Eva Unit 01 dashes full throttle to confront the Eighth Angel in EVANGELION 2.0: YOU CAN (NOT) ADVANCE, the latest chapter in the “Rebuild of Evangelion”
feature film series. Photo courtesy of EIN’s M&M. © 2009 Khara/Gainax

Author: Kim Song-ho
Source: Korean press materials
Official Movie Site: evangelion.co.jp (Japan), Naver EVANGELION 2.0 Official Cafe (Korea)

Korean poster art for EVANGELION 2.0: YOU CAN (NOT)
ADVANCE. The tagline reads “Destruction is the beginning
of evolution!” Photo courtesy of EIN’s M&M. © 2009
Khara/Gainax

SPOILER WARNING: This article contains plot details for a new movie.

EVANGELION 2.0: YOU CAN (NOT) ADVANCE (Evangelion Shin Gekijoban: Ha, 2009), the latest chapter of the “Rebuild of Evangelion” tetralogy, will be theatrically released in Korea starting December 3.

The “Rebuild of Evangelion” is a series of new projects for the Evangelion franchise, conceived by creator Hideaki Anno himself. He established a separate company called Khara Co., Ltd. to focus on the projects, but have kept working with much of the staff from Gainax, the company which launched the original TV animated series NEON GENESIS EVANGELION (Shin Seiki Evangelion, 1995). The core of the “Rebuild of Evangelion” project is four newly-produced animated features: EVANGELION 1.0: YOU ARE (NOT) ALONE (Evangelion Shin Gekijoban: Jo, 2007), EVANGELION 2.0: YOU CAN (NOT) ADVANCE, EVANGELION 3.0: Q (Evangelion Shin Gekijoban: Q) and the currently untitled fourth feature.

EVANGELION 1.0, which was first released in Japan on September 1, 2007, was basically a retelling of episodes 1 to 6 of the original TV series. However, the producers did not use a single cel of the original animation. Instead, they created new footage based on the original cels, many of which were combined with computer-generated images.
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Volume 1 of the new YAMATO 2050. ©Tohokushinsha Film Corp.

SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO, Part 10
Author: Tim Eldred, Starblazers.com and Greasemonkeybook.com

As the nineties began, Yamato’s time in the wilderness appeared to be over. Producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki stopped dabbling in projects that didn’t repeat his past successes. Two non-Yamato movies (the anime space opera ODIN and a live-action teen romance called A PASSENGER) came and went with little fanfare. His video distribution company, JAVN, ended in bankruptcy and one of his business partners, Bandai, walked away with control of SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO on home video.

With the start of a new decade, the slate was wiped clean. From here on, it would be all Yamato all the time. A long and frustrating development phase had finally yielded up a story Nishizaki liked. It was suggested by writer Soji Yoshikawa (a veteran of the “real robot” craze of the early 80s with credits on DOUGRAM, VOTOMS, GALIENT, and more) that a jump to the future would provide the mojo to restart the franchise. Rather than resurrect the original Yamato, he thought it would be interesting to create a new ship 300 years later. The title was made immediately obvious: YAMATO 2520.
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Bigger than big! A full scale statue of the classic manga/anime robot Tetsujin 28 (aka Gigantor) has been built in Kobe, Japan.
Photo by Daisuke Ishizuka. © 2009 Kobe Tetsujin Project.

“Life Size” Statue of Giant Robot in Creator’s Hometown
Author: Daisuke Ishizuka
Official Site: Kobe Tetsujin Project (Japan)

TETSUJIN 28-GO (Tetsujin Nijyu-Hachi-Go) is a popular robot comic (launched 1956) and animation TV series (1963) created by Mr. Mitsuteru Yokoyama. The animated series was aired in America as the English dubbed GIGANTOR (1966).

Mr. Yokoyama was born in Kobe in 1934, and died at the of age of 69 in 1995. His works include Giant Robo (adapted as the live action series JOHNNY SOKKO AND HIS FLYING ROBOT), Babel II, Princess Comet (Comet-san) and Kamen no Ninjya Akakage (adapted several times, including the 2001 movie RED SHADOW). Tetsujin is considered to be his masterpiece. The character has become a beloved figure in Japan, starring in several animated series as well as a 2005 live action film. Imagi Studios, the animation house behind the CG films TMNT and ASTRO BOY, has produced test footage for a potential computer animated TETSUJIN 28 movie.

