Tokusatsu Review: Uchu Sentai Kyuuranger vs Space Squad Part 2: Evil will always triumph, because good is dumb.

When you're done read, comment, spread the links, re-tweet and follow me on Twitter @OnDavidsBrain!, support me on Patreon and watch my Twitch Channel Every Saturday at 12:00 ET

 Welcome back to my last written review of 2018 everybody. Yeah sorry but this is the time of the year for friends (the few I still have), family (the ones I actually want to affiliate myself with) and making sure both groups don't kill each other over petty nonsense by pacifying them with material goods. Though in all seriousness this has been a busy year for me and I need a bit of a break. Besides I need to catch everyone up on Kingdom Hearts before the big day comes next month so I'll be dedicating myself to posting the rest of my LP of Birth By Sleep. So now to wrap up the adventures of Dumbluck and his gang of stooges. Here's the link to last time, now to get this party started.

https://ondavidsbrain.blogspot.com/2018/11/tokusatsu-review-uchu-sentai-kyuuranger.html

 So after Dumbluck, Robo Bison and Pine Tree showed us how little they actually know about how the world works, and Shuu gets a good sniff of Bootleg Spock after sniffing Tsurugi's female secretary, the guy must collect restraining orders like Yu-gi-oh cards. Everybody is brooding over this whole situation while Spiro is still incapacitated, he could really use either a Spa day or surgery. Dumbluck and his group meet up with Luigi Mario where they surprisingly encounter Spyro who tells the four to look after Yera and that the enemy is going to attack the Neo Kyuutama production facility, yeah I know what's happening but just let those in the back of the class figure it out for themselves. Tsurugi even gets a message from Demost about the same attack. Sure enough Yera's there and ambushed by Tsurugi, Sasuke Clone #3472, Kurumi, Bootleg and Josuk3PO.

 But before they can catch her, get her to a safe location and figure out what the hell is going on, the moron brigade show up, transform and fight with Tsurugi, Sasuke and Kurumi. Dumbluck even gets back up from Leman Russ, but even Dumbluck didn't want him involved in this since he has a family to look after, but nope Bros before hoes and pups I guess, god when even Dumbluck can see that that was a stupid idea, just, ugh. Anyway it's 5 on 3 with Yera still refusing to explain herself while Demost is watching and putting the finishing touches by performing a Jutsu. While back at the fight Spyro shows up again gets caught in a sword clash between Dumbluck and Tsurugi making things 1000 times worse, so what does Yera do while her friends and teammates are killing each other? She runs away like a fucking coward!

 Even Mele tries to call her out on her bullcrap when Shuu intervenes and starts another fight/ flirting session with her. Then the three are attacked by Spyro forcing Mele into her monster form. He tells Yera the exact wrong thing to resolve this situation and Mele uses her chameleon powers to escape with Yera. Back with the moron's fighting Gavan finally shows up and manages to defuse the situation. However Demost knows that Gavan is in the neighborhood and is now on a major time crunch.

 Now here's where we finally learn why Yera is doing all of this, Demost approached her pretending to be be from her Ninja clan and tells her he wants to help her resurrect her master who was killed by Jark Matter by getting the Neo Kyuutamas. So she was willing to trust the words of an obviously evil looking space ninja who says that he can help her bring back her dead master. Do I need to tell you all how stupid this is? I mean do I need to repeat my joke from my recap of Lupinranger vs Patranger, actually yes I will! Unless you're using the Dragonballs resurrections tend to go pear shaped really fast!

Unless Yera really hated her master for some reason and only wants her to suffer as an undead abomination.

Or as an unborn demon that can't even beg for death.

Or to use a more recent example, be resurrected as part of a Zombie Pop idol group for the as of yet unknown purposes of an eccentric asshole as part of a poignant social commentary about how fucked up the Japanese Pop Idol industry is!

 Also no, this isn't a trick of Demost, her master really is still alive, how, why these are questions the movie doesn't feel like answering. Moving on Geki and Shuu catch up and give some advice to Dumbluck and Tsurugi. We also have some scenes about "how are we going to get over something like this" that I've seen handled way better in Persona 3 The Answer so just play that then listen to this tripe. The only important thing to come out of this sequence is that Yera tries to leave Demost but he shows his true colors and fatally wounds Mele for their little heart to heart talk that lead her to get a clue in her head. But Demost shows Yera that her master is alive and he'll kill her again if she doesn't follow his orders.

