Post by GLaw on Nov 24, 2008 5:32:32 GMT -5
MEMORY I: THE ANIMATION
Japanese robots animation has become one of my hobbies and I started liking robot toys since my childhood of 80s. I still remember that there were many Japanese robot animations and toys produced during 80s and they were so popular like selling hot cakes all over Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan. That was how I got to know the TV version of Juohmaru (ÈáÍõÍè) which was and is one of my all-times favourite animated robots. But, it is a shame for me to say I have yet to watch this TV animation series called ¡°Plawres Sanshiro¡± (in Japan, it is known as ¡°Puraresu Sanshiro¡± while, at Hong Kong, it is known as ¡°Ä£ÐÍÉñͯ ÈýËÄÀÉ¡±).
The TV animated story is about a young boy named Sanshiro Sugata and his plastic model wrestler named Juohmaru. At start, the story about Sanshiro's battles with Juohmaru against other plawrestlers in a hi-tech robot wrestling games. As the series went on, its focus shifted to Sanshiro exploring the possible uses of plawrestling technology in medical implants, and his clash against those who wished to use it for military purposes instead. Unlike all those giant robot animations, the show was uniquely different as it mixed genre and featured a lead robot character that did not tower over buildings, grow in size or carried any firearms tower over buildings, grow in size or carried any firearms. For more details, please check en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plawres_Sanshiro.
MEMORY II: THE COMICS
Truly speaking, I started knowing about Juohmaru through Hong Kong edition of Comics Weekly magazine. However, due to the rare availability of this Hong Kong edition in Malaysia those days, I was only able to access the comic series randomly. As a result, this affected my early understanding of the story of Plawres Sanshiro. At start, I thought that the pla-wrestler robots were some kind of artificial intelligence like what we had seen in a Steven Speilberg¡¯s movie called ¡°A.I.¡± which can comprehend with human beings, have emotion and feeling but in miniature form. While I was intensely following up on reading a few episodes, I then realized that that was not true and it was an imagination of Sanshiro reflected through the miniature robots. Truly, that is something very much different as being compared with any other robot stories and which I was intrigued about and I believe many fans do agree upon this.
When Plawres Sanshiro series ended in the magazine, my hunger for the comic books aroused and I started going around the town to find a complete set of this comic books. The mission was never accomplished until late 2006. In another word, it really took me more than TWENTY YEARS to get this mission accomplished. Thank Brother °¢Ìì of Toys Daily Forum for selling his own set to me. There are 14 volumes in this set of comic series with Chinese translation. It was published by a Hong Kong publisher called ¡°Ocean Creative Co. Ltd.¡± as seen in the picture below.
Three months ago, I have just got a set of the sequel of this comic series called ¡°Plawres Van¡± which was written and drawn by the same original persons for the previous series. There are only four volumes in this series. One of the best plots that I like to read is of course about the return of Sanshiro Sugata and Juohmaru. However, I was slightly disappointed with the design of grown-up Sanshiro and the new look of Juohmaru. As used to be a talented and innocent teenager two decades ago, Sanshiro now appears to be a ¡°genius hecker¡± and with a cigarette on lips. Quite a bad boy isn¡¯t he? While, the new look of Juohmaru seems to be downgraded and does not look as impressive as its earlier ¡°S¡± type. And also, the legs of the new look of Juohmaru seem to be too long. For those who have read the plot whereby the good old Sakurahime and Àï»ù°Â was in rescuing mission together with Juohmaru to save Van¡¯s gang out of troubles, have you discovered that except Juohmaru, the costumes of Sakurahime and Àï»ù°Âstill remain unchanged for the past two decades? According to a fans¡¯ forum on the internet, this sequel was not as popular as its predecessor.
MEMORY III:
THE TOY FIGURES
Plawres Sanshiro or Juohmaru merchandises were considered very rare in 80s and 90s. My first Juohmaru toy figure was bought in 1984. It was a soft vinyl figure produced by Bandai in 1983. The figure came in details but only with 360 degree classic twistable limbs and simple paint work done. As you know that those days¡¯ technology was not as advanced as today¡¯s and the design for close match with animated character were not there yet, therefore, the sculpture of the figure was not as cool as lately. The only comment I had on this figure was that its arms were not completely painted especially the areas where should be painted in flesh colour. This rubbery figure has turned yellowish over the years, but is still kept in its box and left at my parents¡¯ place.
Until mid 2002, a year and half away from my wedding day, Romando became the first toy maker to launch the action figure collection series of the comic version of pla-wrestlers called ¡°Puraresu Collection¡±. The first entry figure of this series was the early type of Juohmaru as seen in the following pictures.
