If you want explanations of a sort that fill in the fast-flying edited story in Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death, the dvd extras go in-depth about terminology and the cast of characters, and that's the crux of what we'll discuss today. NEON GENESIS Event One in this storyline is the meteor onslaught of four billion years before, which massively transformed the Earth. Event Two struck on September 13, 2001, heralding the creation of Adam, a cosmic being in an embryonic form in Antarctica, from a place called White Moon. Its counterpart Lillith arises from Black Moon, in a mountain on the island of Japan. The Angels and EVA units make up the puzzle. Dr. Gendo Ikari, father of Shinji, Third Child (all EVA pilots are referred to as The Children), played a role in Event Two that’s gradually unveiled over the course of the movies. Adam and Lilith are the first two Angels, from a translation of the Japanese “shito” for “messenger” or “apostle,” as “angel” is from the Greek for ...

Masayuki’s Neon Evangelion Genesis: Rebirth and Death (1997) illustrates the vast difference in kid-oriented narratives for which cartoons are known, and the bold paths blazed in later years. Nowadays, very adult material can be found in the anime world; this strikes a balance between its adventurous roots and psychologically complex drama. If you watch N.E.G.: Death and Rebirth, as we just did, you notice the multiple episodes edited into one form---a typical strategy in anime movies based on a series. The heroes have barely entered puberty---a condition of their ability to merge with the fantastic technology that gives the world its savior super robots. The Angels---the 17 gigantic monsters---have their own secrets, but along with vaguely religious imagery and analogies, we’re mostly centered on three teen protagonists. It’s a heroic drama, but all three of the young pilots have more complicated relationships with their mentors. Shinji‘s reluctance to be a pilot contrasts wit...

This is an index entry about Appleseed, the 2004 anime directed by Shinji Aramaki. Appleseed’s a remake of a 1988 original video (OV as they call it in the anime world). Danen Knute’s the superb human soldier retrieved from the battlefields of the global wars and brought to the utopian Olympus community. She takes her host Hitome hostage momentarily, only to discover her former lover, Briareus, is now a cyborg soldier on their side. Essentially, he’s almost entirely a robot on the outside; his emotional distance based largely on this fact helps not a bit. His place in the deadly game between the human-run military and the Olympians involves dramatic reveals, late into the movie. The point of contention: the bioroids, artificial humans designed with emotional controls in place to keep them from passion and violence. The hope? These bioroids, which are half the population, inspire peace among the humans. Their life cycles are curtailed as well, and they cannot reproduce; in fact, ...

Science Ninja Team Gatchaman (科学忍者隊ガッチャマン Kagaku Ninjatai Gatchaman?) is a 5-member superhero team that is composed of the main characters in several Japanese anime created by Tatsuo Yoshida and originally produced in Japan by Tatsunoko Productions and later adapted into several English-language versions. It is also known by the abbreviated name Gatchaman. The original series, produced in 1972, was eponymously named Kagaku Ninja Tai Gatchaman and is most well known to the English-speaking world as the adaptation titled Battle of the Planets. The title is unofficially called G-Force! Best described as a science fiction action anime, recurring themes of Gatchaman involve conservation of nature, environmentalism, and responsible use of technology for progress and advancement. The series is centered around five young superhero ninja in the employ of Dr. Kōzaburō Nambu of the fictitious International Science Organization to oppose an international terrorist organization of technologically a...

An index piece on the live action Japanese superhero. The early tokusatsu character Kamen Rider was a famous part of Japan's super-hero explosion. The 1971 weekly live action series created by Shotaro Ishinomori became a cultural fixture, living on through sequel movies, video games, and toys. Takeshi Hongo, a college student with a motorcycle becomes an insect-themed crime fighter! Think of it as the progenitor of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers craze in America two decades ago! A contemporary program called Super Sentai was actually the basis for that one. In Japan, however, as with much of the pop culture, novelty's a part of the game. American audiences may develop a decades-long relationship with its super-heroes (like Superman and Batman!), but Japanese superheroes tend to come and go. Wiki says: Kamen Rider 1 (仮面ライダー１号 Kamen Raidā Ichigō?) is a fictional character and main superhero or henshin character featured in Japanese tokusatsu. He first appeared in the tele...

Index entry on early Japanese superheroes Cyborg 009.http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd455/smokinbomb17/cyborg.jpg Our Bronze Age Comics feature has concentrated on American comics, but their contemporaries in Manga (such as the four BATTLESHIP YAMATO Manga) will wrap up our discussion. They represent a new discovery for me, just as our earlier discussions were born of childhood familiarity with the characters, whose stories I could finally explore in full as an adult. Cyborg 009 films inspired live action Japanese super-heroes in the late 1960s. You can see the original 1966 film---made before the term 'anime' came into popular usage---here: The film's a contemporary of SPEED RACER, popular here in syndication throughout the 1970's.

