[DreamSword]

Ryujin Mabuyer

Ryujin Buyer is the local hero of Okinawa, and got his own show in the mid-2000s.

When it came to DVD and Blu-Ray, as every episode was around 10 minutes, all of them were compiled into a movie and it surprisingly flows rather well.

The story follows Kanai, your average, clueless everydude who pines for the affections of his friend Claire, and dreams of one day becoming a master of pottery. Bowls, vases, all that.

But one day, pollution around the islands of Okinawa causes ancient malevolent spirits, collectively known as EvilCorp, to reawaken. Their mission? To find and seal away the nine ancient artifacts known as the Mabui Stones, which hold the essence of all the core values of Okinawan culture.

Chosen by the spirit of the island itself, Kanai is transformed into Ryujin Mabuyer, whose mission is to restore the peace in Okinawa. Along the way, he's assisted by a dog spirit named Ken, who not only helps to train Kanai, but along with the local residents, educate Kanai in the everyday values of Okinawa culture, and why exactly those core values are so important.

So yeah, this is an edutainment tokusatsu aimed at a very young audience, but don't take that as any sort of indication of a decline in quality because honestly, I actually really liked this collection/movie quite a bit. It's very obviously low budget and aimed at a young audience, but it more than makes up for it in a very strong and genuine core that not only has some very solid character writing, but is incredibly fun all throughout.

What starts off as an incredibly goofy romp slowly becomes something more quiet and introspective as the piece goes on, with Kanai especially having to question just why exactly he continues to fight EvilCorp despite both his actions and motives seeming to clash with the very ideals that he's meant to be protecting. It's the sort of thing that honestly would not be out of place in Phase 1 Heisei Kamen Rider, which for anyone who doesn't know is my favorite era of that franchise.

Sure, it's overall nothing incredibly deep, and many characters outside of Kanai don't exactly have extensive arcs, but the cast in general is incredibly likable, aided by not only the actually genuinely funny comedy but the very well executed atmosphere throughout. And while low budget and simplistic, the action is still very fun to keep up with, and does its job well enough to the point of not really needing anything super fancy to carry it. As well, the show teaches its morals very directly and to the point without ever coming across as preachy or condescending, which is a major plus.

This might be an April Fool's post, but it's no joke. I like this show/movie a whole lot, and I highly recommend it if you want a fun way to kill two hours. My rating is a 4/6. It's not anything super incredible or mind blowing, but what it sets out to do, it does very well, and that's all I could ever really ask for.