#my henshin review

[hellohimawarihana]

Did you find it odd that Aikatsu and Pretty Series follows their henshin in reverse order in terms of method?

We'll start with Aikatsu first. With the exception of Planet, all of them are basically like this, running in the dimension inside Fitting Room and dress up starting with tops-accessories, bottoms, and shoes.

I won't include Planet here since it shakes the formula by being done in one ping while transcending from 2D to 3D models.

Then in Pretty Rhythm, there's the scanning system, which usually start from the bottom of their body.

(left: Aurora Dream; center: Dear My Future; and right: Rainbow Live)

Then PriPara borrows some elements from it by the shoes coming first before the rest of the outfit.

Post-PriPara, they're pretty much the same: shoes, tops-bottoms/dress, and accessories.

(left: PriChan; center: PriMagi; and right: AiPri)

In short, Aikatsu starts the henshin with upper part of the body, while Pretty Series inverses this by having foot-first transformation.

[simeonscott]

The Real Meaning Behind Kamen Rider Drive

Taking a look back at one of my favorite rides to see if it truly deserves the criticism it tends to get these days.

[neorivermaster]

THE WORKSHOP #2: Third Party Kamen Rider Figures - Follow Ups and New Announcements

Welcome back everybody! We have quite a bit of new figures to go over as well as some quick updates on previously mentioned figures! So let's not waste any more time and get straight to it!

UPDATES

Toys Battalion: Fox Warrior CANCELLED

Starting off with some unfortunate news. It seems that the Toy Battalion "Fox Warrior" has seemingly been cancelled. Most websites claimed a Q2 release for the figure and while delays are to be expected, it seems Toy Battalion has had no issues keeping up with their MMPR movie line of figures. When the figure was initially announced I preordered mine from Onesixthkit, who I have heard a lot of positive reviews from, and on early September I got a refund for my down payment and an email. The email read as follows:

It seems that Toy Battalion might have gotten cold feet with making a Kamen Rider figure and instead pivoted towards a different audience that they were more confident with. To say that I'm sad this amazing looking figure was cancelled would be an understatement, but if anything it did make me massively respect Kit. OSK seems to be the only website that mentions the cancellation while others still have the item up for preorder, so from here on out I have OSK high on my list on websites to buy figures from.

SooSooToys: The Sun Warrior (Released)

On to some more positive news, SooSooToy's "The Sun Warrior" released and I find him to be absolutely fantastic! The feeling of the suit's material really feels as if I was holding a miniature version of the actor's suit. I find the possibility to be pretty alright just wish that it had more leg range so we can get cool Rider kick poses a bit easier. Found it a bit tedious to open the henshin belt and put the batteries in it since it's so small and I was having issues trying to open it up without feeling like I was going to break it. Other than that I am very very happy with the figure and absolutely looking forward to all of SST's future Rider releases!

VTS Toys: Shadow Rider (Released)

Another big recent surprise is that it seems VTS Toy's Shadow Rider is finally being released! From Lionrocktoyz we can see the box of the final product and the item is out of their preorders and ready to order. Hopefully we will be seeing videos of the figure soon as people start to receive their orders. We've already seen a YouTube short showing off the figure, so reviews are sure to be coming real soon!

Now that about covers it for the most recent developments on previously mentioned figures, so let's get onto the newly announced ones!

Announcements

Zero Toys: Malicious Knight

Kicking off the list with a newcomer to the 1/6 scale game is Zero Toys with their "Malicious Knight", aka Ark One! This design has always looked so clean, so to get a highly detailed scaled figure of it is absolutely amazing! He comes with his iconic briefcase sword. He's slated for an April 2025 release and with this being a new company it's going to be exciting to see the quality of the final product!

It looks like Zero Toys is really wanting to dive deep into the Kamen Rider franchise. They posted their current line up after their Malicious Knight, so we can hopefully expect a whole lot of Riders from Zero-One!

Two Ten: Black Devil Dangerous Warrior

Next on the list is yet another newbie, Two Ten Industries with their take on Kamen Rider Build's Black Hazard form. The Black Devil Dangerous Warrior figure seems to be packed with features and awesome accessories, you can even rotate the handle of the Build Driver! Currently scheduled to release around June 2025.

It's great to see new companies throwing their hat into the ring and making 1/6 scale Kamen Rider figures. Hopefully this is a sign we'll be seeing a lot more this upcoming year. Personally, I'm hoping for quality figures of the early Heisei Riders!

SooSooToys: Kamen Rider + Super Sentai

Now we have a whole bunch of announcements coming from a familiar face. SooSooToys is really going all in with Kamen Rider and Super Sentai/Power Ranger scale figures. An interesting one they've teased is the civilian form of Kotaro Minami himself! SooSooToys have not followed up on the tease yet, but they have a good track record thus far. My guess is that this one will take a while longer compared to suited figures as the likeness of a young Tetsuo Kurata will need to be sculpted. If it comes with a unique base as other SooSooToys do then that would add to the wait time as well. Regardless of all that, this announcement was incredible and I'll be looking forward to more information in the future.

