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Post by Jesse on Jun 26, 2017 13:49:48 GMT -5
I don't know if anyone else has watched the 1979 Japanese Spider-Man TV series but I recently checked it out and thought it was a lot of crazy fun. Marvel released the English subtitled versions of all 41 episodes on their official website some years back for those interested and there's also a DVD boxset. I wasn't actually aware of this show until I read an issue of the Spider-Verse event that featured the character. I've only watched 8 or 9 episodes so far and some out-of-order like one where Spider-Man fights a very Ben Grimm looking monster. I plan to watch the rest of the series when I get the chance and am in the mood.
In this series Spider-Man is a motorcycle racer Takuya Yamashiro who is given spider powers by a dying alien named Garia which he uses to avenge the death of his father by the series villain Professor Monster. Spider-Man also has a flying car called "The Spider Machine GP-7" and a spaceship named "The Marveller" that transforms into the giant robot "Leopardon". Spider-Man fights monsters called Machine Bems which are part of Professor Monster's Iron Cross Army.
I could never really get into the Americanization of Super Sentai but I do enjoy stuff like Ultraman and Showa era Godzilla so I thought I'd start checking out more of the original Japanese versions of some of these shows. My interest was peaked after watching a fan made documentary series called "It's Henshin Time! The History of Super Sentai & Power Rangers" on youtube. The third part of which shows interviews with Stan Lee talking about developing the Spider-Man TV series with the Toei Company in Japan.
The next thing I checked out were the first two episodes of the original Kamen Rider in which the character is turned into a cyborg and then fight a man-spider mutant and in the next episode a bat themed monster. I also watched part of the first episode of a series called Taiyo Sentai Sun Vulcan which is essentially a predecessor of the Power Rangers. I've heard this is the best series of the franchise and what I've seen was pretty decent. The show that impressed me the most was the first episode of Choujinki Metalder. The android is pretty cool looking and right from the start we are introduced to the villain God Neros and his evil army. I don't think I've seen so many characters in costume all at once before.
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Roquefort Raider
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jun 26, 2017 14:20:09 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Jun 26, 2017 14:34:59 GMT -5
I have seen three of these shows and they are so bizarre that I find it not to my liking and geared to the kids from the ages of 9 to 13; mainly boys nothing more and nothing less. That's all that I have to say about it.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 27, 2017 22:02:26 GMT -5
I don't know if anyone else has watched the 1979 Japanese Spider-Man TV series but I recently checked it out and thought it was a lot of crazy fun. Marvel released the English subtitled versions of all 41 episodes on their official website some years back for those interested and there's also a DVD boxset. I wasn't actually aware of this show until I read an issue of the Spider-Verse event that featured the character. I've only watched 8 or 9 episodes so far and some out-of-order like one where Spider-Man fights a very Ben Grimm looking monster. I plan to watch the rest of the series when I get the chance and am in the mood. In this series Spider-Man is a motorcycle racer Takuya Yamashiro who is given spider powers by a dying alien named Garia which he uses to avenge the death of his father by the series villain Professor Monster. Spider-Man also has a flying car called "The Spider Machine GP-7" and a spaceship named "The Marveller" that transforms into the giant robot "Leopardon". Spider-Man fights monsters called Machine Bems which are part of Professor Monster's Iron Cross Army. I could never really get into the Americanization of Super Sentai but I do enjoy stuff like Ultraman and Showa era Godzilla so I thought I'd start checking out more of the original Japanese versions of some of these shows. My interest was peaked after watching a fan made documentary series called "It's Henshin Time! The History of Super Sentai & Power Rangers" on youtube. The third part of which shows interviews with Stan Lee talking about developing the Spider-Man TV series with the Toei Company in Japan. The next thing I checked out were the first two episodes of the original Kamen Rider in which the character is turned into a cyborg and then fight a man-spider mutant and in the next episode a bat themed monster. I also watched part of the first episode of a series called Taiyo Sentai Sun Vulcan which is essentially a predecessor of the Power Rangers. I've heard this is the best series of the franchise and what I've seen was pretty decent. The show that impressed me the most was the first episode of Choujinki Metalder. The android is pretty cool looking and right from the start we are introduced to the villain God Neros and his evil army. I don't think I've seen so many characters in