JW: Gumising! (gTG MP3)

In this episode, Kevin, Benji, and Josh sit down for a spoiler-laden review of the long, long, long-awaited new Hollywood quasi-hit Alita: Battle Angel! We jump right into comparisons between the movie, OVA, and original manga, so if you haven’t seen it yet, I recommend that you do that first…unless all you want from the podcast are passive-aggressive comments about Ghost in the Shell and the works of Mitsuru Adachi; in that case you’re golden. So, was the film able to please three grumpy old-school anime nerds? Listen to find out! (Spoilers: The answer is yes. Go see the movie.) https://maserpatrol.files.wordpress.com/2019/03/maser_patrol_podcast_41_-_battle_angel.mp3 Direct download As mentioned: First trailer for the movie in question: I forgot to mention how ace the music is in the OVA: Yukito Kishiro’s poster: The cast meets Kizuna Ai: Giving away actual cyborg arms seems like a pretty cool way to promote a film. …and of course:

Another guest spot on Kaiju Transmissions! This time I try to defend two very unpopular 1980s Koichi Kawakita special effects films from Toho, so it could be controversial! https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/ksfwc5/SJGunhed.mp3 Direct download

The second part of our Gridman podcast episode gets into the main focus: reviewing the new series SSSS Gridman. Spoiler: we liked it. Also, spoilers for the rest of the show. https://maserpatrol.files.wordpress.com/2019/01/maser_patrol_podcast_40b_-_gridman_pt2.mp3 Direct Download Show notes: They made a new suit for promotional purposes; compare old versus new: A trailer for SSSS Gridman: Ninja Slayer: Some of the familiar animation cuts: There’s a lot of Transformers mash-up stuff; here’s an example of how four members of a group in one episode are all based on different version of Jetfire. Mike Dent’s Twitter account is an invaluable resource for notes about each episode, as well as funny mash-ups like this: "Access Code: Let's Kick Some Giga-Butt!"#SSSS_Gridman pic.twitter.com/Ws7YDDcUID — Mach Dent (@Mach_Dent) November 2, 2018

In this episode, Kevin, Justin, Connor (earning our explicit tag), and Matt (of Kaiju Transmissions) sit down for a long round-table about the awesome recent anime series SSSS Gridman. We got carried away and went for a solid four hours, so the first part, here, will focus on the original Gridman the Hyper Agent, Denkou Choujin Gridman: The Demon King’s Counterattack, Superhuman Samurai Syber Squad, and Denkou Choujin Gridman: boys invent great hero. Look for the second half soon! https://maserpatrol.files.wordpress.com/2019/01/maser_patrol_podcast_40a_-_gridman_pt1.mp3 Download link Notes: The original: Syber Squad: Boys Invent Great Hero: If it wasn’t clear, “Yume no Hero” is beloved (we opened with the Katokutai cover): We intended to talk about the influence that Gridman appears to have had on Digimon, but then we forgot. Oh, well, there’s still plenty that was covered.

Forgot to mirror this here before, but I was on Kaiju Transmissions again… sort of. This was actually the first time I was ever on the show, but they’ve had it in the bag for a while (hence the five guest spots and a cameo in the interim). Anyway, it’s good timing with Netflix hype for Evangelion being pretty high. This is a two-parter, with the rest of it posted next. https://maserpatrol.files.wordpress.com/2018/12/Eva1.mp3 Direct download

Here’s the other half to that Kaiju Transmissions guest spot, talking about End of Evangelion now! https://maserpatrol.files.wordpress.com/2018/12/endofEva.mp3 Direct download

In honor of Halloween, author John LeMay stops by the podcast to talk about the Wolf Guy werewolf franchise from Masakazu Hirai. We discuss the novel, manga, Toho, Toei, and JC staff adaptations. It’s a howling good time. https://maserpatrol.files.wordpress.com/2018/10/maser_patrol_podcast_39_-_wolf_guy.mp3 direct download Notes: Many manga Novel Toho movie Toei movie (NSFW) JC Staff OVA series

Last month I showed up on Kaiju Transmissions for another guest spot, this time to talk about Godzilla the Series, which, as mentioned before, is just the best. Apologies for the delay in posting! Expect an actual Maser Patrol podcast shortly. https://maserpatrol.files.wordpress.com/2018/10/gts.mp3 Podcast Download Buy Godzilla the Series

Kaiju Transmissions just had their 100th episode! Not ones to do anything special for such a milestone, they instead decided to chat with me about the book and about obscure kaiju flicks in general. It’s cool for me to be a part of such podcast history, but hopefully everyone enjoys listening to it too! https://maserpatrol.files.wordpress.com/2018/09/kaiju-transmissions-kaijuforhipsters.mp3 Download

