Next Club Meeting: March 16, 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.

Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Transformers: War For Cybertron

TRANSFORMERS: War For Cybertron
In the midst of the ongoing war on Cybertron, forces of good and evil clash as they search for the source of their power: the Allspark. This may not be the life they imagined, but it's a life worth fighting for. Transformers: War For Cybertron Trilogy: Siege is coming soon, only on Netflix. 

Watch Transformers: War For Cybertron Trilogy (Siege), Only on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/81002439

Monday, March 30, 2020

MIKU EXPO - 2020 USA & Canada Tour

M I K U   E X P O
Coming to Chicago - September 25, 2020
Hatsune Miku is a Japanese music sensation, a 16-year-old blue-haired girl with a unique voice and prodigious energy.
See Hatsune Miku Perform in CONCERT
What makes her special is that she is not a human singer, but a virtual persona who uses a computer-generated voice and 3D graphics to perform on stage. With a repertoire entirely provided by individual creators, she is the first truly crowd-created virtual talent. But being virtual doesn't stop her from filling up concert halls, or teaming up with major artists like Lady Gaga and Pharrell Williams!
Internationally popular with over 2.5 million followers on social media, the increasing demand for concerts overseas paved the way to MIKU EXPO, a global tour which since 2014 has taken Hatsune Miku to Indonesia, the United States, China, Japan, Mexico, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Europe! In 2019, MIKU EXPO is celebrating 5 years of international shows.

Sunday, March 29, 2020

Trailer for "Tower of God"

TOWER  of  GOD
Tower of God centers around a boy called Twenty-Fifth Bam, who has spent most of his life trapped beneath a vast and mysterious Tower, with only his close friend, Rachel, to keep him company. When Rachel enters the Tower, Bam manages to open the door into it as well, and faces challenges at each floor of this tower as he tries to find his closest companion.
As the story progresses, the viewer gradually explores the lore, history, and motivations of important characters and factions that drive or try to change the fate of the tower, for more than 10,000 years. Mysteries are gradually unveiled and added, as we learn about the struggles and triumphs of the inhabitants of the tower.

Saturday, March 28, 2020

A Blast From the Past: PRINCESS NINE

So you're sitting at home under national lock-down and wondering what to do at home. Check out some classic anime of the 1990's and remember some forgotten greats.
P R I N C E S S   N I N E
Here's an anime that's a Blast from the Past. Princess Nine is the epitome of sports anime. A meld of baseball, fascinating characters, and lots of charm. 

In the male-dominated sport of baseball, one group of high school girls is about to turn the world upside down! Ryo Hayakawa, daughter of a legendary pitcher, has been chosen to lead the “Princesses,” Japan’s first-ever girl’s baseball team. They don’t want to play in a separate league – they’re taking on the boys at their own game. And their goal? None other than Koshien, the national high school baseball championship!

But for all the challenges they face on the field, the hardest battles are the ones fought behind the scenes. They’ll have to overcome prejudice, endure weeks of hard training, and work their way through romantic rivalries if they ever want a chance to make it to the top!

Princess Nine is directed by Tomomi Mochizuki (Dirty Pair Flash, Twin Spica, House of Five Leaves) and features animation by Phoenix Entertainment.

Friday, March 27, 2020

MECHA UDE - Mechanical Arms

M E C H A   U D E
"Mechanical Arms"
Long ago, alien lifeforms came to Earth, fusing with people on the planet. Due to their appearance, they were dubbed "Mecha-ude," as when fused, they bore a striking resemblance to mechanized limbs.

Through an involuntary partnership, average middle schooler Hikaru Amatsuga works alongside the Mecha-ude known as Arma, who is an extremely rare and special existence. To protect Arma, the resistance group ARMS assigns the dual Mecha-ude user Aki Murasame to follow him wherever he goes. However, she is also looking for a mysterious Snake-Type Mecha-ude wielder, who has put many of her comrades in a critical state.
Behind the scenes, an organization known as the Kagami Group is searching for the mythical "Trigger Arm," a Mecha-ude said to grant unlimited power. When Aki's life is threatened by this group, Hikaru must team up with Arma to find the courage to fight back and, along the way, learn that his life will never be ordinary again.

