tokusatsu – Page 2 – Nicholas Elton Driscoll

May 16, 2023May 18, 2023

Kamen Rider Impressions Part 12, Kamen Rider Drive and Kamen Rider Ghost

Kamen Rider Drive (2014-2015) episode 1 “Why Has My Time Stopped?”

For much of this project, I kept wondering why we didn’t get a policeman Rider—and finally, with Drive, we do—but he doesn’t have a police bike, and instead the hero has a souped up red sports car! Hero Shinnosuke Tomari (his last name must be a pun—“tomaru” means “to stop”) is a superior police detective, but ever since a tragic accident, Tomari hasn’t operated at full capacity due to the trauma–setting up a strong character hook. A big innovation of this series is an initial time-slowing incident where Predator-like monsters attack and time slows down at multiple explosive points around the world. The time dilation events continue to happen after the disaster, though not with the same destructive force, and in the first episode the monsters seem to be attempting to kill people by changing them purple. Tomari works with Kiriko Shijima, a no-nonsense cop lady who abuses and “arrests” Tomari on a regular basis. It turns out she is part of a secret-secret group and is trying to goad Tomari to become cool again, and it is through her that he attains his awesome talking car/belt and transforms into Drive to kick all the butt.

The gimmick this time is toy cars that Drive can jam into his suit to change the massive tire wrapped around his torso and so activate new sets of super powers. The toy cars can also create floating roads on which they can drive independently and attack the monsters by various means—it feels like an extension of the time train in Den-O, and reminded me of a particular power used in Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. The tire power idea leads to some memorable high-speed clashes and the hero squealing about on the concrete as if he is a vehicle himself (like Denjin Zaborger). I was glad to see that Shijima can kick some fair hinder on her own, too. Also, there is definitely some sexual tension going on as Shijima revs up Tomari by playing with his belt buckle—I think there is a bit of a running erotic undertone in these shows with the female support providing the male heroes with new belt buckles and generally helping them transform as they jigger with the latches. The Knight Rider-esque super car is a sweet switch-up, too, and I appreciate that the hero isn’t so dopey—though I wish they had kept with a more “police” look for Drive and his vehicle of choice.

Kamen Rider Ghost (2015-2016) episode 1 “Eyes open! It’s Me!”

From policeman to ghost-hunter-turned-ghost is a pretty drastic shift, but Kamen Rider Ghost shoots for the moon with another out-there concept, proving the creators are ever resourceful and admirably willing to try for something new. Takeru Tenkuuji is the son of a great ghost hunter who was apparently killed on the hunt, and Tenkuuji has felt lost and frustrated most of his life, trying to find his purpose, and frustrated with his lack of ability to see ghosts. When some mystical wraiths start showing up and attacking innocents by slashing cars and bikes and such in half, Tenkuuji receives a package from his dead dad that includes a strange device which enables him to peep ghosts. The ghosts he sees want to steal the device from him, and, right in front of his science-loving friend/possible love interest, Tenkuuji gets straight-up murdered by the undead. In the dead realm he encounters a sort of wizard figure who helps him learn how to change into Kamen Rider Ghost and search out fifteen “Eyecons”, which are round devices with souls inside. If he can find all fifteen in 99 days, he can resurrect himself. If not, he will truly die. Naturally enough, he starts fighting the ghosts that killed him, and learns how to use legendary samurai Musashi Miyamoto’s soul to power up and kick all the ghostly glutes. He also learns how to manifest himself to normal humans.

I like that this series takes place in a temple with monks, and I love that Tenkuuji actually becomes a ghost and ends up harnessing undead spirits ala Shaman King. When he takes a new spirit into his Rider system, his costume changes dramatically, too. Sure, the “find 15 Eyecons” mission feels like a Dragonball treasure chase, and his skeptical female counterpart seems one of the less charismatic in the series, but there is some cool stuff here. I really liked how the crew managed to pull off the bisected car with practical effects, and how Tenkuuji’s one-eyed floating sidekick (presumably inspired by Gegege no Kitaro) is achieved partially through puppetry. The look of Ghost is pretty striking too—I like his hoodie—though I kind of wished he was white or gray. This one has big ideas, but still feels a bit underwhelming from the first episode. Still, the constant innovation from these series really has me going—and the next show looks like one of the weirdest yet!

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May 11, 2023May 16, 2023

Kamen Rider Impressions Part 11: Kamen Rider Wizard and Kamen Rider Gaim

Kamen Rider Wizard (2012-2013) Episode 1 “The Ringed Wizard”

With some economical storytelling, Kamen Rider Wizard sets out its premise clearly and compellingly in the first episode: a totally chill and wicked-cool magic-user with a host of fantastic powers is battling evil beings called Phantoms who attack humans with feelings of despair in order to destroy their hope and bring forth more monsters. Taking a firm step away from the long string of blatant dumb-dumbs that had been populating the lead roles in the Rider shows for the last several years, Haruto Soma is totally rad with his colorful costumes, his assured movements, and his waist-coat/cape billowing about his legs. The show creates a great contrast against the sci-fi trappings of Fourze, and Soma is already greatly experienced in magic-manipulation, meaning we get to see him absolutely trash the place with the kaijin baddies right from bang-go. His ability set, too, feels fresh, including scintillating yummy skills like changing size, teleportation, and diving into people’s minds.

Like previous Riders, when transformed, Wizard can cycle through versions of himself with different powers, this time based on elements (fire, wind, land), and this go around the key is his set of oversized rings he wears on his fingers. He drives his magic bike through teleportation rings, too—and while he rides a tiny CGI Pegasus at one point, I kind of wish they had gone full horse and replaced the motorbike outright with an equine. As with virtually every other Rider show, Wizard has another backup babe helping him with the details, and this time he is also rescuing a helpless female police officer escape from menacing monsters. Given that it’s a new Rider every time in each incarnation of the show, and also since female Riders have been appearing for a while, I wish the main Rider could be female for once—or at the very least that the behind-the-scenes lady could kick equal buttocks alongside the hero. Monster designs also feel just adequate from the first episode.

