#this is just what superhuman samurai syber squad was

[therobotmonster]

Can I share some things I love with you?

They're music videos, if that helps.

Dr. Heckyll & Mr. Jive is one of those things that should be quintessentially tumblr but the tumblr community remains unaware of its beauty.

This is the story of Dr. Heckyll and Mr. Jive, they are a person who feels good to be alive, This is the story of Dr. Heckyll and Mr. Jive Believes the underdog will eventually survive

"Hey, hey he fumbles for what to say He loves the world except for all the people"

What's more Tumblr than that, I ask ye?

"C'mon guys, is all this really necessary? Can't we just leave the deli tray out and split out of here?"

More songs should be about kaiju monsters attacking humanity. Imagine seeing this at a sleepover on Headbangers' Ball, then trying to explain what you saw to others enough to track it down. Congrats, you know what its like to be me at 14.

This song was Parodied on Kids next Door, I shit you not.

In keeping with cartoony metal, a literal heavy metal cartoon song. The less known but amazing "Takin' a Ride" by Don Felder from every 80s kids' first exploration into the forbidden, Heavy Metal.

The theme to Superhuman Samurai Syber Squad

What? I can't put a 90s Power Rangers tailcoat rider themesong matched to a modern anime reboots' footage on a list of my favorite music videos? You're not my mom!

I'm sorry, but "The hero always makes the cut" overrides any rules of decorum or aesthetics.

"If she asked me to I'd murder, I'd gladly give my soul."

A song that plays with the conventions of love songs to express the nature of fandom out of control.

"Now I lie in bed an think of her, sometimes I even weep, now I dream of her behind the wall of sleep."

Sometimes, art is treating a metaphor literally.

One of my favorite TMBG songs, and that's saying something, cuz 22.33364% of my favorite songs are from TMBG.

The Jenny Saga

Tell me these two songs aren't connected:

They even have similar hooks! The Killers made a sequel to a Falco song and no one noticed! GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME! WHAT'S IN THAT NEEDLE I-

Some songs are always about somebody and somewhen, but never the same someone or somewhere.

I love two things, hard rock and songs from objectively bad movies. So ACDC doing the theme song to Maximum Overdrive? Chef's fucking kiss! Listen to it twice!

It's good for ya!

Also blah blah still socially relevant blah blah its ACDC and it rocks.

Tumblr's a fucking narc and won't let me post more than ten videos per post, so lets roll this to the reblog!

[takerfoxx]

Even though exactly nobody follows me for my opinions about Gridman, this is still a fan blog, and I've technically been a Gridman fan since I was a little kid, even if only through Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad basically being my Power Rangers, because I wasn't allowed to watch Power Rangers (growing up in a conservative Christian household in the 90's was fucking weird, man). Still have the toys, in fact.

So anyway, given my nostalgic fondness for Gridman, of course I was all about the anime reboot. I loved SSSS Gridman, thought it was great. And while Dynazenon wasn't quite as good (felt the climax fell a little flat), it was still really good, and I enjoyed the hell out of it.

And now I finally got around to watching the crossover movie that serves as the franchise's grand finale, and...huh.

Well, let me put it this way. My reactions went about as such.

Man, it's been a while since I've watched this. Gotta recall everyone's names and what happened at the end.

Okay, this multiverse shit is admittedly kind of lame, and there's a lot of really out there coincidences, but it's still fun to see the two casts of characters hanging out and interacting. Feel sorry for both team's b-tier members, though. They get like maybe one or two lines apiece. Also, dafuq is up with Gauma's princess just showing up the hell out of nowhere! You'd think that'd be a bigger deal!

This play script is totally a meta-commentary on the writers' own frustrations in making this movie, isn't it?

Kaiju fights are still hype, though!

Wait, hold on. They're not actually...

They boomed me! They actually boomed me! They pulled a Rebellion Story and got me! Oh, this is good! Hell yeah, turn up the weird, I wanna see how this-

Well. This may be the stupidest climax that I've ever seen.

Eh, things ended on a nice note, I guess.

So, basically this movie's biggest problem is its villain. Like, we find out the reason for the different digital worlds colliding is because Gridman himself became corrupted and all the worlds that he created are merging. Okay, that's cool! I like that!

