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Tag Archives: Henshin Hero
A Guide to Ultraman’s Celebrity Guest Directors
In the past couple of months, we’ve gotten a handful of questions like “What Ultraman was it that Takashi Miike worked on again?” “Has Koichi Sakamoto ever directed an Ultra show?” “Which episodes of Return of Ultraman were directed by … Continue reading
Random Tokusatsu rapid five-in-one
I’ve been really lax on the Today’s Random Tokusatsu movie segments as of late; apologies to anyone particularly looking forward to them. I figured I’d try to make up for that a little with quick thoughts about five of the … Continue reading
Posted in Today's Random Tokusatsu
Tagged Henshin Hero, Kaijin, Vampire, Wrestling, Yokai, Zombie
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Today’s Random Tokusatsu: Iron Girl (2012)
Today’s selection: Iron Girl (2012, dir. Masatoshi Nagamine) Subgenre: Henshin Hero Available from: Switchblade Pictures My DVD copy of Iron Girl began to stutter during the final minutes of the movie, but rather than return it for a glitchless copy, … Continue reading
Today’s Random Tokusatsu: Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)
Today’s selection: Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973, dir. Jun Fukuda) Subgenre: Kaiju Available from: Media Blasters (if you get lucky, you might get one of the leaked versions with audio commentary!) Odd that this gem of a title came up on … Continue reading
Today’s Random Tokusatsu: 8-man (1992)
Today’s selection: 8-man (1992, dir. Yasuhiro Horuichi) Subgenre: Henshin Hero Available from: Image (dub-only) As we gear up for the Robocop remake, a lot of movies are being called Robocop-rip-offs just because they start with the main character dying and … Continue reading
Today’s Random Tokusatsu: Space Sheriff Gavan – the Movie (2012)
Today’s selection: Space Sheriff Gavan – the Movie (2012, dir. Osamu Kaneda) Subgenre: Henshin Hero Available from: fansub-only Space Sheriff Gavan, for those who don’t know, was a 1982 TV series that kicked off the whole Metal Heroes franchise. 2012 … Continue reading
Today’s Random Tokusatsu: Yatterman (2009)
Today’s selection: Yatterman (2009, dir. Takashi Miike) Subgenre: Henshin Hero, Mecha Available from: Discotek Many have called Miike’s Yatterman a zany, self-aware parody of the classic Tatsunoko children’s anime of the same name, but let’s face it, both the original … Continue reading
Today’s Random Tokusatsu: Garo – Dragon of the Blue Cries (2013)
Today’s selection: Garo – Dragon of the Blue Cries (2013, dir. Keita Amemiya) Subgenre: Henshin Hero Available from: Fansub-only You know how when you get used to drinking diet soda, you sort of forget how flavorful the real thing is, … Continue reading
Today’s Random Tokusatsu: Spider-man “Episode 0” (1978)
Today’s selection: Spider-man (1978, dir. Koichi Takemoto) Subgenre: Henshin hero, Mecha Available from: rip-only, previously available streaming at Marvel.com Reposting an old review from a previous ‘blog, with slight updates. In case you missed it, Marvel used to stream the entire … Continue reading
Today’s Random Tokustatsu: Birth of the 10th! Kamen Riders All Together (1984)
Today’s selection: Birth of the 10th! Kamen Riders All Together (1984, dir. Minoru Yamada) Subgenre: Henshin Hero Available from: fansub-only If one were to claim that the “real” Kamen Rider franchise concluded with this 1984 TV special, it would be … Continue reading
Today’s Random Tokusatsu: Sexy Rangers (2011)
Today’s selection: Sexy Rangers (2011, dir. Shinji Nishikawa) Subgenre: Henshin Heroine Available from: Cinema Epoch This is your regular reminder that while the Super Sentai franchise has never been officially released in North America, we do have official subtitled DVDs … Continue reading
Today’s Random Tokusatsu: Hentai Kamen (2013)
Today’s selection: Hentai Kamen: Forbidden Super Hero (2013, dir. Yuichi Fukuda) Subgenre: Henshin Hero Available from: Still on theatrical circuit in North America I’ve talked about it before on this ‘blog, but Hentai Kamen, the film adaptation of Keishu Ando’s … Continue reading
Today’s Random Tokusatsu: Kamen Rider ZO (1993)
Today’s selection: Kamen Rider ZO (1993, dir. Keita Amemiya) Subgenre: Henshin Hero Available from: fansub-only This was already discussed in the Keita Amemiya movies podcast episode, but in case you don’t want to listen to that, here’s the gist: This … Continue reading
