Okay, I’ve got to admit that I was initially quite skeptical about the Astro Girl film primarily because the trailer featured not just the stuff that I like (the bullets bouncing off the chest, the strength, the great costume, and the great actress), but also what I call the ‘darker’ elements: peril, hypnosis, pain, etc.
This (now unfounded) debate started on the “Astro Girl – Film Details” post a few weeks ago and it then sparked off another debate about peril in the Superheroine genre.
I am however pleased to report that Astro Girl: American Heroine did not let me down. In fact I was very pleasantly surprised by not just the amount of feats of strength, fighting, and superheroine actions, but also of the quality and acting.
The Beginning
The film starts with two gangs exchanging money for drugs when we get our first glimpse of our superheroine.
Not only is her entrance fantastic, but the costume is top-notch, and importantly the actress that plays Astro Girl is both gorgeous (imo) and has a figure that really fills the costume.
On initial thoughts the only thing that lets down the overall package is the boots. They’re red but they’re pretty scrubby. As you may know from my comic books I prefer tight to the leg.
But we can forgive them for the boots as the costume I think is great. It has a slight wet look to the material and I’ve got to say that she looks amazing in the costume.
So, back to the film, and especially the fighting, the strength and the effects. The first scene is great. Action packed and we see Astro Girl with some great dialogue and more crutially kicking some ass!
A blend of kung-fu style fighting peppered with super punches, throwing guys across the room, picking a guy up over her head, and then finally lifting a guy slowing by his throat up into the air – magnificently done.
Tokyo
From that first encounter it really sets the scene and Astro Girl travels (I think) to Tokyo, straight into another action scene.
Astro Girl transforms to save a young woman from a gang of three men. After nearly dispatching the men herself the young woman is glad to find Astro Girl kicking their asses.
The best part of that scene is where one of the men runs at Astro Girl with a large knife and from below looking up you just see the knife bent into an odd shape after colliding with Astro Girl’s rock hard stomach. The additional benefit is also a great look at Astro Girls (fine!) figure!
After befriending this young woman the action slows and the story develops. Because the bulk of the dialogue is in Japanese its sort of hard to get a full grip on what’s going on. But it’s definitely not a reason not to watch the film. Astro Girl is the only character that actually speaks English, and the actress does it well.
So, back to the story and essentially this alien from outer space then flies down and joins forces with the main drug dealer. He brings along with him what I can only describe as kryptonite.
We have another scene where Astro Girl saves a reporter from three thugs and the same result: she kicks some ass and looks great.
Meanwhile, after some more story out of costume we enter another great scene. This alien dude is with the drug dealer boss and along comes the fantastic Astro Girl. Again, looks great and looks even better as the two gun men fire their machine guns at the young heroine and watch in close up the bullets just bounce of her ample chest. Really fantastic effects.
Bullet-in-the-eye Effect
The film then mimics the latest Superman film as the drug dealing boss pulls out a gun and shoots Astro Girl at close range and the special effects crew did a great job as the bullet hits her eye, crushes under the impact and falls to the ground – amazing stuff.
Some bending of steel bars, finishing off the two gunmen and then the confrontation with the alien dude.
He pulls out this seemingly primitive weapon at which Astro Girl laughs. However, loaded with this kryptonite stuff it penetrates her costume and courses into her body.
We then have about ten minutes of the alien shooting down Astro Girl and for all you guys not into the peril stuff, it really isn’t like that and I think it adds to the story. It may have carried on a little longer than necessary, but it is paramount to the story.
To finish off this chapter something odd happens. As the alien is bombarding the heroine with this green electrical stuff the drug dealer’s body guard then suddenly disappears and saves the day in his own superhero outfit.
Astro Girl then recovers, seems to regain her full strength and the final battle between Astro Girl and the alien begins with the conclusion that Astro Girl kicks his ass.
