Heisei Gamera Tokusatsu DNA, Part II!

Legion is ready to attack! Photo by Brett Homenick.

The second part of my pictures from the Heisei Gamera Tokusatsu DNA exhibit at Tokyo Tower. Enjoy!

Heisei Gamera Tokusatsu DNA, Part I!

Heisei Gamera Tokusatsu DNA! Photo by Brett Homenick.

Earlier today, I returned to Tokyo Tower to check out the Heisei Gamera Tokusatsu DNA exhibit that runs through the end of the month. Here's the first part of what I saw. Enjoy!

Actor Hiroyuki Watanabe Passes Away at Age 66

Actor Hiroyuki Watanabe in June 2016. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Actor Hiroyuki Watanabe passed away on May 3 at age 66. He was found hanging in his home, but no further details are available at this time. 

Born in Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture, on December 9, 1955, Mr. Watanabe would make his big-screen debut in the film On the Road (1982), which would lead to a lengthy career in film and television.

Prior to that, however, he auditioned for, but didn't get cast as, the lead role of the series Kamen Rider Super-1 (1980-81). He would eventually get to play Kamen Rider Gaoh in Kamen Rider Den-O: I'm Born! (2007), which made him the oldest actor to play a Kamen Rider at the time.

During his acting career,  Mr. Watanabe appeared in all three of the Heisei Gamera films as Col. Ono, as well as GMK: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001) as Yutaka Hirose. He was also a series regular on Ultraman Gaia (1998-99) as Akio Ishimuro, among various other tokusatsu films and TV programs.

I met Mr. Watanabe just once, which was in June 2016. He was a friendly guy and very easy to speak with. As he had been studying it for a few years, he could communicate in English quite well. As an actor, his career touched the Godzilla, Gamera, Ultraman, and Kamen Rider series -- a very rare feat. 

Rest in peace, Mr. Watanabe.

Catching Gamera: The Guardian of the Universe on the Big Screen!

Poster art for Gamera: The Guardian of the Universe (1995) at Shibuya Humax Cinema. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Today, I went to Shibuya Humax Cinema to catch an evening screening of Gamera: The Guardian of the Universe (1995). I haven't been back to a movie theater since they closed back in April, and it's always fun to take in a kaiju movie, so I decided to check it out.

The only downside is that it wasn't a 35mm print. Instead, a 2K digital print (from a 4K remaster) was shown, and it looked great on the big screen.  

The skyline around Shibuya Station has changed quite a bit in recent months. Photo by Brett Homenick. 

I can't remember the last time I saw the film in its entirety, but it might have been the late 1990s. While the Heisei Gamera trilogy has long been a fan favorite, with many fans declaring the it some of the best (if not the best) Japanese monster movies of all time, I never felt the same. That said, despite not having seen it for years, I'd always considered G:GOTU my favorite of the three, so I was curious to see if my opinion of the film would change.

A familiar location from the Godzilla and Gamera series. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Overall, I would say that it didn't. I still consider it my favorite of the three. It was well made by director Shusuke Kaneko, and while the SFX are quite ambitious for their time, a lot of them just don't hold up very well at all. While I'm offering some criticism, I should add that none of the principal characters was all that interesting or compelling. I also started to get a little bored in the second half of the film when the monsters weren't onscreen.

Those points aside, I still enjoyed the movie. (I just don't rate it as highly as most others.) Anyway, I'm glad to have had the chance to see it on the big screen, which is really the only way to see these flicks. 

Shibuya Humax Cinema is also screening Shin Godzilla (2016), but that was an easy pass for me. Haven't seen it since it opened and don't plan to change that any time soon.

TOKUSATSU DNA RETURNS! The Heisei Gamera Series Is Brought into Focus!

The entrance to Tokusatsu DNA's Heisei Gamera exhibit. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Earlier tonight, I visited the Tokusatsu DNA Heisei Gamera exhibit in Kamata, Tokyo. Naturally, I didn't enjoy it as much as last year's exhibit (the Heisei Gamera series is not my bag), but it was still quite cool to see props, suits, maquettes, and everything else from those films. There was a small section dedicated to the Showa Gamera and even Daimajin series, which was the highlight for me. I just wish there was a lot more to see. In any event, the exhibit was very well done, so let's check out some of the highlights.