My Hero Academia: Two Heroes (僕のヒーローアカデミア THE MOVIE ～２人の英雄) in Pittsburgh, from September 25.

The 2018 anime My Hero Academia: Two Heroes (僕のヒーローアカデミア THE MOVIE ～２人の英雄) will play at the Southside Works Cinema from September 25. The distributor provides a summary:

The anime smash hit that’s swept the world now makes its debut on the big screen! Our favorite young hero-in-training is in for a wild ride when villains threaten the artificial moving city, I-Island.

Deku and All Might receive an invitation to I-Expo, the world’s leading exhibition of Quirk abilities and hero item innovations!Amid the excitement, sponsors, and pros from all over, Deku meets Melissa, a girl who is Quirkless just like he once was. Suddenly, I-Expo’s top-of-the-line security system gets hacked by villains, and a sinister plan is set in motion. It’s a serious threat to hero society, and one man holds the key to it all—the symbol of peace, All Might.

The movie will play in Pittsburgh on September 25, 26, 29, and October 2. Tickets are available online. Southside Works Cinema is located at 425 Cinema Drive in the Southside, one block from the Hot Metal Bridge (map).

Haikyuu!! The Movie: Battle of Concepts (ハイキュー!! コンセプトの戦い) in Pittsburgh, September 19 and 22.

The movie Haikyuu!! The Movie: Battle of Concepts (ハイキュー!! コンセプトの戦い) will play at Southside Works Cinema on September 19 and 22.

Based on the 3rd season of the popular TV anime series Haikyuu!!, the compilation film focuses on the Karasuno High Boys volleyball team preparing for their final face off to represent the prefecture in the volleyball national championship.

Despite being known as "The Fallen Champions", Karasuno High boys volleyball team is highly determined to take down the powerhouse, Shiratorizawa High boys volleyball team. As Hinata comes closer to fulfilling his promise of defeating Ushijima's team, will the "Flightless Crows" finally find their wings and soar above the best school in the prefecture?

The movie will play in Japanese with English subtitles, and tickets are available online. Southside Works Cinema is located at 425 Cinema Drive in the Southside, one block from the Hot Metal Bridge (map).

Pittsburgh prepares for its first arrivals from direct Pittsburgh-Shanghai flight.

Via Pittsburgh International Airport

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette today shares some of the preparations going into making the first arrivals from Shanghai feel welcome, ahead of the first direct flight from Shanghai to Pittsburgh International Airport on August 3.

There will be festivities at the airport, with volunteers available to help them navigate customs and any language barriers. All 300-plus passengers from the flight will be offered a welcome dinner at the Carnegie Science Center.

As part of their tour package, some travelers also will spend time in Pittsburgh riding the incline, taking in the sights from Mount Washington, and visiting the Carnegie museums in Oakland and the University of Pittsburgh nationality rooms before leaving for other cities.

Local officials are hoping that the visitors’ first impressions of the Steel City will be positive and that they will take to the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms to spread the news.

Pitt's East Asian Library hiring student with Chinese proficiency.

The East Asian Library at the University of Pittsburgh is again hiring a student with Chinese proficiency to work as an assistant on a Chinese studies related project for the 2018-2019 school year.

The University of Pittsburgh’s East Asian Library is looking for a reliable, detail-oriented student to work 20 hours per week. The student assistant will help to carry on a Chinese studies related project. Primary responsibilities include data extracting, input, sorting and testing.

*This position is for Fall and Spring Term FY19 only.

The job is 20 hours per week at $8.15 per hour.

Pitt's East Asian Library hiring student with Korean and Japanese proficiency.

The East Asian Library at the University of Pittsburgh is again looking for a student with Korean and Japanese proficiency to work as an office assistant in the 2018-2019 school year.

The University of Pittsburgh’s East Asian Library is looking for a reliable, detail-oriented student to work 10 hours per week. Working knowledge of Korean and Japanese languages is required. Primary responsibilities include updating LibGuides, supporting organized events, and sending materials to storage. Other tasks or collaborative projects may be assigned.

*This position is for Fall 2018 and Spring 2019 Terms only

The position is 10 hours per week at $8.15 per hour.

Chinese Calligraphy Workshop, August 18 downtown.

"Chinese calligrapher," by David Boté Estrada (Creative Commons).

The downtown branch of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh will host a free Chinese Calligraphy Workshop on August 18.

A Chinese calligraphy expert will show us pictures of her home in China, give background on the art of calligraphy, and lead a Chinese calligraphy workshop for all ages!