SooSooToys: Supreme Commander

This one felt a bit out of left field since I would assume SooSooToys would want to focus on main Riders, but I guess they want to make as many as they can for Black RX. We have the very recently announced Supreme Commander aka General Jark and he's looking real spiffy! Coming with a couple weapons and few set of hands, he's going to look great with their Sun Warrior for sure!

SooSooToys: The Rage Warrior

Continuing with their line of Kamen Rider Black RX figures, we're getting another one of Kotaro's form. The Rage Warrior, aka BioRider, is slated to release around December of this year alongside their Despair Warrior, aka Roborider. Just like all of the Rider figures from SooSooToys, he'll have magnetically activated LED lights in the helmet. Having all of Kotaro's forms + civilian outfit + General Jark is going to be an absolutely insane collection!

SooSooToys: The Century Warrior+ The Century Knight

These two were my most wanted and I was absolutely stunned when I saw them go up for preorder. Seems that after tackling Kamen Rider Black RX they'll be taking a crack at the original Black! Not just Kamen Rider Black, but also Shadow Moon!

Kamen Rider Black is pretty light on the accessories since in the original series he didn't really utilize any specific weapons unlike his RX counterpart. Despite that, he is looking absolutely incredible and it seems that SooSooToys has heard the community and stated that certain aspects of the figure will be updated for the final release.

Now Shadow Moon on the other hand. He is absolutely loaded with some sick accessories such as his iconic Satan Saber and his Shadow Sabers. With these you can easily use this one figure alongside both Black and Black RX. On top of that Shadow Moon has a limited edition release based on a lesser seen form of Red Shadow Moon. Pretty identical to the regular release, but in a very gorgeous looking red. And yes, seems that Shadow Moon will have a stomp mechanic like he did in the show!

Then SooSooToys did something pretty crazy. We've seen their take on Sentai/Power Rangers before with their collection of Sixth Rangers, but now it's time for the Red Rangers to have their time in the sun. Yes, they have announced a wave of 5 Red Rangers to be their next big release!

SooSooToys: Set of 5 Red Rangers

This announcement came as such a massive surprise and it is glorious! It's a great variety of Rangers too since ThreeZero are releasing whole teams in chronological order, so might take some time before we see their take on seasons past Turbo/Carranger. With their track record of previous Rangers it's safe to say that these will be an incredible addition. I'm left with only one question, where's TimeRangers/Time Force?! Hopefully they'll do another set of 5 more after these are released.

BONUS

Time for a bit of a bonus round on here. While not 1/6 scale figures like the rest of this list, it's still some third party Kamen Rider releases and I just liked them enough that I wanted to share them with everyone. These are 1/12 scale model kits from a company called Yu Bo Wen Chuang and while not carrying any names related to Kamen Rider, it's very plain to see just how inspired they were with the designs.

The first one on this list is Sako, the shark Knight Mecha Girl, and it looks like she must have gotten her gear from SmartBrain too. Yes, she is very much the Kamen Rider Faiz of this line. With her motorcycle even turning into a robot that shares a striking resemblance to Autovajin. She's up for preorder on sites such as Gundamit and it looks like the preorder bonus are an extra face plate and rubber chest piece if you want to lewd up the figure a bit.

(Latest Lia design on the left, original Lia design on the right.)

Next up we have Lia! She's the Kuuga inspired one even coming with her own Gouram and Trygouram bike.

Personally, I feel like it's a downgrade from what was initially shown off. Their original design really wore the inspiration on its sleeve and the little details made for great references (such as the facemask being the same as Kuuga and the Arcle wrist morpher design being more overt).

The new redesign still has a chance to impress, but there's not a whole lot of info out there at the moment. So we can't tell if we're getting 3 figures + the vehicles, or if it's additional armor sets to represent Growing, Mighty and Amazing Mighty forms. Hopefully the rest of the line isn't afraid to be legally distinct with their designs.

Safe to assume she'll have a similar preorder bonus like our shark friend here, but what I'm more concerned about is if she'll have an alternate thumbs up hand!

So while I was writing this up, it seems some more model kits were announced! The new line up consists of the initial 3 plus some very welcomed additions! The first line up of silhouettes ended with a Geats lookalike character, but now we have an additional two. After Geats it seems we have Kabuto and quite possibly a model kit of Orga. Which is super surprising. I would assume they would be doing main Riders for a bit before delving into secondary Riders, let alone movie exclusive ones. Although I'm not complaining one bit! In one of Sako's (Faiz) promotional pictures they slyly teased at a Kaixa figure too! This line of figures is really intriguing and pretty cute all around! Now we just have to wait until next year to find out how they'll compare to other model kits on the market.

