It’s been a while since we last updated this blog … credit this cartoon cat from another dimension for pulling a Time Vacuum from his four-dimensional pouch and sucking up all the free time that we’d usually allocate toward writing posts here.
Yes, that’s a Doraemon statue, one of three sitting in the lobby of H.I.S. Travel’s Lea Lea Lounge on the third floor of the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center. No, it has no direct promotional relationship with “Meet Doraemon: Japan’s Time-Traveling Cat,” the Bishop Museum/Fujiko F. Fujio Museum exhibit opening next Saturday. Yes, H.I.S. Travel and the Lea Lea Trolley do have something to do with the statues and a few others spotted around town. And yes, we’re busy working on pieces about the statues and the exhibit, and at least one of those will be showing up next week.
But while we’re focusing on working on all things Doraemon, news keeps on trickling in to Otaku Ohana Central. One of those items maintains Eleven Arts’ early streak so far this year of screening all their theatrical anime acquisitions in Hawaii. The latest pickup: Tiger & Bunny: The Rising, the latest film in the Tiger & Bunny franchise that’s opening in Japan on Saturday.
Those of you unfamiliar with the Tiger & Bunny franchise, you have a little over a month and a half to catch up before The Rising comes here. (Your friendly neighborhood anime/manga blogger will be joining you in doing so.) The complete subtitled series is available for free streaming on Hulu. Viz has the license for the anime and manga, so you could also watch the series on DVD or Blu-ray, read the manga or watch it on their Neon Alley streaming service on PC, Playstation 3 or Xbox 360. (The latter service is also the only outlet I know of where you can watch the first movie, Tiger & Bunny: The Beginning legally online.)
For those of you who are familiar with the franchise, here’s the official Eleven Arts synopsis:
Picking up after the events of the Maverick incident, Kotetsu T. Kaburagi, a.k.a. Wild Tiger, and Barnaby Brooks Jr. resume their careers as heroes fighting crime in HERO TV’s Second League. But their partnership comes to a sudden end when Apollon Media’s new owner Mark Schneider fires Kotetsu and moves Barnaby back into the First League, pairing him up with Golden Ryan, a new hero with awesome powers and a huge ego to match.
When the heroes are sent to investigate a string of strange incidents tied closely to the city’s Goddess Legend, they discover three superpowered NEXTs plotting to bring terror and destruction to Stern Bild. With the lives of millions hanging in the balance, Barnaby and Golden Ryan must overcome their differences to contain the approaching doom, while a jobless Kotetsu’s resolve as a hero is put to the test as he struggles to help his fellow heroes from the sidelines.
And here’s a trailer filled with heroes and villains flying all over the place and EXPLOSIONS.
Locally, we’re getting this movie all nice and English-subtitled for two showings, at noon Sunday, March 23, and 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 26, at the Ward Stadium theaters. Tickets are $15 each and available here … and there may be a few promotional giveaways as well, seeing as how the autograph prints and “Letters From Menma” packs made their way to the Anohana movie screenings a few weeks ago.
Oh, and before you ask: No, there isn’t any update yet on The Wind Rises screenings. A bit weird how that works, that we can get info on a limited-run show next month before the info about the cinematic centerpiece for this month — but I suppose that’s how the industry operates.
Otaku Ohana 