#takeshi furuta

[howwelldoyouknowyourmoon]

A WACL Rogues' Gallery

Covert Action Information Bulletin (Winter 1986)

The World Anti-Communist League, having adopted the cause of "freedom fighters" around the world, includes many members whose own political activities and philosophies belie the very idea of freedom or democracy. Despite the new WACL "pro-freedom" image displayed in Dallas, WACL remains rife with Nazis, racists, and death squad leaders. Among the delegates at the convention were:

Mario Sandoval Alarcon, whose National Liberation Movement (NLM) party organized the White Hand death squads in Guatemala in the 1960s. The NLM was reportedly responsible for the murders of eight to ten thousand civilians in 1966 and 1967. According to investigative reporter Craig Pyes, Sandoval introduced El Salvador’s neo-fascist leader Roberto D’Aubuisson to his WACL contacts in Argentina. They later arranged for Argentinean generals to visit El Salvador to help set up safe houses from which death squad operations were carried out. D’Aubuisson, who was recently forced out as head of the ARENA party, has announced he will head a political institute in San Salvador affiliated with WACL. Dr. Yaroslav Stetsko, a member of the WACL Executive Board, was a prominent Nazi collaborator who briefly headed a puppet government in the Ukraine. Joe Conason, Murray Waas, and Kevin Coogan reported in the Village Voice on other Nazis in attendance, including Chirila Ciuntu of Canada, a member of the Rumanian Iron Guard, notorious for its pogroms against the Jews in the early 1940s, and Ivan Kosiak, a member of the wartime pro-Nazi Byelorussian Central Council. Dr. Manuel Frutos, also a member of the WACL Executive Board, chaired the 1979 WACL conference in Paraguay, said to have been the "most Nazified" of all their annual meetings, at which former Nazi SS officers and wanted neo-fascists from Italy were present. Benito Guanes, former chief of Paraguayan military intelligence, who supplied passports for Chilean agents who came to the U.S. to assassinate Orlando Letelier. John K. Singlaub, head of the CIA's "counter terror program" in Vietnam in 1965, according to Anthony Herbert's book, Soldier. This operation, the Intelligence Coordination and Exploitation Program — later known as the Phoenix Program — ran assassination units which killed thousands of Vietnamese civilians. In 1978, Singlaub was reassigned from command of U.S. troops in Korea for insubordination after repeated public attacks on President Carter’s Korea policy. Singlaub announced in Dallas that in honor of the twelfth anniversary of the "military overthrow of the Allende regime in Chile" and the ninety-eighth anniversary of the "Paraguayan Republic," congratulations would be sent to General Pinochet and the head of the ruling Paraguayan Colorado Party. Takeshi Furuta, representative of the International Federation for Victory Over Communism, the original political organization of the Unification Church of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon. Moon asserts that democracy must be replaced with "unificationism" in order to strengthen the West for the final assault on communism. Moon also blames the Jews for the death of Christ and explains the suffering of the Jews in history, including the Nazi holocaust, as "indemnity" for this "collective sin." William Starr, a Moonie from Tucson, Arizona, attended Moon's CAUSA as an observer. (Osami Kuboki, a longtime member of the WACL Executive Board, was not present in Dallas; he heads the Japanese WACL chapter, which is dominated by the Unification Church, whose Japanese branch he also leads.) Hubert Kelly of the Christian Patriots Defense League (CPDL) was present as an official observer. According to an Anti-Defamation League report, "racism and anti-Semitism are an integral part of the CPDL ministry." The group’s official statement of purpose, signed by president John Harrell, says CPDL is "dedicated to the preservation of Anglo-Saxon, American-type culture… We believe the forced mixing of races of people is a self-evident, obvious, proven tragedy. We believe such forced integration results in racial suicide, creating an endangered species problem." … CPDL runs several paramilitary training camps in the U.S.

Related:

The Moonies and 'Victims of Communism’

The Dark Shadow Cast by Moon Sun Myung’s Unification Church and Abe Shinzo – Asia-Pacific Journal Japan Focus

Singlaub Recruits His Own Army in the Philippines

Private Groups Step Up Aid to ‘Contras’ (1985)

John Singlaub: ‘An Anti-Communist’s Anti-Communist’

The WACL and CAUSA’s Role in the Ruthless Violence of US-Philippines Counterinsurgency

On Moon’s Political Network and their Deep Connections to Global Terrorism

[whatisonthemoon]

The CAUSA Kingdom

Excerpted from"God Is Phasing Out Democracy" by Fred Clarkson in CovertAction No 27, Spring 1987

▲ CAUSA conference in Montevideo, Uruguay, February 1984

CAUSA is the principal political arm of the Unification Church. It was founded in 1980, following an exploratory tour of Latin America countries, during which Bo Hi Pak met with key rightwing and military leaders. CAUSA’s main activities from 1980-1982 were arranging ideological indoctrination seminars for political, military, and other leadership groups all over the continent. In 1983, CAUSA North America was founded, and began organizing similar seminars in the U.S. Although originally known as the Confederation of the Associations for the Unification of the Societies of the Americas, by this time, the “Unification” had been changed to “Unity” in an apparent effort to distance CAUSA from the taint of the church.

Whatever its name, control of the organization by the Unification Church has been continuous. The directors of CAUSA International are all serious Church members. According to an internal CAUSA strategy memo dated January 1984, the CAUSA directors proposed to “cooperate so as to best support Our True Parents [Mr. and Mrs. Moon] and Colonel Pak in this campaign to find 70 million members…. We in CAUSA have been called by True Parents to participate in a most crucial campaign which will focus upon recruiting 70 million members within the coming two years.” The “directors” of CAUSA are the department heads within the organization. The “principal participants” in the meetings which led to drafting the document were: Antonio Betancourt, Thomas Ward, William Lay, Joe Tully, Takeshi Furuta, Frank Grow, Celia Roomet, Roger Johnstone, David Decker, and Tony Colombrito. Significantly, the CAUSA directors planned to learn from “the Japan IFVC’s (International Federation for Victory over Communism, or Shokyo Rengo) drive for 3.5 million members.” The IFVC model was to aim for leaders, mostly political leaders “and when the leader committed himself, he also committed his movement.”

Takeshi Furuta is apparently the key liaison between the Japanese and the American organizations. While a director of CAUSA, Furuta was a member of the Japanese delegation to the 1985 WACL conference in Dallas. At the 1986 WACL conference, Osami Kuboki, Furuta, and their wives were the Japanese delegates.

