[GuardianAngel87]

I’m currently watching the first episode of Jiban and I’m already really liking what I’m seeing so far.

I also watched few more episodes of Gavan.

[GuardianAngel87]

I am now slowly but surely getting back to watching Gavan. I'm actually considering watching some more shows of the Metal Heroes franchise among my Toku viewings during the new year especially Spielban, Jiban, and the B-Fighter duology and maybe another rewatch of Metalder just because I can.

[Sunred]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GuardianAngel87

I am now slowly but surely getting back to watching Gavan. I'm actually considering watching some more shows of the Metal Heroes franchise among my Toku viewings during the new year especially Spielban, Jiban, and the B-Fighter duology and maybe another rewatch of Metalder just because I can.

Spielban has all the feels. The late Ichiro Mizuki is part of the cast.

[Mesnick]

I watched "Eight Rangers" in 2012 with members of the Japanese boy band Kanjani Eight. Quite an interesting parody of tokusatsu and superheroes in general. Elements of the future (the action takes place in 2035) are saturated with satire and at the same time quite realistic. Someday something like this may come true, albeit not in such an absurd form. There is also a very strong contrast between overtly parodic superheroes with incredible powers and real-life issues like corrupt police. In general, I can advise those who haven’t watched it: it’s quite funny and interesting, albeit drawn out.

[GoldenXtreme]

I watched Gappa today. I have pretty mixed feelings on it overall. It has some bits that looked really cool and I kind of like the general premise of the movie being about a bunch of overly ambitious humans who refuse to take responsibility for a kaiju attack of their own making is fairly unique (a little reminiscent of the original Mothra). That being said, holy moly, this movie has some of the worst human drama in a kaiji flick I've seen. Generally very awkwardly written and with a particularly heavy dose of tactlessly written scenes involving the Obelisk islanders and female characters, even considering it's a 60s movie. Still, kind of an interesting watch considering it's the only major kaiju movie from Nikkatsu.

[Mesnick]

Watched the Christmas movie Kabutack. Quite an interesting action with very intense fights, which I basically did not expect from such a childish series. When the Earth Dragon stepped on Kabutack's shell and it crunched, I even became a little scared. Another thing is that even a child can neutralize local troopers in a couple of blows, which slightly reduces the anxiety graph. Also now I understand where Build and Saber got their final "tower assaults" from. The crossover element is, of course, very far-fetched and I'd rather see the generals dealt with by other characters on the show rather than the guest stars, but seeing the characters of three related shows together was cool (especially for the 90s, which were not (especially for the 90s, which were not so generous with crossovers). Kabutaсk also looked quite organically next to his older comrades. All in all, a good holiday movie for a tokusatsu fan.

I also started watching "Blue Blazes", a comedic autobiography by mangaka Kazuhiko Shimamoto. Many people who later became real celebrities in manga and anime appear in this show, including Hideaki Anno as the protagonist's ever-winning rival. A lot of interesting things for fans of retro tokusatsu and anime, and fans of modern works will be informative to find out how the people who created their favorite works started and what inspired them. But I’ll make a reservation right away that the tone of the story is as frivolous as possible and the actors overact even by Japanese standards, which is not suitable for everyone.

[GoldenXtreme]

I watched Legend of Dinosaurs and Monster Birds, a movie which if you know anything about it you probably know it does not actually contain dinosaurs or monster birds. Biology never was the strong suit of 70s toku... Neither was science in general. What you might not know about this movie is that it is barely a kaiju film too! I definitely wished there was more action, but there was something about the atmosphere of this movie I liked, so I got a kick out of it. Going to have its smooth soundtrack in my head for a while.

[Mesnick]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoldenXtreme

I watched Legend of Dinosaurs and Monster Birds, a movie which if you know anything about it you probably know it does not actually contain dinosaurs or monster birds. Biology never was the strong suit of 70s toku... Neither was science in general. What you might not know about this movie is that it is barely a kaiju film too! I definitely wished there was more action, but there was something about the atmosphere of this movie I liked, so I got a kick out of it. Going to have its smooth soundtrack in my head for a while.

As a kid, I thought the best part of this movie was the battle between the pleiosaurus and the pterodactyl. But after revisiting it recently, I was able to appreciate just how creepy the lakeside murder scene was. This movie is credited for making kaiju scary again.

[GuardianAngel87]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunred

Spielban has all the feels. The late Ichiro Mizuki is part of the cast.

Speaking of Spielban, I have finally decided to start watching the series.

[Mesnick]

I watched the 2000 film "Juvenal". This is a story about how 4 Japanese children find a cute little robot Tetra from the future and, with his help, save the Earth from aliens. What distinguishes this film from the category of other children's films about fantastic pets is that there are a minimum of funny moments with a robot, while a lot of time is devoted to scientific justification and solving pressing problems. So in a way it's more of an adult sci-fi that's made into a children's movie by the age of the main characters and the fact that by some miracle everyone survives. The robot is a toy, but the aliens and their ships are computer graphics. It is also the second Japanese film where aliens invade Earth for water.Apparently, this explains their appearance in resource-poor Japan. Also, judging by the behind-the-scenes footage during the credits, many scenes ended up not making it into the film. I don't know if there is a director's cut somewhere or if they were just removed because they didn't affect the plot. In general, nothing overly impressive, but it was interesting to watch.