Conclusion
In conclusion I really think that this is the best amateur film since the Steele’s Awakening. Whilst I’m not into Japanese girls, the actress playing Astro Girl (Delcea Mihaela Gabriela) is not only quite stunning but has got a cracking figure to play the superheroine.
The special effects and the fighting are great and especially with the strength scenes I always felt that Astro Girl really looked strong and invulnerable.
The bullet bouncing scenes were brilliant and Astro Girl’s reaction at the end and her dialogue throughout were good.
Downloading this beast of a film (848mb) is a bit of a hassle and made more tedious by the fact that the instructions are in pigeon English and that it’s impossible to play the film on another computer other than the one that you purchased the film on (using its DRM software).
However I would definitely recommend purchasing the film. I was really impressed by the amount of action, the heroine, the length (1 hour and 7 minutes) and the quality of special effects.
Purchasing the Film
You’ll need to go to http://www.zen-pictures.net/english/f_main/sakuhinn/html/org/zard52.html where you’ll be asked to first download some a Digital Rights piece of software.
If you follow the instructions (use Internet Explorer and NOT Firefox because one of the pages doesn’t load for some reason) you’ll eventually get to choose the film to download and once you enter you payment details you’ll get an email with the download links.
A pretty big download, but in my opinion, well worth it.
My Ratings
Actress – Look – 8
Actress – Acting – 8
Costume – 9
Boots – 5
Special Effects – 8
Strength Scenes – 7
Peril – Nothing overt
Cast and Production
Cast
Astro Girl: Delcea Mihaela Gabriela
Akane Kujyo: Ichie Tanaka
Thunder Knights: Debit Hossein (Konya-ga-Yamada)
Staff
Producer: Shin Iizawa
Action Direction: Shigeki hayase
Director: Toru Kikkawa
Links
Film Homepage
http://www.zen-pictures.net/english/f_main/sakuhinn/html/org/zard52.html
View Images from the Film
http://www.zen-pictures.net/report/html/e/027.htm
Download trailer
mms://giga06.giga-freeks.net/giga/zen/sample/sample_zard52.wmv
Thanks for the summary, I think I may download this afterall. I was worried the peril scenes would dominate the film, but from your review that doesn’t seem to be the case.
Hi Jon – well done and thanks for taking the time to post such a great review. I too have bought the film and although I don’t wish to put anyone else off I am unable to play the film. When I try to open the file it just tells me that Windows Media doesn’t have the right codec to play it. Can anyone help?! I have emailed the company but with no reply as yet unfortunately.
I just bought the movie but for some reason the URL e-mail that I receive didn’t actually worked, or at least my computer didn’t recognize it since it was totally in japanese symbols. Could one of the persons that already has seen the movie help me out with the URL? Or at least tell me how did you get to the download page. Also is there anyway to contact the company to ask them to resend me the URL e-mail since I tried all of the companies e-mail but none of them worked.
I also got the DRM progam installed and used IE to get the website’s “BUY” button to work. After that, it was just a matter of getting the darned file to complete downloading. I ended up using GetRight, and used a 2-segment accelerator. GetRight is very good at resuming seemingly halted downloads. The movie has great costumes, good sets, and there’s a nice sense of FUN here as well. I just wish it came with English subtitles, though it was funny that the heroine speaks English (and Japanese). The blooper/behind the scenes file was a nice unexpected bonus. Lots of fanservice, but that’s okay; I’m a sucker for that sort of thing.
My question is how did you get the URL to be able to download the file because for some reason in the e-mail that I receive it didn’t came?
Hi Oscar – There should be a link on one email that takes you to another page which has all the Japanese on it. At the bottom of this page there are two numbers and you should able to right click on these and save target. I hope this helps!
