Top Ten Anime Series of 2014

[by anim8trix] 2014 has been a crowded year for anime. Many of which stand out far above the rest. For those to qualify for my personal Top Ten List of 2014, they had to excel in many levels, such as animation, design, direction, music, story, characters, etc. But most of all, they had to stir the emotions, fill the mind with new, interesting (even controversial) ideas, and even put a different spin on familiar things. Some may be inspiring. Others may push the boundaries of imagination. But for all of these on my Top Ten List, I would highly recommend to anyone both old and new fans alike. This is what anime is all about!

10. Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works

9.  Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis

8. Tokyo ESP

7. Black Bullet

6. Trinity Seven

5. Nanana's Buried Treasure

4. Hitsugi no Chaika (The Coffin Princess)

3. Parasyte the maxim

2. Brynhildr in the Darkness

1. Aldnoah Zero

Over the years there have been countless anime about giant robots and the teenagers who pilot them, and somehow the Japanese continue to make each show different and fascinating at the same time. Aldnoah Zero puts a new spin on the typical alien invasion/giant mecha tale with interesting characters and a intriguing plot line.

New Year's Greetings from Japanese Post Office

The Japanese postal service's New Year's card website yubin-nenga.jp began streaming a new short movie on Tuesday with animation by Tekken, a comedian famous for emotional flip-book-style anime shorts. The short, titled "Nenga no Kizuna" (New Year's Card Bonds), features musical duo YoshidaYamada's new song "Aitakute."

Text: On a certain morning, abrupt good-byes came around...
Man: After all, Jon...
Woman: Jon is was coming to say good-bye so... Please, take him.
Text: New Year's Day

The video's story comes from greeting card website Nenga Aisatsujo's 6th annual contest, which asks participants to send in their heart-warming New Year's card memories. Sachiyo Okuno wrote the story and won the Japanese Postal Service Award, a new award this year.

Tekken gained famed with Pendulum, a manga "flip book" animation with over 1,620 images he drew by hand. The short depicts the story of a married couple through the years. The animation attracted over 3 million views on YouTube since its initial in release on a Japanese variety show in 2012.

Fandom Chooses Top 10 Anime of 2014

C O M M U N I T Y   C H O I C E
T O P   1 0   A N I M E   OF   2 0 1 4

[By TopAnimeWeekly] So after 8798 responses and over 10,000 total anime votes, we ended up with this list. Again, this was the communities list and not ours so do refrain from asking why this and that didn't make it xD.

Most of the anime listed in the video are legally available for streaming over at Crunchyroll.

Anime listed in the video: In Order!
• No Game No Life - "This Game" by Konomi Suzuki - Votes: 3680 (41.84%)
• Akame ga Kill! - "LIAR MASK" by Rika Mayama - Votes: 2926 (33.27%)
• Tokyo Ghoul - "unravel" by TK from Ling Tosite Sigure - Votes: 2771 (31.51%)
• Kiseijuu: Sei no Kakuritsu - "Let Me Hear" by Fear - Votes: and Loathing in Las Vegas - Votes: 1962 (22.31%)
• Sword Art Online II - "courage" by Haruka Tomatsu - Votes: 1920 (21.83%)
• Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works - "ideal white" by Mashiro Ayano - Votes: 1841 (20.93%)
• Noragami - "Goya no Machiawase" by Hello Sleepwalkers - Votes: 1650 (18.76%)
• Zankyou no Terror - "Trigger" by Yuuki Ozaki - Votes: 1582 (17.99%)
• Aldnoah.Zero - "heavenly blue" by Kalafina - Votes: 1259 (14.31%)
• Nisekoi - "CLICK" by ClariS - Votes: 1229 (13.97%)

Other Results:
• Haikyuu!! 1063 (12.09%)
• Psycho-Pass 2 1027 (11.68%)
• Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso 992 (11.28%)
• Black Bullet 887 (10.09%)
• Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei 760 (8.64%)
• Fairy Tail (2014) 736 (8.37%
• Nanatsu no Taizai 712 (8.10%)
• Barakamon 696 (7.91%)
• Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun 688 (7.82%)
• Trinity Seven 683 (7.77%)
• Log Horizon 2nd Season 583 (6.63%)
• Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis 546 (6.21%)
• Amagi Brilliant Park 495 (5.63%)
• Date A Live II 478 (5.43%)
• Ao Haru Ride 443 (5.04%)

