ACF 1271: NEW PEOPLE presenting three special film screenings

Japanese Pop Culture VenueWelcomes The Holiday Season And

Presents Eatrip, DOCUMENTARY Of AKB48 to becontinued, And

GANTZ II: Perfect AnswerAt The Bay Area’s Hottest Movie Theatre

NEW PEOPLE, the nation’s only entertainmentcomplex dedicated to Japanese popular culture, has announced a trio of Japaneselive-action films to screen on Saturday, December 17th at thevenue’s SF Film Society | NEW PEOPLE Cinema. The screenings willinclude the culinary documentary Eatrip,which plays at 1:00pm, the newly released music biopic, DOCUMENTARY of AKB48 to be continued, which plays at 3:00pm and againat 8:30pm, and finally the action-packed conclusion of the celebrated GANTZsci-fi saga with a showing of GANTZ II:Perfect Answer at 5:00pm. Tickets are $10.00 each per film. Information andadvance tickets are available at: www.newpeopleworld.com.

Filmgoersthat bring their movie ticket to NEWPEOPLE, The Store, located in the building’s lobby, before or after eachshow will receive $10.00 off any NEW PEOPLE Entertainment DVD or Blu-ray releasethat day.

Eatrip                Screensat 1:00pm

The film takes audiences on an intriguingjourney throughout Japan and features interviews with interesting personalitiesfrom a variety of walks of life to look at how life can be led richly throughthe daily ritual of eating. To eat is more than a necessity – it’s a universal experience all humanbeings share. In the film, Yuri Nomuraembarks on an insightful journey throughout Japan to examine the daily ritualsof eating among people from different walks of life. Actor Tadanobu Asano, singer UA, and fashion designerJurgen Lehl are among those featured. From the Tsukiji fish market to a farm inOkinawa, Eatrip offers poignantinterviews with intriguing personalities including the head monk of a famousBuddhist temple; a distributor of Japanese soup stock (Bonito broth); anOkinawan woman leading a self-sustainable lifestyle devoid of modernconveniences; a tea ceremony master, and a musician and writer who recitespoems about food. Eatrip is availablenow on DVD from NEW PEOPLE Entertainment.

DOCUMENTARYof AKB48 to be continued               Screens at 3:00pm & 8:30pm

Thenew music biopic follows the unstoppable all-femaleJapanese pop idol group, AKB48, on their incredible rise to fame.  AKB48 was conceived in 2005 by YasushiAkimoto, one of Japan’s most respected music producers. Beginning as a smallall-girl singing group based in the Akihabara district of Tokyo – the city’sbustling electronics and anime/pop culture shopping Mecca – AKB48 has grown to60 members and topped Japan’s Oricon music charts with the two best-selling popsingles in 2010 as well as another two singles ranking in the Top 10. The filmwas just released by NEW PEOPLE Entertainment on DVD on December 1st.

GANTZ II:Perfect Answer               Screens at5:00pm

The GANTZsaga meets its ultimate conclusion in GANTZ II:Perfect Answer, which offers an intensely gripping story-line yetto be known to even readers of the original manga series. Determined toresurrect his friends who have died on previous missions, Kei and other memberstrapped in the world of GANTZ aim to score the 100 points needed to breakthrough and regain their freedom. Butwith the emergence of a mysterious man investigating the Gantz members, Gantzbegins to act up and the next target shocks the members. Some fight for love,some for justice but what will each member have to sacrifice? GANTZ is based on a popular manga seriescreated by Hiroya Oku and star leadingJapanese actors Kazunari Ninomiya (Letters fromIwo Jima) and Kenichi Matsuyama (DeathNote, Detroit Metal City). GANTZ II:Perfect Answer will be released by NEW PEOPLE Entertainment on DVD andBlu-ray on January 17th, 2012.

The SF Film Society | NEW PEOPLE Cinema is a 143-seat subterranean theatre located at 1746 Post Street in San Francisco’s Japantown and features plushseating, digital as well as 35mm projection, and a THX-certifiedsound system.

