BRICK PRIOR’S TOKUSATSU CORNER is an ongoing series in which Brick takes a look at one of his favorite forms of entertainment besides dreaming about pistol-whipping people: namely, tokusatsu.

I’ve been thinking about how to approach what I’d like to consider a new “ongoing” series for Attacked By Gorillas.  I figured it’s high time I tried to stretch my wings a bit and try something else (besides my annual October horror movie marathon, my constant sleep deprived and addled self on podcasts, a stalled serial with a new update in the pipeline, and me yelling at myself for 3000 words every few months), and what better way to go down a few different avenues than discussing a genre of entertainment that I unabashedly love? 

Let’s get down to business!

BUT BRICK, YOU ASK, WHAT IS… “TOKUSATSU”?

You can Wikipedia it up for a thorough explanation, but to paraphrase- tokusatsu is pretty much “special effects cinema”.  Lots of costumes, lots of explosions, and lots of action.  While most of the fare can be seen as “kiddie” (the Super Sentai or Kamen Rider franchises, for example), there are more than a handful of adult-oriented tokusatsu related programs, and no, I’m not talking about stuff that may or may not be called something like “BOOTY WARRIOR NO SEKAI”.  The “Godzilla” series, “Gamera”… media like that is also classified under "tokusatsu” .  It’s a wide-spanning classification with a lot of facets, so there’s a lot of places that I can go with this… but, with everything, there’s always the beginning.

KAMEN RIDER KABUTO

 

  

KAMEN RIDER KABUTO was the series that started it all for me.  I’d randomly come across some clip from the show on a message board, looked into the series itself, and the rest was personal history.   The suit design was an instant plus- over the ensuing years that I’ve been watching Kamen Rider shows and the like, there’ve been some ungodly designs that I fucking hated, but Kabuto clicked on all levels- he’s the modern gold standard as far as I’m concerned, but that’s more due to what I perceive to be an “Optimus Prime motif” than anything else… and I readily admit that stance is probably Brick Prior from 1986 knocking on the walls of my brain trying to make me remember when life was good again, so don’t mind that.  Luckily for me, I somehow managed to pick an anniversary series to get hooked on this crap.  KABUTO was Kamen Rider’s 35th anniversary series, so it was loaded to the brim with all sorts of franchise references- while it’s a self-contained story outside of any other established Rider continuity, it hearkens back to the old stuff, which makes for a lot of fun as I’m watching it again. 

EPISODE ONE:  The Strongest Man (???, Saiky? Otoko)

The premise of the show is simple- a meteor crashed into Tokyo, killed scores and scores of people, and brought something with it that was much, much worse: the Worm.  The Worm are a group of aliens run rampant over society, mimicking people before they kill them, and generally causing havoc and disarray among the population.  A military-esque organization named ZECT has emerged to combat the Worm threat- their main weapon?  The Masked Rider System, which is a series of belts and transformation devices known as "Zecters”.  Using these Zecters, ZECT can combat the Worm on the aliens’ terms- super strength, super speed, and unparalleled fighting ability… that is, if the user has what it takes to be a Rider.

As episode one opens, ZECT’s had trouble with the Worm- their ZECT Troopers (their neat little cannon fodder squad) are constantly overpowered by the aliens, and they can’t gain good ground in their ongoing battles with the species.  Arata Kagami hopes to use the Masked Rider System to defeat all Worm, but he’s pretty much the low man on the totem pole, as he’s working with his superiors to coordinate attacks, but can’t catch a break.  He’s grasping at straws trying move up, and nothing’s working for him in any regard due to the fact that he somehow manages to get his wallet stolen in broad daylight.  Upon getting a knife pulled on him, he’s willing to talk the thief down, and gets a reprieve due to the advent of Souji Tendou, one arrogant son of a bitch.

Seriously.

Souji has about eight hundred different faults, problems and hangups that disconnect him from the rest of humanity… which makes him PERFECT Rider material.  All Riders are either cyborgs out for revenge yet immediately ready to save humanity, outcasts from society, in over their head, Mary Sues (hi Decade!), or so goddamn batshit crazy that they don’t fit in no matter what they do (more than a few Riders in this particular series).  Souji Tendou is arrogant and just a tad bit disconnected from everyone else- his main thing is to quote his Grandmother, who may or may not exist.

To modify one of my other catchphrases… IT’S JAPANESE!

Tendou’s been waiting for when he can use the Masked Rider Belt he has in a random locker in his garage, as Kagami looks to be the man to defeat all Worms.  Things come to a head as ZECT has pinned down a Worm to wipe it out, so Kagami rushes in to seal the deal, as he thinks it’s his time to wield a Zecter.

DENIED!

