ACF 772: Special Event - "Summer Wars" at Asia Society, NY, November 20, 2010

SUMMER WARS
English Language Premiere
Recommended ages 9 to adult
When: Sat, Nov 20 - 1:00pm
Where: Asia Society and Museum, 725 Park Avenue (at 70th Street)

"Spectacular! Visionary! Mind-Bending! Staggering!" - Variety

"Dazzling! Gorgeous! Hosoda is the best storyteller working within the animated
medium in Japan - and possibly the world!" - Twitch

OFFICIAL 2011 OSCAR SUBMISSION - BEST ANIMATED FEATURE!

Kenji is a teenage math prodigy recruited by his secret crush Natsuki for the ultimate summer job - passing himself off as Natsuki's boyfriend for four days during her grandmother's 90th birthday celebration. But when Kenji solves a 2,056 digit math riddle sent to his cell phone, he unwittingly breaches the security barricade protecting Oz, a globe-spanning virtual world where millions of people and governments interact through their avatars, handling everything from online shopping and traffic control to national defense and nuclear launch codes. Now a malicious AI program called the Love Machine is hijacking Oz accounts, growing exponentially more powerful and sowing chaos and destruction in its wake.

This "intriguingly intelligent" cyberpunk/sci-fi story is a visual tour-de-force, with the amazing world of Oz as the highlight. Like the Internet as conceived by pop artist Haruki Murakami, Oz is a hallucinatory pixel parade of cool avatar designs, kung fu jackrabbits, toothy bears, and a bursting rainbow of colors.

This event is expected to sell out. To purchase tickets CLICK HERE.

Event tickets include admission to Yoshitomo Nara: Nobody's Fool. With influences ranging from anime to The Ramones, neo-pop artist Yoshitomo Nara has acheived rock-star status in Japan. This inventive and user-friendly art exhibit is perfect for young people and museum-phobes alike - and is recommended by Time Out New York Kids.

Here is the Nara review in the New York Times.

ACF 771: Yoshinori Natsume's manga "Kurozakuro" now available from VIZ

KUROZAKURO © 2004 Yoshinori NATSUME/Shogakukan

A BULLIED HIGH SCHOOL KID IS IN FOR A WILD ADVENTURE
IN NEW MANGA SERIES KUROZAKURO

Be Careful Who You Bully Because They Might Be An Ogre!

VIZ Media recently released award-winning artist Yoshinori Natsume’s manga (graphic novel) series KUROZAKURO. The new series, offered under the Shonen Sunday imprint, is rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens and will carry an MSRP of $9.99 U.S. / $12.99 CAN.

Mikito Sakurai is tired of being a punching bag for all the delinquents on campus. But what can he do? By nature he's a gentle and easygoing high school student. That all changes the night he swallows a mysterious orb and meets Zakuro, a strange kid who promises to grant his most heartfelt desire. "When you wake up," says the pint-sized apparition, "you'll be stronger and better than a human."

“The kids who bully Mikito are in for a rude awakening when he starts displaying new, violent instincts after he swallows the orb,” says Andy Nakatani, Editorial Director and Editor-in-Chief, Shonen Sunday. “Anyone who has ever been bullied will be able to relate to Mikito and will enjoy the wild and unpredictable adventure in KUROZAKURO. But beware, because becoming the new strongest boy on campus isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, especially when you might be turning into an ogre with a taste for human flesh!“

Manga artist Yoshinori Natsume is the creator of TOGARI (also published by VIZ Media, rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens) and BATMAN DEATH MASK from DC Comics.

More information on KUROZAKURO and other Shonen Sunday titles is available at ShonenSunday.com.

ACF 770: The Japanese Wife to be shown at School of Visual Arts on November 13, 2010

The Japanese Wife
Directed by Aparna Sen
With Rahul Bose, Raima Sen, Chigasu Takaku,
Mousumi Chatterjee, and Rudranil Ghosh
India, 2009, 105 minutes
NY Premiere
In English, Bengali, and Japanese (with English subtitles)
When: Saturday, November 13, 6:00 PM
Where: SVA Theatre 2 (Beatrice)
333 West 23rd Street, New York City

Director Aparna Sen and lead actor Rahul Bose will be in attendance.

