Articles

Sep122018 by Team HJUNo Comments

Trailer: SSSS.GRIDMAN Goes to Battle Next Month

Animation, Anime, Articles, Blog, Kaiju, Movies & TV, News, Sci-Fi, Ultraman, Uncategorized, Video Update, Videos

Watashi wa Hyper Agent Gridman. After a long wait, Tsuburaya Productions is finally ready to unveil the new SSSS.Gridman. This animated effort inspired by the live-action original bears many similarities to its tokusatsu predecessor, but also a few differences. For one, the impending monster mayhem doesn't seem to be confined to a digitized world within computers, as seen in the 1993 series Gridman the Hyper-Agent. Those look like physical buildings getting smashed to pieces as enormous kaiju tangle with the hero of the hour, in a populated area. Among them is a cast of angsty youngsters whose paths may be inextricably linked to the red and white savior known as Gridman. https://youtu.be/kZdZmbvln4g SSSS.Gridman begins October 6, 2018. You might also like: Watch: Th...

Sep32018 by DocNo Comments

Shattered Childhood: The POWER RANGERS 25th Anniversary Episode

Articles, Blog, Culture, Fantasy, Gallery, Movies & TV, Power Rangers, Reviews, Super Sentai, Toku, toku, tokublogs, tokusatsu, Uncategorized

... Okay, maybe that title was a little over-the-top, but I just couldn't help myself. Part of me has dreaded tackling this review. As a longtime fan of the Power Rangers franchise, it's not always easy to bring tough criticism to this thing I've loved for years, a huge influence on my life and how I see the world. It's even worse knowing that a number of people may have hoped to hear something quite different from me on this subject, and would be waiting to get my take on such a momentous occasion as this, the 25th Anniversary special episode. Certainly, it'll be an unpopular opinion with some, a few of which I'd count as friends. It's worse even still when one takes into account my opinion of the current season, Power Rangers Super Ninja Steel. The brutal truth is that I hesitate...

Aug222018 by tokuprimeNo Comments

SUPER HERO SYNOPSES | Made You Look!

Articles, Blog, Toku, toku, tokublogs, tokusatsu, Ultraman

Welcome back to Super Hero Synopses, where sometimes the most difficult battles are between old friends! Yes, despite the title this episode does not feature an previously unmentioned additional member of the Minato family, but rather an old family friend playing something of a self-appointed surrogate mother role. Which of course means engaging them in that most deadly of games - paper/rock/scissors! Ultraman R/B, Episode 06 "An Old Enemy! Big Sister's Finishing Move!" The brothers are battling a Mecha Gomora summoned by Makoto Aizen. They fail to damage their foe or amuse Aizen, prompting him to recall the monster rather than continue the battle. The brothers rush home only to find Asahi and their father consulting with a fortune teller to determine how to make business pick u...

Aug212018 by tokuprimeNo Comments

SUPER HERO SYNOPSES | Extremes of Emotion

Articles, Blog, Kamen Rider, Super Sentai, Toku, toku, tokublogs, tokusatsu

Welcome back to Super Hero Synopses, where sometimes we have to cover the far extremes of the tokusatsu world at the same time. This week's episode of Kaito Sentai Lupinranger VS Keisatsu Sentai Patranger is going way out into the "fun and campy" end of things, even by Super Sentai standards. Keep your eyes out for the middle aged backing dancer wearing a sparkly silver thong over their leotard. Meanwhile, Kamen Rider Build promised us death before it's one week hiatus and it's going to milk this tragedy for everything it's worth. Farewell Kazumi. You will be missed...assuming that you aren't somehow resurrected for the next crossover movie. Which kind of episode do you enjoy more? Do you like it when they present them both together or would you prefer it if they didn't pair a sad epi...

Aug132018 by tokuprimeNo Comments

SUPER HERO SYNOPSES | Free As A Bird

Articles, Blog, Toku, toku, tokublogs, tokusatsu, Ultraman

Ultraman R/B, Episode 05 "Goodbye, Icarus" Welcome back to Super Hero Synopses, where sometimes you just have to sit back and appreciate how dang pretty these shows can be. Seriously, just look at the photo gallery below. The way the two ladies are composited into the model shot is seamless; The atmosphere of Blu's giant hand coming out of the purple-tinted mist; The over-the-shoulder camera views during the fight. The flight scenes at the end that soar through the blue skies. They really made this episode look beautiful! The episode begins by introducing us to a girl named Ninomiya. She's something of an outcast at Isami's (Blu) college as she has devoted herself to creating artificial wings that will allow her to fly like a bird. This may seem fanciful, but episode three featured ...