THE TAKING OF TIGER MOUNTAIN

THE TAKING OF TIGER MOUNTAIN

Tsui Hark’s thrilling adaptation of Qu Bo’s beloved adventure novel stars Tony LEUNG Ka-fai as a ruthless bandit, ruling the lands of Northeast China from his fortress on Tiger Mountain. A captain of the Liberation Army (LIN Gengxin) launches a counter-insurgency against the dictator with a skilled investigator (ZHANG Hanyu) sent to destroy the gang from the inside.

Marvel Phase 1 film-verse in chronological order

Fan recuts the Marvel Phase 1

film-verse in chronological order

[Source: blastr.com] The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) stretches across almost a dozen films and several hours of television episodes, but the whole saga can get a little twisty when it comes to timelines. Well, not anymore.

Michael Furth, editor of The Comic Archive and aspiring recut specialist, had a boatload of time on his hands and decided to recut the entirety of Marvel’s Phase 1 into chronological order. Essentially, that covers everything from Captain America: The First Avenger through the closing scene of The Avengers (not to mention the deep history of Thor).

Of course, thanks to those twisty timelines, he also needed Iron Man 3, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Agent Carter and Guardians of the Galaxy to make it all work. Sadly, since the films are copyrighted (duh), he couldn’t actually release the entire 12-hour saga. But Furth has released a timecode breakdown so anyone with the wherewithal can replicate the project.

It’s one heck of an undertaking, but you’d have to think it’d put the entire franchise into a whole new perspective. Weird and disjointed, probably, but still enlightening.

Check out a video recapping the project below:

Amazing Star Citizen Game Trailer

S T A R   C I T I Z E N

• [Source: blastr.com] A new trailer for the high-concept space trading and combat simulator Star Citizen has been revealed, and there’s really just one word to describe it: Wow.
• The developers claim all the footage in the trailer is taken from the in-game engine — meaning none of this is pre-rendered — and it is positively breathtaking. The game itself is set in the 30th century and centers around the fictional United Empire of Earth (UEE). From space battles to politics and first-person shooting action, it’s all here in spades.
• Star Citizen looks to be one of those insanely ambitious games in the vein of Destiny, but potentially a whole lot more ambitious by the time it’s actually finished. If that’s even possible. It comes from the mind of Chris Roberts, the guy who created the acclaimed 1990 videogame Wing Commander, so the pedigree is definitely there. 
• The game is set to hit shelves in 2016 for PC, and was born as a massively successful crowdfunding project, eventually raising a mind-boggling $67 million of an initial $500,000 goal. It will also be Oculus Rift compatible, meaning it should feature all the virtual-reality space battles your heart desires.

MERRY CHRISTMAS to Everyone!

M E R R Y   C H R I S T M A S !

You've been GOOD this year!

You can open your PRESENT now!
 

Have a Happy Thanos Christmas!

THANOS as SANTA? What the...!?

His latest schemes against the Inhumans finds Thanos forced to impersonate a beloved and jolly holiday figure! Also featuring Hawkeye, Hulk, Spider-Man, and more! Watch the holiday hijinx ensue in the latest episode of Marvel Super Heroes.

AGENT CARTER Trailer

A G E N T   C A R T E R

[Source: blastr.com] Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. might be on hiatus for a few months, but Agent Carter is ready to step in to fill the Marvel void on ABC’s schedule.

The seven-episode prequel series debuts Jan. 6 with a two-hour premiere and will focus on Hayley Atwell’s fan-favorite character first introduced in Captain America: The First Avenger. If you’re wanting to see more, the network has released a brand-new one-minute trailer showing off the 1940s setting.

The new teaser clip is loaded with additional footage and does an excellent job of setting up the premise and noir-style world we’ll be exploring during the miniseries. The series finds Peggy working with young Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper), who is framed for a crime he didn’t commit.  

