Next Club Meeting:October 17, 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.
Set in a post-apocalyptic, near-future Los Angeles where culinary culture reigns supreme and the world's most powerful figures are chefs, the series follows a mysterious sushi chef named Jiro, who sets out on a quest for vengeance in a society where food is both currency and a marker of class.
Get Jiro double premieres on October 3 at midnight
during Toonami on Adult Swim, next day on HBO Max.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is an upcoming American fantasy drama television series created by Ira Parker and George R. R. Martin. A prequel to Game of Thrones (2011–2019), it is set to be the third television series in Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire franchise and is an adaptation of the Tales of Dunk and Egg novellas. It stars Peter Claffey as Ser Duncan the Tall ("Dunk"), the titular hedge knight, and Dexter Sol Ansell as his squire Aegon Targaryen ("Egg").
The series is scheduled to premiere on January 18, 2026, on HBO and will consist of six episodes. In November 2025, ahead of the first season premiere, the series was renewed for a second season, which is expected to be released in 2027.
Following his victory over Katana Man and his Yakuza, Denji awakens from the same cryptic dream in which Pochita warns him to never open the door he's standing behind, no matter what. Before he can comprehend Pochita's words, Denji is suddenly uppercutted by Power, who is revealed to have drank too much blood from her battle with the Yakuza's zombies. Makima sends Power to have her blood drained and decides to pair Denji with the Shark Fiend Beam. Seeing that Denji is annoyed by Beam's enthusiastic demeanor, Makima proposes a date with him for the following day. The two spend their date together by having a non-stop movie marathon until midnight. During one of the movies, Denji notices Makima tearing up over an emotional scene, a rare moment of vulnerability from the emotionless woman. Afterward, Denji asks Makima if he does have a heart, to which she confirms it by checking his pulse, leaving him in good spirits.
Exclusively in movie theatres October 24
While patrolling in the daytime, Denji finds himself running into a telephone booth to avoid getting drenched by the sudden rain. At the same time, a purple-haired girl named Reze approaches Denji inside the telephone booth. Wanting to impress Reze, Denji decides to perform a magic trick by pulling out a flower from his mouth, having obtained it earlier from a charity event. Reze thanks Denji for the flower and asks him to come visit her at the café she works at. Reze returns to the café and readies herself to work, only to find Denji already seated at one of the tables. From there, Denji tries the bitter taste of coffee for the first time, while Reze promptly introduces herself after learning his name.
Over time, Denji and Reze begin spending more time together as he starts visiting her more often. Meanwhile, Aki Hayakawa and the Angel Devil are partnered together as buddies, but the two are unable to get along initially due to their differing views on handling their duties. While grabbing lunch, Reze learns that Denji has never gone to school and asks him to explore a nearby school with her at night. Unbeknownst to the two, a serial killer working with the Typhoon Devil plans on targeting Reze to lure Denji out for his heart. Inside an undisclosed school, Reze guides Denji through the hallways and teaches him simple subjects such as grammar and mathematics. She also expresses concern upon learning how Denji lives out his life working under Public Safety. The two decide to go swimming in the school’s pool, where Reze helps Denji learn how to swim. Afterward, Denji and Reze rest in the classroom as it begins to rain.
Reze asks Denji whether he prefers to be the town mouse or country mouse, to which he chooses the town mouse, as he prefers food and fun over safety. Elsewhere, the Angel Devil informs Aki the origins of the fable and admits that he prefers being the country mouse to avoid being further involved in the city's dangers. Seeing that is what Denji prefers, Reze proposes to meet up again the next day at a festival to have more fun together. Denji complies and slowly realizes that he now has feelings for two women: Reze and Makima. As Reze heads to the restrooms in good spirits, a serial killer emerges from the shadows and chases her onto the school's balcony. Before the deranged figure can kill her, Reze swiftly disarms him and slowly strangles him to death. Getting back up, the unfettered Reze coldly tells the Typhoon Devil to dispose of the serial killer's corpse before heading back to check on Denji.