A delicate – and improbable love story about three gentle and shy souls. Snehamoy, a school teacher in the beautiful Sunderbans, writes letters to Miyage, a sweet shy Japanese girl in Yokohama. Over these letters, they fall in love and get married despite having never met. Sandhya, a widow, takes refuge in Snehamoy’s home and is soon always by his side, bringing a piquant twist to this home in the Sunderbans, and the love between Snehamoy and Miyage. Will Sandhya find her solace with Snehamoy? Or will life finally unite Snehamoy and Miyage?

TICKETS
$15 / $12 Japan Society members.
PLEASE ENTER the following code to obtain the discount: MIAACBRK

To order tickets online, click here.

This screening is part of the 10th Annual Mahindra Indo-American Arts Council Film Festival.

ACF 769: VIZ devuts anime "Ultra Maniac" based on manga by Wataru Yoshizumi

VIZ MEDIA DEBUTS NEW ANIME SERIES
ULTRA MANIAC AVAILABLE FROM iTUNES, HULU
AND VIZANIME.COM

Episode 1 Available For FREE Download-To-Own For Limited Time

VIZ Media has announced the launch of ULTRA MANIAC (rated TV-14) available now from the iTunes Store in the U.S. and Canada (www.iTunes.com), as well as the streaming content provider HULU (www.Hulu.com) and VIZAnime.com, the company’s premier website for anime.

The first part of ULTRA MANIAC season one (dubbed episodes 1-13) is available from iTunes for the Download-To-Own (DTO) price of $1.99 (U.S.) each, and a Download-To-Rent (DTR) price of $0.99 (U.S.) each. As a special treat for viewers, ULTRA MANIAC episode 1 is available to download for FREE until November 23rd.

Beginning December 6th, ULTRA MANIAC season one part two (episodes 14-26) will also be available for DTO and DTR.

VIZAnime.com and HULU will stream FREE episodes 1-5 of ULTRA MANIAC (subtitled). Two additional new episodes will launch each Monday.

ULTRA MANIAC is based on the popular shojo manga of the same name (also published by VIZ Media, rated ‘A’ for All Ages) by creator Wataru Yoshizumi. Ayu Tetsushi is in her second year of junior high and is known as the cool popular tennis club girl that all the girls idolize. Then, Ayu meets Nina, a transfer student whose strange personality leaves Ayu a little perplexed. Soon, Ayu discovers that Nina is a witch that came from the Kingdom of Magic to study abroad!

Learn more about ULTRA MANIAC anime and manga series at VIZAnime.com or ShojoBeat.com.

ACF 768: From Autumn to Winter-s Eve: A Musical Journey at The Korea Society

From Autumn to Winter’s Eve: A Musical Journey

Minji Park explores late autumn's grasp and the onset of winter through a program of traditional six-string kǒmun’go. The evening’s selections pay tribute to the late season and highlight the masculine, deep sounds of one of Korea’s oldest native instruments. A winner at the 2010 World Korean Traditional Performing Arts Competition in New York, Minji Park will perform from the traditional Korean court and folk music repertoire.

Wednesday, November 17
6:00PM Refreshments
6:30PM Performance

BUY TICKETS

The Korea Society
950 Third Avenue @ 57th Street, 8th Floor
(Entrance on 57th Street, the South-West corner of the intersection)
New York, NY

Admission:
$10 for Members/Students
$20 for Guests
(Walk-in registration will incur an additional charge of $5)

For more information or to register for the program, please contact Heewon Kim or 212-759-7525, ext. 355.

ABOUT THE PERFORMER
Minji Park graduated from Hanyang Unviersity in Korea. An accomplished kǒmun’go artist, she has taken awards at the National Traditional Performing Arts Competition in 2006, Dong-A Korean Traditional Music Concours in 2009, and 2010 World Korean Traditional Performing Arts Competition in New York. She was a member of and soloist for the Seoul Metropolitan Youth Traditional Music Orchestra. In 2010, Minji Park has performed in Atlanta, San Francisco, and Hawaii with the Hanyang University's Korean Traditional Music Orchestra.