Garo - The Fanged Wolf

This past weekend I finally sat down and watched Garo, a Tokusatsu, with a slightly different flavor. It aired from October through December 2005 (I think...) And the first episode made me say "hmm..." The main reason for this was the title character Saejima Kouga (His rank is Garo)played by Hiroki Konishi

His eyes and mouth and even his demeanor remind me of Rion from the first Galerians game. So I spent most of the series just looking at him. He's the kind of guy who's got a hot body (it's usually completely covered in the show, so only a few a few scant glimpses on those extremely rare moments he's knocked unconscious and bandaged up.) but not the normal definition of bishi.. mainly because his character is fustratingly sexless.


Enter... Kaoru played by Mika Hiji
She's the Plain Jane - Damsel in Distress of the series. Kouga obviously falls for her, but he's so emotionally detached from the world he doesn't realize it until late in the series (like all clueless heroes). What's worse is that when he finally admits that he likes her, he doesn't tell her. Not ever really. Other people in the series have to tell her that he's in love with her. The guy risks his soul for a girl, and doesn't tell her... yeah... real smart that one. When Kouga wants to take her somewhere, he usually just grabs her and drags her along without asking first. This is what you get for letting an enchanted ring, and a butler raise you for 10 years.


Enter Zero/Ginga played by Fujita Rei

He's the young upstart and wears the silver wolf armor... his territory is the West District where Kouga's District is the East. It's upon his introduction that you really get the sense that the sense that the Makai Knights are mostly solitary and extremely territorial... Almost as if each district is controlled by ONE alpha male and all others must leave. Zero's motives for intruding upon Kouga's territory is at first ambigouous (because it has to be you see... why give a full exposition in the intro for your motives when it's so much fun to guess?)

Kouga and Zero duke it out (the characters seriously try to kill each other while taking out a bad guy... it's very awesome stunt/wire work.

All in all this series is actually quite interesting, and worth the watch... Kaoru's scream makes me think of chimps, but that could just be me. Next time I'll actually talk about the plot... ^_^

Kamen Rider Kabuto

I've seen the first few eps of Kamen Rider Kabuto and I think I might like this series... it's definitely different from Kamen Rider Hibiki... but then I think Hibiki was the exception to the other Kamen Riders... That usually happens to me with a series such as this... I start with the one that's really different to get introduced to the series.

I started the Final Fantasy series with Final Fantasy Legend for the gameboy and then years later played Final Fantasy VIII. When Advent Children came out I played VII for a time, I'll finish it eventually... I want make sure I can cross-dress Cloud properly ^_^

So with the Kamen Rider series, I started with the one that really diverged from the rest of the series... but still it was cool :)

Since I haven't watched an episode for a couple of weeks I can't remember their names anymore (I feel bad about that. I plan on watching more this week, so I can give my impressions of the eps) But I want the little guy to be able to transform one of these days... I wonder what his Kamen will look like? Saaa

A sad season

After watching the 3rd episode of Power Rangers Mystic Force... I think I'm actually going to hang my hat up on this series until next year. The premise this year is just a little bit too much. Usually there's only one maybe two Rangers in a series that I don't like and the plot is campy yet still fun to watch... This year, it's like they combined Tir Na Nog with Power Rangers and then ran with it. If you can, I'd recommend watching Mahou Sentai Majiranger (the Japanese version). There's actually a plot there and the red ranger is cute and I love the green ranger's hair. Yes that's a random reason to like the series but, hey! There's no need for logic when it comes to Sentai :)

"Destroy" versus "Death" in Power Rangers

Ok, having deep thoughts about Power Rangers is like contemplating whether Moo Goo Gai Pan tastes like chicken or pork, however, I do find it interesting that not a single Ranger in the cast has ever "died" (Zordon doesn't really count). I thought they were getting somewhere in the first episode of Time Force when Alex "Died" but no no, he turns up again later with no real explanation on how he survived other than the fact that Jen didn't wait to find out whether he was actually dead or just unconscious.

I was torturing Kalinara tonight by showing her the first two episodes of the new Mystic Force season and a thought crossed my mind. (yes I know, a rare event.) Why does no one say "Die" in Power Rangers? Instead of saying. "I don't want to die." they'll say "I don't want to be destroyed."

To me, being destroyed is much worse, a fate worse than death in my mind, because you can still be "alive" and be destroyed; a mass of broken pieces that can never know peace.

So, Power Rangers teaches us that villains and heroes get destroyed as if both were inhuman devices with no souls and it's perfectly fine for both to be destroyed because they really weren't alive in the first place. Versus saying that life is organic and death is a possible reality.

First Impressions: Power Rangers Mystic Force

Well, I happened to peak in last week and watch the first two episodes of Power Rangers Mystic Force. I'm not exactly sure what I think. The forced ethnic diversity of the show seemed a lot more muted, as well as the attempt to hide everyone's New Zealand accents. Xander's is especially thick. Watching the episode my mind went: "This is so close to the Japanese version... yet so very very different."

