#minoru kawasaki

[kinasin]

The Calamari Wrestler

[himitsusentaiblog]

Terrestrial Defense Girl Iko-Chan and it's sequels are early works of Minoru Kawasaki, director of such films as; The Calamari Wrestler, Executive Koala, The World Sinks Except for Japan and Monster Seafood Wars.

[mahounomanga]

Chikyuu Bouei Shoujo Iko-chan

One of the interesting side effects of defining this blog's scope in the way that I have is that, for better or for worse, only focusing on magical girl manga that don't have anime adaptations automatically filters out almost every multimedia franchise. Sure we've talked about a couple manga adaptations of big live action productions, but there's a difference between that and a series that spreads itself across a handful of mediums simultaneously. Most magical girl multimedia projects from Japan will throw an anime of some form into the mix. Which is to say most, but not all. Today we'll be taking a look at a series which, throughout the late 80s and early 90s, released manga, a video game, a live action series, and more, but has no anime.

Chikyuu Bouei Shoujo Iko-chan (Terrestrial Defense Girl Iko) started as a live action direct-to-video series in 1987. The protagonist is Iko Kawai, a middle schooler who one day helps a member of the intergalactic police she sees lying unconscious on the pavement, and as a reward she is gifted a high tech headset called the Super Incom. The Super Incom allows her to use ESP to do what she believes is right, giving her abilities including but not limited to instant outfit changes, teleportation, leaping tall buildings in a single bound, shrinking, and communicating with beasts. In using her newfound powers, she catches the attention of an Earth defense squad known as the Light Terrestrial Defense Team, LTDT for short. They recruit Iko as a new member, and now armed with her Super Incom and gadgets from the LTDT, it is her duty to protect Earth from extraterrestrial threats.

The first entry in the series, an approximately 47 minute movie, was released on February 28, 1987. The monster designs were done by Toru Narita, who had done special effects work for Godzilla, and co-created Ultraman; so his involvement helped draw attention to the project. The series even has an Ultraman parody character in the form of Miracleman, who can grow to enormous size, but passes out when he does so.

A second movie was released on July 14, 1988, at the start of which Iko bequeaths her Super Incom to a new girl, coincidentally named Iko Sugekawa, who also goes on to work for the LTDT. While the original Iko was played by Akiko Isozaki, a relatively obscure child actress, the new Iko was played by Mia Masuda, a popular idol who was just getting her start around this time. This meant many Iko-chan fans were also Mia Masuda fans, and vice versa. Even now many people seem to know of the series predominantly through her involvement. This movie gives Iko a new (and more iconic) outfit, plus a spectacularly intelligent and accomplished rival named Runna Hakuba. Mia Masuda would stay on as Iko for the third movie, released on June 22, 1990, but each subsequent production would cast a different actress in the role. As for the series director, Minoru Kawasaki is known for producing tokusatsu parodies on the cheap, with Terrestrial Defense Girl Iko being one such example.

Due to the success of the original movie trilogy, a video game based on the series was released for the PC98 engine on December 4, 1992. Titled Chikyuu Bouei Shoujo Iko-chan ~UFO Daisakusen~ (Terrestrial Defense Girl Iko ~The Great UFO Strategy~, this is a turn-based battle game with visual novel elements, in which the LTDT face off against various aliens. Unfortunately, the game didn't sell well. It's speculated that the gameplay style didn't capture the appeal of the title's tokusatsu origins. The in-game art is very pretty though, for whatever that's worth.

Iko would continue starring in live action sequels and spinoffs after that, and a number of companion books were released for the series as well, but the release most relevant to this blog is the Iko-Chan manga.

Running in monthly Comic Comp from the May 1988 issue to the May 1991 issue, this manga was created by Yoshito Asari, with writing input from Minoru Kawasaki, the original director. Asari is best known for his involvement in the production of the original Evangelion anime, for which he was an assistant character designer, and he penned a 4koma spinoff titled Evangelion Yonkoma Zenshuu. However, he is an accomplished mangaka in his own right, creating works such as Wahhaman, Manga Science, and Space Family Carlvinson, the lattermost of which would get an OVA adaptation in 1988.