Aug102018 by Bookish DelightNo Comments

SAKURA WARS: The Original Sentai Simulator

Anime, Articles, Blog, Culture, Fantasy, Gallery, Movies & TV, Reviews, Sci-Fi, Super Sentai, Tech, Toku, toku, tokublogs, tokusatsu, Uncategorized, Video Games, Video Update, Videos

Greetings and Salutations, HJU readers! It is I, Bookish Delight, here once again to spotlight video games that, as a toku fan, you should totally have on your radar! For undoubtedly at least a few of you reading this, today’s featured series needs no introduction. However, if this holds true for you, then consider yourself part of an elite club, because—especially in Western territories—this series is about as obscure as you can get. Which is both a shame and an oddity, as it took Japan by storm for a decade and a half, and is still going strong even today, with a recently announced comeback title in the works. This series is Sakura Taisen, and even now, years past its heyday, it's kind of a big deal. Where The Sun Rises https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVI_vkVqy4c

Aug92018 by tokuprimeNo Comments

SUPER HERO SYNOPSES | Tiny Bubbles, Big Bucks!

Articles, Blog, Super Sentai, Toku, toku, tokublogs, tokusatsu

Welcome back to Super Hero Synopses, where not even a planet-killer like Evolt can compare to the power of baseball! Yes, Kamen Rider Build was off the air this week as the opening ceremony of a national high school baseball championship was being broadcast instead. But you can never strike out Super Sentai, so Kaito Sentai Lupinranger VS Keisatsu Sentai Patranger continues on regardless. Kaito Sentai Lupinranger VS Keisatsu Sentai Patranger, Episode 26 “Underground Auction” Kogure has come to bistro Jurer in order to meet with Noel (X). While he waits for him to arrive he admonishes the Lupinrangers for getting too close to the Global Police. Noel arrives to explain his latest scheme to them all. An exclusive auction of stolen artwork is being held and Noel has managed to get

Aug82018 by DocNo Comments

KAMEN RIDER ZI-O Trailer: The King of Time Clocks In

Articles, Blog, Culture, Gallery, Kamen Rider, monster, Movies & TV, News, Sci-Fi, Toku, toku, tokublogs, tokusatsu, Uncategorized, Video Update, Videos

How many time puns can one blogger cram into the span of a few weeks? Guess we'll find out, as the pink carpet gets rolled out for the newest hero in the ongoing Kamen Rider super-saga from Toei Company. Kamen Rider Zi-O is time-slipping his way up and down the last twenty seasons of this illustrious franchise, mixing it up with the heroes and villains of Japan's Heisei Era, and god help you if you didn't pack a fire extinguisher. As previously mentioned, Zi-O is the 20th official Heisei Rider series, and they're pulling out all the stops on this nostalgic extravaganza, sure to bring back fond memories (and other stuff maybe) from the show's lengthy history. Naturally, the star of the show is young enough that he was only alive to know some of these guys and basically nothing of the s...

Aug62018 by tokuprimeNo Comments

SUPER HERO SYNOPSES | Unite Or Die

Articles, Blog, Kamen Rider, Super Sentai, Toku, toku, tokublogs, tokusatsu

Welcome back to Super Hero Synopses, where heroes can only survive by working together. It's a lesson that both phantom thieves and global police must reluctantly learn this week in Kaito Sentai Lupinranger VS Keisatsu Sentai Patranger as Lymon gives the first demonstration as to what the higher ranked, golden safe owning Ganglers can really do. Meanwhile in Kamen Rider Build the main problem every Rider has is always attempting to carry their burdens alone and it seems that the ghosts of Grease's past have come back to haunt him and set up a big cliffhanger. And it is indeed a cliffhanger because there will be no episode of Kamen Rider Build this coming week. It's being bumped for the televised opening ceremony of a nation-wide Japanese high school baseball championship. We will, h

Aug62018 by tokuprimeNo Comments

SUPER HERO SYNOPSES | Hail To The (Red) King, Baby!

Articles, Blog, Toku, toku, tokublogs, tokusatsu, Ultraman

Ultraman R/B, Episode 04 "The Winning Ball of Light" Welcome back to Super Hero Synopses, where sometimes doing your duty can mean missing the big game. Katsumi (Rosso) is playing baseball as part of his local district's team. Following on from the game their coach, Kumashiro, announces that their next game against their local rivals will be his last before retiring. Katsumi is determined that they will win the game to ensure that their coach goes out on a high note and despite having no idea how he puts the team into intense training to ensure their victory. This confuses Asahi until Isami (Blu) explains that Kumashiro was their brother's high school coach who not only fostered Katsumi's initial love of the game. Katsumi continued to play into college and might have been scouted...