Next Club Meeting: April 20, 2024, at the Fountaindale Public Library in Bolingbrook from 11:00 am - 5:00 pm

The Animatrix Network is an anime & manga fan club located in the Southwest suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. We usually meet on the third Saturday of each month (except when holidays or conventions coincide). The meetings are free and open to the public. Join us for a day filled with anime.

This site provides news, reviews, commentaries, and previews of the world of anime and everything it inspires, such as live-action films, comics, music, art, and other weird things to enjoy and contemplate.

Friday, September 27, 2013

Anime Viewing Schedule for September 28, 2013

Saturday, September 28, 2013
Wood Dale Public Library
"Something tells me not to tick her off..."
Main Meeting Room, 10:15 am to 5:00 pm
(Click on links to view Video Previews)
10:15 - 11:05    My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU eps. 3-4 [Video]
11:05 - 11:30    Blood Lad eps.2
[Video]
11:30 - 12:20    Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet eps. 9-10 [Video]
12:20 - 1:10      Red Data Girl eps. 11-12 (end) [Video]
1:10 - 1:50        Club Meeting / Announcements [Video]
1:50 - 2:15        Sword Art Online ep. 20
[Video]
2:15 - 3:05        Attack on Titan eps. 16-17 [Video]
3:05 - 4:35        Blue Exorcist [Movie] [Video]

10:15 - 11:05    My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU (Episodes 3-4)
Plot Summary: [Source: Wikipedia] The story follows loners, the pragmatic Hachiman Hikigaya and beautiful Yukino Yukinoshita who despite their varying personalities and ideals, offer help and advice to others as part of their school's Service Club. It largely depicts various social situations faced by teens in a high school setting and the psychology driving their interactions.
Episode 3 "Sometimes The God of Romantic Comedies Does Good Deeds": During gym class, Hachiman practices against a wall by himself since as usual by his own scheme, he doesn't have a tennis partner. At lunch, Hachiman eats alone at his favorite spot because of the nice sea breezes that blow in from the shore but is interrupted by Yui. While they chat, they are both interrupted by Saika Totsuka and Hachiman is fooled by his androgynous appearance. The following day, Hachiman pairs up with Saika for tennis who asks Hachiman to join the Tennis Club to help raise their strength. Unsure of what to do, Hachiman asks Yukino for advice. Just then, Yui shows up with Saika who requests that the club help him with tennis practice, which takes a few days with no improvement. At the tennis court, Yumiko and her posse show up and demand to use the court. Hayama Hayato and Yumiko make wager with Hachiman and Yui to have a double tennis match with the winner being able to use the court and help Saika practice. As Yumiko and Hayato steadily gain the upper hand, Yui sprains her ankle but gets Yukino as her replacement. After a bit of pregame banter with Yumiko, Yukino steadily dominates the game until her stamina runs low, and entrusts the game to Hachiman. Hachiman uses his knowledge of the sea breeze's speed and direction and is able to win the match. Although, everyone ignores the Service Club's victory since Hayato protects Yumiko from injuring herself after Hachiman's final serve. At the end, Yukino leaves with Yui while Saika thanks Hachiman, who remarks that the "god of romantic comedies" is a retard for the end pairing which seems homosexual. As Hachiman returns to the club room, he walks in on Yui and Yukino changing and is knocked out with a tennis racquet before complementing the "god" on his sense of humor.
Episode 4 "In Other Words, He Has Few Friends": On they way to school, Hachiman and his sister, Komachi Hikigaya talk about the car accident Hachiman had been involved in on what was supposed to be his first day of High School. At school, Hachiman is once again reprimanded by Shizuka for his "Workplace Visit Survey" where he tries to justify becoming a "house-husband". At the Service Club meeting, Yui and Hachiman receive a mysterious chain text implicating 2F's Kakeru Tobe, Ōoka, and Yamato as delinquents. At this time, Hayato enters the club room and requests that the Service Club help him stop the text from circulating, which they accept. They realize that the texts are connected to the upcoming three-person-per-group Workplace Visit and since Hayato's clique has four people, one of them is spreading the rumors to get someone knocked out of the group. Yukino has Yui and Hachiman gather information on the three suspects, but Yui fails to gather any information due to her inability to remain subtle. Hachiman decides to instead Hayato's clique, noticing that when Hayato is around they are all lively. Hayato then approaches Hachiman and asks of his progress, just as Hachiman observes that the clique is now quiet and awkwardly checking their phones now that Hayato is no longer with them. Realizing the situation, Hachiman explains to everyone at the Service Club, that he doesn't know who the culprit is, but explains that their behavior when Hayato isn't around suggests they are only acquaintances, with Hayato being their mutual friend, therefore they are literally competing for his attention. He solves the case by suggesting that Hayato have the three of them group and have a chance to get to know each other better, which seems to work. As thanks, Hayato groups with Hachiman along with Saika for the Workplace Visit. 