Peggy is still working for the covert S.H.I.E.L.D. precursor the SSR (Strategic Scientific Reserve), but this being the 1940s, she’s being treated more like a secretary than a secret agent. So her secret mission with Stark is the perfect outlet, assuming she doesn’t get caught — or else she could wind up in prison. The miniseries serves as a prequel to the Marvel One-Shot that inspired the project.

KUMIKO, THE TREASURE HUNTER

K  U  M  I  K  O

THE TREASURE HUNTER

• In this darkly comedic odyssey, Academy Award nominee Rinko Kikuchi (Babel, Pacific Rim) stars as Kumiko, a frustrated Office Lady whose imagination transcends the confines of her mundane life. Kumiko becomes obsessed with a mysterious, battered VHS tape of a popular film (Fargo) she's mistaken for a documentary, fixating on a scene where a suitcase of stolen cash is buried in the desolate, frozen landscape of North Dakota. Believing this treasure to be real, she leaves behind Tokyo and her beloved rabbit Bunzo to recover it - and finds herself on a dangerous adventure unlike anything she's seen in the movies.

New Yamato 2199 Film's 'Must-See' Trailer

NEW YAMATO 2199 MOVIE

2199 AD. Yamato tried to leave behind the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy, after receiving a "Cosmo Reverse System" at its destination, Iscandar. However, suddenly, it encounters a mysterious group at the edge of the Large Magellanic Cloud. The crew finds out that the group is called the "Gatlantis," and that its leader is the Gutaba expeditionary force commander who calls himself "Goran Dagaamu of Thunder." The commander demands that Yamato be handed over to him. Yamato, wanting to hurry to Earth, escapes the fray. However, Yamato is attacked by a devastating beam weapon called the "Flame Direct Attack Cannon" that can transcend space. 

Yamato was able to retreat, but ends up getting lost, and finds itself in a strangely colored irregular dimension. The crew decides to turn off the engine on the ship, and explore a mysterious planet. In order to collect information, Kodai, Kiryū, Sawamura, Niimi, and Aihara land on the planet. What they saw when they arrived was a ship that was not supposed to be there. 

Dagaamu chases after the traces of Yamato's warp, and also reaches the strangely colored space. The planet on which Yamato landed was in fact what Dagaamu had been looking for all along. 

The movie promises to have the "true ending" of the Yamato 2199 story with a three-way battle between Yamato, Gatlantis, and Gamilas. 

The Finale of The Legend of Korra

The Legend of Korra Series Finale 

Review: New Beginnings

• [Source: Yahoo!News, Written by Noel Kirkpatrick]
• NOTE: SPOILERS AHEAD!
• To say that The Legend of Korra had a rocky life is perhaps a bit of an understatement. Originally commissioned as a stand alone miniseries, Nickelodeon decided to order two and then three more seasons. Long breaks between seasons weren't on the docket, so Book 2 was rushed out, half of it shoddily animated by a different studio from Book 1, with episodes often being completed just before they aired on TV. Then Book 3 was plopped on the schedule with zero promotion and wasn't available online (legally) only to be yanked off TV as it entered its home stretch and made available only online, something that was supposedly planned all along. Book 4 premiered not long after Book 3 wrapped up, but only only online. Then, as it entered its home stretch, Nickelodeon decided to put it back on TV because who knows what they're drinking over there. Book 4 was also the victim of budget cuts that would've forced the shows' creators to either layoff employees or do a clip show episode. They chose to do the clip show.
• I recount all of this madness to remind all of us that Korra likely shouldn't have been as good as it was given everything that the show's teams had to experience, but that it likely could've been better at times as well had the show not been under such intense production pressure. Aesthetically, it's a small wonder that Books 3 and 4 looked as good as they given how painful Book 2 often looked, and that kind of a rebound is to be commended. Structurally, Book 1 ended up feeling like a stand alone novel while Books 2, 3, and 4 comprised their own trilogy. It may be why Book 1 remains my favorite of all the seasons.

