Hasbro's Power Rangers era and General Tokusatsu discussion

[Christopher]

Five Kamen Rider's so far with a sixth teased. The kamen riders revealed are
saber, blades, espada, kenzan and calibur

Red, blue, yellow, green, black? Looks like a Sentai. (Specifically, Liveman and Go-Onger had that combination.)

And it's Blades, not Blaze? Makes sense given the sword theme, but it's confusing since we already had Blade.

An espada is a 16th-17th century Spanish rapier. Kenzan is Japanese for "sword mountain," although apparently it's actually an implement used in ikebana (flower arrangement): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenzan

TRAILER

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

Oh, I wish I were better at remembering Japanese vocabulary. I should've picked up more by now, or retained more from college.

Assuming it's not just a temporary thing for the trailer, it's interesting that they're hiding the transformation behind practical fire rather than a digital effect. Almost every Rider henshin has had some kind of visual effect associated with it, even if it was just quick cutaways to animated light flares in early Showa.

It looks like there's a W/Build sort of thing going on with the two book-based armors on the right and left. And it looks like there's a third slot in the driver and room in the middle of the body for a third armor variant, so it'd be like OOO in having up to three powers combined at a time.

At this moment there is no female rider announced.

Damn. I was hoping we'd get them regularly in Reiwa. Something to differentiate the new era from Heisei.

The head writer is also the same as Ghost's..........

Oh, great! I loved Ghost.

Well it was fun while it lasted. Here's hoping for 2022 Kamen Rider lol

Don't give up yet. I was underwhelmed by Yuya Takahashi's work on Ex-Aid, but I've loved his work on Zero-One. And I disliked Naruhisa Arakawa's work on Kuuga and was lukewarm on his Abaranger, but I've really liked every Sentai season he's written since. So maybe you'll like this one after all.

 

[Samurai8472]

Kamen Rider Saber's plot from TV-Asahi:

Since ancient times, there has been a book being in charge of all existence on Earth. The book was engraved with all sorts of myths, stories, living things, sources of science and technology... When humankind evolved and civilization was developed, the knowledge and powers were written in there.

The book was protected by the "Holy Sword" and the "Selected Swordsman", keeping the world in balance. However, thousands of years ago, people who tried to rob the book appeared,. The books were scattered around the world and disappeared. The battle was secretly going on...

Time flows to the present age ―― Novelist Kamiyama Touma (Shuichiro Naito) had a recurrent dream: in a different space, a swordsman fights a fierce battle with a monster in a book, and a "mysterious girl" seeks help... Every time he dreams about it, Kamiyama Touma is caught in the feeling that he "forgets something important", but he doesn't know what it is or who the girl is. It seems that everyday life is so easy to collapse... The dream always happens without warning.

Suddenly, a strange phenomenon occurs where part of the city disappears. Important family members, friends, lovers disappear in front of each other eyes in a mess.

On the other hand, part of the disappeared city appears in a mysterious world. "Where are you?" "What happened?" "How can I get back?"... The desperate people wonder. Touma and Mei Sudo (Asuka Kawazu), the editor-in-chief, are suddenly involved in this phenomenon. Surprisingly, the other world is very similar to the dream that Toba Makoto often has, and like the dream, mysterious monsters invade and begin to destroy the city.

"I will definitely bring the city back to its original world!" Suddenly, a flaming sword appears as if responding to Makoto Hiba's thoughts. As soon as he picked up the sword, he wears the power of the dragon, becoming "The Swordsman of Fire".

 

[Christopher]

Interesting. I wonder, will getting the city back to Earth be the full-season arc, or just the initial crisis resolved by episode 2? Or maybe it will be the first of several arcs, as they often do in KR.

For obvious reasons, I like it that the protagonist is a novelist. Although I may end up being frustrated by it, because everyone hates seeing how TV and movies misrepresent their own profession.

