Author: ÜberSciFiGeek

A Love of Books and Reading Inspires a Girl to Stand Against Censorship in New Manga Series “Library Wars: Love & War”

from VIZ Media:

VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, brings a new literary manga adventure to North American readers with the release of Library Wars: Love & War on June 1st. The series, with story and art by Kiiro Yumi and based on the original concept by Hiro Arikawa, will be published under the Shojo Beat imprint, is rated “T+” for Older Teens and will carry an MSRP of $9.99 U.S. / $12.99 CAN.

In the near future, the federal government creates a special committee to rid society of books it deems unsuitable. But the libraries vow to protect their collections, and with the help of local governments, form a military group to defend themselves — the Library Defense Forces!

In the opening volume, Iku Kasahara has dreamed of joining the LDF ever since one of its soldiers stepped in to protect her favorite book from being confiscated in a bookstore when she was younger. But now that she’s finally a recruit, she’s finding her dream job to be a bit of a nightmare. Especially since her hard-hearted drill instructor seems to have it in for her!

“Manga lovers will root for the cute librarians in this fun new series that also addresses some important issues like liberty, freedom of speech and censorship,” says Candice Uyloan, Director, Consumer Marketing, VIZ Media. “Library Wars is based on a collection of novels also written by Hiro Arikawa that were extremely popular in Japan, selling more than one million copies. Fans will definitely want to add this adventure to their summer reading lists!”

Hiro Arikawa won the 10th Dengeki Novel Prize for her work Shio no Machi: Wish on My Precious in 2003 and debuted with the same novel in 2004. Arikawa is probably best known for the Library Wars series and also her trilogy about Japan’s military Self Defense Forces, Jieitai Sanbusaku (The SDF Trilogy), which consists of In the Sky, The Bottom of the Sea, and City of Salt.

Kiiro Yumi won the 42nd LaLa magazine Manga Grand Prix Fresh Debut award for her manga Little Billy’s Depression. Her latest series, Library Wars: Love & War is currently featured in Japan’s LaLa magazine.

For more information on this title and other shojo titles from VIZ Media, please visit shojobeat.com.

Effinfunny/Legend of Neil Internship!

from The Legend of Neil:

WHO: A savvy, 2.0 person interested in pursuing a career in comedy and the entertainment industry.

WHEN: Summer (starting June 1).

WHERE: MTV Offices in Santa Monica, CA.

WHAT: Intern for EffinFunny.com. EffinFunny is a comedy website and the hub for writer/director/actor Sandeep Parikh’s productions, including the award winning Comedy Central/Atom.com series The Legend of Neil. Our intern will work 8 to 16 hours a week updating and optimizing content associated with EffinFunny, making runs, and assisting with office tasks during the post-production of season 3 of The Legend of Neil and the production of the multi-award winning Microsoft webseries The Guild, which Sandeep acts in.

This is a position with a tremendous amount of growth potential. If you show us that you’re a team player with a go-getter attitude and a quick learner, then production jobs WILL open up to you. Applicants should be MAC and MS Office proficient. Final Cut Pro and PhotoShop/Graphic Design skills a huge plus.

HOW: To apply, please send a resume and cover letter to N3ILintern@gmail.com. List some of your favorite comedies and tell us about yourself, your skills, and your aspirations (emphasis on skills).

Milky Way and the Galaxy Girls/FAO “Out of this World” Free Book Deal

from Milky Way and the Galaxy Girls:

Free Galaxy Girls Book!
($12.95 value!) when you buy ANY Milky Way and the Galaxy Girls doll.*

Shop Now

Plus, Enjoy Free Shipping on Everything!
(up to a $25 value) with your purchase of $99 or more!**

*Quantities limited; no rain checks.
**Standard shipping only. Excludes video game accessories, consoles/handhelds, software.

J!NX: New IDentity Tees for Summer!

from J!NX:

The Summer ’10 IDentity Tees Have Arrived!
The days are getting warmer, and the need for that protective outer layer of clothing is anything but dire. What better time to 1-Up your wardrobe with a set of new IDentity tees? Whether you’re a fan of robots, zombies, or simply enjoy the good ol’ days of 8-bit gaming, we’ve got something for you. Check out all the new tees right here!

“Gamera: The Giant Monster” Special Edition Roars onto DVD this May 18

from Shout! Factory:

From Japan — the country that brought us such mythical movie monsters as Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra and King Ghidorah — storms Gamera, the titanic terrapin feared by adults and loved by children. On May 18, 2010, Shout! Factory will unleash Gamera: The Giant Monster Special Edition on DVD for the first time in its unedited original version, with English subtitles — in anamorphic widescreen from an all-new HD master. The DVD includes a 12-page booklet with an essay by director Noriaki Yuasa, a photo gallery, trailers and more. The collectible Gamera: The Giant Monster Special Edition DVD is priced to own at $19.93.

