Welcome back to another installment of “Last Week in Geekdom” where I comb the internet for all the news you need to know so you don’t have to. Next week starts the October Halloween specials on the blog, and I hope you all will stop by during next month to check out some great fantasy/magical anime and manga I’ll be highlighting. As for highlights from this week: Sony Pictures has merged Funimation and Aniplex to improve their world-wide distribution; HIDIVE and MyAnimeList have formed a partnership; and the Joker movie is drawing a lot of controversy and fears of violence as it begins screening in theaters. Make sure to check out some of the articles and videos linked below as well, and as always, have a great rest of your Sunday!
Anime and Manga News
Sony Pictures has decided to merge two of its businesses, Funimation and Aniplex. The merger would create a new joint venture between the US-based Funimation and the French and Australian-based Aniplex, allowing the company to distribute anime to a wider global audience.
Another production assistant, this time working for Studio 4C, has joined a labor union to try and negotiate for unpaid overtime pay. The employee alleges that he worked more than 100 hours of overtime and that many employees worked more than 200, but has never received pay for those hours. After finding the studio unwilling to negotiate, the employee sought help from a labor union.
HIDIVE and MyAnimeList have announced a partnership. MyAnimeList will be integrating content ratings into HIDIVE’s website for its anime content. Meanwhile, an embedded HIDIVE media player will be added to the MAL website later in 2019.
Anime Announcements:
- Demon Slayer to get sequel movie
- Haikyu!! coming to Netflix Oct 1st
- Fire Force 2nd cour to start Nov. 1st
- We Never Learn season 2 coming Oct. 5th
- Psycho-Pass 3 premieres Oct 24th
Manga Announcements:
- Seven Deadly Sins gets special 43-page chapter Oct 2
Comics News
Marvel Studios and Sony have reached an agreement to keep Spider-Man in the MCU. The two companies were previously at an impasse over the current licensing agreement for the superhero, but have seemed to come to some agreement. A new movie starring Spider-Man, with Tom Holland reprising his role, is set to come out in 2021.
Stan Lee’s daughter J.C. has picked up the lawsuit against POW Entertainment in regards to her late father’s intellectual property. The suit claims that near the end of Lee’s life POW executives took advantage of his age and either made him sign documents under fraudulent circumstances or outright forged his signature. The suit will examine the years between 2001 and 2017 and seek to regain his intellectual property rights.
The New York Times has announced that it is reinstating the graphic novel bestseller list. Three years ago they announced the newspaper would be doing away with the list to the chagrin of many graphic novel fans. Now the bestseller list will be coming back October 3rd online and October 20th in print.
The Joker movie is getting a lot of press lately surrounding the violence depicted in the movie. Opponents of the film have said it seems to endorse violence. The film was recently banned in Aurora, the place of the 2012 mass shooting at the screening of The Dark Knight Rises, with concerns over its display of gun violence. The FBI has also issued a warning to Amy Service Personnel to be on the lookout for probable “incel” violence at screenings email circulated recently. In the wake of this controversy, Warner Bros has released an official statement saying it does not believe the film condones gun violence nor does the film endorse his actions.
Featured Articles and Interviews
- Kotaku sits down with Macross co-creator Shoji Kawamori to talk about both modern and classic anime and how the industry has both changed and stayed the same over the years.
- Paige Allen writes for Women Write About Comics on the history and influence of pin up star Bettie Paige on the comic book industry in the mid to late 20th century.
- Louis Skye, for Women Write About Comics, sits down with Hope Nicholson to talk about Pros and (Comic) Cons and her experiences with conventions and the comic book industry.
Featured Videos
- Gigguk gives us a hilarious look into the world and history of the hentai genre. (Obviously NSFW)
- Wisecrack takes a look at the upcoming film Thor: Love and Thunder and discusses its possible religious undertones as shown by the comics it will be based on and makes predictions on future films.
- Zeria digs into the history of the yuri genre in the years after the second world war in Japan.
Featured WordPress Post
- Kaitlyn Ugoretz for Beneath the Tangles examines the religious undertones of many Ghibli films, taking a look at the myriad of ways his stories and characters can be interpreted.
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