PM that evening and the first celebrities and VIP’s began to arrive shortly after 5:00 PM. Honestly, I have never done something like this before and it was a surreal experience. The red carpet adds a sense of glamour to the occasion but I was keenly aware that I, a normal guy, was standing there taking pictures at the event; unreal. Guests continued to arrive for the next few hours and while there were far too many to list in their entirety I will endeavor to name a few. As a former amateur martial artist and fighter myself, I was excited to see former UFC Heavyweight Champion Josh Barnett at the event. Fans of Netflix’s Stranger Things would also have been excited as actor Chester Rushing III arrived with Ava Power. Daniel Guilbeau, a voice actor on the anime Blue Exorcist, and Griffin Puata, a voice actor on Mobile Suit Gundam, were also in attendance. Former Miss India, Pooja Bastra, made an appearance as did one of the stars of the Hindi film Luv Ka The End, Taaha Shah. Cosplayer Genevieve Marie was there as well as gamer and Twitch streamer Michelle ‘Chubby Bunny’ Nguyen. Last but certainly not least were some of the minds behind the film itself. Jacob Jung, who translates anime and manga into English, was on hand and I will have an interesting article on his work up later this week. The composer of the wonderful Made In Abyss: Journey’s Dawn score, Australian Kevin Penkin, also made an appearance in the company of a plush doll from the anime. Finally both the producer and director of the film were on hand, Shimpei Yamashita and Masayuki Kojima respectively.
Shout out to Fathom Events and Sentai Filmworks for the opportunity to cover and hang out at this amazing event with awesome people!
Author Profile
- Nemesis is a poet, writer and author of the upcoming novel The Long Game. He is a writer of science fiction and supernatural thrillers. Besides novels and short stories he writes for UK based ASAP Comics developing new stories for Level 8 and OPSEC. Nem is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and tries to bring those experiences into his writing.
He lives and works out of his home in Riverside, California with his wife and three children. When not writing he enjoys reviewing comic books and graphic novels for ComicCrusaders.com and living the Southern California life with his family.
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