Older...wiser...?

Apologies in advance. I don't have a lot to say right now. I'm currently writing this from my phone, so it's going to be brief.

I managed to add about six months worth of videos to my video schedule. The list is pretty solid. I genuinely considered running it until June, but I find it's always best to leave some slack at the end in case something crazy pops up in the next few months. Some people seem to not be able to find it, so here is a helpful little picture...

There is some pretty good stuff there and I highly recommend taking a minute to scroll through. It's a pretty set list...so I wouldn't expect too many changes over time since January has always been Sidearm Month (this is the third annual Sidearm Month) and February will be my third or fourth Carranger Month. I am really looking forward to the DeLorean review since it took the manufacturer four years to make it from start to finish. This just might be the first DeLorean worth owning...

Oh yes, and December is blacked out. I definitely have those videos figured out...but I want to keep *some* things a surprise. They will probably be revealed in the days leading up to each video. So be sure to check back during the weeks of December. If you do some dectective work...one of the videos should be an easy one to guess.

Recently had a birthday. Didn't get anything new in the way of Tokusatsu stuff, but I am excited for my early copy of Shout Factory's Dairanger DVD set sometime in October. When you get old enough, you buy all of your own gifts...nothing really struck me this year since the current shows are lame and there isn't too much recent excitement from Bandai. Oh well.

That's really it. Sorry I don't have anything profound to say. I will return soon with one of the half finished blogs I have written.

Bye now...

-CC

Toy Story: Prism Flash! (Both Of Them!)

You might remember some time ago when I told the story about how I acquired my Masking Brace from Maskman. It is probably the biggest score in my toy collection...especially since I paid a fraction of the 1,000USD price tag that one in comparable condition seems to command these days. There have been plenty of exciting purchases since then that I'll probably write about, but I was on a serious roll between 2003 and 2007 while I was building up my collection. This week I will talk about the final stop before landing my Masking Brace in November of 2007...

Right around the same week that I started my Youtube channel I decided to treat myself to another elusive 80s Super Sentai Henshin Brace. Searching the back channels of Yahoo Japan Auctions is still a pretty good way to land a bargain on a more obscure toy if you're willing to be patient. This is one of those times where I was just beginning a search and almost immediately found a good deal. It was a "junk" lot of seemingly random Sentai toys from different eras. If I recall correctly it had toys from Bioman, Flashman, Turboranger, Gingaman, and Abaranger. The one I had my eye on was the Flashman toy...which was a boxed DX Prism Flash!

Now because I've won hundreds of auctions since then I can only remember ballpark figures on this one (that Masking Brace price will be etched in my head forever, though). The auction ended in late June of 2007 for a little bit under 100USD. Not bad for five toys, especially with the majority of them being from the 80s. Even though the auction was labeled "junk", the lousy photos did show a little bit of promise in the winnings. I was mostly concerned with the Prism Flash since that is all I was planning on keeping.

Before my junk lot could even reach my contact in Japan...a very clean Prism Flash showed up on auction. As a strong-minded adult with incredible will power I was able to walk away easily since I had already purchased said toy... ... ...is what I would be saying if I didn't buy the damn thing. This time around I paid a much heftier sum of around 150USD but did atleast have the peace of mind that I was getting a solid toy.

So I pretty much paid somewhere around 240USD for two of the same toy. Since I wasn't bidding on my own auctions at the time, I did have to fork over a bit more money to cover the hassle of taking care of my dirty work along with shipping, bank fees, etc. As I am usually never in a rush to get things from Japan, my September birthday (oh shit, would you look at the calendar??) was coming up by the time I actually had the toys on their way to me. My then-girlfriend/now-wife ended up coughing up the money for the nicer Prism Flash (this was pretty early in our relationship--unthinkable these days!) and I was only on the hook for the junk lot when it came time to pay off the credit card.

