#Ikazuchi-Maru

[chernobog13]

Cover to the Sonorama for The Magic Serpent (1966), aka Great Dragon Battle.

There's a major problem with this picture, though: in the film, the dragon spews a stream of water, and it's the toad that breathes fire!

[king-of-better]

Chojin Chapter

15th Night: Shadow -KAGE-

Swimming to shore, something declares it has finally made it, sounds and images flash ending on the old man. In a field, a man in orange and a straw hat comes to a discarded Chinese doll, and declares through the Limpid Channel something is there.

As a child, Kaede is abandoned by the other kids mid game, she awakens, Sho also slept badly, and something is disrupting his abilities.

Keita and Hinoki are travelling to Kamakura for the date, Keita is obviously nervous.

Miyako has a report from Mode Warp, it might have been two months since BPL, or Akamatsu, Sho, Kaede and Sakura, starting from the Sai Expedition disappearing 4 years ago. Umezaki took part in the rescue operations, and while he didn't venture in, he received an Animus Flower from the rescue team and took it with him, then immediately afterwards the rescuers all killed each other, the beginning of the spread of Algernon, which has claimed many victims, including the man who identified it and it was named for. The Animus Seeds which can produce both amino acid types, Umezaki hoped to use to allow humans to love indefinitely, Akamatsu questions what Betterman is if he can actually process the Amino Acids, Sakura calls him a Somnium.

Keita and Hinoki arrive as it's explained Betterman can only process food from the Animus Seeds, which use humans as flowerbeds, concerning Akamatsu.

Hinoki didn't think the food was as good as last time she was there, Keita, struggling, remembers Ushi's advice and takes her to explore caves to create a nice mood, but just winds up reminding her or India, but she admits she can't be miserable about their deaths her whole life. A strange fortune teller offers blessings on their union, with charms for sale, Keita, imagining such a future, is going to take one when a lizard reminds him of Puleto, and thus Chandi.

Miyako continues explaining about Chandi's existence as superhumans created by Umezaki, and that rather than Belladonna being the source of Algernon, it just produced similar symptoms, as such Umezaki is just another victim of Algernon, As he too was infected. She also refutes the suggestion Betterman is a BPL creation, as there is evidence, like the remains from transformations, that is thousands of years old, and they now know of a 2nd one on Lume.

The monk, who has a jewel on his chest like Lamia, is confirmed as a Betterman as he declares he has found Lamia.

Hinoki has a place she wants to go, dragging Keita far away, as Sakura explains that Betterman keeps protecting Hinoki, checking she's safe via Sakura's Limpid Channel. As the rain pours down, the arrive at their destination, Hinoki's old home.

Umezaki sent the D-Types into Ajanta Caves to retrieve Animus Flowers, and used them in his experiments, but the D-Types contracted Algernon and killed each other, the one survivor managed to mutate the control gene and gain self awareness. He used the Behemoths to gather humans for experimentation, taken by Carryants to Rand Medical, the staff controlled like the BPL scientists, and preserved by Salamander to become flowerbeds. The major slip up came with the Ikazuchi Maru, forcing him to use the Revi. This lead to his ultimate downfall, as the team, with help from Betterman, managed to take out his entire operation. However, Heichin and the other victims are still dead, Akamatsu fears it will never end.

Hinoki moved from near Keita when she was 5, to a place near her father's university. Keita accepts she was sort of hoping her family would be there, and was scared to come alone, but she tries to insist that wasn't just it, both quite romantically tense, Keita lightens the mood by getting his revenge by tickling, she plays along, until the old man appears, the sound of his bell interrupting. He recommends they stay there, and that the shadow is the true mastermind.

Sho's dreams are haunted by Kei, and next day Kaede phones Akamatsu to report he vanished. Sakura can sense 3 shadows have come across the sea.

Lamia is confronted by the monk, Bodaiju, who is shocked at him using Forte twice, apparently having learns so from the wind, and so Bodaiju has been sent to him by Pakila, wondering why he isn't pursuing Kankel, but Lamia feels protecting the hopes is more important. When Seeme tries to interject, Bodaiju blasts her with Pectoflex Plume, and if Lamia won't submit, he will destroy him with the Seed of Turba. And having consumed it, Turba and Nebula fight.

16th Night: Revelation -UTUTU-

Sho steals a Main Tech Carrier, breaking out the door of Akamatsu Industries with a wild look in his eyes. Sakura senses Kei.

Nebula uses a sonic wall to block Turba's vacuum wave, but the battle continues.

Kaede stops in front of Sho, and insists on coming with him, both because he can't use the Neuronoid alone, and she wants to confirm the same thing he needs to check.

Sakura tells Akamatsu, Ritchan and Miyako, that 3 shadows, that resemble Tyran, have come. Miyako knows that last December, after showing defects, the prototypes of Tyran, Premier, Deuxieme and Tresieme were scheduled to be dismantled by the France Division, but all vanished, the current Tyran is Quatrieme. While ideas about Main Tech Carriers or unknown Head Divers taking them are thrown around, Sakura says Ritchan is right about them just walking away on their own. Yamajii cannot get Sho to respond, so they plan to call in Keita and Hinoki.

The old man says the barrier between worlds is but a shadow, Keita gets the call but it cuts off, and the man has left them surrounded by bells, an invisible wall keeping them in place. Outside, the old man runs.

Nebula catches Turba in power lines and uses Psycho Voice, but a vacuum wall blocks it, he in turns uses Psycho Calm.

Sho and Kaede arrive in a ruined building, the Main Tech Carrier hits a pothole, and Kaede starts walking off on her own. She is now repeating Gather and Want, commands given by a hooded man in the rain to other hooded figures. Suddenly Premier, Deux and Trois appear, Sho can sense the one who called him in Deux. They board Tyran, but Kaede can tell they're there for her, as the man orders elimination of anyone who stops them taking what they seek.

