The first trailer presented here is the new one, the first real trailer, and it is impressive as hell. The second one is the original teaser-trailer set, actually 5 little mini-teasers from the upcoming Ghost In The Shell live action film that has Scarlett Johansson playing the cyborg policewoman Major Motoko Kusanagi. Likes for me include the fact that they are playing the cyborg nudity as it was originally intended, necessary for the optical camouflage made possible by the nano-camera in each skin cell sending its captured image to a predetermined cell on the opposite side of the body to re-radiate. The only dislike I have encountered so far is when you hear Scarlett say This is Major like that was her name, rather than This is THE Major, or even better replicate the original story by having her say This is Kusanagi. But the new trailer looks amazing, and when it is released if I get to the end of the film with that being my only objection, I will count myself lucky indeed. Is it 2017 yet?
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This weekend we finally get to hit the theater for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the next generation story of the Harry Potter series, and yes, that does mean its by J. K. Rowling. If you need more information than that, you are obviously just visiting this planet, and didn’t do your research before you arrived. We also get Officer Downe this weekend based on the graphic novel of the same name, unless the production company comes to its senses and opts for a different release date.
In Movies the animated Finding Dory from Disney and Pixar is the only film that had a widespread theatrical release. Ron Howard’s The Beatles: Eight Days A Week – The Touring Years was in theaters, but being a documentary it didn’t get the number of screens needed to take it beyond Limited Release. It did get enough that most people who wanted to see it could do so, although some folks had a bit of a drive, and is part of Hulu’s Because The Beatles collection. How Sarah Got Her Wings missed the big screen as it was a TV Holiday Special from Ion the other year.
Anime brings us Charlotte 2, the last 6 episodes of this 13 episode series about those with special powers. Priced at right around $13 per episode, I will be watching it on Crunchyroll for the foreseeable future. Ultimate Otaku Teacher Part 1 is about a smart guy who is only interested in his blog and hobbies of anime and manga. His sisters gets fed up and signs him up for a job as a teacher, which he turns out to be surprisingly good at. Yes, it isn’t genre, I am including it for its Otaku aspects. Chaos Dragon tells of a small country caught between two larger countries war. Its Dragon deity is insane, but the only hope they have is for the surviving member of the ruling family to form a bond with the Dragon, and channel his power to get the country back its freedom. Castle Town Dandelion – Complete Series has nine super powered siblings campaigning to take over their dads job and become the new king. File it under silly fun.
A great little J-Rock band out of Tokyo, Chu’s Day has released more music since I posted last time, so here are a few more tracks. The first is Hip Hip Hooray which went online in August, the second is HOT GIRL from July, and the third is Glory Days
For a short time, from November 18th to December 17th, Daisuki will be Streaming Mobile Suit Gundam the Origin for free, in honor of the release of the 4th part of this series in Japan. Thanks to Otaku USA for the heads up on that one.
Streaming online Sci-fi, a bunch of it free, is what Watch Sci-Fi Dot Com is all about. They are the folks who put together the SCI-FI-LONDON Film Festival each year, and the collection of amazing short films produced specifically for that event makes up a portion of the free-to-watch content. I certainly don’t mind paying them for the few non-free presentations I watch, since most of the ones I select can not be viewed from North America any other way. Check them out, and let me know what you think.