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https://blacknerdproblems.com/spy-x-family-code-white-review/

Based on the widely acclaimed Harvey and Eisner Award-nominated manga written and illustrated by Tatsuya Endo, the television series Spy x Family originally debuted on April 9, 2022. It was quickly embraced by fans across the globe with glee with the first two seasons available to watch on Crunchyroll. As I previously hyped up, when teasers and trailers started dropping, one of our favorite anime families–The Forger Family: Loid, Yor, Anya, and Bond the dog travel together under the guise of a weekend winter getaway. 

He’s a spy. She’s an assassin. Together, Loid and Yor keep their double lives to themselves (mostly) while pretending to be the perfect family. However, their adopted daughter Anya, a telepath–the heart of their little family– knows both of their exciting secrets unbeknownst to them. In Spy x Family Code: White, this weekend getaway may have started as Loid’s attempt to make progress on his current mission, Operation Strix, but as the weekend progresses, the lives of one of our newest found families in anime are all at stake along with world peace after Anya accidentally gets caught up in some top-secret business. 

I was so grateful to be invited to the red carpet premiere this Thursday, April 11, 2024 to enjoy the festivities as Crunchyroll hosted the English dubbed red carpet world premiere event of the highly anticipated feature film Spy x Family Code: White in Los Angeles at the DGA Theatre Complex. The fans came out and the red carpet came alive!

BNP briefly spoke to a few of Spy x Family Code: White’s English dubbed voice talent the night of the red-carpet event. We were on the tail end of the red carpet so we asked all the fun questions as things were wrapping up so we all could enter the theatre to watch the film! 

We asked Megan Shipman (Anya): In real life, where do you think Anya would like to be taken on a family vacation? Disneyland, the Ghibli Museum in Japan? Or maybe the First Peanut Museum in the U.S. Waverly, Virginia? 

Megan: Why not Disney World? But where would she go? It would have to be a place where her favorite characters would be! Like if Lions were her thing, she’d want to go and drag her parents to the Disney Animal Kingdom. 

We asked Anthony Bowling (Franky Franklin): what Hollywood heartthrob or singer IRL would Frankie want to emulate? 

Anthony: Oh, that’s a good question, Franky would probably go with Timothée Chalamet since he has such a big fan base and is pretty big in Hollywood, right now!

We asked Lindsay Seidel (Fiona Frost/Nightfall): What game of sports, video games, or table top game do you think you would have a solid chance at winning against Fiona aka Nightfall? I know it won’t be tennis!

Lindsay: Well, I’m terrible at sports, video games, and I can’t think of any tabletop games, but I just know that it would NOT be poker!

Lastly, we asked Natalie Van Sistine (Yor Briar-Forger/Thorn Princess): What is one thing that you’d love Yor to teach you? A takedown move?

Natalie: Her resilience. I love that Yor pours her heart into her family and wanting to do right by them! Like, she’s not great at cooking but carries on–getting cooking lessons, even ending up with band-aids all over her fingers and hands. She sticks to trying and her dedication and resilience shows so much, and I admire that!

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Spy x Family Code: White welcomes to the big screen one of our favorite anime families, The Forgers and serves an adventurous romp with much fanfare and heart. Loid, Yor, Anya, and Bond the dog take a train for a weekend family trip–sure it is for research for another scheme for Operation Strix. Yet, everyone is excited and off they go! Darling Anya wanders off, as she tends to do, and accidentally gets caught up with some top secret business that she was better off knowing nothing about. The Forger family find themselves separated when the two goons little Anya previously came across at the beginning of the trip snatch her up and a rescue mission is launched, and world peace is once at stake!

