Arts & Culture – Page 25

J!NX: Over 300 Tees on Sale as Low as $5

from J!NX:

New Design Arcade Winner: Da Vinci Game
Leonardo Da Vinci was incredibly prolific during his lifetime. He was an artist, a scientist, an inventor, and left behind a vast catalogue of ideas in various stages of development. Recently, a new cache of Da Vinci’s plans was unearthed, including some schematics for a very curious machine. The machine’s purpose is currently unknown, but the notes keep referring to “rings of power.” Congratulations to Minion vintz for making this groundbreaking discovery, and for a sweet Design Arcade submission!

New J!NX Video: Behind the Scenes at the Desert Photo Shoot
For our latest print ad, we required some special scenery, so we decided to send some of our crew out into the middle of nowhere for a photoshoot. We ended up with some sweet photos, as well as some captivating video footage. Check out our awesome behind-the-scenes video to see the crew in action, and if you like what you see, make sure to subscribe to our yootoobz channel!

A Teenage Psychic Mixes On-the-Job Romance with Invading Aliens in Arina Tanemura’s “Mistress Fortune” Manga from VIZ Media

from VIZ Media:

VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, will delight shojo manga (graphic novel) fans with the release of Arina Tanemura’s Mistress Fortune on February 1st. The new single-volume story will be published under the company’s Shojo Beat imprint, is rated ‘T’ for Teens, and will carry an MSRP of $9.99 U.S. / $12.99 CAN.

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!

“We’re excited to release Mistress Fortune for current and new fans alike,” says Nancy Thistlethwaite, Editor. “Arina Tanemura pulled from her experience of visiting San Francisco, the home of VIZ Media, as well as San Diego Comic-Con for this manga. Her huge following of readers here will have fun with this story that takes place in both Japan and the United States.”

Arina Tanemura began her manga career in 1996 when her short stories debuted in Ribon magazine. She gained fame with the 1997 publication of I.O.N, and ever since her debut, Tanemura has remained a major force in shojo manga with popular series Time Stranger Kyoko, Full Moon, and The Gentlemen’s Alliance † (all published by VIZ Media). Full Moon and another Tanemura manga, Kamikaze Kaito Jeanne, have also been adapted into animated TV series.

For more information on Mistress Fortune, please visit ShojoBeat.com.

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from Mimoco:

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ThinkGeek upgrades your inbox with LASERS

from ThinkGeek:

Quoth the Harley, “Popcorn, more!”

In an awesome coincidence, Edgar Allan Poe’s birthday also happens to be National Popcorn Day. We’ll be spending the day tossing popcorn at office dog Harley and trying to flip the pages of our Poe collection with our non-buttery hand.

Did we mention we’ll be topping our delicious hot buttery popcorn with Bacon Salt? Mmmmm… really helps to break up those long intervals of horrible sanity.

Khet 2.0 Laser Game — World’s coolest board game
Hey kids, playing with lasers is fun. And playing board games with lasers is funner. And playing board games with lasers when the game is the brand new version of Khet (aka. Khet 2.0), it’s more funner than three fun things in a pod! The goal of Khet 2.0 is to move your mirrored pieces around the board and fire your laser beam. It will ricochet from mirrored piece to mirrored piece and, hopefully, hit your opponent’s Pharaoh piece. For Khet 2.0, the board has been slimmed down and the lasers that were once permanently attached to the board have been turned into Sphinx pieces, which can actually move during game play! Plus, the box can be used as a carrying case. Get playing.

A ThinkGeek exclusive! Click for details on entering our Khet 2.0 contest.

Take $10 off $50+ orders — The beating of his geeky heart…
Is there a telltale way to distinguish nerd from geek? The boundaries which divide Geek from Nerd are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where the one ends, and where the other begins? Let your choice of ThinkGeek favorites tell the tale. Use code TELLTALE for $10 off your order of $50 or more through Friday, 1/21/11 at 11:59 pm EST.

Find more What’s New items at ThinkGeek!

VIZ Media’s Fiction Imprint Haikasoru to Publish Cyberpunk Thriller “Mardock Scramble”

from VIZ Media:

VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, has announced the North American debut of the Japanese sci-fi novel, Mardock Scramble, on January 18th. The novel, written by Tow Ubukata, will be published under the company’s Haikasoru imprint and will carry an MSRP of $17.99 U.S. / $21.00 CAN.

Haikasoru is VIZ Media’s unique literary imprint with a dedicated focus on publishing some of the most compelling contemporary Japanese science fiction and fantasy for English-speaking audiences.

