Welcome to Tokusatsu Gesundheit, where we’re taking in a triple feature in under thirty minutes! Enjoy Kamen Rider World, Super Sentai World, and Toei Hero Daishugō.
Plot Rundown
Kamen Rider World: the evil Shadow Moon, previously defeated by Kamen Rider Black, returns to life as a powerful giant called The Century King. He begins terrorizing the Japanese countryside with an army of resurrected monsters and is quickly opposed by the then-current Kamen Riders, ZO & J. They make short work of his army, and J grows to giant size – his defining trait as a Rider – to defeat Shadow Moon.
Super Sentai World: You’re going to detect a pattern here, but an incredibly powerful giant monster resurrects some previously destroyed monsters and begins terrorizing Japan, He’s opposed first by the Kakurangers, who are quickly joined by their four immediate predecessors (Dairanger, Zyuranger, Jetman, and Fiveman) for a giant free for against the monster army. Once they’ve been handled, all five teams summon their Super Robots to take down the big bad.
Toei Hero Daishugō: This one is unsubtitled, but so far as I can tell its divided up into three vignettes. In the first, the Blue SWAT team of Metal Heroes defeats a monster. In the second, we get the “Last Time on Power Rangers” recap of Super Sentai World. In the third, Metal Hero RoboCop knock-off Janperson busts some perps. Then the Metal Heroes say hi to the Super Sentai from across a canyon, end short.
Brief Background
All three shorts were produced by Toei – the company behind the Kamen Rider, Super Sentai, and Metal Heroes franchises – in 1993. They were screened at amusement parks as a 3D attraction, and Super Sentai World in particular has some camera poking gimmickry as a result.
Highlights
- Super Sentai World is clearly where the money for these shorts went, as the free-for-all battle is just gorgeous. This still doesn’t warrant its reuse in the third short, though.
- Kamen Rider World marks the second and final starring appearances of both Kamen Rider ZO and Kamen Rider J. They each starred in self-titled films in the early 90s and, while better received overall than Shin Kamen Rider:
Prologue, neither proved popular enough to revive the series. They get dusted off for the big anniversary events, but rarely get much focus. - This might be the fact that I had no idea what was going on, but the highlight of Daishugo is that it’s shorter than the other and almost entirely action sequences.
Review
Watch Super Sentai World, forget the other two.
Although the Giant Rider fight is pretty cool.