The Sub(titled) and Dub(bbed) debate continues fiercely into the 2020’s, as in what version of the anime at least is better, more valid, etc.–and I refuse to allow it space here. Note: Spy x Family Code: White will have subbed and dubbed versions showing in theaters. Count yourself a fan? Go see both versions! This is something I often do with anime films in general just to see how they differ and support my favorite voice talent on different versions. I am so impressed by the efforts of the English Dubb team: the original cast reposed their roles before the anime adaptation with some new voices, of course. Voice actor Alex Organ as Loid effortlessly commands attention on the big screen whether instructing Anya on her studies while on a train or being undercover on an enemy vessel. Natalie Van Sistine as Yor gives us multitudes as the sometimes hapless but never damsel in distress undercover assassin who wants to protect her precious little family yet still questions her place in it. Van Sistine and Organ both shine individually and the magic of them interacting together marks a hilarious misunderstanding that follows them out of town and on this family weekend trip.

Megan Shipman’s Anya returned to steal my heart away with such precision with childlike wonder, curiosity, and offbeat pronunciations in one too many situations that only Anya can get herself in. Shipman does wonders especially in the quieter moments with her parents and with strangers, the two enemy lackeys (one of them being Tyson Rinehart’s Luca) that end up kidnapping her and pursuing her again and again throughout the film. I was also happy to see and hear Tyler Walker as best doggo Bond, Anthony Bowling (Franky), and Lindsay Seidel (Nightfall) once again to help flesh out the voice cast with much affection (Bond), attempts at charisma (Franky) and intensity (Fiona). The eccentric big baddie on the film, Phil Parsons as Domitri gave a domineering and rightfully terrifying at times performance and weight to the voice cast. Parson flexed his skill set and it showed throughout the film from everything from imitating small children everywhere to ordering terrible (war) crimes to be committed. 

The animation in Spy x Family Code: White did not disappoint: audiences will find their eyeballs lingering on all the delicious food the Forger set out to try on their vacation. I appreciated several small details and scenes in the film like the reveal of the item that Anya snuck away to find and special ride attractions between different members of the Forger family. Spy x Family Code: White’s animation is produced by two acclaimed anime teams: WIT STUDIO (Attack on Titan (Season 1-3); VINLAND SAGA; Ranking of Kings) and CloverWorks (The Elusive Samurai; Black Butler: Public School Arc). In the later part of the film, the action sequences alone punch up the volume and the animation quality as the life-or-death stakes continue to get raised: fan favorite Yor’s fiery spar against a mysterious enemy makes for a devastating showdown not to be missed. 

My favorite animation sequence in Spy x Family Code: White came courtesy of Anya who in a hilariously delirious state has a sort of vision that I can only describe as hilariously distracting and on brand for the little girl. This animated scene, near the end of the film, adds a vibrantly gorgeous and gut funny component to the film that made the theater erupt into laughter nearly all the way through. Reminiscent of internet humor and perhaps even a bit of homage to gag manga, it helped add even more humor to the film which already had audiences laughing and reacting to what was happening on the big screen. This was the momentum peak of humor in the film for me even though the adapting the original material for the English dub voice talent cast led to many snappy, on liners and funny little moments throughout.

Spy x Family Code: White operates on the same energy of the anime adaptation in a way but in a way more explosive fashion. The film bounces successfully from action to heart-warming moments to quiet realizations to chaos once again making the Forger’s the family to adore and continue to keep watching. Their film debut makes a successful landing at the end of its nearly two-hour showtime, balancing a story of a few narrative threads: most important that family sticks together and that we are responsible for each other and come through for each other. Every Forger family member found themselves balancing different agendas and desires on this trip, and yet they all came together for each other and ultimately for others for their shared future together. Saving the world, means saving the ones we love, of course!

Do fans of animation, anime in particular and fans of the Spy x Family franchise, need to watch Spy x Family Code: White? No. Here’s the thing: if you want to be entertained, wowed by the animation, impressed by a great English dub effort, and reminded of why we are endeared to the Forger family so much, you’ll buy a ticket today. These pandemic years have introduced and reintroduced many people to anime via streaming apps and to enjoying more of it, in theaters attendance too. Spy x Family Code: White serves an adventurous, explosive romp with much fanfare, humor, and heart. While this film was written as an all-new original story, it surely encases the spirit of the anime adaptation and makes me hope for another film adventure featuring the Forger family sometime in the near future. Spy x Family Code: White is a treat to watch in theaters, and I’d watch it again!