Like all classic monster movies, it is the folly of man that unleashes a ginormous beast upon the world. This time it is literal fallout from the Cold War — a Soviet bomber is shot down over U.S. airspace in the Arctic Ocean, with the massive radiation from the resultant atomic explosion awakening the ancient, gargantuan Gamera. A long-forgotten legend of the lost continent of Atlantis, the 200-foot-long, fire-eating turtle isn’t in a good mood, and proving impervious to all manmade weapons, the colossal chelonian smashes a cataclysmic swath across the globe. But when he arrives in Tokyo, a small boy forms an odd connection with him, allowing authorities to unleash “Plan Z.”

The classic Gamera was directed by Noriaki Yuasa, who helmed all seven of the original Gamera entries in the Showa era series between 1965 and 1971, and stars Eiji Funakoshi (Fires on the Plain), Harumi Kiritachi, Junichiro Yamashiko and Jutaro Hojo (Wrath of Daimajin). The subsequent franchise was more kid-friendly (yet ironically bloodier) than Godzilla, who became less menacing and more cuddly himself during the Sixties. The Gamera series was creative in the monstrous nemeses that it pitted against the towering turtle, the most famous being the flying, pointy-headed Gyaos, who was resurrected for the successful trio of movies in the Heisei-era series between 1995 and 1999.

Created by the same company who brought Zatoichi to the screen, Daiei Studios’ titanic terrapin is the only true rival to Toho’s King of the Monsters, able to hold his own at the box office and secure a place in the hearts of kaiju eiga (Japanese monster movie) fans around the world. The original films have woefully been underrepresented on DVD, especially releases featuring the authentic Japanese versions.

Pre-order at Amazon.com:
Gamera: The Giant Monster Special Edition

Or order directly through the Shout! Factory website.

Gamera: The Giant Monster Special Edition is distributed by Shout! Factory.

It’s time to… HERO UP and Win!

from Vivendi Entertainment Canada:

What happens when Iron Man, Thor, The Hulk, Wolverine, and some of the best known heroes in the Marvel Universe get together? You get The Super Hero Squad Show, the greatest (and coolest) heroes on the planet uniting together to face the world’s most notorious villains — the biggest, most family-friendly Super Hero team-up in TV and DVD history. It’s no small job protecting Super Hero City from the wild, weird (& even wacky) villainy of VillainVille’s infamous baddies… but the Super Hero Squad is always up for the job. These brave heroes totally deliver the action — but with plenty of humour on the side.

The celebrate the highly anticipated release of The Super Hero Squad Show, Vivendi Entertainment Canada and Teletoon are teaming up to give away a grand-prize trip for two to Comic-Con in San Diego, California. Beginning May 4, fans are invited to enter online at teletoon.com for their chance to win daily prize-packs containing Hasbro Super Hero Squad action figures and Marvel Animation DVDs. The on-air promotion dubbed “Marvel May-hem” will run for two weeks leading up to the ultimate fan experience, a grand-prize trip to Comic-Con!

This is the first time the “Squaddies” have been available on DVD! Each DVD contains five episodes from Season One of The Super Hero Squad Show. Bonus features include a Stan Lee interview, Marvel Animation’s sneak-peek of the new series The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and a first look at a new Super Hero Squad online game.

Order now at Amazon.ca:
The Super Hero Squad Show, Volume 1 — Hero Up, Squaddies!
The Super Hero Squad Show, Volume 2 — Titanic Team Ups

Dr. Grordbort’s VIP Newsletter! Paint Fumes!

from Weta:

The Stench from the Painting Room is utterly un-bearable! We are hazarding a guess that the paint sniffing department are about to divulge three utterly new and fantastical rayguns. A plethora of clues have led us to this conclusion.

  1. The inexplicable disappearance of three perfectly functional ManMelter 3600zx.
  2. Some sketches on the bathroom wall… One utterly Gothic, one that looked like spray paint on an underground locomotive and one ridiculously futuristic black and white thing.
  3. The reek… ooooh the reek!
  4. A piece of paper recklessly left behind in the cantine.*
  5. A garbled internal speaking trumpet announcement which either said “painted rayguns” or “tainted play chums”… who knows…

*Schedule (Tuesday 11 May):
Los Angeles — 2PM
Little Rock — 4PM
New York — 5PM
London — 10PM
Stockholm — 11PM
Hong Kong — 5AM (Wednesday 12 May)
Sydney — 7AM (Wednesday 12 May)
Palmerston North — 9AM (Wednesday 12 May)
Same place as usual — wetanz.com/rayguns

As you can clearly see from these clues, next week is the time to sniff out a one-of-a-kind treasure from Dr. Grordbort’s. Do not hesitate. The consequences of such inactivity are likely to be dire. So dire, in fact, that you may have to paint your own!

