Violence Jack
Violence Jack is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Go Nagai in 1973. It has had several serializations and one-shot stories which have run in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. Most of the stories have been compiled in around 45 tankōbon while a few of them have been published as special tankōbon or have yet to be published in that format. A few of the sagas from the manga were adapted in three independent OVAs released in 1986, 1988 and 1990; these OVAs have been released in the United States, France, United Kingdom, New Zealand. In some of these countries, the contents of the OVAs have caused censorship issues, while in Australia the second OVA was banned altogether; the series takes place in the ruins of the Kanto region, after a massive earthquake dubbed'The Great Kanto Hellquake'. Cut off from the rest of the world, The survivors of the disaster are divided between the strong and the weak, the land becomes a haven for criminals and renegades from around the world. Violence Jack is uncovered among the rubble and demolished granite by the inhabitants of a ruined city, asking him to help the weak people and helping them destroy what, in most cases, are the strong groups commanded by killers and rapists.
In the three OVAs, Jack is requested to help different groups, such as the Zone A or a small town, as shown in "Hell's Wind". As for the manga, the stories change drastically, the first being the story Violence Jack helping a group of female models in a tropical forest in Kanto by possessing a boy living in said forest in order to fight off a roving tribe of bandits. Although Jack maintains a ruthless facade, he helps the weak, expects nothing in return. However, Jack's unpredictable nature means that bystanders get injured or killed on occasion as a consequence of his vicious fighting style; when it was published there were several hints that pointed out the relationship between Devilman and Violence Jack. The final chapter reveals that the apocalyptic world in Violence Jack is in a world re-created by God. Satan is punished by being humiliated by Slum King, the reincarnation of his second-in-command, Zennon; as part of this punishment, Ryo has had all four of his limbs removed, is forced to walk on the stumps like a dog.
Jack is Akira Fudo, is one of three parts that form Devilman, the others being a child Jack and woman Jack, both of which were seen as birds around Jack from time to time. Ryo regains his memories and identity as Satan, leads his army of demons into battle alongside Zennon to resume his battle against Devilman; this time, Devilman is victorious. In Shin Violence Jack, a reboot to the series, the storyline is set out somewhat differently. In this continuity, Jack is an alternate form of Amon, while Akira is now living as an amnesiac warlord known as the Skull King, with the iconic Devilman demon Jinmen as his chief subordinate. With the help of his child form and the reborn Sirene, Jack leads the assault on the Skull King's fortress, succeeding in restoring Akira's memories and igniting a rivalry between the duo; the first serialization ran from July 22, 1973 to September 29, 1974 in Weekly Shōnen Magazine, published by Kodansha. The second ran in Monthly Shōnen Magazine published by Kodansha, from July 1977 to December 1978, with a few gaps between months.
This two serializations of Kodansha were published in 7 volumes. Five years the serialization continued this time in the magazine Weekly Manga Goraku, published by Nihon Bungeisha, ran from August 5, 1983 to March 23, 1990; this serialization produced 31 volumes in total. On November 1, 1993, three years after the end of the previous serialization, a special tankōbon called Violence Jack: Mao Korin Hen was released by Nihon Bungeisha. Seven years on December 10, 2001 a special one-shot story, Violence Jack: Sengoku Majinden, was published by Shueisha in a special edition of Weekly Young Jump, Bessatsu Young Jump #14; this story has been re-printed in GOGASHA, a two-volume compilation of short stories released in 2017. In May 2005 the magazine Weekly Comic Bunch published by Shinchosha, the most recent serialization started, with Shin Violence Jack; this serialization was irregularly published, stopping on August 19, 2005 and restarting on November 2, 2007 to end on April 11, 2008 in number 17 of Weekly Comic Bunch.
