TFW2005
Hisstank
Thundercats
TokuNation
Toyark
Home
News
Garo
Godzilla
Kamen Rider
Metal Heroes
Power Rangers
Super Sentai
Ultraman
All News Categories
Forum
News & Rumors
Power Rangers
Kamen Rider
Super Sentai
Other Toku Series
Toys and Collectables
Marketplace
Creative
Galleries
Companies
Bandai Japan
Tamashii Nations
Saban Brands
Bandai America
Toei
Characters
Kamen Rider Ghost
Kamen Rider Specter
Kamen Rider Necrom
Mighty Morphin Green Ranger
Dino Charge Red Ranger
Toylines
S.H. Figuarts
S.H. MonsterArts
DX Mecha
Megazords
Legacy
Shows
Kamen Rider Ghost
Doubutsu Sentai Zyuohger
Power Rangers Dino Supercharge
Power Rangers Movie 2017
TokuNation.com
>
TokuNation
Integration
User Name
Remember Me?
Password
Rules
Register
Community
Today's Posts
Search
Community Links
Members List
Search Forums
Show Threads
Show Posts
Advanced Search
Go to Page...
Thread
:
What are you watching? Other Toku Series Edition
View Single Post
02-29-2020, 09:45 PM
#
778
Fish Sandwich
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
Posts: 3,833
Shoutarou Ishinomori was a pretty cool guy. I don't know how much elaboration anyone needs on that. He's probably one of the single most creative people...
ever
? Most people would consider themselves lucky to create a single big hit like Kamen Rider or Super Sentai, but all throughout his career, Ishinomori was absolutely
pumping out
memorable and unique show and comic concepts left and right. The dude still holds a Guiness World Record for most comics published by one author. And ever since I found out about him through getting into Kamen Rider, I've always been a huge admirer of his work. Not that I've actually read or watched that much of it. Still, even just seeing these characters from a distance, they leave an immediate and huge impression. There's always been one show from him in particular that
really
caught my eye. It's right up there with Gridman in terms of shows I would've watched
way
sooner if they had subs available. And that show is none other than...
Akumaizer 3! Aw yeah, now we're talking! Strap yourselves in, I've got a lot to say about this one. The personal hype I had for this show is unreal. You see, one of the things that most resonates with me about Ishinomori's heroes is how much he loves to play with themes of the duality of man, free will, or even what it means to be human to begin with. It's a common thread between a ton of his characters, and the thing that sold me on Kamen Rider, more than any cool designs or what have you, was hearing that original, perfect origin story of a man turned into a monster, who chooses to fight for justice. There's something so striking about that concept to me that I don't think I can adequately describe. But I always love seeing things like that. If you want to know why I like shows like Kamen Rider Faiz or Ultraman Geed so much, I can't tell you much more. It's inspiring.
Why this is so relevant to Akumaizer 3, and why it's always secretly been my favorite series idea from Ishinomori (yes, even above Kamen Rider), is that it always sounded like the most direct, "no bulls***" version of that. The titular trio are monsters who become heroes, but unlike Takeshi Hongou, they can't just transform back to regular humans and go about their day when they please. In fact, they never
were
regular humans. So right out of the gate, it's that equality between the heroes and the villains that got my attention. That the only thing that differentiates them truly is the choices they make.
But, you know, it's also just a show from 1975, so it not like it explores any of this stuff in-depth, right? Well, yes and no. Like a lot of toku shows in the freewheeling, pioneer days of the 70's, Akumaizer 3 isn't afraid to constantly retool itself bit by bit as it goes along, chasing whatever popular trends it wants, or dealing with unexpected production issues that don't change the fact they need that next episode ready to air
now
. It's doesn't only have one identity.
