I was fortunate to get invited to the "Kikaida DVD Release Party" last Wednesday at the Ala Moana Hotel, in celebration of the show's bow on DVD; Volume 1 of a planned 9-DVD set was released last Tuesday. Ban Daisuke, who played the original Jiro, made a special appearance at the DVD release party, fielding questions and signing autographs for the invitation-only crowd.

I was never really into Kikaida growing up as a kid here in Hawaii. Kikaida was more a sensation abroad (in Hawaii and parts of the west coast) than in Japan, and my family and I had relocated to the islands shortly after the show had finished its initial run.

But I was strangely drawn to Kikaida's kitschy allure ever since his recent resurgence in the local eye: the all-Japanese television station KIKU began airing the original Kikaida series last November, with plans to air the follow-up "Kikaida 01" (centering on Kikaida's older brother) soon after.

Kids who grew up with the series (or the marketing juggernaut) dubbed themselves "Generation Kikaida." They now, in turn, have their own kids, exposing this new generation to the "super human android." All that's retro is new.

In any case, there was gonna be free heavy pupus and cocktails at the release party. I was hoping to score a free copy of the DVD as well.

My better half had an appointment with her trainer at the gym, so after she accused me of "wussing out" on exercising, my photographer friend Eugene offered to accompany me to the shindig and take pictures.

We get to the hotel, get out of the car, and I notice that along with his camera, Eugene brought along a fanny pack. "What's in that?" I ask him.

"You said we might be able to get autographs, right?" he said as he carefully opened the bag. "Well, I figure he might be able to sign this for me."

Right then and there the geek-fest began, and we didn't even leave the parking lot yet. He gently unwrapped something bundled up in a white t-shirt and pulled out a genuine Kikaida doll, er, action figure.

"I'm not gonna be around when you ask to get that thing signed," I said.

...to be continued... 

10:57:14 PM    Say Something []

Mucho Mahalo to Jon over at Talk Stink for helping me get my weblog up and running on .Mac. For those sharp-eyed readers, yes, I have taken the plunge and sprang for a domain name. Regardless of what the address field above says, you can reach this weblog by simply typing campuspos.com. More easy to remember, no?

I hope to do updates daily, so feel free to drop me a line and say hello. I'm still ironing out the bugs, so please bear with me. 

11:19:27 AM    Say Something []