Today’s Random Tokusatsu: The Golden Bat (1966)
Today’s selection: The Golden Bat (1966, dir. Hajime Sato) Subgenre: Superhero Available from: Fansub-only The Golden Bat is often referred to as the first modern Japanese superhero, which I’m not sure about agreeing with. The character debuted not in manga, … Continue reading
Today’s Random Tokusatsu: Lady Battle Cop (1990)
Today’s selection: Lady Battle Cop (1990, dir. Akihisa Okamoto) Subgenre: Henshin Hero (well, a cyborg who puts on armor via montage) Available from: ADV (VHS; amazon says that it’s Section 23, but they didn’t exist when the tape was made) … Continue reading
Today’s Random Tokusatsu: Attack of the Super Monsters (1982)
Today’s selection: Attack of the Super Monsters (1982, dir. Toru Sotoyama, Tom Wyner) Subgenre: Kaiju Available from: Televista This is one of those US-made compilation movies, in this case combining four episodes of the 1977 Tsuburaya series Dinosaur War Aizenborg. … Continue reading
Posted in Today's Random Tokusatsu
Tagged Animation Hybrid, Henshin Hero, Kaiju, Mecha
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Today’s Random Tokusatsu: Skull Soldier (1992)
Today’s selection: Skull Soldier (1992, dir. Masaki Kyomoto) Subgenre: Henshin Hero Available from: fansub-only Skull Soldier is pretty much a live-action version of Shotaro Ishinomori’s manga The Skull Man, or is at least a lot more faithful to it than … Continue reading
Today’s Random Tokusatsu: Superior Ultraman 8 Brothers (2008)
Today’s Selection: Superior Ultraman 8 Brothers (2008, dir. Takeshi Yagi) Subgenre: Henshin Hero, Kaiju Available from: Fansub only If you loved Ultraman Mebius, but wish that the series would acknowledge Heisei-era Ultaman as much as it does Showa-era, this might … Continue reading
Today’s Random Tokusatsu: Ultraman Gaia – Battle in Hyperspace (1998)
Today’s selection: Ultraman Gaia: Battle in Hyperspace (1998, dir. Kazuya Konaka) Subgenre: Henshin Hero, Kaiju Available from: Image When Ultraman Tiga got its US release, Image made an odd licensing choice: rather than picking up Tiga’s tie-in movies, they instead … Continue reading
Today’s Random Tokusatsu: Karate Robo Zaborgar (2011)
Today’s selection: Karate Robo Zaborgar (2011, dir. Noboru Iguchi) Subgenre: Henshin Hero (well, a bike that transforms into a hero) Available from: Well-Go A remake/sequel/parody of 1974’s Electroid Zaborgar TV series, Noboru Iguchi’s take on Zaborgar is crazy enough that … Continue reading
Today’s Random Tokusatsu: Kamen Rider Movie War Ultimatum (2012)
Today’s selection: Kamen Rider x Kamen Rider Wizard & Fourze: Movie War Ultimatum (2012, dir. Koichi Sakamoto) Subgenre: Henshin Hero Available from: Fansub-only For those unfamiliar of how the Kamen Rider franchise’s “Movie War“s go, it’s a three-act story: the … Continue reading
Today’s Random Tokusatsu: Evil Brain from Outer Space
Today’s selection: Evil Brain from Outer Space (1958/1959/1964, dir. Akira Mitsuwa and Chogi Akasaka) Subgenre: Henshin hero Available from: Image among others (it’s public domain) The first three American-made “Starman” compilations of Japan’s Super Giants film serials used related stories; … Continue reading
Today’s Random Tokusatsu: Specter (2005)
Today’s selection: Specter (2005, dir. Junya Okabe) Subgenre: Henshin Hero Available from: fansub-only Specter is a collaboration between Konami and Buildup Co.,who also did Dark Soldier D, Akiba Chan, and some effects for Godzilla vs King Ghidorah, Ultra Galaxy, Stray … Continue reading
Today’s Random Tokusatsu: Ultraman Zearth (1996)
Today’s selection: Ultraman Zearth (1996, dir. Shinya Nakajima) Subgenre: Henshin hero, Kaiju Available from: Beyond Home Entertainment (dub-only, R4 Australian DVD), but fansubs are also available In honor of today being July 10 (Ultraman Day), I’m limiting the randomizer to … Continue reading
Movie Review: Ultraman Saga (dir. Hideki Oka, 2012)
As you may know, there seem to be two major branches in US tokusatsu fandom: those that watch because of Godzilla, and those that watch because of Power Rangers (yeah, there are lots of J-horror fans, but they’re not organized). … Continue reading
Book Review: Ready Player One (Ernest Cline, 2011)
Swordquest was a famous series of video games in the 1980’s, promoted by an unusual gimmick: Atari hid numerous clues, “Easter eggs”, in the games, and the first player to uncover them all and reply to Atari would receive a … Continue reading
Maser Patrol 