Latest news with #GKids
Gizmodo
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
‘Arcane' Season 2 Gets a Lavish Home Release, Just in Time for Emmy Season
With Emmy season in full swing and a lot of eyes on whether Riot Games and Fortiche's League of Legends studio will sweep an already steep competitive lineup of animated shows, GKids has announced a slew of home release pre-order editions for Arcane season two, freeing it from the confines of streaming. In a press release, GKids announced that the home release of Arcane season two will feature a limited-run Collector's Edition. This will include SteelBook Editions in both 4K UHD and Blu-ray formats, a standard Blu-ray edition, and options for Digital Download-to-Own. Bonus features in Arcane's home release will include an artist gallery, a writer's room, and artist breakdowns of its three acts, as well as storyboards and music videos. All editions of Arcane season two are available for pre-order on GKids' website. GKids' home video pre-orders announcement for Arcane season two comes following the animated video game adaptation's two Emmy nominations for Outstanding Animated Program and Outstanding Sound Editing. In the series' history, Arcane has been nominated for seven Emmys, making it one of the most decorated video game-adapted series ever. To celebrate this achievement, Fortiche released an illustration of Jinx, a tradition it's established whenever Arcane is mentioned during awards season. Given that 2024 was a banner year for animation, it remains to be seen if Arcane can achieve similar success with its second and final season, potentially bringing home more awards. This success has notably legitimized video game adaptations as a valuable and worthwhile pursuit in the entertainment industry, one worth nurturing—especially for Riot Games—in the years to come. Humbled to receive nominations at this year's #Emmys, including Outstanding Animated Program. Congratulations to cast and crew 💙 Artwork by our talented artists. ✨#Fortiche #Arcane #Fortichers — Fortiche prod (@ForticheProd) July 16, 2025While we preferred season one of Arcane over season two, io9's review celebrated the show for its poignant queer representation and its extraordinary animation. Fortunately, aside from Riot Games' 'Timebomb'-focused post-show music video, the company isn't showing any signs of slowing down in producing more animated adventures within the expansive world of League of Legends. In other words, fans can look forward to exploring different narratives from the game without having to play League itself—something both Riot Games co-founder Marc Merrill and players caution curious Netflix viewers about. Both seasons of Arcane are available to stream on Netflix. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what's next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Thus Spoke the Wind' Trailer Hints at a Vivid, Metaphysical Ride in the Armenian Drama (Exclusive)
Armenian crime drama Thus Spoke the Wind, written and directed by Maria Rigel, will have its world premiere as part of the Proxima competition lineup of the 2025 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF). The independent Armenian production stars Albert Babajanyan, Lusine Avanesyan, and Annika Abrahamyan, with cinematography by Ayrat Yamilov. More from The Hollywood Reporter Animated Werewolf Movie 'Dog of God' Debuts Wild Trailer With Hitler Look-Alike Getting Tortured (Exclusive) GKids Acquires Japanese Anime 'ChaO' for North America (Exclusive) Kneecap to Perform at 2025 Glastonbury Festival Despite Calls to Drop Band THR can now exclusively unveil the poster and a trailer for the movie. The film tells the story of a family on the edge of society. Hayk, a withdrawn and aloof child, lives on a farm with his aunt Narine and gets mocked and called strange by others. After a lengthy stay abroad, his mother returns to the farm. 'The locals openly condemn her behavior because she does not follow the rules of society,' reads a plot synopsis. 'Narine, unable to forgive Anahit for the shame brought upon her with her behavior, decides to take revenge.' The movie features local talent, most of whom are not professional actors. That choice reflects the director's attempt to ensure 'authenticity and create a sense of documentary realism,' she explains in a director's statement. The crew consisted of local people and immigrants from the post-Soviet countries. 'The film continues the cultural traditions of Armenian auteur cinema,' Rigel says. 'The documentary style of the film is combined with the bright color poetics of [Soviet filmmaker Sergei] Parajanov's cinema, which reflects the modern world of Armenia, the clash of traditions of the past and present.' She also notes the importance of the music in the film. 'The soundtrack to the film was created by American composer Steve Brand,' known for his ambient music with tribal and ritualistic vibes, the director says. 'His magical music perfectly emphasizes the spirit of modern Armenian aesthetics.' The idea for the film first came to her in 2022 after relocating to Armenia. 'I was deeply moved by this country – its culture, nature, and people. Contemporary Armenia holds within it layers of both the past and the present, coexisting in a constant, unresolved tension, and yet somehow complementing one another,' she recalls. 'Through the story, I wanted to symbolically reflect the clash between the archaicmindset of a traditional society and the quiet rebellion of a younger generation.' The KVIFF description of the film also notes: 'This cryptic, visually and aurally mesmerizing film, viewed through the eyes of a child forced to grow up too soon, is dominated by the all-pervading motif of the wind. Its rustling stirs the tension in a radicalizing conservative society, while its wailing heralds the irreversible consequences of raging human emotion.' Watch the trailer for Thus Spoke the Wind below to get a first taste for its visual and audio style, as well as its characters. Best of The Hollywood Reporter 13 of Tom Cruise's Most Jaw-Dropping Stunts Hollywood Stars Who Are One Award Away From an EGOT 'The Goonies' Cast, Then and Now
