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klenda-v · 1 year

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Thinking about the King’s Jubilee special of 2003,

which featured Every Ultra they had a suit for at the time, an absurd amount of rap music, an Ultraman hip-hop dance troup, and Zearth’s hip-hop son, B-Boy Zearth Junior. He looks like this.

Literally I have difficulty watching this because this might be the single piece of ultra content that delivers the most psychic damage to me. It’s just. It’s absurd, it’s a musical, it revels in its shamelessness—or at least I think it does?

Link and more specifics below:

Just gathering screenshots I feel my soul deteriorating. For the curious and foolhardy, here’s a link to the video. No, there are no subtitles; no, you won’t need them. CONTENT WARNING: flashing lights and images, absurdity.

I will go briefly through each song, to give you an idea:

Song 0, 2:27 - Meet the performers

A dance/rap(?) group made of kaiju, aliens, and maybe bedazzled ultras? Or maybe they’re just dressed up as Ultras, the eyes are dark and they’re slightly Off? Maybe the announcer actually says, I think the general consensus is that they’re not true Ultras, but some other kind of alien cosplaying as ultras to…honor them? Or at least play as them for the purposes of the “narrative” they’re about to play out.

It’s also an incredibly large cast of performers. We’re just starting, we’re barely three minutes in.

UPDATE: My friend Emcee was kind enough to share the names of all the performers, which I will now relate to you:

"Ultra" dancers, referred to as Ultra Funk Jam:

Dyna Rocksteady, Gaia Electric, Zearth Funkygroove, B-Boy Zearth Jr., Cosmos Air, 80 Super Cool, Agul Boogiedown, Tiga Spinning, Ace Galaxy Step, Seven Shuffle, Justice Pointer

"Kaiju" Dancers (IDK their group's name):

Baltan Big Twister, Pit Flash, Izaak Wildstyle, Magma Freeze X, Dada Sexy (YES REALLY), Lady Benzene Hypnotic, Godola Popping, Bomberhead Gan-Q, Deban Floorcrown, Chaos Headder Grandmaster, B-G-RL Lady Benzene Daughter, Z Capsule Kouju Miraclon

Song 1, 3:15 - four-man hip-hop dance

There are no words I can possibly use to match the actual experience of watching this. I think it’s the fact that I can’t tell if this is satire, or if they’re playing it completely straight. They never tell us. Or maybe they do, I don’t speak Ultra.

Imagine if you will, any late 90s rap. Then imagine the music video for it. But filmed as if it’s a live stage performance, but also everyone is a trained gymnast and we get synchronized flips with Zearth Funkeygroove, Justice Pointer, Gaia Electric, and Tiga Spinning.

Song 2, 4:14, Kaiju Team’s turn

Now that I’m watching this, I think it’s framed as a dance competition? Where the kaiju and “ultra” teams alternate songs, like a rap battle with performances?

Anyway this song starts with an audio sample from, of all things, the sound Ultraman’s timer makes when he’s in mortal peril. This audio blinks sporadically throughout the song, hitting that sweet spot right between “huh I guess it’s just playing at the beginning, huh” and “actually using it as a sample/carrying any meaning.” Maybe the weird timing of the audio has significance with the JP lyrics, but I doubt it. The timer blinking tempo doesn’t quite sync up with the tempo of the actual music.

While the NotUltra’s solo performance had heavy use of flips, the kaiju team impliments a lot of floor work. Lotta breakdancing, if the camera cuts slowed down enough for me to catch most of the moves. Honestly the dancing throughout is very solid overall, with, again, the big caveat being the bewildering editing choices.

Also I think the ultras in the audience are moshing? Maybe I don’t know what moshing is. Watching this, I don’t think I know what anything is anymore.

Song 3, 5:21 - Kaiju Team, or the “Sexy Dance Time, Check It Out” one.

I…wish I were making this up. This one stars Dada Sexy (his [their?] actual name), alongside a feminine-coded alien I only later learned was Lady Benzene Hypnotic. At this point I wonder whether this is better watched high, or if this is already making me high.

The groove to this one starts notably different, but like…if the Cha Cha Slide tried to be steamy. And no I didn’t grab a screenshot mid-frame-shift, this part is literally shot like this. It goes on for several seconds. They wanted it to look like this.

Oh and the Not-Ultras are here too. Seven Shuffle is one of them. Do with that what you will.

The dancing itself is definitively less hip-hop and more…interpretative dance? I absolutely believe that this is an alien party, because nothing about this presents as remotely normal or human.

Partway through, a green screen cape (Kings?) flies through the screen. I can’t bring myself to care. Every Ultra in the audience is Very into it.

Then about halfway through they switch it back to…hip-hop? I think? It still has multiple Interpretive Dance elements to it. The Not-Ultras bedazzled suits have neon lights on them, btw, I think you should know that.

And yes, by the end, they have the (male) narrator's voice chanting variations of “oh, sexy” in a way that makes me feel. vEry uncomfortable and I wish I could turn back time. I can only hope that the writers truly, legitimately didn’t know what that word actually meant in English, or what it implied if you sing it with the breathy energy they put into this number.

Benzene Hypnotic lets out an alien scream/trill at the end of the song, and we cut to the Ultra audience applauding at what a fun song that was. I want to go home.

7:43 - The Kids Come And Do a lil dance!

This next song is the intermission, a little ditty sung by and danced to by children. One of whom is B-Boy Zearth Jr. Zearth has a child. I barely notice; I’m still reeling from Sexy Dance.

This song, inexplicably, also has the “Dying Ultra’s color timer” sound. It actually appears more here than in the “villain” song. The song itself is…I think cute and charming? It’s hard to tell, my eyes are still glazed over. The kids do a pirouette or a cartwheel or something. The song ends, the announcer praises how super kawaii the performance was, I get a drink.

9:03 - Actual Dance Battle

This one has Justice Pointer, Agul Boogiedown, and I think Dyna Rocksteady (Might be Gaia Electric; his head is weird so I can’t tell), in a dance battle against three Kaiju Team members. This one’s probably my favorite, it sums up the weirdest parts of this while also having some legit solid dance moves. That and since it’s turn-based, we get lots of cool freeze-poses. Plus Agul Boogiedown throws up some gangsta peace signs, which is deeply funny after watching how edgy he is in his show.

The rap song itself appears to also be framed as a rap-battle? I think? My JP is limited but each team’s bar of music seems to be lightheartedly dissing the other/pumping themselves up. Everyone ends the battle by doing the splits on the floor, which is what my head’s gonna do in a minute.

10:42 - A Ballet Number

What’s that? You wanted this to make less sense? No? Well that’s okay, this is basically a ballet number (??????), with violin and slow swaying from the crowd. Zearth Funky Groove is dancing ballet with Lady Benzene Hypnotic. It’s actually…you know what, this is kinda nice. It’s a nice break from—NOPE ITS HIP-HOP AGAIN, LADS

But like a…flamenco (I think?) influenced hip-hop. This song is actually really interesting in terms of merging VERY different influences. Definitely a musical style inspired by the carribian or one of the Romance languages, but asking me to search my mind for factual information while watching this is like asking a boxer to do trigonometry mid-match.

The announcer tells the crowd to grab your sweetheart and dance with them. Tiga bows before Camearra and offers to dance (she graciously accepts). A Daadaa propositions Seven to dance, which seems to catch him off-guard in a bad way. Ultra Father offers his wife his hand, though they don’t properly dance, they just hold hands and sway to the music. Incidentally, Yullian and 80 are present and clearly went together, but they don’t couple up for this dance (that we see).

This doesn’t fit anywhere, but Zoffy is REALLY into the music. Like I’ve never seen him this enthusiastic for anything before. It's really sweet honestly. He’s dancing alone but is clearly more than happy that way.

12:22 - Final Dance

I have trouble articulating exactly what happens in this segment. Clearly it’s framed as a final battle, but those interpretive dance bits are still mixed with the hip-hop. As before, the dancing itself is quite good, if you like incredibly 90’s hip-hop dancing and breakdancing. It’s definitely the most floorwork-heavy of any of the songs.

The camera-work, while strange but functional before, takes a turn even further into the surreal. Some of the camera cuts are so rapid you’d think it was a stage-3 marvel movie; in places it gets to about 5 cuts per second. It will also cut not only between angles on the same person mid-action, but to random other shots, like the crowd of ultras, or a different dancer, or someone unrelated doing half a flip before cutting back again.