11:05 - 11:30     Blood Lad (Episode 2)
 
Plot Summary: [Source: Wikipedia] Blood Lad follows Staz, a vampire from the surreal "Demon World", and Fuyumi, an ordinary girl who accidentally wanders into the Demon World through a portal. Subsequently after meeting each other, Fuyumi is killed by a carnivorous plant and turned into a ghost, causing Staz to take responsibility and pledge to help bring her back to life.
Episode 2  "Back Home, But Not Really": The Black Curtain exits inside Fuyumi's room and Staz immediately begins criticizing her plain lifestyle. Afterwards, Staz suggests that he enroll as a transfer student at Fuyumi's high school and they run into her upset father but Staz sprays him with his diluted saliva altering his behavior and explaining that it possesses the property of controlling humans. later, Staz enters into a fit of excitement while marveling at the human world, and upon arriving at Fuyumi's school, sprays its entire population with his saliva thus allowing her to fit in as if she never left. Fuyumi soon learns that the chemical only creates false memories, at which point, her body starts disappearing much to her shock. Staz has her suck some of his blood, which restores her demon existence. Afterwards, Staz finds himself strangely uninterested in sucking the blood of humans other than Fuyumi. Later they return to Fuyumi's house to discover a woman calling herself Bell Hydra. Bell reveals that she didn't leave the Black Curtain out by choice and that she had known about Staz's doppelganger to which Staz wrongly deduces that she intends to blackmail him into giving up his territory, before she uses spatial magic to transport him to point in the human world and threatens to kill Fuyumi if he doesn't get an item from a demon clothing store for her. Afterwards, Bell explains that she had been looking for the person who stole the Black Curtain from her. Meanwhile, Staz enters into a pointless fight with the store owner, until Bell and Fuyumi show up with the latter explaining that Bell had only been testing Staz in her search for someone with powerful magic. Finally Bell reveals that the only thing capable of bringing Fuyumi back to life is "The Book of Human Resurrection" which she had sold to the boss of the Demon World's Western District: Wolf. In the epilogue, a shocked Staz reveals that Wolf is his old friend and rival.


