191 replies to this topic

[Octarine]

That's a good point. The thing that really got me excited for Gokaiger before it started wasn't so much the prospect of seeing old suits and characters again, but the knowledge that its head writer was going to be the man responsible for Abaranger, Dekaranger and Kamen Rider Kuuga. I can get used to lousy suits and gimmicks most of the time, but it's hard to stay invested when the story and characters aren't interesting.

That belt, though... I mean, I understand that the ability to make a toy out of it is the top priority when it comes to designing these things, but it looks just plain difficult to fight in. Maybe that's why they got Koichi to direct; the more crazy wirework there is, the less the actor needs to actually move around in the suit.

Edited by Octarine, 11 July 2011 - 02:39 PM.

[Ekaje]

Apparently the audio is from a promo we don't have footage from, but the pictures show some shots of the supporting cast, as well as some of Fourze's attachments (Rocket, Missile, Drill, Radar) which you can hear being called out near the end if you listen closely.

EDIT: The video preview image is great.

Edited by Ekaje, 13 July 2011 - 11:58 PM.

[shimapun]

Oh boy a toku thread for me to share my thoughts on shows with sweaty Japanese stuntmen in silly costumes <3

I've dipped into a bit of most of the major franchises at some post. I've seen most of the Godzilla films and have watched numerous Kamen Rider shows (my introduction was ther Spirits manga, but my first real series was Kabuto). Like most of you, I grew up with Power Rangers. However, I only just started watching sentai (Gokaiger), and I'm enjoying it so far. I plan on watching Jetman eventually, but I heard that the subs for that kinda suck, so eh.

I have little experience with Ultraman. I've only seen about three episodes of the original, which is inexcusable considering I bought the entire series on dvd almost a year ago. >_> Oddly, my own mother has seen more than me. She grew up watching the American dub during the weekends (which was not widely syndicated, as far as I know.) I guess I must be genetically predisposed to liking this stuff, heh.

I have never, ever seen a Gamera movie, nor have I watched any Metal Heroes shows. I will... eventually.

And... yeah. I just want to share a little something that would appeal to you Godzilla fans that happen to collect action figures... SH MONSTERARTS GODZILLA AND MECHAGODZILLA!

http://tamashii.jp/s...shma/index.html






The wallet rape will be so worth it...

[Shiluku]

Oh boy a toku thread for me to share my thoughts on shows with sweaty Japanese stuntmen in silly costumes <3

I've dipped into a bit of most of the major franchises at some post. I've seen most of the Godzilla films and have watched numerous Kamen Rider shows (my introduction was ther Spirits manga, but my first real series was Kabuto). Like most of you, I grew up with Power Rangers. However, I only just started watching sentai (Gokaiger), and I'm enjoying it so far. I plan on watching Jetman eventually, but I heard that the subs for that kinda suck, so eh.

I have little experience with Ultraman. I've only seen about three episodes of the original, which is inexcusable considering I bought the entire series on dvd almost a year ago. >_> Oddly, my own mother has seen more than me. She grew up watching the American dub during the weekends (which was not widely syndicated, as far as I know.) I guess I must be genetically predisposed to liking this stuff, heh.

I have never, ever seen a Gamera movie, nor have I watched any Metal Heroes shows. I will... eventually.

And... yeah. I just want to share a little something that would appeal to you Godzilla fans that happen to collect action figures... SH MONSTERARTS GODZILLA AND MECHAGODZILLA!

http://tamashii.jp/s...shma/index.html






The wallet rape will be so worth it...

DAMMIT.

I JUST GOT A DINOZAUR.

Any idea on a price yet?

[shimapun]

The Big G will be 5,775 yen, Mechagodzilla will be 6,825.

With the current exchange rate, they're $73 and $86, respectively. Expect many lighter piggybanks for those who want both.

[Kyoryu Aqua]

Oh hell yeah a Toku thread. I love me some Gokaiger. I don't think I could have picked a better sentai series to start with.

