|
|||||||
 |
TokuNation
(https://www.tokunation.com/forums/index.php)
- Tokusatsu Show Discussion
(https://www.tokunation.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=20)
- - Tokusatsu "Best ofs" 2018: Those future kings everyone's talking about edition
(https://www.tokunation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=95004)
Tokusatsu "Best ofs" 2018: Those future kings everyone's talking about edition
Hey, it's that thing again: time for the annual look back on the previous year and the shows, characters, and moments that stood out to you. So, as I do every year, I've abused my OCD-level obsession with lists and rankings to compile far more categories than is really needed to look back on.
As always, for releases of this year I'm counting any series that aired any episodes during 2017, including: Kyuranger Lupinranger vs. Patranger Whatever the hell Power Rangers is doing right now Kamen Rider Build Kamen Rider Zi-O Jinga Ultraman R/B And again, for movies I'm counting anything that came out this year as well as anything that came out last year but wasn't available as a dvd/fansub until this year. If you want to include stuff that hasn't been available for viewing outside of Japan yet but you're pretty sure is going to be really, really awesome, go ahead. Best New Show of 2018 Best New-to-You Show of 2018 Best Rewatch of 2018 Best Movie of 2018 Best Male Lead Character Best Female Lead Character Best Male Supporting Character Best Female Supporting Character Best Villain Best Returning Past Character Best Actor Best Actress Toku Crush of 2018 Best Writer Best Director Best Suit Design Best Weapon/Vehicle/Mecha Best Fight Scene Best Dramatic Scene Best Comedic Scene Biggest "WTF did I just watch?" Moment Best Song Best Piece of Merchandise Biggest Surprise of 2018 And, because some things in 2018 were the Patrangers share of screen time in their own show: Biggest Disappointment of 2018: The Onari Memorial Award for Single Worst Thing in 2018 Tokusatsu: |
Alright, I've been looking forward to this!
Before I unveil my winners, I got to start with saying that if SSSS. Gridman would qualify it would win a lot of these awards. A lot. It was definitely my highlight of the year. So it gets the "You're technically not allowed but kinda Toku and you rock"-award. It’s simply fantastic. Now let's get into the actual Toku stuff: Best New Show of 2018 Not that great of a year for new Toku I'm afraid. Build ended which sucked, Zi-O isn’t all that good, LuPat is okay at best, R/B is fun but can’t really follow up Geed and Orb. Second seasons don’t count, right? Otherwise I’d say Thunderbolt Fantasy takes it. But since it has to be a new show, I'm going with Ultraman R/B. The only thing wrong with is that it isn’t as serious and story-driven as Geed and Orb were before it. Its still lots of fun to watch though. Best New-to-You Show of 2018 Kamen Rider Kiva! I had to finally check it out once rumors of the Figuart release started circulating again (and were serious enough for me to care) so I gave it a go and was very surprised. An all-around fun experience, two different time sets with two casts of characters, both enjoyable as hell, cool suits and action and just a world with people in it that made me care. In my opinion it doesn’t deserve its bad rep, I liked it a lot! Best Rewatch of 2018 Thunderbolt Fantasy. I rewatched the first season to get me into the spirit for the second season which started this year and I loved watching it a second time. It’s such a weird show for me, I was very afraid of puppets as a kid but now that I'm grown up I'm just baffled by the amount of work and passion necessary to give them life. The only puppets I liked as a kid were marionettes and somehow Thunderbolt Fantasy gives me the feeling of watching these back, only much more awesome. I dig the characters, especially Chinese asshole Gandalf aka the Enigmatic Gale and our main character: Shāng Bù HuÃ*. All of it was great but this guy is the best, the second-to last episode of the first season were it is revealed what the deal with his dull sword was is just the best, I keep rewatching that scene every now and then just because. I could go on about how great this show is, but instead I want to urge those who do not know it to check it out. It's on Crunchyroll, for free, give it a try. Best Movie of 2018 Without having watched it, I vote for Heisei Generations Forever. I can’t wait to watch that movie. Best Male Lead Character Build still counts, so it's either Sento Kiryu or Ryuga Banjo. The first if you don't count Banjo as a lead character and the second if you do ;) Best Female Lead Character I'm not much a fan of Misora honestly, and neither Sentai nor Ultraman have strong female leads this year. Maybe Umika from LuPat? Nah, I'm going with Tsukuyomi from Zi-O. One of the few categories where Zi-O wins but I just like Tsukuyomi a lot, she's great. Best Male Supporting Character Ushio Minato from Ultraman R/B. I just like that guy; he's so nice and fun. A relatable father figure made extremely likable due to his quirks and there are some strong episodes for his character which is not all that common for father-types in Toku. Best Female Supporting Character Saki Mitsurugi from R/B. She's acting all evil now but we all know she really isn't. I think she's adorable, just the whole way she acts and how Asahi interacts with her, those scenes are always great. She did "kill" Makoto Aizen who was extremely entertaining but she made up for it very quickly IMO. Best Villain Build was this year, so Evolto. Such a great, fantastic bad guy. Active and scheming from the very beginning, continuously one-upping his assholery and just all around entertaining. Probably among the best villains Rider ever had. Makoto Aizen get's an honorable mention though :) Best Returning Past Character It has to be Kuroto Dan for me. Man this guy was so awesome in Zi-O. So glad they got him back and directly involved him in a plotline. Best Actor Kamen Rider Build was full of amazing actors, and I do like some of the LuPat actors a lot, R/B isn’t too shabby either... but I think I'll choose Atsuhiro Inukai as Sento Kiryu. He was really, really good at what he did. Best Actress Shieri Ohata as Tsukuyomi from Zi-O. She does a great job, mostly because if you watch the Complementation Project, you do get the idea that she's a rather lighthearted and fun person in real life so her hard-boiled and mentally scarred Tsukuyomi act is the exact opposite, but she pulls it off so well. Her performance has lots of character and I like that. Toku Crush of 2018 I hate this category, but I'll choose one... Tsukuyomi is great but I think I like Tsu-chan aka Saki Mitsurugi better. Best Writer I rarely know these by names, so whoever was in charge of Build. Best Director Same as above. Best Suit Design Also Build. LuPat isn’t doing it for me really, I do like the R/B-designs even though I hear lots of people don't, Zi-O isn't completely awful but yeah - Build rules supreme. So many gorgeous suits in that show. Best Weapon/Vehicle/Mecha The Magma & Blizzard Knuckles from Build. We don’t get knuckledusters all too often and they are attached to my favorite forms. If it's too much Build in a row now I'll choose the Ruebe Halo from Ultraman R/B, it's a cool weapon. Best Fight Scene As much as it pains me to say it - nothing comes to my mind really. Gridman just blew me away and nothing else compares. I guess Grease's final fight from Build just because? I can’t decide, there's probably lots of awesome stuff I'm passing on right now by not remembering it but it's true. Best Dramatic Scene The scene from Build after what's left of our heroes gathers on top of Pandoras tower to mourn their lost friends. That was just too sad. Best Comedic Scene A lot of stuff that's going on in Zi-O's Complementation Project is hilarious as hell but I don't think that counts. The one that I can remember right now is from LuPat where that Gangler had the power to make the characters worry about the stupidest stuff, and when they think how their friend could die in a restaurant they imagine he eats so much that his belly grows into a balloon and then a bird come is in and makes him explode. It's as stupid as it sounds and I love it. Hey, LuPat won something! Yay! Biggest "WTF did I just watch?" Moment LuPat wins again! Because of the genderbend episode, you know the one. Best Song I do admit that I like "Over Quarzer" a lot more than I thought I would. So that one I guess. Best Piece of Merchandise SHF Ultraman X, I love that thing. A figure I feared would be lost in the transition between Ultra-Act and SHF finally came round and it's glorious. The included, swappable MonsArmor parts take this over the top, it's so good. Biggest Surprise of 2018 SHF Kiva became a thing. That was definitely my highlight this year as far as announcements go. Related to actual media I think it's both Zi-O and Heisei Generations Forever with their arsenal of returning actors. Biggest Disappointment of 2018 I think it's Zi-O sadly. I don’t feel like being invested in Sentai enough to care if it's good or not, I just watch LuPat and enjoy it enough to do that again next week, but Zi-O is just disappointing to me. I like watching it, but the premise is boring and the returning actors feel wasted really. Too many of them don't even get the chance to transform on screen and it sucks. The Onari Memorial Award for Single Worst Thing in 2018 Tokusatsu Huh. Nothing that irritated me enough to deserve the Onari Award comes to mind. While it isn’t the best year for Toku it’s far from the worst too. I guess my biggest gripe is that so many cool concepts of R/B get pushed into the movie instead of happening in the show. It does have a good deal of filler they could’ve cut to further implement story-driven events. But that's not really an Onari-worthy thing either... wait... WAIT! I got it! Of course! My personal single worst thing in Tokusatsu 2018 was that the Kamen Rider Ghost-themed episodes of Zi-O were way better than they deserved to be. To further taunt me they were among what I envision a perfect tribute episode to be. It had everything, character references, returning actors, transforming into their Rider-self (plus secondary Rider!) a genuinely cool story behind it and flippin' Decade with a new belt was in it as well. And I hate that. This ghostly ghouly shit nugget of a Rider show doesn’t deserve this. And no, I will not watch it again Takeru, get lost! Here's your Onari Trophy, give it to the man himself for safekeeping! |