On the day of the festival, Denji and Reze spend time playing various games, eating food, and eventually watching the fireworks at a nearby fence. As the two enjoy the peaceful evening, Reze makes up her mind and asks Denji to run away together. Denji is initially confused but Reze tells him she loves him and promises to protect him from harm. Despite this, Denji turns down Reze's offer as he still wants to continue his job and visit her from time to time. Disappointed, Reze attacks Denji and prepares to take his heart out by force. Out of nowhere, Beam quickly grabs Denji and carries him to safety. Pulling the grenade pin on her neck, Reze transforms into her Bomb Hybrid form to give chase. Beam and Denji barely manage to evade her explosives as they arrive at Division 2's headquarters, where Aki and his old coworkers are spending time together. Beam frantically informs the Devil Hunters that the Bomb Devil is in alliance with the Gun Devil but cannot say anymore as he promised Makima. Not too long after, Reze arrives at the headquarters, ready to cause another massacre. Aki takes Denji to safety alongside the Angel Devil and Beam while Division 2 holds off Reze for the time being.
Reze manages to catch up to Aki's group after slaughtering Division 2, only to be stopped by Galgali and Kobeni. This diversion gives Denji enough time to recover and transform before confronting Reze directly. Before they fight, Denji expresses frustration that every woman he meets tries to kill him, wondering if any woman will see him for who he is. Reze tells Denji she does like him but Aki shoots down that claim. The two Hybrids engage in an explosive battle that ends with Reze overpowering Denji using her explosives to brutally subdue him. Before Reze can escape with Denji, Aki attacks her from behind to free Denji. Aki is soon joined by Galgali, forcing Reze to call in the Typhoon Devil, who immediately begins causing havoc and chaos throughout the city. After being rejuvenated once more with help from the Angel Devil and Beam, Denji devises a new strategy to counter Reze by using his chains to ride on Beam's shark form.
Denji and Beam ride back into the fray for their rematch against Reze and the Typhoon Devil. While Denji and Reze go all out against each other, the Typhoon Devil's swarming mass of flesh tears up the battlefield. The Angel Devil is nearly sucked into the Typhoon Devil's swirling body but Aki saves him, not wanting anyone else he cares about to die again. However, touching the Angel Devil reduces his lifespan by two months. Regardless, the Typhoon Devil meets its end by Denji, who ends up cornered by Reze after she takes Beam out of the fight. Knowing that she cannot use her powers underwater, Denji restrains Reze with his chains and throws the both of them into the ocean. The two reminisce about their time swimming together before losing consciousness. Denji and Reze eventually awaken on the beach, having been dragged out by Beam. Reze reveals that her feelings for him were nothing but a ruse, but Denji asks her to run away with him. Reze declines the offer but Denji promises to wait for her at the café at noon.
In the aftermath of Reze's attack, Kishibe tells Aki of an urban legend regarding the Soviet Union and reveals that Reze was one of the children experimented with by the Soviets to serve the government's needs. Elsewhere, Reze changes her mind regarding Denji's proposal to run away together and heads back to the café. Before she can reach Denji, Reze is intercepted by Makima, who is revealed to have watched her the entire time she was bonding with Denji. With help from the Angel Devil, Makima subdues Reze and seemingly kills her. As she loses consciousness, Reze recalls the reason she couldn't bring herself to kill Denji was because she empathizes with him for being unable to live a normal life. At the café, a depressed Denji realizes Reze never arrived and believes she stood him up. Power suddenly barges in and asks Denji if the flowers he has are for her. Denji doesn't respond as he bluntly devours the bouquet, much to Power's annoyance.
