Ultraman Blazar is currently taking FanExpo Canada by storm, and though the giant of light has been spotted at the Bandai, Anime City, and RSVLTS booths before now, it was today that Ultraman Connection held the first of their two panels celebrating the series! With a full crowd and a special guest, only one question remains about this amazing event: What happened???
The panel started with Ultraman Connection editor-in-chief EJ Couloucoundis welcoming fans to the Ultraman Continuum, and explaining to new fans exactly what the Ultraman series is about, and the 57-year legacy of the show. The party really started, however, when EJ introduced his guest — Rawly Pickens, ADR Director for the English dub of Blazar! With pleasantries out of the way, EJ and Rawly happily began the screening of Ultraman Blazar Episode 1, “First Wave”!
We’ve talked about “First Wave” before, and there’s little we could talk about here that our review hasn’t already said. What we can talk about, however, was the fan reaction, because it was electric! With light commentary by EJ and Rawly, the real stars were the audience, who cheered along with every big moment, especially the climactic battle between Ultraman Blazar and Bazanga!
When the episode ended, the panel continued, with a brief interview between EJ and Rawly about the production of the dub. Rawly let a few interesting details slip, including how hands-on and helpful Tsuburaya Productions is regarding making sure the dub cast is properly supported.
From there, the floor opened to questions from the audience! Lots of fascinating questions were asked, from questions about how good Blazar is as a starting point for fans (Spoilers: It’s a great one!) to asking the panelists what their dream dubs would be — Rawly’s hopes were split between Orb and Geed, while EJ nearly broke his microphone asking for Mebius. Fans who asked questions were rewarded for their initiative by receiving prizes provided by Ultraman Connection’s licensed partners, Monogram International, and RR Parks Cards.
The final surprise of the day came after this, as Ultraman Blazar himself made an appearance in the panel! Though there was no guarantee that EJ and Rawly were able to get through to him, he seemed perfectly willing to take pictures with the fans in the audience, and fans lined up to meet with the mysterious giant.
After the photo session, it was finally time for the fun to end, but this was only the first of two panels at FanExpo — check in later to learn more about the second panel, featuring Episode 7, “Rainbow Appears, Part 1”! And to learn more about every amazing event happening across FanExpo, stay close to Ultraman Connection!