Oh yeahhh, let's do this! :cool:
Best New Show of 2018 (The correct answer is Kamen Rider Build, but I want to play hard mode and choose something that is completely new to 2018) If Thunderbolt Fantasy Season 2 counts, then that. It's got every bit of heart and energy as its predecessor and has been doing some fantastic things with the characters. It's also hilarious to see Gen Urobuchi rolling out his roleplay OC as the main villain too :lol learning about that and the fact it's not the first time he's done it either has made this series for me. If not, then Jinga I guess. That's been a pretty fun show and Masahiro Inoue is always a joy. Best New-to-You Show of 2018 I don't think I watched much older stuff this year, so I don't have a lot to choose from. Return of Ultraman I guess? It's nowhere near as good as original Ultraman or Seven, but it develops into something pretty great by the end. Only other older show of note I watched this year was Gridman. That was pretty good too, but doesn't really have much in the way of stakes. The anime fixed pretty much every complaint I have with the toku which is pretty incredible. Best Rewatch of 2018 Thunderbolt Fantasy probably. Never get bored with that show. Best Movie of 2018 Torn between either the Ultraman Geed movie or Kyuranger vs Space Squad. The Geed movie is a fantastic crossover that utilises the strengths of both casts while also building a backstory for the franchise's newest recurring kaiju, while Space Squad 2 proved that these films are undoubtedly the best thing Toei have going for them when it comes to tokusatsu right now. Best Male Lead Character Keiichiro in Lupinranger vs Patranger (aka the only thing I really like about the show). When he isn't being played as a complete joke he's a fantastic character. Best Female Lead Character Still Rian from Garo. She had some great moments in Kami No Kiba. Best Male Supporting Character Can't really think of anyone standout here, so I might just have to go with Ushio Minato from Ultraman R/B. Best Female Supporting Character As much as I'm underwhelmed by Ultraman R/B, I am enjoying Asahi I must admit. Can't wait to see her finally become an Ultra in the movie. Wait, does Darling count? Because she is absolutely the best. Best Villain There is no correct answer other than Evolto here. Though special mention to Makoto Aizen for making Ultraman R/B interesting to me. Best Returning Past Character Tsukasa Kadoya. Always an absolute pleasure and his arrival marked a significant improvement in Zi-O. Best Actor Atsuhiro Inukai hands down. Dude played four different versions of his character over the course of the show and rocked all of them. Best Actress Kaho Takada I guess? Misora wasn't a standout character throughout Build but I though she was particularly good during and after Grease's death. Toku Crush of 2018 Was there a GARO film this year? Yep. Was Rian in it? Yep. Question answered. Best Writer Shogo Muto. Build has been wonderful. Best Director Kazuya Kamihoriuchi. He did all the best episodes of Build so having him on Ryusoulger should be quite interesting. Best Suit Design Kamen Rider Build, but only once it got out of the rut of Best Matches. Best Weapon/Vehicle/Mecha LÃ*ng Yá in Thunderbolt Fantasy season 2. What a bro. Best Fight Scene Grease Blizzard's fight. Best Dramatic Scene All of Kamen Rider Build episode 21. Aka one of the best episodes of tokusatsu ever. Best Comedic Scene Anything involving Gentoku once he joined the heroes. Biggest "WTF did I just watch?" Moment See above. Best Song Over Quartzer I guess. Not much competition this year. Best Piece of Merchandise S.H. Figuarts Ultraman X. I've bought (nearly) every SHF Ultraman so far and this is the first one that hit every note for me. I really hope an additional accessory pack with more armours gets released one day. Biggest Surprise of 2018 The spiritual successor of net movies returning as the Zi-O Complementation Project. And being better than the actual show. Biggest Disappointment of 2018: Hmm a bit of everything to be perfectly honest. It's been a tough year for me so I might just be overly cynical but all of the "new to 2018" shows (aside from Jinga) haven't really grabbed me. LuPat sucks, Zi-O has been all over the place and Ultraman R/B is....good but doesn't measure up to X, Orb or Geed. Hoping next year's offerings will be better. The Onari Memorial Award for Single Worst Thing in 2018 Tokusatsu: Ultra shows disappearing off Crunchyroll (and R/B not getting officially subbed period) and TsuPro stuff going to TOKU instead. Until TOKU stream internationally I have no love or time for them whatsoever. And their Gridman subs suck either way. |
Best New Show of 2018
I mean, SSSS Gridman is easily the best, and I've not even finished yet, but if we're doing purely live-action stuff... it's gotta go to Zi-O. Having only made it four episodes into R/B, Kamen Rider grabs me with the cameos and fun references, and is starting to kick into gear in its own right. Just like Ex-Aid all over again. Best New-to-You Show of 2018 I barely have time for new stuff, let alone old stuff, but I watched one episode of Kamen Rider X, and it was some good stuff. Episode 2 coming soon, believe me. Honorable mention to Kamen Rider SD for being a hilarious anime short, but as a single episode short doesn't really qualify here, oh well~ Best Rewatch of 2018 See note above. Best Movie of 2018 Heisei Generations Final. Space Squad 2 and the Another Endings were both contenders, but this one takes the cake. From being a vital piece of my boy Banjou's character arc, to the return of Ankh, with the Build and Ex-Aid casts both reminding me why I loved them in the first place. Both Heisei Generations movies so far have been good, and Forever had better keep that going. Best Male Lead Character Sento Kiryu, no contest. Considering our other real options are Lucky (no), Kairi (god no), Keichirou (a close-ish second), Sougo (nah) and this guy, he wins easy, which is unfair, because Sento is a brilliant protagonist. Egotistical but flawed, loving but teasing, warrior but devoted to peace, he's a big part of what makes Build so great. Best Female Lead Character Tsukasa for being competent and that one episode where she correctly figured out the Lupins identities. A small shout-out to Poppy, because she *was* the star of Another Ending Part II. Best Male Supporting Character Banjou was basically our hero for those two episodes of , so he gets the vote. I love my trash son turned selfless hero, and he's one of my favourite rider characters period, for embodying precisely what a Rider should be. *For a more minor character, given Banjou's basically semi-lead, I'd go with Xiou Longbao / RyuCommander. Absolute unit of a commander. Best Female Supporting Character Sawa Tokigawa, from Build again. While she never quite contributes much to the plot like Misora and her bangle, I love her character and how she does integrate into the Buid Team, and also how much comedy they can get out of her planting trackers onto Sento and Gentoku. Best Villain Brad Stark/EVOLTO!! Always with a back-up plan, always playing every side, only beaten by a lot of sacrifice, everyone on his one side betraying him, and Sento refusing to give up, and yet he's still a charismatic, fun to watch character. Best Returning Past Character I can't believe I'm saying this, but Tenkuuji Takeru. He was a welcome surprise in the Heisei Generations Final movie, and his role in the recent Zi-O plot was really well done. Plus, he just seems like a really nice guy, and seperate to the mess that is Kamen Rider Ghost: The Show, Takeru is adorable. *Honourable mentions to Kuroto Dan, who would be here if Another Ending wasn't this year, preventing me from putting him here, and Ryoutaro Nogami. Purely because Den-O. Best Actor Atsuhiro Inukai. From the boastful but kind Sento Kiryu, to the arrogant but troubed Takumi Katsuragi, to EVOLTO!!!, to whatever the hell Taro Sato is, the man can pull it off. See all of his acting in the Hazard Trigger arc, basically. Best Actress *Big Shrug* None of the female actresses get to do all that much to show off how well they can act, annoyingly. Kaho Takada wins for pure range and abiity to sell that range. Toku Crush of 2018 *Big Shrug* Norio Wakamoto's Voice? Some of those Driver noises are pretty good. Best Writer Shogo Muto. When the worst the writing in Build ever got was *still good, but a little slow*, that's a pretty damn good job for a whole year's worth of work. Best Director Basically anyone who worked on Build. Special props to whoever did Rogue's death scene. Best Suit Design Most of the Build suits could make this list, but the winner is Great Cross-Z. Yea, I know it's just Basic Cross-Z but with a fancy new colour scheme, but it's a very swishy new colour scheme. Special mention to Genm Maximum Gamer, for proving Genm is the greatest meme ever and Toei will profit off whatever it can. Best Weapon/Vehicle/Mecha That little Drill Trigger Machine. Reminds me of The Mole from Thunderbirds. Other than that, all the LuPat Mecha sucks, and none of the Ninja Steel or Build stuff shouts to me. Best Fight Scene Honestly, it's a two way tie between the final fights of Grease and Rogue. I gues Grease's did make me cry, but I ultimately prefer Rogue's. Not that it matters, both are amazing. Lesser kudos to the Gaim Armor fight scene in Zi-O, because of both "Hey cool Gaim" and also the cool stuff they did with the two Sougo's. Nowhere near as good or emotionally impacting as either above, but Zi-O's gotta win something. Best Dramatic Scene Kazumin and Sento at Aoba's grave, episode 21. Enough said really. *Non-Build award for the end of Heisei Generations, feat Ankh and Eiji, assuming that counts as OOO and not Build.* Best Comedic Scene Kazumin going for """Misora's""" towel at the Build Summer party. Only for it to be ya boi Gentoku's all along. Biggest "WTF did I just watch?" Moment I was going to give this to the scene where Jim and Hilltop cosplay, but then I read upwards, was reminded of the Genderbend LuPat episode, and so the winner is that. Best Song The Heisei Generations Forever mix because Just Live More is in it. I mean, it's actually the full version of Over Quartzer, but I do like the top one. Best Piece of Merchandise All of SO-DO. I really didn't need dragging down a RabbitTank Hole this hard. From stuff I don't own, it looks to be SS Amazon. Biggest Surprise of 2018 How much Toei are wiling to screw the Patrangers out of screentime? Ignoring that, all the returning actors for Zi-O. I never thought I'd see characters like Kouta, Nitoh, or Eiji again, and even if their roles are small, it's still nice to see. See also - Dimensions in Danger, because Power Rangers needs to go somewhere. Biggest Disappointment of 2018 LuPat, hands down. It pains me to say it, but I think it's really wasted its potential, and 45 episodes in, I still find little about it to like. Is it the worst Sentai I've ever seen? Not quite, but it's a close second right now, and if this ending misses, it'll join Ninninger in the "Pit of stuff I hate". The Onari Memorial Award for Single Worst Thing in 2018 Tokusatsu Noel. I hate his smugness, I hate how he's given so much importance by the plot, and I can't stand how his design is much better than it has any right to be. |
