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.

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Tim Burton Resurrects his Ghost With the Most...

BEETLEJUICE 2
After 36 years, Beetlejuice has finally come back to haunt you.

Warner Bros. has released the trailer for Tim Burton’s follow-up to his 1988 cult classic horror-comedy “Beetlejuice,” with Michael Keaton reprising his role as the ghoulish title character. The sequel, officially titled “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” is set for release on September 6.

In addition to Keaton, original “Beetlejuice” Winona Ryder and Catherine O’Hara are back as Lydia and Delia Deetz, respectively. Jenna Ortega rounds out the family as newcomer Astrid Deetz. Monica Bellucci plays Beetlejuice’s wife and Willem DeFoe stars as a “police officer in the afterlife” and former “B movie action star,” whose acting skills help him as an afterlife detective. Justin Theroux also joins the sequel in a new role.
 

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Justice Takes a Dark Turn...

JUSTICE LEAGUE: Gods and Monsters Chronicles
This web series takes place in the alternate reality of Justice League: Gods and Monsters. Each of the initial three episodes showcases one of the film's major characters: Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman.
Justice League: Gods and Monsters Chronicles is a 2015 animated superhero web series featuring Justice League characters from DC Comics. It first aired on June 8, 2015, on Machinima, a multi-channel network, and was developed by DC Entertainment, Warner Bros. Animation, and Blue Ribbon Content. The series serves as a companion to the animated film Justice League: Gods and Monsters. The first season consisted of three episodes and concluded on June 12.
Although Machinima and Warner Bros. announced that the series was renewed for a second season, which was scheduled to be released in 2016 and have ten episodes, series creator Sam Liu reported that the series was shelved until things are worked out and that he is working on other projects.

Monday, March 25, 2024

This space warfare game is now an ANIME...

P H A N T O M GALAXIES
Five years before the Phantom Galaxies game begins, Ensign Maya Nalini joins the ranks of the Ranger Corps. Alongside her new lieutenant, she ventures into perilous Frontier Space to battle deadly pirate hijackers - but crosses paths with something much worse, a threat older and more powerful than any pirate…
Watch the first episode of the Phantom Galaxies anime series.

Sunday, March 24, 2024

They are hiding among us...

PARASYTE: THE GREY
When unidentified parasites violently take over human hosts and gain power, humanity must rise to combat the growing threat.
Only on Netflix, April 5

Saturday, March 23, 2024

STAR WARS is Dead...


In the trailer STAR WARS: The Acolyte, it was stated that this was about power and who is allowed to use it. That's meta, because that's exactly what is happening behind the scenes of Lucasfilm as well, where no one loyal to George Lucas's STAR WARS is allowed any power, not even George Lucas...

So The Acolyte trailer is out and it might have been intriguing were it not for the fact that we already know what this series is namely Kathleen Kennedy's rewrite of all Star Wars In-Her-Image. That is what Leslie Headland is doing here, as it was said in the trailer, it's about power and who is allowed to wield it, and that would be Kathleen Kennedy and her acolytes that have reshaped Star Wars into a female-centric brand by and for activists. John Favreau fought hard to make Star Wars for everyone with the Mandalorian, but Kathleen Kennedy made that a shadow of itself, when she got rid of the load-bearing pillar to his plans that was Gina Carano. The whole Mando-verse kind of crumbled after that. At this point I don't even know how much interest there is in that Mando and Grogu movie. That in whole, or in part, will be replacing season 4, but after what can only be described as a very peculiar development history, we will now be getting the series the fan base has been dreading and actively rooting against, namely The Acolyte.

To go with the trailer release, The Hollywood Reporter dropped a puff piece with showrunner Leslie Headland where it was stated Star Wars: The Acolyte Creator Leslie Headland is currently putting the finishing touches on a 4-year Journey that started with Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy buying her overall series pitch in the room. At the time her hook was Frozen meets Kill Bill and now the first trailer provides a few more of the puzzle pieces set a century before Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, Amandla Stenberg's mysterious character appears to be hunting Jedi during a time of Peace near the end of the High Republic era. Jumping forward a bit the show will be taking a page out of Rashomon’s Playbook exploring different perspectives on the same events. That could have been cool were it not for the fact that we already know what this series is and how it intends to shape Star Wars into something else. To wit, the puff piece continues with praising the destroyer of Star Wars, namely The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson and pushing the link between him and Leslie Headland.

The article reads Russian Doll co-creator Headland's first job as a writer was on FX short-lived cult classic series Terriers from 2010, and her first produced TV script Manifest Destiny happened to be directed by Star Wars: The Last Jedi filmmaker Rian Johnson. Headland was not only inspired by Johnson's work
[uh oh, Red Alert right there], but also his demeanor on set.

“I love Rian. He was the first director I ever watched work. So getting to see him work on that show was, oh my God, it was just a dream!” Headland recalls. He was so kind and so quiet, and yet, he was so clear about what he wanted. He never seemed stressed out, and I wish I was more like him. He's like the patron saint of calm directors.”

Calm he may be, but he was still the one who buried the past, meaning George Lucas’s Star Wars and killed it. Since he had to, so Kathleen Kennedy could replace it with her Star Wars. And up to this, Kathleen Kennedy’s Star Wars in its purest form, has been the High Republic publishing initiative, which naturally. will be referenced and canonized on screen in The Acolyte.

The Hollywood Reporter asked, or were instructed to ask, at any rate, “Fan service is always a complicated subject with Star Wars. Some people want to see as many familiar faces as possible. While others prefer Uncharted Territory by taking place a century before the Phanthom Menace. Does that inherently mean that the show won't be loaded with cameos?” To which Headland answered, “That's right, but for example you will see a little bit of Vestra Row, I guess that's how you pronounce it, from the High Republic novels. She ends up being live action for the first time. So that's definitely a cameo for that audience, I would say. That audience being the High Republic audience, amounts to what, I don't know 112 or so, but that's the audience for Kathleen Kennedy Star Wars, and Bob Iger signed off on that. And with George Lucas bending the knee to Iger, then you might be getting a lot more of that.