Except we find out that Gridman was actually corrupted by an outside force, who turns out to be this super-kaiju...whom we literally never heard anything about until the final fight starts and he just shows up and starts ranting in cliched super-villain monologues! Like, serious! Who even was this guy? Why is this franchise's final, final battle where all the characters team up and we have like a gazillion different new combinations and super-weapons against this fucking Dragonzord-looking motherfucker that we've never even heard of until the punching started and we get no exposition about until literally the climax of the movie? Why would we even care about this guy?

Seriously, if you needed a final boss, Alexis is literally right there! Just have this be part of his master plan! Or, hell, if you wanted to go meta with it, make it be Khan Digifer, the OG villain from the original show! Or commit and make it Gridman himself! Make the final fight be a "I know you're in there!" fight to redeem a hero corrupted by his own guilt and self-loathing!

And while it was fun seeing Akane again, the way they brought her back was pretty sloppy. I know it's Trigger and Trigger is ridiculous, but it usually feels like there's a method to the madness.

I mean, I still enjoyed a lot of it. The two teams interacting was fun, even if Yomogi did get relegated to sidekick. Sorry buddy, protagonist no longer. And poor Yume and Koyomi were...there, I guess? I mean, even Chise felt like she had more to do. Same with the NG high-schoolers. I guess they had lines. And it did feel like they were running down a checklist of everything they needed to cram in, like Yomogi and Gauma's reunion, the two protags having a heart to heart, etc. But I still liked it.

So, not upset that I watched it, but the final act left a lot to be desired.

[biomic]

power rangers-style american adaptation of ultraman orb where the main villain's name is Douglas Duggler

[empress-runner]

SSSS Gridman

Playing Super Robot Wars 30 (available on steam now buy it it's available in the west in english for the first time ever do it) has brought back a lot of my thoughts about SSSS Gridman, particularly how wild it is that this Japanese Anime is not just a sequel to Gridman The Hyper Agent, the Japanese series:

But also.. Superhuman Samurai Syber Squad, the americanized chopped up version put out because of the Power Rangers craze:

The first thing to note, of course, is that SSSS in the title. By spelling Cyber with an S, that is of course, also the acronym for the american series. Technically it stands for "Special Signature to Save a Soul" but that's obviously a bacronym, and it stands for something else in SSSS Dynazenon anyway. You might consider this a coincidence, except for these dudes:

(and yes i said dudes, Borr is also a guy) Some spoilers ahead, but not really since the mysteries of Gridman aren't really about them. Anyway.

the Neon Genesis High School students. The four of them turn out to be Gridman's assist weapons, the same ones from the original Gridman/SSSS. The characters are named: Borr, who is Buster Borr, the drill tank. Max, who is Tracto Max, the tractor thing Vit, who is Sky Vitter, the flight attachment, and Calibur, who is Samurai Calibur the sword. The thing is: in the original japanese version of Gridman, they were named things like the "Twin Driller" and "Gridman Sword". The names Borr, Tracto, Vitor and Samurai Sword were created for the Compaq-product-placement-filled American series. Borr even has an attack called the "Sydney Super Adhesive Missile"

Which is a nod to the pilot of Borr in Syber Squad, Sydney Forrester.

As someone who always liked Syber Squad better than Power Rangers, probably because it was about computers and that's what I'm all about, the fact that Trigger brought back not just the japanese original but the version I remember from my childhood? Love it. Anyway in Super Robot Wars 30 Gridman is super busted. Like, easily beat the entire game with just Gridman if you wanted to busted.

[aion-rsa]

Tokusatsu Streaming Guide: Where to Watch Kamen Rider, Ultraman, and More

https://ift.tt/2VR6eGr

Ten years ago a fan of Tokusatsu (Japanese special effects shows, mostly superheroes) could have never imagined the access we’d have to these programs today. Back then official releases of anything outside of the American adaptations, particularly Power Rangers, seemed like a far off dream. However in the past few years especially there’s been a slow trickle of Toku shows becoming available to stream in North America. 

In the last few months though that trickle became a waterfall as several new services have quickly become mainstays, finally allowing Toku fandom to finally enjoy their favorite shows legally. This also allows more casual fans a chance to experience these shows for the first time and that’s who this guide is mostly for. If you’re curious about the wider world of Tokusatsu and need a place to start, this guide should cover your bases for the many kinds of Toku series out there.

Just as a note, we are only discussing shows that are legally available. This also isn’t a comprehensive list. Many of the streaming services mentioned below have multiple Toku series available, we’re just picking a small sample. With that in mind, let’s dive into this ocean of Toku, shall we?