 His true goal is to conquer this universe as an offering to Fumein and the only thing that stands in his way is the Kyurangers. That's why he even approached her in the first place, and to further drive the wedge between the team he used his Jutsu to disguise himself as Spyro while the real Spyro is still in the hospital. Now for his master plan to destroy the Kyurangers, he'll have Yera kill Tsurugi and to make sure she gets the job done he sends Basco, Juzo and Escape to oversee the operation and kill anyone who gets in the way. Speaking of Tsurugi in a press conference he announces his resignation as President of the galactic Federation. Yera tries to make her move but she just can't go through with it, so Escape does the dumbest thing possible and fires on her, blowing their cover and sending the entire crowd panicking with Basco and Juzo being cornered by the other Kyurangers and fighting back in their monster forms.

 But enough of that it's time to see where Demost was hiding the whole time. He was actually disguised as Tsurugi's female aid, having killed the real one in her apartment. Bootleg and Josuk3PO were sent by Shuu to investigate when he noticed the same perfume smell on both the aid and Bootleg from when Demost had him in a headlock in their earlier encounter. Now that the jig is up, Yera's master is safe and Demost finally kills Mele for her betrayal the 11 Kyuuurangers and Space Sheriffs work together to defeat Demost and put Basco, Juzo and Escape back in the ground. Actually it's not all that clear because even though Demost was defeated he wasn't killed so how does him getting beat up a bit lead to the three that he resurrected go back to being dead? Oh whatever the film's almost over, with Yera's master safe and Demost in Shuu and Geki's custody the Metal Heroes finally go back to their home universe and we'll never have to hear from Dumbluck and his goons again until we unfortunately have to deal with their team up movie with both the Lupinrangers and the Patrangers.

 So to wrap up the Space Sheriffs apologize to Jiraya for nearly killing himself keeping the portal open. But he doesn't care about that as another of the 12 Apostles of Genmakuu is out and is a pyromaniac as apparently he's been running around a planet and setting fires to skyscrapers, the latest one having killed 900 people! So we get the tease of the next Metal Hero that Geki will be working with, Fire AKA Ryouma Kagawa from Tokkei Winspector. So that was Kyuranger Vs Space Squad and spoilers like anything involving Kyuuranger it sucked like a Quantum Singularity. Though I fully admit that I have a major bias against this movie since Kyuuragner was as of this date the only Super Sentai that I ever gave up watching when it first premiered, the characters pissed me off that much. 

 That aspect is still carried over to this movie, Dumbluck is still insufferable and most of the core Kyuurangers are still as one note as when I last saw them. The only ones I don't have an issue with is Pine Tree and Tsurugi since they showed up after I quit the show and thus have nothing to be angry about with them. Another point of contention that I have is with the resurrected villains, most of whom cannot be resurrected due to their nature as AI in Escapes case and the reincarnation with Mele. Now I'm guessing that that the actors for these characters were the only ones available and the producers just didn't care so, meh whatever it was at least nice to see Basco back. Though the cynical side of me is telling me that the only reason why they even brought back past villains like this was to draw in the fans of those shows because they know that Kyuranger was a ratings disaster and were desperate to get anyone to watch this movie.

 Speaking of desperate it was painfully obvious that with the split team dynamic that Toei was trying to ape Captain America Civil War. But again they only copied the superficial aspects of what made it work. Now sometimes when Toei does this it can work, most prominently when they copied Twilight with Kamen Rider Kiva, they only used the "Vampires who sparkle" thing and that was thankfully it. But here, it just makes you want to see Civil War again. Honestly the only way I would recommend this is for the Space Squad ongoing story as it shows how Demost was defeated and sets up the Winspector team up for next time. 

 Now that this review is finally done with I can get on with a bit of a well deserved break for the holidays. And by that I mean I'll be focusing on my personal art, streams and Lets Plays until I feel the review itch again sometime after the New Year. So be sure to stick around for not only the rest of my Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep Lets Play but also my end of the year recap. Till then, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanza, Happy Holidays and good cheer to all.

Special thanks to my Patreon backer Jesse for his support.