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Credits: Directed by Takashi Katagiri. Written by Ichiro Okouchi. Original story by Tatsuya Endo. Produced by WIT STUDIO x CloverWorks.

Spy x Family Code: White hits theaters on April 19th. Seasons one and two of the series are available for streaming on Crunchyroll.

Thanks again so much Crunchyroll and RCPMK for the invitation to the event and to be part of the grand experience!

Love anime? So do we! See what else we have to offer on the site via anime here!

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The post Review: ‘Spy x Family Code: White’ is Adventurous, Explosive Animated Fun on the Big Screen appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.

https://blacknerdproblems.com/the-other-kind-of-environmental-storytelling/

When we talk about environmental storytelling, it’s typically within the context of video game design. It’s the collection of details in a set piece that lets you know what happened there. Tally marks left in a prisoner’s cell, a giant footprint of an unknown behemoth in the clearing of a field, downed power lines in a city, a single beam of light from the surface illuminating a single spot in an underwater grotto. These details are intentionally placed and are there, not to necessarily provide a specific narrative, but rather the implication of one. It creates a living world, that this place existed before and that it will persist after you.

However, sometimes environmental storytelling takes on a different meaning. Sometimes the setting isn’t just a place where things happen, but an active participant in the storytelling. There’s a common screenwriter joke about the “city being a character in and of itself,” but honestly, it’s not that much of a joke to begin with. One of my favorite panels in comics is from Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman, Vol. 8: World’s End.

“So, if a city has a personality, maybe it also has a soul. Maybe it dreams.”

I started thinking about this “other” kind of environmental storytelling after watching Dune: Part 2, specifically after thinking about Paul’s siege on Shaddam’s forces in the final act (sorry for spoiling the third major adaptation of a movie based on a book that came out almost sixty years ago). With the help of the Freman, Paul was able to utilize the climate of Arrakis to completely decimate his foes. With its inhospitable desert conditions, the prized commodity of spice, and iconic sandworms, Arrakis is not only a setting, but a nexus point for intergalactic politics and an almost active participant in its own future. As the sandstorm rages against aberrant technologies, as the Freman ride sandworms to swallow legions of an empire in a moment, it’s hard not to see Arrakis as just a place. And it’s certainly not the only example in media.

One of the best shows you may or may not have watched last year was MAX’s Scavengers Reign, a gloriously animated series that I best described as Returnal meets Annihilation. The basic gist of it is that a space crew gets stranded on a truly alien planet where everything is seemingly living and merely being in that place changes you. Throughout the season, Vesta felt alien in a way that shook me to my core. The ecosystem was nigh inhospitable to the naturally occurring flora and fauna and the humans that crash landed into the planet managed to quickly change the calculus of the realm within days. And while there were individual entities that could be identified as “characters” in the traditional sense, Vesta itself felt similar to Arrakis. And given that almost every particle of planet could induce life and high intelligence, it’s not that far off to claim that the world as a whole was alive and had its own motives for some of the actions its avatars undertook.

And at this point, I could probably talk about James Cameron’s Avatar and how Pandora also fits this bill, but I am instead going to opt into pivoting into talking about the living world in video games. And appropriately, I’m going to go back to the two main examples that I used when talking about the traditional environmental storytelling of a real place.

Horizon Zero Dawn is probably the poster child for a world that consciously influences the place largely because (spoilers for a seven year old game) the entire world is the byproduct of the conflict of two artificial intelligences GAIA and HADES desperately trying to exert their influence onto the world resulting in roaming robotic lifeforms and combative terraforming. And yes, the AI entities could very much be considered individual characters rather than living worlds, but the fact remains that by far they are part of the environmental hazards, forces of nature that just so happen to be able to explain the rationale of their process. 

Finally, we’ll do a quick round discussing the handful of examples in Destiny 2, between the Realms of the Nine as seen in Prophecy, Savathun’s Throne World, and the upcoming Pale Heart of the Traveler. These are worlds shaped by their creators meant to provide insight into their existence. Whether it’s the dark matter dust constructs the Nine use to test us, the hidden secrets of Savathun preserved even in death, and the clashing ideologies of the Traveler and the Witness, these environments react. These environments revolt. These are not merely settings, but something much more grandiose in nature.

