tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-190160592024-03-05T08:23:24.288-05:00RMWC ReviewsNew Anagram in the WorksK. Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09142868567992464226noreply@blogger.comBlogger523125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19016059.post-11287580456277808492024-01-31T23:11:00.002-05:002024-01-31T23:11:32.184-05:00The 1977 Annual World's Best SF: A Long Review<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBN6CfTugqS_nnm79-LZCBQ42R5f2mxJEZp3dou2QWs0RYG71meGi-B5hWIRAZe_9erAis7A74xKgnEoJktkbohINzZjC6IDo4zSD3H7S9ksVY-whcPGJl5L2aIxRfT9CFNn3emsfI3M5BezdwZRvQ7vu4ATz174PllgrojJT3AY-CE1-HwYQ7Ew/s640/THNNLWRLDSBSTSF1977.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="379" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBN6CfTugqS_nnm79-LZCBQ42R5f2mxJEZp3dou2QWs0RYG71meGi-B5hWIRAZe_9erAis7A74xKgnEoJktkbohINzZjC6IDo4zSD3H7S9ksVY-whcPGJl5L2aIxRfT9CFNn3emsfI3M5BezdwZRvQ7vu4ATz174PllgrojJT3AY-CE1-HwYQ7Ew/s320/THNNLWRLDSBSTSF1977.jpg" width="190" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">“The 1977 Annual World's Best SF”
is an anthology of short stories from 1975-1976 edited and published
by Donald A Wollheim (1914 - 1990) in, quite naturally, 1977.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">It begins with a forward by Wollheim
himself, discussing the then-current state of science fiction in the
year 1976 and applauding how the genre has finally “achieved its
rightful place as a branch of the world stream of literature.” His
words, not mine. This is a phrase I've read and heard repeatedly over
the years in various SF anthologies and articles, so either someone
is talking out of their ass, or REAL science fiction hasn't been
tried yet. After crowing about how science fiction can finally be
taken seriously now, the rest of the introduction discusses the
struggling state of a lot of science fiction magazines at the time.
Circulation wasn't growing and several startups died only after a
couple of issues. Given the selection of stories chosen to represent
the “World's Best SF” in this volume, its not a surprise, but I'm
getting ahead of myself. Wollheim discusses how the state of the
genre was both optimistic (because as an editor and publisher the
genre had achieved the form he'd worked so hard to shape ever since
he delivered the Futurians' “Mutation or Death!” speech at the
Third Eastern Science Fiction Convention in 1937) and pessimistic at
the same time (because the readership was, somehow, mysteriously, not
interested in the thinly veiled Communist propaganda that the
Futurians wanted to see take over the genre, but more on that at the
very end).</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p>
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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The first story, "Appearance of Life" by British New Wave
author Brian W. Aldiss (1925 – 2017) concerns itself with an
unnamed academic identified as a “Seeker” who travels to a world
with a curious geography. The Northern hemisphere is all land and the
Southern is all sea. Belting the entire planet is a massive
structure, part wall and part underground tunnel that circumnavigates
the equator. It was built by a precursor race about whom nothing is
known except for their ruins and their name: Korlevalulaw.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Finding it empty, Galactic Humanity,
which has “matured” past much of its past into an allegedly
enlightened, intellectual society, has decided to use that free real
estate as a museum and started filling the space with artifacts of
human space exploration history and whatnot. The Seeker has been sent
to the planet archive because while anyone can access the archive
remotely for research, a Seeker has the incredibly rare talent of
being able to put two-and-two together to find four. He is able to
contextualize information in an atomized society losing the
capability to do so.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Rooting through preserved spaceships
that were destroyed by various disasters, he finds a wedding ring and
is baffled by it. Then he finds a holocube that is keyed to only play
its message for the woman who recorded it's husband. Soon after he
finds her husband's holocube to her, which is also the result of her
living on a planet whose population was destroyed by a virus
bombardment from a warship that her (ex) husband was stationed on.
The two recordings register the spouses' faces and play their
messages while Seeker watches.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The marriage broke up. He drove her
away, she had an affair, and ultimately he left her to pursue a
career in the stars. He returned 15 years later as a mercenary
fighting for one navy, negotiations broke down, and then everyone on
the planet as well as the fleet died because the disease that virus
bombed the planet was super virulent and spread to the fleet. They
would have all been dead anyway by the time the story takes place,
since the events happened some 60 thousand years prior. It's easily
the best part of the story, and the most clever.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The little twist is that the recordings
were done 15 years apart. The wife's is from when the husband left
her and he took it with him as a memory of her. In it, she is talking
about how much she loves him and wants the marriage to last. The
other recording is from when he returns, hoping to get a message to
her. Its full of regret at his actions driving her away, bitterness
at the affair, and so on. The sense is that that this was a slice of
two people who loved each other but were separated by
miscommunication and later regret, and then they were all snuffed out
by war because mankind had not “matured” past it.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Seeker finishes watching and reflects
that he joked with a fellow seeker that he wanted to find the “secret
of the universe.” Except instead of love, which is what the two
hologram recordings were about, he comes to the conclusion that
humanity is just like those recordings: a projection. A projection
created by the Korlevalulaw, and just like those recordings, humanity
itself was fading away. His conclusion causes him to despair to such
a level that he abandons his work, abandons the museum, and flies off
to some uninhabited planet to live out the rest of his life as a
hermit lest he talk to someone and spread this theory, which could
somehow spread and destroy human civilization.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The entire last page of the story feels
rushed and forced. This “enlightened” product of an already
atomized society, where love and marriage are replaced by the
“Breeding Centre” himself states that he barely sees another
human being on his home planet for most of the year. Solitude is the
natural state of this supposedly mature and evolved form of humanity.
Him freaking out and turning into a recluse is barely a stretch
beyond his default bugman existence. He has to come to this
conclusion, because the alternative would lead to the beginning of a
longer, and, frankly, much more exciting story. But then he remembers
he abandoned the museum in such a hurry that he left the recordings
playing. Another seeker could potentially find it and come to the
same conclusion and humanity would be doomed. More than it already
is.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Or the androids cleaning the place
would find the recordings and put them away. This is not mentioned in
the story, but since I too can put two-and-two together, this is
another possible second order outcome.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The human elements of the story are
strong, and the most interesting SF elements are the archive planet
with the weird empty structure precursor structure turned into a
museum. The other sci-fi elements, like glimpses of far future
society, are just that, glimpses. Hints. Not much happens besides a
smug future nerd experiencing an existential crisis because he saw
recording of two more “primitive” humans trying to come to terms
with each other across the void of time with more emotion than he's
capable of understanding.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">An interesting central nugget wrapped
between a mildly interesting setup and a slapdash ending. 5/10</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">John Varley was born in 1947 and as of
this writing, is the only writer in this anthology still alive. He's
perhaps most notable for writing the novel “Millennium,” and
later the scrip for the 1989 movie of the same name.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Perhaps more famous now, thanks to
MST3K, as an American-Canadian public television co-production from
1984 starring the late, great Raul Julia called “Overdrawn at the
Memory Bank” which appears here.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Earth was made uninhabitable, and
humanity lives underground on the Moon. Despite this, boring data
entry jobs still exist, and Fingal is one such office schlub. He's
about to embark on a vacation in Disneyland Kenya, which is a domed
nature preserve under the Moon's surface where Fingal's brain is
transferred to a lioness to experience a weekend of being a Great
Cat. That part works out fine, but Fingal's body gets misplaced
thanks to an annoying kid messing with the tags on his body, and
after his time in the lioness, his mind is placed into a computer
system to keep him alive while the staff try to find where the hell
his body went.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Fingal's only contact with the outside
world is Appolonia Joachim, a troubleshooter for a data company that
specializes in these kinds of accidents. She tells him to stay calm
and to ride it out. Fingal tries, and finds he's able to affect the
simulated world like a lucid dream. Cloning replacement bodies is a
common thing in this future, and most people keep backups of their
memories in insurance vaults, so if the body can't be found in time
before the simulation world burns out, Fingal's backup memory could
be uploaded to his current or a replacement body. It's very Cyberpunk
several years before Cyberpunk existed.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">But that's cold comfort to <i>this</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
Fingal. That backup would have none of the experiences since being
backed up, including this weird adventure.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Time passes and he tries to occupy
himself, eventually deciding to improve himself by taking computer
programming courses, eventually passing. He's also grown quite
attached to Appolonia, and she's able to pull him back to the real
world. Except there's one little wrinkle, which I won't spoil because
you should actually read the story, but it ends on an up note, which
is rare for critically lauded science fiction of the 70s.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The story is incredibly charming, with
a lot of well-executed humor, likable characters, and immediate
stakes that put the main character in peril, which is not common with
a lot of SF stories from this era, or in this anthology, for that
matter. Moreover, the advanced tech and science-fiction concepts
about the meaning of consciousness and digitizing minds isn't just
window dressing. They're integral parts of the setup, complications,
and resolution. If you've seen the movie, a surprising amount of the
short story was directly translated to it. The Casablanca plot,
however, was not. I think that was added to give the movie an actual
runtime. Highly recommended and easily the best story in the
anthology, 9/10</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Michael G. Coney (1932 – 2005), was
another British science fiction author, wrote “Those Good Old Days
of Liquid Fuel” which is a reflection on nostalgia through the lens
of the very British pastime of trainspotting. Only instead of trains,
it's rockets. And instead of England, its the Pacific Northwest.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The narrator, Sagar, returns to his
boyhood stomping grounds on business as a middle-aged man and learns
that the old derelict rockets that he watched land as a youth at the
local spaceport will finally be broken down for scrap. With time to
kill before his business requirements, he drives down to reflect on
his childhood, and the events that led to the dissolution of his
closest friendship.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Sagar is an unhappy narrator. He rears
animals called slithes for their skins on “an impoverished farm.”
He is surrounded by the technological marvel of antigravity engines,
but considers them soulless compared to the old liquid-fueled
rockets. His disdain for the technological wonders of his day bleeds
over to the reader. It's all mundane for him, and so it is for us.
What's a slithe? Don't know. Don't care. It's never explained. Might
as well be cows for the effect they have on the story.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Sagar was evidently an unimpressive
student, and in his own words the type to knock a girl down during a
brawl, so he was kind of an asshole from the start. But he loved
watching the rockets come in. A bunch of the lads did, including
Charlesworth, his best friend. Even then, the narrator noted
differences in their enjoyment of the hobby. Charlesworth became
obsessed with spotting the ships and then marking them down in his
book, organizing all of the ships he's seen. Sagar, meanwhile, just
did it for the love of the sport, maaaan. This somehow makes him a
better person than Charlesworth. This is also assuming Sagar's
assessment of Charlesworth is correct.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Anyway, one summer, Charlesworth
discovers girls, specifically a rich bitch named Antonette, and
drifts apart from his loser friend. This pisses Sagar off because
he's got an unspoken crush on Charlesworth, though later in the story
he says he likes girls with big boobs so he's totally not gay, guys.
Antonette has a psionic cat that's a luxury pet, but they're only
psionic with their own kind, which is kind of useless. Eventually,
the last rocket on Charlesworth's list comes in for a landing, and
the girl's dad bought a female psionic cat to breed with the one they
already have, only it senses the incoming mate, breaks its leash, and
runs into the landing pit where it promptly dies in the only element
of science-fiction that isn't window dressing. Sagar left the scene
without finding out what happened to the arguing couple, and that was
it for decades.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The story ends with Sagar on his way
back to town and he sees the contractors arrive to begin the
scrapping of the ships. He recognizes his old friend Charlesworth as
the owner of said contracting company, and thinks about reconnecting,
but then chooses not to because they're so different now. The end.
Sagar is obviously seething that Charlesworth made a successful life
for himself while he himself is a bitter loser, though the story
doesn't admit it.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">An ending like that serves two
purposes. It saves the author from having to write any more, and a
vague, inconsequential ending is suitably “literary” for genre
authors trying to be taken seriously by people who already hate genre
fiction.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Charlesworth is the protagonist because
he's the one who actually undergoes a character arc and grows as a
person. He's also the one who actually has tough decisions to make.
Sagar's just an unlikable narrator and the rockets could be replaced
by trains and nothing at all would change. 2/10. Very dull, Ewan MacGregor doesn't climb out of a toilet.
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Richard Cowper was the pen name of John
Middleton Murry Jr. (1926 – 2002), yet another Englishman in the
anthology, and the son of John Middleton Murry, a prominent
publisher, essayist, and author moving in the Modernist circles of
the early 20<sup>th</sup> Century.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">“The Hertford Manuscript” concerns
an unnamed narrator discussing the death of his Great-Aunt, a
formidable intellectual woman of the early 20<sup>th</sup> Century
who lost her husband in World War I, became a book antiquarian, and
had a brief fling with H. G. Wells. This last little namedrop feeds
into what this story's actually about. After a reasonably charming
but meandering portrait of the old dame, she croaks and leaves the
narrator a very curious book, one that she insisted was used by Wells
as a primary source, of sorts. Skeptical, the narrator reads it, and
the actual plot begins.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">It's a sequel to “The Time Machine.”
After the events of Wells' book, the protagonist, here named Robert
James Pensley, finds himself stuck in 1665 England, with one of the
crystals powering his time machine broken. He sets out for London to
find a lens grinder who can carve a replica. Only, he realizes that
its the same year as the Great Plague of London. Nevertheless, he is
determined to return to the 1800s and finds one such craftsman in the
city, but it will take some time.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">While waiting, Pensley contracts the
plague and dies after the completed replacement crystal is delivered
to him.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">That's it.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">All of the science fiction elements
happen offscreen and if you wanted to know what happened to the hero
of the Time Machine, he gets the plague after interacting with a
dying, infected man in the street, doesn't realize it for a few days,
and he dies in some London flophouse.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The sentences are competently written
and imitate the Victorian style, but they all serve a meandering,
nihilistic, and ultimately pointless plot. The section describing the
old spinster was more interesting. Dreadfully boring. 2/10.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Lester Del Rey (1915 – 1993) was a
prolific author during the 50s and 60s before turning to editing and
publishing. Ever ready anything put out by Del Rey Books? That was
founded by him and his wife, fellow editor Judy-Lynn del Rey.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">“Natural Advantage” concerns itself
with three aliens on a ship who travel to our solar system because
radio signals were detected and they were morally obligated to warn
the locals of an impending anti-matter cloud that would wipe out all
life in the system in ten years. After some hesitancy, the aliens
make peaceful contact with the humans, and despite their obvious
physical and language differences, they get to know each other, and
like each other. After delivering the bad news, the aliens decide to
share their technical manuals with the humans in exchange for a trove
of history, literature, and other such books because 1) It will take
them 10 years to get back to their home system and 2) if the human
race is doomed, the aliens want at least some kind of record of their
existence to survive.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">There's a fun little twist at the end
that these aliens who've grown rather fond of humanity and are sad
that they died out reach their homeworld around the time the
anti-matter cloud should have destroyed Earth, and find humans
waiting for them. They managed to reverse-engineer the space travel
technology to such a degree that not only could they travel faster
than the aliens, but they've also moved the entire Solar System out
of harm's way. It's a funny little ending, but not what the core of
the story is.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The core is the inherent “humanity”
(for lack of a better word) of the alien protagonists. They're good
guys. And likable, despite having weird physiology. You feel bad
alongside them when they ruminate on mankind's fate, and for a story
with no antagonist besides an unthinking cosmic phenomenon, likable
characters are crucial to hang the audience's perspective on.
Wollheim implies its a throwback to the old fashioned style SF
stories of the 50s with its “Mankind Overcomes All Challenges”
message.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">but honestly, its an entertaining story
that well told, which puts it head and shoulders against the majority
of the stories in this collection. There's a reason why it's the
cover story on my hardcover copy. 7/10</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB9TtPkkUOUn7vLqMro4i8hh3QQaAe4N2OnVAx-MObu4t_ad026CdfGQ6UJlziuqQ824rnAMBo1AcSFlk-c05qR5BND8hMebnybCJp_tuU9fwsXqf9qc9V_E96IkFDB_L63j6L_0gMN-H1j870LniRIfqtm4bRApoxUx2zzW0dGMC1s5M9nhP7xQ/s640/The%20Bicentennial%20Man.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="379" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB9TtPkkUOUn7vLqMro4i8hh3QQaAe4N2OnVAx-MObu4t_ad026CdfGQ6UJlziuqQ824rnAMBo1AcSFlk-c05qR5BND8hMebnybCJp_tuU9fwsXqf9qc9V_E96IkFDB_L63j6L_0gMN-H1j870LniRIfqtm4bRApoxUx2zzW0dGMC1s5M9nhP7xQ/s320/The%20Bicentennial%20Man.jpg" width="190" /></a></div><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Isaac Asimov (1920 – 1992) is the
biggest name in the anthology, and if you're aware of the genre,
you're aware of him. Asimov was involved in too much stuff to list
here, although the most important for our purposes is that he was
Futurian in the 30s and 40s, and ideological fellow-traveler with
Wollheim.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">“The Bicentennial Man” is a far too
clever title for the story that you actually get. It was turned into
a Robin Williams movie in 1999 which was a significant flop.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Andrew Martin is a robot: a robot in
the service of a family that has somehow become self-aware. This
starts by displaying a curious aptitude at woodworking. Encouraged by
the family, Andrew makes a lot of money as an artist, and the Martins
set up a bank account for his earnings and let him keep a substantial
chunk of it for himself. After a while, he decides he wants to be
free, and offers to buy his freedom. While hesitant at first, the
patriarch of the house generally goes through the legal proceedings
to grant Andrew his freedom.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Now a free robot, Andrew starts wearing
clothes like a human , because at this point it's obvious he wants to
be a real boy like Pinocchio. Bored with art, he decides to write a
history of robotics, written by a robot. It too is successful, and
while the Martin family members in his existence age and die, they
all like him and go through the court system to grant him special
privileges and rights, since he is the only self-aware robot in
history; and it will stay that way since he's an embarrassment to the
company that built him and has set up safeguards to prevent any
further standalone complexes like this from happening. He does,
however, eventually use corporate loopholes to get the company to
upgrade his body to make it more human-like, including giving him
facial expressions.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">This repeats. Andrew keeps using
lawfare to get himself more rights, he feels a vague bit of sadness
when the human family members in his life die of old age, but he's
more focused on his transhuman journey to become human.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Over time it gets weird. He upgrades to
literal skinsuit made of synthetic materials. He installs a simulacra
of a digestive system that allows him to “eat.” He discusses
installing genitalia, though thankfully, it's never confirmed whether
he goes through with that or not.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Eventually he pushes for the big one:
to be legally recognized as a human being. The court drags their feet
and Andrew determines that the last stepping block to being declared
legally human is the ability to die. So he goes to a robot surgeon
and gets a procedure done that is never explained, but gives his body
a ticking time clock that will shut down in a year, conveniently
timed with his 200<sup>th</sup> “birthday.” The World Court is
impressed by this and grant him his legal humanity in a ceremony on
that very special day, dubbing him the Bicentennial Man.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">He gets to enjoy this legal equality
for at most 12 hours and then he dies. The end.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">As a science-fiction story, the
technological elements are all hand-waved. It does start off with a
recap of Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics, which lays out the themes
early on, but the nitty-gritty is glossed over. As is Andrew's desire
to be human, and even the reason why he becomes self-aware in the
first place. It could be random chance. It could be a woman in a
sparkling dress touched his head with a magic wand while a cricket in
a top hat sang a song. Don't know.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">There is virtually no conflict in the
story. The Martins all love and accept Andrew for what he is. The law
firm partners he spends over a century using all like him. The
government functionaries he interacts with all like him. He has a
very smooth journey towards equal rights.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The only part where he's ever in any
kind of danger is when he decides to walk to a library to do some
research, and this supposedly very intelligent robot gets lost.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">While standing stupidly in a field,
Andrew is accosted and bullied by two cartoonishly racist caricatures
of rednecks who are racist to him because a robot ain't shouldn't be
wearin' no human clothes.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p>
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</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Before something interesting has a
chance of happening that could actually set Andrew back, one of his
human “relatives” rescues him and it's back to the repetition.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">As a civil rights allegory, it falls
flat on it's face. Andrew isn't fighting for the rights of all of his
kind. He's the only one of his kind. As he becomes more and more
human in appearance, he bosses the other robots around just as much
as the real humans. He bosses the humans around too, as he's become
an expert in robotics and would outlive all his human underlings.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Andrew's obsession with fabricating a
skin suit is just missing “<a href="https://youtu.be/zILmrAJgzSc?si=BCd_SpjS30PTiTpd" target="_blank">Goodbye Horses</a>” playing in the
background. For all of his striving, for all of his
making lawyers do the work for him, Andrew goes through all that
effort to become a human legally on paper and then he dies. There's a
nice little touch at the end where Andrew is fiercely clinging on to
his pride at finally being a human in his final moments, only for his
last words to be “Little Miss,” the name he referred to the
youngest Martin daughter when he became active. That single, final
moment of nostalgia being the first actual human behavior in the life
of an otherwise selfish, insane robot.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">There are some fun touches. Andrew's
continued disapproval of society's increasingly silly fashion trends
while he wears the same style suit he wore were worth a chuckle. The
sentences are competently constructed. But it's boring. Oh so boring
and repetitive. 3/10</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj31DNpi-miDahlTr7S7xAtXTT1HTzYnW4Th2Z012-0lzW6MySieVyqQOiDblQxs06EDrS14cGbMmn11UPCDTUxtb-weZJUsu1Nrkace5ftXYZSWQtZLbIHCY_OtwGWueYhskOjJjNMi8PGrNvEXlXKCcvwFAVzskNY5kgnLKuiQnjqE8LGSRPZQA/s640/The%20Cabinet%20of%20Oliver%20Naylor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj31DNpi-miDahlTr7S7xAtXTT1HTzYnW4Th2Z012-0lzW6MySieVyqQOiDblQxs06EDrS14cGbMmn11UPCDTUxtb-weZJUsu1Nrkace5ftXYZSWQtZLbIHCY_OtwGWueYhskOjJjNMi8PGrNvEXlXKCcvwFAVzskNY5kgnLKuiQnjqE8LGSRPZQA/s320/The%20Cabinet%20of%20Oliver%20Naylor.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Barrington J. Bayley (1937 – 2008)
was yet another British New Wave author, and a friend of Michael
Moorcock. In 1999 he wrote “Eye of Terror” for the Warhammer
40,000 franchise among a couple other stories. I bring that up because all the kids like the
Warhams these days.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB0srsK6NpvMD8jmF5npf1vp5HCSVLeXfRSEprliO1nu_dY_KgiCQxlP4ec7P8z89wMji4FpV6bo-ij6WXGU_bRNbGXGuNBqpsk3YkFRw4BeJTxDxpWNhDlEJhHXmlnIlP2lfRlzpPvF67Pc2s3mrqBEixp5FiSLks186ULIk4FqRDkW8l6VNfnA/s550/Eye%20of%20Terror.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="550" data-original-width="337" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB0srsK6NpvMD8jmF5npf1vp5HCSVLeXfRSEprliO1nu_dY_KgiCQxlP4ec7P8z89wMji4FpV6bo-ij6WXGU_bRNbGXGuNBqpsk3YkFRw4BeJTxDxpWNhDlEJhHXmlnIlP2lfRlzpPvF67Pc2s3mrqBEixp5FiSLks186ULIk4FqRDkW8l6VNfnA/s320/Eye%20of%20Terror.jpg" width="196" /></a></div>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">“The Cabinet of Oliver Naylor”
is...trippy. It begins with a film noir pastiche that turns out to be
the procedurally generated workings of a device called a thespitron
which can generate new content, characters and stories by drawing
from all human fiction...somehow. So credit where it's due to Bayley
for conceptualizing Chat GPT 40+ years ahead of time.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">It's inventor, Oliver Naylor, is like
many Englishmen of his era, traveling through space at incredibly
high speeds with entire galaxies whizzing by because he wants some
alone time to think. Naylor is a character who would rather think and
contemplate on the nature of identity than actually do anything. He
has, however, picked up a passenger named Watson-Smythe, a polite
young man who is obviously a cop but Naylor is too blind or dumb to
realize it. Watson-Smythe (hereafter called Space Cop for brevity)
wants to find a reclusive artist named Corngold.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Instead of a plot where things happen,
the majority of the story is concerned with showing off that it knows
a lot about 19<sup>th</sup> and 20<sup>th</sup> century philosophers,
as well as pages and pages of absurdly advanced technology with names
that sound like they belong in third-rate steampunk, like the
“Harkham Velocitator.” There's very little room for plot because
most of the page count is the spent with the story's head up it's own
ass.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Anyway, they reach Corngold's habitat
on the edge of a “matterless lake” which a huge patch of the
cosmos without anything in it. For reasons. Ships that go in there
too far get too disconnected from known space and get lost
permanently. So there's likely a little bit of matter stuck in there.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Whatever, Corngold is a fat, disgusting
pervert who has stolen a piece of jewelry and a maid who's a solid
six whom he physically and sexually abuses. You know he's a rebel
because he says “fuck.” Space Cop reveals himself to be a space
cop with a warrant for Corngold's arrest. Corngold refuses to comply
and instead of shooting him with the very stun gun in his hands,
Space Cop decides to chill out until dinner.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Because God forbid anything exciting
like a shootout should happen when a character's got a future gun in
his hands.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Instead, Corngold uses his own hand to
do something obscene to humiliate the poor girl he's kidnapped even
further. It's brief, but it's very explicit and jarring enough to
knock me out of the story with how vile the moment is. I get that
it's a deliberate choice by the author to showcase Corngold's abusive
cruelty, but a lot of sensible editors would axe that entire segment
as being too much. Very bad taste, and honestly, it doesn't belong,
especially in an anthology that appears to be aimed at “all
audiences.”</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Anyway, Watson-Smythe is teleported to
his death because he's stupid, and Naylor flees back to his ship to
escape, only to be sent into the matterless lake to die slowly
because he's also stupid. The thespitron makes a final appearance for
the themes of identity before it shuts down because it's too far from
any signals.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">There is a very good reason why you've
heard of Moorcock and not Bayley. Despite Moorcock's deliberate
subversions to create an Anti-Conan with Elric, he still had enough
of an adventurous sense to tell exciting stories in interesting
settings with likable characters despite himself. “The Cabinet of
Oliver Naylor” has none of these. Pages are devoted to showing off
how well-read the author is and navel gazing about the nature of
identity until the plot intrudes, leading to the main character's
eventual off-screen death, rendering the philosophical discussion of
identity moot. Isn't it all just so pointless?</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">While “The Hertford Manuscript”
suffers from a dearth of science fiction in this science fiction
collection, “Cabinet” suffers from a surfeit of it. It's
overstuffed with sci-fi concepts and tech names for things that, at
best, vaguely explain why the tech level is so very advanced, and yet
fails to sufficiently explain why all of the people using it are so,
so boring. There's some implication that the thespitron is an
obsession for Naylor, since he uses all of his free time watching it,
but like everything else in the story, that too goes nowhere. 1/10.
Offensively bad.
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1vP1kSatvAMITUPREPDgP-CegE0-eJEphMH_KLSvKssjcYzHiBIEPdZK_0RU9AFUAEInkhFNBtGaShnuV9bn-9B_07edQT8mJOM5Fcu8XG46OLCxFhLu0sulngyqKWaNk5POoRIxLgPe_E45qbnn_9wuxW-AdBrgtXV9wlinAgRe60pXCXvAuew/s456/My%20Boat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="456" data-original-width="308" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1vP1kSatvAMITUPREPDgP-CegE0-eJEphMH_KLSvKssjcYzHiBIEPdZK_0RU9AFUAEInkhFNBtGaShnuV9bn-9B_07edQT8mJOM5Fcu8XG46OLCxFhLu0sulngyqKWaNk5POoRIxLgPe_E45qbnn_9wuxW-AdBrgtXV9wlinAgRe60pXCXvAuew/s320/My%20Boat.jpg" width="216" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">(Yes, two of the stories appeared in the same magazine)</div><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Joanna Russ (1937 – 2011) was an
American author noted for being a Socialist, Feminist, Lesbian. The
themes she wrote about should be self-evident.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">“My Boat” is called a
“Lovecraftian” story because it goes out of its way to namedrop
several of his books as well as the Necronomicon, Kadath and some
other words found in his stories. The tone and themes, however, are
nothing like the cosmic dread and horror found in Lovecraftian
fiction.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The story takes the form of one half of
a conversation, where a fast talking narrator does all the talking
and there are pauses for implied replies that are never recorded.
It's annoying, but whatever. The narrator is speaking to a literary
or talent agent and recollecting something that happened in 1952 when
their school was integrated. The narrator and a pal, a manlet named
Al who was big into Lovecraft stories, befriend one of the black
girls integrated into their school. The girl's very shy, which is
explained as having witnessed her father get gunned down by,
presumably, white people because this is thick with social
commentary, and she became very withdrawn after the shooting. Yet she
is also incredibly smart and the most talented member of the theater
kids.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">So anyway, this weird, withdrawn,
mousey girl that everybody likes because she's the best at acting
brings Al and the narrator to a boat that she and her cousin own down
by the docks, imaginatively named “My Boat” which is where actual
weird things happen in this alleged weird tale.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Once they get on the boat, parts begins
shifting between glances. It starts as row boat, then turns into a
yacht, then gets fancier and fancier, with Al and the girl both
getting more and more elaborate costumes. Remember those Old Spice
“Look at your man, now look at me” ads? Yeah, it plays out like
that.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The girl, Cissie, turns into some kind
of Abyssinian princess type and Al turns into Francis Drake and both
age up to adulthood and they talk about all the strange places they
go to and sights that they see, like going to Atlantis or the Queen
of Saba (not Sheba, that's the <i>wrong</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
pronunciation, she'll have you know).</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-style: normal;">At
risk of having to deliver on all of these potential interesting
scenarios, the narrator jumps out to untie the boat from the dock, is
interrupted by some hick cop, who is almost certainly racist, even
though he does nothing, and the boat vanishes, bewildering them both.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Some
20 years later, the narrator (Jim), runs into Al, who hasn't aged a
day since school who's come back to get the Necronomicon from his
house, which is the same as it was 20 years ago. Of course, after he
gets the book, the house completely vanishes also.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-style: normal;">First
off, there's no science fiction in this story whatsoever. Pure
fantasy, only of the magical realism kind where its ambiguous whether
it's really real or not, because that's like, really deep, man.
Curious for a science fiction anthology, isn't it? But of course,
Russ' activism and politics are why she was chosen for the anthology.