At the outset, Akumaizer 3 is a fairly serious show, that surprised me with how character-driven it was. Despite my hype, I was more than prepared to cut it some slack when it comes to character development on account of being an older series, but it digs fairly deep into the cast right away. The first episode alone, I'd call a masterpiece, even. It packs into a tight 24 minutes the basics of the setting, the personalities of the characters, and the story of how the team is formed in the first place. It also has some great atmosphere in places, such as Zabitan's initial nighttime entrance. Oh, and I'll say right now: forgive me if I use any romanizations or translations for names and terminology that differ from somewhere else. Obscure show with no subs = not a lot of consensus, unfortunately.
The initial batch of episodes after the premiere is great in its own right. Again, a lot of hero shows from this era would be perfectly happy to immediately settle into a routine of the protagonists stopping whatever terrorist plot
du jour
the bad guys cooked up that week, with nothing beyond that central thread, and maybe a kid being picked on by bullies somewhere, if you're lucky, to create tension. Akumaizer 3 knows how to mix things up, though. Actually, I think they only pump the bullied kid well like two times in the entire 38 episodes. The rest of the time, you get a diverse array of plots with much more interesting hooks. What was Zabitan's mom like? Why is Gabura going soft on the monster? How much do the others trust Ibiru? Will a confrontation between one of the heroes and a monster they once called a friend end in tragedy, or redemption? Those are some great driving questions for an episode, and that last one in particular, one of the Akumaizers encountering someone they knew back from before the betrayed the Akuma Clan, is the kind of meaty drama you can only get precisely because of the series' great premise. They use it more than a few times, and it never gets old, because there are so many different kinds of characters that can be slotted into that role. Not every one of those plots turns out the same way, and as such, you can genuinely be on the edge of your seat wondering where things will end up.
The other thing majorly in Akumaizer 3's favor is right there in the title. The three main heroes have
fantastic
chemistry. They have exceedingly well-defined roles and personalities, and any scene with any combination of them is a joy because of that. It's three times the heroes, yet like thirty times the fun. How about we run through them real quick, huh?
Zabitan is the ultimate hero. A chivalrous knight whose unwavering dedication to justice is so great, he'd stop at nothing to protect the innocent, no matter the cost to himself. He oozes charisma, and as such it's no wonder he pulls the group together as its leader. Zabtian has impeccable manners, irreproachable courage, always sticks by his friends,
and
has great posture. That last one might seem like a minor point, but trust me, the guy's body language alone tells you everything you need to know.
Ibiru is a stern and principled warrior who hates nothing more than compromising his values. While he can be a bit of a buzzkill at times, he's also got an adventurous spirit and a soft spot for kids. He's also the only one of the three packing heat, and boy does he know how to use that machine gun. He doesn't scream heroism the way Zabitan does, but when push comes to shove, there's nobody you'd rather have watching your back.
Gabura is a both a self-admitted dolt, and a self-proclaimed friend to all children. He's the most good-natured of the trio, and easy to get along with, but he can be slow on the uptake. Beware of getting him angry though. His brutish raw power is a force to be reckoned with, so don't go messing with the people he cares about, which, as you can guess from the whole "friend to all children" thing, is a lot of people, unfortunately for the bad guys.
They're a lovable bunch, and the show works wonders at humanizing them, both through strong vocal performances, and the very neat application of comic-like visual cues. Ibiru and Zabitan both have faces that "emote", usually to communicate aggression in the fight scenes. This is straightforward enough for Ibiru, but it's quite impressive that something as abstract as the "eyebrows" on Zabitan's visor gets across what they're going for so clearly. All three heroes are also shown shedding tears at various points, further selling them as believable "people". This is the kind of stuff I watch tokusatsu for.
Of course, no great hero is complete without a great sidekick... but Akumaizer 3 has to settle for Ippei Shima. A reporter for the Touto Times who strikes up a friendship with Zabitan, Ippei
wants
to fancy himself as an ace journalist and stalwart companion, but he also knows he can't compete with guys as cool as Zabitan. He's a subpar sidekick, and a delightful character. Ippei is the show's main human character, and the way it derives humor from him not
quite
having that leading man potential makes for a great contrast to the real heroes. Instead of being an obnoxious bumbler, he has just barely enough courage and skill to occasionally hold his own against squads of mooks for a little bit, fumbling all the while. It's not that he has nothing to contribute, it's that what he can contribute is so minor, nobody would ever take notice. Rounding out the main recurring humans are Ippei's little kid brother Mitsuhiko, who has his own adorable shtick of constantly asking "Why?" in an endless loop the way actual inquisitive children do. This is a huge source of annoyance for the Touto Times' editor-in-chief, the stereotypical high-strung boss who is also willfully ignorant of the existence of the Akuma Clan. The obvious irony of him then running a newspaper naturally makes for good comedy.
