Kaiju no Kami Reviews - Hikari Sentai Maskman (1987) Series
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- Опубліковано 21 сер 2024
- After using science and technology for its themes from the last several years, Hirosa Soda decided to build Maskman up as a martial arts based series utilizing Ki energy known as Aura Power for its focus, paving the way for concepts that would ferment during the 90s. Is Maskman as energetic as its theme? Watch to find out.
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2:00: The Heroes
10:50: The Villains
17:45: The Mecha
20:34: The Effects and Music
23:26: The Episodes
27:40: The Movie
Ah, Maskman. The very first Sentai I watched from beginning to end. Thank you, Facebook.
lol What did you think of it?
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork it's pretty good for being the first Martial arts theme sentai
Classic! Not perfect but very entertaining. And very 80s
Is there a link to the Facebook page.
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork that series is very popular here in the philippines. many people in their late 20s or 30s here loves the show so much. yeah it is not perfect looking back but it triggers a lot of memories.
Loved Maskman, one of my top 5 Sentai shows. My handle is because of my love for the series. In fact 1987 Toei Tokusatsu was awesome with Kamen Rider Black and Metalder along with Maskman.
I see that. :-) Which of the three is your favorite?
1.) Kamen Rider Black
2.) Hikari Sentai Maskman
3.) Choujinki Metalder
Along with changeman, it's a classic in Brazil.
And love too the costumes
That's what someone else said here. :-)
In France this was Season two of Bioman. Season three went to Liveman. Again this was France. Never caught on after that.
Same the suits are awesome
21:27 toku cinematography is unbelievably perfect and that synth battle music is flawless
I'm so glad they're finally back to using great camera work in Sentai.
I like monsters who can talk and feel unique too, but it's nice to have some who primarily snarl and screech like horror movie denizens. It's something Sentai could use more of today.
I don't mind mindless beasts if they are doing well. I just didn't feel like they worked in this one at all.
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork Seems they wanted to go Ultraman in the 1980's.
6:56 The original Ninja-Style Dancer
Also congrats on the milestone
Thanks.
Minor correction, Daisuke Inoue didn't do Maskman's OP and ED. That was Mr. Dragonball Z himself, Hironobu Kageyama.
Hironobu sang the song, Inoue composed it. I forgot to say, "sung by Hironobu Kageyama" in the review.
I thought the lighting joke was funny.
Perfect! I’m gonna be watching this series soon, so thanks!
Glad you enjoyed it.
HIkari SENTAI MASKMAN!!! is the most memorable Sentai on my Younger days!!
Cool. What's your favorite episode?
Kaiju, thank you very much for granting my request!!!!
:-D
11:57 Well with Junior it works within the context of his established character as an over the top music lover. Also that scene is just awesome.
Yeah, that scene is just badass, hence why I couldn't resist putting it in there.
tokusatsu always has this problem which introduces a new villain aside from the main villain who kicks the rangers ass for 1 episode then reduces to nothing.
I don't know, Jin in Dairanger did a pretty good job of always beating the crap out of Ryo.
I like your reviews and this one is spot on.
Personally, I’d give it a 4 out of 5 stars. Akira’s development is one of the most rewarding aspects of Maskman. The Unas arc near the end is the icing on the cake. Kenta got the short end of the stick here. He was the hopeless romantic at the start and that’s all we know by the end... what a waste. Even the girls had a memorable episode (41) that stood out.
Now, why Igam’s character was displayed as a boy is beyond me. Obviously, the show wasn’t fooling the audience one bit, but how didn’t Fumin or anybody else know? It’s like this big shock. The Zeba backstory is well worth the watch, but Galaxy Robo to finish him off? And man, the mech battles are incredibly stale in this era... The minute you hear Jet Cannon, it’s time to flash forward 3 minutes and watch the overcome. And don’t get me started on Okelampa... it just tires me to hear his speech every time :D
Despite its shortcomings, it’s still a classic. Wish some of the plot points carried on beyond a single episode, but it could be MUCH worse. Could be bored to death like with Fiveman.
I definitely do think Maskman is far superior to Fiveman.
indeed save for the episode where the great 5 lost once its a villain vs mecha battle you know the opponent will only strike a few and great 5 / galaxy robot would win handily. kinda boring
I honestly wanna know what Okelampa's deal is. Is he like Anagmus or something? Is he an old man like the frog demon too? I'll never know.
After a nearly 2 month break I've finally gotten back to watch these old Sentai seasons and finished watching Maskman for the first time, and honestly I thought it was really good.
The action I thought was better then any other season that came before it and I really like that this was the first to have a focus on Marshal Arts especially since most of the few previous seasons where based on either Science or Aliens so this was a nice change of pace. The Main cast I thought where really good and I especially love how characters such as Takeru and Akira getting episodes that focus on there development that last through multiple episodes.
The Music I thought was really good and I really enjoyed both the opening and ending themes. And Great Five is easily among the better looking Mecha designs and may easily be my favorite Mecha from the Showa era. and while the battles aren't as diverse like in Bioman I did enjoy the mecha battles a bit more due to how agile and more fluid the battles feel.