Not a Futurian, but most definitely a political fellow traveler of
Wollheim's.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Like
so many other stories in this, the plot threatens me with a good
time, then backs down in cowardice. The writing style is annoying,
and the narrator's voice sounded like a female writing instead of the
“Jim” it was supposed to be.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-style: normal;">The
only Lovecraft elements are the various name drops of his works or
words of places and things that were in his stories. There's zero
horror, existential, cosmic or otherwise. Cissie as this weird
timeless traveler of strange places seducing Al into being her
traveling companion who never ages, like some kind of Lost Boy from
Neverland could be horrific. It should be horrific, like the stories
of faeries stealing people away for decades only for them to return
suddenly, but the prose never does that. Of course, a proud liberal
like Russ wouldn't really say something as absurd as “Black People
are eldritch fey creatures” but that's how Cissie comes across in
the story.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-style: normal;">It's
boring. It's preachy. It doesn't have any science fiction in it. It's
not Lovecraftian horror. It's not good fantasy. It is a painfully
dull relic of the 1970s and of an author with aspirations being taken
seriously by the Serious Literature crowd slumming it in the science
fiction scene. The lesson of the story is "don't trust theater kids" 2/10.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></p>
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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">James Tiptree Jr. was the pen name for
Alice Bradley Sheldon (1915 – 1987). She didn't use a man's name
because of sexism in the industry, but because she was an academic
and an intelligence officer for the US government and wanted to
protect her professional reputation. She and her second husband,
Huntington D. Sheldon would join the CIA in the 50s. She began
publishing science fiction stories in 1967, in a career that would
last until 1987 when she shot her husband and then herself what was
either a murder/suicide or a suicide pact with her ailing husband.
Quite sad.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">“Houston, Houston, Do You Read?”
begins with a male scientist deliriously waking up in a spaceship
cabin flashing back to a time in junior high school where he was in
the girl's room with his dick in his hand.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The review could stop right there and
be sufficient enough to tell you whether it's worth reading or not.
Unfortunately, there are 53 pages of story.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The three-man crew of the <i>Sunbird</i>,
an American spaceship with a three-man crew on a shot around the sun
head back to Earth, but something went wrong and it turns out they
passed through a solar flare and they got shot three hundred years
into the future. Lost, but not realizing it, they eventually get
picked up by a spaceship from Earth called the <i>Gloria</i> which is
crewed entirely by women and one androgynous “boy” creatively
named “Andy.”</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The crew of the <i>Sunbird</i> are:
pilot Bud Geirr, who is a cartoonish stereotype of a cad who talks
about nothing but sex, constantly; Mission Commander Norman “Dave”
Davis, who is a serious, mission-oriented man who is quietly but
firmly Christian; and Science Officer Orren Lorimer, our viewpoint
character. With the flashback to his dick in his hand. Lorimer has a
bad case of impostor syndrome where he doesn't feel like he's a
legitimate scientists. This spills over into him being insecure,
indecisive, and subconsciously jealous of his “manly-man”
crewmates. When the <i>Sunbird</i> gets lost, he's completely
useless. Oh, and he's also incredibly repressed and has rape
fantasies about the women, because of course he does.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The structure of the story bounces from
the current time to flashbacks of how three American astronauts were
stuck on their spaceship, which is deliberate because the astronauts'
food was drugged by their supposed rescuers. The rescuers are all
pretty women (and Andy) and Earth gave them an order that they have
to be quarantined for a year before they can reach Earth because
there's no idea what kind of diseases could transfer to or from the
men.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Oh, and aside from the jumpy structure,
which makes sense, it's also written in the present-tense. “Bud
says” instead of “Bud said.” It's VERY annoying.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">“But this review has been written in
present tense!”</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Yes. It's a review/essay. The structure
is different because the writing is different. Environment dictates.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Anyway, after very long and very
drawn-out dialogues between Lorimer and various women on the <i>Gloria</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
it's ultimately revealed that there was an epidemic that created a
mass-sterility situation among humanity and the Y chromosome (men)
died off. The surviving 11,000 women developed cloning and that's how
humanity continues now. Society has progressed to a non-hierarchical
structure. There's no leader. There are five industries that they
work: food production, communications, transport, space, factories,
and producing/raising children. Yes, that's six things. The clone
strains are separated out into these industries according to their
abilities, but its totally not Communism because they can go and do
other things if they want. Dave is particularly shocked when he
learns that the society has no religion or faith, but the women say
they “have faith in themselves.” which is a deeply Gnostic
notion. There's no war, no conflict. As Lorimer explains:</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-style: normal;">"It's
a form of loose social credit system run by consensus," he says
to Dave. "Somewhat like a permanent:' frontier period. They're
building up slowly. Of course they don't need an army or air force.
I'm not sure if they even use cash money or recognize private
ownership of land. I did notice one favorable reference to early
Chinese communalism,"</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">That's where Tiptree shows too much of
her hand, revealing the propaganda angle of the story. Very
interesting that a former CIA agent wrote a story about a feminist
future built obliquely off of Communist principles. Very interesting
indeed.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The story eventually decides to go
somewhere: Rape. Bud, who's been horny on main the entire story,
forces himself on one of the girls in a scene that can best be
described as awkwardly pornographic. Lorimer watches in horror, but
as usual, he's useless and does nothing, and ultimately Dave puts a
stop to it and separates him from the group.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Dave, who has been 100% correct in his
suspicions that the women were lying and hiding things from the
astronauts while cozying up to them, now starts trying to reassert
the patriarchy and starts quoting Bible verses. He brandishes a
pistol and a crucifix and attempts to commandeer the ship. This is
presented as a bad thing instead of based, and the first time Lorimer
does something of his own initiative, is to stop Dave. The
self-described beta male sides with the women and the androgyne.
Before passing out from a sedative, Dave calls Lorimer a Judas,
continuing his streak of being correct.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The women decide that the men cannot be
reintroduced to Earth because they are too dangerous to society and
must be killed. Even the traitor Lorimer, who was “most like the
women.” Lorimer volunteers to take an “antidote”, which is
implied to be a poison, but if they die it happens after everything
fades to black.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">It's meandering and full of bloviating
preachiness surrounding a story that, at its heart is “girls rule,
boys drool.” The worst, direct crime is that it's very long and
very boring. Nothing happens for long stretches of time. The science
fiction elements are vague set dressing for what is, functionally, a
play taking place on a single stage. The men are absurd caricatures
and the females all sound exactly the same no matter who they are
aside from some attempts at accents during initial radio chatter. The
sex stuff is awkward and unpleasant. The whole thing reads like the
kind of thing a bitter old woman who would go on to shoot her husband
and herself a decade later would write. It's the kind of story that
has been winning science fiction awards for the last 50 years.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Dave did nothing wrong. 1/10</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6naUdDvoIydWAK9jaUfnS7HblW2nJqD0UbGU1qSqsOKyUOBjjBGC6uHkq5wx9110sn1PEYl8uf6lhsFF7Pw_daqpJnrazRTLwYkRWXeS9v42uZmY0Tcz85QL8REYzOxJ8Rz0qiigQy-7FLg4GK45V6imLEO_Hm6JW-NVKLUneS33NE_lEqsAC_g/s600/I%20See%20You.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="396" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6naUdDvoIydWAK9jaUfnS7HblW2nJqD0UbGU1qSqsOKyUOBjjBGC6uHkq5wx9110sn1PEYl8uf6lhsFF7Pw_daqpJnrazRTLwYkRWXeS9v42uZmY0Tcz85QL8REYzOxJ8Rz0qiigQy-7FLg4GK45V6imLEO_Hm6JW-NVKLUneS33NE_lEqsAC_g/s320/I%20See%20You.jpg" width="211" /></a></div>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Damon Knight (1922 – 2002) was a
short story writer and critic from Oregon who was yet another member
of the Futurians who moved into a position of influence after the
1940s. His most famous story is “To Serve Man” which was made
into a Twilight Zone episode, but he's more significant for his
actions in the “fandom” scene. He was the founder of the Science
Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) which hosts the Hugo
awards and he co-founded the the Milford Writer's Workshop and
Clarion Writers Workshop. As a critic, Knight is probably most famous
for savagely tainting the reputation of the highly talented A. E. Van
Vogt with a string of viciously negative reviews, probably because
Van Vogt expressed criticism of Communism and was at least somewhat
favorable to monarchy. A Futurian like Knight would have despised
that kind of “reactionary” thought. Later, better, authors than
Knight, such as Philip K Dick and Harlan Ellison have cited Van Vogt
as a major influence on their own work. But enough about my distaste
for Knight, how's his story?</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">“I See You” is a mercifully short
story to cap off the anthology. Structurally, it bounces back and
forth between normal third-person, past-tense and second-person,
present-tense, which is even more annoying than the previous story
structure. It concerns itself with an old inventor who develops a
machine that allows the viewer to see across space and time (only
looking to the past) for some...reason. Then retires from his other
business, assembles and sells a slightly more limited version to the
masses for...some reason. Naturally, a device that allows people to
voyeuristically watch their own past and that of their neighbors
leads to initial resistance, but soon everybody has them. Somehow,
everyone being able to watch their own parents have sex and conceive
them leads to a peaceful, Utopian society where everyone ends up
understanding each other instead of using it to discover new and
exciting ways to invent grudges with the neighbors. Knight must not
have known many Eastern Europeans. The second-person moments are
sprinkled in as bits of flavor and/or wonder, but come across as just
being clever for the sake of high literature bona fides. The inventor
used the device to solve the JFK assassination, but that thread goes
nowhere, either in the plot or for the ramifications. Either would
have led to a more interesting story.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">It's dumb fluff, but it's at least
short. 3/10</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Two good and one okay story out of ten
does not indicate a “year's best” of quality within this
anthology. Sturgeon's Law might indicate that, but Wollheim was a
veteran editor and publisher by 1977 and no dummy. His work at Avon
and Ace and got a lot of reprints of legitimate pulp titans like
Lovecraft, Merritt and Brackett made as readily available paperbacks.
He published the first paperback version Lord of the Rings in the
United States, which, while ultimately not legal, did help that book
become a smash hit. As an editor, Wollheim was a tastemaker and
curator of what got put out on market, and you might ask why these
stories? Some of them won Hugo and Nebula awards. Why this cavalcade
of mostly garbage? These were all deliberately chosen.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">In 1937, Wollheim gave a speech on
behalf of the Futurians at the Third Eastern Science Fiction
Convention that was written by co-founder John B. Michel. Known as
the “Mutation or Death!” speech, it was a stentorian declaration
that science fiction had a moral imperative to promote progressive
causes, international democracy (such as supporting the Communists in
Spain), and other Far Left Wing talking points. Science Fiction was
at a terminal crossroads, and needed to mutate or die. There was only
one way for it to thrive: their way. Everything else should be
destroyed.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">It's fiery and bold, but also reads
like an over-dramatic villain speech from a bad fanfiction. I suppose
it is, in a way. You can read it <a href="https://fancyclopedia.org/Mutation_or_Death!" target="_blank">here</a>.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The other members of the convention
voted the proposal down, but the Futurians were undeterred. The group
disintegrated due to infighting in 1945, but they kept at it. They
worked their way into the publishing industry, securing editorial
positions, then buying stories from Futurian writers and slowly but
surely, conducted a mini Long March through Science Fiction to shape
it into their vision. This 1977 anthology reads like an apotheosis of
that speech made 40 years prior in 1937. The stories oppose
militaristic ideologies, promote a unified world, and a Utopian
peace. The good stories manage to sneak in by checking the boxes. The
speculative science has been largely pushed to the background in
favor of messaging, so it lacks the educational aspirations of John
W. Campbell's “men with screwdrivers” solving problems vision of
science fiction, and the antiseptic lack of adventure flies in the
face of the pulp stories like “A Princess of Mars” and “Skylark
of Space” that actually built the damn genre. There's sex in the
anthology, some of it quite graphic (and the Futurians were also big
into sexual liberation because of course they would be), but only
“Overdrawn at the Memory Bank” has an honest-to-God love story.
It and Del Rey's “Natural Advantage” are the only two that end on
hopeful, optimistic notes, and its not a coincidence that they're the
best stories in the anthology.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Of course, 1977 was the same year that
a certain retro-inspired space opera throwback blew the doors off of
the stultifying ennui which had taken over the field. Star Wars
reclaimed Science Fiction from the dorks that championed these kinds
of anthologies and shoved them back into the lockers where they
belonged. At least temporarily.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Do I recommend “The 1977 Annual
World's Best SF?” Hell no. Not for two good stories. Lester Del
Rey's “Natural Advantage” is great fun and John Varley's
“Overdrawn at the Memory Bank” is a charming and funny
proto-Cyberpunk story that is highly recommended and worth tracking
down.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Just not in <i>this</i> anthology.
</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgScAKtYJgJd-BnCHlsGWOqrfcrHLX-4mipm1IXxCbH7mHb5CyfMJIBLh2DwnSMIBLsqi0KT4_XMNzh0-QjjBpWXe4MzvOfbZuQkXL1z_UT3HWcE6V8evLhlGdNYThTvK4KGf2jrWZIu0tDfRTEJhkLm6QzzP0LVXiGsxRajU976Dl-U0oeee7BRQ/s481/My%20Nuts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="358" data-original-width="481" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgScAKtYJgJd-BnCHlsGWOqrfcrHLX-4mipm1IXxCbH7mHb5CyfMJIBLh2DwnSMIBLsqi0KT4_XMNzh0-QjjBpWXe4MzvOfbZuQkXL1z_UT3HWcE6V8evLhlGdNYThTvK4KGf2jrWZIu0tDfRTEJhkLm6QzzP0LVXiGsxRajU976Dl-U0oeee7BRQ/s320/My%20Nuts.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p>K. Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09142868567992464226noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19016059.post-81267875847357323682021-05-06T21:29:00.000-05:002021-05-06T21:29:21.767-05:00Old Video Games: Flight of the Amazon Queen<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDdrWC09iYZb7thMSdPC6c4AYMenSyGoH16rX7nqQ87-DOIbq6dB_HVZFmNCF2FOap039I95EGmED5TLtbekkz9qrsiG22niwcJdX_Dc2n06DZHW7ZdAYvSZEKAt_TVW9J8cPl7A/s960/Flight+of+the+Amazon+Queen.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="746" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDdrWC09iYZb7thMSdPC6c4AYMenSyGoH16rX7nqQ87-DOIbq6dB_HVZFmNCF2FOap039I95EGmED5TLtbekkz9qrsiG22niwcJdX_Dc2n06DZHW7ZdAYvSZEKAt_TVW9J8cPl7A/s320/Flight+of+the+Amazon+Queen.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Since I'm on a point-and-click
adventure kick, let's discuss another forgotten title from the 90s.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wokcu30rRMQ" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></div><p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">1995's <i>Flight of the Amazon Queen</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
is a LucasArts style adventure game released for MS-DOS and the Amiga
not made by LucasArts. Instead, this was the product of a small
Australian studio called Interactive Binary Illusions. Their previous
game was 1993's well regarded action platformer </span><i>Halloween
Harry</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> (later renamed to </span><i>Alien
Carnage</i><span style="font-style: normal;">) co-developed with
SubZero Software and published by Apogee back in the Duke Nukum (not
a typo) 1 & 2 days. Led by by John Passfield and Steve
Stamatiadis and released by British publisher Renegade Software,
</span><i>Amazon Queen</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> was
Interactive Binary Illusions' second, and final game.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><br />
</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiCyAq2sMmaXwLlDddpLaJlmbrKT2ZYNNisPQnhgqz3ps6FHIwYvmbHjrD1p1dLQmML2RRuIGtd9T8EyoLAJvTwibDX7aDHTHJ07DUb9j7OCTlf0uhkKrSvREKwvCY7E1t67WEaw/s985/Alien+Carnage.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="985" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiCyAq2sMmaXwLlDddpLaJlmbrKT2ZYNNisPQnhgqz3ps6FHIwYvmbHjrD1p1dLQmML2RRuIGtd9T8EyoLAJvTwibDX7aDHTHJ07DUb9j7OCTlf0uhkKrSvREKwvCY7E1t67WEaw/s320/Alien+Carnage.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: normal;">It was not the end for Passfield
and Stamatiadis, who would form Gee Whiz! Entertainment in 1996 and
produced two games, </span><i>Zombie Wars </i><span style="font-style: normal;">(a
sequel to </span><i>Alien Carnage</i><span style="font-style: normal;">)
and </span><i>Mike Stewart's Pro Bodyboarding</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
(a sports game about bodyboarding. Professionally) before the studio
joined with Robert Walsh to form Krome Studios Pty Ltd. In 1999.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><br />
</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcGDvO3b4-CglUuIb4u30CLHysIdP04XhNNfbmVhaEPH1ChPzMGlUkqsL3EoUZ5mdre4q6qZpI0qpmq-0lBxIKKL17AxCvbAJPHi59Qxp1E-rsCMZzrplWlbc-Uoj5y4-n2rObCQ/s908/Ty+the+Tasmanian+Tiger.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="908" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcGDvO3b4-CglUuIb4u30CLHysIdP04XhNNfbmVhaEPH1ChPzMGlUkqsL3EoUZ5mdre4q6qZpI0qpmq-0lBxIKKL17AxCvbAJPHi59Qxp1E-rsCMZzrplWlbc-Uoj5y4-n2rObCQ/s320/Ty+the+Tasmanian+Tiger.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Crikey!</div><br /><p></p>
<p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Krome would release a number of
licensed titles during the PS2/GameCube/Xbox era, but also handled
the first 2 games of the </span><i>Spyro the Dragon </i><span style="font-style: normal;">reboot
and developed an original mascot platformer of their own: </span><i>Ty
the Tasmanian Tiger</i><span style="font-style: normal;">. In 2006,
Krome acquired Melbourne House Studio, which had once been prolific
8- and 16-bit console game developer Beam Software, and renamed the
studio to Krome Studios Melbourne. </span>
</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><br />
</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Financial troubles shut down
Krome Melbourne in 2010, but Krome revived in 2012 with new games in
the </span><i>Ty the Tasmanian Tiger </i><span style="font-style: normal;">series
(and subsequent remasters), and recently handled remaster duties for
</span><i>The Bard's Tale Trilogy</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
and </span><i>Wasteland Remastered</i><span style="font-style: normal;">,
both for inXile Entertainment. Passfield left the company in 2005,
but Stamatiadis is still with Krome, as far as I can tell.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><br />
</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: normal;">The reason for the history lesson
is because 1) its neat, and 2) it means </span><i>Flight of the
Amazon Queen</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> is an early step in
a lengthy and respectable career for the Aussie developers, who are
still kicking around. </span>
</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><br />
</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhtAJ3_0XffWxBHJNRDpuc0dhr7bSqZOmDnr0Pc1F3sRCLy0VsZv24JHsXJzJ7uao3L-ONUp6H82LYNsHHtOpTNzCIZBz0aCVtACN4LpIooJy-OYjYaArQQESmtGzQ0D3z0kQUtA/s678/flight+of+the+amazon+queen+prologue.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="381" data-original-width="678" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhtAJ3_0XffWxBHJNRDpuc0dhr7bSqZOmDnr0Pc1F3sRCLy0VsZv24JHsXJzJ7uao3L-ONUp6H82LYNsHHtOpTNzCIZBz0aCVtACN4LpIooJy-OYjYaArQQESmtGzQ0D3z0kQUtA/s320/flight+of+the+amazon+queen+prologue.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: normal;">As for </span><i>Amazon Queen</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
itself, the game's prologue starts at the 11</span><sup><span style="font-style: normal;">th</span></sup><span style="font-style: normal;">
hour of 1949 and clicks over to 1950. WWII has been over for a while,
and dashing pilot-for-hire Joe King has a gig to fly blonde film star
Faye Russel into the jungle for a photo shoot. Misfortune strikes and
his plane, </span><i>The Amazon Queen</i><span style="font-style: normal;">,
crashes in the jungle, and Joe finds himself swept up in the schemes
of Floda, a lederhosen company that's a front for the
totally-not-a-Nazi-scientist-hiding-in-Brazil Dr. Frank Ironstein,
who's mad goal is to transform Amazon warrior women into dinosaurs so
he can take over the world. To do that, he needs to rescue Azura, the
beautiful princess of the Amazons. </span>
</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><br />
</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_E9v7X3wlocro4yIt5V0UIJVBJsH4y4BU3RoOTwvaizTUfVgUYsbIAsb33kETshRrMtzVwyIcLqAo0ZA6s8aCfrF4J6q9SpUimGriVNfgEseDJ1EPKUrjvJpkJ5m-TIES4gzBBw/s320/flight-of-the-amazon-queen-dos-screenshot-evil-dr-ironstein.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_E9v7X3wlocro4yIt5V0UIJVBJsH4y4BU3RoOTwvaizTUfVgUYsbIAsb33kETshRrMtzVwyIcLqAo0ZA6s8aCfrF4J6q9SpUimGriVNfgEseDJ1EPKUrjvJpkJ5m-TIES4gzBBw/s0/flight-of-the-amazon-queen-dos-screenshot-evil-dr-ironstein.gif" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: normal;">I say “LucasArts style”
because the comedy runs deep in this game and there are no dead end
fail states like the “Sierra style.” The adventure itself is
inspired heavily by </span><i>Indiana Jones</i><span style="font-style: normal;">,
with Joe as a fast talking, baseball loving chad of an adventurer
with a mechanic sidekick named sparky. There's also jet packs,
dinosaurs, the Grim Reaper, zombies, an Abbott & Costello
reference, a gorilla who shouldn't be in South America and he knows
it, and a crystal skull plot macguffin 13 years before Indiana Jones
touched on the same concept. This is a game set in the Pulp era and
embraces it wholeheartedly, and the pulp elements aren't played for
laughs, either. The amazon princess is even a redhead, as is
traditional for the pulps. </span>
</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><br />
</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc0P7_nbBk32B-sEEi8hX0GFZ3IqdpShWMOtuuaz7ZYO0CRVA2xOlbiUxXNwYubYQtQ8H1dHuJmQhv6Biu9CePzQz_jXu3MhyphenhyphenBqSN1CyVa_pgjmaruIkbrUcUZ64Y_LxtC2Z3-wg/s800/Flight+of+the+Amazon+Queen+crash.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="505" data-original-width="800" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc0P7_nbBk32B-sEEi8hX0GFZ3IqdpShWMOtuuaz7ZYO0CRVA2xOlbiUxXNwYubYQtQ8H1dHuJmQhv6Biu9CePzQz_jXu3MhyphenhyphenBqSN1CyVa_pgjmaruIkbrUcUZ64Y_LxtC2Z3-wg/s320/Flight+of+the+Amazon+Queen+crash.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: normal;">The interface is fairly standard
for adventure games of the era, with context buttons and a mildly
annoying inventory. The puzzles aren't too squirrelly by 90's
adventure game standards, and the trial and error system is pretty
forgiving. There is a little too much going back and forth, and some
of the screens only have one or two things to interact with. </span>
</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><br />
</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDgDjAsPc-HW_-39Oe7Kq_B7l32bK1a-zSLA-FsGmRCFRG0pAAnyz1Zw-fOPSOK6YZiFj-DTr2mWDQt_N78Qne1lQPCgLZ5MncKUDT_ttVweTaHUfptjaO-CZ9aSJIGFGCFpWrZA/s320/Flight+of+the+Amazon+Queen+plane.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDgDjAsPc-HW_-39Oe7Kq_B7l32bK1a-zSLA-FsGmRCFRG0pAAnyz1Zw-fOPSOK6YZiFj-DTr2mWDQt_N78Qne1lQPCgLZ5MncKUDT_ttVweTaHUfptjaO-CZ9aSJIGFGCFpWrZA/s0/Flight+of+the+Amazon+Queen+plane.gif" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Contemporary reviews were hard on
the graphics, calling them dated, which I don't agree with. They
might not be as strong as contemporaries like </span><i>King's Quest
VII</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> or </span><i>Full Throttle</i><span style="font-style: normal;">,
but the art is clean, the backgrounds are great, and there are some
really nice animations. The lighting on Joe even changes as he walks
under trees, which is a great touch. </span>
</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><br />
</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnlKT4yrTDX7PViC1so1LRS0PdLUBd3ykJtVq-ofDllW9GFoSKUkwBWqv6Y4x2S132ajhv4zej8ZbTaYZIgSaf3-j9BCgyiepY-adH0BLzy1fGYLn6AGm8vKxNVhl5DICPm5gpRw/s320/Flight+of+the+amazon+queen+Faye.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnlKT4yrTDX7PViC1so1LRS0PdLUBd3ykJtVq-ofDllW9GFoSKUkwBWqv6Y4x2S132ajhv4zej8ZbTaYZIgSaf3-j9BCgyiepY-adH0BLzy1fGYLn6AGm8vKxNVhl5DICPm5gpRw/s0/Flight+of+the+amazon+queen+Faye.gif" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: normal;">The audio stands out even better.
The main theme is really solid, but its the voice cast that really
shines. A glance at IMDB shows a list of professional actors with
solid careers as secondary and character actors. The biggest name of
the cast is William Hootkins, who played Jek Porkins in </span><i>Star
Wars</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> (and had a long career in
voice work as well). The cast is fantastic. They've got the right
balance of self-aware camp and earnest Gee Whiz attitude for a story
about a German scientist turning women into dinosaurs. </span>
</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><br />
</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: normal;">I can't say enough nice things
about </span><i>Flight of the Amazon Queen</i><span style="font-style: normal;">.
It's solid pulpy fun with an earnest sense of humor that clearly
loves its source inspirations and doesn't overstay its welcome. I
liked </span><i>Lure of the Temptress</i><span style="font-style: normal;">,
but I loved my time with </span><i>Amazon Queen</i><span style="font-style: normal;">.
</span>
</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: large;"><br /><br />
</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh17UG9DdAOYFrcEzgFh7t1ijlFVO2GHrls_DI3gh4DfPSKURZxDghkmq-DwM8i4zYdEn6zaMn9LrHXb1110aPC4z9maiwQGdXjyeZBRVFV6PK_LNduQ9ke7gGydFO81NRbnUNZxg/s639/flight+of+the+amazon+queen+ending.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="482" data-original-width="639" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh17UG9DdAOYFrcEzgFh7t1ijlFVO2GHrls_DI3gh4DfPSKURZxDghkmq-DwM8i4zYdEn6zaMn9LrHXb1110aPC4z9maiwQGdXjyeZBRVFV6PK_LNduQ9ke7gGydFO81NRbnUNZxg/s320/flight+of+the+amazon+queen+ending.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: normal;">The game was released as freeware
in 2004 and runs just fine in the ScummVM emulator, so you have
absolutely no excuse to play it. Because if you don't want to see the
hero kiss an amazon princess on an airship flight into the sunset
after watching a giant crystal skull powered robot punch a giant
dinosaur man in the face, then </span><i>Kingdom of the Crystal Skull</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
is over thataway. </span>
</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p>
</p>
<p><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;">Enthusiastically recommended. </span></span>
</p><p><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p>K. Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09142868567992464226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19016059.post-57971884985941776532021-04-25T21:34:00.002-05:002021-04-25T21:34:42.679-05:00Old Video Games: Lure of the Temptress<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsrkj-1V03VD3Q5xKMNmpJLWLqtJe2g0O9zKGX5cf5lB9nVX6qfP3GewBjB_G5GJMDoR6vEOCRxys7VYqm7GUFX318Ubl3048U8UqTkfDtbBkk192cFO9ir8uMBMl19JQJwvGskg/s997/lure-of-the-temptress-dos-front-cover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="997" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsrkj-1V03VD3Q5xKMNmpJLWLqtJe2g0O9zKGX5cf5lB9nVX6qfP3GewBjB_G5GJMDoR6vEOCRxys7VYqm7GUFX318Ubl3048U8UqTkfDtbBkk192cFO9ir8uMBMl19JQJwvGskg/s320/lure-of-the-temptress-dos-front-cover.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">Classic point-and-click adventure games
have two titans that <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cz56ZwF23Po" target="_blank">loom</a> large because of just how many successes they had: Sierra On-Line and
LucasArts.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">This isn't about them.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">Other adventure game developers existed
alongside those titans. Some of them, like Revolution Software,
continue to exist, outliving both of the big two.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">Best known for the <i>Broken Sword</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
series of adventure games, Revolution was founded in 1989 by British
game developers Charles Cecil, Tony Warriner, David Sykes and Noirin
Carmody. </span>
</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;">Cecil
and Warriner got their start in the mid-80s working at Artic
Computing, an English studio active during the British microcomputer
boom (think systems like the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, and
Amstrad CPC). Artic folded in 1986 and after a few years working at
other companies, Revolution was founded.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRbr52yGG_688Tb-QSQ9fhETNirSoy7VPrSoH9QffJzBlSkc52JdKsW7e60RDw_TyZH5Ky7B774LpvvetfoSklFcPK0Rze9y9q2T0Sa7wde1xVb7lWUh2kIAHNy9JNUJa6UjoozA/s640/Lure+of+the+Temptress+wall.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRbr52yGG_688Tb-QSQ9fhETNirSoy7VPrSoH9QffJzBlSkc52JdKsW7e60RDw_TyZH5Ky7B774LpvvetfoSklFcPK0Rze9y9q2T0Sa7wde1xVb7lWUh2kIAHNy9JNUJa6UjoozA/s320/Lure+of+the+Temptress+wall.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: normal;">1992's
</span><i>Lure of the Temptress</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
was the company's first product: a fantasy point-and-click adventure
game slightly reminiscent of </span><i>King's Quest</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
and with a cheeky sense of humor reminiscent of </span><i>The Secret
of Monkey Island</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, though less
wacky and more British in its comedy. Released for the Atari ST,
Commodore Amiga, and MS-DOS computer systems, it was a solid hit for
the company and paved the way for more ambitious projects.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large; font-style: normal;">The
game's setup is told in a gorgeous intro cinematic that explains that
a good king had united the land and on a hunting trip, hired the
peasant protagonist, Diermot, to flush out game for them. Suddenly,
the unnamed king learns of an evil sorceress named Selena who has
conquered a town and threatens the kingdom. The king's men ride to
battle, only to be cut down by Selena's orc-like henchmen, the
monstrous Skorl. Diermot is captured during the battle, and awakens
in a prison cell, where the game begins.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></p>
<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NavDtTGQG1c" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></div>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Revolution
developed the Virtual Theatre engine for their games, which aside
from the regular pointing and clicking, also allowed the NPC
characters populating the world to wander around and interact with
each other for greater immersion than simply standing in one place
waiting to be talked to by the protagonist.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: normal;">This
is good and bad because while the verisimilitude is appreciated, the
game also has you track down specific NPCs to talk to in order to
proceed, and it can be frustrating trying to track them down.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: normal;">After
escaping the dungeon with the help of a jester named Ratpouch,
Diermot has to explore the village of Turnvale, its castle and a
nearby cave to find a way to stop Selena from conquering the rest of
the kingdom.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: normal;">The
interface is quite good. Left click to look at something, right click
to bring up a menu of options like talking, pulling, using, etc).
