Thursday, September 17, 2009

Films: Hanuman vs. 7 Ultramans

I file this firmly under the category of: Films I wish I'd written but can't quite bring myself to see:


Hanuman vs. 7 Ultramans


It captures many of my great loves: the kaiju eiga, giant monster genre and the legends of the Ramakien / Ramayana, notably the character of Hanuman, the monkey king.

I have to admit, I'm somewhat surprised there isn't a video game like Street Fighter that allows you to play different characters from the Ramayana. Or perhaps there is, and I just haven't looked very far.

As an interesting note, it seems that Hanuman takes on a different character in different countries. In Bali, he's a mischievous, adorable and heroic figure. In India, he's a fierce warrior who can only be worshiped by men.

In the stories in Laos, the most popular involve him trying to romance a mermaid using spells when she won't return his affections. Which is certainly an interesting message to be sending out. One part of me says that isn't really progressive thinking, and 'no means no,' and the fantasy story writer in me can't help think, there's a lot of directions that could go afterwards. But that's a discussion for another time.

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