MAZE☆Bakunetsu Jikuu: Tenpen Kyoui no Giant (partially found limited-time anime film sequel to series; 1998): Difference between revisions

Revision as of 20:43, 1 April 2023

This article has been tagged as NSFW due to its explicit nudity content.

Theatrical poster for the film.

Status: Partially Found

Chousekitan Maze☆Bakunetsu Jikuu, simply known as MAZE, is a Japanese fantasy-adventure manga series written by Satoru Akahori which follows a girl named Maze on her life and adventures in another fantasy world and whom by night, has an oddity to change into the opposite sex.^[1]. The manga series later received a two-episode OVA series, followed by a TV adaptation with the same name spanning 25 episodes, produced by J.C. Staff in 1997^[2].

Apart from the TV series, a theatrical film following up the events from the series was also produced and made by the same studio. It was then released in Japanese cinemas on April 25th, 1998. Unfortunately, the film never had any physical or home video release and has never been seen outside of the original limited theatrical run.^[3]^[4]

Background

The theatrical film MAZE☆Bakunetsu Jikuu: Tenpen Kyoui no Giant was originally released in cinemas on April 25th, 1998^[4]^[5]^[6], that reportedly has a runtime of 42 minutes, which came from a blog post review of the film when it was originally being test screened^[7].

A short synopsis for the film from various sites^[8]^[9]^[10], goes as follows:

An erotic short film that revolves around an ancient titan who leads everything to destruction, depicting the activities of the Maze and the Light Magicians. The director is Iku Suzuki, who has been in charge of the MAZE TV series. The script was written by Satoru Akahori himself, who is also the original author. It was shot by Katsuyuki Otaki of Slayers Gureeto. The voice cast includes Kotono Miishi from Neon Genesis Evangelion Theatrical Version and Tomokazu Seki from Doraemon: Nobita's Nankai Great Adventure.

Plot

Most of the information for the plot of the film comes from the latter blog post of a review of the film during its test screening^[7]. The website, Maze of The Haze, an archived fan site dedicated and containing mostly news about the MAZE franchise, gives us a brief rundown of the plot of the film^[4], taken from the latter review for the film^[7]:

Long time ago, there was peace until the giants decide to wake up after years and years of slumber. The three priestesses, "The Del sisters", who were guarding their shrine had to retreat to seek help and who better to ask Maze for help. Obviously, Maze and company investigate the whole incident and they find themselves fighting against the giants. With the help of the shrine maidens, they finally save the fantasy world. The end.^[4]

The film also reportedly contained a lot of scenes that heavily feature uncensored nudity among its female characters^[4], which is evident in how it was promoted in magazines, trailers, and advertisements^[11].

[NSFW]Promotional poster for the film.

Cast

The film was directed by Iku Suzuki^[12], who also had directed the anime series, and was written by the author himself, Satoru Akahori. The cast for the film has the same voice actors that starred in the anime series reprising themselves with the characters they had originally voiced^[13]^[2].

Kotono Mitsuishi as Maze (female)^[13]
Tomokazu Seki as Maze (male)^[13]
Sakura Tange as Princess Mill Varna^[13]
Aya Hisakawa as Jan Del^[13]
Miki Nagasawa as Yun Del^[13]
Omi Minami as Yon Del^[13]

Availability

Having never been released on home media^[4], footage from the film is incredibly scarce and hard to find. As of 2022, there are only two known videos with footage from the film that are available online. One is the official trailer for the film, which was uploaded to NicoNico in 2009, and another one was found in a commercial compilation from 1998 that contained a 13-second promo spot for the film, with additional scenes that were not on the trailer, that was also uploaded to NicoNico in 2010^[11].

A petition was made and signed by various users for an official physical release of the MAZE movie back in 2005, but the petition never went anywhere.^[14] Aside from the promotional posters and known footage for the film, some of the songs in the soundtrack used for the film are also available online^[15]^[4].

There had been beliefs that the film's master negatives were destroyed and/or thrown away due to the film and franchise's poor sales, but these are rumors that have yet to be confirmed, and no source for the reels being destroyed is reliable.^[16]

Footage

VideoService "nico" not recognized.

External Links

References

[1] MAL Page for the MAZE manga

[TV-2] 2.0 ^2.1 MAL Page for the MAZE anime series.

[3] MAL Page for the movie.

[haze-4] 4.0 ^4.1 ^4.2 ^4.3 ^4.4 ^4.5 ^4.6 Maze of The Haze's page on the movie

[listing-5] J.C. Staff's listing of the film

[noinfo-6] An archived of J.C. Staff's 2000 catalog, which displays MAZE and confirms that it was released in Spring 1998

[run-7] 7.0 ^7.1 ^7.2 March 3, 1998: A review of the film that contains numerous information, plot, and details about the film, by K. Hattori.

