Any other tokusatsu fans?

[Nate]

I don't expect this thread to take off in any capacity (or even get any replies) but hey, I figured, what the heck. XD Are there any other fans of tokusatsu shows here? For those who don't know, tokusatsu (or special effects) shows are basically like Power Rangers. There really isn't much to compare them to outside of Japan, and they're not very popular outside of Asia.

Power Rangers was based on Super Sentai, one of the most popular toku shows in Japan (and one of the longest running too). Another really popular one is Kamen Rider.

I'm kind of new to the whole toku scene. I really only got interested in it recently when I found some Zyuranger fansubs on Veoh. Since then I've seen handfuls of first episodes from other seasons of Super Sentai (notably Battle Fever J and Goggle V). My interest in toku really didn't take off though until I saw a fantastic series called Lion Maru G, probably one of my favorite shows ever.

Right now I'm still browsing around because fansubs of toku shows are notoriously difficult to find it seems. I found a couple of really sweet sites (PM if you're interested, can't link on the forums) that have a wealth of toku stuff though. Currently the shows I'm watching are Fiveman (which I'm liking very much) and I'm going to start Guyferd pretty soon, I've heard great things about it. The newest Super Sentai series, Go-Onger, seems really awesome too.

And that's about all I can think of to say right now. XD

[minakichan]

TOKUSATSU LOL!

I grew up on the original Power Rangers. Actually, one of my friends is really into Juuken Sentai Gekiranger because two Tenimyu actors (Suzuki Hiroki and Araki Hirofumi) play major roles (the red Ranger Jan and the villain Rio, respectively). Saw the first episode, it was pretty cute (Jan was really funny~), but I just wasn't in the mood, I guess. But Gekiranger's Rio and Mele are VERY cool, absolutely gorgeous costume design!

It seems that a lot of "heartthrob" minor male Japanese actors end up on Kamen Rider too, which kind of blows my mind. ...Do a LOT of fangirls watch tokusatsu shows just for them?

[ShiroiHikari]

I'd actually like to see some tokusatsu. It's interesting how many similarities there are between sentai shows and super robot shows. And everybody knows how much I like robots, so I'd probably like tokusatsu too.

[Nate]

It seems that a lot of "heartthrob" minor male Japanese actors end up on Kamen Rider too, which kind of blows my mind. ...Do a LOT of fangirls watch tokusatsu shows just for them?

I dunno, I haven't seen much Kamen Rider. :p

Though word is apparently there's going to be a new adaptation of Kamen Rider for the US, and they're actually keeping the title as Kamen Rider. I hope it's better than that Masked Rider crap.

[CAAOutkast]

I dunno, I haven't seen much Kamen Rider. :p

Though word is apparently there's going to be a new adaptation of Kamen Rider for the US, and they're actually keeping the title as Kamen Rider. I hope it's better than that Masked Rider crap.

I'm a fan of Tokusatsu and Super Sentai as well. I recently started to watch Kamen Rider Black on youtube. As for the new US Kamen Rider..I believe it's gonna suck big time.

Tokusatsu is best left un-americanized. Dubbing it would also be a mistake. Remember Ultraman Tiga Dub?

[minakichan]

Remember Ultraman Tiga Dub?

WHOA I saw that! It totally blew my mind, Ultraman... in not-Japanese??? Blasphemy. Live-action dubs are in general a crime against nature.

Yay Nate, you can has tokusatsu buddy =D Which also means your sig proclamation is no longer valid =/

[KagayakiWashi]

I've got the first 26 episodes of Ultraman. It's a fun watch, but, like Speed Racer, there's only so much I can take at a time. Now Godzilla (that counts, right?), that's some fun stuff.

[EricTheFred]

Heh. You guys should see some of the Filipino "Special Effect Shows". Extremely low budget science fiction, fantasy and superhero live action stuff. My wife can't watch them anymore because her husband and sons are giggling too loudly.

Personally, for Asian live action in general, I typically like the dramas and the action shows more.

[CAAOutkast]

Yay Nate, you can has tokusatsu buddy =D Which also means your sig proclamation is no longer valid =/

It's one of the few things that I have in common with him.

[Nate]

I recently started to watch Kamen Rider Black on youtube.

That's the one that Saban used to make that horrible Masked Rider show, isn't it? I'm starting on everything TV Nihon has subbed, and they removed Ryuki ('cuz it got licensed) so I had to start with 555, but seeing as how it's become my favorite series I have no complaints. XD I'm on Blade right now and although the story is better than Faiz's, I'm just not into it as much.