[mahou-furbies]

I just saw the new Wonderful episode and I think my favorite part of the transformation is the little bows and crown on the edges of the screen actually become part of the outfit. I had to rewind to catch that. I loved that bouncy skirt, too, and how she seemed especially bouncy in her intro.

Oh that is correct, I didn't notice that! I just thought that it was annoying how the decorations on the screen covered the animation I wanted to watch, and was relieved when they disappeared though the henshin (left that bit out of my henshin mini-review since people seem to be excited for the new season and I didn't want to rain on everyone's parade). But they do in fact become a part of her outfit, so I'll have to take back the criticism that the transformation doesn't do anything new and now I like it more. Though it would certainly have helped if the actual transformation part was longer so this would have been easier to noti- okay I'll shut up now.

[rainofkaiju]

Zone Fighter Thoughts #01: "Destroy the Terror-Beast Missile!"

Hey all, welcome to rainofkaiju! A place where I plan to make semi regular posts of my toy photography, fan fiction and reviews/ musings of kaiju related media.

To start, I decided to make my first entry about an often forgotten about character: Zone Fighter, the Meteor Man.

Debuting in 1973 (after Godzilla Vs Megalon), it was Toho's attempt at capitalizing on the Ultraman phenomenon. Needless to say, it didn't catch on. There's plenty of other places 'round the web that offer more information, so I'll keep the intro short!

Im going to review/ react to each of the 26 episodes of this series. 2023 is his 50th anniversary afterall. And, I've never seen it. Alas, it will be in an order of my own preference, not exactly chronological.

It's an open secret that Toho included a few marquee names alongside the titular hero. Those being Gigan, King Ghidorah and of course, Godzilla! We'll cover the Zone Fighter solo episodes first, then the guest-starring ones last, leaving off on an epic note.

Join me on this journey as we get to witness a forgotten hero in his fansubbed glory, and hopefully convince Toho to bring him back. (Instead of just a Keychain. Lol.)

Let us begin!

We hear Godzilla in the first like 10 seconds! Albeit for the wrong monster... he uses Kong's later.

Awesome theme song, and a great moody score to boot.

An interesting concept of an alien refugee family saving the world in secret.

Some great Kamen Rider esque fight choreography in the human battles. Really digging Hikaru's moves.

This brings us the debut of....

"CANNON TERROR-BEAST" Red Spark!

And, well... meh. Sparkler noodle hands sadly aren't very impressive.

Cool night fight tho.

Zone Fighter himself is pretty neat. Also, a tad creepy with his lit-up eyes in the dark.

But, that's not all! We get the other monster in the episode...

"MAGNETIC TERROR-BEAST" Jikiro!

Now this is a cool kaiju. Unique mecha design, and certainly more memorable than Red Spark. Still doesn't stand a chance against Zone Fighter's Meteor Missiles however.

My fav bit in this entire episode was when Jikiro uses his magnetic pincer to grab hold of a commercial plane. Really good editing, very suspenseful the way the passengers are saved in the last second, as the plane gets yeeted into the night by Zone Fighter.

Never have I seen such a toyetic series shown in such a short amount of time. Jam-packed in 20 minutes. Space stations, spaceships, henshin devices, two kaiju, multiple transforming heroes, a flying fucking car, and the best ever:

ZOBOT!!!

a communicator, drone, weapon, this little guy can do it all. Must've been the coolest shit for kids in the 70's.

All in all, a fantastic start IMHO. One of the most entertaining first episodes from the showa Era of tokusatsu.

Join us next time for Zone Fighter episode 02: " Attack! Destro-King!"

Don't miss it!

[des-shinta]

Shinta Reviews: Rockman.exe Axess Episode 1

It’s Henshin Hero time....Man, if only I’d managed to start releasing my scripted-since-2021 reviews of the series BEFORE Capcom/Shopro started putting the episodes on youtube themselves.  FORTUNATELY for this retrospective, the US distributions skipped all the ones that didn’t see North American broadcast originally, so there’s merit in still doing these videos as there’s a Fair amount of content that got skipped.

[personarider]

Ultraman Arc 18 Review |Going Ultra

Ultraman Arc 18 Review |Going Ultra – Going Ultra – Presented by Henshin Inspection What did you think of Ultraman Arc episode 18? Read my Ultraman-Inspired Story for kids VIDEO LINKS Ultraman Connection – Official Site Ultraman Arc WIKI

[theworkprint]

Henshin! Volume 1 Review: A New Hero Blazes To Life

Despite my love of American comics, I never got nearly as invested in manga. Which is a bit strange since I love monsters, and as a young man, I especially adored the Power Rangers. This is why I decided to read Saturday AM and Bon Idle’s Henshin! Volume 1: Blazing Phoenix, because not only does it recapture the Ranger days of my youth, but it also, was clearly inspired by the likes of Ultraman…

[hellohimawarihana]

Not my review post actually but I agree with @a-little-ray-of-fantasy, especially Mint. I wonder if S2 will kept the usual or add the new transformation for them...

