by August » Thu Mar 15, 2007 3:32 pm
That's how I've felt all of my life -- my earliest memories are watching ULTRAMAN, SPEED RACER, MARINE BOY, EIGHTH MAN, JOHNNY SOKKO, etc. -- and seeing Japanese SF/Monster movies on TV, like STARMAN, MOTHRA, GORATH, etc. As I got older, I gravitated towards the movies more -- since a lot of the TV shows disappeared from television -- and there was a boom in the popularity of Japanese monster movies across the US (reflected in magazines like The Monster Times and Famous Monsters).
Then I discovered our local Japantown, and then it was all over -- I was introduced to tons of Japanese monsters and superheroes in books, magazines, manga, records, posterbooks and toys! They fascinated me -- I had to know more about them! I wanted to see them! This was followed by the local Japanese-American television broadcasts of KIKAIDA, BRAVE RAIDEEN, GORANGER, DAI-APOLLON, etc. It was great to be growing up in San Francisco. Then came THE SPACE GIANTS, SPECTREMAN and STAR BLAZERS!
So, there's no way I can be selective -- if I get bored of Godzilla, I can just focus my energy on Kamen Rider, Ultraman, Barom-1, Mazinger Z, etc. Variety is indeed the spice of life!
August Ragone
Showa GAMERA Special Features Producer
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