Other thoughts:
The show feels like one of those kids shows like Ocean Girl that aired on the CBC from New Zealand during an after school slot (4:30pm if memory serves) thinking a little bit on it, I guess it would qualify now.

Nick has eyes that make me want to stare at him. His eyes are very captivating, his acting is not.

I love it! A Pink Ranger that doesn't Think Pink.

The world of Power Rangers has a funny way of not saying someone dies or is out to kill them. They say "destroy" instead. So question... Are they machines? Yes I know you can destroy a body, but usually someone says they don't want to be killed... not destroyed. Interesting concept

I think I would have preferred the Japanese version of the non-morphed color coded outfits. There's just something about these that make me go. "Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog... cheap cosplay?"

And last... If the Yellow Ranger is male... must he be a complete ditz?

Final Thoughts on DekaRanger

At the end of Episode 48 we find out that Ban is being promoted and recruited for a special team of Red Rangers. So sad :( yes :( I dear beloved Ban is leaving the team. Unlike another Red Ranger wearing the same uniform as Ban (he shall remain nameless [coughs: Jack]); the whole team is informed and Ban passes on his burning torch and force of will to Tetsu. The final battle is intense, Doggie is presumed dead but the Rangers refuse to give up despite orders to back down from their superiors.

It's a race against the clock to prevent anarchy from reigning supreme over the galaxy. It's the Zero Hour and Rangers emerge victorious by the flaming determination led by Ban and his kouhai, Tetsu.

I really loved this series. It's the first Super Sentai I've seen all the way through in Japanese. Comparing it to Power Rangers was fun. There were a lot more similarities than other seasons I've read the synapses for.

Umeko rose up from being the useless Pink Ranger with the Zord that didn't really do anything, to a powerful teammate that you didn't want to mistake as being an easy target. I think she received the most overall character development. The character truly did evolve as the show progressed and she was even able to use some of her "weaknesses" to help save the day. (The bathtub scene in the last episode was great!)

Hoji had second highest character development. The series began with him being distant from everyone. Little by little, he became more reliant on his teammates, especially Ban. He had a similar lesson to learn that everyone learned from Ban. The burning fire of determination doesn't necessarily cloud skill. And finally at the end he was able to call Ban "aibou" (partner). Of course Ban playfully replied with "aiboutte yuuna" (don't call me partner).

Jasmine had a small bit of development, however it was mostly just getting to know her character more, and therefore not true character development. Aside from the occasional pair-up with Umeko for the special "Girls in Trouble" episodes, Jasmine's character never really changed. She stayed distant from her teammates, however her determination to save those in trouble was unmatched. She wore the color yellow well, as being full of couragious might.

Sen-chan. Oh, Sen-chan. The cute lovable Green Ranger had idosyncrasies that could make your brain stop. If you look closely he may even be the most powerful of the Dekas. As far as I've seen, he's the only one that doesn't actually say the morphing sequence to transform every time he suits up. The two main examples I remember are: Near the beginning of the series when Sen deduces the identity of the real murderer and car slicer he walks to a car and simply transforms on his way, picks it up and throws it at the suspect. None of the others have actually shown an ability to do that. The second example is in episode 46, when he was pissed off at the guy that was going to turn Umeko into a pile of dust.

Tetsu first came on to the scene as an elitist. But very quickly learned that true power comes from believing in oneself and one's comrads. If the statistics say it can't happen, that doesn't mean that it's impossible. Tetsu learned this quickly and came to call the other Dekas "sempai" not only because he's younger than they, but because their experience is greater as well, for he technically outranks them. His burning determination has enabled him him to be an ideal successor to Ban's legacy on the team.

Ban. The driving force of the DekaRangers. His development wasn't so much as a change in himself but getting to know his team and all of their strengths, weaknesses, and idiosyncrasies. Learning how his team worked helped him become a better officer and eventually earning him a promotion to a new team.

Doggie and Swan round out the team as their mentors. Just as in the American version, Swan is Doggie's voice of reason and conscience. And the two of them guide their Earth Dekas to higher standards.

Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger... the End :)

Naming in Kamen Rider #4

After a nice little break, I'm back and with the 4th installment of "Naming in Kamen Rider" (insert cavernous echo). Zanki (斬鬼) meaning "Sword wielding Demon" or "Cutting Sword Demon". He is an oni that retires in the series and passes on his legacy to Todoroki.

Near the beginning of the series we hear of an injury that hospitalizes one of the oni, this of course is Zanki. Once he's released from the hospital he tries to continue his duties as an Oni, however his body can no longer handle the rigorous punishment and feels he'd be a liability if he countiued to fight as an Oni, he passes his apprentice to full Oni status and instead of taking his name, his apprentice takes the name Todoroki instead.