And not every story and medium is going to lend itself to such interpretation. Sometimes the setting will just be a setting, a place where action happens. But we can look back at a storied practice going back to Jean-Paul Sartre’s No Exit, where Hell is a single room prison. A locked room whose only purpose is to keep three people in constant contact with each other, no rest, no relaxation. A world that has no lines of dialog but is undeniably more than just a set piece.

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The post The Other Kind of Environmental Storytelling appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.

https://www.essence.com/fashion/where-to-buy-mules-by-black-designers/

Blackstock & Weber By Julian Randall ·Updated May 9, 2024

Something about a mule makes it a more exciting buy than any other shoe. Is it the ability to comfortably wear one that isn’t only meant to protect? Does it still have the leisurely feel of something that was once only worn indoors? Or is it the eroticism that comes with one part of the foot being revealed and the rest concealed?

Indeed, part of it is the anatomy of the shoe–often having no quarters and only a vamp–which provides breathability to the heel on a warm summer day or a breeze against the ankles in spring. Although you’ll find a fair share of >footwear.  

But the beauty of the mule is that it was always truly genderless, as anthropologist Margo DeMello notes in her 2009 book Feet and Footwear: A Cultural Encyclopedia.

It has its roots in the Middle East as more of a slipper. And from prehistory onward, men and women across the globe have worn some version of it. Flat, high-heeled, patterned, plain, soft and supple, charmingly crafty, some covering the entire foot. More than anything, to echo DeMello, the mule remains sexy. Perhaps we can attribute this to the shoe being a near staple in our spring-summer wardrobes and one of fashion’s footwear obsessions. There’s even an Instagram account, @muleboyz with an accompanying podcast, The Muler Report, dedicated to mules.

Black designers are of course putting their own spin on them. That is to say, they’re making the most interesting ones on the market. Odds are you’re probably trying to figure out your footwear situation for the season. 

Keep reading to find the right mules to put in your daily rotation.

The Penny Mule Blackstock & Weber

It’s no secret Martine Rose is making some of the coolest clothes right now. Her shoes are no different. These sleek, punkish, square-toed beauties in black have the cultural cache to get you noticed on the trendiest streets of New York and London while pairing neatly with wide-leg pants. Fashion editor Shelton Boyd-Griffith can be seen wearing his on any given day during New York Fashion Week.

Footwear brand Blackstock & Weber also makes a stylish penny mule, which you can get in a leopard print or berry color. I’d play them up with other prints and bold hues for maximal effect. (They also come in onyx, chocolate, honey, bovine, croc-embossed, and with a horse bit–get on the mailing list). Equal parts classic and quirky, these double leather-soled slip-ons are sure to last, as Chris Echevarria, the brand’s founder, designs all his shoes with longevity in mind.

Go Artisanal Shekudo

A lot of Black-owned footwear brands have an artisanal component to them, but these designers take it to the next level. Starting with Shekudo, whose fourteen artisans are crafting heritage-packed shoes with raw materials from across the African continent. 

The Lagos-based label describes their shoes as “wearable art.” And their new Kehinde mule lives up to it; leather-lined with a hand-printed Adire upper. That’s textile art and sophistication in footwear form! The brand is also right to suggest toning them down with neutrals. Or rather, letting them be the entire outfit, which they would.  

Brother Vellies is best known for their Greg Shoe, the black and brown hair on cow ones in particular (women can get them in pink). I still want a pair. But I was thrilled to see that they now make them in a midnight color in suede. Who knew that something as quotidian and utilitarian as a clog could be this elegant? It’s a quality designer Aurora James achieves with such considered, exquisite grace.

I mentioned wearing mules with socks and these are just the ones to wear them with. I, for one, could sport them with any of my lavender, apple green, electric blue, or salmon pink socks and feel at ease. This is the kind of shoe that looks great with a pair of Bermuda shorts and the best cotton oversized button-up you can get your hands on. Maybe even with a skirt, for which Russell Westbrook makes the most compelling case.