• But Book 4 is my second favorite, and in it's no small due to this final pair of episodes. Yes, there were other good episodes in Book 4—"Korra Alone" should immediately spring to mind for all of us—but there's clearly an "All right, let's do this." attitude running through both "Day of the Colossus" and "The Last Stand," a sort of no-holds barred, pulling no punches action extravaganza that reminded me of the action sequences I enjoyed a great deal in Book 1 but that the show never really found again until around the end of Book 3 and especially here, in the series finale.
• We thankfully avoided the Giant Blue Spirit Korra versus Platinum Mecha battle that I fretted a little bit last week, and instead we treated to a two-part battle against the mecha that ran the gamut from intricate plans with paints and wires to "LET'S SEE IF DROPPING HALF A BUILDING ON IT WILL STOP THE THING." There was an inordinate amount of destruction, and I really hope that Wu's group of citizens were the only ones left in Republic City, otherwise we're looking at Man of Steel-level causalities here considering all the buildings that were demolished in the battle. 
• Ultimately, it was nice seeing everyone work together as a team. Meelo's idea about the paint-filled balloons? Terrific, and so very Meelo. All the new airbenders got to show off their training as they tried to knock over the mecha with gusts of wind after Bolin tried to unsteady it with lavabending. Varrick and Zhu Li took down some mecha suits and EMP. Siblings got to team up inside the mecha with Lin and Su taking out the cannon arm and Mako and Bolin working together to try and destroy the engine before the show half-heartedly teased a noble sacrifice from Mako. The show even paid off that brief subplot of Asami and her father reconciling as he helped bring the hummingbird suits up to snuff and then sacrificed himself for the sake of the mission.

• We also got, thankfully, a proper battle between Korra and Kuvira. I loved the decision to stage it in a contained space to set it apart from their duel in the field at Zaofu. With Korra no longer weighed down by the poisons and her own self-doubt, she was entering the Avatar state as needed, though I don't think she ever actually used it against Kuvira. Their fight in the mecha's control room demonstrated the degree to which Kuvira was able to hold her own against Korra, thinking tactically with moves like using the liquid metal controls or the metal plate to throw off a potential knock out blast of airbending. Korra may have had the raw power, but Kuvira strategy, and so it was nice to see all that collide.
• So, yes, there was plenty of action, but there was also lots of good non-action stuff in the finale, too. Varrick and Zhu Li got engaged and then got married, and it was fantastic, and I say this as someone who has hated the show for making me like Varrick after all his amoral nonsense in Book 2 and how poorly he treated Zhu Li, but, hey, if she always imagined their engagement would involve squaring off against a giant robot, then who am I to stand in the way of true love? While I think more time with Hiroshi might've helped his death really land, my attachment to Asami sort of made up for that particular gap.
• Even Wu was granted an opportunity to redeem his foppish ways by using badger moles to get people out of the city with singing. It was silly, yes, but it still sort of fit Wu's personality. I don't think that Wu had much of an arc to get to the point where he was smart enough to think up this evacuation plan and then decide to dissolve the monarchy of the Earth Kingdom, but this pair of episodes certainly made him look more mature and less like a clown.

• So much of this season was about Korra coming to grips with herself, however, that this is where I was looking for a big payoff. I don't think I fully got it, but I'm still generally happy where things ended up for Korra's sense of self. I do not believe that Korra really learned anything from all the major opponents she squared off against over the course of the series—something that Toph had suggested during their time in the swamp—at least not in a way that she fully acknowledged.
• We've discussed Korra's fight first, maybe ask questions later approach to problem-solving, and through her own trials, she finally realized that what was missing was that she needed to ask questions first and understand who she was fighting, that sense of compassion. Arguably, what drove all of Korra's Big Bads was a sense of compassion, albeit to an extreme, misguided place, and Korra was never really very interested in understanding that until after the fact, if at all. Seeing Kuvira as her mirrored self in the spirit portal finally drove home the idea that if only she had truly understood Kuvira—whose psychological motivations come a smidgen too late here, but at least it explained her very extreme reaction to Baatar Jr.'s desire to give up the fight—a lot of this might've been avoided. 
• Korra actually sitting down to talk with Kuvira in the spirit world was a huge step for her. It was different from sitting down to talk to Zaheer in Book 3 in the spirit world as Zaheer was interested only in lecturing and stalling for time. Here, it was about relating to Kuvira, not coming down to her level but meeting her at it and acknowledging Kuvira as a person with an emotional inner-world and trying to find the similarities between the two of them. I had never much thought of Kuvira as a mirror of Korra since my concept of Kuvira largely hinged on how she melded different aspects of her villainous predecessors, but the conceit worked. While I still think that Korra's journey to this point hasn't been the smoothest from a writing and plotting standpoint across the entire series, Book 4 is easily the soundest installment in this regard, and I'm very grateful for it.
• So. Was there anything else we needed to talk about from the finale before some closing thoughts...?