The Kobe area was hit by the Great Hanshin earthquake on January 17th, 1995. Nearly 6,500 people were killed and 300,000 lost their homes. As the 15th anniversary of the tragedy draws near, a full scale, 18 meter (59 foot) tall statue of Tetsujin has been built in Kobe as a symbol of the city’s revival and as a guardian from future disasters.
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Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Japan. © Mega Monster Battle ULTRA GALAXY Film Partners

Theatrical poster design © Mega Monster Battle ULTRA GALAXY
Film Partners

An Early Review Of The Latest Ultraman Feature
Author: Jim M. Ballard
Official Website: Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy

SPOILER WARNING: This article contains plot details for a new movie.

Opening to cinemas nationwide in Japan on December 12th, MEGA MONSTER BATTLE: ULTRA GALAXY (Daikaiju Batoru Urutora Ginga Densetsu The Movie) is the latest installment in the Ultraman feature film series.

ULTRA GALAXY is the first Ultraman movie since Tsuburaya Productions was acquired by TYO Group at the end of 2007 (although released in September 2008, SUPERIOR ULTRAMAN 8 BROTHERS entered production under the studio’s original management).

Shifting away from the traditional Earth-bound setting, ULTRA GALAXY opens up the palette and moves the action into outer space and several different planets, primarily the home world of the Ultramen, the Land of Light, located in the nebula M-78.

The main antagonist of the movie is a former Ultra warrior named Ultraman Belial, who thousands of years ago revolted against his own people after attaining the power of the Reionyx, enabling him to control an army of 100 monsters through the use of a device called the Giga Battle Nizer. Only due to the arrival of the legendary Ultraman King was Belial finally imprisoned in a cell orbiting the Land of Light.
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Japan’s yokai as they appeared in the classic YOKAI MONSTERS trilogy made by Daiei Motion Picture Company in the 1960s. © 1968 Kadokawa Pictures, Inc.

Authors: Melanie Bourgeois and Dan Ross
Source: VIZ Media
Special Thanks to Erik Jansen

Author Matt Alt signs Yokai Attack! for fans at the Yokai University exhibit.

From October 23rd though November 6th, Viz Media and the New People Center in San Francisco’s Japantown hosted a spooky gallery of Japanese goblins known as yokai. The “Yokai University: San Francisco Campus” exhibit located in the lobby of Viz Cinema showcased original woodblock prints from classic Ukio-e master Hokusai to more contemporary manga artist Shigeru Mizuki, creator of GeGeGe No Kitaro. Along with the prints were video reels of yokai street parades and in glass cases, many classic and modern netsuke and toys. All in all a colorful, fun and educational display.

On October 31st at Viz Cinema, Matt Alt, founder of AltJapan and co-writer of the book Yokai Attack!: The Japanese Monster Survival Guide, gave a free presentation on what yokai are all about. My wife Melanie and I attended. After Matt’s informative and fun talk and a book signing in the lobby, Melanie and I caught up with him for a few minutes to talk about the presentation from both our perspectives, and also looked in on the latest happenings at AltJapan.
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Zone Fighter join forces with the monster of justice, Godzilla! ©MCC, Toho Co., Ltd

Godzilla, King Ghidorah and Gigan feature in classic Toho TV series
Author: Jim M. Ballard
Special Thanks to Keith Aiken, John Paul Cassidy and Oki Miyano

RYUUSEI NINGEN ZOON (Zone The Meteor Man) was a superhero TV series produced by Toho Eizo that aired weekly on the Nippon Television Network (NTV) between April 2nd and September 24th 1973. Toho has registered the series with the United States copyright office under the English title ZONE FIGHTER.

The series is centered around a family of aliens known as the Zone Family, whose home planet Peaceland was destroyed by the villainous Garoga Baron aliens. Seeking refuge on Earth, they take on their new identity as the Sakimori family, but are soon followed by the Garoga who are on a new mission of a conquest!

The series is best remembered for featuring appearances by Toho’s big screen monsters Godzilla, King Ghidorah and Gigan. The events of ZONE FIGHTER were reportedly part of the Showa Godzilla series, taking place between the movies GODZILLA VS. MEGALON (Gojira tai Megaro, 1973) and GODZILLA VS. MECHAGODZILLA (Gojira tai Mekagojira, 1974). The series features the final onscreen appearances of the original incarnations of King Ghidorah and Gigan.

