Ahh, yes. I forgot about that. Good find.

Here is one that is from the metal heroes:
- It is most likely the reason Winspector did not follow the typical good guy defeats bad guy formula and was set as a special rescue team is because there was a serial killing in Saitama at the time and anime and toku were the subject of criticism regarding fictional violence.

- Juspion actor Hikaru Kurosaki was the lead of a manga to live action adaptation movie called Kotaro Makaritohru where he played the titular Kotaro and Kenji Ohba of Gavan fame played the antagonist, prior to Juspion he was a guest character for two episodes in Bioman

This....this would've been soooo much better!!

No doubt. And still Narutaki walks the Earth saying what he says best.
They should have kept Decade simple and short instead of not knowing what to do if they were not gonna use the idea Shin Henshin shared with us above.

Hmm..I am find some of similarities between Boukengers and Kamen Rider Birth:

1.Their helmet design is very similar especially the visors and the mouthpiece part.

2.Some of their weapons also has same weapon-types such as:

a. Drill Weapons (GoGo Drill with Drill Arm)
b. Crane Weapons (GoGo Crane with Crane Arm)
c. Shovel Weapons (GoGo Shovel with Shovel Arm)
d. Wing Jetpacks (GoGo Jet in Ultimate Daibouken Formation and a Cutter Wing on Birth's back)

3. Both Boukengers and Kamen Rider Birth collect special items. Boukenger collect Precious and Kamen Rider Birth collect Cell Medals.

I think Kamen Rider Birth has some inspiration from Boukengers.

Trivia for y'all

- Actor Shion Tsuchiya had his break in toku as young Isshu/Kuwaga Raiger in Hurricanger before appearing as JK in Kamen Rider Fourze

- Kyosuke Jinnai/Red Racer is known to be popular towards villainesses, first being Zonette in Carranger the next being Insarn in Gokaiger

- Yuuji Kishi who played Kyosuke/Red Racer played three Les Miserable characters in the Japanese production of Les Miserable, first as Brujon from 2003 ~ 2006, then Enjolras from 2005 ~ 2007, and in 2015 Javert(he is scheduled to reprise this role this year from May 21st to October)

- Before becoming Conductor/ToQ7, veteran comedian Tsutomu Sekine was a truck driver in episode 57 of Goranger

- The following toku alumni have appeared in the Do Not Laugh 24 Hours Specials of the Japanese comedy show Gaki No Tsukai Ya Arahende at least once:
Arthur Kuroda: Itsuro Takamizawa/Kamen Rider Verde from Kamen Rider Ryuki Special
Toori Matsuzaka: Takeru Shiba/Shinken Red from Shinkenger
Rin Takanashi: Mako Shiraishi/Shinken Pink from Shinkenger
Tsutomu Sekine: Conductor, ToQ7 from ToQger
Tomomitsu Yamaguchi: DJ Sagara from Kamen Rider Gaim
Itsuji Itao: Kamen Rider Fifteen from Showa Rider VS Heisei Rider movie

I love the Do Not Laugh specials.
I gotta keep a sharp eye next time I watch one to see if I can catch them.

Do you know which ones they appear in, and if those particular episodes have been subbed?

I looked up the Japanese wikipedia page for this. Matsuzaka's was the most recent in 2016 as a character from one of his dramas, Takanashi was 2015 also as a character from one of her dramas(funny thing, both are mystery drama characters), Yamaguchi was 2011 as Rickson Gracie(yes, THE RICKSON GRACIE), and Kuroda was 2010 as a "handsome spy". Itao and Sekine appears regularly so hard to pinpoint those two.

Matsuzaka: Do Not Laugh Scientist
Takanashi: Do Not Laugh Detective
Yamaguchi: Do Not Laugh Airport
Kuroda: Do Not Laugh Spy

I think those 4 have been subbed, so I gotta check them out and keep a keen eye!

As for Itao and Sekine, I never watched ToQger, and the Heisei vs Showa movie didn't leave an impact on me, so I probably would never catch them unless explicitly pointed out to me, despite them apparently being regulars.