Super Sentai is owned by Ishinomori Productions, Toei Productions, and Bandai.
Metal Heroes is owned by Toei Company.
Solomon Grundy is owned by DC Comics, created by Alfred Bester and Paul Reinman
Fullmetal Alchemist is owned by Studio Bones, Square-Enix, Funimation, Viz Media and Hiromu Arakawa.
Zombieland Saga is owned by MAPPA, Megumu Soramichi, Crunchyroll and Funimation.

Tokusatsu Review: Uchu Sentai Kyuuranger vs Space Squad Part 1: Excelsior!

When you're done read, comment, spread the links, re-tweet and follow me on Twitter @OnDavidsBrain!, support me on Patreon and watch my Twitch Channel Every Saturday at 12:00 ET

In memory of Stanley Martin Leiber Aka Stan "The Man" Lee
 December 28th 1922-November 12th 2018

 Now before I talk about this movie there’s a recent event that needs to be addressed. Mr Stan Lee was an icon, whether through direct creation or with assistance from his various collaborators such as Jack Kirby or Steve Ditko he helped create some of the most iconic and long lasting characters in comics. From Spider-Man to Dr strange to the X-men and the Fantastic Four Stan’s influence can be seen not just in Marvel but all modern comics. For today’s purposes he was the man responsible for Super Sentai as it is today. After Marvel collaborated with Toei to produce the Spider-man Tokusatsu series Toei drew inspiration from that show, namely Spider-man’s giant robot the Marveler and borrowed the concept to revive the Sentai series after JAKQ Dengektai was cut short due to executive meddling due to Parent Watch groups complaining about the show’s more “graphic” nature.

 Originally Toei was going to adapt Captain America but that project was recycled for the Sentai project now rebranded as Super Sentai to differentiate it from Himitsu Sentai Goranger and JAKQ since they were created by Shotaro Ishinomori and thus under his name. But Stan’s influence on Sentai doesn’t end there, we could have gotten Sentai adaptations here in the states before Saban got lucky with Power Rangers. Originally Stan was trying to get either a dub or adaptation of Sun Vulcan but was rejected. So yes, without Stan Lee we wouldn’t have Super Sentai or even Tokusatsu as we know it today for good and for ill, and if people had listened to him we could have had much more Sentai content to inspire and entertain then we do today. So Stan, no matter what anyone says, you were the true believer and made true believers of us all, in that anyone can be a hero, all of humanity is equal and that righteousness and justice will always triumph over those whose hearts are only filled with evil, hatred and bigotry, to you we say, excelsior!

Well enough of the good stuff time to talk about a rookie legacy hero dealing with a group of 11 morons being dragged down by an even bigger moron who would most likely be the exact opposite of Stan’s super hero ideology. Though not right away as we open on another of the 12 Apostles of Genmaku finalizing his plan to the big boss, Fumein.

Who honestly looks like a more mobile and combat focused Alpha 5.

 However his plans are intercepted by Ninja Jiraiya (last seen looking like a dumbass with the Ninningers) and Space Sheriff Shaider. Before the two can put the Space Shinobi down he jumps through a dimensional hole and begins his plans to conquer an alternate universe. (Even though the movie keeps saying Galaxy it's really an alternate universe, that's the level of dumb we're dealing with here people, they can't tell the difference between a Galaxy and a universe.) Specifically the universe of the Kyuuranger, since it's been established that Kyuuranger takes place in an alternate universe keeping the main universe safe from Dumbluck's stupidity.

 Speaking of said universe the story picks up 4 years after the defeat of their big bad Don Armage. Everyone seems to have moved on with their lives and are enjoying the piece. Including the former Houoh Soldier Tsurugi Ohtori who's now the president of the new Galactic Federation and introduces new devices called NeoKyuutamas to a press conference which is basically a limitless Deus Ex Machina device. Which means it's perfect for an evil faction to steal the four prototypes for their malicious purposes, oh look, someone working for an evil organization stealing them for malicious purposes. But the thief is confronted by Spyro the Dumbass Dragon who reveals herself to be Yera Allon who only gets away because Spyro threw out his back after tripping on the unconscious guards, our mentor ladies and gentlemen!

