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renthony · 3 months ago

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Lost in the Remaster: Star Trek, Vintage Special Effects, and the Charm of Old Media

by Ren Basel renbasel.com

Originally created by Gene Roddenberry, Star Trek is a franchise that spans decades. From the original series of 1966 to current shows such as Lower Decks, it stands as a titan of television and pop culture. The real world has undergone incredible change since Star Trek’s first appearance, yet nerds everywhere still find entertainment, inspiration, and hope in its classic episodes. Recently, along with my husband and best friend, I decided I wanted to attempt the gauntlet of watching the entire franchise from beginning to end, revisiting favorites and finally checking out the ones I missed. Media and fandom studies are my passion, after all, and Star Trek is a foundational part of modern American nerd culture.

Starting with the original series proved more difficult than expected. Living in a tiny apartment, we don’t have much space for DVDs, so Star Trek wasn’t in our existing collection. The local public library didn’t have copies, either, and putting in a purchase request doesn’t guarantee it will be made available. My family doesn’t have the funds to pay for every single streaming service on the market, and Star Trek isn’t available on any we do have access to. Piracy was starting to look like the only option, but even that fell flat when we couldn’t find a version with subtitles. Finally we dug it up officially and with subtitles, for free via PlutoTV, but there were still limitations: PlutoTV only streams season one, and season one is only available in the remastered edition that replaced the original special effects with new visuals.

It wasn’t ideal, but, hey, it was Star Trek.

Watching just one episode a week gave us enough time to scrape together savings to get what we really wanted for seasons two and three: the official BluRay release, which includes both remastered and original-release versions of each episode. The remasters are fine, but as a lover of media history and practical effects, I’m always disappointed to lose a chance to appreciate the originals. It doesn’t matter how good it might look, remasters are never as much fun to me as matte paintings, camera tricks, and whatever the prop department could pull off with ten dollars and some glue.

Finally having the BluRays in hand for season two only affirmed my love of vintage practical effects. Seeing the Enterprise in her original glory, before she was ever rendered in digital form, felt like opening a time capsule. I love time capsules. My favorite pieces of media are always those which capture a moment in time, showcasing the aesthetics, concerns, and culture of the time and place they were created. Star Trek: the Original Series is rooted in the late sixties, when mainstream culture in the United States was experiencing immense upheaval and social change. That context is written all over the show. The vintage effects add to it, grounding it in a very specific time and place. Updating the show’s effects takes away some of that 60s aesthetic, and while some may see it as making the show more timeless, I don’t care for it. To me, seeing what they could pull off before modern technology is half the fun of watching old shows. The ingenuity and creativity of propmakers, makeup artists, and set designers working on shoestring budgets is unparalleled.

To be clear, digital effects are also done by skilled professionals who deserve much more respect and many more labor protections. There are some truly stunning works created with digital tools. That said, I hate when digital effects are used to cover up the practical effects that came before. It feels disrespectful to the original artists, as if telling them their work wasn’t good enough; as if their work was just a placeholder until something better could come along and fix it. Practical effects aren’t a placeholder, they’re an art form in their own right, and that art form is one for which I have deep appreciation.

It frustrates me that the original, non-remastered episodes were such a pain for us to access, but I’m very glad to have added them to my personal media collection. No matter what future tweaks Star Trek’s rights holders might make, I can always pop in our personal copies to enjoy the Enterprise and her crew in all their vintage, “outdated” glory. If you’re also too young to remember the show’s original airing, and you have the opportunity to watch the unedited version, I highly suggest you do. Watching the version that aired in 1966 gives the show a charm that no amount of remastering can ever match.

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#original post #original essays #star trek #the original series #star trek: the original series #star trek tos

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benpaddon · 11 months ago

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PSA for international Doctor Who fans who, like me, buy their Doctor Who Blurays from the UK: The 60th Anniversary Specials set recently released in the UK is region-locked to Region B.

This means it will not play on BD players purchased outside of the UK, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Australia, and New Zealand (regions A and C).

If you have a region-free BD player, or a player that lets you switch between different regions, you don't have anything to worry about. Your player may also have an unlock code that enables you to change the region lock-out, or enable you to switch between regions manually.