Nevertheless, the lean and focused narrative drives forward effectively, the dynamics and Soma’s tragic past come together with style and aplomb, and the show once again effectively distinguishes itself from what came before. This show doesn’t strike me as a loser, either.

Kamen Rider Gaim (2013-2014) episodes 1 and 2 “Transform! The Orange from the Sky?!” and “Deadly! Pineapple Kick!”

Well, we had one hyper-capable Rider in Wizard, and now we are back to the dorky everyman category again. Kamen Rider Gaim’s hero is Kota Kazuraba, another orphan who works part-time jobs (he delivers Indian food and works at a construction site, and is taken care of by his doting older sister). Kazuraba was part of a dance team called Gaim but is trying to grow up and be responsible and so put the funky dance moves behind him. However, in this world, dance gangs fight over available dance stages, and they do so by summoning strange monsters (called Inves) from another dimension to do battle in makeshift arenas. When the bully dance team Baron starts beating down on Gaim, Kazuraba comes back to his main crew help out, and in a twist of fate finds an open dimensional rift, encounters more Inves, and comes into possession of a belt that transforms him into an orange-fruit-themed samurai warrior. The dance teams continue to snipe at each other, and so cause an Inve to escape, and Kazuraba manages to defeat it using both his orange powers and a follow-up pineapple form. Plus there is a magical girl who looks like Kazuraba’s teammate Mai, and a suspicious company called Yggdrisil lurking in the shadows.

This show definitely feels like it’s throwing everything at the wall—and then throws everything again. It’s not just a samurai version of Kamen Rider—it’s samurai FRUIT riders! And that’s not all, the main characters are all super-serious dancers who have Pokemon-esque battle creatures! And the main character has not one job, but two! Some of the bits work well for me—I liked Kazuraba’s relationship with his sister, and the fact he is an orange samurai tickles me (as orange is my favorite color). I also like that Kazuraba goes around trying to use his Rider powers to help him out in all his regular everyday pursuits, not bothering to keep his identity secret. It kind of reminds me of Peter Parker trying to deliver pizzas via webslinging. On the other hand, the dance sequences are pretty lame, and it feels like a cheat that the dancers don’t have dance battles. The Inves battles, too, are disappointing, as the Inves mostly look the same, and their design is kind of dull. The Riders are using locks (or Lockseeds) this time (instead of medals, or cards, or thumb drives, etc), which is fine—and the fact the locks also hold the demons at bay inside is a nice touch. I almost love the fruit theme more than anything else, though. It’s so dumb, but the creators lean into it hard—to the point that the transformation sequence looks like a giant orange falling on Kazuraba’s head to transform him. I approve very much.

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May 9, 2023

Kamen Rider Impressions, Part 10: Kamen Rider OOO and Kamen Rider Fourze

Kamen Rider 000 (2010-2011) Episodes 1 and 2 “Medals, Underwear, and a Mysterious Arm” and “Desire, Ice Pops, and Presents”

Not cards, not thumb drives, this time it’s coins/medals! Kamen Rider 000 (pronounced “Ozu”) takes several familiar Kamen Rider tropes and jiggers them around a bit, but still manages to make the series feel fresh with a pimping ska-pop soundtrack and some fresh aesthetics. Our hero this time is ANOTHER lame loser who just kind of drifts around. This time his name is Eiji Hino, and he happens to be working as a security guard one night when strange monsters constructed from coins emerge from ancient relics at his workplace. Hino winds up manipulated by one of these so-called Greeed monsters, a being called Ankh who exists as a floating forearm—and together with a borrowed magic belt becomes Kamen Rider 000. A bizarre family/company run by an insane executive who sings “happy birthday” to the emerging monsters also serves as a provider for Hino/000s as he tangles with Ankh. The arm soon takes over a police officer’s body, stealing his identity, and which causes his superhumanly strong sister Hina to worry about his (the policeman’s) wellbeing. Hijinks ensues.

And what hijinks! So many neat ideas make their way onto the screen, from the vending machines that transform into super bikes, to the complicated nature of the composition of the Greeed monsters, to the inexplicably superhuman sister figure, to the bizarre flying robotic octopi. I am getting really tired of the idiot wanderer shtick by this point, but the return of a beasty partner/nemesis ala Den-O is another shot in the arm (hyuck), and the fact that the second episode features 000 grappling with a skyscraper-chewing giant bug is a big plus in my book. I like it.

Kamen Rider Fourze (2011-2012) Episodes 1 and 2 “Youthful Transformation” and “Space is the Best”

Moving from another loser drifter with coins in the last show, this time it’s a cheerful and stupid punk high school kid, and the power gimmick is switches. I have been a huge sucker for the ludicrously strong and practically brain-dead punk high schooler trope ever since the School Rumble manga and anime, so I was delighted when Fourze’s Rider, Gentaro Kisaragi, came strutting on the scene. He is dumb as a rock, but has so much energy and feeling, and I love his dopey insistence on becoming friends with everyone in his new school (another familiar plot element—he is a transfer student). If anything, based on the first two eps at least, the biggest problem in this show is its over-reliance on high school tropes—most of the characters are pure high school drama cardboard. The pseudo-goth girl nerd, the queen witch, the snooty sports jock, the strict cliques and bullying tropes are all here, but accelerated. Which is to say, everything happens fast and is shallow… for now. However, Kisaragi is so much goofy fun that he makes up for a lot of the thing parts. The one character that most falls outside of the tropes is Kisaragi’s rival, Kengo Utahoshi, given his physical difficulties combined with a pretty-boy aesthetic and utter disdain for all around him. Main girl Yuki is totally adorbs, but only plays the usual supporting role.

The new Kamen Rider tricks are pretty memorable, as the show takes its tech-and-monster themes from space this time (the show was made as a 50^th anniversary tribute to the first space flight). The Rider suit is patterned after an astronaut’s outfit, and the weapons tend to be related to space exploration, too, and appear on the Rider’s limbs at the flick of a switch. His freaking bike also launches into space this time, too! The monsters, called Zodiarts, are themed after constellations, and also triggered by the switches—but not much is revealed about their origins in the frenetic first two episodes.

