With Dada Chen at NYAFF 2013

With Dada Chen at NYAFF 2013
With Dada Chen at NYAFF 2013

Tuesday, November 04, 2014

First two volumes of science-fiction robot manga LBX (LITTLE BATTLERS EXPERIENCE) are available today

DANBALL SENKI © 2011 Hideaki FUJII /SHOGAKUKAN © LEVEL-5 Inc.
VIZ MEDIA’S PERFECT SQUARE IMPRINT LAUNCHES
LBX (LITTLE BATTLERS EXPERIENCE) MANGA SERIES

Extremely Popular New Series From Japan About
A Boy And His Powerful Robot That Battle
Evil Kicks Off In English This Fall

VIZ Media delivers sci-fi battle robot action in a BIG way with the launch of the new manga (graphic novel) series – LBX (LITTLE BATTLERS EXPERIENCE). The action kicks off in the first two volumes of the series from the company’s Perfect Square imprint which are available starting today, November 4th. Future volumes will each be released on a bi-monthly basis.

LBX (LITTLE BATTLERS EXPERIENCE) is a hot new action/sci-fi/mecha property based on the LBX video game, a series of role-playing action games created by Level-5, with manga, an anime, and planned forthcoming toys and games debuting this fall.

Created by Hideaki Fuji, the LBX (LITTLE BATTLERS EXPERIENCE) manga series is rated ‘A’ for All Ages. Volumes 1 and 2 will be released on November 4th and will be available will a print MSRP of $9.99 U.S. / $12.99 CAN each.

Welcome to the world of Little Battlers eXperience! In the near future, a boy named Van Yamano owns Achilles, a miniaturized robot with super strong power. But Achilles is no ordinary LBX. Hidden inside him is secret data that Van must keep out of the hands of evil at all costs.

In Volume 1, "The New Dawn Raisers,” Van loves Little Battlers eXperience, also known as LBXs, the hottest toy in present-day 2050. And it’s kind of cool that his dad invented them! But now a secret organization is coming after Van to procure the secrets that might be hidden inside his own LBX robot, Achilles!

“In Japan, the LBX (LITTLE BATTLERS EXPERIENCE) world is super popular and has video games, broadcast anime, an animated film and toys and collectibles. We’re looking forward to being part of the team that brings LBX to North American fans of all ages with the manga series,” says Joel Enos, Editor. “It’s fast-paced, exciting, and has robots that battle on command. You really can’t go wrong with that!”

LBX (LITTLE BATTLERS EXPERIENCE) writer/artist Hideaki Fujii made his manga debut in 2000 with Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children in Monthly Comic BomBom magazine. In Japan, LBX is serialized in Shogakukan's CoroCoro Comic. Fuji’s other signature work includes the series, Battle Spirits: Breakthrough Boy Bashin.

VIZ Media’s Perfect Square imprint focuses on delivering original comics, manga (graphic novels) and other children’s books with an emphasis on strong storytelling, eye-popping graphics, empowering themes, and a dash of irreverence, that captures the imagination of a whole new generation.

Additional information on titles published by Perfect Square is available at www.PerfectSquare.com.

For more information on other manga titles from VIZ Media, visit www.VIZ.com.

Monday, November 03, 2014

Free screening of TAZZA: THE HIDDEN CARD tomorrow night

Korean Cultural Service New York
presents
Korean Movie Night 2014
Series Six
Idols on Film: K-pop Superstars Take on Cinema!
Tazza: The Hidden Card
Directed by KANG Hyeong-Cheol
South Korea, 2014, 147 minutes
When: Tuesday November 4, 2014 @ 7:00 pm
Doors open: 6:30 PM
Where: Tribeca Cinemas 54 Varick Street, on the corner of Canal, NYC
Near the A, C, E @ #1 Canal Street subway stops
Admission: FREE!!!


Dae-gil’s natural skills as a gambler have earned him the reputation of having a “God’s hand”, but it’s not as skilled dealing with swindlers and, in one bad move, loses his entire fortune. Having to unite with his legendary uncle’s old partner only leads to more dangerous situations, and soon, he realizes that this is a game of life or death! Soon, a deep conspiracy turns Dae-gil into a scapegoat, and he’s forced to go on the run! Planning his revenge, Dae-gil prepares for the biggest game of his life… an event that will clear his name and reunite him with the woman he loves! Don’t miss this sensational thriller, starring T.O.P. (aka Choi Seung-hyun), the award-winning lead rapper of the K-pop group Big Band!

I rated Tazza: The Hidden Card at 3.5 out of 4 stars in my September 26, 2014 review of the film upon its theatrical release in the U.S. and Canada.