Though I was really disappointed that Great Five wasn’t used that much in the final episodes.
As for the Villains they where okay I guess. not really as cool or memorable as some of the villain groups that came before and weren't as interesting as I would like them to be.
And I've also have been noticing how the writing is feels very similar to the few pervious shows, though I guess that's to be expected since this is the 6th season in a row that Soda had written so something like this was bound to happen eventually.
But overall I actually did really enjoy this one despite my few issues and things such as the action, music, the first to focus on marshal arts and the episodes that focus on the rangers are enough to make me like this slightly more then Flashman. making it my new, new 2nd favorite from showa era.
Which means I only have Liveman left to view and by then I will finish my viewing of all the Super Sentai Seasons that where aired from the Showa era! Can't Wait!
Glad you enjoyed it. I'm also back from a Sentai hiatus and am currently watching Go-Busters.
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork Sweet
this was my second exposure to super sentai when i was younger
Was it? What is your favorite episode?
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork i dont really remember, i only saw one episode at a bad movie knight (kind of the ice breaker before the bad) so yeah i didn't remember much but the outfits
Let's not forget they were the first 6 colors we would see in season of power rangers. ( red, blue,black,pink,yellow, and green)
Yeah, but that's really just because PR happened to use Zyu first. :-)
While it sad that Great Five end up being replaced by Land Galaxy in the final episodes, it works in story perspective, since the Maskman, through the series, slowly replace their technology for weapons that are power up by their Aura Power and meditation (exemple: They replaced the Shot Bomber for the Jet Cannon). Makes sense Land Galaxy would become their main mecha as his first episodes were about the Maskman using meditation in order to control it (plus, unlike Great Five, who finished the monster with sword attack, Galaxy finisher was a strike with his hand, fitting the idea of Aura Power as energy present in the body).
To be fair, back then producers just looked at the mechs as toy sales, so it is what it is.
As always, I really enjoyed this review. I think that, this time, you had a perfect balance of humor and serious critique. That said, how many times are you going to use that damn door pun?!
Btw, have you heard of Metallic Fansubs. They've fully subbed Spielban, Metalder, Machineman and Jiraiya within several months and are currently working on Jiban and Denziman.
No idea about the door pun. There are a couple of jokes I tend to reuse over though I'm trying to move away from a lot of them outside of the M Bison one. :-p
I have and I've downloaded Metalder, Speiban, and Jiraiya just recently. Did not know they were working on Jiban and Denjiman (that's like 3 people now working on Denji).
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork They just released the first 13 episodes of Jiban subbed.
Thanks for the info.
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork Np
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork metallic fansubs finished several metal heroes from sharivan till jiban(complete package).
Well there is one more thing about about that female ninja. She does sympathize with Igram and in the end she does sacrifice herself to save Igram’s life.
Maskman, Flashman, and Jetman are my top 3.
Followed by Liveman, Goggle-Five, and Bioman.
Cool. Flashman and Jetman are in my top 10.
My favorite Sentai series because its the only one I can remember fondly. Everything about the episodes I could remember were incredibly satisfying--from the combination into one giant humanoid mech to the way the rangers transformed into their suits. It was incredibly aesthetically pleasing--something not found in a lot of Sentai series.
Who was your favorite ranger?
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork I have little to no memory of the plot, just the aesthetics. But if I had to say, it'd probably be the blue ranger since I feel like I remember something about him but am not sure what.
and they still use the amnesia plot in the more recent Lupinranger VS Patranger, also i never knew Michael Jackson was a martial artist, lol that moonwalk might be something.
Yeah, the amnesia plots suck. I think Ryuki is the only show that did it right because they let it be a multiparter and it developed a character we knew nothing about at the time.
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork awesome
Dope Video Man!!!!
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it.
So with all of the Sentai from the first 25 years, all you have left to review is JAKQ, Battle Fever J, Denjiman, Sun Vulcan, Dynaman and Turboranger.
Yep. With Shout! announcing Fiveman as their next release I'm going to just wait for their release of Turboranger before I bother reviewing it.
What do you think of turboranger.
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork So what of JAKQ, Dynaman and the Marvel era Sentai?
Well JAKQ and Denjiman aren't fully subbed yet, so it's going to be a while before I even consider tackling them. However, I'm going to try to fit BFJ in this year after I get Go-On and Shinken reviewed.
I remember doing the hand sighns trying to transof in to mask red
Cool. :-)
There is a movie with good special effects that join black lamentou rider and maskman
What movie?
I know that Metroid was released a year earlier than Maskman but why they didnt make a suit of armor for Igam that can conceal her identity just like Samus?
That might have been much cooler.
Mask man is a special one for me, not only does it have great potential to for a PR adaptation [of the fantasy kind] But 1987 is a very special and important year of mine.
Is that the year you were born?
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork Yeah, it was. And a very good year considering the movies they had such as, The Princess Bride, Lethal weapon, Space Balls, and many other classics. Literally a great time to be alive.