I was absolutely sky high with enthusiasm for the series after the first episode, but felt a dramatic descent from the second as the high-school tropiness ratcheted up a few notches. The goth girl, man—I don’t know if it’s the actress, or the directing, but her performance did not engender cool or likable. And Kisaragi—who tries to be friends with everyone—practically beats her up upon first meeting her for no reason at all, after she offers to help him! That and a few other niggling bits started to prick at my annoyance meter, but still, so much to like in this series! I am stoked to see what’s next!

May 4, 2023May 9, 2023

Kamen Rider Impressions, Part 9: Kamen Rider Decade and Kamen Rider W

Kamen Rider Decade (2009) Episode 1 “Rider War”

In 2023 we are well into the world of multi-verses and cinematic universes, with Marvel doubling down on the concept with the recent Ant Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and DC diving straight in with The Flash… but the Kamen Rider multiverse has tinkered with these ideas for years, and their Endgame of sorts was Kamen Rider Decade, which featured the previous ten shows’ worth of Riders, as well as an idea that their respective universes are colliding—and the heroes are being destroyed. The opening battle sequence is a dream in which all of the previous decade’s worth of Riders are killed off in spectacular fashion by newcomer Decade, which is both awesome and disheartening at the same time (especially as Decade’s design is not one of the cooler ones in the Rider pantheon).

As the show progresses, the concept is laid out with breathtaking speed: Another idiot male lead (this time a loser photographer instead of a man with bad luck/dumbhead violin maker/quote-unquote “professional dream-chaser” etc) is charging shmucks on the street for his brand of out-of-focus photography. Somehow he has roped the local photography joint into subsidizing his bad pics, and the cute hothead girl Natsumi comes to beat him up with her special attack (she was also the one who had the dream in the beginning). The idiot male lead is named Tsukasa, and he gets Natsumi pulled into the maelstrom of multiverses, resulting in a wacky sequence wherein she dashes her way through multiple baddies from multiple universes and Decade eventually saves her with powers from previous Riders (anyone who has seen some of the latest Ultraman shows will know the deal—cards with the powers of previous heroes somehow saved inside endow Decade with other Riders’ abilities when scanned). Perhaps the most interesting wrinkle here is that Decade is tasked with traveling to the other Rider worlds and exterminating the other Riders—not saving them, exterminating them, in order to save Natsumi’s world (and his own? Maybe?).

The ambition is obviously there with this series. Natsumi is pretty likable, too, and at least the hero isn’t collecting sludge and cooking it up to make slop soup. It is exciting to see previous Riders arriving on the scene again, though a lot of my excitement was tempered from… well, living in 2023, where the multiverse gimmick has kind of soured a bit. Still, this idea was much more novel at the time, and it holds some promise.

Kamen Rider W (2009-2011) Episodes 1 and 2 “The W Search/Two Halves of One Detective” and “The W Search/Those Who Make the City Grieve”

Film noir Kamen Rider? Seriously? I love this idea! I enjoy a good film noir (I recently watched The Glass Key and totally digged it—including the bits that apparently inspired Akira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo), I love the stylings, and even though Kamen Rider W approaches the genre in a very goofy manner, I love that those trappings are incorporated into the Rider mythos with this series (which came out the same year as Decade—so much Rider that year!). We get a jazz-heavy score, a pseudo-detective suit for the hero, even a femme fatale! Shotaro Hidari is a self-proclaimed hard-boiled detective, and he works with his researcher Philip to investigate crimes—and monsters, this time called Dopants. When Akiko Narumi, his new landlord and a violently nosy woman, comes to evict Hidari, she ends up roped into dangerous encounters with the monsters, and we discover that Hidari and Philip can fuse together to become Kamen Rider W (double, get it? It’s a similar conceit to Ultraman Ace back in the 70s). Outside of the film noir backdrop, the hero-fusion conceit is probably Kamen Rider W’s greatest claim to originality. Essentially half of W’s body has one power set (like “cyclone”) and the other has another power set like “fire”), and they can switch out the power sets using mystical thumb drives. In this way, we get a step away from Decade’s straight up transforming into the heroes’ themselves, and the pastiche imagery of W transforming half at a time. The absurd action sequence possibilities that sometimes arise make for a memorable gimmick. While the episodes I watched feel a little heavy on the catchphrases, and the acting is still a bit overly cute, I really dug this one.

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May 2, 2023May 4, 2023

Kamen Rider Impressions, Part 8: Kamen Rider Den-O and Kamen Rider Kiva

Kamen Rider Den-O (2007-2008) Episodes 1 and 2 “”Here I Come” and “Ride On Time”

Voted the number one Kamen Rider show of all time in Japan as part of a big event celebrating Kamen Rider’s 50^th anniversary in 2021, Kamen Rider Den-O (basically Electric-King, or Train King) is another wild swing with a very different feel and execution than previous Riders. The tone goes for the comedy, mostly eschewing horror (though with some death and menace yet incorporated), and for me I was glad to see Takeru Sato as the lead as I have really enjoyed him in a variety of roles in films—Den-O was his big start.

This Kamen Rider has… an elaborate set-up. Ryotaro Nogami is a total loser and has remarkably awful luck, with an opening scene featuring him somehow stuck on his bike up a tree. Throughout both episodes I watched, he continually falls into terrible situations through outrageous misfortune—including getting stuck with a strange device that allows him to board a train that travels through time, and getting paired with an Imagin—basically a genie (or jinn) that connects to his spirit and wants to use him to gain its own independence. The device that lets him ride the train combined with the Imagin allows him to transform into Kamen Rider Den-O, and he uses his awesome new powers to fight other Imagin who are bopping around through time and causing mischief.

On the positive side, the off-the-wall character of the new show is delightfully wacky. The idea of a time train that travels around constantly laying down its own track is off the wall, yet the resulting plot contrivances that can come from the timeslip plot can actually reach for tearjerking scenes that are surprising given the silliness of the show. Den-O has some awesome powers, too—as well as stylish self-arming sequences as he slaps together his crazy sword. Nogami’s interactions with his Imagin are quite amusing at times, too. The monster designs stray from the familiar animal themes a bit, which is a further welcome change.

