Gekiranger ep. 4This link is to the opening of ep. 4 of "Gekiranger," the latest (2007) Sentai show in Japan and the source of action and effects footage for next year's Power Rangers equivalent in the west. This clip introduces a team of five kung fu-fighting villains clearly modeled on the Five Venoms of Shaw Bros. cinema lore, and even referred to as the Five Venoms.
I haven't watched enough of the show to see where it all leads or how good the martial arts action is this season, but I find it interesting that Toei is looking to China for inspiration in the same year that the producer behind J-pop group Morning Musume has undertaken the unprecedented move of selecting two Chinese girls as the group's newest members. A lot of pan-Asian action in the house.
This isn't the first time that Japanese superheroes have used Chinese martial arts or Chinese motifs. Toho's MEGALOMAN (1979) used Shaolin-style Gung Fu in the action scenes, directed by the Japan Action Club. One of the first Sentai Series to use Chinese Gung Fu as a motif was—IIRC—MASKMAN in 1986, where two of the actors were hired because they were noted practitioners of Gung Fu and Tai Chi. I believe there was also one in 1990's FIVEMAN, and Chinese martial arts was the premise of DAIRANGER in 1993. I am sure that there are other examples.
There were several episodes of G-MEN '75, co-starring Yasuaki Kurata, which were shot in Macao and Hong Kong, featuring such legendary movie martial artists as Bolo Yeung. Kurata had previous starred in the action-packed teleseries FIGHT! DRAGON, which was shot on location in Hong Kong (in the early episodes). Of course, there was also the now-forgotten Japanese martial arts series, KUNG FU CHEN, which I remember was pretty exciting.
Still, its exciting to see that GEKIRANGER is steeped in Chinese Gung Fu—and one of my friends, Tsutomu Kitagawa (who played GODZILLA in the last few films), is playing the part of one of the villains: "Bat Lee." Also, this summer's GEKIRANGER movie is being (has been) shot on location (partly?) in Hong Kong, and not only features the legendary actor Masashi Ishibashi ("Junjo" from THE STREET FIGHTER), but also leggy Taiwanese model Yinling.
BTW, the newer POWER RANGERS shows use very little footage from the Japanese series, compared to the earlier incarnations (I can't believe that its been 14 years since POWER RANGERS first debuted on US television). Most of the action scenes are original, and pretty damned good (for a kids show)—far more HK film style than the Japanese counterparts have been up until GEKIRANGER. Oh, the US version of GEKIRANGER will be debuting this fall in the US as POWER RANGERS: JUNGLE FURY.
Thanks, as always, for all the info, August. I'm a bit dismayed to find that I don't have any MASKMAN or FIVEMAN in my sentai collection, but I do have about three volumes of DAIRANGER. And I will keep my eyes open for that GEKIRANGER movie.
However, I'm still waiting for your response to my Ultraman-Morning Musume nuptials thread from early May. I posted that just for you, dude. The biggest tokusatsu story of the year (:lol:) and not a peep out of you. :huh:
You're welcome—and sorry that I didn't respond to the Ultraman Cosmos Marries Morning Musume thread! I remember reading the news on a Japanese site, and posting it over at Ultraman LAH! (or some such)... I guess there's not much to say, other than—wow. :blink:
One of the best things about the Five Venoms appearing on GEKIRANGER was that they were manifest literally as corporeal creatures (although I think that the poison toad became a poison toad stool). The phenomenon of fansubbing helps to spread word of these shows around the world a lot faster than in the past, and Youtube is great for immediate access to these subbed titles.
Toei Video is realizing all of their Sentai Series on DVD, so I am sure that it won't be long before they get around to FIVEMAN (1990-91) and MASKMAN (1987-88).