Really? Damn, that sucks. I can't even find an older copy going for $50 like I did Vs. Mechagodzilla...

And it tends to be my luck to watch the best one first. Happened with Sentai, happened with Transformers, happening here :I
Still, it's really just a nagging feeling of completion.

I figured it wasn't Toho's call. Sony tends to be terrible at this, if it's their decision, though. I know Godzilla and the daikaiju film is a niche genre and it won't make them truckloads of money, but it wouldn't kill or bankrupt them to release some of the harder to find a Godzilla movies...

Rescue Fire 39. A goofy, sponsor plugging, clip show, but overall, it was surprisingly enjoyable. Looks like Ukaen goes off the deep end in the next episode.

Ultraman episode 31 -- Who Has Come? Not to be confused with "Woo has come," which was the previous episode. The vamprific plant Keronia leads an army of plant-based life forms on a seige of Japan. Interesting premise and horror elements (Keronia starts out as a kaijin, wearing a double breasted suit... I always like monsters who wear sport coats), then segues directly into daikaiju insanity with little explanation, Keronia is a slim, humanoid monster who is not afraid to mix it up, so the fight with Ultraman is rather nifty. Also some great use of the stock Tsuburaya sound effects, which is always a treat to me, including one of my favorites -- the Planet X Flying Saucer sound!

EDIT:

Ultraman episode 32 -- The Endless Counterattack. While Hayata is escorting Pati, a member of the Science Patrol HQ in India on holiday in Japan, the team battles the monster Zambolar, who exudes enough heat to cause forests to spontaneously combust around him. The title is approprite as this is almost an entirely action-oriented episode, including a long battle between Zambolar and the JSDF & Science Patrol. Not much of a story but fun if you like daikaiju battling the military, and if you are watching this show, that may be a given.

Amazingly, at one point while destroying a chemical plant, the Zambolar suit itself actually catches fire! One of the many hazards of being an Ultra Kaiju!

Pati has the line of the episode, saying that even though her vacation was ruined, she did get to see three famous Japanese sites: Earthquakes, monsters, and Ultraman! :lol

Ultraman Episode 33 -- The Mysterious Planet. Hayata, Fuji, and her brother Satoru are abducted by the alien Mephilas, who has designs on the Earth. Mephilas is sort of a Satan figure, trying to tempt Satoru into giving him the Earth by offering him a paradise planet, immortality, and the chance to rule a world. He also uses illusions to do his fighting for him. His name also comes from Mephistopohlese, from Faust.

Given the nature of the show, of course, he is turned away by Ultraman, but not killed -- not entirely unlike how Christ could turn away Satan by rejecting his offers of power.

There's one scene which seems to have a sort of tenous parallel between Christ and Ultraman -- Mephilas asks Hayata "Are you an alien or a human?" to which Hayata's reply is "Both." This made me think of the "fully human and fully divine" nature of Christ as expouded upon in the New Testament.

Metaphysical and religious aspects aside, this was an interesting counterpoint to the last episode in that it featured very little in the way of action but a lot more story. And the story itself is quite thoughtful. I dug it. We also get cameos from Baltan, Zarab, and Kemur -- the last one is odd because Kemur hadn't appeared since Ultra Q.

We also get a nice nod to all the giantess fans out there as Fuji appears as a giantess in her uniform. Mmmrow... if you're into that! ;)

Ultraman Episode 34 -- Present From The Sky. The incredbly heavy monster Skydon falls to Earth, and the Science Patrol has to figure out how to lift him.

YOU ARE NOT READY FOR THIS LEVEL OF DAIKAIJU COMEDY.

At one point Ultraman tries his shoulder throw... and the music slows down... and stops... as Skydon collapses on top of him. :lol

Later, Hayata goes to transform into Ultraman... except he is holding up a spoon instead of the Beta Capsule.

Silliness. Pure silliness.

Insanely enough, this bizarre comedy episode also features a man committing suicide by jumping from a building in Tokyo. No I am not making this up. *shrug* Still pretty dang funny though!

The last post is getting too long so I am starting a new one. Sorry, Baltan.