Also, if S Factor's zone names are any indication, I'm a huge Beetleborgs fan. Back in the day that was my show. A shame all the cool kids had to mock me for it though :/

I hope the break for PR: Samurai isn't too long. I really wanna see a US Gokaiger, but we'll probably have to get through Goseiger first :/

[Octarine]

I hope the break for PR: Samurai isn't too long. I really wanna see a US Gokaiger, but we'll probably have to get through Goseiger first :/

I still feel like Saban should've waited a year and used Goseiger as the jumping-off point for the new Power Rangers instead of Shinkenger. It seems pretty clear that Samurai was a bit of a rush job (at least in its first half), so the extra time probably would've given them long enough to ensure a better product, and Goseiger just happens to have a ton of features that'd make it work perfectly as a neo-Mighty Morphin'. The costumes are the exact same colours as the Zyuranger/MMPR costumes, and they're even the first suits in a while to have the metal mouthpieces. The Goseigers take orders from a big floating head and they even have a robot buddy. Even the multiple villain factions sort of make sense for a fresh start, establishing in a single season that aliens, magic and high technology all exist in this setting and that villains will come and go over time. Just use Bulk in place of Professor What's-His-Face and call Bladerun/Brajil the secret son of Dark Specter or something and you're good to go. The more "exotic" Samurai could easily have been saved for the year after the Goseiger adaptation, and things could've taken off from there.

As delicious as those Godzilla MonsterArts look, I've promised myself never to get into importing action figures. That's a dark, dark path. God help me if they ever make a Biollante, though.

Edited by Octarette, 14 July 2011 - 03:57 PM.

[Shiluku]

The Big G will be 5,775 yen, Mechagodzilla will be 6,825.

With the current exchange rate, they're $73 and $86, respectively. Expect many lighter piggybanks for those who want both.

That is more than what Dinozaur costs. Much more.

...

Dear Santa...

[fluffybunnyboy]

Call me old-fashioned, but I prefer the older Super Sentai shows over the newer ones. I much prefer low-budget handmade special effects over low-budget computer graphics. I like robots that look like real physical objects instead of 3D cartoon objects, too.

Choujin Sentai Jetman is also one of the best kid's shows I've ever seen from any country, period.

[Octarine]

It varies for me. On one hand, CG effects can make attacks and transformation sequences look much more interesting than they might with practical effects alone. That's mostly what Kamen Rider uses its CG for, so I don't usually have a problem with it there. When CG has to represent an object, though, I generally don't like it. The CG shots of mecha in Super Sentai are nearly always really horrible to look at, and not in a charming way. It's okay when it's used sparingly or when it really suits the tone of the show (Abaranger, Go-Onger), but for the most part I prefer guys in suits. I do have a bit of a bias towards Sentai series from before the 2000s for that reason, although CG's never enough to put me off a show completely.

That's not to say that special effects from older series couldn't be genuinely awful too. I adore Choushinsei Flashman, for instance, but the effects for Blue Flash's Prism Ball (draw a blue cartoon circle over Blue Flash -> cut to stock footage of Zolors exploding) were just plain embarrassing and I'm sure that CG could've done a better job of it. I have no idea why nobody on the production team stopped and thought that it might've been a little beyond their means to make that look good.

[Ekaje]

Scans of Fourze stuff.

Spoiler

A firefighter form/weapon


Electricity based form/weapon


Construction robot that can turn into a vehicle and combine with the bike.


These things look neat, but they confuse me. The season is space themed, but now we're getting Firefighter/Electrician/Construcion forms.

EDIT2: More scans

Spoiler

All the forms and attachments on one page.


Picture of the belt.


More pictures of the belt and attachments, also shows the parts that attach to the belt.

EDIT3: Another thing.

Spoiler

In the vein of OOO's Candroids, Fourze is going to have helpers called Foodroids that look, well, like food.

EDIT: On the subject of CG, I guess it's necessary for some things, but outside of transformation sequences and attack effects, the low budget CG in tokusatsu looks terrible. It's really jarring in Gokaiger seeing them switch between the suit and CG mechs, and in Double, it was really noticeable when they used CG to replace the Rider in some the shots in aerial battles.

Edited by Ekaje, 17 July 2011 - 03:39 PM.

