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SciFi JAPAN TV returns with a look at the revival of the Ultraman franchise in the mid-1990s. In this episode , TV producer Yoshihiko Marutani and director Takeshi Yagi take us on a brief tour of “Ultra-Town” in Tsuburaya Productions’ old hometown of Shoshigaya-Okura, then sit down at the Ultraman goods shop Shot M78 to reflect on the productions of the Heisei series ULTRAMAN TIGA, ULTRAMAN DYNA , ULTRAMAN GAIA, and ULTRAMAN COSMOS! Continued…
SciFi JAPAN TV is back, celebrating its first anniversary this month with episode thirteen! We’ve given the show a bit of a revamp too! As always, we want to keep pushing to make it bigger and better.
In this episode – which we actually shot way back in March (note the cheery blossoms) – our associate producer Hiro Sono met up with THE BIG O and KING OF THORN director Kazuyoshi Katayama in Ginza to talk about monsters, anime and all things otaku. This episode was great fun to shoot, and the energy of these two professional fanboys makes this episode a joy to watch. Continued…
Special Thanks to Jim Cirronella, Eliot Brodsky and Brad Warner
A SCIFI JAPAN EXCLUSIVE
About The Episode
In April this year, the stars of the original ULTRAMAN (ウルトラマン 空想特撮シリーズ, Urutoraman: Kuso Tokusatsu Shirizu, 1966) TV series Bin Furuya, Susumu Kurobe and Hiroko Sakurai made their way to Burbank, CA for a reunion at Monsterpalooza — and SCIFI JAPAN TV there to capture the action! Continued…
Earlier this year, SCIFI JAPAN TV attended the 6th Koto Cinema Festival in Tokyo for a special screening of the original GODZILLA (Gojira, 1954), featuring a special talk show with lead actor Akira Takarada and the late director Ishiro Honda’s son Ryuuji in attendance. Continued…
The Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards were created by David Colton and Kerry Gammill in 2002. Nominees for the Rondo are selected from suggestions by horror fans, pros and enthusiasts offered all year at the CHFB. Each year’s nominees are finalized by classic horror fan David Colton, with the help of more than 20 classic horror fans from around the world, and with expertise in all parts of fandom.
Our production team on SciFi JAPAN TV is very small, but we’re all very passionate about the genre and have always strived to make our show as entertaining, informative and polished as possible. Simply having been recognized and nominated for this Rondo Award means a lot to us! We would really appreciate if you could take a moment to vote for us and help us reach new fans and continue expanding our audience!
If you’d like to vote for us, please email taraco@aol.com with your name, and tell them you’d like to vote for SCIFI JAPAN TV for BEST HORROR MULTIMEDIA (AUDIO OR VIDEOCAST)! Continued…
Marking the anniversary of his death last year on February 19th, SciFi JAPAN TV pays tribute to one of the unsung heroes of Toho’s classic special effects films; art director Yasuyuki Inoue.
The late Mr Inoue’s art and miniatures helped shape the look of and feel of the entire tokusatsu genre, which has now endured for six decades. We have brought together many of his friends and colleagues to discuss Mr Inoue’s work and the life of the art staff at Toho Studios during Japan’s golden age of fantasy films.
We would like to extend our thanks to Toshio Miike, art director on the Heisei Godzilla and Gamera series, for his great efforts arranging and hosting this special episode of SciFi JAPAN TV. Continued…
This time on SciFi JAPAN TV, we bring together two of the biggest figures from the most recent series of Godzilla movies, suit actor Tsutomu Kitagawa and suit maker Shinichi Wakasa! The pair brought Godzilla to life in five feature films from 1999 to 2004.
In this episode, the creative duo discuss how they came to be involved in the legendary franchise, and share some personal stories from behind the scenes. Continued…
Texas-based comic book artist Matt Frank is perhaps best known among genre fans for his work on IDW Publishing’s Godzilla series, including GODZILLA: KINGDOM OF MONSTERS, GODZILLA: GANGSTERS AND GOLIATHS and GODZILLA: LEGENDS.
This past November, Matt and his girlfriend Morgan made their first trip to Japan. SciFi JAPAN TV caught up with the pair to talk monsters, art and explore Tokyo — meeting some kaiju celebrities along the way! Continued…
In honor of Godzilla FX director Teruyoshi Nakano’s 77th birthday in October this year, a special two-day event including a film screening of GHIDORAH, THE THREE-HEADED MONSTER was held in a small theater in Kanagawa Prefecture, with Mr. Nakano himself in attendance.
