Next Club Meeting:September 20, 2025,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.
[Source: WeGotThisCovered] Anyone who loves superheroes these days seems to have that one cartoon that resonated with them, leading to an undying love for it. Children of the 1990’s will likely wax nostalgia over Batman: The Animated Series or X-Men: The Animated Series, while others who prefer the decade that followed remember Justice League Unlimited and Spectacular Spider-Man quite fondly.
This particular decade’s biggest breakout was arguably Young Justice, a series that placed the focus on sidekicks such as Robin/Nightwing, Superboy, Kid Flash, Aqualad, Miss Martian, Artemis and others who were coming of age and ready to take their place in the limelight. But it was unfortunately cut short after only two seasons due to a lack of merchandise sales – even though not much was manufactured to begin with. It was a ridiculous Catch 22, to say the least.
Since its untimely cancellation, a very rabid fanbase tirelessly campaigned for the series’ return, ultimately resulting in a third season being chosen as one of the vanguards for the upcoming DC Universe streaming service that’s really gotten people talking as of late.
As was to be expected, the next chapter in the story will see another lineup shift, which producer Greg Weisman unveiled over on Twitter:
Upon examining the image, we see Tigress, Superboy and someone who appears to be Black Lightning looming above, though it remains to be seen if this iteration of the character is indeed Jefferson Pierce. In addition to them, Nightwing can be glimpsed heading up a new band of heroes consisting of Katana, Metamorpho and three others who’ve yet to be identified.
Of course, this is but a fraction of the cast, so we’ll keep you posted when it comes to any relevant developments made between now and showtime. Let’s just hope that we see some of the villains before long because, don’t forget, season 2 left off with a handshake shared by Vandal Savage and Darkseid, so we’re definitely intrigued to see where that goes.
For more on Young Justice: Outsiders and various other shows comprising the DC Universe spectrum, be sure to click here for additional details.
[Source: Engadget] Forgotton Anne looks like a gentle animated feature film you can't quite remember the name of, with an art style somewhere between Studio Ghibli and those curious kids' animation series I used to watch from Europe. The charming characters, mostly anthropomorphic objects called forgotlings, make for an entertaining adventure, combined with occasionally smart puzzles and surprising gameplay twists. That said, ThroughLine Games have made a gorgeous animated story where the gameplay comes second.
It's easiest to describe Forgotton Anne in terms of other games: It's a platform game like the original, original Prince of Persia, but without the death -- in fact, I don't think you can die. It's also got some Monkey Island-esque exploration scenes, and dialog-based dilemmas crop up throughout. Then there's a generally simple, puzzle-based component to slow down exploration and eke out the story. These center on the Arca, your font of power as Enforcer of this fictional realm of forgotlings. Strapped to the palm of your hand, the gadget has the ability to draw Anima (magical sci-fi MacGuffin energy) from batteries, engines and even pesky living objects if you're feeling dark.
It'll also power your winged accessory that adds height and distance to your jump. You'll need it: Platforming puzzles typically center on the give-and-take of carrying and discharging Anima energy, while still being able to traverse the world with some wing-assisted jumps and climbs.
The world itself is a place where lost items like clothes and furniture live on, apparently waiting to be reunited with their owners in the Ether, which is framed as the world all these objects came from. However, Anne, who you play as, is one of only two humans, and the other one is a surly older man named Master Bonku, who seems to run the entire place -- what's going on?
Anne is tasked with sorting out issues between forgotlings, and the game kicks off just after a rebellious faction of scarves, shoes, mannequins and more attack facilities and shut down power. In the first few scenes, you encounter a decision about how to deal with a deceptive scarf. Without spoiling things, you can choose to end him or let him get away. While the game doesn't signpost it, most of these decisions lead to repercussions later. We're not talking Mass Effect levels of branching storylines and consequences here, but the story gives the player a bit of choice, even if Anne is kind of frustrating (and dull) as a character -- at least until later.
Fortunately, the supporting cast of talking objects is charming. The developers have distributed plenty of international accents and dialects to ensure every object you talk to feels, to be honest, far more fleshed-out than they need to be. A few examples: There's an excessively mellow lava lamp that slowly talks in a California slur, the rapier-wielding mannequin has a British accent to go alongside his rakish behavior; an old-fashioned folding camera has the wizened grandmotherly voice you might expect.
