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under Kamen Rider

Come on, Banana Arms!

The second release from Kamen Rider Gaim in the S.H. Figuarts line is here! S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Baron Banana Arms!

As a follow up/simultaneous release with S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Gaim, Baron is the perfect compliment to the orange samurai. As with Gaim there’s no Arms Change ability here, but there are gorgeous paint apps and a wealth of accessories to help mitigate that. Kamen Rider Baron includes a variety of extra hands, a closed Banana Lock Seed, as well as both forms of his trademark weapon the Banaspear! The founder of Team Baron has never looked better! Even on the DX Lock Vehicle Rose Attacker Kaitou looks the part of a warrior seeking power.

Please check out our full 50+ image gallery after the jump by clicking “Discuss on the TokuNation Forums” at the bottom of this post. And in just over a week or so we’ll be back with a gallery of S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Zangetsu!

under Kamen Rider, TokuNation, TokuNation Spotlights

Let’s Watch Wednesdays returns! Kamen Rider Den-O is speeding down the tracks. But are we approaching a detour?

Kintaros the mighty bear Imagin is here to stay! And as long as he’s here he’ll continue to make the forces of evil cry as Kamen Rider Den-O Axe Form! But how many more stragglers can the Den-Liner pick up? And while we have questions, what about Hana? Her destroyed future? The secret behind her and Ryutaro being Singular Points? But more importantly (f0r now) it’s time for Ryutarou to be a bodyguard, well Kintaros can do most of the work.

Fun Fact #4
Did you know that each of the Den-Liner Imagin that make up Den-O’s arsenal are all based on Japanese myth/folk heroes? Each of them is based on a unique hero of Japanese lore and this week we focus on big red himself. Momotaros is based on the legend of Momotaro. Sent from heaven floating down a river within a giant peach, Momotaro was taken in by a childless couple. Raised by them he grew up to be a great slayer of the various Oni of myth. Even going so far as to befriend several wild animals, and with their help he invaded the dark island Onigashima, defeated the hordes there and return home with enough wealth to live out the rest of his days comfortably with his family. Momotaros shares a basic peach motif with this hero of legend and his look is in fact based on that of a “typical” oni. Next week we take a look at Urataros’ origins in myth!

As always be sure to join in on our weekly discussion thread by clicking “Discuss on the TokuNation Forums” at the bottom of this post. Kamen Rider Den-O is ramping up to something big very soon. You just have to watch to see!

 

under General Tokusatsu News

If you’re a fan of Power Rangers then the name Koichi Sakamoto should ring a bell for you. Acting as everything from stunt director to director and producer, Koichi Sakamoto’s run on Power Rangers was one of the longest running jobs spanning nearly 20 years. After leaving Power Rangers (though he did direct the final episode of Power Rangers Super Megaforce) he spent time working on both the Ultraman franchise as well as directing Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger which will be adapted next year as Power Rangers Dino Charge. Thanks to both the Tokusatsu Network as well as RangerCrew.com we can share with you the promotional images from the licensing expo as well as the pilot for this new series being developed by Gunblade Culture Industry SPC in South Korea. The press release, courtesy the Tokusatsu Network, is as follows:

Las Vegas, Nev. (June 12, 2014) – From the executive producer and director who brought adoring fans the hit popular series, “Power Rangers,” Koichi Sakamoto will bring to life the next generation of superheroes with a new action drama, “GUNBLADE.” The highly-anticipated show will be unveiled during the 2014 Licensing Expo at Mandalay Bay Convention Center on Tuesday, June 17.
During the three-day tradeshow, visitors of the Kocca booth will experience an exclusive eight-minute sneak preview of “GUNBLADE” and will also have the opportunity to interact with one of the superheroes.

Produced by Gunblade Culture Industry SPC, a South Korean-based production company and a subsidiary of A mate Inc., “GUNBLADE” is the tale of the extraordinary “Gunblade Team,” a six-member special missions unit, assembled to protect and defend humankind against the evil Dr. Dexter and his super computer, “Olympus.” Seeking assistance to carry out his diabolical plan to destroy the Earth, Dr. Dexter resurrects an ancient destructive clan, “Gothic,” who had been sealed away for evildoing. Now with the threat of humanity becoming extinct, the Gunblade Team must stop Dr. Dexter from destroying the Earth. Equipped with the “GB Drive,” a special smart phone type device, GUNBLADE members can use its applications to transmit high-tech weaponry, assist in a variety of attack skills, garner protection by an impenetrable shield and even transform into a special armored suit.

