2021 movie Gintama: The Very Final (銀魂 THE FINAL) in Pittsburgh, November 21 and 22.

The 2021 movie Gintama: The Very Final (銀魂 THE FINAL) will play in Pittsburgh on November 21 and 22. From the distributor:

This is the actual ending.

The countdown to destruction has begun! All will join to reclaim an Edo in grave peril! Earth is facing its darkest days, and the members of the Odd Jobs must come together to save it from an otherworldly menace.

Old allies Gintoki, Takasugi, and Katsura strive their hardest for their own ideals, but standing in their way is someone with whom they share a sad history: Utsuro, an alternate personality of their former teacher and mentor, Shoyu. Having been spawned by Altana, the energy that fuels all planets, this immortal fiend has regenerated multiple times until finally becoming Utsuro, the ultimate enemy... And he intends to take down the entire world in order to end his own life.

Gintoki and the others set out to fulfill the wishes of their teacher Shoyo and thwart Utsuro's plans. Shinpachi, Kagura, the Shinsengumi, members of the Kabuki District, and even former enemies will join their fight.

As Utsuro's power grows, Takasugi fights for his very life. Will Gintoki be able to put
an end to all this?!

It will play locally at the AMC Loews Waterfront and the Cinemark theaters in Monaca, Monroeville, North Hills, and Robinson, and tickets are available online. Note that some shows are dubbed in English while others are in Japanese with English subtitles.

One Piece Film: Strong World (ワンピース フィルム ストロングワールド) in Pittsburgh, November 7 and 9.

The 2009 film One Piece Film: Strong World (ワンピース　フィルム　ストロングワールド) will play in Pittsburgh on November 7 and 9 as part of a Fathom Events re-release. The Anime News Network has a synopsis:

20 years after his escape from Impel Down, the legendary pirate Shiki "the Golden Lion" reappears causing massive upheaval to the Marines. During his long seclusion, he was able to come up with a scheme to bring the World Government to its knees. On his way to execute the plan, Shiki crosses paths with the Straw Hat Pirates and becomes so impressed with Nami's knowledge of meteorology that he abducts her to forcedly enlist her into his crew. Luffy and the gang end up on a strange land populated with monstrous beasts as they desperately search for Shiki and Nami.

It is scheduled so far to play at the AMC Loews Waterfront and the Cinemarks in Monaca, Monroeville, and North Hills.

1986 Studio Ghibli film Castle in the Sky (天空の城ラピュタ) in Pittsburgh, November 14, 15, and 18.

The 1986 Studio Ghibli film Castle in the Sky (天空の城ラピュタ) will play in Pittsburgh on November 14, 15, and 18 as part of Studio Ghibli Fest 2021. From the distributor:

Castle in the Sky is a timeless story of courage and friendship, with stunning animation from acclaimed Academy Award®-winning director Hayao Miyazaki.

This high-flying adventure begins when Pazu, an engineer’s apprentice, spies a young girl, Sheeta, floating down from the sky, held aloft by a glowing pendant. Both Sheeta and Pazu are searching for the legendary floating castle, Laputa, and they vow to travel there together to unravel the mystery of the luminous crystal. But their quest won’t be easy, as soon they are being pursued by greedy air pirates, the military, and secret government agents, who all seek the power Sheeta alone can control.The English-dubbed cast includes the vocal talents of Anna Paquin, James Van Der Beek, Cloris Leachman, Mark Hamill, Mandy Patinkin, and more!

It plays locally at the AMC Loews Waterfront and the Cinemark theaters in Monroeville, North Hills, and Robinson, and tickets are available online. The November 14 and 18 shows are dubbed in English while the November 15 show is in Japanese with English subtitles.

Wong Kar-Wai film series at Row House Cinema, November 5 - 11; special $28 all-you-can-see week pass available.

The Row House Cinema in Lawrenceville will present a series of films by legendary Hong Kong director Wong Kar-Wai, featuring six movies restored in 4K, from November 5 through 11.

Celebrate the Hong Kong director who reimagined filmmaking through abstract plotlines and vibrant colors. Don’t miss the brilliant 4k restorations of six Wong Kar-wai classics.

The lineup includes Happy Together (春光乍洩), Chungking Express ( 重慶森林), and In the Mood For Love (花樣年華) from November 5 through 11, a one-night screening of Fallen Angels (墮落天使) on November 5, a one-night-only screening of As Tears Go By (旺角卡門) on November 7, and a one-night-only screening of Days of Being Wild (阿飛正) on November 10. Tickets for individual shows are available online, as well as for a $28 week pass that allows you to see any and all movies during the film series (including repeats but exclusing any special events).

