The Tokusatsudome Voting Thread!! ~SONG ATTACK~

[Vaeran]

Mahou Sentai Magiranger and Byun! Byun! ToQger!

 

[Purple]

It's a winning day for Tokusatsu, and Blade beats OOO in the coin toss... which is weird because OOO is all about tossing coins.
Bracket

FIRST BATTLE!

Taiyo Sentai Sunvulcan (opening) submitted by @RT-55J

OK I'm just gonna make a personal promise that whichever Super Sentai show finishes out this dome in the best position, I'm just gonna sit down and watch. Sunvulcan has the interesting distinction of being a rare sequel to the previous show, and the only all-dude one of these. Oddly the team is put together by the U.N., getting the best people they can from the 3 main branches of the military, and that's it. Oh and it's the first series to do the whole combining robot thing, somehow, AND almost made it over here with help from Marvel Comics, which is ultimately kinda why Power Rangers happened.

V

S.

W-B-X (Kamen Rider W OP) submitted by Purple

Kamen Rider W is about some total dweeb who really wants to be a hardboiled noir detective and his I'm-pretty-sure nonbinary and autistic as-much-of-a-clear-love-interest-as-standards-would-allow partner doing this whole funky body sharing thing to fight the monsters that inevitably crop up when you're doing detective work in a city with a real serious problem of this big rich family selling turn-into-a-monster USB sticks which are a pretty direct metaphor for hard drugs (right down to someone injecting one into his foot so nobody sees the mark it leaves). It also makes a real turning point for the Kamen Rider franchise, with a really noticeable uptick in general production values, consistent plotting, and a brief trend of adding more one more transformation token to the belt than the previous show for weird combos. Here, this translates to picking both a weapon type and an element essentially, which sounds reasonable enough until you see it leading to weird noodle arms and splitting in half for extra jump kicks. This was followed by OOO with the head/arms/legs thing, and Fourze with a different powerup on each limb, which was super awkward honestly.



NEXT BATTLE!

Rescue Fire (Tomica Hero: Rescue Fire OP) submitted by @Vaeran

Oh, another Vaeran nomination. Which Garo theme is- oh! OK yeah this one totally blindsided me. Tomica is one of those Japanese abbreviations for Tomy Car. As in a decast vehicle toyline, from Tomy, and Wikipedia sez... "Rescue Fire tells of another branch of the United Fire-Defense Agency that helps save people from Super-Fire created by demons seeking to make people suffer." Well that just sounds freakin' great, honestly. Really just genuinely brings me joy every time a nom shows up that isn't from one of the big franchises.

V

S.

Oh!! Daitetsujin (Daitetsujin One Seven OP) submitted by @RT-55J

So I mentioned a while ago that if something is from Japan in the 70s, the themesong is probably sung by Isao Sakaki. If it isn't it's probably Ichirou Mizuki, who also has an amazingly long list of stuff you've probably heard. I really love these bombastic crooners. Daitetsujin literally translates to big iron guy, more or less, so yeah, your standard 1970s giant robot deal. All wikipedia has to say about it is that it's basically the same show as the original Giant Robo, which feels reductive, but also that's fine. I mean if you really want to get into it, that's also The Iron Giant. It's a formula that just works.

This is a real tough one for me honestly. Guess I'm going to go Wind and Fire. Sorry Earth, we're only doing 2 matchups a day.

I continue to post these in the wee hours of the morning so that's probably when you need to get votes in by.

 

[Vaeran]

W-B-X and Rescue Fire

 

[Kirin]

I’m pretty sure W-Fire is a skill in some JRPG or other.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Taiyo One Seven

Many, why does the Sunvulcan singer sound so familiar...

Oh!

 

[Torzelbaum]

Taiyo Sentai Sunvulcan
and
Oh!! Daitetsujin

 

[Issun]

Sunvulcan Rescue

As for the last round, I probably would have voted against my own nom because I clearly didn't have a full handle on what Tokusastu is. Sorry.

 

[RT-55J]

Sunvulcan Fire

 

[Purple]

Very close matches, but burning wins.
Bracket

FIRST BATTLE!

No No Give Up (Lady Battle Cop OP) submitted by @Kishi

Women are made for tennis. Especially this woman, who becomes a Robocop, and things proceed pretty much exactly as you'd expect except for the quirk of one of those beefy psychic experiment guys as was the style at the time. It's one of the better cheesy knockoffs of a popular movie, really. Actual care and craft went into this.

