[Switchblade]

Christmas future is far away, Christmas past is past. Christmas present is also past, so it seems like the ideal time to post this year's review thread.

If you're new to the site, this is a thing I've been doing since the site first started. I have an almost pathological love for dividing and ranking things and this is my own personal outlet for that. I don't know about anyone else, but this year felt pretty solid for tokusatsu to me. I don't know if any of the shows really set everybody on fire, but likewise I don't get the sense that anything was a complete dumpster fire, either. That's my perspective, at least, and I'll freely admit I have watched less than 60 consecutive seconds of Boonboomger

As always, for releases of this year I'm counting any series that aired any episodes during 2024, including:

Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger
Bakuage Sentai Boonboomger
Kamen Rider Gotchard
Kamen Rider Gavv
Ultraman Arc
Garo: Heir to Steel Armor
And, of course, Pow... oh, right.

It's okay, I composed a song for this back in March and have been sitting on it all year:

[to the tune of "Power Rangers SPD']
Power Rangers MIA!
Power Rangers on hiatus!
(no no no no)
Power Rangers MIA!
Power Rangers on hiatus!
(no no no no)

And, as always anything else that got less exposure and therefore slipped under my personal radar.

For movies I'm counting anything that came out this year as well as anything that came out last year but wasn't available subbed until this year.

Favorite New Show of 2024

Favorite New-to-You Show of 2024

Favorite Movie, Miniseries, or Special of 2024

Favorite Rewatch of 2024

Favorite Male Lead Character

Favorite Female Lead Character

Favorite Male Supporting Character

Favorite Female Supporting Character

Favorite Villain

Favorite Returning Past Character

Favorite Actor

Favorite Actress

Favorite Writer

Favorite Director

Favorite Suit Design

Favorite Weapon/Vehicle/Mecha

Favorite Fight Scene

Favorite Dramatic Scene

Favorite Comedic Scene

Biggest "WTF did I just watch?" Moment

Favorite Song

Favorite Piece of Merchandise

Biggest Surprise of 2024

And, of course, because some things in 2024 were the frankly appalling state of the pre-Decade Kamen Rider suits:

Biggest Disappointment of 2024:

The Onari Memorial Award for Single Worst Thing in Tokusatsu, 2024 Edition:

Finally, to end on a more positive note:

Most Anticipated Tokusatsu Project and/or Merch of 2025

[Sunred]

Favorite New Show of 2024
Bakuage Sentai Boonboomger

Favorite New-to-You Show of 2024
Kamen Rider Gavv

Favorite Movie, Miniseries, or Special of 2024
Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger in Space

Favorite Rewatch of 2024
None

Favorite Male Lead Character
All five male Boonboomgers

Favorite Female Lead Character
Mira Shifuto/Bun Pink

Favorite Male Supporting Character
Byun Diesel
Boondorio Boomderas

Favorite Female Supporting Character
Shirabe Saibu

Favorite Villain
INTERNET KANEGON

Favorite Returning Past Character
Riki/Kingranger

Favorite Actor
Yasuhisa Furuhara, not just because he came back as Go-on Red, but also because of his wonderful interviews with toku alumni on Youtube

Favorite Actress
Atsuko Hashiyasume

Favorite Writer
Atsuhiro Tomioka

Favorite Director
Koichi Sakamoto, he pulled a genius move casting Shinta Takaiwa as Riki

Favorite Suit Design
Bun Orange
Gavv Caking

Favorite Weapon/Vehicle/Mecha
Champion Boonboomger Robo

Favorite Fight Scene
Gavv Chocodan and Valen Chocodon gunfight team-up

Favorite Dramatic Scene
Genba's entire personal story arc

Favorite Comedic Scene
Ishido and Zangill being coffee bros

Biggest "WTF did I just watch?" Moment
Riki/Kingranger appearing in the King-Ohger in Space trailer

Favorite Song
Saikyo Bakuage Hero

Favorite Piece of Merchandise
Boonboom Changer

Biggest Surprise of 2024
Christmas Gozyuger reveal

Biggest Disappointment of 2024
Not a whole lot, really

The Onari Memorial Award for Single Worst Thing in Tokusatsu, 2024 Edition:
None

Most Anticipated Tokusatsu Project and/or Merch of 2025
Ultraman Omega

[Sh Ranger]

My fifth time!