Join SciFi Japan as we look back at this unique episode of Godzilla’s history!
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Director Shusuke Kaneko is in Korea for the 2009 Megabox Japanese Film Festival, which will screen all three 1990s Gamera films.
Photo courtesy of Megabox. GAMERA 3: AWAKENING OF IRYS © 1999 Kadokawa Pictures, Inc.

Heisei Trilogy will be screened at Japanese Film Festival in Korea
Author: Kim Song-ho
Official Site: The 6th Megabox Japanese Film Festival

Poster art for the 6th Megabox Japanese Film Festival.
Photo courtesy of Megabox. © 2009 Megabox

The Heisei Gamera trilogy — GAMERA: GUARDIAN OF THE UNIVERSE (Gamera: Daikaiju Kuchu Kessen, 1995), GAMERA 2: ADVENT OF LEGION (Gamera 2: Region Shurai, aka GAMERA: ATTACK OF LEGION, 1996) and GAMERA 3: AWAKENING OF IRYS (Gamera 3: Iris Kakusei, aka GAMERA: REVENGE OF IRIS, 1999) — will be screened in Korea at the 6th Megabox Japanese Film Festival, running November 11 to 15 (Korean date). Shusuke Kaneko, director of the Gamera trilogy, is visiting Korea for the festival and will meet the audience in person for most of the showings.

Megabox Japanese Film Festival (J-MEFF) is a collaboration between Megabox Cineplex, a large cinema chain in Korea, and the Agency for Cultural Affairs of Japan. Since the premiere festival in 2004, J-MEFF is held in November. Each year it introduces both new and classic Japanese films to Korean audiences and is now one of the most well-known Japan-related film festivals among Korean film buffs.

Kim Song-ho previews what attendees can expect to see at this year’s Megabox Japanese Film Festival, and looks back at the history of Gamera in South Korea.
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The giant monster Geharha faces off with mankind’s new superweapon in GEHARHA: THE DARK AND LONG HAIR MONSTER. The film is now available on
Japanese DVD and Blu-ray. © 2009 NHK ‘Geharha’ Project.

2009 TV Kaiju Movie on Japanese DVD and Blu-ray with English Subtitles
Author: James Bonney
Official Site: Geharha (Japan)
Special Thanks to James Ballard

GEHARHA: THE DARK AND LONG HAIR MONSTER (Chouhatsu Daikaiju Gehara, 2009), the short, shot for television film that tells the bizarre story of a mysterious monster that rises up from the depths to wreak havoc on Japan has been released onto DVD in it’s native country. It is a treat for kaiju fans worldwide… that is if you can get past region code blockage and the rather expensive conversion rates and shipping, which is a typical situation amongst foreign buyers of Japanese DVDs.
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Author: Sean Kotz
Official Website: Virginia Creepers Movie

Virginia Creepers lobby card. ©2009 Horse Archer Productions.

Like most Americans, my first exposure to Japanese science fiction was on television back in the day when local TV was an integral part of most people’s lives, primarily through my local TV horror hosts. It was those shows that gave me my love for films in general and horror and sci-fi in particular.

At Chesapeake’s Monster Fest in 2007, I had the privilege of moderating a panel comprised of several Virginia TV horror hosts, past and present. This was a very funny, very talented group of people… some of whom were still playing their characters after more than 30 years… who bore witness to more than 40 years of changes in television. I had grown up watching these guys (including Dr. Madblood’s first show in 1975) and was currently watching the newer hosts online, and on the heels of VAMPIRA: THE MOVIE and AMERICA SCARY, I suddenly became aware that this was the stuff of documentaries.
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The antics of traveling salesman Tora-san (Kiyoshi Atsumi) often frustrated his family, including loving sister Sakura (Chieko Baisho). Scene from IT’S TOUGH
BEING A MAN, the first Tora-san movie and one of four films in AnimEigo’s new DVD box set. Photo courtesy of AnimEigo, Inc. © 1969 Shochiku Co., Ltd.

An Interview with Stuart Galbraith IV
Author: Keith Aiken
Official Site: tora-san.jp (Japan)

On November 10, AnimEigo will release the TORA-SAN COLLECTOR’S SET: VOL. 1, a Region 1 DVD collection of the first four films in Shochiku’s beloved Tora-san series. With 48 movies produced from 1969 to 1995, Tora-san (Otoko wa Tsuraiyo, lit. “It’s Tough Being a Man”) is Japan’s longest running motion picture series and holds the Guinness Book World Record as the longest film series starring the same actor.