- Taiyo Sugiura of Ultraman Cosmos fame has a little brother, Takao Sugiura, who was Shin Magaki/Kamen Rider Lance in both Kamen Rider Blade: Missing Ace and the Kamen Rider Decade episodes that featured Diend.

- Three of the main riders in Kamen Rider Ryuki each have a key visual element that people identify with Kamen Rider: Ryuki's eyes, Knight's crusher(mouthguard), Zolda's antennas

- Kamen Rider Gai's advent monster Metalgelas is a homage to Gray Saiking

- Psuedo-rider Alternative Zero's Advent monster Psycorogue is based off a cricket and Jason Vorhees

- Nago's hand motion during his transformation as Kamen Rider Ixa has him form a cross

- Voice actors Kenichi Suzumura and Hiroshi Kamiya host Toei's official tokusatsu radio show Kamen Radiranger, in 2007 Suzumura was the voice of Ryutaros in Kamen Rider Den-O, and 10 years later in 2017 Kamiya will voice Sho Lonpo in Uchu Sentai Kyuranger, both are violet-colored and have Asian dragon motifs

- Before saving the world as Kabuto and Gatack, actors Hiro Mizushima(Souji Tendo/Kamen Rider Kabuto) and Yuuki Sato(Arata Kagami/Kamen Rider Gatack) were supporting cast(specifically as students of Kumiko played by Yukie Nakama) in Gokusen 2. Other toku alumni who were part of this supporting cast roster were:

Ryosuke Miura: Caine/Beetle Sazer from Sazer X, Ankh from Kamen Rider OOO
Momosuke Mizutani: Shinji Tatsumi/Kamen Rider Ryuki from Kamen Rider Decade
Yuichi Nakamura: Kyosuke Kiriya from Kamen Rider Hibiki, Yuto Sakurai/Kamen Rider Zeronos from Kamen Rider Den-O
Masahiro Kuranuki: Shion/Time Green from Mirai Sentai Timeranger

Befpre taking the role of Tommy in MMPR JDF was originally cast as Ryan Steele in VR Troopers. But then obviously he got the role as Tommy.

I'll add to that, after saving the world as Kabuto, Hiro Mizushima (Souji Tendo/KR Kabuto) appeared in the first live action Japanese adaptation of Hana Kimi as Nanba Minami, alongside various future or previous toku alumni:

Kayashima Taiki was portrayed by Yusuke Yamamoto (Kamishiro Tsurugi/Kamen Rider Sasword)
Senri Nakao was portrayed by Ryo Kimura (Argos/KR Dark Ghost and KR Extremer)
Noe Shinji was portrayed by Shunji Igarashi (Mirai Hibino/Ultraman Mebius)
Itsuki Kamishinjo was portrayed by Junya Ikeda (Gai Ikari/Gokai Silver, Takeru Jakazure/Zen the Flame Sword Knight)
Tennoji Megumi was portrayed by Yuma Ishigaki (Geki Jumonji/Space Sheriff Gavan Type-G)
Daikokucho Mitsuomi was portrayed by Mitsuomi Takahashi (Satoru Akashi/Bouken Red)
Kitahanada Kohei was portrayed by Kouhei Takeda (Otoya Kurenai/KR Proto-Ixa and Dark Kiva, Masao Kurenai/Kamen Rider New Kiva)
Yao Hikaru was portrayed by Keisuke Kato (Keisuke Nago/KR Ixa)
Ogimachi Taiyo was portrayed by Yasuhisa Furuhara (Sousuke Esumi/Go-On Red)
Head teacher Saruwatari was portrayed by Takashu Ukaji (Kousei Kougami from Kamen Rider OOO)

The main city of W was originally a Venice like city called Suito. However, due to budget costs and availability, Fuuto was chosen
Shotaro's actor is a model and this is acknowledged in an episode as a joke
Fourze was meant to have older Riders appear in episodes, but the team felt like Decade was too new to use the idea again
Gaim was originally going to have birds as a motive but Bandai pushed the fruit
The only reason Baron got Lemon Energy Arms was because fans kept pushing for a power up for the guy
Para-DX Fighter Gamer referenced Guilty Gear by having Para-DX perform a move that is known as Gun Flame, used by protagonist Sol Badguy

Reuben Langdon of Devil May Cry and Street Fighter fame was metal hero B-Fighter Yanma aka Mac Windy in B-Fighter Kabuto circa 1996.

