Robotack begins as most of these robot buddy programmes do… without any context as to where the robots came from. This one is a dog and a detective as well, though, so I guess everything is alright? Tetsuwan Tantei Robotack (テツワン探偵ロボタック) is actually the last of the Metal Hero Series’, bringing to a close the […]
Author Archives: Jeremy (@TheJezShow)
19
May
May
Joining the ranks of programmes on Toei Tokusatsu World to blatently plagiarise Hollywood blockbusters is Pettonton (ペットントン), the third entry in the Toei Fushigi Comedy Series. It starts as many of the Fushigi alien encounter series does… 1) Boy finds alien, 2) Boy inexplicably loses conciousness 3) Boy wakes believing the encounter was a dream, […]
17
May
May
With a quick Google search bringing up relatively little about 5 Nen 3 Kumi Mahougumi, I was pleasantly surprised by what I found in its first episode. This despite the fact that I’m, personally, not all that into magic related stuff and that this series is decidedly lacking in many of the hallmarks of a […]
13
May
May
Mysterious Nile Girl Thutmose (不思議少女ナイルなトトメス), or just Thutmose for short, is the twelfth installment in the Toei Fushigu Comedy Series that was broadcast in 1991. The name Thutmose is Egyptian, meaning Born of the god Thoth, and was the name of four Pharoahs. Thutmose is to Pharoahs as Henry is to the British crown, i.e. […]
04
May
May
It was just a matter of time before I suffered reviewed one of the Toei Fushigi Comedy series like my colleagues Sharp-O and Alex before me (see Hard Gumi or Batten Robomaru, for example) and the fifth entry in the series, 1985’s Katteni! Kamitaman (勝手に!カミタマン), didn’t disappoint. The opening episode begins with schoolboy, Shinsuke Nemoto, […]
03
May
May
The Toei Company sure love their robot detectives and police officers, especially in the Metal Hero Series, and so here’s another one: Tokusou Robo Janperson (特捜ロボ ジャンパーソン). Unlike other Metal Hero Series, and tokusatsu in general, Janperson doesn’t follow the usual monster of the week format with the title character instead opposing semi-regular criminal forces, […]
28
Apr
Apr
If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like if Robocop was a tokusatsu show, the answer is Jiban. Mobile Cop Jiban (機動刑事ジバン) is the eighth Metal Hero Series, coming after Jiraiya chronologically but tells a completely different story to it’s predecessor, as Toei’s programming often does. Despite coming out in 1989, this show is […]
23
Apr
Apr
The more of these mecha anime series I watch on Toei Tokusatsu World Official, the more I realise how they’re pretty much all the same. That said, it doesn’t make me want to watch them all any less… Space Emperor God Sigma (宇宙大帝ゴッドシグマ), or just God Sigma, is a 1980 Saburou Yatsude production. Saburou Yatsude […]
22
Apr
Apr
Blue SWAT (ブルースワット) is the 1994 Metal Hero Series immediately preceeding Juukou B-Fighter, one of the last Metal Hero Series adapted by Haim Saban. With this in mind, I’m keen to know what it is about this show that made it unadaptable in the eyes of the Saban brass and, obviously, is this a series […]
16
Apr
Apr
Seiun Kamen Mashinman or Nebula Mask Machineman (星雲仮面マシンマン) is another offering from tokusatsu godfather, Shotaro Ishinomori. Broadcast on Nippon TV in 1984, Machineman ran for 36 episodes. The series follows Planet Ivy resident, Nick, after he arrives on Earth in his spaceship. Nick is visiting Earth to complete his university thesis – studying humans – […]
15
Apr
Apr
If you were a Toei produced ninja in the Showa Era you had a car; that’s just the way things were! Ninja Captor was really one of the forerunners of that trope, airing in 1976/77, which carried into future ninja series like Jiraiya and Ninja Sentai Kakuranger (alright, it’s a cat bus rather than a […]
14
Apr
Apr
The eighties was a special time in history: Ghostbusters, David Bowie, Back to the Future, Guns N’ Roses and… Juspion. Megabeast Investigator Juspion (a portmanteau of the words justice and champion) is, well, a champion of justice, roaming the galaxy looking for trouble caused by show antagonist Satan Gorth – himself a physical portmanteau of […]
12
Apr
Apr
Captain Ultra is, I’d assume, the result of Thunderbirds, Lost in Space and Flash Gordon getting together for a sexy night on the pills. The show is so absolutely 1960s it hurts. Captain Ultra is a 1967 Toei production, ordered by the Tokyo Broadcasting System as a stop-gap show between Ultraman and Ultra Seven, despite […]
10
Apr
Apr
As an avid Super Sentai and Power Rangers fan, there’s something very comfortable about Choudenji Mashin Voltes V (超電磁マシーン ボルテスＶ). Perhaps it’s the squadron of five individuals coming together as one, perhaps it’s the alien invasion force who send their bad guy of the week to try and defeat the forces of good, perhaps it’s […]
09
Apr
Apr
For an incarnation of the long running Metal Hero Series, B-Robo Kabutack (ビーロボカブタック) is rather a strange one. Broadcast alongside Denji Sentai Megaranger in 1997, Kabutack was created mostly as light-hearted, comic relief, following in the footsteps of Gekisou Sentai Carranger the previous year. The preceding Metal Hero Series, Juukou B-Fighter and B-Fighter Kabuto, were […]
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