On the negative side, Nogami is SO WHINY. I bet he improves over the course of the show, but geesh. The CGI is also pretty unsatisfying, and at the beginning of the first episode I thought I was watching a cartoon. Still, the show came out almost sixteen years ago, and the program succeeds (based on the first couple episodes) far more than it fails. I wish I had started watching these shows more years ago, they are just really fun.

Kamen Rider Kiva (2008-2009) episodes 1 and 2 “Fate: Wake up!” and “Suite: Father/Son Violin”

Another big change from the previous year, Kiva turns back to a definite horror vibe, albeit without the blood and also without near the creepy-factor of some earlier programs. The monsters are called “Fangires” this time, but are essentially vampires who suck the color out of people with huge CGI fangs. The story follows two timelines—one in 1986, one in 2008—and in both timelines, there are Fangires menacing violinists, there are tough battle ladies with blades and grappling hooks, and there are lots of violins. Kiva himself is another apparent loser—this time Wataru Kurenai, a dope who thinks he is allergic to the world and collects things like rotting fish and dog poop to try to make the perfect varnish for his violins (What the flip?!). Kurenai has this little bat-shaped familiar who chatters at him and flaps around and turns into his belt so he can henshin into Kiva, a vampire-themed Rider with chains who blows up Fangires and feeds them to a giant monster that is built into several floors of a skyscraper.

There are some great scenes in the early eps, such as a Fangire masquerading as a corpse at a funeral suddenly popping up and attacking, or a great wacked combat sequence where Kiva races a wheel-footed octopus Fangire and smashes her into several parked cars. The CGI is much more successful this year in these episodes, too—maybe because of the darker environments? I love that we get some combat girls, though I was disappointed they weren’t main Riders—nor even Riders at all—and so they always end up being rescued. The show continues the boy-band theme, where it feels like the entire cast was culled from famed boy-pop empire Johnny’s—and every one of them is a nerd or a jerk. Still, the continued variety and craziness is appreciated, and the prevalence of chains made me wonder if Ghost Rider (2007) may have influenced the look of this iteration. I did get really confused with the switching between 1986 and 2008; the show telegraphs the change with transitions, but I didn’t pick up on the shift at first as the fashion and appearance of Japan in both ages looked really similar to me. Basically I got really confused, which rankled me a little! If I rewatched the show again now, I might enjoy it a little more.

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April 27, 2023May 2, 2023

Kamen Rider Impressions, Part 8: Kamen Rider Hibiki and Kamen Rider Kabuto

Kamen Rider Hibiki Episodes 1 and 2 (2005-2006) “The Echoing Oni” and “The Howling Spider”

Wow. Just when I was getting a little familiar with the trend of mechanized heroes from covert operations teams fighting strange invading monsters, Kamen Rider Hibiki throws in a huge spanner in the works nearly as wild as Kamen Rider Amazon—but with much more poise and confidence! What a show! The first episode starts with a straight-up musical number as one of the main characters rides his bike to school, and throughout much of the action of the episode we get ongoing playful instrumental melodies that highlight what is happening on screen in a direct manner ala classic Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny cartoons. Plus the Rider mythos is turned on its head, introducing another form of mystical Rider built from Japanese folklore this time (the kanji for the Rider’s name includes the word “oni,” which can be translated as a kind of Japanese ogre), and the fighting style incorporates things like flame breath and taiko drums. And the editing! The use of interstitial calligraphy! The rapid, stylized cuts and traditional instrumentation!

The story goes that Asumu, a cheerful but stressed-out junior high kid going into high school, has a trip with his family to Kagoshima in southern Japan. While there, he encounters a drifter named Hibiki who he sees rescue a child on a ferry, and afterwards they encounter one another again on a hike and are attacked by web-slinging beastly humanoids. As it turns out, the forest-dwelling monster-men are feeding a giant spider the size of a house (a Tsuchigumo, from Japanese folklore, taking the usual spider man gig from these shows), and Asumu nearly gets snarfed before Hibiki can literally beat it down with his drumsticks and flamethrower breath.

The sense of style is off the charts with this entry. Yes, the idea of riding monsters and smashing away on their backs with drumsticks is beyond absurd, but the surreality is part and parcel with the entire ethos of this entry! The action, too, may suffer from fast cutting, but even that decision feels intentional, as part of the rhythm of the editing. I expected to be annoyed by young protagonist Asumu, who has several scenes where he is smiling at the camera and breaking the fourth wall—but he is so likable and upbeat, it’s hard to complain. The series also steps away from the power cards from previous entries, replacing them with discs that transform into miniature attack animals—and I will admit, those look so stupid. But it’s a small stupidity that can be overlooked.

I think, if I am being fair, I stumbled on an episode of this series when I first lived in Japan back in 2005-2007 and I was taken aback by the absurdity of the show. I can see why some fans might take umbrage at such a radical departure from the dark, sci-fi roots. Apparently the show suffers a drastic course correction halfway through that most fans despised, and which caused great controversy in the tokusatsu sphere at the time. Still, I love these first two episodes for being daring and wild and for bearing such a strong artistic vision!

Kamen Rider Kabuto Episodes 1 and 2 “The Strongest Man” and “The First Two-Step Transformation”

(2006-2007)

While not as stylish as Kamen Rider Hibiki, nor perhaps as inspired as the first episodes of that series appeared, Kabuto still brings more entertaining concepts and tweaks to the formula. The monster system is new, striking a pod-people vibe with invading “worms” that attack and mimic people’s appearance before transforming into bug anthropoids, then molting into a yet more powerful final form (taking on other animal traits apparently), the series also adds another anti-monster organization with a questionable past (ala Blade), this time with a whole army of rider-styled soldiers. The monster plot seems to be triggered by falling meteorites, and thus a plot point aping something like Quatermass 2, but with an added wrinkle in which the monsters possess an ability to “overclock” and move at super speed. One of the highlights of the new series is how the hyper-speed battles are depicted, with new strategies and stylization.

