[Fish Sandwich]

For the most part, the competition for a lot of these categories is super tight for me this year, so just know ahead of time that if you're surprised I picked something over some other thing, the other thing may very well have been a close second. Or third. Or fourth. You get the idea.

Best New Show of 2019:
Tokusatsu GaGaGa, the show so good, I'm snubbing Taiga just so you all know what a mistake you've made by ignoring it. And before someone tries to argue semantics on this one since it's mostly a drama, every episode of this show has legit hero tokusatsu scenes in there somewhere, so it counts!

Look, this series aired all the way back in January, and it's been in my mind and in my heart this whole time. It came largely out of nowhere for what turned out to be an extremely memorable, short but sweet run of seven episodes. It took what could've been a very niche, and yet also trite premise, and went above and beyond to tell a heartfelt, thoughtful story about navigating the complex and often scary web that is human socialization. It's a show about being a nerd, but it's also so much more than that, transcending its own concept to create a series so intensely relatable, I maintain you wouldn't even have to be into tokusatsu yourself for it to resonate with you. But everyone here already is, which is all the more reason to go give it at least an episode or two already!

Best New-to-You Show of 2019:
Madan, freakin' Senki, Ryukendo. I already did a huge post about this one, so I don't have much to say I haven't already, but this show totally rocked my socks off. It's the purified essence of hero tokusatsu, and so much fun I feel happier merely remembering that I watched it, let alone how much fun that part was.

Best Rewatch of 2019:
Now, given the absurd volume of Rider shows I went back through this year, you might expect me to pick one of those, but there is absolutely no way I can give this to anything other than Lupinranger VS Patranger, the Sentai so nice, I watched it twice.

Like, literally as soon as it was over, I started going back through an episode or two a week because I simply refused to accept that it was over. This show has quickly become an all-time favorite for me, and while nothing can ever replace Go-Busters as my favorite Sentai, I think LuPat might actually beat it out in terms of raw entertainment value. The slick action, the punchy dialogue, the developed characters, the atmosphere that is equal parts traditional Sentai goofiness, serious crime drama, and somewhat irreverent comedy, LuPat is a combination of just about everything I could ever want in a show, and that makes it so, so hard to put down.

Really hard to put down. Look forward to 2020, when LuPat is also going to be my best rewatch of the year. Look, what can I say, the show's a masterpiece, alright? Bandai had to make that Memorial Set because it killed it so hard.

Best Movie of 2019:
I'm pretty sure I saw the LuPat movie this year? Which is good, because I can't think of a single other toku flick this year that left me particularly satisfied. Heisei Generations Forever was a little uneven, the Ultraman R/B movie had a bunch of great individual pieces that lacked cohesion, and both of the Build New World movies turned out to be total flatlines, and huge middle fingers to me for ever being invested in Build. I actually just got done watching Grease right before writing this, assuming it'd at least be in the running for this award, so the wound is pretty fresh right now, but you know, fool me twice...

Best Male Lead Character:
Hiroyuki from Ultraman Taiga. I can't actually articulate this one too well, because on the surface, he's just a blandly nice, heroic dude, but something about the execution just makes him work so well. He plays off the more complex world around him in proper audience surrogate fashion, and as such his eagerness and enthusiasm just kinda rub off on me when I'm watching the show. He also mixes a polite, borderline submissive attitude with unshakable, hotblooded determination whenever there's some good to be done, which is a fun contrast.

Best Female Lead Character:
Nakamura from Tokusatsu GaGaGa, because I haven't cheated enough yet!

In all seriousness though, she's an even better audience surrogate type of lead than Hiroyuki, and being the main character, is kind of the nexus of all the things that made GaGaGa such a winner of a series for me. The kind of worries she has about everything in her life are portrayed in exquisite detail, and one of the things that most impresses me about the whole show, that really speaks to how realistic it can be despite being a feel-good dramedy above all else, is how it's never afraid to show that for how anxious she can get about how other people perceive her, she's often just as guilty of making assumptions about people based on her own limited perspective. It's all very three dimensional, and the kind of thing that made this show stick with me so much.

Best Male Supporting Character:
Homare from Taiga. What a bro this guy is. Like Kiwami said, he's got a really developed character with being an in-the-closet alien and everything, which all ties into Taiga's great central theme about coexistence and everything and is great, but really? I mostly like him because he beats the crap out of people. Okay, it's like 50/50. Or maybe like 33/33/33, with the other third being all the great focus episodes.