Kamen Rider (1971) 

Available on TokuSHOUTsu (Shout Factory TV/tubi/Pluto)

The release that shocked and delighted Toku fans, the original series in the long running Kamen Rider franchise may be old but that doesn’t detract from its enjoyment. This is Toku in its purest form. Incredible fights, trippy special effects, bizarre monsters, and a strikingly bleak backstory for the main character.

Hongo Takeshi is kidnapped by the evil Shocker and transformed against his will into a cyborg. Worrying if his humanity is intact, Hongo still fights for justice as Kamen Rider. It may seem simplistic in our modern age of superheroes but there’s something enduringly appealing about Hongo’s quest to stop evil despite the wrongs that were inflicted on him. 

Plus, come on, you can’t beat those trumpets that come in for damn near every music number. Highly recommend if you’re down for old school heroics or just want to enjoy some trippy 70’s TV.

Zyuranger (1992)

Available on TokuSHOUTsu (Shout Factory TV/tubi/Pluto)

Many people reading this are no doubt aware of Power Rangers, especially the original Mighty Morphin series. If you want to rock your world, you gotta check out the Super Sentai series Zyuranger. It’s as far from MMPR as you can imagine, with a team of dinosaur-evolved humans from 170 million years ago brought into the present day. 

Read more

TV

Power Rangers and How It Adapted From Super Sentai

By Shamus Kelley

TV

TokuSHOUTsu: Kamen Rider, Ultraman, and Super Sentai Coming to Streaming

By Shamus Kelley

The differences between it and MMPR will be the main draw for most and as you watch the series you’ll be impressed just how much the producers of Power Rangers were able to take this footage and remold it for America.

Ultraman Mebius 

Available on TOKU

You can’t do a list about Tokusatsu without giving love to one of the big three, Ultraman. While the franchise’s original series sadly isn’t streaming (but you’ll be able to soon), you can’t go wrong with the 40th anniversary season Ultraman Mebius. Following the adventures of the rookie Mebius, the Ultra comes to Earth and joins up with the attack team (hilariously out of context) named GUYS. Mebius, GUYS, and even a few characters from past Ultraman series, fight off giant monsters attacking Earth.

Read more

TV

The Challenge of Bringing Ultraman to America

By Shamus Kelley

Comics

Marvel Reveals Ultraman Details

By Shamus Kelley

Both a great introduction for new fans and rewarding for long time Ultra fans, Mebius is a fantastic show to jump headfirst into the hero that’s larger than life.

Garo 

Available on HiDive

If you want something off the beaten path of the big three Tokusatsu franchises, Garo might be right up your alley. Feeling a bit darker than other Toku (and not just because much of the action taking place at night or in darker spaces), the series follows Makai Knight Kouga Saezima attempting to protect humanity against the evil “Horrors.” Along the way though he encounters Kaoru, who is set to die in 100 days, and he sets out to try and save her.

Everything from the look of the series to the designs of the Garo suit feel different from Sentai, Kamen Rider, and Ultraman and if you aren’t feeling the more traditional vibe of those series Garo might be right up your alley. It’s also the first in a very long and surprising franchise so if you like it, there’s a lot more to get into.

Space Sheriff Gavan

Available on Toei Tokusatsu World Official

The first of the not as often remembered Metal Heroes franchise (although some of the series in it were adapted into VR Troopers and Beetleborgs), Gavan stands out for just how wild it is from the jump. Sure there’s the story about Don Horror (wonder if he’s a bad guy!) trying to destroy Earth and Retsu Ichijouji (Gavan) being sent out to stop him but that’s all icing on the cake. 

Read more

TV

American Tokusatsu Shows: VR Troopers

By Shamus Kelley

TV

American Tokusatsu Shows: Big Bad Beetleborgs

By Shamus Kelley

Metal Heroes have a reputation for bonkers visuals along with great action and Gavan delivers in spades. From the opening seconds of the first episode we’re greeted with Gavan standing atop a robot dragon standing against a gloriously lush background of outer space. Lead actor Kenji Ohba is also stunning in his action scenes and he puts even the superheroes of today to shame with just how good he is in these hand-to-hand fights.

Love action? Love weirdness? Want to be cool and not go with the obvious choices? Gavan might be for you!

Android Kikaider

Available on Toei Tokusatsu World

An absolute smash hit in Hawaii that’s still talked about to this day, Kikaider is more classic ’70s Toku action if Kamen Rider wasn’t enough for you. Following the heroics of robot Jiro against the (obviously) evil DARK, the main draw of the series is not just the delightfully over the top action but also the compelling conflict between Kikaider and evil robot Hakaider. 

