Maser Patrol: Recent Episodes
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Uploaded here is a recording of the Kaiju Sharksploitation from this year’s G-Fest. A camrip was already circulating, but this should be a little easier to see, plus a bit of extra content that was added at the end. There are still a few things that didn’t get mentioned that some people asked for (Zaidabeck from Akumaizer 3, the unmade King Kong vs Orca film), but I think we hit most of the major topics.
A little late in getting this one uploaded, but here’s last year’s G-Fest panel on Kaiju in Comics, cohosted by Jessica Tseang of the Kaiju Kingdom podcast. Jessica is a respected comics authority, so she had a lot of insight to bring on this deep-dive into original non-manga comics dealing with giant monsters and robots.
The following essay was initially planned to be included on the SRS release of The Whale God, but did not wind up on the final release. As such, author Henning Strauss has given Maser Patrol permission to reproduce it here.
Preface:
In Japan’s rich mythology, there is also a story of a ghost whale. The bake kujira-named legend can be found in prefectures like in Shimane. In this folklore, fish are going rare, because the ghost whale has appeared. In 1952, only seven years after the war, a man named Eiji Tsuburaya was trying to make Japan’s first giant monster (kaiju) movie. His first movie idea was that the legendary ghost whale should now rise again and attack Tokyo.
His idea was denied, but he tried and later this idea was also referenced in GODZILLA (1954), where Eiji Tsuburaya directed the special effects. The name “Godzilla” is a combination of the Japanese word for whale, “kujira” (or “kudzira” as they would render it in Roman letters at the time) with “gorilla”. Tsuburaya saw the 1933 KING KONG back in the day and wanted his own giant monster ever since. (if you want: fan, movie-maker, author and artist Jules Carozza created a visual what-if-scenario based on Tsuburaya’s first giant monster movie idea with the help of the A.I. software of Midjourney). In addition the 1933 KING KONG had seen a popular re-release in 1952, not only in Japan, but also in other countries. It may be of interest, that KING KONG was distributed by Daiei then.
Later, a man named Shigeru Mizuki should popularize the bake kujira in his GEGEGE NO KITARO manga series, which was also adapted into anime and live-action.
Preface 2:
In 1961, author Koichiro Uno published a novel named THE WHALE GOD. It became a hit among Japanese readers and just one year later, in 1962: the Japanese studio of Daiei (1942-1971; 1974-2002) released a movie-adaptation. The movie starred Shintaro Katsu, who would also begin his long career as the blind masseur, gambler and swordsman ZATOICHI based on the character and story by Kan Shimozawa in the same year.
The screenplay for this drama was created by writer and director Kaneto Shindo, probably most famous for his drama ONIBABA (1964). It is likely that Uno was aware of the bake kujira legend. It appears to me that 10 years after the initial idea for a first Japanese giant monster movie, Daiei intended to beat their competition of Toho. In adapting THE WHALE GOD, creating their own take of the legend in a movie. (Not to forget: Eiji Tsuburaya, composer Akira Ifukube and actor Takashi Shimura also worked for Daiei, along with their works at Toho!)
Another set of examples where the bake kujira is referenced are in P Productions’ SPECTREMAN (1971-1972) (Episodes 17+18), and the 25th and 29th Godzilla movie from Toho.
For GODZILLA in his 1954 debut, before he visually appeared the kaiju king is being referred to as a local deity, worshipped by the people of Odo Island. The King of the Monsters as a spiritual being again can be seen in GODZILLA, MOTHRA, KING GHIDORAH – GIANT MONSTERS ALL-OUT ATTACK (2001) by director Shusuke Kaneko. Godzilla there is the vengeful embodiment of the dead from the Pacific War, who were forgotten. SHIN GODZILLA (2016) from Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi features the assumption that the giant creature before he makes landfall might be a whale. But since the word “shin” has the possible translation of the word “God”, the connection between language and beliefs can be found, too.
Back to THE WHALE GOD. The drama should see a manga adaptation of Takao Saito, who would later create Duke Togo, better known as GOLGO 13 – the world’s best and deadliest assassin.
Tokuzo Tanaka’s movie, also is sometimes called a Japanese MOBY DICK. But how does MOBY-DICK; OR: THE WHALE by Herman Melville fares in Japan? A few scenes indicate that John Huston’s MOBY DICK* (1956) was probably a visual reference.
But how does Herman Melville’s most famous book work as a reference in Japanese popular culture? A country with its own identity and philosophies?
Preface 3:
MOBY-DICK; OR: THE WHALE by Herman Melville is not only a book, it is a journey. A journey which has been read and adapted in a lot of artistic ways. Many people find it difficult or even impossible to understand, but no matter: MOBY-DICK; OR: THE WHALE is influential. Much has been written and produced about it until this day; Melville’s immortal novel is a cultural backbone of the so-called western civilization.
Please note that this is not an exhaustive listing, it is only what I personally know or I am aware of. This tiny article is only meant to supplement the process of understanding how influential MOBY-DICK; OR: THE WHALE is. I will avoid personal judgement.
The novel
The very first complete translation of MOBY-DICK; OR: THE WHALE in Japan happened in 1941 by Tomoji Abe. It had no recognizable impact on the Japanese then. When the novel was republished in 1949, people there became more aware of it. The book is there titled HAKUGEI, which means WHITE WHALE. The book was next published in the 1950s by the following translators: Akira Tomita, Yutaka Miyanishi, and Nishijiro Tanaka.
Movie-releases and their influence
In 1956; the Huston directed MOBY DICK with a screenplay of his own with science-fiction-author Ray Bradbury was released into cinema. It was the third cinematic movie adaptation of MOBY-DICK; OR: THE WHALE and the first, which is true to the text. This movie was released in Japan, too.
Inspired by this movie and it’s visuals, the magazine of Omoshiro Book (Funny Book) published an abridged retelling using art from Rockwell Kent of the 1930 Lakeside Press edition and even art by 19th century artist Thomas Beale, along with scenes drawn by Soji Yamakawa. A reprint happened in the magazine WILD. Soji Yamakawa is in Japan best known for the manga of KENYA BOY. KENYA BOY‘s depiction of the Tyrannosaurus rex would also contribute in creating the final design for Toho’s Godzilla by Akira Watanabe in 1954!
In 1969 artist Joya Kagemaru and writer Ikki Kajiwara (of ASHITA NO JOE and TIGER MASK fame) adapted MOBY-DICK; OR: THE WHALE as a manga for young boys. (note that here Ishmael is a young boy!) where the visual influence is clearly seen from Huston’s movie.