But wait…

Persistent rumours circulate that a fourth gun (codename “Big K”) has been customised by Dr. Tremont and will be revealed at the same time. If this is indeed the case, it will be only the second time in history such an event has occurred, so don’t miss it. And it won’t be based on a ManMelter.

Keep an eye on the Raygun Shoppe at the above times!

Come-as-you-are to Oamaru!
The hilarious people in the rural New Zealand outpost of Oamaru are staging a pseudo-chronological event they call “Steampunk Fashion Show”. From what we can gather, this is an opportunity to show off your normal everyday garments to an audience somehow gathered in “the future”. Or as they (The League of Victorian Imagineers, Oamaru) say: “…men in top hats, adorned with goggles made of brass or copper, waistcoats, thick overcoats, brooches, cravats… The women… leather corsets (hazzaah!), bio-mechanical (pardon?) body modifications…”. Sounds to us much like an afternoon game of Whist at the Explorers’ Club, but by all means — join them if you must! Entries close 15 May for the 5 June Show and Gala Ball!

The April Raygun Shootout has been shot… out…!
As April drew to a close, the judges were deliberating viciously and we do see why — an ENORMOUS amount of creativity has gone into these designs. All of them naturally with the October Grand Prize of a trip to Weta in New Zealand firmly in their sights! Splendiferous! Allow us to present the April Winner — The String Manipulator XII by contestant “jrobot” from the US. The lucky sod runs off with a Real Imitation Metal Righteous Bison Indivisible Particle Smasher! The jury’s verdict: “For its swirling-ice-cream-cone-of-death good looks and minimal effort required to fire. The monocle trigger is pure genius. Just wink, and that Meddling Moon Man is a Mere Memory! It’s mesmerising. Hazzaah!” We shall be announcing the April winner in a few days’ time, in the meantime — why not compete in the May Competition for best Alien Raygun Design!

The Orangerie is a-flutter!
Company Lepidopterologist, Dr. Beswarick was seen recently carrying a huge bottle of Ethyl Acetate to his shed adjoining the orangerie. Something is definitely afoot. He hasn’t been seen in public since December, when he proudly emerged with a beaut specimen of the Blue Sacked Pillock, remember? Discuss in the forum, perhaps? Any clues welcome! We’re tickled pink with anticipation!

Follow Weta Online! Twitter | Facebook

“Vampire Knight” Animated Series Premieres Online at VIZAnime.com

from VIZ Media:

VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, beckons fans to sink their teeth into the gothic romance of the animated series Vampire Knight, launching online today on VIZAnime.com.

VIZ Anime is the official online home to some of VIZ Media’s best-loved animated series and a burgeoning social network for fans to connect and form an interactive community. Over 400 episodes are currently available and new content is added on a weekly basis. VIZ Anime is accessible at: VIZAnime.com.

Cross Academy is attended by two groups of students: the Day Class and the Night Class. At twilight, when the students of the Day Class return to their dorms, they cross paths with the mysterious Night Class on their way to school. Yuki Cross and Zero Kiryu are the Guardians of the school, protecting the Day Class from the Academy’s dark secret: the Night Class is full of vampires! Yuki Cross has no memory of her past prior to the moment she was saved from a vampire attack ten years ago. She was adopted by the headmaster of Cross Academy, and now works alongside Zero to guard the Academy’s secret. Yuki believes that vampires and humans can coexist peacefully, but her partner has different ideas…

“With its cast of edgy and engaging characters combined with a dark sexy storyline, Vampire Knight is destined to be one of the most exciting anime releases of 2010,” says Brian Ige, Director of Sales, Home Entertainment. “Fans can also look forward to the release of Vampire Knight on DVD, under the Shojo Beat imprint, on July 20th. Stay tuned for more details coming soon on some hot VIZ Media anime summer releases!”

Vampire Knight (rated “T+” for Older Teens) is based on the best-selling manga series created by Matsuri Hino, who burst onto the scene in Japan with her debut title, Kono Yume ga Sametara (When This Dream is Over) in LaLa DX magazine. With the success of subsequent series such as Captive Hearts and Meru Puri (both published domestically by VIZ Media), Hino has firmly established herself as a major force in the world of shojo manga. Vampire Knight is currently serialized in LaLa magazine in Japan.