Thursday, March 26, 2020

Vagrant Queen Premieres this Friday, March 27

-- V A G R A N T   Q U E E N --
Vagrant Queen is an upcoming American sci-fi television series that is set to premiere on Syfy on March 27, 2020. The show is based on the Vault comic book series written by Magdalene Visaggio and illustrated by Jason Smith. Elida built a life as a scavenger and outlaw, but when an old frenemy, Isaac, turns up with news about her long-lost mother, she is forced to return to her broken kingdom with Isaac and Amae in hopes of staging a rescue before a deadly childhood foe, Commander Lazaro, finds them. With civilization at stake, it’s this queen, this deadbeat, and this mechanic against a whole damn galaxy. 

Vagrant Queen Premieres Friday, March 27 at 10/9c only on SYFY.

Wednesday, March 25, 2020

Motherland: Fort Salem (Freeform) Trailer

MOTHERLAND: FORT SALEM
Set in an alternate America where witches ended their persecution over 300 years ago by cutting a deal with the government to fight for their country, “Motherland: Fort Salem” follows three young women from basic training in combat magic into early deployment. In this world, the traditional roles of gender and power are flipped, with the more dominant women on the front lines fighting looming terrorist threats that are familiar to our world—but with supernatural tactics and weapons. Subscribe to tvpromosdb on Youtube for more Motherland: Fort Salem season 1 promos in HD!
New Episodes on Wednesdays
Watch more Motherland: 
Fort Salem Season 1 videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list... 
Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Motherland 
» Starring: Taylor Hickson, Amalia Holm, Demetria McKinney, Jessica Sutton

Tuesday, March 24, 2020

Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 Anime Trailer

GHOST in the SHELL: SAC_2045
[Source: AnimeNewsNetwork] The producers of Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045, the new 3D CG Ghost in the Shell anime, unveiled a new trailer, visual, and cast members for the anime on Saturday. The trailer reveals that the anime will debut on Netflix worldwide on April 23.
Only on NETFLIX
“Ghost in the Shell,” a landmark in near-future science fiction, brings together Kenji Kamiyama and Shinji Aramaki as they present their vision of the year 2045 in Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045. Led by full-body cyborg Motoko Kusanagi, Public Security Section 9 once again gets ready to face off against cybercrime.
Watch the New Trailer



The new cast members include:
Megumi Han as Purin Ezaki, a new Section 9 member in charge of maintaining the Tachikomas
Kenjiro Tsuda as Standard, a mercenary currently attached to Section 9
The previously revealed returning cast members include:  

Atsuko Tanaka as Major Motoko Kusanagi

Akio Ohtsuka as Batou







Kōichi Yamadera as Togusa

 Yutaka Nakano as Ishikawa
 Toru Ohkawa as Saito

 Takashi Onozuka as Paz
 Tarô Yamaguchi as Borma
 Sakiko Tamagawa as the Tachikoma
 Osamu Saka as Daisuke Aramaki

Monday, March 23, 2020

Ahsoka Tano Confirmed in Mandalorian Season 2

First Live-Action Version of AHSOKA TANO
HUGE STAR WARS NEWS!! Live-action Ahsoka Tano has been CONFIRMED for The Mandalorian Season 2! Rosario Dawson will play Anakin Skywalker's wayward padawan!

Sunday, March 22, 2020

Wonder Woman '84 Rocks Golden Eagle Armor

Warner Bros. Releases a New Poster for "Wonder Woman 1984"
Warner Bros. teases a brand-new colorful poster for the upcoming film Wonder Woman 1984, showing off Wonder Woman's new Golden Eagle armor!

Saturday, March 21, 2020

ABIGAIL Trailer (2019) Fantasy, Adventure Movie

A B I G A I L
A young girl, Abigail, lives in a city whose borders were closed many years ago because of an epidemic of a mysterious disease. Abby's father was one of the sick - and he was taken when she was six years old. Going against the authorities to find her father, Abby learns that her city is actually full of magic. And that there are those who wish to have it eliminated forever, by labeling it a disease. Those infected are mysteriously taken away without a trace. 

Then one day, Abigail discovers in herself extraordinary magical abilities.

