ACF 1455: UPOTTE! is coming soon from Sentai Filmworks

Forget about girls WITH guns, Sentai Filmworks has announced their acquisition of Upotte!, the show that’s all about girls who ARE guns!  Upotte! features the scripts by Naruhisa Arakawa (Listen To Me, Girls! I am Your Father, Blue Seed), direction by Takao Kato (To Love Ru, Pandora Hearts) and character designs by Akio Takami (Buso Renkin, Steam Detectives).

Synopsis: Kiss kiss, bang bang!  The arms race takes on a startling new development when the arms come with heads, legs and very feminine bodies attached!  Yes, at Seishou Academy every girl is literally a lethal weapon, and they’re all gunning for the top shot at getting their own personal serviceman!  Needless to say, it’s going to be difficult for newly recruited human instructor Genkoku to adjust to working with a living arsenal of high caliber cuties with tricky names like FNC (Funko,) M 16A4 (Ichiroku,)  L85A1 (Eru,) and SG 550 (Shigu,).  Especially since many have hair triggers and there’s no bulletproof vest that can stop a really determined coed!  He’ll have to rewrite the operator’s manual on student/teacher relationships, and pray that his job description won’t include having to field strip and reassemble one of his cadets in the dark.  But unfortunately (for him,) FNC’s already thinking about becoming HIS personal weapon, and she usually gets what she aims for!  Get ready for explosive situations, amour piercing rounds, cheap shots galore and one VERY shell-shocked homeroom instructor in UPOTTE!

UPOTTE! will begin release through select digital outlets soon with a home video release to follow.

ACF 1454: Select digital manga titles from VIZ on sale two Mondays in May

BAKUMAN。© 2008 by Tsugumi Ohba, Takeshi Obata/SHUEISHA Inc.

VIZ MEDIA OFFERS 40% OFF

ON SELECT VOLUME 1 DIGITAL MANGA TITLES

EVERY MONDAY IN MAY ON VIZMANGA.COM

AND VIZ MANGA APP

FOR iPAD, iPHONE AND iPOD TOUCH

Latest Digital Update For The First-Half
Of May Also Features The Launch Of 

HIGH SCHOOL DEBUT, MISTRESS FORTUNE,

SEIHO BOYS HIGH SCHOOL And EXCEL SAGA

Manga publisher VIZ Media encourages fans across North America to visit VIZManga.com and the VIZ MANGA App for the Apple iPad, iPhone and iPod touch every Monday throughout the first-half of May to take advantage of a special 40% off discount on select Volume 1 digital titles (Reg. MSRP: $4.99, Sale Price: $2.99). Five different opening volumes from various manga series will be offered each week, from the hit debuts of BLEACH and BAKUMAN｡, to the non-stop action of DRAGON BALL Z and psychological tension of DEATH NOTE, to the romance of BLACK BIRD and DENGEKI DAISY.

Discount Manga Titles for May 7^th Include:

BAKUMAN｡ Vol. 1 · Rated ‘T’ for Teens

DEATH NOTE Vol. 1 · Rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens

DRAGON BALL Z Vol. 1 · Rated ‘A’ for All Ages

ROSARIO + VAMPIRE II Vol. 1 · Rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens

TORIKO Vol. 1 · Rated ‘T’ for Teens

Discount Manga Titles for May 14^th Include:

ABSOLUTE BOYFRIEND Vol. 1 · Rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens

ARATA: THE LEGEND Vol. 1 · Rated ‘T’ for Teens

BLACK BIRD Vol. 1 · Rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens

DENGEKI DAISY Vol. 1 · Rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens

HYDE & CLOSER Vol. 1 · Rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens

VIZ Media also delivers a substantial digital manga update during the first-half of May with the announcement of the launch of 4 new series. The new series include the romantic shojo fun of MISTRESS FORTUNE, HIGH SCHOOL DEBUT, and SEIHO BOYS HIGH SCHOOL, as well as the zany sci-fi comedy action of EXCEL SAGA.

The VIZ MANGA APP is available for free through the iTunes Store and all manga volumes are generally available for purchase and download in the U.S. and Canada within the application for $4.99 (U.S. / CAN) per volume. More than 55 series and 500+ volumes are currently available for download.

