#Shimura Tomoyuki

[tofueggnoodles]

They’re Back! Araiso Private High School Student Council Executive Committee Vol. 1 Scene 7 (Cast Talk)

Click here to listen to the track on youtube.

This is the best photo I could find, containing only about half of the cast. I don't recognize two of the VAs, but the rest are: Kisaichi Atsushi (the one with the cap), Toriumi Kousuke (beanie guy), Ishikawa Hideo (left, seated) and Morikawa Toshiyuki.

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Summary: The voice actors talk about things (hobbies, sports, pets, etc) they will never tire of.

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Morikawa: Everyone, thank you for your hard work during the recording. It’s now time for the bonus track of the Drama CD “They’re Back! Araiso Private High School Student Council Executive Committee.”

Ishikawa: Yeah! Really – what is it?

(Morikawa and Kawami laugh.)

Ishikawa: Er – thank you for the hard work, everyone!

Morikawa: Indeed. It’s been quite a while.

Ishikawa: Yes, it’s been a long time since the last recording.

Morikawa: Someone reminded me that the very first [Araiso] Drama CD was recorded in 2000.

Ishikawa: That was eight years ago.

Morikawa: Yes.

Ishikawa: Time flies, doesn’t it? This studio’s now filled with thirty-somethings.

(The others laugh.)

Morikawa: I’m already a forty-something. [Along with Shimura, Narita, Tobita, Kobayashi and Shibuya.]

Tobita: Same here.

Ishikawa: During the previous recording, all of us were in our twenties or thirties. [Tobita, the oldest among the cast, turned forty in 1999.]

Ishikawa: And we’re all playing high school students.

Morikawa: Yes.

Ishikawa: This is a wonderful piece of work.

(Toriumi laughs.)

Ishikawa: So I hope that we’ll be able to continue voicing these characters.

Morikawa: That’s what I’m aiming for.

Ishikawa: Really, let’s continue playing these high schoolers even when we’re senior citizens.

Morikawa: Sure.

Ishikawa: For this track, based on the last line of the story–

Morikawa: Yes, the line spoken by Katsuragi, right?

(Kawakami laughs.)

Ishikawa: Sorry, yes, it’s Katsuragi’s line. It went like this: “Good grief. It’s just impossible to find the time to get tired of life while hanging out with you guys.” So, here’s the topic of our talk –

Morikawa: Yes, the topic: As long as you can have or do this thing, you’ll never tire of it! Please provide the reason why as well.

Kawakami: Okay.

Ishikawa: We’ll give our comments one by one.

Morikawa: Alright.

Ishikawa: Well then, let’s begin!

Kisaichi: I’ll go first. This is Kisaichi Atsushi, who plays Fujiwara Yuusuke. Thank you for your hard work, everyone. I don’t really have anything I’m particularly obsessed with. There’s work, baseball, ping pong, billiard, bowling, darts, golf, basketball – I never tire of stuff like these. Ah, but strength training is out of the question. Swimming too. I don’t like bland and repetitive activities like those. I love games involving balls, since I won’t get bored playing them. Though I’m not much of a sportsman, I enjoy getting better at these games. That’s about it.

Ishikawa: Aren’t you in a baseball club?

Kisaichi: Yes. I’m a coach there, after a fashion.

Ishikawa: A coach?

Kisaichi: Yes. It was a request I couldn’t refuse. In this particular case, it’s not one of those things I never tire of, but simply a duty I have to fulfill. Still, I definitely love baseball and other ball games. Yes, that’s about it.

Ishikawa: Go Atsushi!

Kisaichi: Thank you for listening! Then, on to the next person.

Toriumi: Hello, I’m Ainoura Kousuke.

(A few of the voice actors laugh. Kawakami exclaims in surprise.) [Instead of properly stating his actual name, Toriumi provided a combination of his character’s surname and his own personal name.]

Toriumi: Speaking of what I’ll never tire of, it’s curry. Curry is a magnificent dish. I can eat it anytime. Also, I never get bored grilling meat. It’s my lot in life to continuously grill meat for others.

(A few of the others start to chat among themselves in the background.)

Toriumi: Won't you please listen to me?

Morikawa: What’s the method you use to grill meat?

Toriumi: Method? I specialize in offal **. [The phrase I manage to catch is horume/horune but the only term for grilled offal I can find online is horumonyaki.]

Ishikawa: Morikawa-san’s the only one who’s seen you do it, isn’t he?

Toriumi: The first praise I received from Morikawa-san was for my meat-grilling method, you know. (laughs) I hope to get more praises from him in the future too.

Shimura: Offal!

Ishikawa: You’re noisy!

Toriumi: I’d like to continue grilling meat in the future. In addition, I recently started to play golf as well. Golf is fun too. I think it’s also something I won’t tire of. I hope I can improve on my technique there.... Goodbye.

Sasanuma: This is Sasanuma Akira, who plays Matsubara Jun.

Ishikawa: MatsuJun! [also the nickname of J-pop idol Matsumoto Jun.]

Sasanuma: MatsuJun? Yeah, I guess. (laughs) Playing with my beloved pet dog is something I’ll never tire of!

Kawakami: Eh?

Sasanuma: Yes, it’s my dog. Patting it on the thighs–

Kawakami: Thighs?

Sasanuma: –while feeding it beef jerky – I can do this for an hour or two. Even after the beef jerky’s all gone, I find myself still patting my dog.

Toriumi: Your pet dog’s a beef jerky junkie.

(Everyone laughs.)

Sasanuma: I feed it various other stuff too, such as milk. Yeah, I guess it’s going to get fat thanks to that. Alright, that’s it from me.

Shimura: Good evening. I’m Shimura Tomoyuki, who plays Murota.

Someone: It’s your head.

Shimura: Yes, it’s my head **. As long as I have it, I’ll never tire of it. Right on. Fishing is something I could do forever – if dragons existed. I want to catch one, that’s why. Also, drinking is something I can do all the time. But, I’ll always regret it the day after. And will drink again later in the evening. Only to regret it all over again the next morning! Goodbye.

Kobayashi: Good evening. This is Kobayashi Youko, who plays the transgender musclewoman and school doctor, Igarashi. Well, someone might have already mentioned the same thing before, but for me too, it’s cats [that I’ll never tire of].

Ishikawa: Ah, cats! I love cats!

Kobayashi: A group of volunteers were looking for homes for strays in front of the train station in my neighborhood. I got a pet cat from them three months ago. It’s a black cat. I find myself liking the cat so much that I got another one yesterday. (laughs) I will bring it home next week – a tricolor one this time. Yes, soon I’ll be the owner of two cats. They seem to be increasing rapidly. My home might soon turn into a cat mansion. As long as I have my cats, I’ll never tire of life. That’s it from me. Thank you very much.

Narita: Er... good evening. I’m Narita Ken, who plays Matsumoto Takahisa, the Student Council Chairman. As for me, I basically like baths. The other day, I went to a hot spring resort. The sort with a private open-air bath just outside the room.

The others: That’s nice.

Narita: Isn’t it? I really love that sort of hot spring resorts.

One of the voice actors: Did you go alone?

