The CD Collection -- Toei & Toho | 70s & 80s | TV & Movies (Random!)

Well now...quite a random batch of shows/movies, eh?

I suppose they're all...Tokusatsu...?

The main point of writing this blog was to review the brand-new Machineman Song & Music CD Set that was released only a few days ago as of this writing. I decided to tack on Daitetsujin 17 (since it is a similar set) and Spider-man (since it is also Toei). Then I posed the question on Twitter if I should add more. I got a response...and so I am also going to talk about the Cybercop Perfect Music Collection..............and Gunhed because I really want to talk about it. Heh. Totally random!

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Dennou Keisatsu Cybercop Perfect Music Collection
TYCY-5585-6
1998.01.21

To get things started I guess I should talk about a CD that has been in my collection since I bought it new way back when. Cybercop is a show that I never really got into no matter how many times I gave it a try. Luckily it has a sizeable enough fanbase that we were given this wonderful CD set nearly ten years after it aired.

The format is one that has since become familiar in the Toei/Columbia CD world. Disc One is the Music Collection and Disc Two is the Song Collection. In the 90s Columbia wasn't doing this...and now they seem to have picked up on the format--possibly on the enduring popularity of this set OK, maybe not. This set IS very popular, however. You've probably heard it. It seems to have been on the download circuit since it's release thanks to the international fanbase. I wouldn't know anything about that, though. Great releases like this should be purchased to promote goodwill between fans and content providers. If you want something to download...download the Abaranger Music Collections. Those suck big time--don't waste your money.

Anyway...the CDs...

DISC ONE

Music first on this set. At sixty-one minutes this disc is hardly packed to the brim, but it does manage to pack in quite a lot of content thanks to minimal fluff. It contains the TV Size versions of both theme songs as well as a Karaoke version of Tsuioku no Jupiter and a One Chorus Karaoke version of the Band Kaze version of the ending theme song. The rest is pure BGM.

Ichiro Nitta is the composer in charge of this series. I'm not very familiar with his work outside of this show and his work on the first two Sukeban Deka shows, but he seems to have career in anime also. If I were to compare this with another series soundtrack...I suppose it is somewhat similar to Chojin Sentai Jetman. I'm not sure if I'm saying that this soundtrack was ahead of it's time or that Jetman's was behind the times, but there is a certain similarity between the two. I suppose it's certainly the mix of guitar and horn with supporting synthesizers.

Annoyingly all of the tracks are long form. I genuinely don't mind having a CD with fifty tracks if it means I can get to the piece of music I want to faster. This isn't the case here. Fifteen tracks minus the four tracks of songs means only eleven tracks of music. This means there are plenty of tracks that range between six and ten minutes. Oh well... Atleast the music itself is very good. The addition of sound effects throughout is pretty neat as well.

The standout track for me is one called Lucifer. The section beginning at 2:30 is my favorite. I would give the production code, M-01 for example, but the booklet is laid out pretty sloppily.

DISC TWO

The song collection is somewhat Frankenstein'd together. It isn't separated in any particular way, which is rather annoying. Tracks 1~3 are three different versions of the opening theme song (vocal, Karaoke, and Instrumental). Track 4 is more BGM. 5~6 are vocal and Karaoke versions of Honoo no Messenger. Track 7 is BGM. 8~9 are vocal and Karaoke versions of the Band Kaze version of the ending theme song Shooting Star. Track 10 is the vocal version of Tsuioku no Jupiter (if you remember, the Karaoke version is on the first disc). Track 11 is more BGM. Tracks 12~13 are vocal and Karaoke versions of the regular version of Shooting Star. Tracks 14~16 are the vocal songs Let it go, Into the Night, and Brand New Tomorrow.

It really would've been nice if they split this CD up a little bit better. The BGM belongs on the first disc and the songs there belong here. They really should have split up the Karaoke from the vocal tracks while they were at it. It just makes the last three tracks seem like they were lazily tacked on as an after thought.

In general I like the songs from this show. The OP is a little bit tacky as is the bassline in the ED, but they're still enjoyable. The rest of the songs are pretty good. I especially like Into the Night and Brand New Tomorrow, which was a single on its own in 1988 (yes, I own that also).

Set Overall: "Perfect" may be a stretch, but this CD set was incredibly well done when it was released in 1998. It may have taken some time for Toei/Columbia to copy and perfect the formula, but someone had to get the ball rolling somehow. Recommended. Not only for you, but recommended that this set go back into print.

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Ehhh...let's try this again...

Gunhed Original Soundtrack
00FD-7115
1989.07.22

I spoke about the 1989 Toho Movie Gunhed at great lengths a few months back. I recommend checking out the entry and the film sometime.

Anyway, yes, I avoided talking about the soundtrack in that post because I wanted to save it for a CD Collection entry. Since this is a short CD, I will try to keep it short.

Normally I hate Digipak-style packaging, but this one is laid out nicely.

The CD begins and ends with a vocal song Mariko Nagai. The film's ending song (Japanese Audio Track only) is called Time, which is my favorite of the two vocal songs. It's a fun little song that totally doesn't reflect the absolute bleakness of the film. The second vocal song, Anata o Miteruto is strictly an image song as it didn't appear in the film at all. It's a good enough track with some great singing, but a bit generic as far as late 80s, early 90s ballads go.

Tracks 2~13 are made up of the music from the movie. I happen to love the music, but really don't think this soundtrack is for everyone. It ranges from very moody to slightly less moody to full-on-synth action.