This series was compiled and published by Media Factory in two volumes in 2010. Besides the relationship with Devilman, a great number of characters in Violence Jack come from several manga created by Go Nagai. Most of them have a dedicated story arc. A few of the story arcs of the manga were adapted into OVA format; the first OVA, called Violence Jack: Harem Bomber was released in June 1986. A comet strikes Earth damaging the Kantō region. Volcanoes erupt and huge earthquakes are unleashed, reducing many cities to rubble and killing thousands of people. In this time of weakness, a ruthless man known as the Slum King took control of the Kantō Plain by brute force and rules it with an iron fist. However, in the middle of a trek across the land with his great forces at his side, he encounters a mighty beast-like man wearing a battered green jacket and a
Funimation
Funimation Productions, LLC is an American entertainment company that specializes in the dubbing and distribution of foreign content, most notably anime. Sony Pictures Entertainment, a division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony, is its majority owner. Based in Flower Mound, the studio is the largest distributor of anime and other foreign entertainment properties in North America alongside Viz Media, Sentai Filmworks, Aniplex of America, more, their most popular property is Toei Animation's action-adventure franchise Dragon Ball. The company was founded on May 9, 1994 by Gen Fukunaga and his wife Cindy as FUNimation Productions, with funding by Daniel Cocanougher and his family, who became investors in the company. Funimation was acquired by Navarre Corporation on May 11, 2005 and the company was renamed FUNimation Entertainment. In April 2011, Navarre sold Funimation to a group of investors including Fukunaga and John A. Kuelbs for $24 million. Around the same time, the company's trademark ball and blue bar were dropped from its logo and the company was renamed to Funimation.
In May 2013, Funimation consolidated its divisions under its new holding company Group 1200 Media. Kuelbs became Chairman of Funimation/Group 1200 after the acquisition from Navarre. Kuelbs and Fukunaga continued to make additional investments into Funimation. A new senior management was brought on and a multi-year distribution deal was announced with Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. In January 2016 FunimationNow, a new ad free HD anime streaming service with Sony subscription, was announced at the CES show in Las Vegas. On July 31, 2017, Sony Pictures Television announced plans to acquire a 95% stake in Funimation for $143 million while Gen Fukunaga would retain his position with a 5% share; the deal was closed on October 27, 2017. From 2016-2018, Funimation had a partnership agreement with Crunchyroll; the company was founded on June 1994 by Japanese-born businessman Gen Fukunaga. Fukunaga's uncle, Nagafumi Hori, was working as a producer for Toei Company, he proposed that if Fukunaga could start a production company and raise enough money, Toei Animation would license the rights to the franchise.
Fukunaga met with co-worker Daniel Cocanougher whose family owned a feed mill in Decatur and convinced Cocanougher's family to sell their business and serve as an investor for his company. The company was formed in Silicon Valley, California as Funimation Productions in 1994, but relocated to Flower Mound, located near Fort Worth, they collaborated with other companies on Dragon Ball, such as BLT Productions, Ocean Studios and Saban Entertainment. By 1998, after two aborted attempts to bring the Dragon Ball franchise to a U. S. audience via first-run syndication, it found success through Cartoon Network's broadcast of the Dragon Ball Z series on its Toonami programming block, the Dragon Ball phenomenon grew in the United States as it had elsewhere. This led Funimation to license other anime to the U. S. Starting in September 2003, along with British company Maverick, has distributed titles from Canada-based Nelvana, including Redwall, Tales from the Cryptkeeper, Timothy Goes to School and the Disney Channel TV special The Santa Claus Brothers.
On May 11, 2005, Funimation was acquired by the now-defunct Navarre Corporation for US$100.4 million in cash and 1.8 million shares of Navarre stock. As part of the acquisition, the president Fukunaga was retained as head of the company, transitioning to the position of CEO, the company's name was changed from Funimation Productions to Funimation Entertainment. In 2007, Funimation moved from Texas to Flower Mound. Funimation moved into the Lakeside Business District with a ten-year lease. According to an interview in February 2008 with Navarre Corporation CEO Cary Deacon, Funimation was in early stage negotiations to acquire some of the titles licensed through Geneon's USA division, which ceased operations in December 2007. In July 2008, Funimation confirmed that they had acquired distribution rights to several Geneon titles, including some that Geneon had left unfinished when they ceased operations. At Anime Expo 2008, Funimation announced that it had acquired over 30 titles from the Sojitz catalog, licensed by ADV Films.