It might play with winamp installed. I have winamp , have not got movie yet. I also have windows media player and divx. That may help/
I receive the URL e-mail but there wasn’t any link. I’m thinking that my e-mail program, since it wasn’t an internet program, ate the link. Did any of you use a @gmail or @hotmail address to get the URL e-mail and the card settlement? If so could any of you send me the URL e-mail that you receive to compare it with the e-mail that I received. My e-mail is: jackblazearcher@gmail.com Thank you for all your help.
i have uploaded some good clips from astrogirl part one on you tube (user scotty2788) . If your thinking of buying this i would its great!!!!!
I had the same problem as in the second comment. I haven’t been charged, so I’m not complaining yet, but if I do get charged and still can’t watch it, I will be.
Hi Grok – I haven’t been charged yet either but I still can’t get it to work. Ill let you know if I have any luck!
Hi Grok – I haven’t been charged yet either but I still can’t get it to work. Ill let you know if I have any luck!
I still haven’t been able to download the movie yet and I haven’t been charge either. I wanted to ask, to those who have downloaded the movie, which address did you use to get the URL e-mail. What I mean is did you use @gmail, @hotmail, @yahoo or any other internet address?
Hi Oscar – I just used my yahoo email address.
Here’s a bit about the star:
http://www.eigapedia.com/wiki/Delcea_Mihaela_Gabriela
She may have great boobs, but she’s no boob. Speaks seven languages; that takes brains!
I get the impression that downloading the video is cumbersome at best and impossible at worst. I wonder if DVDs are available at the kind of stores that sell anime.
Thanks for the review.
I would buy it but am kind of concerned about the process. I can only play it on one computer? What if my computer crashes and I have to get a new one? Does that sound a little fishy to anyone else?
Otherwise, it sounds great! I would consider a DVD if available.
I agree with jdrock24. If you’re paying for it, shouldn’t you be able to play it anywhere you want? Things like that really bother me. A DVD would be much better. Maybe scotty2788 will post more clips on youtube though the quality is pretty bad since he just basically pointed a video camera at the computer screen. good clips though anyway.
Maybe it’s because I’m using Vista that it doesn’t work? I have no idea, the email I sent has yet to get a reply….
I think it does have to do with Windows Media Player 11 and vista. I can’t figure out a way to open the .gggz file. Any clues?
I got charged but never received the download e-mail. I only got an e-mail with order ID.
Hey, I’m sorry to hear that so many people are having problems downloading the film.
The purchasing part is a little difficult and whilst I had no problems in receiving the email with the download link, I had to try the link maybe 3/4 times before I got a successful single download.
I think that if enough people email the company with complaints about the download the sooner they may bring out a DVD and then it makes it easier then.
Sorry I cannot be of any help. I’m on Windows XP using the latest version of Windows Media Player. However I have installed quite a lot of plugins as required when watching a lot of other superheroine video clips.
Good luck.
Since I have a Mac, no Windows Media, I think I’d better pass on the download, But I would be interested in the DVD.
Has anybody seen any other movies starring Delcea? I notice the list at the link I posted above doesn’t include the Astro Girls, perhaps because they were made for TV (One site lists them as “Season 1” and “Season 2” — pretty short seasons, I guess). She shiws off her body in something called VENUS RANGER,
Hi Adam – Yeah Im using vista and windows media 11. It opens the media player but then says it has a problem with the codec Sounds like we both have the same problem. I’ll keep trying and let you know if I have any success
Hate to say it but for those wish to buy the DVD you should know three things. Number one it takes a very long time for it to get to its destination. I’m talking like 5 weeks maybe more. Number two it cost twice the amount than downloading the film. Number three you need a free region or a region 2 DVD player to play the movie. Here is a site that sells the DVD: http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-ag-49-en-15-astro+girl-70-2g96.html
Sounds like we may be fucked either way.
Ooooh boy. Some English translation help needed on that site, or I need to learn Japaneese. Here is the message I got:
“The payment of a visitor did not come with a receptionist”
I tried using a Visa Gift card, by the way, since as far as I can tell the site uses NO encryption. Didn’t want to subject my credit card to that.