Narita: No no, I went with other people, of course. Going on my own would be too lonesome. Well, going alone might not be a bad thing. I like baths, so I probably won’t mind going alone. After getting out of the bath, I typically have fish dishes to accompany the sake. To me, these are life’s pleasures. Thank you for listening.

Tobita: Good morning. This is Tobita Nobuo, who plays Tachibana Haruka, the Student Council Vice-Chairman. Like some of my fellow voice actors, I love cats.

Ishikawa: Cats!

Tobita: Yes. I have an American Shorthair and a Somali.

Ishikawa: You have a Somali as well?

Tobita: The two didn’t get along well at first, never mind playing together. It took three years before they finally slept together. But now they live together happily. I hope that they’ll live long and well. Also, I like my job and working together with the Chairman. As long as Narita-san’s there, things will never get boring!

(The others laugh.) [T/N: After all, it’s that, to quote Morikawa, ‘that Narita Ken.’]

Tobita: Alright, hope to see you all again. Thank you very much.

Kondou: Thank you for your hard work, everyone. I’m Kondou Takashi, who plays Kiba Osamu. Originally, I wanted to be the first to say that I find joy in my work but Kisaichi-san already beat me to it right in the beginning. So I had to discard the lines I prepared and was thinking of something else to say while waiting for my turn. (laughs) I didn’t really intend for things to end up like this.

Kondou: The more I thought about it, the more negative it gets. When I start playing a video game, rather than not growing tired of it, I just can’t seem to stop. I tell myself, “I mustn’t go on like this, I need to get out of the house, I have to work.” So, persevering with utmost effort, I make sure to go out every morning. (laughs) If I don’t do that, I’ll turn into a shut-in. Everyone, please take care when playing video games. That’s about it.

Itou: This is Itou Kentarou, who plays Ryuunosuke. Well, at this point, we’ve run out of unique responses. Really, I’m blessed to be working with senior voice actors who never tire of their jobs. There’s drinking too, as Shimura said. And golf, as Kousuke mentioned. I’m absorbed in those recently. I actually get bored of things pretty easily. When I think about the reason why, it could be because once I decide that I like something, I’ll just do it while ignoring everything else. So from now on, I’ll do things in moderation. Hopefully, I’ll find something I never tire of, something I can continue doing for the rest of my life. I just realized this today. So, I’ll be taking my leave of you all, because I’m going off now to join some clubs. (laughs)

Katsu: I’m Katsu Anri, who plays Shuuji. Thank you for your hard work, everyone. As for something I’ll never get bored of, it’s the same as one of things Shimura-san mentioned: fishing. Also, I’ve been playing a few musical instruments for quite a while. That’s right – I never get tired of playing musical instruments [guitar, bass guitar and drums according to his Japanese Wikipedia page: https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8B%9D%E6%9D%8F%E9%87%8C]. I perform mostly indoors these days. I don’t do it to that extent anymore, but in the past, I once played the bass for up to twelve hours without taking any break or eating. There was this song I just wanted to play over and over again. Once I was done, I collapsed onto the ground. My hands and legs had gone numb. I nearly got sent to the hospital. That was the level of my enthusiasm when it came to music. Everyone who plays musical instruments, please take care not to overdo it the way I did. Well, that was fun. That’s it from me.

Kawakami: This is Kawakami Tomoko, who plays Katsuragi-chan. While trying to think of things one never tires of, various stuff came to mind, such as pets and hobbies. But, for me it’s tidying up my room.

Morikawa: Ah, I know, I know!

Ishikawa: You’ve said enough. [not sure whether this was directed to Morikawa or Kawakami.]

Kawakami: Eh?

Kawakami: To be honest, my room’s far from neat. There are plenty of clutters in it. Whenever I try to put stuff away, I end up looking at them against my better judgment. Things like years-old magazine articles featuring interviews I granted. Reading some of those, I think: wow, did I really wear this attire? I never get bored of looking at old stuff like those. Though I expressly tell myself, “I must definitely tidy up my room today,” I end up not completing the task. Stuff will pile up again until I decide to have the next tidying up session, in which the same thing will happen. It’s a vicious circle. In short, I guess I’ll never have my fill of tidying up my room. Thank you for listening.

Ishikawa: I’m Ishikawa Hideo, who plays Tokito Minoru. I love cats too, so I’m a cat owner as well. Recently, I bought some black cotton swabs at the convenience store. Those are really good for picking up dirt. With just a little daub on the skin, a lot of dirt will come off. I used them on a recording location once and gave everyone there a piece. That’s how enthusiastic I’m about them. Everyone, if you like–

Morikawa: You gave everyone a cotton swab?

Ishikawa: Yes. Please give them a try.

(Morikawa laughs.)

Ishikawa: Aren’t you being silly? [He used the term from Kansai dialect for ‘idiot’, aho. FWIW, Ishikawa hails from the Kansai region. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansai_dialect#Vocabulary]

Ishikawa: I– I– (tries unsuccessfully to speak over the clamor)

Someone: They’re convenient for cleaning up right?

Ishikawa: Right, for stuff such as getting rid of earwax. So, everyone, if you like, please give them a try. They’re called Wholly Absorbent Cotton Swabs and are black. They’re luxuriantly thick and great to use. As long as I have them, I’m good.... Er, did I say something weird?

(The others laugh.)

[More info on the cotton swabs: https://www.amazon.co.jp/%E9%98%BF%E8%98%87%E8%A3%BD%E8%96%AC-%E3%83%87%E3%83%AB%E3%82%AC%E3%83%BC%E3%83%89%E3%82%84%E3%81%BF%E3%81%A4%E3%81%8D%E7%B6%B%E6%A3%92-70%E6%9C%AC/dp/B000FQS0IS]

Ishikawa: Well, that’s about it. This gentleman will bring up the rear.

Morikawa: Yes. Dirty ears are gross... Sorry.

(Toriumi laughs along with some of the others.)

Morikawa: This is Morikawa Toshiyuki, who plays Kubota Makoto. As long I have or do this thing, I’ll never get bored. What is it? It’s meat! As long as I can eat meat, I’ll never... be thin.

(Toriumi laughs again.)

Morikawa: Being a dog person, I keep a Labrador Retriever as pet. Thanks to it.... I’ve had my fill of dogs.

(The others laugh.)

Morikawa: Really, my dog plays a trick on me at every turn. He’d carry off my house slippers and run around my residence trying to escape me. The minute I arrive home [and am about to wear the slippers], he’d grab the slippers without fail. I’m sick of that trick already, but he does not seem to be. Even now, I’m at loss as to how to deal with this behavior.

Someone: You’re fed up with it.

Morikawa: Sorry for bothering you all with my dog trouble. After this, I probably can’t count on your support anymore. (laughs) I’m done, yes.

Ishikawa: All right. Everyone, thank you very much. Then, let’s say it together. One, two–

Everyone: Good-bye!

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(Round brackets): actions and sound effects. [Square brackets]: translator’s notes or clarifications. Double asterisks **: Stuff I am not sure of. Suggestions for improvements and corrections are more than welcome.

Extra notes

Saiyuki fans: If you find some of the voices familiar, that might be because you’ve heard them in the Saiyuki anime.

Narita Ken, Matsumoto’s voice actor, played Koumyou Sanzo in Gensoumaden series and the Saiyuki Drama CD.

