Just watched the first episode of Daimajin Kanon.

Usually these non KR SS toku shows have measly budgets, at least from my experiences, so it blew me away how epic and movie like this opening episode was. I'm assuming they won't be able to afford to keep this up for the whole series but it is welcome here.

My only real issue is it is damn slow, the majority of the first episode was fanservice - no complaints from me and the sort of hipster cinematography you usually get in like indie romance flicks. Once again, no real complaints, but ain't this supposed to be toku?

Still, when the supernatural and the action does start, it's pretty great. The show does horror very well, there is some real creepy shit, but also the violence feels less fantastical than in your usual toku superhero show. People get hurt, badly here and people die.

Sadly though, on the other hand, the sparks, explosion and wirefu of toku superhero shows does a great job of creating comic book like action on a budget. I've gotten into drunken brawls outside of pubs that are more fantastical than the action included here. So for every time the action works, by feeling grounded, there is another time when you're wondering why two super powered beings fight so statically and boringly.

I've not had a chance to watch it myself, but from what I gather Daimajin Kanon is just as much a J-Drama show in terms of story content.

Also, have you tried Garo yet?

It was kinda trying too hard to be a drama, I felt. Most of the stuff around the girl in this episode was shots of her looking out through windows and making vague comments that emo kids will put as their facebook status, all with the acting ability of January Jones, as in she kinda just stood there, wide eyed, staring into the camera with bewilderment.

I watched the first half, of the first season, of Garo. I really enjoyed it, but at the time I didn't have a forum to chat to people about Toku, and so I eventually lost the motivation to watch it.

Daimajin Kanon had, at the time, the largest budget ever for a tokusatsu series. Given that it was made in 2010, that record likely still stands.

The thing to keep in mind about Kanon, though, is that if you're expecting an action-packed superhero show like Kamen Rider or Super Sentai, you're going to be disappointed. The show's main focus is, first and foremost, on the character interactions and Kanon's depression. There are still scenes with the Ipadada and Onbakes every episode, but a lot of them go by pretty quickly and they can often be interspersed with more scenes between Kanon and whoever she's interacting with during the current storyline. If you can't get past that, you probably won't like the show very much. If it works for you, though, you'll likely love the show.

Character drama and romance are both fine with me, but it does seem a little odd to include monsters and action into your romance drama, if you're gonna do it so crappily. It didn't feel quite as tacked on as the Megazord sections of an episode of Power Ranger's, but with all the careful artistic imagery of the episode, the clunky static fight in the alley felt brutally half arsed and uneeded.

I don't know who did the action direction for the show, but I can tell you that some of the later fights do get better. They're never on par with a more action-centric show like Garo, though.

I just got my incredibly inexpensive Daimajin Trilogy Blu-Rays in. Very excited to watch these films this week. Loved what I've seen of Daimajin Kanon but wanted to see the originals before finishing the series.

I have the older Daimajin DVDs; they are very unique among their daikaiju brethren!

The 1st Daimajin film

I have to say that the video quality of these blu-rays is absolutely excellent. In no way does this film look like it was made in 1966. It looks late 80's early 90's at worst quality wise. The way Kimiyoshi Yasuda captured the characters and era is flawless. The cinematography of this film is top notch.

The rebellion which begins the movie is a brash move on the part of Samonouske but he's obviously gained so much support that it was child's play to topple the peaceful lord and kill him. But as always the noble lords supporters will find a way and Kogenta rescues the prince and princess, keeping them safe in secret for 10 years. 10 years over which Samanouske's tiny empire grows but so does his opposition from with in and out. It's of course a struggle we've seen time and again in various media where a person in a seat of power is deposed and their successors eventually return to claim their true place from those who wronged them in the past. But this film is something special. It's not often I can be wowed by an film that's pre-1980. But the production quality and acting alone knock this film out of the park.

Tadafumi is your typical hot headed hero but he's much more reserved than you'd normally see. His master Kagenta taught him well in their years of exile, though Kagenta obviously learned no new tricks as he's caught rather easily. Then Tadafumi is also captured by a fake out :lol The titular character appears after this, nearly an hour in, because Samonouske literally incurs the wrath of god when he kills the old priestess, brutally. By attempting to destroy the statue which guards the majin of the mountain he incurs it's wrath.

