[ShiShiLeo]

Favorite New Show of 2020

Ultraman Z - it fired on all cylinders and got so much right, not the least of which was streaming to bigger audiences on Youtube.

Favorite New-to-You Show of 2020

Dogengers - just full of charm. Fans who are nostalgic for "old toku" (read: not Showa toku) owe it to themselves to give this show a go. The show is not beholden to selling any toys or merch so its just a nice straightforward premise.

Favorite Rewatch of 2020

Kamen Rider Decade - something about 2020 being the end of a decade made me feel like I should rewatch the series. I think it holds up rather well, though I can see how at the time it premiered, there was a lot to be dissatisfied about.

Favorite Movie of 2020

Geiz Majesty - I've always secretly liked Geiz even if his character-archtype is a little played out in Kamen Rider. The soft reset of the movie gives it a fun high school drama vibe, plus I'm always partial to movies featuring secondary riders.

Favorite Male Lead Character

Aruto Hiden - It's great that he's a comedian. And his funny antics translate well even while in suit. I think he'll be fun and dynamic when appearing in any crossovers.

Favorite Female Lead Character

Yoko Nakashima - She has quite the journey in Z. I loved that she was a no-nonsense badass that just got things done.

Favorite Male Supporting Character

So far it must be Rintaro Shindo, Kamen Rider Blades. Though I don't like his name, his character is the right amount of predictable and complimentary as a secondary rider.

Favorite Female Supporting Character

Lot's of good ones to pick for this but I will have to go with Yuka Ohta. Her enthusiasm is perfect, and she is actually responsible for being the comedic anchor throughout most of Ultraman Z.

Favorite Villain

Thouser - You love to hate the guy.

Favorite Returning Past Character

Juggus Juggler - boy did I really feel like not only was he the toku-veteran of the Ultraman Z cast, his status as a top tier actor gave natural credence to him being the leader of STORAGE. He just reeks of confidence and affability.

Favorite Actor

I have to give this one to Atomu Mizuishi/Kiramei blue. Portraying an actor portraying a super hero portraying an actor is amazing. He does a lot of small details that I think really... shine in the Sentai format.

Favorite Actress

Rima Matsuda - She displayed a wide range of emotions throughout Ultraman Z, and they all felt grounded even in a sometimes larger than life character. Matsuda has done some serious dramatic acting in prior roles and it really shows when you see how different she is among her parts.

Noa Tsurushima - It remains to be seen if she did too good of a job as Izu. I hope it doesn't typecast her into that kind of role.

Favorite Suit Design

Zero One Zero One Zero One - The return of the grasshopper motif. The ultraviolent color. It's so beautiful and fits the universe it belongs in so well. I cannot say enough about this suit design and the general aesthetic of Zero One in general. Fantastic!

Favorite Weapon/Vehicle/Mecha

Mashin Zabyun would've been a given due to my affection for train-themes, but then out of nowhere we get Sevenger with his rocket propelled fist and optional driller hand. He drills right into my heart.

Favorite Fight Scene

This is probably the hardest question for me to answer. Some of the top fight scenes would be:
Zero-One vs Ichi-gata in Reiwa The First Generation
The ground and robot combo fight scene in Ep. 33 Kiramager
Ultraman Z Ep 22
#1 is probably debut of Rampage Vulcan

Favorite Dramatic Scene

Final episode of Ultraman Z - it has just about everything I look for in toku.

Favorite Comedic Scene

The first Kiramei Blue feature episode where he learns that he doesn't always need to pretend to be cool. The whole episode is a funny buildup to the ending where the other Kiramagers tease him for doing a Youtube live-blogging style reveal of the lesson he learned.

Biggest "WTF did I just watch?" Moment

I know Sentai has a history of ridiculous robot action but there's one robot fight where, if I recall correctly, one robot attaches to the back of the other and they just do a spin attack. Its so ridiculous even the characters in the show say "How does this even work?"

Favorite Song

This one
https://open.spotify.com/track/76De3...ToqtYuJLeOlrGg
It was used so well in the "Aruto explains something profound to others" moments.

Favorite Piece of Merchandise

I just love that the Zero-One merchandise got away with using text-to-speech for the Henshins and it just works. I put it right up there with the absolutely classic Henshin sounds of the Faiz gear. Hmmm maybe these tech-based riders are on to something...

Biggest Surprise of 2020

Ark One reveal.

Biggest Disappointment of 2020:

Zero-One Covid filler episodes. Zero-One will always be remembered as the Toku show that Covid hit the hardest. We're left wondering what it could've been and endless speculation spurred on by tidbits from production crew. Also Yua's development


On a more positive note:

I will say the music from 2020 Tokusatsu has been really great. It's rare for me to enjoy the majority of songs from all the tentpole franchise. Ultraman's OP and Connect the Truth are phenomenal. Kiramager's OP fits really well with the show and I for one am happy to see another good end credits theme and dance. We had the Geiz Majesty song, many many excellent tracks from Zero-One and I might be alone here but I adore the adore the Saber songs. Some of the Saber songs feel out of place, but I think when all is said and done, they will be remembered fondly.