Toriumi Kousuke, Ainoura’s voice actor, played young Ukoku (Ken'yuu) in Burial OVA.

The late Kawakami Tomoko (Katsuragi’s voice actor) played Lirin.

Morikawa Toshiyuki (Kubota’s voice actor) played Homura.

Fans of old BLCD (late 1990s to early 2010s) probably would know most of the Araiso cast. I just couldn’t help smiling whenever I recalled who paired with whom in which Boys’ Love Drama CD as I translated this track.

There’s a good ending for Fujiwara, or his voice, at least. He got to be with his Kubota-senpai for once, in Toraware no Koibito.

Kondou Takashi (Osamu’s voice actor) played the seme to Morikawa in Adult Education and the uke to Ishikawa in Castle Mango.

If you’re interested in BL Drama CDs, there is wonderful list pointing to the downloads, indexed by voice actors on aarinfantasy.

#私立荒磯高等学校生徒会執行部 #Araiso Private High School Student Council Executive Committee #wild adapter #Ishikawa Hideo #Morikawa Toshiyuki #Kawakami Tomoko #Katsu Anri #Itou Kentarou #Kondou Takashi #Tobita Nobuo #Narita Ken #Kobayashi Youko #Shimura Tomoyuki #Sasanuma Akira #Toriumi Kousuke #Kisaichi Atsushi #drama cd

[retrorevelations]

Happy 68the Birthday, to the single greatest movie monster of all time, the King of Monsters, Godzilla! Gojira was released in Japan on this day, all the way back in 1954. Little did they know then, that an absolute legend of cinema was born.

#Gojira #Godzilla #Toho #Kaiju #Happy Birthday #Anniversary #1954 #Legend #Icon #GOAT #King of the Monsters #Ishiro Honda #Akira Ifukube #Eiji Tsuburaya #Takeo Murata #Tomoyuki Tanaka #Akira Takarada #Akihiko Hirata #Momoko Kochi #Takashi Shimura #Suitmation #Tokyo #Japan #Rampage #Go Go Godzilla #Monster Movie #Science Fiction #Sci Fi #Horror

[demifiendrsa]

Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War TV Anime - English subbed Trailer #1

Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War TV Anime will premiere in October 2022.

Key visual

Cast

Masakazu Morita as Ichigo Kurosaki

Fumiko Orikasa as Rukia Kuchiki

Noriaki Sugiyama as Uryū Ishida

Yuki Matsuoka as Orihime Inoue

Hiroki Yasumoto as Yasutora Sado

Kentaro Ito as Renji Abarai

Shinichiro Miki as Kisuke Urahara

Satsuki Yukino as Yoruichi Shihōin

Binbin Takaoka (replacing Masaaki Tsukada) as Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto

Houko Kuwashima as Suì-Fēng

Shouto Kashii as Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi

Aya Hisakawa as Retsu Unohana

Masaya Onosaka as Shinji Hirako

Ryotaro Okiayu as Byakuya Kuchiki

Tetsu Inada as Sajin Komamura

Akio Ohtsuka as Shunsui Kyōraku

Tomokazu Sugita as Kensei Muguruma

Romi Park as Tōshirō Hitsugaya

Fumihiko Tachiki as Kenpachi Zaraki

Ryusei Nakao as Mayuri Kurotsuchi

Hideo Ishikawa as Jūshirō Ukitake

Naomi Kusumi as Ichibē Hyōsube

Yōji Ueda as Ōetsu Mimaiya

Tomoyuki Shimura as Tenjirō Kirinji

Rina Satou as Senjumaru Shutara

Ayumi Tsunematsu as Kirio Hikifune

Takayuki Sugo as Yhwach

Yuichiro Umehara as Jugram Haschwalth

Shunsuke Takeuchi as Askin Nakk Le Vaar

Ayana Taketatsu as Bambietta Basterbine

Yūki Ono as Bazz-B

Yumi Uchiyama as Candice Catnipp

Natsuki Hanae as Gremmy Thoumeaux

Satoshi Hino as Lille Barro

Staff

Director: Tomohisa Taguchi

Character Design: Masashi Kudo

Music: Shiro Sagisu

Chief Animation Director: Michio Hasegawa, Sei Komatsubara, Kumiko Takayanagi

Action Effects Animation Director: Satoshi Sakai, Yoshihiro Kanno, Yong Hoon Chong

Art Director: Yoshio Tanioka

Art Design: Toshiki Amada

Color Design: Saori Goda

Editing: Akinori Mishima

Director of Photography: Kazuhiro Yamada

CG Directors: Toshihiro Sasaki, Kazushi Goto

Sound Director: Yukio Nagasaki

Sound Production: Zack Promotion

Animation Production: Studio Pierrot

#Bleach Thousand Year Blood War #Bleach TYBW #Bleach #Bleach anime #Studio Pierrot #anime #TV anime

[imasallstars]

The cover art for THE IDOLM@STER SideM 49 ELEMENTS -13 もふもふえん  album has been released and the album is set to be released on the 26th of July 2023. It will feature a new unit song as well as new solo songs sung by each member.

The crossfade of the album is located here

Tracklist:

Tr.01　Mofu Gyu~to Days☆ 　Lyrics: Futa Shintani　Music&Arrange: Mashiro Shimura 　Singer(s): MofuMofuEn Tr.02　Tokimeki Prologue! 　Lyrics: Futa Shintani　Music&Arrange: Hajime Mitsumasu 　Singer(s): Nao Okamura Tr.03　Little My Shoes 　Lyrics: Erica Masaki　Music&Arrange: Naoyuki Honzawa, Tomoyuki Tajiri (note native) 　Singer(s): Shiro Tachibana Tr.04　Popcorn Closet! 　Lyrics: Erica Masaki　Music&Arrange: ao-WiFi 　Singer(s): Kanon Himeno Tr.05　Mofu Gyu~to Days☆ (Off Vocal) Tr.06　Tokimeki Prologue! (Off Vocal) Tr.07　Little My Shoes (Off Vocal) Tr.08　Popcorn Closet! (Off Vocal)

#album

[crimson-ace-reviews]

Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger: Initial Thoughts

I know this may seem a little late, but I figured now that the first major story arc of this show is officially over, I can give my thoughts on the latest season of Super Sentai so far.

Here's a little recap for people who haven't seen it yet, but be careful, there's going to be spoilers abound.

THE RECAP

On an alternate Earth called Tikyu/Terra, the world is split up into five major kingdoms protected by guardian deities called the Shugods, these giant robot insects. In the kingdom of Shugoddam, an orphan named Gira (Played by Taisei Sakai) uncovers a terrible secret. Shugoddam's ruler, King Racules (Played by Masato Yano), plans to exploit the return of their race's greatest enemy, the Bugnarak, in order to seize more power for himself. After being chosen by Shugoddam's guardian Shugod, God Kuwagata, Gira becomes Kuwagata Ohger, one of the five chosen warriors whose powers were used to defeat the Bugnarok 2000 years ago. Gira soon learns that he's actually Racules' brother, but gets his ass kicked thanks to a trial by combat.

