Misc. Toku Discussion

[Suzie Miyazaki]

Ah, clever.

[AoBlue's Team]

I burned through five or six Keitai Sosukan 7 episodes last night at my cabin after finishing The Strongest.

So far, that I've seen, we have:
Ren (Ryuki)
Hurriblue (Hurricaneger)
Tezuka (Ryuki)
I guess we get Goro (Ryuki)
Larc (Blade)

I'm loving this. Some episodes drag on, though.

[Suzie Miyazaki]

This. Just this.

It's so cute =3

[Riley Jaffrey]

I like Hibiki's message (I only read ones I was familiar with and love, like Geki and Hibiki, and skipped others I knew, like Decade, Kabuto, Kiva, etc.).

That's great, though, what they did. It really is.

[Suzie Miyazaki]

There's one from Erin Cahill (Time Force Pink) which is nice.

And this.

[Kakeru Daishori]

Might I have been the only one to notice this little tidbit? The bearer of BARON, Wataru, is played by the same actor as Jiro from Kiva. I would have ignored it as coincidence, but naming the character Wataru kind of made it feel intentional, to me at least.

[Jerome Stark]

Didn't know you were watching GARO. Thought it was just me who was caught up, or I'd have brought that up.

And he's the Thunder Knight. What element is Zanki? Exactly.

[Gin, Rai, and Hime]

He played Zanki too? Huh. *Never watched any Hibiki* And yeah, I actually just caught up. I missed it on the first appearance, what with being in awe of how cool BARON was, but on the latest few, I noticed. Granted, it was a marathon watching session XD

[McKenzie Williams]

I have once more reaffirmed that Keitai Sousakan 7 is an amazing series. It reminds me of Tomica, in that it has a great balance of drama, depth, story, and comedy. It's extremely well done, with a few bad episodes (or lackluster episodes), but it's amazing.

I never thought I could truly enjoy an episode of a series based primarily on comedy, but damn, this show proves me wrong. Episodes 11 and 12 (the ones I just watched) are full of comedy, but they are amazing. 12 especially; I guess it's a big fan favorite on Nihon, and I can see why.

Also, all of the Toku actors and actresses are great. Nao Nagasawa (I don't know her character's name from Hurricaneger), Ren Akiyama, Gorou (I guess somewhere), Tezuka (Raia, not sure on last name), Larc (I don't know her name offhand).

I highly recommend this show, very highly.

[Chiyoko Miyazaki]

I believe Nao Nasagawa's character from Hurricanger was Nanami Nono.

[McKenzie Williams]

Sounds vaguely right.

[Ren Nakamura]

The list of alumni keeps rising:

Ren Akiyama/Knight (Ryuki) - Kirihara, a main character
Nanami Nono/HurricaneBlue (Hurricaneger) - Mayuko, a main supporting character
Natsumi Miwa/Kamen Rider Larc (Blade: Missing Ace/Decade) - Touko, a main character
Miyuki Tezuka/Kamen Rider Raia (Ryuki)/Ichimonji Hayato/The First Nigo (The First/The Next) - Magira, a recurring villain/anti-hero (unsure so far)
Takeshi Hongo/The First Ichigo (The First, The Next) - Hidehiko Motomiya, fairly unknown character so far
Wakana Sonozaki/Claydoll Dopant (W) - Akira Karasaki (I have yet to get this far, I just saw her name on Wikipedia)
Akira Amami/Kamen Rider Amaki (Hibiki) - Yōko Igarashi, appeared in the WWII episode, possibly others
Swan/DekaSwan (Dekaranger) showed up in one episode.
Some Ultraman alumni I guess.
The guys at Nihon didn't figure it out, but presumably a guy they first thought was Naoto/TimeFire (it wasn't), and then assumed after the episode that he was Isaka/Peacock Undead.

