Let's Be Cops Review

Let's Be Cops is a new buddy cop comedy starring New Girl stars Damon Wayans J.R. and Jake Johnson. The film is written by Luke Greenfield  and Nicholas Thomas. The film is also directed by Luke Greenfield, is this the comedy of the summer? Or should we place these filmmakers under arrest?

Story- Two struggling pals dress as police officers for a costume party and become neighborhood sensations. But when these newly-minted "heroes" get tangled in a real life web of mobsters and dirty detectives, they must put their fake badges on the line.

Let's Be Cops does what is suppose to do and that is entertain it's target audience. Damon Wayans J.R. plays Justin, a videogame developer who just can't get his game made due to his boss and being overlooked. Jake Johnson plays Ryan a former college football star who way pass his glory days. Both men are pushing early 30's and feel like they haven't really accomplish their goals in life. When they are invited to their college reunion party, they dress as cops and the rest of the movie plays from that concept. The story has an interesting concept it just doesn't pay off well. The story can leave the realm of believability at times. I find it hard to believe that the LAPD will not do background checks on cops they don't recognized. There are many scenes where police protocol or rules are thrown out the window for the sake of a punchline. I'm not saying the movie needs to be grounded in realism, but it needs have some realistic elements. Certain scenes become hit or miss because it has nothing to do with the overall plot. There is a scene of the two main leads at the amusement park riding a roller coaster. Why is this scene in there? Did they cut the line using the badges? Is this scene suppose to establish that cops can do whatever they want? There were a lot of scenes that didn't hit, but for every miss there was hit.

The hits of the film was Damon Wayans J.R. and Jake Johnson having great chemistry together throughout the film. I found their characters to be somewhat relatable. Both men hate where they are at career wise. Both feel like they haven't accomplish anything and that narrative is what kept me entertain. Beyond the jokes and silly slapstick puns this movie had heart character wise. Justin really just want his game made and Ryan is trying to find some self worth. Playing fake cops was a sense of relief from their troubles, that aspect of the story worked well for me.

Acting - As stated Damon Wayans J.R. and Jake Johnson worked very well together. You can really see Damon Wayans S.R. mannerism, signature traits in his son. Nina Dobrev plays Wayans love interest Josie. She does good in the role but unfortunately she's not giving much to sink her teeth into. Her backstory of trying to be a makeup effect artist is not explore enough for you to care. Other highlights are Rob Riggle who plays Segars, Riggle shines in each scene and even has one serious scene which I liked. Finally a cameo by Keegan-Michael Key is the show stealer. Key was hilarious as Pupa. Overall the acting was entertaining enough, some good, some needed more screentime.

Final Thoughts: Let's Be Cops is not going to be for everyone. It has it's moments where you will laugh out loud. The characters are intriguing when tries to take itself seriously. Unfortunatley the film doesn't really hit the mark with it's concept. Still it's something you might want to check out for a matinee or a night with the guys or girls.

Lenni Reviews: Thorn Jack by Katherine Harbour

(Image Source)

More dark fantasy! And with a heroine that I didn't get annoyed with! YAY!

*achem* Sorry about that. I think publishers know my weakness now.

Thorn Jack  by Katherine Harbour is a sad YA fantasy romance starring Serafina Sullivan - adorably called 'Finn' - who has relocated to her father's hometown of Fair Hollow after her sister kills herself. Right from the start, the town is surreal, populated by people who love to dress in gothic clothing and have memorized more poetry than I've probably read in my whole life. Right away, Finn catches the eye of a boy from the town's most powerful family - The Fantas -  Jack; who is of course much more than he seems.

I enjoy this story because the mystical creatures are tricky and dangerous. I have not read the old Scottish tale called Tam Lin, upon which this novel is based and I still haven't to make sure my review is about the book itself; which I can say I did very much enjoy. The characters are sharply built, the story is deep for a YA novel (I don't normally read those, as you may recall from my other reviews), and I can see Harbour took care with the pacing and development of the story. I can see where her talent will continue to grow as this series goes on if it does because the ending does imply more story to be told. There are some strange sentences, sometimes the story meanders a little; but once it's back on track the narrative doesn't disappoint. 