• I've long declared my general disinterest in 'shipping as a primary way to engage a show. Yes, I have couples I like and am invested in, and I will whine and moan when I feel like a show hasn't done anything to really make me see why two people should be together. This had long been my stance regarding the Korra-Mako-Asami triangle since I never really got why either of them were interested in Mako aside from the fact that he's the only single dude around who wasn't Bolin. And while I've also maintained through this season that I have not only loved Korra and Asami's friendship, I never really considered the idea them being a couple, let the show doing this, and really let alone having it be the final character moment of the finale.
• I can understand resistance to the idea that Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko are declaring that Korra and Asami are starting a relationship together, but I just don't think the episode really supports that resistance and it is, in fact, declaring Korra and Asami as a couple. Consider the fact that Mako's conversation with Korra is "I want you to know that I'll follow you into battle no matter how crazy things get. I've got your back, and I always will." He's not declaring his love for Korra, or even Asami. It's actually the clearest Mako's ever been about his feelings ever by saying what he wants to be is the Robin to Korra's Batman. 
• Then there's Asami and Korra talking by themselves, neither ready to go back to the celebration. That entire conversation is leading up to a kiss and/or confession of feelings between the two of them we would never ever get on a kid-targeted animated series. (Adventure Time has a similar lack of explicitness—and general confusion—regarding Princess Bubblegum and Marceline.) The most we can get is the hand holding and the meaningful stare as the spirit portal's light swirl around them. If you replace Asami with a male character, not only is there not any ambiguity about the intention of the scene, but there's not any need for ambiguity either, since a kiss would've gotten through standards and practices in that context. So I was giddy about this, not only as someone who really loved the relationship between these two and found myself thinking, "Yes. I like this development" but that the show chose to (almost) end itself with that image. It's a bold, progressive closing note that I hope other shows that target a child and teen demographic take note of.

• The Legend of Korra was the very first show I wrote about for TV.com, a wrap-up post that Jen suggested when she and I first discussed me joining the site. As a result, the show has a degree of freelancer sentiment attached to it for me, and due to that, it will always be a little bit special to me.
• It doesn't mean I'm blind to its faults, as I'm sure my frustrations with Book 2 proved. Korra could be a maddening show sometimes, especially as it seemed like Korra herself never really grew all that much until Book 4. The show's attempts at romance were never very convincing—THOUGH NOW WE KNOW WHY—and its Big Bads were arguably unevenly executed. Some folks didn't care for the technological advancements, and some just didn't care for Korra as a character.
• The show's unsteady development of Korra aside, I liked Korra. She was cocky and impulsive and repeatedly fell victim to her own insecurities and faults. Like Aang, she often didn't know what to do and would run from the issue before finding what she needed to pull her together to get the job done. She wasn't perfect, and that was the point. She had to grow up and struggle to living the shadow of the only Avatar people could remember whereas most people in Aang's day likely couldn't even remember Avatar Roku and thus couldn't compare the two. She represented the weight and burdens of a generational transition that, frankly, no one had (or could) prepare her for. And those were the challenges she faced, and that's what Korra was about. It was a coming of age story for a character in a world that itself was coming of age. Both Korra and the world around her were trying to figure themselves out, creating all the conflicts across the series.
• I don't know what Korra's "legacy" will be, and I won't try to predict it. What I do know is that I will miss it, and this universe.