MISTRESS FORTUNE · by Arina Tanemura · Rated ‘T’ for Teens ·

Available May 7^th

Fourteen-year-old Kisaki Tachibana has psychic powers. She works for PSI, a secret government agency that fights aliens. She's in love with her partner Giniro, but PSI won't allow operatives to get involved. Just when Kisaki thinks she may be getting closer to Giniro, she finds out she's going to be transferred to California!

KOKO DEBUT © 2003 by Kazune Kawahara/SHUEISHA Inc.

HIGH SCHOOL DEBUT Vol. 1 · by Kazune Kawahara · Rated ‘T’ for Teens ·

Available May 14^th

Hapless Haruna needs help finding a boyfriend! After failing to win the eye of any guy in high school, Haruna enlists the help of cute upperclassman Yoh to coach her on how to make herself more appealing to the male species. Yoh agrees, with one catch: Haruna had better not fall for him!

SEIHO BOYS HIGH SCHOOL Vol. 1 · by Kaeneyoshi Izumi ·

Rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens · Available May 14^th

Remote, lonely and surrounded by the ocean – this isn't Alcatraz we're talking about – it's Seiho Boys' High School, where the student body is rife with sexually frustrated hunks! How can these young men get girlfriends when they're stuck in the middle of nowhere? These are the stories of the students of Seiho High and the trouble they get into as they awkwardly pursue all girls who cross their paths.

EXCEL SAGA Vol. 1 · by Rikdo Koshi ·  Rated ‘T’ for Teens ·

Available May 14^th

Question: What happens when you try to act like an anime character in real life? Answer: EXCEL SAGA. Two groups of neighbors in an apartment building lead secret lives. One thinks they're trying to take over the city of Fukuoka. The other thinks they're trying to defend it. Only their bosses, would-be conqueror Lord Il Palazzo and obsessed bureaucrat Dr. Kabapu, know the truth behind this increasingly dangerous private game. Too bad neither lets their underlings in on it!

VIZ Media’s multiple digital manga platforms allow for universal access to read manga from an iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, and now, on VIZManga.com for desktop/laptop PC-enabled computers as well as Android-powered devices with built-in web browsers. The free VIZ Manga App is the top application for reading manga and features a rapidly growing library of the most popular manga series in the world. For more information, please visit VIZManga.com or www.VIZ.com/apps.

ACF 1453: WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP ALPHA Trivia Sweepstakes from VIZ

NURARIHYON NO MAGO © 2008 by Hiroshi Shiibashi/SHUEISHA Inc.

VIZ MEDIA ANNOUNCES
SHONEN JUMP ALPHA
TRIVIA SWEEPSTAKES

Everyone Is Invited To Enter Contest For A Chance To Win
A Pair Of 4-Day Passes To 2012 San Diego Comic-Con

VIZ Media invites manga fans to test their knowledge of the nation’s leading digital manga magazine with a just-announced new online SHONEN JUMP ALPHA Trivia Sweepstakes Contest, running exclusively at http://www.sjalpha.com/sja-trivia-contest through May 23rd, 2012.  No WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP ALPHA membership is required to enter the contest.

Contestants simply have to correctly answer 3 trivia questions on WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP ALPHA to be entered into the sweepstakes drawing. The Grand Prize winner will receive two (2) 4-day show passes to the 2012 Comic-Con International, the nation’s largest comic book, science fiction and pop culture event. Comic-Con takes place July 12th-15th at the San Diego Convention Center, CA. (**Note: Prize package includes show passes only; winner is responsible for hotel, transportation, and other ancillary costs). The Second Place winner will receive an annual Membership to WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP ALPHA, North America’s premier digital manga magazine.

Winners will be selected by random from all valid entries on May 24th and notified by email following the drawing.

Each new digital edition of WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP ALPHA treats manga fans across North America to the latest chapters of some of the world’s most popular manga series only two weeks after they debut in Japan’s massively popular WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP magazine. Don’t miss the latest installments of hot series such as BAKUMAN｡, BLEACH, NURA: RISE OF THE YOKAI CLAN, NARUTO, ONE PIECE and TORIKO as well as access to special editorial features and an extensive online fan-supported community.

WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP ALPHA is available through an annual membership that provides 52 weeks of digital access to 48 weekly issues for just $25.99. Single issues of WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP ALPHA can be read for four weeks for only $0.99. Each issue may be read on VIZManga.com/sj-weekly, and also on the VIZ Manga App for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch. WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP ALPHA members also receive an annual collector’s yearbook and access to exclusive content, including creator interviews and exclusive videos.