Anyway, after the latest batches of episodes:

12, Last Day on Earth (T_T). I already commented on this somewhere, but I have to again. The humor, the fake drama, it's just amazing to watch. I can't say much about it without giving stuff away, but this was a fan favorite. This episode is a must-watch.

17, The Distant Summer Sky. This was the one with Amaki. I saw the preview and didn't think it would be very good. On some island in the heat (summer it looks like, but it's still school for them...so I have no idea). About the great-grandmother of Amaki whose husband died in WWII, as a pilot. During testing by Under Anchor to jam frequencies (they needed to test in the country, so they did it now with Keita and 7), they get knocked out of range. So when a phone call comes in, something's wrong. A call through time to the cockpit/radio of the husband, on the day he dies in war, after promising things to his new wife. Keita doesn't get it the first time, but the second he starts to understand and hold a conversation. The third time he gets more of the story and tries to convince him to live. Midou and Amaki start to believe him (well, Midou at least) and he says he can't turn and fly away on his now-suicide-run on a battleship, wings shot up. They scream to him to pull back for his wife, and give her 7 to talk. The signal comes back, so the call ends. The next morning he's alive; they changed the past, but only Keita and 7 know. Until Keita gives the man his name, and he too realizes that Keita was the man who called him and basically saved him. That moment is beautiful. It's beautiful, the end especially. It's basically universally extremely well received, I guess, and I can see why. Myself and people at Nihon on the forums cried (I almost did, not quite). It's very touching, seeing the panic going on between them trying to convince him to live, and as they say on Nihon, should have won an award for something.

19/20, Out of Range Woman: Part 1/Part 2. Wow, filler. Bad, strange filler. Like, the filler that only the director can understand, since it was his vision, just a strange set of episodes all around. It even says that it's the director's work (producer's, maybe?) at the start of the episode, during the usual "Brought to you by" parts. It's like the Makai Senki episode with the samurai and it's a work just because the producer/director wanted it basically. It's a waste of 46-ish minutes, and universally hated, I guess. I hated it until the very end of the second part. I'll always say that the ending can't make up for the rest. People argue that a season of PR (I don't recall which one specifically) is good if only because the finale is. People are arguing that Samurai can be good if the finale is. No; that's wrong. A finale can't carry the entire thing. I'm not saying that; I'm saying that the end makes you realize what the episodes were about. They were about growing up and maturing, basically a coming-of-age story for Keita. It's confusing and bad to watch, but seeing the end, and Keita breaking down is amazing, and makes you truly realize what the episodes were about. I wouldn't watch them again (well, probably once more now that I know how they end, and what it's about), but that's about it.

22, Heart's Light. Another episode loved and that they believe should have won an award of some sort. 01 is wounded by 7 in battle, and ends up forced into his cellphone mode at a house where a blind girl picks him up. This episode is beautiful, and sad. 01 starts to learn about humanity from this girl, Junko Kakeuchi (Mai Takahashi? I have no idea; nobody seems to know who the actress is, but she could be an alumni), and about the incident that blinded her. If I'm not mistaken, we get some 01 backstory here as well (or maybe the episode before this), which helps overall. It's just beautiful.

Every episode is great, but these especially have their own great merits. So these are the ones I mention.

I highly recommend Keitai. It's a beautiful, extremely well done series, one of the best Toku. It's not like some Sentai or Rider where it goes to an extreme of comedy (Fourze) or has a bad balance (OOO), it's more like W. It has a fantastic balance, but exceeds it. I can't think of any real flaws, other than a few boring episodes especially early on. Once you get into it, it's addicting.

[Rina Hiraki]

36. Just 36; it's just like 12; hilarious and well balanced.

37, is that Watcherman? It has to be. Awesome.

[Katsu Arai]

Oh yeah, Maaru (Rescue Force) is voiced by a man. He showed up in 23. Big guy for that voice; kind of creepy scene.

[Rina Hiraki]

Wow, I didn't realize that Rin Asuka (Wakana) was Akira. That's really surprising; I would never have made that connection without Wikipedia.