The 70's...I guess early punk wasn't that bad. I liked the Ramones and more polished stuff like Blondie better though. Usually if music doesn't have some kind of melody, I can'd listen to it....
Hello. Caught this mention of KIKAIDA, and I thought that I'd interject... since I watched the series on as a kid on the now defunct KEMO TV 20 in San Francisco back in 1975-1976. I moved to Tokyo in 1985 and got to meet many of my heroes in the Japanese film and television world, visited all of the studios, and did a lot of research. When KIKAIDA returned to Hawaii in 2001, I started working with JN Productions (formerly associated with KIKU-TV of Honolulu), and provided extensive on-screen liner notes for their KIKAIDA DVD series (nine volumes).*
Please take this the right way, regarding KIKAIDA having a "Godzilla" look:
There's not really a lot in common with the filming style of KIKAIDA and the Godzilla films of the 1970s (five films, starting with GODZILLA VS. HEDORAH in 1971, and ending with TERROR OF MECHAGODZILLA in 1975)... that's like saying that photography of THE FRENCH CONNECTION and THE STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO look the same. KIKAIDA was shot in Academy Ratio on 16mm, while the Godzilla films were shot 35mm Cinemascope. Huge difference, unless you're watching terrible dupes of said movies...
KIKAIDA was produced by Toei Television Productions and NET (now TV Asahi), and Toei was the leader in the production of original television programming, starting in 1959. Many famous Japanese series were produced by Toei, including KEY HUNTER, PLAYGIRLS, TOYAMA-NO KINSAN, ABARENBO SHOGUN and the venerable MITO KOMON.
But, for those curious about what the show is all about, please check out http://www.henshinonline.com/kikaida.html
BTW, the best Punk Rock was early Punk Rock: THE HEARTBREAKERS, THE DEAD BOYS, THE RAMONES, RICHARD HELL AND THE VOIDOIDS, THE STOOGES, CRIME, THE GEARS, X-RAY SPECS... hell, we can go further back to the Garage Punk movement of the 1960s, with the THE COUNT FIVE, THE SONICS, THE FIREBALLS, etc. But, music, like art and film, is subjective. (Leisure suits were the product of the mid-to-late 1970s in the US, KIKAIDA was made in 1971, and therefore has a decidedly late 1960s look). BTW, the series has some real bijin guest starts.
*Recently, I assisted on the English subtitle scripts for another 70s superhero series KAMEN (Masked) RIDER V3 for JN Productions. The 52-episode series is winding down on its first run on Oceanic Cable in Hawaii (the series will be available on DVD at the end of this year).
Anyhow, thanks for allowing me to digress... ;)[/i]
I didn't see the show when it first aired. But I know I'm gonna give it a look. (I was an Ultra Man nut in the '60's, so the look of a sci fi show from the '70's isn't gonna disturb me over much.)
And please, feel free to drop in any time. I love the kind of digression you just offered.
Just a follow up on the Imagin Asian TV conversation.
I got this reply to the email I sent them:
Hi Kevin,
Thank you for your enthusiastic response to our channel. It is a shame but cable systems have a virtual monopoly on most regions in the country. We have made numerous attempts with Comcast to make iaTV available to the entire Bay Area but to date they have not seen the need to carry a channel such as ours in their basic cable package. This may perhaps be due to their investment in AZN, a competitive Asian channel which have borrowed much of their programming concept and format from iaTV. While we presently have corporate deals in place for Charter and Time Warner, only continued pressure from customers such as yourself will make it possible for iaTV to be available in Comcast systems. For your sake, even though they are our direct competitor, I would encourage you to look into AZN as an alternative to pan-Asian programming. But please donft forget to encourage Comcast and even DirectTV and Echostar to carry iaTV in their basic package in the future.
Thanks,
Michael Hong
Chief Executive Officer
Now of course, none of our Comcast members seem to be getting Comcast's own AZN, so at least for now... I guess this is a dead end.
Geezer wrote:
Now of course, none of our Comcast members seem to be getting Comcast's own AZN, so at least for now... I guess this is a dead end.
Geez, I do get AZN, but not IATV. In terms of Japanese entertainment, their current drama (according to the online schedule) is Tokyo Wankei. And I'm assuming it's unsubbed if they are simply a reincarnation of the International Channel.
Jeez, it's annoying. My cable service is based out of Concord.
I used to get the International Channel on 240.
Then a couple of months ago... it just vanished.
Now I check my cable listings and find that AZN is on ch 240... and I checked the programming and discovered that it's pretty much the same as the old IC lineup.
But hey! Even though AZN is listed as being part of the lineup out of Concord... I don't get it.
No big loss. I hated Tokyo Wenkei. But I'm now convinced that Comcast is doing this just to tick me off personally.
Comcast is a giant hunk of a shit anyway. I used to watch a channel called TechTV...they swallowed it up in a takeover and turned it into a video game channel. Sounds like they did the same thing by turning the International Channel into AZN...trying to corner the market with what they want.
kitakaze, don't get me started on TechTV -> G4. I used to go to SF to watch the Screen Savers live. Comcast took the show and others and flushed them down the toilet.
But getting back to AZN. I don't really care if they force feed this channel to me. I just wish they would consider other stations (like IATV). Seriously, how much is the broadcast fee? I think the only way is for a local station to carry IATV. Then Comcast would have to put it on its must-carry list, right?
What city is "Hitonatsu..." set in? I keep zoning out during outdoor scenes when I could spot landmarks. :doh:
... :rofl: Did you just hear "Tank" from "Cowboy Bebop" played in the background? :rofl:
(This episode is just extra-silly, with the split screens, and the winking-Morse-code, and everything, in among the DEATH and DRUGS and CORRUPTION...)
Edit: "Wakaba" is picking up, with the boarding house full of strange women! Introducing all these peculiar characters should liven things up quite a bit. I think it's been easy for me to put up with so far because I really empathize with her situation (I think I'm going to have to leave the country to get a decent job, myself :sweat: ). Anyway, I encourage this new direction "Wakaba" is going in. :victory:
I was directed to this thread in hopes of finding my missing eps. of Wakaba 1-13, If anyone happened to tape the show and has them please let me know! Maybe we could work out some kind of a trade?
Thank you!