I didn't really get excited until the stuff was definitely on it's way to me. I was very curious to see what kind of condition the junk lot stuff was in. The Bioman toy, which was a strapless Techno Brace had a leaking screen like 80% of them (this was clear in the pics) but did come with complete packaging...which was a plus! The Turboranger toy, a Pladera Turborobo was unused with a small ding in the box's window. The Gingaman toy was an odd unopened set of out of scale figures by Yutaka (one was Gingaioh and the other was probably the only figure of Zahab ever released). The Abaranger set was a used, but good set of Abare Killer toys.

I'm happy to report that the junk lot Prism Flash was actually is quite good condition. It didn't include the battery or missiles (which can be replaced easily), but included the instructions and all-important cardboard insert tray. There was some minor paint wear on the toy itself, but the flash and missile function worked beautifully and the strap was very good. The packaging itself was even in pretty good shape with only some minor wear to it. Not museum quality, but based on the used-but-good condition this was definitely owned by the same type of junior collector kid that I was--which kinda adds its own charm to it. I'd like to think this toy ended up being worn to the playground on more than a few occasions and carefully tucked away in the box and shelved before bedtime.

The new Prism Flash was...just that. There are some very minor creases around window on the packaging but that's it. The missiles are all there as is the original battery. The Prism Flash itself is probably the cleanest of all of my 80s Henshin Braces. Something about the excellent detail and finish of this toy just makes a very clean one look even shinier in person when you get a solid example like this. It doesn't exactly put the other one to shame...but it definitely shines brighter.

I own doubles of a lot of toys, but I can't think of any other time I had them arrive at the same time. It really lead to an unintentional experiment to compare the two. Knowing what I know now...should I have just called it a day with the junk lot? Nah. The price gap between the two has definitely widened over time by hundreds of dollars, I mean that right there is a pretty good reason for my insanity.

As a little epilogue to this tale of exciting purchases...there is the matter of the rest of the junk lot. Over time I resold that stuff on both ebay and to friends. I reckon I was actually 20USD or so up at the end of the day.

To recap...I paid nothing for two DX Prism Flashes and got 20 dollars for my troubles. Not bad! I wish they could all be this way.

The whole gang...sitting on my original backdrop

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That might not have been the most exciting acquisition story, but I was definitely thrilled at the time. It was pretty much overshadowed by the Masking Brace when that came along a few months later, but there is nothing wrong with getting back-to-back wins.

Anyway... That's all for now. I've been having a very hard time recently--my schedule has been bananas. Apologies for the late and kinda rushed blog. The DVD review I had planned is kinda involved and requires quite a lot more effort for me to finish it. I'll get to it. Promise.

See ya!

-CC

The CD Collection -- Super Action Sound [1989-1992]

Welcome to yet another edition of my never-ending journey to catalog my Tokusatsu CD Collection. This week I'm going to take things light and review only four CDs. Why only four? Well...they only ran this series on CD between Turboranger and Zyuranger.

I suppose I should explain what a "Super Action Sound" is. Well...it's basically a large portion of the song collection mixed in with a fairly generic plot so that the entire album plays like an episode. Some of them feature background music also, and some of them don't. It was an interesting experiment that started long before Turboranger, actually. According to my CCLemon99 Hyper Database of Tokusatsu Music the very first one was released in late 1981 for Sunvulcan and released sporadically on vinyl and cassette until it finally made it's way to CD for Turboranger. I would love to get my hands on some of the earlier Sentai (and Metal Hero!) Super Action Sound albums...but they're practically non-existent at this point.

In any case, I'm here today to talk about the four that made it to CD. This is Super Action Sound for Super Sentai!

Also, sorry in advance about not giving too many plot details. If you want to know, listen for yourself. Be warned......the plots are pretty standard. You can rank these CDs among the blandest of filler episodes in terms of story.

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Kousoku Sentai Turboranger Super Action Sound
CC-3851
1989.09.21

This is the first of the Super Action Sound CDs and actually a pretty good place to start. It is one long 40 minute track loaded with the cast of Turboranger spliced in with ten of the eleven songs from the series.