ACF 1270: VIZ manga updates and digital download news for December

ONE PIECE © 1997 by Eiichiro Oda/SHUEISHA Inc.

  Viz Media Kicks Off December With

Digital Manga Speed Up for ONE PIECE

Latest Update For VIZManga.com And

The VIZ Manga App For iPad, iPhone And

iPod Touch Includes Limited Time Volume1

20% Off Promotion Starting December 7th

VIZ Media delivers a festive dose of digital sparkle as the 2011 HolidaySeason begins with the latest update of manga (graphic novels) titles availableon VIZManga.comand for digital download on the VIZ MANGA App for the Apple iPad, iPhoneand iPod touch.

The SHONEN JUMP DIGITAL WARP starts todayfor ONE PIECE, with the release of Vol. 59, available the same day the printversion debuts, along with the digital first of ONE PIECE Vol. 60. This will bequickly followed by the digital first debut of ONE PIECE Vols. 61-62 onDecember 12th. The SHONEN JUMP DIGITAL WARP is a ‘speed-up’ of selected titles to bring U.S. readersup-to-date with Japanese releases and prepare for the January 2012 launch ofVIZ Media’s WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP ALPHA, North America’s only near-simultaneousdigital manga magazine.

The SHONEN JUMP DIGITALWARP also continues for Masashi Kishimoto’s hit ninja series NARUTO, with Volume 56 now available,and for Tite Kubo’s supernatural action saga, BLEACH, with Volume 52 debuting onDecember 12th. NARUTO Vols. 54-55 and BLEACH Vols. 49-51, are also available now, ahead of the printeditions.

December 7th willalso see the kick-off of a special limited time promotion that makes all Volume1 manga titles available for up to 20% off (regular prices range from $4.99 to $9.99).This offer will run until midnight PST on December 12th. 

Other notable December digital manga highlights include the release onDecember 12th of fifth and final volume of Kaori Yuki’s GRANDGUIGNOL ORCHESTRA, as well as Vol. 4 of Shunju Aono‘sI’LL GIVE IT MY ALL TOMORROW. Both editions hit one day ahead of their printcounterparts’ release.

Eiichiro Oda’s high seas pirateadventure, ONE PIECE (rated ‘T’ for Teens), is one of the best selling mangaseries of all time. As a child, Monkey D. Luffy dreamed of becoming King of thePirates. But his life changed when he accidentally gained the power to stretchlike rubber…at the cost of never being able to swim again! Years, later, Luffysets off in search of the "One Piece," said to be the greatesttreasure in the world...

ONE PIECE Vol. 59

After risking everything he had tosave his brother, Luffy faces his biggest tragedy. Whitebeard will make onelast stand against the Navy forces, but when the epic pirate war finally comesto an end, the entire world will be shaken!

ONE PIECE Vol. 60

With the epic Paramount War nowover, the scene shifts back to when a young Luffy first met Ace. Luffy, Ace andtheir friend Sabo get into all types of trouble as they grow up in a tumultuoustime.

ONE PIECE Vol. 61

Determined tobecome stronger and challenge the toughest seas in the world, Luffy and hiscrew decide to go into training. When they finally reunite years later, theywill meet brand new enemies and adventures!

ONE PIECE Vol. 62

Luffy and theStraw Hat crew board their trusted ship and head under the sea towards Fish-manisland. However, getting in their way will be fierce pirates, underwatervolcanoes, and a humongous sea creature!

Additionalmanga volumes launching the first part of December include:

AvailableNow:

BLEACHVols. 36-37

DENGEKIDAISY Vol. 7

NARUTOVol. 56 – Digital first!

NEONGENESIS EVANGELION Chapter 18

NURA:RISE OF THE YOKAI CLAN Vol. 6

OISHINBOVol. 5

ONEPIECE Vols. 59-60 – Digital first forVol. 60!

OURANHIGH SCHOOL HOST CLUB Vol. 13

TORIKOVol. 7

December12^th:

BAKUMANVol. 8

BLEACHVol. 52 – Digital first!

