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under General Tokusatsu News

TV-Asahi has at last announced a return date for the SuperHeroTime programming block, consisting of Mashin Sentai Kiramager and Kamen Rider Zero-One!

Production on both series was suspended last month due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and a state of emergency declaration in Japan. However, new regulations have been put in place to ensure safe distancing between actors and crew to halt potential spread of the disease. As a result, filming on both series has resumed!

New episodes of Super Sentai and Kamen Rider will begin airing June 21 2020! Stay tuned to TokuNation for further details on each exciting series.

under General Tokusatsu News, Ultraman

A little while ago, Goodsmile teased that a role-play toy of the Primal Accepter from the popular SSSS.Gridman anime was coming down the pipeline, and finally, after a long silence, the prototype for this replica was recently revealed in a live stream via Goodsmile’s official Youtube page with additional info on Goodsmile’s website 

The stream in question can be viewed in the box below, you can skip to the 1:20:40 mark to view the demonstration. 

The DX Primal Acceptor will retail for around 15,000 yen to be released in December 2020. 

under General Tokusatsu News, Metal Heroes

Back on April 1st, the tokusatsu world was pretty stunned by the announcement that Toei was reviving a character that hadn’t been seen in nearly 20 years. Robocon! The star of two previous TV series Ganabare!! Robocon & Moero!! Robocon, is returning for a brand new film adventure titled Ganbareiwa!! Robocon.

Met with some healthy skepticism that the project could actually be real, it was confirmed fully only a few days later. But today, further information of what to expect from this project has come courtesy of an official trademark from April 21st for the film (via @Trademark_bot), which includes its use in branding for a variety of merchandise including toys, dolls, & games etc.

There’s absolutely no question that this film be released on July 31st, and now we know it’s bringing along with it a resurgence of Robocon merchandise. Let the speculation of just what this odd entry in the Robocon franchise could be about, begin! Could this be another generational meeting of the various Robocon? Or a true reboot entirely? Time will tell, and we’ll be sure to tell you as more information surfaces.

under General Tokusatsu News

TV-Asahi has announced a hiatus of sorts for the Super Hero Time programming block- which currently consists of Mashin Sentai Kiramager and Kamen Rider Zero-One.

This hiatus is due to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak and the extended state of emergency in Japan.

For the next three weeks, alternative episodes will air in place of the usual Super Hero Time lineup-

*Kamen Rider Zero-One will release a two-part Presidents Special recapping the events of the series from Kamen Rider Zero-Ones’ perspective, followed by a Shooting Special shot from Kamen Rider Vulcan’s point of view.

*Mashin Sentai Kiramager will air the Episode ZERO special originally released in theaters, followed by Directors’ Cut revamps of the series’ first two episodes.

An exact return date for Super Sentai & Kamen Rider has not been confirmed at time of writing. Stay tuned to TokuNation for further details on this unique situation!

under General Tokusatsu News, Ultraman

An exciting new season of Studio Trigger’s popular SSSS.Gridman anime series is looming over the horizon. Following the brief teaser that we got last year, a key visual was just released revealing that this season will have a new cast of players involved.

In addition, the anime’s staff was recently announced, and that staff is as follows:

  • Director: Akira Amemiya
    Screenplay: Keiichi Hasegawa
    Character Design: Masaru Sakamoto
    Studio: TRIGGER
    Cast:
    Daiki Hamano
    Junya Enoki
    Shion Wakayama
    Yuuichirou Umehara
    Chika Anzai

Further details involving plot and air date have yet to be disclosed. Stay tuned, and we’ll be sure to update you once more info is released.

under General Tokusatsu News

Bad news for import collectors-

JapanPost has announced that all EMS and AirMail shipments to the United States will be suspended beginning April 24, 2020 due to ongoing COVID-19 concerns. SAL shipments were previously suspended for the same reason.

Any shipments sent out via EMS prior to the suspension will likely experience delays.