To be honest, i actually like the designs of the Dogler Ground Beasts
Nothing wrong with that.
the show was interesting tho I feel they got sloppy with some things maybe they hit some money problems and took short cuts.
the ranger suits were cool, the weapons ok I liked the mystic feel but feel much of this needed more work.
some of the villains and monsters looked ok tho I wish the monsters had more personality the effects and music not the best but ok their were some sweet episodes
I liked the first mecha but hated the 2nd
and feel that they should have kept the green mask man as it would have made things fun
Agreed on most accounts. I like my monsters of the week to have individual personalities or at least a really amazing design to make up for the lack of one. The Dogler monsters didn't have either so I couldn't even think of any jokes to include based around them.
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork I think cause of the whole some of them where 2 that fused to one they cut corners on some things
Both BioMan and MaskMan were favorites here in the Philippines, and they (I mean both Sentai) flew to Manila last year for a fan meet.
Also, MaskMan started the 5-Gattai concept, so those MMPR MegaZord f*cowboys should respect that.
lol
The sentai that get toei out of they're comfort zone
This paved the way for Toei to make Liveman, which also didn't pull any punches
I'd say Flashman took them out of their comfort zone.
To me. It's partly 10% Bioman, 30% Changeman, 15% Flashman, 10% Maskman and 35% Liveman
I think those people are OK they most likely just left.
lol
Akira has got the coolest post suit up roll call poses.
Here in Brazil this show was dubbed in Portuguese and called "Defensores da Luz Maskman" (Light Defenders Maskman). The 4th and ('til now) last Super Sentai aired here.
The last? That sucks. Any reason why?
After the Juspion-boom (in 1988) a lot of toku shows were aired here (specially Metal Heroes). But in 1994 Brazil had another boom: Saint Seiya. Then a lot of anime came to here, and toku shows became "old mania".
We only had Ultraman Tiga (in 2000) and Ryukendo (in 2009) dubbed and aired after this.
BTW, last Sunday I was watching TV at morning (dammit hangover) and accidentally I found a local TV channel airing tokusatsu at a kids show. They aired Ultraman, Maskman and Winspector, all of them with their classical Portuguese dubbing. Yeah, in 2019.
so far most of sentai shows during the 80s seem to be average in general flashman only one higher up
Yeah. I'm not that huge of a fan of the 80s series, but I do see where it paved the way for the genius series of the 90s.
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork plus because of how it ran through that period lead people usa decision to do power ranger
It was supposed to be called Turbo Lunger. But due to the difficulty of japanese people not anglicizing their supposed words its hard for them.
Makes sense.
2:32 I didn't know Charlie Z was in super sentai?
lol
This Sentai was So Beloved by Filipinos, even Red Mask's Actor married a Filipina.
That's awesome. Do you have a favorite episode?
Yasuhiro Ishiwata aka Bun. Blue Flash from Flashman guest stared in the episode 34: Blues of Love and Murder Intent. Playing Hikru.
That he did, that he did. I totally forgot to mention that. :-)
Damn, how did I miss that. Do the other Flashman make cameo appearances in other sentai shows.
Maskman: Turboranger, Launching!
16:34 Could have left out the crappy Hip-Hop music while growing the monsters. Oh well, Liveman is the follow upand you know what that means. One of my favorite Growing techsques. GIGA PHANTOM!!!
So I noticed. :-)
Good review haven't seen this sentai yet waiting for the us DVD release👻
you can watch them using VPN and then search maskman episode english on youtube.
So that's where the idea for the Heisei era came from...
Maskman.
lol
You know I have to think you kaiju no kami for I used to despise this season because when I watched it as a kid I remember hating it but after rewatching I decided that the majority of my complaints weren’t valid like for example when people say that this show focused more on the red I say that could apply to most seasons of sentai
I wouldn't worry about it. In fact, this was actually my third time watching the show and it was probably the most enjoyable I've ever seen it be. Usually I'm bored out of my mind when I watch it, but I wasn't for the most part this time around.
X-1 Mask wasn’t the first of his kind. There was Magne Warrior/Shota Yamamori from Bioman, though admittedly he was brainwashed by the villains before he could aid the team in any way.
Doesn’t Haruka's helmet resemble the Megarangers' somewhat?
Well Toei considers X1 to be the prototype for the sixth ranger.
I can kind of see what you mean about the helmet, but I doubt it.
Here's what I would've changed of Maskman:
Make it less about Takeru and more about the other Maskmen. Akira is fine as he is, expand on Kenta's relationship with his mentor, have Haruka's focus episodes be more than the same "Haruka is questioning her ninja skills after losing a battle" conflict, show more of Momoko and have her backstory actually relate to Tube, have rivalries for the other Maskmen instead of everybody wanting a piece of Takeru, show how commander Sugata met the team, have the Fu Clan be a recurring team of allies instead of a one-off thing, show more of the Light Squadron staff members, develop the other villains instead of just Igam, speaking of Igam drop the *"sUrRriSiNg TWisT"* of her being a woman all along because that's fucking stupid and if I had to include that at least conseal her face and voice, have her mentor Godai be mentioned before instead of coming out of nowhere, Zeba needs to do a lot more than just sit on his ass and yell orders, make the final battle more epic instead of treating it like just another monster-of-the-week fight and foreshadow Mio's princess heritage prior so that the ending doesn't make you feel like this entire quest to save her was all for nothing.