After being branded a traitor to his people by Racules and faking his death, Gira quickly gets acquainted with the other four chosen warriors and rulers of their respective kingdoms: Yanma/Tombo Ohger (Played by Aoto Watanabe), a master hacker who is the ruler of the kingdom of technology, N'Kosopa, Hymeno/Kamakiri Ohger (Played by Erica Murakami), the spoiled, but ultimately selfless ruler of the kingdom full of medical achievements, Ishabana, Rita/Papillon Ohger (Played by Yuzuki Hirakawa), a stern, albeit socially awkward judge who is the ruler of the kingdom where most criminals are tried, Gokkan, and Kaguragi/Hachi Ohger (Played by So Kaku), a ruler who uses deceptive tactics for the sake of his people and is the ruler of the kingdom that provides most of the world's food, Toufu. Their alliance is shaky at first, but after awakening three more Shugods and foiling a major Bugnarok plot, the team's bond becomes more stable.

Later on, they're joined by Jeramie/Spider Kumonos (Played by Masashi Ikeda), a human/Bugnarok hybrid with a dream of making peace between humanity and the Bugnarok. He steals away three of the major Shugods in order to awaken his own Shugod, God Tarantula. He tries to negotiate a peace treaty between the two races, but between Racules being a sociopathic tyrant and the king of the Bugnarok, Dethnaarok VIII (Voiced by Tomoyuki Shimura), wanting nothing more than to exterminate the human race, things fall flat. The only thing either of them really agree on is Racules using his kingdom's technology to revive the Bugnarok's strongest general, Daigorg (Voiced by Bugnarok), in exchange for the Bugnarok to only spare Shugoddam and none of the other four kingdoms.

The six rulers confront Racules and the Bugnarok under a new alliance between their kingdoms, calling their team Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger. This promptly leads to the Bugnarok being temporarily fended off and Gira beating Racules in a trial by combat, making him the new ruler of Shugoddam.

I skipped a few details like Gira faking his death and Kaguragi having a sister, but this is the basis gist of the first major story arc. Like my earlier reviews, I'm going to divide this into three major sections.

THE STORY

While I already summarized what happened, I still want to go over how much I love the writing for this season. While there's a basic status quo set up with needing to find a way to deal with Racules and the Bugnarok, there's never any stupid writing decisions made to uphold it, something that happened a lot in the last season, Avataro Sentai Donbrothers.

If Gira is one of the chosen warriors and the rightful heir to the throne, why can't he retake his kingdom as early as Episode 6? He tries that, but Racules breaks out his own set of powers connected to an artificial Shugod, not only making himself out to be a chosen warrior, but he's more than powerful enough to beat up Gira in a fight.

If the other rulers don't trust Racules, why can't they just gang up on him themselves? They don't really try that, but it's made clear that because of how much Racules is beloved, if they screw up an attempt to usurp him, they lose his kingdom's support against the Bugnarak, and they have to think of a way to deal with Racules that doesn't endanger their people's safety.

If the team managed to come together and restore the robot god King-Ohger, why is Racules still running the show? Racules himself steals the credit for it, and the team's plan to reveal Gira is alive is screwed up by Jeramie.

The point I'm trying to make is that this show rarely ignores potential plotholes. The only real problem I had with the story was how they kind of just threw in a new power-up towards the end of the arc with little to no foreshadowing, even though Racules could have used it the entire time.

I also love how deep the worldbuilding is for a Super Sentai season. Most fictional worlds featured in this franchise like the Flash System, Dino Earth, of Crystalia get very little screentime, and are only there to set up the plot so the rest of the show can take place on Earth, with the occasional flashback set on those places. This show goes more into how a world like this would work. You learn how each kingdom provides essential goods and services to the other, the history of the monarchies, and how the world recovered from a disaster known as the “Fury of the Gods”. While Terra is no Middle Earth, there's still a lot of thought put into writing this world.

THE HEROES

After watching Donbrothers answer the question of “What if the heroes in a Super Sentai season were a bunch of assholes?”, I was worried about the show setting up the team as being more divided than earlier seasons, but thankfully, they do a better job handling the dynamic than Donbrothers did.

For one thing, the show acknowledges that a big part of the characters' motivations involves finding a way to get stuff done without endangering their people. Yanma, Hymeno, Rita, and Kaguragi all have to worry about keeping their kingdoms safe in ways that they can't just fight off like the Bugnarok, which makes for some compelling drama.

I also love how the show portrays them caring for their people in different ways. Yanma acts more like a Japanese delinquent, but he still has a sense of loyalty to his people. Hymeno is seemingly selfish and obsessed with getting whatever she wants, but her definition of “selfish” also translates to encouraging others to dream and have desires in a way that don't really harm other people. Rita comes off as a cold-hearted judge, but it's clearly an act they put on to maintain a sense of neutrality and justice. Kaguragi is shown to be a very deceptive person, but his first episode makes it clear that he does it all for the sake of his people. Gira also works as the everyman as he not only gets to poke holes in their arguments, but he also gets the royal life explained to him by the other four. It's honestly a pretty fun dynamic that leads to some good interactions between the main cast, to say nothing about how Jeramie's cryptic dialogue is portrayed as unrealistic and only annoys the other characters.

THE VILLAINS

I really like the way the villains are being handled so far.

The Bugnarok are still the primary threat, but Racules serves as a more personal threat to the team, given the level of political influence he has. Racules generally owns every scene he's in, and he's the right combination of despicable enough to hate and enjoyable enough to watch. He's a fun character, but he also serves as a compelling antagonist and a strong foil to the other main characters.

The Bugnarok themselves are also surprisingly interesting. I like how Dethnaarok VIII's motivation for wanting to destroy humanity is played more for horror than most Sentai villains. This man doesn't care how many of his own troops he loses. He believes that if they lose at least one soldier less than humanity does in a battle, he considers it a win. He's a lot more unhinged than most Sentai villains, and you can never really pin down what his plans are. While Daigorg hasn't done much, he's still shown to be a really tough opponent, and Kamejim (Voiced by Shinichiro Miki) is a really effective strategist, even managing to outsmart Racules by posing as one of his advisors.

OVERALL THOUGHTS

Honestly, I think this show has been knocking it out of the park so far. The characters are likable, the story is compelling, and I'm really interested in seeing where things go.

#crimson ace reviews #super sentai #ohsama sentai kingohger

[quasar1967]

Godzilla Raids Again (1955)

Godzilla Raids Again (Japanese: ゴジラの逆襲, Hepburn: Gojira no Gyakushū, lit. 'Godzilla's Counterattack') is a 1955 Japanese kaiju film directed by Motoyoshi Oda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd, it is the second film in the Godzilla franchise. The film stars Hiroshi Koizumi, Setsuko Wakayama, Minoru Chiaki, and Takashi Shimura, with Haruo Nakajima as Godzilla and Katsumi Tezuka as Anguirus. In the film, Japan struggles to survive Godzilla's return, as well as its destructive battle against its ancient foe Anguirus.

Executive producer Iwao Mori instructed producer Tomoyuki Tanaka to immediately commence production on a second Godzilla film, fearing to lose the momentum of the first film's success. Oda was chosen to direct the film as Ishirō Honda was busy directing Lovetide.

Godzilla Raids Again was released theatrically in Japan on April 24, 1955. A re-edited, English dubbed version was released theatrically in the United States on June 2, 1959, by Warner Bros. Pictures, under the title Gigantis, the Fire Monster.