Like the voice acting, the music is suitably big-budget, combining gorgeous orchestral scores with smaller-scale musical arrangements. As you move through layers of a building or structure, the melodies will gently change to represent what's going on. A hidden underground speakeasy gets a different track as you flit between the bar, the stage and the roof rafters. It's a smart way of pointing out different characters you might not have noticed before. Similarly, the in-game camera cleverly pans out and crops to help signpost your way through early levels -- without it, you might not have realized that side alley in the beautiful background is actually where you've got to go next.
When it comes to the puzzles and negotiating platforms, you'll find that timing is frustratingly sluggish for leaps, while the puzzles (typically involving sliding parts, door switches and using Anima to power machinery) aren't going to tax your mind too much. While restoring power to the factory or navigating broken bridges, I found myself yearning for more interactions with forgotlings.
Most of the puzzles are simple, though I did get stuck on one involving a rotary dial phone, but I'm putting that down to the fact I've never touched one in my life.
There are touches of emotional heft as the story starts to coalesce: Anne yearns to know where she came from and who her mother was. Meanwhile, Master Bonku is protective of her to the point of deception. It all sounds like an animated movie, and playing it doesn't change that sensation -- it's just a shame there's not a little more depth to the parts of Forgotton Anne where you're in control.
From the outer reaches of space to the small-town streets of suburbia, the hunt comes home in Shane Black's explosive reinvention of the Predator series. Now, the universe's most lethal hunters are stronger, smarter and deadlier than ever before, having genetically upgraded themselves with DNA from other species. When a young boy accidentally triggers their return to Earth, only a ragtag crew of ex-soldiers and a disgruntled science teacher can prevent the end of the human race.
[Source: ToonZone] Aw geez! Ooo-wee! Belch! Other catch phrases! Remember when the future of Rick & Morty was up in the air? It’s finally landed, and on the good side. How many obscure fast food sauces will this cartoon be able to advertise with this kind of deal?
For months now, we’ve been told the next season of Rick & Morty has been stalled — that they weren’t even working on it. At first no one knew why, leading to paranoid speculation, but it was clarified that contract negotiations were holding things up. And now we know why the contracts were so important: if you’re going to get locked into an episode deal this massive, it better be a good deal. At least 70 more episodes are now guaranteed to air, more than doubling the current library.
Keep in mind the order is for 70 episodes, but this doesn’t mean the next season is literally going to be 70 episodes long. AS could be planning to quickly farm the next season out to the same factory that made Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors, but we doubt Roiland and Harmon would have signed the contract under those conditions. It’s more likely we’re looking at a multiple-season renewal.
Should We See It from the Side or the Bottom? A new romantic fantasy from Studio Shaft
In the town of Moshimo, Norimichi Shimada and his friends, Yusuke, Miura and Jun'ichi live while harassing their teacher and the former half galvanising over the beauty of their classmate Nazuna Oikawa. Yusuke in particular speaks of confessing to Nazuna. However, Nazuna is poised to leave town. While not knowing this, the four make a bet regarding whether or not Fireworks look round or flat from the side.
Nazuna, on the day she is supposed to leave, picks up a small ball she finds pretty on her way to school. After school, she encounters Norimichi and Yusuke, both of which are on swimming duty. Challenging them to a race, the winner has to follow whatever she says, where Yusuke wins, and she asks him to meet her later. Returning home, her mother and father discuss whether leaving the town is a good idea, to which her mother claims 'she has no friends'. Nazuna then changes into a Yukata and packs a suitcase, trying to leave home.
However, later, Nazuna meets Norimichi at the nearby hospital, where she remarks that she had wanted Norimichi to win. Hastily dragged away by her mother, Norimichi picks up the ball from earlier, and realises that Yusuke did not meet her. He meets the other three again, and in a fit of rage, throws the ball at Yusuke, inadvertently reversing time.
Time having reversed to when the swimming competition occurred, it is shown what would have occurred had Norimichi won. Nazuna meets up with him, where instead of running away, she attempts to get work at a nearby store.
Acclaimed screenwriter Mari Okada (Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day) makes her directorial debut in this moving animated fantasy feature, Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms… The people of Iorph have a lifespan of hundreds of years and maintain their teenage appearances for life, but when the peace of this town is shattered by those who want the secret to their longevity for themselves, a young girl named Maquia is forced to escape. Wandering the land alone, upon finding an orphaned baby she chooses to raise him, but as this boy grows up so the difference in their lifespans is thrown into ever-sharper relief.
