It occurred to me a few weeks ago that talking tokusatsu is all well and good but what would be the best places to start for the uninitiated? Granted, I’m sure everyone has seen a Godzilla movie but the likes of Super Sentai, Kamen Rider, Garo and Ultraman are completely different beasts. Except maybe Ultraman… That’s pretty close to Godzilla.

So what kind of toku is suitable for newbies? Naturally, it depends on individual taste and thanks to nearly all of them being around for around 50 years, most franchises have more than one series that should appeal to you but for the sake of an article, here are my personal choices on the easiest toku to get into for noobs.

Kicking off with one of my top five Kamen Rider series; Kamen Rider Fourze. If you remember the article I previously wrote, you’ll remember that while its mostly presented as a kids show, it actually has a lot of valuable morals and stories to tell, especially for a young teenage audience. It has that fantastic distinction of being a fun kids show at heart but is unafraid to play with morality tropes and tell the kind of high school redemption stories we all love.

The enthusiastic protagonist is also such an endearing goof that you’ll love him in no time, much like the rest of the cast who are equally great to watch. If you want a space-fuelled adventure that dips its toes into adult themes, then this is the series for you!

On the other end of the spectrum, with a newer show that I covered earlier this year and another of my Top 5 Rider shows… Kamen Rider Amazons. This is a deeply flawed show, sadly, that was an exclusive to Amazon Prime Japan. This choice is more based on people maybe remembering the Guyver movies of the early 90’s or who have a fondness of Marvel’s Netflix shows. It’s a darker tale that is a nice contrast to the positivity of Fourze and is a much shorter watch at just 13 episodes.

When it comes to Super Sentai, there’s a common misconception that it will be of the same ‘quality’ as its adaptation, Power Rangers, and while there are cases like that, there are twice as many that aren’t and to showcase the best Super Sentai has to offer I recommend watching Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger!

Gokaiger is the 35th Anniversary series and is an unabashed celebration of the franchise up to that point and the best part about it? The Gokaigers aren’t even good guys! They are literally pirates who steal the powers of previous Sentai in pursuit of a grand treasure. It’s an absolute blast and a loving tribute to the franchise’s long history.

Now, since I’ve little to no experience with the two other big TV toku franchises, I’m going to leave you in the capable hands of Josh from CollectionDX and Alex from My Shiny Toy Robots. Take it away, boys!

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Ultraman X is a really solid place to start in terms of the Ultraman franchise. It carries the spirit of the original, easy to follow on its own and has some cameos from other Ultras should you feel like checking more out afterward. It’s definitely worth mentioning that Ultraman is pretty much the godfather of henshin heroes. He might not be the first or the most prominent any more, but I’d definitely go as far to say he’s probably the most iconic in Japan. The show really puts an emphasis on craft, with both the miniatures and suits a cut above what you see in other toku shows.

Personally, I’d say the real best place to start is definitely the original series (and with it so cheap on Amazon, there’s really no reason not to), but with a pretty sizeable back-catalogue on Crunchyroll now newcomers will be perfectly fine jumping in on any that take their fancy. Some will have crossovers with older Ultras, but it’s never done in a way that requires background knowledge beforehand so you can effectively jump in anywhere.

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“Where there is light, shadows lurk and fear reigns. Yet by the blade of Knights mankind was given hope.”

If the above quote sounds super weird and/or interesting, then you might be into Garo. Garo is the story of a bunch of dudes called Makai Knights who fight monsters called Horrors. In a nutshell, Horrors are from another dimension called the Makai, and can be born in our world from the malevolence of humans. At this point, there are three distinct timelines for Garo: the original, the anime, and Ryuga’s timeline.

The original, main timeline consists of the three series (1, 2 & 4), two movies and several TV specials. If that seems convoluted, don’t worry. After a single season of the show every single one of those things will make sense. This timeline is all about Kouga, the Golden Knight Garo. Well, at least in seasons 1 and 2. And two of the movies. In season 4, the story shifts and follows his son, Raiga, who has inherited the title of Garo. Season 4 is amazing.

The anime timeline is stupid and garbage. Don’t watch.

The Ryuga timeline consists of two more seasons (3 & 5) as well as the Goldstorm movie. The entire existence of the Ryuga timeline is confusing and incredibly offputting for some people. However, if you are well-versed in the lore already, the deviations make sense and the shows and movie are ridiculously fun. Just watch Ryuga’s transformation from the first episode of Season 3. You’ll get what I’m saying.

If any of what I said interests you, you should watch Garo. If nothing that I said interests you, you should definitely watch Garo. Now’s the best time, too, since the first season is being broadcast in an HD Remastered version (since the original came out in 2005 and is a bit dated).