Favorite New Show of 2024: Kamen Rider Gavv

Strong character writing as expected from Komura and shows a clear vision for the spirit of Kamen Rider. I imagine I'll probably have more awards for this show next year.

Favorite New-to-You Show of 2024: Tokusou Robo Janperson

It's basically Kamen Rider Zero One, except with much better execution. Seriously considers the role that robots could have in human society and the problems faced by both sides, with a good amount of comedy as well.

Favorite Miniseries or Special of 2024: Geats Extra Gazer

Focuses on the more honorable side of Niram and I enjoyed his cute yet tragic backstory with Miiru.

Favorite Rewatch of 2024: Ninja Sentai Kakuranger

Ninjas, duh.

Favorite Movie of 2024: King-Ohger Adventure Heaven

Released in 2023, but due to the wait for subs, many of us likely watched it this year. I was surprised to see a Sentai summer movie be so integrated in the plot and the fight scene with Rhyniol in Haakabaaka was awesome!

Favorite Male Lead Character: Ichinose Houtarou (again)

If I knew he was going to be this good, I would've awarded it to someone else last year, but now it cannot be anybody but him! He's a role model hero who chases his dream with endless determination and he has a virtually infallible intuition for judging whether people are good or evil. When he says he'll do something, then I have no doubt that he'll do it.

Favorite Female Lead Character: Kudo Rinne

The other protagonist of Gotchard is also pretty great and I think she has the best development. She learns resilience in the face of adversity and becomes a good influence on Atropos. In combat, she shows high aptitude in martial arts that she gained from simply reading a book and even counters Golem Gouriki's backbreaker technique on her first try!

Favorite Male Supporting Character: Tsuruhara "Sabi" Sabimaru

I enjoy the softspoken/outspoken dynamic he has with Isaac and it was intriguing to learn more of his backstory in the Kongo Laboratories arc and see him find the courage to fight against his past trauma to protect Kenichi and the technology that will bring hope to the future.

Favorite Female Supporting Character: Edami Kyoka

She's a reliable nurturing mentor to Spanner and a skilled inventor, who also has some cool intellecutal hobbies like chess and the culinary arts. Seems like she'd be pretty fun to hang with.

Favorite Villain: Clotho

My favorite Dark Sister. Even though she causes a few problems for the heroes, she fights honestly for her beliefs and love for her sisters, showing a similar quality to Houtarou. Their team-up in Episode 32 was a memorable highlight for sure.

Favorite Returning Past Character: Inui Takumi

Initially shows a more cynical worldweary side of him in Paradise Regained, but by the end he proves he's still the same protector of dreams we all know and love.

Favorite Actor: Hino Yusuke

Shows a lot of detailed body language so far, expressing emotion easily to the viewers without saying a word. When he does speak, which is actually often, this is also full of emotion, like his shirtless argument with Shouma in Episode 12.

Favorite Actress: Matsumoto Reiyo

After watching her uncannily accurate performance as Houtarou in the body-switching Hyper Battle, I think she can clearly portray a contrasting personality which is pretty impressive! I recall hearing that Houtarou is actually closer to Matsumoto's real personality than Rinne! I'm sure she'll go far in her career.

Favorite Writer: Inoue Akiko

She was going to be my answer for this even before I found out she's writing Gozyuger. Her work on Gotchard has been peak in both comedy and drama, which makes me totally excited for her head writer debut in February.

Favorite Suit Design: Kamen Rider Fire Gotchard SteamHopper

Takes the already awesome SteamHopper and adds some little fire accents to make it even more awesome. Turning air resistence to speed has to be one of the most OP superpowers ever.

Favorite Weapon: Byunbyum Controller

Controller, bow, F1 steering wheel, purple, lot of sounds. It's a versatile device with a good design.

Favorite Vehicle: Yaiyai Yarucar

He's adorable, right?

Favorite Mecha: Boonboomger Robo 119

Red lion firetruck Henkei is a solid concept and looks strong in the Gattai with Bundorio as well.

Favorite Fight Scene:

God King-Ohger entering Dugded's dimension and punching him out of the damn universe!

Favorite Dramatic Scene:

Clotho's dying moment with Houtarou before she grasps the hands of her sisters. Successfully made me cry.