The standout track on this CD is the one titled PRE-PRODUCTION. It is basically the kickass music from the trailer. Do yourself a favor and listen to it with headphones or with the old home stereo fired up. It will rattle your spine. None of the other tracks on this disc are nearly as heavily processed as this. Seriously...your teeth will rattle and you might be able to see sound after only a few listens.

Overall: I friggin love this one. You might not. Check out the movie and decided for yourself.

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Eccentric Sound Of Spider-man
COCX-31429
2001.06.21

I have gone on record in saying that I have a severe dislike of the Spider-man theme songs. The music collection, however, is a different animal. This is actually a very well-crafted disc. It does have a somewhat generic 70s sound at times, but there was some definite effort given to this production. If I could liken it to another soundtrack...I'd say it's almost similar to the Battle Fever J Music Collection in structure and sound. I mean, it makes sense since both Music Collections were done by Michiaki Watanabe only a year apart.

If you are wondering about the awful theme songs, yes, they're both represented here in a few different forms. There are five versions of the OP (TV Size, Instrumental, Full Size Vocal, TV Size Chorus Karaoke, and Full Size Chorus Karaoke). On top of this, there are four versions of the ED (Instrumental, TV Size, Full Size Vocal, and TV Size Karaoke). Yeah, the themes I don't really like take up quite a bit of real estate here...but I'm willing to look past that.

My favorite track is probably the stupidest. Track 12, Tenkan, is a collection of various recordings of "Spider-man" as said in the opening theme song. It's just so unnecessary. Ringtone fodder at it's finest.

That said, it doesn't quite live up to the "eccentric" title, but it is a very fun music collection despite the 57 different versions of the theme songs.

Overall: Give it a try if you're a fan of soundtracks of the 1970s.

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Daitetsujin 17 Music Collection
COCX-35950-1
2009.12.23

Out of nowhere Columbia released a 2-Disc Song and Music Collection for Daitetsujin 17. I'm not complaining about it or anything, it was just an entirely random thing to do and a random time to do it. Heh. Like "We have to get this out before 2010!".

The set begins with the Music Collection on Disc One with the Song Collection on Disc Two. Once again this soundtrack was done by Michiaki Watanabe. He was in charge of practically every non-Rider Toei show for a pretty long stretch of time. So what's this set about?

DISC ONE

To start things off we get the Music Collection. Despite being the second reviewed Watanabe music collection in this blog, it actually pre-dates Spider-man by a year. It kinda shows even though I think a lot of Watanabe's work sounds like an enormous blob of similarity. I'm not sure if he had a larger budget to work with on Spider-man, but there is a marked difference. Maybe the Eccentric Sound Of Spider-man was eccentric afterall...

That said there isn't anything wrong with this music collection. It just suffers from sounding like everything else. Like if someone were to play three untitled Watanabe tracks and have me try to identify the series...I would probably be able to name anything non-17 related. This is just too forgettable to identify.

Both theme songs are represented on this disc in TV Size and TV Size Karaoke forms.

DISC TWO

I talked about the Song Collection previously on my review of the Superhero Chronicle 1970s & 1980s CD Sets. As I said there, the Song Collection is mostly just Ichiro Mizuki and early-ish Koorogi '73. The theme songs are excellent and the rest of the songs are pretty good too. The vocal collection takes up tracks 1~10 with Karaoke versions of some of the songs taking up 11~16.

Tracks 17~21 are leftover BGM titled "Music Collection 2". Nothing outwardly exciting here.

Set Overall: Unless you were a big fan of Daitetsujin 17, Ichiro Mizuki, or Karaoke...I would skip this one.

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Seiun Kamen Machineman Song & Music Collection
COCX-39010-1
2015.03.06

While this might be the last CD in this entry, this is the first one I'm writing about. I've listened to this set about three times since I received it on its release date (Amazon Japan will get it to you on time!) and am thoroughly impressed.

I was never really a big fan of the series, but I really enjoyed a lot of the music that I heard. As I mentioned in my last CD Collection post, the Song Collection has been available on CD for several years. In short, the Song Collection is very good--especially if you like MoJo.

The Music Collection, on the other hand, has only been available on Vinyl for the past thirty years. It was always this elusive thing to me since I don't download mp3s and I try not to buy too much in the way of vinyl. I've been ragging on Columbia for years to release the Machineman Music Collection under their ANIMEX1200 CD line...and boy am I glad they didn't.

This set...is amazing! Again, not even really a fan of the show. Just the content of this set and it's execution are perfect. This is the standard that all future Columbia releases should aspire to meet. Both discs are stuffed to the gills with 80 minutes of content a piece. Everything I was hoping for AND MORE was included. I mean, I blindly preordered this set on the second of January...and they didn't release the tracklist until almost March. I had no idea what the content was going to be...and they exceeded everything I could hope for.

Here is what we got...

DISC ONE

The first disc is the song collection. Tracks 1~6, 8~10 are the same songs that appeared on the Superhero Chronicle Set. Track 7 is the instrumental song called Fighting Explosion which, ofcourse, was only available on vinyl prior to this. Tracks 11~19 are Karaoke versions of all vocal songs (1~6, 8~10). Track 20 and 21 are TV Size Karaoke versions of the theme songs. Track 22 is the Off-Chorus version of the Opening theme song (MoJo minus the child choir backing vocals). Track 23 is the Off-Chorus version of Ball Boy's song (Machiko Soga minus the kids). Track 24 is the TV Size version of the excellent IN Song Denko Action Machineman...