For more information on WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP ALPHA and exclusive subscriber offers, please visit SJAlpha.com. 

ACF 1452: Director's talk with filmmaker Christine Yoo at TKS

Director's Talk with Filmmaker Christine Yoo

Director of Wedding Palace

When: Thursday, May 10, 2012 at 6:30 PM

Where: The Korea Society

950 Third Avenue, 8th Floor, NYC

(Entrance on south-west corner of Third Avenue and 57th Street)

For more information and to buy tickets, click here 

First-time director Christine Yoo shares her remarkable experience making Wedding Palace, a loving portrayal of a tight-knit Korean family. Christine began writing the script in 1999 and, when major studios passed on it, she decided to make the film on her own. Actor Stephen Park (Fargo, In Living Color, and Wedding Palace) will join Christine to discuss how she successfully financed, directed, and distributed a film shot on location in both Los Angeles and Seoul. The evening’s program includes the premiere of a behind-the-scenes documentary on the making of the film which was called “just as crazy as the film itself.” 

About Wedding Palace:
To be released in summer 2012, Wedding Palace will be the first Korean-American themed film to be launched into the American mainstream. It is also the first US-Korea independently co-produced film. Billed as the “Korean-American My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” the movie is a romantic comedy that centers on an international online romance fueled by the imagination. The film won the top prizes at the Cine Gear Film Series Competition sponsored by Paramount, and Best Asian-American Feature Film at the Chinese-American Film Festival. The film stars Brian Tee (Co-lead of The Fast & Furious 3: Tokyo Drift), award winning South Korean actress Kang Hye-jung (Old Boy), comedians Bobby Lee (Madtv), Margaret Cho, and Stephen Park (Fargo, In Living Color).

Filmmaker Christine Yoo:
Christine Yoo earned a BA in Film Production from the University of Southern California's School of Cinema-Television and is a graduate of Phillips Academy Andover. She makes her feature film debut with the award winning Wedding Palace. Prior to Wedding Palace, Yoo worked as a professional film and TV writer in Hollywood for nearly a decade. She co-wrote the animated series, Afro Samurai, starring Samuel L. Jackson, for Spike TV and Fuji TV. She also co-wrote Hannibal for Vin Diesel and BET network. Her original screenplay, a romantic comedy called For Steppers Only, was optioned and developed by Lionsgate.

Moderator Stephen Park:

Stephen Park's first role in movies was in Spike Lee's Do The Right Thing, which led to his second film role in Quick Change starring Bill Murray. Then he won the part as a regular cast member of the ground-breaking hit comedy series, In Living Color. He has since appeared in numerous TV shows, such as Mad About You, Friends, Law & Order, and White Collar. His work in film includes Falling Down, Sgt. Bilko, Desperate Measures, Rocket Science, Fargo, State Of Play, A Serious Man, and Morning Glory. He recently completed work on the independent films Putzel and The Brass Teapot, and is anxiously awaiting the release of one of the most fun films he's ever worked on, Wedding Palace. He is about to travel to Prague to start work on Snow Piercer, a futuristic thriller directed by Bong Joon-ho and starring Tilda Swinton, Chris Evans, John Hurt, and Song Kang-ho.

ACF 1451: Free screening of FISH STORY this Saturday at Japan Society

Fish Story

Directed by Yoshihiro Nakamura

With Atsushi Ito, Kengo Takara, Mikako Tabe and Nao Omori

Japan, 2009, 112 minutes

When: Saturday, May 5, 2012 at 6:30 PM

Where: Japan Society 333 East 47th Street, NYC

Between 1st and 2nd Avenues

In Japanese with English subtitles

Co-presented with Subway Cinema

It’s 2012, and a colossal meteor is set to smash into earth within hours, causing tidal waves that will destroy humanity. People have fled Tokyo except for two music geeks in a record shop, who are listening to a song by an underground Japanese punk band from 1975. What follows is the outrageous story of the song’s origin and how it caused a chain of events that will eventually save the world. Fish Story had its North American premiere at Japan Society’s 2009 JAPAN CUTS—The New York Festival of Contemporary Japanese Cinema, co-presented with the New York Asian Film Festival.

Admission is free, but RSVP is suggested.
Please RSVP by Wednesday, May 2, noon, at rsvp-openhouse@japansociety.org.

Part of the Open House Weekend, May 5-6, 2012.