Favorite Comedic Scene:

The Zukyumpire episodes of Gotchard. Amazing debut for Inoue that shows her talent for romcom mixed with the typical absurdity of Tokusatsu genre.

Biggest "WTF did I just watch?" Moment:

Boonboomger Episode 20. How does Morichi write an episode about Mira that excludes Mira from the plot?!

Favorite Song: Sky's the Limit

Favorite Piece of Merchandise: Premium Bandai's DX Alchemis Driver Unit

Less options with PR getting shelved, but I guess Alchemis Driver is cool, right? The sounds are catchy and I like how it uses the alchemy ring in the gimmick.

Biggest Surprise of 2024:

Kakuranger getting a 30th anniversary special, unprecedented for Sentai and not seen since Once and Always.

Biggest Disappointment of 2024:

Everytime that Hando Taiya talks. Screw that guy with his arrogant smug punchable face, his monotonous line delivery like he's about to fall asleep, his lack of clear motivation, his non-sequitar questions phrased in a biased way and his obnoxious "handle" catchphrase!

Most Anticipated Tokusatsu Project and/or Merch of 2025: Gotchard Graduations

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

[to the tune of "Power Rangers SPD']
Power Rangers MIA!
Power Rangers on hiatus!
(no no no no)
Power Rangers MIA!
Power Rangers on hiatus!
(no no no no)

Missing In
Missing In
Missing In
Missing In Action!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

The Onari Memorial Award for Single Worst Thing in Tokusatsu, 2024 Edition:

Aw, you didn't change it to Hat Guy Award like we talked about.

[GoldenXtreme]

Answered what I could, since I haven't been watching shows as their air lately!


Favorite New-to-You Show of 2024
Torn between Kaiketsu Zubat, which is perhaps the ultimate 70s tokusatsu, and Ultraman Mebius, which whipped me into a frothing at the mouth frenzy... and also got me crying like a baby. Zubat is absurd and funny and tragic and just constant fun. Mebius understood what makes Ultraman special in a way few other shows do, and had such a wonderful cast. Both are great in different ways!


Favorite Rewatch of 2024
I didn't finish it yet, but I've been rewatching Kamen Rider Fourze with a friend who has never seen it before. Always an infectiously joyful experience.


Favorite Suit Design
Even if I'm not watching it, I love those forms from Boonboomger where they just wear a jacket over their normal suit. It's funny... but also very cool.

Favorite Song
Got Boost? has entered my song rotation. I really enjoy the pop elements combined with the moodier segments of the song.

Favorite Piece of Merchandise
I still can't believe we got a Shaider Blu-ray in English!


The Onari Memorial Award for Single Worst Thing in Tokusatsu, 2024 Edition:
Yuka Motohashi dying. She was such a delight in Carranger, I miss her.

Most Anticipated Tokusatsu Project and/or Merch of 2025
I don't think it will come out next year, but I'm looking forward to getting more info on the next Godzilla film from the Minus One creator!

[Switchblade]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

Aw, you didn't change it to Hat Guy Award like we talked about.

I very seriously considered it, but ultimately came down on Onari still being objectively the worst character in the history of tokusatsu, if not television in general.

[Switchblade]

Favorite New Show of 2024
This one goes to Kamen Rider Gavv. There are definitely some aspects of the show that I find very silly, but the tone and pacing of the story give me a real "early '00s" vibe that has been really working for me. If every episode of Ultraman Arc was as good as the best episodes of Arc it would be here instead, but I find that show a little too inconsistent.

Favorite New-to-You Show of 2024
Feel a little bad about this one, but Mega Monster Battles. I started watching it and was really enjoying it, then got distracted and completely forgot about it. It's especially embarrassing as the main reason I was watching it was for Mayu Gamou and I never even got up to her debut.

Favorite Movie, Miniseries, or Special of 2024
I've watched a lot more of these than normal (ie, more than two), but Faiz Paradise Regained is still the easy winner. As a relatively recent Faiz re-appraiser I was really looking forward to this movie and it didn't disappoint. I'd have liked another 15-20 minutes to flesh some things out, but it was a lot of fun and surprisingly more upbeat than I expected.

Favorite Rewatch of 2024
So I'm sure some of you are thinking "Switchblade, there has to some diminishing returns with Hibiki, right? You can't possibly still enjoy it as much after seeing it so many times?" Wrong. Kamen Rider Hibiki, fifth time through. Still. Holds. Up.

