Tag Archives: Japan

Project Dreams at Fantasia 2020! How to Build Mazinger Z’s Hanger

29 Aug

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Fantasia Digital Film Festival 2020
International Premiere
August 29th, 2020

Just when you think real life can’t imitate fantasy–namely making a full scale RX-78-2 Gundam that can move–cinema has upped the scale by postulating if we can build a working underwater hanger bay to house the Mazinger Z. The ambition is there, with an appropriate soundtrack to boot, and I couldn’t help but cheer and yell, “gambatte”. The question is, can the civil engineering company Maeda Corporation (fantasy marketing division) build it?

To note: Yes, this company is real and yes, they actually made actual plans to build this for real.

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Wotakoi: On Why Love is Hard for Otaku in this Movie Review

29 Aug

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Fantasia Festival 2020
North American Premiere
Aug 29, 2020

Based on the manga of the same name, Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku (ヲタクに恋は難しい,) by Fujita is a hilarious live action musical comedy that doesn’t require audiences to know anything about the source material.

Narumi Momose (Mitsuki Takahata) is a young office worker who reads yaoi manga. She keeps this fact hidden very well. Also, she likes Hirotaka Nifuji (Kento Yamazaki). They knew each other when really young, and now he’s working in the same building as her. He’s always had difficulty expressing his feelings to her and it’s very amusing to watch them rekindle their relationship. She’s high strung and he’s mild mannered.

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Finding No Place Like Home with Special Actors

25 Aug

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Played at Fantasia Digital Film Festival 2020

Kazuto (Kazuto Osawa) is playing a fictionalized version of himself, and he has anxiety. It’s tough to be an actor with this condition, because on set, if he passes out during filming, the director will call for a cut and it’d take time to reset for a retake. He also loves his sentai, and Rescueman is his safety blanket. He wants to be like this hero! Just where the film goes next is simply him meeting a troupe of “Special Actors,” which is also the title of this film.

These people are the types who are paid to show up at funerals, perhaps as extras, so they can weep for the deceased or fake moments. They are also part-time mystery solvers. No Scooby-Doo does not have to worry, but these scrappy thespians can land into different trouble all on their own, and it adds a bit of comedic relief.

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When the Folklore Doesn’t Hit Home in Netflix’s Spectros

5 Apr

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Anyone who loves the supernatural flavour which comes out of traditional Japan should tune into Spectros right away! The series blends paranormal with breakfast club mentality from three teens–Pardal (Danilo Mesquita), Carla (Mariana Sena) and Mila (Cláudia Okuno)–coming together to deal with the supernatural coalescing in their neighbourhood of Liberdade in São Paulo, Brazil.

Ultimately, this series is the type of cheesy pulp action style fun expected when showrunner Douglas Petrie was a key figure in the production of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel.

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