Last but not least, Track 25 is the 2015 version of the opening theme song with MoJo returning on vocals. This is the track that had many fans curious early on since it was one of the few solid details released about this CD when preorders opened in January. In all honesty, I was really curious to see if they were going to do a sloppy modernization with a tired sounding MoJo. Rest assured...MoJo returns in top form to sing a slightly more soulful version of the original Machineman theme song that we all know and love. It is exactly as-titled...a new recording of the same old song. It's very clean sounding with a few new subtle elements tossed in.

MoJo approved! It's funny that he wrote this after I pre-ordered it.

So if you were expecting a new version like they did with the Kamen Rider Super 1 themes in 2011, you might be disappointed. I actually enjoy the 2015 version of the Machineman song quite a bit.

Disc One Overall: Again...this disc was absolutely PACKED with glorious newly unearthed content. The Karaoke, the off-chorus versions, the TV Size Karaoke versions...Wow! We're only half way through the set and I'm blown away!

DISC TWO

With the song collection out of the way, it's time to move on to what many fans will consider the main event--the music collection! To make things even more unique, this Music Collection is composed by Yuji Ohno...someone I'm really not familiar with at all. In all fairness to me, this is his lone (as far as I can tell) credit as composer to a Tokusatsu series. This kinda lends to the freshness in sound to the Music Collection in general. I am going to say something that will get me jumped by a lot of people.

Ready?

I can only take so much Michiaki Watanabe and Shunsuke Kikuchi. Credit where credit is due, they laid a fantastic foundation of solid Tokusatsu soundtracks...but they were starting to sound tired and dated by the 80s. They still did good work, but time kinda passed them by in my opinion. By the time Jiban rolled around, Watanabe was mercilessly ripping off his own music three times over while Kikuchi was still adding chimes to everything in Super 1 (OK, OK...he did great work in Dragonball and Dragonball Z...he felt at home on that show).

This soundtrack is gold to my ears. For a third-banana Toei show in 1984, it easily had the best soundtrack. Shaider was just a mess of Fushigi Song variations while Bioman didn't have too much beyond instrumental versions and variations of the vocal songs. Machineman is a complete soundtrack. It's a little bit on the laid-back side, but does have a good deal of action and upbeat music with plenty of glorious bass. This is the perfect soundtrack for the time. Yuji Ohno nailed it. I'm just baffled as to why this music has been locked up for so long...it's just a great set.

I should also mention that the TV Size versions of the themes are here as well as instrumental versions of both. This is back when TV size versions were not edited down versions of the full size, but recorded separately (I wouldn't be surprised if Machineman was one of, if not the last to do it this way). Machineman is a special case because the very beginning of the OP had this awesome little bass part that led into the song proper while the TV Size ED had a unique ending to it. Nice to say that both are represented properly here. Oh yes, and all Subtitles, Eyecatches, incidental music are included. They really went all out!

So the content is good...how about the quality? Well, if you have heard any of the soundtracks to the Uchuu Keiji shows, you know the quality of the sound. It still sounds great with headphones, but you'll definitely hear things like background noise and an ever-present loud hum during quiet spots. They didn't really have the future in mind when they were recording these soundtracks in MONO for TV shows that were going to be broadcast in MONO. Again, if you listen to as much old music as I do, you're used to this.

Disc Two Overall: Superb. Really, this is a fantastic Music collection.

Set Overall: It took them entirely too long, but Toei has finally put together the perfect CD set. I really hope they keep up the amazing work on future releases. If you're a fan of Machineman or 80s Soundtracks I can't recommend this set enough. I'm totally against downloading...and this time I really mean it. Buy the set. Let Columbia know that they're finally doing us fans right so that we can get more fantastic music releases like this. They definitely spent the time and truly earned the money they charged this time around.

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I managed to write quite a bit about five measly CDs. Next time for my CD Collection posts, I plan on writing about all of the Ohranger CDs I could get my hands on...and then some. Remember the whole Kyoko Sound Laboratory fiasco? Well, I'll be covering that once again along with some oddball IN songs by Namie Amuro and TRF. Expect to see that sometime in April or May.

In the meantime, check out my CD Collection/Article page! An update should be coming soon enough!

See You Again...

-CC

Jukou B-Fighter & Choriki Sentai Ohranger Movies Reviewed!

We are living in the future.

It has been 20 years since my favorite year of Tokusatsu movies. In 1995 we were treated to the third straight Toei Hero Fair triple-header with new Sentai (Ohranger), Metal Hero (B-Fighter) and Kamen Rider (Hakaider) movies! Now that sufficient time has passed, it is time for me to take matters into my own hands and write brief reviews of two of the three movies. Why two? I wrote a brief review of Hakaider a couple years back in the second half of my blog about the travesty known as Forte Music Entertainment.

How about we start with Jukou B-Fighter The Movie.

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Jukou B-Fighter The Movie

The film opens with Takuya (Blue Beet), Daisaku (G-Stag), and Rei (Reddle) shopping. Almost immediately Rei is abducted by a driverless black BMW. Takuya and Daisaku give chase on their motorcycles and attempt to stop the vehicle as it rapidly approaches a man dressed in all black on the street. The three are suddenly transported to a far away wasteland where they are all seperated. Rei is attacked by the same mysterious man from before but is saved by Daisaku. Both end up getting captured and having their B Commanders stolen.

Takuya is confronted by the mysterious man, now revealed to be Drago, an insect warrior, who has no recollection of his past. The two have a brief fight as Jamahl sends their monster Hellsgyra to attack the already trapped Daisaku and Rei.

Drago. Not THAT Drago...

Hellsgyra. The most generic name/costume we had laying around.

After fighting for a little while, Drago regains his memory and decides to help. Now as a team, the B-Fighters are ready to take on Hellsgyra, but not before they are forced to fight off a wave of Jamahl Fighters. They summon their Beet Machines for a brief fight against the Jamahl Fighters.