costume all at once before. Knew of it for a while; I read something about it back in the 80s. Saw stills and clips later, though I haven't seen full episodes. However, I have an affinity for some of this. When I was young, I spent a week at my grandparents, who got a tv station from Chicago, which had a weekday afternoon block of almost entirely Japanese programs: Speed Racer ran every day and three days of the week they had Ultraman (M, W, F) and two (T, TH) they had Johnny Sokko. I loved the stuff. Later, I got to watch Dynaman (also from Toei) an USA Cable's Night Flight. It was one of the earlier Super Sentai shows, redubbed as a comedy, about a pair of evil record producers and their band, the Lizards, who are opposed by Dynaman and their gadget watches. I believe the people behind it were Canadian and a few of the Kids in the Hall cast members did some voices. They did 6 episodes which were a scream. I got ahold of some Kamen Rider X episodes at a convention, then some of Kamen Rider Black RX, with a big crossover with all of the previous Kamen Riders (Kamen Rider 1 and 2, Kamen Rider V3, Kamen Rider X, Kamen Rider Amazon, Kamen ZX, Sky Rider, Kamen Rider Stronger, Kamen Rider Super One and Kamen Rider Black). The person I got them from had other Japanese shows and I ended up getting JACQ Dengekitai (aka JACQers), with a crossover with the original Sentai heroes, Go Rangers), Kamen Rider Black, Kamen Rider ZO (a movie, of which footage was used in Saban's Masked Rider, along with footage from both Kamen Rider Black and Kamen Rider Black RX), Chojin Sentai Jetman (a Super Sentai series directly based on Gatchaman, which inspired the concept, in the first place), Ultraman vs Kamen Rider (a documentary, with a team-up, at the end), and the Gatchaman animated movie (a feature edited from 3 episodes, with new opening footage, showing how Sosai X came to Earth and created the mutant Berg Katse), which preceded the debut of Gatchaman II, on Japanese tv (which, along with Gatchaman Fighter, became Saban's Eagle Riders). There have been multiple team-ups of various Kamen Riders, Ultra brothers and Super Sentai teams over the years, that makes a meeting of the Legion of Superheroes seem like an intimate affair. The Lethargic Lad comic had Spider-San, who was the Japanese Spider-Man, complete with robot. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 27, 2017 22:13:50 GMT -5
ps, if you want a bunch of guys running around in costume, watch the Mexican Lucha movie Champions of Justice (Los Campeones Justicieros). It features Blue Demon, Mil Mascaras, Medical Asesino, Black Shadow, Tinieblas, and Sombra Vengadora. They each sponsor a contestant in a beauty pageant, targeted by a mad scientist, and battle his henchmen. Its like the Justice League of Lucha Libre.  They even battle dwarves!  Heroes to the rescue...  Cruisin' with their ladies...  |
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Post by Jesse on Jul 3, 2017 17:44:56 GMT -5
I have seen three of these shows and they are so bizarre that I find it not to my liking and geared to the kids from the ages of 9 to 13; mainly boys nothing more and nothing less. That's all that I have to say about it. I think that's why I found Power Rangers unappealing when it first came out here in the states. Maybe it was just past my time for me to enjoy something like that. There are several elements to it though that I do enjoy in other media; kaiju, giant robots, martial arts, superheroes, etc. The only reason I became interested in Super Sentai initially was researching some manga creators and finding the connection between the two. |
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Post by Batflunkie on Jul 3, 2017 20:30:37 GMT -5
I've been in love with Super Sentai and Kamen Rider since I was a kid. Recently they've started changing things up by having Sentai writers work on Kamen Rider and Kamen Rider writers work on Sentai. I guess that explains why the past season (Zyuohger) and the current (Kyuranger) season of Sentai have been so good and why Kamen Rider seems to have fallen into an absolute rut of mediocrity since Gaim
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Jul 3, 2017 20:52:58 GMT -5
It's definitely a lot better than I expected it to be, and leaps and bounds better than its American counterpart. Granted, it's barely Spider-Man, but I agree that it's very entertaining. The Power Rangers we all know and (sometimes) love today might not have come to be if it hadn't been for this series.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 3, 2017 23:50:56 GMT -5
The early Sentai shows were a bit more serious and had more direct action, rather than the mecha vs monster battles. The series was inspired by Kagaku Ninjatai Gtachaman (Science Ninja Team Gatchaman) aka Battle of the Planets, aka G-Force, Guardians of Space (sort of aka Saban's Eagle Riders). The original sentai series, Himetsu Sentai Go Ranger (Secret Task Force 5 Ranger) drew on that template. Theu had color-coded costumes, transformed into super form, had a unique vehicle and weapon, and, later, a mothership. That carried over until battle Fever J, when they started the Super Sentai format. As time wore on, they aimed at younger kids.