I like the idea of the Fu Clan appearing more often. THat would have been good. Well, I pretty much agree with everything you said.
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork Hell, why not have Takeru stay with Mio and join her in her new kingdom? Anything would've been better than going through this entire season trying to get her back, only to get "Thank you, Maskmen! But our princess is going to another castle!"
Akira turning evil was the first plot twist that affected me as a kid
Was it now? Is that your favorite episode then?
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork
I wouldn't know
I haven't watched sentai since I was a kid
The development of Galaxy Robo, the second "Second Robo" following Flash Titan, hinged on the commercial success of Great Five; had Great Five disappointed, there would have been no Galaxy Robo.
I could have cone without Galaxy Robo. 🙂
Maskman was one of the first pre Zyuranger Sentai s I ever saw, I loved it. It's not perfect, but it's so full of energy. Plus the theme music is pure 80s goodness. There's a lot I did like in the show, but I wasn't keen on the fact that Takeru spends all series long hoping to reunite with his lady love and when they do they still can't be together. And the revelation about Igam... it was so damn obvious even Stevie Wonder could've seen it. The show was awesome, my fave episode is the one Haruka focus episode that showcased her pride in being a shinobi when she decided to take on Oyobu. I also wish the thing X1 Mask had lasted longer. I mean you have this important element of backstory and you reserve it for a one shot guest star? Wtf?
"it was so damn obvious even Stevie Wonder could've seen it." Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha...
That Haruka episode was pretty damn awesome.
Why does Turboranger have nipple guns? Also, when are you going to get to review the Turboranger, the original Five Teenagers with Attitude?
I'll review it when Shout! Factory releases it.
Maskman was one of the first sentais I've watched growing up in the 90s in the Philippines. It was also the earliest sentais shown in the Philippines (alongside Bioman) in which it became a cultural icon. The opening and ending theme was also Tagalized in which you can watch it here on UA-cam if you are curious.
That's awesome. Who was youf favorite ranger?
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork Red Mask. By the way, the actor who played Red Mask married a Filipina. Neat eh?
Definitely.
the first sentai series with five mechas
Yep.
Maskman used to have my least favorite final battle till I've seen Kyoryuger and Ninninger. Felt like a normal MOTW fight.
I think that might be my issue with a lot of Showa Sentai shows, the final battle just feel like a reagular MotW fight.
Maskman's final battle is one of my least favorites along side Kakuranger's, Denziman's and Kyuranger's.
Ki! Ki! Ōra Pawā
Kitaeagero yo Ōra Pawā
Ki! Ki! Ōra Pawā
Miseteyarunda Ōra Pawā
I really don’t find a lot of the prezyuranger shows themes that catchy but this and jet mans are the 2 exceptions
It varies upon the series, but I do find the Denziman and Dynaman themes to be super catchy.
Huh, I was really hoping you were going to use some backpack joke for their first team cannon
lol Just didn't think of that.
What do you plan to review next.
Hurricaneger. I just finished Disc 5 today.
Hey ! What are your favorite 80's Super Sentai ?
I saw your videos about Bioman and Liveman and you didn't seem to like them very much ?
The 80's Super Sentai are my favorite, they where imported in France back in 85 with Bioman, our very first Sentai.
Mine is Flashman. Dynaman and Denziman are also up there.
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork I need to watch these shows, thanks for the answer !
Will you review power rangers season too because you already reviewed powers ranger season 1 I think you should review jungle fury
At some point I will review another season.
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork cool
Earth Imperial Prince/Princess Igam = Transgender villian.
Could be.
I have seen most of the episodes of maskman. I like the series. I am from India. It's because of internet that I came across such a beautiful show.
What is your favorite of what you have seen?
I love the series from Gorenger to Dairanger and Megaranger to Boukenger. However, I am sorry to say that Turboranger has not yet been uploaded while in case of Gorenger, only the first twelve episodes have been uploaded.
Why did Fiveman has a one-off villain team called Gingaman only to have a sentai team called Gingaman 9 years later?
Super Sentai is weird like that.
Fiveman had Gingaman, not Carranger.
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork Thanks for the correction
I love the soundtrack costume and paranormal theme
Paranormal theme?
First 3 eps has a theme when the team transform. Sounds other-worldly, eerie, yet serene.
Oh I've gotcha.
The chi or ki it’s a paranormal concept that anyone can have in the show with training that all martial arts believe in their philosophy
Ki its physical hability and chi is mental power
HIGHEST RATINGS IN PHILIPPINES WHEN MASKMAN AIR IN TV Between Late 80s and Early 90s
So I've heard. :-)
One of my favorite Sentai. Storywise, it's not one of the best, but this is still a good one.
It definitely has moments. Who was your favorite of the heroes?
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork Black Mask. Underrated of the five. There are only a few episodes that centered on him, but those are good episodes.
Yes finally 🙌😊😁
This would have been out Saturday night if I hadn't kept getting copyright claims on it.
Maskmam is so famous in the Philippines..it is dubbed in Tagalog I remember...in early 90s..
That's cool. Did you guys get a lot of toys from it too?