11:30 - 12:20     Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet (Episodes 9-10)
Plot Summary: [Source: Wikipedia] In the distant future, mankind has taken to the stars and formed the Galactic Alliance of Humankind (人類銀河同盟 Jinrui Ginga Dōmei). The Alliance is engaged in a perpetual war with a tentacled alien species known as the Hideauze (ヒディアーズ Hidiāzu). 16-year-old Ensign Ledo is a soldier in the Galactic Alliance, piloting a Machine Caliber (マシンキャリバー Mashin Kyaribā), an AI-automated, humanoid-shaped battle suit, which he refers to as 'Chamber'. After a failed attempt by the Alliance forces to destroy an enemy super-weapon, Ledo is knocked into a wormhole and loses consciousness. When he awakens, he learns from Chamber that he has been in cryo-stasis for 6 months while his wounds were healing. Ledo learns that he and Chamber have been 'found' by a rag-tag band of 'primitive' human scavengers. Ledo quickly discovers that he is on board a massive fleet of ships on an ocean-covered planet. Chamber tells him that local star charts reveal the planet is Earth, the birthplace of humanity, a place that members of the Alliance were only familiar with from stories and believed was a myth.
Episode 9 "Deep Sea Secret": Ledo starts his offensive on the whalesquid nest, assisted by Pinion's crew and their barrage of depth charges, obliterating the enemies without much effort. While investigating an ancient facility, Ledo finds some records and upon accessing them, he learns that the Hideauze were once humans who underwent heavy genetic modification to adapt themselves to space environment, calling themselves "Evolvers", and viewing their efforts as blasphemy, the rest of mankind declared war on them, leading to their current conflict after both sides abandoned Earth that was under the fifth ice age by that time, except for the ancestors to the current humans and whalesquids living in the planet. In shock with this revelation, Ledo shouts in despair when Chamber slays a Hideauze (human sized) child without his permission. Back at the Gargantia, both Bebel and Amy show signs of how much they miss him.
Episode 10 "Island of Ambition": With all the Hideauze in the area killed, Pinion and his crew manage to salvage ancient technology not seen anywhere, but instead of sharing it with the rest of mankind as originally planned, Pinion claims that they have the right to keep it to themselves, and sends a message to the other fleets warning them to keep out of their territory. As the message reaches the Gargantia, the fleet had just reorganized itself and there is the concern that other ships may leave to join Pinion's side as well. With the technology salvaged by them, Pinion's fleet defeats a hostile pirate crew who in return asks for a place among them, and he agrees. Ledo, still in shock upon learning the truth about the Hideauze hears from Chamber that the lightbugs that mankind use as power source were also created by the Hideauze as well which further proves their discovery. Ledo then questions if there is still a need to keep fighting the Hideauze after all they learned and the Machine Caliber replies that it came with the conclusion that the Gallactic Alliance and the Hideauze are too different to coexist, as one side evolved and perfected their civilization while the other relenquished civilization altogether, thus their conflict is inevitable. Chamber then informs Ledo about a transmission from a Gallatic Alliance vessel and as a huge fleet approaches them, Ledo sees Commander Kugel's Machine Caliber atop it and finds that he is alive.

12:20 - 1:10    Red Data Girl (Episodes 11-12 End)
Plot Summary: [Source: Wikipedia] The story revolves around Izumiko Suzuhara, a 15-year old girl who has been raised at Tamakura Shrine, part of the Kumano Shrines World Heritage Site. She destroys any electrical device that she comes into contact with. Despite being shy, she wants to try living in the city. Her guardian Yukimasa Sagara recommends that she enroll at Hōjō High School in Tokyo, accompanied by his son and Izumiko's childhood friend Miyuki Sagara. While in Tokyo, an entity named "Himegami" appears. Izumiko learns that she is a yorishiro, a vessel for a shinto spirit known as a kami, while Miyuki learns that he is a yamabushi, a warrior tasked with protecting her.

1:10 - 1:50     Club Meeting / Announcements

  • Convention Coverage
  • Animation News from around the world
  • Cosplayers/Skits/Masquerade
  • Anime Music Videos
  • And other weird, interesting stuff...