Gizmodo
04-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
The Voices Behind ‘Dan Da Dan' Look Back on the Anime of 2024, and Ahead to What's Next
Dan Da Dan is set to make a highly anticipated return to streaming platforms. Ahead of the new season, Science Saru and GKids are collaborating again to release Dan Da Dan: Evil Eye, a theatrical cut featuring the first three episodes of the second season. This release will also include a special behind-the-scenes interview with co-directors Fuga Yamashiro and Abel Gongora. After a special Los Angeles screening of Dan Da Dan: Evil Eye, io9 held a virtual interview with the English voice cast: Abby Trott (who voices Momo Ayase), A.J. Beckles (Okarun), and Aleks Le (Jiji Enjoji). During our conversation, the three cast members reflected on their favorite moments from the previous season and shared their excitement about the scenes they are eager for fans to experience in the upcoming compilation preview film, which will be released June 6, as well as the anime's new season premiering in July. This interview has been edited for brevity. Isaiah Colbert, io9: You've voiced plenty of standout characters in anime, but Dan Da Dan's Momo Ayase is one of my personal favorites. With her being a co-lead in a shonen series—a genre that traditionally puts male protagonists in the spotlight—what about Momo makes her special to you, and how do you think she stands out even more in the shonen landscape this season? Abby Trott: I love voicing Momo. I've been having so much fun with her. And it's interesting that this anime, although maybe if you had to put a label on it, a shonen has a lot of elements from different genres incorporated into it. And I think that helps Momo stand out. We do see a romance element, whereas in a lot of typical shonen, the protagonist will typically not be aware of romantic advances or intentions from a female protagonist. But in this, very early on, there's a relationship there. We can only look forward to seeing how that is going to grow and develop over the course of however many seasons the show goes on. For forever. I think she's very confident, and she cares fiercely about her loved ones; she's willing to do anything to protect them. Those are things about Momo that I love. I think that I read an interview with the mangaka, where he said that Momo is his favorite character, and that he compared her to Superman. She makes everyone else around her want to step up to the plate and do their best, too. And that's one element that I really like about her. She makes everyone want to do their best. io9: In your last interview with io9, you mentioned being a fan of the Dan Da Dan manga and having read it before auditioning. Were there any specific scenes from the manga that you were particularly excited to bring to life in season two ? A.J. Beckles: The whole first interaction with Evil Eye is so cool in the manga. Science Saru, like always, took it and made it so much better; they added so much more content. I went back and read it recently, just to make sure that I was prepared for a recording, and I was like, 'Oh, wow!' when I went in. They added a lot, and they did a great job. I think those interactions are what I most looked forward to. Acro Silky was definitely a cool fight, but it wasn't like a traditional hand-to-hand combat situation that this was with Evil Eye and Okarun. So I was really excited to see what that would look like, and they knocked it out of the park—Evil Eye's ball thing that he uses is really cool. Aleks Le: It's kind of Okarun's first fight fight. He's not just launching himself. Beckles: He has to dodge and punch, or whatever else, which he doesn't really know how to do. You get to see that bit of awkwardness, too, that he clearly doesn't know what he's doing versus Evil Eye, who seems so experienced in comparison. It's interesting, and they did a great job of showing that. io9: First off, congrats on your anime voice acting award for Solo Leveling, Aleks. You've really kept your finger on the pulse of fan engagement—not just by pushing your vocal limits as Sung Jinwoo but also by embracing the memes and sharing behind-the-scenes moments on TikTok. In Dan Da Dan season one, you threw 'Deez Nuts' into the mix, making it an unexpectedly perfect fit for the series' chaotic energy. Can you walk me through how that creative choice came about with the team at Bang Zoom? And are there any other localization line reads you're especially excited to bring to life in season two? Aleks Le: First of all, thank you so much for the congratulations. I appreciate it. And as for that particular line, I made a video about that where I said that