The end of an era has arrived for Super Sentai.
Long-time suit actor Hideaki Kusaka has announced that this weekends’ finale of Kaitou Sentai LupinRanger VS Keisatsu Sentai PatRanger will be his final performance in tokusatsu.
Kusaka has been a mainstay in Super Sentai since 1980’s Denshi Sentai Denziman and has been the performer inside virtually all major Super Sentai Mecha costumes- he is currently portraying both LupinKaiser & PatKaiser in LupinRanger VS PatRanger.
In addition, Kusaka has been the performer for several Super Sentai heroes- including DekaMaster from DekaRanger and Shou Ronpo in KyuRanger.
We here at TokuNation extend our best wishes to Hideaki Kusaka and hope he enjoys his retirement. Thank you for decades of entertainment!
Kusaka has been working on Super Sentai since 1980's "Denziman." and this weekends' final episode of LupinRanger VS PatRanger will be his final performance.
He has been the suit performer for virtually all major Mechas, and several prominent villains.
https://twitter.com/rd38z2721d4041/s...83079282188289
End of an era.
Sad to see him go, but I'm glad he paved a good path for others! Practically 40 years is a hell of a run, especially considering how insanely bulky those suits could get
My favorite role of his
His last credits seem to be as the two Kaiser bots in LuPat.
The man is 61 this year, only 2 years younger than action director Kazuo Niibori who is famous for being a suit actor up to Jetman as Red Hawk.
Salutes to you Mr. Kusaka.
Damn, 40 years. Hope they paid him good so he can enjoy his retirement.
That is one amazing run. Well done, Boss, you've provided tens of millions of people entertainment and fun for a very long time. Stunt acting of any kind is a heck of a job, and you've done a lot of it. *applauds*
The portrayal of Shou Ronpo, for me personally, is incredible and one I'll always be thankful to have seen. It was fantastic.
I wasn't aware that he had such a lengthy resume on Sentai though; what an absolute legend! Hope he enjoys retirement
Makes me wonder how will be when Seiji Takaiwa himself retires. IIRC 2019 will mark his 30 years of suit acting since he played Riderman in Black RX.
Dang, 40 years. He deserves this retirement. I wonder how the new suit actor for mechas will be like.
Full Thread: Tokusatsu suit actor Hideaki Kusaka announces retirement
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