Difference between revisions of "Tokusatsu Franchises of Mirai"

Latest revision as of 00:24, 27 June 2018

Just like our world, the world of Dial-Up has many, many children worldwide who thrill to the exploits of:

-five/six costumed heroes in rainbow colors sworn to fight evil with teamwork and a strange unifying theme
-a man in a buglike mask and fancy armor over spandex punching out extras from kaiju films
-grown men putting on robot suits and wrasslin'.

These are the entirely fake franchises of the world of DIGIMON: Dial-Up. Please enjoy them.

The Hero Guy/Yuusha Guy Franchise

The year is 1976.

The place is Japan.

A young director, passionate about the idea of superhuman cyborgs and their lonely battle against overwhelming odds and dark forces, creates a legacy that will span the test of time. In another world, another time, he might've chosen a grasshopper-themed mask for his transformed hero. But today, he chooses a beetle-themed one, lending his character a strong look.

"What a strong guy!" his son says, catching a glimpse of the design. "He'd be able to beat anybody up!"

A name forms in the man's mind: Buttatakitai Yuusha Mighty Guy

And the rest, as they say, is history.

(The similarity of early Yuusha Guy masks to the Justimon face-mask is entirely coincidental, we're sure.)

Buttatakitai Yuusha Mighty Guy

(ENG: "Beat-'Em-Up Hero Mighty Guy") The first series, airing in late 1976 and lasting until 1978. Machiro Keshita is an innocent young officer of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Force, who is kidnapped along with his older brother by the evil organization Great Terror, his body radically altered by their evil scientist mastermind, Doctor Youkai, into a cyborg monstrosity. Escaping from Great Terror's clutches due to the brave sacrifice of his brother, Machiro swears to protect the populace as MIGHTY GUY.

Hitsuzen Yuusha Ultra Guy

(ENG: "Inevitable Hero Ultra Guy") The second series, only running from 1980-1981. After the fall of Great Terror, a new darkness arose: Shadow Conclave Kumadeath. Worshippers of an ancient Ainu monster god who sought world conquest, they were betrayed by one of their own, brilliant professor of medicine and cutting-edge surgeon Tachibana Yukari, who infuses her only son, Tachibana Okita with the superhuman power necessary to defeat them, before her death, and ULTRA GUY IS BORN. Was aired in America in 1985 as "MIGHTY GUY, THE MASKED HERO."

Sandangamae Yuusha Crisis Guy

(ENG: "Threefold Hero Crisis Guy") Ran from 1981-1982, it was the first series to feature form-changes for a Guy, hence the "Threefold Hero" designation. Dr. Kiryu Inoue was an astrophysicist working for the Japanese government; little could he have known that the government had been infiltrated by the communist death cult Red Satan! Transformed using his own research as a commando operative and sent to assassinate the Prime Minister and the Emperor, he instead breaks free of his programming, but must flee both Red Satan and the Japanese authorities in his quest for justice as CRISIS GUY. Alongside form changes (Jack Form, Dash Form, and Heavy Form), this marked the first appearance of a "secondary Guy", as Kiryu's protegé Amano Kazuhiko is transformed into Pursuit Guy--though Red Satan intends him to hunt down his mentor, he instead joins forces with him.

Haearu Yuusha Sacred Guy

(ENG: "Splendid Hero Sacred Guy") Ran from 1982-1984. Unlike the previous three series, the Guy was, for the first time, truly a reformed villain--Kojima Yamato, an isolated young man who became a cyborg lieutenant of the evil underground militia Death Millennium of his own free will, out of disgust with the corrupt world; however, during an attack he lead on a Shinto shrine, he was rendered unconscious by a counterattack by the shrine's spirits. Nursed back to health by the shrine's miko, Uetsu Mizuki, this gesture of kindness inspired in him a desire to turn his life around and follow a holy path as SACRED GUY. The form changes of the series were the first to upgrade in power each time (Talisman Form, Kami Form, Okami Form), and the first female hero, Angel Lady (Mizuki's "Guy" form).

Haikyousha Yuusha Adamant Guy

(ENG: "Renegade Hero Adamant Guy") Ran from 1986-1988. Recognized as a modern classic of the genre, this took the serious tone of Sacred Guy and developed it further; Narukami Touji and his brother, Narukami Shirou, were marked at birth by the secret brotherhood Armageddon Solaris as the high priests of an alien god from beyond space-time; but destiny had something else in mind for them. For Touji, during the conversion ceremony, was awakened not to the will of a dark messiah, but to the cries of humankind throughout the planet, and became not a destroyer, but the hero, ADAMANT GUY....forced by fate to oppose his own brother, who would be the first "Dark Guy" in franchise history, Death Sun. Featured the first on-screen death of a secondary Guy--the episode where Hanagi Yoshita/Iron Guy dies at the hands of Death Sun is remembered to this day. Was adapted in America and censored to high heaven as "MIGHTY GUY NEO".