Sentai Filmworks acquires BRYNHILDR IN THE DARKNESS


The night’s sky hides a dark secret that will threaten the lives of not only one, but many in Sentai Filmworks' latest acquisition, Brynhildr in the Darkness. From Lynn Okamoto, original creator of legendary series Elfen Lied, Brynhildr in the Darkness is directed by Kenichi Imaizumi (Katekyo Hitman Reborn!, Student Council’s Discretion Level 2) with character designs by Hiroaki Karasu (MAOYU, Gatchaman Crowds), scripting by Yukinori Kitajima (Hamatora, Senran Kagura), and animation production by ARMS (Elfen Lied, Samurai Girls).

Synopsis:
A high school senior Murakami Ryota had a childhood friend called Kuroneko who died in an accident. Ryota had made a promise with Kuroneko that he will prove there are aliens in the universe. In order to fulfill his promise, he joined the astronomy club at the school as its only member and kept observing the stars almost every night. One day, a girl who looks like Kuroneko transferred into his class. To his surprise, the girl’s name is Kuroha Neko which is really similar to his childhood friend’s name. However it seems that there is something unusual about her. It turns out that she is a witch who actually escaped from a research laboratory.

Brynhildr in the Darkness will be available soon through select digital outlets with a home video release to follow.

Sunday, November 02, 2014

WOMEN WHO FLIRT to open on November 26th in U.S. & Canada


China Lion Film Distribution has acquired the ensemble romantic comedy Women Who Flirt and set a Thanksgiving release date, with most U.S. and Canadian locations to debut the movie on Wednesday, November 26th, 2014. China Lion Australia/New Zealand will release the film the following day, Thursday, November 27th. Both North American audiences and audiences in Australia/New Zealand will be able to see the film ahead of the Mainland Chinese release on Friday, November 28th.

The Mandarin language film stars Zhou Xun (Painted Skin, The Flying Swords of Dragon Gate), Huang Xiao Ming (Eastern Bandits, The Guillotines), Sui Tang and Xie Yi Lin. Talented Hong Kong filmmaker Pang Ho-Cheung (Aberdeen, Vulgaria, Love in the Buff)  directed the film, which has also been known as Women Who Know How to Flirt Are the Luckiest. Personally, I think the shorter English title is a great improvement

Huang Xiao Ming (left)  and Zhou Xun

The film revolves around co-workers and longtime friends Angie (Zhou Xun) and Marco (Huang Xiao Ming). When Marco announces he’s seeing someone, it sends Angie on a mission to save him from his new and manipulative girlfriend Hailey (Tang Sui). With the help of a circle of friends led by May (Xie Yi Lin), Angie tries to convince him she’s the one for him.

China Lion Film will release Women Who Flirt in major metro areas throughout North America in addition to Australia and New Zealand, continuing its trend of releasing films day-and-date with Greater China; specific release locations will be announced on the company’s website, as well as its Facebook and Weibo.

The official website for the film is http://www.WomenWhoFlirt.com/.

China Lion Film Distribution recently released the film Breakup Buddies and But Always, films that respectively became the company’s #1 and #2 highest grossing pictures.

Saturday, November 01, 2014

Section23 Films announces its February 2015 slate of releases


Home video distributor Section23 Films has announced its February 2015 slate of releases, including the hit space adventure series Space Brothers which will be released on both DVD & Blu-ray.

Product details follow, in order of release.

Title: GOLDEN TIME COLLECTION 2
Published by: Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time: 300 min.
Street Date: 2/3/2015
Format: DVD, BD
Language: Japanese with English Subtitles
SRP: $49.98, $59.98

SYNOPSIS: Adjusting to college life is hard enough for most students, but ever since Banri Tada lost all his memories he's literally being haunted by the spirit of the person he was before the accident. And now that the Banri-that-is has fallen in love with Koko instead of Linda, the girl his old self was in love with, the ghost of the Banri-that-was is stepping up its efforts to sabotage his new relationship with every power at its disposal. Which means since past-Banri can sometimes take over present-Banri's body, the entire life new-Banri has built is now in imminent danger of being blown away like a house of cards in a whirlwind. And that doesn't even take into account Linda and Koko's feelings, let alone those of Banri's friend, Mitsuo, who Koko was formerly in love with, but who now has a thing for Linda- at least, when he isn't crushing on Chinami. And if that sounds confusing, it's nothing compared to how Banri feels as his old memories begin to resurface and the ultimate battle of Man Vs. Himself escalates in GOLDEN TIME - COLLECTION 2!