I guess I'll only comment on the categories I actually know how to answer without needing to struggle for it.
Best New Show of 2018 Zi-O. Not even a contest. And that's not because "this year has been lackluster", either. I legit think Zi-O is a great time. The main trio of characters a enjoyable to watch and give off more of a sibling vibe than a partner vibe which I do enjoy. The tributes so far have been great times and I love the concept of Zi-O's influence changing timelines. Obviously it won't stay that way, but seeing how somethings change has been really interesting. Yeah, the series isn't as high-stakes or super-serious as Build before it, and Build itself had large shoes to fill given how fantastic it was, but its lighter tones are part of its charm and it's the only new show I'm watching this year that I actively look forward to every week. Will also add SSSS.Gridman to this cause good lord what a perfect piece of tokusatsu love. Best New-to-You Show of 2018 Ultraman Geed. Never watched Ultraman before this, but I enjoyed what I watched a lot. Some of it wasn't as...competent as stuff like Sentai or KR in terms of acting from some characters, but the story and main cast have been great and I love Geed's design a lot. I really need to track down the Figuarts for a good price at some point. Best Villain Evolt. Continues the tradition of extremely great "dad" villains. While he technically wasn't Misora's dad, it still sorta counts. Cunning, unpredictable, fun as hell to watch and listen to and had a great power balance between himself and the Build riders. It wasn't a curb stomp leading to a reverse-curb stomp, but both sides one-upping each other bit by bit until one side is left standing. True to his name, a good villain is one who evolves with the hero. Best Returning Past Character Tsukasa Kayoda. Love him or hate him, his role as a foil to Zi-O brought in by the Time-Jackers was a fantastic move. He's still a charismatic asshole through and through, and seeing him in possession of the Neo Heisei Rider powers makes me so excited to see Decade return. Best Suit Design I'll give that to LupinPato. Both teams' suits are fantastically designed. Simple. Sleek. And they also portray the theme blatantly and perfectly. Love the top hat-shaped Lupinranger visors and their capes just as much as I love the cop design for the Patrenger's helmets and the subtle tie shape on their chests. They're simply another set of well-made suits. If monsters count, I'll add the Another Riders. Hands down some of the best monster suit designs in a while. Great reimaginings. Best Weapon/Vehicle/Mecha The Heisaber. It's so dumb and loud and I love it. The "HEI! SEI! HEI! SEI!" stand-by jingle is so great and the fact that it can be used to replicate certain heisei rider attacks is icing on the cake. Best Fight Scene Build had some damn good fights, but I think I personally gotta give it to the three-way Ghost fight from Zi-O. Geiz in the Ghost Armor, Decade in Ghost form and Another Ghost all fighting one-another as they summon their luminaries to also fight alongside them. The visual was so good that I can't help but put it on a pedestal. Best Dramatic Scene Kazumin's death. It was such an utter gut-punch. Musicless passing. Extremely high stakes. Raw emotional responses and the final shots of Evolt strolling up to the remaining members of Team Build while Sento screams his name, ready to put him down for good. Absolute chills -- Absolute tears. One of the strongest death scenes in Kamen Rider. Best Comedic Scene Any of the Zi-O .5 episodes. I've seen people talk negatively about them and honestly I don't think they appreciate how deep the humor in these script readings are. The jabs at the production process and Toei, as well as certain story beats, never fails to make me bust out laughing. Plus it's just fun to watch the cast enjoy themselves. Biggest "WTF did I just watch?" Moment Thunderbolt Fantasy S2's first dragon fight scene. Over-the-top and insanely enjoyable. Biggest Surprise of 2018 Tsukasa's role in Zi-O. Figured he'd get a more high-stakes tribute but didn't expect him to play an extended role in the series. It's exactly what I wanted, but didn't think I'd actually get it. Biggest Disappointment of 2018: Lupinranger vs. Patrenger. It sucks, cause I love the concept. But it's simply an idea that just didn't work out the way people hoped. The Lupin side is plenty interesting and can hold a series on their own easily. But the Pato side of things has always been joke-y and childish to the point of most of the show's worst episodes being centered around them (The gender-swap episode, the sudden love story/dream episode, the dance studio episode, etc.) If handled better, both teams could have gotten their just dues, but it's obvious that even the staff prefer Lupinranger. It's sad, but it's what it is. The Onari Memorial Award for Single Worst Thing in 2018 Tokusatsu: The aforementioned love story episode of LupinPato. Introduce a character out of nowhere, establish that they've had a crush on a main character out of nowhere, and now a majority of the plot of focused on this even though it just appears from the ether with no explanation or set-up...and then ends in what's supposed to be a heart-warming moment that, in reality, leaves the viewer not caring because it just suddenly appeared and then suddenly ended with no substance to it. I still really dislike that episode. |
Best New Show of 2018
Lupinranger VS Patranger. Yeah the toys ain't selling and show has some problems(lack of Patranger love specifically, still does not make sense how Super Patren 1 is not a thing and why it is Super Lupin X and not Super Patran X), but show has kickass fight choreo and loads of trivia for me to dig with the gangler-owned collections so I am pleased. Best New-to-You Show of 2018 None that I could think of. Sadly. Best Rewatch of 2018 Geed. Got bored and re-watched some random episodes and boy does it not disappoint. Best Movie of 2018 Heisei Generations Forever. Did I see it? Not yet but I love what I am hearing so far and it is apparently a good movie and printing money I hear. Best Male Lead Character Keiichiro Asaka aka Patren 1. I love how they made him a hard-boiled badass who occasionally acts a fool thanks to the writers. :lolol But when he taps into his badass cop mode he delivers. :rock: Best Female Lead Character Tsukasa Myojin aka Patren 3. We have not had a badass pink ranger in a while. About time.:rock: Best Male Supporting Character Commander Samuel Hilltop. I just love how calm he is and cares for his subordinates. Doesn't over-do things and plays it cool. Best Female Supporting Character Sawa Tokigawa. She may not be the next Kivala or Mai, but there were moments that her support helped Sento and crew win the day. Best Villain King Kuroto aka Another OOO. No explanation needed. HAIL TO THE KING BABY. Best Returning Past Character Tsukasa Kadoya aka Kamen Rider Decade. Ramped up his ONORE DIKEIDO game with that funky Neo Decade Driver. Best Actor Kouhei Takeda as Kazumin/Grease. His unexpected return to the genre is the first reason, second he shows he still got game playing a polar opposite to Otoya, and third cracked me up almost every time when he goes into otaku mode. Best Actress Ayana Taketatsu as the voice of Goche Ru Medou. I just like the tone she established for Goche. Toku Crush of 2018 Tsukasa Myojin aka Patren 3. Again, badass pink ranger. Best Writer Kaori Kaneko for episodes 43 and 44 of Lupinranger VS Patranger Best Director Kazuya Kamihoriuchi for episodes 46 and 47 of Kamen Rider Build Best Suit Design Kamen Rider Zi-O. IT'S A ROLEX. A FREAKIN' ROLEX. Let that simmer in your brain. We've had oranges, vidja games, heck even a car, but this tops them all for me. The suit gushes swagoo. Best Weapon/Vehicle/Mecha Time Mazine. It's a Delorean that can transform into a robot. Best Fight Scene Grease Blizzard VS Clones Best Dramatic Scene Patrangers VS Narizma Shibonz Best Comedic Scene Any time Kazumin and Hotel Guy Gentoku were acting a fool together. The chemistry between the two is superb. Particularly this scene demonstrates my point. https://i.imgur.com/53X4QKs.png Biggest "WTF did I just watch?" Moment Commander Hilltop as Axel Foley. That was... yeah... really messed with my head... Best Song Kamen Rider Zi-O opening theme Over-Quartzer by Shuta Sueyoshi(AAA) feat. ISSA(DA PUMP) Best Piece of Merchandise CSM V Buckle & Dragvisor Biggest Surprise of 2018 Ryusoulger reveal Biggest Disappointment of 2018 WHY YOU GIVE LUPIN X SIREN STRIKER YOU IDIOTS. The Onari Memorial Award for Single Worst Thing in 2018 Tokusatsu No Odagiri in Heisei Generations Forever. Glad we got Kashu, Suga, Inoue, Nishime, and Sato back but would have loved to see the news saying he will pop in. |
Best New Show of 2018: My answer might be different if I hadn't fallen behind on Jinga (I'll get to it, I promise), but I'm going to have to go with Build. I thought the show got off to kind of a slow start, but it was a consistently fun experience throughout 2018.