Meanwhile, the CAUSA regional advisors attending the 1985 U.S. CAUSA conference in San Francisco, were also all Unification Church ministers. On the agenda of events for 1984, along with numerous ideological conferences, was a media tour of Asia, ostensibly under the auspices of the World Media Conference (WMC). WMC is purportedly a project of News World Communications, the parent company of the Washington Times. However the CAUSA document suggests that it was planned, if not organized by CAUSA. The Asian tour was led by former U.S Ambassador to Japan Douglas MacArthur, and delegates met with Japanese Prime Minister Nakasone, among other leaders in Asia. Similar tours have been organized to Central America, Western Europe, and the Soviet Union.

Once limited to the Western Hemisphere, since 1983 CAUSA has become a global project with significant activities on every continent. The general thrust of the CAUSA seminar is anti-communist education from a historical perspective. The CAUSA antidote to communism is “God-ism”, which is simply the Unification Church philosophy without Moonist mythology.

Bo Hi Pak offered a CAUSA perspective of the Godist or Moonist Kingdom, when speaking of Paraguayan dictator Gen. Alfredo Stroessner. “I believe he’s a special man, chosen by God to run his country.” This echoes an earlier revelation by Moon who said of the 1961 military coup of Korean dictator Park Chung Hee: “God set up a powerful new leader, the present president of this Korea, and the new order in our society.”

Related

Moon’s activities in Central & South America

In 1985 the Washington Times sponsored a fund for the Contras who committed atrocities, and trafficked drugs to the US

CounterSpy: Moonies Move on Honduras (1983)

Moonies Support Vigilante Violence in the Philippines Around 1986/1987

The Broad Counterinsurgency Strategies of the US in the 80s, and a Glimpse into the UC’s Role

The Unification Church and KCIA: Some Notes on Bud Han, Steve Kim, and Bo Hi Pak

On the 1962 Reorganization of the Unification Church as a Political Tool of Japan, South Korea, and USA

Yasue Erikawa: An Often Unrecognized Asset

The Rev. Moon, the Unification Church, and the KCIA

Former KCIA Head Says Park Tong Sun was Korean Agent (1977)

CIA, Moonies Cooperate in Sandinista War (1984)

Contragate and Counterterrorism: An Overview

Bo Hi Pak: The CAUSA Movement That Shook the Kremlin

Oliver North’s Counterinsurgency Ideas Shaping the World

[rendsflesh]

basic relationships chart (or something something...) with a double feature including kitty's children--

so! for the canons--

naki married dating shuu and they are so happily in love it's genuinely sickening; rough dynamic with karren because she doesn't trust his crybaby ass and he picks his nose in front of her to get under her skin. thinks of junichi as a cool older brother

mirumo the proud papa of shuu and adoptive father, of sorts, to karren; single but unsure if ready to mingle. i'm personally open to it but i'm unclear on if it actually suits mirumo's character considering his undying love for his wife. a true wife guy for the ages! he knows of lenn and thinks of him as strange. he distrusts the ikari family

karren is not in love with shuu-- mistook her feelings of adoration and idolization as genuine romantic love. she loves shuu but not in that way because i think it's a little weird considering the circumstances ♡ anyone that is an enemy of master shuu or the tsukiyama family are enemies, no ifs ands or buts

akihiro "dating" donato (no one knows what's going on with these two old men but at least they're having fun? question mark?) and, contrary to popular belief, is alive! why? who knows! i'll think of something. one-eyed ghoulification mayhaps.

renji dating watching over uta, more or less a wandering sort that does odd jobs on the side. he's probably staying with uta somewhere and is constantly having to keep him in check but also joins in on hijinks more than he cares to admit sometimes he's just too darn tired

cool! and now for the original characters--

ren, "head" of the ikari family-- slaughtered his ex-wife, yumiko, in cold blood and fed her remains to his two sons, nori and takeshi. don't worry, he also cleaned his plate. it was satisfactory. currently married (in his heart of hearts, awww omg!) to junichi. his ward loves him because it's borderline a cult. everyone else hates him though because they're sane. it's a whole thing.

yuu "dating" furuta, frenemies (enemies mostly.) with takeshi. they're sorta kinda rivals and all of their fights end in gorefest tie single time. was part of the ccg but leaves after faking his death, primarily because he thinks the ccg are a bunch of pussies and he wants to kill ghouls as he pleases. he also eats ghouls.

yori, professional clown at your service! dating nori and wants to marry him some day. rough relationship with ren because of a violent run-in, ren nearly kills and cannibalizes him. he and renji are kind of friends, mostly because of his ties to the clowns and renji's proximity to uta.

jun, head of the miyamoto family, has been a widow for several years. he and his teenaged daughter, aimi, live alone in their well-kept mansion. his wife, airi, was murdered by ryosuke and her kakuhou made into his very own quinque. he doesn't have a lot of relationships, considering his shut-in status. he's the closest thing to a pacifist ghoul you're gonna get and simply does not fuck around and find out.

katsuro is dating takeshi and has been defected from the ccg for quite some time. he leaves as a rank 1 but, currently, could be considered an associate special class or higher nowadays. he's turned more and more into a ghoul sympathizer as the days go on, mostly because of takeshi. lost his eye in the past due to a run-in with "glasgow", aka ren. also has a prosthetic right leg born from the same incident. slightly terrified of junichi.

chiyo is yumiko's sister and is married to asuka-- they're the rich lesbian aunts everyone wants but only takeshi and nori get. hates ren's guts, tolerates junichi's presence. she's well-known in the human world as a dj, known formally as b@rracuda and frequents the night club scene both as ghoul and "human" as a regular

masao is part of the washuu clan, born into it under the designated title of "seed" but ultimately defects because of it. he's an on and off ally of goat. hates every other washuu and associate, furuta especially. has a bit of a soft spot for rize, sees her somewhat as a sister. otherwise, he's known as a brutal and aggressive ghoul known as "ogre" that is infamous for his mass killings after long lulls of silence

ryosuke is a quinx, unsure of the generation (and i canNOT bother to care right now.) currently, and is a special class investigator. killed jun's wife and claimed "her" as his quinque. he "jokes" about his frame also being her but c'mon. that's too much ghoul. regularly conflicts with jun. jun killed his own husband as revenge, quoted as, "now, be as lonely as i am." and bit off one of his ears too. has a prosthetic ear now as replacement. would kill a child if they were a ghoul, has killed a ghoul child, and will continue to do so. aimi, you're next.

lenn is a clown that works at a ghoul restaurant. he doesn't really come into contact with the rest of the clowns unless necessary due to being a bit of a "homebody" at the restaurant. he's regularly paired up with furuta, however, and they've become besties. he likes playing bait for potential victims, hence his name "catfish", and loves seeing their faces when they see him auctioning them off like cattle to other ghouls. yori thinks he's fascinating, lenn thinks yori is kind of annoying.

