Disclaimer: I don't own Beetleborgs, Masked Rider, Mystic Knights, or Kamen Rider! The first three mention belong to Saban, and Kamen Rider belongs to Toei and Ishinomori Shotaro!
A/N: This is just some short reviews I made. Enjoy!
*camera focuses Raika*
KR Raika: Hello, I'm Kamen Rider Raika, and welcome one and all, to another of Raika Reviews, a bit where I look at the Japanese action genre known as tokusatsu!
*shows the Saban logo*
KR Raika: Ah yes Saban Entertainment, the company that brought us Power Rangers. Using stock footage from the Japanese counterpart, Super Sentai, Saban was able to make Power Rangers kid friendly, but filled with action. But did you know that Saban made other attempts at this with other shows?
*camera goes back to Raika*
KR Raika: Throughout the 1990s, Saban experimented with their own toku shows, and today, I will be looking at Saban's attempts to make tokusatsu shows. Let's begin!
Beetleborgs
*shows scenes from episode 1*
KR Raika: Here's the premise of the show. In the small town of Chartersville, are three kids, Drew, Jo, and Roland. The Beetleborgs are comic book superheroes, but how do they become real? Well, the trio accidentally stumbles into the haunted mansion of Hillhurst and they're chased around by real monsters! After escaping the monsters, the kids accidentally bump into an organ and release a phantasm named Flabber, who looks like a cross between Elvis and Jay Leno. In return for freeing him, Flabber grants the kids' wish to become Beetleborgs, but Flabber accidentally releases the Beetleborgs' enemies, the Magnavores led by Vector, from the comics. So, it's up to the kids to become the Beetleborgs and put the monsters back into the comics!
*shows the opening*
KR Raika: Despite the premise seems strange, and too implausible, I really like this show as a kid. Heck, I was more into this show than Power Rangers! It had great action, and I could relate to the characters for wanting to be heroes! I mean who didn't want that as a kid!
*camera goes back to Raika*
KR Raika: However, that doesn't mean this show was perfect. It certainly had it's flaws. For one, the kids don't really show any remorse of them releasing the Magnavores. Also, now that I look at it, it seems a little too kid friendly, especially with the Hillhurst monsters added into the show. I know they're supposed to be the comic relief but I don't really remember finding them funny at all.
*camera goes back to Raika*
KR Raika: Despite that, the show was at least interesting to watch and if you want to watch anything from it, I would suggest to watch the fight scenes at least. Now for those of you who do want to watch the show, it does end and it had a sequel, BeetleBorgs Metallix. The only down side is that the show was canceled because of one simple problem: they ran out of stock footage.
Still, the show had a good run while it did and I would suggest it to anyone, who wants to see how Saban did in it's early years.
Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog
*shows opening scene from episode 1*
Narrator: The war continues. An ancient grievance between two families have divided the land. The warrior king of Kells defends his realm from the queen of Temra. Battle rages on many fronts.
*shows the opening*
KR Raika: In ancient Ireland are two kingdoms: the peaceful land of Kells, ruled by the warrior king Conchobar, and the dark realm of Temra, ruled by the evil queen Maeve. Maeve wishes to rule both Kells and Temra, causing her to start a war between the two. Kells is losing the war badly, and it becomes worse when Maeve is given dark magical powers by her dark fairy assistant named Mider.
To combat Maeve, Conchobar's wizard, Cathabad, sends his apprentice named Rohan to search for the legendary warrior of Draganta. He, along with a thief named Angus, head off and are joined by the king's daughter, Deidre, and the foreign prince, Ivar (who's the token minority guy). They four then are brought to the mystical realm of Tir Na Nóg, ruled by the fairy King Fin Varra.
After passing several test, the group are given mystical weapons that gives them control of the four elements: Fire, Air, Water, and Earth. The four, then, battle the four Sentinels of Temra, who guard elemental armor, and defeat them, earning the title Mystic Knights. With their new armor, they must battle Maeve and her forces of darkness from conquering Kells.
*camera focuses on Raika*
KR Raika: This show was the first time Saban attempted to do a non-Japanese tokusatsu and it was also the first to involve the usual fantasy elements to involve wizards, knights, and dragons. So how does it hold up?
*show various scenes of the show*
KR Raika: Well, I've got to say, while Saban tries its best, it's certainly flawed. Often, the show reuses stock footage for the battles and when the heroes get their weapons, they just use it to fire magical blasts more often than just slashing, which could save them a lot of trouble. Also, the villains seem more like generic bad guys, having hissy-fits every time they lose a battle.
*camera focuses on Raika*
KR Raika: Despite all my bashing of this show, I find it to be decent. I love the most of the action, and the story is interesting. Plus, you have to give Saban credit to make an original Tokusatsu and for filming this on location in Ireland. There are flaws and they really show, but sometimes they can be ignored with the good stuff. I would suggest to check it out.
KR Raika: Now let's see what's next!
*Looks at the cover of the final show Raika's eyes widen in horror for two words were placed upon the video. Those words were: MASKED RIDER!*
KR Raika: NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
*fade in to black*
Masked Rider
*fade out of black to have the camera showing Raika sitting at the table, his face in his hands*
KR Raika: My god, I thought this couldn't get any worse, but it did! *Looks up at the camera* I might as well get this over with. Well guys, here it is! I have to review...
*shows Masked Rider logo*
Opening: MASKED RIDER! MASKED RIDER!
*camera focuses on Raika*
KR Raika: That's right! The first US adaptation of a Kamen Rider series, done by Saban Entertainment! And god, did it suck!
*shows the opening to Masked Rider*
KR Raika: For the premise of the story, I'll just the show explain it for me.
Narrator: On the distant and embattled planet called Edenoi, a young prince named Dex is given great powers by his grandfather, the king, and is sent to the planet Earth to protect it from the advancing evil of Count Dregon and his vicious Insectivoids! Once on Earth, he's adopted by a kind family and learns to live as a human. With his companion Ferbus by his side, Dex is ever-vigilant, ready at a moment's notice to call upon his powers to become Masked Rider!
*shows various scenes of the show*
KR Raika: And that's basically the plot of the show. Now this show suffers numerous problems, which have made it infamous amongst many tokusatsu fans! First off, there have been numerous inconsistencies about the stock footage used from the Japanese counterpart of Masked Rider, Kamen Rider Black RX. For example, in one scene it may show Dex, but in the next scene that has stock footage it shows the main character of Black RX, Kotaro Minami.
Also, Kamen Rider Black RX was a little more light-heaten than its prequel, Kamen Rider Black, but it was still a good show with deep family matters, internal conflicts, great action, evil bad guys. What do we get? A bunch of yelling, stereotypes, predictable bad guys, and that annoying creature known as Ferbus.
*camera goes back to Raika*
KR Raika: Now, the premise could've worked! I mean, I could actually see a masked hero from another coming to our world to stop an evil from taking it over. It's a good plot, but Saban botched it up with the cheap budget, horrible editing, and terrible stereotypes! That's why Masked Rider received low rates and it remains to this day as one of the worst American adapted Tokusatsu! My advice? Keep away from it!
KR Raika: Alright, that's it for now! I hope I get to have more of these review later, but who knows? See ya!
A/N: And that's it! Please leave your comments in the reviews, and if you have any criticism, please let it be constructive! Now, this is NOT up for adoption.
Raika out!