  

  

Tendou, in his Masked Form, uses the Kabuto Zecter to wipe out the Worm, as Kagami and the rest of ZECT are shocked.  Kabuto’s Masked Form is slow and cumbersome, but it also has an awesome gun with a Predator-esque laser sight, so I’ll take the trade-off.  It’s a great fucking introduction to a main character- Tendou changes the landscape of everything with one action, which leads into…

EPISODE TWO:  The First Two-Step Transformation (?????, Hatsu Ni-dan Henshin)

The story’s getting fleshed out.  Characters are being initially defined and put into their respective places- for me, the first few episodes of any Kamen Rider show go a long way as to how I’m going to take in the series as a whole even when it lets me down as a viewer (prime example being Kamen Rider Decade).  In KABUTO, everything is pretty much laid out by the time the opening credits start on the second episode-  Tendou’s the hero, and Kagami’s trying to keep up with him and find his place in the world.  There are Worms that need to get destroyed pronto.  Kagami starts to get a bit of a break- ZECT wants to move him into a higher position, and they even give him a bike to show that they’re committed!  Fantastic! 

But!

There’s a problem- ZECT has to counter the fact that the Worms have the abilty to “molt” into an evolved form (think of it as a caterpillar emerging from a cocoon to become a pissed off butterfly that wants to destroy things) and go into a state of hyperspeed known as “Clock Up”.  Kabuto, of course, can’t really combat this in his Masked form as it is bulky… or so everyone thinks.

It’s in this episode that we actually see Kabuto’s actual Rider form, get our first Rider Kick of the series, and get to see the formula that the show will take for a little while: Kagami tries to save the day, and Tendou shows him up while trying to impart “wisdom” and “enlightenment” in a dickish way.  The following set piece is what actually got me hooked on the show- it’s pretty cool looking, utterly ridiculous, and goddamn if Kabuto by way of Tendou isn’t a badass… even if he steals Kagami’s bike.

  

 

 

I can’t follow up after that clip (that’s what she said), so…

EPISODE THREE: I am Justice!! (??????, Ore ga Seigi!!)

This one opens up with the “mighty” ZECT Troopers trying to gun down a Worm until it molts and kills them all.  The ZECT Troopers have cool guns, but let’s face it… they’re goddamn cannon fodder.  They suck, which is why the Riders are around- if the ZECT Troopers could get it done, then the Riders would have no reason to be around- so, they pretty much exist to waste bullets and get smacked around.

Meanwhile, Kagami’s getting a bunch of shit for trying to bring Tendou into ZECT- they don’t hire outsiders, so he gets slapped by his hot woman-shaped superior for doing so.  More about Kagami’s work buddies later- the nitty gritty of this episode is that there’s two of some chick and no one knows who the Worm is!  Oh, the powers of mimicry are awesome in this series- the Worm can completely confuse and confuddle everyone in existence by taking the form of someone else- but this time it’s confusing because the person is still alive! 

Tendou’s still being recruited by ZECT as well as being a bit of an aloof bastard, so his plan is to go to the jail where the suspected Worm is being kept and break her out. 

Which he does.

By embarrassing the cops via smacking them around and leaving Kagami to get caught by them.

DICK MOVE!

So, this episode continues the trend of “awesome yet completely fucking nuts” end set pieces that I am going to just show the Youtube clips for because, hey!  They look neat!

 

 

They fought on rollercoaster tracks!  IT’S JAPANESE!

The episode ends with Tendou saying something profound, fighting a Worm that molts and flees… and why did Kagami “randomly” see his missing brother in the crowd?

Huh.

You don’t mean that this leads to…

EPISODE FOUR:  Love Explanation!! (??????, Ai o Toku!!)

The “Love Explanation” in the title of the episode is not about a chick, but about a dude… specifically, Kagami’s brother.  Apparently he’s been bopping around doing whosawhatsit for the few years he’s been missing, and everyone’s kinda taken it at face value that he’s dead except for Kagami.

This one’s pretty much straightforward as a result- Kagami talks with his brother and thinks he’s back but doesn’t want to believe it and is all wishy-washy on the matter as a result, while Tendou knows something’s up and tips ZECT off that Kagami may or may not be compromised.  Tendou then does something almost out of character at this point in the series by confronting Kagami about it- this moment hints at the fact that maybe these two dudes should just CAST OFF all their baggage and be friends, but it leads to a trading of punches and Tendou pretty much saying that he’d wipe the floor with him if he wants a fight, but Kagami better realize that his brother isn’t his brother and let him be dealt with.

Kagami goes to see his “brother”, and low and behold- he was followed by ZECT Troopers.  A bunch of Worm swarm the area, Tendou arrives, and Kagami’s brother turns into the Worm everyone watching figured he was, so it’s fighting time!

