Kamen Rider Black RX was a bit of an anomaly in the tokusatsu television landscape. After the success of the previous year’s Kamen Rider Black, Toei Company decided that it would break with tradition on their long-running franchise and forego the usual process of creating a brand new series with a new lead hero at […]
Another day, another crossover event in the land of cool guys who rarely look at explosions as their enemies pun all the way to fiery doom. This time, it’s Uchuu Sentai Kyuranger who steps up to bat. The series about a crew of space-faring heroes fighting against the unscrupulous Jark Matter only recently ended its […]
Everything old is new again. Toei Company’s fondly remembered but not ongoing Metal Heroes superhero franchise continues to sneak into the building through the side entrance while all its other, more currently popular titles in the Super Sentai and Kamen Rider camp stroll through the front. Whether it’s Space Sheriff Gavan‘s new Type-G doing guest […]
What do Kamen Rider Drive, Spyro The Dragon, Super Mario Bros, and Buzz Lightyear of Toy Story all have in common? They each have their own line of video game gimmick figures. Let’s rewind it back to December 2014. Bandai Namco had just pumped out another game for their live-action Kamen Rider franchise on TV […]
Earth Defense Force 2 part 2! Fighting Frogs Ultra is giving us another episode of that weekly alien killing action! Once again our Frogs of Justice assume the role of a soldier in the midst of an alien invasion in EDF2! How many Alien Ant Farm references can they make this week?! Tune in to find out! Don’t miss an episode […]
Earth Defense Force part 2! Fighting Frogs Ultra is giving us another episode of that weekly alien killing action! Once again our Frogs of Justice assume the role of a soldier in the midst of an alien invasion! Don’t miss an episode of this weekly series, because the FFU are covering EDF across the generations! Let’s Get Started. You […]
At the closing of Toei’s space action series Uchuu Sentai Kyuranger, the company announced its next installment in the Space Squad series. Titled Uchuu Sentai Kyuranger vs. Space Squad, the film will feature the Kyurangers teaming up with Space Sheriff Gavan / Geki Jumonji and Space Sheriff Shaider / Shu Karasuma. This announcement came via […]
Welcome to the second installment of a brand new series here on HJU, Scholars Talking Toku. My name is Justin Mullis. I’m a scholar working in the academic field of religious studies with a life long love of Japanese pop-culture. Earlier this year an essay I wrote, “Notes from the Land of Light: Observations on […]
International action star Keanu Reeves meets his match when he comes face-to-face with the man, the myth, the legend, Sonny Chiba. While doing press in Japan, the John Wick leading man was asked about one of his personal heroes, and he began to gush about the martial arts legend, only to be shocked by the […]
2017 has been a year of highs and lows for me as a tokusatsu fan. At one end of the aisle, there were heavy hitters. Big surprises and reinvention, breathing new life into what had seemed a little too routine of late. At the other end, we had some duds. Weak efforts with minimal creativity […]