It would have been nice if maybe there were a few less songs and some BGM and more dialogue shoehorned in. As is the case with all of these CDs, it is an excellent source of stereo sound effects and dialogue during a time when these shows only aired in MONO (if the show was lucky enough to have a movie, that was the only time we got stereo sound).

Since this isn't too much more than a dressed up version of the song collection, it really isn't too exciting. The cast sounds very good (especially Riki). Outside of this CD having some formatting problems, it's pretty good despite being a little shallow.

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Chikyu Sentai Fiveman Super Action Sound
COCC-6829
1990.10.01

There is a pretty big difference between this album and the Turboranger one. Instead of being one long track this one is divided into two, which is nice...since we're in the digital age and a 40 minute track is kinda absurd.

Content wise...this one does a much cleaner job of giving the feel of an episode. There are less vocal songs (eight including the themes) used and now some BGM included. There are a few problems, though. The BGM and sound effects sound very quiet compared to the dialogue and songs. Also...those friggin Fiveman dolls hog up a pretty large portion of this.

Of the four released on CD, this one is probably the hardest to come by. It's the last one I bought and was kinda expecting better. I didn't care for it much at first, but it's really not that bad. The Fiveman cast did a nice enough job with their voice acting...in fact, not having to look at Fumiya's extremely punchable mug is a huge plus. As a whole, this one isn't too bad, but forgettable.

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Chojin Sentai Jetman Super Action Sound
COCC-9068
1991.09.21

This CD...

It follows the Fiveman format while making some improvements on the sound levels. They also try out some vocal effects when necessary. The result is something a little more natural in the technical department...but...

That damn Jetman cast ruins it. I mean, I wrote about Jetman not once, but twice and came to the conclusion that the only good thing to come from it was a Famicom game. Nobody sounds particularly interested or invested in this disc. Well, maybe Gai and Maria come off as natural as there are in the show. Seriously, though, if you've heard this CD you know what I mean. The evil laugh from Radiguet sounds more like politely-laughing-at-your-crappy-joke laugh. Maybe without the visuals, it just shows how lame this cast was.

If you search for any Super Action Sound stuff for sale, this is likely to be the first CD you'll find. It seems to be the most common and cheapest. I've had this CD since my early days of collecting Tokusatsu CDs in the 90s. This and Turboranger are the most common.

Oh yeah...where is Tran in this one? In school I suppose...

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Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger Super Action Sound
COCC-10510
1992.11.21

Zyuranger had a lot of advantages going into this CD. It is technically the best of the bunch with a very clear sounding recording. The ever-present hum of some of the earlier Super Action Sound CDs is no more. This one also relies heavily on sound effects, which does make for a better atmosphere throughout.

This is easily my favorite of the bunch. The production rivals that of the sound design of an actual episode. Maybe the songs go on for too long (OK, the Bandora song did get quite a lot of exposure in the series), but this just works. The entire cast is on point and have voices that lend nicely to audio drama. Naturally Bandora is the best part of this disc...even going as far as to call the Zyuranger on a pay phone to taunt them. Burai making an appearance to save the day was pretty cool too.

It isn't without problems, though. Only Bandora makes an appearance on this CD...not even her Doramonster had a voice (DoraGerogero only made sounds). So really only seven people were involved in making this one. The lack of BGM really isn't obvious, but it is something I picked up on after repeat listening.

That said, this is the best of the Super Action Sound CDs. It is the closest we will get to watching an episode of Super Sentai without watching it. Recommended!

-----------------------------

Sentai Drama CDs never totally went away once they stopped making Super Action Sound discs. I posted the Dairanger Kiryoku Disc to Youtube some time ago...plus drama did have a bit of a resurgence on regular Columbia releases starting with the Hurricaneger music and song collections and running to present day. The idea of a full drama album is neat, though. For something like Tokusatsu it can be difficult to paint a mental picture for something that relies heavily on effects and action...but some of these albums pulled it off. It can be done right.