Looks like I might be outta luck
Over at Superwomenmania, the reviews of ASTRO GIRL 2 are NOT favorable — that one is mostly peril, it seems.
I tried sampling a few “related” superheroine videos at YouTube. The Japanese ones seem to follow a pattern, with superheroine action first, then “peril.” Crotch shots also seem to be common. There’s another STEEL ANGEL clip in which she’s just showing off in her skimpy outfit, no story.
I wonder if they tried something different with ASTRO GIRL I and Japanese men didn’t like it. If they get off on peril rather than heroics, I wouldn’t be surprised, since there are so many guys like that HERE.
P.S.: Here’s the link to that STEEL ANGEL posing clip. She’s so sweet!
For the record, I downloaded/installed the security program, used a regular Visa card to make the purchase, used my normal home E-Mail account (not a web-based account), and had to use Internet Explorer for the download purchase button to work. From there, I opened the E-Mail in Outlook Express. There was a link to a webpage. I opened the page in Firefox (my normal browser) and there were two small numbered boxes at the bottom of the screen. I right-clicked and chose “Save Link As” to save the file. That download paused after getting to 98%, so I ran GetRight downloader and used that program to download the movie files. Link 1 was the movie, and Link 2 was a blooper/behind the scenes short.
I was able to make contact with the company and I downloaded and watch the movie but I haven’t been charged yet. Its just like Dennis says. The URL takes you to a page with two small numbers. Link 1 was the movie, and Link 2 was a blooper/behind the scenes short. The download stops sometimes on link 1. I believe its because is a big file. I was lucky to be able to get it complete the third time I tried. Has anyone been charge already? If yes then how much? Just to make sure its what it says.
I got Astro Girl 2 a couple of days ago. While I haven’t read the Superwomenmania review, I can confirm that there’s more suffering for our heroine(s) this time around. There’s a scene where Astro Girl’s best friend is strapped to a table. But the plus side is that she is transformed via Kryptonite into an Evil super woman… which is enough reason for me to purchase it right there.
There’s an all-too-brief battle between the now-white-clad Astro Girl and the friend-turned-bad-girl. The mostly one-sided battle between Astro Girl and the evil super man (the henchman from the previous “season”?) gets a little tiring because Astro Girl doesn’t do much but fight a losing battle. Plus there’s an extended amount of Kryptonite-on-a-chain-around-the-neck stuff that isn’t so much painful as it is repetitive and boring.
For those of you who like big fake boobs in tight outfits, the white Astro Girl costume will satisfy you nicely. And, there’s a happy ending, no torture till death, like on other sites.
The occasional panty shot is just typical Japanese fanservice, and it’s not really gratuitous. You see more crotch shots in a WWE women’s match.
My opinion: We are in a pretty tight niche market, so beggars can’t be choosers. This was an easy decision for me.
Just wish I knew someone who could translate the Japanese. It would be fun to try creating a fansub.
Hi Oscar – do you happen to have email address for the company as I still can’t get my copy to work? Many thanks
MO these are the e-mails from the company. Also when you e-mail them send your customer order id so they can verify the order.
member@zen-pictures.net
ceo-contact@zen-pictures.net
oosaka@heroinetokusatsu.net
tokyo@heroinetokusatsu.net
zen.qak@zen-pictures.net
info@zen-pictures.net
Also if you have a problem with the .gggz file then that’s the program the pirate buster program that you installed before being able to order the movie. .gggz is the security program.
I’m screwed like several other people. I’ve done everything they asked, download the anti-piracy thing, install it, download the movie. It won’t play, the idea of emailing people ho clearly speak pidgin English fills me with great dread. If anyone who was having trouble resolved their issue could they please tell me how?
I see Scotty has put up more scenes at YouTube.
Dare I ask how Scotty is able to convert a DRM-protected video into something that can be uploaded to YouTube?
Maybe he used dilithium crystals!