Ultraman Episode 35 -- The Monster Graveyard. On a routine patrol of space, Arashi and Ide discover a Monster Graveyard, and shortly thereafter, the the monster Seabouz is struck by a rocket and brought to Earth. But all he wants is to go back to his peaceful graveyard. A pretty artsy episode, with a Buddhist funeral for the monsters, and Fuji using a version of Inoshiro Honda's "Monsters are born too heavy, too tall, too strong" quote. Like the Woo episode, does get a little metatextual about the nature of the Science Patrol and the monsters they fight. Seabouz is a nice skeletal design as well.

Ultraman Episode 36 -- Don't Shoot, Arashi! The monster Zarangas evolves every time he is attacked, so the Science Patrol is ordered not to engage him. When Arashi disobeys this order, he is stripped of his rank and forced to live the consequences of his decision. Good action episode, with a lot of good carnage from Zarangas. Good characterization ep for Arashi as well. Seems to me that DC Comics ripped off Zarangas' gimmick for Doomsday, huh?

Ultraman Episode 37 -- The Small Hero. The Monster Chieftan Geronimon plans on resurrecting 60 monsters to attack Japan, but doesn't count on of them being Pigmon, who tips off the Science Patrol. There's some funny bits early in this one with Pigmon in a department store (complete with some classic Bandai Ultra toys), and then an all out battle between the Science Patrol and the monsters Dorako and Telesdon. Ide gets the spotlight this time out; I feel like the show is really hitting it's stride from a character standpoint here near the end, and this continues on into Ultraseven.

Ultraman Episode 38 -- Space Rescue Order. Space Station V2 is disabled, and to retrieve the required part, the Science Patrol heads to mysterious Planet Q, where they tangle with the monsters Kiyla and Saigo. Heavy effects episode, with a space station, a new ship and tracked vehicle for the Science Patrol, an alien world, and 2 monsters. Is it any wonder the show ended because of budget? Still, it's all sorts of fun.

I am going to save the last episode for another time. Thanks for reading folks.

VR Troopers episodes 4-7. I spent the last two afternoons working from home as one of my sons was home sick. So I watched a couple of eps of VR Troopers each day. This show remains a guilty pleasue because of it's out and out lack of inhibitions. Utilize the same footage of Grimlord transforming every episode? Check! Use the same shot of Vortex Command every time? Yup! Use the same piece of stock footage 4 times in 90 seconds? You got it! Talking dog doing a bad Jack Nicholson impression? OH YEAH!

VR Troopers is very easily consumable and digestable. It's fun and fast paced and silly as all heck. Watching it now, knowing what little I do about Spielban and Metalder, you can see some of the underlying plots, which only seems to increase my enjoyment.

So all I have to say in closing is "Forces of darkness, empower me! Take me back to my Virtual Reality!"

Rescue Fire 40. Pretty good episode. It's really refreshing to see the commanders doing something besides being evil. Ukaen got some good development, and the commanders showed a level of camaraderie towards each other unlike anything seen before in the show. Aside from that, I find the use of so much real rescue technology in this episode and the next to be off-putting.

Rescue Fire 41. Interesting, to say the least. Interesting in that they combined two episode traits into one episode(the "childhood friend" theme and the "cute animal with a sob story turned into a demon" theme). Whether or not this hodgepodge of filler episode outlines worked is debatable, but I think it made for a decent and different plot.

More interesting is that these Nagoya Hyper Rescue episodes look to be a story arc, with the temperature constantly getting suspiciously higher, until the climax where Jokaen returns. Huzzah!

Rescue Fire 42. Is perfect.

Rescue Fire 43. This episode had a little bit of everything. Jokaen being a badass, Hikaru showing up, robot stuff that rivals Go-Buster in terms of kickass originality, and a mind-flunk scene at the end that I did not see coming. Man, I never thought I'd say this when I was watching Rescue Force, but I'm gonna miss this series.

Rescue Fire 44. Pretty much a giant Rescue Force tribute. It was good enough, and Cerberus Dragon was a good homage to God Striker. Next episode looks pretty silly, but I can't wait for the big finale story that starts in 47.

Rescue Fire 45. About what I expected, but there were some good parts. Like the Jakaen trying to sell chocolate to the humans. :lol Good to see Cerberus Dragon wasn't forgotten too.

What are you watching? Other Toku Series Edition
aka
ShockerCon's blog (Seriously, sextuple posting?)