 

[Samurai8472]

Pics of the Wonder Ride Books from the Bandai website. Aw there's a picture of Izu in Zero-One's book

Don't give up yet. I was underwhelmed by Yuya Takahashi's work on Ex-Aid, but I've loved his work on Zero-One. And I disliked Naruhisa Arakawa's work on Kuuga and was lukewarm on his Abaranger, but I've really liked every Sentai season he's written since. So maybe you'll like this one after all.

Allegedly Ghost suffered due to the head writer leaving to write the movie

https://www.reddit.com/r/KamenRider/comments/ae1bho/discuss_what_exactly_happened_to_ghosts/

From March to July, Fukada Taro (the writer) only wrote five episodes. Heisei Rider is a brand where the head writer will often do a majority of the show's episodes, with few, if any, breaks thrown in. (Faiz, Ex-Aid, and Build were each entirely written by their head writers, Kiva and Agito's writers only missed a small handful) So for him to take such a long time off comes off as odd. Turns out he and Takahashi (the producer) were working really hands on with the movie, basically leaving the show in the care of assistant producers and sub-writers. One or the other would be fine, but probably not both at the same time. The main sub writers were Mori Nobuhiro (Kyuranger's writer) and Keiichi Hasegawa (Ultraman Nexus's writer, wrote most of the Accel episodes in W).

Interesting. I wonder, will getting the city back to Earth be the full-season arc, or just the initial crisis resolved by episode 2? Or maybe it will be the first of several arcs, as they often do in KR.

Maybe the alternate world will be so that they don't have to film with large crowds

"The denizens fled/mysteriously disappeared, so we must find out, it's all apart of the restricti-I mean, mysterious mystery..."

lol

 

[Samurai8472]

Zero-One episode 40

This episode was great! The episode began with Izu running simulations on what would happen to Aruto, but he overcame them all.

How did this season do a time travel loop type episode better than Zi-O, the show with actual time traveling!?

Zero-Two is the simplest final form we've had in years, allowing for a range of motion comparable to base Zero-One. And does it pay off.

I like the subtle nod to the original Kamen Rider with the scarf being the "2" on the Zero-Two suit.

Behind the scenes of episode 40

https://kamen-rider-official.com/summaries/48

Some highlights.

"Isn't it strange that episode 35 might be the last episode?" when the hiatus started.

Yuya Takahashi, the main writer is grateful that Zero-One was able to resume production, and hopes to see it through to the end while keeping everyone safe.

That Izu scene...man it tugs at the heart strings and Noa Tsurushima pulled if off so well. Plus this whole groundhog's day approach to it was a nice build up.

 

[Christopher]

An impressive episode, though I realized it had to be a simulation once Ark killed everybody. Although at first, when it was just Aruto, I thought Izu was going to download his brain into a Humagear version of himself and thereby fulfill his dream of humans and Humagear becoming one.

Izu's inability to process Aruto's death was poignant, and it was wonderful to see that the ultimate solution was Aruto and Izu coming together as one to create the new driver, with Izu's long-awaited Singularity being the key. Although I'm disappointed at how it played out, because I really thought they were building toward a W-style merger, with Izu's consciousness sharing the armor with Aruto and the two of them fighting together. That's the payoff she really deserved. I mean, let's face it, she's been carrying Aruto this whole time, the Jeeves to his Wooster. Effectively, the two of them have been a single Kamen Rider (to crib W's catchphrase), and I would've liked to see that made literal. Without that, I'm a little unclear on just what it was all building to. It certainly would've made the name Zero-Two more meaningful if they were a double Rider.

In the scene with Aruto lying in the rubble, I thought they were building toward a re-enactment of that moment in the main titles where Izu reaches out her hand to help him up.

 

[kirk55555]

I like the look of the suit and using books as transformaion devices, but hiring the head writer of Ghost is just a terrible decision. I'll give it a chance, but I don't see it being good with that writer. It sucks because after how terrible Zero One has been i've been missing watching Kamen Rider weekly, but it doesn't look like the quality will be improving anytime soon.