Daimajin's wrath is both grand and sinister. When Samonouske's men attempt to drive giant nails into it to break it, and instead blood poors out on them, that visual is terrifying in an incredible way. The land and sky tear apart as the wrath of god awakens to smite these fools. The effects used to show all of this are also breathtaking for the era. And this is all before it even begins to live and walk. In order to wake his spirit the princess offers to sacrifice herself, and this deed though not followed through with awakens the angry god.

His descent on the village is as equally terrifying to the villagers as the lord and his warriors. Daimajin's wrath really is wide sweeping. An almost eclipse occurs when the creature arrives on the scene and begins mowing down the lords men. Probably the best moment of the film is after Daimajin "rescues" Kagenta and Tadafumi rather roughly. He then proceeds to pick up and tear to shreds the gates which separate Samonouske from the lands he controls. Though when the lords men trying to feebly trap the beast with mere chains, in the process they destroy the buildings the chains are anchored too. It's quite entertaining and a close second for me. The way these miniatures scenes are mixed with physical filming is simply flawless.

Overall this film instills a true feeling of terror and belief in the supernatural, in the sense that the characters know the unjust will be brought to justice , in the most severe fashion. Samonouske's death is perhaps the most brutal, deservedly so as he's cornered like a mouse and taken by Daimajin as a play thing. Daimajin removes the spike from his head, which the lords men had earlier driven into him, to then impale Samonouske and ends his reign abruptly.

But as is the case here, Daimajins' wrath is Indiscriminate. After the lord and his men are finished, his attention turns to blind attacks on the villagers. Only the princess with a selfless act can stop him. The statue then turns to dust as though it had never even truly been there.....

Thus ending perhaps one of the best sci-fi/kaiju films I've ever had the pleasure of viewing. I CAN NOT wait to watch the next 2 films. This blu-ray set was a steal for $12 on Amazon. Here's the link for anyone who wants to join me in my viewings. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...hr&tag=baii-20

Return of Daimajin

As brilliant and original as the first film was this one is a major retread of the plot. In a different land this time, a jealous lord from beyond the mountains seeks control of 2 neighboring kingdoms. So he takes over these completely peaceful lands and kills scores of innocent people. All because the people of his land have been seeking refuge in the neighboring lands. Different circumstance for the bad guy, but the same basic premise.

As is the notion that destroying the statue of Daimajin will prove there are no such things as demons or god's wrath to invoke. The difference this time is that the statue is literally blown up and the only wrath you see if some furious red lightning. Daimajin also grants princess Sayuri and her aid safety from the explosion and following avalanche of stone and deadly lightning. He even delivers the missing lord of Chigusa, Juro, mostly safely to Sayuri. Daimajin is a bit more forgiving this go around if you ask me. And all of this good will is because Sayuri offered to sacrifice her life to awaken the god, just like the last film.

This movie even goes so far as to replicate Tadafumi's failed infiltration from the first film. Juro and his sidekick are the infiltrators, though they successfully kidnap the evil lord Danjo who has taken there land, they fail to keep him for long. The climax forms similarly as well, with the heroes being strung up to be killed and Daimajin coming to the "rescue". Daimajin's rampage is nearly identical to the first film, even down to Danjos men trying to tie it up like an AT-AT on Hoth. It destroys everything in it's path yet again and when the deed is done he leaves the fair maiden alive and then disappears. Instead of turning into a pile of dust he becomes water.

This film was good but not nearly as good as the first. Hardly a sequel, this film could have been watched first and still be taken as though it were the first in the series. I really wish there was a better definition of time and relation between the films. When/where do they take place and are they at all in relation to each other?

KITSubs has released the first episode of their new project: Akumaizer-3 (aka those evil dudes from Ultimatum). It's really weird, but there are a lot of crazy ideas in it that I kinda love and some interesting attempts to work around the low budget.

Ooh, I definitely need to check that out!

