Otaku Hero

My website partner Mike has a brand new website, much in the vain of the new-defunct Japan Hero website, covering Anime, Manga, Tokusatsu, Kaiju, Robots, and much more. Pretty much inspired by Japan Hero as a jumping off point. Otaku is a Japanese term for any obsession with mostly things like Anime and Manga. It is still a work process but enjoy what is there now, more changes will come soon.

OtakuHero

Dreams Come True

Ever since I became a fan of Power Rangers, I have dreamt of a purple ranger. Many fans have agreed with me, spawning fanfics for years. When I discovered Super Sentai, I was excited to find out where were female blue rangers in the past (Liveman and Jetman), because in that time (before Ninja Storm), there were no female Blue Rangers in Power Rangers as of yet. And now by 2008, we have four female blue rangers in sentai history and two in PR history. What I like about Super Sentai is that they play with the formula. The team leader are not always red rangers.

After years of wanting a purple ranger, I thought it would never happen and I gave up on it. I had a rare poster of Time Force with the five rangers on Vector Cycles and the helmet of the Quantum Ranger in the background in purple. And superimposed above them it said "It's About Time!" I found the poster ironic. Who would know that after 31 years, we would finally get the first purple ranger... Geki Violet. But, in Power Rangers, his name is Wolf Ranger and his color has never have been referenced.

Other than the purple ranger, there have been hopes of a female sixth ranger or even a female red ranger leader. Well, maybe people want those two last things more than anything. In Dekaranger, we got our first female 'extra' rangers such as Deka Swan (orange/white), Deka Bright (silver/navy), and Deka Gold. It continued with MagiMother and of course this translated to Power Rangers. But, all those rangers I just mentioned were just 'guest' rangers, appearing once, twice or a couple of times. Go-On Silver was introduced a few months ago and she is the closest thing we have gotten of a sixth ranger, technically she is number 7. But it does show that the Sentai producers want to progress.

So I think if we keep hoping and praying, we could get a red ranger leader and our own solo female sixth ranger. Now, other wishes I think may not come soon: Brown Ranger?? Who knows. But there are other mixes we have gotten but not completely. Such as a female Green Ranger. We got Mele of Gekiranger, who got a zord and was pretty much treated as a Ranger. She even has an action figure here in America. But many fans take it as a experiment. For example, the purple ranger was 'experimented' with Wolzard/Koragg in 2005-2006. And Go-On Silver's progression was experimented with DekaBright, etc. So what could this spell for later on? And in what order? Will the female Red Ranger come first or will the male Pink Ranger? The female Red Ranger actually happened in PR before it has in Super Sentai. The above picture is of the SPD A-Squad Red Ranger. A female Red Ranger has now happened in Super Sentai, but who knows? My own personal guess we will probably get a 'extra' red female warrior first, much like Time Fire/Quantum Ranger and Kabutoraijer/Crimson Ranger.

Related Topic: It's a Girl! The REAL Shinken Red

UPDATED DECEMBER 17, 2009

Jungle Fury: Phatom Beasts (2)

So they are using all the Phantom Beasts.

Scorch = Ron
Snapper = Sojo
Whiger = Suugu

Sonimax = Gouyu
Dynamir = Shiyuu
Runner = Dorou
Verarat = Sojo
Grinder = Shuen
Osiris = Kou
Unidoom = Haku
Lepus = Hiso

Female Kamen Riders

UPDATED DECEMBER 31, 2008
I am most obsessed with heroines and since Kamen Rider is mostly a 'boys only' club, I decided to cover the quite few female Kamen Riders that have graced the screens.

Kamen Rider Femme (2002)
She is the first official female Kamen Rider. There was debate if the character, Tackle, from Kamen Rider Stronger was a Rider, but it was agreed she was more of a sidekick rather than a legitimate Rider. Femme's true identity is Miho Kirishima, and was portrayed by Natsuki Kato. She was only in the movie Kamen Rider Ryuki Episode: Final and in the costume a cameo in Kamen Rider Ryuki: 13 Riders. Her power was of the Swan. As for action figures, there is a articulated Sôchaku-Henshin figure, a vinyl figure, and a small bust (which I own). She will appear in the upcoming American Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight as Kamen Rider Siren and I am told she will appear for quite a few episodes.