The film was followed by King Kong vs. Godzilla, released on August 11, 1962.

#godzilla

[trashexplorer]

BLCD Review: Yes ka No ka Hanbun ka 2

Title: Yes ka No ka Hanbun ka 2 Sekai no Mannaka (イエスかノーか半分か2 世界のまんなか)

Author: Ichiho Michi

Illustrator: Takemiya Lala

Release Date: 2020/12/04

Cast: LOOK AT THIS CASTLIST

Kawahara Yoshihisa x Abe Atsushi

Eguchi Takuya

Murata Taishi

Morikawa Toshiyuki

Tadokoro Hinata

Shimura Tomoyuki

Sasaki Takumi

Synopsis: Sequel to the series of the same name!

Review Proper

If there was something that made me even happier than knowing that Kotonoha no Hana was getting a manga adaptation, it’s this getting both an anime and a BLCD adaptation for the second volume with the same casting (minus Kimura Ryohei). 

Why am I getting so emotional? It’s only just been what? 6 years? 

Anyway, I was so confused at first because I knew how and where volume 2 starts and that was not it, so I just chucked it off as the studio deciding to scrap the first parts. Surprise! I was actually just a dumbass and was listening to volume 2! When did I realize it, you ask? When I finished the whole fucking disk.

It’s safe to say that the BLCD was pretty accurate to the novel sequencing-wise. I’m still annoyed over how Kei is still the hanbun yarou I knew and disliked, but I’m glad that it was toned down in the second disk. Lo and be hold, ladies and gentlemen, Bakugou had character development! Kei had been struggling with his motivations for work bc of Shitara-san and Asou-san that it made him take his frustrations out on Ushio. I thought that this would be resolved by Ushio chasing after Kei again and Kei going head to head against Ryou (the announcer/host for their rival channel), so I was so surprised that not only did Kei chase after Ushio to make up with him, but he also took the back seat and made Narayama (an AD who’s actually a reporter but who’s scared shitless about reporting) report on the story that set their show’s story with higher ratings that effectively shut Ryou, Shitara-san, and Asou-san down. 

“Show me the difference between me and the you who truly loves their job.” - Kuneida Kei

Also, I’m definitely not mad about the super cliché selective amnesia here. I do admit that I snorted once it started happening, but the tension building up in Ushio—my god. I thought that this was going to be a sappy ride, and it was to an extent. But y’all should know that no matter what Kawahara Yoshishisa does, his voice is always packed with some heat one way or another, so I was sure that rather than exploding into a emotional spillage of the truth, Ushio was going to pin him down. HAHAHAHAHA

But I’m glad that he waited until Kei remembered all on his own. This was so out of character of Ushio because he never really waits! 👏👏👏 Ah, character development for everyone!

Moving on to the voice work, if y’all new to this hell-hole, then please know that I’m Kawahara Yoshihisa trash ever since. His Ushio is actually one of my favorite performances of his (spoiler: all of his performances are my favorite because he never underperforms), so best believe I know how he should sound. I wasn’t at all surprised to find out that neither he nor Abe Atsushi sounded any different from the first volume (and the chemistry is still alive, folks!). When I first heard Ushio talk in the first track, I WAS ON THE FLOOR CRYING. Yo, you don’t know how long it’s been ever since I’ve heard Kawahara Yoshihisa doing a younger voice. 😭😭😭 Lately, he’s just been voicing older daddies like Juda and Asahi-san, and like, I know that it’s appropriate for his actual age and all, but Kawahara’s higher tone is magic!  😭😭😭 But here’s some good news; Kawahara is going to do a younger voice in Pheromone Tantei that’s coming out this month! Ngl, I am a bit wary of the plot, but nevertheless, I’m excited to listen to it!!! Back on topic, not only was Kawahara voicing a younger character here, this was also the first time in a long while that he was voicing a character that was emotional and trying so hard to keep his hands off his man! I JUST WANT JUDA AND ASAHI-SAN POVS, OKAY?! Ushio had three whole tracks told in his POV, you know! I BEEN BLESSED!

As for Abe—WELCOME BACK, SIR!!! Last time I heard him was in 2019 in Ayashi no Horrible Disaster, and I don’t even want to remember what he sounded like there even though I’m 100% sure that he didn’t underperform. I’ll be honest here, I’m not really an Abe fan. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a great actor, but I really don’t like this tone (I also don’t like VAs who have similar tones with his). I may have liked some BLCDs where he was cast in, but there aren’t any particular roles that I like of his...EXCEPT FOR THIS ONE. Again, I hate Kei’s personality, but the switching he does is divine!

JAPANESE LANGUAGE LESSON TIME!!!

It’s mentioned in vol. 1 that Kei has distinct nasal consonants which is why he was hired as an announcer even though he didn’t apply as one. To put it simply, instead of just pronouncing ka, ki, ku, ke, ko, Kei pronounces it like nga, ngi, ngu, nge, ngo. Think “sungoi” instead of “sugoi”. This trait is so rare nowadays that only announcers who are trained to do them and some of the older generations who are situated/live around the Eastern regions of the country still do it. You can search Dogen’s video about this on YouTube for a more concrete explanation. Abe Atsushi doesn’t actually nasalize consonants in real life, but he sure sounds like he does! UGH. VETERANS! He’s also the only one who does this among his fellow announcers in vol 1! Despite my dispreference of his tone, his acting is one of the main reasons why this BLCD was one of my go-to’s for so long. I MEAN, THOSE MATTRESS MAMBOS 👀 Abe is easily Gen 1 Yamashita Seiichirou. Man, I wish Abe gets more roles that are up my alley because he’s a Gen 1 himself, and I can’t keep living my life without listening to his recent work before he...godforbid leaves. *cries the Thames

As for our supporting cast, I was quite excited to find out who was going to voice Asou-san because he was finally going to have some dialogue here. In vol. 1, Asou-san developed gastric cancer and was sent away to recuperate, which is why Kei become The News’ main hitter in the first place. Asou-san’s since recovered, so he came back and WAS BEING VOICED BY MORIKAWA TOSHIYUKI!

IT’S A VETERAN PARTY!!! I knew that Moririn also nasalizes his consonants, so it made so much sense!!! I just want to talk to the casting director and promise them that I will bless 16 generations of their family.

Ugh. My heart is so happy. 😭😭😭 I am a little disappointed that Kimura Ryohei didn’t come back for Minagawa bc I low-key shipped Minagawa and Kei, but Egu did a great job with his Minagawa regardless. He was able to capture how Kimura Ryohei did him, which oddly, made him sound a little like a mix of Makonyan, Tattsun, and Nakajima Yoshiki. I know it’s weird, but it is what it is. But the good news here is that I still ship Egu’s Minagawa AND MORIRIN’S ASOU-SAN WITH KEI. 😌

I love how Shimura Tomoyuki came back to reprise his role as Shitara-san even though he’s never been a BL actor himself. Glad to know that he liked the series enough to get back to it (SatoTaku does Shitara-san in the anime tho and idk y bc he’s supposed to be considerably older). Shitara-san is actually a very kind, calm, and encouraging character, but he just always manages to step on Kei’s landmines like it was his goddamn talent. 😂 I wanted to see more of Murata’s Ryou and Sasaki Takumi’s Narayama tbh, but they didn’t really have a major presence even in volume 2. I haven’t read 3 yet, so here’s to hoping that there’s a volume 3 adaptation and they both get to have larger roles. 🤞 My very special special mention will go to Tadokoro Hinata tho because I really didn’t realize that he was doing Nishikido-san up until I checked a few mins ago! WHAT THE FUCK?! I thought that the person voicing him was a veteran from another industry like Shimura Tomoyuki because he sounded so mature. Tadokoro just never fails to amaze me. We might never know how old Tadokoro really is, but I’m gonna throw hands if I find out that he’s still in his twenties and he already has that kind of talent. Give us more Tadokoro please!!!