Now I think I have a personal opinion on each one's transformation.

Mew Ichigo: Still rather cute, tho' I kinda feel it goes by a bit too fast to be completely enjoyable, or maybe because I'm so used to the original one that often really took its time, but emphasided Ichigo's cat elements a bit more. Still really nice to look at.

Mew Mint: Sadly Minto really got the short end of the stick, here, and I mean it objectively. The original one is amazing in how it conveys a bird's elegance with Minto's love for ballet. Dancing is still in the transformation, it's definitely not forgotten, but it's only really used at the end, and when it seems it's starting to get going, Minto finishes with her pose. It really feels stiff and incomplete, which is sad, since Minto's OG transformation was considered the best one.

Mew Lettuce: Sweet Retasu's OG Transformation had an amazing guitar soundtrack, but lacked a lot in presentation: a few movements and she was ready in a couple of claps. Really cool, but not enough. The reboot went for a different approach that REALLY conveys Retasu's timid elegance and her bond with water, showing her transforming as she swims as her hair and ribbons start resemble a tailfin while she goes along. One of, if not the, best transformations in the new show, one that Retasu really deserves.

Mew Pudding: Always liked Bu-Ling's OG transformation, and how it felt a bit energetic just like her, even if it did feel kinda stiff. The reboot took a step further and shows her transforming as she does acrobatics with a couple of monkeys in a background filled with cherry blossoms, a mountain and a temple, a reminder of the kid's Chinese roots. Now Bu-Ling's personality shines completely in this new version with energy and agility, which really sells the monkey theme for her.

Mew Zakuro: The use of fire and that long stare from Zakuro in the OG series was amazing, not gonna lie, with cool use of the crescent moon. But its true that the full moon, as used in the reboot, makes a lot more sense for her. And now her wolf nature is shown by her pounce and calculated stances after the jumps, conveying self assuredness and serious elegance. I will personally miss the fire and long stare, but Zakuro's new transformation gets her more accurately, that it's true.

[reversemoon255]

Magic Henshin Series 03+04 - Gemini Wings

These are probably my favorite designs of the MHS so far. They have a real Splatoon Calie/Marie vibe to them, with unique faces and heads. Even their emblems on their boxes are slightly different, with Pink’s showing her hair clips, as well as altered eyes. Even though they’re packaged separately, I think they can only be bought as a set.

The Good: There two have the most streamline, action figure-esque designs, and best posability of the set. Any kibble you might see can easily be moved out of the way to achieve any number of cute, pop idol poses you can think of. Their accessories are also more cutesy than anything action based, like the above microphone and heart, giving them a distinct non-combatant feel compared to the other releases.

The Bad: That streamlined design means most of the transformation is held in the hair, which causes a ton of balance issues. I usually circumvent this by folding back their ankles. This makes them a little shorter, but allows them to easily hold themselves up with no issue.

They’re probably the worst offenders of instruction-less accessories. Their little boombox is able to equip to their jet to actually make it look like something, as well as be used as a shield by the combined mode, but nothing tells you that.

Speaking of their vehicle mode, it’s the only one that requires a specific adapter to form it in the first place. Like with Scarlet, I feel like I’m always a millimeter away from getting it to look perfect. And the legs just hang there. They’re supposed to be ribbon tassels when combined, but as a jet they don’t do anything.

Overall, I like these figures, but will lament that they do have a lot of issues when you want them to be anything besides figures. I will probably say this for all of these reviews: each of the girls are decent toys on their own. If you want to go after any one of them, you’ll have a good time. However, if you get all the girls, get Scarlet Dragon, and if you don’t get all the girls, don’t get Scarlet Dragon. It is required for the combined mode.  

[muthaz-rapapa]

Let’s talk TroPreCure! (^∀^ 🌺)

i’m so stupidly proud of this dumb pun “tropurikyua~”, hahahahaha

Last post of the year and wow is there are lot to be excited for!

I even had to make a list for the stuff I want to talk about and I’m sure I already forgot one or two things but we’ll get to them as we continue to float~ along the wave to February 28th, mmkay? :)

Now for what has peaked my interest so far. And yes, we have to talk about the following first:

1) HealPre the shortest Precure season??

Unless they plan for double features in February (which I doubt but you never know), HealPre is likely going to reach only 45 episodes long instead of the usual 48~50 before TroPre I’m using this shortening of the title for now so if there’s a better alternative, tell me and I’ll switch out begins its broadcast.

Understandable because the producers probably want to get back to their normal scheduling as soon as possible (toy sales, y’know) and I suspect pushing the start of the new season back by a month is the most they’re willing to compromise.

As for me, I’m quite happy about this since HealPre’s lost its hold on my attention a while ago so the sooner TroPre gets here, the better. Though the downside might be a scrambled climax and a rushed, underwhelming ending for HealPre (I dunno if it’s January’s titles that feel a bit messy or if the hiatus is still throwing me off) but whatever. We’ll refresh ourselves with the new blood Cures so it’s all good.

