Emissary from Hell. Bunnygirl Byzantinist. My evolution is faster than light. Call me Cat.



I don't really feel the need to do episode by episode type live-watch-posting on this site, but I did just finish a 1980s sci-fi tokusatsu show, and there are few things I love more than a 1980s sci-fi tokusatsu show.


Dynaman is mostly known as "the one with all the explosions", and: Yes indeed! As soon as you hit go on the OP, there are over a dozen explosions before you get any lyrics, and then you are in for 51 episodes of stunt actors diving off cliffs while Toei's entire pyrotechnics department tries its best to obliterate them, waving around real flamethrowers, strapping sparklers to their legs to simulate jet-boots, dangling from helicopters and all sorts of stuff that should make them by rights the highest-paid people in the world.

But it's also exactly my kind of fantastical high camp outing from this era of Toei's hero shows, full of outlandish costumes, hand-drawn lasers, just the right balance between high-concept individual episodes and engaging story, and just overall chaotic energy. Sometimes the big fight will just turn into a cowboy shootout, or a game of American football, because that's what we felt like filming today, and that's my shit.

Also, they quickly realise how cool the pink ranger's actor is (Sayoko Hagiwara has a few notable tokusatsu roles from around this time) and thus begins writer Hirohisa Soda's career of giving the girl rangers all the focus, and she quickly escalates from "kind of also being there" to "unstoppable force of nature commanding the obedience of the sun itself", and also gets an on-and-off rivalry with the evil princess, which I'm in favour of.

Dyna Pink and Princess Chimera having some Heated Drama

So I'm gonna go think about them kissing angrily now, but the rest of the show as indicated also pretty good! Aforementioned princess is also here to bully the main villain's hilarious failson who goes some pretty wild directions himself.

But overall, your most common thought will be "wait did they really film that for real", and that's beautiful.

Dyna Robo, its prop shield actually on fire for real


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