Gransazer 7.
I like how all the Gransazers' different jobs and such leads to antics in everyday situations, not just "hey let's all go to where the monster is".
That's another thing, there's still not any monsters in this show, just Gransazer versus Gransazer. I like this idea, it's unique(Kamen Rider sorta had this with shows like Ryuki, but there were still kaijin), shame it's destined not to keep up.

I gave up on Gransazer in the end, the mech stuff was rocking and I loved the suit designs, but it has to be one of the lowest quality toku productions I've ever seen. I've seen Youtube fan films that seem to have a higher budget, it really let a show down, that could have been amazing.

I tried to watch the first ep of Bima Satria Garuda. I only got halfway through, it simply didn't grab me.

The show has a nice old school feel to it, so fans of older toku may enjoy it.

I watched the first episode of Akumaizer 3 from KITsubs and it is absolutely fantastic, lots of intrigue and superhero action. Really silly animation but I really enjoyed it, I hope it gets subbed fast.

Just watching the first episode of Armor Hero. 'Old Wang', 'Dong Shan', arf.

Anyway, that was dull. Not even a single proper fight scene in the whole episode! It also felt profoundly cheap, from the acting to the writing to the special effects. Bleh.

Just popped in JOHNNY SAKKO AND HIS FLYING ROBOT from Netflix.

It is a glorious thing.

(/o_O)/ -'-'-

Well, in that case, I am watching Supernatural as my "Other Toku" series. I've already justified my reasoning for why it's toku.

So I just watched the first episode of Supaidaman and my God it was GLORIOUS! It takes Spider-Man, removes everything about it that is to do with Spider-Man and replaces it all with the drug fuelled insanity that is 70's tokusatsu (this Spider-Man has a giant robot, and one that actually looks better than most sentai robos) while still being totally self aware - especially with the gloriously shitty special effects. I need more of this in my life.

I watched the next episode of Supaidaman. Although it is still very 70s, this episode was actually pretty good. Turning Spider-Man into a space epic with tokusatsu sensibilities.

I love the way they use funky editing, to hide the fact they have no real special effects budget.

Third episode of Supaidaman.

Why would Spider-Man address himself as 'emissary from hell'?

Anyway this episode was terrible, it felt much more like a classic Spider-Man story, but I guess due to budget reasons there was more narration than action.

I'm watching Armor Hero, this is so stupid... but i can't look away. :lol

Perhaps he was prophesying One More Day?:lol

:lol

Just watched the first episode of Tekkoki Mikazuki. It was absolutely brilliant. A convoluted mythology, and slapdash pacing don't ultimately hamper such an insane, and fun experience.

The first episode is about a boy, his giant robot and a firebreathing one hundred foot long piece of watermelon. Yes, it is just as wonderful as it seems. Especially considering, although spotty, the production values are mostly pretty impressive. I mean sure, it seems to constantly feel like a lost straight to VHS flick from forty years ago, not fifteen, but Inoue and Amemiya blur together a wide range of famous tokusatsu elements and wrap it in this surreal psychedelic haze, creating one nightmare you don't wanna wake up from.

Perhaps best of all though, is the giant stuff isn't shit. I've never been much of a fan of the giant toku stuff, yes even Godzilla, I dunno. I know part of tokusatsu's charm is it rises above its inherent cheapness with imagination but I dunno, seeing obviously rubber suits stumble about cardboard buildings on an obvious soundstage is the only time really where no amount of imagination can paint over the cracks because it is just that shit.

Here the miniatures are just as obviously miniatures - there is one point where an ultimate weapon is revealed and they make no attempt at all to hide its plasticiness, so it becomes unintentionally laughable - and the cardboard buildings are still obviously cardboard, but the show adds weight and more naturally mech like movement to the giant robots (rather than say sentai robos, which move with all the complexity and freedom of humans for no adequately explained reasons, like you think they'd build stuff less flimsy, right?) and it also utilises lots of very detailed close ups, and semi-decent close ups to help heighten a sense of reality to the proceedings.

The giant action is also ridiculous, in the best possible way. When Kazeo first pilots Mikazuki, they take down a whole city block just by landing, right before the Idom chucks a building at them and the two giants show off their explosive, raw power. Sure I wish it looked a bit more convincing, but this is just glorious.

Just watched the second episode, which was sadly, not nearly as good as the opening one.

