Tag: ghost in the shell

Ota-cool incoming: November rain, cinematic reign

After the flurry of activities that was Con-athon 2015 — five straight weekends between September and October, five convention or convention-like festivals — you’d think we’d be getting a breather with the holidays approaching.

You’d be wrong. Ohhhhhhh so very wrong.

From the beginning of this month’s free-movie roster at Kahua Cafe through Anime Matsuri Hawaii at the end of this month, this has become yet another “want something to do THIS week? Here ya go!” month in an endless parade of such months. This edition of the Ota-cool Incoming calendar starts off with a roundup of all the movies screening in the next few weeks, starting with …

Ponyo

Wednesday Family Nights at Kahua Cafe: All this month, Kahua Cafe will be screening Hayao Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli favorites. It’s a family-friendly event, so the movies will be the English-dubbed versions, and they’ll be screening from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. The lineup:

  • Wednesday: Kiki’s Delivery Service
  • Nov. 11: Ponyo
  • Nov. 18: Spirited Away
  • Nov. 25: Howl’s Moving Castle

Kahua Cafe is in the back of Na Mea/Native Books Hawaii, on the first floor of Ward Warehouse below The Old Spaghetti Factory. They have a pretty yummy-looking menu, too. Questions? Hit them up on their Facebook event page (they were prompt in answering my questions!) or call 990-0384.

(And if that photo above looks familiar, you have a very good memory.)

Anthem of the Heart: There’s one more screening of this tale from the Anohana creative team of a girl with words sealed away in her heart: noon Saturday at the Consolidated Ward Stadium 16 theaters. Here’s a trailer.

I already mentioned this in my last post, but since then a new review has popped up on Fandom Post. Spoiler alert: It gets an A+. A home video release can’t arrive soon enough for me.

GitS

Ghost in the Shell: The New Movie: Not to be confused with Ghost in the Shell: The Original Movie, Ghost in the Shell 2: The Kinda Confusing Sequel to the Original Movie, or Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex: Solid State Society: And This One’s Based on the TV Series, this particular installment follows up on the events of the four-part Arise OAV. The prime minister of Japan is dead, the Fire-Starter virus continues to infect Ghosts, and Major Motoko Kusanagi and the members of Section 9 must untangle the complex web of government corruptions and shadowy figures to figure out what’s going on.

Here, have another trailer.

The movie has a limited run at the Consolidated Ward theaters before moving to the Honolulu Museum of Art for nine, count ’em, nine screenings. Your showtimes:

  • Consolidated Ward Stadium 16: 7:30 p.m. Nov. 10, 11 and 16
  • Doris Duke Theater (Honolulu Museum of Art): 4 and 7:30 p.m. Nov. 15, 1, 4 and 7:30 p.m. Nov. 21, 1 p.m. Nov. 22, 1 and 7:30 p.m. Nov. 27

Tickets are available on Fandango for Ward ($12.25 general, $9 seniors, $8.75 children) and the art museum website ($10 general admission, $8 museum members) for the Doris Duke screenings.

boy and beast

Hawaii International Film Festival: There’s only one anime in this year’s HIFF Fall Showcase (Nov. 12-22). Fortunately, it’s the latest project from one of the best creators still around since Studio Ghibli went dormant: Mamoru Hosoda, director of the great The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, the sublime Summer Wars and the sounds-great-but-it’s-still-on-my-pile-of-things-to-watch Wolf Children. His latest movie, The Boy and the Beast, features loner Kyuta (side note: I seem to be writing a lot of synopses these days where the main character is described as a loner of some sort, aren’t I?) embarking on an adventure-filled journey with Kumatetsu, a supernatural beast also isolated in an imaginary world.

Third trailer time!

The Boy and the Beast screens at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 21 and 5 p.m. Nov. 22, with both screenings at the Regal Dole Cannery theaters.

Also, for those of you who enjoyed Journey of Heroes, the comic book recounting the achievements of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and 100th Infantry Battalion with chibi characters, author Stacey Hayashi has a pair of projects screening as part of this year’s “Made in Hawaii Shorts” roundup: “The Surrender Call,” based on Military Intelligence Service linguist Herbert Yanamura’s actions to save civilians during the bloody Battle of Okinawa, and “The Herbert Yanamura Story,” in which he shares his story and reunites with someone whom he saved from that battle nearly 70 years later. “Made in Hawaii Shorts” screens at 5:45 p.m. Nov. 16 and 10:45 a.m. Nov. 21 at the Dole Cannery theaters, and 3 p.m. Nov. 22 at the Consolidated Koko Marina theaters. If anyone reads this blog on Kauai, you guys can see these shorts, too, at 10:30 a.m. Nov. 21 at the Waimea Theatre.

HIFF tickets are $14 general, $12 students, seniors and military members. Memberships are also available for those of you who really love your movies. Visit hiff.org.