Enjoy four whole minutes of stock footage.

Once they defeat the Jamahl Fighters, they take on Hellsgyra as a team and are able to defeat him after a pretty intense battle.

If B-Fighter did one thing right, it was looking awesome.

After defeating Hellsgyra, Drago thanks the B-Fighters for all that they've done before flying off into the sunset.

What is it with the B-Fighters always ending up on tall buildings/cliffs/hills/etc.?

One of us will be written off in a few episodes after a on-set mishap.

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Before I get into the movie itself, I should probably talk a little bit about B-Fighter.

The show itself isn't all that spectacular. In fact, Metal Hero shows in general have this certain deadness to them that doesn't really exist in their Super Sentai counterparts from the same year. While they certainly played with the Metal Hero formula in later years, they never seemed to get the shows on the same wavelength as Super Sentai. B-Fighter, which is probably the closest the genre got to being a full blown Sentai Series, is no exception.

That said, B-Fighter has some amazing suits, music (even if a lot of it is recycled from previous Eiji Kawamura composed shows), and gadgets. This has always made it one of my favorite soundtracks and toylines...but the series itself is...meh. 

So how does the movie stack up?

In all honestly, the movie is fantastic. It didn't have much in the way of B-Fighter specific plot which totally works in its favor. The generic plot lead to them relying heavily on strong visuals and action. I imagine this movie would give a viewer reason to check out the series if they saw it during the Toei Hero Fair '95. It's really nothing more than extremely well-done action with some great editing.

Highly recommended. Just don't expect the series to live up the movie. It's alright, but the movie is honestly my favorite part of the series.

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Choriki Sentai Ohranger The Movie

1975-1995. Not this idiotic series counting that they do these days.

The movie begins with Buldont and Acha scouting the location for his film studio (Buldont Studio) and the film The Century of Baranoia that he is preparing to make. Camera Trick is dispatched to kidnap unwilling participants in the film.

Buldont Quarry Studio

Camera Jack. Baranoia had a drone before it was cool.

After a string of disappearances, Goro (Ohred) and Juri (Ohyellow) are sent to investigate. They discover that Acha is distributing flyers from a plane to recruit cast for the film. They also encounter Camera Trick after it kidnaps a girl reading the flyer. The two give chase, but are intercepted by a malfunctioning Barlo Soldier. 

The group of kidnapped kids are greeted by Locker Knight then led into Buldont Studio and shown around the bizarre soundstage where Acha introduces himself as Producer. They are given "Artificial Reality" goggles and are lead on a virtual train ride where they meet with Neko Signal.

Locker Knight on his soon-to-be-jacked horse

The now-familiar Toei soundstage

Neko Signal. What the hell were they smoking to come up with this?

Goro and Juri meet up with Shohei (Ohgreen), Yuji (Ohblue), and Momo (Ohpink) who are waiting for them just outside of Buldont Studio. They break into the studio in their groups just as the kidnapped kids are lead away on a bus. Once on the soundstage Shohei, Yuji, and Momo are attacked by Kabochumpkin while Goro and Juri fight Neko Signal and Jagchuck. After their brief seperate fights, all three monsters vanish forcing the now rejoined Ohrangers to travel through a mysterious portal to a battlefield.

Kabochumpkin. Note the horse's ass. Yes, he came out of that.

Jagchuck...

Jagchuck has a problem...

Once on the field they chase after the runaway bus with the kids, on horseback, after their driver is accidently shot. They manage to save the kids just in time before the bus explodes. They then try to escape, but are trapped on a suspension bridge which predictably breaks, causing the Ohrangers to fall and the kids to get kidnapped by Baranoia once again.

Honestly they probably do have more horsepower than that bus.

Bus goes boom following a fender bender.

'The bridge is out!' in this never before seen Tokusatsu trope.

The Ohrangers make it back to the battlefield where they discover that the masked grunts that the Barlo Soldiers have been fighting are really kidnapped people. The kidnapped kids are set up for execution but are saved by the Ohrangers just in time. After fighting off the Barlo Soldiers, they stun Locker Knight, Neko Signal, Kabochumpkin, and Jagchuck with a shot from the Big Bang Buster.

BARANOIA! -Goro [He has a special way of saying it]

Ohle! 

 Alright, this pose is pretty awesome.

All four monster combine into the gigantic Steampunk, which once again kidnaps the kids. Ohrangerrobo is summoned and the two begin fighting. Ohred enters Steampunk and retrieves the kids for the final time. Steampunk now transforms into a locomotive form to attempt to evade Ohrangerrobo. Ohrangerrobo does the Crown Final Crash while Steampunk is crossing a bridge which destroys the bridge and causes Steampunk to fall to his explosive death. Buldont, Acha, and Kocha abandon the studio and flee Earth.

 Floating over the trees.

 Kids recovered for the 987th and final time this movie.

Screw you, taxpayer! 

Ohrangerrobo let gravity take care of this one...

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A little bit about Ohranger before I talk about the movie...

Ohranger is a series I never fully got into. It's an alright show in retrospect, and I like many of the elements, but at the time I think I was just riding a Dairanger and Kakuranger high that left me kinda unimpressed with a show that is a little bit all over the place not long after it started. I have always said, however, that the first episode of Ohranger is one of the finest debut episodes for any Super Sentai Series. Even if you have no intention on watching the entire series of Ohranger, I highly recommend checking out the first episode. It's incredibly solid. The series as a whole, though...it's alright I suppose.

The movie, on the other hand, is a completely different animal.