I do have to take a moment to talk about Serafina. It is gratifying to see a loyal strong woman in a YA novel who knows when to fight, knows when to retreat, and stands by her friends even at her own peril. She's still reeling from her sister's suicide but she squares her shoulders, even if they're shaking in fear, and does what needs doing.

Despite the small growing pains Harbour's writing has yet to go through (and don't take this as a harsh criticism, every writer goes through this. Including myself) I enjoyed this book. If you're into dark fantasy with a sweet love story where you're hip deep in Scottish mythology, I say give this book a try. If anything, the ending was completely satisfying and worth every page getting there.

Can't get enough of Lenni's writing? See more here.

Geeky USB Flash Drives From infoThink

Hey fans of Batman, Marvel, One Piece, and Transformers. Check out what I found. I know some of you have a boring “USB Flash Drive” but worry no more, because I found an award winning company based in Taiwan. This company designs one of the best USB flash drive I've seen so far. infoThink is a professional designing company the produces not only USB Flash Drive, but also Portable Chargers and Memory Readers. Since 2008 infoThink has been designing USB Flash Drive as their main product. However in 2012 they had been authorized by Disney/Marvel to design the Avengers characters. With their distinctive design and hard work they were awarded with Best Licensee Award by Marvel.

 

infoThink has their way on designing there USB Flash Drive and other device. The originality and detail is by far really impressive. With the picture alone I am sold on buying their product.  If you’re a fan of Batman, Marvel, One Piece, and Transformer you need to check out infothink.com.tw to see the amazing collection they have of greatly designed product.

If you would like to purchase their product you can get it on amazon.com by searching infothink.

 

 

AXIS ACT II: INVERSION

                                                       Image Credit: Marvel Comics




Marvel Comics revealed what's coming in Avengers & X-Men: AXIS Act 2 Monday afternoon, ahead of November 2014 solicitations.  To bring the information, they held a conference call with writer Rick Remender and Exectuvie Editor Tom Brevoort, along with members of the comic book press.

Marvel PR Chris D'Lando introduced the people on the call. "What is inversion you ask? Call it the recalibration of the Marvel Universe's moral compass."




Remender started with the high concept of Act II. "The fun of something like this in my mind is to constantly subvert expectations and surprise people with exciting new things. We all have our attention spans destroyed by our cell phones so I don't want to linger on any one idea for more than about five pages (laughs).

"Moving to a new high concept each act keeps people on their toes, keeps things exciting."
Act I is about the Avengers and X-Men teaming up to stop the Red Skull, and that leads to Inversion.
"The way things go and how our heroes have to deal with Red Onslaught leads to a bit of a whammy. With the Inversion aspect, I put on my Dungeon Master's cap and start twisting alignments around."



"It's not so cut and dry for everyone as 'good guy becomes super bad guy.' I think there are a lot of character-defining moments, especially in the second act. It shows you the antithesis of what they normally are and getting into their character."
 
This all leads into the next act, which Remender says is "the biggest X-Men showdown I could think of, and really for everyone. Big things for the Spider-Man world, big things for the Avengers clan."
Inverting Tony Stark leads directly to Superior Iron Man, with the character "switching back to where he started out," which shows how far he's come as a character, the writer said. He praised where Tom Taylor is taking the character as well in the ongoing series.
Several of the characters will get new looks to go with their new outlooks, but not all of them. Deadpool, for example, is in a grey costume, Luke Cage is in a suit with sunglasses, and Tony debuts his new silver armor.

        Image Credit: Marvel Comics



"Deadpool will be playing a really big role in AXIS in a couple of surprising ways," Remender said, "I'm really excited with what's happening with him in the book. There's huge changes coming for Scarlet Witch, Magneto, Doctor Doom, Loki, huge huge beat for Loki. Kid Apocalypse - basically it's all fireworks here, there's no lead-up."
The tie-ins for AXIS will often focus on the Inversion status. Carnage and Hobgoblin in particular use inverted versions of those characters for their tie-in mini-series. "It allows us to look at these characters in a new light," said Brevoort. "It's a morally upstanding Carnage and a Hobgoblin who's a good businessman."

