Hideaki Anno’s first live-action movie Love and Pop is finally getting a cinema release in the US after more than 25 years. Anno is best known as the creator of Neon Genesis Evangelion, one of the best anime sagas of all time, and this is a unique opportunity for his fans to get acquainted with a different side of his work.
GKids announced this week that a 2K restoration of the 1998 movie will be released at the IFC Center in New York City starting Feb 21, and at the American Cinematheque’s Los Feliz 3 from Feb 23, with additional cities to follow soon.
Based on the novel Topaz II by Ryū Murakami, Love and Pop follows a high school girl who engages in compensated dating in order to buy an expensive ring before the day ends.
The film is “radical in its stylistic approach”, said GKids in the announcement, “taking to the streets of Shibuya with handheld digicams, distorted lenses, and unconventional camera angles. Criminally underseen for years, LOVE & POP remains a singular portrait of Japanese youth coming of age in the Y2K era.”
Despite Anno’s famous anime work in the’ 90s, the film was never released in cinemas in North America. However, an English-language DVD edition was released in 2004, six years after its Japanese release, by Kino on Video.
If you love Hideaki Anno’s legendary anime and manga work, you might want to check out this rare gem from his early filmography on the big screen. This was his first live-action film, which he followed years later with titles like Shin Godzilla. Anno’s most recent work is 2023’s superhero film Shin Kamen Rider, which he shot via iPhone.
Love and Pop is releasing in selected cinemas from February 21 in New York, and from February 23 in Los Angeles. For more, check out our guide on how to watch Neon Genesis Evangelion in order.