For more information on the Vampire Knight manga and to read free previews online please visit shojobeat.com. For more information on other animated titles from VIZ Media please visit VIZAnime.com.

Weta News!

from Weta:

Come, all ye Satyrs!

Weta wants to see more Centaurs, Satyrs, Demons, Gargoyles, Unicorns, Dragons, Minotaurs and other fantastical creatures roaming the earth! So we just launched Weta Legs with our good friend Kim Graham. If you are a performer, costumer or just want to change into a new creature, then Weta Legs will help you take your creativity to a whole new level (literally!).

The YouTube video has already been viewed 25,000 times in the last 2 weeks. Costume Actor Shane Rangi demonstrated a pair at the Elf Fantasy Fair in Holland on 24-25 April, and our good friend Meredith Yayanos will be showing them off at the Bay Area Maker’s Faire on 22-23 May in the US. These are the first digitigrade legs ever made available for the public. Here’s what Coilhouse Magazine had to say about them.

Now, take advantage of this SPECIAL OFFER! Order your Weta Legs by 25 May and you get an “Early Bird” discount of US$150!

Want to win an all-expenses trip to Weta Workshop in New Zealand?
Join in the digital rendering creativity at Dr. Grordbort’s Raygun Shootout. Entry is free. The challenge for April was to create the most “Futuristic Raygun”. Check out the awesome entries on the Leaderboard. The winners for April will be announced very shortly. There will be new competitions each month up until October. In May, your challenge is to create the finest “Alien Raygun” in the Universe. Get your entries in now. There are monthly prizes and spot prizes from Dr. Grordbort’s. If you are not into rendering you can still vote for your favourite entries. Just register your details, and vote for your favorites on the Leaderboard.

The Lord of the Rings
Middle-earth fans have got a range of new art to choose from:

Keep your own piece of Middle-earth close to your heart with engraved Stone Pendants from the South Island of New Zealand. Their journey began thousands of years ago in the mountains of the Southern Alps. Will they make their way across the globe to your home?

The first 3 of our miniature shields are now shipping from our warehouses in the US, UK and New Zealand. They can be displayed as collectibles or worn as a badge (there is a pin on the back). Stocks in our UK warehouse are already down to very limited numbers, so be quick. A fourth shield is already in production. Which will it be? Have your say on this thread at our fan forum.

Strider’s Sword from the Master Swordsmith’s Collection sold out very quickly. We will be shipping these beautiful works of art out to their 10 lucky owners in May (there are plenty of jealous staff in the Workshop who wish they could afford one!). If you have not yet seen the video on how these blades are crafted, it really is worth taking a look.

The Map of New Zealand as Middle-earth is proving very popular.

Pre-orders for the Bag End Collector’s Edition are racing along. Make sure you don’t miss out before it’s too late.

We will be sending out shipment notices for the Argonath next week. This item has already Sold Out, however you can put your name on the waiting list for cancelled orders by e-mailing us at info@wetaNZ.co.nz.

Please don’t forget if you are ordering 5 or more pieces at once, it pays to send us a note to see if we can reduce your shipping costs by packing them all in one bag.

District 9 fans — Watch Out!
We will be opening pre-orders for an all new D9 collectible in our next newsletter. So get your eyes off the cat food and watch out. The full scale Arc Generator gun sold out in only 4 days, so you don’t want to be late for this one. (You can still put your name on the waiting list for the Arc Generator). The Art of District 9 book is well under away and the design team are doing a terrific job. It’s full of never-seen-before art and tells the story of the design process. We are so excited about launching this book later in the year, we just might have to leak a few glimpses every now and again.

Weta Cave
The Weta Cave in Wellington, New Zealand is nearly 2 years old. We were thrilled to host 100,000 people from all over this world (and a few others) in the last 12 months. It’s a real motivation to all of us at Weta to know that people care enough to travel so far to come and say Hi. Please keep coming and please keep sharing in our obsession for creativity. Recently, we were delighted to host author Robert Rankin from the United Kingdom. We were geeking out about his books and were surprised to find out from his friend “Raygun”, they were both huge Dr. Grordbort’s fans. Huzzah!

We can confirm rumours of Trolls stomping around Wellington airport are true. Weta has a new shopping display at the Discover New Zealand store inside the airport. And yes, of course the trolls do come alive at night time. How else would they stay so well fed?