Remender teased, "I don't think I'm spoiling anything saying that Carnage trying to be a good guy, on a redemption arc, still winds up having some bloodshed. I don't want to spoil what they're doing there, it's really cool."
Sam Wilson in his first major moments as Captain America had a "shifting role" in this series. "You will be seeing a pretty nice big fight between Sam Wilson Captain America and all of the X-Men, which doesn't go great for anybody, but was a lot of fun." He'll also have the shifted dynamic with Tony Stark, and Remender says it's a nice stage to give Sam his first go as Cap.

Marvel.com asked the first press question, wondering if Remender will be building off work he's done with the Apocalypse storyline for the last few years.
"Yeah, there's a beat in here. Apocalypse is back, and that's part of the big pyrotechnics show of #4." That does come from his runs on Uncanny X-Force and Uncanny Avengers. "At a certain point, this story - I didn't know it was going to be an event. As it built and the X-Men had a larger role, the Apocalypse beat grew into."

Us: You mentioned Loki who’s kind of a chaotic neutral, but let’s talk about Cyclops - he has been acting how some would describe as villainous lately, but always with the best intentions. So with him as an example, who would an inversion change his point of view and his approach to his mission?


"That's a really big part of what happens in issue 4 and will payout in issue 7. We'll see a reshuffling of things in the X-universe, and that even builds into the future books coming out of that office. In regards to Scott and Alex and the X-Men and Apocalypse - what the X-Men do in this event is not something the world can forget anytime soon. How they deal with Red Onslaught, and what Red Skull did in the first place - they have to deal with the world's endless quest to push them into the mud. So Scott's inversion will play a lot into that."

IGN asked about KLUH, the inverted Hulk - he's actually the Hulk's Hulk. "This new version of the ID, this blackest, darkest most evil thing - the thing born of the abused Bruce Banner as a child. He's a few times stronger and many many times more evil."

Comicvine asked about Scarlet Witch and Dr. Doom on the cover of #6. "I went back and read Children's Crusade and House of M again, i think continuity is important. They've both been inverted, and that leads to some really interesting concepts with one of them out for, I dunno, revenge."

WordBalloon wanted to know more about inverted Hobgoblin. "I think that anything about him kills the reveal of him during Inversion and his tie-in mini-series. Sorry, John, didn't mean to pick yours as the one with no answer."

Comicbook.com asked about characters like Magneto and Loki who have already flipped from villain to hero and back and any other possible spin-offs. "It's not out of the question," said Brevoort. "Maybe, but we're not there yet." "There is for one character," Remender said. "Look... yes, there is at least one villain who will come out of this and be given a bigger spotlight."

CBR asked about playing with new characters he's already fairly familiar with and which he was most excited about. "Hulk for one - the Hulk's Hulk is an idea that makes me run around the office like a lunatic and pat myself on the back. Deadpool is a lot of fun. Havok is a huge amount of fun, Apocalypse; the Summers brothers in general. Iron Man is a lot of fun to write as a megalomaniacal scumbag of the highest order. There's a huge Loki beat in issue 8. Those are the first ones that come to mind," said Remender.

Marvel.com asked about the time-jump in the Avengers titles, and how coordination was done to accomodate AXIS and those time jumps. "The short answer to that is I edit Avengers and New Avengers," said Brevoort. "I know what's going on in both books. We spent a lot of time talking about all of this stuff at our last two or three summits. There is stuff that will be teased, t-ed up or foreshadowed. While we'll be jumping forward 8 months, they'll still be telling their story. So it won't really be a travelogue of "look where all these guys are 8 months from now.""
Us: You said this isn’t just them being brainwashed or anything, and it seems like Tony Stark’s inversion will at least partially be carrying over into his ongoing series after all this - how much of these inversions will stick around or at least be dealt with by the characters afterwords?

"The promise of an event, of something as big as an X-Men and Avengers event, the promise has to be lasting ramifications, and things that carry through. The simplest shorthand was the Symbiote in Secret Wars. I think that's the biggest payoff things. AXIS will lead to a whole new book that I am writing with a number of characters that are very changed from this story. I don't want to give anything away, but the Inversion will not be completely wrapped up - there won't be a perfect bow on this after this story, and it will lead to a lot in many books."
IGN asked if Apocalypse is just the inversion of Genesis: "AXIS #4, on sale in November," said Brevoort.