 

[Samurai8472]

I like the look of the suit and using books as transformaion devices, but hiring the head writer of Ghost is just a terrible decision. I'll give it a chance, but I don't see it being good with that writer. It sucks because after how terrible Zero One has been i've been missing watching Kamen Rider weekly, but it doesn't look like the quality will be improving anytime soon.

To be fair to Fukuda though, he has written some noticeable gems. The Specter V-Cinema, Ghost’s novel, and the Rogue miniseries on Build’s DTV releases

The real test is how he can he write a series that's innately muddled by an ongoing pandemic.

I would hope Toei is giving him another chance because what happened with Ghost was something they know was out of his control, but they also gave one-too-many chances to Inoue too.

This isn't the 1st time they hired a writer who Toei had a bad experience with in the past. Wizard's head writer was Hibiki's original writer

.

Also. Why do you think Zero-One is terrible? The characters? I know Yua has been badly underutilized. What episode did you stop at?

 

[Christopher]

The real test is how he can he write a series that's innately muddled by an ongoing pandemic.

Have the villains impose a curse on humanity that makes it impossible for them to touch each other or get closer than two meters. The heroes must fight to bring an end to the curse and restore life to normal.

Of course, the action would have to entail more ranged weapons and less hand-to-hand.

 

[Samurai8472]

Kamen Rider Saber trailer now subbed

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

ahaha. Tokusatsu and their puns.

"The pen is mightier than the sword"

No wonder they made Touma a novelist

 

[Christopher]

I like it so far. Power of books and all that.

It looks like the Wonder Ride Books are the scattered pages of that ancient world-creating book -- at least that's the impression I got from the narration and graphics, with the WRBs appearing just after the bit about the pages scattering. If so, this might be another season driven by the heroes and villains competing for possession of a complete set of the collectible items, as with the Core Medals in OOO and the FullBottles in Build.

 

[kirk55555]

To be fair to Fukuda though, he has written some noticeable gems. The Specter V-Cinema, Ghost’s novel, and the Rogue miniseries on Build’s DTV releases

The real test is how he can he write a series that's innately muddled by an ongoing pandemic.

I would hope Toei is giving him another chance because what happened with Ghost was something they know was out of his control, but they also gave one-too-many chances to Inoue too.

This isn't the 1st time they hired a writer who Toei had a bad experience with in the past. Wizard's head writer was Hibiki's original writer

Yeah, in theory I'd be ok with second chances, but Toei seems to give bad writers a few too many chances. I figured that some writers get hired multiple times because Toei only has a limited pool of writers capable and willing to do the job of running a show like KR or Sentai.

Also. Why do you think Zero-One is terrible? The characters? I know Yua has been badly underutilized. What episode did you stop at?

I got infuriated at the "Aruto losing his company" storyline, because its a really obvious trope and especially because Gai is maybe the worst villain Rider in any KR show I've watched. I hate him more then I hated Ryugen in Gaim, and I hated Ryugen. Maybe its because Gai comes off as a bad copy of Gaim's villain Riders, along with being badly written and barely a character. I also didn't like the evil Robot Riders very much. Their Rider designs are pretty generic and bland, and they aren't interesting as characters, but unlike Gai at least they fit as the villains of the story without feeling like a retread and annoying me.

Also, they really fucked over Valkyrie/Yua, because of course the first regular Female Rider is going to be written terribly. KR is almost always terrible with its female characters, but I thought her being a Rider right from the start might mean good things. She should have been the generally good but misguided secondary Rider while Vulcan was Gai's shitty little minion, but as it is she went from being the character that could maybe show that KR can do female heroes well to just another evil minion Rider. She's basically just Marika in Gaim but with more screen time.

