Forum - View topicSuper Hero Time (Tokusatsu discussion thread).
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Dessa
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NOTE: This thread is exempt from the necroposting rule and counts as the official discussion thread for Tokusatsu. --willag
So, this thread was totally okay'd by Zac, and is for discussion of Tokusatsu (live action, special effects shows). Since we're allowed a single thread, and at least I personally am newer to the fandom and trying to catch up on much of the older stuff and don't want spoilers, please limit discussion to shows that are either a) currently airing, or b) recently finished/soon to start. Also, please keep things to what has actually aired/been released to DVD/in theaters, and do not post info from magazine scans, etc, that could be considered spoilers. I'll keep this first post up-to-date with what the current series are, both in the actual Super Hero Time (Super Sentai and Kamen Rider), as well as other Toku series. Currently Airing Super Sentai - Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger [February 2013 - February 2014] Kamen Rider - Kamen Rider Wizard [September 2012 - August/September 2013] Ultra Series - Neo Ultra Q [January 2013 - ???] Recently Finished Super Sentai - Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters [February 2012 - February 2013] Kamen Rider - Kamen Rider Fourze [September 2011 - August 2012] Ultra Series - Ultraman Retsuden [July 2011 - January 2013] Coming Soon Garo: Soukoku no Maryu (movie) [February 23, 2013 theatrical release] Hikonin Sentai Akibaranger (season 2) [April 2013] Let me know if I'm missing anything, like I said, I'm new to the fandom. Please try to label your posts so that we know what you're talking about, since there are a number of series for discussion. |
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Dessa
Posts: 4438 |
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(separating my first actual post from the intro post to avoid confusion)
Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters I actually haven't finished Go-Busters yet (laptop fan died 3-4 weeks from the end of the series, so I couldn't watch the new episodes, and haven't had time since it got fixed to finish the series yet), but I really enjoyed it. Not as much as I'd enjoyed Gokaiger, but definitely more than, say, Fourze, which it ran opposite for half its run. Given that, watching Power Rangers, Yellow females always seemed to be my favorite (Blue, if Yellow was male), and that I've loved Luka and Yoko, it seems I must have a penchant for Yellow as female (see below for more on this), but I think I liked all of the characters in Go-Busters, because they gave them good development. I felt I understood why they did what they did. I know the series didn't do so well in ratings or toy sales, and that a lot of people didn't like it, but I loved it. I'm really curious to see what Saban will do with it in 2-3 years. Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger So, we've only had the first episode air, and, as I watched it live and a) don't know much Japanese, and b) had horrible lag on Keyhole, I suppose I'll have to find a sub before I can give a solid judgement on it. That being said, though, it just didn't appeal to me that much. Part of it is the lack of a Yellow, compounded by the Smurfette Principle in play, and part is my lack of interest in the gimmick and theme. Speaking of the lack of Yellow and Smurfette Principle, I read a translation of some comments by one of the producers or directors (forget which). Basically, it boils down to this happening because a) the characters have to be strong, so we only get one girl, and b) there have been a lot of female Yellows lately, so kids would automatically think a male Yellow was feminine. Regardless of the fact that the last two Yellows we had, despite being female, were also tomboys and kickass. Moreso Yoko for the former and Luka for the latter, but both had aspects of both. Kamen Rider Wizard I've been enjoying Wizard, which is a boost for me, since I was bored with OOO and despised Fourze (other than Ryusei, who was the only good part of that series). That being said, I can't stand Beast. Besides the mayo crap (I'm allergic, seeing it all the time makes me sick to my stomach), he reminds me far too much as Eiji without ideals. Which just reminds me how much I was bored with OOO. Haruto, on the other hand, reminds me nicely of a mix of Shoutaro with Tendou (I'm about 18 episodes into Kabuto, so beginning Tendou, at the least). He's got a bit of Shoutaro's naive enthusiasm and charm (not saying he's naive, but it's that "I can make anything right" type of enthusiasm that requires a bit of naivety), with a bit of Tendou's arrogance (not arrogance as mean/rudeness, but that confidence that he can do anything better). The first fight with Phoenix, especially, gave me flashbacks to W's Begins Night movie, where Shoutaro realized that he's not all that, and that he can't do anything, and it was the same with Haruto, this being his first fight that wasn't easy for him. GARO movie Oh man, this thing looks like an acid trip. I've been trying to avoid the newest trailers, because it'll just make me want to see it more, but it looks so cool. I'm hoping after it comes out that we get more info on the third season, too, and how exactly it connects to the first two. I'm also hoping for female Makai Knights, but I'm not holding my breath on that one. |
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mdo7
 Posts: 6253 Location: Katy, Texas, USA |
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There are couple of good Toku I'm watching online:
Toei's Spiderman on Marvel.com: I'm on episode 17, the show is cheesy but then again it was made in the 70's so yeah but I do enjoy it. This show can at time get dark and disturbing. Ultraman (yes the 60's version): the show may be dubbed but it's uncut (from looking at how they left the title opening in Japanese, the one Hulu is using the is the uncut DVD version). You can find that show on Hulu. Ultraman: Toward the futures aka Ultraman great in Japan: Now I started watching this show. This is one of the few Ultraman that was produced out of Japan. This show is a co-production between Japan and Australia. You can watch this on Hulu. Johnny Sokko and his flying robot aka Giant Robo: beside the show being dub, it is uncut according to wikipedia and seeing how a lot of the violence (by 60's standard) is kept intact in the dub version. This show is quite interesting for any tokusatsu fan and for those that watch the anime version of Giant Robo. Again Hulu has all the episode show for people to watch. Super Robot Red Baron: Now for this 70's old school toku, it's quite interesting yet cheesy by today's standard. You can watch this show on Dramafever, yes the same dramafever where people watch Korean drama and other Asian drama on (BTW, Dessa, do you watch K-drama or any Asian drama). Iron King: Now about this show, I don't know what to say that it's not the usual tokusatsu show you would see, this is more of a spoof/parody of tokusatsu rather then a serious tokusatsu show. This show like the other toku I mention is a old school tokusatsu. You can watch this weird wacky toku on Dramafever. I'm glad you mention GARO, that Toku is aimed at mature viewer and I remember reading it on Wikipedia in 2006 a US licensor picked up rights for GARO to be release in US, it didn't say who picked it up for USA. Hopefully maybe GARO can be streamed on Hulu, Crunchyroll, and/or Dramafever given how K-dramas is helping Asian drama to get subtitled stream release, maybe GARO could do the same. |
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Dessa
Posts: 4438 |
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I've seen Rooftop Room Cats, and I've got a few other K-dramas and movies on my Netflix queue, but mostly I've been sticking with toku stuff, especially since I started with Gokaiger and Decade, which aren't exactly the best for newbies (Gokaiger was much better with that than Decade, though).
Of what I'm currently watching, finishing Go-Busters and watching Wizard, and I'm working on Kabuto as my "catching up" series. Most of which will come after Sakura-Con, because I have costumes to finish up (doing Gokai Yellow for one). And yeah, GARO is amazing. My roommate doesn't care for Sentai or Kamen Rider much (I've managed to get her to watch some Kabuto and Wizard, but she won't touch Sentai at all), but she loved GARO. I would love for someone to pick it up. Maybe I'll talk to the FUNi rep at Sakura-Con and suggest it, since they do some live action stuff, too. |
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mdo7
Posts: 6253 Location: Katy, Texas, USA |
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I'm watching IRIS on Hulu, and I'm watching Dong Yi, and Legend of Condor Heroes (a Chinese wuxia/kungfu show) on Crunchyroll. I got other dramas on my queue on Crunchyroll and Dramafever. But I would like to see more tokusatsu in the US. About GARO, I did mention on my last post somebody did pick it up for the USA, we don't know who's the licensor and when that'll broadcast in the US either on TV or streaming. I wouldn't be surprise if Funimation would pick up that show well since they did pick up the film version of Athena: Goddess of war. If it's not Funimation, I would love either Crunchyroll or Dramafever to get GARO. If not them, whoever pick up GARO, I hope they can stream it on Hulu, CR, and/or Dramafever.