PC/Mac BD-ROM drives also typically let you change the region code, but only a certain number of times. Last time I checked, there was software that let you override this limit for the DVD region, but I'm not sure if that's also true for Bluray discs.

If your primary BD player is a console like an Xbox or PlayStation, you're SOL.

So far hasn't affected any other Doctor Who releases from the UK - I also bought "The Underwater Menace" recon and the remastered Series 1-4 set on Bluray, both of which play just fine - so I imagine it's a result of the Disney+ deal and will only impact the New New Who stuff. This probably means we won't get a UHD Bluray release anytime soon, as UHD Blurays don't have region-locking on them.

#Doctor Who #The Star Beast #Wild Blue Yonder #The Giggle #RTD2

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jupiter-86 · 10 months ago

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Saw Lisa Frankenstein today-- LOVED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was so funny and heartfelt and weird!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was just what I needed, and honestly it might be a new favorite movie for me???

It was just so much fun-- it was hilarious, dark, angsty and romantic-- will definitely buy this when it's released on dvd/bluray. I can see myself watching it again and again. I'd describe it as a teen romantic horror comedy? A monster romance horror comedy?Anyway, it was great, 10/10 stars

The film's soundtrack, set design, costuming, and overall aesthetics were so good-- and the writing was EXCELLENT. Loved Lisa and her man--just a great time, everyone go see it!!!!

Also, I want to read fic for this movie <3 There's so much fun material there to work with!!!

Sort-of vague spoiler about the ending under the cut

I loved the ending so much!!!!

It was a total surprise, I was expecting a bittersweet ending, one in which "normality" is restored, Lisa learns a lesson, typical blah blah blah... but no, we finally got the ending my teen-goth-self would have wanted, and my current in-her-thirties self has always wanted out of a monster romance movie (and a girl coming-of-age movie too, tbh).

It's like that quote about women's wrongs, lmao. But also about finding happiness and belonging even if it's unconventional.

And there's something much deeper there too that I need time to unpack, but anyway--

Excellent movie!!!

#lisa frankenstein #movies

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alpaca-clouds · 11 months ago

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Dungeons & Dragons - Or: Why Capitalism Sucks at Making Money

If this past year managed anything, it managed to get me really into DnD. Before I did not play DnD much, rather going with Shadowrun or (heavily homebrewed) World of Darkness. But with first Honor Among Thieves releasing - and then Baldur's Gate 3 giving me brainworms tadpoles... Yeah, hurray. New hyperfixation unlocked.

But as I started to read through all the lore, but also meta stuff happening around it. And yes, I quickly understood why basically everyone was frustrated with Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast. But I also think, that this betrays one of the big issues with capitalist logic and how it often fails to reach an audience - for the reason I outlined before: capitalists are actually super bad at realizing what works and why, because they only judge based on spread sheets.

And yes, the headline is hyperbolic. But let me explain.

A Community-Based Game

I mean, the biggest scandal of DnD this year was probably the entire thing about the community license. And this is very much something that shows quite well, how bad WotC is at recognizing why DnD works and has worked so long.

DnD centrally has been build around this idea of community. Now, mind you: This community was very, very focused on cis white guys for the longest time, but everybody else just managed to get in there and make their own little bit of community. Which also lead to a lot of homebrew stuff, that at times tackled some issues that the rules themselves did not address at all or not well. The combat wheelchair is probably the best known example of this.

But even outside of marginalized communities... DnD always thrived through the community aspect itself. People self-publishing magazines and adventures for it since the fucking 70s. As well as play sets, dice and what-have-you. DnD was always very much about all this and thrived through it. And now in came WotC saying: "Oh, yeah, actually you will now have to give us a big cut. (The big irony was, how Unity made the same move later on.) The fandom outcry was obviously big, there was a boycot, it worked. And WotC went all:

Of course they basically won the world competition in backpaddling (though again, Unity was a big contender this year as well) and quickly went back on this. But of course there is a problem: When your entire product is so much build around community and your community starts mistrusting you, you got a problem.

And this is basically what happened.