Elsewhere around town

“Short Story: Drawings by Brady Evans”: I’ve been covering the work of Brady Evans for quite a while now, from his days winning MangaBento art contests to starting art groups to curating an exhibit about manga in Hawaii to buying pretty artwork by him on display in art shows downtown, and probably a whole bunch of other things in between. Now Brady’s going to have an exhibit of his drawings on display at my alma mater, Punahou School, and I’m thrilled not only because I get to swing by there and see his work, but also because I can stop by the lily pond near Thurston Chapel. Fishies! Turtles! The occasional confused duck! I usually only plan on visiting once a year during the school’s annual malasada fundraiser for scholarships — you know, the Punahou Carnival — so this is a bonus visit for me. Kirsch Gallery (next to Cooke Library); opening reception 3:30-6 p.m. Thursday, exhibit on display through Nov. 19 (gallery hours 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Mondays through Fridays). Call 943-3247.

keiki con

Keiki Con: KYAAAAAAAAH IT’S ANOTHER CONVENTION-TYPE EVENT IN THE HANDY PETITE SIZE *runs away*

… just kidding. I’m just feeling guilty that I have yet to do any write-ups for the events that were part of that five-week Con-athon 2015 I mentioned earlier in this post. This event up in Central Oahu seems like it’s going to be a really fun time for keiki of all ages, with food trucks, games, various activities, a cosplay contest (register by 1 p.m. the day of the event); the Hawaii Game Truck; and an Artist Zone featuring make-and-take activities and Pineapple Man artist Sam Campos, Gordon Rider/Ara-Rangers/Edamame Ninjas/Star-Advertiser “Calabash” artist Jon Murakami, and Aumakua: Guardians of Hawaii artist Christopher Caravalho. Kawaii Kon will be on hand to give away free three-day passes (update 11/6, 5:30 p.m.: a pass will be awarded to the winner of the cosplay contest), too. Mililani Recreation Center 7 (take the H-2 Freeway to the Mililani Mauka exit, then shoot pretty much close to the top of Meheula Parkway; it’s at 95-1333 Lehiwa Drive, for you GPS types), 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.

Comic Jam Hawaii: It’s the holiday season, which means this group of collaborative cartoon artists, ousted by preparations for Santa Claus and giant holiday trains at Pearlridge, is hitting the road this month. They’ll be at Aiea Library — home of the monthly Polar Bear Cafe & Friends Anime Club and the Face of Hawaii Ingress ™ — on Saturday and Nov. 21, from 1 to 4 p.m. The library is at 99-374 Pohai Place … and have I mentioned there’s still plenty of parking? What’s that? I mention that every time I mention there’s something at Aiea Library? Well, then. Call 483-7333.

Oahu’s otaku film feast-ival (part 1 of 2)

Back in January, three theatrical anime releases made their way to Hawaii: Evangelion 3.0, Madoka Magica: Rebellion and Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day: The Movie.

“Okay, this is as good as it gets,” I remember thinking at the time.

A few more films trickled in here and there in the ensuing months. Then in August, another set of three movies showed up: Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods, My Neighbor Totoro and Naruto: Road to Ninja.

“Okay, fine. This is as good as it gets. Really,” I remember thinking at the time.

Now there’s October and November, and … well, folks, we’ve finally hit the fireworks factory. If you were to count the various pieces of Ghost in the Shell: Arise as separate entities, 12 theatrical anime releases were screened in local theaters between January and September.

This month and next month, eight anime, five live-action movies based on manga, the Kikaida revival, a documentary about Studio Ghibli and the Japan-flavored Disney animated feature Big Hero 6 are due for screenings. Indeed, these months will have more otaku film content crammed into it than the rest of this year combined.

Two film festivals are driving most of this boom. The first, “Hello Tokyo!” starting Saturday and running through Oct. 12 at the Honolulu Museum of Art’s Doris Duke Theater, is the anime-heavy one; the 34th annual Hawaii International Film Festival from Oct. 30 through Nov. 9 will be bringing the live-action love (and Big Hero 6 a few days before its scheduled wide release on Nov. 7). Bridging the two will be Kikaider Reboot, screening Oct. 10-16 in the Ward Stadium 16’s Titan XC auditorium. In this post, let’s take a look at the Art Museum’s offerings and the new Kikaider movie.

‘Hello Tokyo!’

Single tickets are $10, $8 for museum members; the Ghost in the Shell marathon is $25 general, $20 museum members. Visit honolulumuseum.org/14657-hello_tokyo for more information and ticket links.

ghost in the shellThe Ghost in the Shell marathon: To screen all the elements of the Ghost in the Shell would take far longer than one night would allow, so this marathon hits just the essentials: the 1995 classic directed by Mamoru Oshii, which introduced the future world of Tokyo Public Security Section Nine and cyborg Major Motoko Kusanagi to moviegoers, and three out of four parts of the 2013 prequel series Ghost in the Shell Arise, which … well … introduces the future world of Tokyo Public Security Section Nine and cyborg Major Motoko Kusanagi to viewers, except before the movie as far as the franchise’s timeline is concerned.