the line was actually adapted by our English dub director, Alex Von David, who is wonderfully talented. He put so many funny things into the dub like the usage of the word 'bitch' by almost everybody. Those were always really fun. He had pitched the idea of for this joke. He was like, 'Maybe we should put deez nuts in there.' We were discussing it back and forth because it was just two words, but there was so much history behind the meme itself that we wanted to get it just right for the show. I feel like the meaning and the definition of deez nuts have been watered down over the years, and we really needed to hone in on it. What ended up happening was that we performed it once initially, and Alex was like, 'That's good. I think we should put the emphasis on deez, like deez nuts.' And I was like, 'But I want to do it like the original.' So he was like, 'Oh, the original, deez nuts?' and I'm like, 'You've seen the video?' And he's like, 'I've heard it thrown around, but I don't remember the video.' So I was like, 'Okay,' [so] I pulled up the video, and our poor engineer had to just sit there as I showed him the deez nuts and then we were going back and forth on it. He was very insistent on one way and I was like, 'I want to do it exactly like the video.' We did it so many times, and then we finally found one that we were both really happy with. So that was how deez nuts ended up in the show. Alex is a driving force of this adaptation. In terms of improv, it's always the most unnoticeable, subtle moments of comedy, I feel, are where my strong suits come in. There's a lot of Jiji reads where I really want to make it sound as noncommittal as possible, as in it doesn't sound like somebody who's doing a performance. It sounds like you walked by a group of teenagers, and you had your microphone up to them, and you heard what they're saying. 'Oh, my God, blah blah blah blah.' They shout basically drivel. That's my favorite part of the improv that we get to do. We do have a lot of limitations on what we can and can't do. One of my favorite improvs that didn't make it was in episode 11 when Jiji first introduces himself. We had him singing the Dan Da Dan theme song, and it was really really good. But then we looked back on it, and we were just like 'It's too meta. It wouldn't really make sense for the moment.' In the future, though, I hope we can throw it back in there somewhere. io9: Alongside their seiyuus, you've all brought Okarun, Momo, and Jiji to life beautifully, capturing the essence of the anime's low-taper fade occult nerd, outspoken gyaru, and resident himbo. As season two approaches, what aspects of their dynamics are you most excited to explore, and how has your approach to voicing them evolved, especially while recording separately, and the energy each of you is bringing into the booth? Trott: For Momo, this season kicks off with a lot of action. The first three episodes (that hopefully you'll go see in theaters, everyone) is a lot of yelling and a lot of [being] in the action. I'm looking forward to getting back to the elements, such as the relationships between the other characters Momo's relationship with Okarun. I love how Momo has this kind of cute way of speaking to him at times, which is her way of flirting. Just those little moments, I'm looking forward to the development of relationships. Beckles: I'm looking forward to seeing how Okarun reacts to Jiji. Okarun is so polite, and he's very cognizant of thinking about what he says before he says it. He's very mature for his age in terms of how he views relationships and communication and Jiji throws all that out of the window. I'm interested to see how he handles it. It'll be fun to play like him handling those moments where he's trying to be a certain way, trying to be like kosher, and Jiji doesn't care. And how he's gonna handle coming out of his shell more. I think Jiji is gonna bring some of that out of Okarun. But in the meantime, I think where we're at, it's very much Okarun knowing who Jiji is, but they haven't spent a lot of time together. Only just now, at the end of the last season, he's on the train, and they're talking about the magazine Okarun is sharing and Jiji is genuinely interested. Okarun's never had that before—a friend who's not picking on him—and I think that'll be really cool to see Okarun embrace and learn not to see Jiji as a threat to his new feelings he has towards Momo. Or maybe he still will. It'll be cool to see that unfold and watch all those different personalities interact—Momo instigating moments and trying to get them to be friends—and it'll be cool. Le: I think we all know each other pretty well, and our performance styles. We are aware of how each of us would act. We have a good image in our heads of how one person would do a specific read or [how] one person would interpret the scene this way and, ultimately, the nuances of those performances in the final surprise us. But, for the most part, we have a really good idea of what the other person's gonna do. I feel that closeness and understanding has given us the ability to performing these scenes basically in the dark, yet still having them mesh really well with each other. I feel like we all understand each other's sense of humor or acting choices pretty well, for the most part. Dan Da Dan season two premieres this July on Netflix, Crunchyroll, and Hulu. Evil Eye hits theaters across the U.S. June 6.