I have a few other Sentai Drama CDs to talk about. Maybe I'll get to that in the future... The next time I do a CD blog.....I *promise* it'll be about something Ultraman. I don't think I've done a single post on any Ultraman CDs yet...and I have plenty of them. I'll pick something cool to talk about next time. As for my next blog...expect a DVD review that has been long in the making. It's something a little different...but something I really want to talk about.

That's all for now. Be sure to hit me up in the usual places and to check out my ever-growing music page for more articles and a very incomplete list of CDs I own.

See ya!

-CC

Top Seven Figuarts Wishlist [2015 Edition]

Two years ago I wrote up a list of Figuarts that I wanted to see get a release. It's interesting to go back and check out that list since there have been some major surprises (Shin and ZO got a release! Not only that, ZO was a standard release). I figured it would be interesting to go back and revisit my list. Instead of making a list of infinite Figuarts wishes I think I'll limit it to a Top 7 this time.

Honorable Mention: Reissue of Trunks from Dragonball Z

I genuinely don't know why Bandai hasn't gotten around to reissuing Trunks. The list you are about to read is going to be full of characters of questionable profitability popularity. Not only would a reissue of Trunks sell well, it would probably sell out forcing yet another reissue. I don't even think the character is that great...but he did have one of my favorite moments from the entire series, which is enough for me to want the Figuarts of him.

07. Jinzoningen Hakaider (1995 Movie)

A carryover from my previous list, but I think it makes more sense now than it did back then. In the time since my previous list Bandai has gone Kikaider crazy with several Figuarts from both series. It would be a natural choice for them to move on to this version of Hakaider as well as capping the Ishinomori films of the 90s. More on that later...

06. Any Metal Hero

This is low on the list only because it's very likely to happen. Bandai has been previewing tons of future Metal Hero Figuarts. The only problem is that they haven't been offering any of them for sale. The only things we got recently of the tons of Figuarts they previewed were B-Fighter and the brilliant Juspion. Meanwhile Spielban, Metalder, Winspector, Janperson (yes!), and even Robotack have all just been previewed. As good as the B-Fighter and Juspion Figuarts have been...they really need to continue this line.

If I had to specific on this one I really wish they would continue on with Spielban (and hopefully Diana and Helen) and moving forward that way. Hopefully we also get renewals of the Space Sheriffs since they kinda sucked. But yes...Spielban first. Please don't screw up the Twin Blade.

05. City Hunter Characters

This one is a little bit more of a pipe dream since the franchise has been largely abandoned/forgotten as time goes on. The series seemed to peak between '88-'90 before really falling off the radar. Was City Hunter too 80s? Hot Toys didn't think so... Three years ago they released these awesome 1/6 scale figures of Ryo and Saeko. Obviously they sold well because Hot Toys collectors will buy anything. Maybe Figuarts City Hunter would be a harder sell?

There is a main cast of about four people so it wouldn't have to be a huge line. If it sold well maybe we could get different varieties of Ryo. Maybe even his Mini Cooper could get the Figuarts treatment since they're bringing back automobiles (the last one they made prior to the Kamen Rider Drive monstrosity was the equally horrifying Akibaranger Prius).

Mokkori Figuarts! (yeah...I have issues...)

04. Captain Eo

Figuarts Michael Jackson turned out much better than I think anyone was expecting. The preview shots weren't all that great as they usually aren't (seriously...use photos of the finished toy. The prototypes always look weird). Maybe the creepy smile face was a lame addition, but the main face looked spot on for 1988 Michael Jackson.

Captain Eo was a short film made for Disney Parks where Michael Jackson plays...well...himself, really, as Captain Eo. It's kinda corny, but fun. I always thought that Captain Eo was the demo version of what eventually became Moonwalker.

Anyhow, Captain Eo was the closest Michael came to playing a superhero. It would be a neat curveball for Bandai to throw if they were to make another Figuart of Michael. Smooth Criminal itself was a bit of a surprise since Bad, Dirty Diana, and Thriller would have been the more obvious choices. Captain Eo would take it a step further and be awesome at the same time.

