The middle of April is shaping up to be another one of those bounteous times for local anime fans.

If you read this column last week, you know Kawaii Kon is coming up April 16 to 18. The Hawaii International Film Festival will take place at about the same time—April 16 to 22, to be exact—at Regal Dole Cannery Stadium 18 theaters. And, as has been customary in recent festivals, new anime plays into the festival's lineup.

This time around, the headlining anime is “;One Piece: Strong World,”; making its international debut with two screenings: 8:45 p.m. April 18 and 9:30 p.m. April 20. “;Strong World,”; the 10th “;One Piece”; film, is notable for having been written by manga creator Eiichiro Oda in honor of the series' 10th anniversary. It's the first time he's had direct involvement with one of the films.

Those of you who are sticklers for following series canon will want to watch episodes 426 to 429 on Funimation's “;One Piece”; Web site (www.onepieceofficial.com) to get a sense of where the film's story fits. In it, Luffy and the gang must brave various obstacles to rescue navigator Nami, who's been captured by the legendary pirate Gold Lion Shiki.

Also making a stop in Hawaii as part of its informal tour of film festivals around the country is “;Summer Wars,”; screening at 8:15 p.m. April 19. Kenji, the main character, is a teen math prodigy whose summer has become complicated. First, his secret crush, Natsuki, asks that he pose as her boyfriend during a four-day birthday celebration for her 90-year-old grandmother. Then he solves a math riddle that inadvertently brings a worldwide social networking site to its knees. The film is directed by Mamoru Hosoda, who's best known in the United States as director of the Bandai-released “;The Girl Who Leapt Through Time.”;

And finally there's “;Robogeisha,”; which I'm declaring right now as the Official “;Cel Shaded”; Most Totally Twisted Japanese Live-Action Film Ever Created (Until Proven Otherwise). Regular readers of this column will remember that I briefly mentioned “;Robogeisha”; back in January when Funimation licensed the film for DVD release as part of its “;2010 Roll-Out Riot.”;

You'll also recall that I mentioned scantily clad robotic geisha, mechanized buildings that slice other buildings in half (complete with spurting geysers of blood) and fried shrimp used as darts—all part of that movie ... and that's just the stuff I could mention with this column's self-imposed PG-13 rating.

With no DVD release date scheduled as yet, you'll just have to be content with the HIFF screening for now. Let's just say that there are many good reasons for its 10 p.m. April 16 screening time, and leave it at that.

Tickets are $12; $10 students, seniors, military and children; and $8 HIFF members. They go on sale tomorrow for members and April 7 for everyone else. For more information, visit www.hiff.org.

Anime around town

» MangaBento: This group of anime- and manga-inspired artists meets from 1 to 4 p.m. next Sunday at the Academy Art Center, 1111 Victoria St., Room 200. Visit www.manga-bento.com.

» Aiea Library Anime Club: 3 p.m. Saturday at the library, 99-143 Moanalua Road. This month, librarian Diane Masaki will screen episodes of “;Ouran High School Host Club.”; To RSVP, e-mail Masaki at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Jason S. Yadao is the author of Rough Guides' “;The Rough Guide to Manga,”; now available. For more anime and manga news and commentary, check out “;Otaku Ohana”; at blogs.starbulletin.com/otakuohana. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/jsyadao or e-mail him at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).