We should also mention that while the first two episodes of all series on Toei Tokusatsu World are subtitled, further episodes that will be uploaded won’t have them and it’s being left up to fans to subtitle the rest. Even without subtitles though, Kikaider’s action should more than keep your attention.

Dynaman (Night Flight Dub)

Available on Night Flight Plus

Easily the strangest entry on this list, Night Flight’s Dynaman isn’t just the seventh entry in the Super Sentai series. Oh no, it’s a little known dub of the show that aired on USA Network’s Night Flight program in the ’80s. It’s a gag dub through and through and mostly relies on pop culture jokes and (and we’re being generous here) outdated humor. 

Still, it’s a peek into one of the earliest examples of Toku being brought to America on a large scale. For that alone it’s worth checking out, especially for those interested in the history of Toku in America and exploring the “what if” of imagining this getting popular instead of Power Rangers.

Gridman The Hyper Agent

Available on TOKU

Bold proclamation to make, but Gridman has the absolute best design of any Tokusatsu hero ever. It takes what worked well enough for Ultraman but added extra detail in all the right places to create a truly iconic look for a hero. 

Gridman follows three hip computer kids (Naoto, Ippei, and Yuka) whose videogame superhero is taken over by the interdimensional Gridman who then combines with Naoto. The computer hero fights against the digital monsters of the evil Kahn Digifer in some of the best looking fights of all the series we’ve mentioned. Some shows might have better action overall but the look of the computerized world of Gridman can’t be beat.

Read more

TV

American Tokusatsu Shows: Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad

By Shamus Kelley

TV

SSSS. GRIDMAN Episode 1 Review: Awakening

By Shamus Kelley

The show may look familiar to some American fans as its footage was used in Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad. Gridaman also experienced a revival in the form of the SSSS.GRIDMAN anime, which redid some of the concepts of the original series with a few easter eggs to Syber-Squad for very hardcore fans.

Special Rescue Exceedraft

Available on Toei Tokusatsu World Official

Look, I’m going to be real with you. I’ve only seen the first two episodes of Exceedraft. I have no idea if the whole series is good. What I can tell you though is that the first episode is straight up the most batshit wild episode of any Toku I’ve ever seen. It’s like if someone took the plot of Speed and said: 

“Aha, let’s do this but condense it down to 20 minutes, add in some shiny superheroes, and make it way more intense.” Also, the title of the episode is “The Kindergarten Bus of Death.” Just watch it. If you watch nothing else on this list, watch this episode. It’s Toku on, well, speed and it’s fantastic.

Jetman

Available on TokuSHOUTsu (Shout Factory TV/tubi/Pluto)

What if Super Sentai, but a soap opera? It’s not that Tokusatsu had never had soap opera elements before or after this series, but Jetman took that idea to a level that’s still being talked about today. When Red Ranger Ryuu’s partner is killed in an attack by the (say it with us now) evil Vyram, the powerful “Birdonic Waves” are unleashed on four unsuspecting civilians. Ryuu recruits them and they become the Jetman team.

With strong characterization from the start, Jetman stands out by jumping into the romance between team members as Ryuu struggles with his growing attraction to White Ranger Kaori. It’s standard soap opera stuff, with a love triangle thrown in for good measure (which would have been better if Kaori was given more agency), but if you love those tropes then Jetman might be the series for you.

As we said earlier, this is only a small sampling of some of the shows available on streaming sites in North America. What are some of your favorite Tokusatsu series that are available to watch and which ones do you hope are picked up in the future?

The post Tokusatsu Streaming Guide: Where to Watch Kamen Rider, Ultraman, and More appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/323lmEt

[toku-explained]

Something I planned to do before the release of SSSS. Gridman was to watch all of the original series. I got about half way through it on RAWS before losing all my time, and never even caught the series, even now.

With SSSS. Dynazenon announced, and I'm guessing not coming until at least the 3rd quarter of 2020, I have decided to try this again, with a bit more time. Although I now intend to consume all the Gridman media I can, including what translations I can find of the anime and it's spin offs.

While I know Superhuman Samurai Syber Squad is mostly just referenced in the anime, I intend to watch all of that too. Not sure how they made 53 episodes from a 39 episode show, but I can see immediately they did stuff out of order. I intend to watch Syber Squad first.