03. Gunhed (S.H. Monsterarts perhaps?)

I revisited this movie earlier this year and really fell in love with it. It would be a complicated one to pull off, but I have faith that Bandai could make this happen. The only issue with Gunhed as a film is that it seems to have taken the same trajectory as the Hakaider movie. Small fanbase in Japan, smaller fanbase in the 'States (thanks to a video release), yet largely ignored.

It would probably fit in a little better as a SHMonsterart since it was a Toho film that was meant to be a Godzilla movie anyway. The only issue would have to be scale. Gunhed isn't nearly as large as a Daikaiju...so it might be more difficult to market as a Monsterart.

Sadly I think Pulgasari might be more likely than this one.

02. Dr. Slump Characters

This one has me a little confused. There isn't much in the way of decent Dr. Slump figures, but there are two ongoing toylines by Sentinel and Fewture Models. Why isn't Bandai in on the action? I mean there is the possibility of over-saturation, yes, but Figuarts are very different from the figures being put out by the others.

I would really like a decent Arale figure from Bandai that isn't 90s stoner Arale. There is a world of characters to choose from if it takes off (and why wouldn't it?). C'mon, Bandai!

01. Kamen Rider J

More than anything I want this Figuart to happen. Not only that, I really want it to happen soon. With the upcoming Figuarts Rideron and Renewal Agito Ground, J would be the last Rider Figuart for me to get. Remember, Hibiki is as recent as I'm going. I didn't even like J that much as a movie, but I'm dying to get his Figuart so I can end the misery.

I mean, I know there are rumors that some of the Heisei Riders will be getting renewals...well I had no problem telling renewal Shadow Moon to fuck off. The current Ryuki, Faiz, and Blade are fine.

Anyway...Figuarts Kamen Rider J. Please. I want to put this collection to bed.

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So that is my top seven wishlist of Figuarts I'd really like. Notice anything? No Sentai. After the Goranger and Sun Vulcan ones came out and basically fell on their faces I don't think I would like to see any more. The new body type being a huge disappointment and their ignoring of the newer shows is basically killing off the line. My review of Kyoryured is coming up on my channel soon and...*SPOILER* I actually liked it quite a bit. They could do no wrong with the previous Sentai body type. Even a lousy show like Kyoryuger could get cool Figuarts.

You also have to consider the sheer volume of Sentai toys out there...especially in my collection. I would rather have Bandai go back and give us a decent Metal Hero figure since they certainly didn't the first time around. Same with Rider...even the current crop of shows have crappy figures. Figuarts definitely helps there. Sentai...I don't know--I think the world has enough Sentai toys. Figuarts of them just seem like they're a harder sell over every other franchise (including Ultra Act and Monsterarts).

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I have a page set up with all of my other Top 7 lists. Head on over there is you feel the need to disagree with me.

Oh yes, if you have a Top 7 list of Figuarts you'd like to see...let me know! Leave a comment here or hit me up over Twitter.

See ya next time!

-CC

The CD Collection -- Uchuu Keiji CDs [Gavan, Sharivan, Shaider]

I'm back! This week I decided to synch up with my Youtube channel and review some Space Sheriff CDs. If you haven't been following, I am currently reviewing the SHFiguarts of Gavan, Sharivan, and Shaider (along with a group video). I previously reviewed those amazing 2-Disc sets for Winspector, Solbrain, and Exceedraft if you want to get an idea of how these CDs are formatted.

As an added bonus I'll be reviewing two other CDs. One is the Tokusatsu Oh cover album along with the Uchuu Keiji Series Song Collection~FOR NEXT GENERATION~ "remix" album.

------------------------------

 

Uchuu Keiji Gavan Best Hit Songs & Original Soundtrack
COCX-33961-62
2006.10.18

The first disc of this CD set contains the full Gavan song collection as well as a small selection of BGM and four instrumental versions of songs. The song collection portion of the first disc contains narration at the start of pretty much every song. The second disc is the full music collection with the rest of the instrumental versions of the songs. It's a pretty straight forward concept.