The game also gives you companions that can follow you around and
Diermot can even give them somewhat complicated orders which are
necessary for some puzzles.</span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirOymVdj91mXSE09PJgo2bNjSJXy63vDy8VQY8k1nf_b_IKkZwqa_bxB3fyJxjxEkzwWqVpLHegsBFUxJyBp9bW24uJ0g5O-LSRu-pivgT927lYBkh7PgLFcHGSMMBF92SerdPAQ/s640/Lure-of-the-Temptress+Skorl.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirOymVdj91mXSE09PJgo2bNjSJXy63vDy8VQY8k1nf_b_IKkZwqa_bxB3fyJxjxEkzwWqVpLHegsBFUxJyBp9bW24uJ0g5O-LSRu-pivgT927lYBkh7PgLFcHGSMMBF92SerdPAQ/s320/Lure-of-the-Temptress+Skorl.png" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></span><p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Unfortunately,
the character pathfinding, at least on the DOS version available on
GOG.com for free, is a mess. Its very finicky getting an NPC follower
to do something because you have to stand right next to them at
exactly the right spot to trigger the dialogue. Not impossible, just
irritating.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: normal;">With
the stakes of an evil sorceress with an army of monsters threatening
the kingdom, the actual scope of the game is quite small. Cozy, even.
Turnvale is a nice little town, which is good, because you will spend
a lot of time walking back and forth across it. The townspeople all
have engaging personalities, and even ones like Gwyn, the town gossip
who has no direct bearing on any puzzles, provides story hints and
clues if you keep talking to her.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: normal;">As a
protagonist, Diermot is a lunk, but a likable one. Ratpouch is funny
for a little while, then his pathfinding wears out its welcome as he
constantly ends up underfoot.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: normal;">The
GOG version uses the SCUMMVM emulator to run, which apparently has
buggy audio and there's an annoying alarm bell sound that played
constantly in the town as I was exploring it. Apparently the issue
doesn't happen if the game is run in DOS-Box. From what I've seen
online, the Amiga version seems to run the best with the best sound,
but I have no experience with Amiga emulation to have a firsthand
opinion on it. This being an early 90's game made by a brand new
studio with hardly any budget, there is no voice dialogue in any of
the versions. </span>
</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrguc6BW8OoDv5kmCc1g3e1U6QORZFtvrwYNO9SyZwkT2RXOJuWPSypiCNpZ3qmsAnZa1f4T2Ft97aLlEap7e6ppsoJe5exC_YOB740zLG6OppKqk0MAS2b3oj_lrsbQfKoCSu6w/s640/Lure+of+the+Temptress+bridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrguc6BW8OoDv5kmCc1g3e1U6QORZFtvrwYNO9SyZwkT2RXOJuWPSypiCNpZ3qmsAnZa1f4T2Ft97aLlEap7e6ppsoJe5exC_YOB740zLG6OppKqk0MAS2b3oj_lrsbQfKoCSu6w/s320/Lure+of+the+Temptress+bridge.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span><p></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: normal;">The
writing and artwork are solid in all the versions I've seen, and the
game has a very quaint and cozy atmosphere that allows the tone to
jump between flippant dialogue with a Conan the Barbarian type of
adventurer in a bar to trying to save an innocent shopkeeper from
being executed by the Skorl. Like Sierra games, Diermot can get game
overs in many ways, but its not the parade of Save-Die-Reload Save
that </span><i>King's Quest</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> has.
Only a few puzzles have built in limitations like time limits you
don't necessarily know about, like the wine barrel puzzle, but
overall its fairly forgiving for an early 90s adventure game.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Lure of the Temptress</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
was a hit in England and paved the way for Revolution to make bigger
games, like </span><i>Beneath a Steel Sky</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
and the </span><i>Broken Sword</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
series. Its a pleasant little game with some ambitions that
occasionally exceed its grasp, like the NPC pathfinding. The writing
and art style are good, the music isn't great played through SCUMMVM,
but it wasn't a dealbreaker. I liked it, but it wasn't mind blowing.
It is freeware, so I definitely recommend it, at least for a try. </span></span>
</p>K. Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09142868567992464226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19016059.post-77756375237428496942020-12-20T19:25:00.000-05:002020-12-20T19:25:49.099-05:00Shin Super Robot Sunday Gaiden: 8 Man and Cyborg 009<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNzwSTkGEGCQBjdvW0YoBeG9FYNXVEShDidCIn_7mzeecCJegnbyed7pl1ZiVEKlZHr-lQSfZN2E7sgWEqVFnNhx347z5vYvRndBl3hLAwrJcWqq9k5T_aL9IWbgf6A0LX8IP7_Q/s1000/8+Man+Manga.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="701" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNzwSTkGEGCQBjdvW0YoBeG9FYNXVEShDidCIn_7mzeecCJegnbyed7pl1ZiVEKlZHr-lQSfZN2E7sgWEqVFnNhx347z5vYvRndBl3hLAwrJcWqq9k5T_aL9IWbgf6A0LX8IP7_Q/s320/8+Man+Manga.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p></p><span style="font-size: large;">
As mentioned last time, I'm going to be doing smaller posts for series/stories that aren't about Giant Robots, but are still relevant to the overall development of Mecha concepts; cyborgs, space operas, weird sci-fi concepts, that sort of thing. These are meant to be sidebars, a <i>gaiden</i>, if you will. (<i>Astro Boy</i>, which was hugely influential in the early days of anime, and still is, was briefly discussed in the <i><a href="https://kestifer.blogspot.com/2020/01/shin-super-robot-sunday-ambassador-magm">Ambassador Magma</a></i> post). </span><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Starting off, there was the first Japanese Cyborg Superhero: <i>8 Man</i>. (or <i>Eightman</i>). The creation of science fiction and manga author Kazumasa Hirai and manga artist Jiro Kuwata. <i>8 Man</i> was their most significant original creation, but both creators would work on adaptations of Western superheroes. Kuwata worked on the <i>Batman</i> manga in the 1960s and Hirai became the main writer for the dark and gritty <i>Spider-Man</i> manga of the 1970s. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUtt2mDuX2Lgo5B6_hRCb7r5U_YsV4enbUTWuyXHa_4S-1r1WV4LZdgW-Uzr4yQA8EcLbOuixc8EdH6nP1kFgb59eXvsq0B82RWlUmmyod_gZ2tH31_ncGhyxM515VgK1m3JG2ew/s705/Batman+Manga.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="705" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUtt2mDuX2Lgo5B6_hRCb7r5U_YsV4enbUTWuyXHa_4S-1r1WV4LZdgW-Uzr4yQA8EcLbOuixc8EdH6nP1kFgb59eXvsq0B82RWlUmmyod_gZ2tH31_ncGhyxM515VgK1m3JG2ew/s320/Batman+Manga.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQb-cUWDF0Z6fLG4uo2oHm78NuolZVR5dL_zCQ0-LmLnfprYrts2kYP_YsbXNcWJUbmvGfRqiAIr6wG8X1JcjQYs1Bsj5bmNvT25D3m6z1yyT0aqMF3yrxLLTnHwQrtscFWgzlXQ/s875/Spider-Man+Manga.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="875" data-original-width="545" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQb-cUWDF0Z6fLG4uo2oHm78NuolZVR5dL_zCQ0-LmLnfprYrts2kYP_YsbXNcWJUbmvGfRqiAIr6wG8X1JcjQYs1Bsj5bmNvT25D3m6z1yyT0aqMF3yrxLLTnHwQrtscFWgzlXQ/s320/Spider-Man+Manga.png" /></a></div><br /> </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><i>8 Man</i> tells the story of detective Hachiro Azuma, who was shot dead by a thug (in the manga) and run over by a car (in the anime). Either way, he dies, and his consciousness is transferred to a robot body by Professor Tani. Reborn as a cyborg cop who is affiliated with the police, but not officially, he assumes the name 8 Man, because there are seven investigation units in the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, and 8 Man is effectively a one-man precinct. It also played on a contemporary police drama called “Seven Detectives.” </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div> <iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vcTELCKq7bo" width="560"></iframe></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">At any rate, 8 Man is a human-sized cyborg who can run at super speed, his eyes can work as searchlights that can detect infrared and radioactive materials, energy emitting, disguises, and other abilities. He had vulnerability to intense heat and electricity, and would have to regularly smoke energy cigarettes which also helped cool down his reactor. The manga ran in <i>Weekly Shōnen Magazine</i> from 1963-1966 and led to an anime adaptation directed by Haruyuki Kawajima produced by TCJ which aired on Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) from November 07 1963 to December 31 1964 for a total of 56 episodes. The anime was brought over to the US as <i>Tobor The 8th Man</i> in 1965.</span><div><div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT-YpZFLvf9bYpe2iBMNXdphojtXY8yqnfiNp_fSkQZGsg1xiDiv6W80i_geTTTlOUp4UcyD_2p83HduJs8dHEpMlQp1_7LtZiYUxXf8y1fr4TZsL4C4Qs4WWagTJk43Mb7UaGQw/s595/cyborg009+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="595" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT-YpZFLvf9bYpe2iBMNXdphojtXY8yqnfiNp_fSkQZGsg1xiDiv6W80i_geTTTlOUp4UcyD_2p83HduJs8dHEpMlQp1_7LtZiYUxXf8y1fr4TZsL4C4Qs4WWagTJk43Mb7UaGQw/s320/cyborg009+cover.jpg" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div> </div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Cyborg 009</i> is one of <a href="https://kestifer.blogspot.com/2020/03/shin-super-robot-sunday-flying-phantom.html">Shotaro Ishinomori's</a> first major breakout successes, and next to <i>Kamen Rider</i> and <i>Super Sentai</i>, one of the pillars of Japanese superhero franchises created by him. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Set against the backdrop of the Cold War, young Joe Shimamura was kidnapped by the sinister Black Ghost and his criminal empire and was turned into the ninth in a series of cyborgs. Joe, as Cyborg 009, has super strength, durability, jumping, swimming, and can activate a super speed “acceleration mode.” Joe and the other cyborgs (each with their own powers and exaggerated features) rebel against Black Ghost and escape with the help of Dr. Gilmore, waging a war against the organization and then fighting other bizarre threats against the world.</span>
</div><div><br /></div><div> <iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oPWpycnJ3FE" width="560"></iframe> </div><div> </div><div><span style="font-size: large;">The initial manga series debuted in <i>Weekly Shōnen King</i> on July 19, 1964 and ultimately ran across several magazines until 1981. On July 21, 1966, the first anime movie (eponymously called <i>Cyborg 009</i>) was released, followed by a second movie, <i>Cyborg 009: Monster Wars</i>, which released on March 19, 1967. This was followed by an anime TV series which ran from April 5, 1968 to September 27, 1968 for a total of 26 episodes. Toei Animation handled the work of all three projects. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Both series were quite successful, and would see continuations and revivals over the years, though <i>Cyborg 009</i> is certainly the more popular of the two. In July 2020, the crossover manga <i>8 Man vs Cyborg 009</i> began running in <i>Champion RED</i> magazine, bringing the two cyborg hero franchises together. </span></div></div></div></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0OjgAMjgsdqXyFl1SFMQ_hkYQzcn7h-QR_oyeLugthCWQfT4khWorCr9OhTAAUcPEWYdYMxCkHAFEGNspGHhH1iNIjSASvGPogOkABuPGw6rT5tMmhF-TJrsAtH3EoaEqqsQppA/s1077/8+Man+vs+Cyborg+009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1077" data-original-width="750" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0OjgAMjgsdqXyFl1SFMQ_hkYQzcn7h-QR_oyeLugthCWQfT4khWorCr9OhTAAUcPEWYdYMxCkHAFEGNspGHhH1iNIjSASvGPogOkABuPGw6rT5tMmhF-TJrsAtH3EoaEqqsQppA/s320/8+Man+vs+Cyborg+009.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sources:</span></span></span></p>
<p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8_Man">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8_Man</a></span></span></span></p>
<p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/8マン">https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/8%E3%83%9E%E3%83%B3</a></span></span></span></p>
<p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazumasa_Hirai_(author">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazumasa_Hirai_(author</a>)</span></span></span></p>
<p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiro_Kuwata">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiro_Kuwata</a></span></span></span></p>
<p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyborg_009">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyborg_009</a></span></span></span></p>
<p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/サイボーグ009">https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B5%E3%82%A4%E3%83%9C%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B0009</a></span></span></span></p>
<p lang="en" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><a href="https://ishimoripro.com/「8マンvsサイボーグ009」が7-17発売「チャンピオンred」/?wovn=en">https://ishimoripro.com/%E3%80%8C8%E3%83%9E%E3%83%B3vs%E3%82%B5%E3%82%A4%E3%83%9C%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B0009%E3%80%8D%E3%81%8C7-17%E7%99%BA%E5%A3%B2%E3%80%8C%E3%83%81%E3%83%A3%E3%83%B3%E3%83%94%E3%82%AA%E3%83%B3red%E3%80%8D/?wovn=en</a></span></span></span></span></p>
<p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2020-06-19/8-man-vs-cyborg-009-manga-announced-for-debut-on-july-18/.160841">https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2020-06-19/8-man-vs-cyborg-009-manga-announced-for-debut-on-july-18/.160841</a>
</span></span></span>
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<p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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</p><span style="font-size: large;"></span></div>K. Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09142868567992464226noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19016059.post-31458096728792378392020-11-22T17:33:00.000-05:002020-11-22T17:33:10.306-05:00Shin Super Robot Sunday: Go! Greenman (1973)<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmA1QYlZRQE4h0F-UaO85gJP-ygOXGX-v8gTnHAmaRrBLJSzWG6cglYPmCujVSTKnGhPLzUjnGx0pWkQv0RLIV7xOUaGsumckyDfIWj2V9e2zv0tSgNv9CarjTh7MRriAcU3B58A/s550/d64d99ea.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="545" data-original-width="550" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmA1QYlZRQE4h0F-UaO85gJP-ygOXGX-v8gTnHAmaRrBLJSzWG6cglYPmCujVSTKnGhPLzUjnGx0pWkQv0RLIV7xOUaGsumckyDfIWj2V9e2zv0tSgNv9CarjTh7MRriAcU3B58A/s320/d64d99ea.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-size: large;">
Twice I've tried to write this post, and twice the power went out for multiple hours making it impossible. That finally ends today. </span><div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Before <i><a href="https://kestifer.blogspot.com/2020/09/shin-super-robot-sunday-zone-fighter.html">Zone Fighter</a></i>, Toho's first <i>tokusatsu</i> superhero was a red and white alien who could grow to gigantic size and defended Earth from monsters. No, of course he's not an <i>Ultraman</i> ripoff, he's Godman. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">He has a blue visor and a giant mane of platinum blonde hair. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFpTp74KqeHht8mQ45ZYDgJNZe7Z3lDyq-2xbB5jwRSbetNsvoRED00qzRjdUa5onIJ1s8d986o1D2zAPH6oezOVDJXpKBTvuRNY0RJgVpU1IdTiY-v_RcuPS1b7aefpQNz9PlDw/s544/Godman.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="544" data-original-width="313" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFpTp74KqeHht8mQ45ZYDgJNZe7Z3lDyq-2xbB5jwRSbetNsvoRED00qzRjdUa5onIJ1s8d986o1D2zAPH6oezOVDJXpKBTvuRNY0RJgVpU1IdTiY-v_RcuPS1b7aefpQNz9PlDw/s320/Godman.png" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">See? <i>Completely</i> different. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Go! Godman</i> ran for 26 episodes comprised of multiple five minute segments segments from October 5, 1972 to April 10, 1973. The plots were simple affairs centered around monsters threatening people, the people calling on Godman for help, and then Godman arrived to pummel the monster into the dirt.</span><div><br /><div> <iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eEzChHdeT1o" width="560"></iframe> </div><div> </div><div><span style="font-size: large;">On November 12, 1973, the spiritual sequel to <i>Go! Godman</i> aired: <i>Go! Greenman </i>(<i>Ike! Greenman</i>). 52 eight minute episodes comprised of 3 parts each ultimately aired, and this time there was more of a plot tying everything together. </span></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBZVpavzPanhJwFXkuLpbrEDM5xi-v-P1X0-YBkSzgz6-Pp1aoDSdAeoyJpZPHq_6fv60v3v-eKdMd2PDkQGHanalCw6bz_azrhkaGdkC1zi1iqZ9RVg6i2eqhdmrK7M1b26Htwg/s544/Greenman.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="544" data-original-width="313" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBZVpavzPanhJwFXkuLpbrEDM5xi-v-P1X0-YBkSzgz6-Pp1aoDSdAeoyJpZPHq_6fv60v3v-eKdMd2PDkQGHanalCw6bz_azrhkaGdkC1zi1iqZ9RVg6i2eqhdmrK7M1b26Htwg/s320/Greenman.png" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Deep underground, the devilish monster Maoh, the lord of the underworld awakens, learning that God has exiled him below the Earth. Plotting revenge, Maoh needs the blood of children to power himself up, and summons an army of minions to hunt them on the Earth's surface for him. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixn17_DLvTVI5YcHOlIb1awgFdelkj7lHJ2sZmfg9UKDOjQ_2xg5X38BmVoEjQeL816sTlol-c9F8iMMkRcxgqkiez1RdRaW7G34_lO49LetkNgdZFhOz9gL6AmKvVgxGfIPEgvw/s640/Envoy+of+God.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixn17_DLvTVI5YcHOlIb1awgFdelkj7lHJ2sZmfg9UKDOjQ_2xg5X38BmVoEjQeL816sTlol-c9F8iMMkRcxgqkiez1RdRaW7G34_lO49LetkNgdZFhOz9gL6AmKvVgxGfIPEgvw/s320/Envoy+of+God.png" width="320" /></a></div></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Standing in his way is Greenman, an envoy of God sent to protect the innocent children of the world from Maoh's depredations. After losing initially, Maoh escalates things (literally) by turning his minions into stronger minions that can also grow to gigantic size. With the phrase “Greenman Giant Machine Change!”, Greeman himself can grow gigantic and battle the demons on equal footing.
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Greenman is a robot from Planet Green, and can grow to a height of 45 meters (148 ft). Designed by Tsuguo Murase and refined by a committee that included his brother, veteran monster designer Keizo Murase, the costume was modeled after Buddha statues from Southeast Asia. The similarity is most noticeable in the head, and the whole design was intended to be bright and ostentatious. Like most all tokusatsu heroes of the era, Greenman has an array of weapons, including flight, super speed, energy attacks, a staff called the Greenman Stick, Leg Arrow, chest missiles called the Greenman Breaster (probably influenced by <i>Mazinger Z</i>), and Ear Boomerangs (which are self-explanatory). Greenman also gave the children a box called the Green Call with a button that, when pressed, would summon him to their aid. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1iLL0DZOs70if8Ojzvl-OIsl3ucZFRb4iZFyyP8KQYmALtbyJmDQgkwJBhd4HAT0ryfBTmsKp0noN7nVUSKC0EywwvbCDYjXkT6dkCbYFSZaiO9fTsOhUmiDne4zRDO7KDLeR4A/s601/Greenman+vs+Minilla.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="456" data-original-width="601" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1iLL0DZOs70if8Ojzvl-OIsl3ucZFRb4iZFyyP8KQYmALtbyJmDQgkwJBhd4HAT0ryfBTmsKp0noN7nVUSKC0EywwvbCDYjXkT6dkCbYFSZaiO9fTsOhUmiDne4zRDO7KDLeR4A/s320/Greenman+vs+Minilla.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">A notable feature of the show was recycling costumes (and monsters) from Toho movies, including Gaira and Sanda from <i>The War of the Gargantuas</i>, Gabara and Minilla from <i>All Monsters Attack</i>, and the King Kong costume from <i><a href="https://kestifer.blogspot.com/2020/02/shin-super-robot-sunday-king-kong.html">King Kong Escapes</a></i>. Kong could only be called “Gorilla” in Greenman because Toho no longer had the rights to the <i>King Kon</i>g license. If you ever wanted to see an evil version of Godzilla's son get thrown around and laughed at, then here you go.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"></span> <span> </span><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yvFGGdWbsds" width="560"></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><i>
Go! Greenman</i> had a successful run, but the character went dormant after the show ended. In 2008, Toho released a 22 minute direct-to-video short movie called <i>Go! Godma</i>n that brought back Godman to fight against a group of monsters. At a critical moment, one of the human characters finds a Green Call box, presses the button, and Greenman arrives to aid Godman save the day. As a surprising bit of trivia, the Greenman mask and most of the costume remained intact after thirty-plus years and were re-used for this movie. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVY2yrttq4AeQM02tayNSz-rx1cE7y1q08CHpTyAT1CEw0DvUwEJDGKixPWUpRdgpdpjX5e1zOzS7hG04Z0PqCol0OvR10c_v0DF_xXpx66bdbCm7tA0lJvccUAkQScYW6U3_yUQ/s380/Godman+%2526+Greenman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="279" data-original-width="380" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVY2yrttq4AeQM02tayNSz-rx1cE7y1q08CHpTyAT1CEw0DvUwEJDGKixPWUpRdgpdpjX5e1zOzS7hG04Z0PqCol0OvR10c_v0DF_xXpx66bdbCm7tA0lJvccUAkQScYW6U3_yUQ/s320/Godman+%2526+Greenman.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Next time on Shin Super Robot Sunday: A new sub-feature that looks at some series that aren't about giant robots <i>per se</i>, but are worth mentioning in context. Get ready for Shin Super Robot Sunday <i>Gaiden</i>. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">You can blame <i>Space Battleship Yamato</i> getting into a <i>Super Robot Wars</i> game for this.</span></div></div></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaw04HR2gdtXEMjCu0suQWRGQgW6qi-qCQqlZ-_emXIUpnhpJmT2opVP9RSKaM5FlF2SLobUd7ZR7tmcQBQ18EFVcXzEpL-_mN6p3CFR6WsHUS2IZ6VEIR39E3zWuOAsgodTXBRw/s185/Greenman+Wave.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="185" data-original-width="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaw04HR2gdtXEMjCu0suQWRGQgW6qi-qCQqlZ-_emXIUpnhpJmT2opVP9RSKaM5FlF2SLobUd7ZR7tmcQBQ18EFVcXzEpL-_mN6p3CFR6WsHUS2IZ6VEIR39E3zWuOAsgodTXBRw/s0/Greenman+Wave.gif" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sources:</span></span></span></p>
<p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ike!_Greenman">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ike!_Greenman</a></span></span></span></p>
<p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/行け!_グリーンマン">https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%A1%8C%E3%81%91!_%E3%82%B0%E3%83%AA%E3%83%BC%E3%83%B3%E3%83%9E%E3%83%B3</a></span></span></span></p>
<p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://wikizilla.org/wiki/Go!_Greenman">https://wikizilla.org/wiki/Go!_Greenman</a></span></span></span></p>
<p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://godzilla.fandom.com/wiki/Go!_Greenman">https://godzilla.fandom.com/wiki/Go!_Greenman</a></span></span></span></p>
<p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ike!_Godman">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ike!_Godman</a></span></span></span></p>
<p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://wikizilla.org/wiki/Go!_Godman_(film">https://wikizilla.org/wiki/Go!_Godman_(film</a>)</span></span></span></p><br /></span></div>K. Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09142868567992464226noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19016059.post-7157601342272617582020-10-18T17:24:00.001-05:002020-10-18T17:24:49.779-05:00Shin Super Robot Sunday: Mazinger Z vs. Devilman<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqPP7zw5tqCePPoxuW0uACPHq0RWYFYJ-rOIpblDRcmWx6EzDwKiwr4lg_Aqrbm4QKkhzq4dQ9J6vGhfSsPHTGL7pnVOg_RDvL7LneOC0Qesmv2zOyb7lyMKZWRI9wjsMLeU9bQw/s1000/561909a2-bad6-42e6-85eb-8cb1ee6a9dc5.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="694" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqPP7zw5tqCePPoxuW0uACPHq0RWYFYJ-rOIpblDRcmWx6EzDwKiwr4lg_Aqrbm4QKkhzq4dQ9J6vGhfSsPHTGL7pnVOg_RDvL7LneOC0Qesmv2zOyb7lyMKZWRI9wjsMLeU9bQw/s320/561909a2-bad6-42e6-85eb-8cb1ee6a9dc5.jpg" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><i>