Sat together, Keita believes the heels are the same, Hinoki snaps, but apologises. She recalls once accidentally damaging a model ship her father loved, and hiding, terrified of being scolded, her brother helped her fix it, and her mother apologised with her, but her father didn't get angry. She once had a whole family's love, but how she is all alone. Keita holds her, almost ruining the mood by recalling Ushi's saying it's easy to take advantage of a crying girl, but she lets it slide.

Bodaiju criticises Lamia for being so weak despite using Forte, as Lamia tells him even if he is defeated he can't save the Somniums, and Bodaiju states the one who uses Forte must have the qualities of a leader, Lamoa insists coexistence, the hope of Vivelve is more important than destroying Kankel, who stole their future.

Tyran punches down Premier, but Kaede suffers some sympathetic pain, they throw Trois aside, but they come at Quatri with Break Synthesise, and Kaede is convulsing. Sho uses a Double Synapse Break on Premier and Deux, to disrupt the Linker Gel. Kaede screams not to kill them, but Sho feels of they were human they would rather die than be left in this state, Kaede collapses as the 2 are irreparably damaged, and Deux confronts Quatri. Looking at his opponent, Sho apologises to Kei for not realising what had happened f him, as they hit the Gel Limit.

Turba prepares another Psycho Calm, Nebula uses Psycho Voice, resonating it to send them flying as they are both being pulled apart.

The hooded figures are confronted by the old man, who unleashes a shockwave, slicing off the cliff edge they stand on, they all fall, Seeme, watching this, calls the old man Yakusugi.

Deux stops moving right as it grabs Quatri, Sho leaps out and opens Deux's Cereb Head, only to be horrified to find it empty, tearing the cockpit apart he finds Kei behind panelling and holds his brother, telling him he loves him, as he tearfully disconnects the pipes that connect Kei's brain to the Neuronoid.

The bells are gone, but Keita and Hinoki are still holding eachother.

Lamia lies unconscious in a river, Seeme calls out for him.

17th Night: Dream -YUME-

Seeme informs Lamia of Yakusugi's appearance, but he needs to rest and doesn't answer her.

Hinoki thanks Keita for coming with her, and goes to kiss, Keita overthinks but does it, only for her to turn into Ushi pushing him to kiss again. He wakes and goes to school, where Ushi and everyone else is a Crashman 11, then wakes again in class.

Akamatsu's noodles attack him, Ritchan wakes him up, as Miyako is there for a meeting, he asks about the pilots of the Tyran prototypes, she confirms there was no pilot from he start, France HQ have officially declared the 3 developed their own egos. Akamatsu is now concerned about Quatrieme doing the same, so Miyako explains the new factor, the 3 prototypes has special control systems made from human cerebral cortices. As she explains further, a hand emerges from what might be Cactus' locker. Miyako explains that ethics and control concerns lead to the 3 being sealed, the Quatrieme instead uses a chimpanzee. It was thought Sho would be able to foresee any malfunction. Kakuseijin uses bottle-nosed dolphins, which is why it worked so well in water. Kakuseijin was also designed to be immune to the possible problems from the start. The meeting is interrupted when a man in a Diving Suit steps into the room, shocking both.

Hinoki isn't comfortable with Keita after a weird dream, but a legion of Chikas appear, tormenting them.

Bodaiju finds the still recovering Lamia, admonishing for resting and letting his guard down, but leaves him when a Revi appears from the sea, using Turba to fight as Heracles and Medusa also appear.

Sho is wracked with guilt over Kei's death, recalling the first death, where he panicked while piloting Premier underwater with Sho and drowned. Sho was told at the time Kei would be one of 12 used in the Deux, Kaede wonders why she was called, then becomes Kei, Sho wakes screaming. Akamatsu, Kaede, Sakura and Miyako are there, as well as, to Sho's confusion, Cactus Prickle. Everyone else laughs with Cactus, to Sho's confusion.

Turba is now struggling against examples of all Umezaki's creations, Nebula appears to help.

Bottom The World is finally reopening, Keita on a Kappa costume, Hinoki in the flopping body, Akamatsu a knight, as are Yamajii and Ritchan. Sho is an upside down Chika, Miyako is that one mascot from Waterpolis, Sakura is another Chika. Kaede is alone, and sees her parents ignore her again. Cactus appears, offering her a place she will always have someone, the fortune teller seems to be driving this. Yakusugi appears before her, declaring the evil in dreams must be destroyed, she sets Medusa on him but he drives them off. She realises he is the one who killed her fellows, and he manipulates fire to destroy her.

Cactus vanishes from Kaede, and everyone wakes up bac at Akamatsu Industries, the charm Keita bought shattering. They manage to work out it was an attack, Kaede knows they were saved, Keita suggests Betterman, Sakura tells them no, she heard a bell.

Lamia and Bodaiju were also both asleep, Seeme telling them Yakusugi saved them from eternal sleep, for now they all understand they need to work together.

18th Night: Famine -KAWAKI-

Miyako bs found the Prototype Tyrans and the amulet both had a psychic material on them, the attack the work of some people infected with Algernon, she is sending her report on this to Officer.

They've come to an organ farm, Akamatsu find it troublesome. They're taken to the Algernon storage, Cactus in particular, he has a Forte flower. Miyako, linking those who have produced Forte seeds, thinks of the Dive Inspection.

The class is on a camping trip, Ushi and the rest of the class thinking Keita has it a little too good as he cooks with Hinoki.

At the organ farm, everyone enjoys a steak dinner courtesy of their host.

While gathering firewood together, Keita gets excited seeing Hinoki bend over, but his device rings, displays a message reading "Tasukete, Kaede" then loses signal again.

