Sean Akizuki's Fantasy Critic

I thought about reviewing the now inactive and maybe never-to-return Metal Hero series. Kamen Rider's Showa era ended in 1989 with what some called the Kamen Rider BLACK RX meltdown (but I still have a soft spot for it). Without Kamen Rider in the workload -- Toei could have had more time to devote itself to developing Metal Hero until its inevitable demise when Robotack ended. 1990 was a turning point of a year since Super Sentai was having some problems until Jetman saved it in 1991. That year was also the year of Winspector when Noboru Sugimura shifted from the first Robocop inspired series Jiban. Sugimura was now tasked with doing something more "mature" with Winspector and Solbrain. Superheroes aren't so powerful, especially they could only use their special suits for a time limit. It was also sort of trying to do a Japanese version of Automan and Knight Rider except it was ironically for children. Winspector was different was that there was no main villain ...

Maybe one reason why I tend to prefer mostly old school Tokusatsu from the 80s to 90s is most of them tend to have the more "mature" feel. Okay, it doesn't mean I'm not enjoying new school Kamen Rider (which I prefer over old school Kamen Rider) and Ucchuu Sentai Kyuranger. I'd like to talk about Metal Hero shows that didn't look too much like a kiddie show. Tokkei Winspector The very first of the Rescue Police Trilogy. The series itself has no real main villain. It's almost like a strange blend of American shows Automan and Knight Rider. Although the setting is pretty much science fiction but it has a LOT of lessons that seem to be more fit for grown ups than children. There's a lot of real gun action, some blood and criminal cases aside from the fantasy-based environment. Think of it as Tokusatsu version of Rescue 911. Tokkyu Shirei Solbrain Winspector ended after 51 episodes with the first villain they faced as the final villain. Now comes...

I've officially finished Solbrain. I admit, it's gotten in the way with my plan to rewatch GoGoFive and Dekaranger. I thought about the meaning of Solbrain from the final episode of Winspector. Captain Shunsuke Masaki mentioned about saving the soul and the brain or alternatively the heart and the brain of criminals. But there could be a deeper meaning that producers wanted us to guess for ourselves. When Solbrain was formed two years and some months after Winspector moved to Paris, the whole show focused on more complicated criminal cases. Not all the criminals in Solbrain are pure evil. Some of them are simply misguided and can still be set to the right path in society. But it seems that the objective of Solbrain is more than just saving the soul and brain of misguided people. It's also how to operate as a police officer.

Sailor Otaku (or alternatively called as Weeaboo Shogun for some reason) has been releasing Solbrain subs and it's been 29 subs. I find myself on a break from watching Kamen Rider Super-1 because Kamen Rider EX-AID is taking over my mind as well as I'm not truly a fan of the Showa era of Kamen Rider. I guess it's always ironic how I usually prefer older Super Sentai (but not before the Soda era) and I enjoy most of the new school Kamen Rider. But I'd like to talk about Solbrain as Winspector's successor. Solbrain presents a lot of stuff that can't be found in Dekaranger or GogoFive. Dekaranger may be a popular series but lacks the depth found in Winspector or Solbrain (I'm yet to see Exceedraft). Not all the criminals just do crime for the sake of crime. It sought to expand on why some people do what they do and that the problem is in modern day society. One good example is how episode 26 featured a cold-hearted police officer who only sought to get rid ...

Tokusatsu has had a series of mentors now and then. I have my extreme favoritism for Commander Aya Odagiri from Jetman, Commander Naoyuki Miura from Ohranger, Miki Masaki in Gekiranger, Sanjoru Sugata from Maskman. There are also others like Commander Stanton from Lost Galaxy and Captain Mitchel from Lightspeed Rescue who are also worth commending. But I really have one Tokusatsu mentor that I tend to have my current attention on. It's the one and only Captain Shunsuke Masaki. It's not just about Hiroshi Miyauchi the true legend that kicks Jason David Frank's ass in several levels. It's all about how he's been written and how he's that commander you can't mess with. He's been involved with two teams namely Winspector and Solbrain to help combat sophisticated crime. At the same time, he's the kind of chief who looks at the root case to why these sophisticated crimes happen. That's been the theme of Winspector and Solbrain under his watch.

