Give Em 17 Episodes, Toei

[These are rumors and nothing more, so take them as a grain of salt]

[Damn, Pink! Show some soul for the kids watchin]

     Battery Beast Force Kyoryuuger [Juuden Sentai Kyoryuuger] is the 37th entry in the Super Sentai Series of children's programs.  It airs on February 17th at 7:30 JST.  The cast have made their appearance in the crossover between Go-Busters and Gokaiger already.  Power Rangers action director Koichi Sakamoto and Kamen Rider W's writter Riku Sanjo will oversee the show's production.


     These are true, but the crack about a Gold Kyoryuuger is up for inquiry.  Many sources claimed that the identity of the hero will be the team's mentor Torin.  In all honesty, I'm not to fond of mentors taking up Ranger status or someone in the likes of GoseiKnight; a mech/ Ranger.  But since these are rumors, it's not necessarily final.


     In other related news, TOEI has confirmed the story for this series.  This is a translation pulled up from JEFusion.com...

 "In Ancient Times, the Darkness Species Devoss (Ankokushuu Debos) landed upon the Earth. Those who fought against it at the time were none other than the Dinosaurs.

The Wise God, Torin chose 10 Dinosaurs, and placed their souls within mechanical bodies, making them into "ZyuDenRyu." They fiercely fought back against Devoss, which ended up having his soul frozen. It sank into the sea; immersed in ice.

Now we shift to the present age... In order to carry out the revival of Master Devoss (Shukun Devoss), his subordinates began their plans — inhaling the souls of men, and offering them up to Devoss. Once more, the sky is covered with ominous clouds, and ice age began, and the time of civilization's extinction is at hand!

As a counter measure, Torin searches for present day champions, humans, who are able to fight against the ZyuDenRyu, and unite their souls. These people will be known as the "People of the Strong Dragon" (Kyoukiryu no Sha). Kyoryuger for short.

Under the command of Torin, the Kyoryuger rise to this challenge! The magnificent Kyoryuger's Brave Battle has just begun!"

Let's Wait until the show starts shall we?

Sources: Orends Range/ JEFusion

Translation:dukemon22

Sippin on S.P.D.

     The second season of Unnoficial Squad Akibaranger is coming soon, and with that, Toei decides they open their new shop.

[Today is a good day to be a Sentai fan]

     The Hikounin Sentai Akibaranger Gand Delusion Cafe has opened to the public in the Akihabara District in Tokyo, Japan as of January 16.  The Sentai themed cafe will remain open from then till February 17 from 11:30 am to 5:00PM JST.  The food and drinks range from 700 to 800 yen (around 8 to 9 USD)

[Good children don't drink. You must be 20 or older for drinks like the SPD]

     If you're ever in the Akihabara District, now is a good time to not pass this up, especially if you love Super Sentai.  The menu looks pretty nice.  the ones with red labels are for people 20 and up.  The blue labels mean they're available for all ages.

Sources: JEFusion and Facebook's Toku-Central

No American Battle Royale

[Warning: Subject to opinion. The views expressed do not reflect the sources involved]

     Since July of 2012, CW has talked about an American re-telling of the Japanese story, "Battle Royale".  But lately, it seems like Koushun Takami's survival epic won't get an adaptation anytime soon.

[Like anything international, high schoolers fighting to the death proves too much for American minds]

      “We were not able to do anything. […] We are not planning to do anything with Battle Royale … nothing occurred … there's nothing to talk about … nothing happened.”, said Marc Pedowitz, the President of the CW network, considering that he displayed an interest in the franchise moments prior to the school shootings in Colorado and Connecticut.

     Of course bad luck with making a western interpretation wasn't new.  In fact, Producer, Roy Lee, were trying to make a film of the same name, but due to the Virginia Tech shooting in 2008, it was halted.   After attaining the rights to the movie adaptation of Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games, it was scrapped once again, fearing that fans of both stories would complain about the comparisons between the two.  Despite this, there have been plans for a similar series based a book of a similar story.

     Battle Royal is by Koushun Takami.  A teacher fools his middle school class into going to a remote island to fight untill one is standing.  A movie adaptation was made in 2000 starring Tatsuya Fujiwara [Death Note/ Chameleon].  The movie didn't officially make it to North America untill after Hunger Games(movie) was released.

Sources: JEFusion/ Anime News Network

More Pain,More Power: Hello Again Akibaranger

[Don't worry, it won't hurt much. Not even a little bit.]

     So, there is no movie for Unofficial Squad Akibaranger, but Toei has more than made up for it in announcing that a second season to the Super Sentai Parody is coming soon according to there declaration at the Super Hero Festival today.

     However, there is no further info at this time, more will be coming shortly...