I think this must be the point in production where someone discovered you could rotate a camera, because suddenly multiple flips or dance moves are filmed with the camera spinning—presumably to follow the movement, but not quite synchronized and there’s no way we’re doing another take.

At the climax of the song, I can only assume Ultra Father saw some risk to the child-dancers; the music gets tense, and the kaiju-dancers close in around the kids, who cower back-to-back. Ultra Father exchanges an urgent glance with his wife, and together they SHOOT A PULSE OF ENERGY AT THE PERFORMERS ON STAGE.

Which puts everyone on an acid trip. Or I think it does? The colors turn negative/green/weird, and then all the adult-coded performers drop to their knees in a clearly rehearsed part of the dance.

I’m losing my mind. What was this? Was this choreographed or not? Was Ken supposed to do that? I can only think he must have, but then why did his body language radiate legitimate fear for the children’s safety? Why have the Ultra Parents do that part, isn’t this King’s party?? What am I going to do with the avocado I bought two days ago and is gonna go bad??

Not labeling this as a separate song, because the last one never truly ended. But this is clearly the epilogue of the “fight”; the ultras do elaborate secret handshakes with the aliens and monsters, indicating everything’s A-OK now. I will never be A-OK again. The announcer is chanting “happy," though I think he’s repeating the last syllable a bit too much. I don't think they thought through what yelling "HAPPY-PEE" would actually mean in English.

The experience ends with King’s greenscreen cape floating down and King materializes onstage between the two child performers. He then levatates back up, which is the most normal thing to happen this whole time. He says something in English that sounds like maybe “Happy Mercy?” Messy? Blessing?

After the third listen, I realized he’s saying Happy Birthday. It’s his birthday. He’s saying it to himself. The crowd wildly applauds his self-congratulation and repeats the English phrase, and King makes his bows. My splintered psyche notices that the foley-work on his cape movement is very nice.

The end closes out with what I at first think is a hip-hop version of Dyna’s opening theme. I am wrong. They start a weirdly paced hip-hop beat with Cosmos’s “Something You Can Do” vocals. They loop the opening line twice, then go back to rap.

The announcer delightedly cries in English “See you NEXT YEAR!”

I take this as a threat.

#the late ‘90s to early ‘00s were a WILD time for Ultraman #especially the promotional material and ads #they’re insane #look them up #ultraman #obscure ultra lore #Ultraman king #Ultraman king’s jubilee #2003 ultraman densetu #Zearth has a son #who appears here and nowhere else #psychic damage

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ask-cloverfield · 2 years

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So I kind of became of obsessed with the final antagonist of Shin Ultraman wall of text under read more or if we are being generous lets call it a character study and I am obsessed with villains who are horrified by the idea of killing their rival

Zōffy is the final antagonist of Shin Ultraman. I was very curious to see how he was adapted because his final speech with Ultraman in the original series is one of my favorite moments in the franchise and I am delighted to see that Zōffy lives up to the original.

I believe he serves as an enjoyable example of an angelic villain in service of a Greater Good, whereas Ultraman is of course horrified by what they have declared lesser.

Shin Ultraman is of course the story of an alien who was captivated by Humanity and ignored a code of non-interference to land on their planet and protect them from threats too large for them.

However When he lands* he inadvertently kills a human. After this he takes his form, his memories and proceeds to try and live this man’s life to gain an understanding of the man he killed*. In doing this he violated his planet’s code to “Merge” with a planet’s indigenous species.

He is captivated by humanity in part due to their fragility.

Ultraman Lipiah is an alien from the Star of Light*. Specifically he is an Emissary* tasked with monitoring the indigenous life-forms of his sector. It is also implied they serve as something of a deterrent from anyone wishing to exploit less developed planets. His actions throughout the film continuously violate their Star’s code, and this causes the Star of Light to replace him with Zōffy.

Zōffy is there to serve as the planet’s adjudicator, the events of the film have given Zōffy a simple conclusion about humans, namely that they should be killed before they become too much of a threat. Especially as the interstellar community is aware of their capacity to become bioweapons.

And now we get to the actual discussion of the character. When he arrives he doesn’t open by telling Ultraman his decision to eradicate the stellar system.

He arrives and sees Ultraman sitting over the body of the man he killed at the start of the film. It is instantly clear to him that Ultraman has done the taboo.

“You took this man’s life, Lipiah. No, I’ll call you by the name you’ve been given on this planet, Ultraman”

And yet he says this in a sympathetic tone before allowing him to explain what happened. For a character meant to serve as the film’s final ideological villain he opens his conversation by trying to show Ultraman every courtesy he can.

He refers to Ultraman committing their culture’s greatest taboo as merely a mistake in a gentle tone before trying to argue that humans will be exploited as bioweapons if they don’t act soon. As he activates the Orbital Suppression System Zetton he tries to comfort Ultraman in a truly morbid fashion.

“The Star of Light has documented nearly 13 billion intelligent life forms. The loss of one will have no impact on the Universe”

I am genuinely captivated by his continued attempts to downplay the “consequences” of Ultraman’s actions. Ultraman of course responds that, “for the inhabitants of this planet One is all there is.” and begins to walk away.

However as he does Zōffy calls out to him in a desperate voice, “Is the intelligent life on this planet worth dying over?” as Shinji continues walking unperturbed he calls out in a slightly more frantic tone “Ultraman!”

The more I watch this scene the more I am convinced that Zōffy is of course trying to get Ultraman to escape Zetton’s blast radius. The destruction of this stellar system is to him tragic but a necessary evil, but the death of a comrade?

Ultraman goes to attack Zetton and ends up brutalized and as he falls from the sky Zōffy appears to him and says in a heartbroken tone of voice, “Resistance is futile… Stand aside and await humanity’s purge, Ultraman.”

Ultraman of course does not stand aside and with the help of humanity rises* and defeats Zetton, albeit left mortally wounded and unable to form his physical body and is left adrift in a pocket dimension.

However, much like in the original series, Zōffy finds his wounded comrade. He gently tells him to open his eyes and states with much relief that it is a miracle he was able to find him. Zōffy listens to Ultraman deliriously talk about various virtues of humanity and Zōffy quickly agrees and states Ultraman was right and they deserve protection.

However something about this struck me. Zōffy’s tone of voice doesn’t really seem to line up with someone who has changed their ways. However it certainly sounds like the voice of someone talking to someone who is going to die and wanting to convince them of a point so that he can get him to agree to come with him and get medical attention.

I cannot exaggerate the desperation in his voice in this scene. He speeds through that revocation of his view of humanity so he can state that he is taking Ultraman home and they can leave the humans in peace. The sheer relief in his voice when he says “Come. Let’s return to the Planet of Light, Ultraman.”

However Ultraman states that within him there is a human and to allow him to live he must remain on Earth. Zoffy hastily adds “You now understand him so well that you’re willing to sacrifice yourself for him. He must understand you as well. He will forgive you.”

Ultraman then states that he fused with Shinji so he can understand humans, but he realized they are too complex to simply understand and soon he desired to be human. However humanity is running out of time and in ensuring Zetton’s death other species will fear them and continue to try and exploit them so he must stay on Earth to protect them.

So Zōffy attempts to appeal to his sense of duty. He reminds him that he must face justice in the Star of Light. Of course Ultraman makes the only choice he can. He asks Zōffy to transfer his life to Shinji Kaminaga to resurrect him at the cost of his life, adding that to be human is to accept death, that the man’s friends would also wish this and he wants to grant them this.

Zōffy proceeds to ask in a heartbroken tone, “Have you grown so fond of humans, Ultraman?” and proceeds to grant his wish. As he explains what he is doing he sounds choked up*.

Zōffy claimed that humanity’s advancement and their nature to transform into a bioweapon was why he was to kill them. Yet when they are the deciding factor in Zetton’s defeat, a weapon feared across the galaxy he claims no no now they are worthy of protection. I question that Zōffy was truly convinced by this.

I instead propose that the loss of one Giant of Light would have no impact on the universe, but for Zōffy one was all there was.