[himitsusentaiblog]

Ultraman Series Available on TOKU TV’s Amazon Channel

I have previously written a small guide to the Ultraman series available on Crunchyroll, which can be found here X. However, if you have an Amazon Prime subscription and are willing to pay about $4 extra a month on top of that, TOKU TV has an Amazon Channel that includes a bunch of Ultra series a few other Tsuburaya productions tokusatsu entries as well.  Some of these are also available elsewhere and I will note that as we go.  

:Let’s get started.  I am going to cover these in roughly chronological order.

The ☆ Ultraman

This is the only animated series on this list and hails from 1979. It was a bold idea to created an anime based on Ultraman and the job fell to a relatively new studio called Sunrise.  They would go on that same year to create a little show called Mobile Suit Gundam so it is fun to see them tackle the Ultra heroes as well.

Ultraman 80

Also available on Crunchyroll, this was the last full TV series of the Showa Era for Ultraman. Though the tone varies at times and whole plot threads and groups of characters get dropped after episode 20 or so, it is still a very good series to watch and the lead, Yamato Takeshi, is one of my favorite human forms for an Ultra hero to borrow.

Ultraman Neos

Originally planned as a TV series but scrapped, this entry in the franchise appeared as a straight to video entry in 2000.  This is something of a soft reboot and takes place in an alternate universe from the main M78 series even though it does have a cameo from Zoffy.  A fun and short series at only 12 episodes.

Ultraman Nexus

This is another series also available on Crunchyroll and was an attempt to create a more mature Ultra show to appeal to the older fans.  It was sadly not a success but it is a fascinating entry in the franchise with its darker tone, morally complex heroes and creepy monster designs.

Ultraman Mebius

Created to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Ultraman, this 2006 series was the first since Ultraman 80 to be explicitly set in the original M78 Continuity.  It is a celebration of all the shows that came before and a fantastic entry in the franchise.  Though it is also available on Crunchyroll, TOKU also got the rights to the Side Story straight to video stories Armored Darkness, HIkari Saga and Ghost Reverse.

Ultraseven X

Originally airing in 2007 to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Ultraseven, this was yet another series aimed at an older audience.  Set in a very dark alternate universe, Ultraseven merges with an agent of a mysterious anti-alien organization to track down creatures of the dark that threaten to invade multiple realities. 

Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle

Though this series was created as a tie-in to a collectible card game, it is still a very interesting Ultra series that has only brief cameos from the Ultra Heroes but instead focuses on the crew of the starship Pendragon who find themselves stranded on a hostile alien world overrun with Kaiju.  There they meet a young man with no memory who can control the giant monsters!  The story continues and expands in a second series called Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle Never Ending Odyssey which is also available for streaming on TOKU.

The next few series are all available on Crunchyroll so for longer descriptions of them, please see my guide to that service’s offerings.

Ultraman Ginga

Ultraman X

Ultraman Orb

(Sadly though, neither TOKU nor Amazon Prime US has begun streaming the Amazon Prime Japan original series Ultraman Orb The Origin Saga at least as of this writing).

Ultraman Zero: The Chronicle

The newest series available from TOKU is a compilation series retelling Ultraman Zero’s story from his first appearance up to just before he appeared in Ultraman Geed.

There are also a few non-Ultra Tsuburaya series starting with:

Mirrorman

This 1971 series tells the story of a hero who travels to Earth to join a defense organization in their mission to protect the planet from strange invaders.  It is very Ultraman-esque.

Denkou Choujin Gridman

Another very Ultraman-like series, this 1993 show has the unique twist of placing all of the battle inside of the computer realm.  This show was the basis from the US series Superhuman Samurai Syber Squad and is getting an anime reboot this October from Studio Trigger.

Neo Ultra Q

A sort of anthology series featuring strange monsters, weird phenomena and creepy happenings this is a modern sequel to Tsuburaya’s first TV series and a very good show to watch on a dark night wrapped in blankets with a hot mug of cocoa or a stiff drink.

There you go, just wanted to let other fans know what else is available from Tsuburaya via legitimate streaming services.  Happy viewing!

Edit: All of these are subtitled in English.

[whatthe4355]

WTHI(what the heck is)Gridman

SO 

Whats Lighting Superhuman Gridman?

Lets break it down into Story, Setting, The Heros, whats it like, and some places to start enjoying gridman.

Ready?

