Check out the brand new trailer for the upcoming Power Rangers movie. SABAN’S POWER RANGERS follows five ordinary high school kids who must become something extraordinary when they learn that their small town of Angel Grove.
Read MoreFunimation Films will open Makoto Shinkai’s animated blockbuster and global pop culture hit “Your Name.” in North American theaters on April 7, 2017. The film will be released in both English-language Dub as well as the original Japanese-language with English subtitles.
Written and directed by Makoto Shinkai (“5 Centimeters Per Second,” “The Garden of Words”), “Your Name.” has already received critical acclaim and commercial success overseas, dominating the burgeoning Asian box office to quickly become the fourth highest-grossing film of all time released in Japan – behind only “Spirited Away,” “Titanic” and “Frozen.” “Your Name.” has also since become the second highest-grossing Japanese animated film released in Japan, surpassing legendary works from Hayao Miyazaki including “Princess Mononoke,” “Howl’s Moving Castle” and “Ponyo.”
“It’s truly a joy to be part of a film like ‘Your Name.’ that has surprised everyone’s expectations and quickly captivated the hearts and attention of audiences and films critics alike,” said Gen Fukunaga, Founder and CEO of Funimation Entertainment. “I have always believed that a touching and beautifully told story can mesmerize mainstream audiences regardless of a film’s genre. ‘Your Name.’ is the perfect example of this and will be one that journalists will point to for years to come.”
“Your Name.” was selected by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association as Best Animated Feature of 2016 and is on the official consideration list for a nomination in the Best Animated Feature category at the 89th Annual Academy Awards. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will announce final nominations for the 89th Annual Academy Awards on January 24, 2017.
“We’re thrilled to be bringing ’Your Name.’ to theaters across North America and Canada this spring,” said Mike Duboise, COO of Funimation Entertainment. “Based on audience reaction around the world and a week’s worth of sold out screenings during the film’s Oscar qualifying run last December, we expect ‘Your Name.’ to be a hit with North American theatergoers this April.”
The film’s soundtrack and original score was produced and composed by award-winning Japanese rock band RADWIMPS. Lead singer of RADWIMPS, Yojiro Noda, spent part of his childhood in the United States and is thrilled to provide the English version of all the chart-topping songs in the North American English dub version of the film, including Dream Lantern and Zenzenzense.
“Melody and lyrics must be something inseparable for RADWIMPS. For all that, I cannot respect and thank them enough for making these wonderful English versions to entertain international audience,” said Makoto Shinkai, writer and director of “Your Name.” “In ‘Your Name.,’ songs, lines and the story are in complete harmony. Lyrics represent characters’ cry of the heart. I hope these alternative versions will lead the audience to a better understanding of the world of ‘Your Name.’”
Film Synopsis
The day the stars fell, two lives changed forever. High schoolers Mitsuha and Taki are complete strangers living separate lives. But one night, they suddenly switch places. Mitsuha wakes up in Taki’s body, and he in hers. This bizarre occurrence continues to happen randomly, and the two must adjust their lives around each other. Yet, somehow, it works. They build a connection and communicate by leaving notes, messages, and more importantly, an imprint.
When a dazzling comet lights up the night’s sky, it dawns on them. They want something more from this connection—a chance to meet, an opportunity to truly know each other. Tugging at the string of fate, they try to find a way to each other. But distance isn’t the only thing keeping them apart. Is their bond strong enough to face the cruel irony of time? Or is their meeting nothing more than a wish upon the stars?
For more information about "Your Name." visit the official movie website here.
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Pioneering entertainment and media company Rooster Teeth announced today that RWBY©: Grimm Eclipse is now available worldwide for the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system and Xbox One
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The “Ghost in the Shell” franchise has been entertaining audiences for more than 25 years and this February, Lionsgate and Funimation Films are partnering together to bring the 1995, groundbreaking anime film back to theaters for a two-day limited theatrical engagement. The original “Ghost in the Shell” movie from acclaimed director Mamoru Oshii, will return to the big screen on February 7 – 8, 2017 in 110 theaters across the United States. Moviegoers will be able to enjoy both the original Japanese version with subtitles as well as the English dub of the film. Each will be available on separate days of the engagement, beginning first with the subtitled version. Tickets are available beginning today and can be pre-purchased via the official movie website at funimationfilms.com/ghostintheshell.
Viewed as ahead of its time when it premiered in 1995, “Ghost in The Shell” quickly turned into a pop culture phenomenon and the inspiration for future mainstream movies. The movie became the first anime film to rank #1 on Billboard in video sales, which currently total more than 1.5 million copies across the franchise. With the release of “Ghost in the Shell: The New Movie” in 2016 and a new live action version of “Ghost in the Shell” set to release at the end of March, there has been a huge resurgence in fan interest for the franchise worldwide.