Mazinger Z</i> began airing in 1972 and finished in 1974. 92 episodes is a long time in weekly television installments. On July 18, 1973, in the middle of that successful run, a 43 minute movie was produced by Toei Animation which would cross over with another Dynamic Production series created by Go Nagai. The result was <i>Mazinger Z vs. Devilman</i>. </span><div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><i><a href="https://kestifer.blogspot.com/2020/05/shin-super-robot-sunday-mazinger-z.html">Mazinger Z</a></i> was already covered on this project, so today we get to focus on <i>Devilman</i>. In 1971, Go Nagai wrote and illustrated a horror manga called <i>Demon Lord Dante</i> about a student who is merged with the body of an ancient demon. Dante initially ended when the magazine it ran in, Bokura Magazine, was discontinued by the publisher, but Toei Animation approached Nagai for an anime adaptation which evolved into a new manga (and related anime) called <i>Devilman</i>. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2pzqaaRTmHJgOkZNdqB7_xyfD212T8790eXjUrUjZQ8kBsxmkb-NH-zzrxuLPFfXr9oLpuu4t9pfcJiHhYzqcaNgJTt6sn4CgWhfKlkWr9SfewRHyzTDPMvyFRShadoYfYWfIOw/s1000/devilman-cover.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="699" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2pzqaaRTmHJgOkZNdqB7_xyfD212T8790eXjUrUjZQ8kBsxmkb-NH-zzrxuLPFfXr9oLpuu4t9pfcJiHhYzqcaNgJTt6sn4CgWhfKlkWr9SfewRHyzTDPMvyFRShadoYfYWfIOw/s320/devilman-cover.webp" /></a></div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Devilman</i> (the manga, which ran in Weekly Shōnen Magazine) is the story of Akira Fudo, a teenager who learns of the existence of demons who are trapped in hibernation beneath the Earth and will invade soon. Akira is merged with Amon, the most powerful of these demons. As Devilman, Akira fights against the demons and wages an internal war of good vs evil as he struggles to control Amon. </span><div> </div><div> <iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vQF_dw2eivM" width="560"></iframe> </div><div> </div><div><span style="font-size: large;">In the anime (which began airing on July 8, 1972, several months before <i>Mazinger Z</i>), the demon invasion is still planned, and Devilman is sent to Earth, where he possesses the body of the recently deceased Akira Fudo. There he learns the meaning of love and rebels against his people, and becomes a transformation hero (who can grow to giant size) to fight the demons. Both versions were successful, and while the anime was significantly toned down from the manga to be more kid friendly, they're essentially alternate universe stories of each other. Both carry the trademark Go Nagai mix of hot-blooded protagonists, cool monsters, hot chicks, and hot chicks who are cool monsters. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Devilman</i> aired for 39 episodes, and the franchise would see multiple manga down the line, as well as OVA miniseries, a spinoff series called <i>Devilman Lady</i>, a live action movie in 2004, and most recently the somewhat divisive <i>Devilman Crybaby</i> from 2018 (which aired on Netflix).</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"></span> <iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/EZi8rHnDQSQ" width="560"></iframe> </div><div> </div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Which brings us up to speed for <i>Mazinger Z vs. Devilman</i>. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">While fighting the robotic monsters of Dr. Hell, Koji Kabuto in the Mazinger Z and Sayaka Yumi in the Aphrodite A accidentally unleash the beautiful female demon Sirene from the earth. The demon flies away before anyone can do anything, but not before beeing seen by Akira Fudo, who turns into Devilman to chase after her. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg09_kk8wDLMY7iUm2MRHuyqUlnjqWI0_1LGOXXXziTw-JJVPfRg58sjY6bRO_a9_hfoBJNil31rGl8xfYHF0e6EoZkXyst4_b-Dx12VVVG1yzNnXd87VxCQXHxQ8vznTiqHcrFMA/s637/Sirene_Mazinger_Z_Vs_Devilman.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="267" data-original-width="637" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg09_kk8wDLMY7iUm2MRHuyqUlnjqWI0_1LGOXXXziTw-JJVPfRg58sjY6bRO_a9_hfoBJNil31rGl8xfYHF0e6EoZkXyst4_b-Dx12VVVG1yzNnXd87VxCQXHxQ8vznTiqHcrFMA/s320/Sirene_Mazinger_Z_Vs_Devilman.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Dr. Hell, seeing a potential ally, also follows, and frees a bunch of demons in the Himalayas. The two sides cut a deal. Dr. Hell will help defeat Devilman, and Sirene will help defeat Mazinger. Akira tries to warm Koji, but makes fun of Mazinger's inability to fly, so they get into a heated motorcycle race that ends in a tie. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpwGvuF_af6i-KV65a_hqFm4KnpwnwzFcyMvFJwpQICHa4tJ_bhIlb4sZZg6QVU-b6b_Y7p2u9CWAluYVvTIG4c4dgW4p89HYqaZ8bYU4-Hg6oUkIMzUV2fAC4d6ukuRtd66A-7Q/s920/mazinger-vs-devilman-1973-2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="527" data-original-width="920" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpwGvuF_af6i-KV65a_hqFm4KnpwnwzFcyMvFJwpQICHa4tJ_bhIlb4sZZg6QVU-b6b_Y7p2u9CWAluYVvTIG4c4dgW4p89HYqaZ8bYU4-Hg6oUkIMzUV2fAC4d6ukuRtd66A-7Q/s320/mazinger-vs-devilman-1973-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Then the bad guys attack and Devilman rescues Mazinger, Mazinger rescues Devilman, and when the situation gets hopeless, Mazinger Z gets its major upgrade: the Jet Scrander. That's right, the Jet Scrander appears in this movie before its debut in the show. With the day saved, the two part as friends. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEZMZyHkzuFIK26-UhUBToXCc7VXu0er6oYcK141B_E82iWJgHYc6lvvHnfnNtV_c2j3TpXDhJ7ihTa-XuStmk9_BJOWF0fgKFzznGDENgsNINAH2h0H6nSexYHrQtP0GfYSNdwA/s608/Jet+Scrander.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="259" data-original-width="608" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEZMZyHkzuFIK26-UhUBToXCc7VXu0er6oYcK141B_E82iWJgHYc6lvvHnfnNtV_c2j3TpXDhJ7ihTa-XuStmk9_BJOWF0fgKFzznGDENgsNINAH2h0H6nSexYHrQtP0GfYSNdwA/s320/Jet+Scrander.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">The movie is a fun bit of light entertainment that feels like a two-part episode with a higher animation budget. It doesn't exist in either show's continuity, instead acting as a kind of “what if” team up. It would, however, open the door for more crossovers between Dynamic Production series down the line. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/THT2baKHSog" width="560"></iframe>
</div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Next time on Shin Super Robot Sunday: Toho goes green.</span></div></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sources:</span></span></span></p>
<p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazinger_Z_vs._Devilman">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazinger_Z_vs._Devilman</a></span></span></span></p>
<p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/マジンガーZ対デビルマン">https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%9E%E3%82%B8%E3%83%B3%E3%82%AC%E3%83%BCZ%E5%AF%BE%E3%83%87%E3%83%93%E3%83%AB%E3%83%9E%E3%83%B3</a></span></span></span></p>
<p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://mazinger.fandom.com/wiki/Mazinger_Z_vs._Devilman">https://mazinger.fandom.com/wiki/Mazinger_Z_vs._Devilman</a></span></span></span></p>
<p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demon_Lord_Dante">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demon_Lord_Dante</a></span></span></span></p>
<p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/デビルマン">https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%87%E3%83%93%E3%83%AB%E3%83%9E%E3%83%B3</a></span></span></span></p>
<p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devilman">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devilman</a></span></span></span></p>
<p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p></span></div>K. Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09142868567992464226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19016059.post-81878453643482125132020-10-11T15:42:00.003-05:002020-10-11T15:42:54.794-05:00Shin Super Robot Sunday: Super Robot Red Baron<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsaYRu77mei1rGOhHv4QGJTmpBEOzXQIpQmc75eXEudHDbrRuDnc40cv-xWIZ_wBTdM2jrzrfiWcnCe32nmw4cpDzTd5tvNpFJMFL5x5XYfnUMdfWYIZlHmUoBv805OprGFg7jIA/s641/Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="641" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsaYRu77mei1rGOhHv4QGJTmpBEOzXQIpQmc75eXEudHDbrRuDnc40cv-xWIZ_wBTdM2jrzrfiWcnCe32nmw4cpDzTd5tvNpFJMFL5x5XYfnUMdfWYIZlHmUoBv805OprGFg7jIA/s320/Cover.jpg" /></a></div><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;">
Coming off the success of <i>tokusatsu </i>shows like <i>Iron King</i> and the non-giant robot <i>Silver Kamen</i>, Senkosha Productions would follow up with <i>Super Robot Red Baron</i>, which began airing on Nippon Television on July 4, 1973.</span><div><br /></div><div> <iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VkyiVTSFtHo" width="560"></iframe> </div><div> </div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Perhaps the most notable staff member who was involved in the creation of the show was Ryu Noguchi (the pen name of manga artist and illustrator Masaru Noguchi). After working as an assistant for Shotaro Ishinomori for a time, he went independent and illustrated the manga adaptation of Alistair MacLean's 1955 novel <i>HMS Ulysses</i> for <i>Weekly Shōnen Sunday</i>. Red Baron was his first television work, where he created character designs. It was the start of a long and successful career in <i>tokusatsu</i> production, and he would work on the <i>Kamen Rider</i>, <i>Metal Heroes</i>, and, most significantly, <i>Super Sentai</i> series. He even did creature designs for <i>Resident Evil</i> in the 90s. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5wErnv7FksfLuBsnW7s1Qjhb1y0gF0kYYD0zxL55Mgt5dxiMNyy3BdvkrpPr1MdRUEnFwtAChn-seVgKwtIW1V-_fMAqLHuF5rAgVd8FxEbPEmjASvfpnee5Ouoft-6RJaGqzSw/s1120/Red+Baron.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1120" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5wErnv7FksfLuBsnW7s1Qjhb1y0gF0kYYD0zxL55Mgt5dxiMNyy3BdvkrpPr1MdRUEnFwtAChn-seVgKwtIW1V-_fMAqLHuF5rAgVd8FxEbPEmjASvfpnee5Ouoft-6RJaGqzSw/s320/Red+Baron.jpg" /></a></div><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">As for the show itself, <i>Red Baron</i> tells the tale of the the evil Iron Masked Party led by Dr. Deviler/Devilar, who have stolen a bunch of giant robots from around the world and their designers and plan to use them to conquer/destroy the Earth. Kenichiro Kurenai, the designer of the the titular Red Baron (the last robot not stolen), makes it so only his younger brother Ken can operate it, before being kidnapped and killed by the Iron Masked Party. Ken, already a member of the Secret Science Investigation (SSI) group of crimefighters/spies/ninjas, takes control of the robot and uses it to defend the Earth, first against the Iron Masked Party, then against the Space Iron Party, commanded by Giras Q. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">After a slow start, the show was a success and was extended from its initially planned 26 episodes and introduced an entire new faction (the Space Iron Party). Ultimately the show ran for 39 episodes, apparently only ending when one of the main sponsors went bankrupt. Senkosha Productions would make spiritual sequels, but those are stories for another time. </span></div><div><br /></div><div> <iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/o8NEyUoIm-k" width="560"></iframe> </div><div> </div><div><span style="font-size: large;">The comparisons to <i>Mazinger Z</i> are unavoidable. A hot blooded hero inherits a powerful robot made of a special metal (in this case Baronium) that he has to use against a secret society bent on world conquest. What's different here is the presence of the SSI. They're an <i>Ultraman</i> style support team of agents in snappy uniforms and their own character arcs and personalities. There's the strict but kind captain Daigo, the hot-blooded marksman Tetsuya, comic relief brawler Daisaku, Mari, a high kicking photographer and sort-of love interest for Ken. Aiding them is Inspector Kumano, a somewhat silly police officer on a bicycle who has a sword-cane in his umbrella and a gun in his bicycle pump.</span></div><div><br /></div><div> <iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_-FVUIt894M" width="560"></iframe> </div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">As for the Red Baron itself, its a 40 meter (131 ft) tall, bright red colossus with a staggering array of weapons ranging from missiles, to beams, to kicks, to a rocket punch (called the Baron Punch). Its powered by a nuclear reactor, can fly at Mach 10, and after an upgrade, is capable of space travel. Fairly standard kit for a super robot. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaQ6r6vot0BRDxenRampsUL9FU7qIlVJzYSuDAnG5uLj7wFQ_12Gp3jmjFoQyXjRZ1fZ1IaFCCtK5ExLYETl1MSetitHJ5yScwk1MZ5Lj9Vij6wLMxzb5X6-f4xvmkQIjOEL7XFw/s1500/Red+Baron+DVD.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1062" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaQ6r6vot0BRDxenRampsUL9FU7qIlVJzYSuDAnG5uLj7wFQ_12Gp3jmjFoQyXjRZ1fZ1IaFCCtK5ExLYETl1MSetitHJ5yScwk1MZ5Lj9Vij6wLMxzb5X6-f4xvmkQIjOEL7XFw/s320/Red+Baron+DVD.jpg" /></a></div><br /> </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">While overshadowed by bigger contemporary <i>tokusatsu </i>franchises, <i>Red Baron</i> did get a western DVD release in 2010 that included the entire series in one cheap boxed set. For whatever reason, the sequels did not. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Next time on Shin Super Robot Sunday: Things get spooky as Mazinger Z runs across some deviltry. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><p lang="en" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Sources:</span></span></p>
<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Robot_Red_Baron">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Robot_Red_Baron</a></span></span></p>
<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/スーパーロボット_レッドバロン">https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B9%E3%83%BC%E3%83%91%E3%83%BC%E3%83%AD</a><a href="https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/スーパーロボット_レッドバロン">%E3%83%9C%E3%83%83%E3%83%88_%E3%83%AC%E3%83%83%E3%83%89%E3%83%90%E3%83%AD%E3%83%B3</a></span></span></p>
<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/野口竜">https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%87%8E%E5%8F%A3%E7%AB%9C</a></span></span></span></p>
<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://classichenshin.com/kewalaka/redbaron/index.htm">http://classichenshin.com/kewalaka/redbaron/index.htm</a>
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</p></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>K. Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09142868567992464226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19016059.post-8226767191690052392020-09-06T19:17:00.000-05:002020-09-06T19:17:06.191-05:00Shin Super Robot Sunday: Zone Fighter<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtzTPSac4pOVcsAVMS3ba6HRwLSbUeflM2OB2UB-HCS3gFhkWGNKMpNuKoeFvLDSz1220K9XLz4nqLOf-l1SFKgXz5eNlcjmOuc2VlJelth3oCc1CClYaDXoC-nRaMR-KEKADhlA/s710/Zone+Fighter+Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="710" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtzTPSac4pOVcsAVMS3ba6HRwLSbUeflM2OB2UB-HCS3gFhkWGNKMpNuKoeFvLDSz1220K9XLz4nqLOf-l1SFKgXz5eNlcjmOuc2VlJelth3oCc1CClYaDXoC-nRaMR-KEKADhlA/s320/Zone+Fighter+Poster.jpg" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-size: large;">
Toho Studios wasn't done with 1973 after <i><a href="https://kestifer.blogspot.com/2020/08/shin-super-robot-sunday-godzilla-vs.html">Godzilla vs. Megalon</a></i>. The studio had successfully ventured into <i>tokusatsu</i> television programming in 1972 with <i>Warrior of Love Rainbowman</i> (a name that will come up again later), and 1973 saw a new live-action superhero series with direct ties to the <i>Godzilla</i> franchise: <i>Zone Fighter</i>. </span><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">The show famously included Godzilla as a recurring guest character, but also Godzilla villains King Ghidorah and Gigan, and a number of episodes were directed by Toho feature film directors Ishirō Honda and Jun Fukuda. The show began broadcasting on Nippon Television on April 2, 1973, but despite its pedigree, only lasted 26 episodes before cancellation. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6XRKxqB5vHsXrj0VB8y_r50pZYnXaQmnnz6wJxPFSAm7h_LYvfVi9KrHHK_M5D2vO3gDA3nLPMZLhOpcxzhAxMzasCJZacXxo6Ij_qmShBleSD6VverHYAQqwwDL4p888YDtMHw/s700/Zone+Fighter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="632" data-original-width="700" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6XRKxqB5vHsXrj0VB8y_r50pZYnXaQmnnz6wJxPFSAm7h_LYvfVi9KrHHK_M5D2vO3gDA3nLPMZLhOpcxzhAxMzasCJZacXxo6Ij_qmShBleSD6VverHYAQqwwDL4p888YDtMHw/s320/Zone+Fighter.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Zone Fighter</i>, or <i>Ryūsei Ningen Zone</i> (literally “<i>Meteor Human Zone</i>”), tells the story of the Zone family, fugitives from the destroyed planet of Peaceland who fled to Earth and disguised themselves as the Sakimori family. However, the aliens who destroyed their planet, the Garogans, have come to Earth, and the Sakimori children, take up the fight to save their adopted planet.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"></span> <iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wadi2WLY948" width="560"></iframe> </div><div> </div><div><span style="font-size: large;">The primary hero is the eldest son Hikaru Sakimori, who can transform into the masked Zone Fighter by shouting “Zone Fight Power!” He can additionally transform into a gigantic 62 meter (204 ft.) tall form by shouting “Zone Double Fight!” His sister, Hotaru Sakimori, can transform into Zone Angel, and their kid brother Akira Sakimori, can turn into Zone Junior. Neither Angel or Junior could become gigantic. Their dad, Yochiro Sakimori, is an inventor who works for a toy research institute, providing the heroes with various gimmicks and weapons. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Zone Fighter himself takes obvious design cues from <i>Ultraman</i>, but with a predominantly silver and blue color scheme with red trim. Abilities include flight, defensive and offensive energy projection, grappling, wrist-mounted missiles, and even teleportation. Like contemporary giant heroes, he has a time limit on his giant form before he runs out of energy. And like the Ultras, Zone Fighter is not a robot, but a dude who can get huge. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">The Garogas are skull-faced aliens who aren't huge either. Instead, they launch their dreaded terror-beasts from space to Earth in rocket pods, like a <i>kaiju</i> ODST. The terror beasts are usually giant monsters or cybernetic mixtures of monsters with various metal parts bolted onto them. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-_O8ZrAys1RBh3L5cZ9PdCk-1Wp9tsqu4QEWL7zHCj0GdOWXbowyhlG44lWvm_OuWkWuu2DSNgMrO1Ym5cxkNri4oXZj8rqqc-R6Cz7l098SfHXUJmIIjGDSioa4ZkY-HYMvphg/s500/Zone+Fighter+vs+Jikiro.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="456" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-_O8ZrAys1RBh3L5cZ9PdCk-1Wp9tsqu4QEWL7zHCj0GdOWXbowyhlG44lWvm_OuWkWuu2DSNgMrO1Ym5cxkNri4oXZj8rqqc-R6Cz7l098SfHXUJmIIjGDSioa4ZkY-HYMvphg/s320/Zone+Fighter+vs+Jikiro.jpg" /></a></div></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">One of the terror-beasts, Jikiro is a full robot. Appearing in the second episode, Jikiro is launched to Earth to attack a weakened Zone Fighter, and nearly succeeds in killing him. Jikiro is a 78 meter (256 ft) tall metal monster with a hunchbacked, reptilian head and magnetic powers. It also has an adorable parachute that deploys after he hits atmosphere, allowing him to land safely.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"></span> <iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WR6bXd5OAU0" width="560"></iframe> </div><div> </div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Being a monster-of-the-week, Jikiro was destroyed, but he was rebuilt later in the series as Super Jikiro, with more powerful armor and weapons before being destroyed once more. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHjRi0KfDUbFCzjEdMDjgKMDx5Tfo1cebz8dU-odEKTHof8fOT6N6Hak_fDh45nBSRp4BaQU9iAccUYt46s8SwK6aBWx5DSnMqtSMJuvb4JaAcQINVtWDRcPtPeiugl9D58ZYMIA/s980/Zone+Fighter+Manga.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="980" data-original-width="660" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHjRi0KfDUbFCzjEdMDjgKMDx5Tfo1cebz8dU-odEKTHof8fOT6N6Hak_fDh45nBSRp4BaQU9iAccUYt46s8SwK6aBWx5DSnMqtSMJuvb4JaAcQINVtWDRcPtPeiugl9D58ZYMIA/s320/Zone+Fighter+Manga.jpg" /></a></div><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Zone Fighter is an interesting side story of the <i>Showa</i>-era Godzilla franchise. Cancelled amidst poor ratings and an oil crisis, it nevertheless exists as an official part of Godzilla continuity taking place after <i>Godzilla Vs. Megalon</i>. After fleeing Earth, Gigan was captured by the Garogas and used to attack Earth, and he was killed by Zone Fighter. There were a few manga that ran alongside the show, but after its run the show drifted into obscurity. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gYwaoHHJuPs" width="560"></iframe></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Curiously, in 2015, the YouTube channel Daikaiju Legends began a fan project/sequel series to <i>Zone Fighter</i> (called <i>Zone Fighter</i>) which uses American actors for the human cast and stop-motion action figures to represent the monsters and heroes including Zone Fighter and a bunch of Ultraman characters. Its odd, and the acting leaves no question that its a fan-film, but the stop motion effects are an interesting workaround to not having suit actors and miniature city sets, and the production quality jumped several levels of sophistication in the intervening five years.</span></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvMYDZSbadPMIRi1_ZnPIwX0kA2xrsgX7gnMfe7hO8QXmI6apk2Jt0705GyeywPfrKssc8namY0E2nmeKzwup1P-mw-AUNzak2qMWrJgk76vY89l-pAsUrZy-CpUpkhW9kDkdX-g/s800/Godzilla+Handshake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="601" data-original-width="800" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvMYDZSbadPMIRi1_ZnPIwX0kA2xrsgX7gnMfe7hO8QXmI6apk2Jt0705GyeywPfrKssc8namY0E2nmeKzwup1P-mw-AUNzak2qMWrJgk76vY89l-pAsUrZy-CpUpkhW9kDkdX-g/s320/Godzilla+Handshake.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div> </div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Next time on Shin Super Robot Sunday: <a href="https://kestifer.blogspot.com/search?q=iron+king">Senkosha Productions</a> goes from a King to a Baron.</span></div><div><br /></div><div>Sources</div><div><p lang="en" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zone_Fighter">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zone_Fighter</a></span></span></span></p>
<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/流星人間ゾーン">https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B5%81%E6%98%9F%E4%BA%BA%E9%96%93%E3%82%BE%E3%83%BC%E3%83%B3</a></span></span></p>
<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://wikizilla.org/wiki/Zone_Fighter">https://wikizilla.org/wiki/Zone_Fighter</a></span></span></span></p>
<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://wikizilla.org/wiki/Zone_Fighter_(series">https://wikizilla.org/wiki/Zone_Fighter_(series</a>)</span></span></p>
<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://godzilla.fandom.com/wiki/Zone_Fighter_(Series">https://godzilla.fandom.com/wiki/Zone_Fighter_(Series</a>)</span></span></p>
<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.tohokingdom.com/kaiju/tv/jikiro.html#jikiro">https://www.tohokingdom.com/kaiju/tv/jikiro.html#jikiro</a></span></span></span></p>
<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://fan-made-kaiju.fandom.com/wiki/Zone_Fighter_(Daikaiju_Legends_series">https://fan-made-kaiju.fandom.com/wiki/Zone_Fighter_(Daikaiju_Legends_series</a>)</span></span></p>
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</p></div><div><br /></div>K. Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09142868567992464226noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19016059.post-74351045095524714022020-08-16T20:58:00.003-05:002020-08-16T20:58:54.202-05:00Shin Super Robot Sunday: Godzilla vs. Megalon<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSz0dexfPIEeDDX9Aa4ehraKer0u7cgN8-DUE7wfiQwsdJBQTRBfer-Ozhk-47M5LyGffHUzjupDu7R6h1ChoTf6K75sXvSLSzm_f5SeEpFxuBEMx65syc4W5bm4lJXeV-maXfXQ/s1143/Godzilla+vs+Megalon+poster.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1143" data-original-width="800" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSz0dexfPIEeDDX9Aa4ehraKer0u7cgN8-DUE7wfiQwsdJBQTRBfer-Ozhk-47M5LyGffHUzjupDu7R6h1ChoTf6K75sXvSLSzm_f5SeEpFxuBEMx65syc4W5bm4lJXeV-maXfXQ/s640/Godzilla+vs+Megalon+poster.jpg" /></a></div><p></p><span style="font-size: x-large;">
For this titanic twentieth entry in <i>Shin Super Robot Sunday</i>, its fitting that the King of the Monsters should get the spotlight. </span><div><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;">Toho Studios unleashed <i>Godzilla</i> upon the world in 1954 through director Ishirō Honda and special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya (both well-represented in this survey through <i><a href="https://kestifer.blogspot.com/2020/01/shin-super-robot-sunday-mysterians.html" target="_blank">The Mysterians</a></i>, <i><a href="https://kestifer.blogspot.com/2020/02/shin-super-robot-sunday-king-kong.html" target="_blank">King Kong Escapes</a></i>, and <a href="https://kestifer.blogspot.com/2020/02/shin-super-robot-sunday-ultra-seven.html" target="_blank">the</a> <i><a href="https://kestifer.blogspot.com/2020/03/shin-super-robot-sunday-return-of.html" target="_blank">Ultraman</a> </i><a href="https://kestifer.blogspot.com/2020/04/shin-super-robot-sunday-ultraman-ace.html" target="_blank">series</a>). By 1973, Godzilla had already been the star of 12 feature-length movies, going from a metaphor for the shadow of nuclear annihilation to a grumpy wild-card monster that mostly wants to be left alone, to an unlikely superhero that defends the Earth from the likes of King Ghidorah, to a single dad trying to raise his son on Monster Island. It was a long, strange trip through the Shōwa era (named after the era of the Shōwa Emperor, Hirohito), and the 13th Godzilla movie would be a high point for the kid-friendly, lovable superhero version of the character: <i>Godzilla vs Megalon</i>. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;">Released on March 17, 1973 and directed by Jun Fukuda (himself a veteran director of several Godzila movies such as <i>Ebirah, Horror of the Deep</i>, <i>Son of Godzilla</i>, and <i>Godzilla vs. Gigan</i>) and the special effects direction of Teruyoshi Nakano (a former apprentice of Eiji Tsuburaya's who became the primary effects director for the later Shōwa Godzilla movies).</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;"></span> <iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AFLxzN87hhM" width="560"></iframe> </div><div> </div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;">In 197X, underground nuclear testing near the Aleutian Islands causes significant seismic disturbances that cause havoc on Monster Island. Unbeknownst to the surface world, the tests have devastated the scientifically advanced underground kingdom of Seatopia, which sank below the surface thousands of years ago like the mythical continents of Mu and Lemuria. In Japan, inventor Goro Ibuki, his kid brother Rokuro Ibuki, and buddy Hiroshi Jinkawa get caught up in a plot by Seatopian spies who hijack Goro's recently completed robot, Jet Jaguar, to guide the underground monster Megalon on a path of destruction across the surface. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLQ54SvjMv0SRKBnzT_CsHzcA0tvBJtGBqgKeX447vJIhW2qJ1Zz_f7KYwqJDh_4QLjXKhICQ7LX4UAR1AEHSJUccREvUgzj6LjLXV1jAbll1BRPenEBsKYIIyOdBNN1SePOh5GQ/s2048/godzilla_vs_megalon+US+poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1346" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLQ54SvjMv0SRKBnzT_CsHzcA0tvBJtGBqgKeX447vJIhW2qJ1Zz_f7KYwqJDh_4QLjXKhICQ7LX4UAR1AEHSJUccREvUgzj6LjLXV1jAbll1BRPenEBsKYIIyOdBNN1SePOh5GQ/s640/godzilla_vs_megalon+US+poster.jpg" /></a></div> </span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;">A lot happens on in the first half of the movie, with fistfights, car chases, Hollow Earth-style civilizations, and the giant insectoid Megalon laying waste to Japan. Its all very pulpy in its sensibilities. After some close calls, Goro is able to regain control of Jet Jaguar and sends him to Monster Island to summon Godzilla to defend the Earth. Godzilla can't fly, though, and Jet Jaguar's AI overrides external control and he grows to giant size to confront Megalon to buy time for the King of the Monsters to swim to shore. In the meantime, the Seatopians sent a signal to the M Space Hunter Nebula Aliens, who send Gigan to Earth as backup for Megalon.