For the longest time I avoided Maskman due to its rep of being one of the “worst Sentai” but honestly after recently completing it it really wasn’t that bad. It’s more average if anything. I’ll go over what I liked and what I didn’t.
Liked:
I liked the main cast. The show truly made me feel like they were actual friends and not just some people working together on a team. I like Takeru. He feels like a more grounded character than most other reds. I like that he has an actual motivation in the series and he isn’t just some guy doing superhero stuff. Basically, what I’m saying is he feels like an actual human. Akira is clearly the best character in the show, no debate there. I like Kenta. I found most of his episodes to be fun. He felt like an improved version of Hayate from Changeman as he has more character traits than just being horny all the time. Haruka is good although criminally underused in the show. Momoko is alright. While she isn’t the most fleshed out at least she never gave off the impression that she’s there just to be the girl or to be a fill in. I liked Sugata. He does an okay job as a mentor though I would’ve liked some more fleshing out. I like the overall feel of the show. Someone once described it as a youth drama and I think that accurately describes this show. I liked the aesthetics. The suits look nice and while I don’t care for mechs I think Great Five has one of the best designs in the series.
Disliked:
I can count 3 major issues I take with this show.
1.The Villains
While they don’t suck they’re not really good. Zeba had an interesting backstory but he did jack shit the entire show. Baraba felt like a fill in for another character. Oyobu and Fumin existed. Anagmus is walking exposition. Only Igam really stood out here and don’t get me started on her whole “reveal”. Even Kiros was lame. He’s all bark no bite and his death was underwhelming. It’s a shame because his actor gave a damn good performance for such a lackluster character. However my biggest issue with the villains is the wasted potential in the world building. The show does try at world building but it felt like it was putting in the most minimal amount.
2.The story progression
Holy shit does it rarely ever feel like anything actually happens in this. I’d excuse this if this show was character driven like Megaranger, Gingaman, or Dekaranger but it isn’t. This show has no excuse for this. You know something wrong when you reach episode 40 of a show and still feel like nothing has changed since the first episode.
3.The romance
Yeah we all know romance isn’t a strong point in toku but you could do better. I wanted to feel invested in Takeru and Mio’s romance but the show never even gave a reason to why Takeru was in love with Mio in the first place. I could at least interpret why Mio fell in love with him but I got nothing for Takeru.
Overall Maskman is just an average show. It’s biggest issue is being sandwiched between 2 great shows. 3.5/5 G.U.I.S. It’s enjoyable but it could’ve been much better. As for favorite episode, I honestly can’t choose. This show’s strong point is in its episodes as there were a lot of great episodes littered throughout the show. (Hell I even enjoyed the movie) If I had to choose one it’d either be Akira’s tournament episode, Momoko and Blue Flash’s episode, or the episode with Takeru and his younger self.
I might not be a big fan of the show, but I can't believe anyone would deem it as one of the worst of the franchise. WOW!
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork same, I’ll take Maskman over Sun Vulcan, Turboranger, and everything after Kyoryuger and before Kiramager
I'll talk about Prince Igam herself..Ms. Starscream and Princess Screamer/Ial herself as well...as for the reason why Igam wouldn't wanna go against Zeba and helping out the working class..she didn't wanna sabotage her ranking in the Tube Empire and if she did, she'd literally be falling in the same humiliation as Princess Ial so her being at Zeba's palm was understandable. Considering we still dunno Zeba's powers or intent after the Underground ninja episode which was a Kenta episode, it's best for Igam to being under his palm. With Zeba wanting to rule the world, it's best for him to sit back and relax as if it was a game of chess and allow things to happen so long as no one reveals his secret but yeah, that's what I can infer.
As for why Igam being revealed as a woman, there was this blog you can google 'Prince Igam Analysis' that has quite a lot of insight as to why. Think Mulan. It's basically a tactic. We the viewers know but the characters themselves dunno that so its a tactical thing. This is a royal empire after all not from modern times but sticking to ancient times so there were men that wore high heels back in the super old days. I do recall seeing Howard Hewett and Prince wearing heels too so its not uncommon for everyone to think 'Hmmm, that Igam sure is a tough dude.'.
With how popular this series is in the Phillipines, I can't help but consider this a live-action ver. of Voltes V which does make sense since it has kinda themes along with Daimos.
I don't have any confusion on Igam being a woman, my confusion is to why sometimes they call her a he, and then at other times she. Like one episode will say something like, "Beware Prince Igam. He will not take kindly to failure." Then the next one will read, "Look out! There she is!" when referring to Igam.
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork Talk about slip of the tongue. The script or maybe the actors forgot or the subs...oi vey. Who knows on that. Kinda reminds me of this tbh: ua-cam.com/users/clipUgkxcZ7Vx-GHeh1RWkutYBMy7vrpcNMY8Lpq
X_X With a lot of plot going on, it's easy to lose sight of that incorrection. Yikes. X_X
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork Oh yeah...^^' Dang it Toei editors. They must not be paying attention at the time.
this one's popular in the philippines and most of the 90s kid like me love it since we love martial arts. it's next to bioman and i admit i love it more. love the opening and ending teams too. the storyline looks lost though. hate the ending though. Zeba didnt look like much of a threat once he fought the maskmen especially when he's a grown beast and only meditation would beat him. and guess what? like in the mecha vs villain episodes, the maskman won and defeated the opponent easily. am expecting for more at least. doesnt also make sense for takeru to save mio only for her to leave her "again." as for blue mask turning villain, i wouldve loved it to last at least for a few more episodes instead of only one. as for igam, yes. theres too many times she couldve turned against zeba after learning his secrets and why she hasnt is a big puzzle to me. too many gaps.
