Friday, August 22, 2014

Toku Movie Flashback: Kamen Rider x Kamen Rider: W & Decade Movie War 2010 Director's Cut



Oh, Decade. You started with so much potential, so much promise of something that fans would adore. What did you become in the end? An incoherent, lazily executed shell of what you could have been.

That's right, everyone, it is finally time for me to tackle the movie that forever cemented Kamen Rider Decade's legacy as a disappointment and as a complete storytelling failure. Kamen Rider Decade: The Last Story single-handedly makes the entire endeavor a waste of time and potential, even though many of the last episodes of the TV series sent it right on its course to doom. Of course, The Last Story and Movie War 2010 will come later. First, I must look back on the first theatrical installment of a superior series that helped bring Kamen Rider back on its course..

Sunday, August 17, 2014

I'm Not Dead

To the few dozen people who check in here, hi. I know, it's been two months. I don't have a really good excuse for that, but with classes coming up again I may not be very active on here for the next few months. Still, I'd like to get a few reviews posted by the end of the month. Hit the jump for more info.

Monday, June 23, 2014

Toku Week In Review (6/23/2014)

As I was waiting for my download of Awesomenauts to finish on Steam (let me know in the comments if you'd like to be friends), I was looking through my blog here and realized something. It has been one year to the day that I posted an entry in the "Toku Week In Review" series I used to do.

So what better way to celebrate one full year without a post than with a new post? It's time once again for your weekly breakdown on everything that happened in the world of tokusatsu over the last week.

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Toku Movie Flashback: Kamen Rider Decade The Movie: All Riders Vs. Great Shocker

The one-two-three punch of producer Shinichiro Shirakura, writer Shoji Yonemura, and director Osamu Kaneda have collectively been responsible for plenty of the most heavily derided tokusatsu of the last five years. Even titles that the trio have worked on individually are usually blasted by fans and critics alike (Shirakura's Kikaider: REBOOT, Yonemura's Kamen Rider OOO two-parter, Kaneda's Space Sheriff Gavan: The Movie). It has gotten to the point where whenever any one of those names are announced to be attached to a new project, it immediately sends the fanbase into a pessimistic state.

Believe it or not, these three men once worked on a project together that actually worked. The writing was mostly solid, the spectacle was actually spectacular, and the action was competently filmed. So what happened? Is it possible that this one success got to their heads and felt that their next endeavors didn't need that amount of effort and quality control? It's hard to say for certain, but today, instead of poking fun at this creative trio for the millionth time on this blog, let's actually highlight the one movie they made together that actually worked. Of course, I am referring to the movie responsible for Toei's obsession over celebrating anniversaries every year no matter how flimsy they are. Being the highest-grossing Kamen Rider film ever will do that. So, without further ado, I bring you Kamen Rider Decade The Movie: All Riders Vs. Great Shocker.

Monday, May 5, 2014

Slogging Through Engine Sentai Go-Onger Part 4: Gold and Silver Linings?


Welcome back, everyone. We're almost halfway through Go-Onger and we're finally introducing two new characters! That's right, episode 16 sees the debut of the Go-On Wings: Go-On Gold and Go-On Silver. The following 5 episodes all have to deal with their development, as well as setting the stage for how they'll interact with the other Go-Ongers throughout the rest of the series. Will the Go-On Wings add some much needed life into this show or will they too fall victim to poor writing and acting? Let's GO-ON in and find out...

I apologize.