In 1985, another adaptation, this time from artist Akira Hio (SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO), written by literary critic Hotsuki Ozaki, would do the same. There was also a manga by the same title in 1985 from Shiriagari Kotobuki, though the plot is original.
In the 2009 direct-to-video CGI-anime-series of MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM – MS IGLOO 2: GRAVITY BATTLEFRONT, episode 2: “King of the Land, Forward!” the character of Herman Yandell not only references Melville’s first name, but also the visual appearance of Gregory Peck as Captain Ahab. “King of the Land, Forward!” uses an antagonistic White Ogre-named Zaku II mobile suit mech. The human ace pilot of the Zaku II is Elmer Snell. For MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM in particular, there is a paragraph below.
While the other movie adaptations would see a Japanese release, too – MOBY-DICK; OR: THE WHALE would find its own depictions and designs elsewhere.
Artists
When it comes to art for MOBY-DICK; OR: THE WHALE, there are also several Japanese artists who drew their own take:
Go Nagai is a manga artist, once a student under Shotaro Ishinomori (KAMEN RIDER). His 1988 piece for a friend of his: MOBY DICK FOR PRESIDENT MATSUYAMA, is more like something from his own DEVILMAN manga than the source material: a white, giant sperm whale, with a naked barebreasted woman as a figure head, almost like a caricature of the Statue of Liberty. At the tail, there is a tiny man, probably a caricature of Ahab.
Like Ishinomori, Nagai is known for creating many influential titles and many iconic creations: MAZINGER Z or CUTIE HONEY to name two additional titles. It was Nagai’s MAZINGER Z from 1972 that created the mech (giant robot) boom. Nagai’s fame in the English-speaking world is quite limited, though.
In 1999 Tatsuya Morino made a picture for his book KAIBUTSU GENSO GASHU in a collection of famous horror icons.
A more traditional piece of art comes from Zakuro Aoyama, released in 2017.
The winner of the 2020 JIA Illustration Silver Award was THE DAY OF MOBY-DICK, created by artist Tsutomu Kitazawa. It was another completely free depiction: Giant sky dwelling whales, with a castle on their respective backs, a high fantasy setting.
The manga, anime, novel, and games connections and relations
Within the Japanese entertainment industry nothing can exist without the other. A true border, as it often happens in the western mind setting, does not exist there. MOBY-DICK; OR: THE WHALE was also referenced in a few manga:
On one hand, you have short adaptations, like the one from Katsuhiro Otomo (best known for his manga and later anime of AKIRA) in his collection book named HÄNSEL UND GRETEL (the title refers to the German fairytale by the Brothers Grimm), where a short sequence is drawn by Otomo.
In 1985 Akira Miyashita started his series SAKIGAKE!! OTOKOJUKU. Within the manga, you can spot a more freer adaptation. “Chapter 14: Ocean Island , Tour 2: Captain Ahab” + “Chapter 15: Secret Operation: Hunt Moby Dick” sees the respective adaptation. The manga is a parody of what “being a man” means. A mixing of swashbuckler English pirate aesthetic and Japanese style is clearly seen.
For the former, mixing romantic English pirate looks with whaling is also something you can discover in the west: see Mead Schaeffer’s art from 1922 as the most prominent example! Ahab in Miyashita’s work wears an eye patch and a hook, plus ultimately ends up like the biblical Jonas in the belly of the whale.
The probably first “free” interpretation Ahab in a manga was in FISHERMAN SANPEI by Takao Yaguchi from the mid-1970s. The determination of Ahab is demonstrated that he wears an eye patch and has a pirate-styled flag on his ship. The anime adaptation came later.
Yukinobu Hoshino, known for hard-science-fiction manga (see 2001 NIGHTS (1984-1986)), created an alternate end and sequel for MOBY-DICK; OR: THE WHALE in 1996.
Yet another adaptation of the novel was from the MANGA DE DOKUHA series in 2009, from anonymous art collective Variety Circle. This one is actually available in English from One Peace Books, under their “Manga Classic Readers” imprint.
The so-far latest appearance as a manga is AHAB by Tatsuya Saruwatari from 2022-2023. This manga, even if primarily set in the 19th century, uses original elements, to tell the battle between Ahab and Moby Dick. Saruwatari (RIKI-OH) is also known for his extreme violent actions, which can be seen here, too.
For anime:
TRITON OF THE SEA is originally a manga by Osamu Tezuka (JUNGLE EMPEROR LEO; better known in the West under the title KIMBA, THE WHITE LION). One year after the manga concluded, in 1972 an anime adaptation directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino hit Japanese TV. There is also one episode, which references Melville’s book.
A few years later, Tomino would create the work that, he would be immortalized for: 1979’s MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM. MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM has its own, if more unconscious references to Melville’s book. The original TV-series, like MOBY-DICK; OR: THE WHALE and STAR TREK was at first not being recognized as the landmark work it is. Also, the titular mech, the RX-78-2 Gundam is called White Devil by the antagonistic faction, the Principality of Zeon. Tomino once called the 1956 movie MOBY DICK one of his favorite movies, so, inspiration might be possible.
Another GUNDAM spin-off, but also set during the One Year War from the original TV series, is the already mentioned MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM – MS IGLOO 2: GRAVITY BATTLEFRONT. Please note that Tomino is there only credited as a creator, along with the group known as Hajime Yadate.
Short cameos can be seen in URUSEI YATSURA’s 1980s anime incarnation, episode 32 “Shock Library – Quiet Please!” and episode 90 “Lady Ryuunosuke”. It seems that for the depiction of Ahab in episode 90 by Ryuunosuke Fujinami’s father inspired Akira Miyashita for his in SAKIGAKE!! OTOKOJUKU. URUSEI YATSURA from Rumiko Takahashi is a romantic, fantasy, action, science fiction comedy series.
Another one can be spotted in THE BOY AND THE BEAST from 2015 by director Mamoru Hosoda. Here it is the book itself from the Kadokawa Library published in the same year.
Again a more free in the depiction of Moby Dick himself is the White Demon from the novel series of RE:ZERO by Tappei Nagatsuki, starting in 2014. It was adapted into an anime TV-series.
For games, the first one to reference is TOKYO AFTERSCHOOL SUMMONERS, where an anthropomorphic water-bull is named Ahab and wears even an artificial leg. The 2020 game of AGE OF ISHTARIA shows a girl, with a harpoon and a single kneesock (as a pegleg representation), also named Ahab. In Japanese popular subculture, making a girl of a original male or genderless character is just a kind of anthropomorphism distinction (MOE).
