Mirrorman

Directed by: Ishirō Honda
Country: Japan

The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

This Japanese TV series from the early 1970s follows a hero who uses mirror-based powers to fight monsters and villains. The show starts with a serious and moody science fiction tone but later shifts to a more typical upbeat superhero style.

darkbroodingaction-heavylightepisodicretrosci-fidramatic

What happens

Mirrorman (ミラーマン, Mirāman) is a Japanese tokusatsu science fiction television series produced by Tsuburaya Productions, the series aired on Fuji TV from December 5, 1971 to November 26, 1972, with a total of 51 episodes. This was Tsuburaya Productions' first non-Ultra superhero (even though there were concepts that were similar to Ultraman, which became Tsuburaya trademarks). Like Ultraseven, Mirrorman was more of a dark and brooding science fiction drama than most other shows of its ilk, but by Episode 26, after major changes were forced upon the series by the network (making the action lighter and the hero more like Ultraman), it became a typical action-oriented superhero adventure of its era. A short spinoff series titled Mirror Fight was broadcast on TV Tokyo from April 1, 1974 to September 27, 1974, with a total of 65 short episodes. It was similar in concept to the earlier Ultra Fight. After years of sequel series rumors, the 2005 straight-to-DVD series Mirrorman REFLEX was released and later compiled into a film. Featuring no characters or connection to the old series, REFLEX has a darker tone on par with the first half of the original television series. In July 2018, the series was released in United States, after 47 years, on the television channel Toku. A month later, the series was added to its streaming platform. On June 7, 2021, Tsuburaya announced a manga reboot, Mirrorman 2D, written and drawn by Nobunagun's Masato Hisa, to celebrate Mirrorman's 50th anniversary. The series was made available on Tsuburaya's subscription service Tsuburaya Imagination and the Japanese online manga site Comiplex. Tsuburaya also made English subbed episodes of the original series available weekly on Mondays on the official Ultraman YouTube channel. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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