Why me? It was to be the last thought a young prostitute, Rune-Balot, would ever have… as a human anyway. Taken in by a devious gambler named Shell, she became a slave to his cruel desires and would have been killed by his hand if not for the self-aware All-Purpose Tool (and little yellow mouse) known as Oeufcoque. Now a cyborg, Balot is not only nigh-invulnerable, but has the ability to disrupt electrical systems of all sorts. But even these powers may not be enough for Balot to deal with Shell, who offloads his memories to remain above the law, the immense assassin Dimsdale-Boiled, or the neon-noir streets of Mardock City itself.

“Author Tow Ubukata won the prestigious Japan SF Award for Mardock Scramble in 2003, and the book also inspired an acclaimed feature-length animated film by director Susumu Kudo,” says Nick Mamatas, Haikasoru’s editor. “We’re very excited to kick off 2011 with this cyberpunk epic that has has sold over half a million copies to-date in Japan.”

Born in Gifu prefecture in 1977, Tow Ubukata was exposed to a blend of cultures from early childhood until the age of fourteen, having lived in Singapore and Nepal because of his father’s work. In 1996, while still in college, Ubukata won the first Sneaker Taisho Gold Prize for his light novel Black Season. In 2003, he won the Nihon SF Taisho Award for Mardock Scramble, originally published as a three-volume series. He has also been involved in a wide range of projects including anime production for Fafner, video game production, and original content writing for comics such as Le Chevalier D’Eon. His other published works include the Bye-Bye Earth and Spiegel novel series. In 2009, he published his first historical novel, Tenchi Meisatsu, which focused on a mathematician of the Edo period.

For more information on Haikasoru, please visit the dedicated website at Haikasoru.com.

J!NX: Now in NYC + Save $10 with Over 60 Designs Back in Stock

from J!NX:

New Design Arcade Winner: Give Me Some Sugar
Before every moment, there is a moment. When your life hangs in the balance, and the undead horde cannot be kept at bay any longer, then you better make sure that final moment is full of WIN. Congratulations to Minion Queenmob for a Design Arcade submission that personifies an epic moment of success.

J!NX Comes to YRB in NYC!
The Yellow Rat Bastard store in New York City is known for its unique, eclectic mix of products and for having its finger on the pulse of what’s new and hot in fashion. We’re pleased to announce that J!NX will now be a featured brand in their Soho shop! This is a huge milestone for us, one we’re especially proud of, and we’re hoping to make more announcements like this in the future. You can read all about it over at the J!NX Blog, and while you’re at it, make sure to pick up our limited edition commemorative t-shirt!

60+ Designs Now Back In Stock
Been waiting for something to come back in stock? Chances are it came back recently. We’ve added a new category to our navigation menu that will help you find stuff we got back in recently. It’ll typically be filled with products that came back within the past month or so. From now through January 24, you can even save $10 when you spend $50 or more and use code: FREEZING during checkout.

$10 off $50 or more
Use Promotion Code: FREEZING
This offer expires Monday, January 24, 2011 at 11:59PM PST, so don’t wait!
*can’t be combined with any other offers, sale prices, or discounts

The Gripping Sci-Fi Thriller “Gantz” Premieres Across the U.S. This Thursday, January 20th in a Special One Night Only Event

from VIZ Pictures:

Don’t miss the very special one-night-only screening of Gantz, premiering at 333 theatres across the U.S. and presented by NCM Fathom and NEW PEOPLE, on Thursday, January 20th, 2011 at 8:00 p.m. ET / 7:00 p.m. CT / 6:00 p.m. MT / 8:30 p.m. PT (tape delayed). The sci-fi thriller, which is based on a hit anime/manga series, is opening in the U.S. nine days ahead of its wide release in Japan on January 29th.

Tickets (for all locations except Hollywood, CA) are available at participating theater box offices and online at FathomEvents.com. For a complete list of theater locations and prices, please visit the web site (theaters and participants are subject to change).

As part of the release, NEW PEOPLE will welcome Gantz lead actors Kazunari Ninomiya (Letters from Iwo Jima) and Kenichi Matsuyama (Death Note, Detroit Metal City), for an in-person appearance for the premiere of the film at the Mann’s Chinese 6 in Hollywood, CA. Immediately following the Gantz screening, Otaku USA Editor-in-Chief Patrick Macias will conduct a live interview session with Kazunari Ninomiya and Kenichi Matsuyama that will be telecast to theatres across the country. Fans have the opportunity to submit questions for the actors at GantzMovies.com.