Hariyuki Yuusha Ace Guy

(ENG: "Lucky Hero Ace Guy") Ran from 1990-1991. While it pioneered the concept of multiple Guys in a series (King Guy, Jack Guy, and Queen Lady), the plot, which involved a high school dropout, Takai "Ace" Himuro, and his friends all being transformed by the evil corporation Hell Wonderland into techno-magical card-using cyborgs trying to prevent a "dimensional collision", was much less straightforward than previous plots and things focused much more on antics and attempts at using new, untried computer-generated visual effects, creating a series that was pretty much a universal disappointment all around--it also was seen as derivative of the much more successful Kingly Sentai Royalger. America picked it up as "MIGHTY GUY: ACE" and ran it for three seasons; the latter two are a source of endless headaches for the Eastern enthusiasts of the franchise.

Shouhen Yuusha Conqueror Guy

(ENG: "Reborn Hero Conqueror Guy") Ran from 2000-2001. First series to be filmed in Mirai rather than Japan, and marked the reboot of the franchise after a nine-year hiatus.

Gishi Yuusha Virtual Guy

(ENG: "Engineer Hero Virtual Guy") Ran from 2001-2002. Peter probably loved this series a little too goddamn much. The American version of it at any rate.

Junzen Yuusha Ultimate Guy

(ENG: "Absolute Hero Ultimate Guy") Ran from 2002-2003.

Mitsurin Yuusha Wilderness Guy

(ENG: "Jungle Hero Wilderness Guy") Ran from 2003-2004.

Hagane Yuusha Calibur Guy

(ENG: "Steel Hero Calibur Guy") Ran from 2005-2006.

Henryou Yuusha Proteus Guy

(ENG: "Variable Hero Proteus Guy") Ran from 2006-2007.

Sogekihei Yuusha Buster Guy

(ENG: "Sharpshooter Hero Buster Guy") Ran from 2010-2012.

Kensei Yuusha Valiant Guy

(ENG: "Swordmaster Hero Valiant Guy") Ran from 2012-2013.

Nenshou Yuusha Ryukishi Guy

(ENG: "Combustion Hero Ryukishi Guy") Ran from 2013-2015. Griffin's show.

Uchuujin Yuusha Zodiac Guy

(ENG: "Spaceman Hero Zodiac Guy") Ran from 2015-2016.

Kudamono Yuusha Sengoku Guy

(ENG: "Fruit Hero Sengoku Guy") Ran from 2016-2017. The best Yuusha Guy, hands down.

Super Sentai Series of Dial-Up

You might know the concept better as "Power Rangers", but you know it nonetheless. Rainbow heroes, spandex, teamwork, get in a mecha and fight the monster when it gets huge.

Mach-Force Sentai Speedranger

Kingly Sentai Royalger

Ran from 1990-1992. One of the best-remembered of the Super Sentai series, a classic of the genre in almost every way, it featured a group of young high school students and best friends who discovered a shared secret--they were each the descendants of ancient monarchs of mystical power, and they could call upon the power of their bloodlines to become the ordained defenders of Earth's peace, Kingly Sentai Royalger, guardians of Castle Eternity...and they'd need the power of kings to face down the enemy, Barbarian Star Horde Xanadia, and its fearsome Demon Khan Attilion!

Adapted in America and Europe as "King Golden's Magical Earth Defenders". The favorite show of a young Fleur de Croix.

Roster: King Golden, Queen Silver, Duke Platinum, Prince Orichalcos, Princess Electrum, Praetorian Hepatizon
Mecha: Ruler-Oh, Ruler-Oh Regnant, Lancel-Oh, Caesar-Oh, Imperial Caesar-Oh

Olympic Sentai Ballranger

Ran from 2007-2008. Its creator is said to have pitched the idea by walking into a Saburei Corp. board meeting and simply scrawling HOME RUN on a piece of paper. It is time for the Olympics of Galaxies, and if Earth cannot defeat the other planets at sports, it will be destroyed. Their only hope is a group of sports club members from rural Japan selected by the UN Security Council, who will be infused with the sports skills of the entire planet in order to become an unbeatable team.

Adapted in America as Power Rangers: Hit The Showers, which showrunner Michael Takada called "the most regrettable time in my entire career."