Let's start with the song collection. Gavan's songs are all very good. Even though Akira Kushida did a lot of the songs for Taiyo Sentai Sun Vulcan the year prior, I feel like he owns this song collection a little more. He doesn't do every song on the soundtrack, but the ones he does are almost built around his voice. Try picturing anyone else singing Chase! Gavan. This collection is an example of having a perfect marriage between song and singer. Other singers include Harley Kimura of Ultraman 80 (and TALIZMAN) fame on two songs and Kenji Ohba himself with one song. Good stuff.

I have picked on composer Chumei Watanabe a bunch in the past...but I have to say that he is in TOP form on the Space Sheriff soundtracks. Everything before or after is kinda "meh" to me. Gavan in particular is one of my all-time favorite Tokusatsu music collections. He really got the most out of what was probably a tiny orchestra. It's no wonder that he is most recognized for his work on this soundtrack. The Laser Blade Theme itself has basically taken on a life of it's own past the Space Sheriff soundtracks. There isn't a single track here that I actively dislike, which is pretty rare. The stars lined up when this music collection was made...

This set gets a big thumbs up from me. The best part about it is that it's still pretty widely available as of this writing. Yeah, you can own this set for a very reasonable price.

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Uchuu Keiji Sharivan Original Soundtrack
COCX-33963-64
2006.10.18

The 2-Disc party continues with Sharivan naturally, but you won't find the song collection here. This set begins with the music collection on the first disc and gets crazy in all the right ways for the second disc.

The music collection for Sharivan is once again composed by Chumei Watanabe. It's merely a continuation of the work he did on Gavan. Very similar, but almost a bit more polished. Something I didn't mention with the Gavan music is that he seemed to have the vague idea of the Laser Blade Theme prior to recording since elements of it show up in different tracks. Eventually he ended up at the final version...but all of the "demo" versions were still used. Ummm...the Sharivan music collection also contains a ton of new laser flavored variations with a new final version. I guess he *really* just liked it that much. Overall, it's an excellent music collection--a worthy successor to the Gavan music collection.

I purposely didn't want to spoil the contents of the second disc above. Most people won't really care, but those of us who know...oh boy, this was exciting. Getting only it's second CD release is the DIGITAL TRIP Uchuu Keiji Sharivan SYNTHESIZER FANTASY. This curious album was released in 1983 and pretty much forgotten until it was quietly included in the last volume of the Metal Hero Song Collection Daizenshuu in 2004. Maybe it's a little more at home here on the Sharivan music collection.

Now if you're a fan of 80s anime, you might recognize the Digital Trip _______ Synthesizer Fantasy name. There were quite a few of them from series such as Macross, Hokuto no Ken, Captain Tsubasa, Cat's Eye, Lupin the 3rd, etc. There are a ton of them and I don't even think I have a complete list of them myself. I've heard quite a few of these and the premise is pretty much the same throughout. They are basically a collection of heavy synthesized (duh) cover medleys of both songs and music from a given show. Based on the sheer number of releases I want to say these were popular...which is kinda sad seeing that a number of them have been lost to time. A handful made it to CD--so let's talk about Sharivan.

Sharivan's Synthesizer Fantasy is an eight track mix of instrumentals from vocal songs and the music collection. It kinda tells a story the way most music collections do with the beginning (OP), middle (different variety of BGM) and ending (ED song). It really takes a super fan of the music/songs to appreciate how this was put together and how it was re-imagined. You also really have to be a fan of synthesized music. I mean, really. They aren't kidding with the title. It IS both a Digital Trip and a Synthesizer Fantasy. At some points you'll get a blast of guitar and it'll be a shock to your system, but in a good way. Also, because all of the music was primarily done electronically it sounds very rich compared to a lot of the sloppy recordings Columbia did in the early 80s. It's very clear and sounds excellent through a decent set of headphones. I very much enjoy the Sharivan Synthesizer Fantasy, though I understand if it isn't your thing. Give it a try, though. You might like atleast some of it.