This storyline is a climax of Remender's Apocalypse story, though. "Tom said hit your last beat then walk away for awhile. I think I have a bit of an obsession. This is the end of my Apocalypse bucket list. My Apocalist." (laughs)

Comicvine asked if any of the neutral characters were hard to write. "Not hard, it was just about spending hours on the phone with Jason Aaron and Al Ewing to get the depth of the status quot currently reflected for Loki. Al had a lot of input on him based on what he's been writing. Loki has a huge beat in this that gives the 12 year old kid in me goosebumps, I'm so excited to see it. The difficulties came more for me from characters like Magneto, who is somewhat justifiably homicidal, not that I'm condoning vigilante murder, let's make that clear. But when you're looking at him it's harder to invert him, what do you get from that? We get a big Magneto, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch,

Dr. Doom story that runs as the B story throughout the second act."
Word Balloon asked about Luke Cage and his inversion. "I'm going to dance and then let Tom take it. Luke is part of - there's a team called Axis, they are the Axis of Evil, a new band of people who are up to no good, and being villainous, hence naming themselves the Axis of Evil. Luke Cage is part of that, as is Medusa, Cap, Odinson, KLUH. Luke's inversion plays a huge part in the second act, and gets a huge setup, then flows over into the crossovers. So does Nova. I highly recommend reading the crossovers because I've read those plans and they're really cool. But we do wind it down into the main series again.

"A bad Luke Cage who runs an Avengers squad? Maybe he's reverting to aspects of his character from the past. Maybe there's a way for Luke to make some money from something with not so many ethics."

Comicbook.com asked about Steve Rogers and his role in AXIS: Inversion. "Steve plays a huge role in the story. I don't want to say too much. If Steve and Sam were at odds, that would be an interesting story, I think."

CBR asked the final question, asking about how the Inversion, and the characters knowing they've changed is reflected. "An inverted character - if you're Sabretooth for example, in your moral compass, you'll no longer kill someone to achieve your goals, you're going to save somebody and take the hit. Who he is as a human, his character, is aligned in a different way. He's no longer capable of killing the way he used to. Imagine you're a serial killer who wakes up with the moral compass of a superhero, but everything else about you is the same.
"We spent a lot of time making lists of what the characters are defined by and then inverting them."


Source: Newsarama.com   by Lucas Siegel site editor Newsarama



             

Kill la Kill’s Ryuko “Figma Figure”

"Life Fiber Synchronize! Kamui Senketsu!"  From the anime series 'Kill la Kill' comes a figma figure of the main character looking to avenge her father, Ryuko Matoi!

Using the smooth yet posable joints of figma, you can act out a variety of different scenes. A flexible plastic is used for important areas, allowing proportions to be kept without compromising posability. She comes with a smiling expression, a shouting expression and an expression with clenched teeth for combat scenes. Her Scissor Blade is included in both standard form and Decapitation Mode. An articulated figma stand is included.

Pre-order, now available from the following sites: CDJAPAN, HOBBYSEARCH, YESASIA, PLAY-ASIA, J-LIST, and PLAMOYA.

Scroll down to see the gallery. Click on them for bigger and better views.

MAX FACTORY Kill la Kill figma Matoi Ryuko 

Release Date: August 2014

Chavo Guerrero Set To Star In His Own Comic Book Series

It was announced at this year’s Comic-Con International: San Diego, professional wrestler Chavo Guerrero will be starring in his own comic book series by Lion Forge Comics, Warrior’s Creed. The six-time WCW/WWE Cruiserweight Champion will be forced to lace up his boots once again as he fights a criminal organization hell bent on revenge.

Warrior’s Creed chronicles the adventures of Chavo Guerrero, a wrestler forced to take his fight outside of the squared circle when the La Iniciativa de Voltan, a.k.a. The Voltan Initiative, look to create an army of unstoppable super criminals using a secret hidden inside the Guerrero family’s DNA. But this secret also holds the key to the Warrior’s Creed, and if unlocked, will also give Chavo Guerrero incredible powers. Powers he must use to stop this insidious band of organized crime lords.

Deadpool co-creatorFabian Nicieza will be scripting Warrior’s Creed with body slamming artwork by Eddie Nunez. Shannon Eric Denton will be refereeing the super-powered wrestling series as editor.