Ah, yes. Hana Kimi 2007 was a great J-drama especially if you are a toku fan.
Kuwaga Raiger/Isshu actor Nobuo Kyo was the best as Oscar.

The remake that followed a few years later was sadly mediocre despite having Shotaro's actor Kiriyama as Nanba and Yaguruma&Hiroto's actor Tokuyama as Oscar.

Oh yeah, trivia time.

- Some toku actors had small roles in films where Naoto Takenaka(Sennin, Edith from Kamen Rider Ghost) was a regular.
In the movie "Sumo Do, Sumo Don't" Takenaka played the role of Aoki, a longtime student who is the sole surviving member of the school sumo team and has never won a sumo match because his extreme nervousness makes him go poopy right before or during a match. In the movie Ei Hamura who we know as Shoji/Tenma Ranger is credited as a sumo wrestler of a competing school.
In the movie "Swing Girls" Takenaka was Ozawa the math teacher who helps a ragtag jazz ensemble to be the best.
Chise Nakamura who we know as Natsuki/Bouken Yellow was one of the band members.

- Kabuto Raiger, Gao Black, Kamen Rider Gills, and Kamen Rider Zolda are part of a male singing group called Junretsu, who cameoed in the Hurricanger 10 Years After film.

Toku trivia

After playing a crucial role in Jetman, saving humanity in a green robotic stag beetle suit, and then saving it again as the first silver ranger, actor Shigeru Kanai became a politician in 2011 as part of the Japan Democratic Party. He was re-elected in 2015.

Before getting their Dino Bucklers actors Yuta Mochizuki/Tyrannoranger Geki and Hideki Fujiwara/Triceraranger Dan were guest actors in Jetman. Mochizuki was J1 of Neo Jetman and Fujiwara was Dan the Dimensian Soldier.

I didn't know Mega Silver was a politician.
I hope he behaves in office, because he needed to be held with a leash when he was a Megaranger :lol

Voice actor Kazuya Nakai has been a toku hero and a blue canine before Kyuranger. He was the voice of Kamen Rider Eiki, the bronze and teal oni in Kamen Rider Hibiki, and was also the show's narrator.
Also, he was Gaomon from Digimon Data Squad.
So technically he is part of the Rider-Sentai Country Club following the ranks of Hiroshi Miyauchi, Yuuta Mochizuki, Atsushi Harada, Hidenori Tokuyama, and Kouhei Murakami.

- Ryu Voyager's sortie scene is a homage to Ryuseioh's appearance in the Dairanger opening clip.
Left: Ryu Voyager
Right: Ryuseioh
http://i.imgur.com/D4iKW6A.png



- Voice actors Kenichi Suzumura and Hiroshi Kamiya both play tokusatsu heroes who are both violet and are dragon motifs.
Suzumura played Ryutaros/Den-O Gun Form in Kamen Rider Den-O circa 2007, Kamiya currently plays Xiao Longbao/Ryu Commander in 2017.

http://i.imgur.com/LJ10oVc.png

Both are also DJs of the Toei Approved Kamen Radiranger radio show, a radio show about tokusatsu.
http://i.imgur.com/R5EdzeZ.jpg


They have also danced for the Kyoryuger ending as "Kenichi-kun and Hiroshi-kun". They can be seen in episode 20.

The Doremifa Beat console's curtains in Kamen Rider Ex-Aid are decorated with song titles that refer to past Heisei era Riders.

Alien 4 = Kamen Rider Kuuga, refers to Kuuga's alias by the police Unidentified Life Form no. 4

Lost Memory = Kamen Rider Agito, refers to Shoichi/Agito's amnesia

Mirror Labyrinth = Kamen Rider Ryuki, refers to the Mirror World

Go!Go!Go! = Kamen Rider Faiz, refers to Faiz's input code 5-5-5 which is go-go-go in Japanese

Spade No Ace(Ace of Spades) = Kamen Rider Blade, refers to Blade's motif

Gishinanki(Dark Oni with Righteous Heart) = Kamen Rider Hibiki, refers to the onis in the show having hearts of righteousness, since traditionally onis are considered evil entities

Tofu Ondo~Obaachan no Aji(Tofu Ondo~Grandmother's Flavor, ondo is a genre of Japanese folk music) = Kamen Rider Kabuto, refers to the tofu Souji/Kabuto buys in episode one and also his "Grandmother once said..." phrases.