The second episode is also shorter, by almost half an hour, which is a shame as if anything this episode needed more time, as it has to both deal with the fallout of the previous episode and continue the battle as well.

The shorter length seems to actively undermine the episodes point. Idea Monsters are shaped by our most poignant memories, and so to suddenly involve a member of AIT without any context or build up, made it feel emotionally flat when it was trying so hard to make it emotionally engaging. And then just when it seemed to reach a head, it ended, assuming bland imagery played in slow motion = emotional resonance.

And that isn't even mentioning the fact of how fucked up it all is. Especially considering the goofy fun of the first episode, honestly, tonally, the episodes are so different it feels like they could be from two entirely separate shows

Luckily the action is still great, considering this weeks IDOM was basically just a door, it looked really impressive and The Presidents collection of claptrap robots are pretty awesome. It just had so much going on, especially when AIT randomly turned up with three futuristic jets and joined in on the action.

Perhaps most enjoyable though, is like GARO, most of the fighting takes place in populated urban environments, to heighten the sense of threat and reality.

I really liked the ninja dude as well, both because he had a cool design, but it also made the episode feel so epic that there was this giant war raging in the city, and then there was, running alongside it, a much simpler but emotionally much more powerful battle raging at the same time.

Ironically perhaps the worst fight in the episode was when Mikazuki himself got involved. The suit limits movement in mostly logical ways considering he is a giant robot, but in some ways it just looks a little awkward. His face, I only just noticed, is super derpy and the choice to do most of his movement with CGI is a blessing in that he can actually move freely, but it looks really really bad. 2014 toku cgi is at the quality of early 00s CGI from the US. So toku CGI from nearly fifteen years ago, dates the show by like an extra twenty years. Not to mention that this fight was much, much shorter, and not nearly as much of a spectacle of raw awesome power.

Episode three of Mikazuki is best described as problematic. Mainly because, in many senses, this was both the very best, and the very worst episode, all at the same time. The main problem, and the main plus, was there was just so much going on, and although everything going on was interesting, it also felt a bit like the show was chucking shit at the wall and seeing what sticks.

First we learn that Kiba, a character who has predominantly stood in the background so far and has done more as a suit actor, than a character, is dealing with the weight of his fathers suicide, and his lack of understanding leading up to it and after it also.

It's compelling stuff, and beautifully realised, but the show had made no attempt to make me care about Kiba, and as this plot arc has little to no wider ramifications, it just came off as sort of graititious. this episode should have been his, not the President's. Baka, trying to go for the martyr end to his character, in an episode that isn't even his!

Yes, that is the other problem, this episode should have been his, not the President's. The image the IDOM takes, is actually something much more personal to Kiba and his character arc this episode is far more compelling than the Presidents marriage interview, comedy missfire thing, but I guess the President is hot so it should be her episode or something.

Then, tacked on for good measure, there is the drunk leader of the not sentai team, who is trying to repair his marriage and eventually has a crisis of faith in his abilities, which all primarily takes place off screen. Wonderful.

It's true GARO rose above its flaws by having such strong characters, but their character arcs felt like they were directly woven into the plot at hand, not just awkwardly layered around the sides, for the show to detour down when it got bored with its main plot. Longer episodes, shouldn't mean more time wasting.

Still, the episode did create a pretty believable explanation for why the whole thing is so Small World, where the danger constantly clings to them, and goes after all the main characters or the people in their immediate vicinity that care for them.

Plus the clusterfuck nature of the episode, really suited the action. This felt like the most epic battle yet, with the amount of footage recorded from real city streets using extras, rather than seeing bits of polystyrene falling on toy cars, acting as collateral damage. Plus it's also nice that as the show is so short, we can have the enemies make a direct attack this early on. Mikazuki's subtle transformation into a Flying Form was pretty sweet as well.

Episode Four of Mikazuki.

What is it about Akane and sending the show off track? Sure the stalker stuff was suitably weird and creepy but it was also pointless. And although the stuff involving the boy and his girlfriend isn't technically filler, the boy is such a terrible actor and is as much in the background as anyone else, I found it hard to care.

