source: Zebraman

Moviecut—Zebraman

source: Zebraman

Being a pushover as a teacher and family man, the true humble, mild-mannered identity of our hero tries to escape everyday life by dressing up as Zebraman, a superhero from a TV series that was canceled after only a few episodes. But escaping into his fantasy world in a self-made zebra-suit is the only thing keeping him going. But when he discovers that the Zebraman show was a prophecy of a true alien invasion, disguised as the show's hero he is the only person who can stop it. Miike always chooses material not only with an unusual premise but with over-the-top details that are slowly, gradually revealed to us. Aside from the way in which its plot unfolds, the film's real charm is in what decides to show us about superheroes, why we identify with them on such a whimsical level and how the ridiculous mentality of a superhero could be formed in a man's solitude. The movie is not serious though. It has Miike's sometime stoic feel, but what we are shown is often hilarious, like the non-sequitary title shot of a fat woman in a beauty parlor who is passed by a sauntering zebra, or Radioactive Ranger, a perfect rendition of a TV show not unlike Power Rangers and its various, progressively obscuring incarnations, or countless others. Even if Miike's more studious sense of pace is a hindrance to the potential impact of the film, leaving it without a tone and thus making the memory of the movie pretty fuzzy over time, it reflects very benevolently vivid childhood memories controlled by our superheroes. Where the film's spirit hits the nail on the head is in its blurring of zeal and absurdity. The film knows escapism because it's acuity in what it evokes really allows you to escape back into that unadorned young spirit. And what's the point of escapism if you're not truly escaping?

If there is a Spider-man and a Batman, well why not a Zebraman? Zebraman was the protagonist of a cult TV show of the 70's in which he fights against aliens. Although the show had less than 10 episodes before its cancellation, it has a big impact in Ichikawa when he was just a kid. Now he is an adult who works as a teacher but his relation with his family is getting worse and worse. After a little introduction about a murder case that involves a mystery that the government is hiding, the film focuses in the present life of Ichikawa. In resume he can't get any respect from his students and in consequence is little son, who is in the same school, is being bullied. Ichikawa can't have any communication with his son, well with his entire family. His wife is cheating him and his daughter is now a sexual active adolescent who feels sorry about the life of her dad. All this problems ends when he put on his own Zebraman suit, feeling like a real superhero. Definitely Ichikawa is a very strange man who seems that never pays attention at work and doesn't care about anything but Zebraman. Suddenly his life will change when he meets a little boy who is also a fan of the show and also when he begins to go out with the Zebraman suit on. I really love this part of the film, before we see the real desires of the writer of the show, because we all feel identify with the fact that a show of our childhood could make a big impact in us and of course in our imagination. Of course is really funny and odd so see a man who is afraid of being seeing with this peculiar suit but his destiny was that, to become a real superhero. So when the real action begins when we have a nice change from fiction to reality with a show that was actually a warning of a man who was fighting alone. There is always the classic message of a superhero, in this case that if you believe your dreams will come true and also that if you want you can change the way of the things. The last part of the film is also pretty cool having a pure superhero story but with the bizarre style of Miike and really good visuals that make really cool aliens. And all ends with a satisfactory conclusion and with a new superhero, now a real one. After watching this film I'm more and more fan of Takashi Miike and now I really don't know what to expect of the next one, probably will be "Gozu" or "Sukiyaki Western Django" both that I have recently acquired. I mean the guy made a bizarre fusion of Yakuzas with Robocop (Full Metal Yakuza), a weird horror tale about two sisters (Imprint) and with this he made a bizarre and unique superhero film. Anyway, Miike is just unique. Conclusion: "Zebraman" is a funny, original and of course really bizarre film that definitely is just very different from the previous films that I watched of Miike. I love it and I think is a must see for fans of "Ichi the Killer" and "Audition". Zebraman can fly!!! DVD: is kind of hard to find a DVD of a Miike film in Mexico. I think there are only 4 of his films released in the Region 4 and the imported DVDs are quite limited. I own some bootlegs but yesterday I found this imported DVD and I'm glad I get it. Contains the trailer for the 1978 Zebraman series, Theatrical trailer, TV spot, photos and three more features. Also contains another disc, the "Trailer Disc" with previous of more films of Tokyo Shock. Great DVD!

I'd heard about this film a long time ago and had waited eagerly for a chance to watch it. The premise - a school teacher turning into the TV "Power Ranger" he idolised as a kid, to fight off invading aliens - sounded ideal for a camp, wide-audience genre spoof, but oh man, did it suck. 20 minutes into this, you may start to wonder if someone had access to some old Kamen Rider props, scrawled a plot on a napkin during lunch and said to their mates, "Let's make a film!" The fact that Miike has such a big cult following (I'm a big fan of a lot of his work... even if I've only seen around 50% of it!) is most likely what drew attention to this disaster in the first place, but does give a valuable lesson to wannabe film-makers in: DO NOT SHOOT YOUR FIRST DRAFT. If only this unfocused mess of a story had a little bit more time put into it... if the characters drew the viewer in only a little, it may have lived up to its cool premise, but instead, I couldn't bear it any longer after a painful 45 minutes of hoping it would get better and had to turn it off. A true stinker to avoid.