During the event, SciFi JAPAN TV was given the great privilege to sit down with the director to discuss his life and career before the audience.
Mr. Nakano, who is perhaps best remembered for helming the FX on the Godzilla series through the turmoil years of the 1970s, first served as an assistant director at Toho under Eiji Tsuburaya. Today we present the conclusion to this two-part special. If you haven’t seen it yet, please click here to check out part one!
Be sure to come back on December 18th for our final episode of the year, which features Godzilla comic book artist Matt Frank on his recent trip to Tokyo. After the holidays, SciFi JAPAN TV will return full-force with two episodes per month in 2013, beginning the new year with a trip to Monsters Inc studios and a discussion with Millennium Godzilla suit maker Shinichi Wakasa and actor Tsutomu Kitagawa! Continued…
Earlier this month, in honor of Godzilla FX director Teruyoshi Nakano’s 77th birthday, a special two-day event including a film screening of GHIDORAH, THE THREE-HEADED MONSTER was held in a small theater in Kanagawa Prefecture, with Mr. Nakano himself in attendance.
During the event, SciFi JAPAN TV was given the great privilege to sit down with the director to discuss his life and career before the audience. Continued…
Shortly after graduation, Taguchi served as an assistant director to special effects director Makoto Kamiya on GODZILLA, MOTHRA & KING GHIDORAH: GIANT MONSTERS ALL-OUT ATTACK (aka GMK, Gojira Mosura Kingugidora Daikaiju Soukougeki, 2001), and later went to work on the art staff for the Millennium Godzilla series under art director Toshio Miike, before going on to release his independent film G.
In this exclusive interview, Taguchi discusses the creation of his first film, some of his recent and upcoming projects, and the future of tokusatsu cinema in Japan. Continued…
For this episode of SciFi JAPAN TV, we had the great pleasure to speak with Toshio Miike, one of the most important figures active in the tokusatsu film industry today.
As an art director, it has been Mr. Miike’s responsibility to design and create the miniature sets and practical effects which bring these movies to life. In this capacity, Mr. Miike has worked on almost every major tokusatsu franchise, including Godzilla, Gamera, Ultraman and Kamen Rider. The role of the art director is certainly not to be ignored; indeed, there is no one the FX director relies on more. Continued…
We don’t leave Tokyo very often. Love it or hate it, this city is the heart of Japan’s filmmaking industry. But last month JR and I took a trip up north to the small city of Sakata in Yamagata Prefecture. We made this rare journey for a special reason: to cover a unique photo exhibition being held in honor of Haruo Nakajima, the original Godzilla suit actor. What’s more, we’d been offered a chance to sit down and shoot a one-on-one interview with the Godzilla himself! Continued…
Last month, JR and I took a road trip up north to a small town called Sakata in Yamagata Prefecture, in order to cover a photo exhibit being held for the original Godzilla suit actor, Haruo Nakajima. This event will be featured in the third episode of SciFi JAPAN TV, due for release this Friday, September 14th.
Since this will be a particularly special episode, and it was a rather big trip out from Tokyo to a rather unique little town, we decided we might as well document our trip at the same time, so we created this little video blog! Continued…
Taking center stage at this exhibit is a short film produced by NEON GENESIS EVANGELION (Shin Seiki Evangerion, 1995) director Hideaki Anno and directed by visual effects master Shinji Higuchi. As all the exhibit posters proudly tease, the film features a live-action recreation of the Kyoshinhei, or Giant Warrior-God from Studio Gibli’s animated film NAUSICAÄ OF THE VALLEY OF THE WIND (Kaze no Tani no Naushika, 1984). In a true tribute to the art of miniature works, the film is almost entirely composed of “traditional,” practical effects. Continued…
A regular video program focusing exclusively on Japanese scifi and monsters is something we’ve always wanted to see, but nothing like it has ever been available, neither in Japan nor overseas. So we decided to make one ourselves!
Today we are happy to release the first episode of SciFi JAPAN TV! Shot on location in Japan exclusively for SciFi Japan by the Gaijin Channel production team, the show will delve into the world of Japanese monsters and scifi, featuring the latest and hottest tokusatsu events in Japan, as well as simple yet in-depth discussions with the people who bring all of our favorite films and shows to life! Continued…