Story 

As for story and characters, Its kinda really unique. Granted there is a problem with understanding the longer term story( see Enjoying Gridman for the reason). But, the story starts with three genius teens, Naoto Yuka and ippei, who finish building a handmade computer out of spare parts, lovingly called Junk. Next morning, due to some worrying appedex problems from Naoto’s little brother daichi. our heros are late to school. Yuka bumps into what will sortly be our villian, not knowing his crush on her. He mumbles and fail to give a love letter to her, crushing it as she leaves. As revenge, he hacks into her family’s hosipital using a a high end, expensive computer he owns(three actually, since hes rich). Lightning strikes a telephone pole, and a charge moves down the wire. this appears on the moniter as Demon King Kahn Digifer, who takes advantage of this kid to help destroy the computer world, upgrading his virus attack. our heros rush to the hosipital after school only to see Naoto’s little brother on the operation table surronded by malfuctioning computers and “flying” surgical tools( see Setting). Ippei, Yuka, and Naoto rush home to Junk to try and take out the virus. Their vaccine program fails, but lightning strikes and a charge runs through junk zapping naoto. Junk nearly lights on fire, sparking, and we see a being on the screen. he speaks and they kids use the keyboard to talk to him. He and naoto combine to fight the virus in the computer world but they are about 6 ft tall compared to a 50 foot crystal spine monster. Yuka hurriedly codes a program to boost Gridman’s strength. While this does work, Junk is struggling to handle running gridman and if he doesnt finish soon, junk will crash(and by this I mean in the most disaterious combust and explode way) and gridman(and Naoto) will be deleted.

That was the first episode as short as possible, and Its kinda interesting how they give a good realism and danger to the situation, going harder than typical toku.

The setting

This show is very pretty, in that 90s cyberworld asethtic. The computer world is a grey, blue and green pipe work in the set. Its meant to be like wireframe and its pretty effective with it glowing. The problems with it comes with the special effects. They are prety impre-hahahhhaha no. They are pretty laughable, and the flying(of anything) in the show is not well done. the physical effects, sparks, explosions, battle damage, glitching computers(physical because it wasnt added in like the fly objects) is all really convincing and really well done. 

Heros

As for the main hero, its definately in the ultraman formula, BUT there is a very unique way they upgrade the hero. See, our hero is Gridman, who is a being of energy that needs to combine with a human to be able to fight in a physical form. So, how do you add new elements? Other humans(I am not sure who, see enjoy for why) pilot combining vehicles, with indivigual forms, combined together, and combined with girdman. I dont know the exact name of each of these, but there are two sets, drago with 2 vehicles and godzenon has 3. the other scary thing is that if gridman fights too long, junk will crash deleting gridman and naoto. the fights are good and pretty well shot.

Whats it like

Ultraman(fights), Megaman battlenet(how the fighting affects the outside world), King of braves GaoGaiGar(in how the upgrades work), Digimon fronteir(Main character combines with something digital to fight),and  Big Bad Beetleborgs(three main characters are teens[preteens in bbb’s case]). It can get a bit Edgy Serious with lines like “he has acute appendicitis” and “no one would care if i died”, but the delivery is well done to make it work. Its a monster-of-the-week show, but it keeps the stakes high. The characters aren’t that annoying, and there’s no “pet” character(like navi in legend zelda). Its very watchable(see enjoy for a minor issue with streaming), and downright enjoyable.  

Enjoy

Here we come to a problem that is the curse of 90s tokusatsu. There was a dvd release, but it has turned into liquid gold. There is a Pricy (jfc just look at it) bluray being released on 12/20/17, so maybe a major sub titling group will do it(preferably with hard subs please and thanks). But wait, you cry, has it been subbed before. Yes and no. Before thinking too hard about that, yes a sub group did gridman, BUT they only did the first 3 episodes with soft subs. Ouch. So yeah, hmu if you find someone who did all 39 episodes. yes, 39 episodes. this didn’t make it to a full yearish of broadcasting, but it wasn’t canceled(unlike beetleborgs). Speaking of broadcasting, there was an american adaptation. Not in the power rangers way. I cant speak for the quality of it, but its episodes are floating around on youtube(superhuman syber samurai squad). Now since that was a little depressing theres some very good news. a couple years back a small animation studio showed off this gridman animation:

So begin rumors of a gridman anime. the hopes died down, and it turned into a cool idea. someone even made a studio quality mock up of what the opening credits for it would look like:

But yesterday night, this video was unleashed:

IT IS A REAL THING NOW. Hopeful this will motivate sub groups to do gridman(hardsubs please for all that is holy). the website even has a count down timer. holy moly. the only thing we dont know is whether this is a reboot or a remake. so yeah. Oh one more thing, there are toys for gridman. There are three of them, and they are expensive.