“GUNBLADE is an extension of popular superhero programs that have appealed to audiences of all ages for years,” explains Sakamoto. “As a child, we looked up to superheroes because we wished we could be one ourselves. With superhuman powers, they saved the world from evil and got to wear cool costumes. As an adult, I believe our inner child still possesses that same feeling of admiration, which is why I believe superheroes have exploded in popularity and is what I hope to achieve with GUNBLADE.”

The $20 million budgeted production is scheduled to begin filming this August and will be on-air in Korea as early as March 2015. “GUNBLADE” will be distributed throughout select Asian markets in June and September 2015 and is planned to air in Europe and the United States by January of 2016.

The pilot trailer is below.

Currently, Gunblade is slated to release in March of 2015 in South Korea, select Asian countries the rest of 2015, and a potential airing in the United States and Europe in 2016. What do you think? Are you excited for Gunblade? Discuss the trailer/pilot in our discussion thread!

under Conventions, Other Conventions, Power Rangers

Our good friend Fury Diamond from RangerCrew.com is hard at work at this year’s Licensing Expo to bring us the first look and first official information on next year’s series Power Rangers Dino Charge! We’ve included one image of suit actors at the show, but for the rest of the pictures we ask that you please head over to the official blog of RangerCrew by clicking this link here.

Dino Charge Power Rangers RangerCrew

The official story line is as follows:

The Power Rangers franchise return with brand-new “dino charged” action. On prehistoric Earth, an alien entrusted powerful Energems to 12 dinosaurs for protection but when the dinosaurs went extinct, the Energems were lost. Now an intergalactic bounty hunter is determine to reclaim the gems and destroy our planet. A new team of Power Rangers must find the lost Energems and use their Dino Charges to power an arsenal of dino-fueled weapons, zords, and Megazords to save the world.

The next series of Power Rangers will be based off of Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger, which finished airing in Japan earlier this year, though there are some reports that the story will also feature some elements from the series that was skipped, Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters. What, if any, role that plays has yet to be seen. We will keep you updated with any information as it comes available.

Please make sure to check out RangerCrew.com, Samuraicast Blog, and the official RangerCrew.com Twitter, @RangerCrew to keep up on the updates as they occur. Special thanks again to Fury Diamond for all his hard work!

under Conventions, Metal Heroes, Power Morphicon, Power Rangers

It’s Monday – that means another Official Power Morphicon guest update! Joining the list of over 90 special guests is the beautiful, one and only Melody Perkins! She played the very iconic role of Astromena in Power Rangers In Space, the Princess of Evil who had a secret past with Andros the In Space Red Ranger. She would return in Power Rangers Lost Galaxy and become the Pink Ranger, making her the first and only series main villain to return and become a Power Ranger in another series (Rick Medina would do the opposite, going from Power Ranger to a main villain in Power Rangers Wild Force to Power Rangers Samurai). But she wasn’t the only guest to attend – check out the list of added guests below!

  • Melody Perkins (“Astronema”/”Karone”, Power Rangers In Space, Pink Ranger 2 in Power Rangers Lost Galaxy and Power Rangers Super Megaforce)
  • Elisabeth Fies (voice of the Otcophantom and Stag Beetle in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers)
  • Aaron Prunder (“Percy” in VR Troopers)

If you haven’t registered for Power Morphicon then we have some bad news – time is running out! Registration is rumored to close in the next few weeks! Don’t waste any more time – click here to begin your registration process! TokuNation.com as well as the Talkin Toku Podcast will be in attendance at this year’s show as platinum members, giving us front row seats to all panels, events, and early access to the show room! We will bring you on-the-spot coverage with news, pictures, interviews, and more! We’re also attending the show with our good friends from the Ranger Command Power Hour Podcast, and we have some very fun events planned with them during the course of the show, of which we will be sure to update you on! See you at the show!

under Power Rangers, Super Sentai, TokuNation, TokuNation Spotlights

It’s Monday which means it’s time for another Power Rangers Monday article! Last week, we talked about the Top 5 Things That MUST Be Adapted from Kyoryuger to Dino Charge, and it was a huge hit! Thanks everyone for taking part in the discussion. A lot of you disagreed with our feelings that the overall theme of music should be adapted and it was an awesome discussion on both sides. A lot of you also wanted to see Deathryuger as the Navy Ranger, or rather his 100 Years After adaption of being Kyoryu Navy. Either way it was a lot of fun – and if you missed it, check out the multi-page discussion by clicking here!

This week you voted on our topic of discussion – and you chose for us to discuss the Top 5 Coolest Things Not Adapted From Super Sentai! Not being super-versed in all things Super Sentai, I reached out to our content director Den-O, a self-proclaimed Super Sentai enthusiast, and with his help, came up with a rather fun and interesting list. Please click the “Read More…” option and check out the list we came up with!

