[GoldenXtreme]

This time I've finished... Message from Space: Galactic Wars.

I should probably lead with the fact that I'm not much of a Star Wars fan. It's *fine*, but it has never really excited me, even when I was a kid. But this blatant Star Wars rip-off? Loved it! I think a lot of factors contributed to my enjoyment. First of all, this is a true space opera TV show, Earth is only a background detail, with the story almost entirely focuses on a different solar system and it's struggles against the evil emperor who tries to conquer it. The budget seems quite high for a tokusatsu TV show from this time period too. Not only that, but the show is almost abnormally overarching and character driven for a tokusatsu show of the time period (while still having a nice dose of the amusing story jank that makes Showa tokusatsu so fun). Plot elements and recurring characters come up many times, while the main characters are consistently fun to follow. Hayato grows a lot as the show progresses, from a very inexperienced pilot and ninja to someone who is a truly reliable protagonist due to his mentoring from Ryu and numerous real battles that he experiences. Ryu himself is just a charming guy who acts as an interesting counterpoint to Hayato. Plus Ryu and Hayato's brotherly relationship is very nice. Balu and Tonto more act as side, comic-relief characters, but are both pretty fun. All in all, it was a really cool show that balanced silly 70s nonsense with legitimate drama and tragedy. Peak stuff, I feel like I've really been on a roll with the older tokusatsu I've been watching lately.