"There is so much writing in English on Japanese cinema that can't be accepted at face value — not because the writers are careless, but because the differences in culture and language are just too intricate. When I see August Ragone's name on a piece of writing, it gives me permission to place my faith in it completely. Among Japanese fantasy film historians, he's the best working in English." —Tim Lucas, Video Watchdog

Thursday, April 4, 2013

2013 IS 1973: WHITE LION MASK『白獅子仮面』
April 4, 1973 - June 7, 1973

スカッと参上 白獅子仮面!


Riding in to save the day, it's not the Lone Ranger, that's for sure!

Set during the Kyoho Period of the Edo Era (1716-1735), the city of Edo (now Tokyo) is under the terror of Okami Kamen (Wolf Mask). Town Magistrate, Echisen Ooka, send his top man in the Kage Yoriki (Shadow Police), Hyoma Tsurugi (Kyotaka Mitsugi), to investigate. He unveils the evil pulling the strings of a Yokai army, Kaen Daimaoh (Infernal Devil), but is mortally wounded by the creature. Suddenly, another apparition appears, Shiro Jishi Kamen (White Lion Mask), who spares his life — and now Tsurugi must fight as the human form of this agent of righteousness to preserve justice!

Following on the hooves of P-Productions' THE VIGILANT LION MARU and Toei's TRANSFORMING NINJA ARASHI, WHITE LION MASK (Shiro Jishi Kamen) failed to find it's audience, running for a scant 13 episodes. For decades afterwards, the series all but disappeared from Japanese television and was never issued on Home Video (due to convoluted rights issues between various parties involved in the production). Then, in 2003, the rights were finally cleared and the short-lived series was finally issued on DVD, which is now, sadly, out of print.

1 comment:

Zubat said...

Hey August,

I really enjoyed this brief article on WHITE LION MASK; and I was wondering if you could do a longer more in depth article about the series?

Like you said, it's very illusive, it would be a good guide for others.

-Frank