12/3/2005 - Hong Kong Legends Advent Calendar |
The nice people at Hong Kong Legends are
currently offering 25 days worth of prizes via their website. Click the
link below to enter in today's draw and don't forget to check
back everyday, win stuff and then give it to me. ^_^
Hong Kong Legends Advent Calendar
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12/1/2005 - Zeo: IFS: Forest for the Trees |
IFS
Zeo: IFS:
"Forest for the Trees"
His feet crashed against the sand,
his legs faltering but faithfully carrying him through as he raced up
the shore. Behind him his heavy coat billowed out in the way he liked
to imagine the cloaks of Science Heroes had done, back in the golden
age of the TwenCen.
The ancient tree before him turned
slowly back, its mouth opening in toothless despair as it howled out at
the sight of him. Sweat dampened the palms of his hands, making the
staff difficult to hold. Enraged by his continued pursuit, the aged
tree seemed to decide upon an offensive tactic, lumbering back into his
path, its withered roots clawing at the ground where the sand met soft
soil.
He had first encountered the tree in
the form of a popular myth passed down through the generations of a
small village south of the Black Forest. The fable had identified the
tree as an ancient shrine of some long fallen Teutonic hero that, as
centuries had passed, had slowly began to move for itself. The
villagers mistakenly identified the tree's corrupted evolution with the
soul of the fallen hero, Erasmus, however, knew better.
Branches erupted from its side,
cracking against the cold winter air and splintering close to him.
Deftly he leapt from left to right, his eyes fixed on the howling tree
before as the vines and branches continued their assault. His heavy
boots continued to push down against the soil as his tensed his leg
muscles and then leapt into the air, swiping branches away from his
face with the Power Staff as it ignited in golden, shimmering light.
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11/30/2005 - Kamen Rider Tea Hyper Battle Super Mega Championship Turbo Henshin Special!!! OMFGBBQWTF!?!??! |
Check out the OFFICIAL Kamen Rider Tea thread at ultramanlah!
OMFG! Ugh!
Let's Go!! Rider Tea!!
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11/30/2005 - Kamen Rider Tea! More Info!! OMFG! |
...and of course, Rider Tea's bike would
have to be called Kettler, with the option of upgrading later in the
series so that it can transform into Battle Kettler.
"Boil...Henshin!"
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11/29/2005 - Kamen Rider Tea |
Considering the random nature in which
Toei has been taking the Kamen Rider franchise I'd like to offer my
advice for 2007. In my humble opinion, the next instalment of the franchise
should focus around one central character named Kamen Rider Tea. Tea is a
'unique' Rider, who will, as he progresses through the show discover the ability
to upgrade his armour, thus offering him a range of different armoured suits for
combat with very different kaijin. This flexible transformation of the central
character will allow Rider Tea to expand his arsenal from the basic suit we see
in the opening episodes to Kamen Rider Green Tea, Kamen Rider Black Tea, Kamen
Rider Tea Milk with Two Sugars and so on.
As the series continues Rider
Tea will be joined by several other Riders thus allowing Bandai to maximise toy
sales. These Riders will also be of a similar theme and will include Kamen Rider
Coffee (who also upgrades to Kamen Rider Black Coffee, Kamen Rider White Coffee
etc.), Kamen Rider Hot Chocolate, Kamen Rider Warm Blackcurrant Juice and so
on.
With such a unique cast of characters I honestly can't see how this
series can fail to be a hit with the kids.
*dies*
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11/23/2005 - Kosugi Kane |
Kosugi Kane, who played Jiraiya (NinjaBlack) in Ninja Sentai Kakuranger as well as appearing in Ultraman Powered, Godzilla: Final Wars and Who Am I? (alongside Jackie Chan) and provided the voice Ryu in the Street Fighter Zero anime, is playing the role of Hayabusa Ryu in the forthcoming DoA: Dead or Alive movie adaptation directed by Corey Yuen. It looks awful. In fact, just from the casting choices it makes the awful, awful House of the Dead film look good.
I really can't see how anyone could conceivably imagine that Devon
Aoki, Collin Chou and Natassia Malthe are related is beyond me.