Favorite Male Lead Character
Trickier one because I'm not absolutely blown away by any of the options. I'm going to cheat and go with Ryuga from Garo because it was kind of fun to see a more respected, elder statesman Ryuga given where the character stated. It's a huge pity that Rian wasn't back, too, but at least we didn't have to deal with another return of Jinga.

Favorite Female Lead Character
King-Ohger aired a few episodes this year so this prize automatically goes to Rita. Next.

Favorite Male Supporting Character
This absolutely does not go to Shu from Ultraman Arc, who I feel the show is constantly trying to ram down my throat. I'm going with Hanto, aka Kamen Rider Valens. Very fun character, even if some elements of his story feel a little predicatable/cliche.

Favorite Female Supporting Character
Rin from Ultraman Arc. By far my favorite of Arc's small cast of characters. Several of my favorite episodes or moments tend to center around her.

Favorite Villain
I've said it several times already over the last year, but I want a Clotho V-Cinema. Just give me 60-75 minutes of her yelling and punching things and I will be very happy. Runner-up goes to Geryon, who was actually a terrible villain but who had possibly the most hilariously stupid master plan in the entire history of Kamen Rider.

Favorite Returning Past Character
This one is a little tougher and I'm going to have to call it a tie. I always love seeing Takumi again and the bonus murder mystery webseries had some fantastic Takkun moments. But we also got some new Dekaranger this year and that means more Umeko and I can't just not vote for the best team leader in Sentai history.

Favorite Actor
On Nakano, who played Souma in Garo Heir to Steel Armor. I'm not sure I would call his performance "good," but I found his perpetual pouting to be really, really funny.

Favorite Actress
Going with Itono Okita, who played Atropos on Gotchard. Child actors are, as a rule, generally pretty goddamn terrible. That is something that absolutely transcends nationality and language. The fact that Okita was able to pull off playing her role so well is really impressive.

Favorite Writer
Tako Nakano was behind what ended up being probably my single favorite episode of tokusatsu for this entire year, The Dream Bird episode of Ultraman Arc. He also wrote the return of Zangill, which gives him bonus points he didn't even need.

Favorite Director
Naoyuki Uchida, for the exact same episode of Arc I just mentioned. You will see The Dream Bird mentioned again on this list.

Favorite Suit Design
Not a single character, but I'm going with the Hagane armor from Garo. I was really disappointed when we first saw the generic Makai Knight armors back in Makai Senki, but this show managed to revisit the concept and make a suit that looks really cool and feels like it has its own flavor, even as the Makai version of basic Stormtrooper armor.

Favorite Weapon/Vehicle/Mecha
The Arc Eye Sword from... I mean, the word "Arc" is right there in the name. Major props to Tsubaraya for continuing the trend from Blazar and giving Ultraman a weapon that's actually scaled to be held by an adult. Add in the Ultraseven homage on top of that and this thing is a winner.

Favorite Fight Scene
There have been some amazing fights in Gavv, I do not want to let this pass without giving that show some props. There was only one fight scene this year, though, that made me go onto Discord and tell friends who don't even watch tokusatsu "holy shit, you guys have to see this!" and that was Ultraman Arc and Givas vs. King of Mons from the aforementioned Dream Bird episode.

Favorite Dramatic Scene AND Favorite Comedic Scene
I'm overlapping this because both are going to the tragic betrayal and death of Hopper-1 from Gotchard. It's a moment that hit surprisingly hard and was very emotional... if you could get past the fact that we were seeing someone get emotionally shredded by the "death" of a plastic grasshopper. There's a level of suspension of disbelief you have to put into watching all of these shows and Hopper-1 really rode the line between "I believe this is a character" and "that's literally just a prop that Houtaro's actor is shaking around" tighter than anything I've seen since Ginga.

Biggest "WTF did I just watch?" Moment
So there's this moment in the "this feels like a movie that was recut into three episodes" Kamen Rider Legend storyline on Gotchard where some dude just shows up out of nowhere with a belt that shreds Ganbaride cards. He burns through a couple of Rider powers and then immediately fucks off. He is never properly introduced, interacts with none of the regular cast, and never fucking appears again. I still have no idea what the hell was going on with that and yes, I know it's a reference to Outsiders but I haven't watched Outsiders and this whole scene was complete gibberish to me.