1:50 - 2:15    Sword Art Online (Episodes 20)
Plot Summary: [Source: Wikipedia] In the year 2022, the Virtual reality Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (VRMMORPG) Sword Art Online (SAO) is released. With the Nerve Gear, a virtual reality Helmet that stimulates the user's five senses via their brain, players can experience and control their in-game characters with their minds. On November 6, 2022, all the players log in for the first time, and discover that they are unable to log out. They are then teleported to a place where Kayaba Akihiko, the creator of SAO, issues them a challenge; if they wish to be free and log out of the game, they must reach the 100th floor of the game's tower and defeat the final boss. However, if their avatars die in game, their bodies will also die in the real world. The story follows Kirito, a skilled player who is determined to beat the game. As the game progresses Kirito eventually befriends a female player called Asuna who becomes his partner and lover. After the duo discovers the identity of Kayaba's avatar in SAO, the couple confronts and defeats him, freeing themselves and the other players from the game. Upon returning to the real world, Kirito learns that Asuna is trapped along a small group of SAO players against their will in another VRMMORPG called Alfheim Online (ALO) as a part of a plan devised by Nobuyuki Sugō with the intention of brainwashing Asuna and marry her in an attempt to take over her family's company. Helped by old friends from his time in SAO along new allies, Kirito manages to thwart Nobuyuki's plans and finally reunite with Asuna in the real world. Soon after, Kirito embarks in another VRMMORPG called Gun Gale Online (GGO) to investigate the mysterious connection between the game and deaths ocurring in the real world. He eventually discovers that the cuplrits behind the deaths include former members of a murderous guild he has previously confronted in SAO. After solving the murders in GGO, Kirito is recruited to assist in the development of a state-of-the-art game interface far more realistic and complex than those of the games he had previously played, but he eventually gets trapped in a game called UnderWorld (UW) where the flow of time is thousands of times faster than in the real world and is currently finding a way back to reality.
Episode 20 "General of the Blazing Flame": Kirito and Leafa reach the meeting place just as the Salamanders prepare to attack the Sylphs and Cait Siths. Seeing that they have no chance against them in a direct confrontation, Kirito rushes forward and addresses the Salamander General Eugene. Kirito bluffs that he is an ambassador for the Spriggans-Undines alliance, and cautions him that to attack them would be tantamount to declaring war on the other four factions. Eugene does not believe him and challenges him to a duel. Though both are equally skilled, Kirito is severely disadvantaged by Eugene's superior sword, which can phase ethereally and bypass his defenses. Kirito conjures a huge smokescreen, making use of it to borrow Leafa's sword and attack from Eugene's blind spot. Drawing his second sword to block Eugene's attack at the last instant is enough to surprise him, and Kirito proceeds to win the duel. After Eugene is defeated, he is revived by Sakuya, the leader of the Sylphs, and leaves in peace with his army. Now exposed as a traitor, Sigurd is contacted by Sakuya who strips him of his title and has him banished from the Sylph territory. After learning that the now allied Sylphs and Cait Siths plan an expedition to the World Tree in a couple of days, Kirito donates a large sum of money to Alicia, leader of the Cait Siths, to aid them in their war effort and departs ahead with Leafa. Meanwhile, Asuna makes use of the code she had previously learned to open the cage and escape. 