V

S.

Chojin Sentai Jetman (opening) submitted by @Alex

I really need to start these writeups sooner so I'm not up at 9 AM frantically researching this stuff. Jetman is yet another Super Sentai series, this one's got a bird theme, specifically because, according to wikipedia, "Ryu Tendo, one of the Sky Force officers, is successfully exposed to the Birdonic Waves, making him the first Jetman, the Red Hawk." OK I absolutely love "birdonic waves."



NEXT BATTLE!

"Sunred's Theme" (Astro Fighter Sunred) submitted by @Kirin

Oh I think I missed this episode when people were marathoning it, but here's one of the various too cute "evil" monsters from Sunred making up a new themesong for the title character. Pretty cute.

V

S.

Excite! (Kamen Rider Ex-Aid OP) submitted by Purple

I haven't seen much of Kamen Rider Ex-Aid but really need to fix that. Our protagonists (because sometimes with Kamen Rider there's a few) are doctors at a hospital dealing with a freaky outbreak of some hybrid physical and computer virus, which needs combating by... turning into offbrand NES game protagonists, who then have movesets and logic from the game's they're pulled with. That's a heck of a concept and leads to really... memorably weird character designs, and vaguely body horror-ish transformations. And you'd think it'd be a real wacky show, but no the plot gets real heavy surprisingly fast.



I'm real torn, but I'm going with Lady Kamen Rider Mega Man.

Do the thing by the time!

 

[Kirin]

Give up, Sunred!

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Lady Battle Red

 

[Torzelbaum]

No No Give Up
and
Sunred's Theme

When I heard the first few notes of the Jetman opening I thought that was going to be a tough battle. But then the rest of the song didn't quite live up to the beginning.

 

[Vaeran]

No No Give Up and Excite!

 

[RT-55J]

Excite! Jetman

 

[Issun]

No No Give Up and Excite!

 

[Purple]

80s technology wins the day!
Bracket

FIRST BATTLE!

Double Action (Kamen Rider Den-O) submitted by @Hilene

Let's see... I think I mentioned the basics of Kamen Rider Den-O's timeshare possession (which the actor really pulls off super well), so let's talk supporting cast this time. We've got the owner of the time travelling train who's largely checked out due to his hobby of eating bowls of rice with little flags planted in them and trying not to knock them over, the latex clad waitress who makes everyone coffee with personalized frosting colors, the woman who should really be the lead, the rival whose finishing moves require him to burn away his own memories, and his demon pal Deneb who despite being some kind of ninja demon guy just has the most profound Mom Energy.

V

S.

Kamen Rider Dragon Knight (opening) submitted by @Lakupo

So, Saban's effort to do what he did to Power Rangers by butchering the very well regarded Kamen Rider Black was such a legendary flop it killed any interest in actually bringing any of this over for decades... mostly. There was, however, a further attempt like a decade later, Power Rangers-ifying Kamen Rider Ryuki. The one where it's this dark battle royale between the various leads. They picked it because hey, lots of characters, we can do diversity like in Power Rangers... but like... check how the show unfolds first maybe?



NEXT BATTLE!

Zankoku no Tenshi no Thesis (Ichiro Kageyama cover) submitted by @Torzelbaum

So I've already gotten into how little connection there honestly is between Evangelion and tokusatsu stuff, but we do have firmer ground here since we have someone making a point of redoing the theme in that 70s brassy crooner style that I very much associate with this sort of thing. Like I can see this version having clunky cardboard costumes and the Angel Leader Dr. Hitler or something.

V

S.

HENSHIN! Melon Energy Soda! (Kamen Rider Gaim) submitted by Purple

Oh hey, it's the last of those pseudo-byes I tossed around. This one comes form Kamen Rider Gaim, which I don't think had any proper representation beyond the great rival fight theme. While the plot is honestly super super dark by the end, it's contrasted with this very inherently goofy fruit based powerup system, where you'll suddenly hear a belt voice shout something like "banana arms!" as a giant banana falls onto someone's head and becomes cool shoulderpads and a spear. Later when we get the big powerups we upgrade the little fruit slicer knife on the belts to a soda fountain for nice carbonated beverages that translate to longer ranged attacks. I swear it all makes sense in context.

