Favorite Tokusatu

[VampireLord1024VampireLord1024's icon]

Where are you people watching these shows? Are subtitled versions available on a streaming service or something, or do you actually own physical DVDs of them? I'd quite like to watch Akibaranger, but I have zero idea of where I could.

I watched both Ultraman Blazar & Taro on YouTube, (English dubbed) & Kamen Rider Wizard, (also English dubbed) on The Internet Archive.

 

[ATenderLad]

Considering writing a tokutalk article every few weeks, don't know about engagement tho

Why not? I don't know much on the topic myself, but I'm sure that'd be an interesting read.

 

[Another Iori]

Do you remember this bastardized version of 'Kamen Rider Black RX'?

 

[Ikagura]

Do you remember this bastardized version of 'Kamen Rider Black RX'?

What... the... fuck?

That furby is just cursed.

 

[Kosmopirato]

Nice to see so many Faiz fans here. Its one of my favorites alongside KR Build.
I'd think Inoue's wild writing style would turn people away from it at first but the comedy and weird turns in the story are too good to pass up. One fun fact is that he hated writing the new gadgets (the stuff that would 100% be turned into toys) into the story so much, you and Faiz himself would get introduced to upgrades like this.

"It was in the mailbox!"

Though I got to say I've been having fun more consistently with Super Sentai ever since I started it with Zenkaiger than I'm having with modern Reiwa Kamen Rider.

 

[Ikagura]

I would like to debate about if we should have "adult" tokus being made in parallel to the "selling toys for kids" type but then again I don't like the idea of "more blood = more adult" type of mentality.

 

[DRAKKO]

Kmane Rider Black, 555, Ryuki and the original Kamen Rider.

 

[HatsuAnto69]

My favorite is kamen Rider Build, I don't think there's anything else that's so memorable to me after KR Build.

 

[Another Iori]

What... the... fuck?

That furby is just cursed.

This 'bastard dog' came out before the Furby, but definitely after Gizmo from 'Gremlins.' Anyway, it's not an automaton, but a dwarf inside a custom-made puppet!

 

[TheGamesArchivist]

The thing is, I love Kamen Rider (to the tune of currently over $5000), and I just can't seem to get into the heads of people who act like every season is supposed to be dark and all that jazz. Like, did we all take silly pills and forget that this is a franchise created for young children? Primarily to sell merch?

Like, yes, we can feel disappointed, as adults, when the storyline is a bit weak, or the pacing is off...but at day's end, we aren't the target audience. Like, we may get shows like Black Sun or Amazons, or movies like Shin Kamen Rider, but when it comes down to brass tacks, we're just adults, failing to grasp that the children's show will often be...well...kiddy.

The last two times we had a chance with the franchise (See: Masked Rider & Dragon Knight), we proved time and again that we didn't understand how Kamen Rider works. We just saw it as another Power Rangers-type show, and tried to run it all the same. Hence why both failed utterly at conveying the stories they were adapted from...much like every other Tokusatsu hero show we tried to adapt, poorly.

Nostalgia may keep the blinders on some, but let's be real - sometimes we judge these shows a bit too harshly, as people expecting top-grade from a Kid's-Brand toy show, often limited in scale due to budgetary constraints.

THAT BEING SAID, I won't tell a person they HAVE to like a season, even if their reasons for disliking it are milquetoast nitpickery, at best. One person's yuck is another person's yum. Hell, there's folks out there who actually really love Hibiki and Ghost...and Wizard is a guilty pleasure of mine, I'm just a sucker for good costume design and fight choreography.

The one season I just can't bring myself to finish thusfar is Saber. I don't know why, I can't put my finger on it, I just cannot bring myself to push past like...Ep.20-ish.

...Gavv's shaping up to be great, though, despite the theme being, y'know...snacks. I think Gaim taught all of us in the fanbase to not take a rider at visual-theme value. Things can go from lighthearted to hearbreaking in the snap of a finger, if the writing crew isn't pulling any punches.

 

[Ikagura]

The thing is, I love Kamen Rider (to the tune of currently over $5000), and I just can't seem to get into the heads of people who act like every season is supposed to be dark and all that jazz. Like, did we all take silly pills and forget that this is a franchise created for young children? Primarily to sell merch?

Like, yes, we can feel disappointed, as adults, when the storyline is a bit weak, or the pacing is off...but at day's end, we aren't the target audience. Like, we may get shows like Black Sun or Amazons, or movies like Shin Kamen Rider, but when it comes down to brass tacks, we're just adults, failing to grasp that the children's show will often be...well...kiddy.

You're right about it but honestly it's possible to both be for a younger audience to sell them toys while also being good on its own.

I noticed how early Heisei (especially Kuuga and Agito) were much more drama-like with a tokusatsu coat of paint than a plain toku like the Super Sentais were... Perhaps because of the hiatus and the fact that KR has always been for a slightly older audience from the other.

I mean when you look at 70's tokus you also can see some stuff that today are seen as dark or just something you can never show today (even Ultraman wasn't shy of showing dismemberment from getting cut).

I think that the mindset of "it's for kids therefore quality shouldn't be a priority" is also not a good one because even children are aware of obvious inconsistencies or tropes being used. They aren't stupid (well, as far as I'm aware).

I noticed that for each seasons that were more serious they were often followed by one with a more popular theme (like Jetman getting followed by Zyuranger, a dinosaur themed season and Timeranger followed by Gaoranger, an animal/beast themed one to sell toys as apparently the previous ones didn't sell a lot).