:lol Well, only three posts were from today... But yeah, it's still pretty bad.

Hey now. This is my thread too. Sheesh!

Episode 2 of Yoshikio season two got subbed yesterday. Still funny, but I couldn't help but feel they were repeating some of the jokes from season 1 (ugly princess, killer tiny animal).

Final Resc-I mean post!

46. We learn about Tsubasa's past and meet his sempai who started a Rescue Fire manga. But the episode is really about his sister, Nana(I'm not making this up, that's her name), who wants to be a firefighter, but Koji(Tsubasa's sempai) doesn't want her to get hurt like he did when he was a firefighter. There's a great scene, where Tsubasa's keeping rubble from crushing Nana, who's too scared to move, and he tells her that firefighters have to be brave to save people. It's a good episode.

47. The start of the final arc. Jokaen makes a plan to have the three commanders distract Fire 1-5 so that he and the Jakkasts can overtake Fire Phoenix. This episode was glorious. We learn a little about Jokaen's past, too.

48. Jokaen... Why? :cry This episode is glorious too. The way the Rescue Fire members got into Fire Phoenix with the help of Gaia Leon and Qsuke was clever, and... let's just say, Jokaen is one of my favorite villains now.

49. Director Kamen Rider 1 shows up, and the team collect the last two blue orbs(they got the third one back from Jokaen in the previous episode). It's not as good as the last two episodes, but the ending was a complete surprise.

50. The suspense... Oh GOD the suspense. This episode conveys such faith, such hopefulness in a world of hopelessness, such will to save everyone when you can barely save yourself. It's beautiful.

51. God dammit... Why must this show end? This episode tied things off well. [spoiler]Sparing Donkaen[/spooiler] was an unorthodox move, but I like it none the less. And Tatsuya's monologue at the end... I almost broke.

I'm gonna miss this show so much. It was easily better than Rescue Force, and it might, might, be just slightly better than Ryukendo. It's definitely up there.

Ultraman Episode 39 - Goodbye, Ultraman. When the Earth is invaded by a fleet of UFOs, the Science Patrol Japanese HQ is the first and best hope of defending the planet. The fleet is turned back, but they unleash their Space Monster Z-Ton in a last act of agression. Ultraman battles the alien monster, but Z-Ton may be too strong even for the defender of humanity to defeat.

Tsuburaya and company lay it all out on the table in this big blowoff episode. There's a dogfight between the JSDF and the Saucers, a kaijin-sized seijin, Science Patrol HQ directly atacked, Fuji assaulted and left for dead, and a back and forth fight between Ultraman and Z-Ton. And of course, the arrival of Zoffy and the departure of Ultraman from Earth. There's not a lot of wiggle room here as there is a lot to cram into 24 minutes, but it is a fitting finale to the series. Z-Ton is a very interesting Space Monster, really emphasizing the "alien" aspect. The dogfight is nice, although the explosions on both sides end up showing the wires for the models. Quaint but still a little silly. But a great action episode as the series comes full circle.

Overall I loved watching this series. The sheer creativity on display in each episode more than make up for the occassional weak entry and the TV quality effects. For a Japanes TV show of this era, the effects really are quite good -- better than a lot of Toei shows from later years. Any time you put on an episode the chances are you will be solidly entertained for 24 minutes, and that's what I ask for from an action-adventure show. Thumbs way up.

Now, off to Amazon to order my Ultraseven DVDs...

I think I might put a 'Zilla film in the DVD player later tonight.

Oooh! Which one!
If you pick anything other than Vs. King Kong and Vs. MechaGodzilla, I could watch with you x3

Well considering I still haven't finished it, I'll probably throw in Invasion of Astro Monster.

"Everything on Planet X is numbered. The Monster's number is Zero."

That movie will forever be Godzilla vs Monster Zero to me. Just from when I grew up. :D

I'm almost done with the movie. And all I have to say is Monster Zero One is just a ridiculously bad name for Godzilla :Lol

Not to mention the awesomeness of Godzilla jumping lol.

Just started watching the first Ultraman thanks to Hulu.No I finally understand ljacone's avatar pic.lol.Looks great so far,always had an interest in Ultraman,just wanted to start from the beginning.