Luckily everything else about the episode was just wonderful. We learnt more about Mikazuki, some things unspoken, other things that the show forces you to assume. All I know is, this is a show about so much more than a giant robot now, and I'm so excited to see where the show is taken for the last two episodes.

The action was incredible this week, the IDOM was a bit of a Godzilla rip off but that was largely on purpose and the suit was really awesome. He mainly existed to show off a few things though, really, so it was lucky both of those things were awesome. First was the new Gekkouki model, which was pretty sweet but also totally pointless. And Singetsu, whose introduction was just so fucking cool.

Episode five of Mikazuki.

Episode five was one of the toku episodes, where the action was so great, it largely alleviated beyond how shitty the actual plot was. First we have the return of that awesome cyber ninja thing, in an admittedly crappy location of a child's playground, but I'm grateful to have a non giant fight.

The giant fight involved a giant out of control robot, which moved like any second he was going to topple over, but this show does the giant stuff even better than Go-Busters did, so its little rampage really was very enjoyable. Especially as Singetsu flew off to stop a Nuclear Missile, leaving Mikazuki behind to clean up. It really was epic stuff.

Although sadly undermined with Singetsu being turned evil almost immediately afterwards. But then, seeing the two Giant Magic Golems clash has been what we've been waiting for, right? And man was it worth the wait.

But yes, I can't really ignore just how poorly written this episode was. In itself the core plot was fine, it dealt with the ramifications and repercussions of there now being two giant super golems, as we see the characters contemplate the future and the direction this will steer their lives. This is especially true of Akane, who is carrying the weight of an entire company on her back, and is also simultaneously running it into the ground. The problem with all this, however, is it is so painfully drawn out and meandering that any poignancy from the plot is wasted.

Any suggestions for some metal hero series? I love the B-Fighter series and want to branch out to some of the other MH shows.

The ones that are fully subbed. So, none.

I really don't care if they're subbed or not :lol

Mad man! MAD MAN!
So, uh, I hear Metalder's good?

Garo: Yami o Terasu Mono Episode 1
Oh my God that opening sequence was fucking amazing! The visuals, the music. Just all around awesome!

So this Ryuga, he's uh, quite the guy. That was a hell of an opening scene. Dude just straight up crashed a wedding and murdered a girl (yes I am aware she was a horror). Though how (at the point I'm at in the episode) is he not going to get caught? I mean a lot of people saw his face and could probably describe him really well. You know unless they partake in the no snitching rule.

Nevermind. SG-1, they uh, don't look like your friendly neighborhood police department now do they? Damn! That chase scene and rooftop fight was (get ready to see me use this a lot) awesome! The action was just so fluid and dynamic. The stun work looked really good and is definitely not the type of stuff I've seen in Kamen Rider o Sentai. Just damn!

I see that the news in Volcity covers up stuff. Just like over news stations most of the time :lol

Why was somebody like you asked to go to Volcity? Maybe because you hunt horrors, and there was a horror reported or detected in the city? So you know, they sent you to do your job? I'm really hoping the whole "I'm alone and have nobody" thing doesn't get to out of hand in the show. I tend to really dislike characters who are constantly talking about how they're so "alone" and whatnot.

I like Ryuga. He seems a bit cocky (and with the whole alone thing could possibly become a bit pretentious) but I like him. He genuinely seems like a good mannered and natured man, he here to do what he has to. I really like the scenes of him just walking about and interacting with the people (though why that lady gave him her sandwich I don't quite understand).

Wait what? He can hear what statues are thinking? That's an odd power. And it's not just statues but flowers, and I guess any object? Okay then, guess it's a side power of being a knight.

Holy hell was that reveal of the face scary! Like a friggen facehugger and shit. How come the blood is CGI? Could they not do physical fake blood? As far as I know (and been told by a friend in Japan), blood isn't that big of a deal. And I would especially think so considering this is an adult late night show. But eh, no biggie.

What's this point stuff about? They trying to see who can get the highest score on kills or something? Not sure about Burai and the other two feelings wise though. I do like how Burai's cape acts as like a portal, and the blonde guy does seem kinda cool going off of this. But considering they just now popped up I can't say much. Ryuga may have just shown up as well but the whole episode was centered around him, so it's easy to already form an opinion of him, where as these other three just popped up at the end. But I digress.