In 2009, Funimation signed a deal with Toei Animation to stream several of its anime titles online through the Funimation website and Hulu. In the first quarter of 2010, Navarre Corporation reclassified Funimation as "discounted operations" and began preparations to sell the company. Navarre released a statement in April 2011 confirming that Funimation has been sold to a group of investors, including original owner Gen Fukunaga, for $24 million, it is speculated that Funimation was sold at such a low cost because Navarre wanted to continue distributing goods in relation to the products, but not handle the publishing. Navarre remained as exclusive distributor of Funimation's titles until 2013 when the company shutdown. On October 14, 2011, Funimation announced a permanent partnership with Niconico, the English-language version of Nico Nico Douga, to form the'Funico' brand for the licensing of anime for streaming and home video release. From this point on all titles simulcasted by Niconico were acquired by Funimation.
The deal has since been severed. In 2014, Funimation released Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods to theatres in partnership with Screenvision. Based on its success, Funimation launched its own theatrical division in December 2014. On June 22, 2015, Funima
Manga
Manga are comics or graphic novels created in Japan or by creators in the Japanese language, conforming to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century. They have a complex pre-history in earlier Japanese art; the term manga in Japan is a word used to refer to cartooning. "Manga" as a term used outside Japan refers to comics published in Japan. In Japan, people of all ages read manga; the medium includes works in a broad range of genres: action, adventure and commerce, detective, historical, mystery, science fiction and fantasy, erotica and games, suspense, among others. Many manga are translated into other languages. Since the 1950s, manga has become a major part of the Japanese publishing industry. By 1995, the manga market in Japan was valued at ¥586.4 billion, with annual sales of 1.9 billion manga books and manga magazines in Japan. Manga have gained a significant worldwide audience. In 2008, in the U. S. and Canada, the manga market was valued at $175 million. Manga represent 38% of the French comics market, equivalent to ten times that of the United States.
In France, the manga market was valued at about €460 million in 2005. In Europe and the Middle East, the market was valued at $250 million in 2012. Manga stories are printed in black-and-white, although some full-color manga exist. In Japan, manga are serialized in large manga magazines containing many stories, each presented in a single episode to be continued in the next issue. Collected chapters are republished in tankōbon volumes but not paperback books. A manga artist works with a few assistants in a small studio and is associated with a creative editor from a commercial publishing company. If a manga series is popular enough, it may be animated during its run. Sometimes manga are drawn centering on existing live-action or animated films. Manga-influenced comics, among original works, exist in other parts of the world in Algeria, Hong Kong and South Korea; the word "manga" comes from the Japanese word 漫画, composed of the two kanji 漫 meaning "whimsical or impromptu" and 画 meaning "pictures".
The same term is the root of the Korean word for the Chinese word. The word first came into common usage in the late 18th century with the publication of such works as Santō Kyōden's picturebook Shiji no yukikai, in the early 19th century with such works as Aikawa Minwa's Manga hyakujo and the celebrated Hokusai Manga books containing assorted drawings from the sketchbooks of the famous ukiyo-e artist Hokusai. Rakuten Kitazawa first used the word "manga" in the modern sense. In Japanese, "manga" refers to all kinds of cartooning and animation. Among English speakers, "manga" has the stricter meaning of "Japanese comics", in parallel to the usage of "anime" in and outside Japan; the term "ani-manga" is used to describe comics produced from animation cels. The history of manga is said to originate from scrolls dating back to the 12th century, it is believed they represent the basis for the right-to-left reading style. During the Edo period, Toba Ehon embedded the concept of manga; the word itself first came into common usage in 1798, with the publication of works such as Santō Kyōden's picturebook Shiji no yukikai, in the early 19th century with such works as Aikawa Minwa's Manga hyakujo and the Hokusai Manga books.