You have one shot to catch all of this in one place, and that’s on the film festival’s opening day on Saturday. Ghost in the Shell screens at 2 p.m., followed by Arise Border 1: Ghost Pain at 4 p.m. and the Arise Border 2: Ghost Whispers / Arise Border 3: Ghost Tears combo at 6:30 p.m. There’s also an opening-night reception between Arise showings, from 5 to 6:30 p.m., featuring entertainment, games, and sales of bentos and beverages (both of the alcoholic and non-alcoholic variety). Cosplayers, you’re invited to come on down as well. To get in to the reception, just buy a ticket for the marathon or, if you can’t fathom sitting through all of that, for either of the Arise screenings.

If you can’t make it to the marathon, Ghost in the Shell will be shown by itself at 1 p.m. Oct. 11 and 7:30 p.m. Oct. 12.

RoadToNinja NarutoTheMovieRoad to Ninja — Naruto the Movie: Your favorite orange jump-suited ninja and his friends are back for their latest big-screen adventure again after a two-day limited engagement earlier this year at the Ward Stadium 16 theaters. As a reminder, here’s the synopsis:

Long ago, a mysterious masked shinobi unleashed the Nine-Tailed Fox onto the Village Hidden in the Leaves to spread chaos and destruction. But the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, and his wife Kushina Uzumaki sealed the Tailed Beast into their newborn son Naruto to save the village, foiling the shinobi’s plan.

Years later, Naruto and his friends succeed in driving away the infamous Akatsuki, who have mysteriously returned from the dead. Upon returning to the village, the young shinobi are praised by their families for completing a dangerous mission. Reminded of how alone he is, Naruto begins to wonder what it’s like to have parents, when a strange masked figure appears before him – the same masked shinobi responsible for the death of his parents!

Screening at 4 p.m. Sunday and 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.

K Missing Kings posterK: Missing Kings: Another film playing a return engagement in Honolulu — this one showed up on Oahu and Maui for two days in July — this extension of the anime series K continues the story of seven kings who rule over their clansmen on an Earth different from our own. Again, a synopsis refresher:

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.

Screening at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and 1 p.m. Oct. 9.

WELCOME-TO-THE-SPACESHOW-pic-2Welcome to the Space Show: It’s your typical “kids go to summer camp, lose a rabbit, find a talking dog instead, rocket off to intergalactic adventures, and then Susan Boyle sings” story … which is to say it’s filled with plenty of elements of fantasy and sci-fi and what the heck did I just watch here-ness. If this movie sounds familiar, then you probably remember that HIFF screened the film back in 2010. (Here’s my review in Honolulu Pulse.) Space Show’s return comes via GKids, which will also be releasing the film on DVD and Blu-ray on Oct. 14. 7:30 p.m. Sunday, 1 p.m. Wednesday and 4 p.m. Oct. 11.

patema-invertedPatema Inverted: The titular character is a princess who finds everything she thought she knew about life turned upside down one day. And I mean that quite literally; this is a story of two people who live in societies separated by opposing gravitational forces. It’s up to her and the student she meets, Age, to figure out exactly what it is that’s keeping their worlds apart. This, along with Ghost in the Shell Arise Border 3: Ghost Tears, is making its Hawaii debut. Screening at 1 p.m. Sunday and Tuesday, 7:30 p.m. Oct. 11 and 4 p.m. Oct. 12.

Kikaider Reboot

kikaider rebootIt’s the movie so big, it merited its own breakout section in this roundup. (Well, that and the fact that it’s the only one being screened independent of any film festivals.) In celebration of the 40th anniversary of Kikaida in Hawaii, JN Productions/Generation Kikaida is bringing the cinematic revival of Shotaro Ishinomori’s classic character to Hawaii — and North America, for that matter — for the first time. The cast may be different — Irie Jingi plays Jiro/Kikaider here, although original actor Ban Daisuke does return here in a new role — but the story remains the same: A cyborg with a Conscience Circuit crafted by the late Dr. Komyoji is tasked with protecting the doctor’s children, Mitsuko and Masaru, and their knowledge that is key to completing the ARK Project.

Tickets for reserved seating in Ward’s Titan XC auditorium are $15.25 general, $12.75 children ages 3-11, and $12.25 seniors … and if you click through Fandango’s ticket page, there are still plenty of tickets available for the film’s Oct. 10-16 engagement. (Don’t procrastinate for too long, though.)

While we’re talking about Kikaida 40th anniversary celebrations, I should also mention that another Kikaida Day is taking place at Shirokiya at Ala Moana Center from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Sunday. You can try your luck at winning tickets to a private screening of Kikaider Reboot, buy new merchandise, get autographs from Ban Daisuke, meet Kutmaster Spaz of Dis N Dat and enjoy all the usual accoutrements of Kikaida Days past: Kikaida-oke, costumed superheroes wandering around for photo ops, DVD giveaways and free balloons.

Next time in Otaku Ohana: The Otaku Ohana guide to the Hawaii International Film Festival. There’s a Studio Ghibli documentary!