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: SyFyWire] For three decades, My Neighbor Totoro has withstood the test of time as one of Studio Ghibli’s greatest anime films. The forest spirit, Totoro, has become so beloved that Studio Ghibli adopted him as their official mascot, and he remains a very popular character to this day. Now, Totoro is even getting his own restaurant in Bangkok.
Via SoraNews24, May’s Garden House Restaurant is the first Totoro-themed restaurant officially licensed by Studio Ghibli. The restaurant isn’t officially open yet, but it’s currently welcoming hungry diners during its preview period while collecting feedback. There’s even a giant Totoro at the entrance of the dining room, which will probably be one of the most popular attractions there.
Studio Ghibli co-founder Toshio Suzuki was heavily involved with the creation of the restaurant, thanks to his friendship with the proprietor, Kanyada; whose nickname is “May.” The report notes that Suzuki was so taken by Kanyada’s chicken wings and sympathetic to her business struggles that he came up with the idea for May’s Garden House Restaurant. He also created the restaurant's official logo.
While there are numerous Totoro characters placed throughout the restaurant, May’s Garden House will also be home to Colko and Peeko, two new creations made and designed by Suzuki himself. Colko and Peeko are also the restaurant's official mascots.
There are a few parts of May’s Garden House that aren’t yet completed, including a playground for children, an orchid glasshouse, a boat water pool, and more. Even the menu hasn’t been finalized yet, although it will include dishes inspired by Totoro and his spirit pals. But we’re not quite sure what this Catbus snack is supposed to be.
May’s Garden House Restaurant also has its own official Instagram account, which will continue to entice visitors even after the grand opening later this this month.
A N I M A T R I X N E T W O R K Saturday, May 26, 2018
Fountaindale Public Library
"Get ready! We're flying to a new location!"
Remember! We'll be in a Different Library! Fountaindale Public Library 300 W. Briarcliff Rd.
Bolingbrook, IL 60440
2nd Floor Board Room, 11:15 am to 5:00 pm
11:15 - 12:05 Houseki no Kuni 7-8 12:05 - 12:55 A Place Further Than the Universe 5-6 12:55 - 1:45 Violet Evergarden 7-8 1:45 - 2:20 Club Meeting / Announcements 2:20 - 3:10 B - the Beginning 5-6 3:10 - 4:50 Mary and the Witch's Flower [Movie]
All anime presented are fan-subtitled unless otherwise noted.
Don't miss the exciting anime series: B - The Beginning and Houseki no Kuni!
[Source: Entertainment Weekly] EW exclusively revealed that Warner Bros. Animation is bringing back the iconic cat-like aliens for new animated series called ThunderCats Roar, which will debut on Cartoon Network in 2019.
Check out an exclusive sneak peak at the show above.
The original ThunderCats show aired from 1985 and 1989, and followed the adventures of Lion-O, Cheetara, Panthro, Tygra, Snarf, and WilyKit and WilyKat, the refugees of the planet Thundera who end up on Third Earth. While ThunderCatsRoar plans on staying true to the original’s premise and will feature tons of action, it will also lean into the inherent comedy of the world, too.
“I think the world that they built lends itself really well to comedy because of how silly and crazy and outlandish those ideas are and some of those settings are,” says producer Victor Courtright in the exclusive behind-the-scenes video above. “But at the same time, it wouldn’t be ThunderCats if it didn’t have super cool action elements because that’s what people came back to. It’s very much something that we want to lean on. So with the new show, we’re not walking away from the action in any bit. Every step we take towards comedy, we take two more towards really cool action scenes and explosions and lasers and actions effects.”
Here’s the official logline for the series: “Staying true to the premise of the original series, Lion-O and the ThunderCats — Tygra, Panthro, Cheetara, Wilykat, and Wilykit — barely escape the sudden destruction of their home world, Thundera, only to crash land on the mysterious and exotic planet of Third Earth. Lion-O, the newly appointed Lord of the ThunderCats, attempts to lead the team as they make this planet their new home. A bizarre host of creatures and villains stand in their way, including the evil Mumm-Ra, Third Earth’s wicked ruler who will let nothing, including the ThunderCats, stop his tyrannical reign over the planet.”
