Hulk Smashed!

No, no, Hulk! You're supposed to drink the beer not smash it!

No, no, Hulk! You're not supposed to smash me either!

I gave our emerald friend there to pal Alex as a Christmas present along with a Stormtrooper stamp. These stamps are nicely detailed and only have villains, so I'll be sure to pick up some more.

Hulk was bought at Yodobashi a few days ago and unlike the similar models/figures, it was on sale. They usually go for 4000-6000 yen and this guy was on sale for about 90% off! I would have kept it for myself but I don't have the upper body strength to attach his midriff and legs to his torso. Even muscular Alex was winded after this Avenger was Assembled.

I picked up a couple of Capsules. I was hoping for Knifehead but got one of the regular Pacific Rim-bots instead.

I nabbed a ubiquitous Deadpool when I grabbed a Funko but much to my surprise, this guy was 20% off as well. If there are any left the next time I pop in there, I'll grab the last ones.

And the other capsule I got was a Kappa holding a cucumber. Unfortunately, I didn't get the colourized version so it isn't easy to tell that it's a cuke.

Speaking of superheroes and Christmas presents though, I did receive a heroic guise.

Now I can finally ditch my mild mannered blog reporter life and none will be the wiser!

I'm Lovin' It.

A friend from HK recently gave me a box set of some Justice League X Korejanairobo courtesy of McDonald's in that fine land.

I'd expected the heroes but The Joker was a pleasant surprise! The descriptions are delightful.

The Joker
Introduction:  Don't make us laugh. The green hair. The crazed smile. The maniacal cackle. You know exactly who he is an how far he'd go to put a smile on your face.
Power:  Complete unpredictability, intelligence.

The Flash
Introduction:  Impulsive, clever, fast.
Power:  Moves FASTER THAN LIGHT.

Superman
Introduction:  Heroic, invincible, altruistic.
Power:  Has X-RAY, INFRARED, and HEAT VISION.

Green Lantern
Introduction:  Fearless, noble, incorruptible.
Power:  Controls the ring's POWER with his will.

Batman
Introduction:  Complex, solitary, committed.
Power:  The world's greatest DETECTIVE; The supreme MARTIAL ARTIST; The ultimate MASTER OF VEHICLES AND GADGETS.

Wonder Woman
Introduction:  Strong, diplomatic, independent.
Power:  Numerous WEAPONS: tiara, bracelets, lariat - all serve two purposes.

Oddly, the backs of these guys have these immobile wheel gizmos in their shoulder blades. Superman and Batman have them as well but they're covered up by the capes.

These guys are nigh-identical to the set of  Blockhead Capsules I picked up over a year ago but The Joker figure is limited to this box set only.

Besides it comes with a set of stickers and includes Catwoman. Now I really want her in my collection!

Some other guy received a set and put his discovery to funky music.



She also commissioned a friend of hers in Taiwan to pick me up a cup. COOL!

 Building not to scale.

Taiwan seems like the place to be near the end of the year when they hire cute Cosplayers to work as staff and boost sales! (I scammed some photos from there in case you're too lazy to click.)

Okay, that last one with Child's Play Chucky and a creepy gal, I could do without.

How about the Happi Setto in Japan? Oh, it's yet another Pokemon set. Yawn!

The kiddies (and one overly enthusiastic guy) seem to love them though.



Besides, Japan has had some difficulties with quality control of late. Check out some of the weird items that have been cropping up in their meals lately. I'm NOT lovin' it!

Baruta.

Or Bat-Karuta.

For details on the game Karuta, check out this Wiki page  or years ago, I wrote about some Kamen Rider Karuta.Or maybe they are Menko cards, I'm not sure. (I'm going to ask some coworkers about it.)

I picked up the first of these cards years ago at a Flea Market in Tokyo. バットマン (Batman) is in a pretty poor condition so it definitely got plenty of play-time from some kid.

I put this card away for safe keeping, forgot where it was and finally found it again. Since I also located these other four cards I picked up last year, I thought it was time to talk about them.

This villain looks like he belongs in a Fleischer Superman Cartoon, not against the green-garbed Caped Crusader.

This one looks like the Batman of the 50s when he was always off fighting Aliens.

A ginger-haired Robin shows up to battle some bad guys. If you click the pic, you may be able to make out the sign, "TV Presents LIFE STORY featuring Bruce Wayne." I'm guessing it was a hoax and Batman had to save the day rather than have his secret identity exposed.

Here they are fighting a Bird-Man and a Cat-Man. Not sure what is going on but that's a story I'd like to read.

Here is the Bat-Manga theme, which alas never transpired.



AND an entire episode in Japanese!


We only got sporadic episodes of Batman: Brave and the Bold final season over here. Was this originally broadcast in Japanese in America?

If you look carefully at the villain, he looks an awful lot like the guy in the second card above and the theme song is similar to 8-Man.

Speaking of Bat-Manga and 8-Man, the style of that video is akin to Jiro Kuwata, the creator of 8-Man and the author of the 60s Manga version of Batman. I'd love to get my hands on a copy of that Manga but I'm sure it is WAY out of my price range. Here is a snippet of it.

I have to admit that I've never seen 8-Man. It must have surfaced on American TV in '65 but never made it to my screen. Here is the original series opener. Look familiar?



Here is the Americanized version, Tobor the 8th-Man (8-Man) theme (in English).



