EJ Couloucoundis

Hi — to be clear, the Zeztz suit itself is NOT AI generated, and is physically present in the video. All the AI comes from the backgrounds.

I don't want to suggest that the design itself is built by AI, necessarily. It feels like they wanted to take the original Rider-1 design and abstract it in a way that almost makes it a silhouette.

In addition, this video WAS shot on a real soundstage — the backgrounds being projected are just AI.

I agree. All of this is setting a deeply upsetting precedent.

More examples of GenAI in the Kamen Rider Zeztz teaser. You can clearly see distortions in the roof tiles and columns.

I personally don't tolerate AI in anything I work on, but I can at least understand the argument of using it for reference.

This is a consumer-facing trailer. Disgusting.

A screenshot from the teaser for Kamen Rider Zeztz, made with generative AI. Note the distortions in the building and road behind Zeztz here.

I'm aware that everyone is excited for the new Kamen Rider Zeztz, and I wanted to be too.

Unfortunately, the teaser for the show is using generative AI, and it's doing so very blatantly.

Tokusatsu is about making the impossible real with effort and craftsmanship. This ain't it.

#KamenRider

My comfort show is Murder She Wrote. Has a channel on every free streaming service (Roku/Pluto etc), and Angela Lansbury is a delight in every episode. Highly recommend.

Thanks to a whirlwind of circumstances, I'm in a bit of a financial pinch and not able to fully cover taxes. So the time's come to launch the LOW-KEY EMERGENCY DONOTHON!

Games! Maybe surprise guests! A new One-Man Live concert! All of it starts tomorrow night @ twitch.tv/MachValan

An Over Rush Rare “Red-Eyes Maxi-Flare Dragon” from Yugioh Rush Duel. Maximum Monsters exist as three cards that, when assembled in hand, can be summoned for free as a single monster, reminiscent of gathering the pieces of Exodia the Forbidden One.

I’m not particularly well-versed in #yugioh Rush Duel, but the Maximum mechanic always seemed like the coolest thing it did differently from the OCG.

It also results in some HILARIOUS designs. Look at this- they tried to do Red-Eyes Ultimate Dragon and assembled him wrong.

With media preservation in mind, I wanted to make sure my last appearance as the English voice of #Ultraman Zero was available before the redubs. This Ultraman Day special (a personal fave) won a Cynopsis award in '22 among noms like Disney and Fortnite

www.youtube.com/watch?v=scc1...

Just waiting for my passport to come back.

Just gotta wait.

A theme penetrating the whole work is “No matter who wins, the people in the middle get left behind.” Just because Zeon won doesn’t mean spacenoids are actually better off. Folks like Nyaan and the Pomeranians keep getting forced into situations that put them in danger, with nowhere else to go.

Speaking of the other two, despite Shuuji having the Gundam, Nyaan is the most interesting character to me. She feels “real” in the way a desperate kid without a home falls into a bad place is real. I want to know where she comes from - a LOT of the Sides were collateral damage in the OG OYW.

Machu is a great protagonist, but is almost unsettlingly weird in a way few others have been. Nyaan is a refugee and Shuuji is a weird Gundamsquatter, but Machi is a regular girl with privilege who leaps facefirst into beating up cops, Grand Theft MS, and Clan Battle, because of… ennui?

Fair nuff.

Other than huge divergences, like the Guncannon replacing the Gundam as the Feddie tech base, the thing that surprised me most is how little the tech level feels like it’s developed during the timeskip. The Gundam, despite its age, feels like the strongest unit around, even matching the GQuuuuuuX.

Watching GQuuuuuuX -The Beginning- for the second time to dee what I missed. The first part, for all its “Shin Gundam” vibes, diverges pretty heavily from 0079, from the very beginning. It also does a lot for one-off Zeon characters, while mostly keeping their old designs.

EXCEPT CHALLIA BULL.

On my way to Toyfair. It’s funny how much I always enjoy going — it’s a perfect show to just walk the floor and see what people are making. Entertaining kids and adults is an industry that’s always changing, so every year feels very different, even if the same brands are spotlighted.

I’m a fan of TCGs in general. Magic, Yu-Gi-Oh, the various Bandai games. I’ve played them all.

Most recently, I got to try out the new Gundam TCG, and it was fun! I still prefer Battle Spirits Saga (RIP), but there’s some sauce.

Also, I got this! Do you think Charszaku evolves from Charizard…?

I think in general Ultras stay active and move as much as possible. Light travels, after all!

Paneling at the Long Island Convention of Horror (LICH) today at noon. Kaiju trivia! I have plenty of that in my brain…

Got to play the new Gundam Card Game beta event earlier, and walked away with a new kind of pokemon.

What does Charmeleon have to do to evolve into Charzaku…?

This sounds jokey, but I think the OG Man’s physicality, more than most Ultras, is tied to his health. Different exposures to solar energy, exhaustion, all of them result in a more or less weathered face.

Just spent 6 hours in line at the Bandai Namco Cross Store.

Nothing I purchased was worth my time. Or my knees.

Jamie, I gotta get you some cards, man. Your Dyna is so good…

Don’t tell me that…

I missed out on the pre-order... I'm still hunting it.

Listen.

So, obviously I cannot spoil or make canon any official Ultraman lore that is as of yet unknown.

But that doesn't mean I can't tell you what I THINK is the case for a bunch of stuff.

Ask me anything, and I'll do my best to answer.

So, something I can do while I have my own personal socials is reveal something fun:

Are there any Ultraman Card Game cards whose flavor text you like?

Well, I wrote all of it! Let me list a few of my favorites here.

(And yes, the SP Tiga's flavor text IS a reference to THAT OP.)

Dame Angela, my beloved...

A lot of what I've done for my professional career is tied to Ultraman, and I'm proud of that, but I have a lot of media loves that have helped define me.

The most important of them by far?

Murder She Wrote. Jessica Fletcher is the most important woman in fiction and I will die on that hill.