The Audience Problem

There is another problem of course. Financially the DnD movie failed - and I actually think this says a lot about how WotC kinda misunderstands the audience.

Now, there will be people trying to tell you, that given that the movie had great reviews and stuff. But the movie had a production budget of 150 million USD and only earned a bit more than 200 million on worldwide box office. Given that the marketing budget was likely around 30 million, the movie barely broke even.

Of course, part of the reason for it was that it just had a bad release date. It released parallel to the Super Mario movie, which ended up being one of the most successful movies of this year.

A friend of mine could not believe that the movie had financially flopped. They were like: "What the hell? Literally everyone I know who watched the movie went to cinema like three times to see it again." But... Yeah, that is true. But the issue is that these people are a very certain group.

Because lets make one thing clear: The people, who adored the movie so much, that they went to the cinema several times and bought the DVD/BluRay on release... were mostly queer nerds. Because this is the group of people who this movie spoke to.

And let's make this clear: I love the movie for this. I love that it so clearly went for this audience. Because I am part of this audience - and I adore this film.

But basically the movie has a general issue in terms of audience. Because on one hand the movie is too nerdy to have a wider audience appeal of people who had never played DnD, while on the other hand the movie was kinda not nerdy enough to go full force for the nerd audience.

A lot of people in the fandom have instantly sussed out one thing about the movie: "Why doesn't Edgin cast any spells? And why do we see so little of the weirder species?" And part of the reason undoubtedly was budget related. But the other reason is that... well, it is currently a well accepted wisdom in media production that you cannot sell a high-magic story. At least not outside of animated media.

Hence... There is surprisingly little magic being cast in this. And we also do have a mostly human main cast - or why Doric is the most classically pretty tiefling you have seen with her human skin tone and all of that. Because media productions do not trust the audience to accept high magic concepts.

Who is DnD actually for?

Okay, let me talk a bit about DnD 5e - and a good decision, and a bad decision. And how that affected DnD.

Everyone, who is somewhat into DnD probably knows that 5e massively changed the game. With one simple goal: Make it more accessible. Which manifested in several ways.

For one, the game was in some ways made less offensive. Because prior to 5e there was a ton of racism, sexism, queerphobia and ableism inherent to the game rules and times to the game lore. This is just a fact. Things like species that are inherently evil and stuff like that - and also some of the real-life racial coding inherent to some of the species. Removing all that stuff is a good thing. Like amazingly good.

And also, they made the rules a lot more accessible. Before the rules were bogged down with a lot of stuff, that was simplified or removed. Again, this is a good thing.

And this worked. It worked really well. Of course, this was also partly due to stuff like Critical Role and other actual plays like that happening and promoting the game. The player base probably increased ten-fold from what it was before.

Yes, it should also be noted that there is probably a good topic for a study on how formerly nerd-thingies became more and more mainstream during the last 10 years or so, but yes, DnD was one of those things.

But in this there was also a rather bad decision made, which ironically also mirrors what happened with Marvel. And this decision is: Because we want to reach a wider audience, every single thing we release for this has to reach the widest audience possible - rather than allowing that certain things might have a more specific audience.

I am sorry to talk about the MCU here, but it is just such a perfect example of this: The MCU basically made two mistakes. Overwhelming their audience with too many releases. But also not allowing the movies to be for a certain audience, but for the broadest audience possible. A good example is how they dealt with the minority-lead movies. They got directors and at times even writers from that minority - but then basically did not allow them to be too specific and be too critical of, for example, a racist system because that might not go over too well with white mainstream audiences.

Now, WotC did not really do anything like that. But they also went with this idea that everything they officially released should have the broadest possible appeal. Hence the weirdly low-magic approach to the movie, of which I assume that it definitely was an executive decision made.

The fact that the movie resonated so much with the queers more than anyone else was also not intended - at least not from the production company. Like, let's be honest. No, Xenk and Ed were not supposed to be read as romantic. And how appealing the found family trope was, probably was not intented at least on the side of Hasbro (not sure about screenwriters and director).