Over the course of its' run, the Iko-chan manga would amass a total of 32 chapters. The first tankobon volume, containing chapters 1 through 18, was published by Kadokawa on September 13, 1990, but the remainder of the series would not be compiled until a new edition of both volumes was released by Hakusensha under their Jets Comics label on December 25, 1999. A digital rerelease, also by Hakusensha, was made available on December 26, 2014.

This manga makes some changes to the original plot, particularly in Iko's backstory. In this version, Iko already works for the LTDT part-time at the start of the series, and she gets the Super Incom after helping Miracleman while he's drunk. It's less momentous, but I actually prefer it given how poorly the original Iko's buddying up to cops has aged. The way the Super Incom works is slightly different too: it activates when she says please, enunciating each syllable (o-ne-ga-i). This makes whatever she thinks will help happen, but if she attempts to use this power for selfish reasons, the device will malfunction.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to read very much of the manga, and the language barrier made it difficult to get into any version of this series. Huge shout-out to the surprisingly detailed Japanese Wikipedia page, which was a tremendous help in researching for this overview. They also have quite a bit of information on later installments in this series I glossed over. There is a lot more I could get into, but I wanted to mainly focus on the meat of the franchise, and this post is long enough as is.

I really hope fan translations of the series become available one day, because Terrestrial Defense Girl Iko seems like a lot of fun, and I would definitely recommend it to fans of older tokusatsu. There are elements of it I don't vibe with, but still, it has an interesting premise, some decently entertaining humor, a super catchy theme song, and a killer aesthetic.

[could-they-be-a-pro-wrestler]

How successful would Kanichi Iwata/The Calamari Wrestler…

Would you like to submit a character? Click this link if you do!

[randomrichards]

WALK CHEERFULLY:

Gangster falls in love

Goes straight for secretary

Can’t hide from his past

[sycamoretrees]

so over the last few months I have been putting together some curated wrestling selections for best pal @benchwarming (a Japanese-wrestling-curious AEW fan), and I thought I would share them here for anyone else who might be interested, particularly if you want to try NJPW or DDT but aren't sure where to start.

@benchwarming: i really enjoyed these matches even when i didn't know the wrestlers or have much context going in! lots of compelling in-ring dynamics, funny bits, and straightforwardly great wrestling

I've included links for everything (and bolded my particular favourite matches), please hit me up if you have any questions, or if you want any other recommendations! I would love to talk to you about Japanese wrestling!!!

WrestleTime OG

Hiromu Takahashi vs Will Ospreay, NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 2020 (x)

Kota Ibushi vs Toru Yano, NJPW G1 Climax 2018 (x)

Stephanie Vaquer vs AZM, NJPW Windy City Riot 2024 (x)

El Desperado vs Hiromu Takahashi, NJPW Best of the Super Juniors 2020 (x)

Kota Ibushi vs Shinsuke Nakamura, NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 2015 (x)

(more under the cut)

2Wrestle2Time: The Squeakquel

Jay White vs Juice Robinson, NJPW G1 Special in San Francisco 2018 (x)

Jon Moxley vs Toru Yano, NJPW G1 Climax 2019 (x)

El Desperado & Jun Kasai vs Jon Moxley & Homicide, NJPW Independence Day 2023 (x)

Konosuke Takeshita vs Yuki Ueno, DDT Wrestle Peter Pan 2023 (x)

Hiromu Takashi & Jun Kasai vs Minoru Suzuki & Takayuki Ueki, NJPW Despe Invitacional 2024 (x)

Katsuyori Shibata vs Kazuchika Okada, NJPW Sakura Genesis 2017 (x)

Wr3stl3Tim3: Tokyo Drift

Jon Moxley vs Tomohiro Ishii, NJPW G1 Climax 2019 (x)