Best New-to-You Show of 2018: Boukenger. Haven't actually finished it yet, but it's a really good show that I've been enjoying the heck out of. Best Rewatch of 2018: Kamen Rider Hibiki. My third trip through was every bit as good as the first two. Best Movie of 2018: Heisei Generations Final. Good use of not only Ex-Aid and Build's casts, but a film that made really effective use of the returning characters, too. This film actually did the impossible and made me laugh at an Onari scene. Best Male Lead Character: Sento from Build. That character went to some pretty complex places in the end. Best Female Lead Character: Umika from Lupinranger & Friends. She's faded a bit, but for a good stretch of the show she was arguably the most prominent character and she's been pretty darn delightful. Best Male Supporting Character: Gentoku from Build. That was a character that went to some weird places, but he was lot of fun after his face turn. Best Female Supporting Character: Tsukasa from Lupin v. Pat. I feel like I know more about her plush fetish than I needed to, but she's been the most reliably competent Patranger on those rare occasions when she's allowed to do things. Best Villain: Evolt. I tend to hate villains that seem to always be one step ahead of the heroes at every turn, but Evolt still worked for me. I legitimately bought him as the extreme threat he was meant to be. Best Returning Past Character: As much as I've enjoyed seeing Tsukasa back on Zi-O, I can't give this vote to anyone other than Ankh. I did not expect to ever see that character again, so it was fantastic to have him show up again in last December's movie. Best Actor: Masahiro Inoue. Between Jinga and Decade he's done a good job of putting in three really different performances this year. Best Actress: Kaho Takada. She was hilarious during Build's early days, but she put in a damn tour de force during its ending. That girl can ugly cry with the best of them. Toku Crush of 2018: If Yukari Taki is going to keep showing up in stuff I'm going to keep crushing on her. Best Writer: Build's Shogo Muto Best Director: Heisei Generations Final's Kazuya Kamihoriuchi. Best Suit Design: Kamen Rider Evol, either his Cobra or Dragon forms. I love that suit, it's like somebody took the original ending credits to Garo and made it into a costume. Best Weapon/Vehicle/Mecha: Probably the Heisaber, a weapon so stupid it comes back around again to being pretty awesome. Best Fight Scene: Sento's final showdown with Evolt. I loved how Sento kept downgrading through his forms until ultimately ending up with the base Rabbit/Tank. Best Dramatic Scene: The first time Jinga's dark side shows up. I was uneasy throughout the entire scene and then that moment happened. Definitely caught me off guard. Best Comedic Scene: The first time Gentaro showed up in civilian clothes, looking like some kind of Buddhist Liberace. It was weird, it was random, and it was hilarious. Biggest "WTF did I just watch?" Moment: See above. Best Song: I quite like Lupin/Pat's opening themes. It's really cool the way that they have both teams get competing/complementary themes. Best Piece of Merchandise: SH Figuarts Ibuki. I don't have it, but I'm suitably impressed that it exists. Biggest Surprise of 2018: In general, Zi-O's ability to get back a lot of previous Riders. There are absences, sure, but they've gotten back far more lead actors than they haven't at this point. Specifically, though, I'm really surprised that they got Takeru Satoh back and I can't wait to see that film. Biggest Disappointment of 2018: Ultraman R/B. I've been really enjoying the last few years of Ultraman but this show just did not work for me. I ultimately gave up about five episodes or so in. I didn't like the characters, I didn't like the stories, and the drawn out transformation sequences were intolerable. The Onari Memorial Award for Single Worst Thing in 2018 Tokusatsu: ZeoRangerV made a great point about Crunchyroll losing the Ultra shows and the lack of an official R/B sub. We were doing really well with official translations there for awhile and it sucks to lose them again. That would definitely be the worst thing of the year... if it weren't for Geiz's stupid tactical dickie. Fuck that thing. |
These things are always so much fun. This year I'm going to try and actually pick a winner for every category.