The Lore Problem

This perfectly connects to one of the big issues that all the franchises going for a broad appeal after being very nerd-focused for so long, run into: The Lore Problem. And this is quite ironic, because I ran into the problem earlier this year as well.

See, as I was writing fanfics for DnD:HAT I quickly ran into the problem that I knew next to nothing about the world of Faerûn. Sure, once upon a time (like between 2007 and 2011, while I was living in Austria with my then-boyfriend, who really was into those games) I played the old games of Neverwinter Nights and Baldur's Gate 1 + 2. But let's be frank: I barely remember shit from those games. And getting to understand what actually happened in the lore between and after... Well, there is just a ton of lore. I mean, people are playing around with this world for literal decades. So, yeah. This can very much be overwhelming for someone getting into it anew. Like, where can someone new even start?

The fact that - at least partly for legal reasons - most of the Actual Plays also do not work with the official lore, rather just using the rules to create their own worlds, obviously adds to this. Even the tables I played on so far always preferred original worlds, because the lore of DnD is just very intimidating.

The one thing that actuall ended up getting me into the lore was BG3, because it left open just the right questions to go into the Forgotten Realms wiki and just look for stuff, before also starting to listen to lore podcasts.

But here is the thing: WotC is also not helping with this issue. Like, they absolutel could create a proper accessible compendium on DnDBeyond that would just allow people to get an overview of the world and the timeline of things happening, maybe go into some of the major factions of the world and such. I mean, heck, they really, really want you to use DnD-Beyond rather than roll20. Yet, in DnD-Beyond I do not even have a monster compendium without paying, which roll20 offers.

Like, sure, WotC, it is okay to lock up the adventure modules behind a paywall, no problem. But if you do give me even the most basic tools to run a campaign, I am gonna use roll20, thank you very much.

But yeah, what WotC should make just more accessible was just: Timeline, important places and the maps (heck, make them interactive, you have the fucking money), maybe also a proper list of the pantheons and factions within the world. Heck, add maybe some inspiration there for what players might want to do within one of the scenarios and then, under this, go and link "hey, we made this one adventure about this, if you are interested!"

Something I did not realize originally was how much freedom the lore still leaves the people. Like, often even the important settings and events are just set-ups for adventures that the characters can have in there. There might be a few novels or comics then, that go into an example of a thing certain established characters like Drizzt or Elminster did during the time, but there is a ton of freedom to explore.

But by basically locking everything up behind a paywall, you will never get people even interested in this kinda stuff.

Because here is the thing: I like my lore. I love lore. I adore lore. But... Without BG3 explaining some stuff and giving me specific questions to ask about it, the lore would have been very inaccessible to me.

Just think of people as... people

Of course among it all there lies the central problem that comes with capitalism running something like this. See, whatever CEOs and shareholders are sitting on those chairs with WotC and Hasbro, they do not see the players as players or the community as a community, but as consumers. Just as they see their employees not as valued constributors, but very exchangable wage slaves.

They do not see the value of the community exchange with stuff like fanmade modules and things. While incorporating a bit of homebrew stuff in DnD Beyond, they are absolutely not interested in the wider market of people just creatively interacting with DnD and making a little bit of money from it. If anything they see those people as potential rivals on the market.

Heck, they have issues seeing things like Critical Role or Roll20 as the enrichment for the franchise that either are - but more like potential rivaling forces and money they have lost.

And their employees? Yeah, as we learned... Most people who from the side of WotC helped the Larian team with BG3 have been let go by now. Because WotC and Hasbro do not care for their employees, they only care about having some numbers going up.

I fully admit it. Apart from Buying BG3 and the money I have invested in anything DnD:HAT related, the only money that WotC got from me, was some of the novels I bought on Audible.

But here is the thing: WotC is doing a shite job at wanting me to invest into any of their stuff. Partly because those modules I would like to have are not available anywhere anyway - and partly because... As I said, give me a reason to get something, rather than just expecting me to randomly get something.

And mind you, this is no slight against any of the people just working for WotC. This is mostly about shareholder and executive decisions made. Stuff that basically just sees either their employers or the players just as a ressource to exploit, rather than... people.

