LP Beach

Welcome to the Tokusatsu and Power Rangers Talk Thread

What is Tokusatsu?




The literal translation is "Special Filming" and makes heavy use of special effects. The most well know Tokus to people not from Japan are Giant Monsters (referred to as Kaiju) and Superheroes... sort of.

Kaiju is would basically be any film or show where a Giant monster is the main focus. Godzilla is the most well known kaiju Toku.

Superhero is not really the same as you would think when you say superhero in the west. Most superhero Tokus involve the heroes transforming into another form to fight the baddie of the week. The most well know of this set is Super Sentai mostly cause it's footage is what is used to make most of the morphed scenes in Power Rangers. Other famous Tokus under superhero would be Kamen Rider (Used for Masked Rider in the 90s and Kamen Rider Dragon Knight in the 2000s) where it is one or two individual heroes rather then a team and Ultraman which is a Kaiju superhero hybrid show (several dubs have aired in the west to... mixed results).

The superhero shows exist for one true purpose: to sell toys. Every year is a new rider and a new sentai team meaning new toys to sell to the kids that follow these shows. The kaiju films and show do seem to exist to really just be entertainment though Ultraman has strayed a bit more into the toy selling type of show in recent years.

Where can I see these shows?
While they mostly only air in Japan, Toku shows have recently been make appearances in the Western market a lot more in just the past year for various free and paid viewing subtitled for English audiences. Here are official links for free viewing of some shows in each series.

For Kamen Rider:
Kamen Rider (1971 the OG): Shout Factory TV
Kamen Rider Kuuga (2001 first Kamen Rider of the Heisai era): Shout Factory TV VRV

For Super Sentai: (all series listed available on DVD from Shout Factory as well)
Jetman: Shout Factory TV VRV
ZyuRanger (Series used to make Mighty Morphin Power Rangers): Shout Factory TV VRV
Dairanger: Shout Factory TV VRV
Kakuranger: Shout Factory TV VRV
Ohranger: Shout Factory TV VRV
Carranger: Shout Factory TV VRV
Megaranger: Shout Factory TV
Gingaman: Shout Factory TV
GoGoV: Shout Factory TV
Timeranger: Shout Factory TV
Gaoranger: Shout Factory TV
Hurricanger: Shout Factory TV

For Ultraman:
Ultra Q: Blu-ray available from Mill Creek Entertainment
Ultraman: Blu-ray available from Mill Creek Entertainment
UltraSeven: Blu-ray available from Mill Creek Entertainment
Return of Ultraman: Blu-ray available from Mill Creek Entertainment
Ultraman Ace: Blu-ray available from Mill Creek Entertainment
Ultraman Leo: Shout Factory TV VRV
Ultraman Gaia: VRV
Ultraman Nexus: VRV
Ultraman Ginga/Ginga S: VRV Blu-ray set including film and Ultra Fight Victory mini series releases in Sept
Ultraman X: VRV Blu-ray set with film available from Mill Creek Entertainment
Ultraman Orb: VRV Blu-ray set with film available from Mill Creek Entertainment
Ultraman Geed: VRV Blu-ray set with film available from Mill Creek Entertainment
Ultraman Z (current series): Currently airs English subbed on the Official Ultraman Youtube channel weekly. Each episode is only available for two weeks after airing however.

All of Power Rangers up through Beast Morphers Season 1 is available on Netflix US.

Any other shows in any of these series can be found with a little google searching.

Currently Airing Shows

Power Rangers Beast Morphers


Kamen Rider 01


Mashin Sentai Kiramager


Ultraman Z

A couple years back I started watching through the first couple seasons of Power Rangers (using a guide to know which standalone episodes to skip in seasons one through Turbo), with the goal of watching through the original Saban era, but I stopped after finishing Turbo and didn't get around to the last 4 seasons until recently.

I just finished Time Force the other day, and man, it's amazing how having a storyline weaved through the entire season makes In Space and Time Force age much better than Lost Galaxy or Lightspeed Rescue, in my opinion. At least, the pacing holds up better to a binge watch when each episode touches on the main conflict.

I've never seen one of the original Sentai series, but after reading that Time Force was one of the more literal adaptations of its corresponding Sentai series, I'm definitely interested in checking them out.

So the Beast Morphers S2 E19: Holy shit I can't believe what they are doing. Evox was Venjix all along. they are following up an 11 year old cliffhanger. God dammit Chip.

Just shy of two years ago I decided to start watching Kamen Rider Ex-Aid after seeing some friend recommending it. Now I've cleared off Ex-Aid, Build, W, OOO, Fourze, Drive, Zi-O and Den-O and I'm up-to-date with Zero-One. I didn't anticipate falling so deep into the Kamen Rider hole but I'm glad I did.

Wordybird wrote: ↑

Sun Jun 28, 2020 6:17 pm

Just shy of two years ago I decided to start watching Kamen Rider Ex-Aid after seeing some friend recommending it. Now I've cleared off Ex-Aid, Build, W, OOO, Fourze, Drive, Zi-O and Den-O and I'm up-to-date with Zero-One. I didn't anticipate falling so deep into the Kamen Rider hole but I'm glad I did.

Yeah, friends of mine encouraged me down a similar hole. I went OOO, Ex-Aid, Agito, Gaim, Drive, a little bit of Faiz (which bored me to tears), and then part of W which I should really get back to.

Gaim is a bizarre one... The costumes are silly, but the plot/tone takes a hard swerve a handful of episodes in (much like Ex-Aid). It could possibly be summed up in one image.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/ ... 989194.png

https://twitter.com/nerdist/status/1277603213189971968

Nerdist will be doing a screening and panel for the official English Sub of Kamen Rider Heisai Generations Forever.

July 11

https://youtu.be/fo9fmfi0HrU

New Kamen Rider game coming. Memory of Heroez

Main Riders are 01, W and OOO

could potentially be Foundation X related.

Super Sentai? Thats one letter away from no longer being family friendly...
Also, Power Rangers sucks. Its a live action show that should REALLY be animated.