Friday, March 20, 2020

Cancellation of Anime Central 2020

C A N C E L L E D
This year's Anime Central will be CANCELLED due to concerns of the coronavirus. Here is their message to all attendees:

Dear Anime Central Community,
We want to thank all of you for being patient with us while we have been monitoring the spread of the coronavirus and what that means for the event and your safety. We have been working closely with our internal teams and external partners to fully grasp and understand all the options available to us, and most importantly, if we would be able to deliver the same quality of an event safely.
With that being said, it is with the heaviest of hearts that we are announcing that we are canceling the Anime Central 2020 event slated for May 15-17, 2020. Our Board of Directors and Anime Central Leaders did not come to this decision lightly, and carefully considered all the options available to us. One of the options was to reschedule the event for later in the year; however, we came to the conclusion that the quality of the event would not be the same. In addition, it would also pull resources and planning time away from the next convention Anime Central 2021. Our 2021 convention will be held May 21-23, 2021.
It’s no secret that it takes a lot to run a large event like ours. There are so many moving pieces, countless hours of volunteerism, and a lot of love for the community. Cancellation is not an easy thing to deal with, and it’s hitting our industry very hard right now.
While we are heartbroken, we take this time to recognize the individuals, volunteers and organizations who invested their time and resources into our 2020 convention. We thank our volunteers for their great ideas, the hard work, laughs, camaraderie, and teamwork they bring to table every year that makes this convention a success. We thank the Village of Rosemont who welcomes our community with open arms each spring as we more than quadruple its population for a weekend of Anime fun and to celebrate our community. We thank our Guests, Panelists, Gatherings Hosts, and Performers for all of the work they’ve already put into their events for this year’s convention; we sincerely hope you’ll be back with us again for our 2021 event. We thank each and every one of our Industry Partners, Exhibitors, and Artists; we know this time is hitting most of you more than others. This upcoming weekend and throughout the week we will be featuring them on our social media outlets. We encourage the community, if they can, to support these groups by buying merchandise from them. And we thank you, our fans, for standing by us and helping build the amazing community around this event. You’ve shown us time and time again how Anime Central is a part of your lives, favorite memories, and what the spirit of ACen means to you. We take that to heart every time we get together, and will use that to guide us into our 2021 event.

What Does the Cancellation Mean for Attendees?

As we navigate through this cancellation process, we want to break down what this will mean for the various areas of our convention and be as transparent as possible for what that will mean for 2021. We will provide updates as they become available.

Attendee Registrations

All attendees who pre-registered for 2020 memberships will be automatically rolled over for our 2021 convention. We’ve seen the community ask how they can support events that are cancelling due to the coronavirus. As a non-profit organization, this option would help us close out the remaining financial commitments open for 2020 and begin planning for 2021.
We do understand that not everyone will be able to attend our convention in 2021. Any attendee who would prefer to have a refund on their pre-registration must fill out the following refund request form by April 20, 2020.

2020 Refund Request Form

We are aware some members who transfer to 2021 will have paid more for their 2020 membership than the first tier rate for 2021. To adjust for this difference, we will be offering a coupon (delivered digitally) that can be used at the official Anime Central Merch Booth located in the Exhibit Hall at the event. The coupon will be valued at the difference between the tier the member registered in for 2020 and the first tier for 2021 memberships, and will be usable towards any of the official Anime Central Merchandise at the booth.

Retailers and Artists

Retailers and Artists who are registered for Anime Central 2020 will automatically be rolled over to our 2021 event. In addition, we will be offering a refund for those who cannot yet make the commitment to join us again. Any Retailer or Artist who would prefer to have a refund on their booth registration must fill out the following refund request form by April 20, 2020.
If refunded, they are welcome to apply again for 2021 when applications open if there are any open spaces at that time.

2020 Refund Request Form

Many of our Retailers and Artists make their living by exhibiting at shows like ours across the country. Attendees have asked us how they can support them through these times. We encourage the community, if they can, to support these groups by purchasing their merchandise. The current list of Exhibitors and Artists are listed on our website, and if they have an online shop, it will be listed in their Anime Central company profile. In addition, we will be featuring them on our social media over the next couple of weeks.

Panels and Cosplay Gatherings

All Cosplay Gatherings will be cancelled and need to be resubmitted for the 2021 event when the application reopens. Panels and Live Events will be contacted by their event coordination teams to discuss options moving forward for ACen 2021.