At that time, I expected that this series would introduce all the other custom types of Juohmaru as seen in the comic and all the Juohmaru fans were more interested in. However, there was no further news about it after releasing that first figure. I believe all the fans were quite disappointed with Romando. Speaking about the early type of Jouhmaru, I personally feel that this figure is still one of the best looking Juohmaru figures or has the most closely depiction of its comic character in the market so far. Although it is claimed to be a ¡°full action¡± figure, in fact, it has limited articulations. The packaging was badly designed. Did anyone bother to read the descriptions printed with the dark background at the back of the packet? Well, it was actually a piece of religious information. Isn¡¯t it interesting to note of?
In 2004, a year after I got my current job, it was Maize¡¯s turn to launch Juohmaru toy figure. Maize¡¯s Juohmaru was claimed to be the only TV animated version that comes with 1/1 scale in the market. It was a limited edition with a production of 300 pieces. But sadly speaking, it is just a soft vinyl figure exactly like Bandai produced in twenty years ago but with improvement of paint work (Refer to the following picture).
In late 2006, one and half year from my first child¡¯s brith, Union Creative released a series of capsule toy (Gashapon) version of plaswrestlers with 110cm height. No matter how little the figures are, they are fun-playing and great articulation. However, it is a pity of that the figures are not well sculpted and seem to have shorter legs. Despite the mentioned shortcomings of this series, I still bought them as this is the only series in the market which includes the popular and interesting plaswrestlers like Juohmaru, Icarus Wing, The Majin, Jupiter and Sieg Freed (Refer to the following pictures).
In mid 2007, the year I frequently travelled, Romando determined to re-issue Plawres Sanshiro toy figures but under different series called ¡°Softbeat¡±. I was pretty excited when receiving the speculation of this series at Toy Daily Forum for the first time. I thought that this time Romando was going to be more serious with this series and would produce better and more articulated plawrestler figures to surprise fans.
However later, I found that this series was a disappointment to me as the concept and design were set at reverse gear, ie. they are just soft vinyl figures and standing 17cm tall with limited articulation in at least their neck, shoulders, and upper arms. In term of appearance comparison, the comic version of Juohmaru in this series looks worse than its previous ¡°full action¡± version. So does its TV version in this series which have broader shoulders with shorter legs. Early this year, Romando is supposed to release the fourth figure named ¡°Mad Hurricane¡±, however, there is no further updates about it until today. Following is a picture of Softbeat Juohmaru in both TV and comic versions.
On the other hand, in the same year, when the announcement of the forthcoming release of TV animated version of Juohmaru under Art Storm¡¯s Ex-Gokin Fewture Model series was made, many fans were excited about it and started having hot discussions through many internet forums. I was very impressed with the sketches of 70s and 80s robots including Juohmaru in ¡°renewal¡± version which were done by deceased Taku Sato, a famous robot illustrator. Before the sculpture of this Ex-Gokin Juohmaru was displayed in public, many fans including myself had high expectation on this figure. We expected that it would be just as cool as the earlier Ex-Gokin figures like Getter or Mazinger coming in renewal and sophisticated details. When the picture of the completed figure was released few months ago, many fans including myself had mixed feeling toward it. On one hand, we were happy that it would be the first Juohmaru in die-cast version and the first chogokin figure which can strike a cool side-kicking pose. In addition, a Judo costume, a pair of open hands, a back thruster and a display stand are included.
It stands 24.5 tall which is almost considered as a 1/1 scale figure. On another hand, it does not turn out as sophisticated as Ex-Gokin Getter Robot and its back thruster rather looks too simple.
In spite of the above-mentioned flaws, I still bought this Juohmaru early this month because this true-to-anime plawrestler figure is highly-painted, extremely poseable from head to feet and is reckoned as the best official collectible of Juohmaru in the market and most crucially, it is a conceptual design of the Robo-Shi, Mr. Sato. I believe that this collectible would become more meaningful if a copy of Mr Sato¡¯s Juohmaru sketch were enclosed. With regard to the price of this figure, it does not seem to be cheap as being compared with any of Bandai¡¯s chogokin figure. I was curiously wondering that if Bandai¡¯s upcoming Soul of Chogokin figure, Taiyo no Shisha Tetsujin 28 can be compared with this Juohmaru in term of articulations since both of them are fighting robots without weapons (if I have not mistaken).
Just recently, I was glad to receive the news about a much-anticipated release that finally introduces Juohmaru and Sakurahime in Max Factory¡¯s Figma action figure series. The release of this set is tentatively set in February 2009 (Refer to the following picture).
Hopefully, Max Factory would also introduce the other comic types of Juohmaru or other interesting plaswrestlers under this line in future.
By looking at the trend, the dream of having a 1:1 scale fully action Juohmaru figure featuring exchangeable parts seems quite likely coming true. That is what all the fans including myself has eagerly been longing for. Juohmaru, set up!!
Sadly, they don't ship worldwide!