Adam L. Kern has suggested that kibyoshi, picture books from the late 18th century, may have been the world's first comic books; these graphical narratives share with modern manga humorous and romantic themes. Some works were mass-produced as serials using woodblock printing. Writers on manga history have described two complementary processes shaping modern manga. One view represented by other writers such as Frederik L. Schodt, Kinko Ito, Adam L. Kern, stress continuity of Japanese cultural and aesthetic traditions, including pre-war and pre-Meiji culture and art; the other view, emphasizes events occurring during and after the Allied occupation of Japan, stresses U. S. cultural influences, including U. S. comics and images and themes from U. S. television and cartoons. Regardless of its source, an explosion of artistic creativity occurred in the post-war period, involving manga artists such as Osamu Tezuka and Machiko Hasegawa. Astro Boy became immensely popular in Japan and elsewhere, the anime adaptation of Sazae-san drawing more viewers than any other anime on Japanese television in 2011.
Tezuka and Hasegawa both made stylistic innovations. In Tezuka's "cinematographic" technique, the panels are like a motion picture that reveals details of action bordering on slow motion as well as rapid zooms from distance to close-up shots; this kind of visual dynamism was adopted by manga artists. Hasegawa's focus on daily life and on women's experience came to characterize shōjo manga. Between 1950 and 1969, an large readership for manga emerged in Japan with the solidification of its two main marketing genres, shōnen manga aimed at boys and shōjo manga aimed at girls. In 1969 a group of female manga artists made their shōjo manga debut ("year 24" comes from the Japanese name for the year 1949, the
Sony Pictures
Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. is an American entertainment company that produces and distributes filmed entertainment through multiple platforms. Through an intermediate holding company called Sony Film Holding Inc. it is operated as a subsidiary of Sony Entertainment Inc., itself a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, a wholly owned subsidiary and the US headquarters of the Tokyo-based multinational technology and media conglomerate Sony Corporation. Based in Culver City, California, it encompasses Sony's motion picture, television production and distribution units, its group sales in the fiscal year 2017 has been reported to be $9.133 billion. SPE is the Motion Picture Association of America. Sony Pictures' film franchises include The Karate Kid, Spider-Man, Stuart Little, Men in Black, Robert Langdon, The Smurfs, Hotel Transylvania, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, many more. On September 1, 1987, The Coca-Cola Company announced plans to spin off its assets of Columbia Pictures, which it had owned since 1982.
Under this arrangement, Coca-Cola would sell its entertainment assets to TriStar Pictures, of which it owned 39.6%. Tri-Star would be renamed to Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc. with Coca-Cola owning 49%, its shareholders owning 31%, Tri-Star's shareholders owning 20%. A new company was formed in early 1988 with the Tri-Star name to take over the studio's operations. On September 28, 1989, Sony obtained an option to purchase all of The Coca-Cola Company's stock in CPE for $27 per share; the next day, Sony announced that it reached an agreement with Guber-Peters Entertainment Company, Inc. to acquire CPE for $200 million when Sony hired Peter Guber and Jon Peters to be its co-chairmen. This was all led by Norio Ohga, the president and CEO of Sony during that time; the hiring of Guber and Peters by Sony to run Columbia was conflicted by a previous contract the producers had signed at Warner Bros. Time Warner's chairman, Steve Ross, threatened Sony with a lawsuit for breach of contract; the lawsuit would be subsequently dropped when Sony sold half-interest in Columbia House and cable distribution rights to Columbia's feature films, TV movies, miniseries to Warner Bros.
That same agreement saw Columbia sell its 35% interest in the Burbank Studios and acquired Lorimar Studios the MGM lot, from Warner Bros. On October 31, 1989, Sony completed a friendly takeover bid for the rest of shares of CPE, a public company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, acquired 99.3% of the common stock of the company. On November 8, 1989, Sony completed the acquisition by a "short-form" merger of its wholly owned subsidiary Sony Columbia Acquisition Corporation into CPE under Delaware law. Sony completed a tender offer for shares of common stock of the Guber-Peters Entertainment Company on November 6, 1989 and acquired the company 3 days later; the acquisition cost Sony $4.9 billion and was backed by five major Japanese banks Mitsui, Fuji and Industrial Bank of Japan. The company was renamed Sony Pictures Entertainment on August 7, 1991. Sony has since created numerous other film production and distribution units, such as creating Sony Pictures Classics for art-house fare, by forming Columbia TriStar Pictures by merging Columbia Pictures and TriStar Pictures in 1998, revitalizing Columbia's former television division Screen Gems.