 We then cut to Dumbluck meeting back up with Robo Bison before his 999th total defense match where the two catch up on how everyone's doing. While Dumbluck has been ignoring his duties as a king and has spent the last four years traveling (like the irresponsible moron that he is!) Leman Russ has a wife and kid meaning that his species won't go extinct so great for him, Sasuke Clone #3472 and some of the others are working with Spiro's organization Rebellion keeping the good fight going while Luigi Mario's restaurant chain is taking off like a rocket.  But while they start talking about Yera the news comes on about how she stole the Neo Kyuutama, so yeah awkward. But not as awkward as Tsurugi giving Sasuke Clone, Kurumi and Pine Tree (Koguma Skyblue) orders to bring her in so he can her her side of the story.

 But unless that story starts off with "this evil Space Ninja forced me to help him" I doubt you've got that much a defense case since we then see Yera giving Demost the NeoKyuutamas. So what does he do now that he has these incredibly powerful devices? He uses them like the Deus Ex Machina orbs that they are and resurrect four powerful General grade villains (at least two of which should be impossible). He brings back Mele from Gekiranger, Basco from Gokaiger, Escape from Go-busters and Juzo from Shinkenger.

 Ok, starting from the top, one they're in an alternate universe where these guys never existed so how the hell was Demost able to resurrect them? Two, Mele and Rio were heavily implied to have reincarnated after they were killed by Long at the end of Gekiranger so how the hell did she come back? I mean yeah she showed up for the Legendary War at the opening of Gokaiger but so did every other dead ranger so I guess God gave them a one time revival to take part in that war or something, best explanation I could come up with. Third, Escape has no soul to revive, she's an AI created by Messiah, and Messiah and the Vaglas aren't like the Geth from Mass Effect or Reploids from Mega Man X where their AI has progressed to the point of actually being mistaken for human, in other words these units do not have a Soul. Basco and Juzo I don't have an issue with though mostly because I never saw Shinkenger and thus don't know how things went with Juzo but I am not substituting what happened with Decker in Power Rangers Samurai for obvious reasons. But in short, less than 8 minutes in you've shat the bed movie.

 Also theses choices of revived bad guys make very little sense as apparently the spell only works on souls who have some form of lingering regret like the Revival Jutsu from Naruto but again these four make no sense. Maybe Basco and Juzo since Basco's a fun loving anarchist and Juzo is a bloodthirsty maniac respectively so maybe they just want more fun and carnage. But again Escape is an AI with no actual humanity. Hell even Mele points out that her resurrection makes no sense since she only cares for earning the love of her master Rio, but Demost fixes that with a good old fashioned brainwashing spell and sends the five on their way to attack the Kyuurangers.

 Basco starts off by attacking Sasuke Clone, Kurumi and Pine Tree claiming that he's working under Yera's orders, and they believe him like the morons that they are. Because this obviously untrustworthy Jack Sparrow knock-off looks like he would definitely be telling the truth about something like this, even though they fought beside each other and have known each other for at least 5 years and thus should know better, everyone in this movie is an idiot I thought you should know. While Escape launches a similar attack at Luigi Mario's restaurant Dumbluck and Robo Bison make tracks back to Earth to check in with Tsurugi and learn more. Along the way they run into a certain pervert in navy blue as well as Mele. As for Bootleg Spock and Josuk3PO they actually run into Yera but before they can talk Juzo covers her escape and duke it out with the two.

 The villains and Yera retreat but not before the perv, though the power of sexual assault and being a major grade A creep manages break though Mele's brainwashing just a bit before she withdraws as well. The perv introduces himself to Dumbluck and Robo Bison as Karasuma Shuu aka Space Sheriff Shaider which Dumbluck recognized after remembering his encounter with Geki. Proving that the two are friends Dumbluck takes Shuu with him to see Tsurugi. The group finally meet up and compare notes, though to make things complicated Bootleg and Josuk3PO arrive with a recording of their fight with Yera, Demost and Juzo; Shuu recognizing the Space Ninja from before. Knowing that Yera appears to be collaborating with a notorious criminal Tsurugi does the regrettable yet correct thing of putting an APB for her arrest.

 But of course since we can't have logic be a thing Dumbluck objects. Now normally he'd be right but the evidence is clear cut, now while they don't know the context behind this situation the facts are that she's infiltrated a government research center, stole four prototype power sources, has been seen collaborating with a notorious criminal and attacked her former comrades without any explanation. As for the defense all Dumbluck has is "don't you trust her you traitor?!" Not exactly an ironclad defense. Besides as Tsurugi points out a former hero turned criminal and the newly elected president who was her comrade not trying to stop her would undermine the new government that the people have placed their futures in after living under the tyranny of Jark Matter.