The single-screen theater is located at 4115 Butler Street in Lawrenceville (map).

Tickets now on sale for Sasami in Pittsburgh, March 22.

Tickets for Sasami's performance at Club Cafe on March 22 went on sale today at 10:00 am. A 2019 Pitchfork review introduced the singer-songwriter like this:

[T]he Los Angeles-based polymath has made her name over the years as the synth player in Cherry Glazerr. Her debut record, SASAMI, is a union of synthesizer decay and guitar reverb that embodies shoegaze’s supernatural ability to conjure sadness from the void.

The 21+ show begins at 8:00 pm. Club Cafe is located at 58 S. 12th Street in the South Side (map).

Quantum Theatre presents Lucy Kirkwood play Chimerica, November 27 - December 19.

The Quantum Theatre will present the Lucy Kirkwood play Chimerica from November 27 through December 19 at The Maverick Hotel in East Liberty.

Lucy Kirkwood’s award-winning play reminds us of an image that arrested the world: a protester facing down four tanks in Tiananmen Square in 1989. Who was he, and who was the photojournalist who captured it? From there to the fraught present of US/China relations, it examines capitalism and culture, journalism and censorship.

Tickets are now available. The Maverick Hotel is located at 120 S. Whitfield St. (map).

Dominic Yang and "The Great Exodus from China," November 3 at Pitt.

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center will host Dr. Dominic Yang and his talk "The Great Exodus from China" on November 3.

The Great Exodus examines one of the least understood forced migrations in modern East Asia—the human exodus from China to Taiwan following the Nationalist collapse and Chinese Communist victory in 1949. Peeling back layers of Cold War ideological constructs on the subject, the book tells a very different story from the conventional historiography.

Dominic Meng-Hsuan Yang (楊孟軒) is Associate Professor of East Asian History in Department of History, University of Missouri-Columbia. Dominic completed his PhD in Department of History, University of British Columbia (2012). He has been a recipient of multiple SSHRC awards (Canada) and Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation grants, as well as the Taiwan Fellowship. His first book The Great Exodus from China won the Memory Studies Association First Book Award in 2020, and in 2021, was selected as a Finalist for the International Book Award in the category of History: General. For his research, Dominic also received University of Missouri Provost’s Outstanding Junior Faculty Research and Creative Activities Award in 2020

The event will be held on Zoom and will begin at 7:30 pm. Registration is required.

Kiku hiring servers, experienced sushi chef.

Kiku Japanese Restaurant, located in Station Square and considered among the best and most authentic Japanese restaurants in the area, is hiring servers and an experienced sushi chef. The ads are reposted below; those interested should send their resumes to contact [at] kikupittsburgh.net.

K-pop Halloween Party, October 31 at Phat's Bar in Oakland.

Phat's Bar in Oakland will host a Kpop Halloween Party on October 31, in collaboration with the local group that hosts BTS cupsleeve events. The 18+ event runs from 7:00 pm to 12:00 am, and attendees must be vaccinated.

Phat's opened in January and is located at 418 Semple St. (map). It's run by the family behind Ineffable Cà Phê.

"Belonging Otherwise: Chinese Undergraduate Students at South Korean Universities," November 1 at Pitt.

via moreweeping

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center will present Dr. Jiyeon Kang and her talk "Belonging Otherwise: Chinese Undergraduate Students at South Korean Universities" on November 1, part of the center's Asian Now Fall Lecture Series.

Following the South Korean government’s drive in the 1990s for globalization and deregulation of higher education, Korean universities aggressively recruited Chinese students as both symbolic and economic resources. The number of Chinese students studying at Korean universities consequently increased 57-fold between 2000 and 2019 (from 1,200 to 68,537). This presentation will share the findings from interviews with some of these Chinese students, who chose South Korea with academic and cultural aspirations but often found that neither Korean students nor the university itself welcomed them into classes or communities. As a result, Chinese students have not adapted to Korean university in the ways imagined by the normative framework, but instead make their study-abroad experience livable by constituting material, technological, and imagined modalities of belonging. These modalities of “belonging otherwise” reveal South Korea as a node of commercialized, non-elite, inter-Asian student mobility, and illuminate Chinese students’ strategies in this new regime of study abroad.

It runs from 4:30 to 5:45 pm in 211 Lawrence Hall, and is free and open to members of the Pitt community who abide by the university's health guidelines.