Month: August 2022

Cowabunga Dudes! TMNT Mutant Mayhem is Coming in One Year’s Time!

In addition to this logo announcment, the TMNT Mutant Mayhem mural is spotted in New York City on the corner of Canal St. and Lafayette.

TMNT Mutant Mayhem
©2021 Paramount Pictures. All Right Reserved.

Although the details are scant, Seth Rogan and Paramount Pictures wants fans to know that in precisely a year’s time, TMNT Mutant Mayhem will hit theatres! This animated film will hit theatres August 4, 2023. And over at Otakunoculture.com, we love our turtles! Well, minus the Michael Bay films, that is.

This producer said in the past that it’ll focus on these turtles in the half shell will be embrace everything that a presumedly modern teen will face. This work was first announced to be in development in 2020, and it’s good that we’re finally hearing there’s movement in this project. Nickelodeon plans to follow-up with additional projects too, and this other studio says it will focus on the villains. With the film, we can expect it to bring on some fond favourites and perhaps create some new ones. Baxter Stockman has always been that fly on the wall which our own Ed Sum hopes can be more than the comedic relief from the classic series I grew up with.

In addition to this logo announcment, the TMNT Mutant Mayhem mural is spotted in New York City on the corner of Canal St. and Lafayette.

TMNT Mutant Mayhem

Not a lot more information is known so far, but we will report further details as it becomes available. To keep up, please also check Twitter with the hashtag #TMNTMovie

It’s Summer Lovin’ with GKIDs Deji Meets Girl Theatrical Release Next Season

Deji Meets Girl is a novel romp because of the soft, surreal moments.

Deji Meets GirlComing this fall from GKIDS is Deji Meets Girl. After its latest screening at Fantasia Film Festival as a compiled film presentation, anime fans who haven’t seen this high school paranormal romance will get a chance later this year. To note, this anime made its debut at the last year’s event, before being shown on Japanese TV as shorts, and getting another round this year. 

The story takes place over the summer, making this appropriately timed debut even more appealing, and there’s nothing wrong with having an innocent fling, ala Summer Nights (Grease). Where this series shares a similarity to the musical is in how the boy (Ichiro) admits to taking an interest in a girl he meets at a beach (Maise). As for whether she’ll change her approach to winning his heart–we’re not certain. In the episodes I’ve seen so far, they aren’t officially dating.

Ichiro isn’t a greaser. But he does have that John Travolta charm to make me think of this analogy. In what we learn about this stranger is that he’s running away from responsbility. Beneath that cool exterior hides a scared interior. What he’s fleeing from isn’t exactly made clear, either, until the later acts.

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The Deets on When Marnie Was There Upcoming Steelbook Release

When Marnie Was There is a haunting tale gorgeously rendered with its moonlight seascapes, glowing orchestral score, and powerful portrayals of friendship and belonging.

When Marnie Was Here SteelbookFrom the Academy Award®-nominated director Hiromasa Yonebayashi, the critically acclaimed Studio Ghibli film When Marnie Was There will release in a Limited Edition SteelBook™ on October 11, 2022 from GKIDS, with distribution by Shout! Factory. The SteelBook™ houses a Blu-Ray™+ DVD disc set and comes with bonus features including feature-length storyboards, an exclusive booklet and more. Fans of the anime film can pre-order their copy at Amazon, GKIDS.com or ShoutFactory.com.

Nominated for an Academy Award® in Best Animated Feature and Certified 91% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, When Marnie Was There includes a star-studded English voicecast of Hailee Steinfeld, Kiernan Shipka, Geena Davis, John C. Reilly, and Vanessa Williams. The stunning animation is an adaptation of the beloved young-adult English novel of the same name published in 1967 by Joan G. Robertson, which is largely considered one of the finest masterpieces of British Children’s Literature.

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From Dragon Master to Dragon Knight. Can Kung Fu Panda Regain His Honour?

Kung Fu Panda The Dragon Knight is better than Legends of Awesomeness because we have a stronger ongoing narrative.

Kung Fu Panda Dragon Knight PosterAvailable to view on Netflix
Spoiler Alert

Po (Jack Black) has to make “The Journey to the West” in true Monkey King fashion if he’s to regain his honour. In the latest entry to the Kung Fu Panda franchise, he’s neither the Dragon Master nor the Dragon Knight (the title of this latest series) because his tomfoolery destroyed a village. Also, he let it lose its most precious protected relic to two weasels. If he can’t recover the stolen WuGao Gauntlet with Luthera of Landreth (Rita Ora), a bear from England, then he’ll have a lot more to lose. But this female knight has problems too.

If this plot sounds familiar, that’s because we’ve seen it before in Avatar: The Last Avatar and Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu. It combines ideas from the early seasons. One is in finding your true potential all over again. To see Po wanting to see people to have faith in him is far more important than the other arc about saving the world from a Thanos level threat.

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What to Do with a Dead Kaiju (or should that be What Must We Do) at Fantasia 2022’s Final Day?

The decision over What to Do with a Dead Kaiju was dragged out because nobody realised the clock is counting down to something…

What to do with a Dead KaijuAnyone who watches a lot of Japanese monster movies knows how the story goes. We are introduced to a giant monstrous threat to humanity, people panic, and some force arrives to save the day. The two clash and sometimes the opponent dies, and that begs the question (and also the title of the movie), What to Do with a Dead Kaiju? (大怪獣のあとしまつ)

The answer we get is similar to what we saw in Shin Godzilla (while he’s alive). We have to address the ramifcations of sending out special forces, decide when to make a stand, and consider the cost of rebuilding–especially after all the missiles are fired. The mess that the Japanese special forces have to deal with afterwards is never shown, and as for other monster movies prior, we never know about the damage control that has to take place between films.

And it’s tough to tell if Satoshi Miki‘s film is trying to be serious. This movie was the last thing I saw at Fantasia Film Festival because of my love for this genre. Plus, the trailer made the film look good. Maybe next time, I should consider looking at Japanese reviews. But I have no regrets over my decision.

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Comic Con, Media Con, However You Con Call Them–We Got Pacific Northwest’s Latest Updates

Ever since 2022, comic book / pop culture conventions are resuming with either strict health guildelines or none for those wanting that geek/media/nerd culture experience.

Fan Expo VancouverOver the Spring and Summer, the Pacific Northwest is very busy because Comic Cons in all its various iterations are resuming. It started with Fan Expo Vancouver in February 2022 and no Kevin Smith wasn’t at this latest. We are hoping that Jay and Silent Bob cancelled appearance prior to this pandemic mess will come back in a future event though!

Even though the province of British Columbia had a lot of health regulations to guide what these indoor shows can do or not, thankfully they were lifted in time for this event, and I had a terrific time. My con report can be read here.

In the past two months, we also had The Vancouver Retro Gaming Expo (June 25), Kelowna Fan Experience (July 15-17) and Anirevo Summer (July 29-31) in one side of the border, and the Washington State Summer Con 2022 (June 23-25) on the other. There were no reports from the groups I monitor to say there were lots of covid cases. Most of these events communicated that attendance is at the participant’s own risk, and none of them advertised what the entry requirement was. That was buried in their webpage’s FAQ under the Health and Safety section. Everyone accepts this pandemic is not going away, and it’s up to the attendee to decide on how to stay safe. The concensus is that people just want life to go on as “normal” as possible instead of living in constant worry.

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