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11/20/2005 - Azumi 2: Death or Love |
Cast/Crew of note: Kaneko Shusuke
(director of Gamera: Guardian of the Universe, Gamera 2: Advent of
Legion, Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris, Godzilla, Mothra and King
Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, Ultraman Max episodes #1 -
2), Kawajiri Yoshiaki (animator/character designer on Lensman, Wicked
City, Cyber City Oedo 808, Ninja Scroll, X/1999,
Cardcaptor Sakura: The Sealed Card, Tezuka Osamu's Metropolis,
Animatrix: World Record, many of which he also directed and wrote the
screenplays of), Ueto Aya (Azumi, Ace wo Nerae!), Ishigaki Yuma
(Azumi, Ace wo Nerae!, Waterboys, Gokusen, Battle
Royale II), Kuriyama Chiaki (Kagen no Tsuki, Battle Royale,
MPD Psycho, Ju-on: The Curse), Oguri Shun (Azumi,
Gokusen, GTO), Endoh Kenichi (Gozu, Tokusou Sentai
Dekaranger: Full Blast Action, Azumi, The Happiness of the
Katakuris, Visitor Q, Dead or Alive 2: Runaway, Tomie:
Replay, Ninja Sentai Kakuranger, Violent Cop), Sakaguchi Tak
(Versus 2, Shinobi, Godzilla: Final Wars, Azumi,
Versus), Masumoto Shoichiro (Versus), Maeda Ai (Battle
Royale, Battle Royale II, Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah:
Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris), Negishi
Toshie (Leave it to the Nurses: The Movie, Gamera 3: Revenge of
Iris, Audition, Dreams ), Koyama Shigeru (Red Shadow:
Akakage, Godzilla vs. Destroyer), Kitamura Kazuki (Godzilla: Final
Wars, Azumi, Freezer)
Kaneko Shusuke's Azumi 2:
Death or Love is far from being equal to its predecessor. Considering the
amount of people involved and the reputation they have for quality work, it is a
mystery how this film managed to fail on so many levels. I will confess that,
when we sat down to watch it last night I was quietly hoping for a less
emotionally harrowing film than the first one. In retrospect of the film's
actual content I can't help but regret my desire to avoid emotional commitment
with the characters.
There
is so little of any value in Azumi 2 to make it worth watching. The
story, picking up briefly after the conclusion of the first film continues Azumi
and Nagara's mission of vengeance against the warlord Sanada before promptly
running into a wall of poorly executed blue/green screen effects, the likes of
which completely jar with the setting and mood of the film. Possibly one of the
only triumphs of this opening sequence is the introduction of firearms against
the two rogue assassins, an act that isn't as important as it really should have
been in the progression of the film's storyline. From there on in Azumi and
Nagara move from slow, languid action scene to slow, languid action scene
bumping into the cast of the first film in different roles. Perhaps this is
cruel of me to say as it really is only Endoh and Oguri that appear, as far as I
can tell, as new characters and whilst a lot is made of how Oguri's character,
Ginkaku, resembles Nachi (his character from the previous film) both Azumi and
Nagara fail to see that one of their new best friends, Endoh's Kinkaku,
resembles a sadistic rapist. Much of the footage inbetween the languid, poorly
executed fight sequences comes across as being little more than game FMV
presented in order to introduce to the next level's boss character and indeed,
all of the generals of Sanada's new army are little more than boss characters
torn out of any modern hack-and-slash computer game, each one with their own
irritating strength and strategy that is ultimately overcome without any real
significant advancement of the storyline. After some more languid fighting Azumi
finds herself once more in the same position she was in at the end of the first
film. Shortly after the credits roll.
And now for the MAJOR SPOILERS:
From the opening I was dogged by a
horrible feeling that Ishigaki's character had simply returned in order to die.
Whilst he didn't perish in the opening act, he really doesn't last much longer
afterwards, something the film makes clear will happen by its unsubtle
signposting of forthcoming events via the use of Kuriyama's character. In fact
Kuriyama's character, Kozue, is one of the biggest problems and certainly one of
the most wounding let-downs of the film, so much so that, like all 'good'
fanfiction authors I've felt it necessary to append her canonical appearances
and relationship with Azumi here. There
was so much that could have been done with her character but, once again,
Kuriyama is pushed into the stereotype psycho/stalker role that made her famous
in Battle Royale and really hasn't done her any credit since.
Gokusen graduates, Oguri and Ishigaki are also far from pushed in terms
of acting ability and Ueto Aya is as bland in her portrayal of Azumi this time
around as she was perfect in the previous film. I can't help but feel, having
watched the Donnie Yen co-directed masterpiece Twins Effect starring
CantoPop duo Charlene Choi and Gillian Chung of Twins, that there is more of a
margin for pushing pop idols in pursuit of acting kudos than Kaneko really has
an understanding for, at least in regards to this film. There are so many
lessons that the producers of Azumi 2 could have learnt if they'd simply
turned their attention to Twins Effect that it makes for a genuinely
frustrating experience watching these two films so close together.
Aside
from the cuteness factor of Kuriyama and Ueto sadly the most fun thing about
this film is playing 'spot the hairpiece join'. Perhaps I should arrange a
competition....something really great will happen if you screencap and
highlight scenes where the hairpieces of cast members in Azumi 2 are
badly aligned!! Post now!
...or maybe not.
Azumi 2
should have been perfect but instead its little more than a footnote to the
original one, and a poor quality one at that. I honestly expected more from the
director of the masterful Gamera: Guardian of the Universe.