The point is, when Homare goes into action hero mode, on top of being plain cool, he exemplifies what I love about the heroes in Taiga, which is just how dang hard working they all are. EGIS makes the A-Team look like chumps.

Best Female Supporting Character:
Kana from Taiga! Have I mentioned how much I like the EGIS crew yet? Because as the lady who created the whole outfit, it goes without saying she's great too. For the longest time I was totally sure I was going to go with Asahi from R/B again on this one, since she's gone on to even greater heights since last year, but as the last stretch of Taiga went on, it became impossible to come to any other conclusion.

Kana is the real hero of the entire series. Yeah, the Ultramen are there saving lives, but Kana is out there turning them around. She's the absolute best boss you could ever ask for, with a shockingly inclusive hiring policy that's maybe not so shocking at all when you realize how bottomless her compassion for her fellow sentient lifeforms runs, be they human, alien, or whatever else.

The bit that immediately locked her into my choice for this award was a line from episode 17, which has a plot where she's trying to protect a kind of scummy lowlife alien guy she knows, who has a bad habit of getting caught up with the wrong people, and selling out the right ones for his own benefit. I haven't seen the episode subtitled, so I don't know what Genm Corp did with it, or if either of us is doing justice to how beautifully succinct the original dialogue is, but she tells him "you're part of a bad crowd, but you aren't a bad person". This comes after the part of the episode where this guy screwed everyone over, no less. Taiga was a show all about learning to understand and live in harmony with the people around you, with some surprisingly heavy real world parallels in its depiction of how hopeless life as an alien on Earth could be, and that line from Kana in that episode, just like her entire mission throughout the series, is more reflective than anything else of the kind of message I think Taiga wanted to convey. In a show where massive titans from other worlds combat unimaginable threats with awesome powers to protect the Earth every episode, what ended up being the most inspiring thing to me was that simple human kindness.

Best Villain:
Tregear from Taiga, just in case it wasn't sweeping these awards hard enough already. After retiring Belial at the end of Geed, Tsuburaya was in the market for a new overarching bad guy Ultraman, and they came up with something special. Tregear turns everything about your everyday main villain totally on its head. Rather than try to make him seem more evil by going bigger, they went the exact opposite direction, creating a villain whose pettiness is matched only by his cunning. Something as simpleminded as taking over the universe would never satisfy Tregear. He doesn't dream of taking lives, but of destroying them. Nothing makes him happier than seeing the miserable sight of someone who's been made aware just how little they and their pathetic dreams matter in this cold, uncaring reality. He wants to laugh at you. He wants you to wish you were dead. And if you're lucky, he might even grant that wish before moving on to his next source of entertainment.

All of which is to say, he is a spectacular antagonist.

Best Returning Past Character:
There were a lot of great guests this year on Zi-O, but I've gotta give it to Shouichi in the Agito arc. His actor slid back into the role like he never left, and as cool as everyone else was, they can't compete with how warm Shouichi is. He's the perfect guy for a nostalgic return like this, because even back in his own series 19 years ago, he was already about making people feel like they were home. Seeing him again put a huge smile on my face to a level nobody else managed, and it doesn't hurt that the episodes he was in were absolutely amazing besides.

Best Actor:
Sou Okuno as everyone's favorite overlord in Zi-O. Seeing fresh young actors grow exponentially in talent over a year is often one of the most delightful parts of Kamen Rider, and I can't think of any leads lately who had such a pronounced evolution over their series. Him at the start of Zi-O and the end are practically night and day. Sougo was a really, really complicated character, and unfortunately, not always for reasons that seemed entirely intentional on part of the show's staff. It was a demanding role, which called for a lot of range, and I really believe Okuno rose to the challenge throughout the year. As the story progressed, he developed a very consistent set of mannerisms for Sougo, and whatever emotions the episodes called for, he proved he could hit with aplomb, often nailing subtle little inflections that really elevated the show's best moments.