Sing along!
There's a prehistoric monster
That came from outer space
Created by the Martians
To destroy the human race.
The FBI is helpless,
It's twenty stories tall.
What can we do? Who can we call?
Call Tobor, the Eighth Man.
Call Tobor, the Eighth Man.
Faster than a rocket.
Quicker than a jet.
He's the mighty robot.
He's the one to get.
Call Tobor, the Eighth Man.
Quick, call Tobor, the mightiest robot of them all!

This revised version of 8-Man from 1991 is called 8-Man After.


 

Hey, there's a live version of 8-Man. Too bad it's dubbed. I'd like to see a subtitled version.
8マン・すべての寂しい夜のために Eitoman - Subete no Sabishī Yoru no Tame ni = 8-Man for all the Lonely Night.



I've been searching the Used Book Stores for ages looking for Bat-Manga!: The Secret History of Batman in Japan. It looks like I may have go to Amazon. Here's a review by the author, Chip Kidd.



Holy Manga, Batman! The Jiro Kuwata books have been collected and are for sale on Amazon!

What has recently shown up on the Bat-front these days? Not Batman, but the JOKER!

Too bad these capsules are 4$ a pop, otherwise I'd get them all.

Lucky Bag Time!

Today is the Black Friday/ Boxing Day of Japan; it's Lucky Bag Day. I fought the cold and the crowds and for the first time in recent memory didn't spend too much!

I'll start with the coolest stuff and work my way to the not as cool yet still okay stuff.

A perennial favourite is always the Ghibli Flower Shop which appropriately sells Ghibli goods and plants. I'm not going to show all the loot that I received in their mystery bag because much of that will be going to presents and I don't want to spoil any surprises. This is the stuff I'm keeping for ME!

Princess Kaguya bored by some baby boars.

 Some duck squirt gun thing that will go to my bathtub. No idea what movie it's from. Any ideas?

 A cool airplane from The Wind Also Rises. Whoa, right on! It's a magnet.

 A Ponyo towel. I've never seen this movie. I need to rectify that someday.

 A Kiki Water Pack. Only good for cold liquids, it'll be good for my hiking ventures (whenever that'll be.)

I decided to avoid the Nerdier stores so as to keep my temptation and expenses down yet there were some One Piece Socks that I just had to get. Can't go wrong with 5 pairs for 1000 yen.

I found a couple of Capsules for a buck a piece. I got 2 Zombie Kitty characters and a triceratops skull.

A free clear file from E-Beans (there's a 2015 Calendar on the reverse.)

 An E-Beans singer. No idea who but she drew a crowd.

 The Eagles soar overhead.

 Don't know who this gang is but they drew a huge crowd.

Finally, the least interesting purchase was actually my first buy of the day. A variety of 18 different Healthy-ish drinks for 1000 yen. That's about 55 yen each. There's my morning drive's thirst taken care of.

Top Five Movies of 2014!

I was reading through Empire's Top 50 Movies and realized that of that list, I had only seen 12 of them. Granted, some of them have not yet been and may never be released here and there #3 was actually released in 2013. I suspect that TWOWS was released in the UK late as it was here. Other than that, I have never even heard of #s 1, 2, or 4! (The above paragraph is really enigmatic if you don't click the link.)

Of the movies I did see, I would choose Guardians of the Galaxy as my #1 (their #5; further picks will be in brackets). My are others ranked as follows:
2: X-Men, Days of Future Past (13)
3: Captain America, Winter Soldier (12)
4: Godzilla (26)
5: Dawn of Planet of the Apes (9)
6: The Lego Movie (17)
7: Interstellar (15)
8: Edge of Tomorrow (8)
9: Hercules--The one with the Rock, not the other one; it was a real stinker. (Not on Empire's List.)
10: Sabotage Arnold's best movie since T2. (Also not on Empire's List.)

But my five movies that are NOT (and are never likely to be) on Empire's List are as follows:

5: Yamato 2199. (I cheated on this one because I saw it 15/01/01 but it was the only way to make this a list of 5). Great Movie! Visually terrific and a terrific soundtrack. As usual, I wish I had read up on it beforehand because it was tough to follow, especially the Hotel scene in the middle.



UPDATE: I forgot about this because it was still in my pocket, but all moviegoers received a mini-film strip!

4:  進撃の巨人 (Shingeki no Kyojin) Attack of the Titans Lots of fun with some great action, excellent music and okay-great animation. This is one of the few times where I think TV anime suffers on the big screen. (If you click on any of these links, one will send you to the homepage and the other will send you to my reviews. I don't know which is which.)



3: クイメ Kuime or Over Your Dead Body. For a horror Kabuki movie set in modern day, it was surprisingly easy to follow with the trademark Miike gore.



2: 神さまの言うとおり or for the shortened version--Daruma-san or see My review. This movie is quite gory and over the top and I loved it! 



1: 寄生獣 Kiseiju or Parasyte.
I would place this as one of my favourite Japanese horror movies in years. Funny and gory and weird and cool! Best news of all is that most of the above movies will have a sequel coming up in the near future.



Even better that unlike 2 or 3, there are still plenty of goodies to be had from either Capsules or UFO!

Honourable Mention:  Kaguya Hime no Monogatori
Yes, I saw it in Nov/2013 but it has since been released in the US and it is up for an Academy Award this year. I'm surprised it didn't show up on Empire's List though perhaps it hasn't made it to Britain yet.



Dishonourable Mention: Lupin III, live action movie. If it weren't for the great music, this would have been my least favourite movie of the year.



It looks cool but it isn't!