SciFi Japan » Kaiju / Monsters http://www.scifijapan.com/articles Mon, 15 Mar 2010 18:22:45 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 en hourly 1 Korean FX Films HAEUNDAE and CHAW on Australian DVD http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/03/09/korean-fx-films-haeundae-and-chaw-on-australian-dvd/ http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/03/09/korean-fx-films-haeundae-and-chaw-on-australian-dvd/#comments Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:20:36 +0000 Keith Aiken http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/?p=12319 Australia's Madman Entertainment brings the Korean hits HAEUNDAE and CHAW to DVD. Photos courtesy of Madman Entertainment. HAEUNDAE © 2009 JK Film / CJ Entertainment. CHAW © 2009 Big House/ Vantage Holdings and Lotte Entertainment Natural Disasters and Mutant Animals Terrify and Entertain Source: Madman Entertainment Two of the biggest box office hits in Korea last year were the mega-tsunami thriller HAEUNDAE and the killer wild boar horror/comedy CHAW. The Australian distributor Madman Entertainment has picked up both films and is releasing them on Region 4 PAL DVD. HAEUNDAE went on sale last month, and CHAW is scheduled for April. Neither movie has been released on home video in North America. Continued...
]]> http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/03/09/korean-fx-films-haeundae-and-chaw-on-australian-dvd/feed/ 0 UPCOMING PRODUCTS: SCI-FI REVOLTECH SERIES http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/03/05/upcoming-products-sci-fi-revoltech-series/ http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/03/05/upcoming-products-sci-fi-revoltech-series/#comments Fri, 05 Mar 2010 19:00:18 +0000 Keith Aiken http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/?p=12251 Next month Kaiyodo launches a line of highly detailed and articulated figures based on popular science fiction and fantasy characters. Photos courtesy of Anime Jungle. Alien © Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. Daimajin © 1966 Kadokawa Pictures, Inc. © 2010 Kaiyodo Co., Ltd. The Popular Toy Line is Expanded to Include Kaiju and Special Effects Movie Characters Author: John “Dutch” DeSentis Translations: Jim Ballard Source: Anime Jungle Official Site: kaiyodo.co.jp/revoltech Special Thanks to Tetsu Shiota Fans and collectors are probably familiar with the brand Revoltech, which is owned by the Kaiyodo Company of Japan. It is a series of super-articulated figures in the 4-6 inch scale and based on various popular characters from manga, video games, television, film, and anime. The name itself reportedly means “Revolver Technology” as the revolver joint is what gives the figures their super-articulation. Of interest to kaiju fans is the upcoming line, SCI-FI REVOLTECH, which will showcase popular characters from both east and west. The first figures up for release on April 1st are the Xenomorph from Ridley Scott’s ALIEN and the vengeful god DAIMAJIN from the Daiei movie series of the 1960s, followed on May 1st by Tsuburaya Productions' friendly beast Booska and Toho's Baragon (from FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD). Continued...
]]> http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/03/05/upcoming-products-sci-fi-revoltech-series/feed/ 0 Monster Attack Team Issue 8 Now Available http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/03/03/monster-attack-team-issue-8-now-available/ http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/03/03/monster-attack-team-issue-8-now-available/#comments Thu, 04 Mar 2010 04:17:49 +0000 Keith Aiken http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/?p=12337 Monster Attack Team Special Thanks to Michael G Keller and Edward Holland
Cover for Monster Attack Team Issue 8. Photo courtesy of MAT. © 2010 Monster Attack Team
After far too long an absence, the popular fanzine Monster Attack Team returns! Edward Holland and the late Joe Riley began Monster Attack Team (the name taken from the anti-monster team in RETURN OF ULTRAMAN) began in the early 1990s as a fan club for aficionados of Japanese science fiction and fantasy. It soon evolved into a Dallas, Texas cable access television show and a small newsletter that grew to become a fan favorite mag. The print version of Monster Attack Team ran for seven issues, edited by Ed Holland with the assistance of David May and Michael G Keller, and featured articles and contributions by authors such as Ed Godziszewski, Kip Doto, Bob Johnson, Kevin Grays, August Ragone, Daisuke Ishizuka, Norman England, and Damon Foster. Nearly 15 years after the last issue, Ed Holland and Michael Keller have brought back Monster Attack Team with Issue 8. The editors have rounded up an "all star" group of tokusatsu writers and historians and produced a massive, 132 page edition that matches the quality of those truly great English language genre publications The Japanese Fantasy Film Journal, Markalite, and Japanese Giants. Continued...
