This past May 25th marked the theatrical premiere of the Bandai/Viz joint American distribution venture "Jin-Roh" - Production I.G's gritty tale of civil unrest and the secret police set against a fictional post-WWII backdrop - to kick off the 2nd Annual Cal State University, Long Beach Japanese Animation Festival. Well over 600 enthusiasts poured into the Richard and Karen Carpenter Performing Arts Center on the CSULB campus to glimpse what its publicists tout as an Oscar-worthy animated feature. "We're committing a lot of energy to getting it seen by the Academy," says Dallas Middaugh, marketing and press coordinator at Viz Communications, Inc.

A press screening followed by a panel discussion with "Jin-Roh" author Mamoru Oshii and I.G president, Mitsushisa Ishikawa, preceded this public premiere. Moderated by LA Times animation writer Charles Solomon, this Q and A addressed how "Jin-Roh" director Hiroyuki Okiura (who couldn't attend) emphasized the love story over the political intrigue in Oshii's script. Oshii explained that he had never intended the focus of "Jin-Roh" to be the love story, which he describes as the more simplistic aspect of the script. However, Oshii also quipped that had he directed the film it probably would have been far too complex for a wide scale release here in America.

An opening gala, which took place in the Earl Burns Miller Japanese Gardens, also on the CSULB campus, preceded this press screening. Catered with sushi, California fresh fruit, Belgian profiterole pasteries and a French wine bar, the internationally eclectic event's centerpiece included the reading of a letter from Long Beach mayor Beverly O'Neill (who also couldn't attend) that acknowledged the cultural significance of the Japanese Animation Festival and thanked Bandai and Viz for allowing it to be the vehicle for "Jin-Roh's" premiere.

Bathed in this glow of public praise, however, "Jin-Roh" isn't without controversy. 18 months passed between its completion in 1998 and Bandai Visual's release of the film at the end of 1999. During that time Production I.G animators were given few guarantees that it would ever be released. Upon first viewing the film back in 1998, animation legend Hayao Miyazaki ("My Neighbor Totoro," "Princess Mononoke") himself told the Production I.G team that Okiura, with this inaugural directorial endeavor, has already established himself among the upper strata of anime directors, but that "Jin-Roh" should have never been made. The film is dark, depressing and is so naturalistic in its approach that several patrons at the American premiere noted how it probably would have succeeded better as a live action film. And though he complimented the overall high quality of the dub, Ishikawa expressed that he would have textured the main character, Kazuki Fuse, with a recalcitrant, almost mumbling, quality, as opposed to using Canadian voice actor Michael Dobson's commanding delivery. In attendance, Dobson hardly seemed self-conscious about Ishikawa's comments and rounded the cliqués of invited guests at the opening gala with aplomb and grace.