The Ohranger Movie is possibly the most crazy bananas Tokusatsu feature ever made. I know that's a pretty bold statement, but this movie is just on a whole 'nother level of crazy. I mean even with the really long summary I typed, I left quite a bit out. There are just some really super-absurd moments peppered throughout the film. One of which I took a screencap of...

Those dolls......*shudder*

As the guitar carrying kidnapped human removes the legs from the creepy doll, you can see various props of Sentai series past discarded in the background. Chief of which is the Kiryoku Bazooka from Dairanger. You can also see some weapons from Zyuranger monsters laying around. Why are they there? Well, since this movie takes place at a studio they just filmed outside of their own studio. If you've ever watched that 2-hour Youtube video made during the first half of Dairanger, the setting will be familiar. Toei's lot is littered with discarded props as small as helmets and going all the way up to motorcycles. It's a sad sight to see a lot of awesome props laid to waste, but I guess it was nice seeing some of them one last time during the Ohranger movie.

Whoops, I sure did get off topic...

On top of being straight up weird, it is delightfully entertaining. There are plenty of little skirmishes throughout and, despite it's extended runtime, never a dull moment. Like the B-Fighter movie, this is just a solid feature that doesn't really reflect on the series itself. It has a pretty self-contained plot that relies on being a little more tongue-in-cheek over being super generic. After all, this is the Sentai 20th Anniversary movie. The little bits of pulling back of the curtain were certainly intentional. The behind-the-scenes bits were meant to be a love letter to longtime fans.

The flyer that Acha was dropping from the plane. 

Ohranger dialogue was so predictable it was probably also in the script. 

He even did up some storyboards. 

The movie within the movie was even shot silently. So they had to go back and dub their lines?

I should also mention that the end credits sequence is a rollcall inside Camera Jack's lens of every character that appeared in the film shown during a lively performance of "When The Saints Go Marching In". Why? Who knows, it just adds to the wackiness. 

This movie is a totally recommended watch even if you have no intention on check out Ohranger. It is definitely a dedicated film rather than a slightly longer episode that was too weak to show on TV like the usual Sentai movie. It's also easily a better film than Ohranger vs Kakuranger. So be sure to check this one out and try to make sense of it for yourself.

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Toei really outdid themselves this year with three solid movies. We had the flashy concept film (Hakaider), the pure action film (B-Fighter) and the outlandish fun movie (Ohranger). For the first time we had an awesome year at the Toei Hero Fair...and how did they top it? They didn't. This was the last one. After this the Sentai movies were relegated to V-Cinema, J's stink killed off Rider until Kuuga came along and Metal Hero's decline sealed it's fate. 

Toei Hero Fair '95 will go down in history as my favorite batch of Tokusatsu films and the ones I can't recommend enough. Seriously, you should check these movies out if you haven't already.

-CC

The Megaranger Secret Message Challenge...Decoded!

Two years ago I posted a secret message to Youtube over the course of two videos. I pretty much forgot about it until I got a note from Youtube that one of the videos has gotten a substantial bump in views recently. When I first posted those videos, I made a blog post about what I was doing and why I was doing it. I recommend reading it since it would save us all some time.

Now...I will reveal the secret message...

If you watched the videos in order, the super sleuth would have noticed that the CC Lemon card at the end features Megaranger Eyecatch B on the Cyberslider video, which was the first to be uploaded. I made it clear that the secret message was in two parts and to throw a curve ball I put the second half of the message up first, in the Cyberslider video. The numbers are as follows...

| 9-0-1-8-0 |

| 0-0-1-2-2 | 5-5-1-8-0 | 0-2-1-9-5 |1-8-5-0-0 | 2-2-5-4-7 | 0-5-0-1-9 | 2-5-3-5-4 | 3-9-4-9-0 | 7-1-3-5-0 | 5-2-5-8-0 |

The next week my video of the Popynica Degitank was uploaded, which contained the first half of the message after the review and Eyecatch A played. The numbers from that video are...

| 1-2-0-1-2 |

| 0-0-0-1-1 | 2-1-2-1-0 | 0-0-0-1-0 | 0-1-0-0-0 | 0-1-1-1-0 | 2-1-0-2-1 | 1-0-1-1-1 | 2-0-1-1-0 | 0-0-1-0-0 | 1-2-0-1-0 |

Combine the two messages and it will look something like this...

| 19-20-01-18-20 |

| 00-00-01-12-12 | 25-15-21-18-00| 00-02-01-19-05 | 01-18-05-00-00 | 02-12-15-14-07 | 20-15-00-21-19 | 12-05-13-15-14 | 23-09-14-19-00 |07-01-13-05-00 | 15-22-05-18-00 |

If you give each letter from the alphabet a number based on their order (01 = A, 02 = B, etc.) and put them in order, you'll be able to decode my message.

S-T-A-R-T

| _-_-A-L-L | Y-O-U-R-_ | _-B-A-S-E | A-R-E-_-_ | B-L-O-N-G | T-O-_-U-S | L-E-M-O-N | W-I-N-S-_ | G-A-M-E-_ | O-V-E-R-_ |

That's right! The message is...

START

ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US. LEMON WINS. GAME OVER.

It's a pretty stupid joke, yes, but I think numbers stations are endlessly fascinating and something about the Degitaizer with it's creepy robot voice inspired me to be a little creative even though I was only really entertaining myself. I did cheat a tiny bit, however, since the Megaranger theme song comes from the Keitaizer and not the Degitaizer.

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So did anyone solve the code? After many, many hints this guy did.

Thousands of views later and all but one realize how dire the situation is...

You have no chance to survive make your time.

