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.

Monday, August 31, 2020

Over The Moon - First Look (2020)

OVER THE MOON
A girl named Fei Fei builds and flies a rocket ship to meet the moon goddess,
Get your first look at the "Over The Moon" coming exclusively to Netflix this fall. It's an upcoming American-Chinese computer-animated adventure musical comedy film directed by Glen Keane and co-directed by John Kahrs in their directorial debut. The film is produced by Pearl Studio with animation by Sony Pictures Imageworks. 
The film is scheduled for a release sometime in October 2020 on Netflix. 

Sunday, August 30, 2020

The Adventures of Sherlock's Younger Sister...

 ❁ E N O L A  ♞ H O L M E S
When Enola Holmes—Sherlock’s teen sister—discovers her mother missing, she sets off to find her, becoming a super-sleuth in her own right as she outwits her famous brother and unravels a dangerous conspiracy around a mysterious young Lord. Starring Millie Bobby Brown, Sam Claflin, with Henry Cavill and Helena Bonham-Carter. Directed by Harry Bradbeer (Fleabag).

Saturday, August 29, 2020

Chadwick Boseman Has Died at Age 43

CHADWICK BOSEMAN
[November 29, 1976 - August 28, 2020]
Black Panther Actor Has Died of Cancer
[Source: Yahoo! News] Chadwick Boseman, who reigned onscreen as Marvel’s noble Black Panther, has died of cancer at age 43, his family announced Friday.

The actor died at his Los Angeles home with his wife and family by his side.

In a statement released on his Twitter page, Boseman’s family revealed the actor was diagnosed with colon cancer four years ago. He never made his diagnosis public, even after photos of the gaunt-looking actor appeared on social media.

“A true fighter, Chadwick persevered through it all, and brought you many of the films you have come to love so much,” his family’s statement read. “From Marshall to Da 5 Bloods, August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and several more — all were filmed during and between countless surgeries and chemotherapy. It was the honor of his career to bring King T’Challa to life in Black Panther.” 
Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa in Black Panther. (Photo: Disney/Marvel Studios)
Boseman, who shared a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Ensemble for Black Panther, credited Denzel Washington for his start in acting; Washington paid for Boseman's college tuition.

While he was best known for playing T’Challa in the Marvel Cinematic Universe installments Captain America: Civil War, Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, Boseman was equally at home in prestige films. He carved out a niche playing Black icons like Jackie Robinson (42), James Brown (Get on Up) and Thurgood Marshall (Marshall). His most recent role was in Spike Lee’s Netflix release Da 5 Bloods earlier this year.

Friday, August 28, 2020

Harrison Ford in Solo: Star Wars Story [DeepFake]

Harrison Ford in Solo: A Star Wars Story
Deepfakes are synthetic media in which a person in an existing image or video is replaced with someone else's likeness leveraging powerful techniques from machine learning and artificial intelligence.
Here, actor Alden Ehrenreich's face is replaced with Harrison Ford's giving the movie SOLO, an even more authentic feel like that of the original Star Wars movie.

Thursday, August 27, 2020

Suicide Squad in a New Video Game

Suicide Squad: 
Kill the Justice League
[Source: Syfy] You’ve been waiting for a long time, and now it’s finally here. Tonight during the DC FanDome event, Rocksteady showed off a first trailer for their Suicide Squad game, and guess what? It's a continuation of the Arkham universe. Rocksteady Studios' creative director Sefton Hill finally pulled back the curtain on their next game in development, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. Like the subtitle implies, they'll be in Metropolis, and going up against the world’s greatest heroes.
As you can see in the reveal trailer below, the Squad seem more than happy to take down the people who’ve put them behind bars so many times, even if those heroes appear to be mind controlled by Brainiac. In bantering with LEGO Batman's Will Arnett, Hill added that the how of such a feat could even be done is the genesis of the game.
Much like the upcoming movie, the trailer portrays the Squad as a bunch of chaotic screwups with their own special skills and abilities. In the words of Hill, this is a "supervillain empowerment" game, and it definitely shows.

Captain Boomerang can teleport around the battlefield and throw his boomerangs around; King Shark has a minigun; Harley has a grappling hook; Deadshot has a jetpack... that sort of thing. Each of the characters will have customizable gear and "create a whole spectrum of possibilities" for players, according to Hill.
Should you decide to play alone, you'll be able to switch between all four characters. But if you want to play with three of your buddies, you're free to do so and have a good time...provided you don't get your head blown off by Amanda Waller.