And now for the pun.. If you add two different radicals for "heart" to Zanki's name you get (慙愧) which means "feeling Shame". It's visible in just about every action Zanki makes on screen that he feels shame for being unable to continue as a proper Oni. 

Naming in Kamen Rider #3

Sorry for the delay of this topic. Got a bit sidetracked.

While looking for pictures of Shibue Jyouji (points giant arrow to picture) after taking my own screenshots of him, I discovered he was Tuxedo Kamen in the live action version of Sailor Moon--very ironic that--just before taking the role of Ibuki in Kamen Rider Hibiki. I think I mentioned this earlier but still I thought it immensely amusing. Now on with the show!

Ibuki's kanji reads (威吹鬼) which roughly translates to "Mighty Blowing Demon"... ... ...

I will leave the dirty unclean thoughts up to you. However Shibue is so thin he makes a regular sheet of paper look like a large brick. If he's a Mighty Blowing Demon, I think he and the Big Bad Wolf will have an interesting conversation on that first visit to the Three Little Pigs. 

DekaRanger. Episode 46. Proposal Panic

I at first was going to comment mostly on Umeko in this blog, however upon reviewing episode 46 again for this post I had to do a double-take at the villain of the week. I kept stopping, rewinding, playing, pausing, squinting saying to myself "no, it's not him. it can't be!" so I found the cast list for sailor moon. This still didn't quite answer my question as i looked at the picture of the character in question and the frozen frame of the dekeranger episode. I went to the wikipedia site in Japanese and typed in the actors name.

I was right! Episode 46's bad guy of the week and crusher of Umeko's heart was portrayed by none other than the same actor who played Nephrite in the live action version of Sailor Moon! Why are all these hot guys in a show like Sailor Moon? It's a really bad show with horrible acting even for a live action sentai-esque show.

OK now on to the actual plot of the show, this is actually one of the episodes I like. Umeko gets to kick butt and be pissed off, which are rare occurrences in and of themselves. The episode opens up with Sen-chan and Umeko on patrol. Umeko sings the melody of "Girls in Trouble" to lyrics revolving around her upcoming date. She tells Sen-chan about a guy she's been seeing for the past three months and their one hour dates. Also her date with this mystery man who seems perfect in every way is immediately following their shift... that is if nothing happens. And so, a giant mech shows up to ruin Umeko's plans and she doesn't take very kindly to this at all.

After trouncing the giant mech around with Umeko at the controls, she releases her Zord essentially turning it into a missile that propels her into the enemy cock pit where she forcefully evicts the mechenoid controlling it, after which she jumps down and runs off asking the others to take care of the clean-up. Sen-chan let's slip that her forceful behavior was due to the fact that she was in love and Ban-chan upon return to DekaBase grips him in a headlock angry with him for not telling them about Umeko's love life and the possibility of her retiring her position to get married.

Alas Umeko's love was not to be, Sen-chan quickly discovers that his co-worker's love is a criminal using psychotropic mushrooms (clears throat) to become everything his victims want in a man and once they agree to marry him he steels their pure hearts and turns them to dust. When Sen-chan catches up to the guy he's extremely pissed off in such a way that leads us to think that his anger extends a little past protecting a friend. For the second time in the entire series he does a voiceless transformation and just before he takes the guy on in SWAT mode Umeko shows up and and gives her would-be fiance a piece of her mind... and her fist, and her boots.

It ends with Umeko finally getting back her cheerful personality and the group looking at the possibility that there may be something between Sen-chan and Umeko. . .

The Final 5!

To set my naming of kamen rider a side for a moment. I just checked TV-Nihon, like I do every 20 minutes I'm at my computer because I'm slightly compulsive that way, and lo and behold! The last 5 episodes of Tokusou Sentai DekaRanger was posted! This makes me jump up and down for joy as there was a brief scare that they were going to cancel it 5 short of completing the sub!

::spins around the room:: YEAH! ::looks down at Azureus:: You know you want to move faster! That's why I have a cable connection damn you@!!! ::looks back at screen and smiles:: Hee ^_^ ja ne!

Naming in Kamen Rider #2

Whereas most Kamen Riders in this series take up the name of their predecessor, Todayama Tomizo felt it wouldn't be right to take up the name of his master. In his eyes his master will always be Zanki. With the approval of Zanki, Todayama becomes Todoroki (轟鬼) "Roaring Demon." The real irony here is that of all the Oni seen on the show, he's beyond tone deaf despite his exceptional guitar strumming capabilities. His henshin device (transformation device) is a wrist band with with three small strings on it. Once they are strummed he raises it to his forehead revealing his Oni mark. His energy revolves around electricity and his weapon is a guitar (though it resembles a tapered shamisen more) narrowed to a point and bladed to form an axe or mace-like weapon. The first few missions he completed were completed fairly easily and he performed a post victory rift. After being called on this he stopped shortly thereafter as the battles were becoming increasingly difficult, simply not having the energy to show off. 