Geek Tyrant
04-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Tyrant
Teaser Trailer for the Anime Film 100 METERS About a Running Rivalry — GeekTyrant
GKids has revealed a teaser trailer for the upcoming new anime film 100 Meters , which centers on two characters who are gifted runners and their relationship. It starts out as a mentorship, and then turns into a rivalry. 100 Meters follows Togashi, 'a track star who is born to run. As a kid, he is naturally gifted and wins every 100-meter race without much effort. But in 6th grade, he meets Komiya, a transfer student who is full of determination but lacks technique. 'In teaching him, Togashi gives him a new purpose: to win no matter what. Years pass by, and Togashi and Komiya meet again later as rivals on the track and reveal their true selves.' This film has been getting a lot of positive buzz, and it comes from filmmaker Kenji Iwaisawa ( On-Gaku: Our Sound ) and the voice cast includes Shouta Sometani and Tori Matsuzaka. This looks like a great film and an awesome rivalry story that spans decades. I'm excited to watch this one, and it will open first in Japan on September 19th, 2025. GKids will also debut 100 Meters in US theaters starting October 2025.
Gizmodo
02-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
‘Dan Da Dan' Co-Director on Hideaki Anno's Impact and Upping the Ante for Season 2
Abel Gongora dives into what's to come in the anime's next installment—as well as what it was like tag-teaming with its OG director to surpass the high bar set by season one. Dan Da Dan is poised to make its highly anticipated return to streaming platforms this July. Ahead of the yokai-meets-sci-fi anime series' second season, studio Science Saru and GKids have joined forces once more with Dan Da Dan: Evil Eye, a theatrical premiere featuring the first three episodes of its forthcoming season. They pick up right where the season one cliffhanger left off adapting creator Yukinobu Tatsu's ongoing manga. While the theatrical event includes an insightful interview video with its directors, io9 pierced the veil even further, chatting with Abel Gongora, the opening theme director of Dan Da Dan's first season and co-director for its upcoming season. During our conversation, Gongora reflected on the pop culture influences that inspired his creative process and his evolving role co-directing alongside longtime collaborator Fuga Yamashiro—and how their shared creative vision and occasional artistic disagreements contributed to the tag-team ebb and flow of Dan Da Dan season two's early production. This interview has been edited for clarity. Isaiah Colbert, io9: Season one ended on a suspenseful cliffhanger that left fans eager for more. Was that always the plan from the start, or did the decision evolve during production to build anticipation for season two? Abel Gongora: That was decided at the very beginning—that's more like a script decision. They have the manga already, so they can see where they want to cut, and that was done very early in the production. io9: This time around, you're stepping into a co-director role instead of just handling the show's opening, which featured shadowy silhouettes and bold, Kon Ichikawa-styled typography. What led to that shift from being the opening director to the co-director for season two? Gongara: After the opening, I started to assist [Yamashiro] also. I got involved in the project, and then I got to understand important things to know, like the characters' story. It went kind of smooth because I was already in season [one] a little bit. The production is really difficult—it's a lot of work to do one season. Production thought it would be good to have two directors so the work is not too hard on the season one director. I started with all the setting designs that we had at the end of season one, then it was already decided, so I kind of slowly started [directing] in season two. io9: Dan Da Dan's opening theme by Creepy Nuts became an instant fan favorite and even won a couple of anime awards. The sequence features clear nods to pop culture iconography, such as Ultraman, blending bold stylistic choices with the show's unique energy. What inspired that creative direction, and do you have a personal favorite moment from its opening sequence? Gongara: At that time, I talked with the director of season one [and] he gave me total freedom because we have worked together for a long time. He knows, more or less, my style. He just asked me to use Ultraman as a reference—those silhouette pictures. He'd say, 'As long as you use that, it's okay. You can do whatever you want.' So I started watching Ultraman and I started to find some ideas on how to use it, and I also added something extra to make another kind of scenes in the opening. We agreed we didn't want to have the normal look of the show, so it looks a little bit more like shiny fancy colors—a little bit more special. I showed all the ideas and concepts to the director. He liked it. Then I started I started the storyboard when I got the song. I thought the song was really cool, so it was exciting