Since many manga (and light novels) are also adapted into an anime, BUNGO STRAY DOGS by Kafka Asagiri and Sango Harukawa is one example, where you can find not only Herman Melville, but also a Moby Dick, only not as a sperm whale, but more like a baleen and artificial. For artificial whales, see below!
The manga of YU-GI-OH ARC-V sees another tribute. The whale named White Aura is one of the Synchro Monsters in this series.
The use of names
The names of Moby Dick or Ahab or both can be met literally everywhere. See also the manga epic ONE PIECE by Eiichiro Oda, where the ships of pirate Edward Newgate, AKA Whitebeard, are named Moby Dick. During the events of the story, a man named Kozuki Oden wanted to join Whitebeard and his crew. To test his determination he was forced to hold a chain for 3 days. A chain attached to their ship. Oden succeeded. The 3 days might be reference to the Final Chase between Ahab and Moby Dick from the book.
In Hideaki Anno’s first own directed anime epic: AIM FOR THE TOP!! (GUNBUSTER) from 1988-1989, there are two booster rocket ships named after the White Whale!
Another set of Ahab and sky whales, can be found in the SOUL EATER manga by Atsushi Okubo. Since the sky mirrors the ocean, it is seems only that here Okubo and Kitazawa had at-least the same initial idea.
Within Sakyo Komatsu’s novel DAY OF RESURRECTION (1964) a minor character codenamed Ahab is present. The English translation of the book and the international title of the movie adaptation from 1980 by director Kinji Fukasaku are named VIRUS. But this isn’t Komatsu’s only reference. In his own essay “DEAR IVAN EFREMOV“, Japan’s most famous science fiction-author compares MOBY-DICK; OR: THE WHALE as a contemporary monster of its time.
The series of MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM: IRON-BLOODED ORPHANS (2015-2017) is set into an alternate universe. In this universe, Ahab particles and Ahab waves can create artificial gravity.
As readers of the novel know, Ahab has a family. Within RE-ZERO: FATE STRANGE FAKE, Ahab and later his son appear. The son is named Ishmael Ahab. Also in this title features a being, in shape of a giant white sperm-whale, supposedly female. It is more like a chapter, instead a full-blown adaptation.
Inspired works
I already mentioned artificial whales. The 1980 MU NO HAKUGEI (WHITE WHALE OF MU) (named MOBY DICK 5 in Italy) TV anime series established the trend of showing Moby Dick not as a sperm whale, as Melville created him. “Moby Dick” is also from time to time a general name for whales. However, here the White Whale is actually a giant spaceship.
Osamu Dezaki’s TV-anime-science-fiction-series HAKUGEI DENSETSU – LEGEND OF THE MOBY DICK (1997-1999) is another one. Again this work is more free: you have an artificial space-ship shaped whale, but this time more sperm whale in appearance, and Ahab again with an eye patch and an artificial leg. The story is again it’s own, where only tiny bits of Melville’s book are used.
For 2021’s WHITE WHALE MOBY DICK, author Baku Yumemakura (ONMYOJI movie series) created a whole novel, where he mixed Melville’s allegoric epic with real people. The historic figure of John Manjiro is also integrated into this book. Yumemakura’s take sees it that Manjiro also survives the encounter with Moby Dick, like Ishmael.
Conclusion
As you have now read, MOBY-DICK; OR: THE WHALE has, besides the connection with Godzilla, a place in Japan. It is obviously not the position that the book occupies in the west, especially in the United States, but it generates influence of its own, which not only contributes to Japanese subcultures, but also to the western ones.
Should you be aware of more connections, that I missed: please contact me! (via Facebook)
You can see G-Fan #123 for my comparison between Moby Dick and Godzilla, which became available again with the release of THE WHALE GOD by SRS Cinema. This G-Fan issue is reported OOP.
- Moby-Dick or Moby Dick? Is there is a difference? Yes, indeed. For those, who read the novel, you don’t need an explanation. For all others: MOBY-DICK; OR: THE WHALE is the full title of the book. The titular sperm whale is written without the hyphen within Melville’s text. As a compromise to refer to both, I wrote it in Latin and capital letters.
New panel recording up on YouTube, this one is from Anime NJ++ this year. This one covers the Sushi Typhoon imprint and some general history of Japanese splatter films, so it may be a bit edgier than our usual content.
In this episode, Kevin, Josh, and Lux sit down to discuss Netflix’s 2023 adaptation of Yu Yu Hakusho. As three relatively hardcore fans of the source material, we get into a fair amount of minutia comparing the new incarnation to different adaptations from years past, so it’d be good to have a passing familiarity with the property before listening… but hey, it’s a good idea to have a passing familiarity with Yu Yu Hakusho in general, so if you haven’t ever read the manga or watched the anime, now’s as good a time as ever to give it a shot (but don’t start with the Netflix series).
Direct download
This went up on YouTube back in September, but somehow I missed linking it on the blog: a presentation Mike Dent and I did at G-Fest 2023, covering the history of late-night tokusatsu shows. Due to the plethora of content and the limitations of time, we only got up to 2007, so a part 2 will follow in some form eventually.
And actually, while we’re at it, here’s the Kaiju Transmissions panel from the same show:
There’s one more panel from G-Fest that still needs to be edited and added to YouTube, so keep an eye out.
Last weekend was Otakon, where I got to give a panel detailing the wild intersection of Japanese pop culture and Marvel comics. This one details Marvel books based on Japanese properties, manga’s influence on Marvel, and Marvel characters in Japanese … Continue reading →
In this episode, Kevin is joined by Alex, Connor, and Jared as the gang look back on the decade since Ultraman Ginga debuted, recapping all of the mainline Ultraman shows and trying to decide exactly what “New Generation” means. This is perhaps not a great episode for novices, but experienced Ultra-fans who want to get our perspectives on everything going up through Ultraman Decker (which, we neglected to mention, could be a play on “deca” being Greek for “ten”), excluding Trigger, since we covered it last year.
Direct download
Of course, we recorded right before the Decker movie hit, so we had not seen the teaser for the next series yet.
Also:
Forgot to post this here earlier, but here’s a presentation for Kaiju Masterclass from earlier this month, giving an overview of Takashi Yamazaki’s entire filmography and speculating about what it might mean for his future Godzilla movie. After that, it turns into a miscellaneous Q&A on a variety of kaiju-related topics.