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;">Godzilla really only features in the climactic fight scene of the movie: a two on two tag battle of Megalon and Gigan against Jet Jaguar and Godzilla. Gigan first appeared in 1972's <i>Godzilla vs. Gigan</i>, but Megalon and Jet Jaguar were new entrants to the series.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;"></span> <iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jq1vhOaTRdo" width="560"></iframe> </div><div> </div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;">Megalon is a 55 meter (180 ft) tall giant beetle-like insectoid with a horn that shoots energy beams and two massive drill hands for digging through the Earth's crust. Viewed as a godlike protector by the Seatopians, Megalon isn't very smart, but he is durable, and a well-rounded battler. </span></div><div><br /></div><div> <iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/b8N1oLqhM2s" width="560"></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;">The real interesting story, though, centers around Jet Jaguar and his real-world origin. Initially the result of a contest held by Japanese department and grocery store chain Seiyu (now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Wal-Mart) to design a <i>kaiju</i> for the next Toho Studios movie, the winning design was for a brightly colored robot monster called Red Alone which subsequently underwent significant redesigns by Teruyoshi Nakano into Jet Jaguar, with a deliberately garish/obnoxious appearance to set him apart from the many, many, <i><b>many</b></i> <i>Ultraman</i>-like giant heroes of the early 70s. The movie project was initially to be called <i>Jet Jaguar vs. Megalon</i>, but in the crowded tokusatsu hero market of the time period, production was halted to add Godzilla and Gigan to the movie for added star power. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8SH5L8f6Z3pK57W24-61D-IYeS4cnFRNp8oUX-AISoLWVgV-MivFt6Mx8Kc1YqR12ZS4X2TKz9q7yM1KGbgan7wMFM0FY16w7HaFvFsAugsYd44LrQ6iWNWaOTh5J9-41WOJ2oA/s1393/Megalon+vs+Jet+Jaguar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1340" data-original-width="1393" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8SH5L8f6Z3pK57W24-61D-IYeS4cnFRNp8oUX-AISoLWVgV-MivFt6Mx8Kc1YqR12ZS4X2TKz9q7yM1KGbgan7wMFM0FY16w7HaFvFsAugsYd44LrQ6iWNWaOTh5J9-41WOJ2oA/s640/Megalon+vs+Jet+Jaguar.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> </span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;">Jet Jaguar doesn't have many powers at his disposal compared to an <i>Ultraman</i> (in this movie, at least), but he does have flight, super strength, and incredible durability, as well as the ability to speak with giant monsters and can grow to a height of 50 meters (164 ft). </span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0wYOZ4Ix2qQ9OsSkbwkToy4yDtQPVO2IjJW9lA-pVo-AwHQnPYnQnq4tLmC4zHi9eLs89DkvIq17stszuredWwJSYgDsRZOEvv1nhWbBPMPZykVbbkga-2F9reZP55jla2urZcQ/s1117/Jet+Jaguar+Godzilla+Rulers+of+Earth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1117" data-original-width="736" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0wYOZ4Ix2qQ9OsSkbwkToy4yDtQPVO2IjJW9lA-pVo-AwHQnPYnQnq4tLmC4zHi9eLs89DkvIq17stszuredWwJSYgDsRZOEvv1nhWbBPMPZykVbbkga-2F9reZP55jla2urZcQ/s640/Jet+Jaguar+Godzilla+Rulers+of+Earth.jpg" /></a></div> </span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;">The movie was successful, making about $20 million at the box office for a cost of $1.2 million, and it would see significant foreign releases, most notably in the US in 1976 where it became a mainstay of home video and matinee TV showings. It earned a divisive position in the Godzilla fanbase for its frequent goofiness, which is also a large part of its cult classic status. In 1991, the movie was featured as an episode of <i>Mystery Science Theater 3000</i> (the first of two Godzilla movies featured on the show, the other being <i>Godzilla vs The Sea Monster</i> AKA </span><i style="font-size: x-large;">Ebirah, Horror of the Deep</i><span style="font-size: x-large;">), and added to the movie's goofy reputation. In the modern era, the movie has a Criterion Collection release (alongside all of the Shōwa era Godzilla entries), which solidifies the <i>Godzilla vs. Megalon</i> as not just a movie, but as a <i>film</i>.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;"></span> <iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JuEa6Hum0b4" width="560"></iframe> </div><div style="text-align: center;">Haters gonna hate. </div><div> </div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;">Jet Jaguar and Megalon have not made any subsequent movie appearances, but have appeared frequently in multiple Japanese manga, American comics, and video games.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;"></span> <iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/S9OwIThC7Dw" width="560"></iframe> </div><div> </div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;">Mexican heavy metal band <a href="https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Jet_Jaguar/3540380547" target="_blank">Jet Jaguar</a> (founded in 2014 in Cancún) released their first full length album, <i>Endless Nights</i>, in July of 2020. Mixing 80's aesthetics, power metal, and a dash of synthwave, the name can't be a coincidence considering <i>Godzilla vs. Megalon</i>'s significant international distribution in the 80's and 90's. After all, what's more metal than a giant robot? </span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;"> <iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5-CvNxRs5Zs" width="560"></iframe>
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;">Next time on Shin Super Robot Sunday: Toho explores a newer zone: the small screen.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;"><p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Sources</span></span></span></p>
<p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godzilla_vs._Megalon">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godzilla_vs._Megalon</a></span></span></span></p>
<p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://infogalactic.com/info/Godzilla_vs._Megalon">https://infogalactic.com/info/Godzilla_vs._Megalon</a></span></span></span></p>
<p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://wikizilla.org/wiki/Godzilla_vs._Megalon">https://wikizilla.org/wiki/Godzilla_vs._Megalon</a></span></span></span></p>
<p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://godzilla.fandom.com/wiki/Godzilla_vs._Megalon">https://godzilla.fandom.com/wiki/Godzilla_vs._Megalon</a></span></span></span></p>
<p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://wikizilla.org/wiki/Teruyoshi_Nakano">https://wikizilla.org/wiki/Teruyoshi_Nakano</a></span></span></span></p>
<p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://wikizilla.org/wiki/Jun_Fukuda">https://wikizilla.org/wiki/Jun_Fukuda</a></span></span></span></p>
<p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://wikizilla.org/wiki/Jet_Jaguar">https://wikizilla.org/wiki/Jet_Jaguar</a></span></span></span></p>
<p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://godzilla.fandom.com/wiki/Jet_Jaguar">https://godzilla.fandom.com/wiki/Jet_Jaguar</a></span></span></span></p>
<p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seiyu_Group">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seiyu_Group</a></span></span></span></p>
<p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://godzilla.fandom.com/wiki/Jet_Jaguar_vs._Megalon">https://godzilla.fandom.com/wiki/Jet_Jaguar_vs._Megalon</a></span></span></span></p>
<p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://mst3k.fandom.com/wiki/MST3K_212_-_Godzilla_vs._Megalon">https://mst3k.fandom.com/wiki/MST3K_212_-_Godzilla_vs._Megalon</a></span></span></span></p>
<p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.criterion.com/films/29349-godzilla-vs-megalon">https://www.criterion.com/films/29349-godzilla-vs-megalon</a>
</span></span></span>
</p><br /></span></div>K. Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09142868567992464226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19016059.post-63097263402344089492020-08-02T18:12:00.000-05:002020-08-02T18:12:57.670-05:00Shin Super Robot Sunday: Jumborg Ace<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRS4GQitnFGlgVnDLlyrrNXKSKFNYGJvs0SR1v1ohdtKZ93UngrD8I6waZSuVKm-u7uvNk_-BIWRAm66-IyqKmNdHYbefcXjEW_t56Gg69i5qhzkbS8HC72mY2Nsca8MnyHA3zng/s728/Jumborg+art.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="728" data-original-width="516" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRS4GQitnFGlgVnDLlyrrNXKSKFNYGJvs0SR1v1ohdtKZ93UngrD8I6waZSuVKm-u7uvNk_-BIWRAm66-IyqKmNdHYbefcXjEW_t56Gg69i5qhzkbS8HC72mY2Nsca8MnyHA3zng/s640/Jumborg+art.jpg" /></a></div><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><font size="5"><font face="">The
third of Tsuburaya Productions 10<sup>th</sup> anniversary shows,
<i>Jumborg Ace</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> was different
from </span><i>Ultraman Taro</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> and
</span><i>Fireman</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> in that it was
chock full of robots. </span><i>Jumborg Ace</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
began airing on January 17, 1973 on Mainichi Broadcasting System, the
show ran for 50 episodes and was primarily produced by staff who had
previously worked on </span><i>Mirrorman</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
under the direction of Yoshiyuki Kuroda. While the show debuted in
1973, a prequel manga, </span><i>Jumbo X</i><span style="font-style: normal;">,
was serialized in 1970, with a number of elements that initially tied
it to the </span><i><span style="text-decoration: none;">Ultraman</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">
franchise before it was ultimately spun off into its own project. </span></span></font>
</font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><font size="5"><br />
</font></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-tFjMEAtS0k" width="560"></iframe>
<p style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><font size="5"><br />
</font></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><font size="5"><font face="">Naoki
Tachibana is an air delivery boy who flies a Cessna. When the evil
alien Anti Go-Ne from the planet Groth invades with giant monsters,
Naoki's brother, Shin'ya, a member of the Protective Attacking Team
(PAT), dies in battle with a giant monster. In revenge, Naoki tries
to ram his plane into the monster on a suicide run, fails, and is
transported to an energy dimension where an alien named Emerald from
Planet Emerald, saves Naoki's life, modifies his wristwatch, modifies
his plane, and sends him back home. Guided by Emerald's voice, Naoki
uses the watch and the command phrase “Jum-Fight!” to transform
the plane into the giant mecha Jumborg Ace. </font>
</font></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-XF7fyFmXKAZQYJG5xvI6x150tXGUpppGkQB2CHe69F2LhXpuawRNapFUq5h8d-Ris5OKS466DAnEqedZwriIf1KnciPr1iXo53BSkXKjrpu9eHckpHlwhPRPQuGuBUJisyU2JA/s828/Jumborg_Ace_I.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="828" data-original-width="522" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-XF7fyFmXKAZQYJG5xvI6x150tXGUpppGkQB2CHe69F2LhXpuawRNapFUq5h8d-Ris5OKS466DAnEqedZwriIf1KnciPr1iXo53BSkXKjrpu9eHckpHlwhPRPQuGuBUJisyU2JA/s640/Jumborg_Ace_I.png" /></a></div><font size="5"><br />
</font><p></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><font size="5"><font face="">Giant
robot it most certainly is. Naoki pilots Jumborg from inside the
robot's head using a movement control suit to mirror his own actions
(a feature that would show up in later Mecha shows like <i>Daimos </i>and
<i>G Gundam</i>). </font></font></p><p style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><font size="5"></font></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><font size="5"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYl0-yHFi-DqXrScW1fokClHoiE0fdV00fpsxxpiyLEYF_ZJeYv-OQG8hVer1F-W5_fqlI3igdFDvMS8vCW16SYBQB_k4xDT_rLBX6nAYjcx-quBWwcBkqrjbGLZGuI4OHSdq_iA/s432/Jumborg_Cockpit.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="414" data-original-width="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYl0-yHFi-DqXrScW1fokClHoiE0fdV00fpsxxpiyLEYF_ZJeYv-OQG8hVer1F-W5_fqlI3igdFDvMS8vCW16SYBQB_k4xDT_rLBX6nAYjcx-quBWwcBkqrjbGLZGuI4OHSdq_iA/s0/Jumborg_Cockpit.jpg" /></a></font></div><font size="5"><font face=""><br /></font></font><p></p><p style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><font size="5"><font face="">The 40 meter (131 ft) tall robot features the
standard <i>tokusatsu</i> giant hero fighting abilities: grappling,
flight (Mach 11, which is not bad at all for a souped up Cessna),
strength, and an emphasis on beam and energy weaponry.</font></font></p><p style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><font size="5"><font face=""><br /></font></font></p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gJhHCItsbuw" width="560"></iframe>
<p style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><font size="5"><br />
</font></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><font size="5"><font face="">But
that's not all. During the course of the show, Naoki meets the
brother of Emerald, Kain, who gives the hero a second robotic ally:
Jumborg 9. Instead of a plane, Jumborg 9 is disguised as a Honda Z
minicar called the Jum Car Z, and can transform into a 50 meter (164
ft) tall half silver, half reddish-orange powerhouse. </font></font></p><p style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><font size="5"></font></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><font size="5"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvVvIe8c0VOf-MyhhOcx9nZERhcWjnTnZUms-EjaX-LmmCkKHd11Z80i0Nb__9hD6E_fEKT3fj7l5nt9TozvWc2IbVdAVlCfvPefrWYjlhC85WGEMFWscwbUKr3SbovjMc0NG3vw/s826/Jumborg_9_II.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="826" data-original-width="544" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvVvIe8c0VOf-MyhhOcx9nZERhcWjnTnZUms-EjaX-LmmCkKHd11Z80i0Nb__9hD6E_fEKT3fj7l5nt9TozvWc2IbVdAVlCfvPefrWYjlhC85WGEMFWscwbUKr3SbovjMc0NG3vw/s640/Jumborg_9_II.png" /></a></font></div><font size="5"><font face=""><br /></font></font><p></p><p style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><font size="5"><font face="">Jumborg 9 can't
fly, but he can run at 900 kilometers an hour (560 mph), and hits
like a truck. He's also piloted like a regular car, with gearshifts,
pedals, and steering wheels.</font></font></p>
<p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<font size="5"><br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6swm27OFibY" width="560"></iframe>
</font></p>
<p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<font color="#222222"><font face="" size="5">The
minions of Planet Groth also numbered quite a few robots, among them
<a href="https://youtu.be/OJjpfnKWgKY" target="_blank">Airdolmen </a>(a flying robot);
Giant Robot Zero (which was recycled from <i>Mirrorman's</i> Noah
robot costume); Flight King (a quadrupedal missile launching robot
with a drill on its head); an imitation Jumborg Ace (armed with a
whip and rocket punches, see above); Honest King (a king-themed robot
that can transform into a dog disguise); Gold Dragon (a two-headed
golden dragon robot); Mirrorking (a robot that can invade dreams) and
two more that deserve a little more attention:</font></font></p>
<p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<font size="5"><br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/o1ADTEtL3is" width="560"></iframe>
</font></p>
<p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;"><br /></p>
<p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<font size="5"><font color="#222222"><font face="">Dump
Kong is a 46 meter tall robot made from a dump truck that looks like
King Joe if it had been made from scrap parts, and can shoot hooks and tires at Jumborg Ace. Its awesome. </font></font></font></p>
<p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;"><br /></p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ronfFlgOy8U" width="560"></iframe>
<p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<font size="5"><font color="#222222"><font face="">The
other one is Jum Killer. Much like Ace Killer, Jum Killer is a robot
designed specifically for destroying the hero of the show, and
actually defeats Jumborg Ace. Jum Killer is ultimately defeated by
the newly acquired Jumborg 9. A second robot, Jum Killer Jr., was a
bigger challenge, but still also defeated by Jumborg 9. </font></font>
</font></p><p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;"><font size="5"><font color="#222222"><font face=""><br /></font></font></font></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJel5gaz9Q4e1nMxyLmq5LGE3qPn9iIRY-BX7cl6-IN-6kLSVtAmKGLap27gquWM7LJeXwbx0mreEuDZR8DInj07utQeYfRPG0OPvvJ5vMapxXvRqvVJ5e8Q1ZTYSrLeVWgdNq3w/s635/Dump-Kong.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="635" data-original-width="369" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJel5gaz9Q4e1nMxyLmq5LGE3qPn9iIRY-BX7cl6-IN-6kLSVtAmKGLap27gquWM7LJeXwbx0mreEuDZR8DInj07utQeYfRPG0OPvvJ5vMapxXvRqvVJ5e8Q1ZTYSrLeVWgdNq3w/s0/Dump-Kong.png" /></a></div><p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center; text-decoration: none;"><font size="2">DUMP KONG</font></p>
<p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<font size="5"><font color="#222222"><font face="">Reflecting
the growing trend of super robots in a post-<i>Mazinger</i> world,
<i>Jumborg Ace</i> did well with a piloted transforming super robot
protagonist and would see a follow up the following year, but that
deserves its own entry. </font></font>
</font></p>
<p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<font size="5"><br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3hnv6BmkY9g" width="560"></iframe>
</font></p>
<p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<font color="#222222"><font face="" size="5">Next
time on Shin Super Robot Sunday: Toho brings out its heavy hitter. </font></font>
</p><p lang="en" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><font color="#222222"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><br /></font></font></p><p lang="en" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<font color="#222222"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">Sources:</font></font></p><p lang="en" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<font color="#222222"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumborg_Ace">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumborg_Ace</a>
</font></font>
</p><p lang="en" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><a href="https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Jumborg_Ace_(series)" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Jumborg_Ace_(series)</a></p><p lang="en" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><a href="https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Jumborg_Ace_(mecha)" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Jumborg_Ace_(mecha)</a></p><p lang="en" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><a href="https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Jumborg_9" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Jumborg_9</a></p><p lang="en" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><a href="https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/ジャンボーグA" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B8%E3%83%A3%E3%83%B3%E3%83%9C%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B0A</a></p><p lang="en" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><a href="https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/ジャンボーX" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B8%E3%83%A3%E3%83%B3%E3%83%9C%E3%83%BCX</a></p><p lang="en" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><a href="https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Dump_Kong" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Dump_Kong</a></p><p lang="en" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><a href="https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Jum_Killer" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Jum_Killer</a></p><p lang="en" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</p><p lang="en" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</p><br />K. Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09142868567992464226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19016059.post-83777349779010468942020-06-21T16:31:00.006-05:002020-06-21T16:33:56.088-05:00Shin Super Robot Sunday: Fireman<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt4mJYPLyHFFzNc8y3m9Pg0rMkrC5BNcyXJ2ISuHw-037OcmTdAI06BbMDOJBemnqS60r0K6OB7ccUCb4cd5rfX2peCr4lyco6yV3OUpYy-rNiAoj5OxR282RX2eSu1ktFFcPaUg/s577/Fireman+DVD+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="577" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt4mJYPLyHFFzNc8y3m9Pg0rMkrC5BNcyXJ2ISuHw-037OcmTdAI06BbMDOJBemnqS60r0K6OB7ccUCb4cd5rfX2peCr4lyco6yV3OUpYy-rNiAoj5OxR282RX2eSu1ktFFcPaUg/s320/Fireman+DVD+cover.jpg" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><font size="5">
In 1973, Tsuburaya Productions released several shows as part of the company's 10th anniversary. The first one to see release was <i>Fireman</i> (or <i>Magma Man</i> in some markets), which began airing on Nippon Television on January 7, 1973, running until July for 30 episodes.</font><div><br /></div><div><font size="5"></font> <iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hO6uMqkdtEg" width="560"></iframe> </div><div> </div><div><font size="5">In <i>Fireman</i>, a string of natural disasters strikes the Earth, and giant mutant dinosaur appear and wreak havoc. Standing against them is the Scientific Attack Force (SAF) and their young archaeologist recruit Daisuke Misaki. Misaki is actually a member of an underground race of humans from the lost continent of Aban, which sank below the surface 12,000 years ago. Scientifically advanced, Misaki can use an object called the fire-stick to transform into the 50 meter (164 ft) tall Fireman to battle against threats to the Earth, both native and alien. </font></div><div><font size="5"> </font></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP7PjiEuSj8WCz6MWHAIM96mnJAQUxg8MYxcd6F4sorNYSNCJ3FsYSHUtPMojzlMaEGbUsIrh-7FbcB1erMu1tCfQYixmbOQOdkTh7piZXAcxbmoHIsNraU8IkNPyrQyNBEoJOgw/s767/Fireman.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="767" data-original-width="612" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP7PjiEuSj8WCz6MWHAIM96mnJAQUxg8MYxcd6F4sorNYSNCJ3FsYSHUtPMojzlMaEGbUsIrh-7FbcB1erMu1tCfQYixmbOQOdkTh7piZXAcxbmoHIsNraU8IkNPyrQyNBEoJOgw/s320/Fireman.png" /></a></div><font size="5"><br /></font></div><div><font size="5">Fireman himself is something of an inversion of the <i>Ultraman </i>formula. Red with silver highlights, he fights with similar flight and grappling abilities. Naturally, his energy attacks are all fire themed, and instead of a color timer limiting his giant form, his people have lived underground for so long that he can only sustain his giant form for three minutes at a time before sunlight will kill him. </font></div><div><font size="5"> </font></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPEywsngmqtBxcubXtAg5ooA1cwHX9f_VUEuKQ1Dyw53xgzMbdkNLMtswaF8iaSqlp8Ql9-YAPgIBhycVHvWpHBwg-2Hl0g8UEvpCSGWschOXoZ3CLwVs8BU_a781PcgVxbzyFUQ/s858/Gorenger+team.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="858" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPEywsngmqtBxcubXtAg5ooA1cwHX9f_VUEuKQ1Dyw53xgzMbdkNLMtswaF8iaSqlp8Ql9-YAPgIBhycVHvWpHBwg-2Hl0g8UEvpCSGWschOXoZ3CLwVs8BU_a781PcgVxbzyFUQ/s320/Gorenger+team.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><font size="5"><br /></font></div><div><font size="5">What's interesting is that the actor for Daisuke Misaki, Naoya Makoto, would later play a more famous red suited tokusatsu hero in 1975: Tsuyoshi Kaijo AKA Akarenger in <i>Himitsu Sentai Gorenger</i>, and the very first Red Ranger in the storied history of <i>Super Sentai</i>.
</font></div><div><font size="5"><br /></font></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD2eCGlkI-tXVrf4vyf-MH4y0WOeMuWlFivJqrQlFxhZ9Uhr9rpCgDg4EH2nxaY2tF7WZsN6bEqVxMlK8I3IULWLDXEOPW5YnnUqVY_T7HzYajIn1lHeFBpxfcVbQz53zwGf4nMA/s794/Baranda+V.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="794" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD2eCGlkI-tXVrf4vyf-MH4y0WOeMuWlFivJqrQlFxhZ9Uhr9rpCgDg4EH2nxaY2tF7WZsN6bEqVxMlK8I3IULWLDXEOPW5YnnUqVY_T7HzYajIn1lHeFBpxfcVbQz53zwGf4nMA/s320/Baranda+V.jpg" /></a></div></div><div><font size="5"><br /></font></div><div><font size="5">More important than that (for our purposes here at least), is episode 10 of <i>Fireman</i>: <i>The Iron Monster that Attacked Tokyo</i>. In the episode, an alien from the Baranda race attacks (naturally) Tokyo with the Baranda V robot.
Baranda V is a 51 meter (167 ft) tall piloted robot. In addition to general stompiness, the robot features an array of weapons from powerful chest guns, finger lasers, electromagnetic levitation, a force field, and most interestingly in a post-<i>Mazinger Z</i> environment, a rocket punch attack. </font></div><div><br /></div><div><font size="5"></font> <iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/M8rRyyX3gjA" width="560"></iframe> </div><div> </div><div><font size="5">The biggest show from Tsuburaya's big anniversary year would be <i>Ultraman Taro</i> (which has a lack of giant robots), but <i>Fireman </i>had a respectable run and would eventually see a spiritual successor of sorts several decades later. As for the third Tsuburaya Productions show from 1973, that's the topic for the next Shin Super Robot Sunday. </font></div><div><font size="5"><br /></font></div><div><font size="5">Next time on Shin Super Robot Sunday: Aces and Nines. </font></div><div><font size="5"><br /></font></div><div><p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<font color="#222222"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3">Sources</font></font></font></p>
<p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<font color="#222222"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fireman_(TV_series)">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fireman_(TV_series)</a></font></font></font></p>
<p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<font color="#222222"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3"><a href="https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/ファイヤーマン">https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%95%E3%82%A1%E3%82%A4%E3%83%A4%E3%83%BC%E3%83%9E%E3%83%B3</a></font></font></font></p>
<p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<font color="#222222"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3"><a href="https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Fireman_(character)">https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Fireman_(character)</a></font></font></font></p>
<p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<font color="#222222"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3"><a href="https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Daisuke_Misaki">https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Daisuke_Misaki</a></font></font></font></p>
<p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<font color="#222222"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3"><a href="https://powerrangers.fandom.com/wiki/Tsuyoshi_Kaijo#1975">https://powerrangers.fandom.com/wiki/Tsuyoshi_Kaijo#1975</a></font></font></font></p>
<p lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<font color="#222222"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3"><a href="https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Baranda_V">https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Baranda_V</a>
</font></font></font>
</p><font size="5"></font></div>K. Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09142868567992464226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19016059.post-23805776565883015172020-06-07T21:12:00.000-05:002020-06-07T21:12:11.773-05:00Shin Super Robot Sunday: Babel II<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY2WZmxyprbN8RJhjzL_oQqcaV-tVTCSNnmM4OpqHjI673n6s0vBkC-57_3eRqhubpnXy29mIqnIeXc0b_DQnBYZ_kWviek3GnxcqBxRriBKSNbrIy3qCSlca_GZKwgTenvc5GUA/s650/Babel+II+cover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="650" data-original-width="462" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY2WZmxyprbN8RJhjzL_oQqcaV-tVTCSNnmM4OpqHjI673n6s0vBkC-57_3eRqhubpnXy29mIqnIeXc0b_DQnBYZ_kWviek3GnxcqBxRriBKSNbrIy3qCSlca_GZKwgTenvc5GUA/s320/Babel+II+cover.jpg" /></a></div><font size="4"><br /></font></div><div><font size="4"><br /></font></div><font size="4">Mitsuteru Yokoyama wasn't done with the giant robot genre after <i>Tetsujin 28-go</i> and <i>Giant Robo</i>. In July of 1971, <i>Babel II</i> began publishing within the pages of <i>Weekly Shōnen Champion</i>, another <i>shōnen</i> adventure manga, that ran until May of 1973. On January 1st of 1973, an anime adaptation directed by Kozo Morishita and produced by Toei Animation began airing on NET. </font><div><font size="4"> </font></div><div><div><br /></div><div> <iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AeWa5SU_aZ8" width="560"></iframe><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">5,000 years ago, an alien named Babel crash landed on Earth. Equipped with advanced technology and psychic powers, he constructed a gigantic tower to send a distress signal to his home planet. Unfortunately for him, it was destroyed just before completion. Forced to give up, Babel settled down and married an Earthling girl and used what remained of the Tower to create three protectors who would aid his descendants.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZobmqq6vuDSKIo0Eogpi6LmlhkRqcSyBJhPeSu2MkfxvdNd8Ilu0uunrWuGPyyCpt4E4gJ0ix0c-ynJxqAIWH2TK87L9WHSio3xINJPyI03NwyGFlYCfxfH8pbRiGNN0M7smHXg/s700/Babel+II+Bluray.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="518" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZobmqq6vuDSKIo0Eogpi6LmlhkRqcSyBJhPeSu2MkfxvdNd8Ilu0uunrWuGPyyCpt4E4gJ0ix0c-ynJxqAIWH2TK87L9WHSio3xINJPyI03NwyGFlYCfxfH8pbRiGNN0M7smHXg/s320/Babel+II+Bluray.png" /></a></div><font size="4"><br /></font><div><font size="4">
In contemporary times, Koichi Yamano is an ordinary Japanese student who is plagued by strange dreams that are affected by signals from the Tower of Babel. Koichi is one of the strongest descendents of Babel, developing a multitude of psychic and physical powers ranging from ESP to regeneration to super strength, and more. The Tower recognizes Koichi as being the second coming of Babel due to his power (a Babel Junior or <i>Babel II</i>, if you will), and dispatches the three guardians to aid him, because another, evil, descendent of Babel, Yomi. Yomi was summoned to the tower previously, but the computer judged him unworthy, and he tries to take over the world by infiltrating governments with robotic humans to exert his influence. He's also got an army of larger robots for general destruction.</font></div><div><font size="4"><br /></font></div><div><font size="4"> </font></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV4vm4utL5lU-VFc9Q9t60saeRgp-Q8nw7H5w9U0vBHdm9vAekDLgZd8IxDSs6ZmiSuXGjHOShMZJc_sURgTB8qh6wolhzJ6vkTVZoddeeaTDbD33A_o0W584k_vUiTNp8bSFV-g/s631/Yomi.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="474" data-original-width="631" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV4vm4utL5lU-VFc9Q9t60saeRgp-Q8nw7H5w9U0vBHdm9vAekDLgZd8IxDSs6ZmiSuXGjHOShMZJc_sURgTB8qh6wolhzJ6vkTVZoddeeaTDbD33A_o0W584k_vUiTNp8bSFV-g/s320/Yomi.png" width="320" /></a></div><font size="4"><br /></font></div><div><font size="4">Koichi's three guardians are: Rodem/Lodem, an agile, shapeshifting creature that is the smartest of the three and most commonly takes the form of a black panther; Ropross/Lopross, a giant robotic pterodactyl that can fire beams and rockets; and Poseidon, a giant silver humanoid robot that is primarily built for aquatic combat but can stomp around on land too. Poseidon carries a lot of visual similarity to Giant Robo, with a regal face and finger missiles, and a rounder barrel-shaped body reminiscent of Tetsujin 28. </font></div><div><font size="4"><br /></font></div><div><font size="4"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1l8iwRM66VRglLgw4NYqUvwW6YKl1ok9dqYCz0eCViFj4pmqSpGvv5HFaIiTj_T_9Zol6BVTVq-BMlQ0d-wrP6qEBirmnHGQWrWJd-pNapGgtC8086eZuP8WbBiiTMpBtIQWEcQ/s1200/Evolution+Toy+Poseidon.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1053" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1l8iwRM66VRglLgw4NYqUvwW6YKl1ok9dqYCz0eCViFj4pmqSpGvv5HFaIiTj_T_9Zol6BVTVq-BMlQ0d-wrP6qEBirmnHGQWrWJd-pNapGgtC8086eZuP8WbBiiTMpBtIQWEcQ/s320/Evolution+Toy+Poseidon.jpg" /></a></div> </font></div><div><font size="4"><br /></font></div><div><font size="4">The show ran for a successful 39 episodes. Yokoyama wrote a sequel in 1977 called <i>His Name Is 101</i>, in which Koichi is imprisoned in a secret CIA facility where his blood is used to infuse agents with psychic abilities (which is not the most far-fetched thing the CIA has done). Registered as Subject 101, Koichi escapes and has to fight various evil “Espers” (psychics) on his own, since his three companions are locked up in a vault by the CIA. This sequel was noted as a darker story, and didn't receive an animated adaptation. </font></div><div><br /></div><div><font size="4"><br /></font></div><div><font size="4"> <iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Dxyqn4oUKyI" width="560"></iframe> </font></div><div><font size="4"> </font></div><div><font size="4">While not a huge impact on the Mecha genre like Yokoyama's previous works, <i>Babel II</i> was still significantly influential. Hirohiki Araki of <i>JoJo's Bizarre Adventure</i> fame homaged Koichi's school uniform with Jōtarō Kūjō's outfit in the <i>Stardust Crusaders </i>(AKA "the one everybody knows about") story arc. Rugal Bernstein from the <i>King of Fighters</i> fighting game series, is accompanied by a black panther named Rodem in another direct homage. The only Western release of the show seems to have been <i>Babil Junior</i>, an Italian dub which The show received a Blu Ray video release in Japan in 2015.</font></div><div><br /></div><div> <iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yaPPKieDqi4" width="560"></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div><font size="4">Next time on Shin Super Robot Sunday: Tsuburaya Productions brings the heat. </font></div><div><br /></div><p lang="en" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<font color="#222222"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">Sources:</font></font></p>
<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<font color="#222222"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babel_II">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babel_II</a></font></font></p>
<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<font color="#222222"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><a href="https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/バビル2世">https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%90%E3%83%93%E3%83%AB2%E4%B8%96</a></font></font></p>
<p lang="en" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<font color="#222222"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><a href="https://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2015/09/18-1/babel-ii-tv-anime-receives-japanese-bluray-boxed-set">https://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2015/09/18-1/babel-ii-tv-anime-receives-japanese-bluray-boxed-set</a></font></font></p><div> </div></div></div></div>K. Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09142868567992464226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19016059.post-12233013647809883812020-05-17T16:45:00.000-05:002020-05-17T16:45:42.030-05:00Shin Super Robot Sunday: Mazinger Z<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikE6GWsAxN8CwyP8pLjF_OdFCjNM9rYWPB_SRwCl_T1dd3ezdqMfhyphenhyphenJWsu5jNxkvG4cizDiy1zMUPJVo07EXQ0gvLUsdshvO4dw8i9pEEwfFY-ZRaUTXEajK5OzEn5Eau3ZeiBEQ/s1600/Mazinger+Z+manga.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1300" data-original-width="1017" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikE6GWsAxN8CwyP8pLjF_OdFCjNM9rYWPB_SRwCl_T1dd3ezdqMfhyphenhyphenJWsu5jNxkvG4cizDiy1zMUPJVo07EXQ0gvLUsdshvO4dw8i9pEEwfFY-ZRaUTXEajK5OzEn5Eau3ZeiBEQ/s320/Mazinger+Z+manga.png" width="250" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Throughout the course of this survey, giant robots have appeared in two forms: an enemy to be defeated by the hero, and a powerful external sidekick to the hero. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Mazinger Z</i> would add an entirely new dynamic to the Mecha genre. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Go Nagai, the pen name of Kiyoshi Nagai, began working as a manga artist in the 1960s. In 1968, he was invited to be a contributor to the very first issue of <i>Weekly</i> <i>Shōnen Jump</i> (intended as a competitor to the already successful <i>Weekly Shōnen Magazine</i> and <i>Weekly Shōnen Sunday</i> magazines aimed at teenage boys). His contribution was <i>Harenchi Gakuen</i> (<i>Shameless School</i>) a high school sex comedy series that inadvertently created the <i>ecchi</i> genre of manga. Controversial at the time, it proved to be a big success for Nagai, because if there's anything teenage boys like, its sex jokes and boobs. Despite outraged PTO groups, the series would eventually spawn multiple live action and animated adaptations, and the success of the comic allowed Nagai to start up Dynamic Productions in 1969 to manage his business relations and contracts, and it evolved into a kind of studio, with Ken Ishikawa joining the same year as an assistant and becoming a major manga artist in his own right (more on him in a later entry).</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"></span> <iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vQF_dw2eivM" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">In June of 1972, Nagai's <i>Devilman </i>manga began, and in July an anime based on it began airing. A horror-action series that would become one of his flagship franchises, the anime was significantly toned down for television. The same year, on October second, <i>Mazinger Z</i> debuted in <i>Weekly Shōnen Jump</i> and a subsequent anime series from Toei Animation would begin airing on December third. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Ri1wYCBR35vM41o9OETFdGphN62H3L7uilOW86ukN3VOgpnqtU1b0nk2lbnMHWO-NPR8kFaZWym0SQNvsxwnYGKQHN1W1wwKq3ycxNhVtd1s5f2EOnL-a4RyYxoY9CsCnq95cQ/s1600/Soul+of+Chogokin+Mazinger+Z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="530" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Ri1wYCBR35vM41o9OETFdGphN62H3L7uilOW86ukN3VOgpnqtU1b0nk2lbnMHWO-NPR8kFaZWym0SQNvsxwnYGKQHN1W1wwKq3ycxNhVtd1s5f2EOnL-a4RyYxoY9CsCnq95cQ/s320/Soul+of+Chogokin+Mazinger+Z.jpg" width="212" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">A fan of <i>Astro Boy</i> and <i>Tetsujin 28-go</i>, Nagai added a significant twist to Mecha. The hero, a teenage boy instead of an adolescent or young adult, would pilot the robot from inside as a kind of alter ego. Giant heroes fighting monsters were not new. Giant robots with pilots were not new. Teenage heroes were not new. Combining all three of those element together <i>was</i> new. The pilot was now the superhero, and the giant robot was his costume.
The Super Robot had arrived.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"></span> <iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VqFxh8bhgUU" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The hero in question is one Kouji Kabuto, a motorcyle riding average teenager with a kid brother Shiro, living with his grandfather Juzo Kabuto. Juzo is a scientist, and has been secretly building a giant robot, Mazinger Z, to combat the coming threat of Dr. Hell, a former colleague who went mad after discovering the ancient ruins of the Mycenae Empire and their mechanical beasts.
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<span style="font-size: large;">Dr. Hell makes a power play to assassinate Dr. Kabuto, and succeeds, but not before Juzo gives Kouji control of the 18 meter (59 ft) tall robot, telling him he can have the power of a god or a devil with the robot.