Knowing where they are, Hinoki and Keita head to the facility, the Trailer is abandoned, Hinoki insists on going inside to check, the dodd closes behind them.

A sound like eating rings out, js they nervously approach, Keita is scared by a trap, and they wind up yelling at eachother. They then find the dining room ransacked, and find Sakura, repeating that everyone is hungry before collapsing, when asked about the group she says they'll be eaten.

They keep on going, the morgue containers are empty. Sakura suddenly asks to eat Keita who throws her, she then tries to bite Hinoki. They can hear others approach, including Akamatsu and Miyako.

Yakusugi appears, luring the possessed to him, Nd unleashes cold on them, freezing them in place. An attempt to attack the perceived sauce is repelled, damaging the charm, forcing him to run.

Keita and Hinoki find the organ freezing room, Sho and Kaede emerge, having been locked in trying to escape, after everyone became possessed. They run, but Keita and Hinoki turn and try to bite Kaede, Sho also turns, and Kaede runs, recalling being told she alone kept her reason. She looks everyone in and the director tells her to come join their master,but Sho appears behind him, having faked turning to distract the mastermind and get close. He admits the cooling gas causes the hunger, Sho uses his abilities to try and get answers, but the zombies break out just in time. The director runs, but Lamia and Seeme appear, despite the Limpid Channel blocking, Seeme destroys his charm, and he leaps into the pool. Bodaiju takes the seed of Forte from Cactus, to take to Pakila, but then senses Kankel.

19th Night: Mirror -ITUWARI-

Miyako notes persistent efforts to get Kaede, the man they met was a fraud, who leapt into sulfuric acid, and there's evidence of Betterman being there. She accesses data on the Dive Inspection, a photo showing 7 people including herself, Hinoki's father, Cactus, possibly Yakusugi and Umezaki among them, and recalls the Chojin Domei. Lights go out, but she keeps working.

The class is doing a neko maid mirror house for the cultural festival. Ushi managed to get ahold of special mirrors derived from Mirror Coating through his brother's connections, and the girls got Hinoki a special devil themed costume.

Miyako tells Akamatsu and Sho that Mode Warp has no leads on those trying to control Kaede, but when the directory of the Chojin Domei calls to make an offer for Kaede Miyako immediately accuses him of everytjing, and he doesn't deny it, just saying he will contact her directly.

Keita traps himself in the Mirror House, and when Hinoki goes to her him out she can't find him.

Miyako explains Chojin Domeir work in consulting in various fields, making extensive use of dowsers like Kaede, wanting her for her skills. Sho is naturally angry with their use of Kei, and they're making plans with Mode Warp. Ritchan is driving, but the tunnel is too long, a charm has been stuck to the vehicle.

Hinoki and Keita cannot find eachother, and Keita's reflections start moving independently. At her workstation, Miyako's reflection emerges, and starts taunting her, as does everyone else's trying to break their spirits. Lamia is chasing after, Seeme heads elsewhere. Hilariously Ritchan's reflection is acting exactly the same, as Lamia comes into contact with his own just as he is about to reach the Carrier.

After acknowledging his does as real but opposite, and both become Nebula. Seeme trying to leave the tunnel is accosted by her double, who starts demanding she has Lume.

Everyone starts to find resolve from the words acknowledging them and finding the ability to move forwards, but Sakura manages to terrify her double.

After the two Nebulas are defeated Lamia stands alone. Pakila contacts Lamia, saying Seeme is safe and the enemy is human, not Kankel, he uses psychic powers to destroy the mirrors, which is reflects back to the one directing the mirror attack.

Keita and Hinoki finally find eachother and hug in relief, only to be photographed by Ushi, everyone being in on it to get the two together, after they disappeared on the camping trip.

At the airport, Miyako receives the documents she requested in the Chojin Domei.

[littleeyesofpallas]

Hello! I haven't had time to read all of your Bleach posts, but do know that I love each and every one of them ;u; And since you know better than most, I was wondering if you know if Sasakibe's Gonryōmaru/Kōkō Gonryō Rikyū has some sort of special inspiration?

oh, huh... i could've sworn I'd done one on both him and his sword. But I guess not.

Starting with his shikai, Gonryoumaru[厳霊丸]...

As is typical with Japanese naming conventions, the -maru[丸] is a suffix denoting a masculine name, it basically functions to turn a random word into a name, so the literal kanji reading isn't particularly important; similarly it's used in the name of ships.

So, we're really looking at just the gonryou[厳霊] bit by itself, the kanji read as gon[厳]:"stern/strict" and ryou[霊]:"a vengeful spirit," which don't seem to have any particular uses compounded together like this that I could find, but there was this...

...where they are cited as etymological roots of ikazuchi[雷] which is both a word for "lightning" itself, as well as the Japanese god of thunder, which seems to clarify the connection to lightning since the name otherwise doesn't seem to have an overt connection otherwise. It's neat to think that this kind of implies that Chojiro is actually old enough that his sword is named in a now totally archaic fashion.

As for his bankai...

Koukou Gonryou Rikyuu[黄煌厳霊離宮]

kou-[黄]: "yellow"

kou[煌]: "brilliant/bright/dazzling"

Gonryou[厳霊]: "stern vengeful spirit" (with references to Lightning(god))

Rikyuu[離宮]: "detached palace"/"imperial villa," (a smaller secondary palace or living space or even shrine apart from a central family estate. It could be a summer home, a private home for extended family, or just a home away from home for convenience with court responsibilities.)

The "Yellow, Dazzling..." part seems to just refer to the flash of lightning and the "imperial villa" I assume is referring to the shape of his bankai; the strange collection of lightning being like a roof with descending pillars of lightning strikes making the shape of a building. In particular the one that comes to mind is the famous Matsushima Rikyuu, known for its distinctive ten-sided three story tower, and garden lights, which are...

