The Garden of Evening Mists Movie Premieres on HBO Asia and HBO Go, 13 September 2020

Those of us who were fortunate enough to have met our grandparents might have heard tales of how life was like in Malaya during World War II. It was a harrowing time, particularly during the Japanese Occupation where thousands of civilians died from the atrocities of war.

Many of the World War II survivors would have already passed away by now. Red Dot Diva's own maternal grandmother, who was a young girl at that time, died last year at the age of 94. The only way generations born during or after the war could imagine how it was like then, was either through oral storytelling, books or movies which depicted that era.

One of the most nuanced and beautifully told story about World War II in Malaya and its aftermath is the critically-acclaimed novel “THE GARDEN OF EVENING MISTS” by Malaysian writer, Tan Twan Eng. The book has been adapted to a movie by Astro Shaw and HBO Asia, with support from the National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (FINAS) in association with CJ Entertainment.

Diva Previews the SACRED GUARDIANS Comic - It's Soul Food for South-East Asians!

Holy Bak Kut Teh! The prequel comic to the local tokusatsu SACRED GUARDIAN SINGA project will be having its launch tomorrow, 12 September 2020 on local leading publisher AsiaPac Book's Facebook page!

The virtual launch party for the comic entitled SACRED GUARDIANS will begin at 3 PM. Writer Aydeel Djoeharie and artist Alan Bay will be appearing at the livestream (moderated by AsiaPac's Chong Lingying), ready to share their creators' journey in bringing this book to fruition.

“Writing Sacred Guardians was both challenging and fun. With inspiration from American and Japanese superheroes, the story blends in Southeast Asian history, heritage, cultures as well as positive values to create an exciting, relatable story for our young (and older) readers,” said Aydeel Djoeharie, who written and directed several film projects before.

As for the book's artist Alan Bay, “Sacred Guardians was a special project for me not only for its story and characters but because it also helped me get through the pandemic as I spent most of time staying at home and working on it.”

Just before tomorrow's launch, the five SACRED GUARDIANS poofed in unexpectedly into Red Dot Diva's lair with a present - a limited preview copy of the comic. They declined her offer to stay for tea, but said that she could share a little about their origin story to her readers.

Star Trek Day Beams Down on 8 September 2020 (Pacific Time)

STAR TREK fans, get ready to engage!

After the huge success of DC FanDome, other content owners are beginning to follow suit and organising virtual events to keep their fans engaged during this coronavirus pandemic. To celebrate the 54th Anniversary of the original STAR TREK show's premiere, CBS All Access has put together an all-day online streaming event where the pilots of every STAR TREK series and specially curated episodes from the different shows, will be made available on CBS All Access starting from 8 September, midnight Pacific Time. This viewing marathon is for USA fans only.

Local Trek fans will not be able to watch the marathon on CBS All Access. However, but there will be 8 key panels hosted by Wil Wheaton and Mica Burton available globally for free, starting at 12 PM (PT). The cast and writers are expected to appear in their respective panels, with Rod Roddenberry logging in for the session dedicated to the original Trek series. Details of the panels are as follows:

We Bare Bears: The Movie Premieres on Cartoon Network and Warner Media Channels on 12 September 2020

Life is going to get better again on 12 September (Saturday) at 11 AM when WE BARE BEARS: THE MOVIE premieres simultaneously on Cartoon Network (Starhub TV 316, Singtel TV 226) and other WarnerMedia channels like Boomerang, HBO, HBO Family, Warner TV, Korean entertainment channel Oh!K, as well as streaming service HBO GO.

As most of us are still in some form of lockdown or social distancing measures during this coronavirus pandemic, a beary big dose of pawsitivity is exactly what we need! Fans of WE BARE BEARS will have a chance to give a proper farewell to Grizz, Panda and Ice Bear, as the 70-minute TV movie wraps up the beloved Cartoon Network animated series after four memorable seasons.

Diva's Reylo Fan Art Series: KasiopeaArt Draws Addictively Entertaining Star Wars FanFic Web Comic

It is no secret that many Reylos have been utterly disappointed with the way Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (TROS) wrapped up the Skywalker saga. To salve their heartbreak and feelings of frustration, Reylos turn to the treasure trove of fanfics and fanart out there.

