This week gave us a much better picture of Gamera Rebirth, thanks to its panel at Anime Japan: we got a synopsis, character descriptions, another opponent unveiled (Jiger!), some toys, and a trailer. I'm loving the redesigns for the kaiju, and am pretty intrigued by the extent to which the U.S. is battling them, but the animation for the humans doesn't look any better than the Polygon Godzilla trilogy. I guess I can bear it for Gamera's sake.
Actor Jiro Dan (middle) died on Wednesday at the age of 74. His claim to fame was playing Ultraman Jack's host, Hideki Go, in Return of Ultraman and many Ultraman series and films since; he was also G-Guard Commander Besuke Jinguji in Godzilla Island. May he rest in peace.
Just when I was starting to worry that IDW's second run of Godzilla comics was going to abruptly end in May, here's another five-issue miniseries. Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons chronicles a secret voyage of Sir Francis Drake in which he and his crew encountered the King of the Monsters and (naturally) other Toho creatures. Believe it or not, this is Drake's second meeting with Godzilla: the first was in Dark Horse's Godzilla, King of the Monsters #10. Can't say I'm a huge fan of Godzilla in pre-Atomic Age settings though. Frank Tieri is writing and Inaki Miranda is illustrating; first issue's in June.
Godzilla: Tokyo SOS was the first Godzilla movie I saw in theaters (at the Pickwick, no less), so catching the Fathom Events showing on Wednesday was a nostalgic treat. Less nostalgic, but quite welcome: new subtitles! Well, new to us. @kyodaikino theorized that they're actually older than the dubtitles we've been forcibly acquainted with. None of the frame rate issues I heard Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla suffered from either. No idea why this was playing on a random weekday in March, but they should keep it up.
Every so often, The Asylum makes a giant monster movie that's a decent way to waste 90 minutes. Ape vs. Monster, their Godzilla vs. Kong mockbuster, was one such production, but I'm sorry to report that Ape vs. Mecha Ape (their... King Kong Escapes mockbuster?) is not. Indeed, it seems bent on entertaining the viewer as little as possible. Avoid at all costs.
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Here's the trailer for Shinpei Hayashiya's next kaiju flick, War of the Ninja Monsters: Jaron vs. Goura. The bar is in hell after his last one, so qualities like "there are suits for both of the monsters" and "the frame isn't wallpapered with cheap CG effects" are notable.
Godzilla Battle Line introduced a new mode, and it's a pretty enjoyable one. Like free battles, challenge battles equalize the levels of all Battle Pieces in the match; you also have to follow certain restrictions when building your team, forcing strategies to shift significantly. The more you win, the faster your egg cracks open and yields rewards. I've only dropped one match so far, which is no surprise; as a trans Pokémon player, I have a lot of experience with egg-hatching.
The original five Ultra Brothers (Zoffy never comes to these things). This is a rare shot because, for some reason, Ultraman Taro's Saburo Shinoda is never involved in the reunion episodes, specials and films.
From left:
Jiro Dan R.I.P. (Hideki Go - The Return of Ultraman/Ultraman Jack); Kohji Moritsugu (Dan Moroboshi - Ultraseven); Saburo Shinoda (Kotaro Higashi - Ultraman Taro); Susumu Kurobe (Shin Hayata - Ultraman); and Keiji Takamine (Seiji Hokuto - Ultraman Ace).