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A massive, massive thank you to both Alex and Josh for the opinions of Ultraman and Garo, respectively, and for contributing to this article since I don’t know dick about those shows so this is a learning experience for me too! Please go check out their respective sites and follow them! If any of these shows have peaked your interest, there are certain avenues you can find to watch them subbed if you look so I’ll leave the choice to you and I’ll see you all next Toku Tuesday!

Last time I covered Japan’s attempt to adapt a western property but for most of the 90’s, the reverse was much more prevalent. Haim Saban’s adaptation of Super Sentai into the long-lasting Power Rangers franchise but, being the media mogul that he was, he didn’t stop there and others even attempted to steal the formula for themselves. This is going to be a brief history of the rise and fall of tokusatsu adaptations in the west.

Naturally, emboldened by the success of Power Rangers, Saban was quick to rush another series into production. Capitalising on the early 90’s fascination with the emerging VR technology (oh, how times have changed), Saban created a team of teenagers using footage from three separate Metal Hero shows to create VR Troopers.

The show proved successful at the time but pulling footage from Space Sheriff Shaider, Superhuman Machine Metalder and Dimensional Warrior Spielban proved exhaustive and soon they ran out of footage to use. VR Troopers ran for 92 episodes before going offline.

All was not lost on the toku-hero-in-cyberspace front though as Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad was in development at the same time, a venture between Tsuburaya Productions (the studio behind Ultraman), Playmates Toys and DIC Entertainment to adapt Denkou Choujin Gridman for western audiences.

I’ll be honest; I never even heard of this show growing up, as my entire world was dominated by Saban’s shows, but from finding clips on YouTube I can see that this was a quick and cheap production. Clearly it was born out of the rapidly exploding toku adaptation genre and it only lasted 53 episodes.

The next show to appear spun directly out of Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers and was the truly atrocious Masked Rider. Masked Ri-DURR, an adaptation of Kamen Rider Black RX, appeared in the three-part MMPR Season 3 opener, ‘A Friend in Need’.

As soon as Arnold Rimmer look-a-like Prince Dex made the jump to his own show, however, no further mention of the Rangers are ever made and the show became a bumbling ‘comedic’ mess. Masked Rider ran for 40 episodes and left a legacy that is both depressing and uplifting as no one would attempt bringing another Kamen Rider show to our screens for another 14 years but most of Masked Rider’s background music was later used in Digimon Season 1-3 and Digimon: The Movie.

Once Masked Rider was done, Saban didn’t rest on his laurels for long and put out Big Bad Beetleborgs. Adapted from the Metal Hero series Juukou B-Fighter and B-Fighter Kabuto, Beetleborgs was focused on a younger audience and was heavily merchandise-driven thanks to plot being about kids who becoming popular comic book characters.

Much like VR Troopers, Beetleborgs suffered thanks to a lack of footage and ended after 88 episodes. Out of all the non-PR shows Saban did, I think Beetleborgs was my favourite growing up, even if it was the silliest of the bunch — often having Batman ‘66 comic book effects to cover more violent scenes or having the Jay Leno-esque Flabber as the source of their powers.

After Beetleborgs had ended and with Power Rangers still the juggernaut franchise, Saban went a different route and produced a wholly original tokusatsu for the west based on Irish mythology but that’s a story for another time as it’s not an adaptation.

Earlier I said it would take 14 years for someone other than Saban to bring Kamen Rider to the west but in 2009, Adness Entertainmint adapted Kamen Rider Ryuki for the CW Network as Kamen Rider Dragon Knight.

The reason why the team chose Ryuki was that the series had 13 Riders in total (one of which was the first female Kamen Rider in the franchise’s history) and had lots of marketability. However, due to the Bandai toyline’s failure and flagging ratings, the show was pulled before the final two episodes could air, though CW was nice enough to air them online.

Even though the show had critical success (even winning a Daytime Emmy in 2010) and seeing DVD releases in Europe, South America, Mexico and East Asia (even a Japanese Dub!); Adness did not release it in the US and the plans for a feature length movie, a second season or even an adaptation of another Kamen Rider series have not come to pass.

Hell, 7 years have passed since and Adness Entertainment are more interested in Kpop and Korean fashion if their website is any indication so more Kamen Rider from them is highly unlikely.

As of 2016, Power Rangers is still going strong after 22 years while all the others I’ve talked about above have faded into obscurity and nostalgia so what does that mean for tokusatsu adaptation in the west? Regrettably, it seems that we’re unlikely to see more adaptations in the future and that’s just sad in this humble reviewers opinion. Personally, I have a ton of ideas how some of the newer Heisei-era Kamen Rider shows could be adapted but in the current climate of television production; would they succeed?

A question for the comments, perhaps but for now, thank you for reading this little retrospective and I’ll catch you all next Toku Tuesday!