-CC

The CD Collection -- Superhero Chronicle Tokusatsu Hero 1970s & 1980s

Welcome to the latest installment of my ongoing series of blogs about my absurdly large Tokusatsu CD collection. This time I will be talking about, for the first time I believe, some CDs from the Superhero Chronicle series of CDs. In short, Columbia released all of the songs they could find from Sentai, Ultraman, Kamen Rider, and Metal Hero 3-discs at a time. Those ones didn't really interest me since I have all of those songs from various other CDs. These 70s and 80s Hero sets that they put out, however, had some genuine gems.

Since there are NINE CDs to talk about covering several shows...I might as well get into this as quickly as possible. Just remember, each show is represented by the full sized theme songs as well as any insert/image songs that were created.

Let's Go!!

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COCX-32788-90 Superhero Chronicle Tokusatsu Hero Shudaika Sonyuuka Daizenshuu I 1970s

DISC 1

Uchuenjin Gori [1~2] We kick things off with one of the most lyrically barebones opening themes ever. It really sets the framework for future theme songs from Godman and Greenman. Heh. Atleast the ending song is a little more absurd and memorable.

Spectreman [3~4] The Spectreman theme song proper is better than the opening from Uchuenjin Gori. The ending song also contains a fair bit of sound effects and weirdness, but kinda feels like the first of many ripoffs of the Ultraman theme song.

Suki! Suki! Majo Sensei [5~6] I'm all about the theme song to this show. It's incredbly sweet and done by a very young Mitsuko Horie in her first of many Tokusatsu theme song appearances. She also sings the ending song...which is a bit sleepy to be honest.

Mirrorman [7~10] Here comes the Ultraman sound alikes. Not entirely surprising, though, since Tsuburaya also produced Mirrorman. The SGM song is shockingly similar to many Ultraman songs. Yeah...kinda worn out here since this show is from 1971...and Ultraman and his music had been around for five years at this point.

Kaiketsu Lionmaru [11~16] This show has the first solid song collection on this set. The theme songs are very tight with some excellent instrumentals. In addition to Mitsuko Horie singing a song, Masato Shimon makes his first of many appearances in this collection.

Chojin Barom 1 [17~19] Ichiro Mizuki's first appearance in this collection and one of his finest. When it comes to classic 70s Tokusatsu themes this one is way up there. The ending song is almost as good, but a little more on the generic side with some similarities with the Kamen Rider V3 theme of all things (Barom 1 was first, BTW). Oh yeah, there is also a Christmas song. Why not?

Redman [20~21] The opening theme is a little dull. The ending theme is a lot dull. Have I ever mentioned that I'm not much of a fan of Masato Shimon?

Henshin Ninja Arashi [22~23] Another excellent and memorable theme song by Ichiro Mizuki. The ending song is a bit more generic.

DISC 2

Triple Fighter [1~3] Disc two begins with three very bland songs headed up by a bland theme song by the bland Masato Shimon.

Kinkyu Shirei 10-4 10-10 [4~5] These songs are pretty good. There isn't much to say about them outside of them being a little bit on the generic side. Atleast they're kinda upbeat-mellow.

Jinzoningen Kikaider [6~19] Not a fan. I don't really like Kikaider or the songs from it...and there are a lot of them. Now, because I DO have a soul...I have to admit that Hakaider's theme is pretty awesome.

Ike! Godman [20~21] As I mentioned before on the theme song from Uchuenjin Gori, this theme song is incredibly repetative. It is 85% "Oi! Godman!" and "S.O.S.!". Seriously...it's woefully bad. Atleast Ichiro Mizuki sings these themes. He does his best to save both of them, but they're both pretty bad. How did Toho let this happen?

Totsugeki Hyuman [22~23] I've always been a fan of the theme song. The ending song is pretty weak, though.

DISC 3

Iron King [1~2] The themes are pretty decent. Masato Shimon sings both.

Fireman [3~6] Now we're talking. The opening theme is definitely one of my favorites from the 70s. The horns are amazing and Masato Shimon does a great job. The rest of the songs are kinda forgettable...but the opening theme built up enough goodwill for the series.

Majin Hunter Mitsurugi [7~8] I dig these songs, but they're more on the forgettable side.

Jumborg Ace [9~12] Another Tsuburaya show with more rejected Ultraman songs. They were really getting desperate with the PAT theme.

Ryusei Ningen Zone [13~16] Or as it is more commonly known...Zone Fighter. Zone Fighter is Toho throwing their hat into the ring in this whole Henshin Hero business. In order to ensure it would be memorable they threw Godzilla into the mix. Anyway...the songs. They're pretty good. Toho definitely put some money into the production of these songs. They could have gotten some better singers, though.

Shirojishi Kamen [17~18] Not even Ichiro Mizuki could save the opening. The ending song is borderline irritating.

Robot Keiji [19~22] Again, not even Ichiro Mizuki could save the songs from this series. They aren't bad or anything, just bland.

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SET SUMMARY: Well, there are quite a few memorable songs from some big name series on this set. When half of the content can be called "forgettable", that can be a problem. One could argue that everything sounds the same on this set, and I wouldn't hold it against them. Believe it or not but all of the shows represented on these three CDs aired between 1971 and 1973. All of these in two years. Should you give it a listen? Yes. It is essential listening if you think you'll enjoy travelling through the formative decade of Tokusatsu on television.

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COCX-32854-56 Superhero Chronicle Tokusatsu Hero Shudaika Sonyuuka Daizenshuu II 1970s

DISC 1

Fuun Lionmaru [1~4] More like Feeh Lionmaru. The Kaiketsu Lionmaru songs are much better. That said, there is a decent IN song by Mitsuko Horie and the ending song is pretty catchy.