[teragames]

Publican el primer avance de "SHAMAN KING FLOWERS"

Revelan los primeros detalles con el primer video promocional del anime "SHAMAN KING FLOWERS" (@SHAMANKING_PR).

El sitio oficial y los canales sociales del anime SHAMAN KING FLOWERS se actualizaron con los nuevos miembros del elenco que aparecerán en la serie junto con el primer video promocional. Takeshi Furuta regresa para dirigir la adaptación del manga de Hiroyuki Takei en el estudio Bridge, con adaptación de Shoji Yonemura, diseños de personajes de Mayuko Yamamoto y música de Yuki Hayashi. También se…

[memoriafilmica]

Caballeros del Zodiaco: Alma de Oro (2015).

Takeshi Furuta.

[fighterxaos]

The Seven Deadly Sins: Revival of The Commandments Anime Netflix Premiere Date Announced

ANN has reported that The Seven Deadly Sins: Revival of The Commandments will premiere on Netflix this October. For those who are not aware, the series is the name of the second season of the series in Japan.

The series first premiered in Japan this January and ran for 24 episodes. The series initially aired starting on January 13 and ran until June 30 this year.

The first season of the anime…

[hjamesp]

[gojou-violin]

⏣ AOT: Eren (s4), Erwin, Hange, Jean (s4), Kenny, Levi, Mikasa (s4), Piek, Porco, Reiner (s4), Sasha (s4), Zeke.

⏣ BJ Alex: Chanwoo, Dong-Gyun, Jiwon, Myung-Dae.

⏣ Blue Lock: Bachira (aged up), Baro (aged up), Chigiri (aged up), Ego (aged up), Gagamaru (aged up), Kunigami (aged up), Imamura (aged up), Isagi (aged up), Lemon (aged up), Nagi (aged up), Naruhaya (aged up), Niko (aged up), Raichi (aged up), Reo (aged up), Rin (aged up), Ryosuke (aged up).

⏣ Bubble: Hibiki (aged up), Kai (aged up), Makoto (aged up), Shin.

⏣ Bungo Stray Dogs: Akiko, Akutagawa, Ango, Atsushi, Chuuya, Dazai, Fukuzawa, Gin, Kenji (aged up), Kunikida, Ranpo, Tachihara, Tanizaki, Sakunosuke.

⏣ Chainsaw Man: Aki, Angel, Denji (aged up), Kishibe, Power.

⏣ Death Note: Aizawa, Lawliet, Light, Matsuda, Mikami, Misa, Naomi, Raye.

⏣ Gachiakuta: Engine, Semiu, Regto, Rudo (aged up), Zanka.

⏣ Haikyuu!!: Bokuto (post time skip), Kenma (post time skip), Kuroo (post time skip), Nishinoya (post time skip), Sugawara (post time skip), Takeda, Tendou (post time skip), Tsukishima (aged up), Ukai, Yamaguchi (post time skip).

⏣ Hell's Paradise: Chobei, Gabimaru (aged up), Isuzu, Jikka, Ju Fa, Mu Dan, ran, Rien, Sagiri (aged up), Shija, Shion, Shugen, Tao Fa, Toma, Yui (aged up), Yuzuriha, Zhu Jin.

⏣ High & Low: Amagai, Binzo, Chiharu, Cobra, Fujio, Ito, Magoroku, Mercy, Murayama, Noboru, P, Rao, Reiji, Ryu, Sachio, Smokey, Suzaki, Takeshi, Todoroki, Tsukasa, Yamoto, Yasushi, Yuken.

⏣ JJK: Choso, Geto, Gojou, Itadori (aged up), Megumi (aged up), Nanami, Noritoshi (aged up), Sukuna, Toge (aged up), Toji, Yuutah (aged up).

⏣ Link Click: Chen Bin, Cheng Xiaoshi, Lu Guang, Qiao Ling, Qian Jing, Xu Shanshan.

⏣ MHA: Aizawa, All Might (small version), Bakugo (aged up), Dabi, Hawks, Himiko (aged up), Kirishima (aged up), Midoriya (aged up), Overhaul, Tamaki (aged up), Tenya (aged up), Shoto (aged up), Shigaraki.

⏣ Spy x Family: Loid, Sylvia, Yor, Yuri.

⏣ Tokyo Ghoul: Akira, Amon, Arima, Ayato, Eto, Furuta, Haise, Hide, Hinami (aged up), Itori, Juzo, Karren, Kaneki, Naki, Rize, Saiko, Shirazu, Takizawa, Tatara, Touka, Tsukiyama, Urie, Uta, Yomo.

⏣ Wotakoi: Hanako, Hirotaka, Kabakura, Naoya, Narumi.

⏣ OCs: Aoi, Ariza, Astred, Daia, Elisa, Estera, Hitch, Ineka (aged up), Katrina, Kazuko, Lizzy, Seena, Siobhan, Umika, Uri, Yukina.

| last updated: 14 june 2023

[2centsoframblings]

Two cents of ramblings on: “Saint Seiya Kogane Tamashī - soul of gold -” (Anime)...

...and why I recommend it to who enjoyed “Saint Seiya”.

GENERAL DATA

Title: Saint Seiya Kogane Tamashī - Soul of Gold - (聖闘士星矢 黄金魂 -soul of gold- “Saint Seiya Golden Soul -Soul of Gold-”)

Media: Anime television series

Spinoff of: “Saint Seiya” anime based on the “Saint Seiya” manga written by Kurumada Masami.

Genre: Fantasy, Martial arts, Mythological

Directed by: Furuta Takeshi

Written by: Takeuchi Toshimitsu

Studio: Toei Animation, Animation Services: Bridge

Original run: April 11, 2015 – September 26, 2015

Episodes: 13

WARNINGS: There’s possession, manipulation, murder.

