Hello everyone! My name is Donnie Pagel, and I’m the lead organizer behind this festival.

I’m so grateful
that you are all here, and I’m excited for the next couple of days we have planned. The first feature-
length anime film was Momotaro: Sacred Sailors from 1945. A film where the hero, Momotaro, leads a
task force to rescue the peace-loving animals of the South Seas. Since then, thousands of anime films
have been released. These films cover just about any genre you can think of. Well, technically, anime’s
have a different type of generalization. The 5 main anime genres are shonen, shojo, seinen, josei, and
kodomomuke. Luckily, all these different genres still have the key elements that define our American
genres. Anime can do it all. Whether it be the mystery and adventure of the critically acclaimed Spirited
Away, the drama and romance from Your Lie in April, or even the sci-fi, cyber-punk, apocalyptic story of
Akira. Most anime films wouldn’t even exist if it wasn’t for manga. Manga are comics or graphic novels
originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19 th century. Most
anime films are adaptations of these manga. Anime is such a general subject to make a festival over.
Setting this festival up, I genuinely struggled the most with narrowing down this event to just 5 films. But
nonetheless, I think you all will love the films that wait for you. I’ve always been entranced by the style
of 90’s anime. During the 90’s, cel style animation was still the most common media. As such, it was
constantly receiving technological improvements, and those improvements really shined in the 90’s. So,
this festival will focus on the beauty of 90’s anime films, we will go through many different genres to get
the full experience of the time. We’ll start the first day, March 14 th, with Perfect Blue. This 1997 film
really starts this festival off with a bang. Perfect Blue is the story of a retired pop singer-turned-actress,
Mima, as her sense of reality starts to shake as she is stalked by an obsessed fan while being haunted
from reflections of her past. The next day will focus on Studio Ghibli films, as they were really homing in
their skills and exploring different genres. We’ll go in order of release, so March 15 th will start with
1993’s Ocean Waves. The film is set in the city of Kōchi, on the Japanese island of Shikokou. It concerns a
love triangle that develops between two good friends and a new girl who transfers to their high school
from Tokyo. We’ll then watch Whisper of the Heart, released in 1995. This film is about Shizuku, a bright
girl who loves to read. One day she notices the name Seiji Amasawa is written on every book she has
checked out from the library. Eventually, they end up meeting, only to learn that their desires in life are
pulling them in different directions. Yet the feelings they hold for each other are strong and resist this
split. We’ll finish up the day with Princess Mononoke released in 1997. Princess Mononoke is set in the
late Muromachi period, so sometime around 1550. The story follows the young Emishi warrior
Ashitaka’s involvement in the struggle between the supernatural guardians of a forest and the humans
who consume its resources. After such an eventful day, the last day of the festival will really get your
brains churning with 1995’s Ghost in the Shell. The film is set in 2029 Japan, and follows Motoko
Kusanagi, a cyborg public-security agent, who hunts a mysterious hacker known as the Puppet Master.
In my opinion, these times were some of the bests for anime films. That’s another thing I love about
anime, it’s so welcoming of all different views and opinions. You all will be watching the same films
these next couple of days, but I guarantee when you go to talk to one another about them you all will
have different interpretations of them. I’m a huge fan of just about any anime I can get my eyes on, as
I’m sure most of you here are as well. C’mon, let’s hear it for anime! (Pause for the roaring cheers, man I
sure am great at pretend public speaking) Okay, okay, I’m truly looking forward to this festival, and I
hope you all enjoy! Thank you!

Speaking Time: 7min 11sec (that’s being generous with the pause for cheering)