If you still can’t tell after the novel of a review I just typed out, I loved this. I’m encouraging you all to listen to this from the first volume onwards even if you’ve already seen the anime bc they left a lot of details out (I mean, it’s just an hour-long episode, no wonder). The BLCDs themselves did cut some stuff out, but nothing really major. The plot, no matter how cliché it was, is still very interesting up to the most minute details, so please read the novel! Definitely listen to this if you want to further your BLCD education as I believe that this should be a rite of passage just like Kotonoha no Hana and Rakuen no Uta. An English translation for all of the volumes is still up in novelcool, so you can read them once first before reading them again as you listen to the CDs. Also, if you loved Customer Masquerade!, then do give this a chance since the plots are similar (altho Etou-san does have a good excuse for his fake attitude) and it’s also produced by Atis! Another good announcer BL is Broadcast wo Toppatsure! starring Sugitan and Yusa! Oh my gosh, I really am old. 💀

#blcd reviews #blcd 2020 reviews #yes ka no ka hanbun ka #ichiho michi #takemiya lala #atis #kawahara yoshihisa #abe atsushi #morikawa toshiyuki #eguchi takuya #murata taishi #shimura tomoyuki #sasaki takumi

[screamscenepodcast]

Your deadicated hosts travel to 1950s Japan to cover GOJIRA (1954) from director Ishiro Honda! Plus, a brief history of post-war Japan, the atomic bomb, and the origins of the daikaiju genre.

A brief context-setting of Japan 00:00; Film background 18:45; Synopsis 1:33:02; Discussion 1:46:27; Ranking 2:28:22

#podcast #gojira #godzilla #king of the monsters #ishiro honda #history of japan #post-war japan #toho studios #akira takarada #momoko kochi #akihiko hirata #takashi shimura #katsumi tezuka #tomoyuki tanaka #takeo murata #shigeru kayama #akira ifukube #masao tamai #suitmation #kaiju #daikaiju #horror #classic horror #monster movie #haruo nakajima

[tofueggnoodles]

They’re Back! Araiso Private High School Student Council Executive Committee Vol. 2 Extra: Fairy Tale Characters the Cast Wish They Were

#Ishikawa Hideo #Morikawa Toshiyuki #Kondou Takashi #Kisaichi Atsushi #Sasanuma Akira #Shimura Tomoyuki #Katsu Anri #Itou Kentarou #Kawakami Tomoko #Toriumi Kousuke #私立荒磯高等学校生徒会執行部 #Araiso Private High School Student Council Executive Committee #Wild Adapter #minekura kazuya #drama cd #translation

[gojira2012]

In case you missed it, here's my retrospective of GODZILLA 1954! Here I dive into the origins of Godzilla and see how the King of the Monsters claimed his throne.

LINK => https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMDobT3OQA8

#Godzilla #Gojira #Godzilla 1954 #Godzilla King of the Monsters #Review #Retrospective #ishiro honda #eiji tsuburaya #akira ifukube #tomoyuki tanaka #akira takarada #momoko kochi #akihiko hirata #takashi shimura #raymond burr #gojira2012

[maxwell-grant]

The pulp origins of Godzilla

I am incredibly pleased to announce that, amidst my quest to find pulp characters across the world and the history of pulp across changing nations and time periods and audiences, I discovered that one of the biggest icons had actually been one of my favorite characters of all time ever and in plain sight all along: Godzilla.

Yup, you heard me right, Godzilla is a pulp character. And no, this isn’t me stretching the barely-existent definition of pulp hero to encompass a character I like and want to talk about, as I usually do. No, this time I stumbled onto a piece of information that lets me make this claim with veracity. 

Meet the first version of Godzilla ever created: The Godzilla of the 1954 pulp novel Gojira, by Shigeru Kayama, one of Japan’s most prominent pulp writers at the time. Published about a month before the film, and the first version of Godzilla ever officially released to the public. 

The following excerpts are taken from the Project Kayama website, where you can find the novel available for reading

In the 1950s, Kayama was one of Japan’s preeminent science-fiction authors. 

In 1952, Kayama published a particularly bizarre and horrific tale: a story in which a large, lizard-like monster that stands upright on two legs wrecks terrifying havoc on the residents of a pacific island. The story’s name was Jira Monster, and both its name and plot foreshadowed the cinematic beast that was to come. 

It was his talents that Toho producer Tomoyuki Tanaka sought out after deciding to pursue the creation of a giant monster film. 

A mere 11 days after accepting the assignment, Kayama had completed his 50-page outline. The manuscript – stamped as CONFIDENTIAL and titled G-Sakuhin Kentoyo Daihan (G-Production Script for Examination) was submitted to Toho before the end of May.

As many G-fans know, much was changed from Kayama’s original concept. By the time Godzilla went before cameras, the monster itself had evolved from a vague, reptilian beast with flappy ears and a hunger for cattle into an allegorical destroyer whose lack of clear motivation was its greatest terrifying strength. Dr. Yamane, originally conceived as a mysterious, cloak-wearing weirdo living in a gothic mansion, had transformed into the distinguished and kindly Takashi Shimura.

Despite the changes that Ishiro Honda and writer Takeo Murata would make to the tale, the basic structure and flow of the plot remained the same. It was Kayama who envisioned Japanese fishing ships sinking amidst radioactive fire, an island where a giant beast-god is worshipped by fearful villagers, the deadly fire that spews forth from Godzilla’s mighty maw, and a terrifying new super weapon whose use against the monster leads to the heroic suicide of a war-scarred scientist.

Upon its release, Godzilla became a smash hit. But a little over a week before Japanese audiences got their first cinematic look at the monster, the story was already available to the public in the form of a full novelization.

First published via Iwatani on October 25, 1954, Kaiju Gojira (Monster Godzilla) was penned by Shigeru Kayama, but retained little of his original vision for the story. This adaptation of the original Godzilla drew from two different sources: Honda and Murata’s initial script for the film, and Toshi Tatsuno’s serialized radio-drama adaptation of the same script.

August Ragone, writer of EIJI TSUBURAYA: MASTER OF MONSTERS, additionally writes

Actually, there is literally tons of concrete evidence of the Japanese equivalent of American pulps. These have been chronicled in books on the history of Bokura magazine (and other such nostalgic retrospectives), as well as books on the Post War period and children's toys and hobbies of the Post War (1950-1970).