[8] Eiga.com's move listing on MAZE

[9] Jorudan.co's listing on MAZE

[10] Allcinema's listing on MAZE

[goo-11] 11.0 ^11.1 A blogpost containing various advertising posters for how the film was promoted in magazines; and two known videos with footage from the film.[NSFW]

[12] Iku Suzuki's wiki

[cast-13] 13.0 ^13.1 ^13.2 ^13.3 ^13.4 ^13.5 ^13.6 ANN Article on the cast.

[14] Archived petition for a home media release of the film

[15] Archived eSnips page for the soundtrack of the film

[16] Blogpost about the film's masters being destroyed hypothesized by a now-deleted YouTube video.

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@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
 |status=<span style="color:orange;">'''Partially Found'''</span>
 }}
-''Chousekitan Maze☆Bakunetsu Jikuu'', simply known as ''MAZE'', is a Japanese fantasy-adventure manga series written by Satoru Akahori which follows a girl named Maze on her life and adventures in another fantasy world and whom by night, has an oddity to change into the opposite sex.<ref>[https://myanimelist.net/manga/11416/Chousekitan_Maze%E2%98%86Bakunetsu_Jikuu MAL Page for the MAZE manga]</ref>. The manga series later received a two-episode OVA series, followed by a TV adaptation with the same name spanning 25 episodes, produced by J.C. Staff in 1997<ref name="TV">[https://myanimelist.net/anime/1161/Maze%E2%98%86Bakunetsu_Jikuu_TV MAL Page for the MAZE anime series.]</ref>.
+''Chousekitan Maze☆Bakunetsu Jikuu'', simply known as ''MAZE'', is a Japanese fantasy-adventure manga series written by Satoru Akahori which follows a girl named Maze on her life and adventures in another fantasy world and whom by night, has an oddity to change into the opposite sex.<ref>[https://myanimelist.net/manga/11416/Chousekitan_Maze%E2%98%86Bakunetsu_Jikuu MAL Page for the ''MAZE'' manga]</ref>. The manga series later received a two-episode OVA series, followed by a TV adaptation with the same name spanning 25 episodes, produced by J.C. Staff in 1997<ref name="TV">[https://myanimelist.net/anime/1161/Maze%E2%98%86Bakunetsu_Jikuu_TV MAL Page for the ''MAZE'' anime series.]</ref>.
 Apart from the TV series, a theatrical film following up the events from the series was also produced and made by the same studio. It was then released in Japanese cinemas on April 25th, 1998. '''Unfortunately, the film never had any physical or home video release and has never been seen outside of the original limited theatrical run.'''<ref>[https://myanimelist.net/anime/8442/Maze%E2%98%86Bakunetsu_Jikuu__Tenpen_Kyoui_no_Giant MAL Page for the movie.]</ref><ref name="haze" />
 ==Background==
-The theatrical film, "'''''MAZE☆Bakunetsu Jikuu: Tenpen Kyoui no Giant'''''", was originally released in cinemas on April 25th, 1998<ref name="haze" /><ref name="listing">[http://jcstaff.co.jp/sakuhin/nenpyo/1998/02_maze_mov/maze_geki.htm J.C. Staff's listing of the film]</ref><ref name="noinfo">[https://web.archive.org/web/20001002095701fw_/http://www.jcstaff.co.jp/hpdata/jc_sakuhin/jc_sakuhin.html An archived of J.C. Staff's catalog from the 2000, that displays the MAZE film, that confirms it was released in Spring 1998]</ref>, that reportedly has a runtime of 42 minutes, which came from a blog post review of the film when it was originally being test screened<ref name= "run">[https://web.archive.org/web/20021223225028/http://www.eiga-kawaraban.com/98/98032602.html March 3, 1998: A review of the film that contains numerous information, plot, and details about the film, by K. Hattori.]</ref>.
+The theatrical film '''''MAZE☆Bakunetsu Jikuu: Tenpen Kyoui no Giant''''' was originally released in cinemas on April 25th, 1998<ref name="haze" /><ref name="listing">[http://jcstaff.co.jp/sakuhin/nenpyo/1998/02_maze_mov/maze_geki.htm J.C. Staff's listing of the film]</ref><ref name="noinfo">[https://web.archive.org/web/20001002095701fw_/http://www.jcstaff.co.jp/hpdata/jc_sakuhin/jc_sakuhin.html An archived of J.C. Staff's 2000 catalog, which displays ''MAZE'' and confirms that it was released in Spring 1998]</ref>, that reportedly has a runtime of 42 minutes, which came from a blog post review of the film when it was originally being test screened<ref name= "run">[https://web.archive.org/web/20021223225028/http://www.eiga-kawaraban.com/98/98032602.html March 3, 1998: A review of the film that contains numerous information, plot, and details about the film, by K. Hattori.]</ref>.
