What are you watching? Other Toku Series Edition

Mesnick · 04-15-2023, 05:56 PM

Finished watching the Daimajin Kanon. A very bright and optimistic story. Impressions are only the best, although I can scold the crumpled ending and the episode of memories was also superfluous. The similarity to Hibiki is of course very strong, but this style and tropes are not so often used as to be boring. So if you liked the most unusual Kamen Rider, I advise you to watch this show as well. And don't make the mistake of expecting something like the Daimajin trilogy. Those films are also good, in their own way, but completely different.

Mesnick · 04-17-2023, 04:41 AM

Probably, this news was already somewhere, but I missed it. The first two episodes of the 4th season of Dogengers, Dogengers: Metropolis, have already been released. This time around, the story is about the police (Kamen Rider Drive's answer?) and starring Tsuchiya Shion (JK from Fourze). Just like in the past, characters from previous seasons will return.

GoldenXtreme · 04-22-2023, 05:47 PM

I've now seen all of the Showa Gamera films and I liked the experience quite a lot. I'd even go as far as to say I generally found the madcap films more entertaining than the Showa Godzilla films (though the original Godzilla is still just incredible). Heck, even Super Monster was fascinating in a "how did this get greenlit" sort of way. Highly recommend giving these films a watch if you are up for some goofy old-fashioned Kaiju content! I'd say Barugon was my favorite of the films as "serious" entertainment, but as far as the really cheesy ones go I found Guiron quite enthralling.

GuardianAngel87 · 04-24-2023, 06:42 PM

As of yesterday, I am officially halfway through Space Sheriff Sharivan and I decided to take a bit of a break from the series due to wanting to catch up on my other Toku viewings. The show is still pretty enjoyable for what it is but it does get a bit repetitive after a while. Definitely not a show one can do a massive binge-watch on.

Mesnick · 04-25-2023, 12:22 AM

Started watching Giant Robo Ova. The beginning is slightly crumpled, throwing the viewer right into the thick of things, without wasting time on the origin. But the more interesting it will be to find out the solution to the tragic past of the characters. The characters are amazing, by the way. They play typical roles, but at the same time their characters are much larger than this and we are very easily given to understand that under other circumstances they could have acted completely differently. The anime format allows you to shoot something that is impossible live, and the anime itself is simply incredibly beautiful with its retro style and interesting finds. Although it is strictly contraindicated for epileptics to watch. I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't watched it.

GoldenXtreme · 05-08-2023, 02:30 PM

Rescue Force is done and dusted! It was an interesting series, even if it didn't always live up to its potential. I always have a hard time writing out my thoughts, so I decided to try and break it down into what I liked, what I didn't like, and just some neutral thoughts and observations.

The Good:

I think the rescue theme of the show was handled well overall. It definitely drifted away from it later on but it always did feel like a show about saving people. I found it a far better effort on this front than GoGoFive.
The CGI looked quite good for the time period and there was lots of shooting in more rural areas, which was becoming rather rare at the time!
It definitely had a unique feeling all around, it was refreshing to see a big TV tokusatsu that wasn't from Toei or Tsuburaya and it often did things in a way that was unusual.
The commander is great and I think Hikaru and Kyousuke had a surprisingly compelling dynamic, nice balance of them annoying the hell out of each other and being genuine pals.

The Bad:

There's no two ways about it. This show feels low budget even for a tokusatsu of the era. The lack of suits and props could make the episodes really blur together at times.
After a certain point you just start to feel bad for Rei and Juri and their sheer lack of stuff to do in most episodes. Rei at least got a decent amount of episodes dedicated to her, but Juri didn't get nearly as much. You definitely get the impression the writers wanted to do more with them but it wasn't "marketable".
There isn't much of an overarching plot and the episodic plots could be hit or miss. I almost wish the series was half its actual length. I still can't believe that arc about choosing a new commander where Hikaru was made commander for a single episode after a bunch of build up and it was completely undone before the episode was over.
The R1 Max suit looks awful, I can't stand it.
This show has a baaaaad case of stock footage overuse. Feels like I'm watching Precure or something...

The Neutral:

I mentioned this in my previous post, but this show definitely feels like it is aimed at an even younger audience than your standard tokusatsu. This isn't a "bad" thing per se, but it does mean you shouldn't expect anything too thought provoking.
Man, what's with all the weird horny energy?
I definitely feel like the show shills Hikaru a bit too much for my taste. I like him well enough but these sorts of characters who push through everything on guts alone without ever majorly messing up bore me a bit. Since the show is aimed so young I don't think it was all that interested in exploring a failed rescue though, so I'll give it a pass.

So overall it was an intriguing experience and I liked a lot of the concepts. I'm very curious about how Rescue Fire compares to this. Is it better, worse, or maybe a bit of both? Regardless it was an interesting look into what lies outside of the more mainstream tokusatsu and I can't help but think about the potential of the series had it lasted more than 2 shows. I'll give Rescue Fire a watch eventually, but for now I should wrap up watching Kamen Rider Saber...

GuardianAngel87 · 05-08-2023, 06:08 PM

For the last couple of days, I finally continued right where I left off on Space Sheriff Sharivan and I am now up to the episode where Reidar makes his first official introduction to the series.