"We really wanted to get across the feeling of being a whole squad and not just one person going on this mission," Hill adds.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League will arrive in 2022 for PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC.

Wednesday, August 26, 2020

GOTHAM KNIGHTS Official Trailer (2021)

GOTHAM KNIGHTS
Gotham Knights is an upcoming action role-playing video game developed by WB Games Montréal and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. Based on the DC Comics franchise, the game is set to be released in 2021 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. It was first revealed at DC FanDome in August 2020.
Gotham Knights
is set in a Gotham City years after the apparent death of Bruce Wayne / Batman, which has resulted in a rise of crime and lawlessness. The game features Dick Grayson / Nightwing, Barbara Gordon / Batgirl, Tim Drake / Robin, and Jason Todd / Red Hood as playable characters taking up Bruce's task to protect the city. Supervillains featured in the game include the Court of Owls and Mr. Freeze. Other characters include Alfred Pennyworth and Renee Montoya.

Tuesday, August 25, 2020

THE SUICIDE SQUAD 2 Official Teaser Trailer

SUICIDE SQUAD 2
First trailer for The Suicide Squad 2 starring Margot Robbie, John Cena.

Monday, August 24, 2020

THE BATMAN Trailer (2021)

THE BATMAN
The Batman is an upcoming American superhero film based on the DC Comics character of the same name. The film is being produced by DC Films and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, and is a reboot of the Batman film franchise. The film is directed by Matt Reeves, who wrote the screenplay with Peter Craig. It stars Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne / Batman, with Zoë Kravitz, Paul Dano, Jeffrey Wright, John Turturro, Peter Sarsgaard, Barry Keoghan, Jayme Lawson, Andy Serkis, and Colin Farrell rounding out the ensemble cast.
After he was cast as Batman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), Ben Affleck began developing a DC Extended Universe (DCEU) Batman film with Geoff Johns, and was attached to direct, write, produce, and star. In January 2017, Affleck stepped down from directing and writing after struggling with the story and so he could focus on playing Batman. Reeves took over directorial and scripting duties the following month and reworked the story to focus on a younger Batman, hoping to emphasize the detective aspect of the character to a greater extent than previous films. The film's connections to the DCEU were also dropped. Affleck stepped down from starring in January 2019, and Pattinson was cast the following May. Principal photography began in London, England in January 2020 but was suspended in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Production is expected to resume in early September.
The Batman is scheduled to be released on October 1, 2021.

Sunday, August 23, 2020

WONDER WOMAN 1984 Official Trailer

WONDER WOMAN 1984
Gal Gadot is back in action as Diana Prince in this follow-up to 2017's mega-hit movie. Chris Pine, Kristen Wiig and Pedro Pascal also star in 'WW84,' out Oct. 2.

Saturday, August 22, 2020

By Far The Best Anime You've Never Heard Of

The Best Anime You've Never Heard Of
[Source: Looper] Naruto, Sailor Moon, My Hero Academia — you've read them, watched them, cosplayed them, and otherwise loved them. They are titans of anime, beloved the world over for their twisty plots and sympathetic characters. And they're not exactly unknown quantities out in the wider world, either. After all, Dragon Ball Z's Goku stars in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The world is anime-savvy, and all the better for it.
But for every anime juggernaut a la One Piece or Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, there's an obscure title out there, waiting to be discovered. Anime is, of course, a medium and not a genre, filled with heartfelt dramas, rip-roaring sea stories, and dizzying space operas, with more produced each and every day. Some anime, naturally, gets lost in the shuffle, no matter how worthwhile a watch they might be. What's a fan to do? Join us as we explore the best anime you've never heard of, of course! We're here to guide you through the world of anime obscurities, from the tenderest school stories to the headiest heights of science fiction — giant robots, magical girls, and masterless samurai included.