Very entertaining super hero genre spoof that spoofs Japanese' own super hero likes of Kamen Rider. The premise is ridiculous. An elementary school teacher who idolized Zebraman TV series when he was a kid decides to wear Zebraman costume. Then suddenly he does have super powers, and goes out to battle the bad aliens that's covertly infesting his town ! The movie has elements of other movies Miike has directed. There're element of violence, element of a B movie, but is focused to entertain their intended audiences. In a way he's like Japanese version of Roger Corman. The movie is fun, and that seems to be the focus of it all. Just go along for the ride, and you'll be entertained.

Zebraman: yes, it's a superhero movie nipping at the heels of a glut of recent superhero movies. And yes, it conforms to every trope of the superhero movie genre: loser gets superpowers, triumphs over an unstoppably evil menace, gains love and admiration, etc. And yet, Zebraman has a quality which is more endearing than any other superhero movie of recent memory (even Tobey McGuire's Spiderman, God love him, doesn't elicit as much sympathy as Zebraman). This may be due to Sho Aikawa's affably inept hero: even in grislier Miike films, Aikawa's quirky sputterings and perpetually buggy expression are hard not to like. But even more relevant to Zebraman's success is its director, Takashi Miike. Of course Miike made his reputation as director of the most unbelievably violent films ever put to screen, but the truth is there are plenty of slasher flicks out there gorier and more depraved than even Ichi the Killer (hard to believe, right?). What makes Miike's work so enduring (and the rest dusty bargain-bin items) is something which underlies all the shooting and stabbing and torture: a palpable human thread which somehow pierces right to the heart. Miike's philosophy seems like that of a war-film director: humanity is more sharply noticeable when contrasted against inhumanity. But in Zebraman, we have a new entity for Miike, or at least an entity he only occasionally trots out: a film which goes straight to the humanity in lieu of the usual bloodletting. What violence there is tends toward the comic, and rivals the worst in a PG-13 movie. Needless to say, Ichi-junkies will find Zebraman too tame for words. The arterial-spurt crowd should stick with Fudoh or Gozu for their freaky horror fill. But for the crowd that found Ichi hard to stomach, give Zebraman a try: it's much more palatable. On the negative side, the film does run overlong, and slows down considerably toward the end. But don't despair: Zebraman's ending is well worth the wait. Black and White Ecstacy!

If you're familiar with the genre that's spawned Hakaider, Guyver, Kamen Rider and many a movie based on the TV show harking back to the seventies then a Dirt-bike riding Zebra judo-chopping aliens won't seem quite out of the ordinary. The story approaches the genre in the uniquely Miike fashion, and like a good editor he knows which parts of the story to emphasize. The story starts off with a socially impotent father figure who seems to be failing as a role model to his children, spouse, and community...he gets no respect from anybody. He makes up for it by dressing up as a cosplay geek reliving his childhood by taking on the role of his idol of manly virtue, Zebraman. His costume is crude and fragile, his martial arts pantomime only causes personal injury...When suddenly we learn that the school where he teaches has become an alien epicenter for green jellybeans hellbent on corrupting the youth of today into untameable savages. What is at stake is the total degeneration of Japanese society as we know it, after everyone over ten dies of some kind of jelly bean intestinal disorder. There's a secret gay agent unrequited love subplot that doesn't pan out, and a chaste love story involving our protagonist and a single mom who provide the family oriented support Zebraman needs to attain his destined power. I felt sympathetic for our clutzy protagonist all the way through, i laughed at his foolish behavior and empathized with his despair. The "destroy alien invaders" genre-plot did not get in the way of the characters expressing themselves, and gave structure and conflicts where needed. Even so, the human condition shone through as a worthless feeling man redeems him self in the eyes of everyone he cares about, claim his right to basic human happiness. Actually, the whole cosplay transition to costumed hero thing gets more believable (er, suspension of disbelief that is,) as the story progresses. The action is excellent and over the top as usual, but still family oriented you could say (ichi the killer was NOT a good first date movie). I could accept that Zebraman got his powers from pretty much out of the blue (and because it was fated to him) the same way I can except Godzilla without knowing where he came from (other than the sea of Japan) Die Green Jellies! Watch This Movie.

Takashi Miike never disappoints. His latest film to the Toronto Film Festival is ZEBRAMAN, a story about a father (Shinichi) who no longer has a family, or a life. His wife is having an affair, his daughter is a * (no wonder, she's cute as hell), and his son is bullied at the school where he teaches. Even the other students think he is a geek. Shinichi spends all of his free time fantasizing about a show he watched as a kid called Zebraman, that was cancelled after only a few episodes due to low ratings. He even goes as far as to make his own Zebraman costume, and that's when the fun truly begins. As the Earth is invaded by aliens (what did you expect) Shinichi is called into action as Zebraman and he transforms from mild mannered teacher to Earth's last hope. Think PowerRangers but with odd and hilarious dialogue ("Don't stand ... behind me."). But first he spends some much needed time in front of a mirror practicing his shouts ("Black and White Ecstacy!"), costume spliting poses, and signature attacks like the "Zebra Double Back Kick". I admit I was sold as soon as he beat the crap out of a guy wearing a giant crab mask on his head. I laughed the hardest at the introduction of ZebraNurse, though. This is a different kind of film than what you'd expect from Miike. The characters are warm and lovable, and no one gets injured (with the exception of an easily re-grown arm, "Thanks ... ZebraNurse!"). Which shows the kind of range this cult director has. My only regret was that Takashi Miike wasn't present to witness a world class response to this outrageously funny film. (9/10)