The rider dynamic, though, feels a little tired. Underperforming ZECT agent Arata Kagami gets his treasured chance to become a full-fledged Rider, but has his dreams stolen when mysterious lone-wolf wandering type Soujj Tendo transforms in his stead. Tendo operates with exaggerated poise and overdone cool, but it’s not really funny this time, and Kagami is kind of just lame. The Kabuto Rider suit looks bulky and powerful, though, and I like the addition of guns and multiple transformations. Artistic and sullen Hiyori Kusakabe provides an unusual female foil to the mismatched hero pair.

I am not as enthusiastic about Kabuto as some of the other series because the characters didn’t click with me as much, but I did like how the action is staged, and accidentally reading some spoilers, the series definitely has some surprising twists in the wings. I would be interested in seeing more.

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April 25, 2023

Kamen Rider Impressions, Part 7: Kamen Rider 555 and Kamen Rider Blade

Read from the beginning.

Kamen Rider 555/Faiz (2003-2004) Episodes 1 and 2 “The Start of a Trip” and “The Belt’s Power”

After Kamen Rider Ryuki, its mirror world, and the abundance of Riders of all stripes fighting one another, Kamen Rider 555 returned some sense of normalcy back to the series with fewer Riders, another evil organization trying to take over the world, and other tried-and-true tropes—but still with a relatively mature feel. I was surprised that this series starts out with a romance—which quickly turns to tragedy. We have themes of a coma, familial betrayal, death and resurrection, attempted suicide, revenge killing, consuming people’s hearts, and human beings dissolving into dust. Our initial on-focus character Takumi Inui is the reluctant type, another itinerant ala Kuuga’s professional dream-chaser, who is forced into hero duty by young hairdresser Mari Sonoda, who snaps a transformation belt (or Gear) on him. The two episodes include many antics around mistaken bags (which gets tiresome), and even a visit to that favored venue of tokusatsu—an amusement park, this time Green Land (of which there are two in Japan). While apparently later more Riders show up, in the first two episodes we only have Faiz, and he might be one of the least likable heroes yet with his surly and ungiving attitude.

As with previous Rider series, Faiz has more animal-themed enemies—this time called Orphnocs, which are meant to be the next stage in humanity. Instead of a spider man and bat man appearing first, we get a fish man (hearkening back all the way to Kamen Rider X), a centaur, and an elephant. Unfortunately, the monster suits are a bland, monochrome gray, and when the Orphnocs transform into more animalistic forms (from bipedal to quadrupedal, for example), the CGI looks terrible. Fight sequences, too, are uninspired—but I might be biased after the award-winning bootwork from Dragon Knight. I don’t like the characters very much from the first two episodes, but there is a great hook with the hapless “villain” whose life is ruined as he returns to life as a monster. Giving a monster character a detailed and sympathetic background with more pathos than the heroes in the first episodes is a bold choice that adds character here, and may have inspired a similar monster character deep-dive in Kamen Rider the First–an original film that was released the very next year after 555 ended.

Note on the title—when I saw the series was called 555, I was reminded of a chat expression used in Chinese. When you type “555” in Chinese, it represents pitiful crying, as the pronunciation for “5” is “wu” in Chinese, and so the pronunciation can be a representation of the sound of weeping. I don’t think this hidden meaning was intended, but based on the first couple episodes, “Kamen Rider Weeping” feels a little apropos!

Kamen Rider Blade (2004-2005) Episodes 1 and 2 “The Indigo Warrior” and “The Mysterious Rider”

The return of the cards! After watching the first two episodes of Kamen Rider Blade, despite a return of the overused card gimmick, I really wanted to watch more. So many of these shows are quite enjoyable right from the start, and this one has a powerful set-up with another eerie mystery, and another set of intriguing characters. This time there is an anti-monster group called BOARD that includes an elite team of Riders who are regularly sent out to fight the latest round of mysterious monsters—in this case, the Undead (they are animal-themed again, and the first one that shows up is another bat man). The main character, Kazuma Kenzaki/Kamen Rider Blade, is a rookie and still doesn’t know well what he is doing… so when his senior, Kamen Rider Garren/Sakuya Tachibana, seemingly betrays everyone and destroys BOARD while collaborating with an attack by another Undead, Kenzaki goes on a tailspin, confused and traumatized by the tragedy. Alongside the drama surrounding Board and Garren, another powerful Rider appears who was not part of BOARD and has mysterious origins—and while he fights the Undead, he also attacks Blade with fire and rage in his soul. Just in the first two episodes, we have quite the intrigue sandwich!

Special effects are much better in this iteration, with judicial use of shadows and darkness to cover up flaws in the CGI, and stylish card-play mechanics. It feels a bit like Pokemon how the Riders defeat and trap monsters in their cards. The transformation sequences also take a new form, this time with the belt buckle projecting an energy shield through which the Rider must pass to transform. These extra touches, plus an array of powerful-looking armored Rider designs and medieval-style weaponry (swords, bows) lend the new series a refreshing spark. Acting and cinematography are still rough and amateurish, though, with some unfortunate scenes and quirks—I got tired of this journalist character loudly chugging milk REAL fast. Still, the battles are hard-hitting, the monsters don’t wait for the Riders to transform, and the music rocks. But man that opening credit sequence makes it look like we are watching Kamen Boy Band.

April 23, 2023April 25, 2023

Kamen Rider Impressions, Part 6: Kamen Rider Ryuki and Kamen Rider Dragon Knight

Kamen Rider Ryuki: The Complete Series + Exclusive Poster | Shout! Factory 750 × 1,000

Kamen Rider Ryuki (2002-2003) Episode 1 “The Secret Story’s Birth”

I approached Kamen Rider Ryuki with caution and suspense, as this was the Rider I was most familiar with—in a way. Kamen Rider Ryuki was later Americanized into the Emmy-award winning Kamen Rider Dragon Knight, which became a huge favorite of mine. I have such warm memories watching the entire series with my younger brother, and I still adore the theme song and some of the character work. In other words, unlike with 1995’s Masked Rider, which I rather despised and thus seeing the Japanese version was almost guaranteed to be a step up, here I was going in with a ton of nostalgia and ardor for the version I had seen in my younger years. Could I say with confidence I would enjoy the original more?