Title: LEVIATHAN ~ THE LAST DEFENSE
Published by: Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time: 325 min.
Street Date: 2/3/2015
Format: DVD, BD
Language: English & Japanese with English Subtitles
SRP: $59.98, $69.98
SYNOPSIS: The land of Aquafall is a paradise, where life in all forms flourishes in peace and abundance. But when meteors rain down, each impact spawns hideous monsters sent by an enemy that wants to claim the green world for its own! Fortunately, the fairy Syrup is on guard and knows exactly what to do, and recruits an extraordinary team of young women to form the Aquafall Defenders. There's the incredibly strong Jormungand, the fire-conjuring Bahamut, and the water-bending Leviathan. Unfortunately none of them are ideal warrior material, and Syrup will have her work cut out for her when it comes to teaching them to work together. Even if they manage to survive and unite as a team, can three lone girls really turn the tide of an alien invasion? Well, it might help that they've all got a little bit of Dragon in them! The scales of fate will turn as the future of Aquafall hangs in the balance in LEVIATHAN ~ THE LAST DEFENSE!


Title: ENGAGED TO THE UNIDENTIFIED
Published by: Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time: 300 min.
Street Date: 2/10/2015
Format: DVD, BD
Language: Japanese with English Subtitles
SRP: $49.98, $59.98

SYNOPSIS: Not every girl gets what she wants on her 16th birthday, but Kobeni's gift is something she never saw coming: an arranged marriage! Thanks to her late grandfather, Kobeni's been engaged to a total stranger since childhood, and even though she's supposedly met him she doesn't remember a single thing about him. Even weirder is that both her Mom and creepily over-doting sister, Benio, seem completely unsurprised when the groom-to-be, Hakuya, and his younger sister, Mashiro, show up on the family's doorstep to move in with them! But it's not until they start attending Kobeni's school that things take an even stranger turn after she starts to pick up some very… unusual vibes from her potential future family. From Mashiro's obsession with aliens and UMAs (Unidentified Mysterious Animals), to Hakuya's disconcerting lack of emotion, there's something very off about them that Kobeni can't quite put her finger on. What has her grandfather gotten her into? And how does this relate to the strange gap in Kobeni's memory? From weird science to the supernatural, almost anything can happen when you're ENGAGED TO THE UNIDENTIFIED!


Title: REIDEEN COLLECTION 2
Published by: Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time: 325 min.
Street Date: 2/10/2015
Format: DVD
Language: Japanese with English Subtitles
SRP: $49.98

SYNOPSIS: As the attacks by the Mechanical Beasts continue to escalate, and Earth's defenders struggle to develop new technology capable of stopping them, the mystery surrounding our planet's greatest protector only deepens. After all, if a weapon is only as dangerous as the being who wields it, why has the robot-like goliath known as Reideen chosen a high school student like Junki Saiga to be its pilot? What is Reideen's real purpose here on Earth? Is it our last line of defense in this war, or could it actually be the cause of it? And how many weapons and capabilities does it possess that have yet to be seen? Solving these riddles could be the key to saving everything, but the clock is running down for the Vigilant Corps. The enemy is no longer content to simply attack from space-they're here, infiltrating our cities, and they already know who the pilot of Reideen is. As Junki and Hoshikawa find themselves the targets of both human and alien covert action, the battle for the fate of our world expands to an even wider front in REIDEEN - COLLECTION TWO!

Title: HOZUKI'S COOLHEADEDNESS
Published by: Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time: 325 min.
Street Date: 2/17/2015
Format: DVD, BD
Language: Japanese with English Subtitles
SRP: $49.98, $59.98

SYNOPSIS: There are hard jobs, there are jobs that seem outright impossible, but in the end, the most difficult job in all creation probably belongs to Hozuki, Hell’s hardest working bureaucrat. That’s because Hozuki is Deputy Chief to Enma, the King of Hell. Enma spends all his time sitting in judgment of the recently deceased, so it’s up to Hozuki to keep the dark half of the afterlife running smoothly. And that would be hellishly complicated even if Hell wasn’t constantly short on good help. Fortunately, Hozuki’s not the typical bureaucratic hothead you’d expect to find heading a department of infernal affairs. Fiendishly clever and determined enough to dedicate multiple lifetimes to a task (though not necessarily his OWN lifetimes), he’ll get the job done even if it means breaking a few unbreakable rules and running circles around Hell’s normal operating procedures. As for patience… well, Hell hasn’t frozen over quite yet, so the verdict’s still out on that, but he doesn’t suffer fools lightly, let alone damned fools. After all, that Highway to Hell isn’t going to get paved with just good intentions, so if someone has to suffer for all eternity, Hozuki’s damned sure that it’s not going to be himself in HOZUKI’S COOLHEADEDNESS!