Favorite Song
The ending theme to Heir to Steel Armor. It has a name that is a fairly long string of Japanese words that I am not going to try to copy down because I will just get it wrong. You can always count on a new Garo show to bring out at least one absolute banger.

Favorite Piece of Merchandise
I got stuff this year that wasn't just blu-ray boxsets! This absolutely goes to the Lucky Cat Megazord, an incredibly fun toy that has been living on my desk for over six months now and will not be leaving any time soon.

Biggest Surprise of 2024
Obi surviving to the end of the series in Heir to Steel Armor. That guy was waving multiple death flags even before taking into account his actor used to be Kamen Rider Ghost. I was absolutely convinced he would be tragically buying it at some point during the series but nope! Made it to the end without even being seriously injured.

Biggest Disappointment of 2024
There were a few things I was thinking of putting here, but the Ultrasmen Arc and Blazar crossover completely blew everything else out of the water. Blazar was as fun as ever, but the fact that they didn't bring a single cast member back and just stuck Arc's regulars into SKARD uniforms was both incredibly lazy and a total smack in the face to last year's show.

The Onari Memorial Award for Single Worst Thing in Tokusatsu, 2024 Edition:
Everything about Kamen Rider Legend. He is such a bafflingly awful character: annoying personality, terrible catchphrase, weird behavior, powers that really highlight how badly the old suits have fallen into disrepair. I cannot stand this guy and it was such a colossal waste to spend three whole episodes of Gotchard trying to hype him up as the next big thing. I am extremely unexcited about the rumors that he'll be pulling the same shit on Gavv next year.

Most Anticipated Tokusatsu Project and/or Merch of 2025
Next year is the 20th anniversary of my beloved Kamen Rider Hibiki and I'm sure that Toei and Bandai have already come up with a number of ways to do absolutely nothing to celebrate it in any way, shape, or form. That'll be fun. I'm going to instead toss out a provisional vote for Lucky Cat's Dragonzord figure, even though I have to acknowledge that it's literally just a vague tease so far and they have several other classic robot toys that they've announced and never actually produced. Will it happen? Maybe. Is it more likely to happen than a CSM Anything Hibiki-related? Yes.

[Sh Ranger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoldenXtreme

The Onari Memorial Award for Single Worst Thing in Tokusatsu, 2024 Edition:
Yuka Motohashi dying. She was such a delight in Carranger, I miss her.

Yeah, that's true. I was hoping she would overcome it, but alas. Cancer sucks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

Favorite Villain
I've said it several times already over the last year, but I want a Clotho V-Cinema. Just give me 60-75 minutes of her yelling and punching things and I will be very happy. Runner-up goes to Geryon, who was actually a terrible villain but who had possibly the most hilariously stupid master plan in the entire history of Kamen Rider.

Favorite Returning Past Character
This one is a little tougher and I'm going to have to call it a tie. I always love seeing Takumi again and the bonus murder mystery webseries had some fantastic Takkun moments. But we also got some new Dekaranger this year and that means more Umeko and I can't just not vote for the best team leader in Sentai history.

I respect these answers. Nice to see a fellow Clotho fan. If I'd known I could award more than once, I would've also mentioned Umeko. Best Heisei Pink, IMO.

[Sunred]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

Favorite New-to-You Show of 2024: Tokusou Robo Janperson
It's basically Kamen Rider Zero One, except with much better execution. Seriously considers the role that robots could have in human society and the problems faced by both sides, with a good amount of comedy as well.

Favorite Vehicle: Yaiyai Yarucar

He's adorable, right?

Ah, Janperson. The show that introduced us to Yasuko Kobayashi before she went on to pen Gingaman. This show sure was ahead of its time, and I agree when you say it was pretty much Zero-One done better. Plus, it had some notable alumni of the genre, Green Two and Yellow Turbo from Bioman and Turboranger, respectively (they were the two human cops), and Mr. Perfect Cyborg himself, Kamen Rider ZX. I also remember Masashi Mikami who was Bouken Blue and later the former Kamen Rider Blades in Kamen Rider Saber saying to the effect of how he grew up on this show as a kid back when they had the Boukenger press conference.
As for Yarucar, yes, adorable.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

Favorite Writer
Tako Nakano was behind what ended up being probably my single favorite episode of tokusatsu for this entire year, The Dream Bird episode of Ultraman Arc. He also wrote the return of Zangill, which gives him bonus points he didn't even need.

