by August » Fri Mar 04, 2005 10:23 pm
MUSUKOGOJI! I take exception to your accusation that my episode translations are "way off"; they are not. I originally translated these in 1986, when I lived in Tokyo, with the assistance of fellow fans. The episode titles were listed in the soundtrack LP, Gojira Gaiden Ryusei Ningen Zone (Godzilla Side Story "Human Meteor: Zone"), Alty AY20-5007 (Apollon Music Industrial Corp), issued July, 1985. This was an official release, fully licensed and authorized by Toho.
Contained within the LP jacket, was a four-page insert, put together by the staff of Uchusen magazine (Asahi Sonorama Publishing), with comments from the staff of the series, and an episode guide -- all authorized by Toho. In 1990, when ZONE was released in a laserdisc boxset from Toho, I received dubs of all 26 episodes, so I had these to cross-check. The episode titles are the same (some come with a secondary, or "subtitle"), and so I stick by my final transliterations. I have cross referenced the on-screen episode titles with several other publications, including Asahi Sonorama's "Superhero Album 1971-1973" (1987) and "'70s Tokusatsu Hero Zenshu" (1998), as well as other published sources. They are all identical.
The first episode with King Ghidorah is titled "Kingugidora-o Mukae Ute!" -- roughly, "Blast/Shoot King Ghidorah at Point Blank Range!"... the second part is titled "Kingugidora-no Gyakushu!"... since this kind of "XXXX-no Gyakushu" title is so common in Japanese movies and teleseries, I decided to use the variation, "King Ghidorah Strikes Back!" since the Japanese title for STAR WARS: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK is "Sutaa Uosu Teikoku-no Gyakushu"! My transliteration is therefore absolutely legitimate.
August Ragone
Showa GAMERA Special Features Producer
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