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animenostalgia · 10 months ago

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Head's up! - Discotek's upcoming Berserk '97 TV series bluray is now up for pre-order on Amazon! This new release will include all the extras from it's previous DVD releases (and yes, that means Dub Outtakes!), and the entire series in high definition. The bluray set is currently listed for a March 26, 2024 release. If you'd like to pre-order it AND help support the podcast, you can use my affiliate link here!

#Berserk #90s anime #anime on bluray #affiliate link #anime pre-order #discotek media #kentaro miura

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marcarella-pizza · 2 years ago

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Buddy Daddies Bluray Vol 2!

Im finally back home from Japan and can now share with you guys the Buddy Daddies bluray!

Quickly before I start:

If you’re outside of Japan and would like these, I have a post here detailing how to get them!

I bought this copy from Yobodashi, NOT animate, so unfortunately no bonus pic this time!

Let’s begin!

First, all the buddy daddies media currently available (not including the OP album cus that’s not BD branded)

The case! It went pink this time which, if we hadn’t seen “Daughter Daddies” I’d have found it somewhat weird. Idk if this is about to become a rainbow or what though. My guess would be vol 3 is blue.

Inside content! The red booklet features settings from the two episodes included (Vol 1 did this too) this vol however, also came with AAALLL the character designs - every character. Even the “mafia boss” as he’s titled from the first ep.

And finally the DVD case! The classic two page spread illustration for the back is adorable! I’m only sad that Rei was the one left out this time. Similar to vol 1 though, miri was the left out one there so my guess is kazuki will be vol 3.

Vol 3 design was already released actually so I’m fairly accurate!

The two discs are for the episodes and the Drama CD…

I’m tempted to provide a transcript and translate it… HOWEVER I admit that I struggle with listening to Japanese a bit. I rely on Japanese subtitles often and… well… audios don’t have that. So if I did do it, it may have errors.

I’ll think more on it…

Until next time!

#buddy daddies #buddy daddies bluray #bluray #bd bluray #kazuki kurusu #miri unasaka #rei suwa

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tgcfresources · 7 months ago

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Master Post Links

Since the reddit post has outdated links and information, I wanted to provide people an easy way to find things instead of having to look through massive amounts of scrolling.

First I just want to say I'm new to this fandom, if there's any incorrect information or things missing feel free to message me on Discord or @ me at any of the TGCF discord's I'm on as I DO NOT check tumblr often. My Discord is .raphaela

Tags:

Official Art

Audio Drama

Sprites

Official Videos

Novel

Colored Novel Illustrations

B/W Novel Illustrations

Revised Uncensored Version

Discord Servers

Eternal Faith / Live Action

Manhua

Novel

As the novel as been official translated into several languages, I will NOT post links to read it here.

Novel Audiobooks

Link to Audiobooks: Link 1.

Revised Chinese Novel

There is currently no plans for 7S to translate this version as it was released as a webtoon AFTER the official novel translations.

Link to the Revised Chinese Version English Fan Translations and Faq.

If you would like to buy the Chinese revised version, follow this guide on how to purchase the novel on JJWXC books. Then use this guide on how to export the text for use on your preferred translator.

You can read the revised novel easily with SmoothReader, which now has a google chrome extension.

Manhua (Manga)

The English bilibili comics site shut down on February 29th and is no longer available. You can view the original Chinese Raw on the official bilibil site with a VPN. Guide on how to buy the original volumes here.

Currently there are 101 chapters, no word on when it will resume. HEAVEN OFFICIAL'S BLESSING IS ON LEHZIN!! (no new episodes, just publishing existing episodes... for now. First 4 Chapters free.) It's also on bato.to.

Donghua (Anime)

There are currently 2 seasons available.

Season 1

Audio: English, Mandarine. (Only the Bilibili website has Japanese Audio Available, you need to become a Big Fan to view them. The Official release DVD/Bluray also only had the two languages available. If you want Japanese audio you will need to buy the Japanese release from a proxy service website.)

Subtitles: English.

Official English DVD/Bluray available from a number of retailers.

Season 2

Audio: English, Japanese, Mandarine.

Subtitles: English.

Does not yet have an official English DVD/Bluray release.