Most Anticipated Tokusatsu Project and/or Merch of 2025
Next year is the 20th anniversary of my beloved Kamen Rider Hibiki and I'm sure that Toei and Bandai have already come up with a number of ways to do absolutely nothing to celebrate it in any way, shape, or form. That'll be fun. I'm going to instead toss out a provisional vote for Lucky Cat's Dragonzord figure, even though I have to acknowledge that it's literally just a vague tease so far and they have several other classic robot toys that they've announced and never actually produced. Will it happen? Maybe. Is it more likely to happen than a CSM Anything Hibiki-related? Yes.

SUPER COFFEE BROS!

As for Hibiki merch, in case you missed it, the CSM Onsa Ongaku did get revealed recently during Bandai's roleplay toy event, NARIKIRI WORLD, along with the CSM Ongekigo stuff.

https://hobby.dengeki.com/event/2443941/

And thank you for doing this again.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoldenXtreme

Answered what I could, since I haven't been watching shows as their air lately!


Favorite New-to-You Show of 2024
Torn between Kaiketsu Zubat, which is perhaps the ultimate 70s tokusatsu, and Ultraman Mebius, which whipped me into a frothing at the mouth frenzy... and also got me crying like a baby. Zubat is absurd and funny and tragic and just constant fun. Mebius understood what makes Ultraman special in a way few other shows do, and had such a wonderful cast. Both are great in different ways!


The Onari Memorial Award for Single Worst Thing in Tokusatsu, 2024 Edition:
Yuka Motohashi dying. She was such a delight in Carranger, I miss her.

Understandable, both are fantastic shows. Zubat especially since it answers the question of what if Miyauchi was Chuck Norris as an acoustic guitar-strumming toku hero.
As for Ms. Motohashi, it genuinely saddens me we won't be seeing her again, I really hoped that we'd get a Carranger reunion special that includes her after seeing what Kakuranger did. Regardless, may she rest in peace.

[Switchblade]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunred

As for Hibiki merch, in case you missed it, the CSM Onsa Ongaku did get revealed recently during Bandai's roleplay toy event, NARIKIRI WORLD, along with the CSM Ongekigo stuff.

https://hobby.dengeki.com/event/2443941/

That is considerably more than I ever expected to see and slightly worrisome as I am normally not a roleplay collector. Hopefully they'll have Yuichi Nakamura do the commercial and I can give myself an excuse to not buy any of it out of protest.

Quote:

And thank you for doing this again.

I take this responsibility far too seriously and get irrationally pissy if anyone else tries to do it.

[Enchilada645]

Wasn't sure if I could fill everything out, but I somehow managed to do it. Yay!

Favorite New Show of 2024

Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger: Probably the most epic and fantastical we've seen a Sentai yet. There's a grand sense of scale and aside from technical hiccups, I think they manage to sell their epic narrative pretty nicely. It also has some fantastic anniversary related content within the series, somehow feeling like a true sequel to Kyoryuger than Donbrothers did to Zenkaiger.

Kamen Rider Gotchard: What? I'm not going to pick between my faves are you crazy? Gotchard's a comfy show with a pretty fluid system thanks to how the main plot is structured. It allows for a lot of fun character moments, and while there are flaws I'll always admit to, I still really enjoyed it.

Favorite New-to-You Show of 2024

Madan Senki Ryukendo: Wasn't sure what to expect with this one but I ended up enjoying my time greatly with it. Has one of my all time favorite Toku Episodes, and definitely is one of my favorites of the non-Toei/Tsupro Toku. It's a shame Takara Tomy only made three Henshin Hero styled Toku Shows, but that said I'm excited to eventually get to the Rescue Series.

Favorite Movie, Miniseries, or Special of 2024

Kamen Rider Gotchard The Future Daybreak: The minute the full trailer for this released I knew I was going to love it. It's been a while since I've outright loved a solo Rider flick, and this one definitely hits a lot of fun emotional beats. Plus it continues to show how magical girl-coded Gotchard is which something I'll always try and pedal!