BLUEEXORCIST Vol. 5

FUSHIGIYUGI: GENBU KAIDEN Vol. 9

GRANDGUIGNOL ORCHESTRA Vol. 5 – Final volume!

I’LLGIVE IT MY ALL TOMORROW Vol. 4

KEKKAISHIVol. 19

NEONGENESIS EVANGELION Chapter 19

ONEPIECE Vols. 61 & 62 – Digital first!

RUROUNIKENSHIN Vol. 28 – Final volume!

VIZ Media’s multiple digital manga platforms allow for universal access toread manga from an iPhone, iPodtouch, iPad, and now, on VIZManga.com fordesktop/laptop computers as well as Android-powered devices with built-in webbrowsers. Withone account, registered users may access their purchases across even moredevices than ever.

The free VIZManga App continues to be the top app for reading manga and features a rapidlygrowing library of the most popular manga series in the world. Over 45 series and 500+ volumes are currently available, with new additions and free Chapter 1 previews added weekly.

For more information, visit VIZManga.com or www.VIZ.com/apps. 

ACF 1269: Free screening of LEE Chang-dong's POETRY

Korean Cultural Service

presents

Korean Movie Night

Poetry/ Shi

South Korea, 2010, 139 minutes

When: Tuesday, December 20, 2011 @ 7:00 PM

Doors open: 6:30 PM

Where: Tribeca Cinemas

54 Varick Street, on the corner of Canal Street, NYC

Near the A, C, E @ #1 Canal Street subway stops

Admission: FREE!!!

All seating is first-come, first served.

Winner - “Best Screenplay” - Cannes Film Festival

Winner - “Best Screenplay” - Asian Film Awards

“…quietly devastating…” - The New York Times

“…daring…haunting…a character study of remarkable subtlety…” - The Los Angeles Times

Lee Chang-dong (Secret Sunshine, Oasis, Peppermint Candy) delivers yet another big screen triumph with Poetry, a movie which also marks the return to the silver screen of acting legend, Yoon Jeong-Hee, who has been retired since 1994. In Lee’s film, she plays a 67 year-old grandmother, taking care of her loutish grandson and barely scraping by with a series of odd jobs.

As the movie begins, she has been given a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease and so she enrolls in a poetry class in an effort to sharpen her mental faculties and delay the advance of her dementia. Simultaneously, a young girl who lives in her neighborhood commits suicide and slowly, in Lee’s expert hands, the strands of this narrative — a brute of a grandson, a tired old woman, poetry, suicide, senility — all come together to deliver yet another of Lee’s enormous, epic, subtle, sprawling portraits of the wo rld.

It’s a movie that should be compared to a novel for all of its elegance and depth, but that is also, truly, cinema: a story that could not be told any other way but in enormous, illuminated images.

For my review of Poetry, which ran on September 26, 2010, click here. The film, which was then screening at the New York Film Festival, earned the highest possible ACF Rating of 4 out of 4 stars. I've watched it again since then, and that rating holds now and will no doubt hold in the future.

ACF 1268: RA.ONE now available on Bollywood Hits On Demand

Bollywood'sBiggest Fall Blockbuster Exclusively Available

On BOLLYWOOD HITSON DEMAND Before Its DVD Release

Bollywood’s blockbuster hit Ra.One, starring international sensations Shah RukhKhan (in dual roles) and Kareena Kapoor, is now available exclusively onBollywood Hits On Demand, prior to its DVD release later this month, less than sixweeks after it’s theatrical release.

Bollywood Hits on Demand, the subscription video on demand servicefeaturing Bollywood blockbuster movies and music, is available to Comcast,Cablevision, Cox, Time Warner, CenturyLink and RCN cable customers in selectareas in the U.S. market.  The movie will remain available on Bollywood Hits On Demand until January 5,2012.  For Comcast and Cox customers, Ra.One will also be available toorder on an a la carte basis for $4.99. 

“Ra.One had a record opening in the U.S., beating those of recentreleases, and we’re thrilled to be able to offer this super blockbuster hit tocable platforms prior to its DVD release. We remain committed to offering thebest of Bollywood movies and music to our on demand customers,” said Ken Naz, President of ErosInternational, USA. 