Armando Cabral

If any designer understands the unique and interior pleasure of the mule, it is Armando Cabral. His Quebo Zip-Pouch Slippers, made by Italian artisans, come in deerskin leather for optimal softness. Cabral notes them as his “personal travel go-to.” And as the slipper’s name suggests, it even comes with a matching pouch that zips up. The mustard ones are unlike anything else on the market, as are the “milk.” But what I most appreciate about Cabral’s take on the shoe is that it reminds me of its roots as a leisurely thing. That I can be at the airport, wandering some European city, or, indeed, at home, and feel at ease.  

TOPICS:  designer shoes

The post Where To Buy Mules By Black Designers appeared first on Essence.

https://nerdist.com/article/mondo-senior-creative-director-interview-talks-new-product-line-fan-centric-work/

For a long time, Mondo has been the go-to for fans who love to celebrate their favorite properties with literal works of art. But as Mondo continues to change and evolve, bringing to the table posters, figures, soundtracks, and more, it’s heartening to know that fans and their desires are still at the center of the company’s core.

At C2E2 in Chicago, Nerdist was delighted to speak with Peter Santa Maria, Senior Creative Director of Collectibles at Mondo, about what goes into creating a Mondo collectible, how fans shape the ultimate designs of Mondo’s works, what’s on the horizon for the brand, and more. Santa Maria was even able to tease a whole new kind of Mondo collectible on the horizon, citing something the brand has never done before. We can’t wait to find out what that is, but in the meantime, take a deep dive into the world of Mondo with us.

Nerdist: Mondo is known for its incredible creations and high-quality designs. Can you talk a little bit about how you decide what to make into a collectible and how you decide what it should look like?

Santa Maria: Yeah, across the board, whether it’s our soundtrack, posters, or collectible figures, we always start from, “Are we a fan of this internally?” So whoever is working at the company and is a fan is going to steer the product.

We don’t make something that we’re not likely to buy ourselves as a fan, right? So we have our favorite properties that we love to hit on, like Godzilla and Masters of the Universe; of course, we love Marvel and DC, but we also recently put out some Scott Pilgrim collectibles.

We love that. But the idea is if you’re going to work with a franchise that’s very big, very well-known, and has products out there, what do we bring to the table? So it’s curation. It’s finding the right artist out there and then matching them up with the right movie, show, whatever it is, so that it’s like a new synthesis that happens. People are like, “Wow, I’m excited because I never thought I would see so-and-so designed in that style.”

So, that’s really what I mean. Are we getting excited about the idea of it? Are we excited for so-and-so doing such-and-such project? If we are then that means the fans for sure are going to be.

Nerdist: Yeah, I was looking at the latest set, and I saw the Beavis and Butt-Head poster, which I thought was super interesting. So I think it’s really cool that you kind of follow your fannish desires and not necessarily just go by what movie is coming out.

Santa Maria: No, no, and there are a lot of times where we will turn something down that’s a big thing because we don’t have a personal connection or we don’t know what we would bring there.

So if it doesn’t talk to us, we’ll be like, “Not yet, maybe in the future.” But you mentioned Beavis and Butt, we just did that beautiful screenprint of the artist, Kensausage. Probably one of my favorite artist things of all time. He designed a bunch of sketches for us for what that poster could be like and we’re like, “Yeah, they’re all awesome, which one do we pick?” But that strange mutant version of Beavis and Butt together, we felt, we have to have that. It’s a new interpretation, but it feels of the show, of the movie when they have their psychedelic experience or whatever it is.

And now we’re also introducing a bunch of fans to Kensausage. And then you can place the poster back to the artist and their other artwork and it creates a brand new audience for that art, which is the best part of what we do.

Nerdist: So really, at any time, Mondo might decide to create something new for an older property? (Nerdist personally pitched more Hannibal posters.)