[Octarine]

EDIT3: Another thing.

Spoiler

In the vein of OOO's Candroids, Fourze is going to have helpers called Foodroids that look, well, like food.

Dammit, I was totally just about to post that picture.

Spoiler

Fourze is just looking weirder and weirder as time goes on. His alternate forms and his gadgets seem to have absolutely nothing to do with his main theme or the anniversary aspect. That's not really a bad thing, since the alternate forms don't really look bad and the Foodroids are completely adorable (and this is coming from someone who only found the Candroids sort of cute and who was really bothered by W's gadgets). It's just... weird. There has to be something that we're all missing here.

Also, new Gokai to gush about!

Spoiler

A great tribute as usual, and definitely up to the Deka/Car/Ginga gold standard for me. It was good to see Marvelous still worrying about the implications of what happened with Basco in the last episode, and it made for a pretty convincing reason why he wouldn't be gung-ho about working with CHIEFU despite his fondness for adventure. Luka didn't do a whole lot, but her presence was still appreciated after quite a few episodes on the backburner. CHIEFU himself was very much in-character: his casual attitude toward the Gokaigers made sense, and it was nice that he at least mentioned the other Boukengers, even if it wasn't by name. I liked it when they did something similar in the Carranger episode (when Luka suggests that because Kyousuke is acting crazy they should just find a different Carranger to get the power from); it's nice that the show is at least acknowledging that the characters who don't guest star still exist.

It was great to see Insarn down on the ground again, even if she didn't get to properly fight and none of the Zangyack appeared again after she retreated. Of course, it was Ryuuwon who was the real star of the show here, and he didn't disappoint. The fights were really good, too: we finally got to see the Kakurangers' trademark cartoon sound effects, and the Gokai Scramble Final Wave was seriously cool. The Boukenger tribute fight against Ryuuwon was probably the best tribute fight so far, too, with some genuinely clever weapon use. My only real issue is the use of Gold Mode for the third episode in a row... I'm still not a huge fan of that armour, and Gokai Silver's two other Final Waves deserve some more attention. We got some variety in the mech fight for this episode (not just the GoGoKen, but DekaGokaiOh and MagiGokaiOh, even if they were completely ineffective), so it's kind of a pity that the on-the-ground fight didn't go that extra mile. At this point I'm kind of hoping that someone will steal his Gold Mode key, Magiranger-style.

Next episode we're finally getting some more Joe focus and a crapton of Gokai Changes. Abaranger, Ohranger, Goseiger, a couple of others that I can't remember because I'm not watching the episode right now... I'm still waiting for my full-team Bioman and Flashman changes, though. Or anything Changeman or Battle Fever.

Edited by Octarette, 18 July 2011 - 03:33 PM.

[Ekaje]

Gokai 20:

Spoiler

This episode was really nice, good to see the tributes aren't going to go back to Gao/Geki level (guest only in a few scenes, "Hey, you're pretty cool, here's my power.", use that team's keys, win). Also nice that there's going to be episodes for some of the acquisitions in 199. The reference to Boukenger VS Super Sentai and the end by BoukenRed knowing about AkaRed was pretty neat too.

My only complaint about this one would be how Silver's Gold mode was pretty forced, Ryuuwon could have gone straight to giant and nothing would have changed, but gotta make kids want the toy I guess.

Edited by Ekaje, 18 July 2011 - 06:41 PM.

[Quacku]

Thoughts on last eps of OOO and Gokaiger.

Spoiler

I think, the last week of Gokai and OOO had to be the best in their respective series, I don't know about you guys but the execution of both eps was fantastic, the drama in OOO, that fight scene between Ankh and Eiji, Hina's doubts and the whole crowd shouting O's was just breathtaking. It felt like a proper Kamen Rider Moment.

As for Gokai, one of my favourite Reds reappearing and in a blinding episode that really helped with the theme of the episode, pirates and adventurers go really well together XD I loved the exchanges between Marvellous and Akashi, proper Reds right there, also I loved how they didn't make Marvellous out to be an amatuer. You know the drill when mentors come back they often ridicule their successor, but both felt like they were on equal footing, especially with Luka (oh how I love her~) providing some nice moments whilst with the two reds.