Best New Show of 2018 Lupinranger VS. Patranger for sure. I adore everything about that show. It's absurdly fun and has a genuine energy and spark to it on a level I haven't seen from Sentai since Kyoryuger. Whatever genuine gripes you can have (and indeed, even I have sometimes) are totally eclipsed by all the frenetic action and surprisingly down-to-earth human drama, as far as I'm concerned. It kills me a little seeing how many around here have totally lost whatever love they had for it lately. Best New-to-You Show of 2018 You know, the fun thing about making these lists is that I can't always remember whether or not something actually happened that year or not. :lol Case-in-point, I was ready to say Gridman, but I had the good sense to go and check my posts about it, and it turns out I watched that last December, just barely disqualifying it. So, by default, this award has to go to Kamen Rider Amazon, which I'm pretty sure is literally the only other "backlog" type Toku show I've watched the entire year. I'm definitely enjoying it (although I'm not quite finished yet), but honestly, trying to pick something for this category has just been a depressing reminder of how much I slacked off on watching shows I want to get around to. I was gonna watch Ryukendo back in January and it just hasn't happened yet. :lol Best Rewatch of 2018 Earlier in the year I got around to rewatching Go-Busters in full, something I've been wanting to do... pretty much since I first finished Go-Busters, so you can imagine how much fun that was for me. It's only my favorite Tokusatsu series ever, after all. Best Movie of 2018 Kamen Rider Ex-Aid True Ending. I've watched it twice already and it's probably my favorite Rider summer movie at this point. In the interest of brevity I won't do another review of it here, but needless to say I think it really nailed everything it set out to do pretty much perfectly. It's a stellar coda to Ex-Aid. Best Male Lead Character https://i.imgur.com/JPp16OB.jpg Best Female Lead Character I'm gonna go with Tsukasa from LuPat on this one for her sheer professional competence. She's far and away the most level-headed character on that show, and while that should just make her boring, it somehow makes her that much more interesting. Best Male Supporting Character Hilltop from LuPat. He doesn't get a whole lot of screentime, unfortunately, but he's admirably followed in Ramirez's steps as "extremely likable token foreign guy", a character archetype Sentai should probably be using more often if it's always going to work this well. Best Female Supporting Character Asahi from R/B. She has a very nice presence in that show I was not expecting at first, and despite being a show about two brothers, the family dynamic probably wouldn't work without her. A supporting character in the truest since of the term. Best Villain Orb Dark from R/B. Although he's so pathetic and adorable it almost feels weird calling him a villain. Almost. Best Returning Past Character My man Tsukasa Kadoya showing up in Zi-O to be as great as ever. His gives-no-f***s attitude is the stuff of legend and he's made every one of his four episodes so far count. Best Actor Really this could go to any of the main 4 Riders in Build. It's a tight contest between Atsuhiro Inukai and Kouhei Takeda especially, but, and I hate to do this, because Inukai was amazing, I'm going to give it to Takeda, because while I think I would've loved Sento just as much with the same writing and a worse actor, Takeda's strong performance sold me on Kazumin's many gag scenes, all of which could've easily come off as obnoxious in the hands of someone with less talent and charisma. And that's on top of Grease's more dramatic scenes, which have the kind of acting that makes me sit back and really appreciate all over again how these silly, capitalism-driven kids' shows we're all obsessed with can get a bigger emotional response than so many Hollywood films and the like. Best Actress Speaking of emotional responses, I've never felt the urge to hug a fictional character quite as hard as any time Misora started crying in Build, so Kaho Takada is definitely taking this one home. Toku Crush of 2018 Uhh... hang on... No, wait, I've totally got this... Err... Screw it, I'm going with Sento. He's got the winning formula... for stealing my heart. Holy s*** that was so embarrassing. Why is this a category? :lol Best Writer Shougo Mutou, who gets the endurance award for the same reasons Yuuya Takahashi did for Ex-Aid. I don't think Build turned out to be as consistently solid as that show, but the highs were so extremely high I can't be bothered to care that much. Best Director After watching the Gaim episodes of Zi-O, it's become apparent to me Kazuya Kamihoriuchi is a name to look for. Namely because when I looked for it, it turned out he had already directed a ton of other things (including quite a few episodes of Build this year) I thought had unusually stunning visuals. Best Suit Design Something from Build, definitely. Divorced from context, I might say Genius, but my opinions are inevitably colored by the portrayal in the show, which would make any of the Hazard forms the winner. Despite not being particularly creative, the sheer coolness factor of the all black, pointy evil look just pushes it over the top for me. Best Weapon/Vehicle/Mecha The Magma Knuckle from Build. I have a huge soft spot for transformation devices that double as weapons and a big honkin' knuckleduster belonging to a guy like Ryuuga is so perfect I don't know why they even bothered giving Cross-Z a sword to begin with. Best Fight Scene And this is the point where I realize just how much Build spent 2018 spoiling us with memorable moments. Making me choose one is just cruel, but at the risk of sounding like a broken record, Hazard Form's (full) debut was just amazing. That bit with the ceiling light alone makes it worthwhile. No points for guessing who directed that episode. Best Dramatic Scene Making me choose one is just cruel, but at the risk of sounding... Uh, I mean... look, it's episode of 21 of Build again, alright? If you've got a problem with that, go complain to Toei for making such a phenomenal story. Narrowing it down to a specific scene is once again hard, but Sento and Kazumi's conversation is sort of like the symbol of that whole episode, so I'll go with that. Best Comedic Scene Orb Dark chewing out Rosso and Blu when he shows up. All the fun meta-humor of the Zi-O Complementation Project, except way more impressive because they somehow seamlessly worked it into the actual plot of the show. Biggest "WTF did I just watch?" Moment The Episode of LuPat That Must Not Be Named. Although other people here have already mentioned it. Man I hated that one, which sounds like it contradicts my earlier statement about adoring everything about LuPat, until you realize I pretend it doesn't exist when at all possible. Best Song This is something of a dark horse pick, I suspect, but I'm inordinately fond of Ready Go! from Build. Despite the excessively direct lyrics, it's a great theme song for Sento and I really wish the show had used it more than twice. Best Piece of Merchandise This is the one category I really can't say anything about even if I want to, so I'll just reiterate my point from last year that Bandai is basically showering fans in a constant rain of cool products. The best piece of toku merchandise is probably whichever one made your wallet cry the least. Biggest Surprise of 2018 Takeru Satoh actually coming back to play Den-O again. Somebody must've strapped some wings to a pig somewhere or something. The Onari Memorial Award for Single Worst Thing in 2018 Tokusatsu: No subs for R/B! I guess if the Ultraman shows on Crunchyroll weren't doing great or whatever it can't be helped, but man, what a bummer. A major disappointment for English-speaking Ultra fans. Biggest Disappointment of 2018: I'm so upset about R/B's international treatment, actually, that I'm cheating a bit and using this category to also complain that Tsuburaya region-locked all the episodes after the first on Youtube, which isn't as big a deal to fans at large, but really hit my enthusiasm personally, considering how eager I was to watch every episode raw right after they put them up just like I did with Geed. |
I don't know if anybody is going to look at these should I do them, and I find it more fun to read other's lists anyway. But, this will be a nice chance for me to reflect on a year's worth of tokusatsu.
Best New Show of 2018 I love both Build and Lupinranger VS Patranger dearly, and I'm very much biased towards Build with it's serialised story, and the fact that it already had it's finale. I still want to give credit to LupinVsPat for getting me excited and invested in Sentai all over again, after I had stopped caring for the franchise as a whole some time ago. Fish Sandwich, is this how you felt when everybody around you was ragging on Ghost? Best New-to-You Show of 2018 Technically all the shows that aired were new to me but I get what you mean. ...Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, which I started watching this year. Best Rewatch of 2018 I only rewatched two things, and that was a large chunk of Ex-Aid, and old childhood favourite Ultraman Dyna. The latter wins through the waves of nostalgia it sent me through. Best Movie of 2018 Heisei Generations Final, easily. If I had to count something that actually aired in 2018... Well, the only movie I recalled watching was the Go-Ongers 10 Years Grand Prix. That was okay. Best Male Lead Character My answer is actually the same as everyone else. Kiryu Sento is my and everyone else's hero. But you know, Banjou was just as much a lead as Build himself, so I'm giving it to both of them. They're a Best Match and possibly my favourite duo, beating out the likes of Shotaro and Philip, or Eiji and Ankh. Though I want to give credit to Kairi because I think I might be the only person who likes him! I like Keichiro more, but still. I can't recall many Reds as layered and endearing as the both of them. Best Female Lead Character Does Misora count as a lead? Well, if I put her here, I probably won't have anyone to put in the Supporting Character category, so I'll give it to Tsukasa from LupinVsPat. I like Umika a lot too, but I'm biased against competent hard-workers who are friendly and have sillier sides. Best Male Supporting Character I would think the other Riders in Build sorta upgrade themselves to sorta 'lead' roles at some point, but I'll count Grease anyway. Whether as an antagonist or companion, I loved his charisma and drive. I also adore his wild moments during fights where he just shouts words at the top of his lungs. Best Female Supporting Character Misora, though I admittedly can't think of much competition since I haven't been keeping up with R/B. She was really well-rounded, managing to pull off funny, serious, sad, and down-to-earth moments all really well. Best Villain I have a lot of problems with Evolt, but that doesn't take away from the fact that he was greatly entertaining from the beginning of the series to the very end, along with being a magnificent threat. That he had a bunch of cool forms and powers didn't hurt. Best Returning Past Character This really only applies to Zi-O tributes, right? Objectively, Takeru had the best showing, and Tsukasa coming back as a recurring role is wonderful. Best Actor I'm going to barely give it to Kouhei Takeda as Kazumin. I would say that he is entirely what made Grease great, rather than anything particularly to do with the story that involved him. Best Actress I'm really just repeating other's opinions at this point, as well as my own. Kaho Takada as Misora. Toku Crush of 2018 I really can't think of a proper answer to this. I guess... Decade is looking and sounding more dashing than the last time we saw him, eh? And I guess I'd be lying if I said Patren3 isn't exactly the kind of authority figure I'd admire. And I realise I just picked two Tsukasas and- I don't wanna think about this any longer. Best Writer Shougo Mutou. Obviously Build isn't perfect by a long shot, especially a certain stretch of episodes involving Lost Bottles and an unnecessary father. But like Ex-Aid, it kept me plenty invested from start to finish. Best Director I really never kept track of directors before reading names on this list, so I can't really genuinely answer this question earnestly. Best Suit Design Build, the series, is an exception in suit designs for me, and I do feel a lot of that is due to the show wanting to be a re-imagining of classic Kamen Rider ideas. Because of that, the designs are made to have a more widespread appeal and broad idea of 'cool' rather than trying to be attuned top to bottom to a specific visual gimmick. I really admire the genius simplicity of Build's trial forms. Each half is wholly different with a completely unique shape for it's eyepiece. Yet no matter which two you put together, it is always recognizably Build. And I could go on about how I love every suit. Literally every suit including the Transteam Gun users, the Gear Bros, and... well, not quite the Jelly Riders, but I still like them! If you held a gun to my head and forced me to pick one, I'd probably go with Kamen Rider Rogue. Best Weapon/Vehicle/Mecha I should give honourable mentions to Good Striker for doing so much while also being a character in his own right (sorta). But I would give it to the Lupin Magnum. A standalone big gun that turns into a decent robot. It does admittedly help that mecha in LupinVsPat are as a whole pretty underwhelming when looked at as a whole, especially since so many of the combinations now use Magic and Splash as the arms. Best Fight Scene I don't even remember if it aired this year or not, but Cross-Z Charge showing up to stop Hazard Build in episode 22, and the two just punch each other into submission is still one of, if not my favourite scenes in Build. Honourable mention goes to the four heroes 'destroying' Evolt in Episode 44. It was so great to see them all work together to finally take him down... even if it was negated in the very the next episode. Best Dramatic Scene Too many good ones from Build, but I'll give it to Gentoku's final stand against Evolt in Episode 47. It was epic, heart-wrenching, and triumphant all at the same time. Best Comedic Scene Good Striker booting Keichiro out of his seat in VSX and replacing him with Tsukasa. Biggest "WTF did I just watch?" Moment 'Casual' Gentoku showing up for the first time. Best Song Over 'Quartzer', having become one of my favourite openings after a few listens. For insert songs, I fell in love with MAX Power from the very moment in started playing in X's debut episode. Best Piece of Merchandise Let's give props to the X-Changer. Yeah it's kinda an ugly gun, but I'm impressed by how much it can do, becoming a transforming vehicle with a Mecha that boasts two unique-enough modes. I would personally give to to the Transteam Gun coupled with the Steam Blade though. Biggest Surprise of 2018 Um, the answer here is the same as my Biggest Disappointment, but this one is suppose to be a positive thing so... I'm just gonna repeat above statements of Takeru Satoh appearing in the new movie. Biggest Disappointment of 2018 The slow shift towards all the merchandise in Lupin Vs Pat being shoved over to the Lupinrangers, including giving Keichiro's Power Up to Noel. The Onari Memorial Award for Single Worst Thing in 2018 Tokusatsu The above disappointment is honestly the only thing I'm that bummed about on a personal level. Though the stuff about Ultraman's official releases is quite the sour bit of news too. |
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
|
Best New Show of 2018
Gonna cheat and say Build, it gave us the absolutely stellar Hazard arc and shit this year too Best New-to-You Show of 2018 Kyoryuger, I thought I was going to hate it but turns out everyone and their mother just highly exaggerated it's flaws because they hate fun I guess Best Rewatch of 2018 Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I don't remember if I saw Fourze this year or last year. I'll sick it there either way Best Movie of 2018 Heisei Generations Final I suppose Best Male Lead Character Sento, he's adorkable and I just want to hold him and go "Everything will be ok you poor soul" Best Female Lead Character Tsukasa/Patren 3. Likeable personality, rather relatable and does her job well and cares more about actually doing a good job instead of getting them there thieves (I like you K-Man but jeez) Best Male Supporting Character Banjo Ryuga, the best secondary Rider we've gotten. Loveable, laughable, badass and my special child Best Female Supporting Character Tsukuyomi, she hasn't been able to do much but she's more action-packed than Sougo, the fucking main character, has been so far Best Villain Evolt. Absolutely oozing with charisma and is a prick Best Returning Past Character Decade. I didn't like Decade's show but he himself was a highlight, glad to see him back Best Actor Inukai, Sento's actor. He's able to show so many ranges of emotion and his PTSD-driven grief in Build was truly a sight to behold as someone who's mother has PTSD Best Actress Tsukasa's actress I'd say as she's also able to make a 180 on her personality and have it feel natural Toku Crush of 2018 Banjo. It's nice to be reminded I'm bi and not a lesbian every once in a while Best Writer Build's writer, I forgot his name Best Director Kazuya Kamihoriuchi without a goddamn doubt, this man has so many interesting shots to the point it makes me think "Holy shit how is he stuck doing children's television this is fucking amazing" Best Suit Design Build Hazard. It's fucking terrifying and the design itself shows that it's not quite right, incomplete and rather twisted. I showed this and RabbitTank to a friend and told him to tell me what personality he could derive from tbe pictures alone and he nailed exactly what made Hazard scary in the show. Truly, one of the best looking forms for ANY Rider. It's also my go-to example of why literal children shows handle designs better than fucking Xenoblade 2, yech Best Weapon/Vehicle/Mecha Patkaiser. The design really grew on me and I really love the helmet it has. The fact I own it might have something to do with it Best Fight Scene Hazard's debut. Showing us this savage form with amazing cinematography from Kazuya Kamihoriuchi gives us both a strong form to awe at yet a sinister monster to fear. Fucking brilliant. Best Dramatic Scene I'd have to say the scene where Cross-Z Magma makes it's debut, seeing Banjo get so utterly broken down by Stark really makes you root for the guy, especially with Stark's chilling "Once again I'm taking away a loved one from you and you can't do anything" Best Comedic Scene Either the Build Recaps or the Zi-O .5 episodes, I'm too lazy for specifics Biggest "WTF did I just watch?" Moment Grease's shoulder angel/devil thing with the towels Best Song Burning My Soul, specifically the Hiroyuki Takumi version Best Piece of Merchandise I'd say my Blood Stalk Figuart's up there, gorgeous figure Biggest Surprise of 2018 Shout Factory handling Pre-Zyu Sentai. I've yet to watch any of their subs cause of the damn region codes and it may be the worst Sentai I have ever laid eyes on, but it's exciting to know that more seasons are getting exposure to the west. Discotek getting their hands on Juspion too for that matter Biggest Disappointment of 2018: Lupinranger VS Patranger. I like it but god fucking dammit do I hate what they did for most of it. It's almost entirely filler episodes meaning the plot barely fucking exists, the team focus is so one-sided it's not even funny and the fact the Patrangers got screwed over by Toei making them uncool in comparison to the Lupins, who are supposed to be the cool ones which is why they were constantly in our faces, screwed them out of a fucking upgrade. Jesus christ there are SO many ways you can fix this show The Onari Memorial Award for Single Worst Thing in 2018 Tokusatsu: That godawful gender bend episode of LvP There was SO much missed potential. They COULD have used an episode like this to help develop Sakuya so he learns he might be making Umika uncomfortable with his behaviour around her by having girlSakuya get hit on by men the entire episode to live in her shoes. They COULD have made this a bodyswap episode for both teams to have odd shenanigans and seeing how both teams react or try to avoid the others in the teams finding out they've been switched, They COULD have used the monster's Alfred Hitchcock inspiration to make an episode like when Time Force had the rangers go through movie sets. But NOPE! Instead we got this entire fucking mess. Japan, your fucking zombie idol anime showed you're better than this for fucks sake |
I almost forgot, I give out a special trophy for the "Tokunation Fashion Queen 2018" to ZeoRangerV! You earned it! :D