SISU: ROAD TO REVENGE is a wall-to-wall cinematic action event, a sequel to the original sleeper hit SISU. Returning to the house where his family was brutally murdered during the war, “the man who refuses to die” (Jorma Tommila) dismantles it, loads it on a truck, and is determined to rebuild it somewhere safe in their honor. When the Red Army commander who killed his family (Stephen Lang from Don’t Breathe) comes back hellbent on finishing the job, a relentless, eye-popping cross-country chase ensues - a fight to the death, full of clever, unbelievable action set pieces.
From the World of John Wick: Ballerina – in theaters June 6! Starring Ana de Armas, Anjelica Huston, Gabriel Byrne, Lance Reddick, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Norman Reedus, with Ian McShane, and Keanu Reeves.
Taking place during the events of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, Ballerina follows Eve Macarro (Ana de Armas) who is beginning her training in the assassin traditions of the Ruska Roma.
After a mother and son get in a car wreck, they soon become hunted by Bambi, a mutated grief-stricken deer on a deadly rampage seeking revenge for the death of his mother.
The last time we saw the mixed-race master of the sword, her hair was unbound and eyes determined as she sailed into the uncharted waters in front of her toward London to find her two remaining potential fathers. She’d already killed one, Violet, before the events of Season 1 began, while Irishman Abijah Fowler (Kenneth Branagh) remained locked below deck as her prisoner. Fowler might not be her father, but why didn’t she kill him, again? Oh yeah, because “he has function, he’s a road map to the others,” said Green. “She fully plans to kill him, but she needs him first.” From Michael Green (Logan, Blade Runner 2049) and Amber Noizumi, comes a masterpiece unlike anything you've seen before.
From Moon Studios, the award-winning developers of Ori and the Blind Forest and Ori and the Will of the Wisps, comes No Rest for the Wicked, a visceral, precision ARPG with a bold new take on the genre. Coming to PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. The game is set in the year 841. The player assumes control of a Cerim, a group of holy warriors imbued with magical abilities, who must purge the "Pestilence", a plague which has transformed the locals of Isola Sacra into dangerous and mindless monsters. Along the way, the Cerim becomes entangled in political conflicts between the rulers of the kingdom, and the rebels who seek to overthrow it.
A nerd must fight powerful spirits and aliens all vying for the secret power of his “family jewel,” so who better to fight alongside him than his high school crush and a spirit granny?!
Momo Ayase and Okarun are on opposite sides of the paranormal spectrum regarding what they’ll believe in and what they won’t. Their quest to prove each other wrong leads them down a path of secret crushes and paranormal battles they’ll have to participate in to believe!
Momo Ayase strikes up an unusual friendship with her school’s UFO fanatic, whom she nicknames “Okarun” because he has a name that is not to be said aloud. While Momo believes in spirits, she thinks aliens are nothing but nonsense. Her new friend, meanwhile, thinks the exact opposite. To settle matters, the two set out to prove each other wrong—Momo to a UFO hotspot and Okarun to a haunted tunnel! What unfolds next is a beautiful story of young love…and oddly horny aliens and spirits?
The world is on the brink. Victoria Neuman is closer than ever to the Oval Office and under the muscly thumb of Homelander, who is consolidating his power. Butcher, with only months to live, has lost Becca’s son as well as his job as The Boys’ leader. The rest of the team are fed up with his lies. With the stakes higher than ever, they have to find a way to work together and save the world before it’s too late. Starring Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Jessie T. Usher, Laz Alonso, Chace Crawford, Tomer Capone, Karen Fukuhara, Colby Minifie, Claudia Doumit, and Cameron Crovetti, and welcoming Susan Heyward, Valorie Curry, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, The Boys Season 4 premieres 2024.
Harley Quinn, The Joker, and the Suicide Squad cause havoc in ISEKAI*, an all-new original anime series from Warner Bros. Japan and WIT Studio. *ISEKAI(異世界): Term for "another world" in Japanese.