The plot in short: The Gold Saints who died in order to destroy the Wall of Grief are revived in Asgard. In an attempt to discover why it happened they end up involved in a battle against a foe threatening Asgard.

HOW DID I STUMBLE INTO IT

It’s “Saint Seiya”! It’s the Gold Saints! I love them! I could I not stumble into it?

THINGS YOU MIGHT WHAT TO KNOW BEFORE TACKLING THIS

I’ll reference “Saint Seiya” manga and anime version and the second “Saint Seiya” movie, “Saint Seiya - Kami-gami no Atsuki Tatakai” (聖闘士星矢 神々の熱き戦い “Saint Seiya: The Heated Battle of the Gods”).

MY TWO CENTS ON IT

THE SHORT VERSION… or what I can tell you about this while trying to keep spoilers at the very bare minimum.

Opening & ending: The anime uses as opening “Soldier Dream” by ROOT FIVE and, as ending, “Yakusoku no Ashita e” (約束の明日へ ‘To the promised tomorrow’) by ROOT FIVE. Now… “Soldier dream”, sung by Kageyama Hironobu, was the old “Saint Seiya” opening used for the Asgard saga… which okay, is iconic and awesome but… I wish the anime has just gotten his own opening. The visual is not bad… but it’s nothing special either and it spoilers the series a lot. It immediately implies Aiolia is the main character/hero of the series, that he gets a ‘love interest’ and that his main opponent will be Gullinbursti Fródi, that Hylda is not well, that Miro and Camus fight, and that the Gold Saints, despite having died in order to destroy the Wall of Grief, are somehow revived in Asgard, that Saga, Dohko and Mu will do the Athena exclamation, that Athena will give her blood to turn the gold cloths into god cloths complete with visual of them, that there’s Yggdrasil and let’s not forget Andreas’ scar. Really, all we miss is a shot of who’s behind all this. There’s plenty of shoots of the Gold Saint. Well, at least the Gold Saint aren’t depicted as thin as the Bronze Saint while being in Asgard… The ending song is pretty nice. Visually it doesn’t show much, just the Fire Clock of the sanctuary, the gold cloths and then the Gold Saints standing in front a giant Athena but I like the touch of having one of the flames on the Fire Clock to extinguish in each episode until all are extinguished and the series has ended. It’s worth to say in the last episode they replace the panning on the gold cloths with scenes from the series… which okay, makes sense but it’s not great.

The plot: Credits when it’s due “Saint Seiya” never had this complicate of a plot, it’s just battle after battle racing against time because Athena got herself in troubles but here they tried to toss in also mystery and other stuff and… and they made a mess, there’s plenty of plot holes. However, what’s really good is instead that they tried to close the Gold Saints’ character arcs in a satisfactory manner and they nailed this one correctly.

The characters: Well, let’s see. The Gold Saints are definitely mostly well developed in this one, they all get a role, something to do and a good characterization. I loved them.

Lyfia… is not that impressive as a character, but she works. The God Warriors… they tried to give them some character and dept but they are a lot less impressive than the old God Warriors of the anime. Still, they aren’t bad. Andreas has no character and the real bad guy behind all this is… just evil and that’s all he is. Freya and Hylda? Oh yes, I caught a glimpse of them. They don’t do much beyond being in the background occasionally.

The visual: I love the shining colors used for the cloths and the attacks, the dynamism, the fact the Saints here don’t seem about to drop dead of starvation (yes, decades have passed and here I am, still hung up on how “Saint Seiya” made the Saints progressively thinner). The animation quality isn’t always great but it’s still nice and, although the background aren’t extremely detailed, they’re still well cared for.

The musical background: “Saint Seiya” BGM has a history of being good (Yokoyama Seiji made really epic music!). This might be not as epic as the previous BGM for the Asgard saga but it’s still a pretty good one so kudos to Mizutani Hiromi.

Overall: It’s a “Saint Seiya” spinoff about the Gold Saints. To enjoy it, it’s required to know “Saint Seiya” and it has all the sins and all the virtues of a “Saint Seiya” story, meaning you’ll love it if you like “Saint Seiya” and the Gold Saints and you might end up disappointed if you hate them or have no idea who they are.

THE LONG VERSION… or what I loved and hated about this with, of course, TONS OF SPOILERS.

For once I’ll start with the weak points of the series so…

Okay, as the series started my first thought was: “Asgard AGAIN?!?” because it’s not like they hadn’t already milked Asgard in an original movie and in an original arc of the anime, right? Do we need even a spinoff placed in Asgard? Isn’t there some other places with Gods in which they could place the story? I don’t know, Egypt had cool Gods, why not to use it just for a change of pace and of climate?

But yeah, it’s Asgard again, and they even fished up 7 new God Warriors that never showed up to fight Saiya and Co during the Asgard saga because… they weren’t created yet… same as Lyfia, this new character who, had she appeared in a fanfic, would have surely be accused to be a Mary Sue.

Officially she’s just a maiden of Valhalla Palace, but it’s clear she’s put in the story to become the love interest of Leo Aiolia (poor Marin, previously SHE seemed to be the one for Aiolia), the main character of the series. At first she kind of seem to have the role that belonged to Freya in the anime, asking for the Gold Saints help, falling for one of them despite having a special connection from childhood with the God Warrior Gullinbursti Fróði (Freya didn’t quite fall for the main character but for Cygnus Hyoga and has a special connection from childhood with God Warrior Merak Beta Hägen) while Freya basically exists but has a nonexistent role in the story since she gets imprisoned again but that’s not all Lyfia does. She also gets Polaris Hylda’s role as she gets controlled by the main enemy so as to resurrect the Golden Saints and it turns out she’s actually Odin’s representative on Earth… all while Hylda lies sick in bed, confined in her room and does nothing beyond putting all her faith in Lyfia, so as not to steal Lyfia’s chance to shine.

Note that if Lyfia wasn’t such a blatant rip off of two previous main characters she wouldn’t be bad… and the fact she’s a rip off of two main characters is… well excusable because it’s part of how the “Saint Seiya” animation works.

I mean the anime only “Asgard saga” was inspired by the 2nd“Saint Seiya” movie which was inspired by the special one-shot from the manga “Kōri no Kuni no Natasha Hen” (氷の国のナターシャ ‘The Chapter of Natasha, of the Lands of Ice’) so well, why should I be surprised if now the “Asgard saga” became the inspiration for “Soul of Gold”?