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11/13/2005 - Re: Re: Inquiry Regarding OLDBOY, passed 14 September, 2004 |
Dear Nicki Page,
A
short reply to thank you for you informative and enlightened email of
4th November. Thank you for your detailed explanation of the cuts made
to Oldboy and, more
importantly, for debunking the rumours that have been attached, and in
some quarters, encouraged in regards to the film's octopi scene.
I
am indebted to you for your insight into the filming of said scene and
your knowledge in regards to the upcoming Animal Welfare Bill. I can't
say how important to me it is that you delivered such a detailed and
informative email. It is reassuring to know that time and dedication
has been spent in taking a stance against animal cruelty for the sake
of entertainment.
Thank you once again for clarifying matters and for supplying such detailed information.
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11/10/2005 - AnyClub |
Another
find thanks to the keen eyes of automated_alice, the
central villain in the PV/drama of singer Lee Hyori's AnyClub is in fact
Sang-woo Kwon, who made his cinema debut as Song Hak-lim in 2001's painfully
shallow Korean blockbuster, Volcano High. The video can be found for
download by signing up for the forums at Bronx's Junkyard, the
regular posters at which are some of the most knowledgeable and informative
about Korean music and popular culture that I have yet met. Be sure to be
courteous and post your appreciation should you decide to join.
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11/8/2005 - Suzuki Kasumi and Hermies Crab |
A recent post by shekimusic mentioned a band named Suzuki Kasumi and Hermies Crab, to which I responded:
"AH!
If
I'm right, and I can't find anything to deny this theory, then the
Suzuki Kasumi listed and pictured on cdjapan is the same Suzuki Kasumi
who featured as one of the villains in Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger.
Google images is showing a mix of images of Suzuki as I recognise her
(i.e. how she looked in 2003) and the Hermies Crab cover ~ if you want
me to dig out the two versions of Evolian Seiki she sang from Abaranger then I'll be more than happy to dig through my archive CDs for you."
After some digging around I finally came across a larger version of the image, thanks to amazon.co.jp
and, as you can see for yourself, the central member of this new aidoru
unit is undoubtedly Nakadai-sensei's very own Rije-chan.
One for the Christmas shopping lists, possibly?
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11/5/2005 - Flushback |
I don't want to be someone who, upon
asked what recent programmes of a specific genre he has enjoyed, is forced to
reply in episode numbers. I find it distasteful that, as things continue to
develop, I may have to answer all such questions with answers like, 'Well,
I'm a big fan of Hurricanger, Gaoranger, Liveman and
Hibiki...episodes #1 to #29...'. Sadly, having watched
episode #30 - 37, I can't help but feel as if that is the case. According to the
thread on the references listed an earlier post,
Inoue Toshiki, the lead writer of Kamen Rider Faizu, took over from
episode #30 onwards, a decision which mystifies me as I can't think of a better
example of a series with slow, awkward pacing, sluggish acting skills and
cardboard characters and cast than Faizu.
Episode #29 felt like a
goodbye. It felt like the situations and relationships, whilst not being
resolved completely, were brought to a point that conveyed a sort of end, a
conclusion of themes if not an actual final episode. Episode #30 onwards have
been...bad. Comedy episodes, traditional toku kaiju that could have been in any
sentai series since 2000, a new focus, new characters, sudden and abrupt
introductions of elements from the movie and, most insultingly, the devaluation
of the characters. All of a sudden the characters, especially Hibiki, have
become stupid and comical. Hibiki himself no longer comes across as a playful,
knowing mentor but as an accident prone, smiling moron. To have taken the
highest ranking tokusatsu series in the ratings and scarred it beyond belief
simply for the fact that the toy sales weren't doing as well as previous
Rider shows strikes me as an act of contemptuous arrogance and one of the
most tragic misunderstandings ever perpetrated by the executives of Toei.
Whilst being far from a traditional Rider series, and indeed
being little more than a Rider series in name, Hibiki did
something more important: it remained true to the storytelling dynamic of
Ishinomori and of the golden age of manga heralded in by such titles as
Cyborg 009. Despite the lack of cyborgs, the lack of a bug-eyed avenger,
even the lack of a regular motorcycle for its central character, Hibiki
had more in common with the style and flair of Ishinomori's stories than
accepted new gen series such as Ryuuki. I've said this countless times
before so I don't really feel I need go into it again but, despite it being an
utterly futile gesture, from this point on I will refuse to support future
incarnations of the franchise...especially if it's just more of the
Ryuuki/Faizu/Blade formula.
I wish there was more to say but seven
or eight episodes after the writer/producer change over and I'm still stunned on
a weekly basis by how awful the new direction is. The restaurant scenes in
episode #35 (?) made me feel like I was watching an episode of bloody
Abaranger.
