Zipang (Japanese: ZIPANG ジパング, Hepburn: Jipangu), also known as The Legend of Zipang[1] is a 1990 Japanese tokusatsu fantasy film directed by Kaizo Hayashi.[2] The film stars Masahiro Takashima as Jigoku Gokuraku Maru.
Zipang | |||||
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Japanese name | |||||
Kanji | ZIPANG ジパング | ||||
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Directed by | Kaizo Hayashi | ||||
Written by | Kaizo Hayashi, Arata Tendo | ||||
Produced by | Koji Tsutsumi | ||||
Starring | Masahiro Takashima Narumi Yasuda Shiro Sano Kenya Sawada Mikio Narita Mikijirō Hira | ||||
Cinematography | Masaki Tamura | ||||
Edited by | Osamu Inoue | ||||
Music by | Yōko Kumagai, Hidehiko Urayama | ||||
Production companies | TBS, EXE | ||||
Distributed by | Toho | ||||
Release date | January 27, 1990 (Japan) | ||||
Running time | 119 minutes | ||||
Country | Japan | ||||
Language | Japanese |
Zipang was released in Japan on January 27, 1990 where it was distributed by Toho.[3] The film was released at the Stockholm International Film Festival in November 1990 in Sweden.
Video TBS released the film on VHS in 1990 and Art Port released the film on DVD in 2001.
In scenes that transcend time and space, a time-consuming expression method is adopted in which photographs are copied and modified, and effects such as zooming and rotation are added to take each photograph one-by-one.[4]
The Austin Chronicle said, "if, however, you're looking to switch off your brain and simply have a good time, then don't miss out on this kinetic roller coaster of a movie... it's a real hoot."[1]
The video game Jigoku Gokuraku Maru (地獄極楽丸) for the Famicom is a tie-in for this movie. It was retitled Kabuki: Quantum Fighter for its Western release, and the plot was changed to remove the connection to the movie.[5]
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