The Tokusatsu Thread

[Magical Senshi]

I couldn't find a thread dedicated to Tokusatsu, so I thought I would make one myself.

As the title suggests, this thread is mainly to discuss various tokusatsu series and movies past, present and future.

Discussions about overseas adaptations (e.g. Power Rangers) are welcome on this thread.
Whether or not anime adaptations of tokusatsu series can be discussed on this thread can be decided on this poll above (votes close after 1 week as of this writing).

And while I am aware that most tokusatsu is mainly viewed fansubbed (although it's slowly decreasing thanks to official releases/streaming, which, at the moment, isn't much), discussions about the fansub groups/sites are not welcome (discussions about the shows themselves are welcome however).

 

[SadBunny]

Just saw Beast Morphers premiere and it was pretty solid. Love the continuity nods and theme song is absolute bae.

 

[Magical Senshi]

It's been over 4 months since I started this thread (I completely neglected it, but I shouldn't have), and after only 2 votes, I can say that anime adaptations (e.g. Kikaider: The Animation, Garo: The Animation, SSSS.Gridman) are welcome. I will also allow discussions of manga adaptations and mangas which some tokusatsu series are adapted from.

Just saw Beast Morphers premiere and it was pretty solid. Love the continuity nods and theme song is absolute bae.

I should've responded straight away, so my apologies. I haven't seen the Beast Morphers premiere, so I can't really say my thoughts on it (then again, I don't really watch US adaptations, but of course, I'll still allow discussions of US adaptations, especially for those who watch them).

 

[Magical Senshi]

Toei had launched their YouTube channel today (Toei Tokusatsu World Official).Although it contains a few anime series, I've put it on this topic as most of the content is tokusatsu. Interestingly, despite the promotion, some of the shows are region locked in certain areas. In the UK, we miss out on all the Super Sentai series available and some of the Metal Hero series (specifically Shaider, Spielban, Metalder, B-Fighter and B-Fighter Kabuto), probably due to Saban and Hasbro.

A few hours into their launch, Toei made a copyright claim ON THEIR OWN VIDEO! To be specific, Ninja Captor episode 2. Episode 1 was also taken down.

Here's the link to their YouTube channel (and please note, each series will only have the first 2 episodes subtitled for the time being):

TOEI TOKUSATSU WORLD OFFICIAL

This official Toei YouTube channel has a lineup of various shows, including “NATIONAL KID” (1960), Super Sentai Series such as “GORENGER”(1975), Metal Hero S...

www.youtube.com

EDIT: It seems that the YouTube copyright claim bots have taken down the Toei Tokusatsu World Official channel down, despite it being Toei's own content in the first place. Looks like Toei will have to start again from scratch.

EDIT 2: They're back! Hopefully, they can get their act together this time.

 

[JDsatsu]

So glad their youtube is back up and running. It's great to see all the shows we've missed out on. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come regarding us in the uk getting more tokusatsu releases or streams.

 

[awadama]

I'm sure it's OK to resurrect this thread after three years!

I've finally got around to starting to watch all the Super Sentai DVDs I've stockpiled over the last few years. Jetman is the oldest one I've got, so I thought it made sense to start with that (I know it doesn't really matter, but whatever).

I'm about 12 episodes in and I love it so far (apart from Gai). The Vyram are great (MARIA!) and I really like the Jetman team (except Gai). The OP and ED themes are absolute bangers too. It's just a shame about Gai.

I also got the Kamen Rider Ryuki BD set recently (I actually ordered Zero-One and got sent the wrong thing but I didn't really care). I'd only ever seen one KR episode before (no idea what series!), so I wasn't really too sure on what to expect, but it's been awesome so far. The humour and overall vibe really remind me of 428: Shibuya Scramble (especially the newspaper office scenes) and that's a good thing.

Considering the show is 20+ years old now, I think the CGI in general has aged better than some big-budget Hollywood movies from the same time.

I still watch Power Rangers too. I enjoyed Beast Morphers and Dino Fury is pretty good too (I still haven't finished it yet though, so I guess it could still all go wrong!). I just wish they'd do away with the awful comedy duos. Some dude in an office somewhere must have really loved Bulk and Skull as a kid, because every season has to have two side characters doing the absolute worst slapstick stuff every episode.

