...and he looks like a hardcore Power Ranger, certainly not in a good way.
For those of you not in the know, Tiger Mask is a Japanese comic book character whose popularity and legacy continue to reverberate today. He is a super-powered professional wrestler who fights for the forces of good and the orphanage that he protects and grew up in, against the evils spewing from the Tiger's Cave. The character's manga and later anime television series were also notable for featuring cameos from actual professional wrestlers from the JWA promotion, such as the legendary Giant Baba and Antonio Inoki.
Though he peaked in 1971, the character was later adapted into the Japanese wrestling (puroresu) scene, first played by Satoru Sayama. Starting from his amazing debut match, thanks largely to the innate skills of Sayama and his opponent the Dynamite Kid, the possible joke became a overnight superstar. The persona of Tiger Mask has been handed down to several others, including Mitsuharu Misawa, Koji Kanemoto, and the current fourth iteration. Capitalizing on the success, the villainous Black Tiger was also devised for the ring, usually with a foreign (gaijin) wrestler under the mask.
Beside the squared circle, Tiger Mask has remained in the spotlight thanks to the popular Tekken video game series, featuring the homage character of King in all entries. In recent years, there have been many news stories of unexplained gifts being given to orphanages and other child-related charities, all bearing the name of "Naota Date" (the real name of the character).
Coming out this November, this will be the first live-action film adaptation of the character. From the recent 30-second trailer clip, it looks very worrying. The tone and costume design seem to be following the same problems that plagued the Casshern and Devilman films: everything's depressing and the outfit is overtly complicated. The last shot, the thing that is supposed to get us excited for the film, is the main character shedding a tear on his mask. Thrilling.
No comments:
Post a Comment