Ra. One was released theatrically on October 26, 2011,with astounding box officeresults, making it one of the most successful Diwali openings in Indian cinemaby grossing more than $35 million worldwide. This Bollywood blockbusteris a sci-fi,action film filled with stunning visual effects directed by Anubhav Sinha and starring Shah Rukh Khan, Arjun Rampal andKareena Kapoor.  The film also features awidely acclaimed soundtrack produced by Vishal & Shekhar, featuring Grammyaward nominee Akon in the hit Bollywood song “Chamak Chalo.”

ACF 1267: Debut screening of award-winning vampire short Bloodtraffick in Hong Kong this weekend

International Award-Winning Vampire Short Bloodtraffick announces its

Debut Asian Screening at Music & Arts Festival Clockenflap 2011

Hong Kong action short starring The Man with the Iron Fists’ Grace Huang

Basking in its recent wins for Best Short, Best Editing and Best Cinematography at the 2011 Salty Horror International Film Festival, Bloodtraffick continues to rule the film festival circuit. After garnering multiple awards abroad, the highly anticipated short Bloodtraffick will be screened on Asian soil for the first time at Hong Kong’s Music & Arts Festival Clockenflap 2011. The festival is taking place December 10h and 11th in West Kowloon from 12 PM to 10 Pm.

Shot in Hong Kong and starring rising Asia artiste Grace Huang – who won Best Actress for Bloodtraffick at the HollyShorts 2011 Film Festival in August – and directed by award-nominated American director Jennifer Thym, the short is currently being produced into a full length feature film with the same title.

Set in a war torn world with vampires pitted against angels, a human vigilante (Ava, played by Grace Huang) – on the hunt for her missing sisters – is lured into the den of a vampire where she faces both a formidable opponent and her darkest fears.

“Bloodtraffick is a kick-ass short that flawlessly combines an intense storyline of good versus evil with brutal action, breath-taking cinematography and an epic original soundtrack. Bloodtraffick gives audiences a unique taste of the dark, gritty side of Hong Kong cinema,” said Grace Huang, Bloodtraffick's lead actress. Director Jennifer Thym goes on to say, “This film represents the Hong Kong film industry’s untapped potential and further enhances the city’s reputation as a hotbed for original movie ideas and talent. We felt that Clockenflap was a perfect venue to offer the diverse grassroots creative community in Hong Kong a taste of the work that is being produced right here and is currently receiving International accolades.”
  

Bloodtraffick premiered at the world renowned Gen Con Indy 2011, followed by screenings at the HollyShorts 2011 Film Festival, the 12th San Diego Asian Film Festival and The 2011 Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival. Clockenflap 2011 marks its debut screening on the same soil it was shot on.

For more information on Bloodtraffick, visit bloodtraffick.com.

Dualities: Martha Bone and Bart Gulley at Architecture for Art

Painting by Bart Gulley from Black and Blue series

On a recent visit to Architecture for Art in Hillsdale, Bart Gulley and I discussed dualities as I perused his two-person show with Martha Bone in the two-floor exhibition space. It was our first meeting and my first time at AforA, so there was a lot to take in and digest. AforA director Liane Torre was also on hand, explaining the unlikely genesis a year ago of this brick-and-mortar setting from a longer-term, ongoing web-based project of the same name.

Gulley's work first caught my eye in the 2011 Exhibition by Artists of the Mohawk Hudson Region at the Albany Institute of History & Art (see review here); he makes Modernist paintings and collages with great purity, having evolved from a more Expressionist style in what appears to be a reductive maturation process. The work is crisp, clear, and somewhat dry at times, but seethes with a passion beneath the expertly rendered surfaces.

Bone's installation is, according to Torre, her first exhibition of any kind, and it is an engaging and impressive debut that effectively occupies the space it was designed for. Her explorations include a wide variety of materials - plastic cable ties, rubber hose, fabric, hand-built pottery forms, and ink on paper - yet come across in a surprisingly coherent manner (an example is shown at the bottom of this post). I look forward to seeing more from her in the future.