*Whether or not Shinji Kaminaga’s death was caused specifically by Lipiah landing is not explicit. All that is clear is that he was behind the landing spot and sometime between Ultraman landing and killing Neronga he was hit by debris and died. For simplicity’s sake I am referring to this as the landing. The film for its part only says his “impact” killed him

*The film refers to the identity theft as merging, but everything points to Shinji being dead and for simplicity's sake I will also refer to it as merging

*Alternatively translated as “Planet of Light”

*Something left ambiguous is the scope of this task. While he specifies that he is monitoring Earth’s indiginous species the effects of his decisions affect the solar system which could imply that an Emissary is to monitor not just a planet, but the entire “Stellar System”

*Listen. I need to make this joke you don’t understand

*I feel it pertinent to note a change in Zōffy’s body language. Before Ultraman is mortally wounded he is inhumanly still, doesn’t even move when flying he keeps the same pose perpetually. Until he talks to the near dead Ultraman when he suddeny can’t stop fidgeting and uncomfortably shifting.

#shin ultraman #shin ultraman spoilers

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toku-explained · 10 months

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Familial True Love

Blazar: Captain Gento meets with Command Chief of Staff of the Global Guardian Force, Retsu Haruno. Gento anticipates a dressing down for his recklessness during the Bazanga Operation, and while he receives a comment, he is actually being informed of a new Kaiju specialist research and combat unit being formed by the GGF, the Special Kaiju Reaction Department, SKaRD, and informs Gento he is to be captain, also telling him a full investigation into Ultraman is required. A flash of memory reminds Gento he saw the items appear from a Blazar, and he suggests that as the code name for the giant. Gedos, which reacts for disrespect for the ocean, appears in the bay. Gento is going over the files for the other members when his coffee is crashed by Aobe Emi, one of the recruits, who was the pme who fired on Bazanga, and they discuss how Gento's team were given incorrect instructions on how to handle Bazanga. The Vice-captain is Nagura Teruaki, who was part of the command post team and helped keep the operation running smoothly despite Command interference. Martial artist Minami Anri is next, who was listening to the operation and seems to be a fan of Gento. The last member is Bando Yasonobu, but he left the support crew he was with some time ago. The assembled members go to the Mobile Outpost, a simple vehicle, but Anri is sure she can improve it, and Gento institutes a first name or nickname policy. The main Command Post is more impressive, but still being worked on, and the arsenal is state of the art but limited. Haruno calls about Gedos, ordering data gathering as a GGF sub approaches, and Gento sets everyone to work. Naval operations all fail as Gedos approaches the mainland. Haruno orders SKaRD to deploy, Gento taking Anri, but the MO had been outfitted before she could get to it, they will meet Emi on site. Teruaki finds records of Gedos surfacing in the Edo era, and they determine it maintains cool temperatures by venting heat, planning to disrupt that. Gento fires, but has to defend a reckless fisherman, and then has Blazar reawaken. Initially incapacitated by Gedos' tongue, Blazar is saved by Emi and Anri blasting the tongue, Gedos then flees, but is fished by Blazar and escapes. Back at CP, they find a whole underground with support staff, as well Yasunobu meeting with Haruno, Yasunobu prepared a manual for the weapons and outfitted the MO. He's been with SKaRD for a while, but has been busy prepping SKaRD's secret weapon, the Type 23 Special Tactical Armoured Kaiju, Earth Garon. Haruno wants Earth Garon to defeat a kaiju before Blazar can.

Geats: Gya-Go is being overwhelmed by Beroba and Brali, Neon begs him to stop, reminding him she isn't Akari, but he declares she has helped him remember the love he thought lost, and declares his love for him. Both foes are drawing close with finishers, and Neon manages to force her way out of her bonds as Gya-Go triggers a finisher and blasts Brali away. Beroba bored leaves and Kousei takes a moment to remember his love for both his daughters, before collapsing. Kekera flees Geats, floating he can't win. Kousei is rushed to hospital. Michinaga confirms what he heard from Daichi, essentially the tree of knowledge would have provided a way to save Sara if Keiwa hadn't remade the world. In conversation with Tsumuri, Jitto confirms her faith in Ace, and belief in the same goal, is what keeps her going. Keiwa, in hearing what Beroba and Kekera did with Neon, asks if that's necessary, before being informed Michinaga is invading the Gang Riders. Keiwa offers him to leave, but Michinaga won't unless he stops, and tells him he ruined his chance to save Sara. They fight, and despite some clever tactics from Buffa Tycoon is victorious, Michinaga calling him out for only caring about his own wishes, giving Tycoon a moment's pause only when he declares he believes in Geats' world. Keiwa confirms things with Jitto, and says he just wants his family brought back now, nothing else matters, Tsumuri is distraught to see him like this, begging him to remember his wishes. Irumi rushes to hospital, and insists to Neon that she is her daughter. The family take a moment together, to reflect on the happiness they've had with Akari, and the happiness they should have had with Neon, and Kousei gives Neon his ID Core. Beroba attacks the hospital, aiming to bring Neon to despair by killing Kousei, and Neon rushes out. Beroba mocks her for thinking she can henshin, but Neon tells her she's too late, she already has the true happiness and love she wants, as Beroba attacks, the ID Core resonates, turning into Na-Go's, and Kamen Rider Na-Go Fantasy is reborn. The battle goes poorly for Beroba, and she limps away, muttering revenge, and is cornered by Michinaga, asking how her one despair tastes, she madly tries to refute it. ACe expresses surprise Neon became a Rider again, but she knows it was thanks to his power, with help from her parents wishes. Kekera informs Keiwa that Beroba was defeated, and maybe they need allies of their own.

Kingohger: Racles takes the opportunity to marry Suzume to force the Toufu alliance, Gira's actions having given him breathing room, and Gira has to be held by Rita until the trial by combat as he's still technically a rebel. Racles has recovered the Ohger Crown, but demands Kaguragi return the Ohger Lance, mentioning itmis neededbp by the master of the Caucasus Castle. Kaguragi relates he must do this to Jeramie, who immediately tells the others. Boshimar returns to Shugoddom, Racles threatening to end him if he doesn't do what he needs, Douga hasn't returned. Deathnarok is sick of Kamejin scheming and wants a full assault on Shugoddom. The trial begins, King OhkuwagataOhger versus KuwagataOhger. Himeno and Yanma corner Kaguragi with the Ohger Lance, but he js actually Jeramie in disguise, and they are then attacked by Bugnarok, Boshimar stumbles into this and manages to snatch the Ohger Lance. More Shugoddom citizens are prepared to cheer for Gira than before, and he manages to cleverly knock the Ohger Crown off and force Racles out of transformation. He is given the option to surrender, and Gira says if he admits his wrongdoings, he will surrender, to his supporters shock, and tells him to become the king he swore to be, but Racles refuses, attacking and swearing to end Gira. Rita is forced to fight Bugnarok that appear, and Boshimar charges in with the Ohger Lance, only for the fake Jeramie crafted to explode, and reveal to everyone Boshimar's true identity is, of course, Kamejin. Racles seems genuinely upset to learn the real Boshimar is long dead, and the others hold off the Bugnarok so the duel can continue. Racles reveals his true feelings of the worth of the people, causing even the most devoted people to turn on him, and Kaguragi interrupts to present the Ohger Lance to Gira. Kamejin flees, and King KuwagataOhger sends Racles off a cliff. Gira is now King of Shugoddom.

Secrets of King Racles: The Bugnarok offers to give Racles the knowledge of the mural in exchange for the Ohger Caliber ZERO, Racles seems to agree, but attacks at the last moment, and becomes OhKuwagataOhger. After a swift beating, the Bugnarok begs to be allowed to live so he can learn the secrets, arguing Vedelia would want that, instead he is angered it dares speak of her, killing it and seeming to mourn her death. Boshimar interrogates Vedalia's assistant, accusing him of allowing the Bugnarok in, Racles suggest idly that even Boshimar could be the spy. There's no data left behind, but the assistant promises to resume the research, even if it means his own death one day. Douga presents Racles a ball found with Vedalia's remains, recalling seeing her swallow it, Racles finds it contains the results of the completed research. And thus, Racles is able to activate the Ohger Crown, and seeks the answers to even more secrets.

#toku explained #kamen rider geats #ohsama sentai kingohger #ultraman blazar

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rpking99 · 10 months

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Jessica Cruz Origin and how she was fucked up for a while

Ah, Jessica Cruz. My fave Green Lantern

Okay so to start us off simple... Why do I love her? Well... As someone who suffers from anxiety and depression, and has so for years, I always found her inspiring and good representation of what living with that condition can be like

She doesn't just magically get better after getting the ring. She is so scared that some days it's hard for her to leave the house

That pain hits me so hard because it is so relatable to me.