I'd be fine with that, making one "serious" season and one more light-hearted with more toys to sell but maybe it's better to make only toy selling seasons and use other ways to show more mature series like Amazons and Black Sun.

I also believe new laws were applied for youth shows seeing how things got less explicit compared to the 90's (even video games are less prone to explicitly bloody violence in Japan).

PS: I still enjoy the silly moments even in these show to make a balance and not get too gritty

 

[DuraNext]

This is one of the ones I grew up watching here in Brazil. I think Ryukendo is not very popular, but it is my favorite.

 

[RetroLaw]

This is one of the ones I grew up watching here in Brazil. I think Ryukendo is not very popular, but it is my favorite.

It was super cheesy but really fun.

My fav episode is the one where the two cute cops go after the villain through the city, and then their car ends up "dead" and they're super emotional about it X)

Maybe épisode 5 iirc, it was at the beginning of the show.

 

[Ikagura]

I don't wanna spoil too much but if you've watched Kuuga you know that the scene where

Spoiler: Kamen Rider Kuuga spoiler

he did a massive beat down over go jaraj da

is quite one of the most memorable scene (although the episode itself wasn't great).

As for Agito I absolutely love how "realistic" (for a toku) G3(X) is as a Rider simply because of small elements like seeing an user guide in the intro as well as a safety warning sticker on his equipment followed by the fact he doesn't have unlimited ammo (like in too many western show)

so he had to swap out cartridges (at 1:59).

PS: I'll also add how brutal and feral Gill was (almost like a lost Showa Rider a la Amazon/Shin).

I miss when Riders could be not just artificial with an iron armour (like a Metal Hero) but organic as well (followed by the mystical kind that Kuuga and Agito were).

Speaking of Metal Hero I loved Hakaider (which felt like Shin Hakaider in a way)

 

[ZEGA ZONIC]

I was watching a little bit of Denji Sentai Megaranger on the Tokushoutsu twitch channel.

 

[Ikagura]

I was watching a little bit of Denji Sentai Megaranger on the Tokushoutsu twitch channel.

I love the cyber theme of that one. I'll check that channel then.

 

[tropicalavera]

Where are you people watching these shows? Are subtitled versions available on a streaming service or something, or do you actually own physical DVDs of them? I'd quite like to watch Akibaranger, but I have zero idea of where I could.

Akiba is all up on the internet archive, fren - you can stream it there or download the torrent (which I'm currently seeding). There's a surprising amount of toku stuff on archive.org and its worth going through and finding stuff whilst we still have the luxury!

 

[Ikagura]

Akibaranger is fine but it's a tokusatsu-themed drama and not a proper toku imo.

 

[Tonberry]

Tokusatsu didn't exist at all in my country, and my only experience with it as a kid was from a rom of "SD The Great Battle" (and even then I'm fairly certain I mained the Gundam character) but from browsing a little bit throughout the years I still think, as a super mega giga ultra casual observer that Kamen Rider is my favourite, at least from designs. I really like the bug look they've got going.

I'd like to get into it more but I'm not sure where to start. I don't mind old media either. Frankly, I tend to consume more old japanese shows than new anyways, so I'm open for most cool stuff.

 

[tropicalavera]

Akibaranger is fine but it's a tokusatsu-themed drama and not a proper toku imo.

Sure, sure - and Eva isn't a mech anime; just a mech-themed drama!

 

[Ikagura]

Sure, sure - and Eva isn't a mech anime; just a mech-themed drama!

Well... technically there is no mechas in EVA.

 

[Gorse]

Well... technically there is no mechas in EVA.

WHAT ABOUT JET ALONE!!!?!?!?!?!?!?

 

[DrunkOcelot]

I'm wanting to really dive back into Tokusatsu, but I'll admit I haven't been keeping up. What are your favorites?

Today I learned about the word Tokusatsu, and that I was apparently already a fan. :D

 

[Prism_Red]

For Riders in no particular order, Kuuga, Kabuto, Gaim, Black and RX, Ex-aid, W, Amazons.
I have memories watching V3 when I was young from rented pirated dvds and such, I don't understand Japanese and the subs were Italian I think (if it were subbed, 'cause I remember there are none on some eps), dumb young me just watched it because it looks cool.

 

[Ikagura]

WHAT ABOUT JET ALONE!!!?!?!?!?!?!?

I knew you'd talk about this one but before we'll delve too much into EVA talk this was an anime meant to subvert all expectations about the mecha genre.

Anyway I'll say that but Akibaranger is a love letter to tokus but in a drama format rather than a pure Toku.

It's like Hi-Score girl being a video-game themed romance manga/anime but not a "video-game anime" (if you could call it like that).

For Riders in no particular order, Kuuga, Kabuto, Gaim, Black and RX, Ex-aid, W, Amazons.
I have memories watching V3 when I was young from rented pirated dvds and such, I don't understand Japanese and the subs were Italian I think (if it were subbed, 'cause I remember there are none on some eps), dumb young me just watched it because it looks cool.

I remember seeing a lot of V3 episodes because of a channel called "Kenshin TV" in a private online TV network my parents were subscribed to (but got closed sadly) that had a lot of Showa tokus (I'd even say up until 1981 because I don't remember seeing anything more recent).

I wish Toei would allow more of their classic shows online, having two episodes of tokus or minor series is just eh.