We encourage everyone to remain safe & healthy in these trying times, and we look forward to the return of normal shipping processes.

under General Tokusatsu News

The organization behind the mega-convention San Diego Comic Con has unfortunately decided to cancel the 2020 event, previously scheduled for July 23-26 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The SDCC leadership released the following statement regarding cancellation-


“For the first time in its 50-year history San Diego Comic Convention (SDCC), the organizers behind the annual pop culture celebration, announced today with deep regret, that there will be no Comic-Con in 2020. The event will instead return to the San Diego Convention Center from July 22-25, 2021. Recognizing that countless attendees save and plan for its conventions each year, and how many exhibitors and stakeholders rely upon its events for a major portion of their livelihood, they had hoped to delay this decision in anticipation that COVID-19 concerns might lessen by summer. Continuous monitoring of health advisories and recent statements by the Governor of California have made it clear that it would not be safe to move forward with plans for this year.”

Generally, SDCC has been the site for major product reveals from Hasbro and other producers. While many have speculated that traditional SDCC presentations could switch to an online debut format, nothing has been confirmed at time of writing.

Stay tuned to TokuNation for further details!

under General Tokusatsu News, Kamen Rider, Metal Heroes

For those of us that are just tuning in, Toei announced a new global streaming platform on YouTube titled Toei Tokusatsu World Official, a streaming service that would feature a treasure trove of classic Toku shows that will launch globally on April 6th, 2020, complete with English subtitles!

As of this writing, the channel is now live. The catch is that while Toei does plan on releasing more episodes, these episodes will only be in Japanese and Toei will be leaving it to fans to translate these episodes in their native language. None of the less, the long list of shows now available is as follows:  

  • Space Cop Gavan
    Juspion
    Space Cop Sharivan
    Captain Ultra
    Dear! Robottie (Robocon)
    Message From Space
    Poitrine
    Chanzerion
    Daltanious
    Daimos
    National Kid
    Voltes V
    Suki! Suki!! Majo Sensei
    Robot 8-chan
    Hard Gumi
    Magical Chinese Girl Pai Pai!
    Winspector
    Combattler V
    Space Ironman Kyodain
    Laserion
    Jiraiya
    Go! Robottie (Robocon)
    Robot Detective
    Ninja Captor
    Henshin Ninja Arashi
    Kamitaman
    Kabutack
    Hard Gumi
    Janperson
    Jiban
    Bicrosser
    Robot 110-Ban
    Solbrain
    Guruguru Medaman
    Akumaizer 3
    Inazuman
    Inazuman F
    Exceedraft
    Magical Girl Chukanpaipai
    Gambare! Red Vickies
    Yojutso Bugeicho
    Nemulin
    Kaiketsu Zubat
    Machineman
    The Kagestar
    Kikaider
    Kikaider 01
    Albegas
    Kamen Rider Shin
    Robotack
    Chojin Bibyun
    Pettonton
    Thutmose
    Magical Girl Chukana Ipanema
    Blue Swat
    Guy Slugger
    Marin Gumi
    Batten Robomaru
    Utau! Dairyugujou
    God Sigma
    5 Nen 3 Kumi Mahougumi
    Daitetsujin 17

under General Tokusatsu News, Kamen Rider, Super Sentai

If you’ve been keeping up with recent events, then you may know about coronavirus or COVID-19 and the impact that this awful disease has had on not just the world, but some of our general interests as well. It has just come to our attention that one of the lead actors of Mashin Sentai Kiramager, Rio Komiya aka Kiramei Red contracted the virus and Toei Studios has shut down as a result.

Fortunately, a good chunk of episodes up till the middle of May have been shot but filming was put on halt last weekend, and at this time we have no further information on what sort of delays this will cause.

We at TokuNation wish Rio and anyone else that may have contracted this virus a speedy recovery. We’ll be sure to update you as soon as more information becomes available so stay tuned for future updates.   

 

UPDATE April 3rd, 2020:

An official statement was released from Toei earlier today. A translation reveals that Toei Studios did not, in fact, shut down operations that day and was misinformation spread by the Japanese press.

under General Tokusatsu News

We have sadly been informed of the death of a tokusatsu voice veteran.

Voice actor Hiroshi Masuoka passed away on March 21 2020 due to rectal cancer. Masuoka performed a number of villain roles in tokusatsu but may be best known as the narrator for Hyakuju Sentai GaoRanger (where he also performed the supporting role of GaoGod).

Outside of toku, Masuoka was a prominent voice in the anime world- he may be most recognizable as the second voice of Master Roshi in DragonBall related projects.

Our thoughts are with Hiroshi Masuokas’ family & friends in this difficult time.