Lion Forge adds Warrior’s Creed to its already impressive collection of celebrity inspired titles, including Rampage Jackson: Street Soldier, based on professional MMA fighter, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson,Wonderous II with cosplay superstar Yaya Han, and The Joshua Run, based on actor/comedian Flex Alexander.

Warrior’s Creed will be available for purchase this fall through the Amazon Kindle Bookstore and Comics Plus app for iOS and Android devices. The entire series run will then be available from Lion Forge's print-partnership with IDW Publishing.

Batman: Assault on Arkham Review

When it comes to animated full length features DC Comics always comes out on top. With movies like Justice League: Doom, Batman: Year One, Superman vs. Elite and Son of Batman they bring adversity and creativity to characters previously seen as one dimensional. The beauty of their most recent endeavor Batman: Assault on Arkham, is that they focus on the villains of DC rather than Batman himself.

It begins with a typical stand off between The Riddler and Amanda Waller, a high ranking US Government official who controls, or so she thinks, The Suicide Squad. Though throughout DC history The Suicide Squad has taken many shapes and forms, this movie sticks to The New 52 variant. Directors Jay Oliva and Ethan Spaulding choose to introduce the members of ‘task force X’ with a highly stylized short and sweet action clip that mirrors scenic montagues in classic heist films. Each character gets a quick clip which seamlessly debuts their individual strength and personality, so audience members who may not be familiar with characters like King Shark have all the information they need to jump right into the action.

The team is dispatched to break into Arkham Asylum to retrieve a thumbdrive stolen by The Riddler containing past, present and future Suicide Squad members. After Round 1: Harley vs Batman the team discovers that the Joker, voiced exceptionally by the Troy Baker, has hidden a dirty bomb at Arkham Asylum. Immediately the stakes are raised and the plot takes off from there. Between a masterfully conceived, and flawlessly executed break into Arkham through action packed all out brawls, shots of several Batman Villain favorites, including Bane and Poison Ivy, and the countdown to detonation DC has succeeded in creating a nail biting edge of your seat film.

While the promotion for this film pushes that it is based on characters the the Arkham Games is a gross overstatement. Batman: Assault on Arkham could be an issue of Suicide Squad. While some DC villains, like the Joker, are malevolent, ruthless and unyielding, DC has several villains that fans sympathize with and they showcase their vulnerability throughout the movie. Deadshot, or Floyd Lawton, in continually shown holding/looking at a picture of his daughter, touching the heart of fathers everywhere. King Shark even shows a softer side by trusting and helping Killer Frost who is turn supports him. The Suicide Squad would not be complete however without Harley Quinn. Originally created by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini for a single episode of the Batman Animated Series, Harley has acquired a mob of die hard fans. The Harley Olivia and Spaulding chose for this particular adventure is an interesting collision of the fun loving, misguided, and naive Harley, with the lethal, psychotic, and overtly sexy Harley. It’s the perfect combination! She goes toe to toe with Batman twice in the film and does a damn good job holding her own! She is also stuck between her two loves The Joker and Deadshot which was an interesting choice made in recent New 52 comics.

The style and tone of the movie compliments that of Son of Batman effortlessly. DC is no stranger the grotesque and gruesome. The animators were not afraid to add splashes of blood  throughout the movie along side of gruesome fight sequences. This includes the explosion of some characters head from their spine. So when Deadshot continues to rumble with the Joker with shards of glass sticking out of his body it’s a perfectly monstrous way to end this spellbinding feature. Also they are not afraid to cut off younger audiences by adding an apparent, and brief sex scene between Harley and Deadshot and well as a lot of bare back shots for both Harley and Killer Frost.

Batman: Assault on Arkham is a thrilling and gripping mission from start to finish. It is filled with bawdy strong women fighting alongside volatile intuitive villains in a Heist that will go down in the history books. It is available now on Blu Ray/DVD as well as digital download.

Final Score: 4.5/5

The Cosplayers of Otakon 2014 (Part 1)

Otakon 2014 is a wrap and we saw a lot of great cosplayers this year. Here is part one of some of the great cosplaying from Bray Wyatt, No Face, Sailor Moon and many more. Be sure to check out our other coverage of Otakon 2014 here 

http://www.otakusandgeeks.com/search/label/Otakon%202014

. Now it's time for some cosplaying hope you enjoy.