In the Star Wars universe, you may have heard about the infamous moment where Han Solo and Lando Calrissian first meet and ultimately face-off for the legendary Millennium Falcon. With Solo: A Star Wars Story, and the help of ILM, this iconic moment was captured in full 360º, putting you the viewer at the center of it all. Watch it all unfold with Han, Lando, and some new and old friends. This experience is a truly never-before-seen event. Solo: A Star Wars Story 360 was created in association with ILMxLAB.
“This ship has probably never looked better than when Lando had it.”
[Source: Entertainment Weekly] In a new behind-the-scenes video, Donald Glover gives Star Wars fans a tour of the pristine Millennium Falcon as we’ll see it in Solo: A Star Wars Story, before his young Lando Calrissian lost the starship to Han Solo in a card game.
While Han used the Falcon as a speedy but dilapidated smuggling vessel, it’s clear Lando considered it a flying bachelor pad. Glover walks us through the living quarters, suitable for entertainment with a sound system and adjacent food and coffee bar. (Note: Wookiee cookies. For when Chewie needs to be reminded “Who’s a good boy?”)
Then we get a tour of the sleeping quarters.
“These pillows are made of actual kajak hair,” Glover explains. “That’s not easy to get.”
There’s no record of what (or who) a “kajak” is, but EW has asked Star Wars story group maestro Pablo Hidalgo. We’ll update with whatever he can share.
Adjacent to the captain’s room is the cape closet. Glover walks us through Lando’s attire for every occasion: “an everyday cape… sister’s wedding cape… Intergalactic president’s day cape …” He holds out a fur-covered one. “This is just an if-someone-gets-cold-cape.”
I’d like to see a tour of the Falcon by Han after he finishes grubbing it up.
An American bebop and cool jazz vocalist, pianist, composer, songwriter, arranger and producer.He was perhaps best known as the composer and performer of songs from Schoolhouse Rock!, a series of TV cartoons that appeared on Saturday mornings in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.
Robert Dorough was born in Cherry Hill, Polk County, Arkansas and grew up in Plainview, Texas. During World War II, he participated in Army bands as pianist, clarinetist, saxophonist, and arranger.After that, he attended North Texas State University, where he studied composition and piano.
His son, Chris, says 94-year-old Bob Dorough died of natural causes Monday at his home in Mount Bethel, Pennsylvania.
According to his biography, the jazz musician "set the multiplication tables to music" as musical director for the educational cartoon series between 1973 and 1985. It was revived from 1993 to 1999.
He also wrote the song "Devil May Care," which jazz great Miles Davis recorded as an instrumental version.
One of Marvel's most enigmatic, complex and badass characters comes to the big screen, starring Academy Award® nominated actor Tom Hardy as the lethal protector Venom.
The DC Animated Movie Universe has officially confirmed it will be releasing the Death of Superman animated movie later this year. The news was dropped by a 6-minute featurette with commentary from the creative team, which includes footage from the upcoming feature. Superman’s death has been covered numerous time already, as we’ve previously seen in the animated Superman: Doomsday, as well as Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and his resurrection in Justice League last year. In all honesty, these installments didn’t do justice to the subject matter (no pun intended), and DC has promised to bring a whole lot more meaning and emotion to the upcoming animated film. The creative team has stated that it will “include many of the fan-favourite moments from the story that were left out of Doomsday.” That’s a pretty bold promise but leaves us with a lot of optimism for the upcoming animated film. The teaser also does a lot to how much of it will be handled, including the all-star cast and “better” story-line.
A N I M A T R I X N E T W O R K Saturday, April 28, 2018
Wood Dale Public Library
♪ ♫♬ "Get your Gauntlet on and shake it!" ♪ ♫♬ It's Infinity Weekend!
Main Meeting Room, 10:15 am to 5:00 pm
10:15 - 11:05 Houseki no Kuni 5-6 11:05 - 11:55 A Place Further Than the Universe 3-4 11:55 - 12:45 Violet Evergarden 5-6 12:45 - 1:35 Inuyashiki 5-6 1:35 - 2:15 Club Meeting / Announcements 2:15 - 3:05 B - the Beginning 3-4 3:05 - 4:45 Big Fish and Begonia [Movie]
All anime presented are fan-subtitled unless otherwise noted.
Don't miss the exciting anime series: B - The Beginning and Inuyashiki!
Our next club meeting will be at the Wood Dale Public Library, Main Meeting Room (on your far right as you enter the front doors), from 10:15 AM to 5:00 PM (until the library closes).
There is public transportation available. A Metra train-stop is located within walking distance.