Kazunari Ninomiya, best known in America for his role in Clint Eastwood’s 2006 blockbuster, Letters from Iwo Jima, is both an actor and a singer. He is also world-renowned as a member of the Japanese boy band “Arashi,” which topped Japan’s music charts in 2009 with the three best-selling singles. Kenichi Matsuyama is currently one of the most sought-after actors in Japanese film and he has won several awards including Japanese Academy Awards Best New Actor (2007) and Most Popular Actor (2009). Matsuyama is widely recognized for his part as L in Death Note (2006), Death Note II: the Last Name (2006) and Death Note: L, change the WorLd (2008) and also for his portrayal of Johannes Krauser II in the outlandish rock and roll comedy, Detroit Metal City (2009).

Gantz (English dubbed) is based on a hit manga series created by Hiroya Oku and tells the story of childhood friends Kei Kurono and Masaru Kato, who are accidentally killed while trying to save another man’s life. Rather than find themselves in the hereafter, however, they awaken in a strange apartment in which they find a mysterious black orb they come to know as “GANTZ.” Along with similar abductees, they are provided with equipment and weaponry and manipulated into playing a kind of game in which they are sent back out to the greater world to do battle with alien beings, all while never quite knowing whether this game is an illusion or their new reality.

VIZ Media Debuts “MÄR” on VIZAnime.com and Hulu

from VIZ Media:

VIZ Media announces the launch of MÄR (rated ‘T’ for Teens) available on VIZAnime.com, the company’s premier website for anime, as well as the streaming content provider Hulu (Hulu.com), starting on Monday January 17th.

VIZAnime.com and Hulu will stream for FREE episodes 1-5 of MÄR (subtitled). Two additional FREE new episodes will launch each Monday.

MÄR is based on the hit manga series by Nobuyuki Anzai (creator also of Flame of Recca), published in North America by VIZ Media. An ordinary middle-school boy with an overactive imagination, Ginta Toramizu dreams about fairy tales and make-believe lands. One day at school, a gate appears and he enters the World of MÄR, the world of his dreams. Within the World of MÄR exist ÄRM: accessories with unique powers. Soon, Ginta stumbles upon Babbo, an ÄRM that can speak, and learns that he has been summoned to this mythical world to stop the Chess Pieces, a group of rogue soldiers, from destroying the World of MÄR. Now part of Team MÄR, Ginta and Babbo fight in War Games against the Chess Pieces to save the MÄR World. But will Ginta’s mission be compromised by his ally’s secrets?

To learn more about MÄR anime and manga series, please visit VIZAnime.com or ShonenSunday.com (free Chapter 1 manga preview available).

YALSA Names Ten VIZ Media Manga Titles to Its 2011 Great Graphic Novels for Teens List

from VIZ Media:

VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, is proud to announce that ten of its manga (graphic novel) titles have been selected by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) as among 2011’s Great Graphic Novels for Teens. The annual list highlights titles that exemplify the quality and range of graphic novels appropriate for teen audiences. The books, recommended by the association for those aged 12-18, meet the criteria of both good quality literature and appealing reading for teens.

Among these, Saturn Apartments, which is published by VIZ Media’s Signature imprint, was ranked among YALSA’s 2011 Top Ten Great Graphic Novels for Teens. For more than 50 years, YALSA has been the U.S. leader in selecting books, videos and audio books for teens.

VIZ Media titles featured on the 2011 YALSA Graphic Novel list include:

Afterschool Charisma Vol. 1 by Kumiko Sukane
Rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens
At St. Kleio Academy, all of the students are clones of famous historical figures. Are the clones doomed to repeat the fate of their genetic progenitors, or can they create their own destinies?

Biomega Vol. 1 by Tsutomu Nihei
Rated ‘M’ for Mature
In a nightmare vision of the future, the N5S virus has swept across the earth, turning most of the population into zombie-like drones! Zoichi Kanoe is humanity’s last hope, and he’s not even human!

Bokurano: Ours Vol. 1 by Mohiro Kitoh
Rated ‘M’ for Mature
Saving the world is hard. Saving yourself is even harder.

Cross Game Vol. 1 by Mitsuru Adachi
Rated ‘T’ for Teens
A poignant coming-of-age centered around a boy named Ko, the family of four sisters who live down the street, and the game of baseball!

House of Five Leaves Vol. 1 by Natsume Ono
Rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens
An out-of-work samurai finds himself drawn into a mysterious gang known as the Five Leaves.

Library Wars: Love & War Vol. 1
Original concept by Hiro Arikawa; manga story and art by Kiiro Yumi
Rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens
In the near future, the federal government creates a committee to rid society of books it deems unsuitable. The libraries vow to protect their collections, and form a military group to defend themselves — the Library Forces!

