Watching "Iron King"

Another tokusatsu.  Blame Jeff Pl.

 

Episode 01: "Secret Messenger of the Morning Wind"

1)The opening and closing themes are OK, but not particularly distinctive.

 

2)Our hero is Gentaro Shizuka, a "laughing daredevil" type. A skilled fighter, he is capable of Ken Kurenai style "improbable leaps".  He's got a magic stick that seems to serve many of the same functions as Daredevil's billy-club. Also, he sings and plays other people's guitars. I suspect that I am going to have fun not liking him.

 

3)His sidekick is Goro Kishima, sent by Professor Tsushima to help Ken Gentaro. He is vaguely Gilliganesque.  In times of trouble, he uses IRON SHOCK! to transform into...

 

4)Iron King, a giant Ultraman knock-off. Gentaro recognizes IK and says "But I wonder when Professor Tsushima completed Iron King...", which implies that IK (and also Goro?) is an artificial being.  IK has an analogue to Ultraman's "color-timer" - a flashing light that indicates when his water level is low. This is important because "Iron King loses his ability to fight when he loses his bodily water." This gives him a limited time to fight, and also mean that Goro is thirsty all the time, a clue which any five year old could pick up on, but which will no doubt come as a huge shock to Gentaro when he discovers it around Episode 25. So far, IK's special moves include IRON KICK!

 

5)Whilst wandering in the forest, they encounter Yukiko Takamura, who is vaguely reminiscent of Miss Land O' Lakes.  I'm guessing that she's either a potential love interest for Gentaro, or a shady character.

 

6)The chief enemies are the Shrianui Clan, who have bene plotting to conquer Japan for 2,000 years, which seems like an awful long time to have not apparently achieved all that much.  There seems to be about ten of them, and they don't fight alot better then the Gargoyles or Mecha-Robos did. How they expect to conquer Japan is beyond me. They do have giant robots, which they appear to be conveniently sending out one at a time. They're not very distinctive-looking.  The one is this episode is Vacu-mirah the Vacuum Robot,  whose power is that it both sucks and blows, to steal a line from Bart Simpson. It is controlled by a Mecha-Robo Shiranui posing as Evil Grandma. It battles IK inconclusively, and is blown up when Gentaro hits it with its own control badge, which seems a bit of a design flaw.

 

7)Fun quote: "Impudently, the National Security forces have discovered us." Yeah, how dare the National Security forces discover a threat to national security!

 

8)Next Time: Gyro-gesu the Slicing Robot!

 

9)Ending scene: Gentaro laughs like the hopeless fool that he is!

 

Overall: So far, so good. This shows promise to be mildly amusing.

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  • Blame Jeff Pl.

    Don’t blame, me, man… I told you before, Tracy of Moon-T discovered this one all on her own.

    "Secret Messenger of the Morning Wind"

    Odd, that’s one of Tracy’s nicknames for me (also “Bringer of Warm Breezes”).

    The opening and closing themes are OK, but not particularly distinctive.

    I’ll have to disagree with you there; I like them both. As has become my wont, here are the lyrics to each.

    OPENING THEME:

    From the bottom of hell come alive again
    Devils incarnate and poisonous flowers
    Fight them for us Iron King
    Protect for us this green earth
    Shock, shock, Iron Shock!
    From out of the mist comes the Iron King!

    CLOSING THEME:

    Searching for that phantom greenery
    All alone across the burning wilderness
    A man who knows no happiness
    Rides on by swaying on a horse’s back
    La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la…

    Iron King, a giant Ultraman knock-off.

    Although produced by the creators of Ultraman, the similarity is unmistakable.

    Gentaro recognizes IK and says "But I wonder when Professor Tsushima completed Iron King...", which implies that IK (and also Goro?) is an artificial being.

    Tracy and I were trying to fugure out the exact relationship between Goro and IK but couldn’t do it on the basis of this one episode. It’s an interesting interrelationship: Goro is the goofy sidekick to Gentaro, yet he is also the giant whatever-he/it-is superhero of the show. It a reversal of the usual expectation, that the dashing Gentaro would be the superhero. I hope more details will be forthcoming.

    "Iron King loses his ability to fight when he loses his bodily water."

    Sounds like he’s p*ssing himself.

    Goro is thirsty all the time, a clue which any five year old could pick up on,

    I hope this doesn’t become a tired “Superman” trope: “Gee, I wonder why Clark’s never around whenever Superman is here?”

    Yukiko Takamura, who is vaguely reminiscent of Miss Land O' Lakes.

    This show has a purposeful (I would guess) American feel, with a “cowboy” hero and an “Indian” heroine.

    Vacuum Robot, whose power is that it both sucks and blows,

    Tracy and I couldn’t figure out how/why his hand swelled up…?

    So far, so good. This shows promise to be mildly amusing.

    We’re loving it already.

  • Go slow ...  my copy might not arrive until next week! :)

  • Yukiko Takamura, who is vaguely reminiscent of Miss Land O' Lakes.

    This show has a purposeful (I would guess) American feel, with a “cowboy” hero and an “Indian” heroine.

    She sings worse than I do and that can be down right horrible. Also, she appeared to have slept or daydreamed through the night battle.

    I already miss Mari.
  • Pictures of our "heroes"

    IronKing3.jpg

    IronKing4.jpg

    IronKing5.jpg

  • Episode 02: "The Swan in the Ruins"

    1)IK battling Gyro-gesu's arm made me think of the Ninth Doctor struggling with the Auton arm in "Rose".

     

    2)Gentaro uses his hat as a weapon.