ThunderCats Roar stars Max Mittelman (Justice League Action) as Lion-O and Wilykat, Erica Lindbeck (DC Super Hero Girls) as Cheetara and Wilykit, Patrick Seitz (Justice League Action) as Tygra and Mumm-Ra, and Chris Jai Alex (Star Wars: Battlefront II) as Panthro.
Today at Anime Central, Kenichi Sonoda officially launches his Kickstarter Project: Bean Bandit.
very time I am invited to events in North America, I am always left with the memory that fans want a new Riding Bean and Gunsmith Cats. One day, my friend brought me a plan for crowdfunding anime. I realized then how fun it would be to make more extreme and more profound animated works just for the fans without being bound by the opinions of publishers and editors.
That is why I started this Kickstarter.
Our initial goal is to produce a five-minute animation. Should we receive more support, we are planning to make it longer. I would be truly happy if we gathered enough pledges to create a 20-minute anime with a slick original opening!
I also intend to prepare an art book featuring concept art, design, and a newly drawn original color comic if possible.
The animation, art book, and manga will be available in both Japanese and English. Additionally, the finished animation will be released on a Blu-ray disk at the highest quality.
[Source: WeGotThisCovered] Anyone who loves superheroes these days seems to have that one cartoon that resonated with them, leading to an undying love for it. Children of the 1990’s will likely wax nostalgia over Batman: The Animated Series or X-Men: The Animated Series, while others who prefer the decade that followed remember Justice League Unlimited and Spectacular Spider-Man quite fondly.
This particular decade’s biggest breakout was arguably Young Justice, a series that placed the focus on sidekicks such as Robin/Nightwing, Superboy, Kid Flash, Aqualad, Miss Martian, Artemis and others who were coming of age and ready to take their place in the limelight. But it was unfortunately cut short after only two seasons due to a lack of merchandise sales – even though not much was manufactured to begin with. It was a ridiculous Catch 22, to say the least.
Since its untimely cancellation, a very rabid fanbase tirelessly campaigned for the series’ return, ultimately resulting in a third season being chosen as one of the vanguards for the upcoming DC Universe streaming service that’s really gotten people talking as of late.
As was to be expected, the next chapter in the story will see another lineup shift, which producer Greg Weisman unveiled over on Twitter:
Upon examining the image, we see Tigress, Superboy and someone who appears to be Black Lightning looming above, though it remains to be seen if this iteration of the character is indeed Jefferson Pierce. In addition to them, Nightwing can be glimpsed heading up a new band of heroes consisting of Katana, Metamorpho and three others who’ve yet to be identified.
Of course, this is but a fraction of the cast, so we’ll keep you posted when it comes to any relevant developments made between now and showtime. Let’s just hope that we see some of the villains before long because, don’t forget, season 2 left off with a handshake shared by Vandal Savage and Darkseid, so we’re definitely intrigued to see where that goes.
For more on Young Justice: Outsiders and various other shows comprising the DC Universe spectrum, be sure to click here for additional details.
[Source: Engadget] Forgotton Anne looks like a gentle animated feature film you can't quite remember the name of, with an art style somewhere between Studio Ghibli and those curious kids' animation series I used to watch from Europe. The charming characters, mostly anthropomorphic objects called forgotlings, make for an entertaining adventure, combined with occasionally smart puzzles and surprising gameplay twists. That said, ThroughLine Games have made a gorgeous animated story where the gameplay comes second.
It's easiest to describe Forgotton Anne in terms of other games: It's a platform game like the original, original Prince of Persia, but without the death -- in fact, I don't think you can die. It's also got some Monkey Island-esque exploration scenes, and dialog-based dilemmas crop up throughout. Then there's a generally simple, puzzle-based component to slow down exploration and eke out the story. These center on the Arca, your font of power as Enforcer of this fictional realm of forgotlings. Strapped to the palm of your hand, the gadget has the ability to draw Anima (magical sci-fi MacGuffin energy) from batteries, engines and even pesky living objects if you're feeling dark.
