Hasbro's Power Rangers era and General Tokusatsu discussion

No fear. No pain. Leaks of Kamen Rider Kuuga US Blu-ray. Page is not available/live yet. The Grongi track is optional too.


https://www.shoutfactory.com/product/kamen-rider-kuuga-the-complete-series?product_id=7876

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1543337790695280640

 

I've also heard claims of brand confusion. That Hasbro was refusing the license for Sentai DVDs because it would confuse consumers or take away from potential PR sales.

Whatever the case may have been, it's good to see these releases return.

 

Due for release on September 20th, 2022

Blu-ray menu






And now Fiveman

 

I don't think they own any of the "Super Sentai" series.

They only own the "Power Ranger" portion and gets license to use some stock footage that PR uses from Sentai.

Nothing more, nothing less.

Hopefully Hasbro's PR license isn't frought with confusion like the Macross / Robotech debacle.

 

The story going around a few years back, when Shout was apparently about to announce Fiveman and then had to cancel it literally hours before the announcement because Hasbro pulled the plug on them, is that as part of licensing that Sentai footage, Hasbro is effectively the licensor for all Sentai footage in the US/Region 1. So Shout has to license through Hasbro, or their media wing (eOne) in order to legally produce the sets.

And, for whatever their reasons may have been, Hasbro said a big "Hell NO!" to that.

This has apparently changed. I don't know enough of the ins and outs of whatever legalese is involved to know if any of that is true, but it makes sense to my layman's ears so I'll roll with it.

Regardless, whatever the changing circumstances may be, it's good news for western Sentai fans. Really, really hoping we get Abaranger announced before long as well. (TimeRanger-Boukenger is pretty much Sentai's Golden Age, for me personally. To get stopped just as we hit my favorite window really stung.)

 

Interesting how tastes differ. I thought that Megaranger through Hurricaneger were consistently solid, but then it got uneven; I loved Dekaranger and Boukenger but was lukewarm on Abaranger and Magiranger.

Although for me, the longest consistently solid run in Sentai is Dynaman through Turboranger, i.e. all but the first and last series under head writer Hirohisa Soda. They weren't that great at giving the Rangers distinctive personalities, but they were otherwise pretty well-written with lots of rich drama and conflict among the villains, and brought some novel ideas and approaches to the franchise.

 

The Tokusatsu Network has posted a glowing review of the first two episodes of the Kamen Rider W sequel anime Fuuto P.I.:

https://tokusatsunetwork.com/2022/07/fuuto-pi-episode-1-episode-2-review/

It clarifies that the Kamen Rider element is still a part of the series, something that wasn't clear to me from the trailer. Reportedly it's quite an authentic sequel, aside from recasting the actors and only approximating the sound of the original music.

 

Poppy,Akiko, Izu and Reika will be returning in an upcoming Jeanne fan club miniseries:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1548465001815367680

Here's all the girls reunited at the bathhouse

 

From that description, I was hoping for a lot less clothing in the photo...

Can Izu and Poppy even take a bath without shorting out?

 

First look at Kamen Rider Geats, in a poster for the crossover movie with Revice:

https://news.tokunation.com/2022/07/21/kamen-rider-geats-first-look-73296

The motif is fox-based, which helps explain the name. "Geats" in romaji is Giitsu, which resembles kitsune, the Japanese word for fox.

The helmet design is surprisingly similar to Revi, with "frowning" eyes and pointed horns/ears above them.

 

Premiere date for Geats is September 4th.

Brief story snippets-

"A young man will bet everything on a mysterious game that will make his boring life exciting."

"Could he be the last victor?"


An idea of what a close up of the helmet will look like using the left side of that movie pamphlet

 

KR Geats Suit Design looks good, he almost looks like a Evil Rider.

I approve!

 

So far that's two main riders that have a sinister/evil look on their helmets. Aside from Hibiki most Heisei phase 1 and 2 riders looked pretty flat/non expression


https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1550183138361454592

Newspaper in Japan gives us the plot:

Each participant transforms into a Rider, they compete in games to acquire various scores like Kamen Rider Ex-Aid, and there is also a "fight to survive" between Riders like Kamen Rider Ryuki

Kamen Rider Squid Game?

Rumor is there are 8 riders and they are all backed by a corporation.







仮面ライダーギーツ｜テレビ朝日

Official site confirms Takahashi as writer, Takebe as producer, Satoshi Fujita as action director

The hero is named Ace Ukiyo and described as "a confident genius", the villains are called Jamato, the Riders participate in a game whose winner is allowed to change the world into their ideal

Official twitter page is up as well
> https://twitter.com/krGEATS_toei

 

Cool looking suit, and the premise is intriguing. I didn't end up getting into Revice, but this looks like a show I'll be paying attention to. Hopefully its better then the last Rider I watched week to week (KR Saber, which had great suits but everything else sucked).

 

Here's how TokuNation reports it:
https://news.tokunation.com/2022/07/21/kamen-rider-geats-story-production-team-revealed-73315

So basically a rehash of Ryuki, except they're fighting monsters instead of each other.

Hmm... I found Ex-Aid mediocre but loved Zero-One.

 

HQ version of Kamen Rider Geats poster. He's got a scarf! Also his legs have exhausts on them with a touch of heat afterburn effect.




That's a serious looking gun. Interesting virtual billboards with a board dedicated to the Desire Driver manual and the very very Ex-Aid sounding "Game Start" board for the premiere date

 

Geat's Gun still looks very "Toy-ish".

Real guns generally don't have barrels that can retract like the way it's shown.

With only a few exceptions in modern FireArms history.

I'm betting his Gun is a transforming type that will have multiple forms.

 

Haruka's misfortune continues. Shida got Covid.

エーチームグループ エープラス



Shouldn't impact filming unless she's bedridden for a while. The only reason Kiramager (and Zero-One) was put on pause was due to the lockdown procedures enforced, not so much KiramaiRed being sick, as much as that probably should have been the key reason.

Filming is still around 2 months ahead of airing, so they should be okay; they may just have to reconfigure some episodes.

 

Oh, dear. I hope she has a mild case and recovers soon.

 

Kamen Rider W: Fuuto PI

Today’s the day! It’ll stream Sundays @ noon Eastern.



Also yesterday after Kamen Rider Revice was a trailer for Kamen Rider Geats


https://twitter.com/TheNextDecade/status/1553552442767609856

We're getting some really out there designs. I think I saw a rider with a giant panda head helmet.

Since this season is game oriented and Toei said fortnite was an inspiration then we could get some really weird designs

More information here

https://news.tokunation.com/2022/07/26/first-kamen-rider-geats-magazine-scans-released-online-73457


First it was Kamen Rider Builds ladder weapon turned into a water gun. Now it's Kamen Rider Gridon's Donkachi weapon turned into a pink hammer







These aren't forms but more weapon armaments so that's why it looks so minimalist something similar to Kamen Rider Fourze


Magnum Form accessed by moving the Raise Buckle to either the left or right of the driver




So the gimmick is more building the driver this year.