Toru Yano vs Kenny Omega, NJPW G1 Climax 2017 (x)

Miu Watanabe vs Miyu Yamashita, TJPW Grand Princess 2024 (x)

Kuroshio Tokyo Japan vs Takeshi Masada, DDT Ultimate Party 2023 (x)

Kazuki Hirata vs Mao vs Yoshihiko, DDT What Are You Doing 2023 (x)

Yuki Ueno vs Yukio Sakaguchi, DDT Kawasaki Strong 2021 (x)

[landofanimes]

Sailor Moon Musical - Nogizaka46 5th Generation Version 2024

Cast reveal

Team Moon (from Nogizaka46)

Nagi Inoue as Sailor Moon / Usagi Tsukino

Aya Ogawa as Sailor Mercury / Ami Mizuno

Hina Okamoto as Sailor Mars / Rei Hino

Mao Ioki as Sailor Jupiter / Makoto Kino

Teresa Ikeda as Sailor Venus / Minako Aino

Team Star (from Nogizaka46)

Satsuki Sugawara as Sailor Moon / Usagi Tsukino

Aruno Nakanishi Sailor Mercury / Ami Mizuno

Miku ​​Ichinose as Sailor Mars / Rei Hino

Nao Tomisato as Sailor Jupiter / Makoto Kino

Sakura Kawasaki as Sailor Venus / Minako Aino

General Cast

Yuzuha Uesegi as Naru Osaka

Miyu Nakano as Gurio Umeno

Tenju Mitsuki as Tuxedo Mask / Mamoru Chiba

Tsukasa Hiryu as Kunzite

Aya Akane as Zoicite

Makise Rui as Nephrite

Mayuko Ohara as Jadeite

Rinko Matsubara as Queen Beryl

Iroha Okuda as Queen Serenity (appears in projection) from N46

Misato Matsumoto and Hiroko Wakasa return as Luna's puppet operators

Ensemble: Misaki Aoki, Yazawa Asuka, Amane, Haruka Ikeda, Misakura Ikeda, Ito Wako, Nanaka Suzuki, Mina Minoru Suzuki, Akari Matsushima, Ayano Watanabe

The musical will be playing in Tokyo from April 12 to 29, 2024!

[gossamerufansubs]

Miracle Bunny 1 (1988)

Heroine tokusatsu film directed by Minoru Kawasaki, starring Kuroki Eiko.

Sequel is Miracle Bunny 2.

English subtitled version by Gossameru Fansubs over on archive.org.

[fashionbooksmilano]

Minoru Onoda

Edited by Anne Mosseri-Marlio. With essays by Edward M. Gómez, Astrid Handa-Gagnard, Shoichi Hirai, Koichi Kawasaki, and Takesada Matsutani

Scheidegger & Spiess, Zürich 2018, 232 pages, 176 color and 7 b/w illustrations, 24 x 30 cm, ISBN 978-3-85881-821-8

euro 68,00

email if you want to buy booksinprogressmilano@yahoo.it

First-ever monograph on Japanese artist Minoru Onoda, a distinguished member of the radical Gutai artistic movement in the 1960s and 1970s

Minoru Onoda is best known as a member of Gutai, Japan’s first postwar radical artistic movement, which challenged what it saw as the rigid, reactionary ideologies of the art of the time and initiated new ones that redefined the relationships among matter, time, and space. Concurrently to the inception of Gutai, Onoda became enchanted by concepts of repetition, producing paintings and drawings with amalgamations of gradually increasing dots and organically growing shapes. But less is known in the West about Onoda’s early and late-career work.

At long last, this first-ever full monograph on Minoru Onoda introduces him as an artist in his own right. Apart from his role with Gutai, the book mines Onoda’s sketchbooks and completed works to explore his creative process over time, from his artistic education in the late 1950s at the Osaka Institute of Fine Arts and the Osaka School of Art to his later works following the 1972 disbanding of Gutai, which see the artist moving toward a monochrome and more conceptual style. 