It'll also power your winged accessory that adds height and distance to your jump. You'll need it: Platforming puzzles typically center on the give-and-take of carrying and discharging Anima energy, while still being able to traverse the world with some wing-assisted jumps and climbs.
The world itself is a place where lost items like clothes and furniture live on, apparently waiting to be reunited with their owners in the Ether, which is framed as the world all these objects came from. However, Anne, who you play as, is one of only two humans, and the other one is a surly older man named Master Bonku, who seems to run the entire place -- what's going on?
Anne is tasked with sorting out issues between forgotlings, and the game kicks off just after a rebellious faction of scarves, shoes, mannequins and more attack facilities and shut down power. In the first few scenes, you encounter a decision about how to deal with a deceptive scarf. Without spoiling things, you can choose to end him or let him get away. While the game doesn't signpost it, most of these decisions lead to repercussions later. We're not talking Mass Effect levels of branching storylines and consequences here, but the story gives the player a bit of choice, even if Anne is kind of frustrating (and dull) as a character -- at least until later.
Fortunately, the supporting cast of talking objects is charming. The developers have distributed plenty of international accents and dialects to ensure every object you talk to feels, to be honest, far more fleshed-out than they need to be. A few examples: There's an excessively mellow lava lamp that slowly talks in a California slur, the rapier-wielding mannequin has a British accent to go alongside his rakish behavior; an old-fashioned folding camera has the wizened grandmotherly voice you might expect.
Like the voice acting, the music is suitably big-budget, combining gorgeous orchestral scores with smaller-scale musical arrangements. As you move through layers of a building or structure, the melodies will gently change to represent what's going on. A hidden underground speakeasy gets a different track as you flit between the bar, the stage and the roof rafters. It's a smart way of pointing out different characters you might not have noticed before. Similarly, the in-game camera cleverly pans out and crops to help signpost your way through early levels -- without it, you might not have realized that side alley in the beautiful background is actually where you've got to go next.
When it comes to the puzzles and negotiating platforms, you'll find that timing is frustratingly sluggish for leaps, while the puzzles (typically involving sliding parts, door switches and using Anima to power machinery) aren't going to tax your mind too much. While restoring power to the factory or navigating broken bridges, I found myself yearning for more interactions with forgotlings.
Most of the puzzles are simple, though I did get stuck on one involving a rotary dial phone, but I'm putting that down to the fact I've never touched one in my life.
There are touches of emotional heft as the story starts to coalesce: Anne yearns to know where she came from and who her mother was. Meanwhile, Master Bonku is protective of her to the point of deception. It all sounds like an animated movie, and playing it doesn't change that sensation -- it's just a shame there's not a little more depth to the parts of Forgotton Anne where you're in control.
From the outer reaches of space to the small-town streets of suburbia, the hunt comes home in Shane Black's explosive reinvention of the Predator series. Now, the universe's most lethal hunters are stronger, smarter and deadlier than ever before, having genetically upgraded themselves with DNA from other species. When a young boy accidentally triggers their return to Earth, only a ragtag crew of ex-soldiers and a disgruntled science teacher can prevent the end of the human race.
[Source: ToonZone] Aw geez! Ooo-wee! Belch! Other catch phrases! Remember when the future of Rick & Morty was up in the air? It’s finally landed, and on the good side. How many obscure fast food sauces will this cartoon be able to advertise with this kind of deal?
For months now, we’ve been told the next season of Rick & Morty has been stalled — that they weren’t even working on it. At first no one knew why, leading to paranoid speculation, but it was clarified that contract negotiations were holding things up. And now we know why the contracts were so important: if you’re going to get locked into an episode deal this massive, it better be a good deal. At least 70 more episodes are now guaranteed to air, more than doubling the current library.