Awesome, dude! *AIR GUITAR!*

Hope you enjoy the show. I just finished watching the entire series and frankly it's good stuff. It starts out as just sort of standard Monster On The Loose stories but towards the middle they start getting very creative and the characters really start to shine. Scuwatch!

My wife had to work last night, so that meant Ultraseven in the DVD player!

Ultraseven episode 1 - The Invisible Challenger. When an invisible alien invader demands the surrender of Earth, the Ultra Guard spring into action and a new hero rises. As an introduction to the series, it does a good job of setting the stage, showing us the Terrestrial Defense Force, the members of the Ultra Guard (who will always be the Ultra Garrison to me), the Pointer, and the Ultra-Hawk-1 (which is about a million times cooler than the Jet VTOL). We also get to meet Dan Moroboshi, see him change into a human sized Ultra Seven (!), use his Eye Slugger, and summon the robot capsule monster Windam, a personal favorite of mine. The theme of alien invasion which will be a constant in this series starts right here, with Alien Coul (as the subs call him; he's usually called Alien Cool) leading the way. I don't think this episode is as good a debut as the first episode of Ultraman, but it's still pretty neat. Things improve rapidly.

Ultraseven episode 2 - The Green Terror. An astronaut assigned to a space station returns to Earth for a holiday with his wife, but it seems like something else has come back from the stars as well. This is much more in line with what I remember of the (TNT dub) Ultraseven I had previously seen, with a strong horror vibe and of course an Ultra Seven fight. There's a great bit with a drunken salaryman being attacked by Alien Waiell -- he himself reminds me a bit of Greenmons, appropriately.

Ultraseven episode 3 - Secret Of The Lake. While investigating a space ship near a mountain lake, the Ultra Guard run afoul of the strange monster Eleking! The hits keep on coming with a great monster and a cool story involving a pair of aliens disguised as a young Japanese girl. We also get to see our second Capsule Monster, Miclas, who seems to have a bullish personality which is endearing. Eleking is definitely the highlight of the episode but it's a good one overall.

Some general comments on the DVDs -- so far the picture is pretty good. Not super sharp, but for a show of this age they look good. The color is slightly muted but a lot better than the TNT dubs. Honestly, so far the show looks about as good as the Mill Creek DVDs of Ultraman. The subtitles are good but sometimes they disappear a little too quickly, heh!

Overall very excited to begin watching this series and looking forward to discovering all of it.

(As an aside, I have also started DLing Raws of Ultraman Leo! Wooo!)

Over-time subbed the Gavan movie, downloading it now. Looking forward to it!

Sweet!

Awesome! Gotta get it!

Ultraseven episode 4 - The Stolen Eye. A series of ships have disappeared from one spot in the Pacific, which spurs the Ultra Guard to investigate. But soon after the investigation starts, Dan Moroboshi is shanghaied and has his Ultra Eye stolen! A very ambitious episode which plays out like a mini-movie, with a lot of twists and turns. This episode continues to highlight the differences between Ultraman and Ultraseven (the shows and the characters). Lots of action, including a human sized Ultra Seven kicking all sorts of alien butt, and lots of meka, as the rocketship Ultra Hawk 2 debuts. The Godola are sort of like the Baltans, only more like crabs than insects. Very cool episode. Loving this DVD set!

I watched only my second Japanese Godzilla film ever (after the 1954 original) and it was pretty good. It was the Tokyo SOS movie.

Having been used to Super Sentai and Ultraman style giant battles it's kind of weird to see much better production values here, but that makes it a joy to watch. The fights were very well done and it's a treat to watch my first modern Godzilla movie.

Interestingly, the main character in this movie is also Gao Red.

Ooh! Don't forget to watch Tokyo SOS's prequel movie, Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla ("Against", not "Vs." :lol)

Yeah, you sort of have to know the story of GXMG to watch Tokyo SOS.

Beyond that, though, great film. Lots of fun, glad you dug it!

I finally watched the last episode of Ryukendo.

Takara should stop dubbing Transformers and do something cool again. :(

Speaking of dubbed Transformers, there was a random Japanese Beast Wars add at the end of the episode. Weird since that show was ten years old at the time Ryukendo was out.

Too bad the movie wasn't available at the rental store. I might find other means of watching it.