It runs from 2:30 to 3:30 pm and is free and open to the public. The library is located at 612 Smithfield St. (map).

Sailor Moon Super S: The Movie (美少女戦士セーラームーンSuper Sスーパーズ セーラー9戦士集結！ブラック・ドリーム・ホールの奇跡) in Pittsburgh, August 4 and 6.

The final installment of a Sailor Moon movie series, Sailor Moon Super S: The Movie (美少女戦士セーラームーンSuper Sスーパーズ セーラー9戦士集結！ブラック・ドリーム・ホールの奇跡), will play around Pittsburgh on August 4 and 6. A 2004 Animerica review says of the movie:

The Super S movie makes use of many of the same themes as the Super S TV series: the fairy-tale background, the emphasis on dreams, a wicked queen out to conquer Earth, Rini's sort-of romance with an otherworldly dream guardian. Unlike the TV series, however, the focus is still more or less on Sailor Moon rather than on Rini. Besides all that, the theatrical-quality animation is a treat.

It will play in Japanese on August 4 and dubbed in English on August 6 at the Cinemark theaters in Monroeville, Pittsburgh Mills, and Robinson. Tickets are available online.

Japanese animated film In This Corner of the World (この世界の片隅に) back in Pittsburgh, August 5.

The City of Asylum will host a screening of the 2016 animated Japanese film In This Corner of the World (この世界の片隅に) on August 5, in collaboration with Remembering Hiroshima, Imagining Peace to commemorate the 1945 atomic bombings of Japan.

Pittsburgh-Shanghai charter flights could usher in regular commercial non-stops to China. airport official says.

by sama093 (Creative Commons)

Charter flights between Pittsburgh and Shanghai are set to begin next week, and could be the start of commercial direct flights to China. The USA Today spoke to the Pittsburgh International Airport CEO ahead of the August 3 start.

Airports typically try to prove demand already exists when courting airlines to add a new route. But, in Pittsburgh, an effort is underway to actually help create the demand that could one day help the city secure lucrative non-stop flights to China.

That most tangible step comes next Friday (Aug. 3), when a 316-seat China Eastern Airlines Boeing 777-300ER is scheduled to arrive at the airport on a flight from Shanghai. It’s the first of two round-trip flights China Eastern will fly to Pittsburgh, both charters on which seats are being sold by tour operators.

It’s a modest start, but it’s one Pittsburgh officials see as the start of something bigger.

“It’s two round-trips, which might not seem like much,” acknowledges Christina Cassotis, the Pittsburgh International Airport CEO who is entering her third year in that role. “But when you consider that that’s hundreds of Chinese visitors who have never been to Pittsburgh – who are excited to come to the U.S. and see all sorts of things in Pittsburgh and beyond – we think that this is a great way of short-cutting an awareness campaign.”

Grave of the Fireflies (火垂るの墓) in Pittsburgh, August 12, 13, and 15.

The 1988 Studio Ghibli film Grave of the Fireflies (火垂るの墓) will play in the Pittsburgh area on August 12, 13, and 15 as part of this year's GKIDS Ghibli Fest. Afour-star Roger Ebert review calls the film "an emotional experience so powerful that it forces a rethinking of animation."

In the waning days of World War II, American bombers drop napalm canisters on Japanese cities, creating fire storms. These bombs, longer than a tin can but about as big around, fall to earth trailing cloth tails that flutter behind them; they are almost a beautiful sight. After they hit, there is a moment’s silence, and then they detonate, spraying their surroundings with flames. In a Japanese residential neighborhood, made of flimsy wood and paper houses, there is no way to fight the fires.

“Grave of the Fireflies” (1988) is an animated film telling the story of two children from the port city of Kobe, made homeless by the bombs. Seita is a young teenager, and his sister Setsuko is about 5. Their father is serving in the Japanese navy, and their mother is a bomb victim; Seita kneels beside her body, covered with burns, in an emergency hospital. Their home, neighbors, schools are all gone. For a time an aunt takes them in, but she’s cruel about the need to feed them, and eventually Seita finds a hillside cave where they can live. He does what he can to find food, and to answer Setsuko’s questions about their parents. The first shot of the film shows Seita dead in a subway station, and so we can guess Setsuko’s fate; we are accompanied through flashbacks by the boy’s spirit.

The film will play at the Cinemark theaters in Monaca, Monroeville, Pittsburgh Mills, and Robinson. The August 12 and 15 screenings are dubbed in English, while the August 13 screening is in Japanese with English subtitles.