One of the Star Wars-inspired fan art that stood out for Red Dot Diva was a series of entertaining webcomics by KasiopeaArt with a story post-TROS beginning with an alternative ending where Ben Solo survived. The comic's script filled with cheeky banter and great chemistry between the characters, that includes a particularly mischievous Porg. The entertainment value is further added by Kasiopea's deft artwork as she depicts the likeness and mannerisms of the actors with such detail.

Kasiopea is based in Warsaw, Poland, and has illustrated several children's and fantasy books. A long time fan of Tolkien's Middle Earth, she has also contributed writings and art to Aiglos, the Polish fanzine for all things Tolkien. Oh, and she also loves all kinds of animals!

Despite the pandemic and the need to prioritise real life matters, Red Dot Diva was glad that Kasiopea was able to find time to do this interview, and share more about her art “hobby” (as she calls it).

DC FanDome Part 2 Held on 13 September; HBO Asia and Warner TV Asia Go Into DC Superhero Mode

It's only a few hours to the launch of DC FanDome, the global virtual event entirely about DC Comics and characters from the DC Universe, put together just for the fans. Red Dot Diva is definitely camping out on her iMac, lapping up the exclusive reveals while trying to stay awake via caffeine pumping.

Because the initial schedule had so many panels and sessions which will be running simultaneously, fans had found it hard to choose which ones they wanted to attend. So, to cater to the fans' needs, DC FanDome is now expanded to two separate events. The panels previously announced in the other “Verses” like WatchVerse and KidsVerse, have now been postponed to the second event.

The original event on 23 August (Sunday) has been renamed as DC FanDome: Hall of Heroes with a more streamlined schedule. The live segment will begin at 1 AM (Singapore Time) for 8 hours, kicking off with its first panel on WONDER WOMAN 1984, followed by others for The Sandman Universe, THE BATMAN, THE SUICIDE SQUAD and THE SNYDER CUT of JUSTICE LEAGUE, alongside exclusive programming on comics, games, cartoons, TV series and more. The show will air two more times during the 24-hour period, so that fans from different countries will be able to enjoy the different sessions and announcements.

A second round of the mega fan event called DC FanDome: Explore The Multiverse will be held for 24-hours only on 13 September, 1 AM (Singapore Time). A kids-friendly event called DC Kids FanDome will also launch at the same time, and can be accessed separately as DCKidsFanDome.com.

At this event, fans will have full access to over 100 hours of on-demand programming spanning the vast DC Multiverse of TV series, movies, comics, cartoons, games and more. They can then customise their own schedule, and enjoy as many exclusive panel sessions, screenings and never-before-seen content as they wish within the 24-hour window.

It costs nothing to enter in DC FanDome, so don't miss the great lineup in store on both dates. The event can be accessed on all mobile devices as well as on your desktop and laptop computers. All you have to do is go to this link: https://www.dccomics.com/dcfandome

An Interview with Illustrator Alan Bay - Artist of Sacred Guardians Prequel Comic

Local Red Dot Island illustrator Alan Bay may call himself smallguydoodle on social media, but his artistic talent is anything but small.

He has worked for an extensive list of projects, ranging from high profile game titles like Assassin's Creed, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle and Romance of Three Kingdoms Online, to comics, cartoons and children's books.

His first printed fantasy-RPG-based comic was a collaboration with Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA) and ChuangYi Publishing called ATLAS. The comic still lives as ATLAS REALMS on tapas.

Alan's recently completed comic book entitled SACRED GUARDIANS will be released this month by local publishing company Asiapac Books. It is a prequel origin story written by Aydeel Djoeharie (co-founder of tokuAsia) for an exciting and ambitious tokusatsu live action series project called SACRED GUARDIANS SINGA.

Red Dot Diva is excited to get her hands on SACRED GUARDIANS, so she took the opportunity to ask Alan Bay about his experience working in the different industries as well as nab a couple of teasers for the upcoming comic book.