2) Tropical movie announced for Autumn 2021, no All Stars??

(source)

First saw this mentioned on Youtube somewhere but it’s all over the fandom forums by now. I mean, HealPre’s movie is set for March, the usual time slot for All Stars release. If Toei intended for there to be an All Stars in 2021, there’s no way they would announce the seasonal movie before it so speculations of them skipping it this year are probably true.

To squeeze it somewhere between March and October-ish would force them to readjust their budgets as well and I don’t think even Toei wants to go through that extra hassle after all the trouble the pandemic’s caused for everyone already. It’s just easier to resume All Stars in 2022.

That, and I think Laura being a major character in TroPre despite not having a Cure title (yet) would make for an awkward situation when the three latest teams gather so perhaps that’s also one of the reasons. But I’ll get back to Laura in a bit.

3) Cure Summer is a RAINBOW Cure

So god help me if I see anyone calling her a Pink Cure.

Yes, she’s the lead Cure for this season. NO, she is not a Pink Cure.

Look, even the official website has a rainbow overlay for her profile pic and text font while everyone else’s respective theme colors are a solid hue:

Therefore, RAINBOW.

In promotional material and merchandising, they’re probably going to advertise her primarily with pink bah and at worst, she might occasionally be labeled as a White Cure with multiple subcolors (her outfit is not pink-dominant) but definitely NOT. PINK.

...also, this goes without saying but f***yea, we finally got a lead Cure practically and unabashedly wearing the LGBTQ flag and you cannot tell me otherwise, Toei!

Own up to it! Declare Manatsu/Cure Summer as the Precure queer icon!

I’m not gonna stop yellin’ until you do! 😠

4) Laura = obvious midseason Cure is obvious

First of all, Laura is a babe. I already love her the best and she’s not even Precure yet. <3

Anyways, the set-up is pretty much in the description. Important main character who’s not a mascot, stated to have a self-confident personality and just speaks her mind (oooh, I like~ :D), magical/foreign being from another world looking for Precure to save her home, possesses her own special item(s), has aspirations to become the next Queen (so she’s a princess-candidate or something to that effect, I suppose).

We’ve seen various combinations of these traits in past midseason (and a few starter) Cures so nobody should be surprised when we all guessed that one of the Cures would be a real live mermaid.

The only question is why not just make Laura a Cure from the get-go if she’s introduced to us at the beginning (like Hime or Lala) and having a team of five with no unnecessary extra add-ons later on (like Smile).

Well, there’s a simple answer for that: formula.

Toei is afraid that if they don’t spit out some new animation sequence at the halfway and third quarter points of the show, the kids will lose interest and abandon the series altogether. Which means failed toy sales. Oh nooo... [/sarcasm]

...Yea. 

And this way they can also have Laura available in the Cure lineup for the next All Stars in 2022 instead of making her sit the fight out if we were going to have one in 2021. I’m convinced that’s gotta be one of the reasons. *shrug*

But ok, whatever. Her debut is gonna be later, that’s all. She’s a delayed Cure.  Midseason Cure, same difference.

Moving along to the more important stuff now like what’s her Cure name gonna be, y/y?

Well, knowing Toei, a translation of the term “mermaid” into another language is the most predictable route even though we already have a Cure Mermaid. Not like that ever stopped them from repeating words before (ex. Cure Happy vs Cure Felice). Though if they do go down that road, I hope they opt for the Spanish/Italian “sirena” and not the French “sirène” because the latter sounds too close to how Cure Selene is pronounced in Japanese. And, putting it nicely, we all know Japanese pronunciation of foreign words is as off kilter as can be.

Hell, even the the Portuguese “sereia” sounds aesthetic as hell so it’d be nice if they can just remember there are other languages that exist out there besides Japanese, English and French when making the final decision at the writing table! *stomps foot* >:/

Alternatively, “nereid” or “naiad” are good choices too but they remind me too much of Greek myths and Laura’s from the Grand Ocean which covers more than just a couple of seas (Greece is surrounded by three, btw) so...

I dunno. But whatever it’s gonna be, she’s definitely got a strong association with water and her powers will probably be based on that.

As for theme color, since there’s noticeably no blue or green Cure in the starter lineup, it’s likely she will take up that spot when she debuts around ep 20.

Pink is also open since Cure Summer, again, is technically not a Pink Cure and Laura’s hair and tail fin are hot and light pink respectively but looking at Laura’s design and concept, does anyone seriously believe that?

Her upper torso consists of aquamarine while the body of her tail is definitely some shade of cyan, implying they’re aiming for somewhere around the middle of green and blue on the lighter spectrum.

And yea, I’m aware that green and blue are considered exchangeable in some perspectives with how close some of their shades are to each other but officially, I think Laura’s gonna be grouped with the Green Cures.