Dr. Grordbort’s
We are very sorry to advise the Superintendent of Grordborts Industries Misinformation Office has been replaced because of health (death by insect poisoning) reasons. However, on the positive side, we have now discovered where the last remaining live Blue Sacked Pillock was hiding. It has now been skewered through its sack and the new Superintendent is very pleased to announce another Venusian species has officially been made extinct. Our congratulations to the brave gentlemen and literate women at Grordbort Industries for bringing their combined total up to 814 species and counting. There are indications that more bugs are likely to follow in the footsteps of the unfortunate Pillock. Gossip is also rife in the Workshop at the moment. The doors to the paint room have been locked for days on end (luckily — that place stinks of heavy metals and nasty solvents), and the only visitors have been a space man, a well dressed gentleman with over-sized canines and a so called “graffiti artist” with rather loose fitting trouserage covering only the lower halves of his puny buttocks! Could there be more custom painted rayguns on their way? Look out for an imminent propaganda message from Dr. Grordbort’s for more misinformation.

Halo Console Auction
Weta recently created a Halo themed Xbox for our friends at Microsoft, which was auctioned off for charity on eBay. The winning bid was A$10,000. The piece was designed and sculpted by Weta Workshop’s Alex Faulkner. Check out the video! And the full range of Halo collectibles.

Comic-Con is Coming!
San Diego Comic-Con 2010 is only 2 and a half months away. We hope you’ve booked your tickets and will be visiting the Weta team at our booth. More news coming soon…

Follow Weta Online! Twitter | Facebook

True Blood: New ongoing monthly comic book series from IDW!

from Things from Another World:

Have you been watching True Blood on HBO? Well, about a gajillion other people are, and if you’re among them, you’ll be psyched about the new True Blood comic book series from the folks at IDW. Blood and sex mix on a hot rainy night at Merlotte’s, when Sookie and her friends are trapped by a vengeful spirit who feeds on shame.

People die and dirty secrets are revealed as Sookie, Bill, Eric, Sam, Tara, Jason, and Lafayette are all coerced to dig deep and tell painful memories from their pasts — those things we all have locked within us that we never tell another living soul!

Bon Temps, Louisiana has never been stranger, or more twisted, in a story co-plotted by True Blood series creator Alan Ball, with a script by David Tischman (Bite Club) and Mariah Huehner, and lush art by David Messina (Star Trek: Countdown).

If you’d like to start a True Blood Series Subscription with the first issue, you’ll want to do so before May 31. If you aren’t familiar with our subscription service, we invite you to learn more about subscriptions at TFAW.

Pre-order Your Copy of True Blood #1 Today

Start a True Blood Series Subscription

Lucasfilm Ltd. & JibJab Partner to Celebrate the 30th Anniversary of “The Empire Strikes Back”

from StarWars.com:

Available now for the first time ever, people everywhere can cast themselves, family and friends in the classic adventures from “a galaxy far, far away” with playful and irreverent two-minute re-tellings of the original Star Wars films by JibJab. Just visit JibJab.com or StarWars.com/StarringYou to feel the Force as it’s never been possible before — by becoming a part of the Star Wars Saga!

Making a personalized movie with JibJab’s Starring You technology is easy. Users just upload a photo — using a computer, Facebook or a webcam — and use JibJab’s simple tools to insert it into the movies. After watching their movie, users can share the video with friends via email, Facebook and Twitter. Custom versions of the videos are available as Premium Downloads for users who want to save them forever on their computers or watch them on their iPhones.

“What better way to celebrate Empire‘s 30th anniversary than to allow fans to become part of the story,” said Bill Gannon, Director of Digital Media at Lucasfilm Ltd. “JibJab’s inventive technology allows us to experience Star Wars in an all-new way. It’s really a great partnership, and we are thrilled with what they’ve done with the Saga; it’s lots of fun.”

Creating and sharing a personalized version of Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back is free in commemoration of the fan-favorite installment’s 30th anniversary. Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope and Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi are available exclusively to JibJab Members. JibJab is a Member-supported company that charges $12 a year for unlimited access to its 1,000+ eCards, Everyday Fun and Starring You videos and pics.

“We aim to deliver a lot more value to our Members than the buck a month it winds up costing them,” said JibJab co-founder Gregg Spiridellis. “Star Wars Starring You is a perfect example of the kinds of amazing, special experiences we’re working hard to bring our Members.”

JibJab was founded in 1999 by brothers Evan and Gregg Spiridellis. In 2004, in a pre-YouTube world, the pair created the smash online hit “This Land” featuring a singing George Bush and John Kerry. Since then, the brothers have built JibJab into a pioneering digital media company powering innovative online entertainment experiences like OfficeMax’s ElfYourself campaign.

Go to StarWars.com/StarringYou to experience the Star Wars Starring You fun for yourself — and share the laughs with your friends!