In the crime-ridden city of Gotham, Amanda Waller, the head of A.R.G.U.S., has assembled a group of notorious criminals for a mission: Harley Quinn, Deadshot, Peacemaker, Clayface, and King Shark. These Super-Villains are sent into an otherworldly realm that's connected to this world through a gate. It's a world of swords and magic where orcs rampage and dragons rule the skies an "ISEKAI"!. With lethal explosives planted in their necks, there's no running or hiding, and failing the mission means a one-way ticket to the afterlife!. Can Harley Quinn and her crew conquer this perilous ISEKAI realm?!. Brace yourselves for the pulse-pounding saga of the elite task force known as the "Suicide Squad" as they embark on a jaw-dropping adventure!
Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth star in Academy Award-winning mastermind George Miller’s “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” the much-anticipated return to the iconic dystopian world he created more than 30 years ago with the seminal “Mad Max” films. Miller now turns the page again with an all-new original, standalone action adventure that will reveal the origins of the powerhouse character from the multiple Oscar-winning global smash “Mad Max: Fury Road.” The new feature from Warner Bros. Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures is produced by Miller and his longtime partner, Oscar-nominated producer Doug Mitchell (“Mad Max: Fury Road,” “Babe”), under their Australian-based Kennedy Miller Mitchell banner.
As the world fell, young Furiosa is snatched from the Green Place of Many Mothers and falls into the hands of a great Biker Horde led by the Warlord Dementus. Sweeping through the Wasteland, they come across the Citadel presided over by The Immortan Joe. While the two Tyrants war for dominance, Furiosa must survive many trials as she puts together the means to find her way home.
Taylor-Joy stars in the title role, and along with Hemsworth, the film also stars Alyla Browne and Tom Burke.
Miller penned the script with “Mad Max: Fury Road” co-writer Nico Lathouris. Miller’s behind-the-scenes creative team includes first assistant director PJ Voeten and second unit director and stunt coordinator Guy Norris, director of photography Simon Duggan (“Hacksaw Ridge,” “The Great Gatsby”), composer Tom Holkenborg, sound designer Robert Mackenzie, editor Eliot Knapman, visual effects supervisor Andrew Jackson and colorist Eric Whipp. The team also includes other longtime collaborators: production designer Colin Gibson, editor Margaret Sixel, sound mixer Ben Osmo, costume designer Jenny Beavan and makeup designer Lesley Vanderwalt, each of whom won an Oscar for their work on “Mad Max: Fury Road.”
Warner Bros. Pictures Presents, in Association with Village Roadshow Pictures, A Kennedy Miller Mitchell Production, A George Miller Film, “Furiosa.” The film will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, in theaters only nationwide on May 24, 2024 and internationally beginning on May 22, 2024.
The Witcher: Sirens of the Deep is based on A Little Sacrifice, a short story written by the universe's creator Andrzej Sapkowski. It will have Geralt of Rivia investigating a series of attacks in a seaside village in the midst of rising conflict between its human inhabitants and merpeople from the ocean.
New episodes coming in November. Based on the groundbreaking comic book by Robert Kirkman, Cory Walker, and Ryan Ottley.
The story revolves around 18-year-old Mark Grayson, who’s just like every other guy his age—except his father is (or was) the most powerful superhero on the planet. Still reeling from Nolan’s betrayal in Season 1, Mark struggles to rebuild his life as he faces a host of new threats, all while battling his greatest fear - that he might become his father without even knowing it.
Starring Steven Yeun, with Sandra Oh, Zazie Beetz, Grey DeLisle, Chris Diamantopoulos, Walton Goggins, Gillian Jacobs, Jason Mantzoukas, Ross Marquand, Khary Payton, Zachary Quinto, Andrew Rannells, Kevin Michael Richardson, Seth Rogen, and J.K. Simmons. Joining the Season 2 cast are Sterling K. Brown, Peter Cullen, Rob Delaney, Calista Flockhart, Phil LaMarr, Luke MacFarlane, Tatiana Maslany, Scott McNairy, Jay Pharoah, Ella Purnell, Tim Robinson, Ben Schwartz, Rhea Seehorn, Lea Thompson, Paul F. Tompkins, Shantel VanSanten, and more.