Cuz of the hair. If Laura’s gonna keep it the same or a similar shade after transforming, that is. The Blues have always had cool-colored hair so putting Laura in with them might disrupt that harmony whereas if you put her with the few Greens there are (including Parfait), she’d fit right in.

I mean, we’ll see but that makes the most sense, doesn’t it?

On another note, I just want to say that I love how they added frills to her arms instead of letting her elbows go bare naked. It definitely makes her look more like a genuine mermaid than if she didn’t have them (remember, half fish doesn’t mean half the body :P).

5) Magical Items

Frankly, I’m tired of seeing the transformation device being a compact again even though one of the main motifs is make-up this season. But at least, as far as Precure compacts goes, the Tropical one is my favorite cuz of how cute and delightfully colorful its toy version looks! So I guess I’m okay with it.

The Heart Rouge Rod, though? ...I dunno. I think it would’ve been fine without that...straw (?) jutting out at the top. It looks weird, doesn’t it look weird? :S

As for the collectible clip-ons, I can live without those for the rest of my life. Yeesh.

Laura’s items, the Aqua Pot and the Ocean Prism Mirror.

Again with the portable, travel-size housing. *sigh* 😩

Alright, I can let this year slide cuz Laura (I’m so soft for her, omg) probably won’t be getting legs for 20 weeks so she’s got to move about on land somehow. But unless they’re really thinking about turning this idea of carrying your apartment around in your bag/pocket/purse into a reality (cuz that would be effin’ awesome), please be more creative with your toys.

On the other hand, I’m much more interested in the Ocean Prism Mirror but from what Kusyami (the Precure merchandise reviews I follow on Youtube) said in his latest vid, this is the ED dance item so don’t know if it’ll actually have an relevance to the story or not. But I did hear him mention it having something to do with the Queen as well and since Laura wishes to become Queen, maybe it’ll be important after all? Maybe it’s her transformation device?

That’d be super cool. Let’s continue the trend of the midseason Cure having a different transformation item than the starters. Honestly, we should alternate every other year or two but we’ve gone three seasons with all of them using the same henshin gimmicks up till HealPre and I just want a break from that.

6) Fin sleeves??

These look so impractical for combat so maybe it’s exclusive to group attacks.

And/or a sort of precursor to the super forms?

*GASP* Does that mean they all eventually turn into mermaids? 🤩

7) Yui finally became Precure!! 😭

lol, it’s all crack from this point on so don’t take it too seriously but man, after Yuni’s deceptive braids, I thought I wasn’t gonna see anything that reminded me of Yui for a while and lo behold, Sango.

kehehehehehe xD;

Though Yui might be closer to Minori in terms of personal interests (fairytales and storybooks).

8) Akira, the actual Onee-chan version

I didn’t think this when I first saw her but once I read “Onee-san” in her profile, there’s no saving you now. Sorry, Asuka. 😅

Also, damn, do her sandals make her feet look big! Compare them to the heels she wears as Flamingo. Are they even the same?! lololol

9) ...this sounds awfully familiar...

Translation:

Tokimeku Tokonatsu! [Exciting/Thrilling Everlasting Summer!] Cure Summer! Kirameku Hoseki! [Sparkling Jewel!] Cure Coral!  Hirameku Fuurutsu! [Flashing Fruit!] Cure Papaya!

Japanese reiteration:

Mallow/Mao: Pink no tokimeki! Lillie: Blue no kirameki! Lana/Suiren: Yellow no kagayaki!

….........

@Toei 

Care to explain yourselves, punks?! 

୧(ʘ ∀ ʘ ╬)

[hellohimawarihana]

In similar vein to this post, I felt like some Yu-Gi-Oh series follows the same method as Pretty Series since their stock footage transformation starts with their legs. It might be coincidental, but still.

Here's ZEXAL I:

ZEXAL II:

ZEXAL III:

And speaking of those, don't forget VRAINS, despite Playmaker and Soulburner had the same animation. Though in the first step the glaze covers their uniform to turn it into bodysuit, even though the main focus is on their legs.

Playmaker:

Soulburner:

[simeonscott]

How Zyuohger Teaches the Power of Connections

A long overdue look at the incredibly well layered 40th anniversary Super Sentai series.

[meandmyechoes]

so, today’s a holiday and I was woken by the summer sun. And I stumbled upon this anime called Joran: The Princess of Snow and Blood.

Basically, I saw beautiful woman in kimono, I clicked. I saw main character named “Yuki” I loved.

And you know, I’m deep in DD recovery/Ventress denial I’m desperate for another assassin/revenge/hot mess character.

Like, Joran is something exactly me at fourteen-year-old would like. And I unironically love it.

