Japanese Spider-Man

[Torgo]

Whew mamma. Finally obtained subtitled copies of the Japanese Spider-Man show. You know, the one where he has the giant robot.

I know pnly basicthings about it, so I'm not sure whether to expect Nicholas Hammond meets Ultraman or perhaps full on Power Rangers bullsh*t. I'm just sitting down to the first episode "Attack the Iron Cross Army!" and am ready to experience it.

Anynody see this show?

[afriendlychicken]

Is that the Japanese Spider Man show from the late 70's? If so, I saw it when I was a single digit lad, so I don't have much of a memory of it. We had, at that time, a channel that showed all the Japanese super hero TV programs. Robocon, The (original) Power Rangers which we in Hawai'i called the Five Rangers, Kamen Rider V3, Kikaida, Rainbow Man...

That's why I'm more familiar with Japanese super heroes than I am with American ones.

[Torgo]

That be the one. I don't think Japan ever revisited Spider-Man outside of it, unless he's in one of thos Marvel anime shows they just made.

[Mighty Jack]

I've seen youtube clips, and thought it as hilarious (even without sub titles)

[Torgo]

Well this certainly ranked a 9.5 on my WTF-o-meter. And I sat through Ghost Rider 2. Twice.

Origin summery, Peter "Takuya" Parker is obsessive of motorcycles. After this biting bit of character development, we find his Uncle Ben...er, father...has been killed by a dinosaur created by Professor Monster (the Kingpin was busy messing with Daredevil, so we had to make do with this guy). Seeking vengeance, Takuya fights putty patrollers or ninjas or something (I'm not sure what the f*** they're supposed to be) and is trapped in a cave where he meets a pushy old guy who gives him a chunky-assed bracelet, turns into a spider, and continues to mouth off at him. Spider-Man's costume pops out of the bracelet, he suits up and kicks some monster ass with his spaceship Marveller that turns into mega-robot Leopardon!

Yep. That's exactly what happened in the comics.

Funny effect shots:
Shot 1

Shot 2

Shot 3


All these shots appear in sequence depicting Spidey climbing the exact same building, and he's going straight up. I can already tell continuity isn't going to be this show's strong suit.

Funny subtitles:
(I sh*t you not, someone actually says this)

(I guess "Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man" wasn't punchy enough)


I have to ask, though, if the hero is SPIDER-Man, how come his giant robot is named after a leopard? What kind of bullsh*t is this?

Funny as hell though. I think I'll watch another tomorrow, as to not wear out its welcome.

[afriendlychicken]

If you're new to this, then welcome to the world of Tokusatsu children programming! Beware! You may shoot a few popcorn kernels out of your nose. Although, the Japanese aren't afraid to kill people in their children programming. In Kamen Rider V3, someone died in every episode. And there was one episode where a few thousand Tokyoite died of gas poisoning.

[Torgo]

I've seen the original Ultraman, other than that I grew up on Power Rangers, Superhuman Samurai, Beetleborgs, and a tiny bit of Masked Rider (I kinda got bored with that one). Not quite Tokusatsu, but the effects footage was there.

Oh and Godzilla. Lots and lots of Godzilla.

But even after all that, I wasn't prepared. I'm afraid to track down Zone Fighter, though I know I eventually will.

[TV's Cowboy]

Jun 14, 2012 1:10:45 GMT -5 afriendlychicken said:

If you're new to this, then welcome to the world of Tokusatsu children programming! Beware! You may shoot a few popcorn kernels out of your nose. Although, the Japanese aren't afraid to kill people in their children programming. In Kamen Rider V3, someone died in every episode. And there was one episode where a few thousand Tokyoite died of gas poisoning.

And then you got Zyuranger which had one of the villains(Dai Satan)blow toxic fumes at some innocent Japanese citizens, who you see die slow agonizing deaths along with some birds that are dropping out of the sky. Yeah, who'd a thunk that super sentai show would turn into the show that gave us Bulk and Skull.

I think Dairanger also had one of the characters destroy half of Tokyo(and it was a God that was neutral). When Power Rangers got a hold of the footage they just passed it off as another planet.

[Torgo]

Before watching further, I urged myself to watch something that at least vaguely resembled Spider-Man. So I popped in a DVD of the best series based on the character thusfar, Spectacular Spider-Man. Ah, that's the stuff. Especially a breath of fresh air after that MTV series broke wind in our faces. Too bad it didn't last more than two seasons. I'm over its cancellation, I still think it's total bullsh*t, but I'll deal. I still got 26 episodes to adore, and adore I do.

But back to the wacky adventures of Spider-Man and the Spider-Mecha-Leopard-Megazord.

This second episode, Strange World, starts off with stuff we've already seen before. But the first thing I noticed...



WHAT? We have a freelance photographer and it isn't Spider-Man? Japan, you suck.

Up next is beefy exposition that isn't interesting nor make much sense, about Spider-Man's bossy "mentor" (and I use the term loosely) Garia...



No, not Gaira, Garia...old guy that turned into a spider...



I dare you not to laugh.

Anyway, lots of crap dealing with his war with Professor Monster who destroyed "Planet Spider" (I'm assuming this is where the Giant Spider Invasion came from) and how he came to pass off his giant robot to some poor schmo on Earth.

After that it's all afterthought (assuming any thought was put into this at all. Spidey jumps into a pimped out Spider-Mobile...



(I miss the older model)



...and chases down a giant brain that likes to wreck trains. The brain jumps into the body of something that looks like a cross between Gigan and Gumby...



And here I thought all the good drugs were used in the making of Godzilla vs. Megalon.

Jumping around ensues, GiGumby grows to massive size, Spiderbot comes in and uses two moves on him before going for a kill shot.