Speaking of K-drama and tokusatsu, something did came up on my mind, you notice how K-drama got popular in USA. Because of the K-drama popularity, it's allowing other Asian dramas to get subtitled and stream in USA and I noticed this too because I watch a lot of Asian drama way before the K-drama popularity (before the K-wave, I watched a lot of drama from HK in Vietnamese dub, and they never get English subtitled). I started to noticed more Asian dramas getting subtitled during the K-drama popularity and streamed on sites like CR, and Dramafever. So my question and I like your opinion on this, could the popularity of K-drama (and how it allowed other Asian dramas other then Korea to be subbed and stream online) help tokusatsu to get subtitled and streamed online in USA? Could Saban and Toei stream Super Sentai on Crunchyroll and Dramafever if there's enough evidence that people that watch K-dramas/Asian dramas to prove that it's the right time to stream Super Sentai and other tokusatsu? Would GARO do well on Crunchyroll and Dramafever if that's possible? I tried asking this on a super sentai/power Ranger forum, but sadly, a lot of people on the forum are not K-drama fans or not familiar with it. So I don't think they don't have enough experience to give a true reason. But other sentai/toku fans said: "If K-dramas can do well online, if people can watch other non-Korean drama online, why not for tokusatsu?" "Seeing how Americans can watch K-dramas, I think Americans are ready to watch Tokusatsu" "I watch K-drama and Super Sentai, and I don't see any difference other then they're foreign entertainment, so yeah, stream tokusatsu alongside K-drama" I think people in US are ready to watch tokusatsu, if people can watch K-drama and Asian drama series, then I think they can handle tokusatsu. |
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Dessa
Posts: 4438 |
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I'm not sure if the US is ready for subtitled and/or dubbed tokusatsu in general, but I think that, at least more mature shows like GARO, would do well enough.
What hurts, though, for toku, is the flop that is Masked Rider and Kamen Rider Dragon Knight, and Power Rangers. Since both of those are clearly seen and intended as "kids' shows". But, I think, once they can get a foot in the door with more mature shows, that it might pick up. Saban may be a sticking point, though, since they've got the rights to Sentai, and, rumoredly, at least Kamen Rider Decade, if not more KR series. |
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TitanXL
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The first episode of Kyoryuger didn't wow me that much, I found it kind of dull. As much crap as Gobusters got I still found the premise a lot more interesting and execution more unique (and Yoko being amazingly cute didn't hurt) but I guess the thing with Kyoryuger is that this is the third dinosaur themed sentai, so it's kind of been there and done that at this point. Plus none of the characters really caught my interest, which is odd because Kyoryuger's director directed Fourze as well, which had some amazingly fun and energetic characters like Gentaro, Yuki, Tomoko and the rest. Maybe the sixth member will be fun, but Sentai is pretty hit-or-miss with it's sixth members. Gosei Knight was cool but Gai was just kind of annoying.
The problem with subbed Tokusatsu is companies only care about it to sell toys, so they probably don't treat these shows as shows so much as commercials, so in that regard Saban/Disney has no reason to release older stuff subbed/uncut if they don't make money off the toys. |
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mdo7
Posts: 6253 Location: Katy, Texas, USA |
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If Tokusatsu was to be streamed in US, it'll have to be subtitled, I don't see a point for dubbing them. Also, how are Power Rangers flops? A lot of them (not counting Masked Rider which that one was an abomination) did so well in US (and Japan). Don't tell me you're not aware that Power Rangers ended up getting dubbed back into Japanese which is somewhat ironic but hey at least Japan our take on Sentai. I recall MMPR was dub back into Japanese, after that subsequent Power Ranger show got dubbed to Japanese for people in Japan. Power Ranger Turbo got dubbed, Lost Galaxy got dubbed in Japan. Here's a picture of Power Ranger: Lost Galaxy Japanese dub VHS: 
I believe Lost Galaxy was the last Power Ranger dubbed for Japan (some sources say that Lightspeed Rescue was the last Power Rangers dubbed for Japan). Toei started to dub Power Ranger again starting with SPD. Power Ranger Mystic Force just a year ago got a Japanese dub. It's not only Power Ranger Japan dubbed back, Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight got dubbed back into Japanese. I believe Satoshi Matsuda the guy who played Ren Akiyama/Kamen Rider Knight from Kamen Rider: Ryuki (which Dragon Knight was based on) voiced Len/Kamen Rider Wing Knight for the Japanese dub (which I find to be somewhat creative for a dub cast). Actually when fans in US found out that Power Rangers and Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight was getting "dubbed back" to Japanese, a lot of people asked if Japan can have Power Rangers and Super Sentai, why can't USA have Super Sentai also. The same goes for Kamen Rider due to Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight getting "dubbed back" to Japanese. Because of Toei dubbing these American "re-works" in Japan, this is making a lot of fans wanting to watch Super Sentai, and Kamen Rider in subtitle and stream. Also a lot of Sentai fans I know are using K-dramas popularity to push for Super Sentai, and Kamen Rider release in US via streaming sites (Crunchyroll, Dramafever). As I said, because of K-dramas popularity in US and after how it's allowing other Asian dramas to be subtitled and stream in US, I do believe maybe this could be the right time for tokusatsu to get a US stream. I understand Super Sentai, and Kamen Rider are kinda aimed at kids in Japan, but it could appeal to older audience in USA. Maybe GARO could be the good tokusatsu to start for a US online streaming. If GARO does well maybe it could allow other Toku to be streamed in US with subtitles. |
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Dessa
Posts: 4438 |
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I meant the flops being the two Rider series, not Power Rangers. Because both of them did fail horribly (regardless of the apparent quality that DK had, it still failed).