Yes, dear readers, your eyes do not deceive you! I’m covering Marvel’s friendly neighbourhood web-slinger in my article series about the wacky programs from Japan but why would I do that?

Well, gather round tomodachi because Sharp-O-dono is about to school you on the Iron Cross killer; the man who sheds tears for children without homes! The destroyer of mushrooms; a man moved by the dog whistle! The emissary of hell, himself — Spider-Man!

Yeaaaaaaaaah, buddy! We’re balls-deep in the late 70’s! It’s the Japanese Spider-Man! While Nicholas Hammond was playing Parker States-side, the Toei Company were creating their own adaptation of the wall-crawler thanks to a three-year licensing agreement with Marvel that allowed both to use each other’s properties in any way they wanted. Sadly, this did not result in Kamen Rider V3 punching Doctor Doom but what a world that would be!

Naturally, being adapted for a Japanese audience, the Spider-Man of this series is Japanese but stays faithful to the origin. Tell me if this sounds familiar…

Takuya Yamashiro, youthful motorcycle rider, witnesses the crash of the extraterrestrial warship ‘The Marveller’ and follows his father to the crash-site. After his father is murdered, Takuya discovers Garia: the last son of Planet Spider. Granted the powers of a spider thanks to a blood transfusion from Garia and given control of the Marveller via use of the Spider Bracelet, Takuya now defends Earth from Professor Monster and the Iron Cross army as… Spider-Man!

See? It’s the same, tired, old origin stor—what? Alright so it has nothing to do with the source material barring the same costume and an assortment of powers but let’s face it; this origin would make Spider-Man: Homecoming even more distinct from the previous movies.

But yes, Toei’s Spider-Man ran for 41 episodes and involved such wacky plots as Amazons being resurrected to uncover Spider-Man’s identity, becoming an Interpol agent, and getting his own Batusi; the Spider-Man Boogie.

The show was praised by Marvel for it’s effects and stunt work, despite initial reservation with the liberties taken. One such liberty was Spider-Man swapping his web-swinging for a slick set of wheels in the form of the Spider Machine GP7 and The Marveller’s alternate form — Leopardon!

Oh yeah, Spidey had a giant mecha! And you know what the ironic thing is? Due to the popularity of the show, Toei decided to include giant robots in their revived Super Sentai series. That’s right, Spider-Man is actually responsible for the trend of superheroes having giant robots in Japan. Marvel, unknowingly, created Power Rangers. Mind. Blown.

So what is the legacy for our favourite emissary of hell? Well, aside from influencing Super Sentai and leading to the creation of Battle Fever J, Takuya Yamashiro would sadly languish in obscurity, only rearing his head for a parody dub on YouTube and for meme material until March 2015.

In the pages of Amazing Spider-Man, during the Spider-Verse event, Takuya and Leopardon arrived to assist their fellow Spiders in what is quite possibly my favourite moment in comics last year. It came out of nowhere and yet was the perfect stage for Takuya to get the recognition he deserves. So-much-so that Marvel streamed episodes of Toei’s Spider-Man for a short time on their website.

And that’s the secret origin of Supaidaman! An utterly bonkers take on Marvel’s web-head and, surprisingly, a trend-setting cult favourite in retrospect. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you all next Toku Tuesday when we dive into the West’s efforts in adapting tokusatsu as we get Lost in Adaptation.

With the Power Rangers Dino Charge toys hitting stores Stateside, what better time to review an equivalent from their Japanese counterpart, Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger! BRAVE IN!

The hugest, strongest of thank you hugs to Abigail for sending me this BRAVE addition to my collection! You rock!

This is a non-profit, fan based review for The Website of Doom and is protected under FAIR USE. Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger is copyright Toei Company Ltd. Please support the official release.

Onegai shimasu.

This video is a fan-based non-profit review. Any and all materials used in this video are for critical and comedic purposes only and are protected under FAIR USE. Godzilla, Kamen Rider, Super Sentai and Ultraman are owned by Toho Company Ltd, Toei Company Ltd, and Tsuburaya Productions, respectively. Please support the official releases of all these properties.

S.H. Figuarts are Bandai Japan’s action figure line du jour, it covers a wide range of Super Sentai, Kamen Rider and anime series past and present. The line is defined by its tag line; Simple Style and Heroic Action. What this translates to is detailed paint apps, lots of articulation and more accessories than you could possibly use at one time! But enough rationalising and setup.

Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger Kyoryu Red was released earlier this year and is also my very first Figuart. Prepare for an immense amount of gushing.

The packaging is great, it’s a window box which showcases the figure and many of the accessories and evokes the overall aesthetic of the show and team.

The back features many of the poses this figure can pull off and before you even get it out of the box, you know this trounces most of Bandai of America’s efforts.

