KAIJU, LATE-NIGHT TOKUSATSU AND RETRO-REVIVAL
Last November, the Japan film industry and tokusatsu fans saw the passing of a legend – Mr Akio Jissoji (実相寺昭雄).
The Passing of the legendary 実相寺昭雄
Unless you’re a tokusatsu fan, most people outside of Japan would not have heard of Akio Jissoji even for fans of art house films. The brilliant genius could only blame his prolific record in the tokusatsu genre and using special effects to tell his whimsical and witty stories. Other than films, he had also authored a number of books (fiction and non-fiction).
Akio Jissoji’s stomach cancer did not stop him from making movies. Till the moment before he drew his last breath, he had completed the remake of the 70s tokusatsu hero – “The Silver Mask” (Silver Kamen/シルバー假面). The movie premiered a month after his death.
Skullman and Silver Kamen
Unlike the original Silver Kamen (シルバー假面), the new Silver Kamen (Die Silbermaske) is a female. Silver Kamen is not the only retro-classic hero making a comeback.
The forerunner to Kamen Rider, Shotaro Ishinomori’s Skull Man (スカルマン) is now undergoing animefication by Studio BONES (Eureka Seven, Ouran High School Host Club). The Skull Man will be airing as a late night anime starting at the end of April 07.
Skull Man
Shotaro Ishinomori first created Skull Man as a manga character. The character became the inspiration for the live-action hero – Kamen Rider. Skull Man was re-appeared again in the 90s under the penmanship of Kazuhiko Shimamoto (島本 和彦).
The live action retro-revivalism had not spared the small screen. Last year, Lion Maru G (ライオン丸G) was made into a late night tokusatsu show targeted at mature audiences,
Lion Maru G
The twist to the 2006 incarnation of Lion Maru – the human host is a gigolo working at a host club in Neo-Shinjuku. That could be what the “G” in Lion Maru G stood for. The 13-episode series had been collected and released on DVD.
Lion Maru G continues the trend that started with Sh15uya followed by GARO (牙狼). The highly acclaimed 2005 late night tokusatsu show returned for an encore tv special at the end of last year. “GARO: Beast of The White Night” (白夜の魔獣)
GARO 2006 TV Special
This TV special is now available on DVD.
Fans of Keita Amemiya (雨宮慶太) would know of his stream of tokusatsu movies during the late 80s and 90s – such as Mirai Ninja (未来忍者 慶雲機忍外伝), Zeiram (ゼイラム) , and Mechanical Violator Hakaider (人造人間ハカイダー). And for those who only know superhero stuff – he made Kamen Rider J and Kamen Rider ZO too.
Gunhed DVD remaster
During that time, there’s another tokusatsu film that was slightly different from the other movies from the same genre. GUNHED (ガンヘッド). That’s the only special effects film that’s mecha-based rather than superhero-based. Finally, this film had been remastered and released on DVD.
And for fans of Godzilla, the “Ultra-Fight”-style Godzilla Island (ゴジラアイランド) was collected and released on DVD in January.
Godzilla Island
Tying in with the event, Bandai together with Hyper Hobby is offering the exclusive mail-order soft vinyl figures of Medical Jet Jaguar (white – メディカルジェットジャガー), Firefighter Jet Jaguar (red – 消防ジェットジャガー) and Black Mecha Godzilla (ブラックメカゴジラ) under the Bandai Movie Monster series.
Since ‘tokusatsu’ is anything that’s live action – especially visual adaptations of manga and anime series involving real actors and special effects.
Dororo – Movie
Osamu Tezuka’s Dororo (どろろ) is one of the latest manga to be made into a movie. Unlike Hollywood, the Japanese are better at adapting novels, manga or anime for TV and even the big screen.
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Okay, so you must have been wondering – WHERE ARE ALL THE PICTURE OF THE BABES? For those tokusatsu shows in this entry, there’s no doubt that there are eye candies. But I’ve found something more interesting.
How about a live action cat-fight? No need for special effects, its as visually exciting as it is.
IDOL COLISEUM
I came across this idol idea from the back pages of Hyper Hobby magazine. Girls in bikini wrestling each other. What more can fan boys ask for?
Idol Coliseum – Last Event
It appears that the Battle Heroines are holding their last event.
And why they’re going to be missed:
Idol Coliseum – A Recap
Not seen enough of the Idol Coliseum? Check out the links below:
「天空のアリーナ」フォトリポート 新木場１stRING ０６・３・１８（土） (”Heaven’s Arena” Photo Report – Shinkiba 1st Ring)
ザ・バトルヒロイントーナメント２ndSEASON 結果リポート (The Battle Heroine Tournament 2nd Season Results Report)
「天空のアリーナ」LOVERSレッドギャラリー (”Heaven’s Arena” Lovers Red Gallery)
「天空のアリーナ」ＫＩＬＬＥＲＳギャラリー (”Heaven’s Arena” Killers Gallery)
アイドルコロシアム1周年記念公演『天空のアリーナ』制作発表 (1st Anniversary Performance “Heaven’s Arena” Production Publicity)
[Note: This is the late conclusion to the 4-parter review on Tokusatsu in 2007 and it's a poorly written piece. Well, I haven't much time lately as I'm up to something. In fact, a few things at the same time. Meanwhile, you may wish to be entertained by Top and Rahul's adventures]