...conspicuously yellow and dazzling, wouldn't you know it? The tower is such an iconic part of the historic property that it's the subject of their logo(it's a popular tourist attraction these days, and I believe available to rent for events like weddings(?))

[kaiowut99]

Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters GX Episodes 75 and 76 Subbed (Finalized)

(Previously: Episodes 73 and 74 Subbed [Finalized])

(Check out my Subbed!GX Stream Masterpost!)

75: A Field Trip Tag Duel!

For their field trip, the students of the Academia head to Domino Town, the holy dueling land known for producing the likes of Yugi Mutou and Seto Kaiba.  Judai and his friends visit Yugi’s childhood house, where they meet Mr. Sugoroku.  While exploring the town, Sugoroku is kidnapped--and while Shou and Kenzan argue as they look for him, they are challenged to a Tag Duel by an assassin duo from the Society of Light: Ikazuchimaru and Kourimaru.  Kenzan’s dinosaur  Monsters find themselves powered down by Mobius Castle as he's dealt the first blow...

76: The Ultimate Combo! Rex Union

Shou and Kenzan’s Tag Duel versus Ikazuchimaru and Kourimaru continues.  Ikazuchimaru and Kourimaru are powerful despite their being on bad terms with each other, whittling Shou and Kenzan’s LP down to 1000 early on.  Kenzan’s dinosaur Monsters don’t match well with Kourimaru’s Ice deck, while Shou’s vehicle Monsters are stalled by Ikazuchimaru’s System Down and Rampage Condenser Magic Cards.  But for all of Shou and Kenzan's arguing, they start working together once they realize that their losing would cause trouble for Judai.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Episodes 75 and 76 are now finalized!

These two episodes start off our Domino mini-arc, as the Academia goes on a field trip to the land of dueling legend--which picks up on plot elements that were going to be included in the canned Yu-Gi-Oh! VS GX movie Takahashi had pitched at one point but were reworked into GX Season 2′s story.  75 introduces us to Mizuchi right off the bat (credited as “Shrine Maiden” for only this episode’s credits) and, after we take a trip down memory lane with Sugoroku while Ed and Saiou’s friendship starts to show some cracks, it’s revealed to Shou and Kenzan that she’s related to Saiou.  

Through both episodes, we also get some closure on the Shou/Kenzan feuding over Big Bro Judai, after Kenzan reveals he would’ve won if he didn’t feel bad for beating Shou while he was down, and after a rocky start to their Tag Duel vs Ikazuchi/Kourimaru, they come back and put their egos aside to keep Judai from having to deal with them.  Ultimately, it’s a futile effort thanks to the Mirror of Duality that Kourimaru activates, but a good one nonetheless.  Also do like the Marus’ designs, and it was cool at the time back in 2006 to see the original Monarchs make their anime debut.  76 also has some nice art to it, being a Tea Sun In animation-team episode (and Gil-bo No chipping in with some good key animation), so it’s a fun watch.

In terms of animation and other fixes, 75 and 76 both had a handful of card fixes, while 76 had more in the way of animation error fixes and other quality-of-watching things.  As I mentioned before, I also translated the guidebooks Sugoroku wrote held by Shou and Kenzan early in ep. 75 for the eight scenes they appear in.  Details under the cut, as always, along with a Translation Note for 75 involving one of Mizuchi’s scenes.

Enjoy, folks; for the next release, I want to get 77-79 out together for a triple treat to avoid just releasing 77 for a cliffhanger, lol.  That’ll get us through the Iwamaru duel (poor Honoumaru being shafted) and Judai/Ed vs Mizuchi to close out this mini-arc.  Stay tuned!

Fixes/Edits! (75)

As I mentioned above and highlighted in this post, I translated the front cover of the town guidebooks held by Shou and Kenzan in the eight scenes it’s visible in.  I first blanked it and applied the translations in the second-to-last shot it’s in--the closeup as the two show them to Sugoroku, which I also used for 75′s preview in 74--then isolated it to manipulate into the other scenes, mainly using AfterEffects’s CC Power Pin effect and then masking the right side of the original cover (with the landmark photos, but above the bottom “Legendary Duelists’ Stomping Grounds” text) on top to make it blend in.

After Kenzan tells Kourimaru that his weakened Dark Driceratops can still defeat his Mobius, Kourimaru activates his Mobius Castle, but in the shot that rapidly zooms out from him while it activates, we see him holding the card with its back facing the camera--which is inconsistent with the close-up just before as he held it up with the front facing the camera.  Fixed by first grabbing Mobius Castle’s card art from this close-up shot and touching it up in Photoshop to then make a proxy for it, then applied it in AfterEffects with a Power Pin before I then redid the zoom-out in Sony Vegas.

After the Marus’ Reflector Bit combo ends up making Dark Tyranno’s attack hit Shou for damage, and Kenzan notes that it went in circles, Kourimaru notes that their Reflector Bits are, along with Side Attack, also cards used exclusively in Tag Duels--but the Mobius on his Disk in this shot is in Attack Mode when Kenzan’s Earthquake Magic Card just put it in Defense Mode.  Fixed by making a Mobius proxy that I then applied in one frame in AfterEffects, after which I redid the panning shot in Sony Vegas for it.

After Kourimaru tells Ikazuchimaru that he should thank him for letting him hit Shou for damage, Ikazuchimaru draws for his turn and prepares to sacrifice his Thunder Knight for Zaborg, but his Disk shows Thunder Knight in Monster Zone #2, which is where Reflector Bit should be; he summoned Thunder Knight to Zone #4 on his first turn, and Reflector Bit was summoned by Bit Shoot to Zone 2 per its placement on his field here.  Fixed this by first using the shot of Kourimaru holding up Reflector Bit earlier to nab its card art and touch it up in Photoshop to make a proxy for it, then did the same for Thunder Knight as Ikazuchimaru held it up on his first turn--once that was done, in AfterEffects, I first applied the Reflector Bit proxy to his second Zone in Attack Mode, masking the orb on his Disk over it, then added a Defense-Mode Thunder Knight to his fourth Zone when it swung into view near the end of the shot for a quick two frames.