Hotels

All reservations made with any of our partner hotels or a third-party service should be directly canceled with them. Please contact them and work directly with that hotel as Anime Central is unable to assist with these reservations.
Most of the hotels in our room blocks have not taken out the first night's deposit. For those who have, please work with your hotel to cancel your reservation and have them refund your deposit.
Hotel reservations cannot be rolled over to the 2021 convention. Room blocks for Anime Central 2021 will open in September 2020.

Guests

We will be working with our guests to determine which ones we can reconfirm for the 2021 event. This may take some time as we work through schedules, balance commitments on both sides, and figure out the best paths forward. We thank you for your patience as we sort this out, and look forward to giving you more information as soon as we can.
Our staff has spent the better part of a year pouring their hearts into this event and we appreciate your patience and understanding as we all work through this together. We are so lucky to have built such a great anime community here in the Midwest and for now, all we want is for everyone to remain healthy and safe. We will be back and we will all come together again to make new memories, reunite with our friends, and have an amazing weekend together. We truly hope you’ll join us next year May 21-23 for Anime Central 2021.
With Love,
Anime Central


Thursday, March 19, 2020

TOP 15 Awsome Upcoming OPEN WORLD Games

 
15 Amazing Upcoming Open World Games of 2020 and 2021.
           1:   The Vision
           2:   Odludzie
           3:   Everwild
           4:   The Hive
           5:   Bleak Faith: Forsaken
           6:   Towers
           7:   Just Us
           8:   Wild
           9:   Maneater
           10: This Land Is My Land
           11: Cloudpunk
           12: Lost Soul Aside
           13: Taxi Simulator
           14: This Dead Winter
            
           15: Babylon Project

Wednesday, March 18, 2020

On This Day: Kaneda's License Expired

Fun Fact:
Kaneda's Driver's License in AKIRA Expired Yesterday.

Tuesday, March 17, 2020

What!? Another War of the Worlds TV Series!

Because we can never have enough
War of the Worlds
Set-in present-day Europe, War of the Worlds is a multi-faceted series, based on the story by H.G. Wells.  When astronomers detect a transmission from another galaxy, it is definitive proof of intelligent extraterrestrial life. The world’s population waits for further contact with bated breath. 
 
War of the Worlds -  Premiered on Sunday, February 16, 2020 on the EPIX channel. Starring Gabriel Byrne, Elizabeth McGovern, Léa Drucker, Natasha Little, Daisy Edgar Jones, Stéphane Caillard, Adel Bencherif, and Guillaume Gouix.

Monday, March 16, 2020

March 28 Club Meeting CANCELLED


Saturday, March 28, 2020
CANCELLED
[Library Closed Due to Coronavirus]
Fountaindale Public Library
300 W Briarcliff Rd
Bolingbrook, IL 60440
Board Room, Second Floor

11:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Sunday, March 15, 2020

Android's 10 Best Drawing and Art Apps

10 Best Drawing Apps for Android
Some of these are free drawing apps, some of these are paid drawing apps but all of them have something good going for them.

Here is the list:
          10. Adobe sketch/Adobe Illustrator Draw
            9. Clover Paint
            8. Superbrush
            7. Huion Sketch
            6. Medibang
            5. Concepts
            4. Autodesk Sketchbook
            3. Ibis Paint X
            2. Infinite Painter
            1. Artflow


Saturday, March 14, 2020

DOOM Eternal - Trailer #2

DOOM ETERNAL
Hell’s armies have invaded Earth. Become the Slayer in an epic single-player campaign to conquer demons across dimensions and stop the final destruction of humanity.
The only thing they fear... is you.
 
Watch the all-new official trailer

RAZE HELL when DOOM Eternal launches on 20.03.20.

Friday, March 13, 2020

Sleeping Betty by Claude Cloutier

S L E E P I N G   B E T T Y
In this animated short, Sleeping Betty is stuck in bed, victim to a strange bout of narcolepsy. The King calls on his subjects to rescue her and they all respond to the call: Uncle Henry VIII, Aunt Victoria, an oddly emotional alien, a funky witch, and a handsome prince. But will a kiss really be enough to wake the sleeping princess? The film, drawn in ink, is a classic example of the anachronistic and playful world of Claude Cloutier.