From Wikipedia: Ultraman (ウルトラマン Urutoraman?) is Japanese television series that first aired in 1966. Ultraman, the first and best-known of the "Ultra-Crusaders," made his debut in the tokusatsu SF/kaiju/superhero TV series, Ultraman: A Special Effects Fantasy Series (ウルトラマン　空想特撮シリーズ Urutoraman: Kūsō Tokusatsu Shirīzu?), a follow-up to the television series Ultra Q. The show was produced by Tokyo Broadcasting System and Tsuburaya Productions, and was broadcast on Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) from July 17, 1966 to April 9, 1967, with a total of 39 episodes (40, counting the pre-premiere special that aired on July 10, 1966). Although Ultraman is the first series to feature an Ultra-Crusader, his is actually the second Ultra Series. Ultra Q was the first. In fact, Ultraman opens with the Ultra Q logo exploding into the Ultraman logo. A major pop culture phenomenon in Japan, the show has spawned dozens of imitators as well as numerous sequels and remakes

Now, we follow anime to a most serious, haunting, yet childlike celebration, a very mature story with a noble goal and some of the most beautiful combinations of story and art I've ever seen. Hotaru no Haka (original Japanese name of film, 1988) http://www.ghibliworld.com/graveofthefirefliescollection.html Grave of the Fireflies is based on the partially-autobiographical book of the same title by Akiyuki Nosaka. It takes place in the latter part of World War II and is a somber film about Seita and his younger sister Setsuko, who lose their mother when she dies during a firebombing. Their father is serving in the Japanese navy, so Seita and Setsuko try staying with a distant aunt who soon grows to resent them. Things proportionally deteriorate and they strike out on their own. As we follow Seita and Setsuko doing their best to survive in the Japanese countryside, battling hunger, prejudice, and pride in their own personal battle, the film unintended results into one of the best (ant...

“Ruth Hart Breaker” She rode into town with trouble, and found herself into yet troubles more. A swamp’s a strange asylum in which to turn one’s self around, but Ruth Hart’s looking for salvation now, not trouble- and any place can turn out to be quicksand, when you’re not mindful of your path. Supporting characters come and go, sometimes with vocal fan support or enmity, sometimes by creative fiat. It just might be, however, a good writer knows when to listen, and by no manipulative design of his or her own, a character brought in for a story might stick around, might decide to go, might even return in another story---it’s a sign of life. That’s how you know you’re a loser: the best girl you can meet has a gang of bike toughs on her tail, and your best friend’s not even sentient. At least, that’s how you know you’re Richard Rory. In a way, you can’t really afford to lose this time, or someone’s going to die---but what can YOU do about things? No, the loser card was dro...

Here’s Seven Stern moments I’ll never forget, from the early part of Uncle Rog’s Avengers run: #230 Hank Pym’s defense of Hawkeye/ his goodbye words to the Wasp “I never expected to speak before you again. And now, I can think of no finer final statement than this: it has been my sincere pleasure to have known Hawkeye’s fellowship, as it has been to know yours.” His quote of Mark Twain as he commends the ashes of Egghead’s just another great moment in #230. #232 Code Name: Star Fox Wasp: Frankly, the President was hesitant to approve anyone named “Eros.” He would rather you were called something less provocative in public. You’re a pretty foxy guy…and you’ve been out among the stars---how about Starfox?” Captain America: “Well, it would makes things easier---and you’d still be Eros to your friends! After all, Captain America’s not MY real name!” Starfox: “It isn’t?” #235 The Wasp figures out how to re-assign her teammates to do the most good. #236 Spider-Man’s very spideriness: ...

I had to give it up for some of my favorite Shooter moments: 1. Linnea mourns her husband while blasting flirtacious Iron Man (#212) “A flying man in armor! Gorn would have marveled! But he is dead!” “That does it! I have GOT to do all my flirting as Tony Stark…and keep my mind on fighting when I’m Iron Man!” 2. Ghost Rider grabs Thor’s returning mallet for surprise attack (#214) 3. Thor exits men’s room into a restaurant after transforming ("By Odin! The window's too small! I cannot get through!" "There was a god in the men's room!"(#215) 4. Don Blake punches Molecule Man! (#216) 5. Tigra talks Molecule Man into seeing a therapist (#216) 6. Yellowjacket fights the Avengers to save Trish Starr (plus the Wasp turns the tide) (#217) 7. Ann Nocenti thinks Steve Rogers has jumped out a window to his doom while waiting to have his portfolio seen (#219) 8. The naked Wasp wears a handkerchief to answer Moondragon’s summons (#219) 9. The Wasp puts on Don Bla...