Holy cats, it’s Maser Patrol’s tenth anniversary! That’s right, the blog began on January 1st, 2013, the same day as the 50th anniversary of the Astro Boy anime. That show (and thus the entire TV anime format) is 60 today, so I guess that tracks.
To get it out of the way now, this post will purely be reflective, so no exciting announcement like there was with the 5th anniversary post when an intention to write Kaiju for Hipsters was declared. Another book is still something that could happen eventually, but right now things are purely ideational (at one point I had started working on gathering materials for a Japanese zombie movie guide, but I put that work on hold after discovering an individual more qualified than myself was already attempting the exact same project), and time’s been stretched thinner than it was back then.
Overall, it’s been a busy decade personally, as I completed grad school, changed jobs and moved multiple times, got married. However, this blog has been a great source of comfort, friendship, and thrills along the entire journey. It’s truly awesome and humbling to have been able to write so many posts, give so many panels, record so many podcasts, translate so many neglected stories, interview so many cool people. I’ve able to write a book, introduce film screenings, do liner notes for a major Blu-ray release; all far exceeding what I imagined at the outset. But what’s more personally rewarding is, forgive the cliché, the friends I made along the way.
The core of the blog comes out of both fandom and friendship; it was begun out of discussions among WashU’s anime club, and the same people who were part of it then are still part of my conversations every day (most notably Amanda, who in the ten years the blog has been around went from being a friend to being my wife, from a Japanese student to a professional translator interpreting for G-Fest and Kaiju Masterclass). Through the blog I’ve been introduced to countless others who have become close collaborators and comrades: Byrd and Matt at Kaiju Transmissions most obviously (I’ve been on that show more times than I can count at this point), but also Justin Mullis, Connor of Easter’s Kaiju Kompendium, the increasingly prolific John LeMay, Jared Faust at Xenofauna, Chris and Alex at Seismic Toys, Chris Marti of Cosmic Monster, John Bellotti at Robo7, Mike Dent at Vintage Henshin, Henning Strauß, Raf Enshohma, Jules Carrozza, Matt Burkett at Monstrosities, Chris and Jessica at Kaiju Kingdom, Avery Guerra, Kyle Yount at Kaijucast, Nick Poling at The Monster Report, and so many, many more… odds are if we’re Facebook friends, this blog had something to do with it, and it’s cool to know all of you.
It’s wild looking back on the circumstances of the blog’s creation, back in what kaiju fans call “the wilderness years”. In the very first post, I anticipated some titles that I had no way of anticipating would alter the landscape of the genre forever, including the then-upcoming anime adaptation of Attack on Titan (which arguably proved to be the breakout hit of the decade) and Pacific Rim, which, in addition to launching a powerhouse franchise on the strength of a single fantastic film, kind of ushered in a kaiju renaissance in Hollywood. Next came the MonsterVerse, which is remarkably still going strong, outlasting any prior American attempts at Godzilla by a wide margin. It also sparked a revival in Japan, so we have a concurrent Reiwa Godzilla series, typified by ambitious auteur screenwriters, to contrast the dumb blockbuster fun of the American features.
That rising tide has led to other franchises rising from their past dormancy as well, with new Gamera, Yokai Monsters (with Daimajin), heck, even a new Prince of Space and Voltes V! Chief among them, Ultraman is back in a bigger way than ever before, with a major international theatrical release, a popular anime series, and the New Generation of shows, also celebrating a decade, which is longer than even the successful 70s or 00s periods of the franchise managed. Better still, this is the decade when we saw Ultraman finally crack the US market, first with simulcasts on Crunchyroll, then on YouTube, and with the Chaiyo case resolved plus an aggressive commitment by the likes of Mill Creek, Marvel, and others, we’re enjoying the open floodgates of access to the world of M78.
Ultraman is the biggest success story, but tokusatsu in general is seeing levels of availability beyond our previous imagination. Super Sentai was once thought indelibly frozen due to the existence of Power Rangers, but now, even with a short Hasbro hiccup, we have everything from Fiveman to Dekaranger on DVD. We’re also seeing Kamen Rider getting releases, three shows on Blu-ray so far with another five on streaming, a far cry from the time when a V3 DVD from Hawaii was the only game in town. We’re even finally seeing Metal Heroes, thanks to Discotek, a company who’d previously sworn off live action titles due to low sales, creating an entire Toku Time imprint. There’s also Kraken Releasing, who did god’s work with making Garo available, and hopefully aren’t permanently down for the count.
Anime distribution has also wildly changed. When this blog started, Crunchyroll was a small independent outfit, but now they’ve fused with Funimation under Sony to become a kind of Disney for anime (though, Disney also now has a streaming service with its own anime). The streaming wars ramped up, with big corporate backing, and now anime conventions have a lot more glitzy polish of trade shows, though a few of the smaller outfits maintain the independent spirit that the likes of Crunchyroll and Section23 did in days past (I do miss the time when the power players could actually answer questions at their booths instead of just passing out promotional swag). We’re also seeing more theatrical releases than ever before, and they’re actually performing well at the box office. (Another title that I’d mentioned as upcoming in this blog’s first post, Dragon Ball: Battle of the Gods, might have been a catalyst for this trend.)
On the Japanese side, the landscape of major studios has completely shifted, with a new generation of brands like Mappa, Trigger, Orange, and Wit associated with marks of quality (plus Sola and Polygon on the opposite end of the spectrum). We’ve seen more titles produced per season than ever before, and a change in the format of adaptations; “forever” adaptations with tons of filler arcs gave way to seasonal shows that take breaks for a cour or two and come back the next year. Manga series are also getting shorter, as even paradigm-altering hits opt to wrap up their stories rather than continuing to milk their readership for as long as it can, which was the older model. Not to mention the rise and utter dominance of isekai programming nowadays…
Who knows what the next decade may bring? Perhaps we should have a podcast discussion to speculate more.
Looking forward, the blog has a few more neat things in the pipeline: articles, podcasts, convention presentations, and maybe another translation or two, but I’ll try not to give too much away for now, otherwise it’ll wind up like the half-year-delayed “Is there a figure of that” panel that I promise we still do plan to record and put up in the near future. In the meantime, the Facebook page is still the best place to look for up-to-date news posts and occasional other ephemera.
With that said, thanks for reading, whether you’ve been with Maser Patrol for most of this decade milestone or not. Looking forward to covering more in the decade to come, and to all a happy new year!