2:15 - 3:05    Attack on Titan (Episodes 16-17)
Plot Summary: [Source: Wikipedia] In an alternative, middle-ages setup, the human population is dwindling in numbers. With the advent of Titans, giant humanoid creatures that attack and devour any human on sight, what remains of civilization is protected by three concentric walls, hundreds of kilometers long and around fifty meters tall, called Wall Maria (the outermost wall), Wall Rose and Wall Sina (the innermost wall housing the capital). All efforts to expand the human territory beyond the walls have failed so far, but the citizens inside remained safe for a hundred years, until two unusual Titans, a colossal one, sixty meter tall and another one, covered with a hardened shell, break through Wall Maria, bringing the other Titans inside, forcing mankind to once again face its greatest threat to ensure its survival. The series follows the story of Eren Jeager, a young boy whose father disappears after his mother is killed during the fall of Wall Maria. Years later he enlists into the army, accompanied by his adopted sister Mikasa Ackerman and their childhood friend Armin Arlelt. When the Titans threaten to break further through Wall Rose, Eren discovers that he possesses the ability to temporarily transform himself into a Titan. Seen as a threat by some, and a ray of hope by others, Eren joins his companions in a war to protect what still remains of mankind, making use of his newfound power while looking for answers to the mysteries surrounding the Titans, the walls, and his own existence.
Episode 16  "What to Do Now: Prelude to the Counterattack, Part 3": Jean manages to acquire another Maneuver Gear from a dead soldier and escape thanks to Annie, Connie, and Marco distracting the Titans. With Titan-Eren now fully awake and carrying the boulder towards the gate as planned, Ian orders everyone to distract the Titans away from Eren at all costs, with some of them sacrificing their lives in the process. Eren finally blocks the open gate with the boulder, and a tearful Rico fires a yellow flare to signal that the operation was a success. As Armin tries to pull out Eren from his Titan body, they are surrounded by two Titans but are then saved by the timely arrival of Levi. With the gate finally sealed, the army eliminates all of the Titans remaining in Trost except two which are captured for research. As the army counts their casualties and dead, a shocked Jean finds Marco's dead and half-eaten body, Sasha's group is horrified to find a pile of corpses regurgitated from a Titan, and Annie mourns one of her dead comrades. Meanwhile, Eren is locked up in a cell guarded by the Military Police where he is visited by Levi and Commander Erwin Smith of the Recon Corps. After listening to his story and reasons for wanting the Titans dead, Levi allows Eren to join the Recon Corps under his command but warns if he ever betrays them or goes berserk again, he will personally kill him.
Episode 17  "Female Titan: 57th Expedition Beyond the Walls, Part 1": During their expedition, the Recon Corps set up a formation where several scouts spread around the main group where they will report by flare gun if a Titan is nearby so the main group can steer to avoid them. After Armin's squad manages to kill an Abnormal Titan, a Titan with a feminine body, suddenly appears from the right flank at high speed. Much to Armin's shock, the Female Titan's body can withstand their blades and is intelligent enough to kill his seniors easily. The Female Titan captures Armin but after removing his hood and seeing his face, she leaves him alive and continues running. Armin is picked up by Reiner and Jean who reveals that their right flank was wiped out by the Titans, which makes Armin realize it was the Female Titan's work and she is possibly another Titan Shifter like Eren. When the three of them give conflicting sources on where Eren is in the formation, they realize the Female Titan's target is Eren and they must stop her. Despite their failed attempts to attack, she leaves them and heads to where Eren is: the center of the group.

3:05 - 4:35    Blue Exorcist the MOVIE [Feature Presentation]
Movie Plot Summary: [Source: Wikipedia] The atmosphere in True Cross Academy is lively and boisterous in the days leading up to the grand festival held only once every 11 years. During this time, Rin Okumura is entrusted with the responsibility of suppressing a berserk Phantom Train. In the aftermath of his failed mission, he meets a devil whose appearance is that of a young boy with a mysterious connection to the ongoing festival.

Based on the TV Anime Series:
The story revolves around Rin Okumura, a teenager possessing abnormal strength and endurance who, along with his twin brother Yukio, was raised by Father Shiro Fujimoto. One day, Rin learns that he is the son of Satan, the strongest of all demons. Witnessing Shiro dying to protect him, Rin ends up doing what his guardian asked him never to do: draw the demon-slaying blade Kurikara, which restrains his demonic powers, from its scabbard. From that moment on, Rin not only gains permanent demonic features like fangs, pointed ears, fiery "horns" and a tail, but also the power to ignite himself into blue flames that can destroy almost anything they touch. At Fujimoto's funeral, Rin has an encounter with Fujimoto's friend Mephisto Pheles, who agrees with Rin's wish to become an Exorcist like his guardian to become stronger and to defeat Satan. Rin enrolls at the prestigious True Cross Academy, which is actually the Japanese branch of an international organization dedicated to protect the human realm, Assiah, from demons and other creatures from the demon realm, Gehenna. Rin takes part in a special Exorcist course, the existence of which is known only by a few. Much to his surprise, he finds that his brother Yukio is already a veteran Exorcist and will be one of his teachers.

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