http://www.tokunation.com/attachment...8&d=1544050000 |
I'm just going to sit in the corner because my laptop broke around the time build started so I've basically seen no toku this year cause the streaming sights dont work on my phone (and I dont want to put torrents on the house shared computer)
|
Quote:
|
Best New Show of 2018
I would say Build, but that came out last year, so it'll have to be SSSS.Gridman Best New-to-You Show of 2018 Probably Gekiranger. It had a great serialised story, great characters and we'll developed villains. I wish more Sentai had it's story structure. Best Rewatch of 2018 Didn't rewatch anything this year, or not often really. Best Movie of 2018 Heisei Generations Final. While I wasn't the biggest fan of Dr Pacman (Almost non existing story, boring action, and No Kouta), this one gave me what I wanted (Good story, great action and Kouta). Not only that, it actually gave some development to Ryuga on what he'll will fight for as a Kamen Rider. Plus has to two great casts from two great series made this No.1 for me Best Male Lead Sento. Even though he encompasses every male rider lead, he stands out from a lot of them. He's intelligent, has a great and funny personality, plus has an ego that's not obnoxious from other characters. Best Female Lead Tsukasa (Patren 3). Mostly for being insanely competent and level headed (Seriously, why isn't she the leader of the Pats) Best Male Supporting Lead Ryuga. He may be a secondary rider, but he was just as imported as a main one. He stuck by his friends no matter what and was just an all round awesome rider. Best Female Supporting Lead Can't really think of any ATM, sorry Best Villain Evolt. A cunning mastermind all through out, and also a very charismatic one too Best Returning Past Character Even though I was very happy that my favourite rider Kouta came back on not only Final, but Zi-O, It has to go to Tsukasa from Decade. He's a rider that just does what ever the hell he wants, and I love it. Plus he made Zi-O watchable and enjoyed him smacking around the Zi-O riders. Best Actor Atsuhiro Inukai AKA Sento Kiryu. To think he got his start in a KR show, and he knocks it out the park in his show. The stand out for me was the PTSD episode, you can really feel the guilt and defeat in him, and he pulled it off great. Best Actress Kaho Takada AKA Misora. Not only does she have good comedic timing, she has really good dramatic scenes. The scene with Sento with the Proto Genius Bottle and telling him not to throw his life like that was a stand out, where she delivered the anger and sadness in it. Toku Crush of 2018 Umika or Tsukasa in LuPat. Oh God I can't choose. Best Writer Shogo Muto. Not only great storytelling but great comedic moments Best Director Kazuya Kamihoriuchi. The episodes he directs of Build have some terrific cinematography and shots, plus great action, especially episode 21 of Build Best Suit Design Build RabbitRabbit form Best Weapon/Veichle/Mecha Ehhh, I don't think there were any that stood out so pass Best Fight Scene Hazard Form's first fight Best Dramatic Moment Episode 21 of Build, all of it Best Comedic Scene Kazumin's towel scene Biggest "WTF Did I Just Watch" Moment Episode 45 of LuPat, all of it Best Song LuPat theme song Biggest Surprise of 2018 Kouta's cameo in ep 10 of Zi-O Biggest Disappointment of 2018 Kamen Rider Ex-Aid: True Ending. For a movie billing itself as the true ending, it didn't really have any sense of closure to anything. Another Ending was the real true ending of Ex-Aid, funny how that works out. If True Ending was called Another Ending, and Another Ending was called True Ending, It wouldn't have been so bad The Onari Memorial Award for Single Worst Thing in 2018 Tokusatsu The Another Rider concept. While it is cool that they went with twisted evil versions of Kamen Riders as the main monsters of the show, I'm not a big fan of the whole "Past Rider's show never happened" thing. It makes it feel like you were wasting your time watching the other Rider shows, on how much crap they went through to get their ending and then to just erase it like that. The reason we love those riders was because of their development and how they grew over their own shows, without that, you rob them on what made them special. |
For Toku Fashion Queen I'm afraid I'm going to pick Lucky from that RPG Kyuranger episode. That was 2018 right? Either way, Lucky in drag is surprisingly hot
|
Toku Fashion Queen can only be Gentoku. The man has fashion sense, what can I say?
|
I'm changing my vote on Best Dramatic Scene to the final scene from Jinga. No spoilers here, but it was a really moving ending to an episode that had already thrown a lot of dramatic haymakers at the viewer.
Honestly, I think my top five dramatic moments may be mostly taken from that episode and the end of the one right before it. |
Best New Show of 2018
Gridman. While Zi-O is a close tie, Gridman was that perfect tokusatsu love letter show to celebrate the genre and fandom as a whole of the likes not seen since Concrete Revolutio. But if we're talking non-Toku, then I have to go with "Are you human too?" from South Korea. Or Apocrypha on the anime side. Though SAO: Alternative ranks really high too, and Killing Bites was really fun too. Best New-to-You Show of 2018 Cheer Fruits or Black Bullet. Though No Game, No life ranks pretty high too. Concrete Revolutio ranks really damn high too and that show was more perfection than even I realized and I'm still in awe of how well it turned out. Prisma Kaleid was a freaking joy to watch too. And Oath Under Snow was near perfection. Best Rewatch of 2018 Definitely Kiva. Finally made time to sit down and watch it from start to finish, and god that show is so much everything that makes me love the genre and what it can do. I am still in awe of and proud of that show and all Toei made of it. The outright love coming from every aspect of the show in depth and charisma is heartwarming and uplifting. But so much work from Japan is like that in wow factor and artistic intrinsic value. Makes me want to sit down and relive all the best Toku moments from series of yesteryear all over again, from Faiz to blade, Kabuto, and OOOs and more. Best Movie of 2018 Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds Oath Under Snow No Game, No Life Zero was really wow too. Best Male Lead Character Too many to list or choose. Best Female Lead Character Too many to list or choose. Best Male Supporting Character Too many to list or choose. Best Female Supporting Character Too many to list or choose. Best Villain Akane Shinjo of SSSS.Gridman. Hands down, she could stab me any day and I'd be fine with that. Best Returning Past Character Takumi. But Tsukasa and Takeru are close to almost tied too. Best Actor Too many to list or choose. Best Actress Too many to list or choose. Toku Crush of 2018 Akane Shinjo, Anosillus the 2nd, or Tsukuyomi, but this isn't a fair category for me to comment on because of my own source bias. Best Writer Too many to list or choose. Best Director Too many to list or choose. Best Suit Design Too many great ones this year. Best Weapon/Vehicle/Mecha Time Mazine for now. But many of the Zi-O armors were fantastic too, and so much other mecha work that was pretty wow too. Darling in the Franxx ranks pretty high too for originality. Though as a whole, this year felt a bit more pulled in than normal and not nearly as much content as previous years for this category. Best Fight Scene Mordred or Atlanta of apocrypha still stands out the most currently, but for Toku it's a much harder pick. Zi-O had some great material in this regard too. Symphogear wasn't this year or I'd pick the finale from it. Anything Scrapper from Pacific Rim Uprising ranks pretty high too. Might have to go with Pacific Rim: Uprising, all the fight scenes there. Action choreography-wise in live action, this year felt kind of lacking. Though Lupat Gold/silver's debut was pretty fun. And Zi-O has had some solid fight scenes too. It might be my personal bias speaking, but this year overall felt very much like holding back, and not as much new innovative as we've gotten before. Best Dramatic Scene Too many to list or choose. While not exactly Toku, I have to lean with Voltron season 8, all of it. Best Comedic Scene Zi-O Complimentary episodes. Though Anosillus the 2nd with her maniacal laugh ranks pretty high up there too. Biggest "WTF did I just watch?" Moment LuPat's Fart Episode. Best Song Over Quartzer or the Forever theme remix. Though it'd be a tougher call if there had been a new symphogear season this year. The songs from that show are addictive. Best Piece of Merchandise Shodo anything. But minipla offerings this year were especially great. Unlimits project is fantastic from Bandai Japan. Daretoku/Oretoku from Epoch is still a personal fave. And Good Smile has been doing some fantastic work too. Though I'm also still enamored by Desktop Army too. Tons of amazing toy design work this year. Biggest Surprise of 2018 I have to abstain from this category for reasons. Probably the only thing I actively hate about my line of work. -_- Biggest Disappointment of 2018: That SSSS.Gridman ended and we don't get to see Gridknight with the new Dyna Dragon armor even though it ends on alluding to it. They could have at least fit it into the credits or something as a tease through still art. The Onari Memorial Award for Single Worst Thing in 2018 Tokusatsu: The LuPat fart episode. But it was so bad it was glorious and perfect. And for a bonus! The "I ship it, and want a series of that now": Gridknight and Anosillus the 2nd were way too cute of an ending to leave as only that one scene. Her laugh was way too cute and endearing. I want a series of that now. *Between live action and anime, there were a lot of things this year I wish I could praise and I could go on and on about how amazing they were. But for this mostly Scifi/toku/toku inspired/influenced, and similar genre type list for 2018 this is what I guess I have to go with, but that does not mean I love anything else made that much less, and I look forward to all that 2019 brings in even more amazing content. |
Best New Show of 2018