30/03/23

orders to:     booksinprogressmilano@yahoo.it

ordini a:        booksinprogressmilano@yahoo.it

twitter:         @fashionbooksmi

instagram:   fashionbooksmilano, designbooksmilano tumblr:          fashionbooksmilano, designbooksmilano

[byneddiedingo]

Tokihiko Okada in The Lady and the Beard (Yasujiro Ozu, 1931)

Cast: Tokihiko Okada. Hiroko Kawasaki, Satoko Date, Choko Iida, Ichiro Tsukida, Toshiko Iizuka, Mitsuko Yoshikawa, Tatsuo Saito, Takeshi Sakamoto, Sotaro Okada, Yasuo Nanjo, Ayako Katsuragi. Screenplay: Komatsu Kitamur, Yasujiro Ozu. Cinematography: Minoru Kuribayashi, Hideo Shigehara. Film editing: Minoru Kuribayaski, Hideo Shigehara. 

The Lady and the Beard is one of Yasujiro Ozu's silent comedies that, like I Graduated, But... (1929), I Flunked, But ... (1930), and Where Now Are the Dreams of Youth? (1932), center on college students and their postgraduate life. The protagonist, Kiichi (Tokhiko Okada), affects a full beard and old-fashioned dress, which his fellow students tolerate laughingly, but which opens him to mockery when he goes home with a friend who invites him to his sister's birthday party. The young women at the party shun him. Worse, when he graduates, he discovers that the beard is an obstacle to getting a job. So he shaves it off, and suddenly finds that he's not only employable but also a magnet to marriageable young women. He rescues Hiroko (Hiroko Kawasaki) from being mugged by Furyo (Satoko Date) and her thuggish companions, and winds up attracting the attention of both women. Later, he encounters Furyo again at the hotel where he works: He thwarts her in a con job involving a piece of jewelry, but that doesn't deter her interest in him. It's a likable little comedy with an endearing performance by Okada. I occasionally had trouble following some of the narrative, whether because of cultural differences or missing footage -- the print shows signs of damage. As often with Ozu's early films, he shows his inspiration in the form of movie posters on the characters' walls: Kiichi's room has a poster of a Laurel and Hardy movie. Ozu credits himself, under his pseudonym James Maki, as the film's gag writer. 

[izimbracreenshots]

Eguchi Hisashi no Nantoka Narudesho! by Osamu Nabeshima and Minoru Kawasaki, 1990

[rhetthammersmithhorror]

The Calamari Wrestler | 2004 — いかレスラー

[southmountainninja]

‘Executive Koala’ (2005). Directed by Minoru Kawasaki.

[rustybottlecap]

According to SciFi Japan, the director of Monster X Strikes Back, Daikaiju Mono and Earth Defense Widow, Minoru Kawasaki, is working on a new kaiju movie called Monster Seafood Wars (三大怪獣グルメ Three Gourmet Monsters), that for now reminds a lot of Space Amoeba. We’ll see.

[astoundingbeyondbelief]

When Toku first launched in 2017, it seemed like a cruel joke: an obscure cable channel broadcasting Ultraman shows never before available in English. Each new season they acquired was accompanied by a triumphant press release... and each failed to turn up anywhere online. But 2018 brought the launch of a Toku streaming service, along with the acquisition of several older Ultra Series that Crunchyroll lost the rights to. I signed up in October during their $1.99-a-month-for-9-months sale, and promptly discovered a tokusatsu film they hadn't announced: Minoru Kawasaki's Outerman (2015).

Outerman passed the English-speaking tokusatsu fandom by; you'll be hard-pressed to find anyone who talked about it besides the omnipotent Kevin Derendorf. Given Kawasaki's previous works in the genre and its lack of subtitles until now, this is not terribly surprising. Here's the real surprise: Outerman is pretty much a note-perfect Ultraman parody, overcoming its microscopic budget with a clever premise that never loses steam.

[bizarrobrain]

Monster X Strikes Back: Attack the G8 Summit (2008)