I watched Robo-G 2012. A story about a trinity of unfortunate developers who managed to break their robot on the eve of the show and did not come up with anything better than to put a grumpy old man into it, who dreams of becoming actors in his old age. Funny and very good story. Robots, tokusatsu stage shows and cosplayers are shown. Some of the technical points, including the arguments about the impracticality of humanoid robots, are very close to reality. I expected tragedy, given the indicated problems with the back of the protagonist, but nothing happened. It's also funny that the old man was played by Mickey Curtis, whom I had only seen in Spielbane before. With age, he began to look much more Japanese:
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/p...otine_ep24.jpg
https://vsedoramy.net/uploads/mini/f...b483a391e2.jpg
All in all, a very good film. I recommend viewing.
https://tokuzilla.net/wp-content/upl.../robo-g-01.jpg

As of now, I inexplicably find myself watching Android Kikaider as in the original live-action Toku series from the early 70's rather than the anime. Although I do need to get back to watching where I left off on the latter series at some point.

Started watching Daimajin Canon. I took a long time with this show because I wanted to see the original trilogy of films first. As it turned out, in vain, because the connection is very conditional. Considering that Daimajin himself is referred to as Bujin in the show and that he also looks quite different from the original, I'm guessing that the show's creators weren't entirely sure that they would get the rights to the character.
Interestingly, there are many shows, including fantastic ones that exploit girls' dreams of first love. "Twilight" is perhaps the most famous example. "Daimajin Canon" is designed for those who are already disappointed in their first love and its efforts are aimed at returning a sincere smile and the ability to dream to these unfortunate ones.
It's easy to see that this show is from the creators of Hibiki, but it must be admitted that they are sorely lacking Toei's resources and expertise. By and large, I would say that this is a good J-drama, but not the most exciting tokusatsu. However, I haven't watched half of the show yet.
In general, while I like it and I plan to watch it to the end.
https://tokuzilla.net/wp-content/upl...n-kanon-01.jpg

Daimajin Kanon is a great show, and the action, while it's there, is nowhere near being the focal point. Really loved alot of the character stuff they do as the show goes on.

Nothing but love for Daimajin Kanon here, as one would probably expect from the board's rabid Hibiki stan.

Just got done watching Parahero Gandine(or Gundeen depending on your translation) and I kinda don't know what else to say other than that I felt it was actually just kinda rather nice?

For being a mini series, I rather liked alot of the characters, and most of their arcs were handled rather well with what limited a time frame they had. I ended up actually liking Daishi more than I did Sogo from Zi-O, and even the characters who really didn't get any sort of big focus had likable quirks or personalities.

The action, while minimal, was nice enough, and I dug the aesthetic of the Gandine suit itself along with the blend of mysticism and sci-fi elements.

It's just a nice, fun package overall, and I recommend checking it out.

Yes, good show. It is a pity that they did not release a sequel to the Winter Paralympics.

Quick question for everyone here, not sure where else to put this...

I learned about the two Tomica Hero Rescue tokusatsu series and they sound AWESOME. Is TV-Nihon the only option for English subtitles for these shows? I'll use their subs if I must, but they're never my first choice.

Yes currently the only ones. It a shame too not because I’m trying to hate on them but their subs of this show are really old and the video quality ain’t great either.

Thanks for the quick response! I figured this would be the case, TV-Nihon is often the only group that tackles more obscure or unpopular series, but I still thought it would be worth asking. This is giving me flashbacks to watching some 2000s Rider shows with their subs and some truly awful video quality. The value of softsubs really becomes apparent in situations like this, since that would at least make it easier to fix the video quality problem...

Watched Gatchaman 2013. Well, I liked and impressed the film. The special effects may not be perfect, but they are very high quality and beautiful (the flying effect is especially good), the fights are exciting and well staged, the number of gadgets and their use confirms the name "scientist ninja team". Costumes are a separate delight. They are very cool and boldly updated so that they remain recognizable, but at the same time look fresh and modern. The idea to make the Black Swan separately is worth mentioning. I also have an idea that the 2017 Power Rangers remake, if they didn't see this movie, they were thinking in a similar way to its creators, because there are common design elements.
The plot doesn't disappoint either. Good fantasy action movie. Very appropriate humor, which found the golden mean between the absence and shadow of a smile and the transformation of characters into stand-up comedians. Perhaps the drama from the past was a little tense, but not because it was bad, but because it left most of the team out of work. There is also a sense that since Jetman was obviously inspired by the original Gatchaman anime, the writers felt they had the right to borrow elements from the most dramatic Sentai. No plagiarism, rather just ideas that then receive a different development.
The characters may not be super developed, but they are given enough not to look like cardboard types. Yes, and good actors help to revive their characters.
Gatchaman is a great thrilling movie that I recommend to anyone who hasn't seen it yet.
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/...pg_UX1000_.jpg