Well, at least the Gold Saints don’t have to save Athena, but just to stop Yggdrasil from bearing fruits and, in order to do so, they’ve to go into the 7 chambers of Yggdrasil and shatter the 7 Mammoth Pillars… pardon, the 7 statues in there. Yeah, no originality here either.

Of course the God Warriors are provided with Odin new Sapphires, though this time their purpose is just to let them get even more power from Yggrasil… and, surprise, surprise, Andreas Lise is actually also possessed by the new enemy… a God who was closed into a amphora… yeah, like Poseidon.

Should I also mention that, although the series tried to explain why Grani Sigmund, brother of Dubhe Alpha Siegfried and someone who knew Polaris Hylda was being possessed, never showed up in the Asgard saga (and the same can be said for the other 6 God Warriors) the explanation don’t really hold up very well… and they didn’t even try to explain why Fróði, who’s from a family who long served Odin, never showed up either… and yeah, it’s probably worth to mention the 7 God Warriors aren’t that well developed or original either… and it gets kind of ridicule how Odin always has to count on Athena’s Saints to solve Asgard troubles and give them his cloth when he actually should have his own God Warriors.

And let’s face it, Loki is definitely underdeveloped, he’s just there to be the bad guy and that’s it. Okay, it’s in the myth that Loki wasn’t actually an Asgardian but a Frost Giant but the series doesn’t even explain this, just calls him a false God.

So, after all this you might wonder… then why should I watch “Soul of Gold”?

Because, let’s face it, originality was never “Saint Seiya” stronger trait but this series has some very good things. Although Andreas and the new God Warriors aren’t that developed and the new enemy is just evil and that’s it, this series take care to develop the Gold Saints, which is the main reason for which it was done. It gives all of them a chance to shine but also digs into either their past or their inner conflicts.

Deathmask finds back his good side and rejoin with his cloth, Aphrodite gets to show his connection with plants, Aldebaran and Mu’s psychology gets developed, Saga and Aiolos confront (remember? Saga tried to kill Athena and Aiolos had to protect her), Aiolia gets to confront with his feelings for Shura, the man who killed his brother, but also gets to work with his brother, and Camus shows us he used to have a friend in Asgard.

What’s more, Libra Dōko gets some development and… well, this younger version of the old master is interesting as a character… even if he feels pretty different for how I was used to him.

And hey, didn’t we all want to see Aiolos in action?

The episodes, more than plot driven, feel like a character study digging into them and giving them space to shine and this is SO GOOD!

It’s literally gold if you’re a Gold Saint fan, and should I mention the battles are well done, and you get to see all their special moves, and how they get those cool God cloths?

And, although I criticized the lack of originality in the plot, to be fully honest they tried to develop it a bit, even making it ‘mysterious’ as they kept the secret about who and why resurrected the God Saint and around Lyfia and Garmr Útgarðar, so they made an effort to make it more than just, let’s crash the 7 statues and beat the new bad guy who possessed someone…

It’s also worth to mention that, even if the God Warriors aren’t that well developed, especially compared to the God Warriors of the “Asgard saga”, let’s remember the “Asgard saga” counted 26 episodes, versus the 12 of this series and could take advantage by how Athena’s 5 Bronze Saints were already well developed so they didn’t need any character study. This gave the “Asgard saga” the time to take care of the development of the God Warriors and their backstories (they were awesome by the way), a time this series doesn’t have as it has to develop the Gold Saints.

So yeah, this is a good and enjoyable spinoff for the fans of the series, one I definitely recommend.

It might not work for people who don’t know “Saint Seiya”, they might feel lost and confused or just not being that impressed due to its flaws, but if you’re a fan is definitely a MUST SEE.

Also, even if it’s not something that touches me that deeply, I should probably mention it gives a lot of space to Aiolia, making him the new main character (in place of Pegasus Seiya) so, all the more, if you’re a fan of his, you should see it.

And now let's end this with an AMV about this series I recommend watching Black and Blue

[brokehorrorfan]

Ultraman 80 will be released on DVD on September 14 via Mill Creek Entertainment. It’s the ninth installment in Tsuburaya Productions’ long-running Ultra franchise.

The tokusatsu series aired in Japan for 50 episodes from 1980 to 1981. Hatsunori Hasegawa, Jin Nakayama, Masaaki Daimon, Daisuke Musō, Shūhei Nitta, Eri Ishida, Masashi Furuta, Tatsuya Okamoto, and Sayoko Hagiwara star.

Ultraman 80 is presented with its original Japanese audio and English subtitles. Due to the way the series was archived, it is only available in standard definition. No special features are included.

Takeshi Yamato is a young man who lives a double life. During the day a science teacher, but after school a member of an elite force to fight attacks from monsters. Takeshi transforms into a 50 meter tall warrior to save the day.

Pre-order Ultraman 80 from Amazon.

[whatisonthemoon]

On the KCIA’s Money for Yasue Erikawa (1978)

The following text is the report from "Investigation of Korean-American relations" in 1978, or the Fraser report. Fumiko Ikeda is another name for Yasue Erikawa, current leader of the Sanctuary Church in Japan. Yasue Erikawa was matched and blessed to Cho Sung Jun in the 777 Blessing. She was once the president of the UC in Japan, a VOC lecturer, and into 2012, held several positions, including overseeing church centers and all foreign members throughout South Korea. She worked with Kook Jin and Hyung Jin in Korea during those years. 

▲  Pictured: Senator Charles Percy with Takeshi Furuta and Fumiko Ikeda, and another  member behind Percy

Fraser Report:

One anti-Communist activity ordered by Moon was a 7-day fast at the U.N. in October 1974. The expressed purpose of the fast was to defeat a U.N. resolution calling for the removal of U.N. troops from South Korea. A leader of the fast was a Japanese woman named Fumiko Ikeda. According to Pak Bo Hi, she was later the recipient of $3,000 in cash from the KCIA. Pak said he received the $3,000 in $100 bills at his home near Washington sometime in 1975 or 1976. The money was delivered along with a 6- or 7-page letter from Yang Doo Wan. Kim Sang Keun, the KCIA officer who delivered the money and letter, said he had received both through the diplomatic pouch, together with instructions to deliver them to Pak. Kim was not told by his superiors in the KCIA why Pak was receiving the letter and the money, and he did not read the letter.