Thats Gridman!

@your-toku-mom

[rulersofearth]

Kaijuly Days 1 - 7

I decided to take part in the Kaijuly thing seven days late so here it goes!

Day 1: Favorite Pacific Rim Kaiju

Otachi

This kaiju is so friggin badass. Tell me you didn’t just about shit your pants in the theater when she sprouted those wings while fighting Gypsy Danger. I honestly think that the fight against Otachi was the coolest part of the whole movie, in fact I’ve always felt that the climax of the film is underwhelming compared to it.

Day 2: Favorite Kaiju Roar

The MUTOs

I’d say Godzilla, but I feel like that’s a given, so I’m gonna have to give this one to his foes from the Legendary film. I think these kaiju have a really unique set of sounds that really sets them apart from the other kaiju of the Godzilla franchise.

Day 3: Least Favorite Godzilla Film

Godzilla Raids Again

I’m thankful for this movie since it introduced, Anguirus, who’s my favorite kaiju of all time, aside from Godzilla. However, I don’t particularly get very much enjoyment out of watching it. It’s not a bad movie by any means, buuut it’s not a very good one either. I think what caused this film to suffer the most was that they only gave them about six months after the first one to release it. On top of that, the film was missing two major components from the first, Ishiro Honda and Akira Ifukube. Obviously, time has proved that good Godzilla movies can be made without those two, in fact, the music composer for Raids Again had a couple of fantastic scores in later films (see Son of Godzilla and Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla), but I feel that this film would’ve been a lot better had they returned for it. There are a lot of other factors that play into Godzilla Raids Again being my least favorite, but I could go on forever about it, so I’m gonna stop here.

Day 4: Favorite Gamera Film

Gamera: Guardian of the Universe

Yayyyy, Gamera! I love Gamera! And of all the Gamera films, I love Gamera: Guardian of the Universe the most. This movie is so much fun. It does a fantastic job of reinventing everyone’s favorite jet-propelled, fire breathing turtle, and his classic foe, Gyaos, the man-eating, sonic laser shooting bat thing! They give them both cool, new origins and introduce likable characters who stick with us throughout (most of) the trilogy. This movie and its two sequels makeup a fantastic trilogy that honestly blows the entire Heisei Godzilla series out of the water.

Day 5: Favorite Power Rangers/Sentai Zord

I don’t watch either series, so I have no opinion. Though I do really wanna get into Super Sentai.

Day 6: Favorite “Superhuman Samurai Syber Squad”/Gridman Kaiju

Don’t have one.

Least Favorite Gamera Kaiju

Jiger

Oh my god she’s ugly.

[recentanimenews]

A Sneak Peek of Colorful Action in the World Premiere of TRIGGER's SSSS.GRIDMAN!

TRIGGER was at the top of their game at the 2018 Anime Expo, showing off some early concept artwork (pictures were prohibited) from DARLING in the FRANXX, a sneak peek at the opening animation collaboration with Titmouse for Indivisible and exclusive PV of Promare. They capped things off with the world premiere of episode one of their upcoming Fall anime SSSS.GRIDMAN, TRIGGER’s take on the 1993 tokusatsu classic which also references the American adaptation Superhuman Samurai Syber Squad. It’s TRIGGER and giant (not quite) robots so I couldn’t possibly pass it up.

A boy awakens on a couch in a strange apartment with no memory of where… or who.. he is. A nearby girl tells him that he collapsed and she took him to her place. She asks him if he remembers what happened between them and, together, the two discover he has amnesia. Her name is Rikka and she tells him his name is Yuta. Rikka’s family owns second-hand electronics store. In one of the old computers, Yuta sees a robotic face that tells him to remember his calling before Rikka takes him outside to visit the hospital and he spots the silhouette of a massive monster standing over the city.

  Gridman is a strange combination of old and new, opening shots of barren, urban sprawl accompanied by the sound of cicadas reminiscent of ‘90s sci-fi like Neon Genesis Evangelion, likely an intentional decision given Yuta’s first perspective, staring at an unfamiliar ceiling with a square light. Meanwhile the characters are much more modern, with a primary cast of color-coded character designs. Amemiya stated the series will focus on kid’s relationship with technology and the focus seems to be between old and new as the cast uses news cell phones in an city that’s beginning to show its age.