Ebichu | 0:00
Thermae Romae | 1:39
Gunbuster | 3:25
Ristorante Paradiso | 4:43
Haibane Renmei | 6:06
House of Five Leaves | 7:43
Kaiba | 9:10
Red Garden | 10:35

Friday, August 21, 2020

Ghost in the Shell: 25th Anniversary Edition

GHOST IN THE SHELL
-- 25th Anniversary --
Celebrate the 25th Anniversary of one of the most critically acclaimed anime films of all time when Ghost in the Shell arrives on 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack (plus Blu-ray and Digital 4K Ultra HD) and Digital 4K Ultra HD on September 8th from Lionsgate. Based on the beloved manga from Japanese writer and illustrator Shirow Masamune, the film's voice cast includes Atsuko Tanaka (Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, TV's "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex", "Ghost in the Shell 2.0"), Akio Ôtsuka (Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, Paprika, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots), and Kôichi Yamadera (Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, Cowboy Bebop: The Movie, Ninja Scroll). Remastered in Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, and featuring fan-favorite commemorative artwork from pop illustrator Martin Ansin - along with brand new bonus material - this will be the most definitive Ghost in the Shell package to date. 
The Ghost in the Shell special features include an audio commentary as well as two brand new bonus featurettes: "Accessing Section 9: 25 Years into the Future" and "Landscapes & Dreamscapes - The Art and Architecture of Ghost in the Shell." Experience four times the resolution of full HD with the 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack, which includes Dolby Vision, bringing entertainment to life through ultra-vivid picture quality. When compared to a standard picture, Dolby Vision can deliver spectacular colors never before seen on a screen, highlights that are up to 40 times brighter, and blacks that are 10 times darker. Additionally, the 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack features Dolby Atmos, which will transport viewers from an ordinary moment into an extraordinary experience with moving audio that flows all around them. Fans will feel like they're inside the action as the sounds of people, places, things, and music come alive with breathtaking realism and move throughout the space. 
 
The Ghost in the Shell 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack will be available for the suggested retail price of $22.99.

Thursday, August 20, 2020

Watch "Lovecraft Country"

LOVECRAFT COUNTRY

Veteran and pulp-fiction aficionado Atticus Freeman travels from the Jim Crow South to his South Side of Chicago hometown in search of his missing father Montrose. 

"Quick! Run to that spooky old house! We'll be safe!"
"Quick! Run to that spooky old house! We'll be safe!
Lovecraft Country is an American drama horror television series developed by Misha Green based on the 2016 novel of the same name by Matt Ruff. It premiered on August 16, 2020, on HBO. The series is produced by Monkeypaw Productions, Bad Robot Productions, and Warner Bros. Television with executive producers including Jordan Peele, Green, J. J. Abrams, and Ben Stephenson. The story is about a young black man who travels across the segregated 1950s United States in search of his missing father, learning of dark secrets plaguing a town on which famous horror writer H. P. Lovecraft supposedly based the location of many of his fictional tales. 

Wednesday, August 19, 2020

Space Battleship Yamato - A Hidden Sci Fi Gem

Space Battleship YAMATO
Found this video (below) for those new to anime. Consider Space Battleship Yamato or as some may know it, Star Blazers, as your first taste of anime.
In the year 2199, an alien race known as the Gamilas (Gamilons in the English Star Blazers dub) unleash radioactive meteorite bombs on Earth, rendering the planet's surface uninhabitable. Humanity has retreated into deep underground cities, but the radioactivity is slowly affecting them as well, with humanity's extinction estimated in one year. Earth has a space fleet, but they do not yet have interstellar capability, and they are hopelessly outclassed by the Gamilas. All seems lost until a message capsule from a mysterious crashed spaceship is retrieved on Mars. The capsule yields blueprints for a faster-than-light engine and an offering of help from Queen Starsha of the planet Iscandar in the Large Magellanic Cloud. She says that her planet has a device, the Cosmo-Cleaner D (Cosmo DNA), which can cleanse Earth of its radiation damage.
The inhabitants of Earth secretly build a massive spaceship inside the ruins of the gigantic Japanese battleship Yamato which lies exposed at the former bottom of the ocean location where she was sunk in World War II. This becomes the "Space Battleship Yamato" for which the story is titled. In the English Star Blazers dub, the ship is noted as being the historical Yamato, but is then renamed the Argo (after the ship of Jason and the Argonauts).

