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under Kamen Rider, TokuNation, TokuNation Spotlights

The end of Kamen Rider Gaim has come – and at TokuNation.com we’ve chosen to celebrate this very popular series with a send off spanning nine total days looking at every single Rider from the show and movie! Stay tuned because at any time we can announce a contest on our twitter account (@TokuNation)!

And the journey of new episodes for Kamen Rider Gaim has come to an end. The finale aired yesterday afternoon for residents in the Western Hemisphere, as it was airing early Sunday morning in the Eastern Hemisphere. And now that subtitles for the episodes are available, we Kamen Rider Gaim fans will have to settle for waiting until the summer movie is released, encoded, subtitled, and subsequently released. We have some awesome S.H. Figuarts and Arms Change figures coming out to tide us over till then, so expect those in the near future!

Today we’re going to look at cherries and peaches as we dive in to the history of Kamen Rider Sigurd and Kamen Rider Marika (or Malika depending on the translation you want to go with). One started as a shady wanna-be drug dealer, the other as an overzealous assistant to Professor Ryouma, and both shared the same fate in the end (but you’ll have to keep reading for that!).

So go ahead and click “Read More” to get your energy cherry and energy peach on! And don’t forget our previous celebration articles – Day One – Movie Riders, Day Two – The Nut Bros., and Day Three – Kamen Rider Duke! Enjoy the celebration! As always … SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!

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under Kamen Rider, TokuNation, TokuNation Spotlights

The end of Kamen Rider Gaim is fast approaching – and at TokuNation.com we’ve chosen to celebrate this very popular series with a send off spanning nine total days looking at every single Rider from the show and movie! Stay tuned because at any time we can announce a contest on our twitter account (@TokuNation)!

Today marks two special occasions – for starters the final episode of Kamen Rider Gaim will air in Japan on Sunday morning or Saturday afternoon for those in the United States and Canada. Please make sure to join us as we watch the live stream of the final episode! Click here for live episode discussion as well as a link to the live stream. What an incredible ride it has been with this show – we’re sad to see it go!

The second bit of today? It’s Day Three of our Kamen Rider Gaim celebration! And today we’re going to celebrate everyone’s favorite short-wearing long-haired professor – Sengoku Ryouma aka Kamen Rider Duke! Everyone’s favorite Lemon Energy badass is getting his own special inclusion in our nine day celebration of all things Kamen Rider Gaim! So go ahead and click “Read More” to take a look back at the guy who, really, started it all. There are, of course, spoilers in our special review. Enjoy!

And if you somehow missed it, be sure to check out our Arms Change Kamen Rider Duke Gallery by our own Den-O! And stay tuned in December for our S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Duke gallery!

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under Kamen Rider, TokuNation, TokuNation Spotlights

The end of Kamen Rider Gaim is fast approaching – and at TokuNation.com we’ve chosen to celebrate this very popular series with a send off spanning nine total days looking at every single Rider from the show and movie! Stay tuned because at any time we can announce a contest on our twitter account (@TokuNation)!

It is now day two of our celebration and we thought it would be fun to celebrate a group of Riders that, because of their Lock Seeds, have been dubbed in some circles as the Nut Bros.. They would be Kamen Rider Kurokage, Kamen Rider Gridon, and of course, Kamen Rider Knuckle. And while the “bros” part is more appropriately given to Kurokage and Gridon for their relationship at the start of the series, it also felt worthy to include Knuckle in the group as well.

Please click “Read More” to see our entire article on these three popular Riders! But of course be warned – there are major SPOILERS in doing so, as we look at their history throughout the show and in toy form. So join us as we look at our Nut Bros. – Kamen Rider Kurokage, Kamen Rider Gridon, and Kamen Rider Knuckle!

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under Contests and Giveaways, Kamen Rider, TokuNation, TokuNation Spotlights

This weekend one of the most popular toku series of all time will come to an end – Kamen Rider Gaim is coming to an end with the airing of its final episode, “Transform! And to the Future!”, the 47th and final installment of this beloved series. It’s popularity has spawned one of the most successful merchandise toy lines (in both the Arms Change figures as well as the DX Lock Seeds and Sengoku & Genesis Drivers) in Kamen Rider history, and helped gain a slew of fans to the franchise that are either new or had stopped watching Kamen Rider thanks to the love it/hate it series of Kamen Rider W and Kamen Rider Fourze.

Kamen Rider Gaim has been an incredibly popular series here at TokuNation.com, as our discussion threads of each episode have grown larger and larger each week as fans have registered to share their thoughts on each episode. And this weekend they will do it one last time (until the summer movie is released!). While our wallets cry as we continue to buy up all the Kamen Rider Gaim merchandise (who has got their S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Kachidoki Arms yet?!?) we figured it was only fitting to give this series a proper send off here with Nine Days of Juicy, the Kamen Rider Gaim Celebration!