---

• LEAVES ON THE WIND

• Since we got to see a lot more of it, I really loved the design of the giant mecha, and how it was pretty seamlessly integrated into the look of the show. 
• My one very big gripe about Book 4? Not nearly enough Tenzin. Korra and Tenzin's relationship has really been settled at the end of Book 2, and the series never found more of them to really do, and I am forever sad about that. Apart from Asami and Korra, Tenzin and Korra was my favorite relationship on the show.
• Tahno of the Wolfbats as a trombone player!! He showed up last week in a quick scene during the evacuation order, but now he's playing the trombone. I'm glad his hair is all better.
• Varrick was raised on a farm and taken by circus people. OKAY THEN.
• "I'm just so happy you're here now. I don't think I could've handled losing you and my father in the same day." Seriously. They're a couple, folks.
•  

Animated USAGI YOJIMBO

U S A G I   Y O J I M B O

Usagi fans, by popular demand, here's the latest version of the proof of concept short film that we created and presented to Stan. This is the short film that allowed us to procure the feature film rights!

"The Last Request"

It's still a work-in-progress and about 90% complete. We're currently working on the sound mix and refining the film for the DVD release which will include behind-the-scenes footage, interviews, deleted scenes, and interesting details regarding the making of the featurette.

TIE Fighter highway crash dashcam video

Somebody call AAA

The excitement over the short "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" teaser trailer shows just how desperate we all are for fresh "Star Wars" footage. It may not be official, but we can revel in a short video that shows what it would be like if the Dark Side were real and the Galactic Empire had ships flying around Earth.

The video, traced back to the German Sky network TV channel, melds two pop-culture phenomenons: "Star Wars" and Russian-style dashcam videos. Normally, when a dashcam video starts with footage on a snowy highway, you expect to see a truck dramatically sliding off the road or a motorcycle with an acrobatic rider flipping from the seat and sticking a landing on the roof of the car in front.

This time, we follow along as our point-of-view vehicle approaches a caution sign on the road, passes a flaming piece of debris and then slips by a downed TIE Fighter with a couple of bored Stormtroopers waiting for a tow. The whole thing is only 10 seconds, but it's long on amusement factor.

It seems no Stormtroopers were harmed in the making of this film. Those armor suits must be pretty sturdy. It also gives us a nice perspective on the size of a TIE Fighter compared with a typical passenger vehicle. All that's left is to speculate as to how it got there. Perhaps it had an unsuccessful run-in with the Millennium Falcon?

Ninja Slayer Trailer

Kenji Fujikido is a salaryman whose wife and child were killed in a ninja turf war. In a brush with his own death, Fujikido is possessed by an enigmatic ninja soul known as Naraku Ninja. Fujikido cheats death and becomes "Ninja Slayer" -a Grim Reaper destined to kill evil ninja, committed to a personal war of vengeance. Set in the dystopian underworld of Neo-Saitama, Ninja Slayer takes on Soukai Syndicate ninja in mortal combat.

Watch the Scarlet Witch in Action

T H E   S C A R L E T   W I T C H

[Source: blastr.com] Here's a brief behind-the-scenes video for Avengers: Age of Ultron, with its director, Joss Whedon, fueling the bonfires of fandom with the merits of his megabudget sequel and showing a few peeks into the filming of some key action scenes involving Elizabeth Olson as the Scarlet Witch.  Mass Destruction?  Check.  Superheroes?  Check.  Beautiful locations?  Check.  Also watch for a couple flash shots of Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Quicksilver darting through a rubble-strewn set.  This video is part of a longer bonus feature on the Guardians of the Galaxy Blu-ray being released tomorrow.   Marvel's Avengers: Age of Ultron zooms into theaters on May 1, 2015.   Have a short look.

Trailer for Pixar's INSIDE OUT

I N S I D E   O U T

From an adventurous balloon ride above the clouds to a monster-filled metropolis, Academy Award®-winning director Pete Docter (“Monsters, Inc.,” “Up”) has taken audiences to unique and imaginative places. In Disney•Pixar’s original movie “ Inside Out,” he will take us to the most extraordinary location of all—inside the mind.