A group called Hi No Tori is subbing Kamen Rider Amazon, which I hear is radically different from most of the other Kamen Rider series. I'll have to check it out I think.

As for the new US Kamen Rider..I believe it's gonna suck big time.

Dragon Knight? No way! :O I loved the trailer that I saw of it...which trailer did you see? I know they got a new guy since the last one. It looks better than Masked Rider, at least. But I guess we won't know until next year if it's good or not. I hear Adult Swim is showing a tiny bit of interest in it, which is good news as far as I'm concerned...it means they might make it a bit more mature.

Live-action dubs are in general a crime against nature.

Agreed. However I do wish that Disney wouldn't change too much of the plots in the Super Sentai shows...in other words make it an American version of Sentai, not...whatever it is they're doing.

Which reminds me that Disney HATES it when the mechs talk in the Sentai series (Saban did too to an extent). Since the whole plot of Go-Onger revolves around the Engines being living things, I wonder if Disney will localize that one. I guess they could just make the Engines regular cars, but the googly eye thing would just look weird then. :\

Also I never really got into Ultraman. I think maybe that one's a little TOO cheesy for me. Iron King is about my limit I think. XD;;

[Rocketshipper]

Super Sentai!!!! I love it! Power Rangers was my favorite show when I was a kid, I have tapes and tapes worth of episodes that I recorded of of TV. I also loved VR Troopers (based on Super Machine Man Metalder, Dimensional Warrior Spielban, and Space Sheriff Shaider.) and Beetleborgs (Juukou B-Fighter and B-Fighter Kabuto). I've also got a few episodes of Super Human Samurai Syber Squad (Denkou Choujin Gridman) from a million years ago.

About three years ago I got back into Sentai when I simaltanously discovered a server with ALL the english episodes for the series and started downloading Mahou Sentai Magirangers and watching Mystic Force on Jetix. Now, I'm about 1/4th of my way into "Power Rangers in Space", am keeping up with Go-onger, and have completed Magiranger and Dekaranger. I plan to re-watch Time Force and then do a side-by-side comparison of Dinothunder and Abaranger. After that I think I'll probably get out of the genre ^^;;. I'm definitly a big fan, but there are just WAAAAAY too many episodes in all, with no end in sight for either the dub or japanese version. And since every season is basicly a completly self-contained story, I don't really have to see all of them anyway.

My favorite season is probably Magirangers. I loved the plot and characters, and it was my first taste of sentai in japanese. Dekarangers is awesome too. Go-onger so far hasn't impressed me too much; the effects are good, but I think some aspects of it are very silly, even for a show like that (Go-on Yellow's weapon is a mini race car o_O). When I told one of my IM friends about it, who is also a huge sentai fan, his reaction was "they must be running out of ideas". They HAVE done the car themed robots several times already. and the puns!!! (granted, all the japanese seasons are pretty "punny", but Go-onger seems to be the most over-board of the ones I've seen)

Agreed. However I do wish that Disney wouldn't change too much of the plots in the Super Sentai shows...in other words make it an American version of Sentai, not...whatever it is they're doing.

Mystic Force was actually really really close to the plotline of the japanese version, Magirangers. It was the first american season in a long time to actually use the japanese villians instead of inventing new ones, and there were several episodes that followed their sentai counterparts almost exactly (like one where one of the rangers became a vampire). But that may be an exception out of the seasons.

I am sort of stuck in a dilema with my enjoyment of these shows though ^^. On the one hand, I grew up with the American version, and all my nostalgic memories are of the first 5 seasons, with Tommy and all the other original rangers. But on the other hand, I'm also strongly against cencorship and editing foreign shows and stuff, and now that I know Power Rangers isn't really an American show (something I discovered when I saw Timeforce), I find it much harder to enjoy all the old episodes as much as I used to. So I'm conflicted. I have fond memories of the old seasons, but I also feel guilty about liking the english version ^^. *explodes*

[Nate]

"Power Rangers in Space"

"But why are they in space? There's no reason for them to be in space!"

"On the contrary, my dear Fatson! There's every reason for them to be in space!"

have completed Magiranger and Dekaranger.

I haven't gotten into most of the older Sentai, considering I'm hooked on Kamen Rider at the moment. I'm following Go-Onger pretty heavily and I'm also keeping up with the Zyuranger subs, but those are a lot slower in coming out.

Go-onger so far hasn't impressed me too much]
From what I hear, the Super Sentai series has been dropping in ratings in Japan, and they're trying to appeal more to kids this time around. I still like Go-Onger, and there's definitely some fantastic moments, such as Speedor crossing the road to get to Sousuke and Gunpei's speech to Antennae Banki. However I'm hoping things will get a little more serious soon. That, or just hope that the next Super Sentai series goes back to more mature concepts like Fiveman or Maskman.