Over the course of the next nine days, starting on Thursday, September 25th, we will be posting an in-depth retrospective of all the Beat Riders, Armored Riders, and Energy Riders. Our celebration will end on Friday, October 3rd, right before the premiere of Kamen Rider Drive, the next installment of the Kamen Rider franchise. But what good is a celebration if the party has no party favors?

As we get close to the end of the celebration, followers of the TokuNation twitter account (@TokuNation on Twitter) will have a chance to win two S.H. Figuarts of characters from Kamen Rider Gaim! If you haven’t followed us on Twitter then you’d better hurry – our give away requires you to be a follower of our twitter account and to also re-tweet the give away tweet! Watch for it!

We hope you’ve enjoyed Kamen Rider Gaim as much as we have. So let’s give it one heck of a send-off by celebrating everything about the show – the good, the bad, and the simply confusing stuff! HENSHIN!!!!!

under Kamen Rider, TokuNation, TokuNation Spotlights

“Take Care of Deneb.”

Let’s Watch Wednesdays returns to Kamen Rider Den-O but with the loss of one of our heroes. In case you haven’t noticed we’re rocking a Thursday Edition this week. Techincal difficulties on my end being to blame. But we’ll be back to normal next week.

Yuuto paid the ultimate price when his past self was erased from time. Or so it would seem. The Zeronos cards aren’t all bad after all. While the memories of a person disappear, they are protected from the ravages of time. But with no more green cards left, Yuuto must now resort to the red cards and an even greater price must be paid as well. The memories Yuuto’s made in the present will now cease to be. His past no longer exists, and now neither does his present, nor would it seem does his future. But one thing is certain, Zeronos Zero Form is a power to be reckoned with!

Den-O Trivia #15
It’s time to see if you were paying attention again! This week the show changed up something most people skip right past, the opening! That’s right, the usual rendition of Climax Jump you’re used to was replaced this week by Climax Jump Den-Liner Form. A rendition of the song sung by our lovable Imagin! Episode 40 is the first instance where the opening theme changes and the first where clips from the episode you’re about to watch are inserted into the montage.

Of course this isn’t the only alternate version of Climax Jump out there. In fact when Climax Jump was released as a Single there were 5 versions of the song just on that disc. But there are multiple other versions of the song each tied to a particular form of Den-O as well as several more official remixes of it. I actually know of at least 12 more versions of the song out there, bringing the total close to 20, all of which I have of course.

under General Tokusatsu News, TokuNation, TokuNation Spotlights

And you thought VR Troopers, Syber-Squad, & Power Rangers anniversaries were the only milestones this month!

The one and only Kickback’s birthday is today! Of course Kickback AKA Chris is the the founder of TokuNation itself and the man behind everything since it’s inception. A lot of you know him from the TFW2005 forums and his work in the Transformer fandom over  the last decade. But luckily he jumped ship and created this place for all of us to enjoy and share! It’s safe to say that a lot of us wouldn’t have a welcoming environment to discuss our spandex heroes, bug men, giant monsters, toys, and everything else in between without Kickback’s hard work for us over the last 3 years.

So please take a moment out of your day to wish one of my best friends in the world, Kickback, a happy birthday! TokuNation is what it is thanks to you buddy!

under Kamen Rider, TokuNation, TokuNation Spotlights

Kamen Rider Den-O has pulled back into the station for another round of Let’s Watch Wednesdays @ Tokunation!

Memories are time. As long as people hold onto them, the time erased by Imagin can be restored. Even the people lost can return. But if no one remembers you, you fall through the cracks of time ,travelling until you are remembered. The Sakurai Yuuto of the future has returned with more cards, forcing the young Yuuto to become Zeronos once more, and dooming him to fall through the cracks of time. Now Ryutaro’s determination to be stronger is greater than ever. To keep Yuuto from needing to transform and destroy more memories of his life, something greater must be created. Ryutaro will use his own power, Den-Liner, and the 4 Imagin to create Liner Form! 

Den-O Trivia #13
We told you about the voice of Deneb, but now we’re looking at the man behind everyone’s favorite Imagin, Momtaros! Momotaros is brought to life by legendary voice actor Toshihiko Seki! Though his list of previous toku credits is primarily bit roles (Chameleon Nejire in Megaranger, Zebra Fangire in the Kiva Movie) Seki has been prolific as an anime actor.