Maou: Juvenile Remix Vol. 1
Original story by Kotara Isaka; manga story and art by Megumi Osuga
Rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens
What do you do when the city’s savior is actually a devil in disguise…?

Natsume’s Book of Friends Vol. 1 by Yuki Midorikawa
Rated ‘T’ for Teens
Natsume can see the spirits and demons that hide from the rest of humanity. Moving to the small town where his grandmother grew up, he discovers that he has inherited more than just the Sight from the mysterious Rieko.

not simple by Natsume Ono
Rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens
A young man with a fractured family history travels from Australia to England to America in the hope of realizing his dreams and reuniting with his beloved sister.

Saturn Apartments Vol. 1 by Hisae Iwaoka
Rated ‘T’ for Teens
A Top 10 Selection
A touching, character-rich vision of an intriguing new world. Mitsu takes on his late father’s dangerous job as a window washer on the Ring circling the earth where all humans have been relocated…

The complete list of YALSA 2011 selections is available at: ala.org/yalsa/booklists.

“YALSA is the leader in recommending high-quality literature, including books and media, and we are very gratified to have so many of our titles featured on the organization’s latest list of Great Graphic Novels for Teens,” says Brian Piech, Senior Director, Marketing, VIZ Media. “Millions of teens read manga from their local school and public libraries each week, and we hope these selections give librarians and their patrons a trusted resource for some of the best and latest from the exciting world of manga.”

For more information on these and other VIZ Media manga titles, please visit: viz.com.

VIZ Media Launches 2011 with a New iTunes Anime Promotion for “Buso Renkin” and “Vampire Knight Guilty”

from VIZ Media:

VIZ Media rings in 2011 and expands its current anime promotion on iTunes in the U.S. (iTunes.com) to include the premieres of Buso Renkin and Vampire Knight Guilty. To celebrate the debuts, you can download the first full episode of both series for FREE from now thru February 1st. All subsequent episodes are available to rent for only $0.99 each, or to own for only $1.99 each.

Please visit itunes.com/anime for complete details.

Buso Renkin (rated TV-14) is based on a popular 10-volume manga series by Nobuhiro Watsuki (Rurouni Kenshin) and introduces audiences to Kazuki Muto, a high school student who thinks he’s saving a girl from a monster, but it turns out that he’s the one who needs saving! Kazuki is stabbed and killed while fighting a homunculus, a malevolent creature that feeds on humans. A girl, Tokiko Tsumura, revives him by replacing his heart with an alchemical device called a kakugane. With this device, Kazuki can create his own Buso Renkin, a powerful alchemical weapon in the form of a huge lance, capable of destroying homunculi. With his new weapon, Kazuki decides to join forces with Tokiko to eliminate the evil homunculi and destroy their master, the strange and eccentric Papillon Masked Creator!

Vampire Knight Guilty (rated TV-14) is the second season of the hit gothic romance based on the bestselling manga series about a high school populated by a class of vampires. Yuki is torn between the two people she cares for most when Zero is accused of Shizuka Hio’s murder and Kaname refuses to attest to his innocence. Drawn deeper into the world of vampires, Yuki struggles to recall the events of ten years earlier but fails time and again. Kaname evades Yuki’s questions about the past, but when her visions of blood grow more frequent and intense, the past may come to light whether she wants it to or not!

For more information on these and other animated titles from VIZ Media, please visit VIZAnime.com.

J!NX: Up to 40% off IDentity Products

from J!NX:

All IDentity Products On Sale Up to 40% Off
Now through January 14, get all J!NX IDentity products for as much as 40% off.

New Design Arcade Winner: Rocks and Minerals
Ah, geology. It’s a science that is often overlooked in favor of disciplines with more flash and boom about them. Don’t be fooled, though. As long as you know where to dig, geology can yield more wealth, power and fame than you can imagine. Try to avoid the ectoplasm, though. It’s fun at parties, but just leaves a big mess afterwards. Congratulations to Minion Graja for an awesome Design Arcade win!

Classic Favorites on Sale for $10

Enter the RiffTrax Remix contest and win some dough!

from RiffTrax:

Pull out sound clips from RiffTrax MP3s and create your own remixed video! It can be a movie, TV show, video game cut scene, virtually anything will work! You have until the end of January to upload your clip to YouTube and tag it with “rifftraxremix2011”. (You must use this tag for your video to be eligible!)

There is no minimum length requirement, just make it funny!

Our favorite video will win a prize of $100 cash and $100 credit for purchases at RiffTrax.com! For more info, visit RiffTrax Remix Contest!