]]> http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/03/03/monster-attack-team-issue-8-now-available/feed/ 0 VAMPIRE GIRL VS FRANKENSTEIN GIRL Coming to UK DVD http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/02/25/vampire-girl-vs-frankenstein-girl-coming-to-uk-dvd/ http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/02/25/vampire-girl-vs-frankenstein-girl-coming-to-uk-dvd/#comments Fri, 26 Feb 2010 02:21:29 +0000 Keith Aiken http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/?p=12090 Cute Japanese high school girls become undead monsters in the splatter horror comedy VAMPIRE GIRL VS FRANKENSTEIN GIRL. Photo courtesy of 4Digital Media. © 2010 Pony Canyon /Concept Film /Excellent Film Partners Source: 4Digital Media, Arias UK Ltd. press releases Official Movie Site: VAMPIRE GIRL VS FRANKENSTEIN GIRL (Japan) Special Thanks to Chris Meyer
Cover art for the new British DVD of VAMPIRE GIRL VS FRANKENSTEIN GIRL. Photo courtesy of 4Digital Media. © 2010 Pony Canyon /Concept Film /Excellent Film Partners
From Yoshihiro Nishimura, the man behind the outrageousness of TOKYO GORE POLICE and THE MACHINE GIRL comes this crazed response to both TWILIGHT and LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, a film that consistently overwhelms the viewer in its sheer dementia... Based on a manga by Shungiku Uchida, VAMPIRE GIRL VS FRANKENSTEIN GIRL (Kyuketsu Shojo tai Shojo Furanken, 2008) will be released on DVD (£15.99) in the UK by 4Digital Media on 15th March, 2010. Handsome high school student Mizushima (Takumi Saito) receives Valentines Day chocolates from a new student, Monami Arukado (Yukie Kawamura). Little did he know that the chocolates contained traces of Monami's vampire blood. He gets infected from eating them and Monami confesses that she wants to live with him forever as vampires. Keiko Furano (Eri Otoguro), Mizushima's girlfriend, sees the two on the school rooftop kissing and in a state of hysteria, attempts to throw Monami off the roof but falls off herself instead. Keiko dies but her father, Kenji Furano (Kanji Tsuda), the mad scientist, resurrects her as Franken girl. Thus begins a deadly combat between Franken Keiko and Vampire Monami in the name of love. As we all know, this kind of Vampire vs. Frankenstein conflict can only be solved by fighting, beating, stabbing, chewing, clawing and a showdown high atop Tokyo Tower! Continued...
]]> http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/02/25/vampire-girl-vs-frankenstein-girl-coming-to-uk-dvd/feed/ 0 Winter WonderFest 2010 http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/02/18/winter-wonderfest-2010/ http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/02/18/winter-wonderfest-2010/#comments Thu, 18 Feb 2010 23:07:54 +0000 Keith Aiken http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/?p=11846 Burning Godzilla roars over the crowd at Winter WonderFest 2010. Photo by Ed Godziszewski. © 1995 Toho Co., Ltd. A Look at the Winter Model and Toy Collectors Show Held in Tokyo on February 7, 2010 Author: Ed Godziszewski Official Site: Wonder Festival Owing to an accident in 2008 which occurred at the Tokyo Big Sight, former home of Wonder Festival, this biannual mega collectors event was canceled for the year 2009. But after securing a new venue at Makuhari Messe, WonderFest is back and bigger than ever. Ed Godziszewski presents a look Winter WonderFest with nearly three dozen photos of the latest Godzilla, Gamera, and Ultraman collectibles coming from Japan. Continued...