Pak testified that he waited until his next trip to Korea to deliver the money to Ikeda. Ikeda was in Japan at the time, according to Pak, and traveled to Korea to pick up the money. Pak said the money was payment of "expenses" incurred by Ikeda on a speaking tour in Korea, where she had spoken at anti-Communist rallies sponsored by the Korean Government. Pak further testified that Yang Doo Won had attempted to give Ikeda the money, but she refused; Yang then turned to Pak, who persuaded Ikeda to take the money. Pak said he did not know whether Ikeda's expenses during her speaking tour were originally paid by the UC, or even what her job was at that time.

Pak's testimony about the Ikeda incident was marked by inexplicable lapses of memory and gaps in his knowledge. Pak first identified Ikeda as a Japanese UC member whom he had known for many years. Later, when Ikeda was quoted in the Japanese press as having denied being a UC member (a denial she later recanted), Pak testified that he really didn't know whether she was a UC member or not, but assumed she was because her husband was a member. Between Pak's first mention of the payment to Ikeda during his testimony before the subcommittee on March 22, 1978, and his next appearance on April 11, 1978, Ikeda traveled from Tokyo to New York where she met with Pak before returning to Tokyo. Questioned about that meeting, Pak could not recall when or where the meeting took place and did not know why Ikeda made the trip to New York or how her expenses were paid.

Even if Pak's testimony is accepted on its face, it constitutes an admission that KCIA money was used to reimburse a UC member for services on behalf of the Korean Government and, further, that Pak helped the KCIA persuade the woman to take the money. This incident, together with others such as the planned anti-Japanese demonstration in 1974, lent additional support to executive branch reports that the Moon Organization had been used by the KCIA and other ROK agencies to carry out Korean Government policies and had been rewarded by the Government for these efforts.

Pak Bo Hi's testimony before the subcommittee brought to a head the intense propaganda campaign being conducted by the Moon Organization against the subcommittee and its chairman. This campaign illustrated again the cohesiveness of the Moon Organization, as the economic, political, and other components were mobilized to work toward a single goal. Moon businesses provided Japanese TV crews to tape subcommittee hearings, later edited for use on Korean television and in "documentaries" shown to UC members. Brochures glorifying Pak Bo Hi were prepared by Moon printers and distributed to UC members, who were also mobilized to attend the hearings and to campaign against the subcommittee chairman in a Senate primary race. Moon newspapers such as News World and The Rising Tide propagandized against the subcommittee and cast Pak Bo Hi in a martyr's role. The Capitol Hill PR team and other UC members at times spread rumors that the subcommittee chairman and staff members were Communist agents or sympathizers.

There was reason to believe that parts of the campaign were coordinated with the Korean Government, which had embarked upon a similar - though apparently less intense - public relations effort of its own. As early as May 1977, Clyde Wallace told subcommittee staff that he had been approached by UC members to work on a story linking the subcommittee chairman to Communism. Wallace had previously provided information to the staff about Moon Organization investment in the DNB. Wallace - who has several criminal convictions - claimed to be a journalist, though it was uncertain when he entered that field. As of 1977, he ran a business called The Spy Shop, which sold electronic listening devices.

In September 1977, Wallace did write an article - using the name Walter Riley - in which he accused the subcommittee chairman of being a Russian agent and of adhering to the Communist line. As far as could be determined, no newspaper carried this article until late November 1977, when it appeared in News World. Wallace denied he was paid by the Moon Organization or that he cooperated with it in his numerous attacks on the subcommittee, its chairman, and the investigation. He told a staff member that his article appeared in News World only after two Korean Government officials, whom he did not name, visited his office and noticed the unpublished article. The two Koreans took a copy of the article when they left, and shortly thereafter it appeared in News World, according to Wallace. On December 11, 1977, the day after subcommittee staff members arrived in Korea on a well-publicized investigative mission, the article was summarized on the front page of the Korea Herald, a Korean Government publication.

Thus even in 1977 and 1978, when both the Korean Government and the Moon Organization were disavowing ties with one another, there was reason to believe that relations between them were still being carried on, though less openly. As discussed earlier, the Tong Il officers who came to the United States in December 1977 to discuss exporting M-16's told Colt representatives that, although the Korean Government was aware of Tong Il's discussions with Colt, the Government would deny such knowledge if questioned. The relationship between the Moon Organization and the ROK government is a dynamic one, changing over time. The Organization's close relationship with Kim Jong Pil and the positions held by Steve Kim and Bud Han in the Korean Government provided continuous access to influential officials, access Moon saw as necessary to attain his goals. Favors were granted the Moon Organization by the Korean Government, and, in return, assistance was provided ROK officials for the furtherance of government policies or for the personal benefit of the individuals involved.

Related links below

Yasue Erikawa: An Often Unrecognized Asset

Japanese Sanctuary Church Says Yamagami Had No Sanctuary Connections

An Article On Yasue Erikawa’s “Comfort Women” Activism (No Mention of U.C. or Moon)

Yasue Erikawa, Moon, money, shame, guilt, fear and hell.

A Japanese Import Breaking through in Korea - Yasue Erikawa in a FFWPU (UC) publication in November 2009 about working in South Korea. Erikawa on Kook Jin, “"Kook-jin nim is very spiritual, and at the same time, very intelligent. Whom could I introduce to him? It was so difficult to think of a person who could interact with and work with Kook-jin nim..."

The IFVOC in Japan, and the UC’s Presence in Okinawa

IFVOC’s Founding (According to the UC)

On the 1962 Reorganization of the Unification Church as a Political Tool of Japan, South Korea, and USA

The CAUSA Kingdom

The Unification Church and KCIA: Some Notes on Bud Han, Steve Kim, and Bo Hi Pak

Activist urges Japan’s apology - on Yasue Erikawa’s activism around comfort women, demanding a formal apology to be made from Japan’s government. This article makes no mention of her membership in the Unification Church:

“It is essential for Japan to face history in an upright manner and make a formal apology to Koreans, especially regarding the sexual enslavement,” said Yasue Erikawa, 66, president of the Group that Promotes Friendship by Overcoming the History between Korea and Japan, in an interview with The Korea Times, “This will serve as a starting point in mending ever-deteriorating Korea-Japan ties.” Referring to past occasions in which former Japanese leaders offered apologies for wartime atrocities against Koreans including those made by former Japanese Prime Ministers Tomiichi Murayama in 1995 and Naoto Kan in 2010, the activist argued that these cannot be accepted as full and sincere. “(The past apologies) do not count because no Koreans regard them as sincere,” said Erikawa. “Together with a renewed formal apology, Japanese government should also launch an investigation into its drafting of Korean women for sexual slavery and open up the truth to the entire world.” The group president first came to Korea in 1970 when she married a Korean. Living in Korea since then, she said she found out about the truth behind the past deeds done by the military of her homeland.