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mdo7
Posts: 6253 Location: Katy, Texas, USA |
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But hey at least KR: Dragon Knight went back to Japan and it sort of impress a lot of people in Japan and probaby outdid KR: Ryuki in term of rating. I wish ANN would report more on Tokusatsu even including Japan dubbing Power Rangers in the future. Also I still hold hope maybe K-drama popularity in US could be the driving force to bring tokusatsu (including Sentai, and Kamen Rider) to US on streaming sites online. |
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Dessa
Posts: 4438 |
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I'm just glad we get any toku news on the front page, as well as a good percentage of the Astro Toy articles. Even if most of the news is far outdated for me, since I follow HJU.
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TitanXL
Posts: 4036 |
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You're really obsessed with Japan dubbing things, aren't you? I'm not surprised Dragon Knight flopped, not because Toku adaptions are generally bad, but mostly because there's that unwritten law that only one show of any kind can be really successful in America. Just like all the Power Rangers cash ins from the 90s died and faded away while Power Rangers lived on. Though I suppose to be fair, even Power Rangers has struggled ever since the 90s: going off the air for awhile, changing owners, trying a reboot, going off the air again, changing owners again, and now trying more reboots. Apparently "Megaforce" is getting less than half what "Samurai" got in terms of ratings, so who knows if they'll continue with Gokaiger/Gobusters or just drop the franchise for a few years before trying again. I don't think America cares for these kinds of shows anymore; they were just a fad from the 90s it seems like. |
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mdo7
Posts: 6253 Location: Katy, Texas, USA |
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uh no, if people can watch anime dubbed in English then why can't people have the right to see our stuff being dubbed in Japan. Beside, watvhing our stuff dubbed in Japan help us see how Japan dub our stuff when they go to Japan. |
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Dessa
Posts: 4438 |
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Actually, 1) they've already confirmed Gokaiger, it's already been being worked on, so they're not going to waste the money they've put into it so far. Unfortunately, it's going to be "Super Megaforce" (season 2), and rumors are that they're pulling a MMPR Season 2 with us and keeping the Goseiger suits, and only introducing the "Silver Pirate Ranger", who is an alien coming to help them after the events that end Megaforce/the Legendary War, and 2) Saban's contract with Toei requires them to adapt every series. So even if they wait a few years, they still have to continue with Go-Busters. |
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DomonX2
 Posts: 232 Location: Neo Toronto, Neo Canada |
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@TitanXL, @Dessa and @mdo7
Super Sentai and Power Rangers are not similar to each other, outside stock footage. For the most part, the characters, themes and music are American made. The same guy who directed Gingman did Galaxy, but that's not because they're similar. It's not supposed to be Super Sentai or like it. I'm tired of you Power Rangers haters trying to make Power Rangers out be some sort of ripoff, without realizing the only thing similar between the two franchises are stock footage. In some Power Rangers shows, it's CLOSER to Sentai but overall, don't lump Rangers as an adaptation franchise. They mainly borrow stock footage only. |
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