It's no secret that Toei and Saban both worked together to create Power Rangers. Localizing for an American audience is no easy task. Don't believe me? Do a side by side comparison between Timeranger and Power Rangers Time Force. Compare the seriousness of Power Rangers Time Force with the much more serious Kamen Rider Faiz when it comes to the issue of racism. After watching Winspector (and currently Solbrain), it's a much bigger challenge to localize them than GoGoFive. GoGoFive isn't that serious compared to the Rescue Police. After watching Metalder and some bits of Spielban, I can't watch VR Troopers the same way anymore. Metalder had a real plot going on that VR Troopers can't beat. If Toei and Saban decided to localize Rescue Police, it could come out pretty mediocre. Anybody can argue that there are good Power Rangers seasons, sometimes Power Rangers can do some things better (but not most of the time IMO) but I usually stick to the Japanese. It's...

It's no secret that Sailor Otaku is subbing Solbrain after it finished Winspector. Winspector was pretty epic IMO and I really had something different. GoGoFive's a good Super Sentai series but there are times watching Metal Hero or Kamen Rider can be a better treat. I could talk about my experience of actually dropping Solbrain as a kid. Maybe I was around 9-11 when it happened. Solbrain was "too hard" for me to understand. There was no main villain (but a recurring villain was coming soon), I didn't get the action I wanted... it was more of a rescue version of Rescue 9/11. I didn't particularly like it and dropped it as a child. I find that funny because as an adult, I ended up liking the show but I didn't like it as a child. I just thought it was an odd show. So why do I find it weird that I got hooked with Janperson? I wasn't really a fan of the Robocop TV series. Janperson was Robocop reimagined for the Japanese audience without the human fact...

After I refuse to really give too much of a big comparison between GoGoFive and Lightspeed Rescue since one are a group of siblings while the other isn't (except for Grandienne and Bansheera because I felt that Grandienne's plot didn't make it due to executive meddling), I just thought what if this happened at Morphicon 2016? Let Sean CW Johnson dress up as Ryoma Kagawa and let Mike Chaturantabut dress up as the main heroes from Winspector and Solbrain. I guess that would be a better treat than them wearing the Lightspeed Rescue jackets. Neither GoGoFive jackets nor Lightspeed Rescue jackets really look much better than the other. I think trying other Tokusatsu hero costumes would be better. While Super Sentai did birth Power Rangers but there's still other shows that may be better (for some anyway) than certain seasons of Super Sentai and Power Rangers. That event wouldn't feel complete without Hiroshi Miyauchi going to Power Morphicon. He's the man. He ...

The ending of Winspector was sort of everybody's graduation as they move to Paris. In the end, they battled the very first villain they encountered and saved everyone. In the end, Captain Shunsuke Masaki though he doesn't coddle crime, he started to think that some criminals may still be redeemable and not delete approved. So in a matter of two years (script-wise), Solbrain is established as a new organization. Newer, bigger and better equipment. Solbrain tries to help some people out of their wrong choices since some of the criminals they have dealt with are petty criminals. The new organization was created to replace the Winspector organization. The name is definitely all about saving the soul and the brain of people and not just the life. How will Solbrain be for me? I can't tell yet. I admit that I really find Winspector to be a fun show. It's too early for me to critique Solbrain based on two episodes. Will I end up saying that Solbrain is better than Winspect...

I had finished Winspector and it's time to watch Solbrain (as subbed by Sailor Otaku) but it's still the very first episode . I could give a few thoughts on the episodes. I remembered dropping this show as a toddler but as an adult, I admit that I regret dropping it. The plot follows that one year after the Winspector cast graduates to Paris, the new team called Solbrain enters with newer, better technology. The new heroes are Daiki Nishio and Reiko Higuchi. During Winspector, only Ryoma Kagawa wore the upgrade suit. In Solbrain, the two work together since crimes have become more rampant. Junko Fujino herself could have used a suit given how badass she was but then again, no other character neither male nor female wore a power suit in Winspector. Ryoma had Accel and Biker to help him. At this point, Daiki has Reiko help him out in the more dangerous missions. The organization has been upgraded with more personnel. Winspector was pretty much the start. One year later,...