]]> http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/02/18/winter-wonderfest-2010/feed/ 0 Showa Gamera Films Coming to DVD from Shout! Factory http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/02/13/showa-gamera-films-coming-to-dvd-from-shout-factory/ http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/02/13/showa-gamera-films-coming-to-dvd-from-shout-factory/#comments Sat, 13 Feb 2010 12:38:39 +0000 Keith Aiken http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/?p=11575 Harumi Kiritachi, Eiji Funakoshi, and Yoshiro Uchida run for their lives in the original GAMERA. The movie will finally get an official DVD release in America as GAMERA, THE GIANT MONSTER. Photo courtesy of Shout! Factory. © 1965 Kadokawa Pictures, Inc. Shout's Cliff Macmillan Discusses the First Official Region 1 Release of the Early Gamera Movies Author: Keith Aiken Official Site: Shout! Factory Special Thanks to Bob Johnson

A SciFi JAPAN EXCLUSIVE

An early look at the cover art for Shout! Factory's GAMERA, THE GIANT MONSTER DVD. Photo courtesy of Shout! Factory. © 1965 Kadokawa Pictures, Inc.
The original series of Gamera movies is finally getting a licensed and authorized Region 1 DVD release, courtesy of the Los Angeles-based entertainment company Shout! Factory. On May 18, 2010, Shout! will unleash GAMERA, THE GIANT MONSTER – SPECIAL EDITION on DVD for the first time in its unedited original version, with English subtitles — in anamorphic widescreen from an all-new HD master. The DVD includes a 12-page booklet with an essay by director Noriaki Yuasa, a photo gallery, trailers and more. The collectible GAMERA, THE GIANT MONSTER – SPECIAL EDITION DVD is priced to own at $19.93. SciFi Japan is pleased to present an early look at the DVD cover art for GAMERA, THE GIANT MONSTER, a look back at Gamera's release history in the United States, and an interview with Cliff Macmillan, Vice President of DVD Production and Acquisitions for Shout! Factory. Enjoy! Continued...
]]> http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/02/13/showa-gamera-films-coming-to-dvd-from-shout-factory/feed/ 0 BANDAI MARKET REPORT http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/01/31/bandai-market-report/ http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/01/31/bandai-market-report/#comments Sun, 31 Jan 2010 15:17:43 +0000 Keith Aiken http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/?p=11079 For nearly 30 years, Bandai has been producing and amazing variety of vinyl figures based on characters from the Godzilla, Toho, and Gamera films. Photos courtesy of Mike Russo, Bob Johnson, and John DeSentis. © Toho Co., Ltd. © Bandai Co., Ltd. An Overview and Price Guide for the Bandai Godzilla Toy Market Author: John “Dutch” DeSentis Special Thanks Mike Russo, Jean Carbajal, Brandon Shields, Bob Johnson, Greg Cordaro, Andy Shields, and James Bond

A SciFi JAPAN EXCLUSIVE

Tag for Bandai's Godzilla 1984, one of the earliest figures released in "The Godzilla Collection". © 1984 Toho Co., Ltd. © 1984 Bandai Co., Ltd.
Welcome to the market overview and price guide to Bandai Godzilla collectibles. The Bandai Company for decades now has been the standard for producing toys based on popular Japanese characters; they are essentially the Mattel of Japan. As it pertains to this article, they began producing toys based on characters in the Godzilla Series in 1983. Over the years since, both the output and quality of the company has steadily increased. The figures themselves are made of vinyl and have been primarily produced in two sizes, 6 inch and 8 inch scale, with the 8 inch scale being the most popular with collectors. There are also larger figures which vary between the 14 and 24 inch scale. The decision to focus on the Bandai market is due to the company’s immense popularity among Godzilla fans and a general need to know where the toys currently stand as far as pricing and rarity. We have done research and kept our eyes on general trends from sales on the internet and at shows throughout the year such as G-Fest (the annual celebration of Godzilla and Toho Sci-Fi), the San Diego and New York Comic-Cons, Chiller Theater (the legendary toy and horror film expo in New Jersey), and other collector shows and marketplaces such as Frank & Son (in California) and the like. We also keep our eye on shops in the major cities such as New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Finally, we also go to the people closest to the toys— dealers and collectors— to get their opinions and observations. Also included in this market report is pricing on GODZILLA-related Bandai figures such as the REBIRTH OF MOTHRA trilogy, the GAMERA series, and even Toho's YAMATO TAKERU (OROCHI THE EIGHT HEADED DRAGON). We are not, however, pricing DX (deluxe), battery operated, or candy toys. This article strictly covers the standard figures in their various scales. Continued...