[leenaevilin]

[Announcement] ミュージカル『新テニスの王子様』The First Stage (musical shin tennis no oujisama the first stage)

the show will be running from December 12th, 2020 to December 24th, 2020 (Tokyo) @ 日本青年館ホール (Nippon Seinenkan Hall) December 29th, 2020 to January 10th, 2021 (Osaka) @ メルパルク大阪 ホール (Mielparque Osaka Hall) February 5th, 2021 to February 14th, 2021 (Tokyo) @ 日本青年館ホール (Nippon Seinenkan Hall) 

Cast:

Junior High Selection Member (中学選抜メンバー)

Imamaki Hikaru as Echizen Ryoma (越前リョーマ)

Yamada Kento as Tezuka Kunimitsu (手塚国光)

Houjuyama Shuu as Momoshiro Takeshi (桃城武)

GAKU as Tachibana Kippei (橘桔平)

Takahashi Ryouta as Atobe Keigo (跡部景吾)

Maeda Ryuutarou as Kirihara Akaya (切原赤也)

Takemoto Yuusuke as Shiraishi Kuranosuke (白石蔵ノ介)

Matsushima Hiroki as Chitose Senri (千歳千里)

Hiramatsu Raima as Tooyama Kintarou (遠山金太郎)

Shintani David as Liliadent Krauser/Kurauza  (リリアデント蔵兎座)

U-17 Selection Member (U-17 選抜メンバー)

Ono Kento as Tokugawa Kazuya (徳川カズヤ) Okamoto Yuuki as Oni Juujirou (鬼十次郎) Aiba Hiroki as Irie Kanata (入江奏多) Yasue Kazuaki as Irie Kanata (入江奏多) Changhae as Nakagauchi Sotomichi (中河内外道) Matsushima Yuunosuke as Yamato Yuudai (大和祐大) Suzuki Ryouhei as Miyako Shinobu (都忍) Tauchi Tokihiro as Matsudaira Chikahiko (松平親彦) Takahashi Shunichi as Suzuki Shun (鈴木惷) Tsurimoto Minami as Washio Issa (鷲尾一茶)

Coaches (コーチ)

Murakami Kouhei as Kurobe Yukio (黒部由起夫) Izumi Shuuhei as Saitou Itaru (齋藤至) Kishi Yuuji as Mifune Nyuudou (三船入道)

Tenimyu Boys (テニミュボーイズ)

Iijima Kouhei Oguro Naoki Nakanishi Tomoya Fukutomi Gentou Furuta Ibuki Mochida Haruki Yamano Hikaru Yoshikawa Kouta

homepage twitter natalie

[recentanimenews]

Seductive Vampire Singers Gather in Fall 2021 TV Anime Visual Prison Main Visual & 2nd PV

    The official website for the forthcoming fall 2021 original TV anime Visual Prison has posted a main visual and a 110-second second PV. The A-1 Pictures-produced series is set to premiere in Japan on October 8, 2021.

  The total of 10 main characters of the anime's three in-story bands - O★Z, LOS†EDEN, and ECLIPSE - are all together in this stunning main visual. The catchphrase, "Music connects thoughts and becomes a bond." expresses the desire of those who live the fate of vampires to confront their friends and themselves through "song" in the story.

        The second PV features the anime's OP theme song "Zankoku Shangri-La" sung by one of the three in-story bands,  O★Z, as well as new scenes and new dialogues of the main characters. The story's keywords such as "red drops," "red moon," and "half-vampire" are scattered throughout the video.

  Synopsis:

  Ange Yuki is a young boy who is unable to fit in with his surroundings and has a strong sense of loneliness inside. When he finds himself alone in the world, he leaves his hometown to visit Harajuku, a town where the artists he admires are active. Hhe encounters a live battle between the visual-kei unit ECLIPSE and LOS†EDEN. While Ange is overwhelmed by their energetic stage performance, he is suddenly struck by a pain in his chest. At that moment, Ange awakens as "Dhampir," half vampire, half human.

    2nd PV:

    In addition, Yutaka Kyan and Jun Utahiroba, two members of the Japanese air visual-key band Golden Bomber ("air" means that they actually don't play any installments on the stage) are confirmed to make guest voice appearance in the anime. The number of episodes in which they will appear will be announced at a later date. 

          Main voice cast:

  O★Z:

Ange Yuki: Shoya Chiba

Guiltia Brion: Makoto Furukawa

Eve Louise: Hiroki Nanami

Robin Laffite: Shun Horie

  LOS†EDEN:

Saga Latour: Takuya Eguchi

Mist Flaive: Nobunaga Shimazaki

Veuve Elizabeth: Takuma Nagatsuka

Jack Mouton: Shogo Yano

  ECLIPSE:

Dmitri Romanee: Toshiki Masuda

Hyde Jayer: Shouta Aoi

  Mascot:

 Panya: Tomokazu Sugita

    Main staff:

  Original Story: Noriyasu Agematsu/Afredes

General Director: Takeshi Furuta (Uta no Prince-sama: Maji Love Kingdom)

Director: Tomoya Tanaka

Series Composition: Yukie Sugawara

Original Character Design: Ikumi Katagiri

Anime Character Design: Minako Shiba

Sub Character Design: Hitona Yamaguchi, Hiroshi Yamukai, Honoka Yokoyama

Chief Animation Director: Hiroshi Yamukai, Hitona Yamaguchi, Reina Kawasaki

Prop Design: Takayuki Kido

Art Supervisor: Hiroshi Kato

Art Director: Hirofumi Sakagami

Art Setting: Hiroshi Kato, Mitsuki Maeda

Color Design: Hokari Kanako, Mayu Morita

CG Director: Ryuta Undo

Director of Photography: Akito Suzuki

Editing: Eiichi Nishimura

Sound Director: Satoshi Motoyama

Music: Elements Garden

Anime Production: A-1 Pictures

Production: Project VP 

                    Source: Aniplex press release

  ©Noriyasu Agematsu,Afredes/Project VP

  By: Mikikazu Komatsu

[newsintheshell]

Visual Prison, i vampiri di A-1 Pictures si preparano a salire sul palco con un nuovo trailer

Il primo episodio dell’anime andrà in onda l’8 ottobre.