SHINOBI03 · 05-10-2023, 10:26 AM

I now have the greatest Toku show ever made

DreamSword · 05-10-2023, 11:37 AM

But why tho?

SHINOBI03 · 05-10-2023, 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreamSword

But why tho?

1- Why not?

2- I have nostalgic attachment to it from watching on TV.

04-15-2023, 05:56 PM	#1061
Mesnick Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2021 Posts: 2,562	Finished watching the Daimajin Kanon. A very bright and optimistic story. Impressions are only the best, although I can scold the crumpled ending and the episode of memories was also superfluous. The similarity to Hibiki is of course very strong, but this style and tropes are not so often used as to be boring. So if you liked the most unusual Kamen Rider, I advise you to watch this show as well. And don't make the mistake of expecting something like the Daimajin trilogy. Those films are also good, in their own way, but completely different. Last edited by Mesnick; 04-15-2023 at 05:59 PM..

04-22-2023, 05:47 PM	#1063
GoldenXtreme Henshin Heaven Join Date: Jan 2016 Location: Inside a Hyper Battle Video, help. Posts: 1,350	I've now seen all of the Showa Gamera films and I liked the experience quite a lot. I'd even go as far as to say I generally found the madcap films more entertaining than the Showa Godzilla films (though the original Godzilla is still just incredible). Heck, even Super Monster was fascinating in a "how did this get greenlit" sort of way. Highly recommend giving these films a watch if you are up for some goofy old-fashioned Kaiju content! I'd say Barugon was my favorite of the films as "serious" entertainment, but as far as the really cheesy ones go I found Guiron quite enthralling. __________________ Tier Lists: Kamen Rider \| Sentai \| Ultra

04-24-2023, 06:42 PM	#1064
GuardianAngel87 Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2013 Posts: 1,033	As of yesterday, I am officially halfway through Space Sheriff Sharivan and I decided to take a bit of a break from the series due to wanting to catch up on my other Toku viewings. The show is still pretty enjoyable for what it is but it does get a bit repetitive after a while. Definitely not a show one can do a massive binge-watch on. Last edited by GuardianAngel87; 04-24-2023 at 06:54 PM..

05-08-2023, 02:30 PM	#1066
GoldenXtreme Henshin Heaven Join Date: Jan 2016 Location: Inside a Hyper Battle Video, help. Posts: 1,350	Rescue Force is done and dusted! It was an interesting series, even if it didn't always live up to its potential. I always have a hard time writing out my thoughts, so I decided to try and break it down into what I liked, what I didn't like, and just some neutral thoughts and observations. The Good: I think the rescue theme of the show was handled well overall. It definitely drifted away from it later on but it always did feel like a show about saving people. I found it a far better effort on this front than GoGoFive. The CGI looked quite good for the time period and there was lots of shooting in more rural areas, which was becoming rather rare at the time! It definitely had a unique feeling all around, it was refreshing to see a big TV tokusatsu that wasn't from Toei or Tsuburaya and it often did things in a way that was unusual. The commander is great and I think Hikaru and Kyousuke had a surprisingly compelling dynamic, nice balance of them annoying the hell out of each other and being genuine pals. The Bad: There's no two ways about it. This show feels low budget even for a tokusatsu of the era. The lack of suits and props could make the episodes really blur together at times. After a certain point you just start to feel bad for Rei and Juri and their sheer lack of stuff to do in most episodes. Rei at least got a decent amount of episodes dedicated to her, but Juri didn't get nearly as much. You definitely get the impression the writers wanted to do more with them but it wasn't "marketable". There isn't much of an overarching plot and the episodic plots could be hit or miss. I almost wish the series was half its actual length. I still can't believe that arc about choosing a new commander where Hikaru was made commander for a single episode after a bunch of build up and it was completely undone before the episode was over. The R1 Max suit looks awful, I can't stand it. This show has a baaaaad case of stock footage overuse. Feels like I'm watching Precure or something... The Neutral: I mentioned this in my previous post, but this show definitely feels like it is aimed at an even younger audience than your standard tokusatsu. This isn't a "bad" thing per se, but it does mean you shouldn't expect anything too thought provoking. Man, what's with all the weird horny energy? I definitely feel like the show shills Hikaru a bit too much for my taste. I like him well enough but these sorts of characters who push through everything on guts alone without ever majorly messing up bore me a bit. Since the show is aimed so young I don't think it was all that interested in exploring a failed rescue though, so I'll give it a pass. So overall it was an intriguing experience and I liked a lot of the concepts. I'm very curious about how Rescue Fire compares to this. Is it better, worse, or maybe a bit of both? Regardless it was an interesting look into what lies outside of the more mainstream tokusatsu and I can't help but think about the potential of the series had it lasted more than 2 shows. I'll give Rescue Fire a watch eventually, but for now I should wrap up watching Kamen Rider Saber... __________________ Tier Lists: Kamen Rider \| Sentai \| Ultra

05-10-2023, 10:26 AM	#1068
SHINOBI03 Member Join Date: Mar 2017 Posts: 638	I now have the greatest Toku show ever made Attached Thumbnails

05-10-2023, 11:37 AM	#1069
DreamSword Some guy. I'm alright. Join Date: Sep 2019 Location: Michigan Posts: 5,044	But why tho? __________________ Watch Power Rangers SPD With Me! \| Tokucasts w/ Friends!