Blade Licking Thieves Podcast #25 – Shin Godzilla

Download Link – Episode 25: Shin Godzilla

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Introduction + News (0:00)

• We talk about Netflix’s Castlevania.
• The depressing news of Godzilla suit actor Haruo Nakajima’s death.

Review (20:40):

Released in 2016 (a full twelve years after Godzilla: Final Wars), Shin Godzilla marks the third reboot of the franchise as the eponymous lizard stomps his way across modern Japan with the Japanese government racing to stop him.  It’s a well worn plot by this point, yet the film’s almost singular focus on the tumultuous bureaucratic response to the crisis — rather than, say, around a few core characters — makes for something that feels fresh and new, while also giving writer and director Hideaki Anno ample time to take aim at the bureaucratic morass that is Japanese government.  As for Godzilla himself — courtesy of veteran VFX director Shinji Higuchi and a new design by Mahiro Maeda — probably not since his original outing in Gojira (1954) has the creature looked so terrifyingly monstrous.

Links:

• Shin Godzilla Blu-ray / DVD / Digital 
• Return of Godzilla / Godzilla 1984 Blu-ray | DVD.
• Original Godzilla – Criterion Collection Blu-ray | DVD.
• Podcast #13 – Godzilla vs. Biollante
• Podcast #7 – Return of Godzilla
• Last we checked Shinji Higuchi’s Gamera Trilogy is available on Blu-ray for ridiculously low prices.  We reviewed all three Gamera films on previous episodes of the show: Gamera: Guardian of the Universe |  Gamera 2: Attack of Legion | Gamera 3: The Revenge of Iris.
• Hideaki Anno’s short: Giant God Warrior Appears in Tokyo.

If you have questions or comments about the show, please feel free to shoot us an Email or leave a comment below.

Thanks for listening!

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Blade Licking Thieves Spotlight #3: Kaijumax with Zander Cannon

 

Download Link – Spotlight #3 – Kaijumax with Zander Cannon

Apologies in advance for some of this episode’s audio issues.

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We recently had the special privilege of talking with American cartoonist, and Eisner award winning comic author and artist, Zander Cannon about his wonderful series Kaijumax.  A uniquely original prison drama about life on the inside, where the inmates just so happen to be giant monsters a.k.a. Kaiju, Kaijumax is an insanely hilarious comic mashup that’s absurd, gross, hilarious, heartfelt, and filled with enough parodies, homages, and references to please and amuse everyone from battle hardened fans of Kaiju and Tokusatsu to relative newbies alike.

Our conversation together covers Kaijumax, drawing and writing comics, favorite Kaiju films, and a whole heapin’ lot of Toku talk:

00:00 – KaijuMax
32:03 – On creating your own comic
37:52 – What’s next for KaijuMax
41:37 – Tokusatsu discussion
1:17:45 – Twitter questions

You can read a preview of Kaijumax #1 here.

Digital versions are available at Oni-Press and Comixology. Print versions can be found at your local comic shop or available in trade paperback: Kaijumax Season 1 and Kaijumax Season 2. You can find Zander’s other work, including Double Barrel and Heck, over at Top Shelf Comix.

Major thanks again to Zander for being on the show.

If you have questions or comments about the show, please feel free to shoot us an Email or leave a comment below.

Thanks for listening!

 

Blade Licking Thieves Podcast #13 – Godzilla vs. Biollante

Download Link – Episode 13: Godzilla vs Biollante

Drop us an Email.  Find Grant on Twitter.  Subscribe on iTunes!

Intro and News (00:00):

Lamentations on the Winter 2017 anime season, Netflix, and Amazon’s Anime Strike.

Review (34:00):

Two monsters, created by science gone awry, go head to head in the second Godzilla film of the Heisei era: Godzilla vs Biolante.  This follow up to Return of Godzilla or Godzilla 1984, which we reviewed in episode 7, arrived five years after the release of the previous film had under-performed at the box office.  Looking for fresh ideas to revitalize the somewhat moribund franchise, producers at Toho held a public contest in search of a script.  The winning entry, written by a dentist named Shinichiro Kobayashi with a script that largely sidelined the franchise’s typical anti-nuclear bent in favor of a new focus on the emerging threat posed from bio-technology, was heavily rewritten by Director Kazuki Omori to include spies, assassins, and corporate espionage.  The resulting film is a truly a bizarre mishmash of ideas: espionage, deadly assassins, fictional middle eastern countries, mad science, ESPers, military super weapons, and, of course, awesome Kaiju action — it’s a hell of a ride!

Links:

• Godzilla vs Biollante Blu-ray | DVD
• Return of Godzilla / Godzilla 1984 Bluray | DVD |Trailer
• Shin Godzilla on Bluray / DVD / Digital  | Trailer
• Blade Licking Thieves Podcast #25 – Shin Godzilla
• Blade Licking Thieves Podcast #7 – Return of Godzilla

If you have questions or comments about the show, please feel free to shoot us an Email or leave a comment below.

Thanks for listening!