Please note: If you are driving, please park your car on the south side of the building (not the front) in order to make room for other library patrons.
An upcoming Japanese film produced by Warner Bros, based on the manga series of the same name by Tite Kubo, and directed by Shinsuke Sato. The film will star Sota Fukushi, best known for portraying the protagonist of Kamen Rider Fourze, as the main protagonist, Ichigo Kurosaki. It is set to be released in Japan on July 20, 2018.
Behold, the trailer for HOTEL ARTEMIS, written and directed by Drew Pearce (MARVEL ONE SHOT: ALL HAIL THE KING) and starring Jodie Foster, Dave Bautista, Sterling K. Brown, Jeff Goldblum, Sofia Boutella, Kenneth Choi, Charlie Day, Brian Tyree Henry, Evan Jones, Jenny Slate, and Zachary Quinto.
After a heist gone bad in a near-future L.A., three armed robbers (Brown, Henry, and Choi) run to The Nurse (Foster) at the Hotel Artemis for medical attention, where membership is required and rules of conduct are strictly enforced. After arriving, they discover that a seemingly low-value fountain pen stolen in the course of the robbery turns out to be worth many times what was taken in the heist—and is, of course, uninsured criminal property. Now, the patience of the hotel management is tested as killers convene to get back the pen and kill the trio.
This is the first episode of our animation series, was released in Jan 2015. We are a small team from China, there are two full-time and one part-time. We love animation, especially the American style. We hope that we can make some story fun, humorous and full of Chinese philosophy. We sincerely hope that you will like the animation and the adventure story of Lucky and Pie. We also hope that you will follow us although the update is very slowly. Hahahaha..
A deep-sea submersible, part of an international undersea observation program, has been attacked by a massive creature, previously thought to be extinct, and now lies disabled at the bottom of the deepest trench in the Pacific…with its crew trapped inside. With time running out, expert deep sea rescue diver Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham) is recruited by a visionary Chinese oceanographer (Winston Chao), against the wishes of his daughter Suyin (Li Bingbing), to save the crew—and the ocean itself—from this unstoppable threat: a pre-historic 75-foot-long shark known as the Megalodon. What no one could have imagined is that, years before, Taylor had encountered this same terrifying creature. Now, teamed with Suyin, he must confront his fears and risk his own life to save everyone trapped below…bringing him face to face once more with the greatest and largest predator of all time.
GKIDS proudly presents SATELLITE GIRL AND MILK COW, an action-comedy like you have never seen before.
An out of commission satellite picks up a lovelorn ballad on her radio antenna and descends to Earth to find the source of such sincere emotions. But on the way she is caught in the crossfire of a raging magical battle and is transformed into Satellite Girl, complete with Astro Boy-like rocket shoes and weapon-firing limbs. Meanwhile, the balladeer in question - a loser 20 something at a café open mic - meets the fate that befalls all broken-hearted lovers: he is turned into a farm animal. But love knows no bounds, and aided by the wise and powerful Merlin - a wizard who has been turned into a roll of toilet paper - our duo must evade the all-consuming incinerator monster, the wily pig witch, and other nefarious adversaries in an attempt to be together. From the brilliant and slightly twisted mind of writer/director Chang Hyung-yun, SATELLITE GIRL AND MILK COW is a heartfelt and wildly entertaining commentary on the possibility for human connection in the crazy, mixed-up, post-modern world we live in.
From visionary anime auteur Masaaki Yuasa, comes a joyously hallucinogenic but family-friendly take on the classic fairy tale about a little mermaid who comes ashore to join a middle-school rock band and propel them to fame. Kai is talented but adrift, spending his days sulking in a small fishing village after his family moves from Tokyo. His only joy is uploading songs he writes to the internet. When his classmates invite him to play keyboard in their band, their practice sessions bring an unexpected guest: Lu, a young mermaid whose fins turn to feet when she hears the beats, and whose singing causes humans to compulsively dance – whether they want to or not.
As Kai spends more time with Lu, he finds he is able to tell her what he is really thinking, and a bond begins to form. But since ancient times, the people in the village have believed that mermaids bring disaster and soon there is trouble between Lu and the townspeople, putting the town in grave danger. Winner of the Grand Prize at the prestigious Annecy Animation Festival, and premiering in English as an official selection of Sundance 2018, Lu Over the Wall is a toe-tapping, feel-good demonstration of Yuasa’s genre-mixing mastery that will leave you humming long after you leave the theater.