Climax High = Kamen Rider Den-O, reference to the opening theme Climax Jump by AAA

Vampire Melody = Kamen Rider Kiva, refers to Fangires, a variant of vampires, and the music aspect that is prominent throughout the show

Nine the World = Kamen Rider Decade, refers to Decade's main journey through the nine rider worlds

Kaze to Nazo to Hanjuku Tamago(Wind and Mystery and Half-boiled Egg) = Kamen Rider W, refers to the prevalent wind theme throughout the show, its sub-genre as a detective show, and Shotaro Hidari being called a "Half-boiled Detective"

PAN-2 000 = Kamen Rider 000, refers to the titular rider and Eiji and his undies

Watashi no Kare wa Uchuhikoshi(My Boyfriend is an Astronaut) = Kamen Rider Fourze, refers to the overall space theme of the show

Magic Prince = Kamen Rider Wizard, refers to Haruto/Wizard using magic and also possibly that he is Koyomi's "prince"

Kiwami no Shogun(Shogun of the Highest) = Kamen Rider Gaim, refers to Gaim's Kiwami Arms

Driving Heart = Kamen Rider Drive, refers possibly to the show's themes of "having a heart/being human" and cars

Ghost Dancer = Kamen Rider Ghost, refers possibly to the icon ghosts dancing while on standby before Takeru pulls the lever on the Ghost Driver

OOO's first Gatakiriba transformation was actually screwed up by an employee. There were apparently supposed to be like, 7 clones but the employee kept adding more and more and more to the point they had to fire him as he wasted a fuck ton of money

The real names of the onis in Kamen Rider Hibiki follow a certain naming scheme.
The first syllable of the oni's first name, last name, and oni name are the same.
Here are the known ones:

Kamen Rider Hibiki: Hitoshi Hidaka

Kamen Rider Ibuki: Izumi Iori

Kamen Rider Todoroki: Tomizo Todayama

Kamen Rider Zanki: Zaomaru Zaitsuhara

Kamen Rider Danki: Daisuke Danda

Kamen Rider Sabaki: Sakae Saeki

Kamen Rider Shuki: Shiori Shinagawa(in the case of Shuki, shu is written with "shi" and a small "yu" thus allowing the naming scheme to work in Japanese)

At its early design phase, Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger was going to have the five don these colors with these dinosaur motifs:

Red - Tyrannosaurus

Green - Triceratops

Blue - Pteranodon

Black - Brachiosaurus

Yellow - Stegosaurus

The reason the lineup changed to what it is now was to avoid the problem of them not being distinct from each other. Which is why we see two prehistoric mammals, the saber-toothed tiger and mammoth instead of a brachiosaurus and stegosaurus in the main lineup(though as we all know they brought back the brachiosaurus via King Brachion/Titanus).

The visors of the Ohrangers except for Kingranger are loosely based off of the Zener cards. The three wavy lines are replaced with a triangle and the X is replaced with two parallel bars. Kingranger's visor shape is modeled after the hanzi(Chinese character) for "king", pronounced "oh" in Japanese.

Would the female have been the yellow ranger of the team?
(I feel like I’m asking an obvious/ stupid question. :o )

This is just a personal theory/assumption but considering that the last team who wore the five olympic rings color(Liveman) had a blue heroine and the show right before it(Jetman) had a blue heroine as well, I think they would have made the Blue Pteraranger the one. As much as I love how Zyuranger turned out, I think this could have worked too.

This only makes me like Garu a little bit more.

He was also Mugen in Samurai Champloo and Toshi in Gintama as well. :)

Never cared to watch Gintama and Mugen for me will always be Steven Blum. So that fact does nothing for me.