 Now anyone who's seen Gurren Lagann would point out that this sounds similar to the second half of the show where the Anti-Spiral attacked and Nina awoke as their harbinger. In that show, Simon later was arrested by Rossiu to quell the population after the initial Anti-Spiral attack to prepare the Ark Gurren for an emergency evacuation of the planet. The difference between then and now is that Simon went along with it; even agreeing to fight the Anti-Spiral with bombs installed into Gurren Lagann because he had to make sure that Rossiu's plan worked since he knew what was at stake and could see the bigger picture. Dumbluck by contrast can't see farther than his nose because he's a self-righteous moron who doesn't know the first thing about responsibility. Remember that he's apparently a King, yet he spent the last four years after Jark Matter's defeat wandering around space like he did when the show started, so in summation Dumbluck, you're a fucking moron!

 But because stupidity is contagious Robo Bison and Pine Tree go with him. So the muscle bound moron robot who exercises (even though he's a robot just like in Headmasters) and the pre-teen kid are the only ones on Dumbluck's side. If that doesn't tell you how wrong this putz is I have no idea. So after all of this idiocy I need a break. Come back next week as we skip past the fight scenes and learn why Yera is even working with Marvin the Ninja in the first place, spoilers it's really stupid.

Special thanks to my Patreon backer Jesse for his support.

Super Sentai is owned by Ishinomori Productions, Toei Productions, and Bandai.
Metal Heroes is owned by Toei Company.
Nostalgia Critic is owned by Doug Walker and Channel Awesome.
Star Trek The Next Generation is owned by Gene Roddenberry, Paramount Domestic Television, and CBS Television Distribution.

Tokusatsu Review: Space Squad Character Dossier

When you're done read, comment, spread the links, re-tweet and follow me on Twitter @OnDavidsBrain!, support me on Patreon and watch my Twitch Channel Every Saturday at 12:00 ET

 Time for a recap of the Space Squad movies. Now I know I said that I was going to cover both Girls in Trouble and Space Squad last time. While I will be doing that I won't be doing full on reviews just giving clip notes of the key players, the plots and anything else I think is necessary before I cover Gaven Vs Kyuuranger. Because 1, Space Squad and Girls in Trouble are actually really good and I don't want to spoil them for you. 2 because it's been out for a while so most likely people have seen it and lastly 3, because it's getting close to the holidays and I'll be really busy so this just saves us some time and stress.

 First we'll talk about the titular Space Sheriff Gavan, in this case the second Gavan; Geki Jumonji who took over the role with the original Gavan; Retsu Ichijoji serving as his superior officer/ mentor. He first appeared in Space Sheriff Gavan: The Movie the Metal Hero's 30 anniversary movie where Retsu passed on the title of Gavan to Geki, who as Gavan-Type G then pursued the remains of the Space Mafia Makuu who were attempting to resurrect their leader Don Horror. Afterwords Geki teamed up with the Go-Busters to eliminate another Makuu remnant. So aside from Super Hero Taisen Z (which is now non cannon BTW) there really hasn't been any trace of Geki until this new movie series. Also to note that the Metal Hero revival was no doubt inspired by the crossover between the original Gavan with the Gokaiger which is not only a good movie but also is cannon with Gokaiger since Gavan actually saved Marvelous when he was a little kid.

 Next is the 28th super sentai Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger (whose footage was used for Power Rangers S.P.D here in the states) who instead of fighting an organization protected earth from alien criminals categorized as Alienizers who all got the weapons for their various crimes from an arms dealer named Agent Abrera. We have Dekared Banban Akaza, a hot headed idiot who actually grew up and calmed down as the series went on, Dekablue Hoji Tomas, the blue oni to Ban's red oni, DekaGreen is Senichi Enari or Sen-chan for short, he's the brains of the outfit and does his best thinking upside down, Dekayellow is an ESPer called Jasmine, and the show and movies love to remind us of her ESPer powers every, single damn chance they get! The core five is rounded up by DekaPink aka Umeko, she's a good hearted ditz who loves bubble baths. The 6th ranger is Dekabreak Tekkan Aiwa, he's a crossdressing master of disguise who isn't just a stupid glowing orb of light from the future. Their boss and Extra Ranger is the guard dog of hell himself Doggie Kruger aka Dekamaster.