Build. I've always considered Phase 2 Riders to be the main show for the year when they enter the new year (like Double is basically the main Rider of 2010, Ex-Aid being the main Rider of 2017). Anyways, even from the start Build has always been seen as Toei going all out for the Rider series as if it's being cancelled even though it's far from it, and it really shows through the effort such as action scenes and drama and writing, even though it has issues in the later arcs. They put a lot of effort with Build and it really delivers, so much that Zi-O is underwhelming because of it. Second would be SSSS Gridman. I usually hate anime that has moe and while SSSS Gridman is guilty with how the show is popular because of Rikka and Akane, I can't deny Studio Trigger made a love letter to the Tokusatsu genre, specifically Ultraman with this one. And I know people hate CGIs in anime (one idiot in particular said he would've love the show if they don't have battles), but CGI is not only necessary in this show, but it was done well (looking at you, Gridman VS Anti). Best New-to-You Show of 2018 1) Zero Dragon Blood. Holy shit, this is hands down THE best Garo series, even more than Makai Senki, yes, I've said it. Skimming it down to 13 episodes helps wonderfully, and the show has one of the best CGIs for a Toku show ever. And while I really hate the character Alice for being that moe type and annoying, as the show progresses she becomes I character that I hate, for a very good reason. 2) GoGo-V. I've always wanted to watch the show since I love Lightspeed Rescue, as well as the practical effects of the mechas are practically porn. But man, the Tatsumi family is hands down have the best chemistry in Sentai families. Yes, MagiRanger is good too, but in GoGoV, it always felt like they are a family. And the entire cast was very lovable too. Matoi is a great leader and a brother and can be hilarious at times, Nagare is a surprisingly chill but very responsible one, Shou is the hothead rebel of the group but he never feels annoying, Daimon is sadly underutilized at times but I love on how he's pretty much the 'youngest' of the family despite Matsuri being the youngest. Best Rewatch of 2018 Wow, TimeRanger still holds up well to this day. And Ultraman X will always be my personal favorite Ultraman series. It's a shame it's not as popular as Orb or Geed. I would love to see X himself appears multiple times like Zero, seeing as he has his own voice actor. Best Movie of 2018 Tie between Heisei Generations Final and Ultraman Geed. To summarize it up, both movie is what happened when they put effort to the movie and not just churn it up to make a quick buck. I mean I know they tend to put a lot more effort on Movie War series when it comes to Rider movies, but this is where you can see the hard work. And whenever Koichi Sakamoto directs a movie, it usually will be one of the best Toku movies. This applies to Space Squad too. Best Male Lead Character Kiryu Sento. It is so much fun to see him. See Toei, this is how you make a character lovable (looking at you, Super Sentai). He's narcisstic, but have flaws and even though he's a genius there are lots of times where he has doubts. I haven't love a main Rider this much since Kota and Eiji. Best Female Lead Character Tsukasa/Patren 3. I had a crush on her actress as quick as I did with Luka Milify, and while she is underutilized because PatRangers, I love her so much and it's refreshing to see a commanding Pink Ranger again. And the scene where she has a de-aged Kairi sit on her lap...... welll........... I want to be Kairi so bad. What? She's older than me, so it's fine! Second is tie between Misora and Tsukuyomi. I didn't expect to like Misora so much. She was okay in the early episodes but truly starts to become my favorite in the episode where Build gains OctupusLight to outsmart Blood Stark. Tsukuyomi is just fun to watch despite not really having much to do at the moment. It's just she's a stark contrast from Geiz in stopping Sogo from becoming Oma Zi-O is pretty fun to watch Best Male Supporting Character People say Banjou but I'm gonna go ahead with Kazumin. It's an absolute surprise to have a veteran actor actually playing a new Rider this time. Otoya was the best part of Kiva, and it's awesome to see that Kazumin himself is also a great character especially with his developments. So much that when he died it is far more emotional than Otoya's death. Best Female Supporting Character Sawa Takigawa. I have always loved Yukari Taki because she seems to love Toku so much to appear in different shows, so it's a welcome to see her having a supporting role. Not to mention they actually developed Sawa as character when they easily wouldn't have. Bonus points for Yukari looking even more beautiful in her 30s. Best Villain Evolto. The last time the secondary villain winds up as the final boss was Go-Busters' Enter, though Gremlin from Wizard probably counts, and I'm pretty sure both are done because of their popularity. I don't know if Shogo Mouto always intended Blood Stark to be the main villain of Build from the beginning, but I suspect he was done because he's so popular. Second would be Makoto Aizen. He could've been very annoying, but he completely steals the show. And the best thing? He's not really evil! He just wants to be a hero, but did it in a villainous way. R/B might not be as great as previous shows, but Aizen completely beats Kei Fukuide and maybe Belial, and is on par with Juggler. Best Returning Past Character Tsukasa takes the cake and I don't need to explain why. Runner up would be Eiji. We got surprised with his return before Zi-O episode 8 aired, and before that I was disappointed thinking even Shu Watanabe won't be in the show after they failed to get Gentaro and Haruto. And not only that but Hina returns as well! And when Eiji appears in Zi-O, I just love the new take on his character. Eiji somehow feels like having gone through his developments in OOO and as such appears very mentorly towards Sogo, and I love that he becomes a politician. The way he's being written is what makes me start to accept Zi-O as a show despite being underwhelming. Best Actor Atsuhiro Inukai. The Hazard Trigger arc is all that you need to know. Second would be Motoki Fukami who plays Makoto Aizen. Aizen could've easily been very annoying if it weren't for Fukami's excellently hilarious delivery. Reason why Aizen steals the show? Because of his actor. Best Actress Yuka Hirata. I didn't watch GekiRanger yet, but Mele was one of the best parts of Kyuranger VS Space Squad. Toku Crush of 2018 Kazusa Okuyama. Last time I had a crush on a Toku actress before their show starts was Mao Ichimichi. Bonus points for Okuyama being a year older than me too :P Best Writer Shogo Mouto for Build. It had issues at times, but was mostly consistent. Best Director Every director from Build Best Suit Design I'm gonna go with Kamen Rider Rogue. Man that design is just to sexy and very unique. So unique that it's the only one with that mold. It is so sexy that I don't mind Gentoku never got a proper Final Form in the show (even though Prime Rouge looks good too). Best Weapon/Vehicle/Mecha X-Trains. God I love this weapon/mecha so much. Best Fight Scene Build and LuPat both have great fight scenes. Best Dramatic Scene Sento pleading with Kazumin to kill him for accidentally killing Aoba. You thought Gaim was the darkest? Best Comedic Scene Build all the way, but what takes the cake is every single Kazumin infatuated on Misora moments, and goddamn Gentoku's t-shirts. He went from a jerk into the single funniest character in the show. Biggest "WTF did I just watch?" Moment Tying in with New-to-You shows of this year: Alice taking over as the main villain for Zero Dragon Blood. I've hated Alice before for being extremely annoying and noisy, but this is where I hate her in a good way. And props for them making her actually psychotic. Best Song Over "Quartzer" Best Piece of Merchandise I love me the Ridewatches. Mostly because it is actually the second toyline that I'm trying to collect (merchandises are expensive yo), and Ziku Driver is the very first Rider belt I've owned. And also because I love Rider devices that has sounds on its own. Yes, they might be more expensive, but worth it even if you don't get the belt alone. Biggest Surprise of 2018 Decade being a supporting role in Zi-O. Ever since Zi-O was promoted I was hoping Decade would have a big presence ala Ultraman King in Ultraman Geed, but at the rate of the show, he might ended up being somewhat similar to Ultraman Zero's role instead! And that's another surprise, because it is implied that Decade's appearance in the show is not done yet. Biggest Disappointment of 2018: Look, it wasn't that bad, but Dimensions in Danger is still disappointing to me. They could've easily make this a two parter. It NEEDS to be a two parter. Yes there are some good parts, but even the team up fight was so chaotic and poorly shot sometimes. I could go on a whole day ranting about it, but I'm gonna close it with the fact that they don't even have an extended version which is needed in place of a two parter. And yes, it's a Tommy Oliver circlejerk episode. While I hate that so much, at the very least the extended fight of him is pretty cool. Second would be Jinga. The show was good and intriguing despite its issues (mainly budget), but the show went downhill very fast since episode 9 which is a goddamn clip show in a 13-episode series. The Onari Memorial Award for Single Worst Thing in 2018 Tokusatsu: Neo Saban era. This era is just so bad it makes me dislike Power Rangers. And while I sincerely hope that Hasbro will revitalize it back, I have grown very cynical and at best cautiously optimistic. I've said multiple times on this forum and I will say it again: Good riddance Neo-Saban era. Now I hope Hasbro won't be as bad. |
I guess this shouldn't have surprised me, but the nigh-universal love for Sento (and Build in general) in here is just great.
Also, if we're allowed to change our votes, and we've all just accepted SSSS Gridman is eligible, I definitely want to give Best Song to Union. Extremely catchy + amazing lyrics + fits the show like a glove = perfect OP. |
Woah! This is a long list. I am glad that I came across this post because it has been a very long time since I last watched a good movie or show. I am looking forward to watch series by Andy Yeatman on Netflix because I have heard a lot about these shows.
|
| All times are GMT -5. The time now is 07:51 AM. |
Powered by vBulletin®
Copyright ©2000 - 2025, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
|
All times are GMT -5. The time now is 07:51 AM.
|