Please take a moment and vote on next Monday’s article – we brought over a couple of options from the last poll and added three new options of which they would all be extremely fun to write and research! So vote, discuss, and read on!

[Read more…]

under Conventions, Power Rangers, San Diego Comic Con

Love him or hate him, Jason David Frank continues to be a mover and a shaker when it comes to the world of Power Rangers. Announced today via his Instagram account, the actor who played Tommy Oliver the Mighty Morphin Green and White Rangers, Red Zeo Ranger, Red Turbo Ranger, and Black Dino Thunder Ranger, will be appearing at this year’s San Diego Comic Con courtesy of Saban Brands (the property owners of Power Rangers) and Lionsgate (the studio announced to be behind the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers movie reboot/remake).

This will undoubtedly begin a wave of speculation – is he appearing simply to promote the brand? Is he appearing because he might actually land a role in the new movie? Saban Brands, along with Bandai of America, have made no mistake that they consider him the greatest Power Ranger of all time – he’s popular, his toys sell like hot cakes, and he remains one of the most fan-demanded characters in every Power Rangers series.

Join in our discussion on the speculation of Jason David Frank and his role, if any, in the new Mighty Morphin Power Rangers movie. It’s sure to be a wild ride in the discussion forum.

under Kamen Rider

Just revealed this weekend at Tokyo Toy Show International we’ve got some hard info about the release of the next Premium Bandai Arms Change set!

ACPB05 will Include Kamen Rider Mars (Gold Arms) & Kamen Rider Kamuro (Silver Arms). This set will retail for 7000 yen and orders will open on July 18th. Orders will remain open through September, with the two-packs release in November.

Also to clarify the nam Kamen Rider Mars has been confirmed. Despite differing accounts previously stating his name to be “Malus” that’s apparently false. The name tag for this set at the show presents an official romanization of the name as Mars.

under Kamen Rider

Lock on!

After months of vinyls, Arms Action, & Arms Change figures Kamen Rider Gaim has finally made it’s way to the collector line releases from Bandai of Japan. Recently released is the long awaited S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Gaim! 

This gorgeous figure represents Gaim’s basic form using his Orange Arms. And although the S.H. Figuarts line doesn’t allow for the Arms Change gimmick seen in the mass retail line, this is an absolutely drop dead gorgeous high end release that seriously makes up for that loss of gimmick. Gaim as a stand alone figure is brilliant, but he also includes his trademark Musou Saber, the orange themed Daidaimaru, 4 extra sets of hands, and a closed Orange Lock Seed. This guy seriously comes packed with it all!

To top off this gallery we’ve also included images of the Bonus first run display base set include with S.H. Figuarts Gaim & Baron pre-orders. This gorgeous set piece accents what are already magnificent figures. If you missed out on it I highly recommend finding it before prices go up.

Please check out our full 80 image gallery of S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Gaim after the jump. We’ll be coming back later this weekend with the second gallery in our series of SHF Gaim releases, this time with the Knight of Spear, S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Baron!

under Conventions, Kamen Rider, Other Conventions, Super Sentai, Ultraman

And you thought Bandai had spoiled all the good surprises with the DX/Chogokin ToQoh reveal. Fear not because the imaginary trains of justice, fruit warriors of Helheim, and new Ultras are on full display this weekend. Right now some great first had looks can be had of:

  • DX Build Resshas/Build Dai Oh, as well the combined formed of Build, ToQ, & Diesel Oh; Cho Cho ToQ Dai Oh
  • DX Safari Ga Oh/Galaxy Line Resshas
  • DX/Chogokin ToQ Oh (with new elbow joint adapters as well). Also seen are a couple of amazing scaled display environments including a rail way station with the DX Resshas interacting.
  • S.H. Figuarts Gaim, Baron, Zangetsu, Jinba Gaim, & Kachidoki Gaim
  • Gaim Arms Change Kiwami Arms, Knuckle, Sigurd & marika, Kamuro & Mar. As well as a GORGEOUS custom made for the show environment featuring various AC riders fighting in a Yggdrasil facility as well as in the forest of Helheim.
  • Also an entire line up of the already released toylines for both Gaim & ToQger are on display. Including all the various DX Resshas and DX Lock Seeds ever released!
  • And last but not least is the reveal of the ENTIRE Ultraman Ginga S toyline! Famously this line will feature a new gimmick very similar to Arms Change, only in a very literal sense. The new character Ultraman Victory will be able to scan Kaiju Spark Dolls to use their arms in battle!

Be sure to check out over 50 images of the various displays Bandai has at the show, and stay tuned to TokuNation for further updates!