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Thread
:
Tokusatsu Year in Review 2020: Gems Versus Sabers Z edition
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12-26-2020, 10:58 PM
#
10
Switchblade
I have a problematic type
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 10,420
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Sh Ranger
Not aware of this tradition since I wasn't here last Christmas but I'll give it my best shot!
Yeah, it's a thing I've been doing every year since the site launched.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Fish Sandwich
First of all, Switchblade hasn't done a "best suit actor" category in years, so let me mention here that Takaiwa's performance as his Kamen Rider form is nothing short of consistently great, showing once again how much he excels at subtlety.
Yeah, I took that one out because I felt it was the kind of relatively obscure thing that very few people looked up beyond who the current main Kamen Rider is.
So, before I get into my own answers just let me give you a quick preview. I have not stopped and pondered all of these categories before I answer them, but I'm pretty sure that the answer to most is going to be either "Ultraman Z" or "Character/Actor/Thing from Ultraman Z."
Favorite New Show of 2020:
Example #1. Absolutely
Ultraman Z
, no contest. Very fun show with great characters, great action,
amazing
cinematography, and fun stories. I can't say it's my favorite Ultra series because, if nothing else, Max exists, but it's a really excellent one.
Favorite New-to-You Show of 2020:
Ultraman Taiga
, a show I pretty much just skipped last year. I didn't get that into the first episode and the lack of an official option made it just obnoxious enough to get hold of that I skipped it. I'm glad I went back, though, as it was another very good modern Ultra series from Tsubaraya. It was very confusing for me to start watching this at the same time that Z started airing, though, especially with the shows' heroes being named Hiroyuki and Haruki.
Favorite Rewatch of 2020:
Something I never thought I'd say, but it's
Kamen Rider Faiz.
I never planned to watch that show again, but following along with Die's thread made me not only revisit but also re-evaluate this show. It went from being one of my least favorite Rider shows to... well, not. It's still not in my top five or ten, but I appreciate it a lot more than I did.
Favorite Movie of 2020:
Garo: Moonbow Traveler.
Last year I lamented the absence of a Garo project and hoped for something new. More on that monkey's paw wish later, but we also got this really delightful film that brought back the cast of Makai no Hana and sprinkled in some characters from the original series, too. It felt a lot like two separate movies joined together at the waist, but it was still a lot of fun on top of also being delightfully weird in spots.
Favorite Male Lead Character:
Haruki
from Ultraman Z. A bit of a generic hot-blooded tokusatsu protagonist in places, but he had some good depth and I loved the mid-series arc where he began to doubt his actions in fighting monsters.
Favorite Female Lead Character:
Yoko
from Ultraman Z. Just nudging out Izu by a hair. Yoko was so much fun as Z's hotshot ace pilot and I loved her dynamic with the other characters.
Favorite Male Supporting Character:
I have to go with
Fuwa
again. Zero-One made some decisions that I didn't agree with this year, but Fuwa never stopped being fantastic.
Favorite Female Supporting Character:
Easily
Yuka
from Ultraman Z. Having a resident science character isn't new. Having a resident genki girl isn't new. Having the resident science character by the peppy, upbeat female character who also
really
loves dissecting monsters, though? That made for one of my favorite characters of the whole year.
Favorite Villain:
This is a tough one for me, mostly because I found a lot of them pretty lackluster, especially since I watched Taiga and got to see Tregear in all his glory. I guess I'll go with Z's Celebro, if only because his plot of tricking humanity into building a super weapon he could steal and use to blow up the planet was really clever.
Favorite Returning Past Character:
Another easy one here. We got to see
Kouga Saejima
again. The only thing that could have dislodged him is if Kaoru had a) been in more than one scene and b) had lines.
Favorite Actor:
Takaya Aoyagi
absolutely killed it in his return as Jugglus Juggler. I absolutely loved his performance.
Favorite Actress:
Repeat for
Noa Tsurushima
as Izu. She did such an amazing job of bringing life to that character.
Favorite Writer:
The late
Kota Fukihara
for Ultraman Z. Excellent show and a pity that he didn't get to see it reach the air.
Favorite Director:
Absolutely, 1000%
Kiyotaka Taguchi
. One of the best parts of Ultraman Z was the visuals and Taguchi pulled off so many amazing tricks with the action scenes to make them incredibly dynamic and exciting.
Favorite Suit Design:
Zero-One pulled out some fantastic suits near the end with the various different Ark Rider costumes, but I have to give it to
Kamen Rider Zero-Two
. Simple, nearly insignificant upgrade? Sure, but it's a really striking suit and the minor touches of red just pop right off that thing.
Favorite Weapon/Vehicle/Mecha:
I'm sorry, but I think a little bit less about anyone who doesn't instantly give this to
Sevenger
.
Favorite Fight Scene:
Maybe more of a rampage scene, but there's a shot in episode 5 of Ultraman Z where a model car flips up into the air and the camera rides inside of it the entire time. It was amazing and the first real sign that we were into something really special with this show's direction.
Favorite Dramatic Scene:
Look, I acknowledge it was dumb, but Gai's reunion with his robot puppy on Zero-One hit some very specific personal buttons for me. I can't fairly give it to anything else.
Favorite Comedic Scene:
Haruki's first transformation into Z. I loved how much it leaned into some classic tokusatsu tropes with the whole series of "well of course he wouldn't know how to do this" moments.
Biggest "WTF did I just watch?" Moment:
There are a number of things from Saber that I could nominate here, but I have to give it to
Garo Versus Road
. The whole entire series. It wasn't a show that I would call "conventionally good" or "unconventionally good" or "good," but man did it constantly make me wonder "just what the hell is this thing?"
Favorite Song:
Chant My Name!
, the opening theme for Ultraman Z. Oh man, was that a great song.
Biggest Surprise of 2020:
I did not react favorably to finding out that Takuro Fukuda was getting another series after the shitshow that was Ghost (sorry, not sorry, to Kurona and Fish). That being said, while I think Saber has some definite issues with its story and pacing, it is definitely turning out to be a lot better and more engaging than I'd feared it would be.
Biggest Disappointment of 2020:
I was really excited for Kiramager when I found out that Naruhisa Arakawa - one of my favorite tokusatsu writers and the head writer on my two favorite Sentai series - was going to be this show's head writer. I stuck through the show up to the Covid-19 shutdown and man, did I just not get into it. It's not bad, but it just feels like every other modern Sentai. Less annoying in some ways, more annoying in others. I may give it another shot, seeing the praise it's getting in this thread, but for now it's just another sign that Sentai isn't a show that really does much for me anymore.
The Onari Memorial Award for Single Worst Thing in 2020 Tokusatsu:
"So Kamen Rider Saber is getting an ending theme, huh? That's cool, some of my favorite Kamen Rider songs are ending themes: Shounen Yo; Long, Long Ago 20th Century; Someone Loves You. Let's see what Saber can bring to the game. Are they... are they dancing? Like fricking Sentai ending credits? No. No. Absolutely not."
And finally, just for fun,
The Two Hot Takes from 2019 That Aged the Most Poorly:
"This ZAIA CEO looks like he could be a promising villain" and "I'm sure that Yua will got lots of character development in the back half of Zero-One."
Last edited by Switchblade; 12-26-2020 at
11:01 PM
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