Using Starsha's blueprints, they equip the new ship with a space warp drive, called the "wave motion engine", and in an apparently unexpected move, weaponize the technology to create a new, incredibly powerful weapon at the bow called the "Wave Motion Gun". The Wave Motion Engine (波動エンジン, hadō enjin) is capable of converting tachyon particles which travel faster than light and enables the Yamato to "ride" the wave of tachyons and travel faster than light. The Wave Motion Gun (波動, hadō hō), also called the Dimensional Wave Motion Explosive Compression Emitter, is the "trump card" of the Yamato that functions by connecting the Wave Motion Engine to the enormous firing gate at the ship's bow, enabling the tachyon energy power of the engine to be fired in a stream directly forwards. Enormously powerful, it can vaporize a fleet of enemy ships—or a small continent (as seen in the first season, fifth episod)—with one shot; however, it takes a brief but critical period to charge before firing.
A crew of 114 departs for Iscandar in the Yamato to retrieve the radiation-removing device and return to Earth within the one-year deadline. Along the way, they discover the motives of their blue-skinned adversaries: the planet Gamilas, sister planet to Iscandar, is dying; and its leader, Lord Desslar (Desslok in the Star Blazers dub), is trying to irradiate Earth enough for his people to move there, at the expense of the "barbarians" he considers humanity to be.

The first season contained 26 episodes, following the Yamato's voyage out of the Milky Way Galaxy and back again. A continuing story, it features the declining health of Yamato's Captain Okita (Avatar in the Star Blazers dub), and the transformation of the brash young orphan Susumu Kodai (Derek Wildstar) into a mature officer, as well as his budding romance with female crewmember Yuki Mori (Nova Forrester). The foreign edits tend to play up the individual characters, while the Japanese original is often more focused on the ship itself. In a speech at the 1995 Anime Expo, series episode director Noboru Ishiguro said low ratings and high production expenses forced producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki to trim down the episode count from the original 39 episodes to only 26. The 13 episodes would have introduced Captain Harlock as a new series character.

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

Is Kipo Season 2 A Masterpiece? Analysis

Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts
Season 2 Analysis
An analysis of every notable thing we had to say about Season 2 of Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts.
In the second season, Kipo seeks to rescue her people after they are captured by Scarlemagne, and also discover the origin of her mute powers. Kipo learns she was experimented with mute DNA by her parents before her birth, turning her into a half-human, half-jaguar hybrid. She also learns about Scarlemagne's tragic past and his ties to her family, and that her mother Song, previously thought to be deceased, is actually the mega monkey who destroyed her burrow, mutated as a side effect from her pregnancy with Kipo and mind-controlled by the manipulative Dr. Emilia. Kipo starts to lose control of her abilities, putting her at risk of transforming into a mega jaguar permanently, but she is able to regain control with help from her friends and family. She defeats Scarlemagne and frees Song from her mind control, but meanwhile Dr. Emilia has managed to turn most of Kipo's people over to her side and plans to reverse all mutes back into normal animals so human civilization can rise again.

Monday, August 17, 2020

Remember the Glory Days of Star Fleet!

𝕊𝕋𝔸ℝ ✩ 𝔽𝕃𝔼𝔼𝕋

We've uploaded all 24 episodes in high quality, enjoy them! X-Bomber was renamed Star Fleet and dubbed by English speaking actors for broadcast in the United Kingdom on ITV. The show was broadcast there on Saturday mornings, first airing on October 23, 1982, the day before Star Wars aired for the first time on British television. Due to its broadcast slot, the advertisements shown before, during and after each episode frequently included children's Public Information Films. The series was also broadcast as such on first-run syndication in the United States.

Drawing heavily on diverse influences such as Star Wars, Japanese Anime and Gerry Anderson's various "Supermarionation" series, the show ran for twenty-four half-hour episodes (twenty-five in Japan - the eighteenth episode, titled Bloody Mary's Promotion, was not included in the English version, as it consisted mainly of flashbacks). The English version's theme song was composed by Paul Bliss,[5] and was later covered by Queen member Brian May and Van Halen guitarist Eddie Van Halen. This was released under the name "Star Fleet Project".

The screenplay was adapted for English by Michael Sloan, who in later years would create the popular TV series The Master and The Equalizer.

Actress Denise Bryer ("Commander Makara") and editor Tony Lenny both went on to collaborate with Gerry Anderson and Christopher Burr making another memorable sci-fi series, Terrahawks.