I love writing these things from memory, so I can emphasize the most memorable parts and keep emphasis on the characters, rather than plot summary. It IS good to check back when I have the issue on hand (thanks, Joe Braband and David Holt, again!)---that way, we don’t miss bits like “Mechano-Marauder.” We could make this small role a spotlight, too; after all, he re-appears in #221 in the middle of the membership drive! I don’t think Assistant Editor’s Month would’ve been complete without him, either; it’s there we discover he’s an inventor who won the lottery. Here, he attacks Avengers Mansion in his exo-skeleton. Iron Man casually engages him in combat while the Wasp, Captain America, and Thor arrive! (It’s this meeting where the returned Wasp nominates herself as chairperson in “an election that’s long overdue.”) Shellhead greets them each in turn while addressing the ranting would-be…what IS he trying to accomplish, anyway? So if he beats an Avenger, he will get a rep? I ...

Now, the remaining two in our quartet both made their comic book names with molecules; the founding blocks of any chemical identity, smaller than the eye can see, yet a part of all things! In these stories, both are quite psychologically troubled, as well. It’s no accident Jim Shooter suggests therapy strongly in the sagas of both Hank Pym, a.k.a. Yellowjacket and Owen Reece, a.k.a. the Molecule Man. Both suffer from mental illnesses exacerbated by their fantastic powers. Their contrast is extremely instructive: despite their similar alienation and the soft science fiction basis of their powers, one, Hank, feels he is not truly powerful enough, while Owen’s driven crazy by the nearly unlimited abilities! By the end of these stories, one’s on his way to hope, while the other, in trying to do the right thing under duress, falls deep into the belly of the beast---an accused traitor to the United States Tigra’s the star of the first pages of #215, with her misadventures at the bank and...

Courtesy the Tigra Picture Page http://www.thetigrapicturepage.com/ FALLEN ANGELS Tigra the Cat Woman, demon hero Ghost Rider, emotionally-backwards Molecule Man, and Hank Pym, hero no more: these four center our next discussion of Jim Shooter’s 1980’s run on THE MIGHTY AVENGERS by Marvel Comics Group. Specifically, we’re examining these four in light of issues #214-217, published in 1981. First: the Ghost Rider. Johnny Blaze is so emotionally troubled at this point, he’s brooding out in the desert, homeless, aimless, hopeless. It’s no accident we meet him on the heels of Hank Pym’s breakdown chronicled over the two months before. Shooter really nails this character: in his despair, his envy over the speeding playboy with the girl and the two hundred mph beautiful auto sparks anger at the injustice of his now- nowhere life. So, he unleashes the Ghost Rider, flame-skull vigilante now virtually free of human influence. He still has Blaze’s champion rider skills and uses them to f...

Tragic Linnea. Quirky Tigra. Emotionally stunted Molecule Man. Troubled Ghost Rider. Comical Stankowitz. Imperious Moon Dragon. One volatile mix of core Avengers, set against the perils of Pym. Shake well with renderings by Bob Hall, Alan Weiss, and embellish it with Brett Breeding. Drink in Jim Shooter’s 1980’s Avengers. I found an absorbing depiction of Pyrrhic victory in the guest-filled Michael Korvac saga, but when Shooter returned three years later, working with sub-plots and strong characterization, the stops were truly pulled out! I haven’t made it through every issue of the late 1970’s incarnation of AVENGERS---I found the entirety of the 1980 issues sadly unreadable, with art that looked like its figures are melting and one fill-in writer after the next. Mr. Shooter himself has detailed the end of Gene Colan’s run, coinciding with the membership shake-up that began a year of Jim Shooter’s Avengers. Everything fundamentally funky 70’s about the title starts to vanish...

Dragun of the Shogun Warriors starred in another of my coloring books, which probably came in a three-pack from Gold Key at a local drugstore. Dragun derives from another early Go Nagai cartoon, one I recall fondly from some hazy point in childhood. When I found this, memories of playing pretend with the tri-colored vehicles combining as super robots flooded back! It's yet another fresh, original concept we would see copied by more famous American cartoons---particularly cool for its formation of three different robots, dependent on the order of combination. Three young pilots each flew a red, a blue, and a gold ship. Depending on the situation, they combined to become Air, Land, and Sea specialist robot giants. I remember less of its plots even than Majinger/ TranZor Z, but the concept put me in touch with hours of play---a mental environment I hope will aid me in the busy writing and editing period here to Christmas. Getter Robo G (ゲッターロボG Gettā Robo Jī?) is a super robot an...

As a little boy, I got a coloring book featuring the Great Mazinga of the Shogun Warriors. The invasion of the Japanese robot toys ran into a commercial dead-end initially due to injuries from their projectiles, but when in time I got a comic book or two with full page ads about the Shogun Warriors, I was enthralled! Great Mazinga is another identity for the first human-piloted super robot, whose adventures ran on Japanese television starting in 1972, to many encore series. Week after week, the characters I knew as Devilene, the male/female, and Count Decapito worked to spread Dr. Hell's reign of terror in the form of great bio-engineered monsters and mechas. Only the rocket punch, hurricane breath, and other weapons announced by pilot Tommy as they were deployed stood in 45 meter form between humanity and oblivion. The giants were inspired by a Mycenean Empire discovery which has spurred Dr. Hell to take over the world. By the time a version of the cartoon reached America unde...