[Sunred]

Favorite New Show of 2025
No.1 Sentai Gozyuger.
Setting aside its share of problems, the show alone has exceeded my expectations.

Favorite New-to-You Show of 2025
Kamen Rider Zeztz.
Toei's attempt to reach out to the fans outside of Japan, and I respect that greatly. Sure, it may not be perfect, but a first step in the right direction.

Favorite Movie, Miniseries, or Special of 2025
Haven't seen any, my bad.

Favorite Rewatch of 2025
Saw some random episodes of LuPat recently.
Definitely something to check out for those who want something a tad different from the usual sentai. And seeing the Lupin Collections again were fun, it reminded me how much I loved piecing together what show the prop was from and tracking the names matching it to whatever pop song it may be referring to back in the days.

Favorite Male Lead Character
Taiya Hando/Bun Red.
For some reason, he feels like a nice re-imagining of Showa red rangers for the Reiwa era. Heisei's would be Satoru Akashi, IMO.

Favorite Female Lead Character
Sachika Amane.
I liked her a lot in the two-parter involving the painter.

Favorite Male Supporting Character
The "Masked Ouendan Leader" from Gozyuger.
The fact that it's a legit ouendan doing it is already a win in my book. BTW, for those interested, the entire group, cheerleaders included, seem to be an actual ouendan from Chuo University in Tokyo. Here's a taste of their usual stuff.

Favorite Female Supporting Character
Shirabe Saibu FTW

Favorite Villain
Fire Candle.

Favorite Actor
Jin Matsumoto and Masaki Kobayashi, collectively.
While we only had Mr. Kobayashi for select episodes, I love how they both portray Joji/Kinjiro.

Favorite Actress
Ayaka Maekawa.
It probably wasn't an easy role to accept last-minute given the situation for Gozyuger, but she did it anyway and I respect her work ethic. Keep in mind, it was not too long after she was on Zeztz as the MOTW for two of the episodes IIRC.

Favorite Writer
Akiko Inoue.
She's done a good job so far on Gozyuger. I hope this leads to more opportunities and one day surpass her father and grandfather within the genre as a writer.

Favorite Director
Koichi Sakamoto.
Specifically, his work on episodes 33 and 34 on Gozyuger.

Favorite Suit Design
N Gamio Z... Iron Ma... I mean, Wild Gozyu Wolf.
A beautiful blend of gold and red, which, if not done right, looks like a subliminal ad for Mickey D's, but they got it right.

Favorite Weapon/Vehicle/Mecha
Ryotega Sword.

Favorite Fight Scene
That Ultraman Omega kaiju outer space chase/battle in episode 1 of Ultraman Omega.
So masterfully shot.

Favorite Dramatic Scene
Nox/Kensei getting cut off from CODE back in the days when he was Agent Four.
Brief-as-hell moment, but the sudden surge of hopelessness he felt really got to me.

Favorite Comedic Scene
Whenever Kousei suffers because of Sorato's appetite.

Biggest "WTF did I just watch?" Moment
Gozyu Eagle's big reveal.
I thought he was gonna be another Dr. Ulshade, but nope.

Favorite Song
WINNER! YOU BE OOOOONNNNNE WINNEEEEEERRRRR!
While I still love GOT BOOST for all it's catchiness, I was about to go with VISIONS. But then, I remembered this was a thing.

Biggest Surprise of 2025
Super Sentai ending, Project R.E.D. beginning.

Biggest Disappointment of 2025
Super Sentai ending.
(which I agree, when people say it, that it deserves a hiatus after airing for 50 consecutive years. Hopefully we'll get to see it in action again when ready.)

The Onari Memorial Award for Single Worst Thing in Tokusatsu, 2025 Edition
Gozyuger production issues.
Truly unfortunate how things went.

Most Anticipated Tokusatsu Project and/or Merch of 2026
* Gavan Infinity looks interesting.
* The announcement of BEAT RUNNERS brings me back to a time when GARO was first revealed back in the days. I hope all the best for Mr. Koichi Sakamoto in his independent endeavor.
*MKP (Mobile Knight Police) I don't know what the heck's going on yet, but looks like it may be a short film. One thing's for sure, Mr. Yamashita and Mr. Nakayama will be singing the theme as a duo and looks like they shot a music video which hasn't been released yet.