Well… Ryuki has a lot of interesting things going on. The conceit moves away from the Kuuga/Agito universe, and instead the world has mysterious warriors and monsters moving through a reflected world in the mirrors (like Alice through the Looking Glass) and attacking (or defending) people in the physical world. Main character Shinji Kido works for a sleazy news agency, but he is a newb and VERY stupid. As Kido blunders around trying to look into a series of missing person cases, he finds a strange card-device that gives him the ability to see the monsters in the mirror realm. Soon he is pulled in to a fight with a CGI spider, and a mysterious bat-themed Rider saves his hinder. In the second episode, we learn that the animal-themed monsters in the mirror world are hunting and eating people—and that the Riders can contract with them, binding themselves permanently to their chosen monster other, and gaining extra powers and weapons—which can then be summoned by special cards the Rider inserts into a machine built for the purpose. If a Rider defeats and destroys a monster (or another Rider!), they gain strength from their opponent, becoming stronger themselves—kind of like Jet Li in The One. But by the end of the second episode, we still don’t know why this bizarre system of power one-upmanship exists, or why these creatures are attacking humans.

Ryuki takes noticeable attention to dynamic camera angles and more reliance on computer graphics for special effects, with some neat sequences showing the differences between the mirror realm and the real world. From go the show features several Riders while maintaining an all new and emotionally effective air of mystery and intrigue, as we don’t know what is going on, who the heroes are, who the villains might be. The spider and bat themes show up again, but they aren’t as predictable as previous incarnations; the bat man is a Rider! However, Kido and his news agency are obnoxious, and Kido even has a dopey theme song ala Bulk and Skull from Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers. The acting, too, tends to be stilted, with overall poor delivery—though I could say the same about previous Rider shows. I haven’t watched Dragon Knight recently, so it will be interesting to take a peek at that show one more time and see how it stacks up against its progenitor next (see below).

Also, it must be said, I think, as cool as the cards are, they also feel like a really unfortunate concession to the toy aisle. Card games increasingly became popular in the early 2000s, so incorporating some card system probably felt essential to success, and a lucrative way to create merch and monetize, monetize, monetize. Unfortunately, card gimmicks (and the like) like this would proliferate in the Kamen Rider and Ultraman franchises both and become more and more common in the coming years.

For me, Kamen Rider Dragon Knight (an Americanized adaptation of Kamen Rider Ryuki released several years later) for many years represented peak Kamen Rider. I was already in my twenties when the show came out, but was still very into tokusatsu of whatever shape I could get my hands on, and though I was wary of Americanized versions of tokusatsu media (since they tend to simplify narratives at best, and present chopped-up incoherent garbage at worst), when I watched Dragon Knight with my little brother, I fell in love. Compared to other tokusatsu programming in the West, Dragon Knight had a much more mature tone, dealing with death and complex character motivations and situations. Unlike many tokusatsu in the West, it also had a fully serialized story instead of an episodic structure. It also has truly impressive fight choreography, especially from Matt Mullins, a martial artist/performer who provides electrifying combat sequences that are far better than anything in the first couple episodes in the original Ryuki—the fights and stunts were so good, they won the show a Daytime Emmy for best stuntwork, which was the first award of its kind ever given.

Heck, even watching the show now, I still felt a tingle of excitement jitter up my spine from the fancy bootwork on display. Mullins is a bulky, tall, muscular chunk of cool who can dance in the air as he rocks the spandex and rubber off enemy monsters.

The story of the first two episodes in many ways improves on the already intriguing premise from Ryuki. Replacing dumbhead hero Kido is Kit Taylor, eighteen-year-old foster-kid and screw-up whose father has disappeared… but continues to communicate with him through a series of visions. Kit is resourceful and kind, but deeply troubled, and far more sympathetic and interesting than Kido. When he is tossed out on his tush upon turning 18 by his foster parents, he returns to his dad’s old home and finds a strange device—an advent deck that allows him to see strange robotic monsters that emerge from a mirror realm. Soon he is pulled into the fight alongside a Terminator-esque warrior who can transform into a bat-themed Kamen Rider, and this hero tries to warn Kit away from using the deck to become a Rider himself. However, Kit listens to his ghostly father’s words and uses the deck to make a contract with a dragon that follows him through the mirrors, changing into Kamen Rider Dragon Knight, and by the end of the second episode he is throwing fists with a third antagonistic crab-themed Rider and more goons.

Just like Ryuki, Dragon Knight possesses a fantastic sense of mystery and danger. Instead of the monsters eating people, the focus of the danger is more on Riders “venting” one another in knock-down, drag-out fisticuffs. The low-rent news service from Ryuki is replaced by a young lady working on supernatural news in her spare time who discovers Kit and befriends him—the supporting characters are not the strongest point of the show with some cringe-worthy jokes and acting, but they are far from the worst the genre has to offer. Dragon Knight also sometimes doesn’t tie together sequences from the original with new scenes filmed for Dragon Knight so well, as the seams occasionally show a bit, and the abbreviated combat sequences taken from Ryuki can feel more rushed and less coherent. Even with that said, though, Dragon Knight excels with stylish new transformations and maybe the best tokusatsu theme song ever devised (outside of the original Power Rangers jam)—I love singing along to Cage9’s stellar triumphant vocals and screaming guitars. Man… I love this show.