Sunday, August 16, 2020

Is Rick Really Morty?

Film Theory:
Rick is a Morty CONFIRMED!
Have you all been watching the Rick and Morty anime shorts? There is a LOT hiding there! Things like the PROOF that our very own Rick is actually a MORTY! Are you thinking, "How is that possible?" Welcome to time-loops, Loyal Theorists! Where Morty is his own grandfather and grandson all at the same time! Get ready for this wild ride!

Saturday, August 15, 2020

Celebrating 25 Years of Animatrix!

 
A N I M A T R I X   N E T W O R K
THE ANIME AND MANGA FAN CLUB
of
C  H  I  C  A  G  O

Thank you all so much for your continued support!
We couldn't do it without you!



Friday, August 14, 2020

'Airbender' Creators Exit Netflix Live-Action Series

Avatar: The Last Airbender’ Creators
Exit NETFLIX Live-Action Adaptation
[Source: Variety] "Avatar: The Last Airbender” creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko are no longer involved with the planned live-action adaptation of the series at Netflix.

“Many of you have been asking me for updates about the ‘Avatar’ live-action Netflix series,” DiMartino wrote in an open letter on his website early Wednesday morning. “I can finally tell you that I am no longer involved with the project. In June of this year, after two years of development work, Bryan Konietzko and I made the difficult decision to leave the production.”

DiMartino went on to say that when he and Konietzko first signed on to make the series Netflix was committed to working with them on their vision for the show. “Unfortunately, things did not go as we had hoped,” he wrote.

“Look, things happen. Productions are challenging,” he continued. “Unforeseen events arise. Plans have to change. And when those things have happened at other points during my career, I try to be like an Air Nomad and adapt. I do my best to go with the flow, no matter what obstacle is put in my way. But even an Air Nomad knows when it’s time to cut their losses and move on.”

He also assured fans that he is still involved in the “Avatar” universe, which has seen renewed interest since “The Last Airbender” became available on Netflix, with “Legend of Korra” set to join it this week.

“And who knows? Netflix’s live-action adaptation of Avatar has the potential to be good,” he wrote. “It might turn out to be a show many of you end up enjoying. But what I can be certain about is that whatever version ends up on-screen, it will not be what Bryan and I had envisioned or intended to make.”
He closed by quoting the show’s character Iroh, who said, “Sometimes life is like this dark tunnel. You can’t always see the light at the end of the tunnel, but if you just keep moving you will come to a better place.”

According to an individual with knowledge of the situation, the project is still moving forward at Netflix with Nickelodeon, Dan Lin, and Lin’s company Rideback still attached.

“We have complete respect and admiration for Michael and Bryan and the story that they created in the Avatar animated series,” a Netflix spokesperson said in a statement. “Although they have chosen to depart the live action project, we are confident in the creative team and their adaptation.”

The live-action version of the hit Nickelodeon animated series was first ordered at Netflix in September 2018. The animated version aired for three seasons on Nickelodeon from February 2005 to July 2008. The series received substantial acclaim during its run, picking up multiple Annie Awards, Genesis Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Peabody Award. The sequel series, “Legend of Korra,” aired for four seasons from 2012-2014. 

Thursday, August 13, 2020

Anime Viewing Schedule for August 15, 2020

 
 A N I M A T R I X   N E T W O R K
Saturday, August 15, 2020
Fountaindale Public Library
VIEWING SCHEDULE
                    11:15 - 12:05   Deca-Dence 1-2
                    12:05 - 12:55   Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! 1-2
                    12:55 - 1:30     Club Meeting / Announcements
                    1:30 - 1:55       Re:ZERO - Starting Life in 
                                                Another World S2 ep 1
                    1:55 - 2:45       Vinland Saga 1-2
 
                    2:45 - 4:40       Promare [Movie]

"We're all in this together!"

Fountaindale Public Library
300 W. Briarcliff Road
Bolingbrook, IL 60440
Meeting Room A, First Floor

From 11:15 AM to 5:00 PM


All anime presented are fan-subtitled unless otherwise noted.
 
Don't miss the exciting anime series: Deca-Dence and Vinland Saga
* ANIME DESCRIPTIONS ARE BELOW *