Interview With Morris Jamlang (Founder of Equilibrium)

We stop by the Equilibrium booth at Otakon and chat it up with founder and creator Morris Jamlang. He talks how his company got started and shows us a tutorial of his product the amazing Equilibrium bag. Visit

www.equnit.com

for more on Equilibrium. Here is a little about Equlibrium from their official website. Believe me when I tell you that is bag is a must. Watch the interview below. 

"Equilibrium U.S.G. is a modular gear and accessories company. Research and design took roughly two years to complete with an additional year of quality testing among friends and family before the bags were introduced to our first retail opportunity at A.Okay, located in Chicago’s Wrigleyville area; home to the Chicago Cubs Baseball Team.  It was nicely situated in a high traffic area with an ecclectic demographic. Since then, we not only sell online, we have also branched out to 5 brick and mortar locations in the Chicagoland area."

Morris Jamlang Showing Off An Equilibrium

Justin & Morris Jamlang

Godzilla Cataclysm: Vol 1 Review

Godzilla Cataclysm is a recent mini comic series published by IDW Publishing. The king of all monsters returns to the comics, however is it any good? I'm happy to say yes it is. So far Godzilla Cataclysm is up to a  promising start. The story follows a group of human survivors after a huge battle between the monsters. The world has been destroyed and has enter officially the post apocalyptic era. The remaining humans are doing what they must to survive. In this issue it centers on a group of survivors trying to gather supplies. The monsters haven't been seen in a long time, so the survivors travel to outskirts of the safe zone. The survivors soon find out that they're not alone.

Godzilla Cataclysm does a great job of setting up this post apoocalyptic world. I like the fact that the battle with monsters are already over. Instead of showing the invasion with monsters and having Godzilla save the day. We get a world that has already been destoryed by battles Godzilla has already have. It's nice to see the effects of Godzilla's battles. Humans are starving for food, supplies for health and much more. It's a realistic approach on what will happen if Godzilla actually exist. The human characters so far are likeable and the pacing is really flushed out. The first issue doesn't give you much in terms of backstory or character development. However it does great on setting up this new universe. The art is great and has a lot of detail on the destruction of the city. I really enjoy the use of color for overcast and environments. Overall Godzilla is back and it's something you should check out.

Final Grade: 8.0/10

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Vol 37 Review

In TMNT issue #37 the heroes on the half shell are not present. Instead the focal point of this issue is on Shredder and Krang. Shredder is on Krang's boat trying to get the general to join his side. Krang feels that he has all the power, all the resources that he doesn't need Shredder at all. I won't get into more details because it travels into spoiler area. I will say that what transpires is pretty epic and shows how much of a bad ass Shredder really is. This issue not only shows Shredder true intentions, but also a makes you actually cheer for him. Even though Shredder's intentions are completely evil, I couldn't help myself cheering for him when Krang was being all arrogant. Yes Shredder is evil, but he is human at the end of the day and you see layers of his loyalty to his foot clan and people who place faith in him.

Overall this issue was very well written. The action was packed with Shredder stealing the scene. Reading this made me respect Shredder and really hate Krang. Even though the turtles weren't in this issue I didn't miss them, and that was thanks to ole Shred Head. The art is great especially the action that takes place on the boat. Facial expressions, movements of the battle made me really wish this was longer. If you're a fan of Shredder this is an issue that you have to check out.

Final Grade: 9.0/10

World Trigger “TV Anime”

On July 8 of last month Toei Animation officially announced that it’s working on the upcoming TV Anime adaptation of Daisuke Ashihara’s sci-fi action manga World Trigger. Yuki Kaji, Nobuhiko Okamoto, Rie Kugimiya, Jun Fukuyama, Hideyuki Tanaka, Nao Tamura and Tomo Muranaka have been listed as cast of the TV anime adaptation to debut this October 2014.

The upcoming anime adaptation is going to be working off the manga that debuted in last year's 11th issue of Japan's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. VIZ Media added the series to its digital anthology version of Weekly Shonen Jump, and it will publish the first print volume on October 7.