Paper collage by Bart Gulley

So, what of the dualities? Gulley mentioned his own distinction (or lack thereof?) between a landscape-oriented approach and a tabletop arrangement. I noted that his work sometimes hovers in a grey area between image and object. Then there's the issue of graphic design (Gulley's longtime profession) vs. fine art, as well as the given duality of the mission of AforA itself. This, too, suits the topic of Gulley's painting, as it is both architectural and abstract.

As is often the case with artists immersed in various media, collage is a touchstone for Gulley. While the upstairs space holds mostly paintings (and the Bone installation), the much smaller and warmly cluttered downstairs space (think museum shop) has a powerful series of five large collages in it that are every bit as accomplished as the bigger paintings. Based on our discussion, I would venture to say that Gulley values the collages more than the paintings - with good reason, as they have the advantage of being more personal and direct in their physical presence.

Altogether, each feeds off the other. The paintings could not exist without the collages (which often act as sketches for them), but the collages gain credibility from the fact that their maker is also a highly skilled painter. Yet another duality; perhaps we'll get to discuss it the next time we meet.

Rating: Highly Recommended

Note: Martha Bone and Bart Gulley remains on view at Architecture for Art through Dec. 18; the gallery is open Saturday and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. and is located in the heart of Hillsdale on Route 23. If you go, plan to enjoy the drive, as it is particularly lovely country around there.

Wall installation of ceramic, fabric and rubber by Martha Bone

ACF 1266: Retrospective of 15 animation films from Studio Ghibli coming to IFC Center NY

Kiki's Delivery Service

Studio Ghibli RetrospeciveAll 15 Films from 1984 to 2009

Where: IFC Center, 323 6th Ave, NYC

When: December 16, 2011 - January 12, 2012Multiple Shows Per Day

GKIDS brings a complete retrospective of films from Japan's famed Studio Ghibli animation studio to the IFC Center this winter. Don't miss your chance to see some of the greatest films of all time on new 35mm prints, including the Academy Award-winning Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Castle in the Sky, Princess Mononoke, Kiki's Delivery Service, and North American Premieres of Only Yesterday and The Ocean Waves.

Films will be presented in both subtitled and English language versions (where available), with subtitled versions playing 6:00 pm and later.

Complete information including lineup, film descriptions and showtimes here.

ACF 1265: Digital book anthology ART FOR HOPE available for limited time

 Innovative Art Book Created InPartnership With
Autodesk To Benefit Japanese Disaster Recovery

VIZ Media is offering ART FOR HOPE, a limitededition digital art book anthology created in partnership with Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) tobenefit Architecture for Humanity. The anthology will be available only through May 31, 2012 for $4.99 through VIZManga.com and the VIZ Manga Appfor iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. 100% ofVIZ Media’s net proceeds will support Architecture for Humanity’s ongoingdisaster reconstruction efforts in Japan. To learn more about these rebuildingprojects, please visit: www.ArchitectureForHumanity.org.

Untitled © 2011 Jorge Monlongo

Each of the 40 artists participatingin the ARTFOR HOPE anthology used Autodesk SketchBook digital paint and drawing softwareapplications in some way to create original pieces for theanthology. The artists, both professional and amateur, hail from around theworld and from diverse fields, and range in style from the realistic to thefantastic, each illustrating the theme of “Hope.” Notable contributors includeEisner Award and Harvey Award winner Rob Guillory, Harvey Award winner LarkPien, muralist Sirron Norris, and MAMESHIBA artists Jorge Monlongo and Gemma Correll.