In Kamen Rider 555 (2003), many people who transform into the same armor or 'gear.' Where many men would wear one gear, one female would. One girl (Rina) wore the Delta armor but was kicked out of it a few seconds later. Both Yuri and Megumi become different versions of Kamen Rider Ixa in the Kamen Rider Kiva movie (2008).

Kamen Rider Alpha (2003)
Even though not official (stage show Riders aren't consider canon), the Alpha suit was used by a female in the Kamen Rider 555 stage show. Pictures avaliable here in this Japanese site.

Kamen Rider L-arc (2004)
Her true identity is Miwa Natsumi and she was portrayed by Yoko Mitsuya in the movie Kamen Rider Blade: Missing Ace. She is sometimes called Kamen Rider Lark or Kamen Rider L'arc. Her rider name, "Larc", is French for "Archer." Miwa Natsumi originally applied as an office worker, but was berated by the boss. As a result, she knocked him out after having enough of his words. She was handpicked, along with two others to become the New Generation Riders for BOARD to capture the Undead released by the Albino Joker. As for toys, she has one vinyl figure.

Kamen Rider Shuki (2005)
In the series Kamen Rider Hibiki, she appears in one episode. All the warriors had motifs of instruments, hers was a harp. Although she is in her 80's, Shuki used her power to assume a form that resemble herself in her early 30's. When she was young, her entire family was murdered by the villains. She used this as a reason to become an Oni. She used personal grudge and not the desire to uphold justice and protect the weak as a reason to fight. Unlike the others, the demon face took over her helmet. She ended up killing herself to get her revenge. To me, her outfit was tacky. She is the only Kamen Rider to ever have a skirt. She is the first female to actually be in the TV series, not a movie. She only got a small gasphon figure.

A second (fourth overall) female Rider for Kamen Rider Hibiki by the name of Mishiki went as far as having a DX Otoukenban marketed and a prop suit made for her before she was dropped.--This has been repeated in almost every Wiki-like page or blog, but no picture or backup. Since 2005, there has been no more female Riders, I can't wait to see what comes next.

UPDATED DECEMBER 31, 2008

Heroine Profile: Helen Lady (Spielban)

To prove I will not only be covering Sentai, but other Tokusatsu.

I always wondered this and I got my answer last year when researching to do TokuCentral.com VR Troopers got its footage from the now-defunct Metal Heroes series of Toei, in fact three series. The series Jikuu Senshi Spielban (Spacetime Warrior Spielban) was where the footage of the transformed JB and Kaitlin came from. Kaitlin's counterpart was Diana Lady (above) but I heard Spielban's sister who was bad, became good and was a hero too. Her name was Helen Lady but wondered how she looked like.

Actually Helen Lady had the same costume as Diana Lady. I thought the costume would at least had a difference but none at all. So instead of having a new girl play her in VR Troopers, they made up ' VR Kaitlin Double Team'---which was that Kaitlin had a mirror twin that was bad but then became good and she could call her when it battle. In Speilban, his older sister was actually the evil Helen/Hellvira who was raised that way and then wet to their side. The armored footage of Hallvira was used for a two-parter where a girl was brainwashed to become 'Red Python.'

So basically Speilban was the only Tokusatsu series (so far) to have one male hero and two female teammates. Most tokusatsu series have two male and one female.

Jungle Fury: It has happened!

Has hell frozen over? This year, Bandai America has definitely redeemed itself. I dunno if it has completely redeemed itself for the shabby Operation Overdrive line last year, but it has been incredible. The above picture is the newly revealed Transforming Battle Megazord. This product was not pre-mentioned, scheduled or anything else. It contains zords that many thought would not be released because they were released separately in Japan. In this package, there is Lion, Chameleon, Wolf, and a re-painted Jaguar. It is not named but it is colored in red and blue, a bit of yellow, which resembles their group weapon, the Claw Cannon.

Even though the zords don't combine together, they are making fans happy. The Lion and Chameleon can join with the Transforming Jungle Pride Megazord's Tiger, Jaguar and Cheetah. The Wolf can join with the Jaguar and Tiger to make the Wolf Pride Megazord. The extra animal can also make a leg to join in the fun. The four zords can not transform together without the Tiger zord of the Jungle Pride Megazord.