Without any training, Kouji's first attempts to pilot the robot are disastrous, until he teams up with Professor Gennosuke Yumi, the leader of the Photon Power Laboratory and former colleague of Juzo, and Yumi's tempestous daughter, Sayaka.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"></span> <iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fuSgIzirYn4" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Sayaka has her own robot, first the Aphrodite A and later the Diana A, and Kouji is later joined by high school rival/biker/braggart/comic relief Boss, who gets his own robot later, the comical Boss Borot. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Kouji fights his way through Dr. Hell's army of mechanical beasts and the mad scientist's lieutenants like Baron Ashura (a man and a woman merged together through bizarre superscience into a literal half-man half-woman), Count Brocken (a Nazi officer with a monocle whose body carries around his disembodied head), and the anime exclusive Viscount Pygman (a muscular tribal warrior with the upper torso of a pygmy where the head would normally be). </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Dr. Hell's into some weird stuff.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"></span> <iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QnCay5lRocE" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The manga and anime would bake a number of story tropes directly into the genre. Kouji is a hot-blooded hero with more courage than sense, which gets him into, and subsequently, <i>out</i> of danger. Sayaka is equally hot-blooded and she and Kouji bicker constantly, mixing arguments where they slap each other with moments of genuine care for each other. Kouji calls out most of his attacks, with his most signature move, the rocket punch (itself drawn from <i>Giant Robo</i>) becoming a signature element in mecha stories moving forward. Mazinger Z gets an upgrade partway through the series (the Jet Scrander, which allows him to fly). Sayaka gets an entire new robot after the Aphrodite A is trashed too many times. Not to mention things like a super metal alloy that allows the robot to survive punishing combat, and the oppai missiles, which are literal boob missiles. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Mazinger Z</i> was a smash success. The manga would run in both <i>Weekly Shōnen Jump</i> and <i>Boken Oh</i> (another <i>shōnen</i> magazine) until 1947.The anime itself would air for a staggering 92 episodes, concluding in September of 1974. <i>Mazinger Z</i> toys brought a new level of merchandising synergy to an animated franchise, The anime industry, which was in a general decline at the time, would rev up in response to the success of Mazinger, and the Super Robot boom of the 70s would follow.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"></span> <iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/T29p606zCYo" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Mazinger Z would see significant overseas success, as well. The show was exceptionally popular in Spanish speaking regions, from Spain to Mexico. </span><span style="font-size: large;">So popular, that in the 1980s, a 40ft tall statue was built in <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/mazinger-z">Tarragona, Spain</a> at the entrance of a planned suburban development. The suburb never materialized, but the statue still stands. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"></span> <iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KK3g-d5BO1M" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">In the US, a cut down version would be aired in Hawaii with an English dub for about 30 episodes. Notably, it had an English version of the theme song sung by the original singer, Isao Sasaki.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"></span> <iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RwY6XQjQ60A" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The anime would see a second release in 1985 as the heavily edited Tranzor Z, by Three B. Productions Ltd. Only 65 of the 92 episodes were aired, and everyone's names were Americanized, which was typical for the era. Hence, Kouji Kabuto became Tommy Davis, and so on. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXwoLzVoNqXs71MiRn9gElUdE7uH5vQUM9iGKGHPmCj5FpFc1YLFbHP5DU_Nzt3QgWWcJ6-W9Pkjbg49A9j-madcp8N9KMV4-XJI9jft2Y1cEqv7xh_jn6kI70oihLPDScAy7QLg/s1600/CRABSTICK.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="624" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXwoLzVoNqXs71MiRn9gElUdE7uH5vQUM9iGKGHPmCj5FpFc1YLFbHP5DU_Nzt3QgWWcJ6-W9Pkjbg49A9j-madcp8N9KMV4-XJI9jft2Y1cEqv7xh_jn6kI70oihLPDScAy7QLg/s320/CRABSTICK.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Releases of the actual show have been hard to come by over the years, with an infamously bad Hong Kong subtitle lovingly referred to as the "Crabstick Sub" as one of the few ways to watch the show in the past. In 2013, Discotek Media announced a Western DVD release for the series (along with other Go Nagai-created series like <i>Devilman</i> and <i>Cutie Honey</i>).</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"></span> <iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ly-ilbfLnpE" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">As the functional equivalent of Superman for the Super Robot genre, Mazinger Z has become a staple of the <i>Super Robot Wars</i> series of crossover strategy games from Banpresto. <i>Super Robot Wars</i> deserves its own entry because of how complicated it can get, but in brief, its a long-running series of tactical strategy games (in the vein of <i>Fire Emblem</i> and <i>Final Fantasy Tactics</i>) that features multiple Mecha series and their plotlines colliding in a crossover storyline. Mazinger, in one form or another, has appeared in every installment of <i>Super Robot Wars</i>, not counting the <i>Original Generations</i> series (again, its complicated).</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"></span> <iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xpgGyz-gBn0" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Its not an exaggeration to say that <i>Mazinger Z</i> was a sea change for Mecha as a genre. Its success led to an immediate shift in giant robot storytelling and most subsequent Mecha series were an imiation or reaction to the kind of stories <i>Mazinger Z</i> was telling. This includes the birth of the Real Robot genre at the end of the 1970s. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp_45JHWOK7AfMW8wU9tQzr5BwnWmrknq7pN_uzgx4rrB30gpTMt15Ohyphenhyphenz2O-2B1xe6P9LhG9hiheU7eLAg6brTy3M28-LoGOgVoIWFOr2FS70V4tMpyk7Ws_ed_IbfRGe7Z3pEw/s1600/Mazinger+Z+Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1012" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp_45JHWOK7AfMW8wU9tQzr5BwnWmrknq7pN_uzgx4rrB30gpTMt15Ohyphenhyphenz2O-2B1xe6P9LhG9hiheU7eLAg6brTy3M28-LoGOgVoIWFOr2FS70V4tMpyk7Ws_ed_IbfRGe7Z3pEw/s320/Mazinger+Z+Poster.jpg" width="215" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Go Nagai hit a goldmine with a combination of pure heroism, cool robots, freaky monsters, and beautiful women.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"></span> <iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TYzzcOZQCMc" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Next time on Shin Super Robot Sunday: Mitsuteru Yokoyama returns. Again.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sources:</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://infogalactic.com/info/Mazinger_Z">https://infogalactic.com/info/Mazinger_Z</a>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazinger_Z">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazinger_Z</a>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%9E%E3%82%B8%E3%83%B3%E3%82%AC%E3%83%BCZ">https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%9E%E3%82%B8%E3%83%B3%E3%82%AC%E3%83%BCZ</a>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://mazinger.fandom.com/wiki/Mazinger_Z_(TV_Mecha)">https://mazinger.fandom.com/wiki/Mazinger_Z_(TV_Mecha)</a>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://infogalactic.com/info/Go_Nagai">https://infogalactic.com/info/Go_Nagai</a>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/mazinger-z">https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/mazinger-z</a>
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<span style="font-size: large;"></span>K. Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09142868567992464226noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19016059.post-563955863369001912020-05-10T19:27:00.000-05:002020-05-10T19:27:15.706-05:00Shin Super Robot Sunday: Iron King<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkB0_dyZVV-p5GR8Iz-570vAdKdefF-ls-tb2wALxY-rlNNgRke5xseWfE7g5a4hq5OjVT8aEVj57MH9ZvzQc1jYuqFmpGsmI0otclSKw9mfM566S5wPhk5yNYCTso5algTicKww/s1600/Iron+King+Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="711" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkB0_dyZVV-p5GR8Iz-570vAdKdefF-ls-tb2wALxY-rlNNgRke5xseWfE7g5a4hq5OjVT8aEVj57MH9ZvzQc1jYuqFmpGsmI0otclSKw9mfM566S5wPhk5yNYCTso5algTicKww/s320/Iron+King+Poster.jpg" width="237" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Last time I hinted that the next entry would be a Go Nagai story, which turned out to be wrong. I was looking at an outdated chart and for that, I apologize. There's one more <i>tokusatsu</i> show to cover before that. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Iron King</i> was produced by Nippon Gendai and Senkosha, and aired on Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) starting on October 8, 1972 and running for 26 episodes. A spiritual follow-up to the previous <i>Silver Kamen</i> show, both shows had former Tsuburaya Productions employees working on them. <i>Iron King's</i> design in particular resembles a bunch of <i>Ultraman</i> designs, particularly <i>Ultra Seven</i>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"></span> <iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2ftVx32nUzg" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The plot revolves around secret agent Gentaro Shizuka of the National Security Organization, who dresses like a singing cowboy (this makes some sense because pop singer Shoji Ishibashi played him) and his sidekick Goro Kirishima (who's dressed like a mountain climber) investigating terrorist threats. These threats take the form of the Shiranui Clan, descendants of a race of nomads that were exiled 2000 years ago by the Yamato Clan, the ancestors of the modern Japanese people. The Shiranui Clan are back and they want REVENGE. To that end, they deploy armored ninjas who can summon and control giant robots to overthrow the government.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFvjM3MWOI6P8H6sfq-63LVUgL8vAAfvYTI9v0VN96y3AU8sTDVfxAMla11i186YWBekkjY0PeTQBOZCjBcCTGZ3Hpl9ZYvtVyvuFv1Hm7bwvLnihJghzO2Vsisjoc9w4brcBUOg/s1600/Iron+King+grapple.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="759" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFvjM3MWOI6P8H6sfq-63LVUgL8vAAfvYTI9v0VN96y3AU8sTDVfxAMla11i186YWBekkjY0PeTQBOZCjBcCTGZ3Hpl9ZYvtVyvuFv1Hm7bwvLnihJghzO2Vsisjoc9w4brcBUOg/s320/Iron+King+grapple.jpg" width="303" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Naturally, to stop a giant villain you need a giant hero; in this case the titular Iron King, a 45 meter (148 ft) tall red and silver cyborg who can can brawl and produce energy blasts and beams. Surprisingly, its not the heroic Gentaro who transforms, but rather the goofy Goro, who activates the transformation by touching the medals on his hat and shouting “Iron Shock!” </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Iron King form is powered by water, and Goro can only maintain that form for about a minute before becoming dehydrated. Human form Goro is incredibly thirsty as a result. Gentaro isn't helpless against the giant enemies, and wields the Iron Belt, which can turn into a sword or a whip, and is capable of damaging giant enemies. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrsf_iIWs2LvpOroCDs4_o-bL07VUBi2vVFJ7amUw3Z8nT4YyoVxromkTaWDB5j0hvNT8lsh_er_HJypn0UZI0gysLRvbYHhUbmo82hmmTv2Srxy-w2uB7LVOl4R-5KoGd85Kk1A/s1600/Iron+King+vs+Bronze+Demon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="695" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrsf_iIWs2LvpOroCDs4_o-bL07VUBi2vVFJ7amUw3Z8nT4YyoVxromkTaWDB5j0hvNT8lsh_er_HJypn0UZI0gysLRvbYHhUbmo82hmmTv2Srxy-w2uB7LVOl4R-5KoGd85Kk1A/s320/Iron+King+vs+Bronze+Demon.jpg" width="217" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">After the Shiranui Clan are defeated, a new threat arises in the Phantom Militia, who use dinosaur-themed giant robots, and subsequently the alien Titanians, who can assume giant insect forms. </span><br />
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<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bqlX3k-8okU" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The most obviously robotic enemies were the Shiranui Clan's, with names like Vacumira (who has a powerful vacuum hand), Jairoges (who has a cutting hand), Silver Rider (who's got wheels instead of legs), and Double Satan (who can make duplicates of itself). </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXC8mmVE8HpG58X9c3RpCjub6Inhgli-Rn4ifeS3r_UU_ZsTwxJmaHz14DtIvdc1hDRcwvA5YDItPJpCB_WlOicq7eWn1kc7xrsnOy0My2aN8992EuuVh88uHa2sQPFuPZRl6r9g/s1600/Iron+King+vs+Double+Satan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="527" data-original-width="714" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXC8mmVE8HpG58X9c3RpCjub6Inhgli-Rn4ifeS3r_UU_ZsTwxJmaHz14DtIvdc1hDRcwvA5YDItPJpCB_WlOicq7eWn1kc7xrsnOy0My2aN8992EuuVh88uHa2sQPFuPZRl6r9g/s320/Iron+King+vs+Double+Satan.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Yes. DOUBLE SATAN. </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">While the show was one of many, many tokusatsu series from the 1970s, it managed to see two video releases in the west. First in 2007, from BCI Eclipse, and a 2010 release from Mill Creek Entertainment.</span><br />
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<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OrUoDV0-6u4" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Next time on Shin Super Robot Sunday: Crabsticks.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sources</span></span></span></div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_King">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_King</a>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Iron_King_(character)">https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Iron_King_(character)</a>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%A2%E3%82%A4%E3%82%A2%E3%83%B3%E3%82%AD%E3%83%B3%E3%82%B0">https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%A2%E3%82%A4%E3%82%A2%E3%83%B3%E3%82%AD%E3%83%B3%E3%82%B0</a>
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<span style="font-size: large;"></span>K. Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09142868567992464226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19016059.post-60619215005960109632020-04-19T12:56:00.000-05:002020-04-19T12:56:21.364-05:00Shin Super Robot Sunday: Astroganger<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2zP6ufJbK3xXdG3W81ZgaR-JyEJk_ZF19jHBVARK__LmCN5025VvP5-8OjJbJer2bOe3iYYSEJZHNSoJOxtPrFKC5gIlrAc7LsMv_zPKnWjDV9L4nbqY2FyGhzlYdZ_GFWE9Uvg/s1600/Astroganger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="501" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2zP6ufJbK3xXdG3W81ZgaR-JyEJk_ZF19jHBVARK__LmCN5025VvP5-8OjJbJer2bOe3iYYSEJZHNSoJOxtPrFKC5gIlrAc7LsMv_zPKnWjDV9L4nbqY2FyGhzlYdZ_GFWE9Uvg/s320/Astroganger.jpg" width="255" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The first full-color animated giant robot anime debuted on October 4, 1972: <i>Astroganger</i>, from an up and coming studio founded by former employees of Toei Animation and Osamu Tezuka's Mushi Production called Knack Productions.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"></span> <iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2m1m-YWgQ84" width="560"></iframe> </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Astrongager</i> is notable for not being based on an existing manga (unlike <i>Testujin 28-go</i>), and follows the adventures of Kantaro Hoshi, a young boy who comes into possession of the eponymous giant sentient robot made of “living metal”: Astroganger (or Ganga for short). It turns out his deceased mother, Maya, was an alien scientist who fled her planet's destruction by the evil alien race known as the Blasters. She and her husband, Dr. Hoshi, built the robot to protect against the Blasters should they ever make Earth their next target. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Naturally, the Blasters make Earth their target, and Kantaro learns the secret of his heritage and teams up with the robot to defend his planet.</span><br />
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<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TkzsXoMlVFE" width="560"></iframe> </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Astroganger himself is a 40 meter (131 ft) tall blue and red robot with a flesh-colored, expressive face. With no onboard weapons, he fights spaceships and enemy robots in hand-to-hand combat and can fly (similar to Tetsujin 28). Unlike Tetsujin, Ganga can talk, think, and feel pain. When the robot is summoned, Kantaro merges with the badge/gem on Ganga's chest, enhancing the robot with human reflexes and intelligence. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The show would see international releases in Korea, Italy (as <i>Astroganga</i>), Spain (as <i>Astro Gungar</i>), and in the Middle East (as <i>Jongar</i>), where it seems have been quite popular.</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6Z0zIb1I6Yc" width="560"></iframe></div>
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(This is a fan tribute remake of the show's opening) </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The show ran for a modest 26 episodes, but was immediately overshadowed by the show we'll look at next time, and largely became forgotten, aside from a few curiosities.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">In 2017, an animated .gif of Ganga running toward an enemy turned into meme. Also in 2017, a deluxe (read: expensive) Soul of Chogokin style figure was released in Medicom's Carbotix line.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMmpY9ILeqBOvd4f5Pf6hrKH8S-GWtpfJSixoohWhvKaPrHtCmiuMlKo600EPnX40xFhv-dxTF09biD9G5YzXgaKuJG1HBaYOLgVpA7YViS2HhxTRctGDrRmh9DwVJmFR1W4jGrw/s1600/Carbotix+Astroganger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1515" data-original-width="1473" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMmpY9ILeqBOvd4f5Pf6hrKH8S-GWtpfJSixoohWhvKaPrHtCmiuMlKo600EPnX40xFhv-dxTF09biD9G5YzXgaKuJG1HBaYOLgVpA7YViS2HhxTRctGDrRmh9DwVJmFR1W4jGrw/s320/Carbotix+Astroganger.jpg" width="311" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Weird memes and expensive collectibles aside, the most surprising <i>Astroganger</i> news is the most recent. On April 10 of 2020 (nine days before this post was written in an amazing bit of coincidental timing), Discotek Media announced that <i>Astroganger</i> would see a release of the entire series on a Standard Definition Blu Ray with English subtitles on June 30, 2020. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigHtTD7smmfThRkB5ZkNRlaE_5duCagaBY0vvqatqXPZo_Ew7DGEzamAdHTUdC1VJXHEPiKfwG39f3h5fh-prfMK2iYnL4Wo1eb6nN3DjKbHjFwbRFfgWTB_OLqkhdVhE-QelMlw/s1600/Astroganger+BluRay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="708" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigHtTD7smmfThRkB5ZkNRlaE_5duCagaBY0vvqatqXPZo_Ew7DGEzamAdHTUdC1VJXHEPiKfwG39f3h5fh-prfMK2iYnL4Wo1eb6nN3DjKbHjFwbRFfgWTB_OLqkhdVhE-QelMlw/s320/Astroganger+BluRay.jpg" width="271" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Knack Productions would go on to a long history in anime, working with many major figures in the industry, including other super robot shows. However the studio earned a reputation for lower quality work, especially with <i>Chargeman Ken!</i>, a non-super robot show about alien invasions being fended off by a child hero with notoriously low budget animation.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"></span><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UzIjs9S0J-s" width="560"></iframe> </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Next time on Shin Super Robot Sunday: The Golden Age of Super Robots begins with a man named Go.</span><br />
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Sources<br />
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astroganger">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astroganger</a>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%A2%E3%82%B9%E3%83%88%E3%83%AD%E3%82%AC%E3%83%B3%E3%82%AC%E3%83%BC">https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%A2%E3%82%B9%E3%83%88%E3%83%AD%E3%82%AC%E3%83%B3%E3%82%AC%E3%83%BC</a>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knack_Productions">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knack_Productions</a>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/running-ganger-%E6%AD%A2%E3%81%BE%E3%82%89%E3%81%AA%E3%81%84">https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/running-ganger-%E6%AD%A2%E3%81%BE%E3%82%89%E3%81%AA%E3%81%84</a>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/Discotekmedia/posts/3352060024823068">https://www.facebook.com/Discotekmedia/posts/3352060024823068</a>
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<br />K. Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09142868567992464226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19016059.post-15407890932694395772020-04-12T15:53:00.000-05:002020-04-12T15:53:59.136-05:00Shin Super Robot Sunday: Ultraman Ace<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBiPxu7bEtHHPYAu7Pr-t9UZ-DPTPNSpJK4kiVD4iftohUVZXgAOyB4o0FcurvZwNmHkTJuzF2JYfP-82YhjGOMbdX-1mcOGYer_y9xL2Zj-tNL0po-ISG-DD8MI1SWVn1zLyPtA/s1600/Ultraman+Ace+poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="701" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBiPxu7bEtHHPYAu7Pr-t9UZ-DPTPNSpJK4kiVD4iftohUVZXgAOyB4o0FcurvZwNmHkTJuzF2JYfP-82YhjGOMbdX-1mcOGYer_y9xL2Zj-tNL0po-ISG-DD8MI1SWVn1zLyPtA/s320/Ultraman+Ace+poster.jpg" width="228" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">1972 would prove to be a watershed year for Mecha as a genre, as the Giant Hero tokusatsu subgenre exploded with competitors to Tsuburaya Productions while Toei Animation would usher in a sea change for the genre at the end of the year. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">But first, on April 7, the next installment in Tsuburaya's <i>Ultraman</i> franchise would launch: <i>Ultraman Ace</i>.</span><br />
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<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8i0RsZzogsk" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Once again, giant monsters threaten the Earth, however this time, they are being orchestrated by an extradimensional entity known as Yapool. Blurring the line between collective and individual, Yapool is a cunning and intelligent shapeshifter, with more than a little demonic aspects to the character. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6L9Nn0YtOjALE-i8FWBoNMMpjdFcB3mPRLoNWDMsX7kfUFryq7gJU8XWeu45uMjS0onLdyhv_s7Bibx0iu_c_Uiz-LLGw7sq0zVyY5UXuwG4ij6lZKJVTgPX8KGpuPwMvxCylew/s1600/Yapool.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="550" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6L9Nn0YtOjALE-i8FWBoNMMpjdFcB3mPRLoNWDMsX7kfUFryq7gJU8XWeu45uMjS0onLdyhv_s7Bibx0iu_c_Uiz-LLGw7sq0zVyY5UXuwG4ij6lZKJVTgPX8KGpuPwMvxCylew/s320/Yapool.png" width="275" /></a></div>
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Yapool, conquerer of dimensions</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">In an initial attack, two civilians, Seiji Hokuto and Yuko Minami, are killed while saving a bunch of orphans, and are given a new lease on life by the newly arrived Ultraman Ace. Ace merges with both of them and grants them a pair of Ultra Rings, which can summon the hero in times of need. Together, the two humans join the Terrible-monster Attacking Crew (TAC) to defend the Earth from terrible monster attacks. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGUPLhvH2mnUS09AIBxuIQiOuLLPX-CsJ1MSr2HkBG2eHCIcnYYdzBKsy1IAJbQGvQp87l-2bBJaYIMOwNuXmK8t1AzcffqrrpkodYBk1-hEI1tmc-agdZK91O_2L9dQ0vUv_1VA/s1600/Ace.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="906" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGUPLhvH2mnUS09AIBxuIQiOuLLPX-CsJ1MSr2HkBG2eHCIcnYYdzBKsy1IAJbQGvQp87l-2bBJaYIMOwNuXmK8t1AzcffqrrpkodYBk1-hEI1tmc-agdZK91O_2L9dQ0vUv_1VA/s320/Ace.jpg" width="226" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The show marked a number of changes to the series, most obviously a pair of humans being able to form an Ultraman, including the first female human host of an Ultra. She would be written out of the show later, leaving Seiji to be sole host, but a deuteroprotagonist was a bold move. Yapool would be the first of many overarching series villains for the franchise, and would himself/itself return in future installments. Also notable is the appearance of the other Ultras. Whereas previously, one or two would show up occasionally as guest characters for an episode here or there, the previous four Ultras; Ultraman, Ultraseven, Jack, and Zoffy (who appeared in the last episode of the original <i>Ultraman</i> and hadn't had his own show), made much more frequent appearances as supporting characters. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">It also introduced the Father of Ultra, who outranks all of the previous Ultras, has a pair of sweet horns and sideburns, and is also a giant Santa Claus.</span><br />
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<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TmXXkCsHbEw" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">As for robots, one of the franchise's most iconic moments comes during episodes 13 and 14. Yapool uses a fake Ultra Sign to lure the Ultra Brothers to a desolate planet called Golgotha in an anti-universe while a monster is sent to Earth. Ace is sent back to Earth to deal with the threat, but the other four Ultras are captured and crucified by Yapool. Yapool then deploys a red and gold robot called “Ace Killer.” </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Ace Killer was built specifically to kill Ultras, and drains the powers from the captured Ultra Brothers, destroys a robotic replica of Ace, and is ultimately destroyed by the real Ace, who has been powered up by the remaining energy of his captured brothers.</span><br />
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<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UM6OiPBOtlI" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Ultraman has always reflected strong Christian themes thanks to series creator Eji Tsubaraya being a devout Catholic, and the crucifiction of the Ultra Brothers goes all-in on the Christian imagery and symbolism, and would remain deeply baked into the franchise. <i>Ultraman Ace</i> would be the last Ultra series overseen by Eiji's son Hajime Tsuburaya, who would die of a cerebral hemorrhage in February of 1973. The company would continue onward, with <i>Ultraman</i> firmly entrenched as its flagship series. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6nOLEyk83UjJCVxmGK2M8rWH1cN4BUx_1KW0PWqin97j_J6B0WiMa82JhPVjecare9o1Hi6l8hGSqVZd88lTCMiTlKtdF6ZadODuD-zyT9gvoiBOBnq_0Q0dZ9PHjfIAVkHGVQg/s1600/Brothers-0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="392" data-original-width="600" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6nOLEyk83UjJCVxmGK2M8rWH1cN4BUx_1KW0PWqin97j_J6B0WiMa82JhPVjecare9o1Hi6l8hGSqVZd88lTCMiTlKtdF6ZadODuD-zyT9gvoiBOBnq_0Q0dZ9PHjfIAVkHGVQg/s320/Brothers-0.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Next time on Shin Super Robot Sunday: The first full-color super robot anime.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sources</span></span></span></span></div>
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<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultraman_Ace">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultraman_Ace</a></span></span></span></div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Ultraman_Ace_(series)">https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Ultraman_Ace_(series)</a></span></span></span></div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Ultraman_Ace_(character)#1-piece%20Type">https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Ultraman_Ace_(character)#1-piece%20Type</a></span></span></span></div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Ace_Killer">https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Ace_Killer</a>
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</span>K. Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09142868567992464226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19016059.post-14799186624842212602020-03-29T21:05:00.001-05:002020-03-29T21:05:43.427-05:00Shin Super Robot Sunday: Mirrorman<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3NJ9e12wk4MBdqq8k7pE7aUW7miN7mZ3rRvfqXm3kK8WK2IQ-2_Oqw38kz-f68mx1qHRuDcEW5WK0DSHaMUthkJSofJ96RfLWcm9rMyM75UupwLzOCIUF8JDfnabQSdd9_nmP_A/s1600/Mirrorman+poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="671" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3NJ9e12wk4MBdqq8k7pE7aUW7miN7mZ3rRvfqXm3kK8WK2IQ-2_Oqw38kz-f68mx1qHRuDcEW5WK0DSHaMUthkJSofJ96RfLWcm9rMyM75UupwLzOCIUF8JDfnabQSdd9_nmP_A/s320/Mirrorman+poster.jpg" width="238" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">By 1971, tokusatsu was firmly entrenched as a genre. The consistent success of <i>Ultraman </i>led to competitors and imitators. Shotaro Ishinomori's <i>Kamen Rider</i>, which debuted in April of 1971, was about a masked, motorcycle riding crusader of justice with a grasshopper themed costume, and would spawn its own massive franchise as a result. However, Kamen Rider is regular sized, and it will be a while before one of those series gets the spotlight on Shin Super Robot Sunday. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAsqjoMFk9pqz90NRgibPdH6cc7YJEXJpO7JESstR3XqbkY_Gz5xaCCflS-4T742YwO85ieuvkNoha04ik-16am0DBqLga-DihAWHM-UX9ak5lyZxxYEWGHWIqUcbCo8ayddpgmw/s1600/Mirrorman+Manga.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="869" data-original-width="549" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAsqjoMFk9pqz90NRgibPdH6cc7YJEXJpO7JESstR3XqbkY_Gz5xaCCflS-4T742YwO85ieuvkNoha04ik-16am0DBqLga-DihAWHM-UX9ak5lyZxxYEWGHWIqUcbCo8ayddpgmw/s320/Mirrorman+Manga.jpg" width="202" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">In December of 1971, Tsuburaya Productions would debut a spinoff of <i>Ultraman</i>, which was based off a manga from 1969. More serious in tone than (most) of the Ultra series, <i>Mirrorman</i>, told the story of Kyôtarô Kagami, a photojournalist who learns he's the half-human son of a fallen hero from the 2nd Dimension: Mirrorman. Set in the 1980s, this new Mirrorman must grapple with his destiny as Earth's only hope against a hostile alien race known as The Invaders.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"></span> <iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hSt56AeAiSI" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Mirrorman </i>takes place in its own self-contained universe, and wasn't part of the Ultra franchise <i>per se</i>. Armed with powers similar to Ultraman's, but with the ability to reflect attacks, travel through mirrors, and other light and mirror themed abilities. He doesn't fly, but he can run at the speed of light.
Fighting alongside the Science Guard, the first half of the series focuses more on investigations and serious storytelling. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhViGCSQ2bFp9POG2FY0fCQP4mV-3wnlXfRZd8kiZ4sneWxrFH4qAPZShgiWtOIT_DBtClne1vtZI9uvlmvNO93EJxsG8QqL75Aoaqe2eYIH6EJCnlFUeo8ZdOqyDbQ1UQRQ2PsIQ/s1600/Mirrorman_in_city.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="902" data-original-width="606" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhViGCSQ2bFp9POG2FY0fCQP4mV-3wnlXfRZd8kiZ4sneWxrFH4qAPZShgiWtOIT_DBtClne1vtZI9uvlmvNO93EJxsG8QqL75Aoaqe2eYIH6EJCnlFUeo8ZdOqyDbQ1UQRQ2PsIQ/s320/Mirrorman_in_city.png" width="214" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Much like <i>Mighty Jack</i>, the ratings began slipping, partly due to a boom in other superhero shows like <i>Silver Mask,</i> which was a direct competitor for viewers. The course of the show was changed to a more traditional tokusatsu show with fewer recurring monsters, stronger themes of good vs. evil, and Mirrorman himself got an equivalent of an Ultraman's color timer; meaning he had an operational time of three minutes before a bomb implanted in his superhero body would explode. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTIA-BfXcNGhrwAnZxq_NrhaxNWdurAByM-qzNN4WJ6c3V2pzV8a0pt5TPoS1voazEQMMWL3n1Hp6qGo7X3NGVphvd2ntW5mJ9GJuDuCfY3JWlzSB8RO9erqPfuKSaonr9mldGKQ/s1600/Roboto_kaiju_noah.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="595" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTIA-BfXcNGhrwAnZxq_NrhaxNWdurAByM-qzNN4WJ6c3V2pzV8a0pt5TPoS1voazEQMMWL3n1Hp6qGo7X3NGVphvd2ntW5mJ9GJuDuCfY3JWlzSB8RO9erqPfuKSaonr9mldGKQ/s320/Roboto_kaiju_noah.jpg" width="198" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Alongside an array of giant monsters that challenged Mirrorman, there was also the robot kaiju, Noah. A female robot disguised as a human to infiltrate and brainwash a marching band into being agents of the Invaders. Naturally, she can transform into a giant robotic beast form standing 45 meters (146 ft) tall that can shoot missiles and energy beams.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"></span> <iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ewyESCc6bMM" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Mirrorman </i>would run for a very respectable total of 51 episodes, but it didn't catch on like <i>Ultraman</i>, and the character wouldn't be revisited until 2005, with a three episode direct-to-video miniseries called <i>Mirrorman REFLEX</i> (which was later edited into a movie). This series had a brand new Mirrorman with a design closer to the manga's and a darker tone similar to the first half of the show's. The series taps into Japanese mythology, so no giant robots, but it was worth mentioning because he looks damn cool. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2i9T-3u6FB9RdQ2sWezJxsK9ZDg85XMROVxq-Qb9FeCDrMqzNpaxXbNcWhtljI6-q6eGvR4IX48cx9uh0iB-ksMNVaChwY5Hxn1TzPHrMERsKraQrMW3y2rXezrJ8gcIfShXm2Q/s1600/Mirrorman+REFLEX.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2i9T-3u6FB9RdQ2sWezJxsK9ZDg85XMROVxq-Qb9FeCDrMqzNpaxXbNcWhtljI6-q6eGvR4IX48cx9uh0iB-ksMNVaChwY5Hxn1TzPHrMERsKraQrMW3y2rXezrJ8gcIfShXm2Q/s320/Mirrorman+REFLEX.png" width="213" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Mirrorman would get revisited yet again, but we'll get to that when we get to that. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimeJota1zRET3mMvITawmMZL1JcTZTB2JrVIxADF2975X7RM_HNj3lKIbPaWNjMLpYoDEQBkV82Jg7NvT-tkt1Z7e6gyH7khacQUyTzhjG6gNAgyDb55Wb-H8rdyeLrvkTPTK6Tw/s1600/Noah-0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimeJota1zRET3mMvITawmMZL1JcTZTB2JrVIxADF2975X7RM_HNj3lKIbPaWNjMLpYoDEQBkV82Jg7NvT-tkt1Z7e6gyH7khacQUyTzhjG6gNAgyDb55Wb-H8rdyeLrvkTPTK6Tw/s320/Noah-0.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Next time on Shin Super Robot Sunday: Tsuburaya plays an Ace.