Look at its title: The Princess of Snow and Blood - yes that’s the official title in its original text. Isn’t that the most emo thing you’ve heard in a while. I really like this ink-heavy art style. I love a good period piece. I love my assassin ladies with swords. That, plus a brooding black-and-white protag + a bubbly girl they are supposed to kill is just, retro Tezuka vibes I love it

So, the premise/plot is, in a alternate historical 1931 Japan, the protag, Yukimura Sawa, is a last-of-her-kind raised by the secret government agency hunting down a mad scientist that mutates people with drugs developed from her bloodline. And she saved a little girl she was supposed to kill. There’s also a sex worker and a young man in the assassin trio. Oh, and she can transform with a supernatural crow bite. The main plot is just revenge. and stabbing. lots of people getting killed.

With its whole kaleidoscopic style, one might even say it's old-school. It's just the slightest bit of classic anime theatrics. The steampunk aesthetic mixed with just a touch of folklore fantasy (plus political thriller) is right up my alley. Yukimura has a whole henshin sequence and execution speech I almost hoped it would just be a magical girl anime for one foolish instant. Do I selfishly wish it's more a Charlie's Angels with extra girl power than this suspense tragedy? Now that I'm forced to witness that much trauma? Hell yes.

Judging by the info I saw about it being three arcs I reckon it might be better if I do treat it like three four-parter movies. When I clicked episode one this morning I couldn’t stop. It was sweltering and I still laid on my side binging four episodes. The art is so stylistic and the music kicks ass. OP captured me instantly, even faster than Fran Chu Chu this season and that’s saying something.

Even just by the first four episodes it is impossible to put down. There is a plot twist every episode, there are clues but they keep stepping up. The characters are more or less tropical, as the first arc is very Sawa-centric - but I’m interested in learning more about their motivation and background. Now that we’ve cleared up Sawa’s in the first arc, maybe we can see her disillusion in the second and third arcs while exploring deeper into other characters’ history?

I’ve seen review claiming it boring or mediocre. That's not very fair? The first arc might be generic to veteran viewers and neither its setting nor theme were groundbreaking new, but it delivers a solid in your typical revenge journey. It's what goes on after that makes it interesting and feels human to explore. Besides, it’s such a visual and musical fest. The colours and the expressions on the characters faces. She is ruthless and I just light up when she relaxes into a smile.

spoilers since I finished the second arc just now.

My jaw just, dropping the whole time??

Okay so, PTSD Sawa. well I have seen PTSD characters but it still hurts. I did not believe Asahi would do what she did but she DID! And you go of course! for two episodes. And the moment the teacher turns up I just know he's gonna scapegoat. At this point I've learned enough about this anime to know what to expect ok.

That was some depressing mess going on in the second arc. But we got a lot more buildup for the universe and the finale. I greatly appreciate the message in episode 8 and showcasing Sawa's trauma and recovery.

Then, I don't really get, Tsuki's character. Like, I get that he's obsessed with Sawa and perhaps is unrequited love that made him target her personally. Like, I get that, I get why he want to escape Japan on ~freedom~ and his speech about false pretenses - wait, I have a lot of questions about his motivations outside of his obsession with Yukimura as a love intetest/an ideal self. Bro, I sure hope I can wait that one month before the finale comes out. … And um, that part about his gender is just, is it a big part to his motivation? I can't tell?

And I just want to say my ship since the second episode is Elena/Sawa so :) missed you my beloved

also, I'm calling it. Asahi didn't die. they fed her the blue stone.

P.S. it's fucking insane Sawa is 18. I mean, that's a hard life for someone who's only 18. But her youth is also a necessity to her "blank" character (consumed by revenge) and immaturity. I’m gonna pretend i’m bad at japanese history and math and that she’s 28 to feel slightly better about it. but also. she has been killing people for four years at least what.

[btzone]

Ultimate Natsukashii DIQ

The Day In Question shows are a chance for Buck-Tick to dig out from their catalogue songs they haven’t played in awhile but looking over years of their setlists, it seems to be the same old songs in rotation and that it’s actually been quite a while since something old was brought into the fold.

The upcoming show is called Abracadabra The Day In Question and this is the first time they’ve added another word to DIQ. This is probably going to be an “Abracadabra” heavy show since they couldn’t tour that album in the flesh. It would be nice though if in the spirit of past DIQs, they brought out some old favorites or even something that has only been played during the supporting album’s tour--in other words, some melody kept in the basement.

Closest word I can think of for “natsukashii” is nostalgic. To figure out the long time no hear songs, one must examine the concert setlists. I do not have access to every setlist they have every played. In the digital age, it really is astonishing at how many concert reviews were published in magazines back in the day that were completely lacking setlist information. They may mention 2 or 3 songs in the entire article. From what I’ve gathered thus far, my best guess is that....