-A short synopsis for the film from various sites<ref>[https://eiga.com/movie/75635/ Eiga.com's move listing on MAZE movie]</ref><ref>[https://movie.jorudan.co.jp/film/31251/ Jorudan.co's listing on MAZE movie]</ref><ref>[https://allcinema.net/cinema/153530 Allcinema's listing on MAZE movie]</ref>, goes as follows:
+A short synopsis for the film from various sites<ref>[https://eiga.com/movie/75635/ Eiga.com's move listing on ''MAZE'']</ref><ref>[https://movie.jorudan.co.jp/film/31251/ Jorudan.co's listing on ''MAZE'']</ref><ref>[https://allcinema.net/cinema/153530 Allcinema's listing on ''MAZE'']</ref>, goes as follows:
 <blockquote>
-An erotic short film that revolves around an ancient titan who leads everything to destruction, depicting the activities of the Maze and the Light Magicians. The director is Iku Suzuki, who has been in charge of the "MAZE" TV series. The script was written by Satoru Akahori himself, who is also the original author. It was shot by Katsuyuki Otaki of "Slayers Gureeto". The voice cast includes Kotono Miishi from "Neon Genesis Evangelion Theatrical Version" and Tomokazu Seki from "Doraemon: Nobita's Nankai Great Adventure".
+An erotic short film that revolves around an ancient titan who leads everything to destruction, depicting the activities of the Maze and the Light Magicians. The director is Iku Suzuki, who has been in charge of the ''MAZE'' TV series. The script was written by Satoru Akahori himself, who is also the original author. It was shot by Katsuyuki Otaki of ''Slayers Gureeto''. The voice cast includes Kotono Miishi from ''Neon Genesis Evangelion Theatrical Version'' and Tomokazu Seki from ''Doraemon: Nobita's Nankai Great Adventure''.
 </blockquote>
 ==Plot==
-Most of the information for the plot of the film comes from the latter blog post of a review of the film during its test screening<ref name="run" />. The website, [https://web.archive.org/web/20101105064324/http://askwhatyouneed.webs.com/ Maze of The Haze], an archived fan site dedicated and containing mostly news about the MAZE franchise, gives us a brief rundown of the plot of the film<ref name="haze" />, taken from the latter review for the film<ref name="run" />:
+Most of the information for the plot of the film comes from the latter blog post of a review of the film during its test screening<ref name="run" />. The website, [https://web.archive.org/web/20101105064324/http://askwhatyouneed.webs.com/ Maze of The Haze], an archived fan site dedicated and containing mostly news about the ''MAZE'' franchise, gives us a brief rundown of the plot of the film<ref name="haze" />, taken from the latter review for the film<ref name="run" />:
 <blockquote>
 Long time ago, there was peace until the giants decide to wake up after years and years of slumber. The three priestesses, "The Del sisters", who were guarding their shrine had to retreat to seek help and who better to ask Maze for help. Obviously, Maze and company investigate the whole incident and they find themselves fighting against the giants. With the help of the shrine maidens, they finally save the fantasy world. The end.<ref name="haze">[https://web.archive.org/web/20101112164206/http://askwhatyouneed.webs.com/mazemovie.htm Maze of The Haze's page on the movie]</ref>
-</blockquote>The film also reportedly contained a lot of scenes that feature heavily uncensored nudity among its female characters<ref name="haze" />, which is evident in how it was promoted in magazines, trailers, and advertisements<ref name="goo">[https://blog.goo.ne.jp/rinjirinji_2007 A blogpost containing various advertising posters for how the film was promoted in magazines; and two known videos with footage from the film.]<span style="color:hotpink;">'''[NSFW]'''</span></ref>.
+</blockquote>The film also reportedly contained a lot of scenes that heavily feature uncensored nudity among its female characters<ref name="haze" />, which is evident in how it was promoted in magazines, trailers, and advertisements<ref name="goo">[https://blog.goo.ne.jp/rinjirinji_2007 A blogpost containing various advertising posters for how the film was promoted in magazines; and two known videos with footage from the film.]<span style="color:hotpink;">'''[NSFW]'''</span></ref>.
 [[File:MAZEPoster2.jpg|thumb|left|<span style="color:hotpink;">'''[NSFW]'''</span>Promotional poster for the film.]]
@@ Line 35: / Line 35: @@
 ==Availability==