So clearly I'm voting for double action and 70s Eva, because the competition is kind of terrible and a gag entry. Which feels probably anticlimactic as this is the last set of mashups from round 1. All stuff we've heard before from here out!

 

[Torzelbaum]

Double-Action
and
Zankoku no Tenshi no Thesis

 

[Kirin]

I spent the entire paragraph detailing the Gaim power up system doing a Tenth Doctor style “What…. What…. WHAT?” take. That’s…. bananas.

That’s also entirely too many Alamein Riders in Ryuki.

Anyway, Double Angel

 

[Johnny Unusual]

 

[Vaeran]

Double Action and Zankoku na Tenshi no Thesis

 

[Issun]

 

[RT-55J]

Double Thesis

 

[Purple]

I spent the entire paragraph detailing the Gaim power up system doing a Tenth Doctor style “What…. What…. WHAT?” take. That’s…. bananas.

But anyway.

The entries that aren't kinda jokes move on, to the surprise of no one!
Bracket

And with that, we've concluded round 1 of this dome! All songs will now be ones you have heard before, but they're still all great! Now for a little halftime entertainment from an underrepresented franchise...

And now, continuing with our regularly scheduled Thunderdome...

FIRST BATTLE!

Godzilla (TNT promo edit of the Blue Öyster Cult song) submitted by @Torzelbaum

He's mean and green and on the basic cable screen!

V

S.

Wild Dance Escalation (Kamen Rider Gaim vs. Baron theme) submitted by Purple

Songs to joust on motorcycles to.



NEXT BATTLE!

Wanderers (Garo animated movie theme) submitted by @Vaeran

You know, when I first saw Garo I thought the costumes all looked super Final Fantasy, and then FF14 went and had a crossover to make it real.

V

S.

Justiφ's (Kamen Rider 555 opening theme) submitted by @Hilene

Doing some more proper reseach, Faiz has a shape shifting techno weapon with lots of forms and that's pretty cool.

I'm voting double rider myself, the rest of you, we'll find out in a day won't we?

 

[Kirin]

Wandering ’Zilla

 

[Torzelbaum]

Godzilla
and
Justiφ's

 

[Vaeran]

Wild Dance Escalation and WANDERERS

 

[Johnny Unusual]

God555illa

 

[Issun]

Godzilla
and
Justiφ's

 

[RT-55J]

Wild Dance Escalation and Justiphi

 

[Purple]

Godzilla remains quite hard to defeat, and the greek letter Kamen Rider continues to dominate.
Bracket

FIRST BATTLE!

Waga Na Wa Garo (Garo season 2 OP) submitted by @Vaeran

Once again, the best Garo season, hands down. Hey did I mention all the nights have little bits of talking jewelry with vaguely spooky filter voices who are just really encouraging, and one of the best episodes, in this season of course, is just some priest wandering through various mystical sites of wonder to re-power-up one who's getting long in the tooth?

V

S.

Charge! Issei and Yoshi (Giant Robo: The Day the Earth Stood Still) submitted by @Bongo

I really, really, really need to familiarize myself properly at some point with a solid adaptation of the whole Water Margin thing. That and Journey to the West. Also Momotaro. So many references I don't really get out there. Like, again, these characters here from Giant Robo.



NEXT BATTLE!

Kirai*Sailor Dream (Sailor Moon, live-action version) submitted by @Johnny Unusual

Recently I finished watching the entirety of the original run of Sailor Moon. Seasons 3 and 5 are so very great and also so very queer. I don't think I'm ever going to touch Crystal because I can't take how lifeless the characters are, but honestly, I'd be up to watching the live action version here sometime.

V

S.

Revolution (Kamen Rider Ryuki) submitted by @RT-55J

It's interesting how this dome shoot out with a handful of shows getting a TON of love, and I'm glad to see Ryuki on that list. Seriously, it was super influential to a lot of other great stuff, and the music is just great. I really need to get back into watching the early Heisei shows. And stuff from Drive on. And the old 70s ones. The woes of fansub sites going down at inopportune times.

Hmm... Sailor Moon and Ryuki have big teams.

Voting is the only thing that stands between you and a nom you like going poof, so do it by tomorrow night. Or... tonight. I need to quit staying up well past dawn.