Well, I loved it! It was a great episode. It had beautiful fight/stunt work and choreography, the acting was good, the effects were gorgeous (though you can obviously tell that they are indeed effects), and the music is just epic. It's got a nice blend of classical, rock, and some country/Spanish music. I like Ryuga, and he's the only character I can really speak about at the moment.

So all around I quite enjoyed my first episode of a Garo show. I am definitely going to watch more of this show and the others!

Hm. I'm not sure what I'm missing. I watched the first episode about 2 weeks ago, and I hated it. It was slow, cheap*, and meandering. And instead of presenting distinct characters in conflict, it gave us cliched Gundam archetypes joylessly bumping against each other.

The story reminded of a 6-year-old slamming his Sentai action figures against his Godzilla models. And oh, hey, here's a random slice of watermelon that's lying around. Let's get that in on the action, too.

Sure, once Mikazuki is introduced, the action is super badass. And yeah, there are some interesting visuals. But that is not fucking enough for me. Mary Sue Fanfic Boy and his vapid military pals are not a cast I can route for.

*Cheapness isn't usually a problem for me. In fact, I usually find it charming. But something about this show's "this is how a toku show should be done, you idiots" attitude makes the budget limitations off-putting. If you're gonna be arrogant, your production better be flawless.

I watched the first 15 minutes the other night before falling asleep. I actually liked it better than the first episode (even with its dumbass "oh, what a coincidence that an AIT member is responsible for the Idom" element) because it presented a modicum of character development. Of course, it wasn't enough to keep me awake, but it may have been enough to get me to give the rest of the series a chance. Once the foul taste of the first episode is washed out of my mouth.

I did a film degree for three years, and film studies for two years before that, I'm at the point in my life where if the action is fun I can ignore everything else.

After rereading my post, I worry I may have been needlessly harsh on Mikazuki. Just so you know, I'm not attacking your preferences. Just expressing my disagreement. Now that that's out of the way...

I did 4 years of play/screenwriting at NYU, so I'm with you to an extent. It's why I watch shows like KR and SS to begin with -- they rarely ask to be held to a high critical standard, so watching them is a well-deserved break for my typically overtaxed critical faculties. :lol

But... when a show screams out, "take me seriously," I can't help but respond in kind. Mikazuki wants to be taken seriously. It's pitch is essentially, "tokusatsu done right, for grown ups." As a consequence, I apply the critical eye I usually withhold from Super Sentai and Kamen Rider.

The results were... not in Mikazuki's favor. :lol

I dunno. I kinda feel like you're missing the point. It's a show where the opening episode involves a dinosaur watermelon. I'm pretty sure the one thing the show doesn't want to be taken, is seriously. There is obviously still your typical melodrama, but this isn't GARO. It's a show about a man on a soundstage kicking over cardboard buildings. I HATE tokusatsu giant stuff with a passion, but I love this show because it still manages to be so fun.

I'm missing something, that's for sure. :lol

Maybe "serious" isn't the best word. It's certainly not a serious show. But it does present itself as elevated above the standard Toku fare, and it invites you to engage with it on a more sophisticated level than SS or KR. When it fails, it naturally invites more sophisticated criticism.

When???

It's a show about giant robots, that parodies Ultraman, Sentai and Kamen Rider in the same breath. I don't get where you're getting this arrogance from in the show. It just plays around and revels in toku silliness.

Maybe it's the budget. Even if it looks cheap, it's still the highest budgeted TV show in Japan up to that point.

Maybe it's the format. It's an hour long show, so it naturally attempts at having a more complex story.

Maybe it's the target audience. The show aired in prime time and was targeted to adult fans of the genre.

Maybe it's the reputation of the creators. Both of whom are famous for presenting "adult, gritty" takes on juvenile genres.

Maybe it's the incorporation of Asian religious iconography. Maybe its the depiction of hallucinogenic-drug-inspired psychedelia. Maybe its the intensity of the violence.

Maybe it's a combination of all of the above that makes me think it's aiming to be more sophisticated than its counterparts.