Favorite Rewatch of 2024

Dogengers ~Nice Buddy~: I did rewatch Kamen Rider W, and while that was fulfilling... well, I ended up having too much of a wonderful time to not mention Dogengers in some way. It's just a really fun Local Hero Tokusatsu with a lot of heart and some wonderful comedy.

Favorite Male Lead Character

Houtaro Ichinose (Kamen Rider Gotchard): Yeah I've got to go with my boy on this one. Dude's so full of whimsy and excitement and so many times so many people wanted to beat him down but he kept going, he kept pushing. He's going to achieve his Gotcha no matter how long it takes and you're not going to stop him.

Favorite Female Lead Character

Rinne Kudoh (Kamen Rider Majade): Honestly a great co-star to Houtaro, with the two having real nice chemistry with each other. She's very subtle in her emotions and how she presents herself, and her story with Atropos was honestly a delight to see unfold. She's also pretty badass as Majade and her synergy with Gotchard on the field was always a delight to see.

Favorite Male Supporting Character

Shu Ishido (Ultraman Arc): It's been fascinating following Shu's character throughout the show, it's a lot of subtle shifts and changes, but it's incredible seeing the effect SKIP ends up having on him. He's also got some funny quirks what with his coffee, and yet that becomes extremely endearing, especially when it ties into the Blazar arc's start. I'd also like to give special mention to the dub voice actor, especially during episode 23 where he acted his heart out.

Favorite Female Supporting Character

Tamami Ichinose (Kamen Rider Gotchard): Just a mom who loves her son and tries to give him the best advice she can. She only shows up so often, but I always adored whatever scenes she had with Houtaro. That's especially true during the endgame, where she gets a really nice moment with Houtaro before the final fight with Glion.

Favorite Villain

Jack Moon (Ryukendo): I'm sorry, I know we've had a lot of villains this year but it had to be from the series I just discovered. The man is a demonic swordsman who wants to live and die by the sword, and aside from a few hiccups (that thankfully get rectified), he creates a wonderful rivalry with our titular hero which ends in a fantastic way.

Special shout outs to the Sanseaters though, love those Team Rocket-esque goofballs just oh so much.

Favorite Returning Past Character

Right Suzuki (Boonboomger): It's not the biggest cameo, and he could only be out of suit for a short scene, but it was still incredible to see him again. Akira was also a big highlight though when it came to cast interaction.

Favorite Actor

Taisei Sakai as Gira Husty: This man has his expressions down pat, and he really flexed that for those more subtle scenes in King-Ohger too. Also I just genuinely enjoyed the character he portrayed too.

Favorite Actress

Kanon Miyahara as Clotho: Not only can she act, but she can fight out of costume damn well too! She gets a lot of out of suit stunts in during Gotchard, and they even designed a power-up for her to use since she could actually keep toe to toe with the other stunt workers. I also recently saw Final Stage so getting to see that she got to go ham on there too was really cool.

Favorite Writer(s)

Keiichi Hasegawa, Hiroki Uchida, & Akiko Inoue: Yeah I'm just picking all of them because upon looking at each of their episode lists for Gotchard... they honestly wrote a lot of the ones I enjoyed! I may have some quibbles with Gotchard, but I cannot deny that these three put in some good work.

Favorite Director

Kazuya Kamihoriuchi: This man directed some good King-Ohger Episodes, especially the three final episodes which were a suspenseful epic end to the series itself.

Favorite Suit Design

The Hagane Armor: Talk about a glow-up that basically turned my entire view on the non-titled Knights around in an instant. Prior to this the armor was CG and was fairly basic, so much that it carried over to its other appearances in the franchise. So it getting the proper suit treatment with just enough detail but not enough to make it overcrowded? Honestly really great.

Favorite Weapon

Gavvgablade: Gavv has a unique arsenal, and a standard sword that can also send a scrimblo out on a tiny bike to maybe potentially help turn the tide of battle? Now that's pretty great.

Favorite Vehicle

Bundorio Bunderas: He can transform into a trailer, he counts! Especially because I need the favorite mecha spot free... Anyway, I'm always a fan of making your giant robot an actual character (see Zenkaiger) so Bundorio was always going to be a winner for me. He brings a level of fun to the atmosphere, has some neat backstory, and gets to take charge in the action once we hit the climax of the episode. Overall he's a pretty great transforming companion to have by your side.