Once the Digital Trip is over, there are a few spare tracks tacked onto the second disc. There are three BGM medley tracks (two of them are in the neighborhood of 12 minutes each) along with a bonus track of the original release recording of the series ending song Tsuyosa wa ai da. If you're wondering what that's about, don't go nuts trying to track this down. Even to my very heightened ear (is laser hearing a thing?) I can barely tell the difference.

Very good set. There is a lot of otherwise super rare stuff included on this set. This is the type of archive diving that Columbia needs to do for every series.

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Uchuu Keiji Shaider Original Soundtrack
COCX-33965-66
2006.10.18

To round out this glorious trio of releases we naturally got a 2-Disc set for Space Sheriff Shaider. This one...is kinda all over the place. Disc 1 is the music collection proper with some bonus tracks of exclusive instrumental and Karaoke tracks. Disc 2 is a CD release of an old LP called Uchuu Keiji Graffiti along with some bonus tracks.

The Shaider Music Collection is much like the Sharivan music collection in that it is an evolution of it's predecessor. The Laser Blade Theme lives on...but there is something sinister that has seemingly taken over. Rather than Laser Blade getting a ton of variants, the Fushigi Song is everywhere on this set. It wouldn't be such a bad thing if it weren't so irritating. I mean on it's own it isn't too bad, but it gets old. That being said, this is still a great music collection. It kinda went in a new direction, but the style we have grown accustomed to in the previous shows is still there.

Oh yes, the Instrumental and Karaoke tracks that are tacked on to the end were an excellent touch. Remember, Metal Hero shows really got shafted on having Karaoke tracks released prior to B-Fighter. I'll take it wherever I can get it.

Disc 2...well, I didn't really bother with the Uchuu Keiji Graffiti album for a few reasons. The tracklisting is kinda baffling for one. It never got a CD release prior to this set, which kinda hindered me since buying LPs from Japan is usually way more expensive than it needs to be thanks to a tight market and the extra layer of packaging needed for protection. It just never seemed worth it to get this one. My suspicions were confirmed when I got this set. It's basically a strange mixture of songs (both vocal and instrumentals, usually only 1 chorus long) and BGM. Think of it as a 'Best Of' when it comes to BGM. The song choices make sense I suppose. There are some unique tracks here, but if you've been following along with these releases, you might be disappointed that they're already doing a clipshow in the third episode. It IS nice to finally have this release for completionist's sake.

The bonus tracks on Disc 2 are four vocal songs and two more Karaoke version songs.

Obviously this is a good set. There is tons of new and newly digital material. It kinda shows that maybe they were running out of steam by tacking on the Karaoke tracks, but I'll gladly take them over a shorter runtime. Great way to end the set, even if two of the final tracks are the Fushigi Song yet again.

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Uchuu Keiji Series Song Collection ~For Next Generation~
COCX-38799-00
2014.10.22

Oh boy...where to begin on this one...

With all of the Space Sheriff resurgence of the last few years, something like this was inevitable. I think the idea behind this set was to clean up the song collections for Gavan, Sharivan, and Shaider but they got a little too anal and ended up sterilizing it...so they had to lay down some new music. Laying down new music on top of 30 year old music is much like CG. It can be done poorly or it can be insanely good...either way your brain is not going to be completely sold. So how did this one do?

Like I said, every song from the Space Sheriff series was included on this set. All of the original vocals were left unchanged along with the majority of the music. Basically all of the drums were replaced along with bass on some songs. An occasional new guitar/piano/effect lick shows up to keep the experts awake.

