Mostly about Machineman
May. 28th, 2010 09:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sennetariLife around here has slowly gone back to normal, so maybe I might post more than one post every four months...
Haven't been watching much toku or anything lately. (More than half a year behind on the weekly stuff.) I have the Ultra Galaxy movie, which I still haven't watched since I haven't really seen Ultra Galaxy, and I'm afraid I might be lost if I don't catch all the references (well, more like I don't want to get spoiled, at all).
Anyway, I want to try to go back to toku again, so I figured I'd start with some old school stuff. For no particular reason I picked Machineman (Seiun Kamen Machineman), and somehow it has become my newest obsession. Which is strange since I'd seen this series years ago and liked it fine but never felt like it was anything really special. Watching it all in Japanese back then didn't help I suppose. As for this time, I still watch it raw (well, it can't be helped), but it seems like I actually understand it a little bit more than I did last time. Youtube is missing episodes 17, 19, 20, so I loaded up Portuguese dubbed (Brazilian version I suppose) to watch, though I would prefer Japanese voice since I can at least catch a little of what they say.
I think Machineman is...well...rather cheesy, but I really like it. Perhaps one of the reasons it appeals to me is (I read somewhere) that the series creators seemed to borrow elements from Western superheroes like Superman (hero is an alien, wears glasses in his civilian identity, and his cloak), Batman (all his gadgets), and Zorro (his sword, and how he slashes a 'z' with it). And oh, I think the hero and the photographer (journalist?) lady he always hangs out with are cute together. ::points to this journal's header::
One thing this series has that I haven't seen in other toku series is the postcard corner where the hero and his sidekick answer fan mails. I always love behind the scene stuff so I naturally love this segment. Well, technically it's not really behind the scene since the heroes still act in character, but I always welcome more explanation of what's going on in the series. One such explanation is why the hero can't tell anyone of his identity. He said something like (my Japanese knowledge is just barely there, so this might not be accurate) he would like to blend in with the humans, so it's probably better if he doesn't tell anyone he's a superhero. (Personally, I think that's not the real reason, but hey, that's what they want the viewers to believe.) Another one is why he has to take off his glasses when he transforms into Machineman. Wouldn't he be able to see? I think he said something like his eyes are actually good and he wears glasses to 'transform' into a normal human being. He takes off his glasses when transforming back because it would interfere with his fighting the bad guys.
I'll probably write more on Machineman, but that's all I have for now...
EDIT:Yeah, forgot, a subbed first episode of Machineman (not my link), in case anyone is interested in checking this series out, but I have to say I might be the last person to find out that it has been subtitled at all.
EDIT 2: (Um, next time I'll try one post per one show. And this would be the last edit I make, hopefully.)
Ah, some first season Ultra Galaxy subs (probably HK subs) actually exist (well, I've been out of touch for so long), so I guess I'll at least try watching the first few episodes, and will see how things go from there...
Haven't been watching much toku or anything lately. (More than half a year behind on the weekly stuff.) I have the Ultra Galaxy movie, which I still haven't watched since I haven't really seen Ultra Galaxy, and I'm afraid I might be lost if I don't catch all the references (well, more like I don't want to get spoiled, at all).
Anyway, I want to try to go back to toku again, so I figured I'd start with some old school stuff. For no particular reason I picked Machineman (Seiun Kamen Machineman), and somehow it has become my newest obsession. Which is strange since I'd seen this series years ago and liked it fine but never felt like it was anything really special. Watching it all in Japanese back then didn't help I suppose. As for this time, I still watch it raw (well, it can't be helped), but it seems like I actually understand it a little bit more than I did last time. Youtube is missing episodes 17, 19, 20, so I loaded up Portuguese dubbed (Brazilian version I suppose) to watch, though I would prefer Japanese voice since I can at least catch a little of what they say.
I think Machineman is...well...rather cheesy, but I really like it. Perhaps one of the reasons it appeals to me is (I read somewhere) that the series creators seemed to borrow elements from Western superheroes like Superman (hero is an alien, wears glasses in his civilian identity, and his cloak), Batman (all his gadgets), and Zorro (his sword, and how he slashes a 'z' with it). And oh, I think the hero and the photographer (journalist?) lady he always hangs out with are cute together. ::points to this journal's header::
One thing this series has that I haven't seen in other toku series is the postcard corner where the hero and his sidekick answer fan mails. I always love behind the scene stuff so I naturally love this segment. Well, technically it's not really behind the scene since the heroes still act in character, but I always welcome more explanation of what's going on in the series. One such explanation is why the hero can't tell anyone of his identity. He said something like (my Japanese knowledge is just barely there, so this might not be accurate) he would like to blend in with the humans, so it's probably better if he doesn't tell anyone he's a superhero. (Personally, I think that's not the real reason, but hey, that's what they want the viewers to believe.) Another one is why he has to take off his glasses when he transforms into Machineman. Wouldn't he be able to see? I think he said something like his eyes are actually good and he wears glasses to 'transform' into a normal human being. He takes off his glasses when transforming back because it would interfere with his fighting the bad guys.
I'll probably write more on Machineman, but that's all I have for now...
EDIT:
Ah, some first season Ultra Galaxy subs (probably HK subs) actually exist (well, I've been out of touch for so long), so I guess I'll at least try watching the first few episodes, and will see how things go from there...
