Next Club Meeting:November 21, 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.
(Source: Yahoo!News) Hayao Miyazaki is revered as a living legend, a figure whose influence rivals Walt Disney himself. Since Miyazaki cofounded Studio Ghibli nearly four decades ago, the animation house has released some of the most popular anime films ever made, including 2023’s Oscar-winning animated feature The Boy and the Heron.
The painstakingly crafted, hand-drawn Ghibli style is beloved by fans, and earlier this week, it was co-opted by the GPT-4o model in OpenAI's image generator. This resulted in a flood of Ghibli-inspired AI memes across social media, as well as pushback by anti-AI activists and ardent fans of Miyazaki and his studio.
Hayao Miyazaki's first feature film in 10 years, The Boy and the Heron is a hand-drawn, original story written and directed by the Academy Award-winning director. Produced by Studio Ghibli co-founder Toshio Suzuki, the film features a musical score from Miyazaki's long-time collaborator Joe Hisaishi. The theme song for the film "Spinning Globe" was penned and performed by global J-pop superstar Kenshi Yonezu.
"This is not an official licensed product. This independent non-profit short film is entirely self-funded and was made in Brazil as a tribute to the great artist Hayao Miyazaki, who has always been an inspiration to me. We are not a large company. Rather, we are a group of friends who have been working on this project for almost 7 years, fueled only by our love of the art. The film is free of charge, as our only aim is to pay homage to Mr. Miyazaki and the entire wonderful team at Studio Ghibli."
After debuting earlier this Summer in Japan, Hayao Miyazaki's latest film, The Boy and the Heron, is finally coming to the big screen in domestic theaters. As anticipation for the acclaimed director’s final animated outing, the official Fandango Twitter page has revealed the first images from the film, which promise to be another visually stunning masterpiece from Studio Ghibli. The images showcase the film’s characters in the middle of sweeping landscapes alongside a tease of fantastical elements that are typically featured in Studio Ghibli projects. Featuring the traditional art style that fans have come to love from Studio Ghibli, The Boy and the Heron is certainly shaping up to be another visually compelling animated film. Whether the film will similarly resonate with an international audience remains to be seen, but given the acclaim it has received in Japan so far, fans are likely in for another timeless masterpiece from the studio.
Three years after the war began, Mahito lost his biological mother, Hisako. His father, Katsuichi, who ran a munitions factory, remarried Hisako's younger sister, Natsuko, and Mahito was evacuated to his mother's family home. A tower where the blue heron lived had been built near the mansion where they evacuated. Mahito tried to open the blocked entrance of the tower and enter, but he was stopped by the maidservants of the mansion. That night, Mahito heard from Natsuko about the origin of the tower. The tower had been built by his great uncle, who had apparently disappeared in the tower. Also, because there had been a huge labyrinth in the basement of the tower, Natsuko's father (Mahito's grandfather) had blocked the entrance to protect it from rising water in the nearby river.
On his first day at the evacuated school, Mahito did not fit in well and was assaulted by local boys on his way home. Mahito then hit himself on the head with a stone on the side of the road, inflicting severe bleeding on himself. When he was sleeping in his room, a blue heron suddenly entered through the window and attacked him, so Mahito confronted the blue heron with a wooden sword. The blue heron said, "You must not have seen your mother's body. Your mother is waiting for your help," and began to be wrapped in fish and frogs, and disappeared. Mahito made his own bow and arrow from the feathers left by the blue heron.
Misunderstanding that Mahito's head injury was caused by local boys, Katsuichi got angry and complained to the school. On the other hand, Natsuko suffered from morning sickness due to pregnancy, and although she repeatedly told those around her that she wanted to see Mahito's face, Mahito could not accept Natsuko and had a curt attitude.
Mahito saw Natsuko disappear into the forest one day. In his room, Mahito discovered a book of novels titled "How do you live?" with a letter that Hisako had left for Mahito, and he burst into tears while reading it. At dusk that day, while the mansion was in a panic due to Natsuko's disappearance, Mahito and his maidservant Kiriko followed Natsuko into the back door of the tower and were trapped. In the tower, Mahito got angry when the blue heron showed him a fake Hisako and shot the blue heron with an arrow made from the feathers of the blue heron, piercing the blue heron's beak. Then, the blue heron became unable to return from the half-birdman (heron man). Ordered by a mysterious person on the top floor of the tower, Mahito and Kiriko were invited to the "lower world".