Currently Available to view on Crunchyroll (US Only, VPN Works), Bilibili Website (Available with Japanese Audio, Season 1 only) & Bilibili Youtube (Season 1 only) Both requires you to have a VPN, only available in hongkong.

Placeholder Guide on how to pay for Big Fan on Bilibili Website.

It has since been removed from Netflix and Amazon Prime.

Season 3 has yet to be confirmed.

Audio Drama

It's getting VERY long - Post here

Live Action Adaptation Series

A live action Adaptation is in the works and will be called Eternal Faith. Filming was done in 2022, rumored to be released this year (2024), set to be 60 episodes, but nothing is confirmed.

Information taken from a number of sources, mostly the tgcf reddit faq and TGCF Discord servers.

#heaven official's blessing #tgcf #tian guan ci fu #hob #tgcf revised uncensored version #tgcf novel #tgcf audio drama #tgcf manhua

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kamenstranger · 29 days ago

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Several years back I did a review on Kamen Rider Black and my opinion hasn't changed much since. Like a lot of my older stuff, I think that review is a bit long winded describing the ending stretch of the series, but overall it still conveys my love of Kamen Rider Black.

The short of it is Black was a return to basics for the franchise while at the same time breathing new life with more contemporary themes of 1980s Japan excess. Very cult like villains akin to what what happening in the late 70s and coming to a head by the 80s. You have plot lines centered around the ever rising cost of living, the booming idol industry satirized as a means of brainwashing, a greater emphasis on the horror aspects, the strongest environmental message since the original Manga, and uh, cults infiltrating politics.

It's a fantastic series and it's one of my highest recommended Showa era shows alongside V3.

Today, I mainly want to focus on the Bluray release by Discotek, which primarily means talking about the special features. However, I quickly want to run down a few key factors. First off, the image quality; it's the exact same as the Japanese release, which is what my old review used as a basis so I don't have much to add. It's a crisp gorgeously detailed transfer with those annoying seizure inducing attack sequences of the original broadcast and DVD release removed. Nothing is removed except those flashes in-between frames. This is the ideal way to view the series for that improvement alone. There is a special feature that shows the original attacks from the first couple episodes, should you happen to have a TV Power belt laying around.

As for the subs, truthfully I wasn't even gonna mention them cause I think you know Discotek has a long proven track record for quality. Still, someone might ask, and yes, they're good. They're also your best option nowadays, anyway. The Century King subs are so old you'd be hard pressed to find them, and the redone version that came about with the JPN bluray had a number of misspellings and other typing errors.

I will admit I've not finished this watch, but nothing in Discotek's release has stuck out to me as egregious. The only thing I can think of that might bug some people is that Kaijin is interpreted as Monster rather than Mutant, which is… whatever. I can understand why the old Century Kings translation used Mutant, it's a good way to keep it separate from how we typically associate Kaiju = Monster. Mutant invokes the more human/jin aspect as opposed to a beast. But that's a level of semantics even I don't care about. Hell, it's not even as if it plays a massive narrative or thematic role, with the possible exception of Whale, who has humanity in a morale sense. The monsters in Black by in large exist as humanoid animals, they're rarely ever humans turned into animal hybrids like the other Showa shows, so I don't think that distinction is all that important in the grand scheme of things.

I should also note, as always, the movies are treated separately, meaning "Hurry to Onigashima" and "The Phantom House of Devil Pass" are not included in the set.

With all that out of the way, first and foremost we have to talk about how Discotek handles presentation of the special features on this set. I will say it's a marked improvement over Gavan, which didn't even mention Special Features on the back of the case. They list the special features on Black's case…but they don't list what discs those features are on. So I started with 5, which had a almost everything but the cast reunion I was looking for. So I pop in disc 1- no special features. So I start working backwards with disc 4; Cast Reunion part 3. I then had a sense of déjà vu because I did this same song and dance with Gavan. It's a minor thing, but one that could've been easily resolved by simply stating which discs had what, either on the case or the disc themselves. Hell, even just a "Special features discs 2-5" I don't know how they look on RX and Sharivan, but I'm gonna laugh if I get my V3 Bluray and the special features aren't listed as clearly as my Generation Kikaider set.