Maybe farting and people falling over still appeals to very very young kids, but I wonder how many little kids are actually interested in Power Rangers in this day and age.

 

[Dai]

I'm sure it's OK to resurrect this thread after three years!

I've finally got around to starting to watch all the Super Sentai DVDs I've stockpiled over the last few years. Jetman is the oldest one I've got, so I thought it made sense to start with that (I know it doesn't really matter, but whatever).

I'm about 12 episodes in and I love it so far (apart from Gai). The Vyram are great (MARIA!) and I really like the Jetman team (except Gai). The OP and ED themes are absolute bangers too. It's just a shame about Gai.

I also got the Kamen Rider Ryuki BD set recently (I actually ordered Zero-One and got sent the wrong thing but I didn't really care). I'd only ever seen one KR episode before (no idea what series!), so I wasn't really too sure on what to expect, but it's been awesome so far. The humour and overall vibe really remind me of 428: Shibuya Scramble (especially the newspaper office scenes) and that's a good thing.

Considering the show is 20+ years old now, I think the CGI in general has aged better than some big-budget Hollywood movies from the same time.

I still watch Power Rangers too. I enjoyed Beast Morphers and Dino Fury is pretty good too (I still haven't finished it yet though, so I guess it could still all go wrong!). I just wish they'd do away with the awful comedy duos. Some dude in an office somewhere must have really loved Bulk and Skull as a kid, because every season has to have two side characters doing the absolute worst slapstick stuff every episode.

Maybe farting and people falling over still appeals to very very young kids, but I wonder how many little kids are actually interested in Power Rangers in this day and age.

I tend to gravitate more towards Ultraman for my TV tokusatsu needs, so the only Super Sentai show I've seen to date is Carranger, a hilarious series that borders on self-parody. I've seen several seasons of Power Rangers, with the post-apocalyptic RPM being the cream of the crop and Dino Thunder a close second.

I never got around to trying Kamen Rider, though that will probably change once Anno's movie is available. ANN just posted a good primer on the franchise, focusing on the shows available in the US.

The Double Writer's Guide to Kamen Rider

With Hideaki Anno's Shin Kamen Rider hitting Japanese theaters, now's a good time to sink into the series. Here's a guide on the best films and shows available in North America.

www.animenewsnetwork.com

 

[awadama]

@Dai I'm interested in Carranger - I though the Power Rangers adaptation of it (Turbo) was absolutely rotten, so the original has to be better!

RPM is absolutely one of the best though - actually, it's my second fav after SPD. But I really wish they'd used this demo theme instead of the BORING theme they used (spoilers for Power Rangers RPM, I guess):

Time Force is another good one (though I've not finished it yet). And I think I'm one of the few people who'll admit to being a fan of Samurai and Megaforce.

I've got an interest in Ultraman, but I've only seen the Netflix CGI series so far (which didn't exactly fill me with joy). I've got the Ultra Q BD set - so maybe once I've finished that, I'll get onto some Ultraman.

 

[Dai]

@Dai I'm interested in Carranger - I though the Power Rangers adaptation of it (Turbo) was absolutely rotten, so the original has to be better!

RPM is absolutely one of the best though - actually, it's my second fav after SPD. But I really wish they'd used this demo theme instead of the BORING theme they used (spoilers for Power Rangers RPM, I guess):

Time Force is another good one (though I've not finished it yet). And I think I'm one of the few people who'll admit to being a fan of Samurai and Megaforce.

I've got an interest in Ultraman, but I've only seen the Netflix CGI series so far (which didn't exactly fill me with joy). I've got the Ultra Q BD set - so maybe once I've finished that, I'll get onto some Ultraman.

Carranger is a very different beast from Turbo, thankfully.

I tried Time Force because the designs and concept were interesting, but I couldn't get past the atrocious acting. I might look up the Super Sentai version of that season at some point; don't know if it's been released in the US yet. Power Rangers in Space was pretty good.

I wouldn't judge Ultraman based on the Netflix series. It's so different from the franchise's usual formula that it feels like they just slapped some familiar designs on an unrelated show. Ultraseven, Nexus, and Orb are all good jumping in points, though since most seasons introduce a new cast with little to no continuity you can start pretty much anywhere.