As soon as the war ended, a number of Japanese editions of American publications, such as Amazing Stories began to flood the market -- as well as Japanese-penned stories (Japanese children were especially fascinated by tales of the American Wild West, Science Fiction and Jungle Adventures)

During and after the war, there were numerous cheaply-printed, garish periodicals aimed at children -- not to be confused with manga (comic books), which contained exciting illustrated stories. These continued into the 1960s, but slowly absorbed as features of larger weekly or monthly manga anthologies, mostly containing serialized comics (the size of phone books), and were largely phased out by the 1980s.

In fact let’s look at the whole process behind Godzilla’s debut on pop culture again: Started off with an idea, that then became a novel, partially based on a radio drama, and then made a big hit as a film. That is exactly the kind of trajectory most of the pulp heroes took when getting adaptations outside of their original material. It’s the same trajectory that The Shadow followed, from book to radio to film. Vastly different circumstances that led to them getting there, sure, and Godzilla’s obviously grown into something much more vast and influential than his origins, like other pulp-influenced properties that broke big into the mainstream, but the fact remains that Godzilla began life, first made his debut in pop culture, as a pulp character, by the most exact definition possible.

Not that I actually ever needed an excuse to talk about Godzilla, my other favorite character of all time, and of course I have a “Shadow meets Godzilla” post on the pipeline because of this, but this really was a revelation that threw a lot of things into context for me. 

Actually, not just Godzilla. Turns out, my other other favorite character of all time, Mothra, also had a start in magazines. As a serialized novel written in 1961 called The Luminous Fairies and Mothra, that eventually got adapted and turned into a feature film. Which only makes sense especially considering Mothra has an incredibly similar story to King Kong, which is commonly put side by side with pulp characters, and the kaiju’s connection to Kong has reemerged time and time again.

And you can bet I have a lot of further things to say about this, but that’s for a different post. I’m just sitting here unreasonably happy that I finally found a reason to put The Shadow and Godzilla in the same room (not that I needed one).

#kaiju tag #pulp heroes #pulp fiction #i never thought i'd ever actually use that tag in a godzilla post #godzilla #mothra

[demifiendrsa]

Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War TV Anime - Official English subbed Short Trailer: The World of the Living

Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War TV Anime will premiere on October 10, 2022.  The anime will run for four cours with breaks in between.

Cast

Masakazu Morita as Ichigo Kurosaki

Fumiko Orikasa as Rukia Kuchiki

Noriaki Sugiyama as Uryū Ishida

Yuki Matsuoka as Orihime Inoue

Hiroki Yasumoto as Yasutora Sado

Kentaro Ito as Renji Abarai

Shinichiro Miki as Kisuke Urahara

Satsuki Yukino as Yoruichi Shihōin

Binbin Takaoka (replacing Masaaki Tsukada) as Genryūsai Shigekuni Yamamoto

Houko Kuwashima as Suì-Fēng

Shouto Kashii as Rōjūrō Ōtoribashi

Aya Hisakawa as Retsu Unohana

Masaya Onosaka as Shinji Hirako

Ryotaro Okiayu as Byakuya Kuchiki

Tetsu Inada as Sajin Komamura

Akio Ohtsuka as Shunsui Kyōraku

Tomokazu Sugita as Kensei Muguruma

Romi Park as Tōshirō Hitsugaya

Fumihiko Tachiki as Kenpachi Zaraki

Ryusei Nakao as Mayuri Kurotsuchi

Hideo Ishikawa as Jūshirō Ukitake

Naomi Kusumi as Ichibē Hyōsube

Yōji Ueda as Ōetsu Mimaiya

Tomoyuki Shimura as Tenjirō Kirinji

Rina Satou as Senjumaru Shutara

Ayumi Tsunematsu as Kirio Hikifune

Takayuki Sugo as Yhwach

Yuichiro Umehara as Jugram Haschwalth

Shunsuke Takeuchi as Askin Nakk Le Vaar

Ayana Taketatsu as Bambietta Basterbine

Yūki Ono as Bazz-B

Yumi Uchiyama as Candice Catnipp

Natsuki Hanae as Gremmy Thoumeaux

Satoshi Hino as Lille Barro

Wataru Hatano as Hidetomo Kajōmaru

KENN as Berenice Gabrielli

Takahiro Fujiwara as Jerome Guizbatt

Wataru Komada as Asguiaro Ebern

Daiki Hamano as Luders Friegen

Staff

Director: Tomohisa Taguchi

Character Design: Masashi Kudo

Music: Shiro Sagisu

Chief Animation Director: Michio Hasegawa, Sei Komatsubara, Kumiko Takayanagi

Action Effects Animation Director: Satoshi Sakai, Yoshihiro Kanno, Yong Hoon Chong

Art Director: Yoshio Tanioka

Art Design: Toshiki Amada

Color Design: Saori Goda

Editing: Akinori Mishima

Director of Photography: Kazuhiro Yamada

CG Directors: Toshihiro Sasaki, Kazushi Goto

Sound Director: Yukio Nagasaki

Sound Production: Zack Promotion

Animation Production: Studio Pierrot

#Bleach Thousand Year Blood War #Bleach TYBW #Bleach #Bleach anime #Studio Pierrot #anime #TV anime

[damoviemaestro]

The Movie Maestro's Reviews: Godzilla (1954) dir. Ishirô Honda Conceived by producer Tomoyuki Tanaka after another project fell through, Godzilla is still the apex of tokusatsu cinema, equaled by none. Ushering Japan into a new age of artistic expression at the same time as the end of the American occupation, Ishirô Honda's film is stacked with sublime actors, most recognizably in Takashi Shimura as paleontologist Yamane and Akihiko Hirata as Dr. Serizawa. Their respective arcs appear quite similar, as both attempt to salvage a workable future from mankind's violent past and present, Yamane through his attempts to save Godzilla from death so that he may be studied, and Serizawa through his reluctance to use his ultimate superweapon against the creature, the Oxygen Destroyer. His arc is quite dramatic, inviting comparisons to J. Robert Oppenheimer, the remorseful founder of the atomic age. Undoubtedly, however, the main event of Godzilla to most viewers would be Godzilla himself. Portrayed by a combination of puppets and a large, 200-lb rubber suit, Godzilla, in this original film at least, remains a wholly-convincing special effect. While the puppet shots have most certainly aged poorly and don't fit with the rest of the footage, the cumbersome suit, worn valiantly through fainting spells and buckets of sweat by Haruo Nakajima, portrays a confused and tortured beast, staggering around a highly-detailed miniature Tokyo as if it is constantly in searing pain (the presence of keloid scars across its hide does much to bolster this observation). Honda's stark black-and-white photography captures all of the nuances of Nakajima's performance and Eiji Tsuburaya's special effects work, resulting in an image eerily reminiscent of wartime footage that would have been very hard to watch for those who had survived it. Combined with Akira Ifukube's still-haunting score, the effect is palpable. Read the full review at themoviemaestroblog.wordpress.com

#The Movie Maestro #film review #Godzilla #Gojira #kaiju #giant monsters #anti-war #nuclear #atomic bomb #Japan #tokusatsu #ishiro honda #tomoyuki Tanaka #akira ifukube #eiji tsuburaya #akira takarada #akihiko hirata #takashi shimura #momoko Kochi #raymond burr #godzilla king of the monsters #sci-fi

[itsmarjudgelove]

Yojimbo 用心棒,  "Bodyguard" is a 1961 Japanese samurai film directed by Akira Kurosawa, who produced the film with Tomoyuki Tanaka and Ryūzō Kikushima. Kurosawa wrote the screenplay with Kikushima and Hideo Oguni based on Kurosawa's story. A nameless ronin, or samurai with no master (Toshirô Mifune), enters a small village in feudal Japan where two rival businessmen are struggling for control of the local gambling trade. Taking the name Sanjuro Kuwabatake, the ronin convinces both silk merchant Tazaemon (Kamatari Fujiwara) and sake merchant Tokuemon (Takashi Shimura) to hire him as a personal bodyguard, then artfully sets in motion a full-scale gang war between the two ambitious and unscrupulous men.

