Thursday, March 6, 2025

ScottyCon, Carnegie Mellon's anime and video gaming convention, March 29.


Carnegie Mellon University will host its fifth ScottyCon on March 29.
Welcome to our fifth year of ScottyCon! We hope you enjoy CMU's one and only (and therefore best) anime and video gaming convention! We'll have a blast of events this year, ranging from panels, masquerade, artist alley, and much much more.
THe full lineup of events, panels, and programming will be announced later, but will include gaming consoles and game vendors, anime movie screenings, crafts, food vendors, performances, panels, and more. Pre-order tickets are $8 for CMU students and $12 for the general public, and are available until the 22nd; prices increase to $10 at the door for CMU students and $15 for general admission.

1988 Japanese animated movie Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack (機動戦士ガンダム 逆襲のシャア) in Pittsburgh, March 12 and 16.


The 1988 Japanese animated movie Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack (機動戦士ガンダム 逆襲のシャア) will play in Pittsburgh on March 12 and 16, part of an 2024/2025 AX Cinema Nights series over 2024 and 2025.
Universal Century 0093. The previously missing Char Aznable has revived Neo Zeon and declared war against the Earth Federation government. The Londo Bell unit commanded by Bright Noa is forced to fight alone and unaided against the Neo Zeon forces, which have begun dropping asteroids onto the Earth. Among the Londo Bell members is Amuro Ray, Char's longtime rival. But their valiant efforts are in vain as 5th Luna falls onto the planet.

Sensing a further threat behind Char's movements, Amuro heads for the Moon to collect the Nu Gundam, a mobile suit equipped with a psycho-frame. Waiting for him there is its lead developer, Chan Agi. Meanwhile, Bright's son Hathaway Noa meets a girl named Quess Paraya on his way into space, and is instantly attracted to her..
It plays locally at the AMC Loews Waterfront and the Cinemark theater in Robinson, and tickets are available online.

Wednesday, March 5, 2025

Sushi Atarashi's revolving sushi concept in Robinson closes, owner aims to regroup and reopen in a new location.


Sushi Atarashi transformed its Robinson location into revolving sushi restaurant on September 16, but closed a few months later on January 11. Atarashi was the second revovling sushi restaurant in Pittsburgh, after Kura Sushi opened on the Southside in September 2023.

The owner says he hopes to open a new revolving sushi restaurant in a more viable location in the city, though he's still scouting an ideal spot. The revolving concept was originally going to be part of the East End Meridian development under construction in East Liberty on the site of the former Shakespeare Giant Eagle, but ownership confirms space constraints will now limit it to an original Atarashi layout.

Sushi Atarashi is the rebranded outcome of Sushi Fuku, as the two split back in 2015 with the S. Craig St. location in Oakland retaining the original name. Sushi Atarashi---atarashi means "new" in Japanese---has several locations around the Pittsburgh area in addition to the original Oakland Avenue location.

World Literature: Yoko Tawada (Japan, Germany) “Suggested in the Stars" book talk, March 23 at City of Asylum.


The City of Aslyum will host Yoko Tawada and her book talk on Suggested in the Stars, free on March 23. 

Delivering poignant and shambolic exploits, Yoko Tawada’s Suggested in the Stars is the much-anticipated sequel to Scattered All Over the Earth. In this reading and discussion, Yoko lights up the Alphabet City stage and guides us through this second installment in her Scattered series. Suggested in the Stars delivers new delights, following Hiruko and her friends on a “strange, exquisite” (The New Yorker) trip you hope will never end.


As Hiruko—whose Land of Sushi has vanished into the sea and who is still searching for someone who speaks her mother tongue—and her new friends travel onward, they begin opening up to one another in new and extraordinary ways. They try to help their friend Susanoo regain his voice, and amid many often hilarious misunderstandings (some linguistic in nature), they empower each other against despair. Coping with carbon footprint worries, Hiruko and her friends hitchhike, take late-night motorcycle rides, and hop on the train (learning about railway strikes but also packed-train yoga) to convene in Copenhagen. There, they find Susanoo in a strange hospital working with a scary speech-loss doctor. In the half-basement of this weird medical center, they also find two special kids washing dishes. They discover magic radios, personality swaps, ship tickets delivered by a robot, and other gifts. But friendship—loaning one another the nerve and heart to keep going—sets them all (and the reader) to dreaming of something more. 


You can purchase your own copy of Yoko’s book, Suggested in the Stars, at City of Asylum Bookstore.

The talk runs from 3:00 to 4:30 pm. Registration for the free in-person and online event is required and can be completed online. The City of Asylum's Alphabet City is located at 40 W. North Avenue on the North Side (map).

New Japanese animated movie Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX -Beginning (機動戦士 Gundam GQuuuuuuX - Beginning - ) stays in Pittsburgh through March 12.