A key contributor to the new DVD set is film historian Stuart Galbraith IV, the author of several books including Monsters Are Attacking Tokyo! (1998), The Emperor and the Wolf: The Lives and Films of Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune(2002), The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography (2008), and Japanese Cinema (2009). He recently chatted with SciFi Japan about the background and long-lasting appeal of Tora-san and also provided some insider details regarding the TORA-SAN COLLECTOR’S SET.
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Space Station Gamma III is menaced by THE GREEN SLIME. The Los Angeles Comic Book and Science Fiction Convention is hosting a 40th anniversary
screening with stars Robert Horton and Luciana Paluzzi. © 1969 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc.

Stars Robert Horton and Luciana Paluzzi to Attend Screening at the Los Angeles Comic Book and Science Fiction Convention
Official Site: Los Angeles Comic Book and Science Fiction Convention

US poster art for THE GREEN SLIME. © 1969 Metro-
Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc.

Celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Japanese/US/Italian co-production THE GREEN SLIME (Gamma Sango Uchu Daisakusen, 1968) with a special screening and appearance by two stars of the sci-fi cult classic at the Los Angeles Comic Book and Science Fiction Convention. The convention will show a rare film print of THE GREEN SLIME at 12:00pm on Sunday, November 8th. Actors Robert Horton and Luciana Paluzzi will attend from 11:00am-4:00pm to sign autographs and take part in post-screening interview about the making of the movie.

This weekend’s screening will be included as part of the general admission for the Los Angeles Comic Book and Science Fiction Convention. Robert Horton and Luciana Paluzzi are charging for autographs, but each signatures includes a choice of photo.
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SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO, Part 9
Author: Tim Eldred, Starblazers.com and Greasemonkeybook.com

Yoshinobu Nishizaki, the man behind Yamato.
©Tohokushinsha Film Corp.

What do you do if you’ve just laid your greatest creation to rest and still have decades of your life ahead of you? Easy: you start making another one.

That’s what Producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki did almost immediately after putting the finishing touches on FINAL YAMATO in 1983. His beloved ship was no more and his characters had presumably moved on with their lives, but plenty more could still be done with YAMATO as a “legacy” property. Home video was now in full bloom, so the entire YAMATO catalogue could be exploited on VHS, Betamax and Laserdisc. Time was spent creating new content as well; five unique YAMATO MVs (Music Videos) that combined footage with soundtrack music in new and artful ways, giving viewers a slightly more abstract view of the saga.
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College student Kenta Sato (Kenta Kiritani, right) has some questions about the new girl (Haruka Ayase) living with his friend Jiro Kitamura (Keisuke Koide)
in CYBORG SHE, a science fiction romance from the director of MY SASSY GIRL. © 2008 Cyborg She Film Partners.

Author: Ed Godziszewski
Official Movie Site: cyborg.gaga.ne.jp (Japan)

Japanese poster art for CYBORG SHE. © 2008 Cyborg She Film
Partners.

SPOILER WARNING: This article contains plot details and images from a new movie.

Every now and then, a movie comes along and takes you by surprise. Sometimes it flies under the radar and you never hear of it, sometimes it looks unremarkable and you pay it no mind, or perhaps you just think ‘you gotta be kidding, I’m not going to bother.’ In the case of CYBORG SHE (Boku no Kanojo wa Saibogu), the 2008 romantic sci-fi comedy film from Korean director Kwak Jae-Young (MY SASSY GIRL), it was a little bit of all of these.

Towards the end of a long flight back from Japan, I turned to the in-flight entertainment system to pass the time. I saw a listing for this film, in Japanese with English subtitles. I’d never heard of it, the title sounded odd, the two sentence summary didn’t sound very promising. Japanese comedies are very much hit and miss for me, but boredom got the better of me and I decided to take a chance.
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Warner Bros. is releasing a selection of TERMINATOR SALVATION DVD and Blu-ray editions in November and December.
Photo courtesy of Warner Home Video. © 2009 T Asset Acquisition Company, LLC.

Source: Warner Home Video press materials
Special Thanks to My-lan Beauford

The long-running Terminator franchise returns to home video with new DVD and Blu-ray titles in November and December. First up is TERMINATOR SALVATION: THE MACHINIMA SERIES, a collection of the computer animated series focusing on the resistance fighter Blair Williams, on November 3rd. And on December 1st, the feature film TERMINATOR SALVATION will be released on DVD in both widescreen and full screen versions plus a Blu-ray Special Edition featuring both the theatrical and director’s cuts as well as numerous bonus features.
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