]]> http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/01/31/bandai-market-report/feed/ 0 VOLTRON: DEFENDER OF THE UNIVERSE Game Coming from MONSTERPOCALYPSE http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/01/30/voltron-defender-of-the-universe-game-coming-from-monsterpocalypse/ http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/01/30/voltron-defender-of-the-universe-game-coming-from-monsterpocalypse/#comments Sat, 30 Jan 2010 14:48:03 +0000 Keith Aiken http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/?p=11320 Privateer Press press release Official Sites: monsterpocalypse.com, voltron.com
An early look at the packaging for the new VOLTRON: DEFENDER OF THE UNIVERSE battle miniatures game. Photo courtesy of Privateer Press. © 2010 Privateer Press, Inc. Voltron is © 2010 World Events Productions, Ltd.
Privateer Press has announced that the highly anticipated VOLTRON: DEFENDER OF THE UNIVERSE battle miniatures game (PIP 50030) for MONSTERPOCALYPSE will be released July 2010 with an MSRP of $49.99. The VOLTRON game will include everything two players need to stage epic battles between the forces of Voltron and the Galaxy Alliance and Lo-Tron of the fiendish Drule Empire. Part of the popular MONSTERPOCALYPSE line, VOLTRON: DEFENDER OF THE UNIVERSE will be completely compatible with all current MONSTERPOCALYPSE series. In celebration of the release, Privateer Press is offering the VOLTRON: DEFENDER OF THE UNIVERSE Launch Kit (PIP 50033, MSRP $399.92) to brick-and-mortar retailers. The kit includes eight copies of the VOLTRON: DEFENDER OF THE UNIVERSE battle miniatures game and two limited edition Mega Voltron figures for use in promoting the game’s release in the store. Retailers can pre-order the VOLTRON: DEFENDER OF THE UNIVERSE Launch Kit through their distributor now. Continued...
]]> http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/01/30/voltron-defender-of-the-universe-game-coming-from-monsterpocalypse/feed/ 0 MONSTERPOCALYPSE Invades Tokyo http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/01/11/monsterpocalypse-invades-tokyo/ http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/01/11/monsterpocalypse-invades-tokyo/#comments Mon, 11 Jan 2010 22:43:40 +0000 Keith Aiken http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/?p=10891 Privateer Press press release Official Site: monsterpocalypse.com
An early look at the Unit Booster and Monster Booster game packs for April's MONSTERPOCALYPSE SERIES 5: BIG IN JAPAN. Photos courtesy of Privateer Press. © 2010 Privateer Press, Inc.
Privateer Press of Bellevue, WA has announced that the next expansion for its collectible miniatures game MONSTERPOCALYPSE will be released in April 2010. The expansion, SERIES 5: BIG IN JAPAN, takes the monsters and minions of MONSTERPOCALYPSE to the heart of Japan with new iconic buildings from the Tokyo skyline. BIG IN JAPAN will be available in Monster Boosters and Unit Boosters. To celebrate the release of BIG IN JAPAN, Privateer Press is offering two special promotions to retailers and players. Players can get a limited edition Mega Mechathugrosh figure free from participating retailers by ordering the BIG IN JAPAN Mega Kit (PIP 50915). The kit includes one case of BIG IN JAPAN Boosters, one case of BIG IN JAPAN Unit Boosters, and one Mega Mechathugrosh figure. The second promotion is available to retailers who order the BIG IN JAPAN Launch Kit (PIP 50916). The kit includes six of the BIG IN JAPAN Mega Kits and two free limited edition Mega White Dajan figures for the retailer to use in supporting the launch of BIG IN JAPAN. Both the BIG IN JAPAN Mega Kit and the BIG IN JAPAN Launch Kit are limited, and players and retailers are encouraged to pre-order so as not to miss out on these special offers. Continued...
]]> http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/01/11/monsterpocalypse-invades-tokyo/feed/ 0 Yokai University: Matt Alt Interview http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2009/11/17/yokai-university-malt-alt-interview/ http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2009/11/17/yokai-university-malt-alt-interview/#comments Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:57:06 +0000 Keith Aiken http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/?p=9840 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. Continued...
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