I wish you would ask because I still can’t play my version and I’d like to see it, the buggers don’t reply to email either.
Sounds like we need somebody who could pirate the whole film. I don’t hold with that as a general rule, but these Zen people seem to be asking for it. For all I know, they’ve been ripping off people in Japan too.
zebra, maybe you can’t play your version because you don’t have the necessary video codec. Try installing a few video codecs like: Matroska Pack, DivX Codec and/or K-Lite Codec. If it doesn’t work I have no idea why you can’t see it.
Thanks for the emails Oscar – I have given it a go but no response as yet. Thanks for the codec suggestions – I will try but Im notolding my breath. I think the problem is with that stupid pirate encryption:(
The whole Pirate Buster software sucks hard if you have Vista and WMP 11 (which is default with Vista). I paid for a movie download (flush $40~) and cannot get the damned thing unencrypted. To be honest, I’m now looking for the “illegal” route of cracking the GGGZ file to play something that I legally bought and cannot use. God I hate copy-protection bullcrap when it works AGAINST the people who go the legal route to obtain the damned thing.
It’s a disgrace to be honest, and it makes very little business sense. Firstly, most of the people who would download it from a torrent or share it via email etc.. are not people who would buy the product anyway, so you aren’t losing much revenue there, secondly, if a high proportion of the people that do buy cannot play what they have bought then you have lost a customer for good who would be most likely to buy some of your other titles. Anybody who has a clue about business knows that you make the bulk of your revenue from repeat customers, not only will I never buy from these thieves again but I will bad mouth them at every possible opportunity in the hope of damaging their profits and saving peoples money. I have sent them several emails which they’ve not bothered to reply to, they have stolen my money.
I think I’ve been charged twice. I’ve checked my netbank and it shows its been charged 17th Jan when I got charged the 6th when I actually DLed it. Though that earlier date is gone from the list in my netbank so I’m not entirely sure.
Does anyone actually have a working email for them? The ones on the site all bounce back.
These ones didn’t bounce back for me:
member@zen-pictures.net
ceo-contact@zen-pictures.net
but they were ignored.
All,
I’m quite shocked by Zen Pictures technology, customer service, lack of an alternative to the download, and also for banking money without providing a quality service/product.
I do think that once they get enough emails (and the quantity of emails to them may be the problem) they will/should start responding.
I really hope you get through to them.
If only you could afford to make an offer for Delcea to appear HERE….
I love AstroGirl 1,although it could have been longer with more flying,more bullet bouncing off her chest [or belly],little less fighting,and more helping people.
Hi all,
I have downloaded another movie from their site. No problems with downloading, but I cannot view the files. The pirates buster decryption tool does only work with english or japanese operating systems.
I am from Germany, so there is no possibility to view these movies. This has been confirmed by the company, so I will get my money back.
I got a very fast response from the company so I think they already know of these problems. A good working email is kato2007921 [at] yahoo.co.jp
As far as cracking the DRM goes there are some tool that suppose to do this, but none of them work for these gggz files. For more information just read
http://stream-recorder.com/forum/remove-drm-purchased-wmv-gggz-files-can-t2171.html
Hi,
Don’t be a foul like me and order a movie for download. Pirates buster doesn’t work with my ENGLISH windows vista. I feel pretty ripped off and won’t do business with them again. :((
Has anyone tried that DVD Toaster thing they have with windows vista? Basically it’s like downloading, but it burns the film straight to your dvd burner.
Hello.
I found some trailers and short parts of this movie on You tube.
Thanks to people who made that.
I red in this blog that is very difficult to get a copy of the movie.
Even purchasing a legal copy I could have a problem.
What is situation know.
It is possible to get a free copy on internet?
Or coud somebody to share it with me?
Ugo
I really cant believe you been wasting a half a year on this why dosent the guy who has a working copy upload it on thepiratebay.org so everybody can enjoy it