Have you ever wondered about how the Death Note anime started during the short four-month window between the two live-action movies? Or how Parasyte’s anime debuted the same month as its first live-action film, despite being two decades since the … Continue reading →
One more G-Fest recording for this year! This panel had content from across Asia, but we only had time for the Japanese part at the show, so a bonus recording will come out in the near future to go over … Continue reading →
Another G-Fest panel is now up on YouTube, looking at various trailers for projects that either never saw the light of day, or wound up quite differently from their initially advertised incarnations. I wasn’t able to actually play any trailers … Continue reading →
Jessica Tseang was due to interview the great Godzilla and Ultraman franchise actress Tomoko Ai at G-Fest this year, but wasn’t able to attend the convention due to a sudden emergency. Since Amanda was already on interpreter duty, Kevin stepped … Continue reading →
One of several live recordings from G-Fest XXVII, this episode was a panel in collaboration with Chris Eaton of the Kaiju Kingdom Podcast, looking into the overlap of the tokusatsu and professional wrestling industries in Japan. We go into shared … Continue reading →
mild spoilers if you haven’t watched trailers or seen the latest Bandai figures Shin Ultraman is, after the Rebuild of Evangelion and Shin Godzilla, the third entry in the Shin Japan Heroes franchise, but it’s also significant in that it’s … Continue reading →
Of all the new anime this season, the one that’s caught the tokusatsu fandom by storm the most has been Miss Kuroitsu from the Monster Development Department. The show has a lot of gimmicks to write home about, such as … Continue reading →
In this episode, Kevin sits down for an interview with the team behind Error 4444, an exciting new home video label that’s specializing in Asian genre film. We talk about the company’s origins, licensing philosophy, first few releases, and even … Continue reading →
On this episode, Kevin is joined by Alex (Control All Monsters, 13AM Games, Seismic Toys), Connor (Easter’s Kaiju Kompendium), and Mike (Vintage Henshin) to discuss the latest entry in the Ultraman franchise, Ultraman Trigger: New Generation Tiga. Does the show … Continue reading →
On this episode, Kevin is joined by artist John Bellotti Jr of Robo 7 to discuss recent developments of the convention scene from the Artist Alley perspective. Topics include what it was like to be on the ground floor for … Continue reading →
2021’s been quite a year for franchise anniversaries! We kicked it off with some retrospective trivia for the 50th anniversary of Spectreman, had galleries for the 50th anniversaries of Kamen Rider and Godzilla vs Hedorah, and did a panel for … Continue reading →
This weekend is Kaiju Masterclass, the second annual meeting of the premiere online convention for all things kaiju-related. There’re lots of cool guests this year, including Ryuhei Kitamura, Tom Kitagawa, Kazuki Omori, Fuyuki Shinada, and more; check out the schedule … Continue reading →
It’s almost Halloween, which means it’s time for an annual tradition at Maser Patrol: a recap of a horror-related trope or subgenre in Japanese entertainment! We’ve talked in the past about body horror, kaiju horror, horror anime, horror movies from … Continue reading →
Compared to other major occidental holidays like Christmas and Valentine’s Day, Halloween has been notably slow to pick up momentum in Japan. The reason for this is mainly that Japan already has a spooky season: the summer, culminating in their … Continue reading →
Wow, episode 50 already? Well, that’s not counting a handful of other panels like Kaiju Con-Line, Kaiju Masterclass, Anime Lockdown, and more, so maybe it’s not that much of a milestone… we’ll do something more commemorative next time. Anyway, this … Continue reading →
I was recently able to present at the Anime Lockdown online convention and salvage the doomed “Ultraman in Animation” topic from a few years ago. Thanks to John-Paul of Anime Lockdown for having me on and running a fantastic convention!
Grüß Gott! In this episode, I’m joined by Henning Strauß (not “Straub”!) to discuss the history of kaiju (and also of other tokusatsu, anime, and manga) in Germany, along with how the development of fandom there has in some ways … Continue reading →
Welcome to Maser Patrol, a weblog that covers Japanese genre fiction. But, it being April Fool’s Day, imagine if we did something crazy, like punking readers by instead talking about, say, SOUTH KOREAN genre movies. Haha; that would be ridiculous. … Continue reading →
After a long hiatus, it’s time for another episode of the Maser Patrol podcast. This time, we take a look at a show with a valuable life lesson: That’s right, this time around Josh and Kevin discuss the sweet Swan … Continue reading →
It’s now 2021, marking the 50th anniversary of the start of the 2nd Kaiju Boom, also known as the Henshin Boom, a period when Japanese television was flooded with transforming superhero characters. No doubt a lot of fandom is ecstatic … Continue reading →
Apologies: I’ve been bad about making timely news recaps this year. 2020 has been terrible, and the general stresses of the world combined with some personal life situations/tragedies have made it difficult to find the time and motivation to pour … Continue reading →
The early-to-mid 2000s were perhaps the peak of Japan’s soft power in Hollywood. Anime (or anime-inspired cartoons) dominated all the children’s networks, Hayao Miyazaki won an Oscar, blockbuster movies like The Matrix, Kill Bill, and Transformers flaunted their Japanese influence, … Continue reading →
I was on Kaiju Transmissions last month for a post-Halloween show to talk about some of Ryuhei Kitamura’s early action/horror output, including: Down to Hell Versus Alive Aragami Longinus He’s a favorite director of mine, so it was great to … Continue reading →
I recently sat down for a conversation with Media Blasters to discuss the past and future of the Tokyo Shock line. The brand has been particularly active lately, with Zeiram 2, Zebraman, Devilman, and Gappa getting Blu-ray releases, plus Hakaider, … Continue reading →
Confession: I was struggling to come up with another iconic monster to round up for this year’s Halloween article, and as such, a suggestion came my way – why not focus on a monster movie subgenre that isn’t constrained to … Continue reading →
The recent Godzilla SP announcement proved to be the kick in the pants that I needed to get a new post together…however, WordPress had some other plans, changing up the interface something fierce, hence this being a bit delayed. At … Continue reading →
Hi all, Kevin here. The blog has gone sadly neglected for the past few months, for which I apologize; the stressful current state of world events has certainly taken its toll. However, I have not been completely off the radar! … Continue reading →