The new Japanese animated movie Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX -Beginning, which opened in Pittsburgh-area theaters on February 27, will remain here through (at least) March 12. A synopsis, from the distributor:
Amate Yuzuriha is a high-school student living peacefully in a space colony floating in outer space. When she meets a war refugee named Nyaan, Amate is drawn into the illegal mobile suit dueling sport known as Clan Battle.

Under the entry name “Machu,” she throws herself into fierce battle day after day, piloting the GQuuuuuuX. Then an unidentified Gundam mobile suit pursued by both the space force and the police appears before her, along with its pilot, a boy named Shuji.

Now their world is about to enter a new era.

The first-ever major collaboration between studio khara, the studio behind the EVANGELION Series, and SUNRISE, the historic home to the Mobile Suit Gundam animated works, brings together an all-star creative team for a groundbreaking new entry to the Gundam universe. Directed by Kazuya Tsurumaki (FLCL), with a screenplay co-written by legendary screenwriter Yoji Enokido (Revolutionary Girl Utena) and acclaimed filmmaker Hideaki Anno (EVANGELION Series), Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX -Beginning- is a stunning visual feast that will captivate fans, both old and new.
It is scheduled to play locally through the 6th at the AMC Loews Waterfront and the Cinemark theaters in McCandless, Monroeville, and Robinson, and will continue in Robinson alone from the 7th. Tickets are available online.

2025 Chinese animated film Ne Zha 2 (哪吒之魔童闹海), now the top-grossing animated film of all time, remains in Pittsburgh through (at least) March 12.


The 2025 Chinese animated film Ne Zha 2 (哪吒之魔童闹海), which opened in Pittsburgh on February 13, will remain here through at least March 12.
After the catastrophe, although the souls of Nezha and Aobing were saved, their bodies would soon be shattered. Taiyi Zhenren planned to use the seven-colored lotus to rebuild their bodies.
Ne Zha 2 recently became the highest-grossing animated film of all time. It plays locally at the AMC Loews Waterfront, and tickets are available online.

"We Learn" Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced Korean classes resume at Carnegie Library in Oakland, Saturdays from March 15.


via the Republic of Korea's Flickr page.

The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh branch in Oakland will resume its free "We Learn" Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced Korean classes Saturdays from March 15 through May 17, after finishing its most recent session on February 22.

Tuesday, March 4, 2025

Dr. Grace Ji-Sun Kim and "When God Became White," April 10 at Pitt.


The Department of Religious Studies at the University of Pittsburgh will present Dr. Grace Ji-Sun Kim and her talk "When God Became White" on April 10.
Dr. Grace Ji-Sun Kim is Professor of Theology at Earlham College. She has written or edited two dozen books, many of which converge on the themes of race, gender, and religion. Some of her most recent books include When God Became White: Dismantling Whiteness for a More Just Christianity; Intersectional Theology: An Introductory Guide (with Susan Shaw); and Invisible: Theology and the Experience of Asian American Women.

Monday, March 3, 2025

Korean BBQ place Togyu Asian BBQ & Bar coming soon to Cranberry.

via WAY architecture + design

Togyu Asian BBQ & Bar is coming soon to Cranberry Mall, in the spot formerly occupied by Lumberjaxes Axe Throwing (map). In spite of being listed under the "Opening Soon" heading on the Cranberry website, other sources have indicated a potential Summer 2025 opening.

Korean BBQ restaurants were a popular idea over 2023 and 2024, and though several announced their intentions to open in Pittsburgh, but among the seven or eight aiming to come soon so far only Hong BBQ & Hot Pot on McKnight Road has actually opened.

Japanese metal band HANABIE。 returns to Pittsburgh, March 12.


Japanese metal band HANABIE。will return to Pittsburgh on March 12, part of their US tour with Kim Dracula. Their Reddit fanpage provides an introduction:
Loud rock band HANABIE。formed at their school light music club in June 2015. Centering in Kichijōji, Tokyo, they started performing live around areas such as Shinjuku and Tachikawa.

The sound of Hanabie features the sound mixture of metalcore, hardcore, Hip-Hop, and J-POP. Their 1st album, "Girls Manifest" was released in 2020. With this album, they have established their own genre "HARAJUKUCORE"

Their live performances have a speed and power that exceeds expectations and captivates their audience. Yukina's powerful screaming/growling vocals never leave anyone without being amazed, along with this excellent melodic lines given by the clean voice of Matsuri, this is a complete basis for an amazing metalcore band but as for them it isn't enough they add different layers of voices between rap lines. If vocally they are great, in the instrumental part they're not left behind, aggressive, heavy, and dynamic. Certainly to define this band you need at least two words: dynamic and powerful.
The band played Preserving Underground in New Kensington in September 2023 and the Roxian Theatre in September 2024.

The all ages show at the Roxian Theatre in McKees Rocks (map) begins at 6:30 pm, and tickets are available online.

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