Santa Maria: Yeah, if we have the license, and we feel like there’s excitement about it, or we think, “We wouldn’t normally do this, but this looks awesome we should probably,” then yes.

You never know; you might see us design like a big robo-mechanized Hannibal that looks like it’s a figure that came out of Japan in the ’60s. Right? No one else would make that. That’s the idea.

Nerdist: I would be so into that. And I think that’s really great because so often, if you’re a new fan to an older franchise you won’t get the opportunity to experience new merchandise, so it’s cool that’s where Mondo can step in.

Santa Maria: Exactly, 100%.

Nerdist: How much does fan input influence your decision-making?

Santa Maria: We’re always listening to the fans in terms of, there are comments sometimes it’ll be about, “Hey, I love this line so much, please don’t forget to include such and such character because he always or she always gets overlooked.” Or, “I love the franchise. I love that you’re doing it on this scale, but why don’t you guys do it in soft line or whatever it is?” So we’re always listening to that, and that’s how we get better. We’re not going to be able to do this without fans and the fan’s excitement. So we do what we think is awesome, we put it out there, fans respond and go, “Great idea, or hold on we’re almost there,” and then we work on that.

Nerdist: Do you have an example of that kind of interaction?

Santa Maria: Yeah, Masters of the Universe, specifically. I can’t reveal anything, but there are certain characters that we know from other lines that don’t get put out as figures very often. In the Facebook group, people mentioned it, and I’ve seen it in the YouTube comments, and so we go internally, “You guys, we have to do this.”

And when people see it, they’re going to flip.

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A post shared by MONDO (@mondonews)

Nerdist: That ties into my next question: Are there any upcoming releases that your fans can get really excited about?

Santa Maria: Yes, there are some big surprises that are going to be mentioned tomorrow in our panel. And then at Comic-Con, we have our brand new Scareglow from Masters of the Universe 1/6 and Scaremare, our original. We designed a character for Masters of the Universe that Mattel allowed us to do, and we’re debuting it at that show, and it’s going to be super, super exciting. Of course, Scott Pilgrim is coming out. Our Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle vinyl figures are releasing. We’re trying to hit every fandom we can with something new, refreshing, that feels worthy of your shelf space.

Nerdist: Mondo is pretty well-known for its posters and, as you mentioned, figures, vinyls, and more. Is there another sort of arm or kind of collectible that you imagine putting out in the future or thinking about?

Santa Maria: I mean, yeah, we are working really hard on our posters, our screen prints, to figure out what hasn’t been done yet, what interpretations haven’t been done yet. We love going back to visit the universal monsters. We love going back to visit that.

But we’re exploring anime now in a bigger way and how anime gets reinterpreted when the fans already love the style of anime. But can we challenge those aesthetics and make something new and interesting? That’s a big one for us.

Also, our soundtracks, we continue to want to really engineer exciting designs for the packaging, so that people have that whole experience when they’re opening them up, listening to the music, but also going through the album. You can expect some great stuff.

Nerdist: But in addition to that could we see any new types of Mondo projects in addition to collectibles, figures, and soundtracks?

Santa Maria: Yes, there is a… Let’s see, I have to say this without spoiling. There is a new product line coming that will be announced in the next couple of months from Mondo. We’ve never done it before. I think people, especially people who love to do unboxings on YouTube and watch those, they’re going to love this one.

Nerdist: Just to wrap it up, what do you think your most successful release has been? And what is your personal favorite?

Santa Maria: Well, I’m biased to the figures that I personally designed, like the Creature from the Black Lagoon, Godzilla, and Mechagodzilla. But in terms of the most successful releases this year, I mean, we had a huge success with Rogue from our X-Men 1/6 animated line. We had a huge success with Scareglow, our soft vinyl figure from our Masters of the Universe line.

We also had a Godzilla: Minus One poster that worked well for us. That was huge. So you never know. You can kind of get a sense of what it’s going to be, but you never know. You always just have to see where the fans are and what they direct to you.

The post Mondo’s Sr Creative Director on a New Product Line Coming Soon and Embracing Fan Input appeared first on Nerdist.