SUPER FESTIVAL 77! Returning to Tokyo's Premier Toy Show!

Kikaider star Daisuke Ban signs autographs. Photo by Brett Homenick. 

Today, I made a special trip to Super Festival 77, and while it was nice to do a bit of looking around, once again I found the experience a bit lacking. Naturally, I showed up in the afternoon (no way am I waking up early on a Sunday morning for toys!), so it's entirely possible that I missed all the good stuff by the time I wandered in. Still, I was in and out in what seemed like record time. Other than bumping into director Minoru Kawasaki and a few others, gone were most of the familiar faces I'm used to seeing there. Ah, well. Maybe the next one will be more to my liking. Anyway, here's what I saw.

Sizing Up Sazer X

Kazuki Omori and Hiromi Eguchi. Photo by Brett Homenick. 

For the first time, I took in a screening of Sazer X: The Movie (2005), which reunited the talents of Kazuki Omori in the director's chair and Koichi Kawakita handling the SFX. The 35mm print looked great, but I wish I could say the same about the movie. It reminded me less of the Heisei Godzilla series and more of random Sunday morning Super Sentai programs.

 Kazuki Omori. Photo by Brett Homenick.

The event brought together director Kazuki Omori and one of the film's stars, Hiromi Eguchi. Eguchi-san is probably best known for playing Shion in Keita Amemiya's Garo: Red Requiem (2010), as well as having appeared in episodes of various Garo TV series. She also acts in episode 29 of Ultraman Max (2005-06). She's also one of the few guests I've met at such events who is actually younger than I am.

Miyoko Yoshimoto. Photo by Brett Homenick. 

Although she wasn't officially part of the festivities, actress/singer Miyoko Yoshimoto was on hand. She appears in Ultraman Tiga: The Final Odyssey (2000) as Camearra (a.k.a. Kamila), but she's certainly much nicer in person than her character in that film.

All in all, I enjoyed my time at the event, and it's always worthwhile visiting Kazuki Omori. Many thanks to all those who made today's event one for the history books!