Nice to see you enjoy this one a lot. What is your favorite episode?
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork indeed. despite the missing plots, i have many favorites. there are actually two best and the one with momoko falling in love with a doggler beast disguised as human as you discussed in this review and the other one with the kid who got bullied only for him to gain strength and beat up people after accidentally eating mushrooms that the underground empire created to power up a beast and also to lose power once again only to realize that real courage comes from within and he even rescued his friend from underground soldiers hitting them with a stick
Great dive combination reminds me of god zenon
From Gridman?
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetworkyep the tsuberaya non ultra series cult series that was popular enough to get an anime a kaiju anime that beated Godzilla monster planet when it come to best kaiju anime so far
Also, I'm pretty sure one of the Dogglers has talked before, the one who helped enslave the civilians of the Underground Empire Tube
I think you might be right, but the vast majority of them were mindless beasts.
Maskman is back in Philippines will watch from Super Sentai aired on TV network.
Yeah, someone else talked about it's popularity there in the comments a little bit ago.
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork that Maskman taken place last showa era is liveman soon maskman appears in episode 1 kousoku Sentai turboranger is gathering of 10 Sentai
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork it was called laser squadron maskman in our country it was aired every sunday morning after bioman
3:04-3:08 Basically kind of making him the 80s Verison of Daisuke Kazama from Kamen rider Kabuto
I guess you could say that.
At first I thought the subtitles had consistent errors in them when they kept referring to Igam as male.
X1 Mask is a hugely missed opportunity and he just turns up one day, happens to be passing while the Maskman team are losing and then he comes to their attention when he saves them.
I think he'd have been better as a supporting character, an assistant to Sugata who had been a willing test subject for the X1 Mask powers before the rest of the Maskman were recruited.
After losing his girlfriend in a Tube attack he wanted to leave but Sugata convinced him to stay onboard for the project even if he wasn't going to fight himself - then he steps in when he feels the team are in trouble but loses his powers in that same episode. A little build-up goes a long way.
The two-part Dogler monsters were an interesting idea that didn't last long. I get that it was difficult to come up with 50 ideas for pairs of monsters, but it would have been impressive had they been able to go through with it for every episode.
The episode where they went back in time was an exercise in bad writing - tube open a gateway back in time and the rangers just show up, then Igam manages to find young Takeru without any apparent knowledge of where he would be in that time period or what he looked like.
That all said, Maskman is a mostly competent show with many interesting ideas of its own when it's not copying Flashman, such as the Dogler who falls in love with Momoko, the secondary robo having an origin where the good guys don't know if it can be trusted right away, and Zeba (as uninteresting as he is) being a powerful monster who usurped the throne of Tube.
The above issues I have with it don't impact my overall enjoyment of the show too greatly. I've seen far worse (Goggle V, JAKQ), but I've also seen better (Flashman, Gokaiger, ToQger, Kiramager) seaons.
That seems to always be the case in time travel episodes. The villains seem to automatically know what a ranger looked like as a child and go directly after them.
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork I should elaborate a little on the positives too, I now realise.
The miniatures were good, and Masky Drill stands out particularly with all the dust & debris flying around when it erupts from the ground.
X1 Mask's henshin sequence being not quite the same as the main team was also a nice touch.
The intro music is a fun tune and the battle between the Tube captured Great Five and the newly obtained Galaxy Robo was a new idea and fairly well executed.
Would have made the final battle all the more interesting if they'd found a way to split the team between both robos and still be able to control them both well, but I guess there'll be another Sentai where this will happen as a first.
Given the Dairanger comparison, i guess you could say Maskman walked, so Dairanger could run.
Pretty much.
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork as for my thoughts, I think Maskman is a serviceable series. It’s not groan inducing but it’s definitely not one of Sentai’s best. Just kinda forgettable. I think what makes this a bit worse is the fact that it aired alongside Kamen Rider Black. Between the two shows, Black was by far the stronger show since it took allot more risks, and yeah it took a good while to get to the really interesting stuff with Shadowmoon, but once Shadowmoon appears he instantly makes a presence in the show and from there everything steps up, from the writing, to the acting, to the storytelling, the drama, everything the show had built up to by this point comes ahead. With Maskman though, it’s just kinda going through the motions. Stuff just kinda happens in Maskman. Perfectly serviceable stuff, but overall nothing too major that really shakes anything up.
Maskman, & Bioman was Foundly Remembered in the Phillipines.
Nice. Did they air back int he 80s?
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork also Kamen Rider Black was Foundly Remembered by Filipino Kids.
