FanExpo has been a playground for Ultraman Blazar all weekend, with the titular giant appearing at booths all over the convention, and having an amazing first panel. It was the second panel on Saturday, however, that brought a new episode to the fans with the FanExpo premiere of the dub of “Rainbow Appears Part 1” alongside Rawly Pickens! And so, the question remains: What Happened?
The panel began with editor-in-chief EJ Couloucoundis welcoming fans into the panel, cracking a few jokes with the audience and talking about his views on the Ultraman series, before reintroducing them to the ADV Director of the Ultraman Blazar dub and special guest for FanExpo Weekend, Rawly Pickens!
After some brief pleasantries, Rawly and EJ — and the audience — turned their attention to the episode of Ultraman Blazar that was making its FanExpo premiere, Episode 7 “Rainbow Appears Part 1.” We’ll try not to spoil too much of the episode for you fans who haven’t gotten to check it out on Ultraman Connection, but wow. Even Rawly, who helped make the dub, audibly gasped at several points as the mysterious, godly Kaiju Nijikagachi’s rampage threw Japan into utter chaos. EJ, however, will comment that his favorite part involves learning why Nijikagachi has returned from the age of myth… but you’ll have to watch the episode yourself to find out!
As soon as the episode ended, EJ and Rawly spoke frankly about Blazar’s willingness to shine a light on the human element of these sorts of Kaiju crises, and gave their thoughts on how the show and its cast are engaging with their responsibilities to the very threats that they face. After that, Rawly got into his dubbing philosophies, talking about the vast differences between his work dubbing anime, and dubbing live-action series, especially dubbing Blazar itself, which, as a live-action simuldub, is the first of its kind.
With that, EJ opened up the floor to the audience, and got asked some personal questions, including one of the hardest ones anyone can ask — who’s your favorite Ultraman? Rawly, still growing his experience in the 57-year history of the Ultraman Series, went with the ones he knows, Z and Blazar, while EJ got paralyzed by choice. Poor guy! It’s a hard thing to decide on the spot! He did admit how impressed he’s been by Blazar — with good timing, too, since mere moments later, Blazar himself arrived on the scene!
Despite not being particularly talkative, Blazar was nonetheless more than happy to pose with fans — maybe you’ve seen a few online?
All the way through the photo session, EJ and Rawly continued to answer questions, offering as much wisdom and secrets of the Ultraman Series as they could. Unfortunately, however, all good things must come to an end, and even Ultraman can only remain on Earth for so long. Blazar bid farewell to the audience — we think — and left, leaving EJ and Rawly to wrap up the panel. They said a fond goodbye to the audience, and with that, the final panel for Ultraman Blazar at FanExpo came to a close.
Don’t worry, though — you can continue to check out Ultraman Blazar on the Ultraman Official Youtube Channel, and Ultraman Connection! There’s more to come from FanExpo too, so keep your eyes out for the next article!