Plot Summary:

Destroy thy Neighbor! A gate to another dimension has burst open, and invincible monsters called Neighbors invade Earth. Osamu Mikumo may not be the best among the elite warriors who co-opt other-dimensional technology to fight back, but along with his Neighbor friend Yuma, he’ll do whatever it takes to defend life on Earth as we know it.

The World Trigger television anime will premiere on the TV Asahi station and its affiliates in October 2014.  Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine's Jump Special Anime Festa will screen a World Trigger anime at its tour this November 2014. In the meantime you can check the World Trigger Manga Promotional Video below.

It's An Otaku Thing Episode 7: Otakon 2014

Justin, Ashley and Liz talk about Otakon 2014 and answer listeners questions. Make sure to check out our new interview with voice actress Wendee Lee (/www.otakusandgeeks.com/akusandgeeks.com/2014/08/interview-with-wendee-lee.html)

GENIUS Issue #1 Review

                                                 image credit: Image Comics Art By: Afua Richardson

Hey Otakus and Geeks fans, Today I want to talk about a new series out from Image Comics called Genius. From writers Marc Bernardin and Adam Freeman (Alphas, X-Men Origins: Nightcrawler, The Authority, The Highwaymen), rising-star artist Afua Richardson, and Top Cow’s Minotaur Press.

What if the greatest military mind of our generation was born to a people who are already supremely conditioned to wage war, who know nothing but violence since birth, and must continually adapt to new predators in order to survive? What if the second coming of Alexander the Great, of Genghis Khan, of Napoleon, of Patton...what if it was a teenaged girl from South Central, L.A. named Destiny?

Review:

The first issue is a great introduction to the life and horrors the main character ( Destiny ) has had to face. Destiny is calculating, intelligent, and passionate to the point that every single one of her actions feels like it exists to ultimately help the cause and her well-crafted back story gives some much needed insight as to just how far she will go to reach her goal of peace among the streets. Another character that stands out in this issue is a cop named Reginald Grey. Grey is the only one that thinks there is something bigger going on than just the gang war. At this point in the story he has no idea who Destiny is. He  has put together a profile on who the leader of the gang is, but his profile is of a male not female. It will be interesting to see how Grey approaches his investigation when Destiny is revealed.

The art is  great for the issue and the cover is amazing. Richardson often utilizes a thick, colorful outline around characters that’s reminiscent of graffiti art. Genius will be a short series, but definitely a series you should pick up and add to your collection.

Genius
Story By: Adam Freeman and Marc Bernardin
Art By: Afua Richardson
Published By: Image comics





by Sean Tucker

Nas Announces Upcoming Fall 2014 Tour Dates

As some you know I' am a huge Nas fan. He is my favorite Hip-Hop artist ever. I had the pleasure of watching his documentary at Tribeca Film Fest. I also review the film which you can see here /www.otakusandgeeks.com/akusandgeeks.com/2014/04/time-is-illmatic-review.html. Well Nas has announced his offical fall tour date in conjuction with "Time is Illmatic."

Nas will be kicking off a North American Fall Tour on October 2, 2014 in Rochester, NY (see below for full tour routing), in conjunction with a special screening of his documentary film, Nas: Time is Illmatic. Each show on the tour will be a special event where the film will screen followed by Nas performing Illmatic start to finish. The film will open theatrically via Tribeca Film beginning in New York on October 1st, with a national expansion to follow. It will be available on demand and iTunes starting October 3^rd. The tour and the theatrical release of the film will cap off Illmatic’s 20^th anniversary celebration.

Nas: Time is Illmatic follows the trajectory of his 1994 landmark debut album, Illmatic. It traces Nas’ influences and the insurmountable odds he faced in creating the greatest work of music from hip-hop’s second golden era. The documentary is directed by multimedia artist, One9, written by Erik Parker, and produced by One9, Parker, and Anthony Saleh. The film was supported by The Ford Foundation’s Just Films, Tribeca Film Institute’s Tribeca All Access program, and Hennessy V.S. to help bring Nas’ inspiring story of tireless pursuit of excellence to audiences nationwide.