It expanded its operations on April 8, 2005, when a Sony-led consortium acquired the legendary Hollywood studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, in a US$4.8 billion leveraged buyout, through the holding company MGM Holdings Inc. This in effect re-united the MGM studio name, with the MGM main studio lot, although somewhat confusingly, the bulk of the pre-1986 original MGM library ended up at Warner Bros. via the Ted Turner-Kirk Kerkovian "Turner Entertainment Company" transactions. The post-1986 MGM library consists of acquisitions of various third-party libraries, such as the Orion Pictures catalogue, leading to the MGM version of "Robocop". On June 4, 2008, SPE's wholly owned group 2JS Productions B. V. acquired Dutch production company 2waytraffic N. V. famous for Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, acquired from the original production company Celador, You Are What You Eat for £114.3 million. In 2011, the Sony Pictures computer network was breached and one million user accounts associated with the SonyPictures.com website were leaked.
On November 18, 2012, Sony Pictures announced it has passed $4 billion with the success of releases: Skyfall, The Amazing Spider-Man, 21 Jump Street, Men in Black 3, Hotel Transylvania, Underworld: Awakening, The Vow, Resident Evil: Retribution. On November 21, 2013, SPE and Sony Entertainment's CEO Michael Lynton announced that SPE will shift emphasis from movies to television by cutting its 2014 film slate, it was announced on the same day, that there will be more Spider-Man sequels and spin-offs, though in February 10, 2015, Sony Pictures signed a deal with Disney's Marvel Studios to allow Spider-Man to appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, beginning with Captain America: Civil War, before appearing in Spider-Man: Homecoming, released on July 7, 2017. The deal allowed Sony to distribute and have creative control on any MCU film where Spider-Man is the main chara
Dubbing (filmmaking)
Dubbing, mixing, or re-recording is a post-production process used in filmmaking and video production in which additional or supplementary recordings are "mixed" with original production sound to create the finished soundtrack. The process takes place on a dub stage. After sound editors edit and prepare all the necessary tracks – dialogue, automated dialogue replacement, Foley, music – the dubbing mixers proceed to balance all of the elements and record the finished soundtrack. Dubbing is sometimes confused with ADR known as "additional dialogue replacement", "automated dialogue recording" and "looping", in which the original actors re-record and synchronize audio segments. Outside the film industry, the term "dubbing" refers to the replacement of the actor's voices with those of different performers speaking another language, called "revoicing" in the film industry. In the past, dubbing was practiced in musicals when the actor had an unsatisfactory singing voice. Today, dubbing enables the screening of audiovisual material to a mass audience in countries where viewers do not speak the same language as the performers in the original production.
Films and sometimes video games are dubbed into the local language of a foreign market. In foreign distribution, dubbing is common in theatrically released films, television films, television series and anime. Automated Dialog Replacement is the process of re-recording dialogue by the original actor after the filming process to improve audio quality or reflect dialogue changes. In India the process is known as "dubbing", while in the UK, it is called "post-synchronisation" or "post-sync"; the insertion of voice actor performances for animation, such as computer generated imagery or animated cartoons, is referred to as ADR although it does not replace existing dialogue. The ADR process may be used to: remove extraneous sounds such as production equipment noise, wind, or other undesirable sounds from the environment. Replace foul language for TV broadcasts of the movie. In conventional film production, a production sound mixer records dialogue during filming. During post-production, a supervising sound editor, or ADR supervisor, reviews all of the dialogue in the film and decides which lines must be re-recorded.