But it also shows why she is PERFECT for the Green Lanterns. Their power comes from Will, from their courage. Their ability to overcome Great Fear. And she overcomes great fear every time she gets out of bed.

Her origin though? Ironically, super complicated. Gonna go with her personal origin first before hero one.

Jessica Cruz and her friend went out camping when... They where basically caught in a slasher movie. All her friends killed. And she only survived thanks to lick

As you can guess: lots of survivors guilt and trauma from this, leading to her mental health issues

And then three months later... She was met with a magical ring

This is how she originally looked, using the code name Power Ring.

So... We all know Earth-3, correct? Evil earth. Batman is Owlman, Superman is Ultraman, Wonder Woman is Superwoman, Flash is Johnny Quick. Evil wins, everyone's the opposite of who they normally are. Going by the Crime Syndicate. We got that? We got that

Okay. So during an event called Forever Evil, the Syndicate invaded earth. Big dramatic fight. The Hal Jordon of Earth-3 died and his ring flew off to find a new user like every Lantern Ring

Now the thing of the Ring of Volthoom, the Ring Power Ring has, it that it is a parasite. It latches onto someone filled with fear and then uses that fear to control them

It found Jess... But so did the Justice League. And they all helped her. Helped her heal, supported her, helped her resist the ring

And then, eventually, she destroyed the Ring of Volthoom.... Summoning a new ring in its place

After all, what shows the ability to ober come fear more than literally shattering a parasitic ring that feeds in fear?

And she rises... As the sixth Lantern of sector 2814

And it was glorious!

What is Jessica Cruz about? Not letting trauma define you. She is about healing and true bravery. She has social anxiety, she has depression, she has self loathing. But she works had to over come it all

...

And then DC fucks or up and makes her a Yellow Lantern! Because heaven help us if we have nice things!

And the worst part for me?

I hate that she ACTUALLY LOOKS GOOD JN YELLOW!

Ugh!

Anyway. On to the Yellow Lantern thing and why THAT is bad.

So first off they turned a disabled character, as well as a character of colour, into a villain

Now. Onto the main issues

Jessica Cruz. She suffers from anxiety and depression. Social anxiety, stress issues, all this sort of stuff.

The Yellow Corps is all about GIVING INTO great fear, as well as being able to CAUSE great feed into others.

I feel like it should be super clear what the issue is here!

It's character regression, it's turning her into the type of person who slaughtered her friends, it's insulting to people with these mental health issues as it implies they should just give into them and lash out at others!

And they have Jess say that the reason she is doing this is because it is "exposure therapy"

Which... NO! NO! FUCKING NO!

Exposure therapy should only be done with a professional there in order to help pull you out when it becomes too much, as well as making sure the exposure is a gradual build. Stepping stones. Not jumping into LITERALLY ALL THE FEAR AT ONCE!

Also it is a bit dubeous on if it works with cases like Jess', classes built from trauma rather than pure paranoia/stress. But I'm not a professional and don't wanna give my opinion as fact here

Luckily she is back in green at this point of the comics but.... Yeah. It's been rocky

#mun talks #nerd talks

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feyariel · 1 month

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Fey's Pokémon RueViews: Pigs

Pokémon loves repeating ideas, though not necessarily each generation. I had thoughts pigs (or pig-inspired creatures) had appeared in every generation; I was mistaken. Still, there's quite a few, so I'ma go off:

Diglett: Half of its status as pig-like is the English name, but that's probably inspired by its minimalist design (compare Swinub). It's funny for three seconds, then dumb. C-

Dugtrio: I have complained about the "add body/head to make an evolution" 'mons from Gen I since Gen I was current. Kantonian Dugtrio happens to be the fastest Ground-type in every generation (only Arceus ties with it), so at least it has that. D

Mankey: I'm not sure who thought "pig monkey" was a good idea, let alone one with a cephalothorax, but that person should be shot. F

Primeape: See previous. Also, MONKEY AND APE POKÉMON SHOULDN'T BELONG TO THE SAME EVOLUTIONARY FAMILY! F

Swinub: At last, an actual pig. And it's a piglet! :D I like that it has the wild boar piglet stripes. The minimalism is getting old, though. B-

Piloswine: It's so ugly! And worthless! One of those Gen II 'dex-fillers that's quickly forgotten (and was entirely until it got an evolution). D

Spoink: The best pig Pokémon. Not only is it an adorable piglet, it's a double pun/allusion. Bulbapedia got the "casting pearls before swine" (but then made a typical Bulbapedia stretch about crystal balls: neither Spoink nor Grumpig use their pearls to scry), but missed that "spring pig" is also a term. (I guess that Bulbapedia editors never read Charlotte's Web.) A+

Grumpig: I didn't like Grumpig until 1.) I saw its shiny and 2.) I saw it dancing in Pokémon Colosseum/XD: Gale of Darkness/Battle Revolution. B-

Mamoswine: I'm sorry, exaggerating traits that Piloswine shares with a woolly mammoth does not make for a good evolution. F

Tepig: Some art makes Tepig cuter than it actually is. I like the design of its ears, but that's about it. C

Pignite: The name is drawn from fandom, which is good. The design looks like a high school wrestler, but ugly and without a neck -- like Strong Mad, but as an oval. D

Emboar: People who say Emboar represents anything about NYC are giving Game Freak too much credit when GF has long shown they don't really care about what's native to an area. I will acknowledge that Emboar draws on luchadores, but that's because Game Freak likes luchadores about as much as GF likes Ultraman. I don't. IMHO, the only thing Emboar has going for it is its shiny. D-

Alolan Diglett/Dugtrio: In case you disagreed with me re: GF and not caring about what's actually in or important to an RL area that inspires a region, THE HAWAIIAN REGION DOESN'T HAVE A PIG! (You also can't get the OG hula dancer 'mon, Bellossom, in Gen VII at all without Pokémon Bank [i.e., transferring from a prior gen].) The closest is sticking three hairs on Diglett and giving Dugtrio surfer dude/Hanson wigs. F

Lechonk: When I saw this, I immediately thought of the pigs from Wind Waker (which I'm angry has people praising its graphics: THE ART STYLE IS ATROCIOUS! EVERYONE HAS STUMPY LEGS!). I'd say "uninspired" but it clearly is inspired; it's just creatively sterile. C-

Oinklogne: It's both cute and evolved! GASP! The eyelash-coded crust under its eye is rather gross, but hey, the rest is good -- and we can finally have a full-grown pig that is pink! B+/A-

Annihilape: All of my criticisms of Primeape remain. I see this as less an evolution than what you'd see in a fan-made type swap/type addition (i.e., a regional forme). F

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scope-dogg · 3 years

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I'm like a mecha noobie, only watched things like Code Geass and Gurren Lagann, but I've wanted to try getting into more mecha anime, do you have any recommendations for toe-dipping into the genre?

If you’re looking for good series that A) aren’t massive time investments and are B) high quality, here are some of my favourites. You didn’t specify specifically what kind of stuff you’re looking for, so here’s a bunch of series that cover a wide variety of subgenres, tones etc.

The Mobile Suit Gundam movie trilogy (Mobile Suit Gundam 1, Mobile Suit Gundam 2: Soldiers of Sorrow, Mobile Suit Gundam 3, Encounters in Space. Trio of movies compiling the original Gundam TV series, space opera, late 70s / early 80s. The first entry of the largest and most popular mecha series, still one of the best ones despite its dated presentation.)

Macross: Do You Remember Love (Movie version of the original Macross series, space opera, mid 80s. Extremely beautiful animation, good character drama, high-stakes story.)

Expelled from Paradise (Movie, post-human sci-fi, 2014. Plays with interesting concepts, very good looking production despite being animated entirely in 3D.)

Aim for the top: Gunbuster (late 80s space opera OVA, 6 episodes. First work produced chiefly by Hideaki Anno of Evangelion fame. Excellent animation, incredibly emotional and dramatic plot arc.)

Armor Hunter Mellowlink (late 80s war drama OVA, 12 episodes. Spin-off of Armored Trooper Votoms that doesn’t need you to watch the main series first. Unique in that it mostly features the protagonist fighting enemy mecha on foot.)

Getter Robo Armageddon (Dark and violent post-apocalyptic late 80s OVA, 12 episodes, probably the best animated work featuring one of the genre’s founding franchises.)