“Hurry Up Mode” - has 7 songs they haven’t played since the year of release (1987); their most neglected album. (They may have played some in 1988 but I don’t have many setlists from that year.) “Sexual XXXXX!” - has 1 song they haven’t played since the year of release (1987) & 2 other songs they haven’t played since 1988. “Romanesque” - has 2 songs they haven’t played since the year of release (1988). “Seventh Heaven” - has 2 songs they haven’t played since the year of release (1988) & 2 other songs they haven’t played since 1989. “Taboo” - has 1 song they haven’t played since the year of release (1989). “Aku No Hana” - I hate to hazard a guess as they played so many shows and I have so few setlists from this tour. I am willing to guess they never or rarely played “Pleasure Land” though. “Kurutta Taiyo” - has 1 song they haven’t played since the year of release (1991). “Darker Than Darkness” - has 2 songs they haven’t played since the year of release (1993). “Six/Nine” - has 6 songs they haven’t played since the year of release (1995); 3 of these are instrumental or interlude types so let’s adjust accordingly and call it 3 songs. “Cosmos” - I think I’m missing too many setlists as I’m counting about 4 songs they haven’t played since the year of release (1996). “Sexy Stream Liner” - I must be missing too many setlists again as I’m counting about half of the album hasn’t been played since they toured it in 1998.

That marks the end of the first Victor era albums plus their only album on Mercury. It would be full on natsukashii to do a Victor era set! Or for the sake of simplicity, a 1980s/1990s set. 

My picks for an 80s/90s natsukashii show would be (2 per album max):

For Dangerous Kids

One Night Ballet

Mis-Cast

Future For Future

Hearts

Automatic Blue

Desperate Girl

Memories...

Feast of Demoralization

Embryo

Dizzy Moon

Maboroshi No Miyako

Henshin (Reborn)

Zero

Ao No Sekai

Itoshi No Rock Star

Kimi He (swapped an album song for a b-side that I’m not sure if they’ve ever played live)

Maria

In

Kalavinka

Kimi Ga Shin..dara

The concerts in the 2000s are a little better documented on Buck-Tick’s website but there’s still shows (especially fan club only gigs) where there is no setlist published. I may have some of these in a fan club newsletter but I don’t have time to search this right now.

My picks for a 2000+ natsukashii show would be (2 per album max):

Ghost

Warp Day

Black Cherry

Ijin No Yoru

Doukeshi A

Beast

La Vie en Rose

Motel 13

Umbrella

Voo Doo (this b-side has been played too few times in their career)

Pixy

Yumeji

Not Found (I have a new found respect for this album and I want them to play the shit out of these songs; self-cover if you must)

Devil ‘N Angel

Cum Uh Sol Nu (did I read that right? they haven’t played this since the album tour?! too good to NOT play)

Manjusaka

Ophelia

Nostalgia -Ita Mechanicalis-

[veeranger]

okay we now know your opinions of the last decade's sentai changers. how about ultra changers

damn ok ill just do new gen changers 

ginga spark: best. i still regret that i dont have a ginga spark and a closet full of spark dolls. the fact that it works with kaiju dolls and this was illustrated in the show. best. i like the design and i like the way it plays. really good design

victory lance: uhhhhhh idk man. this thing is kinda dumb lookin. its the same as the ginga spark but with less playability i think and it doesnt look as good

x devizer: i really love the look of it and all but i understand the playability leaves something to be desired. i remember seeing reviews that it was hard to get it to scan spark dolls correctly which is a shame. they shoulda just stuck with cards but i get it. 

orb ring: now we’re fucking talking. i love this thing i would buy one if the cards werent a pain to get a hold of. i like how the scanner is strong enough you dont have to hold the cards right up to the damn thing and you can actually scan them like gai does. the only completely minor totally jsut a me problem i have is that the cards obviously dont turn into stardust when you use them so you have to awkardly break up the henshin motion to discard them in some manner. its one of the few dx toys i can think of where you have to break up the henshin movements to account for something like that and it turns me off a tiny bit. 

geed riser: this thing is interesting. thats a word for it. the dx item makes me want to die because of how loud the stupid motor is for the spinning part but otherwise its fine. i wish it didnt incorporate a featureless black hunk of plastic but i like the motion of the scanning movement so its ok. plus they released that second copy of it where the plastic hunk had sounds in it too

r/b gyro: might get attacked for this one but i dont really care for this thing. its not bad i guess i just dont really like it. feels like a lot of nothing space but i think the more i watch r/b i might just get used to it. not really the strongest toy ever though. 

taiga spark: geez idk. it looks cool i guess bc its wrist mounted which is a change but the henshin items are boring and the way you henshin is boring. im really not a fan of this guy 

z riser: best. genuinely the best. im biased but that doesnt matter because the z riser is the best. it has it all baby. medals, cards, scanning, cool movements, tons of collectables, an absolutely INSANE amount of playability. i’ve said this many times before but with comparatively little effort you can functionally replace the orb ring and the geed riser with this thing. i havent felt this excited by an ultra toy since the ginga spark but my love for the z riser far surpases even that, except for how fucking hard it is to get ahold of kaiju medals. i honestly think the z riser might be the best dx toy ive ever owned in my life i played with it so much in just the one month of having it that i already had to change the batteries last week. ive had dx belts for years and i havent had to change their batteries yet