-Having no home media or physical release<ref name="haze" />, footage from the film is incredibly scarce and hard to find. As of 2022, there are only two known videos with footage from the film that are available online. One is the official trailer for the film, which was uploaded to NicoNico in 2009, and another one was found in a commercial compilation from 1998 that contained a 13-second promo spot for the film, with additional scenes that were not on the trailer, that was also uploaded to NicoNico in 2010<ref name="goo" />.
+Having never been released on home media<ref name="haze" />, footage from the film is incredibly scarce and hard to find. As of 2022, there are only two known videos with footage from the film that are available online. One is the official trailer for the film, which was uploaded to NicoNico in 2009, and another one was found in a commercial compilation from 1998 that contained a 13-second promo spot for the film, with additional scenes that were not on the trailer, that was also uploaded to NicoNico in 2010<ref name="goo" />.
-A petition was made and signed by various users for an official physical release of the MAZE movie back in 2005, but the petition never went anywhere.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20050314032510/https://www.tanomi.com/metoo/naiyou.html?kid=33413 Archived petition for a home media release of the film]</ref> Aside from the promotional posters and known footage for the film, some of the songs in the soundtrack used for the film are also available online<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100106183632/http://www.esnips.com/web/MazeMegaBurstSpace-ThreatoftheGiantOST Archived eSnips page for the soundtrack of the film]</ref><ref name="haze" />.
+A petition was made and signed by various users for an official physical release of the ''MAZE'' movie back in 2005, but the petition never went anywhere.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20050314032510/https://www.tanomi.com/metoo/naiyou.html?kid=33413 Archived petition for a home media release of the film]</ref> Aside from the promotional posters and known footage for the film, some of the songs in the soundtrack used for the film are also available online<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100106183632/http://www.esnips.com/web/MazeMegaBurstSpace-ThreatoftheGiantOST Archived eSnips page for the soundtrack of the film]</ref><ref name="haze" />.
-There had been beliefs that the film's master tapes were destroyed and/or thrown away due to the film and franchise's poor sales, but these are rumors that have yet to be confirmed, and no source for the master tapes being destroyed is reliable.<ref>[https://collectr.blogspot.com/2019/02/bonbon.html Blogpost about the film's masters being destroyed hypothesized by a now-deleted YouTube video.]</ref>
+There had been beliefs that the film's master negatives were destroyed and/or thrown away due to the film and franchise's poor sales, but these are rumors that have yet to be confirmed, and no source for the reels being destroyed is reliable.<ref>[https://collectr.blogspot.com/2019/02/bonbon.html Blogpost about the film's masters being destroyed hypothesized by a now-deleted YouTube video.]</ref>
 ==Footage ==
@@ Line 48: / Line 48: @@
    |service2     =nico
    |id2          =https://nicovideo.jp/watch/sm10967169
-   |description2 =Commercials from 1998 that contained a 13-second promo spot for the MAZE movie. (0:30 - 0:43); uploaded in 2010. <span style="color:hotpink;">'''[NSFW]'''</span>
+   |description2 =Commercials from 1998 that contained a 13-second promo spot for ''MAZE''. (0:30 - 0:43); uploaded in 2010. <span style="color:hotpink;">'''[NSFW]'''</span>
 }}
 ==External Links==
@@ Line 56: / Line 56: @@
 *[https://web.archive.org/web/20101105064324/http://askwhatyouneed.webs.com/ Archived website for ''Maze of The Haze'']
 *[https://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=3374 AniDB page for the film.]
-*[https://home.gamer.com.tw/creationDetail.php?sn=1182539 HomeGamer blog post about MAZE.]
+*[https://home.gamer.com.tw/creationDetail.php?sn=1182539 HomeGamer blog post about ''MAZE''.]
 *[https://youtu.be/04yEfrOyx9c "Big Fight" - The movie soundtrack's single.]
-*[https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/MAZE%E2%98%86%E7%88%86%E7%86%B1%E6%99%82%E7%A9%BA#.E6.98.A0.E7.94.BB Japanese Wikipedia page about the MAZE movie.]
+*[https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/MAZE%E2%98%86%E7%88%86%E7%86%B1%E6%99%82%E7%A9%BA#.E6.98.A0.E7.94.BB Japanese Wikipedia page about the ''MAZE'' movie.]
-*[https://archive.org/details/maze-movie-ost/ MAZE Movie OST]
+*[https://archive.org/details/maze-movie-ost/ ''MAZE'' Movie OST]
 == References==