[ComicGuy89]

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.

[Matrixbeast]

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

[ljacone]

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!

[ShockerCon]

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.

[ComicGuy89]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matrixbeast

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

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.

[ljacone]

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.

[Boshusan]

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.

[ljacone]

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!

[Den-O]

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

[Boshusan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Den-O

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

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.