Windows updates were the Zetton to my computer’s Ultraman this Sunday, so I didn’t have any of my slides for the Ultraman panel at Anime Central. Fortunately, the crowd was great, and we were able to improvise something audio-only, even if it wasn’t exactly as advertised. On the plus side, this being a single audio file with no video, I could slap together something really quickly to put up as a podcast, so you’re actually getting this faster than if it was on YouTube like originally intended. (I’ll still probably do something for video down the road with the original presentation.) Enjoy! https://maserpatrol.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/maser_patrol_podcast_35_-_unstructured_ultraman.mp3 Download link

Oh, wow! I was on the Kaiju Transmissions podcast again! Go listen to Byrd, Matt, and I chatting about kaiju video games. Find out what we think should get a movie adaptation next after Rampage! https://kaijutransmissions.podbean.com/mf/download/qc7m6h/kaijutransmissions-music_-_4_13_18_7_15_PM.mp3 Download here

On my trip across the US, I stopped by Matt of Kaiju Transmissions‘ place, and we caught the new Pacific Rim: Uprising together. In lieu of an actual Maser Patrol podcast episode on the subject, I crashed their review, and you can hear it mirrored here… though, really, you should be subscribed to their feed as well, since that podcast is great. So get ready (war ready) for a long review about troubled production history, Chinese pandering, three prequel comics plus a novel, and a general sense of anticipated letdown! https://maserpatrol.files.wordpress.com/2018/04/kaijutransmissions-music_-_4_1_18_2_04_am.mp3 Download

On this episode, Kevin, Josh, Andy, and Justin completely sell out to a huge corporation as we discuss a handful of programs we’ve been following from the same behemoth, convention-defying content producer/distributor: the ever-popular Netflix. If you’re a Japanese media geek looking for recommendations on Netflix (and/or chill), you might want to check these out, and give this episode a listen if you want to hear our thoughts. Also, *SPOILER WARNINGS* on each entry discussed; if you don’t want to know key plot points, get your fast-forward button poised. https://maserpatrol.files.wordpress.com/2018/01/maser_patrol_podcast_34_-_casting_a_wide_netflix.mp3 Direct download Programs discussed: Voltron: Legendary Defender (~0:15-1:10) Castlevania (~1:10-1:20) Death Note (~1:20-1:50) Devilman Crybaby (~1:50-2:35) (I said “Ryo” a bunch of times when I meant Akira. Not sure what’s up with that; I’ll just plead demonic possession.) Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters (2:35-end) Also mentioned: Okja Mob Psycho 100 Blazing Transfer Students Erased Blame Knights of Sidonia Kong: King of the Apes

With the first of of Gou Tanabe’s HP Lovecraft manga adaptations, The Hound & Other Stories, fresh on US bookstore shelves, it seems like a good time to get a crash course on the impact of Lovecraft on Japanese genre fiction, and, of course, kaiju. Justin previously wrote the articles “The Cthulhu Mythos in Japan” and “Robot Lords of Tokyo: Lovecraftian Anime” for the Lovecraft ezine, so we sat down for a chat… which wound up taking eight hours! It sounds like folks prefer bite-sized recordings, so that’s been split up into four chapters for convenience. https://maserpatrol.files.wordpress.com/2017/08/maser_patrol_podcast_33d_-_lovecraft_in_japan_pt_4.mp3 Direct download Covered in Part 4: Demonbane Song of Saya Nyaruko: Crawling With Love Project Nemesis Kaijumax Gou Tanabe’s adaptations Of course, there’s plenty else out there that we neglected to mention. the upcoming Force of Will movie the claymation HP Lovecraft’s Dunwich Horror and Other Stories the hentai Mystery of the Necronomicon the Moe Moe Cthulhu Mythos Dictionary Princess Resurrection, whose opening credits starts with “That is not dead which can eternal lie, And with strange eons even death may die.” Bungo Stray Dogs, which has a character named after Lovecraft, who can turn into a tentacle monster The list goes on, but after eight hours it does get a little exhausting! The main point is, there’s quite a lot of influence to have, and like Nyarlathotep, it takes many forms.

With the first of of Gou Tanabe’s HP Lovecraft manga adaptations, The Hound & Other Stories, fresh on US bookstore shelves, it seems like a good time to get a crash course on the impact of Lovecraft on Japanese genre fiction, and, of course, kaiju. Justin previously wrote the articles “The Cthulhu Mythos in Japan” and “Robot Lords of Tokyo: Lovecraftian Anime” for the Lovecraft ezine, so we sat down for a chat… which wound up taking eight hours! It sounds like folks prefer bite-sized recordings, so that’s been split up into four chapters for convenience. https://maserpatrol.files.wordpress.com/2017/08/maser_patrol_podcast_33c_-_lovecraft_in_japan_pt_3.mp3 Direct download Covered in Part 3: Necronomicon Godzilla at World’s End Godzilla vs. Cthulhu in Famous Monsters of Filmland Is Pacific Rim a Lovecraftian movie? Archangel Thunderbird Junji Ito – Uzumaki and The Thing that Drifted Ashore Ken Asamatsu Queen of K’n-Yan Lairs of the Hidden Gods Daimajin Adventure