 During these movies we learn that not only is Makuu still alive but have joined forces with the remnants of the other organizations defeated by the other Metal Heroes to become the Genmakuu society, a space cult that plans on universal conquest. During the events of Girls in Trouble; the prequel to this saga Umeko and Jasmine worked with Shelly and Tammy the partners of the new Gavan and Shaider respectively to defeat one of the 12 apostles of Genmakuu, the mercenary leader and Predator knock off Hellvira. The next day the Dekarangers and Gavan-Type G defeated another apostle; Mad Gallant while the executive overseeing both operations, the space Ninja Benikiba managed to escape. Afterwords Ban and the head of the Galactic Police; Sophie decide to combat the threat of the Genmakuu that Geki should work with not only the Dekarangers but also other Metal Heroes and space/ dimension based Sentai teams to combat these returning threats.

Sadly not them, but also VALIDATION!!!!!

 Nope instead of those three lovable Otaku we instead have to see Geki pull the weight of DumbLuck and his gang of idiots! Now again this is a great premise for a yearly movie series for Toei, returning Metal Heroes and older Sentai, redesigns of old villains, and a new hero and supporting cast to get behind. This just reeks of great storytelling potential and just plain fun. Besides after the abysmal Taisen Movies Toei needs something to fill their spring movie quota so why not put competent writers and a good director in charge and see the dough roll in? I mean they had Naruhisa Arakawa for both Girls in Trouble and Space Squad so this can't possibly go south.

 Though they brought in Nobuhiro Mouri to write Kyuuranger Vs Gavan so, ugh. I mean to be fair Mouri did have success with the Kamen Rider Yongou net-moives and he was the head writer for Kyuuranger (for better or worse) so on paper getting the head writer for the show headlining the crossover is not a bad idea. The problem was that Kyuuragner's 12 man team was overstuffed and Mouri was way too green to make this large team work and all attention was focused on how Dumbluck was an insufferable moron! Now I will be looking at this movie with a fresh look but I have an instant bias towards the Kyuranger so take it as you will. Besides I don't see a Produced by Shinichiro Shirakura credit anywhere so this has a better then average chance of actually being passable and according to an interview with Sakamoto for the Tokusatsu network he's basically saying that this movie is more like episode 1.5 then episode 2 so there's that to keep in mind.

 But based on my previous track record with Kyuuranger (aka the only Sentai series I dropped after the first five episodes) I'm not exactly looking at this movie with sunshine and sprinkles you know what I mean? But it's my job to catch up on this stuff for you guys and by Stan Lee's mustache I'm gonna do it! So drop in next time as I see how the Kyuurangers manage to drive Geki bat-squeak loco. Hopefully we'll see Geki smack DumbLuck upside the head and tell him to get a clue, here's hoping.

Special thanks to my Patreon backer Jesse for his support.

Super Sentai is owned by Ishinomori Productions, Toei Productions, and Bandai.
Metal Heroes is owned by Toei Company.

Tokusatsu Review: Kamen Rider Taisen Prologue

 This next review isn't going to be easy for me. This will not only be my first Tokusatsu review for my site, but also my first negative review. Because, by god does this thing deserve it, it has a scene that literally invokes this trope!

 However, of course there quite a few things to talk about before we even get to the movie itself. Since I am fully aware that the general exposure most Americans have to Tokusatsu today is by Power Rangers, and these days it is NOT a good first impression; especially when you discover what the current season Super Megaforce got most of its fight scenes from, there is quite a bit to explain. For the more adventurous, who have a Netflix account Super Megaforce is not their only case example. For you may know not only of the previous seasons of Power Rangers, but also Beetleborgs, VR Troopers and Ultraman, but for the general public that's where it ends. However, for the more curious among you, you might start to do research on where those shows got their stock footage. Power Rangers comes from Super Sentai, Bettleborgs and VR Troopers from the Metal Hero series, but those are topics for another day. As for Ultraman, well from what I can tell it is pretty much presented as intended just with the characters speaking English instead of Japanese, just a dub job. Back on topic, in the Toku genre there are four big T.V franchises (Godzilla is a movie franchise so I'm not counting but it is a legitimate entry in the Toku genre). There are Super Sentai,

The First Super Sentai, Himitsu Sentai Goranger

Ultraman,

The Original Ultraman

Metal Heroes,

The First Metal Hero, Space Sheriff Gavan 

and the topic of today's rant, Kamen Rider.