 

[Skipper]

What a Superhero Show Looks Like During Covid-19

The currently airing 44th season of the long-running franchise, Mashin Sentai Kiramager recently returned to TV after a month-and-a-half long hiatus period alongside its Superhero Time airing partner, Kamen Rider Zero-One. In late March, it had been revealed that Kiramager’s Rio Komiya (who plays the show’s red ranger, Juru Atsuta), had tested positive for the novel coronavirus, leading to reports—that the studio later denied—alleging that Toei had been forced to close its filming studios down for cleaning processes. The studio eventually had to anyway when Japan declared a state of emergency, with filming recommencing on Kiramager at the start of June. Now that the show’s been back a few weeks, we can already see just how measures introduced to stymie the spread of covid-19 have become both part of Kiramager’s story and the way it’s filmed.

 

[Samurai8472]

What a Superhero Show Looks Like During Covid-19

For Zero-One and I assume Kiramager here were the news guidelines


https://tokusatsunetwork.com/2020/05/kamen-rider-zero-one-resumes-filming/

- Fewer staff members on set, no more than 20 extras
- No more than two assistants per suit actor on wire work stunts, used to be 4-5
- Shorter filming days, used to be 6 AM to 10 AM (when I was on set, we were there by like 6ish for a 7ish start)
- A distance of two meters between all staff and cast must be kept on set unless the cameras are rolling



Kiramager episode 16

All the wackiness of Sentai rolled into a big soft marsh mellow. I wonder if the marshmellow making scene was covid related

There was even a a Go-Busters-esque fight that sees a monster finished at giant and ground level, and that fight involved a cement mixer gun that lead to a giant shootout.

 

[Christopher]

Kiramager episode 16

Most of this didn't do much for me. It seemed frivolous, like a Showa or early Heisei throwback -- the villain's big plan is to turn people into marshmallows he can eat? But it turned out to have a nice character core, with the revelation of Sena's motivation for pushing Takamichi so hard. She's just really dedicated and didn't want him dragging down the team dynamic, so she did whatever it took to fix his problem. She's an impressive lady.

 

[Samurai8472]

Talk about life imitating art

Hiroki Iijima who played the virus busting doctor in Kamen Rider EX-Aid has now tested positive for COVID-sickness.



https://natalie.mu/eiga/news/390545

And Toshihiko Seki who voiced Momotaro's in Kamen Rider Den-O has also been hospitalized.

https://twitter.com/livedoornews/status/1290578206664175616

 

[Christopher]

Apparently Yusuke Yamamoto (Sasword from Kamen Rider Kabuto) has also tested positive, according to the KR Wiki.

 

[Christopher]

Zero-One 41: Things are starting to come to a head, with Ark launching an all-out attack and the factions uniting against it. Gai returns the presidency to Aruto in a boardroom scene that resonates with the one from the first episode, although with a much more mature Aruto finally ready to make the most of the responsibility. And the tactic they used to defeat Ark, using the Rider battle as a distraction from the real attack, was something I didn't see coming at all.

It was also unexpected that after standing with Zero-Two against Ark, Horobi then doubled down on his original mission. It looks like the story is coming full circle in more ways than one, with Horobi as the ultimate Big Bad as well as the initial one. Although maybe that will change, since the preview says Ark is still out there.

Ohh, that preview... Say it ain't so!

 

[Samurai8472]

Zero-One episode 41

This show does a great job at constantly referring back to its past guest stars. Seeing the fire,construction and medical humagear come back was nice great

LOL at that surprise attack by breaking mammoth and Ikazuchi

Ohh, that preview... Say it ain't so!

Spoiler: spoiler

Zero-Two was made with parts of Izu so she could survive that way.

or come back as an siri/AI-Chan device

Also like Ex-Aid i'm sure she'll survive like Poppy

 

[Christopher]

Spoiler: spoiler

Zero-Two was made with parts of Izu so she could survive that way.

or come back as an siri/AI-Chan device

Also like Ex-Aid i'm sure she'll survive like Poppy

Spoiler

I'm not too worried. Kamen Rider often kills off characters in the climactic arc and then brings them back to life in the finale. Still, I'm really attached to Izu, so it's still gonna hurt.