     Akibaranger was released in April of 2012.  This is Toei's second major parody of the long lived Super Sentai children's series of tokusatsu shows. Much unlike it's official predecessor, Racing Force Carranger, it's not an official Sentai series, and it's geared more to adults and older fans of the franchise.  The series was praised for it's knowledge of Sentai and slapstick comedy.

Top photo by Gekkou Takahata: Gekko

Sources: Henshin Justice Unlimited/ JEFusion/ Akibaranger Official site

Henshin Justice Unlimited

JEFusion: The Center for Tokusatsu

Akibaranger Website

Tendou Souji: Back in Black.....Butler.

[Grandma said, "Be one Hell of a Butler"]

     Writer, model, and actor Hiro Mizushima is back in the world of tokusatsu.  But this time he won't be doning a henshin belt, nor will he be quoting lines from an old lady we don't know.  He will however, don butler garb for the first time since the 2009 live action adaptation of Mei-chan no Shitsuji, a series he did alongside his Kamen Rider successor, Takeru Satou.

[Now, Master. when you're done, offer your soul to me]

     This time on Mizushima's plate, he will star in the 2013 tokusatsu remake of Yana Toboso's Black Butler [Kuroshitsuji].  Shinzo Matsuhashi, the movie's producer, approached Mizushima several times claiming that the former Kabuto can pass for Sebastian Michaelis perfectly.  After the last time, he accepted the part.  Filming will start on the April after this blog, and the movie will be slated for a mid-2013 release.  Nana's Kentaro Otani and Tiger & Bunny's Keiichi Sato

will direct.  The movie will take place 130 years after the events of the comic.

     Hiro Mizushima is best known for his role of Tendou Souji in the 35th anniversary kid show Kamen Rider Kabuto in 2006.  He left acting after the live action adaptation of BECK:Mongolian Chop Squad in order to persue a writing career under the name, Tomohiro Saito.  His first novel, KAGEROU won the 5th Poplar Publishing Prize for Fiction, solidifying his skills as a novelist.  In Februrary of 2009, he married Pop singer Ayaka after a couple months of dating.  

     Kuroshitsuji, or Black Butler in English, was created by Yana Toboso.  Since it's debut on September 16, 2006, the series was published and serialized in Square Enix's Monthly G Fantasy.  The series follows Sebastian Michaelis, a demonic butler who acts under the service of thirteen-year old Ciel Phantomhive, the young scion of the Phantomhive estate and toy manufacturer, Funtom.  Michaelis aides the young Ciel in avenging the death of his parents, and once completed, the boy will be slained by our titular butler.  An anime was released in 2008.

Sources: Nippon Cinema/ Cinema Today/ JEFusion

Your Turn: The Torch Passing of Sentai Heroes

     It's February 2005 in Japan, and Special Investigations Unit Dekaranger has ended with a kick-ass 50th episode.  The show started on a fiery note and ends just the same. shortly after the episode preview of Magical Force Magiranger, we see Banban Akaza and Kai Ozu together.  The thought process of those watching is, "we're gonna miss you Dekaranger", considering the the first Magiranger episode will air the week after.

     With each final episode, the red hero is greeted in some way by his successor; shaking hands, slapping each other high-fives, trading friendly puches and weapon strikes, or in Kai and Satoru's case, calling each other on the Magi-phone and Accellular.  Now it's Hiromu Sakurada's turn to pass the torch to Kyoryuu-Red when Special-Ops Cell Go-Busters ends.

     Toei has implemented the "baton-touch" gimmick for a while now, and it has instilled some lasting memories for Sentai heroes past and present.


2005: Deka-Magi : Kai appears in front of Banban, and the two embrace each other with a handshake.

2006: Magi-Bouken: Kai calls Satoru. [Taking the Boukenger/Super Sentai crossover to account, Tsubasa and Hikaru were the olny Magirangers in attendance.]

2007: Bouken-Geki: Satoru meets Jan, and as the two meet, they slap a high five before passing by.

2008: Geki-GoOn: Jan happily meets Sousuke, as the two fist bump, GoOn-Red wastes no time getting ready for battle. Jan flails away wishing him well.

2009: GoOn-Shinken: Sousuke and Takeru cross counter with Road Sabre and Rekka Daizantou in hands. The two shake hands afterwards.

2010:Shinken-Gosei: As Takeru sheathes his Shinken-Maru, Alata assure him that the world is in good hands then charges in to action.

2011:Gosei-Gohkai: Captain Marvelous jumps down from the Gohkai Galleon, trading a high five with Alata.

2012: Gohkai-GoBus: Hiromu rides through and blocks Captain Marvelous' punch. Hiromu bows to him as he walks off.

What do you think will be the baton touch for this year? Also, which of these do you like?

Source: JEFusion.com