I ended up sitting down and binging 10 episodes of Tomica Hero Rescue Force and I might be a little obsessed. It wasn't quite what I expected! It feels like a show aimed at a particularly young audience even among tokusatsu, is very episodic, and definitely has a low budget feel. But... but! It's also just been incredibly unique so far! I remember back when I watched GoGoFive I found it rather frustrating and disappointing how it didn't really stick to its search and rescue premise very well later on, but this show has been incredibly dedicated to the same concept and it's very refreshing. The writing is... incredibly cheesy but so earnest it's hard not to enjoy. The hotbloodedness might already be angling to be the highest I've ever seen in a tokusatsu show. Yeah man, you rocket boost your drill mech across a lava field into an evil volcano while screaming, I frickin' love it. Hoping it can keep up the "explosively" high fun factor.

I am now down to the final four episodes of Space Sheriff Gavan. I should be able to finish the series in a week or two since I am juggling through other Toku shows at the same time. I am planning to start watching MegaBeast Investigator Juspion very soon since I got a hold of the series on Blu-Ray not too long ago. I might also start watching either Sharivan or Shaider very soon as well once I'm finished with Gavan.

It's worth going in order here because Sharivan appears in Shayder and the show assumes that the viewer is already familiar with this character. Also the history of Gavan continues in both series of his heirs.

As of yesterday, I managed to finish watching Space Sheriff Gavan. A very entertaining series all things considered. I wish they did more with the show's main story though and the villains aren't really anything special, sadly. Thankfully, Kenji Ohba's own performance and natural charisma as Retsu Ichijoji/Gavan and the show's own supporting cast really makes this show complete with an awesome opening theme song. I even just started watching Space Sheriff Sharivan.

Been intermittently watching Andro Melos, and it's pretty straightforward and budget-conscious. The story is unusually serialized for its time, but that's symptomatic of the fact that the series is one of short episodes and the battles themselves tend to be continued from one episode to the next. There aren't any human characters due to the space setting (and I imagine the lack of on-screen, in-person actors is also due to the obviously limited budget).

We have the title character who's aided by Wolf, Mars, and Floru. Their opponents are the Gua Army, who do the standard trope of blowing-up planets for universal conquest. Juda, Mold, and Gina are the main generals and they have various underlings like a trio of Alien Magma and "Fighting BEM".

The Gua Army has reappeared in recent years, with Juda appearing in Ultra Fight Victory, while Mold and (in-person actor) Gina in X during the team-up with Ginga and Victory. They had something of a cameo in The Absolute Conspiracy, and were pretty integral in The Destined Crossroads. Gina Spectre appeared in Crossroads in a visage more akin to the Melos series.

Melos himself has also reappeared in Conspiracy and Crossroads, but Wolf and Mars and Floru have yet to reappear in recent years. To that end, while I like the overall designs of the Andro Space Force members, I also feel like Floru is rather dated in both design and characterization. Floru is the only female member and she's given little to do, is dismissed and/or belittled by Melos and Mars and even the narrator, and is constantly acting in a stereotypical cross between petulant child and whiney ditz. That's not to say she isn't liked or respected as a member of the team, but it doesn't change the fact that Floru is definitely a "product" of her time. On a side note, her head design reminds me of B-Fighter Ageha (Ladyborg in Metallix and Machine General Tezzla in "Forever Red").

It's also interesting to have a spin-off Ultra Series that doesn't necessarily feature a conventional Ultra. I would like to find others like it, but I doubt there are many. Zero's team is based on a collection of old Tsuburaya shows, but I doubt any of them are canonical in any capacity with all things Ultra.

The odds of getting an official release of the Melos series are not promising. According to official statements, the Masters couldn't be located.

I still recommend it if you want something simple and short and just a little different (but not really).