After reading through this, I'll admit -- It's certainly possible my disappointment is a question of expectations bred from the above listed elements not being met, as opposed to the show actually being bad. It's possible these elements are confusing my viewing of the show -- that these sophistication-signifiers are interfering with the creators' intent. But I'm dubious.


And maybe I watched it wrong (if such a thing is possible), but I don't see it as a parody. A parody invites you to laugh at the events depicted -- it's farcical, and it is inherently cynical. I see this show as being borne from a deep, genuine, borderline-maudlin love for the genre that is most definitely not cynical. It wants you to laugh with it, not laugh at it. I'll agree it's an homage, one that revels in silliness, but I didn't get parody at all.

And maybe that's part of the problem -- if it were a parody, I'd at least get what it was going for. The way it is, though... there's too much playing around and not enough meaning.

"Maybe it's the incorporation of Asian religious iconography. Maybe its the depiction of hallucinogenic-drug-inspired psychedelia. Maybe its the intensity of the violence. "

Huh? Have you actually watched this show? I like you bro, but your arguments are shitty. You can't judge a show you haven't actually seen, and make wild statements that aren't true. You ESPECIALLY can't hate a show for its budget or what other works were made by its creators. Especially considering GARO is probably the best toku show ever made.

And then at the end, what ARE you arguing? One second you say it's too complex, the next you say it isn't complex enough. It's like you want to hate the show, before actually watching the show.

Like I said earlier, I've only watched the first episode and the first 15 minutes of the second. I think my criticisms of that are pretty valid...?

And I've never said the story is too complex or not complex enough. I've said that the characters are too thinly conceived. Story is a different beast entirely. I bring up complexity because complexity tends to go hand-in-hand with a story's sophistication level.

I'm arguing that based on a number of elements, this show is attempting to be more sophisticated than your average toku show. As such, it opens itself up to more sophisticated criticisms than SS or KR or Ultra or Godzilla. And that normally, the elements that turn me off wouldn't turn me off were the show not presented in this more sophisticated/for-adults package.

Nope. You've barely scratched the surface of the plot, yet. The first half of the show is pretty much just a long piece of introduction, with the show really starting in the fourth episode. Your idea of what the show is, is wrong, because you won't know what the show is until the second half of the show.

The character focus is pretty weak, and the cast is much too large, especially when the truth behind the plot is revealed and you learn that it was never really about them.

I thought I was clear that I wasn't criticizing the whole series, just the first 1.5 hours of it. I think I've said elsewhere that I could believe it gets better. Apologies if I gave off the impression that my criticism applied to the series as a whole. I took for granted that it did not.

When you asked, "when???" in response to my assertion that the show aims to be more sophisticated than other Toku, I gave what I thought were pretty good reasons (which you think are shitty, and that's fair). I still think those reasons are good (esp the religious/psychedelic/violence ones -- at least as far as episode one is concerned. Those are certainly signifiers of a sophisticated story). And I'm not saying that everyone does or should respond to these signifiers by applying a more strenuous level of criticism -- just that I do. And because that's how I react, this show is subject to criticisms I wouldn't levy against other, perhaps worse, shows in the same genre.

I'd just like to clarify an earlier comment. For the sake of my argument, complexity and sophistication aren't the same thing. A thing can be needlessly complex and still lack sophistication. A thing can be elegantly simple and ooze sophistication. I believe that people who create complex plots often think that a complex plot, on it's own, is an indication of sophistication. So the existence of a complex plot often suggests that the creator's intent is sophistication. I hope that makes sense.

To address one point you've made:
Regarding not judging something based on a creator's past work, I think that's an admirable ideal to strive for. But I'm not sure that's actually possible because no work exists in a vacuum, especially not in our hyperconnect world. A creator's attachment, whether rightly or wrongly, breeds expectations. Those expectations color one's interpretation of the work. We can strive to limit the extent to which they do, but if a creator is known for sophisticated, adult-oriented work, I think it's a natural tendency to engage all work by that creator in a similar way.

Well there wasn't extreme violence, religious iconography or psychedelics in the first episode, let alone the later ones. it's just baffling, because I literally have no idea what you're talking about, it's like you watched an entirely different show.