Post by August on Dec 28, 2004 16:55:44 GMT -8
I went to visit my family for Christmas, who live about an hour-and-a-half drive away from San Francisco. One of my nephews, 6 year-old Seth, is a big fan of superheroes, action figures and martial arts... slowly, over the last few years, I have given him a different pair of Bandai Ultraman figures each Christmas... then, some Bandai Ultra Monsters... then, last year, as he became an Ultraman Junkie, I made the first step in giving him a DVD of the movie ULTRAMAN GAIA: THE BATTLE IN HYPERSPACE (which I think is the best of the Heisei Ultraman movies that I have seen so far)...
Now, I could have given him plenty of Japanese Superhero videos in the past, but I waited this long, because I didn't want him sitting in front of the Boob Tube all day... I figured, playing with toys is a much better way to exercise a child's mind, as well as his body -- since they tend to want to get out and play outside with their figures (like I did)...
This year, I made the next step... as an experiment, I decided to give Seth one of the DVDs for KIKAIDA... just to see if he would accept sitting through something entirely in Japanese -- since subtitles could be a little fast for a 6 year-old... I also gave him a Bandai Kamen Rider ZX (last year I gave him V3) and another Bandai Ultra Monster...
Well, I popped in the DVD, and he was RIVETED. Seriously, he was absolutely transfixed to the television... he declined dinner to continue watching... his little sister Sara (four years-old) also became sucked into the series... By the end of Christmas Day, Seth was trying to sing the KIKAIDA theme song, and watched the disc TWICE all the way through... some episodes three times... he even asked me to let the Menu run through, so he could hear Jiro's Guitar theme! "Uncle Augie, I like that music!" Sara really warmed up to the series when she saw the episode with Tiny Spiny, and when she realized that Tiny Spiny died, at lunch, she became quite quiet... but asked to see it again!
When we went over to my eldest sister's house, I logged onto GK.com and showed them some of the video clips, and they loved the 30th Anniversary Stage Show video! They asked to see it again after dinner... I showed them the promos for V3 and Seth exclaimed "That's my Ultraman guy!" (he'll learn)... Seth is already running around saying "Changee!", "Double Chop!" and "Go! Go! Go!" -- and his favorite Destructoid is Gold Octopus!
So, since the experiment worked, I will be getting him more of the Volumes, as well as some GK Gear -- I just burned the BGM and Song Special CDs for him... I'm also going to have to get Sara both Kikaida and Binjinda tees! There, I have planted the seeds for the next Generation Kikaida California... Next year, it's Godzilla and V3! Hehehehehehehehe!
Merry Kikaida Christmas!
August
Now, I could have given him plenty of Japanese Superhero videos in the past, but I waited this long, because I didn't want him sitting in front of the Boob Tube all day... I figured, playing with toys is a much better way to exercise a child's mind, as well as his body -- since they tend to want to get out and play outside with their figures (like I did)...
This year, I made the next step... as an experiment, I decided to give Seth one of the DVDs for KIKAIDA... just to see if he would accept sitting through something entirely in Japanese -- since subtitles could be a little fast for a 6 year-old... I also gave him a Bandai Kamen Rider ZX (last year I gave him V3) and another Bandai Ultra Monster...
Well, I popped in the DVD, and he was RIVETED. Seriously, he was absolutely transfixed to the television... he declined dinner to continue watching... his little sister Sara (four years-old) also became sucked into the series... By the end of Christmas Day, Seth was trying to sing the KIKAIDA theme song, and watched the disc TWICE all the way through... some episodes three times... he even asked me to let the Menu run through, so he could hear Jiro's Guitar theme! "Uncle Augie, I like that music!" Sara really warmed up to the series when she saw the episode with Tiny Spiny, and when she realized that Tiny Spiny died, at lunch, she became quite quiet... but asked to see it again!
When we went over to my eldest sister's house, I logged onto GK.com and showed them some of the video clips, and they loved the 30th Anniversary Stage Show video! They asked to see it again after dinner... I showed them the promos for V3 and Seth exclaimed "That's my Ultraman guy!" (he'll learn)... Seth is already running around saying "Changee!", "Double Chop!" and "Go! Go! Go!" -- and his favorite Destructoid is Gold Octopus!
So, since the experiment worked, I will be getting him more of the Volumes, as well as some GK Gear -- I just burned the BGM and Song Special CDs for him... I'm also going to have to get Sara both Kikaida and Binjinda tees! There, I have planted the seeds for the next Generation Kikaida California... Next year, it's Godzilla and V3! Hehehehehehehehe!
Merry Kikaida Christmas!
August