For the continuation of the story, please watch the movie.
Live On Stage in theaters April 23, 25, 27 & May 2
Hayao Miyazaki’s Academy Award-winning animated feature film comes to life in this first-ever stage adaptation, full of dazzling sets, captivating musical numbers, and wondrous puppets of beloved characters. Adapted and directed by Tony Award-winner John Caird (Les Misérables), two unique casts and performances were filmed during the show’s acclaimed 2022 run at Tokyo’s historic Imperial Theatre, featuring Kanna Hashimoto and Mone Kamishiraishi as Chihiro.
With the release of Lupin The Third The First, now is the perfect time to look back on the history..no!... the LEGACY of the gentleman thief and his loving creator, Money Punch.
The series was created in 1965 by Japanese manga artist Kazuhiko Katō under the pen name Monkey Punch. His inspiration for the series was the fictional French gentleman thief Arsène Lupin, created by Maurice Leblanc. Before creating the series he read 15 of Leblanc's stories. The aim of the Lupin III
series was to produce a comedy adventure series that reflected the
traits of Leblanc's character. Originally the intention was to keep the
blood ties between the two fictional characters secret, however he was
convinced by others not to do so.
Monkey Punch combined elements of Arsène Lupin with James Bond
to develop the character of Lupin III and made him a "carefree fellow".
Lupin was given a red color jacket which Monkey Punch believes is a
flashy, sexy color.
As the series was to be published in a magazine targeted at adults,
Fujiko Mine was created to add a female presence and to fulfill a "Bond girl" role. Her name was inspired by a picture of Mount Fuji,
Monkey Punch added the -ko female suffix to create her first name, and
chose "Mine" for her family name because of its meaning as "summit". At
the beginning of the series, many of the women Lupin encounters are all
named Fujiko, but are treated as different characters from chapter to
chapter. Creating a new female character each week was too difficult for
Monkey Punch so she evolved into a single character who changes style
frequently. Jigen was based on James Coburn, especially his role in The Magnificent Seven, and his name was chosen to reflect his unconventional personality. Goemon was created to give an oriental
element into an otherwise western series. Despite Lupin and Goemon
originally being enemies, Monkey Punch decided that they were on the
same wavelength. While Lupin, Fujiko, Jigen and Goemon frequently
operate together for their own goals, the author considers them not to
be a true group as they have their own individual interests.
In the manga they operated individually, however in the anime
adaptations the group tend to work together. Inspector Zenigata was
conceived as Lupin's archrival to create a "human Tom and Jerry".
When Monkey Punch began Lupin III, he was already working on another series, Pinky Punky. Monkey Punch enjoys writing outlaw characters, and both Lupin III and Pinky Punky
made use of outlaws as central characters. According to him, this made
it easy for him to write two series without much pressure. Monkey Punch
enjoys puzzles and mysteries such as Columbo and Agatha Christie novels, and was also inspired by The Three Musketeers and the movies of Alfred Hitchcock. He believes the characters of Lupin and Fujiko are similar to the characters of D'Artagnan and Milady de Winter,
and describes them as "Not necessarily lovers, not necessarily husband
and wife, but more just having fun as man and woman with each other". Another influence on the manga was Mad magazine.
Monkey Punch said the appeal of drawing Lupin comes from the character
being able to go anywhere without obstacles and being able to do
whatever he wants, whenever he wants. However, this is contrasted by the
appeal of Zenigata's strict personality. Originally the series was only
expected to last three months, but due to its popularity, Monkey Punch
continued to draw it. However, despite his happiness at its success, he
has expressed confusion over its popularity.
Monkey Punch has said that he believes the story can never end
but that if he had to, both Zenigata and Lupin would have to end as
equals. They would either both fail, both win or both get very old.
