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Favorite New Show of 2021

This actually ended up being a bit of a close call between the year's two Rider shows. I'm waffling back and forth even as I type this. I'm going to go with Revice. Saber ended up being really good, especially compared to how it started, but Revice has really impressed me. It feels really different for a Kamen Rider series, which is something that I always appreciate. Saber ended well, but at the risk of making the Zero-One mistake again, I have to give the nod to Revice.

Favorite New-to-You Show of 2021

It's probably a bit of a cheat, but The Ultraman. Haven't finished it - haven't even gotten that far - but it's really impressed me in a short time. I had no idea what to expect from this, but I really like how it handles the classic Ultraman format without the restrictions of physics. The animation also gives me very strong nostalgic vibes for the cartoons of my youth, particularly He-Man.

Favorite Movie, Miniseries, or Special of 2021

Technically this started in December of 2020, but most of it aired this year. Ultraman: Absolute Conspiracy, primarily for the first arc. It was so much fun to see Ultraman dust off some of the most obscure suits in its history. Xenon was in this. Freaking Xenon.

Favorite Rewatch of 2021

As fun as it was going back through the end of the OG Heisei era with Kamen Rider Die, I also rewatched Ultraman Orb this year and that is a no-brainer.

Favorite Male Lead Character

Ikki from Revice. After the last several years of Rider leads, it's so nice to have a character that's more serious, dedicated, and mature for a change. Nothing against Touma, at least, but he only got good after time. Ikki has been really enjoyable from the start.

Favorite Female Lead Character

Revice's Sakura. I have to echo what Kiwami said: she's a really good character and easily the best female Rider we've gotten since Gaim. Honestly, I'm loving all of the Igarashi siblings.

Favorite Male Supporting Character

Ignis from Ultraman Trigger. Almost went with Yuuri from Saber, but last week's Trigger put Ignis over the top. I don't have a lot of great things to say about Trigger (but also few truly negative ones, in fairness), but Ignis has been genuinely delightful for most of its run. I especially love the era where he just starts randomly hanging out on the Nurse Dessei.

Favorite Female Supporting Character

In possibly the biggest surprise on this list, Mei from Saber. I did not expect much from the perpetually crouching third-rate Shunpei we got when Saber started, but as the show went on (and writers other than Fukuda worked on her), she ended up becoming a really engaging character.

Favorite Villain

There honestly haven't been a lot of villains that really impressed me this year. Never cared for any of the boy band guys from Saber, Trigger's villains aren't terribly interesting, and it's a bit too soon to have a good sense of Revice's. I guess I'll say Aguilera, even though I'm not entirely sure where the show is planning to go with her.

Favorite Returning Past Character

I almost want to say Ultraman Max from Absolute Conspiracy, but that feels like a cheat because we're just getting the suit and not the human host (and the voice is a completely different dude). So I'll go with my second choice: I haven't actually gotten around to watching the Gokaiger reunion yet, but I am always happy to see those idiots again.

Favorite Actor

Tomohiro Ichikawa (Yuri from Saber). I'm always a big fan of tokusatsu actors who can do good humor that's also really subtle.

Favorite Actress

Ayaka Imoto, who is absolutely crushing it on Revice as Sakura.

Favorite Writer

Keiichi Hasegawa. Not Saber's head writer, but he did most of my favorite episodes (and probably more episodes than Fukuda did, too).

Favorite Director

We didn't get as much Kiyotaka Taguchi this year, but he still did a few episodes of Trigger.

Favorite Suit Design

Until a few weeks ago this was going to be a slam dunk for Ultraman Trigger, Power Type. Then we got Kamen Rider Jeanne, which is just a fantastically designed and executed suit.

Favorite Weapon/Vehicle/Mecha

Bit of a cheat, but she does turn into weapons, so I'm willing to count it: Lovekov. I adore that ridiculous little blob.

Favorite Fight Scene

Kamen Rider Jeanne's debut. I gushed about it at the time and it still holds up for me. After so many years of Riders fighting with weapons and CGI attacks, it was so good to see one just cut loose with actual martial arts.

Favorite Dramatic Scene

The final battle between Ren and Dezast. I don't like to say anything good about Ren because he was absolutely the worst. I also never cared much for Dezast, either. So the fact that their final showdown was so good almost feels like the show was cheating.

Favorite Comedic Scene

There was a scene in the Ultraman Trigger/Z team-up where Ignis and an alien are trying to swap random Ultra trinkets. That was a lot of fun. I had something for this a few months ago and completely forgot what it was. I really should take better notes.

Biggest "WTF did I just watch?" Moment

The bit in Zero-One REALxTIME where Gai forcibly strips and tortures a ZAIA exec.

Favorite Song

Will Save US, the song that plays during Ren and Dezast's fight. I am a sucker for Nier music and this song is Nier-ish as all hell.

Favorite Piece of Merchandise

I didn't get anything that wasn't just a video boxset this year.

Biggest Surprise of 2021

There were a lot of big surprises about upcoming programs in 2022, including the Kamen Rider Black reboot and the OOO reunion, but nothing smacked my gob like finding out that Toshiki Inoue is writing next year's Super Sentai.

Biggest Disappointment of 2021:

I don't like to complain about Ultraman Trigger, as I genuinely don't think it's a bad show. Tsubaraya has set such a high bar, though, that a show that comes in under it feels more disappointing than a bad year of Rider or Sentai. It didn't help that Trigger came after Z and is constantly making the viewer compare it to Tiga. Again, I don't hate it, but it's not at all what I hoped it would be.

The Onari Memorial Award for Single Worst Thing in 2021 Tokusatsu:

This one's easy: after literally decades of ignoring them, 2021 was the year that Toei cracked down on fansubs. Technically it's within their right, especially under Japan's more aggressive new copyright laws, but it still sucks. If they'd followed Tsubaraya's lead and provided an international broadcast then that would be one thing, but two episodes of old Rider shows, some Ryuki blu-rays, and fuck-all for Sentai is not a fair replacement. Obviously, fansubs still exist, but the community has definitely taken a knock and I know that there are some diehard TV-Nihon fans, in particular, who got a really raw deal out of this.