Patlabor: The Mobile Police (Late 80s near-future setting OVA, 7 episodes. Also there’s a full length TV series by the same name that’s also excellent. All about law enforcement in a post-mecha world, mostly comedic.)

SSSS.Gridman (2018 giant hero TV series, 12 episodes. Technically a giant hero series like Ultraman but hits all the right spots for mecha fans. Good all round production by Studio Trigger, has a sequel series currently airing.)

Planet With (2019 space opera / absurdist TV series, 12 episodes. Extremely bizarre but ultimately well-made and emotionally touching story.)

Bokurano (2007 psychological thriller / cosmic horror TV series, 26 episodes. Features titanic robots, equal parts nightmare fuel and emotional roller coaster, probably the saddest mecha series.)

Overman King Gainer (2002 post-post apocalypse TV series, 26 episodes. Fairly light-hearted production by the creator of the original Gundam featuring excellent hand-drawn animation and exotic mecha designs.)

Terrestrial Defence Corp. Dai-Guard (Late 90s near-future comedy TV series, 26 episodes. Classic super robot setup featuring a giant robot against extradimensional invaders, but with the “realistic” elements played up for laughs.)

Tetsujin 28 (2004 retro sci-fi TV series, 26 episodes. Reboot of the original series featuring the very first giant robot in Japanese media. Highly melancholy series with heavy themes.)

Gun X Sword (2007 sci-fi Western series, 26 episodes. Great characters and humour centred around a story themed around the concept of revenge in a wild-West esque sci-fi setting. Earlier creation of the director of Code Geass.)

Martian Successor Nadesico (Late 90s TV series, space opera, 26 episodes. Tongue-in-cheek story that lampoons the genre with a great cast of characters, highly recommended.)

The Big O (Late 90s retro sci-fi series with noir trappings, 26 episodes. Strange but very compelling setting and story with an ending that remains hotly debated to this day. Visual style very similar to the animated batman TV series from around the same timeframe.)

The Vision of Escaflowne (Late 90s fantasy series, 26 episodes. Isekai series featuring giant robots, and a romance-heavy shoujou-esque storyline. Very high quality production values and soundtrack.)

Note that this isn’t an exhaustive list, there are still several other series that could probably fit this bill that I haven’t seen yet and thus can’t recommend with any confidence. I tried to keep all my suggestions under 30 episodes long, but there’s a bunch more I could recommend over that limit.

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rivalcobalt · 4 years

Text

Full Works List: Devilman Genealogy Hand

Due to a certain shitpost of mine getting some attention on twitter, I figured I’d transcribe the names of the series from the hand of Devilman works + works influenced by it that was released during crybaby (found here):

Full series list (with English names) under the cut!

Note: some of the names are connected by solid red lines, and I’m not sure if they mean anything, but just in case I put them together with their connected series seperated by ‘—’s at the end of each finger. All names before the first ‘—’ are free-floating.

This doesn’t even actually include all works influenced by Devilman; notable examples undoubtedly influenced but not on this hand are Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Yu Gi Oh, and Kaze to Ki no Uta.

Credit to @waaty here on tumblr for the common themes of each finger [post].

Wrist (roots of Devilman):

69 サイボーグ009天使編 Cyborg 009 Tenshi Hen

69 サイボーグ009神々との闘い編 Cyborg 009 Kamigami to no Tatakai Hen

70 鬼 Oni [I think this is 鬼-2889年の反乱 Oni 2889 Nen no Hanran]

71 魔王ダンテ Maou Dante

72 デビルマン Devilman

73 バイオレンスジャック Violence Jack

76 手天童子 Shutendouji

78 黒の獅士 Black Lion

Thumb (spinoffs & sequels):

79 新デビルマン Shin Devilman

79 凄ノ王 Susano Oh

97 デビルマンレディー Devilman Lady

99 ネオデビルマン Neo Devilman

00 アモンデビルマン黙示録 Amon: the Apocalypse of Devilman

04 DEVILMAN (live action)

15 デビルマンサーガ Devilman Saga

Index finger (influence on fantasy worlds):

75 勇者ライディーン Brave Raideen

77 最終戦争 Armageddon: Saishuu Sensou

83 聖戦士ダンバイン Aura Battled Dunbin

90 幽☆遊☆白書 Yu Yu Hakusho

93 アゼル聖鬼伝 Azel Seimaden

95 少年魔法士 Shounen Mahoushi/The Young Magician

99 吸血鬼伝説ヴァンピール Vampire: Kyuuketsuki Densetsu

00 Gantz

02 彼岸島 Higanjima

04 銀魂 Gintama

04 吟遊黙示録マイネリーベ Meine Liebe

06 コードギアス反逆のルルージュ Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion

06 ハーベストマーチ Harvest March

06 黒執事 Black Butler

08 テイルズオブヴェスぺリア Tales of Vesperia

12 世界鬼 Sekai Oni

13 幼女戦記 The Saga of Tanya the Evil

13 聖獣鬼伝ビースト&ブレード Seijuu Maden Beasts & Blades

—

78 うる星やつら Urusei Yatsura

84 人魚[伝説] Mermaid Legend

96 犬夜叉 Inuyasha

—

88 Bastard!!

89 ベルセルク Berserk

01 Claymore

09 進撃の巨人 Attack on Titan

Middle finger (influence regarding mysterious powers that bend reality):

75 狼少女ラン Wolf Girl Ran [seems to be 紅い牙ブルーソネット Akai Kiba: Blue Sonnet]

82 魔界都市人新宿 Demon City Shinjuku

84 バオー来訪者 Baoh

87 ジョウジョウの奇妙な冒険 JoJo's Bizarre Adventure

90 うしおととら Ushio and Tora

92 セーラームーン Sailor Moon

93 地獄先生ぬ〜べ〜 Hell Teacher Nube

93 無限の住人 Blade of the Immortal

96 バイオハザード Biohazard

97 Arms

05 化物語 Bakemonogatari

05 魔人探偵脳噛ネウロ Neuro: Supernatural Detective

07 Darker Than Black

09 血界戦線 Kekkai Sensen/Blood Blockade Battlefront

10 The Penisman

10 ハカイジュウ Hakaijuu

11 テラフォーマーズ Terra Formers

12 亜人 Ajin

13 デビルズライン Devils' Line

13 バイオーグ•トリニティ Biorg Trinity

14 キリングバイツ Killing Bites

15 プラチナエンド Platinum End

—

85 強殖装甲ガイバー Bio Booster Armor Guyver

86 メタルK Metal K

99 最終兵器彼女 Saishuu Heiki Kanojo/She, The Ultimate Weapon

04 All You Need Is Kill

05 喰霊 Ga-rei

—

88 寄生獣 Parasyte

02 Zetman

11 東京喰種 Tokyo Ghoul

Ring finger (influence on biblical/mythological/apocalyptic motifs):

76 超神ビビューン Choujin Bibyun

85 孔雀王 Spirit Warrior

86 デジタル•デビル•ストーリー Digital Devil Story

87 ゴッドサイダー God Sider

93 鬼神童子ゼンキ Zenki

96 ペルソナ Persona

98 Hellsing

01 仮面ライダーアギト Kamen Rider Agito

03 デーモン聖典 Demon Sacred

04 D.Gray-man

05 創聖のアクエリオン Genesis of Aquarion

06 聖おにいさん Saint Young Men

09 青の祓魔師 Blue Exorcist

12 終わりのセラフ Seraph of the End

—

75 アクマイザー3 Akumaizer 3

92 Spawn

95 新世紀エヴァンゲリオン Neon Genesis Evangelion

Pinky (works by Ken Ishikawa, previous assistant of Nagai):

73 ウルトラマンタロウ Ultraman Tarou

74 ゲッターロボ Getter Robo

75 魔獣戦線 Majuu Sensen

76 聖魔伝 Seimaden

99 虚無戦記 Kyomu Senki

#devilman #devilman crybaby #devilman genealogy #devilman influence #my translations #translations #mine

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harumihatae · 4 years

Text

Minha Lista de Animes na Netflix

ANIMES

Os nomes que estão em negrito são os animes que ja assisti

Blue Exorcist

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherood

Kuroshitsuji (Black Butler)

Death Note

Kimi no na wa (Your Name)

Violet Evergarden

Hataraku Saibou (Cells at Work!)