TRANSLATION NOTES!

As detailed in this post, after Sugoroku goes missing and Judai & co. split to find him, Mizuchi’s  "急々如律令 、 奉��誓願可、不成就也!" line that leads to the Monarchs’ barrier around Domino Town is an apparent diviner/Taoist favorite that, when rephrased, essentially means "大至急、不成就に導くよう願いたてまつる," or something like "In offering my wishes, may we be led to unfulfillment ASAP"--so, Mizuchi’s line here is beckoning for misfortune to befall Judai et al at once.  Part of the delay in getting these done, aside from the fixes listed here for both episodes, was the slight rabbit hole I fell into trying to first transcribe Mizuchi’s line by ear (and failing), then finding it transcribed by a Mizuchi-script Twitter bot, then using some search-fu to get the phrase broken down.

Fixes/Edits! (76)

As the Marus fall out and challenge each other to see who beats Shou or Kenzan first, as Kenzan breaks the fourth wall to call out their cockiness and Shou joins him, there’s a quick couple of frames where the right-side border of the split screen appears on Kenzan’s dino earrings.  Fixed it by just copying the previous frame to keep the border still, though while I was there, I also closed Kenzan’s mouth as it was oddly left open after his line.

As Kourimaru jokes that Shou and Kenzan make a great duo as he draws for his turn, as he lifts his Disk to place one card face-down, we see the Defense-Mode Mobius on his Disk reversed (should be facing with the name box to our left); fixed it by applying the proxy correctly in AfterEffects for the two frames of his Disk’s movement, then redid the slow zoom-out on each for a few frames in Vegas.

Just after #2, after Kourimaru switches Mobius to Attack Mode, as he’s declaring its attack, a few things happen as he swings his Disk: first, we see Mobius both in Monster Zone #4 (where it should be) and in Zone #2 (where his Reflector Bit should be), and then we see the card in Zone #2 in Defense Mode when Reflector Bit was left in Attack Mode.  Fixed by first applying the Reflector Bit proxy in AfterEffects to Zone #2, then by applying it to Zone #2 in Attack Mode in the second frame and masking the main Disk bit over the card.

As highlighted in this post, as Shou worries that the Element Saurus Kenzan summoned won’t be enough, Kenzan turns back to retort, but for the first few frames of his turning, the orb in the middle of his Disk is red (for “on”) but unlit; fixed by just applying a bright red paint layer over the orb which I Gaussian-Blurred a bit and screen-blended so it just lit up the area.

After Shou summons Shuttleroid and Ikazuchimaru’s Rampage Condenser hits him, as he notes the 500 damage he takes, a few things happen.  First, as Shou slides in with the LP counter dropping as he’s hit, there’s a quick frame where there’s an outline for his neck but it’s colored like his hair, all before it’s fixed in the very next frame of movement--which I fixed by just recoloring his neck accordingly in Photoshop.  Then, after Ikazuchimaru says that Zaborg’s counterattack on Shuttleroid will finish Shou off, Shou starts to raise his head to say he never said anything about having it attack him, but his neck is missing for most of this, as the area is fully colored as part of his hair for these two frames, and then suddenly it’s all neck and no hair--fixed again by recoloring the area to define his neck and hair based on the previous no-issue frames.  After that, Ikazuchimaru gasps in surprise, but his hair suddenly invades the top-right of Shou’s split-screen and stays there for the rest of the shot--fixed by just masking in the same part from a previous no-issue frame in Sony Vegas, along with holding the previous correction to Shou’s no-hair neck.  Next, Shou lifts his head again to say that he’s attacking Element Saurus, but it’s still all neck and no hair for the two movement frames involved, until he’s done lifting his head, where he’s correctly drawn without any issues, with his well-defined hair and neck--fixed here by again recoloring the neck/hair area for those two movement frames, holding the fix to the top-right corner of Shou’s split.  Finally, as the split-screen splits to show Element Saurus, first we see that Shou’s side moves but Ikazuchimaru’s stays still without a change in background behind the split-screen, all while a second split-screen is seemingly moving behind Shou’s up top; then, we see Shou’s side of the split-screen take a few frames longer to leave the shot than Ikazuchimaru’s--fixed all this by redoing the split-screen’s split over an Element Saurus still and having them leave the shot simultaneously while keeping Shou’s side consistent. (You can see all this in these gifs; the original, and my fix [may just need to give them a minute to load])

After Kenzan activates Ultimate Evolution Pill, as he swings his arm around with his Dyna Base card, there’s a quick few frames where only the card outline is visible; they seemingly forgot to add the card itself there.  Fixed by making (in Photoshop) and applying (in AfterEffects) a Dyna Base proxy, darkened a bit as it was under Kenzan’s hand.

As Shou swings his arm around to activate Vehicroid Connection Zone, there’s a quick frame where he swings his hand a frame over before the card joins it, resulting in awkward black space (a similar error happened in ep. 65).  Fixed it by masking in the correctly placed card from the next frame over the frame in question.

After Shou explains that Super Vehicroid -- Rex Union inherits Super Conductor Tyranno’s effect (which actually doesn’t end up being used) and can attack twice, Kourimaru and Ikazuchimaru come in on a split-screen to react in shock, but Ikazuchimaru’s side actually comes in first for a few frames before Kourimaru’s joins it.  Fixed by holding Shou and Kenzan still as I redid the split-screen over them to make sure the two  sides came in simultaneously.