His credits include: Rau Le Creuset in Gundam SEED, Duo Maxwell in Gundam Wing, Legato in Trigun, Iruka Umino in Naruto, and many other roles that span his nearly 30 year acting career. Mr. Seki has continued to voice the role of Momotaros since Den-O’s TV series began, even continuing the role all the way to this years Hesei Vs. Showa Featuring Super Sentai film! And it looks like there’s no end to this role in sight!

under Kamen Rider, TokuNation, TokuNation Spotlights

Everyone’s favorite segment, Let’s Watch Wednesdays, returns from Kamen Rider Den-O’s movie! Now for the consequences…

Gaoh has been defeated and time saved for now, but at a cost. The delicate bond Ryutaro had with the 4 Imagin  is broken. Now the Imagin of Den-Liner, all but Momotaros, will fade away. But something is left behind, composed of all Ryutaro’s feelings and memories of them. However this device may be the key to unlocking the greatest power of Den-O. The ultimate Climax. Meanwhile Yuuto is faced with a harsh reality. With only one Zeronos card left, his next battle may be his last. What is the dark secret of the cards and their hidden cost? Can he rely on Deneb and Ryutaro’s new power forever?

Den-O Trivia #11
We’ve talked about the Imagin and their design origins, but how about a little behind the scenes action? When talking about the Imagin they of course have incredible suit actors which bring them all to life. Equally as important though is the voice which gives them each a unique personality. The lovable Deneb is of course voiced by the wonderful Hochu Otsuka!

Otsuka has been doing voice overs for many many years and in that time has had some seriously great roles that fans of anime and animation in general will recognize. A mere fraction of his roles include Chibodee Crocket from Mobile Fighter G Gundam, Jiraiya from Naruto, Ultra Magnus from Transformers Headmasters, even Captain Planet himself, and so on. But perhaps the two greatest roles tokusatsu fans will know him for outside of Deneb are the fantastic Signalman from Gekisou Sentai Carranger and the Narrator of Kamen Rider Gaim!

Be sure to join our weekly discussion by clicking the link at the bottom of this post!

under Kamen Rider, TokuNation, TokuNation Spotlights

Let’s Watch Wednesdays returns from a small vacation thanks to our SDCC coverage. But we’re back, Kamen Rider Den-O has pulled into the station once again, and things are a bit nutty for Ryutaro. Yuuto’s devilish smile, ninjas, all the Imagin, dinosaurs, a new rider, this is the Climax Scene. But what & when is it? What are we building to? Beginning or perhaps ending here is the story for Den-O’s first theatrical film, Ore tanjou!

Ryutaro is disappearing from his own timeline, kidnapped by Zeronos & Deneb!? Events from the past and future collide and all out of order! This can only be a movie tie-in! These events lead directly into, or out of (oh you know how time travel works by now), the Ore Tanjou movie! For now we know that the terrible Kamen Rider Gaoh has arrived and to control all time he’ll take Den & Gaoh Liners for himself! But future Yuuto has assembled various Ryutaro’s from across time to stand against Gaoh! Get ready because next week we take the leap into the first of many Den-O theatrical films! It’s time for a Climax Scene!

Fun Fact #9
Rounding out the Imagin of the trains of time is Sieg! This impromptu 5th member of the Den-Liner gang has only briefly appeared on the show but will make a proper debut in next weeks film, Ore Tanjou. For now you should know that Sieg’s character is derived from the ballet Swan lake. Very different from the other Imagin, Sieg is somewhat based upon Prince Siegfried, a selfish and vain aristocrat who wishes to marry for love but simply has none in his heart.

But love finds Siegfried when he witness a swan he’s about to kill become a beautiful woman, actually the swan queen, Odette. The victim of a dark spell, Odette and her kind can only be freed if she is loved by one who has never loved before. Siegfried. Via a rather convoluted story of betrothals and princely courtship the pair eventually affirm their love and die together in the titular lake, thus breaking the spell on the other swans. 

Be sure to join our weekly discussion thread for Den-O by clicking “Discuss on the Tokunation Forums” at the bottom of this post!

under Conventions, San Diego Comic Con, TokuNation, TokuNation Spotlights

While we were at this year’s San Diego Comic Con, we were amazed at the amount of attention, and just how amazing, the Gundam displays were getting at the Bluefin Distribution booth. So while this is totally not tokusatsu, we know there’s a lot of fans of Gundam and Gunpla out there, so we took over 100 images of what they had on display, prettied up the images a bit, and now want to share them with you.

Click the title bar to see all 100 plus images and join in the discussion thread if you’re a Gundam fan. And if you guys love it enough, who knows, maybe it’s something we’ll feature more often on our front page. Special thanks to Bluefin for creating such an awesome display and for drawing the crowds to look at all the beautiful ‘robits’!