With the first of of Gou Tanabe’s HP Lovecraft manga adaptations, The Hound & Other Stories, fresh on US bookstore shelves, it seems like a good time to get a crash course on the impact of Lovecraft on Japanese genre fiction, and, of course, kaiju. Justin previously wrote the articles “The Cthulhu Mythos in Japan” and “Robot Lords of Tokyo: Lovecraftian Anime” for the Lovecraft ezine, so we sat down for a chat… which wound up taking eight hours! It sounds like folks prefer bite-sized recordings, so that’s been split up into four chapters for convenience. https://maserpatrol.files.wordpress.com/2017/08/maser_patrol_podcast_33b_-_lovecraft_in_japan_pt_2.mp3 Direct download Covered in Part 2: Masumune Shirow’s Orion Chiaki J Konaka’s works: Terror Rate, Shadow over Innsmouth, Marebito, Big O, Digimon Tamers, Armitage III Midnight Meat Train Lovecraft in Ultraman Shinji Nishikawa’s “Cthul Fight” is a parody of Ultra Fight.

With the first of of Gou Tanabe’s HP Lovecraft manga adaptations, The Hound & Other Stories, fresh on US bookstore shelves, it seems like a good time to get a crash course on the impact of Lovecraft on Japanese genre fiction, and, of course, kaiju. Justin previously wrote the articles “The Cthulhu Mythos in Japan” and “Robot Lords of Tokyo: Lovecraftian Anime” for the Lovecraft ezine, so we sat down for a chat… which wound up taking eight hours! It sounds like folks prefer bite-sized recordings, so that’s been split up into four chapters for convenience. https://maserpatrol.files.wordpress.com/2017/08/maser_patrol_podcast_33a_-_lovecraft_in_japan_pt_1.mp3 Direct download Covered in Part 1: Who was HP Lovecraft? What is Cthulhu Mythos? When was the mythos introduced to Japan, and why would it resonate? Footsteps of the Underground Matango Yokai Hunter Eko Eko Azarak Iczer 1 The Challenger to Great Old Ones Megami Tensei Check out a whole series of Lovecraft-inspired ukyoe prints here!

In this episode, Kevin and Benji have a chat about the wild genre filmography of the mad genius behind some iconic (yet under-represented stateside) Japanese fantasy flicks. If you read those A Space Godzilla translations (parts 1 & 2) and wondered what was up with its creator, here you can hear about a few of his works and get a taste for his eccentric style. https://maserpatrol.files.wordpress.com/2017/07/maser_patrol_podcast_30_-_fantastic_films_of_nobuhiko_obayashi.mp3 Download link Movies discussed: House Visitor in the Eye Adventures of Kosuke Kindaichi Targeted School Exchange Students The Girl Who Leapt Through Time Deserted City Kenya Boy Lonelyheart The Drifting Classroom The Discarnates Chizuko’s Younger Sister Haruka Nostalgy Samurai Kids ….and of course:

After that extensive countdown earlier in the year, we got to go see the new King Kong movie, Kong: Skull Island. In this episode, Kevin, Josh, Andy and Justin talk for longer than the movie’s run time, and mostly on the topic of the film, but veering into some general Kong-related (and tangentially, loosely related) topics as well. https://maserpatrol.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/maser_patrol_podcast_28_-_kong-skull_island.mp3 Direct download Show notes: Hollywood Reporter’s article on Thomas Tull’s Universal/Warner dealings for Kong Sonic’s “King Gong”: The statue that scandalized Paris: Some reading: Apes of Wrath, Kong: King of Skull Island, All Yesterdays, Dinomania King Caesar’s head: Van-Pires (watch at your own peril)

This episode is about goofy German movie posters, the ending of All Monsters Attack, rhinoceros sails, Charles Barkley doujinshi games, and the sexual dimorphism of Pokemon. Not that the likes of Kevin, Josh, Andy, and Justin could get distracted or off topic. But mostly, we talk about Shin Godzilla. We recorded on the topic previously in an attempt that we couldn’t use, so this one is a resurgence. “Personal service”, even. https://maserpatrol.files.wordpress.com/2016/10/maser_patrol_podcast_27_-_shin_godzilla.mp3 Direct download Persecution of the Asses! Spoilers abound, so beware. Things we didn’t mention: Amanda caught the movie in Japan recently, and despite the movie being several months into its theatrical run, there was a good-sized crowd. The theatrical booklet has a “beware of spoilers” band around it. Off mic we were drawing interesting parallels between the discourse on this movie and the backlash against what Eric Powell was trying to do with Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters. This movie is much better than that comic, but the attempts at socio-political commentary in the face of a recent natural disaster are there for both, love it or hate it. All that talk about Dr. Maki, and we never once mentioned that another Dr. Maki was in the movie! (Yu Kamio was also in Ultraman X, Higuchi’s Attack on Titan, Anno’s Ando Lloyd, not to mention all of the Rider/Sentai roles.) Also referenced: