Tag: eleven arts

Ota-cool Incoming: And lo, ‘The Last’ shall be first

Ten years ago in September, the story of a certain ramen-loving ninja descended from a nine-tailed fox hit American airwaves on Cartoon Network for the first time.

Naruto the LastWe’ve seen about a bazillion thingy-no-jutsus, battles, double-crosses, triple-crosses and sordid slash fanfics written since then. Heck, the entire cast has aged as Plain Old Naruto evolved into Naruto Shippuden. And now, as Masashi Kishimoto’s manga ends and the anime likely to follow suit eventually, we have the last Naruto movie ever. I mean, it even says so in the title: The Last: Naruto the Movie.

… wait, what? There’s another one scheduled for release this year? Well now.

Semantics aside, The Last is notable for being the first big-screen anime feature with screenings scheduled for Honolulu this year. There are two screenings, in fact, both at Consolidated’s Ward Stadium 16 complex: noon Saturday, Feb. 21 and 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 23. Both will be in Japanese with English subtitles. You’ll also be able to nab a free commemorative poster while supplies last.

So why is this movie called The Last if it isn’t exactly the last movie of the franchise? It’s a reference to the last days of Earth, as the moon is somehow approaching the Earth, meteorites threaten to rain down on the planet and, presumably, Sailor Moon and her friends are stuck in another franchise and have no interest in resolving the matter. To make matters worse, Hinata’s younger sister, Hanabi, has been kidnapped by a mysterious man in Konoha. It’s up to Naruto and the gang to save her, save the world, and … ummm … set up the next movie, I suppose.

Here, have a trailer.

Tickets aren’t on sale yet, but I’ll try to keep an eye on things and let you know when they do. Update 2:55 p.m. 1/16: Fandango ticket links are live! Tickets are $15 each; here’s the Feb. 21 screening, and here’s the Feb. 23 screening.

Other ota-coolness

Aiea Library Anime Club: This month, young adult librarian Diane Masaki is screening two episodes of Polar Bear Cafe followed by two episodes of “something action-y,” as she puts it. At the library, 99-374 Pohai Place. Have I ever mentioned that there’s plenty of parking now? Because there is. For more information or to RSVP, call 483-7333 or e-mail aiealibraryanimeclub@yahoo.com. 3 p.m. Saturday.

portal_20150116_103030_1Random Ingress Portal of the Post: Speaking of The Face of Hawaii Ingress ™ … it’s apparently been so long since I’ve done one of these Ota-cool Incoming roundups (and by extension these random portal profiles) that Niantic, the game studio behind this game, finally got around to sticking a portal on the new Aiea Library. So here it is, a portal that you’ll have to get out of your car to visit, since it’s tucked away a bit from the road. Shown here is the proper alignment — Enlightened-held — for a portal that the aforementioned Face of Hawaii Ingress (tm) seems to want to switch to Resistance control during regular library hours. To each his/her own, I guess. I think it looks prettier in green … but maybe I’m just biased on that matter. Just a teensy bit.

Kawaii Kon Karaoke Competition preliminary rounds: So you think you can sing, and you’re planning to go to Kawaii Kon this year? Give the annual Karaoke Competition a try, then. This year, two out of the three preliminary rounds will be held at a new location: Nocturna Lounge, the video game/karaoke bar just downstairs from our editorial/advertising offices here at Waterfront Plaza/Restaurant Row. (The other round will be held at its traditional location, Orvis Auditorium on the University of Hawaii at Manoa campus.) For the Nocturna rounds, sign-in starts at 3:30 p.m. Sunday and March 15, with the actual singing starting at 4 p.m. on both days. The Orvis round will be held on Feb. 15; exact times have yet to be announced. Full details on what you need to do to prepare are available at bit.ly/Karaoke_Prelims.

Comic Jam Hawaii: This group of collaborative cartoon artists meets every first and third Sunday of the month at Pearlridge Center; locations within the mall may vary. Visit www.facebook.com/groups/ComicJamHawaii (Facebook login required). Next meeting: 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday.

MangaBento: This group of anime- and manga-inspired artists usually meets every second and fourth Sunday of the month at the Honolulu Museum of Art School (1111 Victoria St.). This month, the front door of the art school may be closed, so enter through the sides or via the basement. Check with the guard for room number. Visit www.manga-bento.com. Next meeting: 1 to 4 p.m. Jan. 25.

Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses: Ever since the last time we looked at the seating chart for this orchestral tribute to the long-running Nintendo video game series, the Blaisdell Concert Hall has filled up quite nicely. Here’s a look at where things stood as of 9 p.m. Thursday.

zelda ticket map

 

For those of you who were procrastinating on buying something in the cheap seats, you waited too long; those $45 tickets are now sold out. The cheapest seats available now are $69.30 each ($59 + $10.30 fees); those hard-core fan VIP seats ($138.55, includes a limited-edition poster and a meet-and-greet with the producers following the show) are also still available. There are also other options available for those of you who prefer something in between those two prices. If you did procrastinate, though, you’ll have one advantage that those of us who rushed to buy tickets didn’t have: a discount code. Enter “HEYLISTEN” at checkout to receive 15 percent off (and curse the powers that be for getting this stuck in your mind once again). Click that seating chart above for tickets; for concert information, visit zelda-symphony.com. 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 30.