That is, until Tendou pretty much throws said fight.  He lets himself get slapped around by Brotherworm and the other Worms, waiting for Kagami to give him the go-ahead for him to kill his “brother”.  It’s actually a nice little moment that shows that, for all his odd, fucking annoying behavior, Tendou Cares.

 

 

 

And, as if everything wasn’t defined before, now it is: Kagami wants to surpass Tendou as a Rider, ZECT wants to snag Tendou because he has a Zecter, and there’s a bunch of shit about food.

THE MISCELLANIA

I think I just made up a word.  Fear me.  If I didn’t, then be awed by my memory-based acumen that isn’t below my waist.  You really better fear me now.  Anyway, you’ve probably noticed that I skimped on a lot of the details of the episodes concerning who was doing what and who said this and that and blah blah bliddy blah.  As with everything I do, there is always a reason- it might not be the most obvious reason, but this particular reasoning of mine is simple- this show isn’t about all the extraneous crap, it’s about Tendou and Kagami- it’s about whether or not they can co-exist and whether or not they both can find their purpose in life- the path is clear… but do they actually want what they think they do?

Hmmm…

As far as the supporting cast goes, they’re easy to deal with unlike later Rider seasons (Kamen Rider Den-O, I’m looking at you).  The fun thing about KABUTO is that the secondary element is food- lots of foodie stuff goes on throughout this series, and since I’m a poor broke-ass foodie, I love it when something’s being cooked up and made all nice on my TV even when it’s people for folks to eat.  One of the backdrops of the show is at the Bistro La Salle, a restaurant where Kagami works when he’s not busy doing secret organization ZECT based stuff.  Hiryoi is the main focus there, as she’s an introverted girl with her own dreams not really interested in anything else.  Tendou takes an immediate liking to her, as he’s trying to push her out of her shell (there’s that cocoon motif again) to get her to follow her dreams.

At Kagami’s real job, there’s Todoroko-san and Misaki.  Todoroko-san is the older guy at your job that you know will put in a good word for you if you don’t fuck up- and even when you fuck up, he’ll still realize that you didn’t fuck up on purpose and were just trying to do the right thing.  Misaki is pretty much the series’ “hot tough older sister”.  She knows what she wants, and she’s gonna act in her best interests… but she won’t hesitate to fuck up on the “business” side of things if it means staying true to people she holds dear.

As far as episodic television goes, KAMEN RIDER KABUTO starts off very strong, but there’s one final hook that I need to mention before we shut things down.

The suit acting- specifically, Kabuto.  And yes, I classify Tendou’s actions being completely different from what happens when the Kabuto suit shows up- they’re different actors, so I’m going to treat things as such.

Rewatch the clips I posted for the ending fights in the episodes.  There’s an economy of motion going on there that just needs to be seen.  It’s very precise, very deliberate, and in my opinion, very awesome.  When I watch “the actions”, I watch for how people move during the scene, how attacks are used, how people or things react, how the attacks are received by the other party, etc, etc- fight choreography is an interesting thing to to take a look at when the SHAKY CAM isn’t involved, and I always have a critical eye when “fighting” is involved in any form of entertainment.  Concerning this show and its action, Kabuto checks all attacks and reacts to whatever is thrown his way accordingly- for these initial episodes, there’s no flailing about and screaming as the main character gets thrashed- the camera even pulls back a bit so that everything matters.  It’s a display of how the showrunners want the main character to be perceived.  Kabuto’s  movements and strikes are seen as being very measured and calculated.  If it holds up throughout the series suit-acting wise, kudos- I’m going to find out since I’m rewatching it all.  Either way, Seiji Takaiwa- the main suit actor for Kabuto and countless other Riders- deserves uber props. 

And another thing- the music- specifically the song in the third clip after Tendou has used Clock Up for the first time.  “”Full Force” by RIDER CHIPS is the song, and it’s one of the more “recent” perfect marriages of music and material that I can think of. It’s the “hero” moment that a lot of action shows don’t get. If tokusatsu had some sort of Paley-type gathering, then that would have been the lead in clip for that particular panel.  It’s that awesome.

JIKAI, TOKUSATSU CORNER

Episodes 5-8 of Kamen Rider Kabuto!  More tokusatsu based musings from yours truly!  And above all- FUN FUN FUN FUN HOLY THUMPINGS IS GOING TO DESTROY  YOU FUN FUN FUN FUN FUN!  I will stick with this because… why the hell not?

 

 

Brick Prior notes that the Kamen Rider Kabuto movie is nothing like that.  At all.  NO SPOILER ALERT.