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Sources:<br />
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirrorman">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirrorman</a>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Mirrorman_(character)">https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Mirrorman_(character)</a>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%9F%E3%83%A9%E3%83%BC%E3%83%9E%E3%83%B3">https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%9F%E3%83%A9%E3%83%BC%E3%83%9E%E3%83%B3</a>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Noah">https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Noah</a>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Mirrorman_REFLEX_(film)">https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Mirrorman_REFLEX_(film)</a>
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<br />K. Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09142868567992464226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19016059.post-91914908144796750022020-03-22T18:59:00.000-05:002020-03-22T18:59:36.495-05:00Shin Super Robot Sunday: Return of Ultraman<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdzHNenDGcWifGHA1sa6e8N7V2W4fYR70_m-3z9JGNNG6RLuE_jd9r48DNGuZLVR_Q-7k-m5OrdiC7TikWS8ohaNejGX4DqlWLitk_NqvCjaEtCZmlBo8NXY0L4f33yEJnmFgiKA/s1600/return_of_ultraman_poster_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1122" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdzHNenDGcWifGHA1sa6e8N7V2W4fYR70_m-3z9JGNNG6RLuE_jd9r48DNGuZLVR_Q-7k-m5OrdiC7TikWS8ohaNejGX4DqlWLitk_NqvCjaEtCZmlBo8NXY0L4f33yEJnmFgiKA/s320/return_of_ultraman_poster_01.jpg" width="224" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Eiji Tsuburaya may have passed away in 1970, but the production company he founded continued on under the leadership of his son, Hajime Tsuburaya. <i>Ultra Seven</i> was intended to be the last of the Ultra series, but the young franchise's popularity ensured that it would be revisited, and on April 2, 1971, that took the form of <i>Return of Ultraman</i> (<i>Kaettekita Urutoraman</i>).</span><br />
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<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/B5csBKnKDGE" width="560"></iframe>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Originally planned to focus around the return of the original 1966 Ultraman, it was decided early in the production for the main character to be a New Ultraman, just one with a very similarly designed costume. He would eventually get the official name “Ultraman Jack” in 1984 for licensing and merchandising reasons. He's not referred to as Jack in the series itself, but that's what I'll be using for simplicity's sake. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">It begins simply enough: giant monsters emerge and start fighting each other, and young race car driver Hideki Goh sacrifices his life saving a kid and a dog from falling wreckage. Touched by his heroics, Ultraman Jack bonds with the dead man, reviving him in a manner similar to the first Ultraman. Together, they join the Monster Attack Team (MAT) dedicated to protecting the Earth from increasing kaiju attacks. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi43Y0CBP0X2GhdQbQ3qE-aNggKfUo3mUIggXoAEInXcY2ZgtM8W-GPcmkCV-wG_F7RfAvoEniPO-n6b8NgLvXABV9-hbeWxYzdbw8FWKEWHkTx_btDl7dvvI-SEUKiSN9n4Ntn-g/s1600/Jack.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="901" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi43Y0CBP0X2GhdQbQ3qE-aNggKfUo3mUIggXoAEInXcY2ZgtM8W-GPcmkCV-wG_F7RfAvoEniPO-n6b8NgLvXABV9-hbeWxYzdbw8FWKEWHkTx_btDl7dvvI-SEUKiSN9n4Ntn-g/s320/Jack.png" width="225" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Able to transform into Jack by sheer force of will instead of a talismanic device like the previous Ultras. Armed with a similarly large set of powers and abilities, this new Ultraman would also be the first one to interact with Ultras from the previous series, officially unifying the franchise. Ultraseven would even give Jack his signature piece of equipment, the Ultra Bracelet, which could produce a variety of specialized weapons such as shields, spears, whips, bombs, boomerangs, and a cross (remember that Eiji Tsuburaya was a devout Catholic).</span><br />
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<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YaZ4DvOJsV4" style="text-align: center;" width="560"></iframe><span style="text-align: center;"> </span><br />
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<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">While not as robot heavy as Ultra Seven, this show did add one new giant robot to the franchise: Builgamo. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVsCOEOQe45g0CfGR8V6NnSCcB8B6CqO5RNvn1Jcr1mAY-X_F_vWBzqxNK5QHn_M9eGJb4FruViwnCs7cK3DKT6sHz79S6x0rFJVX4rgFZe_FdSJJ3Bm-j7JXo6hSssyhx-SD2YA/s1600/Builgamo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="447" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVsCOEOQe45g0CfGR8V6NnSCcB8B6CqO5RNvn1Jcr1mAY-X_F_vWBzqxNK5QHn_M9eGJb4FruViwnCs7cK3DKT6sHz79S6x0rFJVX4rgFZe_FdSJJ3Bm-j7JXo6hSssyhx-SD2YA/s320/Builgamo.jpg" width="223" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">A 55 meter (180 ft) combining, piloted robot, it was used by Alien Baltan Jr., the son of a Baltan alien who was killed by the original Ultraman. Builgamo was disguised as a building before beginning its assault, and was able to fight Jack until the MAT team members inside the robot were able to escape. The robot could fly, shoot destructive beams from its antennae, but by far its most useful feature was its incredibly tough armor.</span></span></div>
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<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8o2F1Gah2Jw" style="text-align: center;" width="560"></iframe><span style="text-align: center;"> </span></div>
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<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Next time on Shin Super Robot Sunday: Tsuburaya holds a mirror up to Ultraman.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sources</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Return_of_Ultraman">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Return_of_Ultraman</a>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Return_of_Ultraman">https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Return_of_Ultraman</a>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Ultraman_Jack">https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Ultraman_Jack</a>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Hideki_Goh">https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Hideki_Goh</a>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Builgamo">https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Builgamo</a>
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K. Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09142868567992464226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19016059.post-59223608384957346812020-03-15T17:13:00.001-05:002020-03-15T17:13:51.667-05:00Shin Super Robot Sunday: The Flying Phantom Ship<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVG0lkVUkTMrwtNstuNKLG5FZlF9lztkG724iXiy-TDYEkeXk9Ra55j2d2dWEOjLaGYFWka7LAIRxD9f_Tr-plSXirfbJxH27IwNge36SvI_HnMMR9HN-_aeix6do1dab_aPZFzQ/s1600/the-flying-ghost-ship-2302.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="308" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVG0lkVUkTMrwtNstuNKLG5FZlF9lztkG724iXiy-TDYEkeXk9Ra55j2d2dWEOjLaGYFWka7LAIRxD9f_Tr-plSXirfbJxH27IwNge36SvI_HnMMR9HN-_aeix6do1dab_aPZFzQ/s320/the-flying-ghost-ship-2302.jpg" width="219" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">By 1969, Japan had advanced quite far in terms of animation. Especially when a studio would put real effort behind a project, such as when Toei Animation released <i>Sora Tobu Yuureisen</i> in July of that year. Known in English as <i>The Flying Phantom Ship</i> or <i>The Flying Ghost Ship</i>, the film is a 60 minute full-color adventure into suspense, conspiracies, and super science with a few important creators involved. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8lCSYLOioRUoQS0RnNBMzlH7polWIxovFC4AoDyw7aXdO2EHAAZzc3IsDRLP_Qd8rxbGGQHspvSBu_XgBqFT4rlVzkRVk6akBd8vd4c6uDT6GTY-p2TtcHkAqGPvVJoP4BY8aIw/s1600/flying+phantom+ship+manga.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="383" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8lCSYLOioRUoQS0RnNBMzlH7polWIxovFC4AoDyw7aXdO2EHAAZzc3IsDRLP_Qd8rxbGGQHspvSBu_XgBqFT4rlVzkRVk6akBd8vd4c6uDT6GTY-p2TtcHkAqGPvVJoP4BY8aIw/s320/flying+phantom+ship+manga.jpg" width="204" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Like most anime of the era, it was an adaptation of a manga. In this case, the 1960 manga of the same name by Shotaro Ishinomori. Ishinomori began his career in the 1950s and was an assistant of <a href="https://kestifer.blogspot.com/2020/01/shin-super-robot-sunday-ambassador-magma.html">Osamu Tezuka's</a> for a time before establishing a name for himself in the 60s and 70s with <i>Cyborg 009</i>, <i>Kikaider</i>, <i>Skull Man</i> (which was a one-shot comic that got heavily reworked into <i>Kamen Rider</i>), and the original <i>Himitsu Sentai Gorenger</i>, the first of the long-running Super Sentai series.
The director was Hiroshi Ikeda, who was an anime director in the 60s and 70s, but also had a long career as a show writer as well. It also featured the work of a little-known key animator named Hayao Miyazaki.</span><br />
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<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Jvzl9ft7Jeo" width="560"></iframe> </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The plot itself revolves around Hayato, an adventurous young boy with a loving family who, along with his father, rescues his dad's boss and wife from a car crash and take them to a spooky mansion to avoid the rain. There, they encounter a mysterious skeletal sea captain and his flying dutchman, who's looking for revenge against the people who betrayed him and killed his family. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEVflkEYpqcvwS3r6QLIAaOrJL-2D8aGCk-bD97ist19Fq1vOHKVCfAlly5pM228lhKfOfGfyWK6Zjd-gzjs_3jwt-nI1xPkj2IDLea8OveSsUAEEs3SZdzSx4H4iSxSZ6NAco4Q/s1600/captain.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEVflkEYpqcvwS3r6QLIAaOrJL-2D8aGCk-bD97ist19Fq1vOHKVCfAlly5pM228lhKfOfGfyWK6Zjd-gzjs_3jwt-nI1xPkj2IDLea8OveSsUAEEs3SZdzSx4H4iSxSZ6NAco4Q/s320/captain.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">After being rescued by the authorities, a giant robot attacks the city proclaiming itself to be a golem, the messenger of the Ghost Ship, and destroys large chunks of the city. Hayato's parents are killed in the destruction, but not before his father tells him they're not his real parents. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">After a mourning period, Hayato wants revenge, and accidentally uncovers corporate and government conspiracies, underwater bases, a plot to take over the world, giant talking robot crabs, the truth behind the mysterious sea captain and his flying Ghost Ship, and the sinister truth behind soda. Its all very Deus Ex, only wrapped up within the trappings of 60s super science fiction. As a curious footnote, the movie was one of the first anime to be dubbed in Russian and shown in the Soviet Union. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrl5LSBN-tbq6G-cOnu-5Wa2JzbqYAxekYR5yCfVabzJ-lc0C3el3nWhQD0_IA2Y2JNuDQRvMt58ibvD9wGes3pTqqJadLMcU0RDk5plEW0R_WwYswrJ-CXjdQIMX3NcY6LgFihw/s1600/golem.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="348" data-original-width="600" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrl5LSBN-tbq6G-cOnu-5Wa2JzbqYAxekYR5yCfVabzJ-lc0C3el3nWhQD0_IA2Y2JNuDQRvMt58ibvD9wGes3pTqqJadLMcU0RDk5plEW0R_WwYswrJ-CXjdQIMX3NcY6LgFihw/s320/golem.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>The Flying Phantom Ship</i> is a mix of horror, mad science, secret societies, and a ghost ship that gets into an aerial battle with a giant robot. The robot itself is merely a step on the ever escalating weirdness of the plot, but it shows the capability to fly, smash buildings, fire missiles, and broadcast threats. Its far, far, far from the weirdest thing in the movie (that would be a giant crab trash talking a guy before dissolving him with soda). </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Next time on Shin Super Robot Sunday: Ultraman Returns </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Phantom_Ship">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Phantom_Ship</a>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shotaro_Ishinomori">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shotaro_Ishinomori</a>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065021/">https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065021/</a>
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<br />K. Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09142868567992464226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19016059.post-26405260241781717262020-03-01T22:05:00.000-05:002020-03-01T22:13:54.332-05:00Shin Super Robot Sunday: Mighty Jack<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0KttrBAKBh8O-pfsaCrn-kMP1aSC0ePTS33yFWz34ge7317sClES0xVxcJmcPORi6uyxpuSQBXOY9G7U00ZDsCNuh6YVefOSfGT3w_2673ZeX8zwdeVoxDLIycF_9hB8V0c9sjQ/s1600/Mighty+Jack+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="515" data-original-width="515" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0KttrBAKBh8O-pfsaCrn-kMP1aSC0ePTS33yFWz34ge7317sClES0xVxcJmcPORi6uyxpuSQBXOY9G7U00ZDsCNuh6YVefOSfGT3w_2673ZeX8zwdeVoxDLIycF_9hB8V0c9sjQ/s320/Mighty+Jack+cover.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Tsuburaya Productions' next series would be a significant departure from the <i>Ultraman </i>format. Eschewing the giant monster format, <i>Mighty Jack</i> would be about an elite team of superspies called Mighty Jack and their giant flying battleship/submarine Mighty/Mighty-Gō and assorted smaller specialist ships. Mighty Jack does battle with the evil secret organization Q, which is bent on world domination. Eiji Tsuburaya himself was apparently quite proud of the show because it focused on the human characters instead of weekly giant monsters. Aimed at an older audience than the <i>Ultraman</i> series and drawing heavy inspiration from <i>Thunderbirds</i>, <i>Mighty Jack</i> began airing in April of 1968.</span><br />
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<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Xj91OVy5SAo" width="560"></iframe> </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Mighty itself is a 235 meter (771 ft) long and 41 meter (135 ft) tall behemoth that can fly at Mach 2.8, powered by a mix of nuclear and solar plasma engines and a bunch of conventional and super science weapons. It does not, however, transform into a giant robot.
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<span style="font-size: large;">Originally planned as a 26 episode series, poor ratings led to its cancellation after 13 of the 45 minute long episodes aired.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqrhLR7kMJfbX8A3HFskFCeuoYK81ODiMLE_owE3fLsWJH6Pek4qLAsGEHw-7UmUiY_b062IuAzBZOiA0cA0Q9exUDnTxEoBrecZIc4sw72Jufr6Ny9ljSHrid9o3Wo7x802MQvQ/s1600/o0800060013194378346.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqrhLR7kMJfbX8A3HFskFCeuoYK81ODiMLE_owE3fLsWJH6Pek4qLAsGEHw-7UmUiY_b062IuAzBZOiA0cA0Q9exUDnTxEoBrecZIc4sw72Jufr6Ny9ljSHrid9o3Wo7x802MQvQ/s320/o0800060013194378346.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">That wasn't the end of the show, though. Staff and cast were changed, and the show's format was radically changed. Mighty Jack was still an organization that fought against Q, but the target audience was now younger kids, and this time, there would be giant monsters and a generally lighter tone. The show would be reborn as <i>Fight! Mighty Jack</i> and picked up immediately after <i>Mighty Jack</i> ended. Episodes were shortened to 24 minutes, but this revamped version of the show successfully ran for 26 episodes, wrapping up in December of 1968. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqL7wCWBRNvGjo7RTzw7AsmYiP-iG9IQYaHCvDN55TUYFf13ssVI8DreppGAdIhg6POilUC-GigjHNNwSo2U-CyfF6LMTi70JZpEpOWrVj9kFtglms7swpfnOpIkx4pxbnu9QkJQ/s1600/Big_Q_Attacks1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="478" data-original-width="636" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqL7wCWBRNvGjo7RTzw7AsmYiP-iG9IQYaHCvDN55TUYFf13ssVI8DreppGAdIhg6POilUC-GigjHNNwSo2U-CyfF6LMTi70JZpEpOWrVj9kFtglms7swpfnOpIkx4pxbnu9QkJQ/s320/Big_Q_Attacks1.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">What makes this entire show relevant to this project is one of the monsters from <i>Fight! Mighty Jack</i> was the Big Q (or Big Queen) from episode 22. A 55 meter (180 ft) tall silver robot with super strength and a big pair of floodlights on its head. Built by the widows of Q agents who were killed by Mighty Jack (I'm working from a translation of the Japanese Wiki page, so some of the details might be off), the plan was to stomp around the city and plant a white flag on the top of Tokyo Tower to signal Mighty Jack to surrender. It was eventually blown up in battle. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs7JW2nqEXO_t_CMMF2yPJZ1Y2kHQ9OwSUvgeniIqPQ_s9JG0hm9s5qA-XWIHy7wqijsV9_o9hjDhyphenhyphenN4IavqH5kTclvdCUP2KTLgr1KzlcQiGDuz219o4vozOw4ZjEpiBJUz1O4Q/s1600/Big+Q.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="473" data-original-width="634" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs7JW2nqEXO_t_CMMF2yPJZ1Y2kHQ9OwSUvgeniIqPQ_s9JG0hm9s5qA-XWIHy7wqijsV9_o9hjDhyphenhyphenN4IavqH5kTclvdCUP2KTLgr1KzlcQiGDuz219o4vozOw4ZjEpiBJUz1O4Q/s320/Big+Q.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> American audiences will be more familiar with the 1986 adaptation by Sandy Frank Productions. Frank, a veteran sales executive who had worked for Paramount and NBC, was also responsible for bringing <i>Science Ninja Team Gatchaman</i> to the US as <i>Battle of the Planets</i> in 1977. His company has multiple licensing deals for localizing Japanese movies in the United States, most notably the <i>Gamera</i> series. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPaxO79vOycpHfrXLewJQhTuNHzASV8nQIUzlZ9nD21g1Bu9RTOqzqRO_wAnAv2_sfOGSsitEaoV2jPLHdrQLt9plf6E83LMTeW8fDzmw0WyaYAjkK6lkzm4m0dPZd6rZ_is7R1Q/s1600/MST3K+Mighty+Jack.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="500" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPaxO79vOycpHfrXLewJQhTuNHzASV8nQIUzlZ9nD21g1Bu9RTOqzqRO_wAnAv2_sfOGSsitEaoV2jPLHdrQLt9plf6E83LMTeW8fDzmw0WyaYAjkK6lkzm4m0dPZd6rZ_is7R1Q/s320/MST3K+Mighty+Jack.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The <i>Mighty Jack</i> “movie” was one of the company's lesser efforts. It took the first and sixth episodes and slapped them together with little context, poor pacing, and bad dubbing. This would be prime fodder for <i>Mystery Science Theater 3000</i>, and the show was riffed twice, first in 1989 on KTMA (during “Season 0” and next in 1991 during Season Three of the show proper. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Mighty Jack</i> would be one of studio founder Eiji Tsuburaya's final projects, and the last one covered by the scope of this project. He would pass away in 1970 at the age of 68. </span></div>
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<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/syDiAnfZMhI" width="560"></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> Next time on Shin Super Robot Sunday: A Flying Dutchman and her ghost captain.</span><span style="font-size: large;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> Sources:</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mighty_Jack">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mighty_Jack</a>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Mighty_Jack_(series)">https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Mighty_Jack_(series)</a>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%9E%E3%82%A4%E3%83%86%E3%82%A3%E3%82%B8%E3%83%A3%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF">https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%9E%E3%82%A4%E3%83%86%E3%82%A3%E3%82%B8%E3%83%A3%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF</a>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Big_Q">https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Big_Q</a>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Frank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Frank</a>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://mst3k.fandom.com/wiki/MST3K_314_-_Mighty_Jack">https://mst3k.fandom.com/wiki/MST3K_314_-_Mighty_Jack</a>
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<span style="font-size: large;"></span>K. Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09142868567992464226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19016059.post-85066892926717613052020-02-23T16:19:00.001-05:002020-02-23T16:19:22.057-05:00Shin Super Robot Sunday: Ultra Seven<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA3GmDVGkvx136d6C6i1PHc-gWtGG8am8dMX-FBjnY5A1jFv8OltDWB1rYd0Vp4_hihECrRo7x1lAOxGb3YkT0TcHA8sXKi0q3ajC7hYgq-G7PnW6eQzddTKEeA5bO76VQsjvi6g/s1600/ultraseven_rocket.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1009" data-original-width="1356" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA3GmDVGkvx136d6C6i1PHc-gWtGG8am8dMX-FBjnY5A1jFv8OltDWB1rYd0Vp4_hihECrRo7x1lAOxGb3YkT0TcHA8sXKi0q3ajC7hYgq-G7PnW6eQzddTKEeA5bO76VQsjvi6g/s320/ultraseven_rocket.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Eiji
Tsuburaya has come up a few times already for his work with Toho
Studios as a special effects director with a long and storied career
that began in the 1920s. Arguably most famous for his work on the
original Godzilla films and his pioneering work in “Suitmation”
(the technique of putting an actor in a monster costume and
destroying a miniature set), he was a mainstay at Toho during the
company's rise in the 50s and 60s. In 1963, he founded his own visual
effects studio, Tsuburaya Productions. While still continuing his
work with Toho, the new studio would release <i>Ultra Q</i><span style="font-style: normal;">,
a black-and-white 28 episode long horror series in the vein of </span><i>The
Twilight Zone</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> (with a
significant presence of monster costumes), which led directly to
</span><i>Ultraman</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, released
that same year.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><i>Ultraman
</i><span style="font-style: normal;">ran for 39 episodes (40 when
factoring in a pilot episode) and was in color. Wildly successful,
the show featured an extraterrestrial giant merging with a human to
save his life, who could then transform into the giant superhero
Ultraman to defend Earth from giant monster threats. </span></span>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">In
October of 1967, the sequel series to </span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Ultraman</span></i></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
would air: </span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Ultra
Seven</span></i></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.
Originally intended as a standalone show, it was folded into the
Ultra series in pre-production and featured suit and monster designs
by Tohl/Tohru Narita, who worked with Tsuburaya during the late 60s. </span></span></span></span></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLpQHccWxGYbZSo6HpOCIddtZga_0vfKPQyYW4w2VXkFLjdytU9OLw1rxo9-BsYCgPNRDqpaev4e6_OoMBWAc_573ODPs-7RFO3a3i8zdv0xFxQE4CQAIuQsaOGSe1xgePd9qTjg/s1600/Ultraseven.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="904" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLpQHccWxGYbZSo6HpOCIddtZga_0vfKPQyYW4w2VXkFLjdytU9OLw1rxo9-BsYCgPNRDqpaev4e6_OoMBWAc_573ODPs-7RFO3a3i8zdv0xFxQE4CQAIuQsaOGSe1xgePd9qTjg/s320/Ultraseven.jpg" width="226" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The
plot is similar, but different from the original </span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><i><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Ultraman</span></span></i></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.
Instead of merging with a human host, this show's Ultraman came to
Earth from the Land of Light in Nebula M78 (an actual nebula and part
of the Orion constellation) and rescued a guy, then took his form and
calling himself “Dan Moroboshi” joined the Ultra Garrison, an
organization dedicated to defending the planet from alien invaders as
its sixth major member. Using an eyepiece called the Ultra Eye, he
can transform into his true form, a 40 meter (131 ft) tall red and
silver giant superhero dubbed Ultraseven because he was the
unofficial “seventh member” of the Ultra Garrison. Equipped with
a staggering array of special attacks and abilities typical for a
tokusatsu superhero, the show was an even bigger success than
</span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><i><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Ultraman</span></span></i></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.
It ran for 49 episodes and featured even better ratings than the
previous series. Ultraseven is one of the most popular characters of
the entire Ultraman metaseries, and holds a high rank as one of the
Ultra Brothers. Dan Moroboshi's actor, Kohji Moritsugu is still
active and frequently reprised the role in more recent </span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><i><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Ultra</span></span></i></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
shows. </span></span></span></span></span></span>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Cool
guy status notwithstanding, Ultraseven is like all the other Ultras:
a giant dude, not a robot. Unlike the original Ultraman, </span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><i><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Ultra
Seven</span></span></i></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
introduced giant robots into the mix. </span></span></span></span></span></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFBxd3UMnepQ56bBRntR7GIkQcj-i5QDAr6fq7cAeCnKmoaNiM4UfMn8Kb7nYdm5i2diW9LrnX4MxvR95ZVBBIcmyjg-U94b6grt5r8kX8HAytvXFRoGLjSTeqZQYjXdv7xPsdrg/s1600/Narse.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="550" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFBxd3UMnepQ56bBRntR7GIkQcj-i5QDAr6fq7cAeCnKmoaNiM4UfMn8Kb7nYdm5i2diW9LrnX4MxvR95ZVBBIcmyjg-U94b6grt5r8kX8HAytvXFRoGLjSTeqZQYjXdv7xPsdrg/s320/Narse.png" width="275" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Nurse,
or Narse, is a giant robotic space dragon that serves Alien Wild, a
collector of human souls. The dragon can transform in a flying saucer
form, but was ultimately ripped to pieces by Seven.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"></span></span></span></span></span></span><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hG5NDmYCo5w" width="560"></iframe></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIMfYMxLJRNIue-3dkeAwrdAoQfVJN_7sp5c1knNVtKNnXe5pWcHAVWswL54hpp5qnkbTeyhegalv6hs7N2C2reeuOTeivfdmX5DmvqfCyc-pnPg117HKqI6VYFl7wAzSQbkHuLA/s1600/Crazygon.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="606" data-original-width="435" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIMfYMxLJRNIue-3dkeAwrdAoQfVJN_7sp5c1knNVtKNnXe5pWcHAVWswL54hpp5qnkbTeyhegalv6hs7N2C2reeuOTeivfdmX5DmvqfCyc-pnPg117HKqI6VYFl7wAzSQbkHuLA/s320/Crazygon.png" width="229" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Crazygon
is an asymmetrical scavenger robot built by the Alien Banda race to
collect machinery. In practical terms, the robot rampages around a
city and puts cars into its torso with a giant claw arm. </span></span></span></span></span></span>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibD4_4Ejq8dZFNaYAg5CYspEtxLq8lwT8OotIIp8I9mcuPz2uZUj-EstbiMzT76CQghyNFnUpsJofwQQqmzNhHCIaLRknl9NpQFm2EMC47KbFVqC1P49mStAt-fl1OJBajF9YISw/s1600/Robot+Ultra+Seven.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="550" data-original-width="330" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibD4_4Ejq8dZFNaYAg5CYspEtxLq8lwT8OotIIp8I9mcuPz2uZUj-EstbiMzT76CQghyNFnUpsJofwQQqmzNhHCIaLRknl9NpQFm2EMC47KbFVqC1P49mStAt-fl1OJBajF9YISw/s320/Robot+Ultra+Seven.jpg" width="192" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">A
race of near-humans called the Alien Salome built an imitation robot
Ultraseven in their scheme to conquer Earth. Eventually the real
Seven would escape captivity and defeat the robot with the help of
Agira, a capsule monster ally. </span></span></span></span></span></span>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">What's
a capsule monster? In the show, its a series of three artificial
monsters that Seven can summon from a capsule to help him fight. Two
of them, Agira and Miclas, are more bestial in form, while Windom is
a more obviously robotic creation. Windom was reprogrammed by the
Alien Kanan race into fighting Seven before being rescued, and then
later fell in another battle. The entire concept of monsters that
could be miniaturized in a portable storage device and then deployed
to fight on behalf of the owner would be one of the major influences
on Pokemon years later. </span></span></span></span></span></span>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX4mbhg_dVqxcwi0w0sBA8SIE2iOsXKpuw-fx6LPK0xtrJdhk7RbFPxlzBxQefiZtye13yy0VCydXjSQkPb7yhUOcLa8kRlaE8ckuOcpsk5FbSgZY32iKLLM8WyXQVOce4YCfv-A/s1600/205273_411984238844876_1405300240_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="480" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX4mbhg_dVqxcwi0w0sBA8SIE2iOsXKpuw-fx6LPK0xtrJdhk7RbFPxlzBxQefiZtye13yy0VCydXjSQkPb7yhUOcLa8kRlaE8ckuOcpsk5FbSgZY32iKLLM8WyXQVOce4YCfv-A/s320/205273_411984238844876_1405300240_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Lastly,
and probably the most iconic of </span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><i><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Ultra
Seven's</span></span></i></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
giant robots is King Joe. Deployed by the warlike Alien Pedan race in
an attempt to conquer Earth, King Joe was deployed as four piloted
ships that could combine into a 55 meter (180 ft) tall mecha that
trounced Seven in their first fight until it was knocked over and
unable to get back up, like a turtle, and transformed into flight
mode to get away, like a different turtle, until eventually being
defeated by Seven in a harbor. The robot's odd name was in reference
to the lead writer of </span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><i><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Ultraman</span></span></i></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
and </span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><i><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Ultra
Seven</span></span></i></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
Tetsuo Kinjo.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"></span></span></span></span></span></span><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Squ7420iJFY" width="560"></iframe></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="en"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Originally
planned as the final Ultra series, Seven's success guaranteed that
another show would get made, but it would be several years before
another Ultraman series would air.</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="en"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Next
time on Shin Super Robot Sunday: He tried to kill me with a forklift!</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sources</span></span></span></div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eiji_Tsuburaya">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eiji_Tsuburaya</a>
</span></span></span>
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Ultra_Q">https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Ultra_Q</a>
</span></span></span>
</div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Ultraman_(series)">https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Ultraman_(series)</a>
</span></span></span>
</div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Tohl_Narita">https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Tohl_Narita</a>
</span></span></span>
</div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Ultraseven_(series)">https://ultra.fandom.com/wiki/Ultraseven_(series)</a>
</span></span></span>
</div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra_Seven">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra_Seven</a>
</span></span></span>
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_78">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_78</a>
</span></span></span>
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<br />K. Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09142868567992464226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19016059.post-38106547222330997582020-02-16T20:11:00.002-05:002020-02-16T20:11:24.582-05:00Shin Super Robot Sunday: King Kong Escapes<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZl4dmkjCL9olK4nf6l0Jw2ZZl-PLimE5cV5v6hljBu5xaxwT6qn3x7og2YZck_SM8zJ29EuuKhM7taJfiPWqcVtdD85a7ICjQH7ziBzCA-VlP9BddEz8S7ac42ZOsxKSyda-i_g/s1600/king_kong_escapes_poster_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1075" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZl4dmkjCL9olK4nf6l0Jw2ZZl-PLimE5cV5v6hljBu5xaxwT6qn3x7og2YZck_SM8zJ29EuuKhM7taJfiPWqcVtdD85a7ICjQH7ziBzCA-VlP9BddEz8S7ac42ZOsxKSyda-i_g/s320/king_kong_escapes_poster_01.jpg" width="214" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The
road to 1967's </span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">King
Kong Escapes</span></i></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
is a curious and twisting one. The original 1933 </span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">King
Kong</span></i></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
is a certified masterpiece of special effects and adventure. In the
early 1960s, King Kong's original animator, Willis O'Brien, outlined
a </span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Kong</span></i></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
sequel where the giant ape fights a Frankenstein's Monster in San
Francisco. A film producer by the name of John Beck got a
scriptwriter, George Worthing Yates, turn it into a script, then
shopped it around. Toho Studios bought the script, then had Shinichi
Sekizawa (a Toho regular who would write several </span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">kaiju</span></i></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
films for the studio) re-write the script, and Frankenstein was
replaced with Godzilla. Original </span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">King
Kong </span></i></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">co-director
Merian C. Cooper evidently tried to sue to stop the production (and
felt insulted that Kong would be portrayed by a man in a suit instead
of as a stop motion puppet), but the movie went ahead anyway, and
1962's </span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">King
Kong vs. God</span></i></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">zilla</span></i></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
(from director </span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: #252525;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Ishirō
Honda</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
and special effects supervisor </span></span><span style="color: #252525;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Eiji
Tsuburaya) would become the third entry in the Godzilla franchise,
the first in color, and a smashing success that revitalized Godzilla
into an entertainment powerhouse.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #252525;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #252525;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #252525;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">This
begat a 25 episode 1966 television series co-produced by Videocraft
(the original name of Rankin/Bass Productions. Yes, the </span></span></span></span><span style="color: #252525;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Rudolph
the Red-Nosed Reindeer</span></i></span></span><span style="color: #252525;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
people) and Toei Animation called </span></span></span></span><span style="color: #252525;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">The
King Kong Show, </span></i></span></span><span style="color: #252525;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">where
a friendly Kong teams up with kid hero Bobby Bond, and they have
adventures where they thwart the machinations of the evil Dr. Who (no
relation). </span></span></span></span>
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<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jSqYbqgyffM" width="560"></iframe>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #252525;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">What
matters here is that one of Dr. Who's attempts to defeat King Kong
takes the form of Mechani-Kong, a </span></span></span></span><span style="color: #252525;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">piloted</span></i></span></span><span style="color: #252525;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
giant robot. </span></span></span></span>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #252525;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">This
then leads to the main event of this post: </span></span></span></span><span style="color: #252525;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">King
Kong Escapes</span></i></span></span><span style="color: #252525;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.
