June 2020 | Otaku No Culture |

A Whisker Away, Slightly Fanciful but not Feline Free

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

A Whisker Away is likely to have accolades who love Shōjo manga more than curious cats wanting the supernatural to play more into this anime. I’m of the latter persuasion and want to know if the mysterious fat cat known as Mask Seller is a Nekomata. This particular type of trickster spirit loves to toy with humans.

Miyo Sasaki (Mirai Shida) is unfortunate to have a chance encounter with him, and part of it is due to finding out her parents are splitting. The Cheshire Cat can take lessons from this guy, and Keith Silverstein in the dubbed version is amazing in the role. It’s familiar and might be inspired by Jemaine Clement’s performance of Tamatoa the Hermit Crab from Moana, As the devil may care feline who trades in noa masks, he has his own agenda. Part of the deal allows the wearer to transform into another species for “immortality.”

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Marona’s Fantastic Tale is Fanciful and Care Free

$Marona\'s Fantastic Tale$ By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

GKIDs Virtual Cinema Release

Coming to Blu-ray, DVD, Digital

November 2020

Marona’s Fantastic Tale is more than just a meditation on life—a reflection of what was—of a beloved dog fading away. Unlike The Call of the Wild which is based on Jack London’s novel of the same name, with a happy ending this animated movie is an original work written and directed by Anca Damian and her son, Anghel, which is much more sombre and philosophical.

The titular character voiced by Lizzy Brochere reveals all that she’s experienced in a Parisian town filled with colourful humans. Sometimes, what the pup dealt with in the beginning is not as telling as her other encounters. There are some weird people out there, and they are definitely caricatures of people exhibiting some weird vices.

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Discovering the Science of Ghosts will be … Legendary!

The Science of Ghosts_Title Treatment (jpg) By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

The paranormal is just that … something above and beyond what humanity recognizes in a world as its presently defined. Whether that’d be with entities that defy explanation, namely ghosts, or just learning about what drives us as individuals deep inside, Legendary Comics upcoming graphic novel, The Science of Ghosts, is certainly going to upend the tropes normally explored in this format.

This book is written by Eisner and GLAAD Award-nominated Lilah Sturges (Jack of Fables; Lumberjanes) and I believe her goal is to do just like what M.R. James did when he redefined the genre.

From the Press Release:

The story—centered around Joy Ravenna, a transgender parapsychologist—will feature art by veteran comic book artist Alitha E. Martinez (known for her work on the Eisner Award winner Black Panther: World of Wakanda) and will be available in stores and online in Summer 2021.

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Don’t Walk Away from this Documentary on Who Farted?

Who Farted? The world's first climate change documentary comedy. | The Screening Room, 120 Princess St, Kingston | To Do Canada

World Broadcast Premiere

Documentary Channel
June 28, 2020
9:00pm ET/PT

SPOILER ALERT
Albert Nerenberg and Nik Sheehan‘s hilarious and insightful documentary shows cutting the cheese can be an art form. Who Farted? doesn’t always mean ill tidings. But, yes, it’s possible to destroy the world from unleashing too much gas into the environment.
All those questions people not wanting to ask about the origins of this needed bodily function are answered in detail. This ranges from learning how we generate this gas to its impact on society as a whole. The absurd is hilariously examined by visiting the World Fart Championships held in Utajärvi, Finland. But there’s more hard pressed concerns, which is primarily about whether or not Nature can handle all this methane and sulphur being unleashed–especially by cows. That is, are we headed towards global warming?

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Behind the Scenes w/ the Toys of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe

The Toys of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe is the perfect compendium which shows everything that’s been made for one of Mattel’s flagship product lines.

By the power of Grayskull, the massive, 700-plus-page, full-color hardcover chronicling the quintessential toys of He-Man, She-Ra, and the other Masters of the Universe is huge! The Toys of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe is a must have for those who want to see everything produced, and as for those who can’t afford it all, thankfully this tome can fit the bill.

In the 1980s, the Masters of the Universe toy lines shook the world of children’s entertainment to its foundations. Now, YouTube influencer “Pixel Dan” Eardley and He-Man historian Val Staples have worked with fans worldwide to cultivate this incredible volume that contains in-depth overviews of every item in several complete toy lines, including: 1982’s Masters of the Universe, 1985’s Princess of Power, 1989’s He-Man, 2002’s Masters of the Universe relaunch, and 2008’s Masters of the Universe Classics!

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Hopping on the Promare Bandwagon Late

Promare Promotional Poster

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Available on iTunes and Regular Release Now

Collector’s Edition
August 4th, 2020

When humans are spontaneously combusting like nobody’s business, a new type of firefighter is needed to keep the peace in the feature-film length film, Promare. Some of these “victims” have learned how to control this pyrokinetic ability so they don’t die. They’re known as the Burnish and Lio Fotia rallied the bad ones together to form a terrorist organization to which the Freeze Force has to put (pardoning the pun) on ice.

30 years later, the struggle continues on. The Earth is undergoing a geologic change, and only a select few mutants can escape since they can “teleport” away. But nobody knows that there’s another race, the Promare, who resides in this planet’s inner core. They are in pain, and what’s happening results from the enemy toying with them.

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