Welcome to Tokusatsu Gesundheit, where we rely on nerds more obsessive than ourselves to get our hands on stuff not available outside of Japan. That’s rarely truer than today, when we’re watching a direct to video spin-off to a Kamen Rider series – Kamen Rider Drive Saga: Kamen Rider Chaser. Plot Rundown We open with…
Welcome to Tokusatsu Gesundheit, where beloved children’s shows of the 1980s get rebooted for modern audiences – yep, that’s an international phenomenon. We’re watching an example of said phenomenon AND discussing the third pillar of Toei’s Tokusatsu legacy with 2012’s Space Sheriff Gavan: The Movie! Plot Rundown Missing astronaut Geki Jumonji returns to Earth…
Welcome to Tokusatsu Gesundheit, where we follow long-running franchises into some dark places. Few long-runner installments are darker than 1992’s horror-tinged take on the Kamen Rider franchise, Shin Kamen Rider: Prologue. Plot Rundown Young motorcycle racer Shin Kazamatsuri dreams, in the first person, of brutal murders being carried out by a horrifying grasshopper creature. As…
Welcome to Tokusatsu Gesundheit, where Shotaro Ishinomori is as respected as Stan The Man. Today’s subject is the gritty movie reboot of one of his classic creations, 2014’s Kikaider Reboot. Plot Rundown Newly orphaned siblings Mitsuko and Masaru Kohmyoji are attacked by the government agency that employed their late father – the ominously named Project:…
Welcome to Tokusatsu Gesundheit, where your author continues to be busier than expected! This week, we’re talking about the Power Rangers season that wasn’t, 2012’s Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters! Plot Rundown Three young heroes are recruited by Japan’s Energy Management Center to be become the Go-Busters, defenders of the wondrous clean energy source Enetron from the…
Welcome to Tokusatsu Gesundheit, where your intrepid author was a bit busier than he expected to be this week. As such, we’re going to discuss the 1961 kaiju classic, Mothra! Plot Rundown A joint Japanese/Rolisican (stand-in for the U.S.A.) expedition to a mysterious island and atomic bomb test site in the South Pacific discovers a…
Welcome to Tokusatsu Gesundheit, where men in rubber suits beat CGI every time! In celebration of this week’s Rifftrax Live: Mothra (Thursday at 8 PM), we’re watching Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (abbreviated as “GMK”). Plot Rundown Godzilla, not seen since 1954, returns from the dead to menace Japan once more!…
Welcome to Tokusatsu Gesundheit, where we blame Stan Lee for Power Rangers. We’ll back up that bold claim while we watch the first two episodes of Japanese Spider-Man! Plot Rundown Young motorcycle racer Takuya Yamashiro’s father is murdered while investigating the evil Iron Cross Army in an attack that nearly claims Takuya’s life as well.…
Welcome to Tokusatsu Gesundheit, where we watch stunt men struggle valiantly to make ridiculous costume work. Rarely is that more true than in today’s feature, J.A.K.Q. Dengekitai vs. Gorenger. Plot Rundown The costumed super spies of J.A.K.Q. Blitzkrieg Squad uncover a plot by the nefarious organization known as CRIME to start a nuclear war using…
Welcome to Tokusatsu Gesundheit, where children’s entertainment seems less cheesy when it’s in another language. Today we’re talking about Heisei Rider vs. Showa Rider: Kamen Rider Taisen feat. Super Sentai, a packed to the gills crossover flick in the Kamen Rider franchise. Plot Rundown Kamen Rider Gaim (the Rider whose show was airing at the…