Kibou © 2011 Sirron Norris

VIZ Mediaand Autodesk are very proud of and grateful to the following artists for theircontributions to the ART FOR HOPE digital art anthology:

Janet Alvarado                                 Don’t Lose Hope

Asuka 111(Patipat Asavasena)         Hope

Azure                                              Untitled

Greg Baldwin ofCreatureBox            Sheltered

Alan Bay                                         A Little Piece of Hope

Drew Blom                                     Calvin Hedge and the Iron Golem

Steve Boura                                    Bright Future

Carsten Bradley                               A Wish for You

Matthew Britton                                Regrowth

Veronica Casson                              The Guest Room

Geikou Chen                                    Rainbow Bridge to Tomorrow

Gemma Correll                                Pierre, le Chat Français

Kalii Delarosa                                  The Rainbow in the Rain

Conrado HernanVilla Gil                   Untitled

Dave Guertin                                   First Flight

Rob Guillory                                     Hope

Rodolpho Langhi                               A New Sunrise

C. Lijewski                                       Light Side of Dark

Chris Lui                                          Birds of a Feather

Holly Mongi                                      Good Morning, Friend

Jorge Monlongo                                The Sprout and the Bean

Brian Muelhaupt                               Ojizo-sama

Shaun Mullen                                   Kodama (Tree Spirits)

Susan Murtaugh                               Enduring Beauty

Ray N.                                             Deliverance

Joe Ng                                             Rise Above the Storm

Sirron Norris                                    Kibou

Jacques Pena                                   Love

Luis Peso                                         Gathering Hope

Lark Pien                                         Wishes, Dreams

Kyle Runciman                                 Ready to Roll

Francesco Salvati                             DEAR HOPE

Janet Shaw                                      The Hope of Japan

Brad Silverman                                Dancing Dragon

Joseph Strachan                               Flight of the Phoenix

James Turner                                   Never Give Up

Colie Wertz                                      Sea Turtle

Pinar Yalcin                                      Beam of Light

John Yandall                                     One Little Sign

Jim Zub                                           Seed Starter

Moreinformation on the ART FOR HOPE project is available at www.VIZ.com/artforhope.

More information on VIZ Media digital initiatives, is available at VIZManga.comor www.VIZ.com/apps/.

ACF 1264: THE DAY HE ARRIVES @ The Museum of the Moving Images

The Day He Arrives / Book chon bang hyang

Directed by HONG Sang-soo

South Korea, 2011, 79 minutes

Where: The Museum of the Moving Image
35th Avenue at 37th Street, Astoria, NYC
From midtown, taxi or N/Q Trainoutbound to 36th Avenue

When: Sunday, December 11 @ 4:00PM

Admission: $10 at The Museum of the Moving Image (www.movingimage.us)
and includes museum admissionfor exhibition viewing before 7:00 PM that day.
 

The Korea Society and Museum of the Moving Image present The Day HeArrives, part of their Korean Cinema Now series. In The Day HeArrives, director Hong Sang-soo tells the tale of former filmmakerSungjoon, who journeys to Seoul to meet a friend in Bukchon. After waiting, hewanders and crosses paths with an old friend. In Insadong to drink, he meetsfilm students who recognize him and ask him to join in their fun. He spends thenight at an ex-girlfriend’s, then wanders about Bukchon the following day,crossing paths with the same old friend. 

The Day He Arrives is filledwith nostalgic moments and coincidental run-ins; Hong explores human relationsin all their layered complexities. 

More information is available at www.koreasociety.org. 

ACF 1263: Sentai Filmworks acquires rights for GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES

SENTAI FILMWORKS LICENSES

GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES

Sentai Filmworks, with understandable pride, has announced the acquisition of distribution rights for the critically acclaimed animation masterpiece GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES.  The movie is based on the semi-autobiographical retellings of survivor Nosaka Akiyuki and directed by Iaso Takahata (co-founder, with Hayao Miyazaki, of Japan’s legendary Studio Ghibli, the studio that performed the animation duties for the film).

I saw the film years ago on an English language promotional preview DVD from Central Park Media, which has been out of business for a couple of years now. It's a fantastic film, but my opinion is that it's definitely suitable only for children that are at least 10 to 12 years old. The subject matter -- siblings struggling to survive in the horror that was Japan as World War II ended -- is way too serious and disturbing for those younger than that.

Here's what Sentai has to say about their upcoming release:

GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES has been universally hailed as both an artistic and emotional tour de force, with famed critic Roger Ebert calling the feature “An emotional experience so powerful that it forces a rethinking of animation” and stating that “it belongs on any list of the greatest war films ever made.”  Sentai Filmworks is extraordinarily honored to have been given the privilege of handling the digitally restored version of one of the art of animation’s true crowning achievements.