Best Actress:
Noa Tsurushima as Izu in Zero-One. Speaking of demanding roles, playing a robot who has to also emote frequently, but not in ways that make it seem too much like you're emoting... it's a tightrope. One that she's walking skillfully even this early on in the show's run. I vaguely remember from the announcement press conference her saying she watched a lot of like, news broadcasts and the like to get a feel for how act in a composed and mechanical manner, but, whatever she did, it's paying off. She already has an almost perfect grasp on the particular mechanical, unchanging cadence the character requires, and is equally good at keeping a straight face in scenarios where it can not be easy to do so.

Best Writer:
Junko Koumura, for the six or so episodes of Lupinranger VS Patranger that aired this year, but really just for everything. And I mean everything. You've gotta understand, I've loved her writing since Kamen Rider Wizard, so to see her getting better and better since then has been so satisfying. What her work on LuPat in particular cemented for me is that I think she may very well be the best dialogue writer working in toku right now. This applies just as much to Zyuohger, really, but the impeccable flow and characterization present in so many of LuPat's conversations is a massive part of what makes the show so amazing. Some of those chats between Kairi and Keiichirou in particular are just magical.

Best Director:
Teruaki Sugihara, who is generally awesome, but also has the particular honor of directing the best action scene in all of Zi-O, the big throwdown at the end of the Agito arc in episode 32, which is destined to go down as one of the all-time great moments in Rider history. And the rest of those episodes aren't too shabby in their own right.

Best Suit Design:
I really want to say Rising Hopper, for being an almost objectively perfect design, but I figure that's not too interesting to talk about. And...




Yeah, we've reached the obligatory contrarian section of my picks for the year. But forgive me, I honestly do love Zi-O Trinity that much. Part of it may be how much dang fun it was in the show building my attachment to it, between Seiji Takaiwa getting to do a version of his Climax Form body language that's somehow even better, the stretch of Zi-O where it was in use being a string of one memorable episode after another, and Sougo adorably acting like he was in a super robot show and always exciting being all like "Let's combine!" in every fight scene while Geiz and Woz roll their eyes, but it's my favorite Zi-O design by far. It's a great mix of bulky and sleek. The black and gold mix really well. Having the word "Rider" engraved on all of said gold bits over and over again is such a gaudy extension of the show's usual design sense I can't help but respect it. And most importantly, something about the whole heterochromia thing super jives with me. I just think it looks cool, alright? It's another one of those designs where I thought it looked super ugly in the catalogs, but as soon as it was in the show, I was almost instantly won over.

Best Weapon/Vehicle/Mecha:
I will give Zero One's designs their due with the Attache Calibur, though. I have a thing for weapons that fold up into briefcases, and the fact that this one belongs to an actual corporate executive makes it more appropriate thematically than I think one of these has ever been, to the point where Zero-One almost looks cooler holding while it's closed. Not that I know what looks cool or not. After all, I just said I liked Zi-O Trinity!

Best Fight Scene:
動き出してる未来を止められない
その先のポシビリティー
俺たちだけの・・・

誰のためでなく
挑むこと、恐れない

熱く、なる、躰、心
それに、ただ、従う、本能

強く、なる、想い、願い
それに、ただ、独り、動く

Believe Yourself 明日へ・・・



Best Dramatic Scene:
It's hard to narrow this one down, but I'm going with the prelude to Zi-O and Geiz's showdown with Another Zi-O from episode 28 of, uh, Zi-O. I always find myself thinking of that scene to the point where it's sort of become iconic of the series in my mind. I love how restrained the show actually is in what is THE big turning point for Sougo and Geiz's relationship. The dialogue doesn't go over the top, and that makes the drama hit that much harder. Geiz starts out just mildly roasting Sougo for showing up to their agreed-upon fight already beat up, despite Geiz himself already being beat up, keeping his emotional distance as usual, and it really naturally slides into Sougo admitting how much knowing Geiz and Tsukuyomi has meant to him, a bit of earnestness that itself leads into the actual dramatic turnaround, where Geiz finally reciprocates after half the series. There's not even any music for most of it. It's an incredibly well executed scene, and while there are a lot of scenes on this level in Zi-O, this one sticks with me the most.

Best Comedic Scene:
It doesn't really translate all that well, but the bit in episode 31 of Zi-O (which, yes, means another bit of greatness from the Agito arc) where the Zikan Despear's "kamashisugi!" sound plays after Woz embarassess himself with the overly dramatic speech I have screenshots of above is definitely the hardest I've laughed at anything toku all year. It's one of the very, very few times one of the gags Rider likes to do nowadays where they use sound effects from the belts and weapons comedically actually landed for me. Although I think Zi-O pumped that that well a lot less than other recent shows, so maybe the fact that it was an actual occasion is what made it funnier.

