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Tokusatsu "Best ofs" 2019: New era, who dis? edition
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12-27-2019, 05:42 AM
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Kiwami
Dai Shogun
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Germany
Posts: 7,535
Best New Show of 2019
This one is actually difficult in 2019. Because I have to choose between Ultraman Taiga and Kamen Rider Zero-One.
Ultraman Taiga is another fantastic entry to a franchise that keeps on giving. Zero-One made me excited about Kamen Rider again after being bored for an entire year by Zi-O.
In the end I have to give it to Taiga though. Zero-One was entertaining and exciting, but Taiga had episodes which really made me happy. It's hard to explain, but watching Taiga is such a treat, it made me feel great and Zero-One, while being entertaining and overall great, didn't manage that.
So yeah, it's Ultraman Taiga!
Best New-to-You Show of 2019
I didn't watch anything new this year... that sucks. But I guess Kamen Rider X because I just started watching it?
Best Rewatch of 2019
Kamen Rider OOO. It was great rewatching that one, such a good show.
Best Movie of 2019
I... haven't watched any I think. But: I'll cheat and mention "Kamen Rider Drive Saga - Kamen Rider Brain" instead. Because it was amazing. A really funny parody of Kamen Rider in a nutshell with a great fighting scene as well.
Best Male Lead Character
Hidden Aruto. Mostly because he does crazy, weird noises with equally grotesque faces - but I still like him. He's Onari but in a good way.
Best Female Lead Character
Izu. She's the best. A well written robotic character which is not that easy to do, and she also defined the single best way to deliver new tech to our hero - high-speed charges slowed with braking high-heels, all delivered with the most generic tire-screeching noise ever. Izu rules.
Best Male Supporting Character
That's difficult because both Homare Souya from Taiga and Isamu Fuwa from Zero-One are excellent.
Fuwa shines to me because of his serious nature and a generally tragic past, but he also can't help but laugh at Aruto's jokes, even though he tries his hardest not to. I think that's such a charming thing to add to this character.
But Homare has such a strong character as an alien with a dark past who lives in the closet and is afraid to tell his human friends about his true self in fear of rejection.
And I think I'll give it to Homare, because while Fuwa is great there's nothing that sticks out t me yet. He's good, but not great. Homare on the other hand had a number of fantastic episodes dedicated to him. They even had a great follow-up to his coming out where he meets aliens which still live in hiding and are fed up with the humans, they really went up and beyond with this character.
Best Female Supporting Character
I want to say Yua Yaiba because starting Reiwa with a female Rider early on is awesome, but sadly the competition is too overwhelming. Both Pirika and Kana from Ultraman Taiga are great.
And I think I'll give it to Kana, because I rarely see seasoned female police officers in Tokusatsu, and her character as a motherly figure with a traumatic experience who works on trying to prevent further occurrences of such an event is fantastic.
Hell, this woman opened up her own private security organization because the helplessness of having to go alongside official protocol had her sacrificing an innocent life. That's deep.
Best Villain
Oh boy. Whoever else tries to compete, you ain't got shit on Tregear. This guy effectively works on making freakin' Evolto look tame. He's, for the lack of a better term, absolutely nuts.
I could go into detail but just watch Ultraman Taiga, if not for a fantastic Tokusatsu show, then for one of the most devilishly evil villains ever.
Just to give you a taste: The show starts with him killing the protagonists while kicking the butts of the entire New Generation Ultraman hero lineup. No joke.
Best Returning Past Character
If nothing else Zi-O had some great tribute episodes. And I think the very best returning character in one such episode was Shouichi Tsugami. Like, there were lots and lots of great returning characters, but seeing the real Kamen Rider Agito again was so good.
The character was acted out perfectly, and when he transformed on-screen with the original background music playing along - that felt great. It took me back to watching Agito for the first time and I cannot imagine how great it must've felt for someone who watched Agito when it first aired.
Best Actor
Yeah that's Fumiya Takahashi. The whole energy necessary to portray Aruto's crazy jokes is insane, plus, he made it possible to have a character with such a crazy quirk that is still believable in tragic and serious moments. It not only takes good writing but a great actor like him to make this work.