Anime Swap Meet: Hosted by Kawaii Kon, this opportunity for local otaku to buy and sell assorted preowned collectibles from one another will be part of the 25th Annual Hawaii Collectors Expo from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 21 and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 22. Interested in selling? Check out kawaiikon.com/anime-swap-meet for all the details; registration deadline is midnight Feb. 18. This year, the rules are a bit more liberal: $20 will get you a 5-square-foot space for both Saturday and Sunday, and you can share your space with one other person. Interested in buying? Stay tuned for those details; I’m still waiting to see them myself.

Moyoco Anno at the Honolulu Museum of Art: Hopefully your short-term memory is good enough to remember the details from my post on Wednesday; if not, here’s your refresher. Starting 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 22.

Special ‘K’ in your movie diet

K Missing Kings posterThe 2012 anime series K was one of those series that went completely under my radar. Seriously, if there was any chatter about it on my social media networks amid all the talk about Sword Art Online, Free!, Attack on Titan, Kill la Kill and a whoooooole bunch of other series, I missed it. It was only this morning that I learned that K streamed on Viz’s Neon Alley online service, it was a 12-episode series, and it sounds like one of those “innocent average bystander-type person gets sucked into a wide-ranging conspiracy that involves a murder, his uncanny resemblance to someone tied to that murder, and oh yeah, there’s some entity behind the scenes manipulating everything, too” shows.

The movie that continues the story, K: Missing Kings, opened in theaters in Japan last week. And now, since we’re living in the age of instantaneous digital subtitling, we’re getting it courtesy of Eleven Arts at the usual theaters: the Ward Stadium complex on Oahu and the Kaahumanu 6 theaters in Kahului. Here, have a trailer.

And here’s the official description:

Based on the hit anime K, K MISSING KINGS picks up where the series left off. Featuring the same director and scriptwriter as the series, this movie brings the characters that you’ve grown to love in the same spirit of action, honor, and loyalty. K MISSING KINGS also sees the return of popular voice actors such as Daisuke Namikawa, Daisuke Ono, and Tomokazu Sugita, reprising their roles for the first time on the big screen.

The story starts some time after the Island Academy Incident, in which four of the seven great Kings crossed paths. Since this time, silver clansmen Kuroh Yatogami and Neko have been searching for their master, Yashiro Isana, the Silver King. Their search having turned up fruitless, the two begin to give up hope, until they encounter Anna Kushina and Rikio Kamamoto, two members of the red clan HOMRA being chased by someone.

Showtimes at both theaters are at noon Saturday and 7 p.m. Monday. Can’t make those screenings? The Doris Duke Theater at the Honolulu Museum of Art will be showing it in October. Exact dates will be announced down the line.

Also this weekend

hero_5Get Pop-Cultured at Barnes & Noble:  With this month bookended by Anime Expo in Anaheim Los Angeles at the beginning of it and Comic-Con International in San Diego toward the end, it’s pretty safe to say that this month is a pop-culture paradise. It’s probably with that in mind that Barnes & Noble created their “Get Pop-Cultured” celebration, kicking off nationwide today and running through Aug. 10.

So it was a given that the last of the big-chain bookstores on Oahu would be taking part as well. And that store, in Ala Moana near the Satellite City Hall and a freshly opened Jack in the Box, is jumping in in a big way starting Saturday, with an appearance by Gordon Rider/Star-Advertiser “Calabash” cartoonist Jon Murakami at 11 a.m. and Kawaii Kon hosting a Cosplay Runway event at 2 p.m. Cosplayers, show up in costume on Saturday and get a coupon for a discount at the in-store cafe as well. Other events are planned through Aug. 10; I’ll write about those next week when I have more time to do so.

Taku Taku Matsuri WATER GUN FIGHT!!!!: Bring your water guns and some food for a potluck and come on down for a fun day at the beach. Also featuring tryouts for the Taku Taku Matsuri Summer Festival Talent Show and a mini Cardboard Brawl.  More details at the Facebook event page. Ala Moana Beach Park, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday.

Comic Jam Hawaii: This group of collaborative cartoon artists meets every first and third Sunday of the month at Pearlridge Center; locations within the mall may vary. Visit www.facebook.com/groups/ComicJamHawaii (Facebook login required). Next meeting: 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Downtown Pearlridge side, near the escalators to the theaters and food court.

Kyary Pamyu Pamyu at the Waikiki Shell: There are still tickets available, although you might want to bring a poncho, considering the forecast is for heavy rain from the remnants of Tropical Storm Wali. The concert starts at 5 p.m. Sunday; details in my last post.

‘Tiger & Bunny,’ c’mon and raise up

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.

This Doraemon statue may accurately reflect how I'm going to look after finding all the Doraemon statues around town. Just sayin'.

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.

Tiger and Bunny The Rising movie posterBut 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.