Yuta discovers that, just like the robot, no one else seems to be able to see the giant monster. He reports back to Rikka that the hospital told him his amnesia isn’t dangerous and likely to resolve itself (really?) so she directs him back to his house where he discovers his parents are both abroad on business. On his way to school the next day he meets a boy who claims to be his friend named Utsumi. Yuta discovers during class that he and Rikka are basically strangers and finds some unexpected compassion from an unusual girl named Akane. His more mundane problems are put on hold when the monster that has, until now, remained immobile, has begun to rampage through the city.

Gridman doesn’t move much like we’ve come to expect from TRIGGER anime, sticking closer to the more organic character animation of Kiznaiver or DARLING in the FRANXX than Imaishi’s dynamic style. Although bits of personality come through with small moments like an argument between Yuta and Rikka where they jump from pose to pose with no in-between which I’m... pretty sure was a stylistic choice.

Remembering the words of the computer robot, Yuta returns and gets sucked into the computer at her shop to become a giant tokusatsu robot that does battle with the surprisingly cartoon looking monster. This is when the CG comes out. Amemiya discussed using a hybrid of 2D and 3D animation for the series and, while the fight was fine in its 3D animation form, the separation of hybrid from pure 3D might better show itself in later episodes. One really impressive visual I did notice was the hundreds of moving reflections of Gridman in every window of a building he was passing by which I honestly can’t think of ever spotting in a series before.

Yuta eventually defeats the monster, but only with the help of Rikka and Utsumi back in the shop figuring out the monsters weakness and that they can communicate with him by typing messages into the computer. The set-up with the old computer and the kids needing to put their heads together to beat the monster felt like a throwback, providing a nice sense of nostalgia with some modern elements that prevented it from feeling dated. As with the old computer, Gridman appears to be trying to have fun with old conventions.

The finale felt dramatic despite the campy elements with an added extra credit that said a lot about the tone. During the course of the battle the monster had destroyed their school where Rikka’s friend Bandai had stayed behind, but the next morning they discover it rebuilt, leaving you to wonder if Bandai was also saved from her tragic fate. I’m curious about what TRIGGER will be able to do with this unique space, a more grounded setting inspired by the tail end of the media that many of their heads draw from and likely not plunging as deeply into the social themes as their other more realistic works. If nothing else, TRIGGER is great at stirring up interest. I’m definitely looking forward to Gridman’s October premiere.

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Peter Fobian is an Associate Features Editor for Crunchyroll, author of Monthly Mangaka Spotlight, writer for Anime Academy, and contributor at Anime Feminist. You can follow him on Twitter @PeterFobian.

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[transformersstopmotion-blog]

Why Stop Motion?

Well I have been kicking around the idea of stop motion animated shorts with my toys for years. Since I was a kid damn near. I had come up with a storyline to go along with my Superhuman Samurai Syber Squad figures. Didn’t have the means to do it back then, the software, the camera, any of that. In recent years I have amassed the tech I need through my indy film endeavors. I have a DSLR camera I intend to use for it. 

I had come across a number of stop motion animated TF series. Some of them very very well made like the one below.

Silky smooth animation, great shots. Just a fun short. 

Some of the others I have seen, not so much. I did a short test animation recently. It was crude as hell I will freely admit. But it let me see some of what goes into making one and I feel I can do it and will do it. I have written a short series with short episodes, aiming for 5-8 minute episodes. I find those to be better. Nice chunks that you can easily binge and leave you wanting to see more.

I intend to build the sets. I have seen where the majority of animations either use green screen backgrounds or no backgrounds at all and just do whatever in their homes. Personally I don’t like seeing someone’s dirty laundry in a hamper in the background. I have a spot mapped out in my house and the tape I will use to stage things. I may be a little too small, but we shall see how things go for the first episode.

I’m using toys from different series I have amassed over the years including 3rd party and knock offs, Masterpiece, Generations, Titans Return, Robots in Disguise, Prime and others. I haven’t been too too crazy on the molds of some of the more recent figures, BUT you can’t go wrong with the articulation they are putting into them now, offers great animation potential.

I am pulling voices from a few places including VoiceActingAlliance.Com and and few others. I think I am going to pull in some of the people I use for my indy film work in the DFW area as well. I’d rather depend on that due to them living close to me rather than relying on someone over the internet who could drop off the face of the earth without warning and then I may be stuck out for the voice of that character.

Again, we shall see how things go in the long run with this.