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11/4/2005 - Re: Inquiry Regarding OLDBOY, passed 14 September, 2004 |
Thank you for your recent email regarding Oldboy. I am
sorry that you were concerned by the octupus (squid) scene, but hope
you will see that the Board made every effort to classify it
appropriately.
Please be assured that at the BBFC we take very
seriously our classification duties and commitment to the public. As
you may be aware, the BBFC is a non-government organisation whose
examiners classify films and videos according to guidelines which set
out the key classification concerns (for example, violence, sex,
language and drugs), the standards for each category (U, PG etc.) and a
range of UK laws, including the Human Rights Act 1998 and the Video
Recordings Act 1984 which may have a bearing on media content. The
guidelines have just recently been updated after an extensive
consultation process with the public, and staff regularly devote time
to keeping up with public opinion and research. At 18, balancing the
requirements of the Human Rights Act and the Video Recordings Act, the
guidelines state that the BBFC will not normally override the wish that
adults should be free to chose their own entertainment, within the law,
except where material appears to risk harm to individuals or, through
their behaviour, to society - for example through detailed portrayals
of violent or dangerous acts, illegal drug use, or sexual violence
which are likely to promote the activity.
One law which affects
the content of films is the Cinematograph (Animals) Act 1937 which was
introduced to ensure that real animals were not cruelly treated in the
making of films. Although the BBFC has no powers to stop film-makers
hurting animals for their films - our activities are confined to
classification only - we will cut scenes which involve actual cruelty
to animals if it has been 'organised or directed' for the purposes of
the film. The law, however, doesn't relate to films where cruelty to
animals is implied or created by special effects, nor does it apply to
reality footage if it was not organised specifically for the film.
Where necessary the BBFC requires assurances from the film-makers about
how scenes were created and may even seek specialist advice. Old and
new works alike may be cut, and animal cruelty such as illegal
horsefalls (like those you mention) where horses have been made to
somersault or land on their necks, are routinely removed from old
Westerns. We also recognise that some viewers find mock depictions of
animal violence distressing to watch and therefore consider it when
arriving at the category of a film, particularly those for junior
audiences.
I fully appreciate that you found the scene involving the octopus in Oldboy distasteful
- it's an unpleasant scene. The scene received very careful
consideration and was viewed at the highest level of the Board where it
was concluded that in line with the strong violence in the film, it
could be contained at 18, particularly given its unsavoriness was
unlikely to promote similar activity. In making the decision to leave
the scene uncut, it was noted that the octopus's head is severed at the
outset, that the actor appears to mime chewing on the unseen head and
that the subsequent tentacle twitching belongs to a headless octopus
corpse. Under the Cinematograph (Animals) Act, the BBFC can only
intervene where 'there is evidence of cruel infliction of pain or
terror on any animal or the cruel goading of any animal to fury'
orchestrated for the film. It may seem heartless, but it was not felt
on this occasion, that there was sufficient evidence to clearly
indicate cruelty - there is no real evidence that the actor bit into a
live octopus and even if he did, death by a single bite (as would be
the beheading of a chicken with a single knife strike) would be a
'clean' rather than cruel kill and the tentacle twitching could have
been reflexive writhings rather than evidence of pain. You may also
like to know that there's some debate about whether cephalopods
(including octopi) feel pain and it is likely that the upcoming Animal
Welfare Bill willl not cover them, which in turn will affect the remit
of the Cinematopgraph (Animals) Act 1937.
I hope this addresses
your query and that the information goes some way to dealing with your
concerns. Thank you again for taking the time to contact us. We always
welcome feedback on classification issues and your comments have been
taken on board. Further information on our guidelines and access to
consumer advice, our brief information on the content of films and
videos, is available from our website www.bbfc.co.uk.
Yours sincerely
Nicki Page
Film and Video Examiner
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11/2/2005 - Ultraman Story Zero #1 |
I just got my copy of Ultraman Story Zero #1 in the post today.
I've made it about halfway through with my broken beginner's knowledge
of Chinese characters, a dictionary and help from my girlfriend, automated_alice in
reading enough of the hiragana and katakana to get the idea of the
story and I'm stuck by how very different in tone it is from actual
episodes of the few Ultraman TV shows that I've seen. I really
like the style of this series ~ seeing the formula of the TV series
stripped away completely and a story told simply about the Ultras and
their past is amazing and at the equivalent of £1.50 from amazon.co.jp
it's a real bargain.
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10/23/2005 - Oldboy Ctd. |
Posted by dangermouse_ on the ::spaceterrapin powered!:: LJ RSS feed, as mentioned on the film's imdb page:
"Four live octopi were eaten for the scene with Dae-su in the sushi
bar, a scene which provoked some controversy abroad. Eating live
octopus in Korea is commonplace although it is usually sliced first.
When the film won the Grand Prix at Cannes, the director thanked the
octopi along with the cast and crew."
Still no word from the BBFC...
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