[recentanimenews]

Godzilla Singular Point TV Anime Reveals Massive Main Cast

  Hold on to you hats, kaiju fans, because the main cast has been revealed for Godzilla Singular Point (known as Gojira S.P in Japan), an upcoming original TV anime about scientists trying to stop the rampages of Godzilla and other giant monsters. The main cast includes:

    Yume Miyamoto as Mei Kamino.

    Shouya Ishige as Yun Arikawa.

    Misaki Kuno as Pero 2.

    Rie Kugimiya as Jung.

    Tarou Kiuchi as Havel Katou.

    Wataru Takagi as Gorou Ohtaki.

    Youhei Azakami as Shunya Satou.

    Kenichi Suzumura as Takehiro Kai.

  Ryōtarō Okiayu as Baylor "B.B." Berne.

  Ayako Takeuchi as Satomi Kanahara.

    Jin Urayama as Tsunetomo Yamamoto.

    Kotori Koiwai as Yukie Kanoko.

    Kaho Kōda as Guiying Lee.

    Runa Onodera as Lina Berne.

  Tomoyuki Shimura as Yoshiyasu Matsubara.

    Hiromichi Tezuka as Makita K. Nakagawa.

    Masako Isobe as Tilda Miller.

    And Kenta Miyake as Michael Stephen.

    Godzilla Singular Point follows the exploits of two young geniuses - researcher Mei Kamino and engineer Yun Arikawa - as they challenge the unprecedented threat that giant monsters pose to humanity. The series is directed by Atsushi Takahashi and features animation production by Bones and Orange.

    Godzilla Singular Point will broadcast in Japan on TOKYO MX and other stations beginning in April of 2021, and the series will also be digitally distributed in territories worldwide by Netflix.

  Sources:

Ota-suke

MoCa

Comic Natalie

  Copyright notice: © 2020 TOHO CO., LTD.

    ---

Paul Chapman is the host of The Greatest Movie EVER! Podcast and GME! Anime Fun Time.

By: Paul Chapman

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

[almasexya]

Attack of the Giant What?? (Gorath, 1962)

Like The Mysterians before it, Gorath, released mere months before the hotly anticipated King Kong vs. Godzilla, is one of those science fiction movies that just kind of happens to have a man in a rubber suit in it for a little while. But while Moguera managed to make enough of an impact to return (much later, I’ll admit, and in an entirely different way) the kaiju in Gorath is without a doubt Toho’s weirdest and most forgotten of them all.

Gorath is not really a movie for kaiju enthusiasts, unless those kaiju enthusiasts really enjoy being disappointed. The true antagonist of this movie is the titular Gorath, a rogue planetoid (or stellar remnant, its difficult to tell) on a doomsday collision course for Earth. And Gorath itself is an intimidating beast, a great ball of fire swallowing everything in its path, growing in mass and exploding its way toward Earth. This is my first time watching Gorath, a movie that I’d always been interested in but had just never gotten around to watching. Like many of the others I’ve reviewed, my copy is a bootleg, which as far as I know is the only way to get the original Japanese version. There might be an out of print English dub knocking around on Amazon or Ebay somewhere.

Gorath is a tough one to summarize, so I’ll keep it short. In the late 1970s, a rocket known as the JX-1 is sent on a mission to Saturn, after which it receives orders to investigate a rogue planet known as Gorath, which is heading towards Earth. The crew tragically lose their lives when they’re caught in the object’s gravity, which is 6,000 times more powerful than that of Earth. The UN quickly convenes, and after deliberation it’s decided that powerful jets dug into the south pole could push Earth out of Gorath’s path before it arrives in two years.

The rest of the movie follows the construction of the south pole station, as well as the lives of the characters as they ponder what will happen if they don’t succeed and Gorath strikes the planet. Another rocket is also sent to gather last-ditch data on the star, while the people at home struggle to keep the south pole project operational.

If that all sounds rather grim, that’s because it is. Gorath is eclipsed in its gloominess only by the original Godzilla, since you can’t out-bleak a film that has somber children’s choirs and people getting roasted alive by atomic breath. That said, Gorath gets closer than it has any right to, considering its main plot involves pushing the Earth out of the way of certain death by using a bunch of nuclear rockets.

As always, Ishiro Honda’s direction lends its usual gravity, often mostly in the film’s quietest moments - none of the characters ever get to truly relax, exemplified when a man in a bar, apropos of nothing, casually remarks about the end of the human race when the rest of the cast is trying to let off steam. The usual suspects also make their appearances, with Takashi Shimura playing a venerable doctor (who gets his contractually obligated line about not wanting to see the monster killed) while Akihiko Hirata plays the taciturn captain of the second expedition to gather data on Gorath.

I’ve gone this long without mentioning the monster, so I suppose I should get it out of the way. Gorath contained a kaiju only due to the urging of producer Tomoyuki Tanaka, and the way it was shoehorned into the plot at the last second makes it abundantly clear just how much the team had to have dragged their feet on it, let alone how little of an impact it makes. The way the film grinds to a halt as soon as the monster appears, along with how quickly it picks up after it’s gone, speaks to how much the team just did not give a shit about it, though this wouldn’t stop Tanaka from mandating a kaiju in later films.

The south pole station is abruptly attacked by a shoddy-looking giant walrus, who stomps through half a building before retreating, coming out later, and getting buried and shot to death by one single airplane that granted, had a laser on it. Maguma, which is what the walrus is called, though you wouldn’t know it from the movie, is only onscreen for maybe 40 or so seconds before it’s summarily dispatched, after which no one really bothers to mention it again. The American edit excised the beast entirely, and apparently the dub team mocked it, calling it “Wally the Walrus,” and assuming it was some kind of joke. Maguma has not a whit to do with the plot, and removing it takes away nothing from the experience.

The rest of Eiji Tsuburaya’s effects are great, and the final 15 minutes make for wonderful disaster footage, as model cities are flooded, whipped with heavy winds, and obliterated by earthquakes as Gorath passes by. The footage of the UN team bustling about building the jets on the south pole is also some great effects work, with numerous machines and conveyors buzzing around.

Gorath can be a tough one to recommend to the kaiju fan - if the bane of your existence is watching doctors and scientists talk in these movies, you likely won’t be able to get through Gorath. While it has its share of sci-fi tension, the vast majority of the movie is quiet dialogue scenes and they can make the film drag quite a bit. That said, the message of cooperation - that the world must pull together to save itself, is an uplifting and powerful one, and the effects work is far and away some of the best yet seen in a Toho production. Pick up Gorath when you’re in a more pensive mood, and try to ignore the giant walrus.

#monster monday