Title: PATLABOR: THE NEW FILES
Published by: Maiden Japan
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time: 400 min.
Street Date: 2/17/2015
Format: DVD, BD
Language: Japanese with English Subtitles
SRP: $49.98, $59.98

SYNOPSIS: Every cop has a story to tell, but not all of them are safe to show on television. That's especially true in the crazed world of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police's Special Vehicle Section, because when you toss giant robots into the mix almost anything can happen. A teddy bear holding people hostage and a search for albino alligators may just be typical days on the job, but what about an undercover mission into a public bathhouse looking for suspicious moles? Or what happens when the only place where you and your coworker can wait out a typhoon is a room in one of Japan's notorious "Love Hotels"? And then there's that drunken weekend at the hot springs and the infamous "underwear incident." But not every story has a humorous edge, and what begins as a battle for corporate survival turns into a mêlée in the streets as the makers of the deadly Griffin return for the ultimate exercise in urban combat! It's the wildest set of adventures yet as Noa Izumi and the men and women of the SV2 reveal the stories that couldn't be told before in MOBILE POLICE PATLABOR - THE NEW FILES!


Title: DIABOLIK LOVERS BLU-RAY
Published by: Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time: 180 min.
Street Date: 2/24/2015
Format: BD
Language: English & Japanese with English Subtitles
SRP: $39.98

SYNOPSIS: Yui Komori has spent her life sheltered by the Church and the man she thinks of as her father, but now she's going to a new home and there's a very different kind of family waiting for her. To her dismay, she discovers that she'll be living with six very attractive young men, and not a single one is human! But if trying to keep an entire brood of vampires at fangs' length wasn't stressful enough, there are even more sinister forces at work, threatening not only Yui's life, but her very soul. Drawn into her wildest fantasies, or perhaps her most salacious nightmares, one thing is certain: Yui's life will never be the same once she meets the DIABOLIK LOVERS!


Title: SPACE BROTHERS COLLECTION 1 
Published by: Sentai Filmworks
Distributed by: Section23 Films
Run Time: 325 min.
Street Date: 2/24/2015
Format: DVD, BD
Language: Japanese with English Subtitles
SRP: $49.98, $59.98

SYNOPSIS: Mutta's life has hit rock bottom. He's been fired, blackballed from his profession and even had to move back in with his parents. Meanwhile, the career of Mutta's brother, Hibito, has taken off like a rocket as he trains for the job Mutta once dreamed of: becoming an astronaut. But is it ever too late to go after your dreams? Through a little coercing and a bit of covert activity, Mutta's family and friends can get his resume on the right desk, but from that point on it'll be up to Mutta himself. Does he have what it takes to turn his life around and put his footprint on the moon? The first step on the highway to the stars is always the hardest, and in a job where crash and burn isn't just a euphemism, it'll be the biggest risk Mutta's ever taken. But with the right support team, maybe he'll find what he needs to rekindle the spark inside him and light the biggest candle of them all! Get ready to blast off into the most magnificent tomorrow ever in SPACE BROTHERS - COLLECTION 1!


Title: LOVE, CHUNIBYO & OTHER DELUSIONS COLLECTOR'S 
 Published by: Sentai Filmworks Distributed by: Section23 Films
 Run Time: 325 min.
 Street Date: 2/24/2015
 Format: Combo - DVD/BD
 Language: English & Japanese with English Subtitles
 SRP: $129.98

SYNOPSIS: Yuta has a problem. As one of the thousands of Japanese students afflicted with “chunibyo,” a state where they’re so desperate to stand out that they've literally convinced themselves that they have secret knowledge and hidden powers, Yuta spent most of his middle school years living in a complete fantasy world. But that’s not his major problem now, as with a lot of work and effort, he’s finally managing to overcome his delusions to the point where he thinks he’s ready to start high school with all his cards in order. No, his BIG problem is the girl he first encounters climbing on his balcony. Because it seems that his own efforts to rid himself of his chunibyo have attracted the attentions of another sufferer, and SHE’s decided that this makes him her soul mate. And since Rikka’s just moved in upstairs, now he’s being sucked into HER fantasy world! Can a formerly wild and crazy guy handle being the focus of a completely delusional girl? Or will his own chunibyo return with a vengeance? Either way, the phrase “madly in love” is bound to get redefined in LOVE, CHUNIBYO & OTHER DELUSIONS!