Released in Japan in 1967 and 1968 in the U.S., it was co-produced by
Toho and Rankin-Bass, directed by Ishirō Honda with Tsuburaya as
special effects supervisor again. </span></span></span></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkKpnN_6fgkp8PzuFUtKTVTEnWpUO3pP8Gmbs_aEafqatee13kVuIwzMuGaNJC22T0dUsDNZC0Gaq_kc5TJKLK2pw-NDDpIcRaYiHlaD7nZI4Blc0ojqyHoqKrZ9wQ2y_kXvcYhg/s1600/king-kong-1967.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1428" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkKpnN_6fgkp8PzuFUtKTVTEnWpUO3pP8Gmbs_aEafqatee13kVuIwzMuGaNJC22T0dUsDNZC0Gaq_kc5TJKLK2pw-NDDpIcRaYiHlaD7nZI4Blc0ojqyHoqKrZ9wQ2y_kXvcYhg/s320/king-kong-1967.jpg" width="224" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #252525;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The
movie completely eschews the boy adventurer plotline in favor of a
more traditional mad scientist </span></span></span></span><span style="color: #252525;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">kaiju</span></i></span></span><span style="color: #252525;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> storyline. Dr. Who is the mad scientist in question, who is digging up the highly
radioactive Element X at the North Pole and is using the gigantic
Mechani-Kong to do the work, but the radiation is too much and the
robot Kong breaks down. With his financier Madame Piranha breathing
down his neck to get results, Who manages to get to Mondo Island
where the real King Kong is chilling out and fighting dinosaurs, and
hypnotizes Kong to bring him back to the North Pole to dig up Element
X.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2fXpGFIOFIY" width="560"></iframe>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #252525;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Through
the intervention of a joint US-Japan task force, the plot is
uncovered and King Kong escapes and swims to Japan, where he and the
repaired Mechani-Kong 2.0 have a final showdown at the Tokyo Tower
while a beautiful young woman's life hangs in the balance because
that's what you do with King Kong stories. </span></span></span></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeOwCUl7Kkl6dIaSjsvaa3HXKlOarT5GStP9mnayd-_m3lqzeTmWvdCYE3snUrE4XXN33xsqNphnkUPyB_XAd6qjNY0DW4T6U4JiNF9Y0fRS1Dv9f8tll-bdw4Y9sjIklsz8IaeA/s1600/Mechani-Kong.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1346" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeOwCUl7Kkl6dIaSjsvaa3HXKlOarT5GStP9mnayd-_m3lqzeTmWvdCYE3snUrE4XXN33xsqNphnkUPyB_XAd6qjNY0DW4T6U4JiNF9Y0fRS1Dv9f8tll-bdw4Y9sjIklsz8IaeA/s320/Mechani-Kong.png" width="285" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #252525;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The
movie version of Mechani-Kong is a great design. Measuring 20 meters
(65.62 ft) tall and a solid gunmetal gray instead of brown, this
version possesses great strength, a belt of large grenades intended
for digging but also useful for destroying other stuff, and bright
lights in the head that can either blind or hypnotize the real Kong.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #252525;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_HJ7nHX5IaFCmAZuJDh7XFvg4-VD6G5utwI6J784FPA8MnSKSdeHuTlo1DE47IISsavhopGJ3RIWIsn1_VgS0y5pwZM9PvQTWZmjvVFtu4XLatx1hsyi1BKwSl4kNE8B2c_KKBg/s1600/MechaGodzilla_skewers_Godzilla_through_the_chest.JPG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1447" data-original-width="1600" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_HJ7nHX5IaFCmAZuJDh7XFvg4-VD6G5utwI6J784FPA8MnSKSdeHuTlo1DE47IISsavhopGJ3RIWIsn1_VgS0y5pwZM9PvQTWZmjvVFtu4XLatx1hsyi1BKwSl4kNE8B2c_KKBg/s320/MechaGodzilla_skewers_Godzilla_through_the_chest.JPG.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #252525;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">This
would be the final King Kong movie project from Toho Studios, but not for a
lack of trying. The studio tried to get a remake of either of their
King Kong movies off the ground in the 90s, but without the likeness
rights it went nowhere. Mechani-Kong would, however, make an
appearance in the 1992 manga series <i>Godzilla, King of the Monsters</i>
from Kodansya Comics. There, Mechani-Kong teams up with MechaGodzilla
in a two on one fight against Godzilla, but both are defeated. </span></span>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #252525;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Next
time on Shin Super Robot Sunday: Seven, Seven, Seven, Seven. </span></span>
</div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sources</span></span></span></div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://infogalactic.com/info/King_Kong_vs._Godzilla">https://infogalactic.com/info/King_Kong_vs._Godzilla</a>
</span></span></span>
</div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://infogalactic.com/info/The_King_Kong_Show">https://infogalactic.com/info/The_King_Kong_Show</a>
</span></span></span>
</div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://infogalactic.com/info/King_Kong_Escapes">https://infogalactic.com/info/King_Kong_Escapes</a>
</span></span></span>
</div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061868/">https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061868/</a>
</span></span></span>
</div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://wikizilla.org/wiki/Mechani-Kong">https://wikizilla.org/wiki/Mechani-Kong</a>
</span></span></span>
</div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://godzilla.fandom.com/wiki/Mechani-Kong">https://godzilla.fandom.com/wiki/Mechani-Kong</a>
</span></span></span>
</div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://godzilla.fandom.com/wiki/King_Kong_Escapes_(1967_film)">https://godzilla.fandom.com/wiki/King_Kong_Escapes_(1967_film)</a>
</span></span></span>
</div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://godzilla.fandom.com/wiki/Godzilla,_King_of_the_Monsters_(Kodansya_Manga_Series)">https://godzilla.fandom.com/wiki/Godzilla,_King_of_the_Monsters_(Kodansya_Manga_Series)</a>
</span></span></span>
</div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<br />K. Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09142868567992464226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19016059.post-15626183727404186942020-02-09T18:45:00.001-05:002020-02-09T18:45:47.117-05:00Shin Super Robot Sunday: Giant Robo<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXnWKgKd7xXwzEkN0YtAQSEmErJJJmHl_NHn9iRaRNTuz9Ya4GUmew6cT6Rjr7OhY9PDcr2DXZ_aPFXQPc246bjQB-_h7jly3Bku9QBAX85mzTs7YccvmAaa7Ri2UcI1svL4Nyng/s1600/1f425153bb7648bd6f5a0b7fb1388130.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="665" data-original-width="450" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXnWKgKd7xXwzEkN0YtAQSEmErJJJmHl_NHn9iRaRNTuz9Ya4GUmew6cT6Rjr7OhY9PDcr2DXZ_aPFXQPc246bjQB-_h7jly3Bku9QBAX85mzTs7YccvmAaa7Ri2UcI1svL4Nyng/s320/1f425153bb7648bd6f5a0b7fb1388130.jpg" width="216" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Mitsuteru
Yokoyama had fantastic success with </span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Tetsujin
28-go</span></i></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
and with the manga and show wrapping up in 1966, a brand new manga
series was produced in 1967: </span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Giant
Robo</span></i></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.
Manga artist Satoru Ozawa (of </span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Blue
Submarine No. 6</span></i></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
fame) was a major collaborator on the first parts of the Giant Robo
manga.</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">The
story follows young Daisaku Kusama as he gets caught up in the
schemes of the villainous organization Big Fire, where he
subsequently escapes with a robot designated GR-1, more simply known
as Giant Robo. Taking the fight to Big Fire, Daisaku and GR-1 battle
other robots like the aquatic GR-2 and airborne GR-3. Notably, the
GR-2 robot has an attack where it can fire its fists at an enemy, a
milestone in the genre, and the Rocket Punch will become a big deal
later on. </span></span>
</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhSI-rGTkR0SqouqtM-9c5f4g0joEy7kmkAIc8cPLVpjxdkTJYl3_kFHOExzj31fXQJwsgU8a7xqXfOqBJJKSF9_QOf9lbmqX76TdPS0_nn1jUNj3e3NGeAxeTpJGen9QBMstMyQ/s1600/1941333_1436966576546505_235426639_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1290" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhSI-rGTkR0SqouqtM-9c5f4g0joEy7kmkAIc8cPLVpjxdkTJYl3_kFHOExzj31fXQJwsgU8a7xqXfOqBJJKSF9_QOf9lbmqX76TdPS0_nn1jUNj3e3NGeAxeTpJGen9QBMstMyQ/s320/1941333_1436966576546505_235426639_o.jpg" width="223" /></a></div>
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<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Giant
Robo's design is evolved from the portly Tetsujin-28, featuring a
fitter, more “chiseled” physique, and an Egyptian style head. The
Japanese wiki mentions that <i>Ultraman</i> and <i>Daimajin</i>, both
from 1966, were major influences on the design. In addition to flight
and immense strength, Giant Robo was equipped with more ranged
weapons than Tetsujin, including finger guns. Like Tetsujin, Giant
Robo requires someone to control it from the outside. To avoid
Tetsujin's problem of anyone in possession of the controller being
able to operate the robot, Giant Robo is keyed to Daisaku's voice and
will only obey him.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje73m_NZOvF-Q2gDcXplPCp7JIroFjq7bmL3TsWB-H_56ZJWzJqKNe92ZKEzqVJ2gQymuq0gGEZUA296oGHm6BqEHQRYkpyZPVJ4QglWRwzNYxP9LwZ2MMbhbf9TQZA0OSO7m8nA/s1600/Ultraman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="699" data-original-width="700" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje73m_NZOvF-Q2gDcXplPCp7JIroFjq7bmL3TsWB-H_56ZJWzJqKNe92ZKEzqVJ2gQymuq0gGEZUA296oGHm6BqEHQRYkpyZPVJ4QglWRwzNYxP9LwZ2MMbhbf9TQZA0OSO7m8nA/s320/Ultraman.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Now's
a good time to briefly touch on a series that is extremely important
to the development of super robots, especially live-action versions:
</span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Ultraman</span></i></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.
The brainchild of </span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Godzilla</span></i></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
creator Eiji Tsuburaya, Ultraman took the concept of monsters running
around wrecking miniature sets and applied superheroes to them. The
result was 1966's Ultraman, a pseudo-spinoff of weird tales/sci-fi
creature feature Ultra Q. Ultraman was a benevolent alien who came to
protect the Earth from giant monsters (much like 50's heroes Super
Giant and Prince of Space) and was assisted by a support team of
heroic humans. Unlike mecha, Ultraman is not a robot but a dude who
can grow to giant size to take the monsters on head-on, and the
trappings of support teams and alien invasions would play a huge part
in the evolution of Mecha. Ultraman also has a staggering number of
entries in its series and a deep, deep lore that is outside the scope
of this project, but it will touch on it occasionally, and soon. </span></span></span></span></span>
</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia1AgpOkpgIGnSJdhv8xH0dT3sGCGjTcL_keTOY5OwApJerNkSaHIguNcuC-I40_npvnCAyjvWGT2TXJ0aClACeJk2rMO-7nuUNa2r8c7hJngfg2yG13fsYq0K-JRvUW8qVPh9OA/s1600/wrath_of_daimajin_poster_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1122" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia1AgpOkpgIGnSJdhv8xH0dT3sGCGjTcL_keTOY5OwApJerNkSaHIguNcuC-I40_npvnCAyjvWGT2TXJ0aClACeJk2rMO-7nuUNa2r8c7hJngfg2yG13fsYq0K-JRvUW8qVPh9OA/s320/wrath_of_daimajin_poster_01.jpg" width="224" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">As
for Daimajin, that was a trilogy of period films produced in 1966 by
Daiei (the </span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Gamera</span></i></span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="en"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
studio) where a giant stone statue would come to life and wreak havoc
on evil warlords and villages. </span></span></span></span></span>
</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
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<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">The
manga series was successful enough to warrant a television
adaptation, only instead of anime, it would be live-action, and it
would shift away from the spy thriller aspects into a spy thriller
with alien invasion elements.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aJOLgE3E9hg" width="560"></iframe></div>
</div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Daisaku's
plot is mostly the same, only now he joins a law enforcement group
called Unicorn in order to fight Big Fire, which is now the brain
child of the alien Emperor Guillotine, who naturally intends to
conquer Earth. The show ran for 26 episodes from October 1967 to
April 1968. Like <i>Tetsujin-28 Go</i>, <i>Giant Robo</i> would also
get dubbed and broadcast in America, as <i>Johnny Sokko and his
Flying Robot</i>. After an initial broadcast in 1969, the show would
be in American syndication into the 1980s. In 1970, a bunch of
episodes of Johnny Sokko would be cut together into a TV movie
called <i>Voyage into Space</i>. For the US release, Big Fire would
be renamed to “The Gargoyle Gang,” along with all the other
characters, but the plot is basically the same.</span></span></div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Whereas
the ending of the manga is open-ended for further adventures, the
show features a pretty definitive conclusion. Emperor Guillotine
attempts to use his atomic body to destroy the Earth in final gambit,
and Giant Robo defies Daisaku's commands in order to sacrifice
himself to fly the emperor into space, where they collide with a
meteor and explode.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"></span></span><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yayZr8fQJPY" width="560"></iframe></span></div>
</div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Its
only 1967, and the genre already has its first downer ending to a
series. It won't be the last. </span></span>
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
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<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Next
time on Shin Super Robot Sunday: The Eighth Wonder of the World. </span></span>
</div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sources:</span></span></span></div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B8%E3%83%A3%E3%82%A4%E3%82%A2%E3%83%B3%E3%83%88%E3%83%AD%E3%83%9C">https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B8%E3%83%A3%E3%82%A4%E3%82%A2%E3%83%B3%E3%83%88%E3%83%AD%E3%83%9C</a>
</span></span></span>
</div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_Robo_(TV_series)">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_Robo_(TV_series)</a>
</span></span></span>
</div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0170962/">https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0170962/</a>
</span></span></span>
</div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<br />K. Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09142868567992464226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19016059.post-67660101031476663062020-02-02T19:27:00.000-05:002020-02-02T19:27:09.462-05:00Shin Super Robot Sunday: Frankenstein Jr. and the Impossibles<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-dHXnFrvIULW4yjZ9tCMdbc6wBhNxAssEIvwi6WzxNdpxc86_eyirWcAGJwxmoQXBjryH_jRqfpOLcxk4MRgBCxTgptNmCoc8nNGiX7bVoZHF4-RTwYpnzQcuOUM3lwUnjQmMwA/s1600/frankenstein+jr+poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="711" data-original-width="1264" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-dHXnFrvIULW4yjZ9tCMdbc6wBhNxAssEIvwi6WzxNdpxc86_eyirWcAGJwxmoQXBjryH_jRqfpOLcxk4MRgBCxTgptNmCoc8nNGiX7bVoZHF4-RTwYpnzQcuOUM3lwUnjQmMwA/s320/frankenstein+jr+poster.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Superheroes
were big in 1966. The decade had started out with DC Comics
revitalizing their superhero stable with new versions of the <i>Flash</i>,
<i>Green Lantern</i> and more. Meanwhile, the publisher formerly
known at Timely and Atlas comics renamed itself to Marvel and
cemented its own legacy with <i>The Fantastic Four</i>. <i>Batman</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
got a revitalizing shot in the arm with a live-action TV series. </span><i>The
Fantastic Four </i><span style="font-style: normal;">and </span><i>Spider-Man</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
would get cartoon shows in 1967, but between then was Hanna-Barbera. </span></span>
</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Founded
by </span><i>Tom & Jerry</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
creators William Hanna and Joseph Barbera in 1957 as H-B Enterprises,
became Hanna-Barbera Productions Inc. in 1959, and had a knockout
success in 1960 with </span><i>The Flintstones</i><span style="font-style: normal;">.
The studio then cranked out a staggering number of successful (or at
least memorable) shows from </span><i>Yogi Bear</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
to </span><i>The Jetsons</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> to
</span><i>Jonny Quest</i><span style="font-style: normal;">. </span></span>
</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">1966
would see </span><i>Space Ghost </i><span style="font-style: normal;">(created
by DC Comics veteran Alex Toth), which would usher in a new blast of
creativity from Hanna-Barbera with subsequent superhero shows like
</span><i>Birdman and the Galaxy Trio </i><span style="font-style: normal;">and
</span><i>Mightor</i><span style="font-style: normal;">. </span><i>Space
Ghost </i><span style="font-style: normal;">had a solid visual design
and mixed super heroics with teen sidekicks, space opera, and a funny
animal sidekick, which helped set the formula for the company's more
“realistic” shows down the line.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></span></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"></span></span><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qjftOJhpPU4" width="560"></iframe></span></div>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">But
there was another Hanna-Barbera superhero show that was produced in
1966 and aired on CBS. Sharing a September 10 air date with </span><i>Space
Ghost, Frankenstein Jr. and The Impossibles </i><span style="font-style: normal;">was
a curious double billing of super hero comedy. A total of 18
thirty-minute episodes were produced over two seasons, and the show
was split up into two parts. </span></span>
</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><i>The
Impossibles</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> were a musical trio
of musicians inspired by mod fashions and 60s rock and roll that
became a trio of superheroes who fought silly villains. </span></span>
</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg99dCe5aAsfcJXypLKwt3IB3qRKEIQtvXnX468cVLUX0ZTANUfSl-DjQ0mVupN2MqLdCejpmF71DBgP2shVal9iazpdEMwl-SFxLzsKWmpnXV_qxHvu0nKe3ivYBtJzRDePk6EcQ/s1600/Frankenstein+Jr+comic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="847" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg99dCe5aAsfcJXypLKwt3IB3qRKEIQtvXnX468cVLUX0ZTANUfSl-DjQ0mVupN2MqLdCejpmF71DBgP2shVal9iazpdEMwl-SFxLzsKWmpnXV_qxHvu0nKe3ivYBtJzRDePk6EcQ/s320/Frankenstein+Jr+comic.jpg" width="226" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>Frankenstein
Jr.</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> on the other hand, was the
invention of boy scientist Buzz Conroy (and his father Professor
Conroy) who controlled a giant, friendly flying robot with an energy
ring and together they fought mad scientists and monsters.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">That
sure sounds an awful lot like 1964's <i>Gigantor, </i><span style="font-style: normal;">but
there are notable differences.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgucM7n4xStL-w91IGL2yR_Co7X8rNLz6osnUGM77R76gxLOB85SWbZ9XTrM4Ebmt4gSodOaeXcuGLB6ZjgUlJavYEZYnW2Bgx0YRMgEwjBacS83NQfA-IHAS2e3sKYUeSX0sBTbw/s1600/Frankenstein+Jr+flyinh.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="768" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgucM7n4xStL-w91IGL2yR_Co7X8rNLz6osnUGM77R76gxLOB85SWbZ9XTrM4Ebmt4gSodOaeXcuGLB6ZjgUlJavYEZYnW2Bgx0YRMgEwjBacS83NQfA-IHAS2e3sKYUeSX0sBTbw/s320/Frankenstein+Jr+flyinh.png" width="320" /></a></div>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Rather
than simply taking cues from Frankenstein, Franky is a giant,
friendly looking robot Frankenstein's monster with a domino mask and
a cape. Franky also has more than just his fists at his disposal,
including a number of useful gadgets.</span></span></div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #252525;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">There's
not a whole lot to discuss about the show, considering its overall
short episode length. Its cult status ensured occasional the
occasional home video release and an appearance in the 2016 crossover
comic <i>Future Quest</i>, which was a mashup storyline where
numerous Hanna-Barbera heroes like Jonny Quest, Space Ghost, the
Herculoids, and Frankenstein Jr. had to team up to stop a villain
that threatened the world. </span></span>
</span></div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #252525;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The
show IS notable, however, for its cast. Aside from diminutive voice
actor Dick Beals (who made a career of voicing kid characters
including Buzz on this show) and the Impossibles being voiced by
tremendously prolific voice actors Paul Frees, Hal Smith, and Don
Messick, the show was a breakout voice acting gig for Frankenstein
Jr's voice actor: Ted Cassidy.</span></span></div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #252525;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Who's
Ted Cassidy? </span></span>
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #252525;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhypqVyhgnjKBY3iPOLVXPVvjleZszSo5E97LMi5m6_e14bGl9W4VDufWeDTso1CEjZR80hFzuVnljyZ1UKFtavavL_-oKg48xCuzX7PbiWwBZS9OQrH8H8ZyJ5Piwvi9u6sCr5Fg/s1600/Fester_lurch_1966.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="947" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhypqVyhgnjKBY3iPOLVXPVvjleZszSo5E97LMi5m6_e14bGl9W4VDufWeDTso1CEjZR80hFzuVnljyZ1UKFtavavL_-oKg48xCuzX7PbiWwBZS9OQrH8H8ZyJ5Piwvi9u6sCr5Fg/s320/Fester_lurch_1966.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #252525; font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Does this ring any bells?</span></div>
</div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #252525;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Already
famous as Lurch (and Thing) on <i>The Addams Family </i>(1964-1966), Cassidy's
huge size and huge voice made his portrayal as Lurch an icon, but the
show ended in 1966, and he became a regular voice actor for
Hanna-Barbara throughout the rest of the 60s and 70s (among other
acting gigs including several appearances on the original <i>Star
Trek</i>) until his untimely death from surgery complications in 1979
at the age of 46.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #252525;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"></span></span><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZvWKbnM_o-4" width="560"></iframe></span></div>
</div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">On
the next episode of Shin Super Robot Sunday: Yokoyama returns. </span></span>
</div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sources</span></span></span></div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankenstein,_Jr._and_The_Impossibles">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankenstein,_Jr._and_The_Impossibles</a>
</span></span></span>
</div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Cassidy">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Cassidy</a>
</span></span></span>
</div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<br />K. Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09142868567992464226noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19016059.post-22355621103640368782020-01-26T17:52:00.000-05:002020-01-26T17:52:13.288-05:00Shin Super Robot Sunday: Ambassador Magma<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5lWRalUWsOQs6ag5POd3uLc2QBEKb6MISpAV0_RjONsW7Y-ZhoZqrisDNenq2PlQI8yE72BDEC9H8OA7lKN8cdjfQr98oVqpAlt_8K9LYo_ijSR3vrmrwOi4LilBn16H_kLVTZA/s1600/Magma_Taishi-5cdadcfad89ac.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="572" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5lWRalUWsOQs6ag5POd3uLc2QBEKb6MISpAV0_RjONsW7Y-ZhoZqrisDNenq2PlQI8yE72BDEC9H8OA7lKN8cdjfQr98oVqpAlt_8K9LYo_ijSR3vrmrwOi4LilBn16H_kLVTZA/s320/Magma_Taishi-5cdadcfad89ac.jpg" width="223" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">I
messed up slightly on last week's preview since there were a couple
more things to cover before the follow up to <i>Tetsujin 28-go</i><span style="font-style: normal;">.
We'll get there soon enough, but first a lesser known work by one of
the most important individuals in the world of manga. </span></span>
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Manga
writer/artist Osamu Tezuka has a well-earned reputation for being the
“God of Manga” and the “Japanese Walt Disney” for works like
<i>Astro Boy</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> and </span><i>Kimba
the White Lion</i><span style="font-style: normal;">. </span><i>Astro
Boy </i><span style="font-style: normal;">in particular</span><i>,</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
which began as a manga in 1952</span> and was later turned into a
show, would have a huge influence on the mecha genre, despite the
titular character being an android and not at all humongous. Respect
is most certainly due, but the character is outside the scope of this
project.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy7wT8PcNnlOhJY4iTBXHPkZWlDER1hyphenhyphenHNVBPQK88g-DZnvtiUkgfbLniI1s86t_qOivPF1xykxGrQLnsFNFo7NQGYMneltZSVnk0f_x9khKnCKXLsFapIUt3hyphenhyphenXGtjVu2Bv9H2Q/s1600/astro_boy_dark_horse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="539" data-original-width="350" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy7wT8PcNnlOhJY4iTBXHPkZWlDER1hyphenhyphenHNVBPQK88g-DZnvtiUkgfbLniI1s86t_qOivPF1xykxGrQLnsFNFo7NQGYMneltZSVnk0f_x9khKnCKXLsFapIUt3hyphenhyphenXGtjVu2Bv9H2Q/s320/astro_boy_dark_horse.jpg" width="207" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Astro Boy, in case you didn't know what he looked like.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">What
is inside the scope is another series by Tezua: <span style="color: #222222;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Maguma
Taishi</span></i></span> (translated to
<i>Ambassador Magma)</i><span style="font-style: normal;">.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #252525;"><span lang="en"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">First
published in </span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Shōnen
Gaho</span></i></span> magazine in 1965, the series ran until
1967. On July 4, 1966, a live-action, color <i>tokusatsu</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
television from P Productions (an anime and tokusatsu studio) which
aired on Fuji TV, beating out the first </span><i>Ultraman</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
series by a matter of days (we'll get to Ultraman in some capacity
eventually).</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Historical
footnotes aside, the plot of </span><i>Ambassador Magma</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
is that young Mamoru Murakami (and his parents) are warned by the
arrogant Lord/Emperor Goa of his impending invasion and demonstrates
his power by transporting the family to a jungle and destroying a
dinosaur that threatens the kid. Mamoru's father is a journalist with
international connections, and Goa gloatingly wants him to spread the
word. </span></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2ESl4vV4QxHLK4jZj3wDLyLyxyT80eePdd_aGHSKw5A7ikWe8UAcJEVp9sEavd_0m-pXotG3Yk9ZvD2KYInRuGlfgkOludbTtmwTNbM_Rvuj22rtwIltAc2UVRwASXJ-JV6t36Q/s1600/download.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="339" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2ESl4vV4QxHLK4jZj3wDLyLyxyT80eePdd_aGHSKw5A7ikWe8UAcJEVp9sEavd_0m-pXotG3Yk9ZvD2KYInRuGlfgkOludbTtmwTNbM_Rvuj22rtwIltAc2UVRwASXJ-JV6t36Q/s320/download.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Help
arrives in the form of a 15 meter (50 ft) tall golden giant who can
transform into a rocket. This is the titular Ambassador Magma, and
despite being an artificial being created from metal who can
transform into a vehicle, is “not a robot.” Magma is the creation
of an ancient wizard named Earth who lives deep underground and
protects the planet. Magma is accompanied by his human-sized wife Mol
(who looks like a normal woman in a silver jumpsuit with antennae)
and eventually his son Gam (a kid made in the image of Mamoru with a
helmet and antennae). All three can transform into rockets, but only
Magma is huge. Mamoru is given a whistle that he can blow to summon
members of the magical robot family; one toot for Gam, two for Mol,
and three for Magma. Over the course of the show's 52 episodes, Magma
and family would fight the giant and human-sized monsters sent by Gao
to conquer Earth (the planet, not the wizard).</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">In
addition to transforming into a flight form, Magma also possessed
great strength, could fire a volley of missiles when he opened his
chest, and could shoot energy/electricity bolts from his antennae. For the show, mostly he wrestled with giant dinosaur enemies. He
also had a mane of glorious golden Fabio hair. </span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSXrgxT6aFzzOUXeVI-YYIcqEJDlGZWp4C5hO_pIhJ56qL6jYP8_ku2uBKfH-7QhPpURlVPAgsjAYw7CcAg-IOoA8vzUYNhabbqPwP3a-WOKQo1HkgReuDHpx7Fqjo1wABzaHdBg/s1600/85162628c425e84788fedc479ba584ac1436096761_full.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="597" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSXrgxT6aFzzOUXeVI-YYIcqEJDlGZWp4C5hO_pIhJ56qL6jYP8_ku2uBKfH-7QhPpURlVPAgsjAYw7CcAg-IOoA8vzUYNhabbqPwP3a-WOKQo1HkgReuDHpx7Fqjo1wABzaHdBg/s320/85162628c425e84788fedc479ba584ac1436096761_full.jpg" width="257" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">The
show was a success and subsequently dubbed into English and aired in
the United States as </span><i>The Space Giants</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
as early as 1970, then subsequently dubbed into Spanish as </span><span style="color: #222222;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Monstruos
del Espacio</span></i></span><span style="font-style: normal;">
(Monsters from Space) or in other English speaking markets as </span><i>Space
Avenger</i><span style="font-style: normal;">. Most of the show
remained the same, but the the names were changed: Gao became Rodak,
Magma became Goldar, and Earth became Methusan (the wizard, not the
planet), for example. </span></span>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #252525;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><i>Ambassador
Magma</i> doesn't hold a candle to <i>Astro Boy</i> in terms of
lasting impact, but it did usher in a number of firsts for the
post-<i>Tesujin 28-go</i> mecha genre. A sentient, transforming giant
“robot” with a mystical origin instead of a purely technological
one. The mystical aspect is similar to the <i>Daimajin</i> trilogy of
films (also released in 1966) where a giant stone statue is animated
by an angry mountain spirit and wreaks havoc on Feudal Japanese
warlords/bandits. (As cool as Daimajin is, I have to draw a line
somewhere, and he's much more of a golem than a mecha). These aspects
would be downplayed in subsequent mecha shows for a time, but
mystical mechs would come back in a big way later on. </span></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk_xm_u0c3aGAPYK8ZHNCtJO9msj6FAQ92cx9KvKJeQ2RhGD1WsJ_HK2EF3JvWof57F5IdHQfcmYuq0pCsG4_km1q_sun_7zteKvlDBbyimnFNR-Lfp4xu0JKUllVGprVweGeo0w/s1600/ambassador+magma+vs+Gao.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="379" data-original-width="625" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk_xm_u0c3aGAPYK8ZHNCtJO9msj6FAQ92cx9KvKJeQ2RhGD1WsJ_HK2EF3JvWof57F5IdHQfcmYuq0pCsG4_km1q_sun_7zteKvlDBbyimnFNR-Lfp4xu0JKUllVGprVweGeo0w/s320/ambassador+magma+vs+Gao.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">On
the next episode of Shin Super Robot Sunday: Hanna-Barbera. Seriously.</span></span></span></div>
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<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Sources</span></span></div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%9E%E3%82%B0%E3%83%9E%E5%A4%A7%E4%BD%BF">https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%9E%E3%82%B0%E3%83%9E%E5%A4%A7%E4%BD%BF</a>
</span></span></span>
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<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%9E%E3%82%B0%E3%83%9E%E5%A4%A7%E4%BD%BF_(%E3%83%86%E3%83%AC%E3%83%93%E3%83%89%E3%83%A9%E3%83%9E)">https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%9E%E3%82%B0%E3%83%9E%E5%A4%A7%E4%BD%BF_(%E3%83%86%E3%83%AC%E3%83%93%E3%83%89%E3%83%A9%E3%83%9E)</a>
</span></span></span>
</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osamu_Tezuka">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osamu_Tezuka</a>
</span></span></span>
</span></div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061299/">https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061299/</a>
</span></span></span>
</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div lang="en" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambassador_Magma">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambassador_Magma</a>
</span></span></span>
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<br />K. Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09142868567992464226noreply@blogger.com0