Since I’ve been negligent for the past couple of months, I thought it might be good to do a quick rundown of some of developments regarding the recent and upcoming kaiju/henshin hero/J-horror releases that folks on this side of the … Continue reading →
Also, because I forgot earlier, I did guest spots on three episodes of Kaiju Transmissions without posting about them here. I wholeheartedly suggest adding Kaiju Transmissions to your podcatcher feed to make sure you get every episode, but I was … Continue reading →
Hi all, Apologies for the lack of blog posts during all the lockdown. A lot of steam was let out of the weekly news recaps due to all of the depressing coronavirus-related news, so they’ve basically fallen on hold. However, … Continue reading →
Arrow’s Gamera: The Complete Collection is hitting on August 17, with an assortment of amazing special features hitherto unseen for the franchise. To celebrate this incredible boxset, we decided to plunge the darkest depths of Gamera apocrypha and dug up … Continue reading →
Welcome back! Hopefully everyone is following good social distancing guidelines, but in case you need some help, our favorite kaiju heroes are here to help: おそとから帰ってきたら、手洗いうがいを忘れずにねっ！！#ゴジばん #ゴジラ #Godzilla pic.twitter.com/sMy2WZHbtQ — 怪獣人形劇 ゴジばん (@godziban_jp) April 9, 2020 On to the … Continue reading →
This weekend, an octet of kaiju-centric podcasts will be gathering on Discord to do one live commentary each on their favorite giant monster movies. The Maser Patrol podcast itself isn’t among them, but I did get invited to join the … Continue reading →
In the overall scope of world events, this March has been one of the most impactful months in recent memory, as COVID has interrupted plans on all scales. On the Japanese pop culture end, events ranging from the Tokyo Olympics … Continue reading →
While there hasn’t been a new Maser Patrol episode in a hot minute, Kevin (along with author John LeMay) had a chance to drop by the Kaiju Transmissions podcast this week to discuss Kinji Fukasaku’s 1980 disaster film Virus, AKA … Continue reading →
In a rare event, there was actually so much kaiju-adjacent news in the past week that rather than posting at the standard biweekly rate, I’m opting to do a recap today! To start with, Minoru Kawasaki’s Monster Seafood Wars has … Continue reading →
Procrastination and distraction has gotten the better of me again, but the inundation of kaiju news items in the past couple of days has made it impossible to put off a recap any longer. Production news: A Godzilla vs. Kong … Continue reading →
Happy new year (admittedly a couple weeks late)! I’ve been distracted from putting together news recaps for a while, but that just means a lot more things to cover this time around. Let’s break it down by category: Godzilla news: … Continue reading →
Looking for a last-minute Christmas present? Well, you’re in luck, because John LeMay has a varied bibliography on topics ranging from history, UFOlogy, horror films, cryptozoology, spaghetti westerns, and a whole smattering of kaiju/tokusatsu-related titles, with a special emphasis on … Continue reading →
As December winds to a close, I find myself reflecting back…. back on how many podcasts, blogs, and YouTubers seem to have already done their decades in review, yet we haven’t gotten around to it here yet. But seriously, the … Continue reading →
This weekend was the first ever Tsuburaya Convention (TsubuCon), attached to Wonder Festival. As an inaugural outing, there were a number of fantastic announcements and reveals, including: The first look at Shin Ultraman has been unveiled. A lot of folks … Continue reading →
It’s been a wild few weeks with Thanksgiving and year-end festivities, but this previous weekend I made it out to Anime NYC, where I learned that: The English-dubbed episode of Godziban was very difficult for its Japanese voice actors, suggesting … Continue reading →
November 3rd was Godzilla’s 65th birthday, and it was a wild Godzilla Festival in Tokyo this year. The Nijigen no Mori theme park, best known for ziplines and a replica of the village from Naruto, is adding a life-size Shin … Continue reading →
On this episode of the podcast, Kevin, Justin, and Byrd sit down to discuss some of the exciting recent tokusatsu home video releases from Criterion, Mill Creek, Discotek, Section23, SRS, Shout Factory, Arrow, Kino Lorber, and Synapse. We also go … Continue reading →
Not a whole lot to report for the past couple of weeks, but here goes nevertheless. Starting on a sad note, RIP Hiroshi Sagae. He had a lot of fantastic ideas, and was always an enthusiastic and friendly fellow, and … Continue reading →
Time for a quick recap of some of the interesting happenings in tokusatsu and anime in the past couple of weeks: Tsuburaya’s latest Ultra Fight series, Ultra Galaxy Fight: New Generation Heroes, is looking pretty interesting on a couple of … Continue reading →
I was racking my brain trying to think of what to do for this year’s Halloween Hijinks, since we’ve already discussed Japanese media depictions of most of the staples: vampires, werewolves, zombies, witches, yokai, and Lovecraft creations, plus horror anime. … Continue reading →
Long time, no post! It’s a busy time to be an otaku, as this last week saw the North American theatrical releases of Tokyo Ghoul S, Takashi Miike’s First Love, and Promare, which are all pretty fun (well, Promare was … Continue reading →
On this episode of the podcast, Kevin’s in Japan, and with the help of local guide Amanda, we talk about all the neat pop-culturey stuff we got to see and do. Direct download Photos after the jump. Permanent attractions: Anata … Continue reading →
I had a few spare minutes today, so here are some neat things that either came up in the previous week, or I simply neglected to mention last time. The big news of the week is that Anno and Higuchi … Continue reading →
I’ve got a couple of busy travel weeks ahead, so it’s possible that there won’t be a news recap for the month of August. Still, it’s a fine time to leave things, as there were a lot of exciting developments … Continue reading →
One of the best movies I stumbled across to cover when I was writing Kaiju for Hipsters was War of the Wizards. It’s not a difficult movie to find, by any stretch of the imagination, but generally speaking, you just … Continue reading →
Here’s a video of one of the panels I was on at G-Fest this year. The camera is aimed more at the panelists than it is at the screen with our visual aids (including both concept art and newly-commissioned art … Continue reading →
Back from a very busy G-Fest! It was wild with many panels to do, and several more to attend, but here are a few of the highlights: The upcoming video game Dawn of the Monsters was announced. You can see … Continue reading →
Another panel from this past G-Fest, I joined RJ of BoatsCanFly and Matt of Kaiju Transmissions for a panel talking about how a certain toy company has been influencing the creative process behind the Ultraman franchise.