Favorite Mecha

Givas: Listen after his debut episodes and reappearance he had to go here specifically. He's got beams, a grapple claw, and the way he booms out "GIVASSS" is great. But the story surrounding him was what shot Givas up on my list as one of my favorite mecha of all time.

Favorite Fight Scene

Ultraman Arc vs. Trigelos: It's been a while since we've had a Kaiju specifically bred and modified to kill an Ultra. Digelos was created to likely try and kill Rution after Monogelos' failure, but it failed because it went up against Ultraman Arc. So after a long time of allowing Arc to grow and basically peak... we bring in Trigelos. What we get is a fight scene in which Arc is barely keeping pace with the newly bred Kaiju, especially when it starts countering his armors and manages to gain the upper hand. It's an intense fight in which its ending feels more agonizing due to how long we'll be waiting on 24 to drop thanks to the holiday season.

Favorite Dramatic Scene

Gotchard vs. Hopper Malgam: If there's one reason I'm excited about Gozyuger, it's seeing if Akiko Inoue will pull out a gut punch like this again. The acting, the atmosphere, the way the rug's pulled out from under the viewer after they think things might end up alright. It's such an insane scene to end on, especially followed by one of my favorite Final Form Episode Previews of all time.

Favorite Comedic Scene

Blazar Punches Gento: It's a sudden beat, but it works because it's so sudden. Gento's just staring at the Blazar Stone and suddenly his alien buddy takes control of his fist and punches him in the face so he can get an actual nap in.

Biggest "WTF did I just watch?" Moment

The Preview for Arc Episode 22 "The Man in the White Mask": As someone who actually partakes in episode previews, this is one of the ones that make me glad I do. It's an insane departure from the usual ones, it having this eerie and odd tone as we're treated to snippets from an equally as eerie and wild episode in Ultras history.

Favorite Song(s)

Any Back-On Song in Gotchard: Back-On put out some bangers this year, especially after deciding they wanted to bring FLOW on to add to everything. The remixed CHEMYxSTORY, did THE SKY'S THE LIMIT with Beverly, The Future Daybreak with FLOW again, all great bangers.

Favorite Piece of Merchandise

Gotchardriver: Thanks to a friend I managed to get my hands on it for my birthday, and having bought a bunch of blind packs before, I ended up having a lot of fun with my Gotchardriver. There's something so satisfying about slotting in cards, pulling and pushing the levers. The sounds are loud and great. Honestly a really great toy.

Biggest Surprise of 2024

His name is Glion, not Geryon: Legitimately did not expect this and it still hits me to this day. But yeah, turns out in an interview that Hasegawa mentioned his name's derived from Greek Mythology too. But it's not Geryon, yeah no, the name is derived from the sculptor Pygmalion. Honestly real neat fun fact that still hits me.

Edit: Honorable Mention Because I Somehow Forgot...

Venommariner's suit being still intact, legit was not expecting that suit to make another appearance:



Biggest Disappointment of 2024

Generated Images in Kamen Rider Outsiders: I can excuse a lot of things about Outsiders if I'm being honest. The idea of companies using generated imagery to try and cut corners though? Nah, I don't like that. Especially when said images come when talking about societal and environmental problems, of which, AI Generated Slop and the like are one of the bigger issues when it comes to killing our environment nowadays.

The Onari Wildcard Segment in which I hijack what this really is for my own rambling 2024 Edition:

I ended up also watching Kuuga this year, and it was pretty good, but fairly overrated. I still enjoyed my time with it though. When it comes to what little shows I have left in terms of early Heisei, Ryuki's next on the chopping block as that got uploaded to Tokushoutsu's Youtube recently in full. It makes me curious if we'll get a new announcement from them or Team Rider anytime soon, but we'll see.

Speaking of hopes, what with Fuuto PI's revival via Portrait of Skull, I do hope we end up getting that released over here at some point. And I do hope that we'll eventually continue on to Season 2.

Most Anticipated Tokusatsu Project and/or Merch of 2025

I'm not really anticipating anything, but it's probably going to Gozyuger. If only because between that and Ultraman Omega, we know just a bit more about Gozyuger at the moment. The suits look cool, the premise is interesting, and Akiko Inoue is writing for it. It seems like it might end up being a fun time.