Toku from Korea? Hm...this could be interesting...

By now, you've surely figured out I'm a huge fan of Tokusatsu. Kamen Rider, Super Sentai, Ultraman, Henshin Hero, I love it all. (Though, oddly enough, its most popular sub-genre, Kaiju, NEVER struck any kind of chords with me...)

The standards, of course, are Kamen Rider and Super Sentai. They're the most famous, and unlike most other series, tend to come out every year. I love them both (lean towards Riders a bit more though), but its always nice when an independent company will release a brand-new series, even if it only lasts a year.


The most recent "independent" Tokusatsu series to be announced (but not released yet) is SFX Fantasy Rayforce (Shigong Chongi Rayforce), from South Korea. I'd rather keep the introduction short so you can get right to the trailer, then I'll talk about it afterwards, so with no further yakking on my part...



....Freaking awesome. Right? Right? The suits were very well-done, which of course is always the first step. If your heroes (and villains) don't look cool, you've already lost a great deal of your interest.

The next step, of course, is the fight scenes. Bit too much slow motion (only "fault" I agreed with once it was brought to my attention), but other than that, great stuff. What I REALLY liked about it is that the show appears to have a support character capable of casting defensive and offensive spells to aid the heroes. Very innovative idea, and though admittedly I've only seen a smattering of Tokusatsu compared to what's out there, its one I've never seen before, personally. I approve.

I also like the world they're in, which appears to be very futuristic. Gave me an Ultraseven X-vibe, which is good because I LOVED Ultraseven X. (Now if I can only finish it...)

And of course, last thing to mention...is the mecha. Complete CGI, which is a downer. But...oh, my. Instant fangasm. I'm so conditioned to Sentai mecha that it caught me off-guard. For the last two years, Sentai gattai robos have been absolutely terrible, but Rayforce's mecha appears to be Takara-inspired (Transformers). I hope they get more than one--but HOPEFULLY they have the sense to not combine them all into one giant, top-heavy, suspension of disbelief shattering bot.

The series, which will be fifty-two episodes (nice number), launches in March. Already the known Toku places are abuzz with this new show (did I just say abuzz? WTF...), but for us poor unilingual people, there's one big hurdle to overcome: Its a Korean series. If its new, and its Japanese, its a sucker's bet to think it won't get subbed by TV-Nihon.

But a Korean series? Last group that tried to sub a Korean Toku was Evolution Fansubs' work on Erexion. A series that was 26 episodes and they vanished about four in. (Hate to say that.) Now, the Asian-Drama scene is quite large--a fair deal larger than I would've originally guessed before I checked them out, so there's about a 43-57 chance that some Korean sub group will take interest in this project and bring it out.

I really hope so, because I'd love to see this intriguing new entry in the Toku genre.

Source: HobbyChaos, DannyChoo

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