Keep in mind the order is for 70 episodes, but this doesn’t mean the next season is literally going to be 70 episodes long. AS could be planning to quickly farm the next season out to the same factory that made Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors, but we doubt Roiland and Harmon would have signed the contract under those conditions. It’s more likely we’re looking at a multiple-season renewal.
Should We See It from the Side or the Bottom? A new romantic fantasy from Studio Shaft
In the town of Moshimo, Norimichi Shimada and his friends, Yusuke, Miura and Jun'ichi live while harassing their teacher and the former half galvanising over the beauty of their classmate Nazuna Oikawa. Yusuke in particular speaks of confessing to Nazuna. However, Nazuna is poised to leave town. While not knowing this, the four make a bet regarding whether or not Fireworks look round or flat from the side.
Nazuna, on the day she is supposed to leave, picks up a small ball she finds pretty on her way to school. After school, she encounters Norimichi and Yusuke, both of which are on swimming duty. Challenging them to a race, the winner has to follow whatever she says, where Yusuke wins, and she asks him to meet her later. Returning home, her mother and father discuss whether leaving the town is a good idea, to which her mother claims 'she has no friends'. Nazuna then changes into a Yukata and packs a suitcase, trying to leave home.
However, later, Nazuna meets Norimichi at the nearby hospital, where she remarks that she had wanted Norimichi to win. Hastily dragged away by her mother, Norimichi picks up the ball from earlier, and realises that Yusuke did not meet her. He meets the other three again, and in a fit of rage, throws the ball at Yusuke, inadvertently reversing time.
Time having reversed to when the swimming competition occurred, it is shown what would have occurred had Norimichi won. Nazuna meets up with him, where instead of running away, she attempts to get work at a nearby store.
Acclaimed screenwriter Mari Okada (Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day) makes her directorial debut in this moving animated fantasy feature, Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms… The people of Iorph have a lifespan of hundreds of years and maintain their teenage appearances for life, but when the peace of this town is shattered by those who want the secret to their longevity for themselves, a young girl named Maquia is forced to escape. Wandering the land alone, upon finding an orphaned baby she chooses to raise him, but as this boy grows up so the difference in their lifespans is thrown into ever-sharper relief.
In the Star Wars universe, you may have heard about the infamous moment where Han Solo and Lando Calrissian first meet and ultimately face-off for the legendary Millennium Falcon. With Solo: A Star Wars Story, and the help of ILM, this iconic moment was captured in full 360º, putting you the viewer at the center of it all. Watch it all unfold with Han, Lando, and some new and old friends. This experience is a truly never-before-seen event. Solo: A Star Wars Story 360 was created in association with ILMxLAB.
“This ship has probably never looked better than when Lando had it.”
[Source: Entertainment Weekly] In a new behind-the-scenes video, Donald Glover gives Star Wars fans a tour of the pristine Millennium Falcon as we’ll see it in Solo: A Star Wars Story, before his young Lando Calrissian lost the starship to Han Solo in a card game.
While Han used the Falcon as a speedy but dilapidated smuggling vessel, it’s clear Lando considered it a flying bachelor pad. Glover walks us through the living quarters, suitable for entertainment with a sound system and adjacent food and coffee bar. (Note: Wookiee cookies. For when Chewie needs to be reminded “Who’s a good boy?”)
Then we get a tour of the sleeping quarters.
“These pillows are made of actual kajak hair,” Glover explains. “That’s not easy to get.”
There’s no record of what (or who) a “kajak” is, but EW has asked Star Wars story group maestro Pablo Hidalgo. We’ll update with whatever he can share.
Adjacent to the captain’s room is the cape closet. Glover walks us through Lando’s attire for every occasion: “an everyday cape… sister’s wedding cape… Intergalactic president’s day cape …” He holds out a fur-covered one. “This is just an if-someone-gets-cold-cape.”
I’d like to see a tour of the Falcon by Han after he finishes grubbing it up.