I think they tried royalty heir thing with Igam plot. Royal family has no male heir and one sibling tried to pretend male, of course it is obvivious from the start and they couldn't handeled well but they tried something different at least. It is an okay show and Akira is my favorite as well, he is really talented martial artist and Legendary Knight Unas episodes are my favorite. Like you said it has great ideas and potential but they couldn't used them. Villians could be worked better if they were in constant rivalry like Jetman by the way I liked hanchmen more than their masters (Oyabun and Fumin). Sixth ranger is nice idea as well. Kiros worked better if they developed him more. Over all it is watchable and really fun.
While I get where you are going with the royalty plot, it didn't make sense to me because sometimes they would call Igam a guy, other times a woman, and the shocked looks later on work against it all. Maybe if they had given her more masculine armor and tried to pull off what they did with the one villain Changeman, it would have worked better.
You know if they wanted a good twist, they could've made Mio and Imgam 1 in the same. After the Princess gets captured a mysterious evil knight shows up, only until the rangers find out its a brainwashed princess. Then after she is no longer evil, she gets kidnaped again and encased in ice.
Yeah, but then that plot in Jetman would not have been as effective. :-)
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork Probably, thought Jetman as a whole would still hold up. Another improvement would be to make the foot soldiers more earthly with vines and roots. Instead of what we got.
Or have them actually look like Angler Fish. :-p
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork Either way a black tights with only spaghetti over their faces wont cut it.
How would you improve Maskman?
Added.
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork What?
Oops, sorry, I thought this was for the upcoming Q&A video. :-)
I would have made the characters a lot more diverse, gave everyone a back story, not just Akira and red, and had each villain have a motivation instead of just, "I'm evil."
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork Also reducing mech battles and MoTW.
Ah Mask man the Philippines most favorite super sentai
and uncle told me that the guy who portrayed Red Mask now lives in the Philippines
Does he now? That's cool. Now did they change Maskman's name over there?
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork Yup and I believe it's called Laser Squadron Mask man
@@justinrolandmalangen4243 correct !
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork actually, their residence were in Nerima ward (they have a Ramen store named Miso Ichi Ramen) and they went in Philippines once a year in Pampanga province (the wife's home place).
This series is among the most popular SS series in the Philippines.
Any particular reason why?
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork well it's among the pop culture icon in the 90's. In fact, it belong to the top 5 SS in the Philippines along with Bioman, Jetman, Turboranger and Fiveman. Maybe because of it's appeal to the kids back then it became very popular. And BTW, before Power Rangers, Maskman and some other Tokusatsu shows were aired in the Philippines and became pop culture icons.
which series is next
Hurricaneger since that comes out on DVD in a few weeks.
My next review will be the first season to Magic Knight Rayearth.
both sound cool
Which is better between maskman,Dairanger and Gekiranger?
Dairanger, easily.
Strangely I find Angamas the only interesting villain in this show. Probably because he comes across as the smartest and most competent. The others seem kind of bland frankly. It didn't help that when I watched the show, the subtitlers dropped the ball and couldn't keep a constant way of spelling most of the villains names except Angamas. Other than that, there's not much I can add that I dint already say in the comment section your Liveman video, most of your gripes with Liveman were the same ones I had for this series.
Yeah, there are a lot of issues with GUIS' subtitles. They had Ial spelled as Ian at the beginning and a few other oddities.
2:48, hopefully hospitalized tho the military was backing Sugata up.
3:24, looking up-close...she looks a bit like Starscream. Hehe...isn't that funny? Because Galvatron/Megatron Seizo Kato voices Lord Zeba.
I know I talk a bunch about TF but I can't stop myself considering I see the facial features of this woman looking an awful lot familiar to our Silver Seeker.
3:59, this is Kiros so likely he just wants to hear himself speak. He's evil like that. Also, Takeru seems to be the only one in the group who has a pretty chill childhood considering the others are either fraught with no childhood like Haruka or had a run in with the Tube at one point or a mystical object like Momoko. So yeah, after a run in with Prince Igam when he was a child, I say up until he met with Sugata, he lived a pretty good life as a kid. I can definitely see why Sugata chose him to be the leader.
5:03, for Kenta he did met with a woman from Tube who happened to be abused by Baraba and turned into a fly monster which Kenta realizes the gravity of the situation that Tube presents. Later on when Laraba - Baraba's mom came in for one episode to get her son back, it was Kenta who said no and considering whom Baraba tortured in a previous episode, that was a pretty good callback. Kenta also had to deal with friends who lost their way or had help from a cook in an episode from where he lost his will to fight no thanks to Kiros.
6:04, I thought it was pretty good too. Most Sentai and PR nowadays should give a single Ranger this kinda treatment. Kinda reminds me of the ol' Marvel Comics days.
6:50, considering watching a lot of movies and shows, the big man feels that if a "proper childhood" would distract Haruka from her ninja training, she'd be rolling in complacency. Now that's messed up and she wanted to dance too but that's not in the cards for her hence her emotional breakdown in one episode and the dance episode as well. She also looks like a single mom to me which makes sense due to her father forcing her to train her ninja abilities to an extent, almost no trace of fun in her except when she became a Maskman, then those peaceful times with Momoko and everyone else are obtainable tho she can be quite thorough with training.