Oh and that boukenger theme, once again Gokaiger sends tingles down my spine, loved every moment of that henshin XD

[shimapun]

Currently watching Kamen Rider Blade, just finished episode 3 not too long ago. Given the bad rep the first few episodes of Blade have, I'm actually somewhat enjoying it (although the first episode was almost incomprehensible, and Kenzaki's shouts during battle come off as incredibly whiny.) Does it get worse or was what i heard just a bit too overblown?

And holy shit, OOO is already on episode 42? I gots some catchin' up to do!

[Ekaje]

Finally caught up with OOO, and speaking of it, I found this video.

[Ekaje]

Full video of the Fourze teaser via camera, starts at 1:30.

[Quacku]

The trailer has gotten me fairly excited for Fouze, it's been a few years since we had a rider show with a huge cast, and I mean the dude has a drill kick, and it's main writer worked on gurren lagann and HIS POSE IS HIM POINTING TO THE SKY, this is the rider that will pierce the heavens...hopefully XD

Also Over-Time has the new eps of OOO and Gokaiger up, they were especially speedy this weekend! http://over-ti.me/

EDIT: I forgot to add, the All combo album has been uploaded, just wondering am I allowed to post the download link here?

Edited by DSP, 24 July 2011 - 10:12 PM.

[Octarine]

Yeah, I'm pretty pumped for Fourze. It's kind of funny, actually, since there's basically no faster way to make me wary of a series than to set it in a high school, but just about everything else about it is really appealing to me. The suit and the gimmicks, what we've heard about the story so far, the staff... all I need is an awesome opening theme and I'm totally sold. The cast looks pretty interesting as well; I'm crossing my fingers that the fairly large number of girls hanging around might mean that we'll get a female rider this year, but I know better than to expect it. Stupid little Japanese boys not buying toys that are associated with girls. That country needs a Friendship is Magic dub to straighten 'em out, stat.

EDIT: I forgot to add, the All combo album has been uploaded, just wondering am I allowed to post the download link here?

I've barely been keeping up with OOO, but good lawd is that combo medley godly. The inclusion of the OOO Driver's singing in the various combo themes is a really cool idea, and it makes the songs feel much more connected with the series than they have been in previous shows, if that makes sense. It's cool, anyway.

EDIT: Gokaiger ramblings for the week.

Spoiler

Meh. I really wasn't feeling it this week, which is a real pity after getting possibly the best tribute yet last time. The dilemma wasn't particularly interesting, the kid was fairly bland and we didn't learn a whole lot about Joe. The concept of the Zangyack going after some kind of artifact might've been more interesting if 1. It wasn't done so well last week, and 2. It wasn't also the Zangyack's plan in the last two filler episodes, both of which were better than this one. Even the mech fight was pretty boring, featuring more ShinkenGokaiOh spam and some pretty questionable effects. The Abaranger drill tribute was nice, though, I guess. There were some other good moments, too, like Gai finally getting fed up with all of the team mix-ups and Insarn's pathetic little whine when she didn't get to make the monster grow, but overall it was a bit of a dud.

I'm expecting better things next week, though, since we're getting not just another tribute (GoGoV) but our traditional girl-focused episode as well, not to mention another appearance by Basco. We're getting what looks like our first tribute episode without a red returning, too, and the first use of the Fiveman powers in the series.

Edited by Octarette, 25 July 2011 - 03:10 AM.

[Ekaje]

So, new episodes.

Spoiler

Gokai 24:

This episode was insane. The plot was absolutely crazy, while the fights were really good (really liked the real time transformation and roll call). Zealousto is the best character

OOO 45:

Things are really ramping up, though I'm still worried about time. The next two episodes will probably be about Gamel and Uva becoming complete, 1-3 medals smashed, dead, which would leave one episode for Ankh and Maki. Guess might put more plot in with a few scenes of Gamel crying about Mezool and then "oh no, complete Gamel *smash*". And yay, Date's back.