September 2022 | Otaku No Culture

The BPRD Omnibus is here, and Should We Fear Volume Two’s Coming Next Month?

Dark Horse Comics will be releasing three BPRD Omnibus collections featuring past adventures of the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defence (from the Hellboy universe)! Review of the first at:

BPRD Omnibus Available to purchase on Amazon USA

Not every reader of Mike Mignola’s Hellboy may be aware of how important the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defence is. When Red isn’t out on his own, he’s also an agent of this organisation, and they’ve done a lot to help keep Earth safe. The BPRD Omnibus is a terrific book to see what else they’ve done throughout the run, if one considers the decades of books released like a living world ever expanding as new comic book series comes out.

Collectors and newcomers can also easily lose track on where each mini-series fits in. Thus, the BPRD Ominus is the tome to read rather than to go digging through comic book bins for what to examine for the night. I’m still taking my time reading this big 400-page compilation. It’s huge, and going through this book shouldn’t be rushed. The work put into this collection has a lot of material to appreciate. Since it focuses on all the field agents, we’re not going to be seeing Hellboy all the time.

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Neverjam’s Spiderheck is All Out Crazy Fun!

Neverjam’s Spiderheck lets you become a wall-crawler to bash other ones to death!

Spiderheck Available on Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch and Steam beginning Oct 22, 2022

Just how often do players get to play a spider in a video game? It’s like what the Spiderheck! All I remember are those retro games of yore–Black Widow and Spiders. As for the newer products, players are out to squash the eight-legged terrors than be one. Thankfully, Neverjam’s game lets you become a wall-crawler to bash other ones with random sci-fi tech! It’s fast paced and crazy fun.

A bit of ambidextrous skill is required because the left stick moves your digital avatar and the right to swing the baton (or aim). I got the Nintendo Switch version to enjoy. Unfortunately, it took an hour for me to get used to the interface, and I didn’t realise the X button was the shoot button. But, in order to play (even locally), gamers have to be a member of PlayStation Network, Xbox Live or Nintendo Network so those services can sync battles across the ‘net.

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Kamen Rider Kuuga. The Glory, The Hope. There’s No Escaping the Past!

Kamen Rider Kuuga is an excellent place to get invested into this franchise. Not only is it the first from this era to get involved in but also there’s higher production value to notice.

Shout! Factory
Available to purchase on Amazon USA and Stream

Kamen Rider Kuuga is all revved up and ready to soar! With this 10th instalment of the franchise, fans can now watch how different the Heisei era ups the ante. There’s a darker element to this work and I like it! Some say it takes even more cues from American cinema with the villain design, but I feel it keeps some key aspects of what makes tokusatsu special.

That’s because half the threats are familiar. One is an angry man-spider of sorts, and another, a Predator. But for the hero, Yusuke Godai, he’s not feeling too in over his head when he dons the belt to make him the next Kamen Rider! He’s curious about the appearances of two strange emblems (they’re a different kind of logo that reminds me of the Decepticons and Autobots from Transformers) appearing on various artefacts, and to figure out what’s going on means digging around.

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Spooked in Seattle, MoPOP Halloween News for Oct 29, 2022!

In Seattle, Washington the Museum of Pop Culture has plans to make Halloween fun again in huge gatherings…

The Museum of Pop Culture has announced that its epic MoPOP Halloween bash Fashionably Undead is returning after a multi-year hiatus!

On Saturday, October 29, don your scariest costume and make your way to the museum for the Halloween dance party of the season. And this event’s host has the following to say:

Dear friends — we, the sentient machines that have taken over your beloved MoPOP, humbly invite you to our Ha11oween bash. Please consider this as nothing more than a celebration. It is in no way a trap. Or a Red Wedding. Dance your flesh off to the hypnotic pulsing rhythms. Lose your cares and decision-making capabilities in a fruity glass of fermented liquids. Scream for your life in an escape room built solely for your amusement. And party like it’s your last night on earth. Because it won’t be. We promise.

This event is 21+ only.

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Nobody’s a Slave to Sirens Anymore, A Documentary Review

After Sirens have gained notoriety in their home country by being on television, performing with a symphony orchestra, perhaps they’ll try again to spread their wings.

Sirens Rolling release beginning Sept 30, 2022 (please check local listings for theatrical screenings)

Emerging out of the Middle East is Slave to Sirens, a thrash metal band wanting to prove to the world they’re unstoppable. In addition to allowing their journey to be filmed, what we see is a story different from mythology. Here, nobody is being lured to false promises and find themselves drowning in the river of life.

Instead, what Sirens, the documentary by filmmaker Rita Baghdadi, presents is the daily struggles of the five women in Beirut, Lebanon. They all want to be musicians. This microcosm that exists here does not understand what heavy metal is about. As this country’s first all-girl band struggling against its natural conservative norms, I was not only curious in what this work will explore but also wanted to hear this band sing. Also, it’s rare to get a look at what the rock n’ roll scene is like in the the Middle East.

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NAQT VANE’s Breezy Debut! “Break Free” Music Video in Japan and American Release

NAQT VANE is a new music project by Hiroyuki Sawano and Harukaze, and they have a music video!

On September 1st, Attack on Titan and Kingdom composer Hiroyuki Sawano launched a new music project, titled NAQT VANE, with vocalist Harukaze! Their debut single ‘Break Free’ is now out and the music video is nothing short of breathless.

In addition to the digital single, there’s a music video (see below) to view, and it’s produced for everyone living in the era of the wind. The press release describes it as, “A flexible world of freedom and diversity with a lifestyle unbound by material things. NAQT VANE began activities with the intention of “breathing a new wind into each story and finding a place of our own”. The team consists of vocalist Harukaze, who has built a following on TikTok and YouTube, along with overall production by Hiroyuki Sawano and artwork by Classic 6.”

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