One Punch Man

Hero Mask

Saiki Kusuo no Psi-nan

Code Geass

Pokémon Sol e Lua

Cavaleiros do Zodíaco (Netflix)

K project

Backstreet Girls

Diabolik Lovers

Last Hope

Lost Song

Ultraman

Akira

Ghost in the Shell

Beastars - O Lobo Bom

Gekkan Shōjo Nozaki-kun

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andheriwestfilmcityseason1 · 4 years

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Andheri West Filmy City 2020 S01 KindiBOX Complete Series 720p

Andheri West Film City (2020) KindiBox Hindi Season 1 [EP 1 To 5] 720p UNRATED HEVC HDRip x265 AAC Full Indian Show, Andheri West Filmy City (2020) S01 KindiBOX Original Hindi Complete Web Series Watch online

IMDB Ratings: N/A Directed: N/A Released Date: 22 January 2020 Genres: Romance Languages: Hindi Stars: Vije Bhatia, Meghna Patel, Gehana Vasisth, Ehsan Khan, Raja Kapse Movie Quality: 720p HDRip File Size: 860MB

Click Here To DOWNLOAD NOW

Turkish TV series for romantic dramas, produced by Ay Yapim Productions and originally broadcast on channel D from 2008 - 2010. The English-language show, which aired in South Vietnam, was one of the series that used American prisoners. ISHq E MEMNU, financed by the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and produced and broadcast by Ay YAPIM Productions.

youtube

The seventeenth season, Thomas and Friends, premiered in Turkey on July 1, 2016 and was televised in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Turkish123 is an online streaming service where you can watch Turkish series with English subtitles online. It contains streaming information on Turkish television series and programmes in English, as well as a list of the most popular programmes.

Marcus Theatres continues its mission to create the ultimate film destination for guests with more than 1,000 screens and over 100 cinemas throughout Istanbul.

Baron Prasil is a character known to the rest of the world as Baron Munchausen, but most foreign publications of this film simply change the name of the character back to what you would expect. The series will be dubbed in five Indian languages and broadcast in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. As you might expect, Ibrahim Buyukak is the main character of this new series and guest star in all five films.

The series is set in the distant future of 2015 and follows the war luckily for English speaking fans. From 2003 to 2007 VIZ has published almost all parts of Phoenix (1967-88) in 12 anthologies. The announcement of the new season, which will include 40 shows, came in early April. Feride (the main character) is an orphan as a young girl and forced to attend a boarding school while visiting her aunt during the holidays.

One piece could be the Shounen manga series, illustrated by Eiichiro Oda and set since August 4, 1997. Since then, there have been over 600 episodes of One Piece Anime, so much for the sunny days that are currently terrible, and since 1998, when Toei Animation produced the first two seasons and the third and fourth and the last season.

Bringing an anime to TV without English sound is difficult and verges on impossible, so dubbing is a great way to broadcast a particular anime series or movie to the widest possible audience. Marcus Theater is the perfect place to see this movie, with the best seats in town and a good selection of movies and anime.

Watching all 1,200 episodes of Bleach without dubbing them anywhere is a challenge, considering that not all 200 episodes have yet been translated into English. I think I have a more literal translation, but I would look at it again to see if the second or third view changes my mind.

Historically known as villains at sea who committed multiple acts of violence, pirates gained a cool status by having images of fraudsters and criminals. Greek films dubbed into English for American distribution have thus reversed dubbing and are a bit "cooler" than the earlier English version. I had the early English version, but I bought it with English dub, so I'm not sure it's better.

The entire series, dubbed into English, was uploaded to an inconspicuous retro children's Youtube channel, with no transmitter watermark and immense tape damage. Ultra Q (urutoraQ, Urutorasq or UrUTora - Kyu) is a Tokusatsu sci-fi Kaiju series from Toei Animation, the same company that is also responsible for Power Rangers. Sentai is the name for the long-running Japanese superhero team genre, a series produced by Toei Bandai and broadcast on TV Asahi that served as the basis for Power Ranger.

However, Kaoru added that the subtitles are a challenging task and they need to communicate with each other. He further expanded the sex industry, including sex workers and children, as they are underage and are said to have lower rights than adults.

The Japanese anime created by Sunrise, directed by Goro Taniguchi and written by Ichiro Okouchi and often referred to simply as Code Geass, is a dark fantasy film written as a manga series and later turned into a 12-episode anime series. It refutes the belief that humans are at the top of the food chain, but that does not deter them.

The heroic aspect of the franchise began in July 1966, when Ultraman became the first member of the US Army Special Operations Forces. The English-language film, dubbed into Spanish, is scheduled for July in Spain and November in the United States. French street, a huge humanoid human being - like a creature housed on a shelf in the Natural History Museum, plotting to unleash a prehistoric monster on the streets of Paris.

Click Here To DOWNLOAD NOW

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butterflyinthewell · 5 years

Link

So a guy I love a lot named @donnywinter had a forum back in the early 2000s called Kaiju Galaxy, and it’s where we started an online friendship that’s been going on since around 2004.

Then the internet shifted and the old forum fell out of use.

He wants to bring it back, so he and some of his friends who can code (not me, I can’t XD) recreated the forum.

There’s discussion areas for Godzilla, Mothra, Gamera, Super Sentai / Kamen Rider and Ultraman as well as areas for generalized kaiju discussion, fanfiction, fanart and creativity.

Donny’s forum was one of the first places where I found a home as a Godzilla fan. A rebirth of his forum feels like going back to an old house I moved out of a long time ago, but it still feels like home because of the people.

He’s trying to make it grow, so I’m going to toss this out there to see if anyone wants to pop in and maybe stay.

My username there is Shezilla, and Donny is EternalMothra.

C’mon in!

#Godzilla #Mothra #Gamera #Super Sentai #Ultraman #forum #kaiju #fan forum

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des-shinta · 6 years

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Access Flash! On Gridman and it’s new anime.

So Tsuburaya Productions recently branched out into the realm of anime with this collaboration with Studio Trigger. And for those who haven’t been following, it’s with a series you 90′s kids might recognize.

The name Tsuburaya should need no introduction if you’re in the Tokusatsu or giant monster(Kaiju) Fandoms, but for those unfamiliar; Eiji Tsuburaya is the special effects wizard responsible for all the effects in the original Godzilla. A Life-long fan of scale models and recreating the world in realistic miniature, he is in many respects considered the Japanese Counterpart of Legendary filmmaker Ray Harryhausen. In example of his amazing talent and attention to detail, he was consigned during world war Two to make propaganda films of the Japanese military winning in engagements across the pacific and the productions for the time were paid so much attention to detail that no-one at the time was able to tell that they were fakes. He got a lot of flack for that after the war ended, and was barred from filmmaking in Japan for several years.

His company, Tsuburaya Productions has carried that fortitude for effects and quality storytelling with it throughout the decades. Since 1966, their primary product has been the “Ultra Series” Franchise, Primarily focused in The titular Ultraman of the entry, and their adventures.

The franchise focuses on benevolent Giants from the M78 Nebula (though some originate from elsewhere as there’s actually an Ultra-multiverse) who act as troubleshooters for random giant monster calamities; bonding to specified hosts (or on occasion take human form themselves) to conserve their own powers while away from their own homeland; allowing the chosen humans to utilize their powers to defend their home and what’s precious to them. The downside of the Ultra’s is that in planetary environments they can only use their immense powers for approximately 3 Minutes before they need to rest, as their powers are garnered from light energy given off by stars, who’s rays aren’t intense enough to sustain them in-atmosphere.