ADR is recorded during an ADR session. The actor the original actor from the set, views the scene with the original sound attempts to recreate the performance. Over the course of multiple takes, the actor performs the lines while watching the scene; the ADR process does not always take place in a post-production studio. The process may be recorded with mobile equipment. ADR can be recorded without showing the actor the image they must match, but by having them listen to the performance, since some actors believe that watching themselves act can degrade subsequent performances. Sometimes, a different actor than the original actor on set is used during ADR. One famous example is the Star Wars character Darth Vader portrayed by David Prowse. Other examples include: Ray Park, who acted as Darth Maul from Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace had his voice dubbed over by Peter Serafinowicz Frenchmen Philippe Noiret and Jacques Perrin, who were dubbed into Italian for Cinema Paradiso Austrian bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger, dubbed for Hercules in New York Argentine boxer Carlos Monzón, dubbed by a professional actor for the lead in the drama La Mary Gert Frobe, who played Auric Goldfinger in the James Bond film Goldfinger, dubbed by Michael Collins Andie MacDowell's Jane, in Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes, dubbed by Glenn Close Tom Hardy, who portrayed Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, re-dubbed half of his own lines for ease of viewer comprehension Harvey Keitel was dubbed by Roy Dotrice in post production for Saturn 3 Dave Coulier dubbed replacement of swear words for Richard Pryor in multiple TV versions of his movies An alternative method to dubbing, called "rythmo band", has been used in Canada and France.
It provides a more precise guide for the actors and technicians, can be used to complement the traditional ADR method. The "band" is a clear 35 mm film leader on which the dialogue is hand-written in India ink, together with numerous additional indications for the actor—including laughs, length of syllables, mouth sounds and mouth openings and closings; the rythmo band is projected in scrolls in perfect synchronization with the picture. Studio time is used more efficiently, since with the aid of scrolling text and audio cues, actors can read more lines per hour than with ADR alone. With ADR, actors can average 10–12 lines per hour, while rythmo band can facilitate the reading of 35-50 lines per hour. However, the preparation of a rythmo band is a time-consuming process involving a series of specialists organized in a production line; this has prevented the technique from being more adopted, but software emulations of rythmo band technology overcome the dis
Pokémon: The First Movie
Pokémon: The First Movie: Mewtwo Strikes Back released as Pokémon the Movie: Mewtwo Strikes Back, is a 1998 Japanese anime film directed by Kunihiko Yuyama, the chief director of the Pokémon television series. It is the first theatrical release in the Pokémon franchise, it was first released in Japan on July 18, 1998. On July 8, 1999, a Complete Version of the film was aired in Japanese television. In addition to an added prologue, the updated version included new animation and CGI graphics; the English-language adaptation, produced by Nintendo and 4Kids Entertainment and licensed by Warner Bros. was released in North America on November 10, 1999. The events of the film take place during the first season of Pokémon: Indigo League; the film consists of three segments: Pikachu's Vacation, a 21-minute feature focusing on the series mascot Pikachu. Overseas, the prologue can only be seen as a bonus short in DVD versions of Pokémon: Mewtwo Returns. Although Pokémon was popular when the film was released, the English-language version received negative reviews from film critics.
Despite the reviews, it was a box office success worldwide, topping the box office charts in its opening weekend, grossing $173 million at the worldwide box office. It sold 10 million home video units in the United States, including 4.2 million VHS sales that earned $58.8 million in 2000. During the end credits of Pokémon the Movie: The Power of Us, it was announced that a remake and a first full CGI, Mewtwo Strikes Back: Evolution was set to release on the following year. In December 2018, the release date of the remake was revealed as July 12, 2019; the Pokémon of Ash Ketchum and Brock are sent to spend a day at a theme park built for Pokémon. Pikachu, Togepi and Squirtle cross paths with a group of bullies consisting of a Raichu, Marill, a Snubbull; the two groups compete against each other in sports, but it leads to Ash’s Charizard getting its head stuck in a pipe. Pikachu, his friends, the bullies work together and free Charizard and rebuild the park, spending the rest of the day playing before parting ways when their trainers return.
Scientist Dr. Fuji is hired by Giovanni, leader of Team Rocket, to utilize his expertise in cloning in order to create a living weapon based on an eyelash from legendary Pokémon Mew. Fuji is revealed to be allying with Giovanni as a means to fund his side project: the resurrection of his deceased daughter Amber. In a laboratory, the weapon gains sentience and is named Mewtwo. Mewtwo befriends the salvaged consciousness of Amber, named Ambertwo, as well as the clones of other Pokemon in the laboratory. However, Mewtwo is left traumatized after Ambertwo and the rest of the clones decompose and die. In order to stabilize him, Fuji tranquilizes Mewtwo, causing him to forget the time he spent with his friends. After Mewtwo matures and awakens from a long slumber in a laboratory on New Island, he learns of his origin as Mew's clone from Dr. Fuji. Infuriated that Fuji and his colleagues see him as nothing more than an experiment, he unleashes his psychic powers and destroys the laboratory. Giovanni, witnessing the carnage afar and convinces Mewtwo to work with him to hone his powers.
However, after Mewtwo learns of his purpose to be a weapon for Giovanni's benefit, he escapes back to New Island where he plots revenge against humanity. After Mewtwo rebuilds the laboratory and establishes base there, he invites several trainers with hologram messages to battle the world's greatest Pokémon trainer at New Island. Ash and Brock receive a message and accept the invitation, but when they arrive at the port city, Old Shore Wharf, Mewtwo creates a storm, causing the boats on the wharf to be closed off for safety; as a result, Ash's group are picked up by Team Rocket disguised as Vikings on a boat. After the storm sinks their vessel in the middle of the ocean and his friends use their Pokémon instead to reach New Island. Escorted into the island's palace by the woman who appeared on the hologram and the other trainers who were able to reach the island encounter Mewtwo; the woman is revealed to be a brainwashed Nurse Joy after she is released from Mewtwo's mind control. After describing his plot to use the storm to wipe out humanity and Pokémon loyal to humans, Mewtwo challenges the trainers using cloned Pokémon coincidentally modeled after the deceased friends from his childhood.
Meanwhile, Team Rocket reach New Island and explore its inner sanctum with a Mew innocuously following them. After Mewtwo's clones effortlessly defeat the challengers' Pokémon, he confiscates them and expands his clone army. Ash chases after his captured Pikachu down the cloning lab, where Team Rocket's Meowth is cloned. Ash destroys the cloning machine, frees the captured Pokémon, leads them to confront Mewtwo and his clones. Mew reveals itself and Mewtwo challenges it in order to prove his superiority. All of the Pokémon originals battle their clones save for a defiant Pikachu and Meowth, who makes peace with his own clone after realizing the senselessness of their fighting. Horrified at the pain and anguish felt on both sides of the battle, Ash puts himself in between a psychic blast caused by Mewtwo and Mew's fighting, leading to Ash to become petrified. Pikachu fails. However, the tears of the Pokémon, as per a legend mentioned earlier in the movie, are able to heal and revive Ash. Moved by Ash's sacrifice, Mewtwo realizes that he should not have to be judged by his origins but rather his choices in life.
Departing with Mew and the clones, Mewt
Ghost in the Shell (1995 film)
Ghost in the Shell is a 1995 anime cyberpunk film based on the manga of the same name by Masamune Shirow. It was written by Kazunori Itō and directed by Mamoru Oshii, stars the voices of Atsuko Tanaka, Akio Ōtsuka, Iemasa Kayumi. Ghost in the Shell was a Japanese-British international co-production, produced by Kodansha, Bandai Visual and Manga Entertainment, with animation provided by Production I. G; the plot follows Motoko Kusanagi, a public-security agent, who hunts the mysterious hacker known as the Puppet Master. The philosophical themes include self-identity in a technologically advanced world; the music, composed by Kenji Kawai, includes an ancient Japanese language. Considered one of the greatest anime films of all time, critics praised the film's visuals, achieved through a combination of traditional cel animation and CGI animation; the film, which had a budget over $10 million, was a box office failure, before drawing a cult following on home video, grossing $43 million in total box office and home video sales revenue.