As Kourimaru faces down his half of Rex Union’s attack, the light on his Disk’s orb isn’t on; fixed by just applying the red light to it in a frame after it unblurs on him in Photoshop, then redid the Gaussian un-Blurring as the camera focused on him in Vegas.

[almasexya]

Dragon vs. Big Toad just didn’t sound as cool (Battle of Dragons, 1966)

We’re taking a quick jump back to 1966 real quickly to take a look at a film I wasn’t able to get my hands on until now, a picture with a whopping three titles to its name. I’ll be calling it Battle of Dragons because that’s what my blu ray calls it, but it also goes by The Magic Serpent, and in the transliterated Japanese, Decisive Battle of the Giant Magic Dragon.

Gee, I’m thinking there might be a dragon in this movie.

This is however a watershed moment for Japanese kaiju cinema, if only because it represents a third company throwing its hat into the arena of guys in rubber suits beating on each other. Battle of Dragons was produced by Toei, and while I don’t know much about the studio, a quick glance through their Wikipedia entry suggests they weren’t unfamiliar with special effects pictures. Toei wouldn’t stay too long, only co-producing one other kaiju film before getting out of the business.

Watching the film, that is made clear almost immediately, as it’s stuffed to the radioactive gills with the kind of special effects nonsense that as far as I can tell, even Toho wasn’t trying to touch. A sorcerer transforms into a giant dragon, wizards leap around like video game characters, and the protagonist gets his head cut off, only for his body to keep moving around while his head mocks the poor sap who did the beheading, and we’re not even 15 minutes in. To call Battle of Dragons ridiculous is an unconscionable undersell - this film is fucking bonkers and it loves it, and you can’t go five minutes without something completely off the wall hitting you like an absolute shotgun blast.

You’re probably asking yourself where the plot fits into this, and I hope it doesn’t surprise you when I tell you that you could scribble out the plot of Battle of Dragons onto a napkin and not miss a lick of subtlety, but I’ll try and give it some space to breathe.

The film begins in a nice feudal kingdom full of nice peaceful citizens, which, if you’ve read any of my pieces on the Daimajin series, ought to give you a clue where we’re headed. An evil retainer shows up, his mustache mid-twirl as he gleefully tells the lord of the realm that he’s come to steal his throne, along with the help of evil sorcerer type Orochi-Maru (Ryutaro Otomo) who transforms into a giant dragon and destroys the tiny boat transporting the young lord Ikazuchi-Maru to safety. Can you see where this is going? Do I really have to keep typing this?

Anyway, before the dragon can eat the poor boy, a giant bird shows up to slash the dragon’s face open in what can only be called a Tarantino-esque spray of blood, after which the bird spirits the young boy away straight into a training montage. See the bird is actually a crazy old wizard named Dojin Hiki (Nobuo Kaneko) who trains Ikazuchi Maru in the ways of plot armor, and after the montage is over, Ikazuchi Maru is already a full fledged ninja/wizard (Dojin Hiki, in his first set of lines, tells his charge he has nothing left to teach him, rocketing him far away from whatever Luke Skywalker analogue you might be thinking we’re in for).

So Ikazuchi-Maru sets off into the world to do the usual avenging that the plot needs him to do, though he doesn’t get far before being beset by a bunch of ninjas (this is where the beheading scene comes in) after which he quickly meets a mysterious girl who’s searching for her father, tangles with the wicked Orochi-Maru, and watches his master die. He also, apropos of nothing, starts calling himself Jiraiya, and his mysterious lady friend Sunate (Tomoko Ogawa) realizes her missing father is the evil sorcerer Jiraiya is fighting with. Heavy stuff.

The film ends off, predictably, in a titanic clash between Orochi-Maru in his dragon form and Jiraiya as a giant flame-breathing toad (”Ah, so I see you took the toad scroll,” Orochi-Maru yells, as if that makes any of this okay). The two of them bash into each other in a well-constructed castle set, and all looks lost until Sunate uses a plot coupon she got from the wizard to turn into a giant spider and shoot shaving cream at the dragon, allowing Jiraiya to get the upper hand, avenging his father and claiming his birthright.

If it sounds like I’m dunking on this movie, I promise I legitimately love it. Even though it has barely any stakes, the plot blows along at such a breakneck pace that the 85 minute runtime flies by, and it’s fun watching Jiraiya and Orochi-Maru re-enacting anime RP battles from 2002 as they both constantly one up each other until somebody picks up their ball and goes home.

The monster designs are fun, if a little on the uninspired side. The suits have a neat, rough texture to them that makes them look more realistic - the dragon looks authentically scaly and the toad is covered in big ugly warts, though their mouths look a bit silly and fake when they open up to blast each other or roar, which they do pretty much every 10 seconds. The choreography isn’t a lot to write home about, with a lot of clobbering and pushing around, but in a fun twist, the two fighters yell at each other mid-fight, which helps to remind the audience that these are real people, not just big dumb monsters.

Honestly, Battle of Dragons is an absolute riot that any kaiju fan should check out, from the insane effects to the weird, jaunty theme song apparently sung by a chorus of children, which gives away the intended audience a bit, though the bloodless carnage really seals it. The kaiju combat isn’t much to write home about, but unlike the average kaiju film, the non-monster bits are fun as hell, arguably more fun in all honesty, and the short runtime means nothing ever feels stale, unlike something like The Three Treasures, which will still be playing during the heat death of the universe.

In conclusion, check this one out if you can. Don’t look anything up, just do it.

[icarussol]

If you decapitate a ninja with a boomerang, he just ain’t dead! 

[chernobog13]

Behold the awesomeness that is the poster for The Magic Serpent (1966)!

[chernobog13]

THE MAGIC SERPENT (1966)

I really wish someone would release a remastered version of this lovable but goofy version of the Jiraiya legend.