There's also one more character, introduced around the second third of the series, who tends to hang around the Touto Times. He's symbolic of a shift in style the series starts to undergo. Let's talk about Kenji Nagumo. Kenji is the new reporter on the block. He's everything Ippei isn't. He's stylish. He's handsome. He's intelligent. He's popular with the ladies. He always keeps his cool.
Kenji is also Zabitan.
Yes, in spite of the central premise of the show, Zabitan has magic powers that, among other things, allow him to take on a human disguise for any reason at all, or even no reason. As soon as he's introduced, Kenji becomes a staple of the show for the remainder of its run, and I'm surprised how okay I ended up being with that. It feels blatantly like a cynical move made largely because
every
toku hero
had
to be doing some transforming if they wanted to fit in. The thing is, from Kenji's introduction on, the show also gets way more
fun
. Zabitan's magic powers introduce a fun trickster element to his character. He'll make his entrance into episodes trolling the villains while being invisible. He'll drive Ippei a little crazy with how him and Kenji never seem to be in the same place at the same time. It's a change that, while it perhaps waters down what makes Akumaizer 3 a unique series, nonetheless opens up a lot of windows for things that can happen in a given episode. Kenji's primary purpose is allow Zabitan to be at the Touto Times, giving him new material to work with, and keeping him in the loop about the latest monster attacks, giving episodes another option to create plot momentum beyond simply having the Akumaizers stumble across something while patrolling on their bikes.
As such, while the episodes following this change start to back away from the well done, character-focused drama, all these new elements combine with the lighter tone to create a show that's a lot less formulaic. Plot beats that used to be once an episode occurrences are no longer relied upon. An easy example of this is the Go-Busters style weak points each of the Akumaizers possess. Gabura needs lots of water to function, and starts leaking if you poke a hole in his body, Ibiru freezes whenever he sees his own reflection, and Zabitan, in another really cool effect, is caused great physical pain whenever a bad guy shows him the crest of the Akuma Clan. This is because he's been programmed with Akuma circuits that are meant to prevent him from even thinking about doing something good. Since Zabitan is unquestionably a good guy, this means whenever the villain of the week pulls this trick, he starts having spasms while his
skull
cracks open.
Now, thematically, the idea that the villains try to punish the hero for thoughtcrime, and violently coerce him into being "normal", that's wonderful. Perfectly fitting for the show its in. However, there's no denying how repetitive the implementation is. A monster pulls out a crest just before the heroes would gain the upper hand, and then somebody smashes it so Zabitan can go back to gaining the upper hand. It's a routine, and so is a lot of what happens in the early episodes. Someone who especially benefits from the less strict routine is Darunia, another member of the Akuma Clan, nominally associated with the bad guys at first, who has a huge crush on Zabitan (who's way too stoic and chaste to reciprocate, naturally), and as such regularly pops in to be used as a deus ex machina, using the Darunia Beam she can fire from her eyes to get one or more of the Akumaizers out of some hairy spot or another. Again, it's a routine, but right around the time Kenji shows up, she officially joins the Akumaizers, and mostly loses the ability to even use her beams at all. It gives her a lot more to do in a given episode, and forces the writers to stop using her as a plot device.
The show doesn't get worse, it gets
weird
. By the last third or so, the Akumaizers still spend plenty of time looking like this, heroic and awesome as ever:
It's just that instead of spending their time getting shot at by cops and crying about their inability to fit in, they just start totally owning how weird they are, messing about with their magical powers, winning the hearts of children, and generally spending a lot of time looking more like
this
:
Oh, yeah, and Gabura starts turning into an ostrich. It's a whole thing.
