Product Description: The year is 2010. Shinichi (played by Sho Aikawa) is a second-rate third-grade teacher who gets no respect from his family and little from his students. It seems that in 1978 he fell in love with a TV super hero named Zebraman that was cancelled shortly after airing. The show was set in 2010 so this year he sews himself a makeshift Zebraman costume and slinks around the city at night. His harmless escapism becomes reality when he runs into a half crab half man enemy of the same TV show and begins to realize the stories of Zebraman and his strange alien enemies were actually prophecy and that by making his Zebraman suit he elected himself to fulfill those prophecies. Now he must be the super -hero of his fantasies or let the Earth fall to cute little green aliens bent on conquering our green world.System Requirements:Running Time: 115 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE/HEROES Rating: NR UPC: 631595080285 Manufacturer No: TSDVD0802
Zebraman, Kamen Rider going through a mid-life crisis. I've only ever seen two of Miike's films, Great Yokai War and this one. I dare say, it's one of the best comedies to ever come out of Japan. I think it should be made apparent that this is far from a kid flick. I believe it was more meant for the fist and second generation Tokusatsu fans who grew up with Kamen Rider and other Henshin heroes. The main hero is a guy who grew up idolizing the underdog of these heroes, Zebraman, whose show flopped after six episodes. Through his interaction with a young boy who through miricle of the Internet had rediscovered his hero, the hero finds the power within himself to become a true hero.
My favorite part of the film is the climatic final battle where Zebraman ascends and becomes a true superhero. The very purpose of this scene is to parrellel the contemporary movement in Japanese media to bring back and modernize classical superheroes with a newer and more high grade appearance. It has been done to Ultraman, Kamen Rider, and even Lion Maru.
Zebraman is worth watching, both for fans of the henshin hero genre, but also those who like comedy. the English voice cast was also pretty okay as far as quality.
Miike's Curious Family Film Blend "Zebraman" is a male fantasy fairytale involving a repressed/milquetoast's attempts to embody the characteristics of his favorite TV series character (a not so popular 'Zebraman' who survived 8 episoides.) The idea of this film is pretty good, actually, and if I was still in Hollyweird I might be tempted to try to develop this. The plot, however, falls apart and is predictable in the last third of the film (which doesn't however, impact too much the enjoyability level. It's supposed to be cliched and comfortable - not like the usually disturbing Miike fare.)
Miike, suprisingly, always works well with young actors, but his low-key male lead is also nuanced here. The film is slow, allowing emotional involvement with the characters (doesn't always pull it off but it tries.)
The 'force' payoff (where Zebraman learns to fly based upon his belief system and the faith of a young boy) is pretty lame, but I think it's supposed to be. More interesting is the surrogate family Zebraman adopts (it threatens to explode into infidelity - in this, a kid's film?)
While this film is a mixed tonal bag at times, it's ultimately warm and nostalgic, very pro-human at it's core. Worth seeing, even if the story is a little wayward and the 'family fare' a little 'too adult.'
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