We never did a proper podcast on the Godzilla anime trilogy, so I sat in on a panel discussing the subject this G-Fest. Not quite my usual format, but for a final panel of a long weekend where nobody knew … Continue reading →
Of the whopping six panels I did at G-Fest this year, this was the only solo effort. It was the last of three back-to-back presentations, so I was a little frazzled, but hopefully it’s entertaining nevertheless. Also, Justin was correct … Continue reading →
With G-Fest, NYAFF, and other exciting things right around the corner, this may be the last news recap for a while. I’ve already spoken about the numerous exciting movies playing at G-Fest (e.g. Attack of the Giant Teacher, Howl from … Continue reading →
In this episode, Kevin, Andy, Josh, Justin, and Matt sit down to chat about Legendary’s new monster movie, co-produced with Toho, that hit theaters last month. The one with the British bad guy, environmental themes, an absentee dad, and Ken … Continue reading →
Hope everyone enjoyed Godzilla:King of the Monsters! Now we’re in the lead-up to the next big event, G-Fest XXVI in Chicago July 11-14, which is now only a month away. The schedule is up on the website, so if you … Continue reading →
Last night, ten AMC theaters did free advance screenings for Godzilla: King of the Monsters, a full nine days ahead of its official US release date. This was nominally for the cinema chain’s Stubs Premier members and press, though at … Continue reading →
As of this writing, the first wave of public screenings for Godzilla: King of the Monsters is impending quickly, so it’s about time to discuss some of the stuff that’s been going on to publicize the film. First, some attractions … Continue reading →
Japan Station is Japankyo‘s official podcast, covering all facets of Japanese popular culture. I had the good fortune to be interviewed there earlier this month, so check out this episode, and the rest of the neat guests that Tony has … Continue reading →
What’s this? A news recap only one week since the last one? Perhaps we can make this a regular thing; at any rate, this week is heavy on monster-related tidbits. We have our first Ultraman Taiga teaser trailer. So far, … Continue reading →
Long time, no update, due to a relative shortage of stuff to talk about and general business. We’ll see how that holds up over the coming months; somehow I committed myself to a whopping six panels at this year’s G-Fest, … Continue reading →
Late on posting this, but I was on a guest Kaiju Transmissions again last month; this time to talk about the under-discussed Toho superhero series Zone Fighter! Every Godzilla fan should check out that show for its unique brand of … Continue reading →
I figured this could use its own news post: Kong Unmade: The Lost Films of Skull Island, the latest entry of John LeMay’s series on lost and unmade kaiju films is available on Amazon now! In addition to John’s usual … Continue reading →
Actually on time for a news post for once, but there’s much to discuss! The main thing of interest this week is Gemstone’s amateur Godzilla video contest. With a 3 million yen prize and Shinji Higuchi himself as a judge, … Continue reading →
Apologies for the laziness in news recaps, lately. By the time I get around to posting, people have already said that Hideaki Anno is making an Ultraman, then that he’s not, then that he is, and then that he’s not … Continue reading →
By now, everyone is aware of the upcoming Ultraman anime series hitting Netflix at the start of next month. The show is based on Eiichi Shimizu and Tomohiro Shimoguchi’s manga, also simply titled Ultraman (available in the US from Viz), … Continue reading →
In this episode, Kevin, Benji, and Josh sit down for a spoiler-laden review of the long, long, long-awaited new Hollywood quasi-hit Alita: Battle Angel! We jump right into comparisons between the movie, OVA, and original manga, so if you haven’t … Continue reading →
It’s been a busy few weeks for me, between work, conventions, and preparing to watch Alita: Battle Angel. Speaking of which, have you seen Yukito Kishiro’s new poster for it? The movie’s pretty decent, too, but we’ll probably do a … Continue reading →
Another guest spot on Kaiju Transmissions! This time I try to defend two very unpopular 1980s Koichi Kawakita special effects films from Toho, so it could be controversial! Direct download
There really wasn’t much to cross the feed this week, but here’s a rundown: A new trailer for Promare looks about as Studio Trigger as it gets: Arrow is releasing Takashi Miike’s Terra Formars movie in the US! It’ll be nice … Continue reading →
Between the Gridman podcast recording and the guest spot on Kaijucast, I didn’t have much time last weekend to do a news recap, but there also wasn’t a whole lot to go over. So, instead, this weekend is another two-fer. … Continue reading →
The second part of our Gridman podcast episode gets into the main focus: reviewing the new series SSSS Gridman. Spoiler: we liked it. Also, spoilers for the rest of the show. Direct Download Show notes: They made a new suit … Continue reading →
In this episode, Kevin, Justin, Connor (earning our explicit tag), and Matt (of Kaiju Transmissions) sit down for a long round-table about the awesome recent anime series SSSS Gridman. We got carried away and went for a solid four hours, … Continue reading →
Long time, no post! It’s been hectic between holiday travels and computer malfunction, but now everything’s ready to take a quick gander at some of the latest happenings in Japanese genre fiction. (I’ll try not to jump to any baseless, … Continue reading →
Here’s the other half to that Kaiju Transmissions guest spot, talking about End of Evangelion now! Direct download
Forgot to mirror this here before, but I was on Kaiju Transmissions again… sort of. This was actually the first time I was ever on the show, but they’ve had it in the bag for a while (hence the five … Continue reading →
As a tokusatsu junkie and a manga fiend, people sometimes ask me – “Who’s your favorite mangaka for henshin heroes?” They’ll usually accompany that with some suggestions: Shotaro Ishinomori (the King of Manga and creator of Kamen Rider), Go Nagai … Continue reading →
It seems like a lot of the time, these roundups begin with a disclaimer that it’s been a slow news week. Well, this is not one of those weeks! Let’s kick things off with that Godzilla: King of the Monsters … Continue reading →
I’ve been procrastinating on another update until we can see the much-touted second trailer for Godzilla: King of the Monsters, but what the heck, everyone’s going to be posting that everywhere, so it can wait until next time. In the meanwhile, … Continue reading →
It’s been a couple of busy weeks between Thankgiving and Anime NYC, but here we are again for another two-week roundup of Japanesey genre goodness. First of all, RIP Stan Lee, who, in addition to Spider-man and other Marvel properties, … Continue reading →
It’s been a slow news week, but hey, at least Godzilla: The Planet Eater came out. It’s a wild ride with religious and Lovecraftian themes, body horror, even more implied horror, and mishaps. In short, other people will probably hate … Continue reading →
How was everyone’s Halloween? Did you have a chance to go to Universal Studios Osaka and get menaced by a zombie King Kong? (The page is gone now, but I saved this image beforehand.) Anyway, on to the news… Godzilla’s … Continue reading →