 

 

Blade Licking Thieves Podcast #8 – Gamera 3: The Revenge of Iris

Download Link – Episode 8: Gamera 3 Revenge of Iris

Drop us an Email.  Check out Grant on twitter.  Subscribe on iTunes.

Random talk (00:00: 

Ultraman Orb, video game Engrish, wrestling, Macross, Power Rangers 

News (26:10):

• Grant’s thoughts on the new Power Rangers movie trailer
• Animator Mai Matsuura worries about the number of anime shows being made (70 this season)
• Lawyer says horrendous animator wages may not be legal
• Eiichiro Oda admits drawing One Piece may kill him

Review (56:30)

We watch Gamera 3: The Revenge of Iris from 1999, the final film in the Heisei Gamera trilogy.

Links:

• The Gamera Movie Trilogy Bluray
• Our review for Gamera 2: Attack of Legion
• Our review for Gamera 3: The Revenge of Iris
• Our review for Shinji Higuchi’s Shin Godzilla

If you have questions or comments about the show, please feel free to shoot us an Email or leave a comment below.

Thanks for listening!

Blade Licking Thieves Podcast #7 – Return of Godzilla

Download Link – Episode 7: Return of Godzilla

Drop us an Email.  Check out Grant on twitter.  Subscribe on iTunes.

What we’ve been watching (00:00):

• JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Legend of Korra, DC Animated Universe, Space Brothers, Southern Cross, Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress
• Southern Cross’s “Cosmic Deja Vu“  might be the most appropriately titled opening theme song ever.

News (36:15):

• Thirty Six years of Japanese Power Rangers
• Grant’s pretty excited for the Thunderbolt Fantasy season 2 announcement
• Takashi Miike to direct a JoJo’s Bizzarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable film
• They didn’t listen: CrunchyRoll and Funimation begin to cross the streams
• And anime made 12% more money in 2015

Finally, we review (at 1:06:13) Heat’s favorite Godzilla film, Return of Godzilla. Directed by Koji Hashimoto, the film, released in 1984, was the first in the Heisei Series.

Links: 

• Return of Godzilla / Godzilla 1984 Blu-ray | DVD.
• Original Godzilla – Criterion Collection Blu-ray | DVD.
• Shin Godzilla Blu-ray / DVD / Digital | Our Review
• Godzilla vs Biollante Blu-ray | DVD | Our Review

If you have questions or comments about the show, please feel free to shoot us an Email or leave a comment below.

Thanks for listening!

Talkin’ Toku

Tokusatsu is an enormous component of worldwide media fandom, and its visibility has increased drastically in recent years. Before I get into some more US-centric news in upcoming posts, I want to lay down a few key terms that run through tokusatsu so that everyone is on the same page.

Tokusatsu – A term that essentially means “special filming,” and roughly refers to anything that involves special effects and would be categorized in the west as science fiction/fantasy. For most people, tokusatsu is “live action things which are exciting and cool.” If you watch an eastern program that has live actors and some things that you want to own a toy or figure of, then it is probably tokusatsu.

Daikaiju – This basically translates to “great monster” or a rough equivalent. This is explicitly referring to film series like Godzilla, Mothra, Gamera, and other giant monster movies. In the west we often simply say kaiju, though in Japanese that term is broad enough to encompass any monster from a werewolf to King Ghidorah.

Sentai – This term means “task force,” and the is part of the title of Toei’s long-running series. This basically refers to the familiar teams of primary colored spandex superheroes.

Henshin – This can mean “transformation” or “metamorphosis” and refers to any hero switching from their normal form into a their hero mode. The ultimate example of this trope is Kamen Rider, who shouts henshin before changing into his heroic self.

With our vocabulary lesson finished, here is a ridiculous video to whet your appetite for more spandex, explosions, and monsters – the glorious train-themed Ressha Sentai ToQger.

 

Blade Licking Thieves Podcast #5 – Gamera 2: Attack of Legion

Download Link – Episode 5: Gamera 2 Attack of Legion

Drop us an Email.  Check out Grant on twitter.  Subscribe on iTunes.

Show Notes:

• Brief Ultraman Orb impressions from Grant, which you can watch for free here: http://www.crunchyroll.com/ultraman-orb
• Shout outs and blog talk.
• Funimation’s Kickstarter for the Vision of Escaflowne Bluray with new English Dub comes out next month.  Here’s the trailer featuring the new dub cast.  Also, the super swag collector’s edition, which Zen has pre-ordered, is still available at Rightstuf.
• Super Dimensional Fortress Macross appears on Amazon Prime; Harmony Gold talk follows.
• Our thoughts on Attack on Titan Season 2, Space Battleship Yamato 2202, and the new Godzilla anime announcements.
• Finally, the 90s Gamera trilogy continues with our review of Gamera 2: Attack of Legion (starts at 36:31) from 1996.

Links:

• The Gamera Movie Trilogy Bluray
• Our review for Gamera: Guardian of the Universe
• Our review for Gamera 3: The Revenge of Iris
• Our review for Shinji Higuchi’s Shin Godzilla

If you have questions or comments about the show, please feel free to shoot us an Email or leave a comment below.

Thanks for listening!