Re-Popping My Toku Cherry

[Bolt]

Thanks a lot for the suggestions!

I should probably mention that I've seen enough of Garo to know that I don't ever want to see more, same goes for Magiranger. I watched the first to episode of Kiva and it both bored me and disgusted me with some of its CG overkill, I may or may not look into it again.

Knight, I've seen all the Kamen Rider series you listed except for Kiva. Good recommendations for the other genres, though. I also loved Kikaida and Zubat, something along these lines would be fantastic.

NAND NOR, I hate to have to ask: are you recommending those shows simply because they're available on DVD here in the US or because they're good? I started buying the Ultraman Tiga DVD's here when 4Kids picked it up... and I have to say, I'm sort of sorry I did.

Igadevil, I'm not even sure exactly what I'm looking for, honestly. I'd like to investigate some older shows I'm not as familiar with, something similar to the original Kamen Rider, V3, Kikaida, and Zubat. Something more... obscure, but quality. Subtitles are also highly prefered since I'm a gaijin.

I haven't had a chance to watch much more Geki, but I'm about to catch up on a few episodes. Still lovin' it! I also need to get Justiriser and Sazer X again, those shows are the ****.

 

[Daikamonohashi]

Find and watch Bio Planet WoO. IMO, it's TPC's best series since the 60s and probably one of the best modern effects series to date.

 

[Igadevil]

Igadevil, I'm not even sure exactly what I'm looking for, honestly. I'd like to investigate some older shows I'm not as familiar with, something similar to the original Kamen Rider, V3, Kikaida, and Zubat. Something more... obscure, but quality. Subtitles are also highly prefered since I'm a gaijin.

I don't how many of the older Riders you've seen, but if you haven't gotten to them yet, Kamen Rider X and New Kamen Rider (Skyrider) are my two favorites after the original. I think they're all pretty great though and rewatching them helps; I used to think Stronger was just okay, now I think it's pretty aweome and even kind of brilliant in places (especially near the end.) The only problem is they're not widely subbed. Some fine folks are doing Amazon, I hope this inspires others to pick up another one.

On the more obscure side, Kikaida 01 & Inazuman are both out there subbed, and I like 'em a lot too. I would probably recommend 01 first because you've seen Kikaida and this is like that, albeit completely insane (the first few episodes are incredible, then it kinda gets weird for a while but there's still plenty of action and the ending's cool. Mari/Bijinda's awesome too. Just get ready to see Hakaida go from Public Enemy #1 to a chump.)

Inazuman's pretty good, but I really hope they release Flash too, because you're only getting half the story with the first show (which is still good in itself.) Also Flash reunites Ban (Jiro) with Ando (Prof. Gill), so it's like Kikaida 2.0! It also pulls off the admirable task of making a guy who makes chicken noises into a complete and utter badass.

Robot Detective, I don't think it's been subbed, but that show rocks and it's not too hard to follow. It gets a little complicated near the end and the actual finale isn't all it could be (well, compared to the comic version), but the rest of the show's great fun. It's right around the time of V3 and Kikaida 01.

Akumaizer-3/Chôjin Bibyun. Super-duper 70's with some of the wackiest costumes ever (wacky is good in my book though) and loads of action. Again, don't know if they've been subbed. But they're pretty easy to follow. I like Bibyun almost soley for the fact that it essentially has Stronger and Apollo Geist fighting Naya Gorô.

Daitetsujin 1-7. It's a giant robot show, but there's a lot of human-sized action going on (the ending credits is basically a war!) I think it's at it's best early on, but it's a good trip overall. 1-7 kick ass, his final attack is a thing of beauty.

On the newer end... Mikazuki. I've no clue if it's subbed (properly) but it's a great little show, and short. There's sort of something for everyone. The first episode starts off leisurely but once the giant flying watermelon shows up, it gets goooooooooood.

And Ultraman Max. Great, great show. It broke into my top 3 Ultras, that's how much I like it. It's more back-to-basics than Nexus, but it does so in a way where it recaptures the magic of the first Ultra shows and doesn't just feel like retreading old ground. There are some episodes which are truly unique, and this is the show which has my single most favorite Ultraman episode ever. I know that it was being subbed, I don't know how far they got or if they're going to finish it/finished it.

If I can think of some others I'll post them up. I completely skipped the 80's and most of the 90's! There's good stuff in there too.

 

[NAND NOR]

NAND NOR, I hate to have to ask: are you recommending those shows simply because they're available on DVD here in the US or because they're good? I started buying the Ultraman Tiga DVD's here when 4Kids picked it up... and I have to say, I'm sort of sorry I did.

A little of both to be honest. I believe in supporting Region 1 releases, perhaps to a fanatical extreme. And well ... the lack of support is why BCI Eclipse has been shut down so ... :disappoin

I've enjoyed what I've watched of both shows. I think Red Baron may be better than IRON KING. They are a bit slow at times, and both tend to be more episodic (both being from the early-mid seventies). If you are looking for some grand over arching plot line like you see in newer Super Sentai and Kamen Rider, you might want to look elsewhere.