Jetman had a non-canon epilogue manga where Ryu and Kaori had to save their daughter alongside Raita and Ako. Because of Gai not being available they recruit a half-American half-Japanese young man named Jeffrey as Green Eagle, and his suit and jet were green repaints of Black Condor's.

Hikari Sentai Maskman alumni Issei Hirota who played the role of Akira/Blue Mask and Yarinin Toppa in Sekai Ninjasen Jiraiya is an actual Chinese martial arts practitioner who has trained even prior to Maskman.

He was Japan's representative in the 1991 World Wushu Championships winning first place for swords and overall second place.
He currently coaches people in his personal classes called Shishin Bujutsu Club(Four Symbols Martial Arts Club, Four Symbols here referring to the Azure Dragon, Vermillon Bird, White Tiger, and Black Tortoise).

His skills also shined behind the scenes of Maskman as he helped his suit actor Tsutomu Kitagawa with his Chinese martial arts moves and also advised in the poses for the Maskman team based on his experience.

Kitagawa later used this experience with Hirota for motion capture work for a video game, Dairanger, and also as an advisor for Gekiranger.

While watching the Ultraman X movie I found some trivia to share.

Guest character Tsukasa Tamaki, the archeologist, was played by actress Takami Yoshimoto. Yoshimoto is a known actress within the Ultraman fandom as the heroine of Ultraman Tiga, Rena circa 1996. She is also daughter to actor Susumu Kurobe, the actor of Hayata/Ultraman which makes the appearance of the first Ultraman and Tiga even more meaningful.

Actor Ukyo Matsumoto, currently known as unlicensed doctor Taiga Hanaya/Kamen Rider Snipe in Kamen Rider Ex-Aid was a regular of Ultraman X as pilot of Xio Hayato Kishima.

Actor Yu Kamio, known to Rider fans as Dr. Kiyoto Maki in Kamen Rider OOO, Yuki's dad in Kamen Rider Fourze, and Yugo Tachibana in Kamen Rider Amazons, was team captain Shotaro Kamiki.

How cool. Its always interesting to hear where former Tokusatsu actors end up after their role's over.

Post-Gokaiger he seems to have grown his hair again. Honestly it sucks we never got a Maskman-centric episode cause he would have shown some legit martial arts moves from years of experience. I am still glad we got a taste with the Dairanger ep but would have been nice to see him pull off fancy sword techniques alongside Joe/Gokai Blue.

Hmm....if we has Maskman-centric episode in Gokaiger, probably this episode also will be focused to Joe Gibken (Gokai Blue) too because Joe Gibken is really good in swordfight much like Akira.

Yep. Though now that I think about it for Maskman something to do with lovers would be more appropriate since Maskman is all about Takeru/Red Mask trying to save his princess who got frozen in ice for the whole show. But hey, Akira did get to deliver the motivational speech on behalf of the team so all is well. :)


So I talked about this on the Geed thread but after a sudden realization it seems that Geed is a portmanteau of the words "GENE" and "SEED". Now, having seen episode 1 we all know that this pretty much sumps up Geed in a nut shell. Because Geed carries the Ultraman genes while himself being the seed of Belial. This is not official trivia but it is too good and obvious to ignore.

Kamen Rider Build Sento Kiryu's name is a unique one. Especially since his name is a direct nod to his default form TankRabbit. Sento is composed of the two kanjis Sen 戦 and To 兎. Sen in this case derives from Sensha 戦車 which means tank and To is the kan'on for rabbit. With this we can clearly see that the default choice of a tank and rabbit is not a mere coincidence and just a form that focuses on the balance between power and agility, but also a direct reference to our protagonist himself.

Let's also not forget that rabbits have a strong connection to the moon in Japanese mythology.