Best Actress
Noa Tsurushima, no contest. Her role as Izu is as hard, if not harder, than Takahashi's, because she needs to have a straight face at all points. I have seen background material were she cracks and laughs up instantly when Takahashi does random shit; just imagine how much composure and discipline it takes to not laugh at the insane stuff that's going on in front of the camera.
It's also not easy at all to portray a robot without falling into tropes or being just another forgettable performance. I also quite like how well she can portray the instances where Izu shows signs of sentience, it's subtle but noticeable in a good way.
Best Writer
The guy(s) behind Ultraman Taiga. Sorry, I still suck at names when it comes to the production teams.
Best Director
The Taiga person. Beautiful scenery shots, amazing usage of miniature angles (there are some crazy good shots from within miniature buildings in Taiga its insane) and overall a great usage of camera work.
Best Suit Design
That goes to Zero-One no doubt. The suits in that show are drop-dead gorgeous. Zero-One himself is such an amazing return to form, finally another grasshopper themed Rider, and he looks amazing.
Plus, the Metsubojinrai.net Rider suits? Wow, just wow. So good.
Best Weapon/Vehicle/Mecha
Ultraman Titas' body is the single best weapon one could conceive.
...
Just kidding, I mean it's true, but I'll nominate an actual weapon instead: I was quite surprised to see the distaste for the Attache Calibur. I love it. Not only does its gimmick of being a briefcase that transforms fit perfectly with its corresponding Rider, but it also looks great as a sword IMO. I love the overall shape of it and it works well as a weapon, it's not too toy-etic for it to look silly.
Best Fight Scene
That's another hard choice because both Zero-One and Ultraman Taiga have some awesome stuff going on.
Taiga had a fantastic night fight scene with some gorgeous miniature work. But Zero-One... the first fight-scene alone was cool. The CGI was a bit distracting but still very nice.
The second episode has everything one could ask for though. Two Riders fight with different styles and in different environments, there's a very cool bike scene involved which sadly become rarer and rarer as time goes one, and they both end up at the same locations meeting each other for the first time in their transformed states. This one wins it for me.
Best Dramatic Scene
Man, the clash between Zero-One and Taiga does not stop. Zero-One had great dramatic scenes, but Taiga wins it because of one thing I haven't even touched upon yet: Ultraman Taiga features audio dramas alongside its main episodes. And the stuff that goes on in there is legitimately heart wrenching.
The show itself doesn't hold back either, the episode were Taiga is tainted by Tregear and all of his friends work to rescue him is great as well.
Best Comedic Scene
Hear me out, this is the one category were Zi-O will win something. Yes, Kamen Rider Brain was hilarious, but Uncle Junichiro was perfect. The scene where he just fixed a radio and they announce that a meteor will smash Tokyo made me laugh so hard.
Plus, seeing him riding the Den-Liner was so adorable.
Biggest "WTF did I just watch?" Moment
There's so much crazy stuff , but I think the scene from LuPat were they imagine eating so much they'll get fat and then a hummingbird or whatever uses its beak to pop them? It was weird.
Best Song
The ED theme from Ultraman Taiga. There were a lot of great songs in recent Toku, all opening themes ruled (even Zi-O's) but the one song I couldn't get out of my head was the ending song from Taiga.
It's so beautiful and complements every episode so well. It's the one theme I never, not even once, skipped. I sat through it every time and enjoyed it every time. What's so great is that along the song plays a recap of the episode you just watched, it's a great way to say goodbye and relive it once again in quick succession.
It's too bad they changed the ending theme, I miss it.
Best Piece of Merchandise
You know what, no Figuarts from me this year, I bought most the DX-releases of Kamen Rider Zero-One this year and I love them.
The Hiden Zero-One Driver is a fantastic belt and the Progrise Keys are great trinkets.
Biggest Surprise of 2019
Kamen Rider Brain being a thing and being stupid awesome as well.
Biggest Disappointment of 2019:
Zi-O as a whole. Some tribute episodes were amazing which is all an anniversary show needs really, but everything else was so lackluster. The characters were bad, the story behind it all was bad, most suits were terrible and I'm just glad it’s over.
The Onari Memorial Award for Single Worst Thing in 2019 Tokusatsu:
Zi-O Trinity. An absolutely hideous, god-awful suit with a gimmick that makes no sense whatsoever.
Kiwami
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