As we have covered extensively in past videos, there is a proxy fight going on with Nelson Peltz’s Trian group who demands two seats at Disney's board, or what presently passes for Disney's board at any rate, you see as a general thing the purpose of a board is to hold the CEO accountable to the shareholders, but Disney's board doesn't do that. As everyone on it has been handpicked from Iger’s friends and acquaintances, meaning that Disney doesn't actually have a board. As rather than holding Iger accountable to the shareholders, what passes for a board enables and signs off on everything he wants to do and protects him from the shareholders, when that goes to hell. If Peltz and the Trian group were to get those two seats at the board, Iger's reign of questionable fiduciary legality would be at an instant end. So team Iger will stop at nothing to prevent that from happening, and to this end George Lucas just sided with the likes of Black Rock and Vanguard and State Street, as he bent the knee and kissed the ring.

Our good friend Valiant Renegade speculated that one reason Lucas may have done that is because his wife sits on the board of JP Morgan Chase, and JP Morgan Chase are very much so in bed with Black Rock. In fact, it was only a few days ago that the CEO of JP Morgan Chase publicly endorsed Iger, because Iger runs Disney the way that they want Disney run, and they couldn't care less about the Disney Legacy or any of the other shareholders. None of which changes the fact that Lucas still signed off on this. The statement credited to him, which no doubt came straight from Disney marketing, reads, “Creating magic is not for amateurs.” (Which is a dig at Peltz and the Trian Group which are no Amateurs.) “When I sold Lucasfilm just over a decade ago I was delighted to become a Disney shareholder because of my longtime admiration for its iconic brand and Bob Iger’s leadership.”

Well that was grandiose, but I don't blame Lucas for feeling that way a decade ago. Though I do blame him if he still feels that way today, after both Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Willow have all been killed on Kennedy's watch, which Bob Iger Sat by and allowed to happen. George Lucas has in the past indicated how disappointed he's been with some of the choices made and backing Nelson Peltz was his chance to actually bring about meaningful change even if that might have annoyed his wife, but instead he blew it! The statement continues, “When Bob Iger recently returned to the company during a difficult time, I was relieved no one knows Disney better. I remain a significant shareholder because I have full faith and confidence in the power of Disney and Bob's track record of driving long-term value. I have voted all of my shares for Disney's 12 directors and urge other shareholders to do the same.”

We would love to know what motivated that because again voting for Disney's current board is voting against their being a board, as the only thing this board does is give Bob Iger personal Supremacy over all things Disney, which has not worked out very well this past decade. Although we've only really seen the effects of Iger’s mismanagement, this past half a decade it's true that creating magic may not be for amateurs but the supposed professionals working under Iger have positively killed it as The Acolyte will no doubt demonstrate once again Iger’s Disney is now the place where magic goes to die and that is what George Lucas just voted for…

Friday, March 22, 2024

Is the ISEKAI Realm ready for these guys?

SUICIDE SQUAD ISEKAI
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!
US Air Date: 2024

Thursday, March 21, 2024

Paranormal romance at its BEST...

DANDADAN
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?
Premiere: October 2024

Wednesday, March 20, 2024

In an age of light, a darkness rises...

THE ACOLYTE
The Acolyte is an upcoming American television series created by Leslye Headland. Set at the end of the High Republic era before the events of the main Star Wars films. Amandla Stenberg and Lee Jung-jae star in the leading roles.
Two-episode premiere of The Acolyte, on Disney+, June 4

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Those girls are crazy!

BABY ASSASSINS 2
After the agency suspends its top assassins, aspiring hitmen decide to eliminate them—leading to a lightning-fast showdown between trained killers.
Watch On Digital & Blu-ray April 2, 2024
Stream on Hi-YAH! starting July 5, 2024: https://www.hiyahtv.com/

Monday, March 18, 2024

Mokkori, mokkori, mokkori...

CITY HUNTER
The legendary manga "City Hunter" gets its first Japanese live-action adaptation! Unflappable yet excitable, silly but cool, this notorious protagonist descends upon modern-day Shinjuku in Tokyo. The origin story of "City Hunter" begins now! Starring Ryohei Suzuki, this film follows the number one "sweeper" Ryo Saeba, who cleans up trouble in the underworld, on a thrilling, action-packed adventure in modern-day Shinjuku.

The series follows the exploits of Ryo Saeba, a "sweeper" who is always found chasing beautiful girls and a private detective who works to rid Tokyo of crime, along with his associate or partner, Hideyuki Makimura. Their "City Hunter" business is an underground jack-of-all-trades operation, contacted by writing the letters "XYZ" on a blackboard at Shinjuku Station.

One day, Hideyuki is murdered, and Ryo must take care of Hideyuki's sister, Kaori, a tomboy who becomes his new partner in the process. However, Kaori is very susceptible and jealous, often hitting Ryo with a giant hammer when he does something perverted. The story also follows the behind-the-scenes romance between Ryo and Kaori and the way they cooperate throughout each mission.

"City Hunter" starts streaming April 25, 2024, only on Netflix!

Sunday, March 17, 2024

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

"Lucky the Leprechaun's loss is our loss. When Lucky's cereal is taken from him, who is really getting robbed? We are. Raising children to turn a blind eye to petty crime steals our future from us. But we can get it back. We can fight for our future. Our lucky charms are: hope, compassion, family, and hard work. That ... that is what's really lucky."         - Don Draper