Japanese Spiderman 1978-9

Alright so my first review isn’t exactly a movie, but it merits a review all the same.

I recently discovered a Japanese version of the ever so popular american hero, Spiderman. (It’s free to watch streaming over at marvel.com).

You may be wondering, what were the Japanese doing toying with one of our beloved heroes in the late 70’s? However, much to my surprise and delight, the series takes a certain creative license, changing the origin of Spiderman and, to an extent, the meaning and destiny, if you will, of his character.

In this series, he is still an awesome crime fighter, but he is left the legacy by a dying 400 year old man who came from the far off “Spider Planet.”

But you can read all this stuff over at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider-Man_(tokusatsu) .

The series, though appropriately cheesy of the era, captures this new essence of Spiderman and really makes for a fun watch. The endings seem a bit repetitive but there’s something about the series that just makes it addicting to no end. Perhaps the nostalgic factor, or maybe it’s seeing a familiar superhero in an entirely different light and cultural lens.

Bottom line, you guys should check out this series for sure, but beware, it’s hard to stop watching it once you begin.

I promise my next posts will review more modern movies, but I hope you found this insightful!