8:10, I...absolutely got nothing for Momoko tbh.
9:01, oh nice~
10:25, I feel like this weapon is one-sided rather than a multi-weapon like the series before and after it. This is most likely re-used from another series by Bandai - Machine Robo Revenge of Cronos.
10:44, this one was also re-used from another Machine Robo scrapped toy which were the Jet boards from Machine Robo Battlehackers.
11:53, guess they love Night on Bald Mountain.
13:05, that was always weird to me tbh.
14:21, and is also the biggest asshole possible.
15:54, and brought it back late in the show later on when the Lizzer Dogler plot becomes more apparent.
Though what I understood is that some Doggler monsters can speak and are loyal and can think for themselves while the others are...monsters. One Monster which was Lizzer Doggler had enough and decided to usurp the empire for itself which sounds like a pretty cool idea.
18:07, funny enough they coulda used the Masky Drill anytime to get to the underground.
19:07, a.k.a Heaven punished the good doctor for even making this Frankenstein's monster robo.
28:58, I have yet to watch this movie.
I enjoyed watching this along with ToQger on my rewatch. I do see some similarities of ToQger and where it got some things from. I recommend everyone to watch Maskman and ToQger if they wanna start somewhere.
Maskman and ToQGer... that's an interesting combo. What was your favorite Maskman episode?
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork It's very hard to pin Maskman's episode down for me but I always do enjoy whenever Prince (purple rain), I mean Prince Igam (not to be confused with the artist) is on stage tho I do like how every episode shows just how messed up the society of Tube has become tho if I have to pin it down, it's ep 11 with the ninja girl from the underground since I watched that episode in Malay dub when I was a lad (which was packed with ep. 17 and ep. 19 which strangely had Gundam F91's ending theme.)
The one with Baraba's mom ep. 30, ep 40 (where Sugata may not always be to his word and has skeletons in his closet and the episode reminds me a lot of Cutey Honey Flash and has that Shojo feel to it which is always a nice variety) and ep. 21 which has Frankenstein's monster vibes to it. A mecha being introed as a killer sounds like a badass idea to me. The episodes where Akira was Knight Unas is also a good set of episodes too.
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork Maskman and ToQger. Yup, I've come to realize before Kiramager and Donbrothers came in (and maybe Lupin vs Pat), ToQger was the last good Sentai written because I feel starting from Ninninger, it just got bad. Like real bad.
Not to mention, I do see some similarities in the writing of ToQger and Maskman where the villains had problems of their own which practically ruined the balance of the Earth, Zett and Zeiba being their own enemies which sets off a huge chain of events while the heroes had their own slice of problems on their own to deal with, Imagination and Aura Power being somewhat like the Force from Star Wars, 2 sides of the coin can co-exist with each other, etc. It may be a stretch but I do enjoy what was presented in the 2 shows.
Wait i saw in SMX i know them they notice red mask and kamen rider black reaction interact myself as a fan of Kamen Rider and Super Sentai i visit in Toy Con 2023 in SMX Last Jul.7
That's awesome.
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork man my interaction myself we met tetsuo kurata and my kumu app my god that's ryousuke kaizu finally we got daisuke tsuchiya appeared in SMX because i was related voltes V Legacy Live action on day 2 this is what happened in toy con shaking hands from philippine actor miguel tan felix interact to tetsuo kurata and ryousuke kaizu.
Yup Toei got live action Voltes V Legacy is set of 90 episodes in CGI has involved from Kingohger and Kyoryuger had CGI mecha's now Voltes V Legacy has super sentai reference and callbacks scene.
What Is Your Favorite Movie From Ultraman
Probably the X movie.
The carrier Mecha was Turboranger that's funny that's the name of Kousoku Sentai Turboranger but the logo on the toy in Maskman look like number five like the fiveman that's kind of confusing 🤔?
COnfused? I'm not confused, you're confused. 😛
Ressha Sentai Toger did Amnesia plot and fit with story
That's good to hear.
Takeru and miyo scene on ep49 is so touching😢😭😿
:-)
Well hey a King has to watch over his Kingdom doesn't he.
:-D
Red mask actor was in flashman which character
A boxer. I point him out in my Flashman review. :-)
What I hated was that they called Princess Igam 'Prince Igam'. Like, anyone could tell that 'Prince Igam' was a girl.
Yeah, I don't get it either.
That is because she is originally is a girl
What would've worked better is if princess Iyal/mio had been brainwashed in the character of Igam, cuz then when the revelation is made the shock isn't that igam is a girl but that igam is really mio. Why they went with this identical twin bullshit I will never know.
No idea either, but hey, Jetman kind of did that plot later.
@@TokuAndAnimationNewsNetwork exactly
i think the turboranger thing was just a coincidence
Probably, but it doesn't make it any less funny. :-p
My reaction to Maskman's finale: ua-cam.com/video/hV5G_gwBUXY/v-deo.html
Idk, I thought the "En-Lightning" joke was pretty funny. I lol'd.
:-)
Kaiju no Kami means, "God of Monsters" right?
Yep.