BTW this painting has it all wrong: the evil dragon (the magic serpent of the title) spews water, not fire. The giant horned toad is the one that has the fire breath.

[chernobog13]

THE MAGIC SERPENT (1966)

Ranks with the Daimajin Trilogy (which, coincidentally, were all released that same year) as the best kaiju/samurai mash-up films ever made!

[chernobog13]

Japanese poster for the film Decisive Battle of the Giant Magic Dragon, aka The Magic Serpent (1966).

[chernobog13]

Unpainted figures of Orochi-Maru, the water-spewing dragon, and Ikazuchi-Maru (Jiraiya), the fire-spewing toad, from The Magic Serpent (1966).

Because why not?

[chernobog13]

Weird Tales (Canadian edition) January, 1945. Cover artists unknown.

Based on the stories featured on the cover this appears to be a reprint of the September, 1944 American edition.

I love the goofy vampire/demon with the runny nose. He is so goofy, in fact, that I want to see him used in a film RIGHT NOW! Writers' and (pending) actors' strike be darned!

I also like the frog on the left. He resembles the fire-breathing giant frog from The Magic Serpent (1966).

[king-of-better]

11th Night: Fog -NEBULA-

In the aftermath of the worm attack, the old man who have Ritchan the bell sits on a building, watching the city.

Keita awakens from a nightmare about the worms (aside from various military paraphernalia, he has a GaGaGachi poster), the city is blanketed by fog. He has his typical accident, witnessing from across the road, Hinoki's friends ask if he was always like that.

Akamatsu is waiting for Mode Warp to collect the worm remains, delayed by fog, because of the fog Ritchan returns after planning to quit.

After going along with Ushi believing he's dating Hinoki, he talks with her, she admits all she wanted was to help Miyako find her family, and she now never wants to board a Neuronoid

Sho has come back, Akamatsu seems to be pulling out for the sake of his people, Sho has another reaction to something Akamatsu can't see, while Kaede brushes Sakura's hair and relates her own difficult childhood, Sakura is sensing something coming, Kaede continues, explaining Kei died, and Sho keeps seeing Kei in Keita.

Miyako is finalising the transfer with Akamatsu, confirming they have new Head Divers waiting to replace Hinoki and Keita, and she's heading to BPL, Biotech Provisional Laboratory, to get more information of the UMAs.

Lamia and Seeme plan to continue their work, but only have one more Nebula Seed.

Keita tells Sakura how he loved piloting Kakuseijin, and wishing he had the chance with Tyran, Sakura wants him to stay.

Hinoki questions the memory of her family on if leaving is okay.

Akamatsu Industries start moving to transfer, while Miyako is at BPL meeting director Dr. Umezaki, who she met 4 years ago during the investigation into the Sai Expedition. He notes the loss of Cactus Prickle to Algernon. While he shows her their various efforts, rather than looking into the UMAs, he is more interested in Betterman, which he knows bue to both BPL and Mode being under the umbrella of NEO. After she explains the known forms, and the eating so Soma, he reveals they have fields of Animus Flowers, and he believes she should come to the lab. Now intoxicated by some scent, she now accepts his offer of their edible maggots, digging in.

At the transfer site, Akamatsu learns they can't reach Miyako, and Sakura yells she is going to be killed, and Keita somehow hears Chandi call out.

12th Night: Ryu -DRAGON-

Due to the inability to contact Miyako and BPL, an immediate investigation has been authorised, and due to the situation it's still in Akamatsu Industries' hands. They're to meet with a VTOL carrying special forces, including the new Head Divers, on site, but right after making visual contact it gets attacked by a dragon, and swamped with locusts from it which kill everyone onboard.

The attack moves to our craft, Keita thinking quickly is able to use a Break Synthesise to kill a bunch, but they managed to kill the pilots and damage the fuel line, Sho makes a crash landing. Akatsuki gets to work making sure they have more repellant.

Kakuseijin landed badly, righting itself by Hinoki taking control, when they're attacked Hinoki loses composure again. As the Akamatsu Industries team prepare their meager defences, Kaede contacts them from Tyran, having boarded it with Sakura, who she's now calling Cherry, right before the crash, but they too are soon attacked. Sho awalens in the separated cockpit, stares down some bugs, then makes his way to BPL.

Miyako awakens in a room completely enclosed in the same panels that were aboard the Ikazuchi Maru, managing to dig past one she finds dozens of insect UMAs, and Uzaki speaks to her via one with a screen on it, confirming for her BPL is behind all the UMAs, and is horrified he would do this, he shows her the battles, Hinoki refuses to do anything but give Keita control. As he lauds his children's capabilities, elsewhere, in a tube, Chandi remembers how she and her siblings were the products of Uzaki's work, how they called him their father, put through hellish training, and that conditioning seems to reassert itself.

Sho sneaks through the facility, and sees the bugs are controlling scientists..

Keita in Kakuseijin regains contact with the others, just as he is being told not to wate Synapse Attacks, on Uzaki's order the flies merge into Heracles, the worms into Medusa, and the locusts into Icarus. The attacks swiftly overwhelm them.

Lamia and Seeme sense their hopes are in danger, leaving him no choice but to use the last Nebula Seed, while Seeme searches BPL. Before he can go anywhere Sho stumbles upon him, Sho is shocked Lamia knows his name, but realises it must be because of the Limpid Channel. As the others struggle, Lamia passes Sho, froze either in fear or due to Lamia, before leaping and becoming Nebula, breaking out onto the surface to assist the team. Uzaki, who has a psychic jewel on his own head, orders Icarus to deal with him.

Miyako is being made to watch, and Uzaki restates the offer to join him, having hisngrubs force their way on him, Sho arrives and pulls the grub going into her mouth out, and somehow compels all of them to stop moving. Uzaki, watching, writes them off to focus on more important things.