The sixteen teams that were picked for Chou Super Hero Taisen are the following teams below

[Team Ex-Aid]
Kamen Rider Ex-Aid
Aoninger
Kamen Rider Zolda
Beet Buster
Kamen Rider Den-O Sword Form

[Team Dairanger: Team consisting of all five Dairangers]
Ryuranger
Tenma Ranger
Shishi Ranger
Kirin Ranger
Houou Ranger

[Team Sentai All Red: Team consisting of red rangers]
Battle Japan
Dyna Red
Ninja Red
Magi Red
Shinken Red

[Team Rider All Blue: Team consisting of riders who are blue or close to it i.e. Diend who is cyan]
Kamen Rider Den-O Rod Form
Kamen Rider OOO Shauta Combo
Kamen Rider Wizard Water Style
Kamen Rider Gatack Rider Form
Kamen Rider Diend

[Team Woman: All-girls team]
Tackle
Hurricane Blue
Kamen Rider Bravo Durian Arms
Go-on Yellow
Kamen Rider Marika

[Team Hikou: Team consisting of heroes with flying animal motifs or can actually fly]
Kamen Rider OOO Tajador Combo
Kamen Rider Knight
Skyrider
Abare Yellow
Ptera Ranger

[Team Kousoku: Team consisting of heroes with high-speed vehicle or animal motifs]
Red Turbo
Kamen Rider Drive Type Formula
Go-on Green
Kamen Rider OOO Ratoratah Combo
Pink Racer

[Team Keiji: Team consisting of heroes who are detectives, inspectors, police officers, etc.]
Kamen Rider Accel
Kamen Rider G3
Denji Green
Deka Yellow
Heart Queen

[Team Card: Team consisting of heroes who use cards to fight or is a card motif]
Spade Ace
Gosei Blue
Kamen Rider Leangle
Kamen Rider Odin
Kamen Rider Decade

[Team Konchuu: Team consisting of heroes who are insect motif(in the case of Magi Pink she is a fairy motif)]
Kamen Rider Chalice Wild Form
Kuwaga Raiger
Kamen Rider V3
Kamen Rider TheBee Rider Form
Magi Pink

[Team Ninja: Team consisting of heroes who are ninja motif or had a ninja upbringing i.e. Yellow Mask]
Kamen Rider ZX
Ninja Blue
Shurikenger
Yellow Mask
Momoninger

[Team Dandy: Team consisting of adult male heroes roughly in their 30s ~ 50s]
Kamen Rider Hibiki
Kamen Rider Skull
Kyoryu Blue
Wolzard Fire
Signalman

[Team JIRO: Team consisting of heroes acted by suit actor Jiro Okamoto]
Kamen Rider Black
Kamen Rider IXA
Shinken Gold
Ginga Blue
Gosei Knight

[Team TAKAIWA: Team consisting of heroes acted by suit actor Seiji Takaiwa]
Kamen Rider Faiz
Mega Blue
Kamen Rider W Cyclone Joker
Kamen Rider Fourze Base States
Kamen Rider Gaim Orange Arms

[Team Genm: Aside from Yellow Owl and Momoranger, riders who have opposed their show's titular rider at least once]
Kamen Rider Genm Action Gamer Lv 2
Kamen Rider Specter Specter Damashii
Kamen Rider Ryugen Grape Arms
Yellow Owl
Momoranger

[Team Fukkatsu: Team consisting of heroes who have been dead and then brought back to life or were close to death]
Black Knight Hyuga
ToQ 2
Kamen Rider New Nigo
Riderman
Kamen Rider Mach

*sings* One of these things is not like the other.

Something I stumbled upon recently but has been out there for a while.

Apparently inverting the red and blue on Kamen Rider Para-DX will change his color scheme to Ex-Aid's Double Action Gamer's teal and orange.
Also, adjusting the hues to 99 will turn Para-DX's color scheme similar to Ex-Aid's default Magenta and green.

Time to unearth this again.
*chucks shovel to the side*

So here are a few random facts about Ginga Blue actor Shoei.
- Before debuting as Ginga Blue, actor Shoei was a track and field athlete in college specializing in javelin throwing. His best record for the 1996 Inter-University Athletics competition was 73.9 meters, roughly 242.45 ft.
- After graduating, a year prior to Gingaman, Shoei went to America alone and had a chance to walk the runway for Giorgio Armani in 1997.
- He recently appeared in Osomatsu-san(an anime where the main sextuplets all had a role or two in tokusatsu) as himself in season 2 episode 3.