Another way Akumaizer 3 always keep things fresh is with the monsters of the week. The Akuma Clan have a very loose command structure. The usual commander guy for the show, Mezalord, is only occasionally directly dictating the actions of whatever weirdo is taking the spotlight that episode. Further fitting the show's themes, there's a strong sense of independence to the monsters. They're all technically working towards the usual goal of conquering Earth, but everyone has their own motivation, and some of them don't care about the big picture in the slightest. They might even simply be a misguided troublemaker, or a perfectly decent person roped into doing evil things against their will. Let's take a quick look at three of my favorites to get an idea of how great these guys are.
First up is my boy Hangyoler, who honestly isn't particularly remarkable. Think of him as the control sample, I guess. Just a no-nonsense evil fish guy with a cool design, a harpoon gun, and a plan to replace everyone's tap water with poison gas. This might all sound pretty scary, but you'll have a hard time thinking of him as threatening after seeing how he fares in combat. Fleeing at the drop of a hat, and resorting to the shameful "pretend to surrender" ploy aren't moves that win you many cool points.
Next is Kingler, a monster who possesses, and I quote the episode preview here, "the brains of 99 scientists, and the muscles of 99 athletes". That's so amazing I don't know why I'm bothering trying to sell you on this show in such detail when I could've cut to the chase and told you this guy was in it. Now, you'd think a monster with a premise like that is overarching villain material easy, right? The thing is, Kingler was actually
supposed
to have the brains and muscles of
100
people each, but because he's, by his own admission, impatient, he runs out to beat the Akumaziers early and gets his crap kicked in by the end of the episode. A darn shame, that. I guess none of those 99 brains knew much about self-control.
Rounding out the trio is the monster quite possibly tied for most amazing concept in the show, Dracuda. You can probably guess from the name that his shtick is being a classic vampire. He's a gentleman at heart, who despises violence and murder, and would be quite pleased if you'd kindly leave him in
peace
, so he can drink the blood of children, like a
civilized
person.
Don't worry! Right after this screenshot, he remembers it's rude not to use a straw instead!
Alright, I think I've rambled enough for a while. I don't have much a grand concluding statement for this one. Akumaizer 3 is just an all around cool show that deserves way more attention than it gets, and I hope I've done my part to rectify that. It was an
extremely
fun experience, and while, to my knowledge, it still isn't subtitled in full, I believe KIT Subs
did
do the first ten or so episodes at some point. You won't get to see Kingler, but if I've made you the least bit curious, I don't think you'll regret giving at least that first episode a shot.
__________________
誰かの笑顔のためだろ?
Fish Sandwich
View Public Profile
Send a private message to Fish Sandwich
Find More Posts by Fish Sandwich
TokuNation News & Rumors
Alternative Cut of "Day Of The Dumpster" Released
Shodo SUPER Kyoryuger Teaser
Figuarts/Seihou GRIDMAN
SH Figuarts BoonBoomger Red
Hasbro Licenses Power Rangers Toys to Playmates Toys
More New Posts
What are you watching? (Kamen Rider Edition)
S.H. Figuarts (Toku Related) Thread
Kamen Rider Gotchard Episode 34- "Only One! All Roads Lead To Gorgeousness!"
Kamen Rider Gotchard Episode 33- "Legend Rider? 100 Years Too Early!" Discussion
How is Everyone Today- New
DreamSword Watches Unfamiliar Toku: Part 1 - GARO
Super Sentai minipla appreciation thread!
Funny Toku Images thread
DreamSword Rereads the Power Rangers Comics
Recent Purchases: April 2024
Current Poll
How Would You Rate This Episode?
Excellent!
Good
Average
OK
Poor...
»
View Poll Results
»
Comment On This Poll
»
This Poll Has 0 Replies
Search Forums
»
Advanced Search
All times are GMT -5. The time now is
12:32 PM
.
Powered by vBulletin®
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Powered by
vBadvanced
CMPS