Prepare to be Blog-a-thon-ed upon…
VN is happy to join Japanese cinema bloggers from all over the globe November 3rd through the 10th for Wildground’s 2010 Blogathon. Yeah, that’s a word nowadays. Take that English! I’m finalizing an epic length look at essential black and … Continued
Oh ALIEN VS. NINJA, I knew you wouldn’t let me down…
I’m delighted – DEE-LIGHTED – to wrap up Monsters and Masks Month 2010 with an early review of Sushi Typhoon’s Alien vs. Ninja from action auteurs Seiji Chiba and Yuji Shimomura. This thing’s been a big hit at film festivals the … Continued
Ancient Astronauts and Stone Age Samurai in ZIPANG (part 2)
Alright, so Japan’s burliest sword goon and the cutest pistol-packin’ bounty huntress EVER have been whisked away to the magical land of gold along with a hundred ninja, their spy master, a circus troop and a lunatic cave man. Time … Continued
Ancient Astronauts and Stone Age Samurai in ZIPANG (part 1)
Colorful, crazy. Ambitious as hell. All over the place. Fun. Frustrating… All describe Kaizo Hayashi‘s 1990 epic Zipang, a positively wacked-out genre bending inter-dimensional adventure littered with exotic warriors and fantastic costumes. This thing is either hitting on every beat … Continued
JAGUMA in depth
The hit of last year’s Monsters and Masks Month was the aging collection of press stills from the 1961 Toei programmer Strike of the Jaguma (Kaiju Jaguma no Moshu). So this year I thought we’d take an in-depth look at the … Continued
Werewolves on Wires (Part 2)
A cheaper and more hastily produced sequel, Kibakichi 2 forgoes the wolf vs. samurai clan and whole village of monsters caliber of storyline in favor of a one-on-one conflict between the fanged hero and a female survivor of his same … Continued
Werewolves on Wires (Part 1)
A raggedy, reticent ronin meandering through the dusty Japanese wasteland letting his sword do the talking. Sounds all too familiar, but this particular bushido bum has a secret! Yep, he’s a mother fuckin’ werewolf!!! 2004 saw this promising follow-up to … Continued
KARASUTENGU KABUTO manga
Is there a more perfectly 80’s manga creator than Buichi Terasawa? His art – augmented by then fledgling computer graphics – oozes MTV, Nagel, neon, hair products. His samurai wore suit jackets with the sleeves pulled up; traditional garb filtered … Continued
More from DEAD RINGO
Many thanks to Eddie Mort for giving us some monster-ific shots from his in-development animated series Dead Ringo. This stuff is drawn from inspiration like The Samurai, Dororo and a huge stack of old ninja movies borrowed from yours truly, … Continued
Oni-masked villainess in EDO O KIRU V
Meet the “Demon Yasha” gang – a group of oni-themed, ninja-garbed, thieves and killers being chased down by one of feudal Edo’s many secret police forces in Edo O Kiru V. If you’re unfamiliar with 70’s and 80’s period cop … Continued