Remember my CG analogy? If this album were CG, I'd say they did a middling job. Listening through my headphones you can still hear a lot of the fuzz that they were desperately trying to get rid of through a myriad of pretty obvious tricks (just listen to the very end of pretty much any song and you'll hear what I'm on about). Some of the songs were given more effort than others...and some just don't work at all. The Shaider songs in particular just don't sound very good. The new version of the Fushigi Song was given this almost hip hop drumbeat for no reason. Remember, the idea wasn't to reinvent songs--merely to reintroduce them. The Gavan and Sharivan songs are kinda mixed.

The big winner of the old songs, to me, has to be the new version of the Sharivan opening theme. It kinda recaptured the sound the song had in it's MONO version. I can't describe it, but something is missing from every stereo release of the full version of the Sharivan OP. It's meant to be heard in MONO since it really makes the drums and bass explode. The only issue I have with this song, and it's kind of a big one, they kinda downplayed the cowbell. I GOTTA HAVE MORE COWBELL!

Ah yes, and how I could forget the two new songs included on this set? Uchuu Keiji Gavan TYPE G is new version of the Gavan theme song. I actually kinda dig it. Akira Kushida has a timeless voice, so he blends in nicely among his 1982-84 recordings. The other song is an all-new one called Uchuu Keiji NEXT GENERATION which I just listened to twice and have already forgotten. It's alright I suppose.

Overall...heh. I have to say that this set is unintentionally kinda funny. It's just all over the place. It shouldn't be this entertaining, but it is to me. I can't imagine a new fan getting anything from this set, yet I think fans very familiar with the original songs are going to pick it apart much like I did. Check it out to see what I mean--and I hope you get a laugh out of it.

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Ultra Anime Eurobeat Series Gaiden
Tokusatsu Oh ~Forever Chumei Watanabe~ 
PICA-1231
2001.10.24

This curious CD was released with little notice or reason in late 2001. It is a largely a medley of Chumei Watanabe composed songs from the three Space Sheriff song collections as well as the ending song from Himitsu Sentai Goranger and opening theme songs from Denshi Sentai Denjiman and Taiyo Sentai Sun Vulcan. After the medley, there is a new version of the theme song from Gavan as well as a long remix of the Gavan theme.

The CD begins with a prologue of sorts with a long version of the infamous Laser Blade Theme. The medley begins after this with four songs from Gavan, five songs from Sharivan, five songs from Shaider, and one song each from Goranger, Denjiman, and Sun Vulcan. Once the Eurobeat medley is over, there is a new version of the Gavan theme song called the "Chumei Watanabe Self Arrangement" or, more popularly, "The New Brass" version. This is followed by a Karaoke version of the same song and a remix called "h's 12inch Mix". Most songs are done by Akira Kushida with a few guest appearances by Takayuki Miyauchi, MIO (!!!!!!), and a lone song by Yoko Ishida.

I waited until the end to throw a massive curveball. I absolutely love this CD. I'm not a fan of Eurobeat stuff (if I ever get to the 87,000 Ultraman Eurobeat CDs I own, you'll know why) but this CD was very well done. There are a few factors that lend to it's success. Freshly recorded vocals really give each song a life that they otherwise wouldn't have had. Everyone involved seemed to have a good amount of enthusiasm. Each song blends into the next pretty seamlessly with the theme songs given an ounce more gravitas over the regular IN songs.

People don't seem to like this one much...and I can understand why. I bought it soon after it was released and didn't care for it much. It was probably fatigue thanks to crap like late 90s Ultraman and Initial D being everywhere (Don't worry...I like Runnin' In The 90s). Now that we've finally stepped away from Eurobeat, I can appreciate the good effort in releases like this one and...well, nothing else. Good riddance to Eurobeat.

This is quite good for an off-label release. Check it out sometime. I listen to it every so often when I write up my written reviews for my videos.

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Yet another entry into my crazy CD Collection. These are pretty pedestrian compared to some of the stuff I have, but interesting nonetheless. Check out the my CD collection page on my blog for more articles on Tokusatsu CDs.

Thank you and see you next time!

-CC

P.S. Some more photos of the Tokusatsu Oh CD...