Kikaider 01 [5~6] Again, not a fan of Kikaider or it's sequel...or reboot...(I liked the anime series from 2000 though. Being animated really lent to the story IMO). Yeah, two lame theme songs by Masato Shimon is all we got this time instead of the 823 songs the original series had.

Super Robot Red Baron [7~12] I've always liked the Red Baron theme which, unfortunitely, ended up completely overshadowed by the theme from it's sequel. More on that later. Anyway, the rest of the songs are pretty good and upbeat.

Inazuman [13~14] Masato Shimon sings the opening theme. As I mentioned on the previous set, I'm not really a fan of him...though he did put out a good song every once in awhile. This isn't one of them. For having such an cool suit AND name, you should have a killer theme song too. The ending song by Ichiro Mizuki is decent atleast.

Tetsujin Tiger Seven [15~16] Boring...and similar.

Ike! Greenman [17~19] On the last set I mentioned that there were some songs with some alarming repetativeness. This is the pinnacle. "Green Green Green Green Green Green Green Green Greenman! (Yeah!)". Actual lyrics. There are two other songs...but who cares about them when you have a so-bad-its-good opening theme song like that.

Denjin Zaborger [20~21] A rather generic set of theme songs by Masato Shimon.

DISC 2

Inazuman Flash [1~11] The sequel to Inazuman certainly got a much more memorable theme song than the original. The rest of the songs are pretty much done by Ichiro Mizuki and Koorogi '73. It's a pretty decent song collection which I would say has a similar sound to the Goranger song collection. Also worth noting that this is probably the closest release to '73 as Koorogi '73 got as these songs were done in early/mid 1974.

Inazuman [12] Another version of the original Inazuman theme song. This version is definitely better.

Saru no Gundan [13~14] I like the opening because it manages to be groovy and creepy. The ending is just sleepy, though.

Super Robot Mach Baron [15~16] The Mach Baron theme is up there as one of my all time favorite Tokusatsu theme songs. The guitar is nonstop and the beat is just catchy as hell. Even the ending song is great in all it's mellowness.

Ike! Ushiwaka Kotaro [17~18] Not bad. I prefer the groovy ending song, though.

Bouken Rockbat [19~20] Ehhh, these songs are a mix of goofy and bland.

Seigi no Symbol Condorman [21~22] Great way to end this disc. The Condorman theme song is excellent and incredibly catchy while managing to stand out quite well for it's time. The ending song is just...weird, though.

DISC 3

Shonen Tanteidan [1~4] These songs don't really leave much of an impression on my ears. They're all by Ichiro Mizuki.

Akumaizer 3 [5~11] You've probably heard the opening song to this one so I'll skip the part where I talk about how great it is. This is a short song collection featuring mostly songs by Ichiro Mizuki. It fits in well with the mid 70s.

Uchuu Tetsujin Kyodain [12~18] Finally...Finally! At long last we have Isao Sasaki on this collection! He sings all but two of the songs in this short song collection. Mitsuko Horie also sings a song here. All of the songs are pretty good.

The Kagestar [19~22] Three songs by Ichiro Mizuki. The opening theme, ending theme and first IN song are pretty upbeat while the second IN song is nice and mellow.

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SET SUMMARY: I would say that this set is where things get a little better for Tokusatsu songs. There are less shows and more mini song collections. There are also a lot more memorable themes and songs in general. The timespan for these series goes from 1973-1976 and there is noticeable growth throughout the set.

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COCX-32887-89 Superhero Chronicle Tokusatsu Hero Shudaika Sonyuuka Daizenshuu III 1970s & 1980s

DISC 1

-Ninja Captor [1~6] I hate Ninja Captor. It is not the forgotten Sentai. It never was a Sentai series. It never will be a Sentai series. Just stop. I hate the OP. I don't like any of the other songs. I didn't care for the two episodes I saw. Let it go.

-Chojin Bibyun [7~8] Pretty solid theme songs. Isao Sasaki has the rare distinction of never really phoning it in.

-Kyoryu Tankentai Born Free [9~10] Nothing much to say about these. If you like name-checking dinosaurs, you might like these. *shrug*

-Enban Senso Bankid [11~16] Now we're talking! I love the songs from this series. The OP is pretty awesome. I would say that the songs from this show match the costumes pretty accurately.

-ProWrestle Hoshi Astekaiser [17~18] Don't let the.....awesome name fool you, these songs are pretty average compared to a lot of upbeat theme songs of the era. Actually, I take that back. Masato Shimon wasn't really the right choice for this one. It would've been alright in pretty much anyone else's hands. I do like that the theme song is called "C'mon! Astekaiser".

-Battle Hawk [19~20] Alright I guess. Meh. More average. I will say that the folksy-vibed ending song is definitely the better of the two.

-Kaiketsu Zubat [21~23] Just when you think this disc was going to end without any memorable shows...bam! Zubat! I love the Zubat theme songs. I can kinda do without the IN song, but I know this is a favorite of a lot of people. I've never been a huge fan of Hiroshi Miyauchi's singing...oh well. Atleast we got that rockin' Zubat theme one more time! Really, I would even say that the Zubat OP song is a strong contender for the best Tokusatsu theme song of the 70s. Future Top 7...?

DISC 2

-Kyoryu Daisenso Aizenborg [1~2] More Dinosaurs. More dinosaur name-checking...this time a little more obvious. Eh, nothing great here.