At the end of the day it's your choice.

EDIT: I forgot to mention it before, but I'd recommend staying away from Kiva. It's just ... so damn boring. The show was okay (albeit brain dead) entertainment at the beginning, but at this point (episode 45) the entire thing is off the rails. I don't think the writers even care anymore and are just throwing **** around the room just to see if it'll stick to something. It's like a train wreck ... and not a good one either.

 

[Bolt]

Honestly, the main things I look for in Toku are zany costumes/special effects and fun, manic action scenes. That's what it's all about for me; if I wanted character development I'd watch One Tree Hill or read Gravity's Rainbow or something, and epic melodrama or intricate plotlines in Toku have never been my bag. It's my guilty pleasure entertainment medium. I love neon, foam rubber, funk guitar-powered chop socky psychosis. Basically anytime somebody in a brightly colored stretchy outfit is kicking a dinosaur in the face I'm happy.

And I agree about what I saw of Kiva (which is admittedly not much). It just felt boring and some of the special effects actually made me want to induce vomitting. People keep telling me I should watch it because it's "dark" too, but I think my definition of "dark" and others' must be completely different.

 

[Shougo B'Stard]

Honestly, the main things I look for in Toku are zany costumes/special effects and fun, manic action scenes...I love neon, foam rubber, funk guitar-powered chop socky psychosis. Basically anytime somebody in a brightly colored stretchy outfit is kicking a dinosaur in the face I'm happy.

Go watch Machineman. Now. I usually don't like watching stuff just for camp value or whatever, but Machineman is cheesetastic, awesomely bad fun.

 

[Aoi Kurenai]

I don't think Kiva's dark, dramatic at times, yeah, it finds a pretty decent balance that a lot of other series couldn't. It was boring at the start, nothing much happened, but it really picks up around episode 22 or so, the only thing that bothers me is that Wataru's kinda boring as a lead, but there's at least Otoya to pick up the slack whenever his side of stuff happens to be boring. I think it's the best series since at least Hibiki, each new episode keeps me hooked and it's the type of show that I can't wait to see more of, which is a massive imporvement from its first set of episodes that had me leaving a stack of them sitting around before I got the motivation to watch them.

A lot of the special effects heavy things, like the giant dragon castle, aren't really in the series too much anymore, there's some giant battles every now in then (think the most recent episode gave us our first in about ten episodes), but the CG is pretty good there.

Go watch Machineman. Now. I usually don't like watching something just for camp value or whatever, but Machineman is cheesetastic, awesomely bad fun.

Ooh, yeah, Riderman/robocop reject. What's the cheese level in it? I can appreciate stuff like Ryukendo because I actually found the zanyness to be pretty fun, but even I've got a limit.

 

[Bolt]

It was boring at the start, nothing much happened, but it really picks up around episode 22 or so

The thing about me is that I'm not the kind of person that wants to waste time watching 22 episodes of something waiting for it to get good. Especially when I have no assurance of that happening. I got duped into watching The Shield once because I heard it "got good" later on in the series and now I'm approximately three and a half hours older with no way to account for that lost time.

 

[Aoi Kurenai]

I guess it was just easy for me since I was watching it weekly most of the time, I don't watch much TV, so it never seemed like a big struggle for me. Why not give a future episode a watch to see then? I used to do that when I was left wondering if a show ever got any better.

 

[Shougo B'Stard]

Ooh, yeah, Riderman/robocop reject. What's the cheese level in it? I can appreciate stuff like Ryukendo because I actually found the zanyness to be pretty fun, but even I've got a limit.

It's like...take the cutesy/lighthearted episode of each tokusatsu you've seen and roll it in one. Then stretch that for an entire series. Then give your hapless, goober superhero a talking baseball for a sidekick, and give him a special move that "heals" certain opponents from evil, rather than killing them. Then imagine Haim Saban adapting the show.

http://www.japanhero.com/tokusatsu reviews/machineman.htm

This review paints a nice picture. In fact, that review is what made me even bother checking out the show.

My favorite part of the review:

"Well, the main villains are an evil organization named TENTACLE, led by Professor K, an old diabolical mastermind...His major ambition in life is not to take over the world (which he still eventually wants) but to kill all children. You see, he and his android Monsu hate and despise children in every single way, more than the creators of this show...Professor K was stuck with coming up with some of the strangest (and stupidest) plans in tokusatsu history. These include erasing all books so that the children won’t be able to read, make the kids cry hysterically by showing them simulated footage of their parents getting hit by cars so that TENTACLE could make crystals out of their tears, and my personal favorite, removing children’s bellies and turning them into balloons (?) so that the children would loose their balance and not be able to stand up."

:laugh: