Polygon Pictures Announces Knights Of Sidonia

As part of their 30th anniversary as a computer graphics studio, Polygon Pictures just recently announced their role in adapting Tsutomu Nihei's (Best known for Blame!) popular comic, Knights Of Sidonia into a CG-animated series. And no, we're not talking about Muse's awesomely retrofuturistic music video for the similarly titled Knights Of Cydonia, but a full on scifi property taking place after the extinction of our solar system at the hands of an alien race known as the 'Gauna.'

It's been a thousand years since the Gauna, a strange alien race with no known method of communication, destroyed the solar system. A portion of humanity managed to escape using enormous 'seed ships' like the Sidonia, which have allowed them to maintain the population while drifting through space. Nagate Tanikaze is a young man who has been raised deep in the bowels of the ship. When he goes into training to pilot the huge robotic weapons known as Gardes, Nagate is entrusted with piloting the legendary unit known as Tsugumori. Nagate and his fellow pilots put their lives on the line against the Gauna, in the ultimate battle for the survival of humanity!

With a team lined up for this project with credits including Steamboy, Howl's Moving Castle, Millenium Actress, Princess Mononoke, Tron Legacy, The Clone Wars, and Transformers Prime, I have no doubts that the all star team behind this upcoming anime won't be able to translate Nihei's latest property into something quite memorable. No release dates yet, but we'll keep you updated as the details trickle in.

The Prince And The 108 Demons

I was intrigued by the generically titled, yet fantastic looking 'Feature Film' video that French animator Nicolas Léger posted on his account recently, showing an incredible range of of warriors annihilating their foes. After a little bit of research, I found out that this proof of concept video was created for an upcoming 2014 feature animated film being directed by Pascal Morelli (Shuriken School) called The Prince And The 108 Demons, which rang a bell.

The story is based off the famous Chinese 14th century novel, 'Water Margin,' which is as renown for inspiring dozens of comics, animated series and video games with the '108 star' concept, a reference to the number of bandits that gathered at Mount Liang in the story. Suikoden, Outlaw Star, Fist Of The North Star, Seint Seiya and countless other series have used this story as a foundation, just like Journey To The West inspired series like Dragon Ball with the Sun Wukong (Monkey god) concept. If the final film has breathtaking, dynamic animation like this I think I'll start learning some French in anticipation.

Disney's Gravity Falls - Cultish Goodness

The upcoming Disney trailer for 'Gravity Falls,' a series created by Alex Hirsch kind of caught my interest with its cute style and emphasis on the paranormal. The show features twins Dipper and Mabel Pines dealing with strange happenings in the titular town of Gravity Falls, with their Uncle Stan in tow. Certain little touches definitely added some interesting flair to the trailer, including Uncle Stan's fez, which bears great resemblance to hats worn by Shiners (Related to Freemasons) and the little image which briefly flashes at the end of the trailer. After a little investigation, it turns out that the nonsensical looking letters on the page: 'VWDQ LV QRW ZKDW KH VHHPV' translate to 'Stan is not what he seems' by moving each part of the code three letters back.

Stan is not what he seems.

Considering Alex's self proclaimed obsession with shows like the X-Files and Twin Peaks, I have a feeling that this show might offer some very interesting twists to anyone that decides to follow it. The show premieres June 29 on the Disney Channel.

Bottom of the 9th Animated Comic Looks Awesome

I think the idea has been thrown around for years, 'Wouldn't it be cool if comic books were animated?' This concept has resulted in a variety of different attempts, mainly resulting in comic books being turned into crudely animated 'motion comic books' with sound effects and music. However, it wasn't quite the same as having a comic book in your hand and being able to flip through the pages.

Ryan Wood's new attempt will be bringing his futuristic baseball drama to the iPad, with some truly beautiful, fluid animation and a fully fleshed out story ranging over multiple apps in the years to come. And you know what? The prologue comic will cost a mere 99 cents, so if you're an owner of an Apple tablet be sure to support his efforts. You can find out more info about the upcoming comic on his website, Bottom Of The Ninth.

FP: Post Apocalyptic DDR

This amazing poster was created by Tyler Stout. (Via)

The Alamo Drafthouse, a chain of absolutely amazing sounding movie theaters that feature both classic and modern films, as well as serving some amazing grub and drinks to patrons recently announced the acquisition of rights to screen, "The FP." This movie is about hardcore DDR players, by the way. I kid you not, the movie is about no holds barred Dance Dance Revolution in a post apocalyptic setting, and I think its looks absolutely amazing. I'm glad that this movie will be getting a chance to be seen outside the Festival circuits, as the concept of gangs fighting over turf by playing "Beat-Beat Revelation" sounds too good to be true. And why is everyone wearing Snake Plissken eye patches? I smell a cult movie in the making. Check out the amazing trailer for this flick after the break!