Following the events of Hawkeye (2021) in New York City, Maya Lopez returns to her hometown in Oklahoma, where she must come to terms with her past, reconnect with her Native American roots, and embrace her family and community.
Echo is an upcoming American television miniseries created by Marion Dayre for the streaming service Disney+, based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. It is intended to be the tenth television series in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) produced by Marvel Studios, sharing continuity with the films of the franchise, and is a spin-off from the series Hawkeye (2021). It sees Maya Lopez return to her hometown where she must come to terms with her past, reconnect with her Native American roots, and embrace her family and community. Dayre serves as head writer for the series with Sydney Freeland leading the directing team. The series is also produced by 20th Television.
Alaqua Cox reprises her role as Maya Lopez / Echo from Hawkeye, with Vincent D'Onofrio, Chaske Spencer, Tantoo Cardinal, Graham Greene, Cody Lightning, Charlie Cox, Devery Jacobs, and Zahn McClarnon also starring. Development of the spin-off began by March 2021, with Etan and Emily Cohen attached as head writers, and Alaqua Cox confirmed to be returning. The series was formally announced in November 2021, when Dayre was revealed to be serving as head writer, with Freeland set to direct by March 2022. Filming occurred from late April to late August 2022, taking place in the Atlanta metropolitan area including Atlanta, Peachtree City, Social Circle, and Grantville, Georgia. In May, Marvel revealed further cast members and that Catriona McKenzie would also direct for the series.
Echo is scheduled to be released in its entirety simultaneously on Disney+ and Hulu on January 10, 2024, and will consist of five episodes. It will be part of Phase Five of the MCU and will be Marvel Studios' first television release to debut on Hulu and to receive a TV-MA rating.
The three-part event will explore the origin behind the iconic hotel-for-assassins centerpiece of the John Wick universe through the eyes and actions of a young Winston Scott, as he’s dragged into the Hell-scape of 1970’s New York City to face a past he thought he’d left behind. Winston charts a deadly course through the hotel’s mysterious underworld in a harrowing attempt to seize the hotel where he will eventually take his future throne.
Destiny brought them together. Dangerous forces are trying to tear them apart. Geralt and Yennefer fight to keep Ciri safe as war brews on the Continent.
Presenting the cinematic launch trailer for Dislyte's Dusk & Dawn update for a peek at the story of the new Espers: Athena and Nyx. In addition to the new Espers, Dislyte's Dusk & Dawn update brings an April Carnival event, a new dungeon, and more to the RPG.
As time goes by, Leora has been starting to doubt her conviction and the organization she once was proud to be a part of. Her meeting with Elaine, who grew up with her in the same orphanage, further strengthened her resolve to change. Will Leora pierce through the darkness and find the light within her heart?
Geralt and Ciri are linked by destiny since before she was born when he unknowingly demanded her as a reward for his services by invoking "the Law of Surprise". After the two finally meet, Geralt becomes the princess's protector and must help her and fight against her various pursuers to prevent her Elder Blood and powerful magic from being used for malevolent purposes and keep Ciri and their world safe.
The newest season of the show, which is inspired by the second installment in Andrzej Sapkowski’s Witcher book series, Time of Contempt,
will finally see our hero reckoning with his feelings after two seasons
of steely, tough-guy detachment. Explains creator Lauren Schmidt
Hissrich, “For years, Geralt has claimed neutrality, shunned politics
and publicly asserted that witchers don’t have emotions — all to make
his life as a killer easier to navigate. We’ve seen him battle monsters
and monstrous humans; we’ve watched as he’s hardened himself in order to
survive. This season, he can no longer do that.”
''Now, for the first time, I understand real fear...''
