YEAH YEAH: Justifying a J9 Love Affair
So Super Robot Taisen NEO is out and naturally, I find myself wishing that I had a modded-I mean, import Wii to play it on. Not because of the possibility of playing as characters from Whirlwind! Iron Leaguer, it’s more of the prospect of being able to control Galactic Cyclone Bryger.
I’ve been a fan of the J9 Trilogy for quite some time; Bryger, Baxinger, and Sasuraiger rank high on my list of favorite anime robots. However, there is a dark secret with this love of mine–I’ve yet to see all three shows from start to finish. I’ve been slowly watching Bryger, seen very little of Baxinger, and have yet to get my hands on Sasuraiger. How do I get off scot-free then for saying that I’m a fan of the trilogy then?
Let’s see if we can’t figure this out after the jump….
FRIDAY ACE: “Too Hot To Handle” Edition – Week of 11/01/09
Ah, November. The year is almost over and already people are starting to think about Christmas. Curious then that this suddenly makes me want to get stuff related to Gundam 00….
Now, this week’s Friday ACE.
Ultra Galaxy Legends, Now Powered By Microsoft
I’ve really been keeping silent about the new Ultraman movie, haven’t I?
Truth be told, I was keeping away from this as I didn’t want to be spoiled by anything. Sadly, this was one of those things that I couldn’t escape from. However, that’s to be expected, considering that Mega-Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy Legends is looking to be the big Tokusatsu event of 2009. Bigger than Decade, which doesn’t really take much effort to be. Even bigger than the Wecker Signa spinoff movie that everybody seemed to forget about. What’s larger than the hype and the scale of this movie though…is the tie-ins.
In Japan right now, there are all kinds of Ultra Galaxy Legends tie-in promotions and events. For instance, there’s the infamous Honda Stepwagon commercial….
And then the Windows 7 event featuring Ultraseven and Ultraman Zero….
And now Tsuburaya has announced a Ultraman Film Festival!
The film festival, held on November 11th, consists of three Ultraman compilation movies: Chohen Kaiju Eiga (Compilation Monster Film): Ultraman from 1967, made up episodes 1-8 of the original series; Ultraman: Kaijuu Daikessen (Great Monster Decisive Battle) from 1979 which combined new and old footage to form a new story (and not to mention was the first ever live-action appearance of Ultraman Jonias); and Jissouji Akio Kantoku Sakuhin (Director Akio Jissouji’s Opus): Ultraman, another film from 1979 that compiles all of the director’s memorable episodes. The event also boasts a talk show featuring the man himself, Susumu Kurobe, and a performance by Tsuburaya-backed pop group, Voyager. If this has piqued your interest, go over to the official site for more information and tickets.
What trumps all of this is the fact that Ultraman recently teamed up with an equally mighty force: The Blue Man Group!
This past Tuesday, Ultraman was the special guest at a Blue Man Group concert in Japan! Videos have yet to surface on the interwebs but I can only imagine how epic it turned out to be. And even after this, there are still TONS tie-ins for Ultra Galaxy Legends emerging from the ether! Heck, Ultraman Belial even has his own Nico Nico Douga channel! After hearing that Newtype gave the film a nine-star review after seeing it, I can only foam at the mouth with anticipation for this cinematic rubber suit throwdown! Truly, this year is the best time ever to be an Ultra fan!
Samurai Haoh: Shinkenger’s Conquering King!
I think it’s because of my feelings about Decade that nearly made me forget all about Shinkenger. It’s still a good show, don’t get me wrong, but it went down on my priority list for some reason or another. So, to atone for this, I started catching up recently and Holy Fsck, this happened:
Ladies and gentlemen, meet this year’s Endgame Mecha, the Samurai Haoh. Roughly translated, it means “Samurai Conquering King”. Given its arsenal, it’s a well-deserved name and I’d rather not dispute it while its in the room. But Mike, says the valiant reader, you harped on about how horrible G-12 looked last year, why are you so accepting of this clusterfuck? There are two main reasons for my descent into madness: First being the look, second being its theme.
At the start of the show, we saw a flashback of the first ever Shinkenger team facing the Gedoushuu or Heretic Party with wooden versions of their cellphones. With that in mind, the Origami, this year’s mecha, are believable. Their blocky, almost ancient design has me believing that these things have stood the test of time, rather than falling into the trap of suddenly having “Legendary Mechs” looking like they came fresh off the assembly line. What also helps is that rather than G-12’s trying to convince you that it could walk under its own power and not kill itself, Samurai Haoh is more like an array. It’s on par with Dairainger’s Tenku Kiden or “Heavenly Qi Palace”.
Whoever is this year’s designer needs to come back next year because this is just an awesome feat.
Now the second big thing, its theme. If you can make out the song in the background and you’re a Sentai music nut, the voice probably sounds familiar. It should, it’s frigging MOJO! Singer of songs like the themes from Battle Fever J, Machineman, and Goggle V! Also, this really kickass cover of the Metalder theme!
What could have been a clusterfuck with potential to jump the shark (motorcycle) has become something that’s highly impressed me. Now watch next year’s show screw it all up. Because we can’t have nice things for long.
FRIDAY ACE: “Surreal Slow Motion” Edition – Week of 10/18/09
SFX Fantasy Rayforce: An MMO Hero Series?
While perusing the interwebs on this sleepless night, I came across the following pilot film on HJU:
Called Shigong Jhun-gi (Dimension Chronicle) Rayforce or SFX Fantasy Rayforce, this Korean SFX series is being pitched by MMO developer T3 Entertainment. Not much else is known right now…and yes, I know it looks like a lot of the armor concepts featured here look like kit-bashes from Hibiki and Blade–Cut them some slack! These things cost money! All the same, I hope this does get picked up and isn’t quickly forgotten,.
My Advertising Directorial Debut…..of DOOM!!
72 hours of work (and one sleepless night) later, I’ve finally been given clearance to upload the commercial I co-produced and directed for this year’s Youmacon! Though I won’t be going due to financial woes, I’d definitely encourage any readers in the general Michigan Area to check it out. Venture on over to their official site to get more info!