Growing up can be a bumpy road, and it's no exception for Riley, who is uprooted from her Midwest life when her father starts a new job in San Francisco. Like all of us, Riley is guided by her emotions – Joy (Amy Poehler), Fear (Bill Hader), Anger (Lewis Black), Disgust (Mindy Kaling) and Sadness (Phyllis Smith). The emotions live in Headquarters, the control center inside Riley’s mind, where they help advise her through everyday life. As Riley and her emotions struggle to adjust to a new life in San Francisco, turmoil ensues in Headquarters. Although Joy, Riley's main and most important emotion, tries to keep things positive, the emotions conflict on how best to navigate a new city, house and school.

Red Band Trailer for Kingsman: The Secret Service

KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE

Watch the exclusive Red Band preview for the big screen adaptation of the Mark Millar comic book, Kingsman: The Secret Service.

Star Wars VII Character Names Revealed

I N   N E W   'T R A D I N G   C A R D S'

Producer Kathleen Kennedy and director J.J. Abrams unveiled a series of throwback trading card mockups collecting images from the trailer, all designed to look like the classic Topps trading cards released in conjunction with the original Star Wars back in 1977, and within the captions of those cards are the names of each new character from the Force Awakens teaser. John Boyega, the sweaty, panicked man in Stormtrooper armor who appeared in the trailer's first shot, is named Finn. Daisy Ridley, the young woman who took off on a speeder bike, is named Rey. That chirping ball Droid who's become an internet meme over the past couple of weeks is BB-8. Oscar Isaac, who we saw piloting an X-Wing in formation, gets a first and a last name: Poe Dameron. And of course, the black-clad figure with the lightsaber that launched a thousand thinkpieces is also named: Kylo Ren.

Now, we don't yet know if these are the full names for each of these characters, or if any of these names might be aliases (this is a J.J. Abrams movie, after all). We also don't yet know the names for a number of other new characters who still haven't been officially revealed. For the moment, though, we can finally enjoy calling these characters by name. 

Check out all eight trading card images below. Star Wars: The Force Awakens hits theaters December 18, 2015.

New Trailer for Mad Max: Fury Road

Mad Max: Fury Road

Haunted by his turbulent past, Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy) believes the best way to survive is to wander alone. Nevertheless, he becomes swept up with a group fleeing across the Wasteland in a War Rig driven by an elite Imperator, Furiosa (Charlize Theron).
They are escaping a Citadel tyrannized by the Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne), from whom something irreplaceable has been taken. Enraged, the Warlord marshals all his gangs and pursues the rebels ruthlessly in the high-octane Road War that follows.

Mad Max: Fury Road hits theaters at full throttle on May 15, 2015.

Anime Viewing Schedule for December 13, 2014

Saturday, December 13, 2014

Wood Dale Public Library

Merry Christmas!

See you this weekend!
Watch "Giovanni's Island" @ 3:05 pm

Main Meeting Room, 10:15 am to 5:00 pm

(Click on links to view Video Previews)

10:15 - 11:05    Nisekoi 17-18 [Video]
11:05 - 11:55    Nagi no Asukara 20-21 [Video]

11:55 - 12:45    Captain Earth 17-18 [Video]

12:45 - 1:35      Aldnoah Zero 7-8 [Video]

1:35 - 2:15        Club Meeting / Announcements [Video]
2:15 - 3:05        Parasyte - the maxim 5-6 [Video]

3:05 - 4:46        Giovanni's Island (Movie) [Video]

 

ANIME DESCRIPTIONS ARE BELOW -- Keep watching the exciting new anime series: Aldnoah Zero and Zankyou no Terror!