Today I watched Space Battleship Yamato, the 2010 live action movie. I'm not sure if it counts as Toku, but for me it has all the hallmarks of a good Toku movie. I have never watched anything related to Yamato, nor do I know anything about the concept so I went in with fresh eyes. SPOILER WARNING.

It was a pretty amazing movie overall. A lot of eye candy and a great visual treat. The space battles are probably some of the, if not the best I've seen in live-action Space Opera. I still wonder why there aren't many movies in this genre anymore. I was just in awe at the great special effects employed.

The story itself wasn't too shabby, but if there was a knock against it, it is that it sometimes delved too much into sentimentality. I was okay with it being tragic, but by the final act I felt it became a bit too much. The evacuation scene, especially Yuki's, was far too dragged out. It's a wonder how the Gamilas missile took that long to reach earth.

Overall, a great movie and well-worth watching. Here's to more similar space operas in the future.

Ultraseven Episode 5 -- The Missing Hours. A brilliant scientist has his mind controlled by the Villa aliens, using him to disable the Ultra Guard's long distance radar to mask their invasion. Enjoyable episode in the "this man is a spy!" trope. The final battle features Ultraseven battling a Villa (which look like facehuggers, bizarrely enough) while the Ultra Hawk One and Ultra Hawk Three battle the invasion fleet. Very straight forward and action-oriented.

Ultraseven Episode 6 -- The Dark Zone. The great space city Pegassa is on a collision course with Earth, and one of their agents -- who seem to hide in an unpenetrable bubble of shadow -- infiltrates Ultra Guard HQ, assigned with saving his home no matter the cost. Something of morality tale about hubris and spirit. The Pegassans demand that Earth adjust it's orbit to avoid collision, but when the Ultra Guard try to communicate, they do not respond to the "primitive" planet. And their arrogance proves their undoing. The "space metropolis" Pegassa is an eerie model, very effective. We also get to see a glimpse of Anne's quarters, which is novel. (She has a small tin of chocolate on her table which she immediately takes a piece from upon arrival, because all Japanese girls love chocolate, obviously.)

Some more impressions: We're still focusing on Dan (natch) and Anne, but the other characters are starting to get fleshed out a bit too. Captain Kiriyama is not as interesting as Captain Muramatsu was, but he has some nice moments here. And Furuhashi gets a mini spotlight in episode 5 as the bodyguard of the possessed scientist.

The DVD image quality, though not "top notch," is perfectly good for a TV show of this era. The subtitles have been solid with only a few instances of disappearing too quickly.

I just watched all the Ultraman Zero stuff from GUIS (3 movies + 2 specials).
The first movie was surprisingly good, it presents enough exposition for people like me totally unfamiliar with the Ultra series, and was still action packed.

The rest was a bit disappointing because not as good, but still entertaining. I think the plots part about stuff in other universes were unnecessarily complex.

Watched Ultraman Leo episode 1. Great stuff, even raw. The battle between the Gillas brothers and Ultraseven is excellent, and then the battle keeps on escalating with Magma-seijin showing up and then Leo. Battling on the shoreline is just fantastic from a visual standpoint.

When the Gillas show up again and cause the flood in the city, the effects rival any theatrically released flood effects of the time. I am not exagerrating, they are that good. It looks like something out of a blockbuster American disaster film. The desperate fight with Leo and the Gillas is excellent as well, and amazingly enough it ends on a cliffhanger.

The character bits which can be gleaned are nice. Leo's planet was ravaged and eventually destroyed by the Magma-seijin, so it's a personal battle for him. The interaction between Dan Moroboshi and Gen is interesting too, as Dan does not want Gen to die battling the Gillas. But an Ultra has to do what an Ultra has to do.

Really dug this episode and looking forward to seeing the conclusion of the battle against the Gillas and Magma-seijin!

I've begun watching the first Garo series. I watched the first episode years back but hardly remembered it. My thoughts this time around are more positive than the first. Though I don't find myself in love with Kouga I can dig the overall darker vibe of the show. I just finished episode 2 as well and pretty much the only thing I took away form this one is that Geki Yellows' actress played Kaoru's friend :lol

That's a common reaction towards Kouga, he's "the stoïc" type. He goes through a lot and evolves overall the serie, but don't expect him to be more expressive. That doesn't keep the show to be very good.