Sakura, in control of Tyran's Active Mode, is at her limit, but manages to sense Sho and Miyako, and go to retrieve them, Sho taking her place in Cereb Head.

Still struggling, Kakuseijin is forced into a room filled with beds, and something unknown in each one.

13th Night: Honey -MITU-

Kakuseijin accidentally pulls one of the creatures the tubes connecting it to its bed, and it flails on the ground.

Akamatsu and co are unable to make contact via radio, while the battles continue. Hinoki feels like dying, Keita snaps, telling her not to drag him with her, which convinces her to raise her Dual Impulses, he readies a massive Synapse Attack, taking advantage of a lale to take out Medusa. Sho using Tyran uses a Synapse Break that freezes Heracles, the insects making the head flee, but are frozen by a time delay. Nebula is almost consumed by Icarus, but uses a rain cloud to amplify Psycho Voice, which explodes Icarus' constituents, but also Nebula, Lamia falls into a lake.

The team prepare to reconvene, Keita wants to take the fight to BPL having seen the Behemoths they are making.

The Lab releases water which erodes a bank Tyran is sat on, as they stumble Miyako, who is in Cereb Head, stumbles and breaks Show's connection temporarily, which makes it harder to get out of a whirlpool that forms, so they wind up back inside the structure. They start having Kaede guide them out, while Kakuseijin breaks into the main area to try and reach them. They finds the Animus field, but then realise that the flowers are growing on the faces of people, indeed every person is still in the capsule from the freighter, Heichin included.

Reconvened with Tyran, they can now confirm everything to do with the pods since Rand Medical Centre was the work of Umezaki's bugs, and the Animus Flower grows off people like the Mandragora of legend. Hinoki is left with the horrific realisation of where the Animus Flowers in Ajanta Caves must have come from, that Lamia has been essentially easting seeds made from her family. Miyako guesses that Umezaki's ultimate aim is to be able to clone the Animus indefinitely, but then everyone becomes intoxicated by a sweet smell. Hinoki seems unaffected, and Sakura warns her they need to get out, but soon Hinoki is out too. The Akamatsu crew defect the pheromones, but aren't with the Neuronoids, which are, laughing, driven straight to a giant flower, and laughing about everything, as they too are affected.

Umezaki is controlling them via his control of Belladonna.

Chandi makes contact with Sakura while trying to call Keita, telling her to call Betterman like she always does.

Lamia appears before Umezaki, who challenges him to claim the Animus Seeds, and ensnares him in a rapidly growing mushroom. As he has Carryants come to take Lamia to dissection, Sakura senses an arrival, as the human shaped light is moving through the BPL, and with a scream burns the Carryants in light. As Umezaki realises this is also a Betterman, Chandi calls her Lume.

14th Night: Soul -KOKORO-

Lume kills the mushrooms on Lamia, and then uses gamma rays to disrupt Umezaki's equipment, through him killing Belladonna. Everyone starts coming down from their highs, Ritchan worries they might now be infected with Algernon.

Umezaki sends Salamanders to attack Lume, throwing themselves at her.

Keita struggles to remember everything, and as Kakuseijin is almost at the Gel Limit they wait while Tyran heads off. Hinoki is back to being gloomy, Keita asks her to go on a date of they make it out alive, she agrees, but with an enthusiasm which suggests she doesn't think it likely.

As Tyran moves, all the bugs are dead and the staff they infected unconscious, Miyako realising all the bugs were controlled via Belladonna. Kaede senses something, Sakura is crying for the poor creatures about to attack them.

Keita spots Puleto, and starts following, but Kakuseijin hits the Gel Limit, and he and Hinoki flee on foot when a Behemoth appears behind them, Hinoki has a memory surge from the sound until Keita uses the bug repellent.

While they wait, Akamatsu starts wondering if Algernon is just part of Natural Selection.

Puleto leads Keita and Hinoki to the tube Chandi is in, Umezaki makes his presence known, explaining that due to the modifications made to the D-Types like her, time in it is necessary to her survival. He also greets Hinoki by name. Her father was a friend of his, so after the expedition vanished he went to Ajanta Caves, and doing no trace of them, but did find the Animus Flowers. His claims he is doing this for humanity's survival, as the flower will allow far more cell division, but feels the individual is unimportant, and now wants King Behemoth to eliminate them.

Lume reappears, impressing Umezaki with her survival, and tries to fight, Tyran is also there to witness. Hinoki sees Lume's appearance matches her mother's, and then she's sent over the edge, Hinoki looking down after her.

Keita frees Chandi, with some difficulty, as Umezaki rants about humanity being saved. Seeing her, he claims she will die out of the tube, but she has other plans, wearing Puleto and stabbing him to death, she then tries to fight King Behemoth, but is sent flying.

Keita is in a panic, but he and Hinoki are then shocked to see a Forte seed growing out of Umezaki's face. Lamia snatches it up, consuming it to become Forte, and fighting King Behemoth, which is much stronger than its predecessor.

Forte immobilised Long Behemoth by spreading mushroom spores that quickly grown in it, eroding armour, and uses Psycho Glory to destroy it.

Hinoki looks up at Betterman, and realises he looks up at her, before leaving, and the Command Trailer rolls in.

Fibrised atop the remains of Belladonna, Seme emerges from Lume and flies off, Lamia has also left the Fibrised shell of Forte.

This ends the Bio Chapter

[chernobog13]

Unpainted figure of the giant, fire-breathing toad kaiju that Ikazuchi-Maru, aka Jiraiya, transforms into for the climatic battle of The Magic Serpent (1966).

I need to track this down and get me one, preferably pre-painted.  Or maybe my partially color-blind self will just take a crack at painting it myself.