It’s been over a month since the last news roundup, due to numerous mundane responsibilities of life. Some of them were more fun than others, though, as I recently had the chance to be on Kaiju Transmissions (also linked in … Continue reading →
In honor of Halloween, author John LeMay stops by the podcast to talk about the Wolf Guy werewolf franchise from Kazumasa Hirai. We discuss the novel, manga, Toho, Toei, and JC staff adaptations. It’s a howling good time. direct download Notes: … Continue reading →
Last month I showed up on Kaiju Transmissions for another guest spot, this time to talk about Godzilla the Series, which, as mentioned before, is just the best. Apologies for the delay in posting! Expect an actual Maser Patrol podcast shortly. Podcast Download … Continue reading →
So far, the Halloween Hijinks articles on this blog have focused on western monsters showing up in Japanese media: vampires, witches, zombies, werewolves, Frankensteins. And thus, until now we’ve avoided the topic of yokai, the traditional Japanese spirits, first of … Continue reading →
It’s another light news week this week, and another late recap. Kicking things off with Godzilla, as I’m sure you’re aware, we got a new poster for The Planet Eater, which hits November 9. That Ghidorah is going to make … Continue reading →
Kaiju Transmissions just had their 100th episode! Not ones to do anything special for such a milestone, they instead decided to chat with me about the book and about obscure kaiju flicks in general. It’s cool for me to be … Continue reading →
Another two-week summary here, since it’s been light. In fact, you’d hardly know there was any giant monster content this week if you weren’t looking for it. The big news this week is that Gaina (formerly Fukushima Gainax) announced the … Continue reading →
Not a whole lot has been going on news-wise for the past couple of weeks, but here’s a quick recap regardless: Shinsuke Sato’s Bleach movie hits Netflix on September 14. Speaking of Netflix, they’re allegedly making a sequel to Adam … Continue reading →
Discotek really went insane with their latest batch of acquisitions at Otakon this weekend. First, license rescues of Galaxy Express 999 (good, since the last release of that show was awful), Giant Robo (one of the best OVAs ever made), … Continue reading →
Ever since Michael Dougherty teased that there might be some unannounced monsters yet to appear in Legendary’s MonsterVerse, fandom has been ablaze with hypotheses, rampantly speculating about their favorites that they’d like to see show up, such as Gigan, Bagan, … Continue reading →
Not a whole lot to talk about this week, but here goes: Has it already been a decade since Kamen Rider Decade? Evidently so, as Toei is reusing the concept for Kamen Rider Zi-O (not to be confused with Kamen … Continue reading →
The other panel from this year’s G-Fest is up on YouTube now. While it was certainly a bit more slapdash than the other one, hopefully it’ll help you find some new titles you weren’t previously aware of.
SDCC is upon us, with G-Fest before that and Anime Expo before that, well… there’s a lot to talk about. Let’s start with the Godzilla-sized Godzilla in the room. That’s certainly better than the initially-posted teaser, which had a continuity … Continue reading →
For those who missed the “When Kaiju Meet Samurai” panel at G-Fest, I can’t blame you; there was a lot of cool stuff going on at the time. Luckily, it’s recorded and up for your viewing pleasure! This is part … Continue reading →
Howdy all! Sorry for the long no-posting delay; I’ve had a bunch of travel and other commitments eating up a fair chunk of time. Well, at least nothing major’s happened, right? It’s not like Matt Frank’s Gamera: Last Hope doujinshi … Continue reading →
I did a short panel presentation at Anime Central, running through some of the pop culture influences on the Evangelion TV franchise. Enjoy, and apologies in advance for the low energy (it was the first panel of the morning)!
Windows updates were the Zetton to my computer’s Ultraman this Sunday, so I didn’t have any of my slides for the Ultraman panel at Anime Central. Fortunately, the crowd was great, and we were able to improvise something audio-only, even … Continue reading →
Another two-week recap this week, and unfortunately due to travel it looks like this will be the only one this month. (Awkward timing with the new Godzilla flick coming out, I know.) I’ve been busy putting together the weekend’s panels … Continue reading →
Before diving into the happenings of the week, here’s a breakdown of conventions I’ll be talking at over the summer! Anime Central: Neon Reference Evangelion – Saturday May 19th @ 10:45 AM (it’s at the same time as another Evangelion panel that’s … Continue reading →
This week has been a wild ride for fans of Japanese scifi/fantasy/horror! Kicking things off, we finally have trailer for Godzilla: The City on the Edge of Battle! They’re…still not showing us Mechagodzilla. We also got an official look at … Continue reading →
Oh, wow! I was on the Kaiju Transmissions podcast again! Go listen to Byrd, Matt, and I chatting about kaiju video games. Find out what we think should get a movie adaptation next after Rampage!
https://kaijutransmissions.podbean.com/mf/download/qc7m6h/kaijutransmissions-music_-_4_13_18_7_15_PM.mp3
Download here
The Rampage movie was a lot more fun than I was expecting. Now I’m tempted to track down the poster by Kouji Tajima.
Awesome Japanese posters for US properties have been coming at rapid pace lately, such as this Pacific Rim Uprising poster by the legendary Masami Obari:
There’s also a poster cross-promoting Pacific Rim and the Godzilla anime. Artist Hidetaka Tenjin took it very seriously:
This is a sacred duty. Currently, Godzilla and giant robots can be likened to a traditional form of Japanese art, so a drawing such as this is something that will be exposed to the strict eyes of my highly discerning senpai here in Japan. One must wonder how an outward appearance that is drawn with a quality that is mentally anguished over can coexist within the limited space of a single sheet together with the spiritual realm of the history associated with it, and will it be an illustration full of the necessary energy, so surely a challenge to draw an exciting image such as this is one that rarely appears in the human lifetime.
Speaking of Japanese/US cross-promotional posters, they’re doing a neat collaboration between Avengers: Infinity War and My Hero Academia.
…and while we’re at it, we might as well mention Katsuhiro Otomo doing the poster for Isle of Dogs.
Aside from that, it hasn’t been a heavy news week:
- Here’s a trailer for Kyuranger vs Space Squad:
The movie will have a tie-in as well, Hero Mama League, featuring three former Sentai heroines turned moms.
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Shout Factory is doing a marathon of all of Ultraman Leo starting next week. Fingers crossed that it leads to a box set!
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Sentai Filmworks license rescued Aura Battler Dunbine. The initial release has been comically out of print for a while, so this is a good chance to finally catch it all.
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Finally, we have a trailer for The Meg. It’s a little weird that The Asylum isn’t cashing in on this one with a new Mega Shark flick, isn’t it?