The First Rider, Kamen Rider #1

 Now Kamen Rider did have two chances at a proper international market, but they both failed for various reasons. The first was Saban's Masked Rider that adapted footage from Kamen Rider Black RX and Kamen Rider Dragon Knight which was adapted from Kamen Rider Ryuki. The movie, Kamen Rider Taisen is the movie to commemorate the Fifteenth anniversary of the Hesiei era of Kamen Rider. Now you may very well be asking, "What the hell is Heisei?" Well in Japan, eras are named posthumously after the next emperor has taken charge, so after the previous Emperor, Hirohito died and his son took charge, Emperor Hirohito was named as Emperor Shōwa and the current Emperor, Akihito will be named Emperor Heisei when he dies. Basically, think of them as administrations, the Bush years, the Clinton years, the Bush Jr years, the Obama years etc, etc, etc. Political history lesson over, back on topic, Kamen Rider premiered in 1971 and continued until 1989 with three short movies made during the early 90's directed by franchise creator of not only Kamen Rider but, Super Sentai, Cyborg 009, Kikaider, and many other classic franchises and one of my personal heroes, Shotaro Ishinomori.

The man indirectly responsible for most of my childhood ladies and gentlemen.

 During the Shōwa era, Fifteen Kamen Riders were created. However, the series ended with Black Rx and the movies and era with Kamen Rider J when the movie premiered in 1994. However after Shotaro's death in 1998 Toei, the company that owns most of these franchises, decided to honor his memory by reviving the franchise with Kamen Rider Kuuga in 1999. From then on there was a new Rider series in the following years with no break in airtime. As of this movie there were 15 series made during the Heisei era of Kamen Rider. That is the crutch of this movie, the two eras have caught up to each other, and this is where Heisei will surpass Shōwa. Now, there are several Kamen Riders that get their actual actors on screen during this movie and I feel I should cover them. However this has gotten WAY too long as is and will get longer so I will direct you all to people who have been doing this for longer then I have and have gone to videos so I will drop the links here for their reviews of the Riders' series.
The Original Kamen Rider
Kamen Rider X, Part 1, Part 2
Kamen Rider ZX (Pronounced Zed Cross)
Kamen Rider 555 (Pronounced Faiz)

 That just leaves three for me. First is the man who is known as the destroyer of worlds, the great death, the one who is destined to end all that comes across his path, the man known as, Decade.

I may have given this guy too much build up.

Yep, too much build up.

 Kamen Rider Decade tells the disjointed story of Tsukasa Kadoya, an amnesiac who travels to alternate worlds containing Kamen Riders to prevent them from merging and being destroyed. Decade is unique among the Riders as he can change into any main Rider that preceded him, from #1 to Kiva. Decade is a very disjointed Rider series for various reasons. From my perspective, the writing is sloppy, the characters are underdeveloped, and what little development they get is chucked out the window, and the portrayals of the previous riders is at best boring and at worst insulting. I would not recommend this series unless they have seen the previous nine Rider Series to see where they botch up, but also see them for Decades movies that are actually really good and show what this show could have been. There's not much else to say about this series to say except for one character.

Staring contest!..... you win, you always do.

This is Narutaki, like Tsukasa, he's a world traveler who seems to hate Tsukasa and regards Decade as the devil. Throughout the series, Narutaki does everything in his power to kill Decade and stop his journey. He has the ability to not only summon Evil Riders but also can transform into Generals from the evil Organizations that the Kamen Riders have defeated. As of this time, nothing has been made clear about this guy, his motivations, or why he has the power to travel between worlds. You know who Narutaki reminds me of?

Far better artwork then this guy deserves, believe me!