“We’re excited to be partnering with Lionsgate to bring the original ‘Ghost in the Shell’ movie back to U.S. theaters,” said Gen Fukunaga, CEO and founder of Funimation. “’Ghost in the Shell’ is truly a seminal work in anime cinema and it helped firmly establish a market for the genre with U.S. movie audiences.”
’Ghost in the Shell’ is an iconic property and it is great that fans will be able to watch it on the big screen for the first time in 20 years,’ said Kevin Carney, VP Marketing Lionsgate. “Many fans will be seeing the movie in a theater for the first time and Funimation has been a terrific partner to help make this possible.”
Lionsgate will be releasing a new, deluxe collector’s edition of the remastered original on Blu-Ray with Digital HD. This new edition will feature steelbook packaging and Mondo artwork and will be available in retail outlets beginning March 7, 2017.
Synopsis
2029 - A female cybernetic government agent, Major Motoko Kusanagi, and the Internal Bureau of Investigations are hot on the trail of “The Puppet Master,” a mysterious and threatening computer virus capable of infiltrating human hosts. Together, with her fellow agents from Section 9, they embark on a high-tech race against time to capture the omnipresent entity.
For more information on “Ghost in the Shell” visit funimationfilms.com/ghostintheshell
The wildly popular anime series Sword Art Online is set to make its U.S. cinematic premiere with the English subtitled “Sword Art Online The Movie -Ordinal Scale- A Special Event.” At this exclusive event, anime fans will experience an all-new adventure with Kirito, Asuna and their party members as they explore the world of “Ordinal Scale,” a new hit game utilizing augmented reality technology.
This one-night event comes to movie theaters on Thursday, March 9 at 8:00 p.m. local time, from Fathom Events, Aniplex of America Inc. and ELEVEN ARTS. In addition to the full-length, English sub-titled feature, the Fathom event will include exclusive content to be announced soon.
Immediately following the Fathom premiere event, “Sword Art Online The Movie-Ordinal Scale-” will kick-off its wide theatrical release.
Tickets for “Sword Art Online The Movie -Ordinal Scale- A Special Event” can be purchased online by visiting www.FathomEvents.com and www.elevenarts.net/sao or at participating theater box offices. Fans throughout the U.S. will be able to enjoy the event in more than 500 select movie theaters.
The animated TV series Sword Art Online is based on author Reki Kawahara’s light novel of the same name. Since the first volume was published in April 2009, the series has sold more than 12.5 million copies in Japan and 19 million worldwide and spawned two TV anime adaptations, video games, comic books and merchandise.
In “Sword Art Online -Ordinal Scale-” the game’s players find the line between the virtual world and reality beginning to blur, and their worst nightmares coming true. As his fellow players find themselves in danger, Kirito, the hero, is called upon once again. Can he save his friends, or is this going to be game over for him?
“Fathom Events is proud to continue to bring the very best in anime to American cinemas with the debut of this title,” Fathom Events CEO John Rubey said. “We are pleased to partner again with ELEVEN ARTS and for the first time with Aniplex of America to offer this unique presentation to fans,”
This February, hatred has a new face. But first, Marvel Entertainment & Lucasfilm Ltd. are pleased to present your first look inside STAR WARS: DARTH MAUL #1
Read MoreThe Scarlet Speedster and Emerald Archer come alive from The CW’s critically acclaimed primetime television shows Flash and Arrow as Diamond and Icon Heroes present three PREVIEWS Exclusive
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Anime platform Hummingbird.me has rebranded as Kitsu.io, setting its sights on becoming the preeminent means for anime and manga fans to track, share and discover more of what they love. The rebranding includes a total rewrite of the platform.
The newly named Kitsu.io will provide anime fans with a means to track and keep up to date with new anime and manga. Fans can discover new anime and socialize with others in the community via the new platform’s personal and global activity feeds.
“Kitsu goes beyond being merely a utility for you to track your progress in your shows and manga. We’re focusing heavily on the social aspect of anime and manga too,” says founder and lead designer Josh Fabian. “Leveraging similar technology to sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Twitch, the new platform makes it easier than ever before to find like-minded anime fans and discuss new trends and finds.”
Kitsu uses machine learning to personalize each user’s activity feed, incorporating a tech and design based approach to help build and improve the social side of anime and manga. This is a new offering in an otherwise dated industry on the web. Too many existing avenues that anime and manga fans use to connect haven’t changed in the last 10 years or more; the whole anime industry as a whole simply isn’t geared towards the modern web.
