Next Club Meeting:September 5, 2026,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 in today's pop culture, such as live-action films, comics, music, art, and other weird things to enjoy and contemplate.
While hunting for rare Pyrolite fuel, Guan Chao accidentally enters the Memory Bureau and joins forces with Fangtang and Bai Zhong to fight mysterious BUG creatures corrupting different memory realms, uncovering secrets beyond imagination.
Studio Ghibli’s new A Night in the Valley of Witches gets
praise from legendary filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki
On July 8, 2026, Studio Ghibli premiered the 14-minute short film A Night in the Valley of Witches at Ghibli Park in Japan. Set in the park’s “Valley of Witches,” the fantasy anime explores mysterious magical events that happen after dark from the perspective of a confused night-shift worker. Director Goro Miyazaki said his father’s reaction was “insane in a good way.”
Co-directed by Goro Miyazaki and Ghibli veteran Akihiko Yamashita, the short takes fans into Ghibli Park’s magical Valley of Witches, featuring locations inspired by Kiki’s Delivery Service and Howl’s Moving Castle.
Yamashita previously worked on Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, and Mary and the Witch’s Flower, making his involvement a special connection to Ghibli’s history.
The short also features the park’s 65-foot-tall replica of Howl’s Castle. Goro once joked about the stationary structure:
“Howl’s castle is a ‘moving castle,’ but the castle in the park stays seated the whole time.”
“It’s not good for the [visitor’s] health if it doesn’t move.”
For Goro, the project marks another step in his long journey at Studio Ghibli. His early work, including Tales From Earthsea, faced criticism from his father, but he continued refining his own creative voice. Hayao later described Earwig and the Witch as “rather interesting,” despite its mixed reception.
With Goro now involved in discussions about Ghibli’s future alongside new president Kenichi Yoda, while Hayao Miyazaki remains deeply involved in selecting projects, the short feels like a meeting of Ghibli’s past and future.
A Night in the Valley of Witches is currently screening exclusively at Ghibli Park in Aichi, Japan.
Starring: Matthew Rhys, Danny Pudi, Lisa Gilroy Network: Paramount+
Synopsis: In an homage to SEGA’s iconic 1989 video game, Golden Axe follows legendary warriors Ax Battler, Tyris Flare and Gilius Thunderhead as they reunite to save Yuria from the evil giant Death Adder, who just won’t seem to stay dead. Their quest is complicated by Hampton Squib, an inexperienced and wildly underprepared adventurer whose dream of heroism far exceeds his abilities. Forced to work together despite their flaws, they must find a way to stop Death Adder once and for all.
Sunday, August 23, 2026
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2
A washed up edgerunner & a killer netrunner in Night City...
what could go wrong?
A new standalone 10-episode story from the world of Cyberpunk 2077, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 arrives October 20th, only on Netflix.
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Yamato fanzines are no longer Japan-only! There's one being created right now here in the USA, and YOU have an opportunity to contribute! Here's the submission form.
One day, high schooler Ageha Yoshina picks up a mysterious “red phone card” left behind in a public telephone booth.
A few days later, his childhood friend and classmate, Sakurako Amamiya—who possessed the same card—suddenly vanishes without a trace. In search of her, Ageha finds himself drawn into the rumors surrounding a nationwide string of mysterious disappearances, said to be the work of a secret organization known only as “Psyren.”
San and Mayu attend an all-girls school on a warm and tranquil island. When war reaches their shores, they are ordered to help nurse the wounded in a military hospital hidden away in a cave. Amidst escalating death and brutality, the friends struggle to find solace in their fragile lives.
Based on the manga by Machiko Kyo, cocoon – One Summer of Girlhood is the debut feature from Yukimitsu Ina and animation studio SASAYURI, founded by former Studio Ghibli animator Hitomi Tateno. The project brings together legendary veteran animators like Akihiko Yamashita and Shinji Otsuka, known for their work on PRINCESS MONONOKE and THE BOY AND THE HERON, with a new, young generation of animating talent. Featuring a stirring score from kensuke ushio (A Silent Voice, Chainsaw Man), the film is a devastating yet beautiful plea for peace.
The story follows an orphaned girl named Riko, who finds and befriends a part-robot boy named Reg, and descends with him into the titular "Abyss" that leads deep into the Earth, in hopes of exploring it and finding her mother.
Check out the Special Look Trailer for Avengers: Doomsday, the next ensemble Avengers film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, distributed by Marvel Studios. Get a new look at the impending doom in Avengers: Doomsday in theaters on December 18.
In this 19th century, supernatural comedy, a drunken applejack salesman must go from zero to hero and become North America's greatest fur trapper when he loses his whole operation in a fire and is stranded in the wilderness. Now facing starvation, he must survive in a surreal winter landscape surrounded by Hundreds of Beavers - all played by actors in full-sized beaver costumes. Using nothing but his dim wits, he develops increasingly complex traps to battle the beavers and win the hand of a mischievous lover.