They HAVE done the car themed robots several times already.

One could say the same of animal themed robots. There's only so many things you can base robots on. :p

Mystic Force was actually really really close to the plotline of the japanese version, Magirangers. It was the first american season in a long time to actually use the japanese villians instead of inventing new ones, and there were several episodes that followed their sentai counterparts almost exactly (like one where one of the rangers became a vampire). But that may be an exception out of the seasons.

It's an exception. The first season of Power Rangers had an episode with the "Punk Potion" in it that turned Billy and Kimberly into jerks, and the other Rangers had to get the Singing Squash to cure them. It was an almost exact copy of the same Zyuranger episode (except that it was a mandrake instead of a Singing Squash, and Barza went and got it himself, something Zordon couldn't do XP). However that doesn't change the fact that Power Rangers and Zyuranger were vastly different.

Speaking of tokusatsu, Guyferd episode 8 is subbed finally! Woo! *goes off to watch it*

[Rocketshipper]

With animal themed robots at least you've got literally millions of different animals you can choose from. The show hasn't even gotten close to exhausting all the possibilities in that area. I'd like to see a team with a spider-robot ^^. Maybe its just me, but I'm not all that into cars, so the vehicle themed robots don't catch my attention as much. Go-onger IS at least unique in that its car theme is combined with an animal theme, and the cars actually talk, but I'm still not a big fan of the designs (except for Engine-Oh G6). The fact that EVERY engine is a "spoon speaker" (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SpoonSpeaker) gets a little annoying after awhile.


I'd really like to see Zyuranger subs. I've got all the episodes raw, but I've only been able to watch up till the Dragon Ranger appears, because my discs are scratched.

I forgot to mention it last post, but I'd also realy like to see Chojin Sentai Jetman some time. I've heard that a lot of sentai fans consider it the best season of all, and that its story is really dramatic and well developed.

[Nate]

I'm still not a big fan of the designs (except for Engine-Oh G6).

I like Engine-O G6, but he doesn't look different enough from Engine-O to really be super awesome. I also don't understand why Ren kept saying that Carrigator was essential to the gattai. All he did was become a pair of alligator roller skates. The head is cool though.

I'd really like to see Zyuranger subs.

I'll PM you the site that's currently fansubbing it, but the only problems are that they're only up to episode 9 currently, and they're a really small group, so their releases are erratic. Still I support them, they're the ones who really got me into toku.

I've got all the episodes raw, but I've only been able to watch up till the Dragon Ranger appears, because my discs are scratched.

You know I think that's actually one thing Power Rangers did better than Zyuranger. At least Tommy was under mind control. Burai was just a jerk. XD

[Rocketshipper]

I actually think that, despite totally butchering the main story, that the original power rangers season was slightly less "kiddy" than Zyurangers. Yes, it did have its share of anvilicious Aesop episodes and such, but I think the 6 American rangers were way more relatable than the hyper-sleep awakened warriors from the past in the japanese version; and it seems like EVERY early episode of Zyurangers revolves around the heroes have to solve the problem of some random kindergarten kid. Of course, maybe it gets better and I just didn't manage to watch that far (I only got to episode 20)

[teigeki_calesa]

Heh. You guys should see some of the Filipino "Special Effect Shows". Extremely low budget science fiction, fantasy and superhero live action stuff. My wife can't watch them anymore because her husband and sons are giggling too loudly.

Personally, for Asian live action in general, I typically like the dramas and the action shows more.

Yes, I do know what you're talking about. Most of the so-calles Special Effects shows here in the Philippines are rip-offs from a lot of tokus.

And oh, maybe because of the fact that I grew up on Filipino dubs makes me think that live-action dubs are not a crime against nature.

[Nate]

In other news, Elite Justice just started subbing Gosei Sentai Dairanger. For those who don't know, this is where the "Thunderzords" and the White Ranger suit design came from. Woohoo!

[CAAOutkast]

In other news, Elite Justice just started subbing Gosei Sentai Dairanger. For those who don't know, this is where the "Thunderzords" and the White Ranger suit design came from. Woohoo!

Awesome,I've always wanted to see Dairanger. Will these episodes be posted on Youtube?

[Nate]

I don't think many people upload E-J's stuff to Youtube (because of length) but I do know that most of their stuff gets put on Veoh or Crunchyroll.

[Rocketshipper]

Dairanger! yay!. I've wanted to see some of that, since the American version hardly used any stock footage from that series. The suits from that season are awesome.