Anime in the United States is big business. The total market worth is was $2.7 billion in 2014, which was much smaller than markets in Japan and China, which weigh in at $14.1 billion and $31 billion respectively in the same year. Roughly 600 anime films are downloaded every minute or, to put it another way, 10 every second.
“My goal for Kitsu is to see it become the number one platform that anime fans use to connect with each other,” Fabian continues. “There is a real dearth of quality platforms available out there, and we want to become the biggest, like the IMDB of the anime world.”
Image Comics/Skybound Entertainment is pleased to reveal a very special limited variant cover for Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard’s THE WALKING DEAD #163.
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Thanos may have been defeated like a chump in the recent Civil War II, but the Mad Titan looks to be getting his revenge by standing atop a mountain of fallen Marvel heroes in a first look at January 18's U.S.Avengers #2.
As teased in this week's U.S.Avengers #1, this appears to be "Zero Day" - a calamatous event that the future Danielle Cage warned heroes about over the course of recent New Avengers issues.
Here is the solicitation for that issue.
U.S.AVENGERS #2
AL EWING (W) • PACO MEDINA (A/C)
Variant Cover by DAVID NAKAYAMA
• Welcome to the $kullocracy! The Golden Skull launches his takeover bid — and it’s so crazy it just might work!
• How do the U.S.Avengers respond to the looming threat? Tuxedos. Really well-fitted tuxedos.
• Plus! Where were you on Zero Day — the day Captain America died?
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99
Annie May must save the day in this preview of next week's Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows #3.
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN: RENEW YOUR VOWS #3
GERRY CONWAY (w) • RYAN STEGMAN (a/C)
VARIANT COVER BY JOE QUINONES
• The Mole Man has attacked New York, and Spider-Man and MJ are down for the count!
• There’s only one person who can save them… their daughter!!
• On a school night?!
32 PGS./Rated T …$3.99
Woody Harrelson is in talks to take play Han Solo's as-yet-unnamed mentor in the smuggler's upcoming Star Wars spin-off film, according to Variety. Little else is known about the role, including whether the character will be someone from previously established Star Wars lore, or an entirely new creation.
The as-yet untitled film stars Alden Ehrenreich as Han Solo, Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian, and Emilia Clarke in an unnamed role. The Han Solo film is scheduled for a May 25, 2018 theatrical release.
Hugh Jackman has been outspoken for years saying that the third Wolverine film Logan would be his final time playing the titular role, but now the Australian actor is reconsidering his stance. In an interview with Variety, the 48-year-old actor said that following Ryan Reynolds public overtures for a Deadpool/Wolverine team-up movie, he's "hesitating" about his impending retirement.
“I’m hesitating,” said Jackman, “because I could totally see how that’s the perfect fit. But the timing may ?be wrong.”
Since his debut in 2000's X-Men, Jackman has worked under one-picture deals with 20th Century Fox to play the mutant anti-hero - renegotiating and renewing following every film, even with cameos such as in X-Men: First Class and X-Men: Apocalypse. According to Logan director James Mangold, Jackman negotiated a lower salary for that upcoming film in order to get approval by the studio to do it as an R-rated film.
Logan is scheduled for release March 3. A second Deadpool film is expected to debut in 2018.
Kodansha Comics presents the Science Fiction Manga by Nihei book bundle in partnership with Humble Bundle. The offering amounts to $185 worth of digital manga, featuring legendary manga-ka Tsutomu Nihei’s early mind-benders BLAME! and NOiSE up to his masterpiece, Knights of Sidonia. The actual cost of the bundle is based on Humble Bundle’s unique pay-what-you-want charitable model.
“This is an unprecedented deep-dive opportunity into the work of the foremost science-fiction manga artist of his generation, Tsutomu Nihei,” said Alvin Lu, General Manager of Kodansha Advanced Media.
The manga comes in multiple formats including CBZ, PDF, and ePub, so they can be read on computer, e-readers, iPads, cell phones, and a wide array of mobile devices. Bundle buyers choose where their money goes—between Kodansha Comics, three charities (Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, Worldreader, and Mental Health Foundation), and, if they like, a fourth charity of their choice via the PayPal Giving Fund. If they like what Humble Bundle does, they can leave a Humble Tip too.
This special bundle ends WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11, 10:59 A.M. PACIFIC TIME.
Here’s what bundle buyers get with each tier:
FREE with newsletter sign up
Unlock NOiSE, a prequel to BLAME!