I hope one of things proves to be a challenge, because outside of unintentional hilarity, there's nothing interesting going on.

[caucasoididiot]

Jun 16, 2012 2:13:29 GMT -5 Torgo said:

I dare you not to laugh.

I tried not to . . . really.


When were these made? I got introduced to Tokumei Sentai's current iteration, the Go Busters, and it is odd some of the stuff they think up. Yellow Buster's weak point is that she sometimes runs down and needs to eat a bunch of sweets to recharge, Blue Buster overheats and needs to be hosed down, while Red Buster goes into a sort of mind-lock if he sees a chicken . . . thankfully not that many wander around modern Tokyo.


Ever seen any Sukeban Deka? That was an '80s show that had a pretty high "Eh?" factor. The heroine is a delinquent schoolgirl forced by the government to fight crime, or they'll execute her imprisoned mother. They supply her with a weaponized yo-yo that flashes the National Police emblem when a secret button is pressed.

It's amazing just how many criminal conspiracies there are on Japanese high school campuses . . .

[Torgo]

I think late 70s. '78 if I were to guess the year without checking the source. I've read that the show's popularity surged the wave of Super Sentai that followed (and eventually Power Rangers), that featured the five multi-costumed heroes and their giant robots. I have limited knowledge of Sentai outside of their American incarnation so I have nothing to back that up, mind you.

Edit: Yep, it's 78. It says so in the opening. That must have been why the number was in my head.

[Torgo]

Maybe I'm getting used to it and/or getting soft, but the third episode, Phantom Thief 001 vs. Spider-Man, was more enjoyable for me as a whole. I hesitate to call it good, because it's still goofy as hell, but this is the first one to not cramp in origin stories for Spider-Man with a monster jumping out of nowhere to defeat.

This time, the evil Professor Monster comes up with an actual plan to vanquish Spider-Man (something other than throw monsters and the Chicken Men from Krankor at him...thought that's still a part of it)...



"My dream of becoming the world's greatest dancer! LOOK OUT BROADWAY!"
Travolta says there's only one thing to do when it happens...STRUT!
::cue Staying Alive::

His plan this time is to hire a Spider-Man impostor and ruin Spidey's reputation. Hey now! A storyline from the comics! I can get behind that! Who's going to do the impersonation?

Chameleon?


Mysterio?


It's going to be a random thief that cries like a baby whenever he gets caught.



They pin his robberies on Spider-Man and lure the webslinger into a trap, where a giant bug eyed monster with headlights tries to blind him. Spider-Man escapes with the thief where backstory is explained...



Apparently Phantom here was only robbing places to start his own circus so he could make the children happy.

You know, in my years reading comic books, I wish I could say this is the stupidest backstory I've ever heard, but in all brutal honesty it's probably not even bottom 5. But if he puts on a red vest, green underwear, starts following Spidey around, and calling himself Robin, then I'm done with the series.

Spidey scolds him, giant robot fights monster, we all live happily ever after...until next week!

[Torgo]

With the sound of "YEAH YEAH YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH WOW!" another exciting episode of Spider-Man! Tonight's episode: The Deadly Mer-Man!

Yeah...that sounds badass...about as much as the Iron Cross Chicken Putties look in those lab coats...



Professor Monster and his dominatrix sidekick come up with a plan to assassinate Spider-Man. So they put out an ad in the paper about his funeral.

So they have this master plan, and they decide to execute it by tipping him off? I'm starting to see why they keep losing.

Anyway, since the article Spider-Man keeps having bad dreams of dying in a waterfall. Could he be destined to die that week? If he is, this will be a short series.

Meanwhile, Professor Monster unleashes the Mer-Man on the public, who somehow manages to make the Dr. Z monster look frightening by comparison...



The Mer-Man starts killing civilians...no, no, NO! The plan was killing Spider-Man, dingleberry! Or are you just going to kill random people so eventually you find the right one?

Spider-Man fights the Mer-Man and is trapped in a cage so he can fight it to the death. After a bit of hopping around, Spider-Man escapes. And does the most heroic thing he can think of...decides to stay in bed all day so he won't die.



But he hears the screaming of his photographer girlfriend, so he goes to save her. Of course his battle with the Mer-Man leads to a waterfall, where he is about to plunge to his death.

Aha! A confusing montage of quick cuts save his life! Call in the giant robot to save the day!

Oh and one last thing...CORNJOB PATROL!

[Torgo]

EQUAL RIGHTS FOR SPIDER-MEN!

This episode was called Thundering Machine GP7. GP7, for those not in the know, is the name of Spider-Man's car in this show. I halfway expected some weird assed origin episode for the thing in this episode, but aside from several scenes he's seen driving it (no more than usual, I might add) this episode has nothing to do with it.

So in honor of the neglected...


What the episode is really about is the Iron Cross Army and some Robo-Parrot hitting a homeless kid with their van and Spider-Man rushes him to the hospital, saving his life with a transfusion. Now the blood of Spider-Man runs through the child as well. Cute story. Not nearly detailed enough, but it's a kids' show from Japan.



Say what you will about this series (and there's a lot to say if it doesn't leave you speechless), but the hyperactive Japanese style does wonders for Spidey's agility in the action scenes. Seeing how it was made during the same era as the Nicholas Hammond series, the differences between the liveliness between the two Spider-Men is night and day. Hell, some of the jumps put a CG enhanced Tobey Maguire to shame. The camera tricks are wild and fun too.



Overall the tone of the episode was a bit too serious and well-intentioned to adequately tease, despite probably the most doofy looking monster yet, so I think I'll leave this one alone.

But if I may say, I don't know why this image turns me on, it just does...

[Torgo]

While I haven't had time to watch an episode lately, I came across this, where it's listed with about 19 other silly superhero takes. Enjoy!