to do the storyboard, because you have to feel the rhythm and find ideas according to the rhythm of the song. Yamashiro was really open to everything. It was difficult, but it was fun. My favorite part is the silhouette that I did myself. And then some of the rough animation cuts that were done by one guy on the team, who is a really amazing animator. I was very happy because I asked him if he could do it on paper and pencil. The picture, like the grain of the paper, is on the screen. If you stop the frame, it has the real grain of the paper, and then the real pencil. That is something we don't do any more in animation. It's kind of like a lot of work, and I'm very happy this animator did it. It turned out to be very beautiful. Also, I did the compositing at the end because I wanted to push that rough style. Yeah, those parts are my favorite in the opening. io9: Will season two's opening, 'On My Way' by AiNA THE END, follow a similar approach to using silhouettes like the first season did, or can audiences expect something entirely new meshing with the poppy sound of AiNA's song? Gongara: It's gonna be completely different. I cannot say much, but it's gonna be really different and I'm happy about it. I think it's amazing. I wanted something different, because otherwise it might look like trying to redo something that was good, and I thought that wouldn't be interesting. But yeah, you will see. io9: In the Evil Eye director interview, you mentioned watching and drawing heavy inspiration from horror films and Hong Kong cinema to help shape your approach to the Evil Eye arc. What films helped you nail Dan Da Dan's action-meets-horror atmosphere in season two? Gongara: The main reference for Dan Da Dan would be Ultraman, of course. I really liked the way Hideaki Anno did the new version of Ultraman, Shin Ultraman. We also have kaiju and things like that, so I really liked Shin Godzilla and Shin Kamen Rider. There's also some common points with Kung Fu movies. They sometimes share similar storytelling, with one influencing the other. For example, like a crush-zoom on the face of a character, things like that are used a lot in both media. We try to analyze those things. I'm also very influenced by the Alien movies. That also fits Dan Da Dan's science fiction part, and it's very scary. I think the original Alien is a really amazing film. I don't think there's really a movie that mixes all this, but we try to get the ideas and general influence by watching a lot of films. I think Yamashiro-san would do that, too. io9: The first season was a huge visual spectacle, effortlessly shifting between horror, action, and romance with expressive animation that heightened every moment. Were there any specific scenes from the manga that pushed the studio creatively in season two? Moments where animation allowed the series to take things to another level, but proved to be a challenge to get over the finish line? Gongara: (laughs) We are in the middle of [production] today. We are trying new things like mixing 3D sometimes to help the animators. Sometimes, we have ideas that cannot be done by traditional animation, or it would be crazy to do. We are trying to find how to use 3D in a more creative way. There's a little bit in Evil Eye, too. We are experimenting a little bit with the 3D. We also have a lot of new music in the season, and we are experimenting a little bit with the way we use it. io9: You've mentioned that you and Yamashiro have worked together before, in a collaborative setting. How has the meshing of both your styles to create Dan Da Dan season two been? Has it proved to be a rough feeling-out process working through where you guys disagree creatively, or has it been a seamless transition for the two of you? Gongara: I think, of course, [Yamashiro] has more heavy involvement because he decided all the things you can see in season one, and I tried to follow his direction. Of course, we don't agree on everything. But we have half of the season divided. It's not exactly like half-and-half. It's like I've got the first arc, then he gets the second arc, and then I go back for the third arc, and then he's also doing something later. We share like that, but still, we are involved in both. Sometimes, he's helped me adding some storyboard parts or some ideas he had, and I'd also check with him [on] colors. Things like that we need to decide because some designs might appear in both my episode and his episode. We are working all the time together. We have this background where we used to work in many projects together. [We've worked] with Masaki Yuuasa before, and we learned a lot from him. So we have similar vision. We agree on many things and our view on animation and cinema is similar. We like to push perspective and we like to push the expression of the characters, maybe more than other directors. It's kind of not too hard for both [of us], I hope. I cannot talk for him, but I think it's smooth in general. Dan Da Dan season two premieres this July on Netflix, Crunchyroll, and Hulu. Evil Eye hits theaters across the U.S. June 6.