Pay $1 or more
Unlock all of the above + BLAME! volume 1 + a 1-month subscription to Crunchyroll
Pay $8 or more
Unlock all of the above + BLAME! volume 2 + the never-before-published-in-English BLAME! Academy and So On, a spinoff of BLAME!
Pay $17 or more
Unlock all of the above + the Knights of Sidonia Complete Set (volumes 1-15)
Furthermore, if Kodansha Comics hits its bonus goals all buyers unlock never-before-seen new work from Nihei,
APOSIMZ
A prologue chapter from Nihei’s next manga series. Unlock at $50K.
Tsutomu Nihei Creator Profile video
Unlock at $75K.
Science Fiction Manga by Nihei: Collected Works
Art booklet. Unlock at $100K.
Writer/director Josh Boone is working hard on the long-talked-about New Mutants film, and in an interview with Creative Screenwriting the filmmaker revealed that its intended to be not just one film - but three.
"After I made The Fault in Our Stars, we made Fox a comic book," Boone said, referring to him and co-writer Knate Gwaltney. "It walked them through a trilogy of New Mutant [sic] films that would build on each other. We used this program called Comic Life, and took all the images we had loved from the series and strung them together to show them the movie we wanted to do. We brought it to [Simon Kinberg] and he really liked it. We’ve been going for the past year and a half to get it ready, and I’m about to go location scout and we have a release date now."
Boone went on, specifically referencing the "Demon Bear Saga" arc of New Mutants by Chris Claremont and Bill Sienkiewicz as a favorite, but didn't disclose what he had pitched for his intended New Mutants trilogy.
Earlier in December, an unconfirmed report circulated that a new X-Men-related film was scheduled to begin shooting in May 2017. Boone tweeted about it, asking "Hmmmm, what movie could that be?"
source: Newsarama
Dragon Soul is now available.
With a foreword from Dragon Ball voice actors Christopher Sabat and Sean Schemmel, Dragon Soul: 30 Years of Dragon Ball Fandom is an entertaining, inspirational, and enlightening celebration of the world’s greatest anime and manga’s 30th anniversary! This book features 27 stories from professionals who created Dragon Ball, 81 stories from Dragon Ball fans in over 25 countries, 600 images of original artwork, collections, and cosplay, plus exclusive interviews, insights, and heartfelt tales about Dragon Ball's power to change lives.
Dragon Soul is the newest book by acclaimed Dragon Ball scholar Derek Padula, author of the #1 best-selling "It's Over 9,000!" book, the Dragon Ball Culture book series, webmaster of The Dao of Dragon Ball, and screenwriter of the live-action Dragon Ball Z: Light of Hope, forever changing how Dragon Ball fans view their favorite series.
Starting next month, DC Comics is inviting fans everywhere to discover what REBIRTH is all about as they release the REBIRTH Collected Editions to retail. DC Comics has created a special trailer to generate excitement for these upcoming books
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VIZ Media notably expands its catalog of omnibus manga releases with the announcement of RUROUNI KENSHIN 3-in-1, Vol. 1 on January 3rd. Creator Nobuhiro Watsuki’s acclaimed saga of a drifting swordsman in Meiji Era Japan is rated ‘T+’ for Older Teen and the new 3-in-1 editions will carry a print MSRP of $14.99 U.S. / $19.99 CAN each. New omnibus volumes will be published on a quarterly basis.
In RUROUNI KENSHIN, Himura Battosai was once an assassin of ferocious power during the violent upheaval of the Bakumatsu era. But as the Meiji Restoration heals the wounds of civil war, Battosai takes up a new name and a new calling. As Himura Kenshin, he now fights only to protect the honor of those in need.
RUROUNI KENSHIN made its first appearance in Japan in 1992 as an original short story in Weekly Shonen Jump Special and went on to garner fans around the world. Later rewritten and published as a regular, continuing manga series in 1994, RUROUNI KENSHIN ended serialization in 1999 but it continued in popularity, as evidenced by the 2000 publication of Yahiko no Sakabato(Yahiko’s Reversed-Edge Sword) and the 2015 publication of RUROUNI KENSHIN: RESTORATION in WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP. The series also has inspired novels, anime and feature films. Creator Watsuki is also the author of the popular series, BUSO RENKIN, which is published by VIZ Media.
Calling all retro gaming and collectible gurus – you do not want to miss this opportunity to be immersed in some of the most notable toys, valuables and mementos from the past.
Read MoreVIZ Media expands its POKÉMON home media collection with the December release of the POKÉMON DIAMOND & PEARL MOVIE PACK and POKÉMON THE SERIES: X·Y KALOS QUEST DVD SET 2.
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