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April 22, 2023April 25, 2023

Kamen Rider Impressions, Part 5: Kamen Rider Kuuga and Kamen Rider Agito

Kamen Rider Kuuga (2000-2001) Episode 1: “Revival” and episode 2 “Transformation”

After over ten years with no new Kamen Rider TV series in Japan, finally in the year 2000 Kamen Rider Kuuga arrives with fresh ideas and a tweaked, modern style. It still has some familiar tropes (with a version of the spider-man creature appearing first, the bat man creature appearing next), but it still feels sparkly new—this time leaning into the more fantasy feel from Black with its ghostly villains, and the sort of mythical-temple background from Amazon. The story starts at an archeological dig in Japan where a Egyptian-style stone temple structure has been found. Something goes awry, and a tomb-like box breaks open, unleashing a monster that kills everyone in the dig. When a weird belt inscribed with unreadable glyphs is placed into the hands of the archeology crew’s compadres for closer inspection, the monster spider man comes knocking, apparently in search of the belt. Our hero, happy-go-lucky “professional dream chaser” Yusuke Godai puts on the belt and transforms into Kamen Rider Kuuga. After that, a lengthy and astonishing fight sequence ensues—leading to more and more questions and intrigue. The second episode introduces Kuuga’s fully transformed body (initially Godai changes into a weaker white form with smaller cranial horns, but when fully riled, he can become red and peak amped), and we are shown an buzzed new changing sequence in which Godai’s body shifts piece by piece while he is engaged in combat. As with the original Kamen Rider, the bat man that appears in the second episode has serious vampire vibes.

What a rebirth of the show! While some of the special effects don’t hit so well for me (the primitive CGI that crops up looks worse to my eye compared to the analog effects in Black on occasion), the ambition here is legendary. The action set pieces include a police car smashing through the front doors of a building, broken glass scattered all over, and a long fight dangling from a helicopter! The fisticuffs aren’t over in a flash, and even when the baddie is vanquished, it’s not clear whether he survived, which adds suspense. The lore includes an invented language represented in both writing and in speech, and the series apparently has two versions—one wherein the monsters’ foreign tongue is translated via subs, and one in which it’s not. What a spectacular idea! The version I saw on Tubi included subtitles for the spoken monster-talk, which removes some of the mystery, but at least in the first two episodes I didn’t think it was a huge loss. Plus, the horror theme is back! Blood! Monsters emerging from the dirt with hands reaching out zombie-style! A broken sarcophagus and long-standing death curse ala classic mummy tales! Yet at the same time, we get humor, we get likable characters joshing with one another, we get fun AND chills AND good action. This feels like an Honest Abe attempt to entertain. It feels like the whole kebab—and the Kuuga design looks solid, with sweet horns! On the down side, the acting can be weak, and the camera work feels pedestrian. Godai is one cheesy character, which can be a charm—but he also gets awful lines about wanting to make sure everyone can smile (a refrain later taken up by Ultraman Trigger in 2021 and the protagonist’s oft-repeated signature “smile, smile” phrase). The actor who played Godai, Jo Odagiri, infamously has spoken unfavorably of tokusatsu and his time working on Kuuga, and has since become a huge name in Japan. All that said, and regardless of his (apparent) negative feelings and unpolished acting, Kuuga seems to have overflowing style and exciting ideas.

Kind of boring end song, though.

Kamen Rider Agito (2001-2002) Episode 1 “A Warrior’s Awakening” and episode 2 “Blue Storm”

The thirtieth anniversary Kamen Rider show, Kamen Rider Agito (sometimes written as ΑGITΩ) takes place in the same universe as Kuuga, though with new mysteries and an infusion of new ideas—and a continuation of the previous show’s mixture of goofy acting and dark themes. The contrast feels even stronger in the first episode here.

A lot happens in the opening episodes. After a sea storm, a strange device washes up on the beach. It seems alien in origin, and has a complex locking device that requires supercomputers to decode. At the same time, an anti-monster team has assembled, with a human-made robo-suited agent code-named Kamen Rider G3 (piloted by a dude named Makoto Hikawa). Meanwhile, members of a particular family begin turning up dead, somehow fused into trees—their flesh combined with the wood, their arms dangling in the open to signal their presence. Shouichi Tsugami, a young man who has lost his memories, has psychic attacks when the tree-related murders occur, and then a panther-man attacks yet another victim and faces off against G3, who rushes to the scene. When G3 proves ineffective in battling the strange menace, and Hikawa is nearly killed, a mysterious Rider appears who is strong enough to defeat the menace.

The first episode sews together so many ideas that the narrative feels slightly overstuffed, and the introduction of some of the plot threads can be delivered with a bit too much convenient, unrealistic dialogue. The biggest weakness of the first episode is the poor writing and acting, but the new menace (it’s NOT another spider man) and the layers of mystery add a lot of narrative momentum and suspense.

The second episode polishes much of the strengths from the first, adding further wrinkles to the mystery around the family targeted by the panther-men (now called “Unknown”), and ending on a frantic cliffhanger that really had me salivating to go on to see what happens next. We also get more character development (which seems an important element for this version of the Rider), and hints at further supernatural powers operating in this world—including a creepy photograph and characters with psychic abilities (perhaps channeling Ringu, which had recently become a phenomenon; the American version would release in 2002).

A scene that stuck out to me—I know it doesn’t really reflect on the quality of the series in any way, but I want to write about this, because it’s my article—is when Tsugami’s adoptive family is puzzling over the man’s forgotten past, and it is suggested (due to his predilection for cooking particular dishes) that he might be from the Kansai area (Osaka, Kobe, Kyoto). Tsugami responds by sarcastically speaking in Kansai dialect, which the translator renders as “Gawsh, ya think so?”—basically treating the dialect as dumb-hick language, which is pretty insulting, given Kansai includes some of the biggest and most culturally significant cities of Japan. But at least they tried!

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April 20, 2023April 25, 2023

Kamen Rider Impressions, Part 4: Saban’s Masked Rider

I am writing my impressions of all the Kamen Rider TV shows released in Japan and the USA–and I might try to fit in the Taiwan ones, too, if I can find them. Today I am looking at Saban’s adaptation of Kamen Rider Black RX, which it kind of sort of adapted two times…

Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers Season 3 “A Friend in Need” Parts 1-3 (1995)

These episodes were my first encounter with Kamen Rider (or Masked Rider, as he is called here)—I would have been fourteen years old at the time, and I was still watching me some Power Rangers and enjoying it despite its decidedly younger target audience. I remember being pretty excited by the entrance of this mysterious bug-themed warrior from another planet. The episode trio of episodes was intended as a backdoor pilot for Saban’s Masked Rider series, which would mostly be an Americanized version of Kamen Rider Black RX. Coming in to watch the show now, in 2023, with the various revelations about behind-the-scenes drama during filming of Power Rangers, and with the tragic recent passing of Tommy/Jason David Frank, the show was hard to watch for more than just its technical limitations. Of course, the actual quality of the show—or rather lack thereof—is far more apparent to me now, in comparison to the Japanese originals (which weren’t always of sterling quality themselves, but I digress).

