Anime fans get exclusive movie viewing

Event regarding Evangelion movie screening gets in the news ;)

19th May, 2010

KOTA KINABALU: Anime (Japanese Animation) fans rejoiced when they had a chance to watch an exclusive screening of Evangelion 2.0 You Can (not) Advance at the Cathay Cineplex on Saturday.

The screening was the result of a successful bid by anime fans to convince the cinema to bring the film to Sabah. It was organised by Cathay Cineplex, Hobby Kingdom and the Sabahan Anime Club.

Nearly 130 anime fans with some arriving dressed as their favourite characters from the anime packed the hall where the movie was to be shown.

Collin Choo, a volunteer who helped to organise the event said that he was so amazed by the enthusiastic response it rendered him speechless.

According to one of the organisers, Abdul Hadri bin Saimin, it all started after he missed his chance to watch the movie when it was shown at cinemas in Kuala Lumpur last year.

He and a few fellow anime fans then started a Facebook group ‘I’m Sabahan and I want to see Evangelion 2.0 movie in Cathay KK’ which quickly gathered around 1,000 members in less than two months.

They were finally able to convince Cathay Cineplex to screen the film if they agreed to rent the hall.

“We didn’t expect that we will have such full support but from what we can see the turnout itself proves that the support is there,” he said.

The organisers are planning a second screening of the film on May 22.

For those interested in making their bookings, they can visit the Facebook group.

Previously, anime fans in Kuala Lumpur had lobbied for the film to be brought into the country and were successful when Cathay decided to screen it at two of their cinemas there in March.

Evangelion 2.0 You Can (not) Advance is the second movie in the Rebuild of Evangelion series which is based on the original anime series in 1995.

Source: New Sabah Times

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