Kamen Rider was always a bit more mature, though Go Rangers and JACQers were pretty comparable. If you wanted more action and less kiddie stuff, Kamen Rider, Ultraman, and Kikaider were the way to go. Personally, I always preferred Johnny Sokko (Giant Robo, in Japan) to Ultraman and the other Ultra brother shows. Tsuburaya, who did the Ultra shows, also did the Godzilla effects and their focus was heavily on model work (lots of fighter craft and unique vehicles, and the giant monster wrestling. However, the formula was pretty much the same: Ultraman got kicked around a bit, got in a few licks, was on the ropes when he would remember his super weapon, as his timer was going off. Kamen Rider had a tendency to end fights the same way; but, they varied them a bit more. Plus, you got the fight with the minions, then the fight with the main baddie. That usually built along the series until KR went up against the Big Chief, after dispatching the lieutenants.
They also did movies and specials, where the previous incarnations teamed up with the current hero(es). KR did several, as did the Ultra brothers, the Super Sentai, and the Metal Hero and Space Sheriff series.
Prior to the debut of the Spider-Man tv series, there had been a Spider-Man manga, with art by Ryoichi Ikegami, the artist behind Crying Freeman and Mai the Psychic Girl, with more mature content than the original US series. I've seen a couple of illustrations and Ikegami's work was fantastic (as it usually was). Marvel reprinted some of it in the late 90s.
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Post by Jesse on Jul 4, 2017 23:28:01 GMT -5
It's definitely a lot better than I expected it to be, and leaps and bounds better than its American counterpart. I remember watching the live action Amazing Spider-Man TV series as a kid and thinking "what the hell is this?" It's nowhere near the same quality as The Incredible Hulk series. I guess it's on par with the 1979 Captain America film though.  The Power Rangers we all know and (sometimes) love today might not have come to be if it hadn't been for this series. That's actually true. Spider-Man had a giant robot and fought kaiju before the Power Rangers. The fan documentary I mentioned earlier explains how production came about in detail. I thought that was really interesting. |
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Post by Jesse on Jul 4, 2017 23:32:01 GMT -5
Prior to the debut of the Spider-Man tv series, there had been a Spider-Man manga, with art by Ryoichi Ikegami, the artist behind Crying Freeman and Mai the Psychic Girl, with more mature content than the original US series. I've seen a couple of illustrations and Ikegami's work was fantastic (as it usually was). Marvel reprinted some of it in the late 90s. I've never heard of that but think it sounds interesting. I will have to look into finding a copy to read. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 5, 2017 9:45:10 GMT -5
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Post by Jesse on Sept 12, 2019 19:54:37 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Oct 2, 2019 16:09:54 GMT -5
In the Ready Player One novel, the main character picks Japanese Spider-Man's robot Leopardon as his ride. I remember watching some clips after I had read the book because it sounded so ridiculous.
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Post by Jesse on Nov 8, 2021 14:27:19 GMT -5
Started watching a few episodes of Dinosaur Squadron Zyuranger which most people recognize as Saban's Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Most of the aspects that I disliked about MMPR when it first deputed don't exist in the original which is free on Tubi for those interested. The sort of Saved By The Bell mixed with fighting monsters and bad humor never worked for me.
Zyuranger on the other hand is almost non stop action which is pretty fun and definitely makes me want to go back and watch some of the earlier Super Sentai series especially Taiyo Sentai Sun Vulcan.
Another series I'm enjoying is Ultra Q which features Toho-esque monsters of the week. The first episode is actually a Shows era Godzilla suit with more claws, horns, and fur added! Apparently this series is first from the studio that gave us Ultraman which is why I wanted to check it out first.
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