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That’s right, Gatchaman, the classic anime that Choujin Sentai Jetman paid homage to, is coming to the big screen! Also known as G-Force and Battle of the Planets here in the US Gatchaman is making it’s Tokusatsu debut! After a series of awesome live action commercials in the early 2000’s fans have clamored for a live action take on the series for years. Finally their wishes are coming true and we welcome Gatchaman to it’s new home at TokuNation!

Long time tokusatsu fans will also be pleased now that we know the confirmed cast list:

–Ken the Eagle played by Tori Matsuzaka (Shinken Red!)
–Joe the Condor played by Go Ayano (Spider Orphenoch)
–Jun the Swan played by Ayame Goriki
–Jinpei the Swallow played by Tatsuomi Hamada (Young Captain Marvelous & Ran of Ultraman Zero)
–Ryu the Owl played by Ryohei Suzuki

We’ve got some awesome Toku alums taking part in this project and with the rather big names we have on the production staff this film is gonna be something special!

Credit: Several articles at Orends Range

under General Tokusatsu News

Crunchy Roll has reported that the Ishinori Manga Museum will reopen on November 17th! It was damaged during the March 2011 earthquake/tsunami and repairs are almost done. More:

In November 17th, the museum in his honor will be holding a reopening ceremony – with branding that draws the connection to Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex director Kenji Kamiyama’s new reminagined Cyborg 009 anime movie 009: Re Cyborg.

The Ishinomori Mangattan Museum is built by corporation of national government and Ishimaki City in 2001 and became a tourist destination, attracting 180,000 visitors annually. During the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, many of the building around the museum were destroyed and its facilities were substantially damaged.

With the help of public fundraising efforts, repair efforts are now nearing completing.

A November 17th reopening ceremony is free and open to the public.

A special renewal exhibit opens March 23, 2013.

under General Tokusatsu News

Popular website SciFi Japan recently collaborated with Japanese broadcasters Gaijin Channel on a series of web documentaries covering a range of tokusatsu topics. These include a trip to Tokyo’s Museum of Contemporary Art, a meeting with art director Toshio Miike (who has worked on Ultraman, Kamen Rider and more) and a one-on-one interview with the original Godzilla suit actor Haruo Nakajima!

The videos are available on both the SciFi Japan website and Gaijin’s official Youtube channel. Sci-Fi Japan also had this to say;

The show’s future relies on its popularity, so if you enjoyed it and would like to see more, we do urge you to like, comment, subscribe and share this video with all your friends! We’re eager to hear your comments and suggestions: please send the production team your comments via YouTube, Facebook, Twitter or Google+, or send us an email to kanri@gaijinchannel.com!

under General Tokusatsu News

Probably the most memorable Power Ranger-wannabe series from the early 90’s will be yours to own next year!

Mill Creek Entertainment the distributor for Cookie Jar properties has confirmed that Syber Squad will be released on DVD in 2013.

Time to kick some giga-butt! :D

under General Tokusatsu News

According to a recent post on Facebook, Tsuyoshi Nonaka of PLEX will be in attendance at the Pacific Media Expo(PMX)! PMX will be held from November 9-11 at the Hilton Los Angeles Airport. In addition to being part of PLEX(which designs Super Sentai toys!), Nonaka is also an accomplished animator, having worked on such series as Shin Mazinger Z! Here is more info from PMX:

“His masterpieces are Toei “Metal Hero Series” and “Super Sentai Series”. (a.k.a Power Rangers) It is needless to say that Tsuyoshi is known as the original designer of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (a.k.a Kyoryu Sentai Zyu-Ranger) in Japan as well as several Kamen Rider series. In addition, he has also created a successful toy series-brand for adults in Japan called “Chogokin-Damashii (a.k.a Soul of Chogokin) and recreated his childhood favorite character Mazinger Z (a.k.a Tranzor Z) as part of collectible die-cast Robot toy series towards the collector, high-end market which are still growing today.

This year, he has shifted his creative base from Asia to North America where he has become the head of “PLEX International Design, US division” working on Power Rangers, Ben 10 and Thunder Cats toy designs for Bandai America Inc. (Cypress CA). The Classic Lion-O (Thunder Cats) figure distributed at San Diego Comic-Con 2011 was designed by him.”

This year marks the 2nd time that Nonaka will be in attendance at PMX. He will be taking part in an autograph session and focus panel. What could he be working on for the 20th anniversary of Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers? ….

under General Tokusatsu News, TokuNation Spotlights

I wanted to take a moment and deviate from the normal schedule of things here to reflect on the horrific and tragic events that transpired early Friday morning in Aurora, Colorado. There is a point to be made at the end of all this, so please bear with me.

Only 20 minutes in to what some people would consider their most anticipated movie of all time, Batman The Dark Knight Rises, an individual (I choose not to use his name) exitted and re-entered the theater and began opening fire. 71 people would be injured and 12 of them would die, others still in critical condition. This event hits hard at home for me. For those who don’t know more about me than just my screen name here, I have lived in Colorado for 22 years now. I was a junior in high school when the tragic events of the Columbine shootings happened. The Century 16 movie theater is a mere 15 minutes from where I call home. I even saw a movie in at that theater, in theater number nine where the shootings happened, earlier this year.

A dear close friend of mine (one of the hosts on the popular Reel Nerds podcast, a weekly podcast all about movies) lost a friend yesterday. He was celebrating his birthday with a midnight showing of his most anticipated movie. His wedding anniversary was soon to follow (one year). His last tweet before he died was how excited he was for this movie, and that it was going to be the best birthday ever.

What I’m trying to say is … for those of you who don’t live in Colorado, I can understand how distant this tragedy seems. But think about this – who goes to midnight showings of comic book super hero movies? You do. I do. Some of our best friends do. Our loved ones do. This tragedy could have happened any where, and any of us could have lost a loved one.

So please, at some point today, take a moment to pause. Maybe look up the list of the victims who have passed away and read their stories. Find out who they were. And pause to remember them.

Thank you for allowing me my soapbox moment. We now continue with all things Toku.

under General Tokusatsu News

The Saban library of American tokusatsu continues its slow but steady progression to DVD!

*VR Troopers Volume 1 is available on AMAZON for 13.95 and will be released October 2nd

*Big Bad Beetleborgs Volume 1 is also available for the same price, 13.95 and will be released October 16th

under Garo, General Tokusatsu News, Godzilla, Kamen Rider, Super Sentai, Ultraman

As reported by Cyber Gundam,various release dates for July have been announced:

7/12:
S.H.Figuarts Stronger

S.I.C Kiwami Damashi Kuuga Mighty Form

S.H.Figuarts Module Set 3

S.H.Monster Arts Fire Rodan

7/19:
S.H.Figuarts Scorpio Zodiarts

7/25:
Ultra Act UltraMan Renewal

7/26:
S.H.Figuarts Den-O Sword Form
S.H.Figuarts AkibaBlue

under General Tokusatsu News, Power Rangers

The live-action follow-up to the iconic “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” series is the next big release from Saban’s Shout Factory agreement.

Next Mutation will be released in September for $20.

Order yours today!

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0089BSOGO

under General Tokusatsu News, Power Rangers

Sensei Richard Rabago, known to American Tokusatsu fans as Tao Chong in VR Troopers as well as Master Lee in the episode of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers titled “Plague of the Mantis” has passed away at the age of 68 years old.

Sensei Rabago was a distinguished martial artist well deserving of the title of “Master”.

You can read all about Sensei Richard Rabago by following this link to The Worldwide Dojo.

Our condolences to the friends, family, and students of Sensei Richard Rabago.

CREDIT: Worldwidedojo.com