Japanese Archives | Page 39 Of 86

Arr! The Masters of Spinjitzu are Seabound Ho!

There’s no denying mothers will be mothers, and the siblings will have to deal. The tale takes on a familiar tone when they find a deserted underwater temple and a cryptic prophecy. Everything points to Wojira…

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

On Teletoon Canada
Sundays 6:30am PST/ 9:30am EST

Spoiler Alert
Please check local listings for other regions.

Nya’s powers are going haywire in LEGO Ninjago. They’re the Masters of Spinjitzu after all, and this year’s set of episodes dropped this moniker in favour of streamlining the series. This latest chapter, titled Seabound, reimagines the team as proper Avengers level heroes. They’re always going after villains somewhere in this continent. They’ve all upped their game and when considering this chapter takes place after The Island, certain threats are bound to return, namely Wojira!

Sensei Wu reintroduces this creature in “A Big Splash.” This titan is of the serpentine class and they have been regular foes in this series. This newest member ranks right up there with The Great Devourer in terms of power, and I’m sure the list doesn’t end there. Fire Fang and the Anacondrai serpent proved to be tough adversaries for Lloyd and the gang. I would not be surprised if they’ve lived a long life, and helped shape this universe in one way or another. Wojira might even have more relatives. She’s blamed for affecting Nya’s ability to control the water element than the Vengestone–this universe’s version of Kryptonite–Miss Demeanor stole. I think it’s a combination of both. The others have been Ninjas longer and faced more threats which rarely affected their powers whereas Nya is still ‘new.’

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Gloomy in Japan. Anime Series about this Naughty Grizzly Debut!

The new TV anime series Gloomy the Naughty Grizzly is set to begin broadcasting every Monday at 12:57am starting on April 12 on the Tokyo MX station and Gloomy’s SNS, including YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram.

Tokyo MX
Also available globally

Originally created by Osaka-based artist Mori Chack, Gloomy Bear first debuted as a character in 2000 in postcards. His violent ways was this cartoonist’s attempt to protest those cute products Sanrio and Disney sold in stores worldwide. Instead of an entity who is cuddly and cute, he’d attack anyone who tried to possess him. Many animal activists are likely to understand what this talent wanted to see change.

A perfect comparison to this character for Westerners is the character of Gnome Chompsky in Trollhunters–he’d attack anyone who bothered him–whom Toby adopted, and often left alone.

The appeal of Gloomy and Pitty’s unusual relationship in this creator’s own product line–full of cuteness, violence, and surprising emotional depth–led to a wave of merchandise and high-profile collaborations in Japan. Eventually, Gloomy would win devoted fans all over the world as well.

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So What’s With the Music in Earwig and the Witch?

I wanted to know more about this world, and it’s a shame Jones passed away, leaving her latest idea unfinished.

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

GKIDS & Shout! Factory
Now Available on Streaming (HBOMax)

DVD/Blu-Ray Release Date:
April 6, 2021

Spoiler Alert

Long time fans of Studio Ghibli’s works will find their decision to transition to CGI jarring. The production quality and advanced character design–the motion of the figures–is just not there. They don’t have the decades of experience other teams (like DreamWorks or PIXAR) have. It’s all new to them. Despite this setback, debuting Earwig and the Witch (アーヤと魔女) on television and the CGI quality doesn’t overshadow the tale by much.

Goro Miyazaki explains his reasoning behind the production design in one featurette offered in this home video release (it comes with a handy checklist of other Ghibli films for completionists to explore). Viewers can decide if his choice is for the better or worse. By mid-act I got accustomed to it and became more invested in the hilarious antics Erica Wigg (Kokoro Hirasawa) goes through with the help of her new pet to become a woman of the house.

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On-Gaku Our Sound and the Post Punk Movement?

The home video release has a great selection of featurettes which not only goes behind the scenes but also gets you in the mood to see the film again! Even better are the live performances of nearly half the soundtrack!

On-Gaku: Our Sound - - Blu-ray/DVD — Available to pre-order on Amazon USA

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Shout! Factory
Release Date: March 9, 2021

Defining On-Gaku: Our Sound will not be easy. We hear a cacophony of musical genres, and not all of them are mainstream. Perhaps it’s because Writer/Director Kenji Iwaisawa was very DIY in his approach. He went old school (hand-drawn) to craft this unique film, and his art style is very non-traditional. We don’t get the wide-eyed manga work. Instead, it’s a mix of Constructivism, Minimalism and maybe Dada. The way he draws his character’s eyes tells all here, and the fisheye look gives his character designs a quality which is very hypnotic.

I particularly like the fluidity found when rotoscoping frames of a film camera onto paper. I’m fairly certain Dire Straits music video “Money for Nothing” is an influence and instead of being very artsy, the technique is more earthy and subdued.

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The Legend of Hei is Coming to Digital & Home Video!

The Legend of Hei Blu-ray Cover — **Pre-order at ShoutFactory.com or Amazon USA**

Coming to Digital
April 20, 2021

Home Video:
May 11, 2021

Over five years in the making, The Legend of Hei is a heart-warming fantasy movie adventure, bolstered by beautiful animation and enchanting narrative. Filmmaker Ping Zhang (a.k.a MTJJ) derived this story from a popular flash animation series he created in 2011.

The series gained immense popularity when it debuted online in China, and Zhang then decided to develop it into a feature-length movie. Following successful openings in China and Japan, The Legend of Hei recently screened at Annecy International Animation Film Festival and Japan Media Arts Festival to great audience enthusiasm. Shout! Studios is proud to present this film starting April 20, 2021.

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Korea’s K-Pop “Treasure” is Coming to Japan March 31st

Korea’s hottest boy band is preparing for a Japanese language debut! They will release the album “The First Step: Treasure Effect,” March 31st!

Earwig and the Witch

Release date: March 31, 2021

Korea’s hottest boy band is preparing for a Japanese language debut!

In 2020 they dominated the rookie category at many awards ceremonies, including the Mnet Asian Music Awards, and in order to grow, they must blow up other markets. Feb 14th saw the release of their song “Beautiful” in another language, and it’s a hit! As a follow-up, they will release the album “The First Step: Treasure Effect,” March 31st!

This release will be the fourth consecutive work in their THE FIRST STEP series of releases that has already achieved over 1 million sales since the release of “Chapter One” in Korea in August 2020. The album will include the Japanese version of “Beautiful” and hits such as “Boy,” “I Love You,” “MMM” and “My Treasure,” with all 13 tracks on the album sung in Japanese. A Blu-ray/DVD is also planned, featuring music videos for the Japanese versions for the very first time.

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