Anyway, the first special feature is on disc 2 "This is Kamen Rider Black" which was a special that aired one week before the series premier and acted as a sneak preview. I'm glad it's here and not left out or relegated to some bizarre compilation disc (looking at you, MillCreek.) It's an interesting time capsule and stuff like this should be preserved.

Note that the image quality here looks significantly worse than the remastered episodes because this was on tape, although still quite clear for what it is. You will however notice lines at the bottom of the screen now and then.

As far as the special itself is concerned… it's kinda just marketing fluff hosted by Ishinomori's son, Jo, and Jiban's own Michiko Enokida. You get a very brief interview with Ishinomori, a pretty cool behind the scenes bit of the casting process, Tetsuo Kurata in the recording booth for the main theme and a… pretty awkward as hell interview with Kotaro, Kyoko, and Katsumi. Notice I'm using the character names. It's awkward in both a delightfully and painfully 80s way.

However, the real meat of these features is the 3 part cast reunion, which was included in the 3 sets released in Japan back in '22. Each part is about 40-ish minutes and consists of Testsuo Kurata, Moe (Ayaumi) Taguchi, Hitomi Yoshii, Producer Susumu Yoshikawa, and Director Yoshiaki Kobayashi. Quite the eclectic mix and even a bit odd in the case of Kobayashi, who only directed the opening episode of Black and is slightly infamous for being a bit of a hardass, which the actors do not hide at all. Although they do credit him with pushing them to be better, so there's no ill will. That was, after all, a grueling month long shoot for everyone.

Compared to Gavan's cast special, it's not quite the same wealth of knowledge, or at least it doesn't seem like it because it can feel a tad disjointed. Although that doesn't make it any less interesting. There's simply more reminiscing filled with small personal stories, both entertaining and occasionally insightful. My favorite was Ishinomori insisting Kurata's purchases at a particular restaurant be put on his personal tab. Charming tales aside, there are still major gems about the industry and not just with Black. Such as Kobayashi mentioning the influence of Easy Rider on Kamen Rider due to Ishinomori liking the movie and being fascinated by the counterculture movement. It's nice to have a more direct source on it, since the only other place I can readily cite that claim is dubious at best.

Kobayashi also goes into the complication of not having time to watch your own work as it's airing, which makes it difficult to do adjustments on the production, get audience feedback and see where your own faults lie. There's also discussion about JAC and how incredibly strict their standards are, mainly because hesitation more than anything else is what results in injury. (Although Gavan has a far more in depth look into that area) We even get some tidbits about Toei's Spider-Man, which both Kobayashi and Yoshikawa worked on.

But perhaps my favorite production story with Black specifically is the theme song, which was the duo of Yoko Aki writing the lyrics and her husband Ryudo Uzaki handling the music. It was less a decision on the production side and simply Ishinomori happened to be great friends with Aki, so why not? Which, if you're unfamiliar with the two, they were a HUGE deal. Aki and Uzaki wrote several hits for Japan's biggest idol, Momoe Yamaguchi, in the late 70s, including her biggest hit "Yokosuka Story." Incidentally, Yamaguchi has a son, Takahiro Miuram, who you're probably familiar with as Bilgenia in Black Sun.

Susumu Yoshikawa's only instructions to Aki was to keep the lyrics simple and use very little English since it's a program for children. Uzaki sung on the demo tape with a backing guitar. The original lyrics, according to Kurata, were a bit different in the opening, something along the lines of "Last through the ages, race through the Sky." Although that original demo tape is now sadly lost. Kurata would listen to the tape on repeat in preparation for the recording, which took 6 hours in the booth, all while Aki and Uzaki were present, which made the pressure even harder. Although by Yoshikawa account, it was on the faster side of recording.

There's other production stories I won't cover, some small, some as interesting as the theme, such as the still fairly new Jiro Okamoto taking on the challenging suit acting role (Which it's a shame he isn't part of this feature.) But I won't spoil everything. It's a good three part special that's worth the price of admission alone, but it did leave me wanting more. Thankfully, we still have more.