"I want to thank Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal, and the Tribeca Film family for all of the love & support they've given Time Is Illmatic,” said Nas . “It is an honor to be in partnership with them, and I feel there is a cultural kinship bonded by the city of New York."

“When we started this project, Erik Parker and I couldn’t imagine that audiences would one day be able to experience the film with a live performance of Illmatic, the album that started it all. It will make each night a truly special moment for the culture. We are sure people of all generations will be inspired by the story of Nas, the Jones family, and electrified by a live performance,” said One9.

Nas recently released a special 20^th Anniversary edition of the album, titled Illmatic XX. PRESS HERE to download it now. In support of the album, Nas will be going on tour this upcoming fall.

 

 

Hatsune Miku US Expo Coming to NY & LA

"Hatsune Miku Expo" is coming to this U.S. this fall. Part of a worldwide event inaugurated in Indonesia this spring, the expo will bring the cyber-celebrity Hatsune Miku to Los Angeles and New York City this October. The "Hatsune Miku Expo" will give fans a chance to celebrate the cultural movement surrounding the success of this global icon through a comprehensive expo featuring a revolutionary 3D live show, fan-gathering activities and art exhibitions.

Hatsune Miku will perform at Los Angeles' Nokia Theatre on October 11 and 12, and New York's Hammerstein Ballroom on October 17and 18. While in Los Angeles, a two-day Halloween-themed event and exhibition will take place in downtown LA. In New York, the Lower East Side gallery and concept space Wallplay will host, over a period of eleven days, a selection of outstanding Hatsune Miku artworks using various media.

The Hatsune Miku 3D Live Show is a new form of entertainment with no limits to the viewer's imagination. The 3D live show is where the most popular songs issued from the community are performed by a live band along with the projected virtual singer Hatsune Miku, who thanks to cutting-edge technology is made to appear as if she was actually on stage. These shows are a unique event where creators can go and celebrate their own art among the other fans.

The Hatsune Miku 3D live show sold out immediately upon its announcement in Japan and several other cities around the world, and saw Hatsune Miku perform in front of an estimated 85,000 people. In the spring of 2014, Hatsune Miku was chosen as Lady Gaga's opening act on her North American Art Pop tour.

 

 

Sailor Moon Press Conference With 1990's Cast Members

At Otakon 2014 we had the pleasure of attending the 1990's Sailor Moon press conference. In attendence was Sailor Moon herself Linda Ballantyne, Sailor Mars played by Katie Griffin and voice director John Stocker.

You can listen to the press conference below and a watch a clip below.

Yowamushi Pedal “Compilation Anime Film”

This year's combined 36th/37th issue of Akita Shoten's Weekly Shōnen Champion magazine formally confirmed that the recently concluded 38-episodeYowamushi Pedal anime television series will get a recap movie next month. The “Yowamushi Pedal: Re:RIDE” feature film will summarize the first half of the TV series  with some cuts of new footage added. The movie based on Wataru Watanabe’s cycle racing manga will get limited Japanese theatrical release from September 19 to October 2. While supplies last, each moviegoer will receive one of 15 randomly distributed metal character badges.

Weekly Shōnen Champion is also announcing that the upcoming second television anime season will have the title Yowamushi Pedal: Grande Road. The staff and cast of the first TV series will return for the upcoming season.

The anime is created by TMS Entertainment and directed by Osamu Nabeshima with character design by Takahiko Yoshida.

The manga follows Sakamichi Onoda, an otaku at Sōhoku High School. He loves anime and games so much, that he would ride his commuter bicycle to and from Tokyo's Akihabara shopping district in a 90-kilometer (about 60-mile) round trip over steep slopes after school. Onoda's life changes when he encounters his school's cycling team, and he ends up joining the competitive sport of bicycle racing.

The television anime premiered last October, and Crunchyroll streamed the anime outside of Japan as it aired. The second season will premiere in October. Japanese theater chain TOHO Cinemas had already listed a Yowamushi Pedal film opening on September 19.

Wataru Watanabe launched the original manga in Akita Shoten's Weekly Shōnen Champion magazine in 2008, andAkita Shoten has printed 10 million copies of the manga's volumes. Besides the anime, the original manga also inspired stage plays and spinoff manga.

For those not familiar with the anime check out the preview trailer of the first season.