Naming in Kamen Rider #1

(Hibiki & Asumu waving to Hitomi)

This kid in orange is Asumu. He's a thirteen year old just entering his first year in high school. As I've mentioned before, everyone in this series has a name appropriate to their concept.

Asumu looks to find his way in life and is in need of guidance on his way to becoming a man. Fortunately for him he meets Hibiki on a fated trip to visit relatives, which in turn pushes his thoughts about where his future will be to the fore. The kanji for his name (明日夢) can be read as Tomorrow's Dream. It's not uncommon to see him staring off into space contemplating where he is in his life and the possibility of becoming an Oni when he's older.

After their fated meeting, Asumu discovers that he lives near Hibiki. Awed by Hibiki's casual presense and fighting capabilities, Asumu decides he must learn more and sees Hibiki as not only a life mentor but also a father figure as well. Since at this time Hibiki has no apprentice, he takes Asumu under his wing and shows him the ways of life. His kanji reads (響鬼) "Echoing/Reverberating Demon" it's no wonder his weapons are bachi (taiko drumsticks)! As the title character he gets the most power ups and cool toys ^_^ I just love his salute.

Names in Kamen Rider Hibiki

After looking over some of the names in Kamen Rider Hibiki after Kalinara mentioned how funny they were, I thought about it... She's right. They are incredibly funny... Especially Ibuki's name.
I took the opportunity to look at the kanji they used to spell his name and I laughed even harder.
The characters of his name can be read as a "Mighty Blowing Demon" I giggle. Later I'll do a similar line up of their names with references from the show... They do comment on how everyone's name is a pun on their personalities and attributes. For the Oni especially, it's their title ability.

Which makes my gut hurt from laughing at Ibuki's name.

Kamen Rider Hibiki

As Kamen Rider Hibiki draws to a close on Japanese television, I'm just a little past half way through the series downloading from TV Nihon. When I first began watching the show a few months ago I wasn't sure what to expect. I can't help compare it to Super Sentai, yet in many aspects this show is much more mature. It should also be noted that Kamen Rider Hibiki is the first series I've seen of this set of shows.

Let's get started with the basics...

The show is told mostly through the eyes of 13-year-old Adachi Asumu. His likes are: playing the drums, hanging out with friends (especially Hitomi) and spending time with Hibiki-san who's become a father figure slash mentor to him.

In this series music is the main theme of the hero's regime. Three types of "oni" (read here as transforming superhero) fight the demons according to creature type and season of the year. The taiko style oni (hibiki) is best suited for summer. While the "string" style oni (todoroki) is suited for taking down large creatures, and the "wind" style oni (ibuki) takes care of the winged creatures. And most importantly; the Oni don't have to shout out a pose in order to transform. In many cases, they are running into action as they transform. They do perform a post transformation pose. In that armor? How can you not!

The transformation devices fit with the instrument they fight with (yes, the instrument they fight with). Hibiki uses a tuning fork to strike an object to produce the resonance required to transform then places the fork to his forhead where an oni mark appears. He fights with two taiko sticks and a mystical taiko (it's a lot cooler than the description) his instrument and fighting style would be about as traditional japanese as you get. His element is fire. He has two further transfermations as he's the most powerful Oni in their group.

Ibuki's transformation device is a whistle. He simply blows a note and raises the whistle to his forehead and an oni mark appears. He fights with a trumpet that produces blaring sound waves in addition to a semi-automatic gun that shoots mystical air bullets (it's just as silly as it sounds, yet he makes it look cool). His element is naturally air/wind. Ibuki also has an apprentice that is the same age as Asumu, she also uses a transformation device but she doesn't use it to transform. She uses the device for it's secondary functions discussed later.

Todoroki is essentially the new kid on the block. He's just been elevated to Oni status when Zanki, his mentor/master, became too injured to continue fighting full time. He makes many mistakes and is sometimes very stiff when around Hibiki and the others especially when interacting with Zanki. His transformation device is a wrist band that has three strings on it. When strummed, it produces the sound of a biwa or shamisen. Raising it to his forehead the Oni mark appears. He fights with a bladed guitar (looks closer to a shamisen in my opinion but the sound effects speak for themselves ^_^). His element is Thunder (Lightning).

As the series progresses we get glimpses of other Oni that fight with Hibiki. These other Oni are usually assigned to other areas of Japan, though sometimes their areas overlap.

As the series continues you learn that the Oni are not limited to their main instrument. Todoroki must learn to use the taiko to fight summer demons in one arc. All in all, I love this show and I can't wait to see the end of the series and Kamen Rider Kabuto begins.