Digital distribution of GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES will begin through many outlets this winter, and a DVD of the digitally restored master will be in stores next year.

Synopsis: As the Empire of the Sun crumbles upon itself and a rain of firebombs falls upon Japan, the final death march of a nation is echoed in millions of smaller tragedies.  This is the story of Seita and his younger sister Setsuko, two children born at the wrong time, in the wrong place, and now cast adrift in a world that lacks not the care to shelter them, but simply the resources.  Forced to fend for themselves in the aftermath of fires that swept entire cities from the face of the earth, their doomed struggle is both a tribute to the human spirit and the stuff of nightmares.  Beautiful, yet at times brutal and horrifying, it is a film that perhaps only the animated medium could render without completely overloading human senses, transforming the fog of war and the screams of the dying into what Ebert calls “visual poetry.”

ACF 1262: VIZ reveals cover and details of new WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP ALPHA digital anthology

BAKUMAN。© 2008 by Tsugumi Ohba, Takeshi Obata/SHUEISHA Inc.
BLEACH © 2001 by Tite Kubo/SHUEISHA Inc.
NARUTO © 1999 by Masashi Kishimoto/SHUEISHA Inc.
NURARIHYON NO MAGO © 2008 by Hiroshi Shiibashi/SHUEISHA Inc.
ONE PIECE © 1997 by Eiichiro Oda/SHUEISHA Inc.
TORIKO © 2008 by Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro/SHUEISHA Inc.

VIZ MEDIA UNVEILS THE COVER FOR FIRST
DIGITAL ISSUE OF WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP ALPHA

New Weekly Manga Anthology
Launches In January 2012
And Offers Unprecedented
Near SimultaneousU.S./Japanese Release
Of Some Of The World’s Most Popular Manga Titles

VIZ Media gives fans and readers a taste of what’s to come from the newWEEKLY SHONEN JUMP ALPHA (WEEKLY SJ ALPHA), a serial digital manga anthology launchingon January 30th, 2012 that will feature some of the most popularmanga series in the world and offer near simultaneous release of these titlesin the U.S. and Japan. The company has revealed the cover for the first issue,which will be available initially through VIZManga.com and the VIZ Manga appsfor iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.

The first cover for the new brand features the main characters from allsix series featured in WEEKLY SJ ALPHA, including Naruto from NARUTO, Ichigofrom BLEACH, Luffy of ONE PIECE, Rikuoof NURA: RISE OF THE YOKAI CLAN, Moritaka Mashiro and Akito Takagi of BAKUMAN｡, and gourmet hunter Toriko of TORIKO.

Each new digital issue of WEEKLY SJ ALPHA will bring manga fans in NorthAmerica the latest chapters of their favorite series only two weeks after theydebut in Japan’s massively popular WEEKLYSHONEN JUMP magazine. WEEKLY SJ ALPHA will be made available through anannual membership that provides 52 weeks of access to 48 weekly issues for just$25.99. Single issues of WEEKLY SJ ALPHA can be read for a four weeks for only$0.99. Each issue, once received on one device, can be read on all otherenabled devices through the easy-to-use integrated VIZ Manga platform whichincludes the VIZ Manga Apps for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch as well asVIZManga.com.

To prepare fans for thedebut of WEEKLY SJ ALPHA, VIZ Media is also offering the SHONEN JUMP DIGITAL WARP,a limited collection of digital graphic novel speed-ups that will bring NorthAmerican readers up-to-date with Japanese releases, in some cases jumping aheadof the print releases in North America. The SHONEN JUMP DIGITAL WARP hasalready begun on VIZManga.com and the VIZ Manga Apps with NARUTO Volume 53-55(Vol. 53 print edition debuting December) and BLEACH Volumes 49-51 availablenow (print editions forthcoming).

For more information onWEEKLY SJ ALPHA and exclusive subscriber offers, please visit ShonenJump.viz.com or VIZManga.com. 