It inspired filmmakers such as the Wachowskis, creators of the Matrix films, James Cameron. In 2004, Oshii directed Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, billed as a separate work and not a true sequel. In 2008, Oshii released an updated version of the original film, Ghost in the Shell 2.0, featuring new audio and updated 3D animation. A live-action adaptation starring Scarlett Johansson was released in 2017. In 2029, with the advance of cybernetic technology, the human body can be "augmented" or completely replaced with cybernetic parts. Another significant achievement is the cyberbrain, a mechanical casing for the human brain that allows access to the Internet and other networks. An often-mentioned term is "ghost", referring to the consciousness inhabiting the body. Major Motoko Kusanagi is an assault-team leader for the Public Security Section 9 of "New Port City" in Japan. Following a request from Nakamura, chief of Section 6, she assassinates a diplomat of a foreign country to prevent a programmer named Daita from defecting.
The Foreign Minister's interpreter is ghost-hacked to assassinate VIPs in an upcoming meeting. Believing the perpetrator is the mysterious Puppet Master, Kusanagi's team follows the traced telephone calls that sent the virus. After a chase, they capture a thug. However, both are only ghost-hacked individuals with no clue about the Puppet Master; the investigation again comes to a dead end. Megatech Body, a "shell" manufacturer with suspected close ties to the government, is hacked and assembles a cybernetic body; the body is hit by a truck. As Section 9 examines the body, they find a human "ghost" inside its computer brain. Unexpectedly, Nakamura arrives to reclaim the body, he claims that the "ghost" inside the brain is the Puppet Master himself, lured into the body by Section 6. The body reactivates itself, claims to be a sentient being and requests political asylum. After the Puppet Master initiates a brief argument about what constitutes a human, a camouflaged agent accompanying Nakamura starts a diversion and gets away with the body.
Having suspected foul play, Kusanagi's team is prepared and pursues the agent. Meanwhile, Section 9 researches "Project 2501", mentioned earlier by the Puppet Master, finds a connection with Daita, whom Section 6 tries to keep from defecting the country. Facing the discovered information, Daisuke Aramaki, chief of Section 9, concludes that Section 6 created the Puppet Master itself for various political purposes; this is why Section 6 is trying to reclaim the body. Kusanagi follows the car carrying the body to an abandoned building, it is protected by a large tachikoma. Anxious to face the Puppet Master's ghost, Kusanagi engages the tank without backup and is dismembered and nearly killed, her partner Batou arrives in time to save her, helps connect her brain to the Puppet Master's. The Puppet Master explains to Kusanagi that he was created by Section 6. While wandering various networks, he began to contemplate his existence. Deciding the essence of humanity is reproduction and mortality, he wants to exist within a physical brain that will die.
As he could not escape Section 6's network, he had to download himself into a cybernetic body. Having interacted with Kusanagi, he believes she is questioning her humanity, they have a lot in common, he proposes merging their ghosts, in return, Kusanagi would gain all of his capabilities. Kusanagi agrees to the merge. Snipers from Section 6 approach the building, intending to destroy the Puppet Master's and Kusanagi's brains to cover up Project 2501; the Puppet Master's shell is destroyed. As Section 9 closes in on the site, the snipers retreat. "Kusanagi" wakes up in Batou's safe house with her previous shell's head attached to a new cyborg child body. She tells Batou that the entity within her body is neither Kusanagi nor the Puppet Master, but a combination of both, she leaves the house and wonders where to go next. Director Mamoru Oshii stated, "My intuition told me that this story about a futuristic world carried an immediate message for our present world. I am interested in computers through my own personal experience with them.
I had the same feeling about Patlabor and I thought it would be interesting to make a film that took place in the near future. There are only a few movies out of Hollywood, which portray the influence and power of computers. I thought this theme would be more conveyed through animation." Oshii expanded on these thoughts in a interview, noting that technology ch