Most of the other special features are what you would expect; original post credit commercials for Giveaways and Toei's various festivals and events, the U.S. Bluray Trailer, a trailer for RX's Discotek release, the aforementioned segment showing the original attacks in their flashiness. But, as with Gavan, we have a wonderful write up by MachDent.

This is the cherry on the sundae right here. Again, not to deride the other stuff. Trailers and the like should be here, I'd be complaining if they weren't. But this is what I'm interested in most; historical examinations of a show. Frankly, it's quite a bit more informative than the cast reunion while also having a clear concise time line of how Black came to be. Stuff like this, having the Japanese special features, and of course quality subtitles for the main event is really what sets these Discotek releases apart from others. I'd be happy with a relatively bare bone but quality release, but I'd be lying if I didn't say a big selling part was getting these features. I'm not going to pretend these are cheap set by any means, but they're also not cheapening out. I greatly appreciate Discotek not only gathering the stuff on the JPN side, but adding their own special features that elevate the whole thing. Now that we're in an era of having fewer and fewer indie shops and smaller distributors, I feel almost an obligation to support what few remain-- less Sony or Toho gobble them up next.

#review #tokusatsu #kamen rider #toei #discotek media #blu ray #kamen rider black

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suthnmeh · 7 months ago

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I have made everyone I know so far suffer my love for this film, so I must ask- are you aware of any possible DVD releases? I would LOVE a physical copy so bad, its such a masterpiece!

Side note - Love that Dog is a Smiths fan ! That little visual nod to the culture and era made me giggle, really set the vibe for his relationship with Duck to 😭💔

I have only HEARD about Robot Dreams apparently coming to DVD (Bluray?) last time I hung out with Robot Dreams people, but I can't confirm nor deny yet XD But I have high hopes!

Pablo Berger lived in New York during the 80s and 90s, where he met Yuko Harami, his now wife AND also member of the team. So they really wanted to make everything as accurate as possible. There was quite a lot of research behind the scenes and you can tell^^

#robot dreams #replies #new york

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nerdby · 10 months ago

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Please, remember, that by deleting shows and movies, and edging psychical media out of existence Hollywood and streaming platforms are able to censor the media you have access to. It is not an accident that these things are happening at the same time as book bans are happening -- there is already speculation online about The Hays Code being revitalized.

The Hays Code was a set of rules put in place by the Catholic Church in the 1930s-1960s in order to illegally censor TV and film in the US.

The streaming industry is imploding and that is a good thing not just because of censorship but also because they abuse writers and actors.

At one point HBO/MAX swore that DCU content would be exclusive to their streaming platform. But now MAX is hemorrhaging money and is licensing DCU shows and movies out to other streaming platforms including free ones like Tubi. Thanks, Mindy❣️

Another sign that the industry is imploding is that Disney has released Disney+ exclusives like WandaVision and Loki season one on Bluray, and Netflix recently announced a Blu-ray release of the Wednesday series mere MONTHS after canceling their DVD subscription service.

If you want to support writers and actors, please invest in psychical media. If you are in Australia and want to collect psychical media invest in a region free Blu-ray player, and buy movies from Amazon, eBay, etc.

Remember that psychical media is an investment. If you buy a movie or whatever that you end up hating you can always resell it or donate it somewhere, and by investing in psychical media you are helping to preserve film history. If you're able to pirate, I highly recommend burning your favorite shows and movies onto DVDs for more secure storage.

Do not let small children handle your DVDs/Blurays cause nine times out of ten that is how they end up getting scratched and ruined. If you find fingerprints on a disc you can usually wipe them off with a microfiber cloth and the disc will play fine. You can also buy a disc cleaning machine.

If you cannot afford to buy Blurays/DVDs check out your local library as they often have movies you can rent for FREE. Also check out Gamefly which lets you rent movies on Blu-ray/DVD for like $11.99USD a month. It's basically old school Netflix -- and you can rent videogames from them too.

Most importantly remember--

If you buy more psychical media corporations will create more of it. That is how supply and demand works.

Cancel your streaming subscriptions and invest in psychical media.

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