Pubblicato un secondo trailer di “Visual Prison”, l’originale serie animata nata dalla collaborazione fra Aniplex, lo studio di animazione A-1 PICTURES (Sword Art Online: Alicization, Kaguya-sama: Love is war) e il noto compositore, nonché paroliere e produttore, Noriyasu Agematsu (Symphogear, BanG Dream!, Uta no Prince Sama).  

Il video anticipa brevemente la sigla di testa dal titolo “Zankoku Shangri-La”, eseguita dagli Oz, uno dei tre gruppi protagonisti dell’anime, assieme agli Eclipse e ai Lost Eden.

Di seguito la nuova locandina con i protagonisti in tenuta da concerto.

La serie supervisionata da Takeshi Furuta (Uta no Prince Sama: Legend Star, ēlDLIVE) andrà in onda in Giappone dall’8 ottobre ed e diretta a Tomoya Tanaka (assistente di regia in ēlDLIVE e Blood Lad). La sceneggiatura è affidata a Yukie Sugawara (The iDOLM@STER SideM, Overlord), mentre il character design è adattato per l’animazione da Minako Shiba (Kuroshitsuji, DAKAICHI -I’m being harassed by the sexiest man of the year-).

Nella storia, una volta l’anno si tiene ad Harajuku uno speciale concerto, chiamato appunto Visual Prison, durante il quale i vampiri si riuniscono per darsi battaglia a suon di musica visual kei, sotto il cielo illuminato da una Luna rossa.

L’originale design dei personaggi è stato concepito per il progetto dalla mangaka Ikumi Katagiri (Zanbara!, Hitokiri Share House). Le musiche sono invece prodotte dal collettivo Elements Garden (Uta no Prince-sama, Shymphogear, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime), del quale Agematsu è il presidente.

* NON VUOI PERDERTI NEANCHE UN POST? ENTRA NEL CANALE TELEGRAM! *

Autore: SilenziO)))

[FONTE]

[howwelldoyouknowyourmoon]

The CAUSA Kingdom

“Moon’s Law: God Is Phasing Out Democracy” CovertAction No 27, Spring 1987 By Fred Clarkson

extract:

The CAUSA Kingdom CAUSA is the principal political arm of the Unification Church. It was founded in 1980, following an exploratory tour of Latin America countries, during which Bo Hi Pak met with key rightwing and military leaders. CAUSA’s main activities from 1980-1982 were arranging ideological indoctrination seminars for political, military, and other leadership groups all over the continent. In 1983, CAUSA North America was founded, and began organizing similar seminars in the U.S. Although originally known as the Confederation of the Associations for the Unification of the Societies of the Americas, by this time, the “Unification” had been changed to “Unity” in an apparent effort to distance CAUSA from the taint of the church.

Whatever its name, control of the organization by the Unification Church has been continuous. The directors of CAUSA International are all serious Church members. According to an internal CAUSA strategy memo dated January 1984,(1), the CAUSA directors proposed to “cooperate so as to best support Our True Parents [Mr. and Mrs. Moon] and Colonel Pak in this campaign to find 70 million members.... We in CAUSA have been called by True Parents to participate in a most crucial campaign which will focus upon recruiting 70 million members within the coming two years.” The “directors” of CAUSA are the department heads within the organization. The “principal participants” in the meetings which led to drafting the document were: Antonio Betancourt, Thomas Ward, William Lay, Joe Tully, Takeshi Furuta, Frank Grow, Celia Roomet, Roger Johnstone, David Decker, and Tony Colombrito. Significantly, the CAUSA directors planned to learn from “the Japan IFVC’s (International Federation for Victory over Communism, or Shokyo Rengo) drive for 3.5 million members.” The IFVC model was to aim for leaders, mostly political leaders “and when the leader committed himself, he also committed his movement.”

Takeshi Furuta is apparently the key liaison between the Japanese and the American organizations. While a director of CAUSA, Furuta was a member of the Japanese delegation to the 1985 WACL conference in Dallas. At the 1986 WACL conference, Osami Kuboki, Furuta, and their wives were the Japanese delegates.

Meanwhile, the CAUSA regional advisors attending the 1985 U.S. CAUSA conference in San Francisco, were also all Unification Church ministers. On the agenda of events for 1984, along with numerous ideological conferences, was a media tour of Asia, ostensibly under the auspices of the World Media Conference (WMC). WMC is purportedly a project of News World Communications, the parent company of the Washington Times. However the CAUSA document suggests that it was planned, if not organized by CAUSA. The Asian tour was led by former U.S Ambassador to Japan, Douglas MacArthur, and delegates met with Japanese Prime Minister Nakasone, among other leaders in Asia. Similar tours have been organized to Central America, Western Europe, and the Soviet Union.

Once limited to the Western Hemisphere, since 1983 CAUSA has become a global project with significant activities on every continent. The general thrust of the CAUSA seminar is anti-communist education from a historical perspective. The CAUSA antidote to communism is “God-ism”, which is simply the Unification Church philosophy without Moonist mythology.

Bo Hi Pak offered a CAUSA perspective of the Godist or Moonist Kingdom, when speaking of Paraguayan dictator General Alfredo Stroessner, Pak said: “I believe he’s a special man, chosen by God to run his country.”(2) This echoes an earlier revelation by Moon who said of the 1961 military coup of Korean dictator Park Chung Hee: “God set up a powerful new leader, the present president of this Korea, and the new order in our society.”(3)

(1) CBS News, “West 57th Street,” May 14, 1986.

(2) Christianity and Crisis, October 28, 1985.

(3) Fraser Report, page 353.

____________________________________________

Gen. Alfredo Stroessner “chosen by God” – killed at least 423, tortured 18,722 and raped many young girls

CAUSA and the Catholic Church in the 1980s

CAUSA and Three South American Terror Generals

“Through CAUSA… people will eventually be drawn to the root, which is Rev. Moon.”

“Moon’s Law: God Is Phasing Out Democracy”

Sun Myung Moon organization activities in Central & South America

[deep-dive]

428: Shibuya Scramble 2008 Takeshi Furuta