ACF 1261: Animated thriller LOUPS=GAROUS now on sale

Section23 Films has announcedthe release of the animated thriller LOUPS=GAROUS: The Motion Picture, on both DVD and Blu-Ray.

Title:                 LOUPS=GAROUS

Running Time:   98 min.

Age Rating:       TV 14 (V)

Language:         English & Japanese with English Subtitles

Published by:    Sentai Filmworks

Distributed by:  Section23 Films

Street Date:      11/29/2011

Format:             DVD

SRP:                $29.98

             Title:                LOUPS=GAROUS BLU-RAY EDITION

             Running Time:  98 min.

             Age Rating:      TV 14 (V)

             Language:        English & Japanese with English Subtitles

             Published by:   Sentai Filmworks

             Distributed by: Section23 Films

             Street Date:     11/29/2011

             Format:            BD

             SRP:               $39.98

SYNOPSIS: After a virus claims millions, most live in the safety of a closed-off world, relegating themselves to an on-line existence. But when a young girl decides to brave life outside the virtual world, she finds a group of friends—and a killer. Someone is hunting and violently murdering children. Who? And why? And is she the next target? Get plugged in to this year's most riveting animated thriller, the cyber-shocker Loups=Garous!

ACF 1260: VIZ to release D.GRAY-MAN ILLUSTRATIONS: NOCHE on December 6th

© 2010 by Katsura Hoshino/SHUEISHA Inc.

VIZ MEDIA ANNOUNCES THE RELEASE OF

D.GRAY-MANILLUSTRATIONS: NOCHE

NewFull-Color Art Book Features

The Memorable Work Of Series Creator KatsuraHoshino

And Includes A Double-Sided Poster, 
ArtistInterviews And More!

VIZ Media will release D.GRAY-MAN ILLUSTRATIONS: NOCHE on December6th. The new art book arrives just in time for the holidays and willcarry an MSRP of $21.99 U.S. / $25.99 CAN.

Enter the lavish fictional 19th century world of D.GRAY-MANin this new collection featuring nearly 100 pages of full-color character art,magazine covers, and other original compositions by series creator KatsuraHoshino. Also featured are insightful Q&A’s between Hoshino and two manga creators that inspire her:Takeshi Obata, the artist behind HIKARU NO GO, BAKUMAN｡, and the smash hit DEATH NOTE (all publishedin North America by VIZ Media); and Osamu Akimoto, whose mangaseries, Kochira Katsushika-ku KameariKōen Mae Hashutsujo, has been serialized in the best-selling boy'smanga magazine in the world, Weekly ShonenJump, for 35 years and remains the magazine’s longest-running mangaseries. D.GRAY-MANILLUSTRATIONS: NOCHE also includes an exclusive, double-sided full-colorposter. 

Set in a fictional version of 19thcentury England, D.GRAY-MAN (published by VIZ Media’s SHONEN JUMPADVANCED imprint; rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens) is the story of Allen Walker, a 15-year-old boy whoroams the earth in search of Innocence.Washed away to unknown parts of the world after The Great Flood, Innocence isthe mysterious substance used to create weapons that obliterate demons known asakuma.

“D.GRAY-MANILLUSTRATIONS: NOCHE is an ideal collection of the work of Katsura Hoshino, andshows off many of her most memorable characters from the hit series,” says AndyNakatani, Editorial Director. “Fans can savor lush renderings of Allen Walker, LenaleeLee, and the evil Millennium Earl and learn more about Hoshino’s background, influencesand the evolution of D.GRAY-MAN in an enlightening interview conducted by twoof the biggest names in the manga world! This new release also makes athoughtful gift for that special fan this holiday season.” 

Bornin 1980 in Japan’s Shiga Prefecture, Katsura Hoshino's hit manga series D.GRAY-MAN has been serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump since 2004. Her firstseries, Continue, debuted in Weekly Shonen Jump in 2003.

 For moreinformation on D. GRAY-MAN, or others SHONEN JUMP titles from VIZ Media, pleasevisit ShonenJump.viz.com.