The story goes that the Power Rangers’ assistant robot, Alpha 5, becomes privy to some kind of disturbance on his home planet of Edenoi. Ai-yi-yi, what do we do?! Four of the Power Rangers are dispatched to the planet to investigate what was happening (with ominous declarations that they won’t have their full powers so far from home—a warning that comes to nothing in the show, as it has little to no impact on the events that play out). Kimberly, the Pink Ranger, remains behind on Earth because she has a case of the flu. The four rangers who go to Edenoi soon run into Prince Dex/Masked Rider and his friends—who immediately attack the rangers without allowing them to explain why they are visiting (really paints Dex as a massive jerk). As it turns out, the baddies from Kamen Rider Black RX have been renamed and repurposed (the leader is now Count Dregon instead of Jark, which… is an improvement, actually), and stock footage of their conversations in their floating robo-base are dubbed over with new chit-chat about how the villains are targeting Edenoi and attempting to defeat Dex and take his Masked Rider powers. Predictably, the rangers eventually team up with Dex and defeat some of Dregon’s goons. Meanwhile, back on Earth, evil conqueror couple Rita and Lord Zedd send a goofy new monster to attack Angel Grove while the rangers are off traipsing the galaxy—a repainted version of a mecha-monster called Ikazuchi from the Toei Super Sentai series Dairanger, now called Repelletor. Surprisingly, Dex does not return with the rangers to help fight Repelletor, and the rangers defeat the monster on their own—right before ominous news that Dregon is now inexplicably planning to attack Earth, and we get a quick throwaway shot of Dex being sent by his father to prevent Dregon’s attack, and done.

I have a lot of fondness for the old Power Rangers shows, particularly the ones with the original rangers, but watching the stitched-together quality of the show now after viewing a string of original Toei action adventures really shows how shoddy Saban’s work was. While Toei’s plots could often prove highly shallow, they were more coherent in style and content than what we have here, with the varying visual quality and forced reworking of special effects. The far greater kiddification level of the show is also obvious next to the often much darker Toei shows—with the constant snarky one-liners really sticking out in the American show. Snark is not nearly as common in Japan, so it can be downright distracting. It was also striking just how MUCH Jason David Frank had become the star of the show, as he is the leader of the team by this point, and his character also narrates with martial arts and life advice over the end credits. Seeing his youthful enthusiasm and charm (and admittedly cheesy acting) really makes me miss the guy.

Still, nostalgia has its place, and I yet found enjoyment tripping through memory lane. My favorite part might have been comic relief “bullies” Bulk and Skull with their ludicrous comedy routine and over-the-top music cues. Coming from my more adult perspective, they seem to be conjuring some Three Stooges energy in their slapstick antics, and I heartily approve.

But I am dreading watching Masked Rider next…

Masked Rider (1995-1996) “Escape from Edenoi” part 1 and 2

Masked Rider immediately destroys the backdoor setup from Power Rangers, and so even before it gets started, the show seems determined to annoy its fans. While the “A Friend in Need” episodes of Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers season 3 were not stellar storytelling, they still told a story, they still had some intriguing ties to Power Ranger lore, they still had the beloved Alpha 5 claiming citizenship with Edenoi and thus making him related to Prince Dex and the power of the Masked Rider. These story threads added a layer of intrigue for fans to glom onto going in to the new series, as fans in the West were pretty unfamiliar with the bug hero. The whole purpose of a backdoor pilot is to set up those threads, those roots, to stabilize and structure and add flavor and sauce to your new show. If you create the backdoor pilot, set up the expectations of your fans for cross-show craziness, and then cut those expectations off immediately when the show proper is released, probably your viewership is going to feel cheated, robbed, spurned by the entertainment gods.

That’s definitely how I felt when I went in to watch Masked Rider “Escape from Edenoi” parts one and two back in 1995. The beginning is similar to the Power Rangers setup, with Edenoi under attack by Count Dregon and his dark armies. We get a little background this time (Dregon is Dex’s uncle, he was banished, he came back and conquered, he is now or is planning to harvest soldiers from earth), and we also get a much-hated addition in the form of Ferbus—basically Masked Rider’s version of Snarf from Thundercats. A duck-billed troublemaker with the voice from Hades, Ferbus follows Dex to earth, and adds “hilarity” by giving Dex’s adoptive father the sniffles. Dex is adopted by an interracial family after he crash lands in their flower garden, and said family is shockingly unphased when Dex reveals he is an alien. But one of the strangest choices of the show is its lack of action, as the first episode is missing even one decent fight sequence. Maybe if the creators didn’t feel the need to retool the premise and snip out the Rangers, we would have been able to shorten things up a bit and weave in a few punches and kicks.

The second episode wrapping up the story is, if anything, even worse than the first. While the first episode creates a sense of tension with the arrival of Destructosphere, a monster created with an impressive combination of T-1000 style computer effects and a truly grisly and effective monster suit, the second episode squanders the build-up by having Dex face-off against the monster and defeat him within the first few minutes of the second part. (The reason Destructosphere looks so impressive compared to other monsters in the series is because his footage came from a movie called Kamen Rider ZO—which also explains why Dex couldn’t fight him for long, given the logistics of attempting to paste together scenes of the Kamen Rider RX suit fighting a monster from a different story!) But nothing really gels in this episode. Dex goes around somehow creating talking vehicles with his mind (and then is confused when the machines he just created can talk–shouldn’t he know what he made?); “Maggots” (the foot soldiers of the show) replace Destructosphere and have a food fight until Dex defeats them with antics like imitating a bullfighter (this is an alien?); and the final monster that appears (a beetle tank) is boring, simply showing up to be defeated easily by Dex and his team. The comedy is awful, the action is limp, the drama is weak, everything is nonsensical—it seems painfully clear why this series never went anywhere with audiences.

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