-Daitetsujin 17 [3~12] Remember how I said the Zubat theme was a strong contender for the top 70s theme song? Daitetsujin 17 is another strong contender. Right from the beginning, this song wins. The rest of the songs are pretty decent, it has a structure similar to Sentai and Rider song collections from the 70s. It's entirely Ichiro Mizuki and Koorogi '73 back when '73 wasn't that long ago.

Expect more on Daitetsujin 17 later when I review the 2-Disc Music Collection.

-Star Wolf [13~14] I looooove the Star Wolf OP. It's like a bigger sounding versions of "Let's Go!! Rider Kick!". The Ending song is also pretty damn cool, but the OP is where it's at.

-UFO Daisenso Tatakae! Red Tiger [15~17] I have to say, once this CD got over those damn Dinosaur songs that it started off with, it really got rolling. These songs are done by Isao Sasaki, so ofcourse they're tight.

-Spider-Man [18~19] I reaaaaaally don't like the theme song from this show. In terms of memorable theme songs from the 70s, this one IS, but for all the wrong reasons. It's as sloppy as the awful Ninja Captor OP, but has the stink of being the theme for your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Why couldn't they give Spider-Man the Zubat theme and let Hiroshi Miyauchi just belt out a V3 soundalike? Maybe it wouldn't scare off the average nerd who is curious about the one time the hottest Marvel property landed in Toei's lap. Oh well. I know some people actually like the songs from this adaptation, so I better can it.

Like with Daitetsujin 17 I have the seperate Music CD for Spider-man...so expect me to talk about this some more.

-Kyoryu Sentai Koseidon [20~21] Koseidon! Koseidon! Densetsu no senshi-tachi yo! Alright alright, that didn't happen... Despite these two songs being by Ichiro Mizuki, they aren't all that great. The ending is average and the OP is decent.

DISC 3

-Uchuu kara no Message [1~2] Ah yes, the glorious Ishinomori Star Wars ripoff. These songs are alright. Isao Sasaki on the first, so it isn't much of a surprise. The instrumental song is a nice groove.

-Gunbaron [3~4] "Gunbaron '77" is one of the funkiest theme songs ever. I love it. It was a very brave choice going with it when a lot of the other songs were all kinda similar. The ending is a bit more down to Earth, but makes good use of the "Gunbaron!" chants.

-Megaloman [5~6] Again, another friggin awesome opening song here with Megaloman. It starts off like it's going to be a knockoff of the Spider-Man OP, but it's so much more. That crazy guitar, the frantic bass...I love this OP. The ending song is a bit of a funk ballad, but not bad. Ichiro Mizuki on both songs.

-Bokura Yakyuu Tanteidan [7~8] Of the two songs the ending song, "I'm DANDY", is a little bit stronger but they're both pretty damn awesome. They're both pretty catchy. If you walk around saying "I am DANDY!" with the same conviction as the singer of Novela...you might find yourself under a giant net being dragged away by two guys dressed in white.

-Seiun Kamen Machineman [9~17] I've long been a fan of MoJo and the Machineman songs...and it was a long time in the making for us to finally get them all in good quality. In fact, this is the first CD release of ALL of the Machineman songs. A handful of them were released on a 4-Disc Compilation (more on that later), but for several years all we had was vinyl. Oh yes, there is even a song from Machiko Soga as Ballboy on here. I like the actress, but her songs tend to be...ugh. I almost prefer these songs over the Bioman songs. They're just a tad more slick...think of this really as the second Dynaman song collection.

One of the big reasons I decided to write this blog as my first blog of February is that, well, my pleading has finally been acknowledged! After years of wondering aloud why Columbia skipped Machineman in their ANIMEX1200 series of digitally remastered reissues, they did us one better. We are getting a 2-Disc Song & Music Collection for Machineman! They even got MoJo back to record a new version of the OP! I preordered it immediately. Expect a review soon!

-Kyodai Ken Bycrosser [18~21] Similar to the Machineman songs, the Bycrosser songs are truly forgotten gems of the 80s. I love all four songs, but the theme songs are definitely the more memorable of the four. My pleading for a CD of Machineman music usually included a plea for Bycrosser...hopefully that's next on the list after the Machineman set comes out.

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SET SUMMARY: Of the three sets...hands down this is my favorite. It has the most variety. It has a longer timeframe with shows from 1976-1985. It has the widest range of musical styles. Most importantly it has the most amount of memorable songs. You have Ninja Captor, Bankid, Zubat, Spider-man, Daitetsujin 17, Megaloman, Machineman, and Bycrosser all on one set. This is when Tokusatsu songs started ditching those lousy march anthem songs and legit started getting good.

My only complaint about this set is that it is kinda missing some stuff. A year before this set came out, there was a four disc set of songs from various Tokusatsu shows. That set was a little more liberal in it's content since it didn't stick with just the 70s and 80s and didn't limit itself to Henshin/Giant Heroes as the sets I've reviewed here have. The previous set included songs from shows such as X Bomber, Tanzer 5, and the Japanese dub of Terrahawks. Those shows haven't had their themes released on CD since and this set was very limited. Not only that...all of those songs are excellent (I especially like the Terrahawks themes)! It sucks that they didn't fit the guidelines for the Superhero Chronicle sets, but atleast a friend of mine was able to supply these songs to me since there was no way I was tracking down that set. Yes, I have limits.

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Well, there you have it. Nine CDs...reviewed. I plan on doing a review of the Heroine & Fantasy Superhero Chronicle along with the Robot Comedy set in the near future (took pictures already, so I guess it's next-ish if I don't review that Machineman set). Be sure to check out my CD/Music Page for more reading on other CDs that I've written about.

See ya!

-CC