     

    3)If you don't know that Goro is IK, his obsession with water would have you recommending he consult a physician.

     

    4)One of the great questions in life: "If you drink too much water, does a juice machine explode?"

     

    5)Apparently, Gentaro can burrow like a mole.

     

    6)You can spot that the mayor's a Gargoyle Mecha-Robo Shiranui a mile away.

     

    7)Gentaro's magic stick is called his "Iron Belt", and he can use it to hurl improbably large rocks.

     

    8)So far, the pattern seems to be: "IK fights the enemy robot twice an episode, the second time, Gentaro spots the Shiranui holding the controller, gets it away from them, and the enemy robot blows up.

     

    9)"Our tenth colleague is already working in secret."  OK, now I'm pretty sure Miss Land O' Lakes is a Shiranui.

     

    10)Next Time: Double Satan! (With extra cheese?)

     

    11)Ending Scene: Gentaro and Goro walk along, with Yukiko behind them.

     

    Overall: Still enjoying this. Hopefully they'll vary the pattern occasionally. No idea what the episode title is referring to.

  • IK battling Gyro-gesu's arm made me think of the Ninth Doctor struggling with the Auton arm in "Rose".

    I knew that scene reminded me of something; that’s probably it.

    Gentaro uses his hat as a weapon.

    Like Oddjob!

    If you don't know that Goro is IK, his obsession with water would have you recommending he consult a physician.

    Yukiko comments, “Like a babe drinking milk.” Yeah, it looked like something else to me.

    One of the great questions in life: "If you drink too much water, does a juice machine explode?"

    That is exactly what I was going to say!

    Apparently, Gentaro can burrow like a mole.

    I sure he has many other talents as well, as yet undiscovered.

    Gentaro's magic stick is called his "Iron Belt", and he can use it to hurl improbably large rocks.

    I don’t see the point of him “lassoing” Iron King’s giant antagonists. He only gets whirled around and dropped on his arse. But let’s say that didn’t happen. What’s he trying to achieve? (Then again, Luke Skywalker brought down an ATAT in ESB.) I’m sure landing on his arse every episode is supposed to be funny, but the way he lands, I keep expecting him to exclaim, “Oh, my coccyx!”)

    OK, now I'm pretty sure Miss Land O' Lakes is a Shiranui.

    You think so? I’m not so sure.

    Hopefully they'll vary the pattern occasionally.

    From what I read online (weeks ago, when Tracy first found this), there are a few changes in direction to come.

    No idea what the episode title is referring to.

    Hmm, I’m not sure, either.

    For the most part, I think the Clan is more impressive of an adversary than the Alliance. After 39 episodes of giant robos, I’m enjoying seeing giant humanoid/android antagonists for a change. What does one call a spaghetti western filmed in Japan? A chow mien western?

  • Pat Benatar's Next Single: (Stop Using) Hats as a Weapon

    {I'm dating myself, aren't I?}

  • Episode 03: "The Warrior's Smile"

    1)Featuring "The Alter Ego Robot, Double Satan", who does a sort of "Jamie Madrox" gimmick.

     

    2)Goro carries a disintegrator pistol.

     

    3)Gentaro laughs at Goro's pain.

     

    4)Great line: "You'll be cut in pieces and sent to hell!"

     

    5)Yukiko knows the Shiranui whistle. Whatever's going on with her, she's not just some hippy who just happened to be wandering through the woods.

     

    6)Lucky that Gentaro's hat somehow found its way to the cabin despite apparently being lost in the river.

     

    7)I notice that it tends to be Gentaro who brings about the enemy robots' destruction.

     

    8)Next time: A spiky robot!

     

    9)Ending scene:  The three say goodbye to Toshio.

     

    Overall:  Still interesting, although I have to say that IK isn't all that effective of a fighter.

  • Featuring "The Alter Ego Robot, Double Satan", who does a sort of "Jamie Madrox" gimmick.

    …except it creates its duplicate by tossing little replica selves from the tips of its fingers. Wild!

    Goro carries a disintegrator pistol.

    Cool gun. I always like a gun that shoots energy rings. When I was a little kid I aspired to blow smoke rings, but I didn’t smoke. When discussing Arahi’s guns on the playground (he’s the weapons expert from Ultraman), we always described our favorites in terms of the type of energy beam each fired. Another thing I used to do was to imagine giant monsters rising from above the trees and neighboring houses from behind.

    Gentaro laughs at Goro's pain.

    “It’s funny when friends get hurt.” Gentaro also demonstrates “mole power” this episode.

    Great line: "You'll be cut in pieces and sent to hell!"

    Useful in rush hour traffic.

    Yukiko knows the Shiranui whistle. Whatever's going on with her, she's not just some hippy who just happened to be wandering through the woods.

    Yeah, you’re starting to convince me.

    Lucky that Gentaro's hat somehow found its way to the cabin despite apparently being lost in the river.

    Hmm… Didn’t notice that.

    I notice that it tends to be Gentaro who brings about the enemy robots' destruction.

    Yes, and he did do it in the manner of Luke Skywalker bringing down an ATAT.

    Tracy notes that the ever-thirsty Goro carries a canteen, but apparently never bothers to fill it up. Tracy is very vocal watching these shows, but doesn’t have the opportunity to post during the day (although she does read the thread).

  • Featuring "The Alter Ego Robot, Double Satan", who does a sort of "Jamie Madrox" gimmick.

    …except it creates its duplicate by tossing little replica selves from the tips of its fingers. Wild!

    Gee ... where have I seen that before?

    1936092934?profile=RESIZE_480x480

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