The currently running series, Ultraman R/B is actually really good, and has a lot to say on the subject of caustic fans who miss the point of the merits of a series due to only caring about the action/spectacle of a fight and adherence to Tropes, and not understanding what a hero may actually be fighting For. While that might initially read poorly to some people as it attacking fandom (as a certain other current toku series does every week)--and that not helped by words from the Head of Tsuburaya from before R/B debuted--it’s more focused in social commentary refuting the Idea that the genre is message-less nonsense, and wants people to actually put thought into what being a true “Ally of Justice” means; Doing the right thing. Links to 3 Relevant twitter threads discussing this: 1. 2. 3. For the interested, R/B is currently being fansubbed by the group Color timer, as Tsuburaya has not had luck in getting it officially distributed as of yet. Crunchyroll, who’d previously been getting the import library, has recently begun dropping Ultra series left-and-right in favor of other licenses, with the only ones remaining being ones they originally subbed. If you’d like some older Recommendations, Ultraseven (available from Shout Factory) is considered the best overall series, And has multiple sequels with the adventures of Seven’s Son Zero (trying to list all of Ultraman Zero’s appearances is ridiculous, as he’s mainly been the star of a long collection of movie’s), and then 2017′s Ultraman Geed (available on Crunchyroll, the movie for the series also from MCS fansubs), focused in turn on the Son/Clone of Zero’s Greatest enemy Ultraman Belial which then had Zero act as a secondary protagonist part of that series’ Ensemble. Tsuburaya however has been having something of a hard time the last several years. The chinese Company Chaiyo, using falsified documents, laid claim to many of the showa-era (pre-1989) ultraman series and all Distribution rights to All of The related content of the franchise from Tsuburaya, preventing them from making money internationally while Chaiyo flexed those rights themselves to make them an immense sum of money. The litigation and lawsuits basically bankrupted the company as Chaiyo argued under the technicality of having a proper authentication of their document from one of Tsuburaya’s sons that the agreement was a foregone conclusion; requiring Tsuburaya productions have an in-part buyout from company Namco Bandai to continue running.

This is why recent ultra Series (Ginga, Victory, X, Orb, Geed, R/B), have ended up being awash with collectibles; Bandai over-merchandises every thing they can get their hands on. Previously the merch licenses resided with Takara/Tomy (transformers, zoids), and were a LOT more restrained as while Tsuburaya Pro Knew merchandising was important to the longevity of a series as an additional revenue source...the storytelling of the series would come first. with series before this, most of the toyetic items came in the form of scale models and figures of both the title ultra’s, some roleplay items, and an assortment of assist vehicles and jets the normie humans would use in battle to support the main protagonist against the situations of the week. That monetary support however helped, and in a newer lawsuit Tsuburaya won through and prevented Chaiyo from screwing with the company again...however, the legal distribution rights for their own assets are still in legal limbo, as the latest case only allowed them to claim Dominance over north-American distribution. which while still a significant market is still small in comparison to the rest of the world; especially with the stigma these live-actions show have in the US. to the non-converted. Really, I think that’s part of the reason why they ended up pushing a new entry of a series that Chaiyo had NOT previously been able to touch at all.

Denkou Choujin (Lightning superman, though the title is localized as Hyper Agent) Gridman was a 39-episode Tokusatsu series that ran in 1993, and more recently was imported and subtitled to completion by the US Premium channel TOKU.

It followed the adventures of Naoto Sho and his friends Yuka and Ippei as they, after encountering the titular Gridman inside of a video game they’d been developing on a kitbash computer (Junk), must assist him in defending the computer realm from the attacks of Khan Digifer (subtitles writing it as ‘Digipher’).

Yes, we know he looks like the shredder from TMNT. Both Gridman and Khan originate from the “Hyper world”, a realm comparable to cyberspace where all entities exist as living data (*cough*Digimon*Cough*), and thus can manipulate less complex data to their own ends. With Khan’s goal being the destruction/conquest of the computer world, which would allow him to transcend digital limitations and begin his conquest of the real world, ala Code Lyoko XANA means of devastating anything electrically powered which could lead to bad ends for those involved (like, say, screwing with a nuclear power plants regulation systems).

PLOT. POINT.

Khan’s efforts are Assisted by Takeshi Todo, A classmate of Naoto and Co who is an introverted social outcast and Victim of bullying; though Khan’s manipulations have turned him into a selfish, petty man. Khan uses him to create the series’ monsters-of-the-week by Takeshi programming them into a homebrew game similar to the one Naoto found Gridman in, with Khan’s incentive for doing so being to allow Takeshi some catharsis from the awful things that have happened to him in his life, oblivious/not caring towards the entities deeper machinations as making homebrew monsters in his game was how he’d previously endeavored to vent his frustrations in a healthy manner...that Khan has just taken to the opposite extreme. Though the show makes clear that Takeshi is fully an Indoctrinated thrall of Khan’s power to even allow him those indulgences so he can’t see the outstretched carrot is naught but a Stick.

To Fight Khan’s attacks, Naoto uses the transformation trinket the “Accessor” brace to Digitize himself and fuse with Gridman, With the transformation cry “ACCESS FLASH!” allowing his body to be turned to data and fuse with Gridman to upgrade his capabilities. Yuka and Ippei likewise assisting them with the programming and transmission of weapons and vehicles/robots that add additional arsenal to Gridman’s counterattacks.

And unlike Previous tsuburaya productions, Gridman was the first to have these assist robots...actually be able to combine with the core hero.

Now, you 90′s kids in the audience might be thinking, “Hey, this all looks familiar” And you’re right. Because the series got imported in 1994.

In response to the rise of Power Rangers Adapting the Japanese super sentai series, there was in turn an attempt to make bank on...basically doing the same thing.

Saban made SEVERAL adaptations of other tokusatsu series from toei’s library; Making VR Troopers and Beetleborgs from Toei’s “Metal heroes’ franchise”, and Saban’s masked rider from the Kamen Rider series “Black RX”. They did not do as well as Power Rangers, primarily because they repeated many of the same mistakes MMPR made but grew out of, and lacked quality storytelling to really keep people invested. While VR Troopers and Beetleborgs To this Day have their merits and defenders...well, the only thing Worse than Saban’s Masked Rider that Saban has made, is Power Rangers (Super)Megaforce...Though some argue That Samurai, Dino Charge and Ninja Steel are very close as well. But THAT is where We Find DIC in all this.

DIC entertainment Was a Company active in the late 80′s, 90′s and 2000′s most known now-a-days for being the original distributors for Sailor moon and it’s awful original Dub, and producers for Inspector Gadget, The Real Ghostbusters, the 90′s Sonic Cartoons, the 90′s Carmen Sandiago series, and Alienators: Evolution Continues. Those were their “good” Productions, most of the rest of their library was schlock and terrible both at the time and looked back on in hindsight.

Stargate fans do Not talk about Stargate Infinity.

But in the Power Rangers craze, DIC made two contributions to this in an attempt to cash in on the Hype. The first...is the infamously awful tattooed Teenage alien Fighters from Beverly Hills.

A Transparent ripoff if there ever was one, while many of the PR-clones of the era are accused of being ripoffs, ALL of them with exception with this show ultimately did their own things. TTAFfBH though? No. On every level it’s an awful, obvious knockoff, and only True Power Rangers Ripoff. Not-so for the series we (in the round-about way I’ve taken) should actually be discussing:

Yeah...Ironically, that name was decided on to avoid hedging in on Power Ranger’s naming conventions, SSSS was originally going to be imported as PowerBoy. No, seriously. it ended up doing the opposite, but the intention was to have no relation.

The series...actually did a lot of things right. Co-Produced with Tsuburaya, SSSS was pretty much a direct adaptation, with the plots of the week being adjusted to an Americanized setting. culture and subplots...just with the standard campiness expected of a DIC production...and even less of a budget than Power Rangers at the time had.

A Teenage basement band calling themselves Team Samurai (though why they called themselves that escapes me, I’ve yet to get the show on DVD so am working on memories from 1994/1995 and clips on youtube), end up involved in stopping that attacks of cyberspace monsters after their lead guitarist Sam Collins (Played by Matthew Lawrence, later the sidekick to Will Friedle when he would join the cast of Boy Meets World) somehow gets zapped into his computer and endowed with the powers of Gridman’s counterpart Servo, who then take up the duty of stopping the machinations of the Escaped military AI program KiloKahn (voiced by the ever-awesome Tim Curry. Seriously) and his Human servant Malcom Frink (basically just takeshi’s character again) as their various attacks upon any devices connected to electricity can end-up having real-world consequences...Just as they did in the original gridman series. Astoundingly, SSSS ran Longer than Gridman did, totaling in at 53 episodes; padded out with creative re-cutting of battle-footage alongside getting some test footage for a Gridman sequel that...unfortunately never got made. It was rumored that had SSSS done better a full sequel Starring a character named Gridman Sigma would’ve been greenlit to provide more footage and story for adaptation...but sadly by 1995 and the show’s end, much of the PR Ameri-toku craze had ended, and Gridman/SSSS became a backburner to history. ...at least, until 2015

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Co-Produced by Studio Trigger, Denkou Choujin Gridman: boys invent great hero was an animated short for the japan Animator expo. taking place 22 years after the original series (and the opening several minutes acting as a recap of it), Former villain Takeshi Todo seeks his own redemption for his past actions when Khan (or potentially a successor) re-emerges with more power; Takeshi taking the form of the blue-bodied Gridman Sigma to engage in battle with Digital kaiju that now appear to be manifesting within the real world with intentions to rewrite reality. Again, PLOT POINT. ...which thus leaves us with 2018′s recently released SSSS Gridman.