Watched Zebraman 2004. I'll start with the cons: the video quality is terrible and the budget computer graphics of the early 2000s are very amateurish. Still, the characters are interesting, the villains are menacing, and the film is filled with love for both tokusatsu and western superheroes. The combination of humor and violent scenes is quite harmonious, albeit sometimes with too much. Zebraman is called a parody, but, as for me, this is more of a deconstruction of the genre. In some places it is also referred to as an art house, but don't let that scare you away. Now I'm getting ready to watch the second part, because, even from the annotation, it's clear that this is the best sequel that you can think of for such a film.
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/i...Zzgpw&usqp=CAU

I just finished watching Kidou Keiji Jiban. It's the fifth Metal Heroes installment I've watched so far and surprisingly, it has surpassed Spielvan as my favorite! The cast are very likable and intriguing, the drama can get real heavy and the story is nicely paced, varied and full of unexpected plot twists. Would strongly recommend for sure.

Janperson finally got fully subbed a few months ago, so I've decided that'll be next on my MH watchlist. Probably after I watch Goranger.

What are the other three Metal Heroes shows did you watch?

Much to my surprise, I’m really enjoying what I’m seeing with Sharivan so far. Jiban is definitely among the Toku shows I really want to watch at some point.

Sekai Ninja Sen and Winspector. The other one was the movie Onna Battle Cop.

Finished watching the Daimajin Kanon. A very bright and optimistic story. Impressions are only the best, although I can scold the crumpled ending and the episode of memories was also superfluous. The similarity to Hibiki is of course very strong, but this style and tropes are not so often used as to be boring. So if you liked the most unusual Kamen Rider, I advise you to watch this show as well. And don't make the mistake of expecting something like the Daimajin trilogy. Those films are also good, in their own way, but completely different.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D7w43nCXkAExQwP.jpg

Probably, this news was already somewhere, but I missed it. The first two episodes of the 4th season of Dogengers, Dogengers: Metropolis, have already been released. This time around, the story is about the police (Kamen Rider Drive's answer?) and starring Tsuchiya Shion (JK from Fourze). Just like in the past, characters from previous seasons will return.
https://tokuzilla.net/wp-content/upl...ropolis-01.jpg

I've now seen all of the Showa Gamera films and I liked the experience quite a lot. I'd even go as far as to say I generally found the madcap films more entertaining than the Showa Godzilla films (though the original Godzilla is still just incredible). Heck, even Super Monster was fascinating in a "how did this get greenlit" sort of way. Highly recommend giving these films a watch if you are up for some goofy old-fashioned Kaiju content! I'd say Barugon was my favorite of the films as "serious" entertainment, but as far as the really cheesy ones go I found Guiron quite enthralling.

As of yesterday, I am officially halfway through Space Sheriff Sharivan and I decided to take a bit of a break from the series due to wanting to catch up on my other Toku viewings. The show is still pretty enjoyable for what it is but it does get a bit repetitive after a while. Definitely not a show one can do a massive binge-watch on.

Started watching Giant Robo Ova. The beginning is slightly crumpled, throwing the viewer right into the thick of things, without wasting time on the origin. But the more interesting it will be to find out the solution to the tragic past of the characters. The characters are amazing, by the way. They play typical roles, but at the same time their characters are much larger than this and we are very easily given to understand that under other circumstances they could have acted completely differently. The anime format allows you to shoot something that is impossible live, and the anime itself is simply incredibly beautiful with its retro style and interesting finds. Although it is strictly contraindicated for epileptics to watch. I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't watched it.
https://otakuusamagazine.com/wp-cont...iant-Robo1.jpg

Rescue Force is done and dusted! It was an interesting series, even if it didn't always live up to its potential. I always have a hard time writing out my thoughts, so I decided to try and break it down into what I liked, what I didn't like, and just some neutral thoughts and observations.

The Good:

• I think the rescue theme of the show was handled well overall. It definitely drifted away from it later on but it always did feel like a show about saving people. I found it a far better effort on this front than GoGoFive.
• The CGI looked quite good for the time period and there was lots of shooting in more rural areas, which was becoming rather rare at the time!
• It definitely had a unique feeling all around, it was refreshing to see a big TV tokusatsu that wasn't from Toei or Tsuburaya and it often did things in a way that was unusual.
• The commander is great and I think Hikaru and Kyousuke had a surprisingly compelling dynamic, nice balance of them annoying the hell out of each other and being genuine pals.

The Bad:

• There's no two ways about it. This show feels low budget even for a tokusatsu of the era. The lack of suits and props could make the episodes really blur together at times.
• After a certain point you just start to feel bad for Rei and Juri and their sheer lack of stuff to do in most episodes. Rei at least got a decent amount of episodes dedicated to her, but Juri didn't get nearly as much. You definitely get the impression the writers wanted to do more with them but it wasn't "marketable".
• There isn't much of an overarching plot and the episodic plots could be hit or miss. I almost wish the series was half its actual length. I still can't believe that arc about choosing a new commander where Hikaru was made commander for a single episode after a bunch of build up and it was completely undone before the episode was over.
• The R1 Max suit looks awful, I can't stand it.
• This show has a baaaaad case of stock footage overuse. Feels like I'm watching Precure or something...