The tray inside is clam shelled so those pesky small bits don’t fall out but just look at the amount of stuff you get! Four pairs of interchangeable hands, an Armed-On arm, Gaburevolver, Gabucaliber, Gabutyra Fang and a tiny little Zyudenchi (Beast Battery) that I’ve only taken out once for a pic then put right back in the tray for fear of losing it.

Out of the package and I am in looooooove. Just the feel, the weight and the details are perfect. Unlike Bandai of America’s ‘roided up Power Rangers, Figuarts go for authenticity and how the suit actors look, even moulding clothing wrinkles. If I have one thing to knock, it’s a personal issue with the left knee. When I move it, it squeaks. That’s it. That is the only complaint I have and I’m sure it’s not a wide spread issue.

When dealing with Figuarts, the accessories really add so much bang for your buck! Ever messed with an action figure and thought “It’d be great if this figure had something other than this dumb weapon holding hand.” Well, you can swap that out for a fist or a posed hand or even an alternate weapon holding hand and the various combinations can reveal some fun poses.

The weapons have just as much detail as the figure, with intricate moulding and show accurate paint applications.

The Gaburevolver is the Morpher and sidearm for the series and has a fun aesthetic to it. It’s counterpart, the Gabucaliber is the standard sword and favoured weapon of KyoryuGreen, it’s pointy and sharp so watch out!

When the cylinder chamber of the Gaburevolver is rolled against a Kyoryuger’s right arm, this unlocks their Armed On forms and grants access to their signature weapons, in this case, the Gabutyra Fang. This T-Rex themed knuckleduster is equally as detailed as the other weapons and even gets a cool glossy red. Word of warning though, the first couple times swapping the arms out was pretty harrowing but if you apply an even pressure of bicep and torso, you should be fine. Also keep in mind the positioning of the joint assembly. First time I did it, the assembly ended up upside down and the articulation in that shoulder was a little screwy until I put it right.

Hear my roar! As my introduction to the line, Kyoryu Red is a fantastic entry point into a world of dynamic poses and exquisite detailing. You pay for quality and that’s what you get in spades. You can find many Figuarts online for pretty cheap so if this review has piqued your curiosity, be sure to check those out and if you’re on the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers 20th Anniversary kick, there’s Figuarts available right now for the Red, Green and Pink Rangers on Amazon!

Thanks for reading and I’ll catch you guys next time on Mint in Box!

The series follows 5 young space pirates (later to be joined by a sixth) as they search for the universe’s greatest treasure and find their way to Earth where they believe this treasure to be. On their way, they must contend with the evil Space Empire Zangyack, the privateer Basco and sometimes even the very sentai teams they borrow power from.

This hearty pirate crew is made up of:

Captain Marvellous, the young captain of the Gokai Galleon and team leader, GokaiRed.

Joe, the calm and seriously loyal firstmate. He’s also crew’s finest swordsman, GokaiBlue.

Luka, the tomboyish lookout, fierce fighter,surrogate big sister and, most importantly, GokaiYellow.

Don, the timid ship’s cook and mechanic who prefers the nickname ‘Doc’ to his real name. GokaiGreen.

Ahim, the pacifist princess from another world and the least experienced pirate. GokaiPink.

Gai. The only Earthling on the team, a Super Sentai fan boy and wielder of the powers of GokaiSilver.

The fight scenes and stunt work in this show are something special. They’re enthusiastic, lively and, as Marvellous himself would say, ‘showy’. They’re well choreographed and only use special effects and wire work for when they’re actually needed to showcase the unique powers of each team they borrow power from which brings me onto the main gimmick of the series.

Marvellous acquired the ranger keys from AkaRed, the spirit of all Red Rangers and uses them to combat Zangyack. While some of the older suits and gimmicks are very out of place (It was the seventies, what do you expect?) it’s still interesting to see the pirates transform into multiple teams in a single fight. Given that not all the teams share the same colour schemes or even the same gender layout, you do get the odd occurrence when GokaiGreen becomes a black-suited ranger or GokaiBlue takes on the powers of the female of a group (minus the skirt on the costume).

Coming onto costumes, I have to say that I adore the Gokaiger suits. They’re suitably pirate-themed, with hat motifs on the helmets and, as my friend Kasey said, some pretty bitchin’ jackets. They have fast become my favourite suits of Sentai/Power Rangers. Their civilian identities are also pirate themed with only Ahim and Gai wearing something other than an old timey colour-coded jacket.

Whether you only have a passing interest in Power Rangers or an old time fan of the show, I highly recommend checking this series out because just seeing the Gokaigers transform and fight as the Mighty Morphin’ Rangers is really fun and nostalgic.

Let me know what you guys think below!