10:15 - 11:05   Nisekoi 17-18

Plot Summary: [Source: Wikipedia] 
Nisekoi follows high school student Raku Ichijo, the son of a leader in the yakuza faction Shuei-Gumi, and Chitoge Kirisaki, the daughter of a boss in a rival gang known as Beehive. They unexpectedly meet when Chitoge hops a wall and knees Raku in the face. After she runs off, Raku realizes he has lost his locket which was given to him by his childhood sweetheart with whom he made a secret promise. After discovering Chitoge is a new transfer student in his class, he forces her to help him look for the locket. During the search, they begin to dislike each other. Upon returning home, Raku learns that the Shuei-Gumi and Beehive gangs have agreed to settle their feud by pairing their leaders' children. Raku learns that his girlfriend-to-be is none other than Chitoge. For the next three years, they must pretend to be in a relationship to maintain peace between the gangs. This turns out to be quite a challenging task, not only because of their hatred for one another, but also because Raku has a crush on another schoolmate, Kosaki Onodera, whom he secretly wishes was the girl who bears the key to his locket. Various developments complicate the situation, including Chitoge's over-protective bodyguard, a female hitman, a girl who claims to be Raku's fiancée, and the existence of multiple keys.

11:05 - 11:55     Nagi no Asukara - "A Lull in the Sea" (Episodes 20-21)

Plot Summary: [Source: Wikipedia] Long ago, human civilization had lived on the oceanfloor. However, there were many humans who wanted to live above the surface and they moved to land creating a fundamental separation between the two. After their school closes down, four middle school students from the sealand have to go to school on the mainland. This is about their lives as they adjust to a new environment and the relationships with each other.

11:55 - 12:45    Captain Earth (Episodes 17-18)

Plot Summary: [Source: Wikipedia] High-school student Daichi Manatsu works for the Globe (グローブ Gurōbu) organization to pilot a giant robot called the Earth Engine Impacter (アースエンジンインパクター Āsu Enjin Inpakutā) to protect the Earth from the invading alien force known as the "Kill-T-Gang" (キルトガング Kirutogangu). from the planet Uranus.

12:45 - 1:35     Aldnoah Zero (Episodes 7-8)

Plot Summary: [Source: Wikipedia] In 1972, an ancient alien hypergate was discovered on the surface of the moon. Using this technology, humanity began migrating to Mars and settling there. After settlers discovered additional advanced technology, the Vers Empire was founded, which claimed Mars and its secrets for themselves. Later, the Vers Empire declared war on Earth, and in 1999, a battle on the Moon's surface caused the hypergate to explode, shattering the Moon and scattering remnants into a debris belt around the planet. Cut off from Mars, the remnants of the Vers Empire established several massive orbital space stations within the debris belt and a ceasefire was established. 15 years later, in 2014, an attack on the Vers princess during a peace mission causes the Empire to launch a new attack on Earth, this time determined to conquer it once and for all.

 1:35 - 2:15     Club Meeting / Announcements

Comic-Con 2014
Cosplay Coverage

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

2:15 - 3:05    Parasyte - The Maxim (Episodes 5-6)

Plot Summary: [Source: Wikipedia] Parasyte centers around a 17-year-old teen named Shinichi Izumi, who lives with his mother and father in a quiet neighborhood in Tokyo. One night, worm-like aliens called Parasites invade Earth, taking over the brains of human hosts by entering through their ears or noses. One Parasite attempts to crawl into Shinichi's ear while he sleeps, but fails as Shinichi is wearing headphones, and enters his body by burrowing into his arm instead. In the Japanese version, it takes over his right hand and is named Migi, after the Japanese word for 'right'; Tokyopop's version, in which the images are flipped horizontally, has the Parasite take over Shinichi's left hand and it is named Lefty. Because Shinichi was able to prevent Migi from travelling further up into his brain, both beings retain their separate intellect and personality. As the duo encounter other Parasites, they capitalize on their strange situation and gradually form a strong bond, working together to survive. This gives them an edge in battling other Parasites who frequently attack the pair upon realization that Shinichi's human brain is still intact. Shinichi feels compelled to fight other Parasites, who devour humans as food, while enlisting Migi's help.

3:05 - 4:46    Giovanni's Island [Feature Presentation]

Plot Summary: [Source: Wikipedia] In the aftermath of the most devastating conflict mankind had ever experienced, the tiny island of Shikotan became part of the Sakhalin Oblast - and on the unhealed border in this remote corner of the world, friendship among children from two different countries timidly blossomed, striving to overcome language barriers and the waves of history. Inspired by true events.