The Neutral:

• I mentioned this in my previous post, but this show definitely feels like it is aimed at an even younger audience than your standard tokusatsu. This isn't a "bad" thing per se, but it does mean you shouldn't expect anything too thought provoking.
• Man, what's with all the weird horny energy?
• I definitely feel like the show shills Hikaru a bit too much for my taste. I like him well enough but these sorts of characters who push through everything on guts alone without ever majorly messing up bore me a bit. Since the show is aimed so young I don't think it was all that interested in exploring a failed rescue though, so I'll give it a pass.

So overall it was an intriguing experience and I liked a lot of the concepts. I'm very curious about how Rescue Fire compares to this. Is it better, worse, or maybe a bit of both? Regardless it was an interesting look into what lies outside of the more mainstream tokusatsu and I can't help but think about the potential of the series had it lasted more than 2 shows. I'll give Rescue Fire a watch eventually, but for now I should wrap up watching Kamen Rider Saber...

For the last couple of days, I finally continued right where I left off on Space Sheriff Sharivan and I am now up to the episode where Reidar makes his first official introduction to the series.

I now have the greatest Toku show ever made :D
https://www.tokunation.com/forums/at...1&d=1683732370

But why tho?

1- Why not?

2- I have nostalgic attachment to it from watching on TV.

Watched the first episode of Voltes V: Legacy. In general, you can watch. There are strong fan project vibes due to the overuse of CGI and cheap costumes (I'm sure you could find a better material than paper for an alien prince's collar). But, on the other hand, I liked the scope. Maybe I would like less tense faces of the characters, but the transformation is gorgeous, and everything related to the robot looks very good. I loved hearing the theme song from the original anime, but making it the theme song of the show without even translating and updating it is not so great anymore.

Managed to watch a few more episodes of Space Sheriff Sharivan. 42 episodes down, 9 to go. I might be able to finish this series in a week or two and possibly start off on Space Sheriff Shaider after that.

I watched "Attack of the Supermonsters" - an Americanized film of 4 episodes of the series "Dinosaur War Isenborg". The show is a combination of miniature cities and vehicles, as well as costumed monsters with animated people. You can watch for the sake of general acquaintance, because the idea is interesting, but the result is not justified. The animation looks bad, the repetition of frames is constant, the Americanization as a whole is unsuccessful and does not suit the project. The fights are quite brutal, especially the last two. In general, we can praise the effort invested in the project, but not all experiments end successfully.
https://images.kinorium.com/movie/20...jpg?1515460485

As of last night, I finally finished watching Sharivan and I am currently starting on Shaider which is the third and final series of the Space Sheriff trilogy and also happens to be one of the the three shows that was used as source material for VR Troopers along with two Metal Heroes shows that came after being Spielban and Metalder respectively.

This may seem like a dumb question but does one have to watch Janperson and Blue Swat in their entirety before jumping into the first B-Fighter series considering the appearances of the heroes of the former two series in the latter's final two episodes? I'm considering having that as one of the Metal Heroes shows I'm planning to watch next along with Juspion and Jiban. This question also extends to whether or not to watch Jiraiya before jumping into Jiban albeit to a much lesser extent due to one of the characters from Jiraiya being featured in one of the episodes of said series.

Not at all, but if you are afraid of spoilers, then it is better at least to the middle, because by that time Toei had already mastered power-ups and final forms.

I've seen the B-Fighter Crossover more than once over the past couple of years, but I never finished Janperson or even watched a single episode of Blue Swat that I can remember. Doesn't really dampen the enjoyment of the two episode crossover though.

I do think that I might understand things differently if I had seen the other two series prior, and it's just another thing to add to the list of shows I'm procrastinating on.

And it's finally here! Took some time to upload but it's finally here! Tattooed Teenage Alien Fighters From Beverly Hills the complete series in DVD quality is now available to download on Internet Archive. Enjoy this silly show and see what you were missing.
https://archive.org/details/tattooed...es-dvd-quality

You have done a great service to the tokusatsu community this day, people can finally see the show in its full SD glory.

(Really though, thanks. It can be hard to track stuff like this down!)

Downloading. Thank you.

I am now back to watching Space Sheriff Shaider on which I am now up to episodes 17 and 18. I can definitely see why Annie is considered as a major fan favorite for a lot of people in this series.