High school Freshman Yuta Hibiki awakens one Day Sans his memories, and begins to see illusions of Giant monsters in the skyline. Finding Gridman within a Junk computer at his friend Rikka’s Home, he sets out to uncover the mystery of his lost memories, why these monsters are appearing, and what it means for his world as the kaiju begin emerging into the real world, forcing him to fight in the real world as the new Gridman. The series is written by Keiichi Hasegawa, who over the years has written more content for Tsuburaya than any other person; Writing on Utlraman Tiga, Dyna, Gaia, Cosmos, Nexus, Mebius, Ultraseven X, and Most of the Ultraman zero content. He has also worked on Kamen Rider’s W, Fourze and Drive, The Big O, and Zoids Chaotic Century and new Century Zero. the series is being directed by Akira amemiya, previous on the series inferno Cop Already, if you’re aware of the backstory of Gridman, a few things pop out at you. First off:

The Kaiju apperaing as phantoms before they fully emerging intro reality? While also echoing enemies in Digimon and Rockman.exe, This is the same thing that was showcased in the ‘boys invent great hero’ short and was the endgame the heroes were trying to stop in the original series. Thus, the same inference: Khan’s successor--

--(called Alexis・Kerib) has succeeded in transcending the limitations of digital existence and now is seeking to conquer and Destroy the real world.

Kerib has set himself up as a benevolent ‘genie’ to the social outcast and kaiju Fangirl Akane Shinjo, and is then proceeding to do the same thing Khan himself did with Takeshi; use her and her social issues to create his minions and monsters, realize them in the real world and devastate it while incidentally dealing with her real-life antagonists. This all conveyed through Studio trigger’s excellent visual storytelling, when Akane heads home to find it empty, and her room’s floor populated with an insane amount of bagged garbage; something no-one with actual parents in their lives would let happen. A pseudo-social outcast with no-one to turn to; no parents in their lives to give nurture and comfort, seeking companionship through the internet as a source for what can’t be found in real-life so they can be happy, only to be manipulated by a predator for the vulnerable?

All we’re missing is a marred-up desk and suicidal thoughts to make her a Yandere version of Chigusa “Atoli” Kusaka from .hack//G.U. Still time to do that, too. I honestly feel like there’s a Lot more to say on this character and the nuances to her portrayal thus-far that makes her character and actions work in a far better light than those who endlessly try to excuse other utterly-irredeemable people who bear similarities in their backstory. it’s clear she’s just lashing out and kerib--like Khan--creating an environment and unhinged mental state where she thinks any slight can be wished out of existence to make her empty life better. And people lashing out? They can be reasoned with, talked down and reformed. Not-so with those who would, with clear thought turn others into victims and steal from them their own lives; those who are truly abusive in their conduct towards others for petty reasons or only received retaliation in response to their own awful conduct. And yet the reverse is often shown to be true; the irredeemable given the chances they’d wasted before and the consequences of their actions ignored or handwaved to not be applicable, while people like Akane and Takeshi are left in the dark to suffer and be punished to start the cycle anew. However...this time there’s a twist to the kaiju attacks.

The people who died in the kaiju attacks...Die Retroactively. Whatever Kerib is doing, it allows him and Akane to in limited way rewrite reality. in the First/Second Episode, it’s revealed that The volleyball team at Hibiki’s high school were killed in the first attack, but it was noted when Hibiki and Rikka went to school the next day that not only was the school undamaged from the previous night’s attack, no-one remembered the girls that were on the team, or a team for the sport even existing. The best way I can describe the phenomena, since Kerib is appearing to manipulate the world as if it were one gigantic computer, is The kaiju metaphorically clicked on the folder containing all information on the volleyball team, and dragged it to the recycling bin; deleting their existence as the team, and killing off the girls part of it at the point the team would’ve been formed.

And even as hibiki is the newest person to take on the identity of Gridman--

--The battles at best are ones that will only prevent more people from Dying. As we’re only two episodes into the series right now, it’s unknown if any other bystanders caught in the crossfire are also being erased, or if it’s only focused on the targets Akane points out. We just don’t know at this point. What we do know is this series is not supposed to have a direct connection to the original, but because so much of SSSS Gridman is based upon the worst case scenario from the original, that could mean anything at this point; even the posibility that reality itself has been rewritten and is the cause of hibiki’s amnesia.

As a Studio trigger anime series though, there are some things that fans have been pointing out. First off, the names of the volleyball team victims are an amusing collection of homages: Tonkawa Sakiru > Tonka and Cy-kill Toiko > ToyCo Kena-chan > Kenner Doi Hako > Toybox (Hako means box) Takara Nana > TAKARA and Seven (Nana means seven) Cy-Kill was a Gobot from Tonka’s gobots series that was absorbed by Takara and transformers respectively. ToyCo is a toys and collectibles retailer, as Was Toybox. Kenner/Playmates was the US toy liscenser for SSSS toyline in the 90′s, and Takara...well, is Takara. the animation of course, is full-on Expected studio Trigger gar in it’s homages as well

Feel the Obari Pose! Expect the Obari Pose! Love the Obari Pose! “you know, when they do that, it makes it look as if they have a giant Di-” IGNORE THE OBARI POSE!

but the well goes far deeper, my friends.

This is SSSSGridman’s character designer. Just...look at that desk. I spot 5 power ranger/super sentai mechs (Kyoryujin/DC megazord hidden on the top right), gaogaigar, The box for Brave exkaiser, Gurren Lagann, a 3rd-party Optimus Primal, and Shattered Glass Megatron. that last one is kind of important, as the director, Akira amemiya, is a Huge fan of shattered glass transformers.

Shattered glass, for those not in the know, is basically the transformers mirror universe originally created for the transformers convention botcon. it’s a Universe where the autobots are the bad guys and Decepticons the good guys. For more info, I will leave a link to Chris McFeely’s transformers: the basics video on the subject. Watch him, it’s good stuff. Now why is that relevant? Every character in this show is based on a transformers design or color-scheme. Most Significantly those from shattered glass. Akane? Shattered glass Optimus Prime

Hibiki, Rikka, and Sho (who’s knowledgable on kaiju and Ultra series tropes) are cliffjumper (Classics-verse autobot who jumped into shatted glass), SG Sideswipe, and SG megatron.

The autobot Matrix

SG Starscream and Soundwave/ravage.

aaand just a few more for you all.

These four are based on the movie-verse Dinobots, and are gridman’s support programs turned into human beings. the one on the top left whose name is Samurai Calibur (yes seriously) turns into Gridman’s sword the Gridman calibur. The other three turn into the support mechs showcased below. oh, and for the checkback? Sakiru Tonkawa from the volleyball team:

But it doesn’t end there.

The jet booster and drill cannon Combinations:

yes, seriously. The heavy arms configuration as well is a common practice seen with partial-combiner robo’s as well, particularly with those lacking certain combination limbs, particularly those part of the scramble city play gimmick these robot configurations are also homage-ing with the limbs and legs being swap-able. And as all the support arms are based on Dinobots:

“Me grimlock have Anchor arms: now am Jerk and everybody loves me!”

So yeah, to wrap things up, SSSS Gridman is Tsuburaya’s revival of a 90′s gem in an era where a lot of similarly-themed series exist and have done what it has since this series ( Digimon, .hack, Rockman.exe, Code Lyoko just to name a few), but is bringing it back with a fresh transformers-toned coat of paint for a new generation and original storytelling based on the worst-case scenario of the original series, and thus-far it is absolutely glorious, and I hope is able to follow through ‘cause I just generally love series in this little subgenre.

And I will leave you with 3 things: First and second, The Anime’s opening mashed up with Gridman and SSSS openings (link and Link) and lastly an Image of hibiki’s English VA roleplaying with the original series’ toy sword while recording his voiceover:

SSSS Gridman is available from Funimation.

#gridman #tsuburaya #Ultraman #tokusatsu #anime #studio trigger #SSSS #superhuman samurai syber squad #Transformers #shattered glass #Keiichi hasegawa #.hack #Digimon #rockman.exe

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