Tag: JR Villers

I wrote down the most notes I’ve had in a long time for episode 39, so buckle up, space cadets, you’re about to get schooled by Jimmy!

• Nate, the “uncut 90-minute version” was how the first Japanese laserdisc was marketed, not when it was on U.S. TV. Did you forget that from my Entertaining Info Dump? Apparently.
• There was debate over whether the actress in the film had the same hair color as my mother, but it’s a moot point now because she … died in New York. Yeah, the woman J.R. was probably the actress who played her in this film. Or someone who looked like her. Or he’s crazy.
• Goji-kun and Bro Kong caused a lot of issues with the broadcast that were edited out of the podcast version. It was a mess. Ultra-Mite was sleeping on the job or something.
• In Nate’s defense, I’ve gone back and forth on how to say Viras’s name, and I grew up in Japan. I guess I’m still a dirty, dirty American. I also fought the space squid. Well, I helped Gamera fight him. It’s more than most of my fellow Gamera kids did.
• It was cut to a third, Jack, not by a third.
• So, while Carl Craig has the spray-painted Nerf gun with a beer can on it, I have a real Virasian blaster rifle. It’s not my favorite gun, but it did burn through my target in my private little shooting range here on the Island.
• Yes, I’m not happy about not getting invited to the Gamera Gala. And Masao is upset I wasn’t, too. But given what happened to Nate, maybe it was for the best.
• Yeah, and here’s my Gamera badge:

• “Relegate,” not, “regulate,” Jack.
• Yeah, Masao won’t shut up about giving Gamera the “Friend to All Children” title. It drives our fellow Gamera kids crazy. And given that Kenny is already psychotic, that’s saying something!
• I should also note that my father doesn’t look like the actor in this movie, either. He was a proud member of the U.S. Air Force who was stationed in Japan for a while. It was partly because of him that I enlisted.
• Carl Craig’s father was American and his mother Japanese.
• I have a judo merit badge and a blackbelt. Don’t cross me, J.R.! (They don’t work well when I’m drunk, though ….)
• Masao and I didn’t get our Golden Pheasant awards for a month because we got grounded for our shenanigans. You’d think helping to save the world would nullify that, but no, my parents didn’t want me sub-jacking later in life.
• Soichi Noguchi and I go way back. He helped me test fly the Gohten once.
• There was a lot of crack in that MIBOD memo.
• Death trumps cancer. And I will find out what “J.R.” stands for! Maybe it’s just “Junior.”
• I’m looking forward to Sayonara Jupiter.
• Marveller? I’ve yet to examine that machine. Japanese Spider-Man needs to let me keep it in my garage for a day next time.

Now for Nate’s leftover notes:

The Movie

• Gamera can breathe fire in the vacuum of space. Sure. (Even physics bow to the new MIBOD-appointed “king of the monsters.” –Jimmy)
• Of course the kids can operate a sub better than the adults. This is a Gamera movie! (No, it’s because Masao and I were brilliant children. –Jimmy)
• On Twitter, Gamera offered to race Jimmy and Masao in a sub again. (And one of these days, we’ll take him up on that offer. –Jimmy)
• “Super Catch ray.” Do they use that on Pokemon, too?
• Gamera can somehow hear the kids in the sub and understand them. Because. (This still baffles the scientists. –Jimmy)
• Videotron. Isn’t that a sequel to Videodrome?
• “Making up stories”? Did you forget Gamera is real? (Just wait until the next movie ….)
• That flying Gamera prop looks goofy. It’s the eyes.
• Transformer mass shifting. The mind control device goes from the size of a grapefruit to the size of a VW Beetle. (I want some of this tech. It’d make it easier to hide more vehicles in my garage. –Jimmy)
• Their computer’s “Processing” screen is a kaleidoscope.
• Well, that guy was disarmed.

• Getting pinned to the wall like that doesn’t look comfortable. How do they stay up when they’re off the floor and not pinned to the wall? It’s terrible because they can slip their hands out easily. And they escape easily. (Or I’d been reading a lot of books on Houdini. –Jimmy)
• This stock footage is passed off as a different dam (Okumusashi Dam). Sadly, it still has the B&W problem.
• Because an alien spaceship somehow works the same as an earth submarine?
• I see Jimmy was a tech genius even back then. He figured out the Virases ship in no time. (Did you forget it’s me you’re talking about? –Jimmy)
• Why can’t the aliens control Gamera anymore? (Because. –Jimmy)
• Virases can combine into a giant. Because.
• I do like how big Viras weaponizes what’s left of the ship.
• Gamera says, “Go home and get stoned!”

• Seriously, Gamera? Defeated by getting flipped on your back?

Intro to the film by Ragone

• Carl Craig was born in South Carolina to Japanese mother and American military man. He spoke fluent Japanese. He served in the military himself and for U.S. security after 9-11.
• Viras looks like a squid, but in the original script, he was called “Geso,” the Japanese word for cuttlefish. His name was chosen in a name contest held by Shonen Jump and Bokura, which had prizes, but Yuasa said these were staged.

The Commentary by Carl Craig and Jim Cirronella

• Carl Craig got the role because his aunt lived next door to one of the producers. They wanted an American kid who spoke Japanese, and he was blonde-haired and blue-eyed and could do that. Yuasa wanted it to have an international flair.
• It was filmed in 2.5 months. Craig’s days started at 4am. He was picked up from a base and had a tutor for school over the two-hour drive.
• There are some scenes where Craig has a bandage on his finger because he cut his finger throwing a bottle and went to the ER. He also lost his U.S. handkerchief and was given a Japanese one.
• This was the first Gamera movie to have stock footage. About 20 minutes. Craig hadn’t seen this footage until he and his fifth-grade class went to see it at the premiere.

LeMay

• Masakazu Nagata, the president of Daiei, was involved with the Boy Scouts, which is why they were involved.
• One of the aliens is Riki Hashimoto, who played Daimajin.

Galbraith

• He says Carl Craig’s last name is “Clay.” (Seriously, why can’t anyone get his name right? I know how he feels. –Jimmy)

He got through all his Toku Topic notes, which is good.

Next week is the second of the “Year of Gamera” double-header when poor Nate has to suffer through Gamera vs. Guiron (which has the best of the MST3K episodes). He’ll be joined by Luke Jaconetti of the Earth Destruction Directive podcast and Greg Meyer, who formerly hosted the Out of the Speedforce podcast. After that Nate’s series of mini-sodes on Toho classics comes to an end with another of my favorite Toho films, Sayonara Jupiter. We’re still working out issues with guests, but it looks like to be a solo episode.  

Until then, remember: #WeShallOvercome

Follow me on Twitter: @NasaJimmy
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