Narutaki is basically a Japanese Judas Traveler from the Spider-Man Clone saga. A big, super-doper mysterious character with vague, unexplained powers, who is mega, double decker mysterious for absolutely no good reason. Even in his own series he is given no explanation as to what his deal is, all we know is that he hates Decade, can travel between worlds and can transform into Evil Generals. Now on to a Rider series that I can recommend. There are many stories in the Windy city of Futo, some of joy and prosperity, others of crime, broken dreams, and abuse of power. There are two men who hear the stories of this city and work to give a happy ending to the stories of those who walk through their door.
Those men are Shotaro Hidari, the half-boiled detective whose empathy and goofiness is only matched by his intuition and dedication to the people of Futo.

NOT A HIPSTER!!!

 The other man is Philip, the young cold genius whose wit and intellect are second to none, but lacks, among other things, his memories, common sense and empathy.

Yes, I do get up everyday and think I look good in this. Why do you ask?

 Together the two become the warrior who protects their city from those who seek to corrupt the people of their busy, blustery, burg. Kamen Rider W (pronounced Double)

Now, count up your sins!

Kamen Rider W tells the story of Shotaro Hidari and Philip, a pair of Private Detectives who are based in the city of Futo. Together they solve various cases that involve the mysterious Sonozaki family and the tools known as the Gaia memories, Flash drive like devices that allow people to transform into monsters known as Dopants. Shotaro acts as the main body for W while Philip transfers his mind into the body; Shotaro acts as the left while Philip the right. Double transforms using their own Gaia memories. Starting with six for nine combinations for various situations.

Multiform heroes, for fashion and function for every occasion ;)

Double is a series that I would definitely recommend to anyone who not only wants to jump into the Neo-Hesei era of Kamen Rider, but for those who love Noir detective stories. Now for the last Rider, the current series, the fifteenth series of the Heisei era and currently, my personal favorite. In Zawame city, there are two popular trends, the beat riders who dance for not only themselves but for people to watch and have fun, and the Inves games that acts as the battleground for various beat rider teams to settle territory deputes in this modern Feudal era war. In these games teams use devices called Lockseeds to summon the Inves monsters that the game is name after, which are said to come from another reality entirely.

It's not a Pokeball, but it'll do. Plus it looks tastier.

A young man named Kouta Kazuraba has recently quit leadership of his team Gaim, to get a job, help out his older sister, and generally grow up.

Orange ya glad I didn't say banana? Sorry, low hanging fruit.

But when the current leader of Gaim, Yuuya, disappears into a zipper like rip in reality; Kouta and his friend and teammate Mai enter the rip which leads to a mysterious forest whose trees bear strange yet familiar fruit. They find not only a Lockseed but also a device referred to as a Sengoku Driver. Using the belt and Lockseed Kouta transforms into Kamen Rider Gaim. As Gaim, he not only fights the Inves that the other Beat Riders summon; but fights those who have also gained a Sengoku driver from the shady Lockseed dealer Sid, who has connections to Yggdrasil, the corporation that oversees Zawame since the company revitalized the town years ago into what it is today.

This is my stage now!

Kamen Rider Gaim is currently my absolute favorite Rider series. The writing is great, the fight scenes are awesome, the main characters are diverse, not just in suit designs but also personality, and the suit designs, not just for the Riders, but also the monsters are fantastic. There are barely if any filler episodes and every episode has development whether it's for a character or the overarching story, even in the very few bad episodes. However, it's not perfect, the side characters don't get much if any development, some of the early episodes are there just to set up the world and characters. Moreover, some episode placement is bad, for example, an episode that acts as promotion for an unrelated movie is placed right in the middle of an important arc. However, I highly recommend this series, especially once Tv Nihon subs the final movie. If that hasn't convinced you yet, then this might. You know the guy that wrote this?

For the record this is not only one of my favorite anime, but the only magical girl series I can stand; asides Kill La kill.

He also wrote Gaim! Yep Gen Urobuchi, the Urabutcher wrote Gaim, and if you are familiar with his other works then it is just as good. I cannot stress this enough, watch Gaim! Also, Madoka Magica in case you haven't yet! (In which case WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!) Now that everyone has caught up on the basics, it's time for me to experience pure, unsalvageable, pain.

That's a start!

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Kamen Rider is owned by Ishinomori Productions, Toei Productions, and Bandai.
Judas Traveler is owned by Marvel Entertainment.
Puella Magi Madoka Magica is owned by Gen Urobutchi, Studio Shaft, and Studio Aniplex.
Nostalgia Critic is owned by Doug Walker, Channel Awesome, Blip.tv, and The Walt Disney Company