Biggest "WTF did I just watch?" Moment:
Zi-O's Kiva arc. Stretching the definition of "moment", I know, but both of those episodes were such a trip. Why Inoue? Why manholes? Why Ginga? Who Ginga? You know the show had entered the Twilight Zone when the plot revolves around Sougo's crush on a woman instead of the usual extremely conspicuous chemistry he has with Geiz and Woz.

Best Song:
This category has so many strong contenders this year I'm bluntly refusing to pick one. I've opted to instead select a veritable Trinity of songs that all stuck out to me for their own unique reasons.

Zi-O, Toki no Ouja, which we technically first heard at the very end of last year, but come on. Anyways, this song was composed by Toshihiko Sahashi himself, and as such it follows the trend I really loved about his motifs for Zi-O, which is that it doesn't have an overtly heroic sound, despite being the rousing hero theme for Sougo. The song also became something of the backbone of the entire soundtrack with how often remixed bits of it were worked into other tracks, so this is also an award to Zi-O's entire soundtrack in spirit. Plus, the lyrics were written by Rider song super veteran Shouko Fujibayashi, whose poetic touch was sorely missing from most of Build's songs, as cool as they were.

Go! Now! ~Alive A life Neo~, the appeal of which is a lot less complicated. A sequel song to one of my favorite Rider openings ever by all the same people? With lyrics that still do the cool thing where the first verse is more from Shinji's perspective while the second is from Ren's? Sign me right the heck up! Rider Time: Ryuki was worth it just because I got this out of it.

Buddy, Steady, Go!, which is repping Taiga's excellent themes. Don't get me wrong, both ED's are spectacular too, but the opening is like, the ultimate motivational jam. I cannot describe to you how much I love lyrics like わからない事は猛勉強, 情けない自分はもう結構.

Best Piece of Merchandise:
As usual, this comes with the caveat that I'm not actually getting my hands on much of this stuff (although you'd better believe I didn't pass up the chance to get some belated Go-Busters merch thanks to Beast Morphers), but I'd like to shout out any of the mecha from Ryusoulger. I was always huge into LEGO as a little kid, and I like toys that actively encourage creativity, so the whole shtick this year is something I have to applaud Bandai for. I'm sure it rubs some people's adult collector senses the wrong way, but I can tell you right now, if someone handed those things to me when I was like five years old, they would've been my favorite things ever.

Biggest Surprise of 2019:
I can't actually think of a lot that truly caught me off guard this year, so I'm gonna echo Kiwami and say Kamen Rider Brain becoming a thing and being awesome. I knew Drive was fairly popular, and I knew Riku Sanjou generally doesn't make things that aren't awesome, so neither the announcement or the result were truly surprising, but it was definitely an oddball spinoff to happen.

Biggest Disappointment of 2019:
This one's easy. Me coming up with the genius idea to do a gag for April Fools where I'd post in the current Zi-O episode thread with one of my usual, overly analytical reviews about the similarly numbered of Power Rangers Zeo... on April 2nd. A once in a lifetime opportunity, gone just like that. Would it have been funny? I don't know, and worse... I'll never get to.

The Ferbus Memorial Award for Single Worst Thing in 2019 Tokusatsu:
I don't actually get that upset about a lot of things when it comes to tokusatsu, but let me tell ya', that Gold Ranger debacle in Beast Morphers. I don't condone physical violence as a solution to problems, but whoever decided Beet Buster and his robot look "close enough" to a f***ing praying mantis definitely deserves a very stern talking to. They literally already came up with a better solution to this non-problem back during Ninja Storm! What is wrong with the people working on these shows?! And then you have the gall to say Silver's motif is a scarab beetle, when rhinoceros beetles are scarabs and stag beetles explicitly aren't?! Did somebody on the staff just actively want to feed children factually incorrect information about wildlife or something? The carrot thing was fine. I get that one. Pop culture and healthy eating, whatever. But this? For shame, Power Rangers. For shame.

Uh, just in case it's not obvious, I'm playing up the bit here, but this really was a baffling thing to watch play out.