You Shall Remember Your Tokusatsu Days...

I have heard that some Sentai alumni don't cherish their Tokusatsu days but fortunately some people do and still appear during reunions. Pictures like these are very warming to see... and of course Tokusatsu was one of the reasons why these people rock even if most of them had retired from show business to live regular civilian lives. It's really ungrateful to forget what launched you into stardom after all. Below are a few examples... ask me to write them all and it'll be too many but moving on here's some people are really very great for cherishing their Tokusatsu days:


Keiichi Wada, Ryosuke Sakamoto, Masaru Shishido and Tota Tarumi... forever red! Even Masashi Shishido opened a Tokusatsu themed bar. I would like to go there and go gushy! Ha ha ha! Then again, Bioman was my very first Super Sentai! In fact, this was a very nice photo to behold that even if some have retired, they still cherished their Toku days. Talk about a Japanese version of a Power Morphicon or not... LOL. There are many more Tokusatsu pictures of their reunions even if life has moved on, they never forgot what launched them in the first place. Others who still bother to remember their Toku days are like Michiko Makino even if she's a family woman already. Note that Keiichi Wada and Masaru Shishido appeared in Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger, both favorites of mine and the Fantasy Leader.


Kenta Satou and Keiya Asakura in a shot. Hee hee hee, both my childhood involved. Turboranger! Although Keiya Asakura is now a hotel employee, he still cherishes his Tokusatsu days.


Despite the fact that Tetsuo Kurata is now a well-to-do steak entrepreneur, married and with two children (I want to meet his children too). To be honest, I felt pretty excited for him guest starring in Kamen Rider Decade back then despite the fact he's now successful with this steakhouse. Really Tetsuo, you just brought my childhood back unexpectedly! After all by making Rider-themed items for his food items, he really has done a good thing cherishing his days as Kotaro Minami which launched him to stardom.


You may want to consider the likes of great Tokusatsu legends like Hiroshi Miyauchi and Kenji Ohba who despite having roles outside Tokusatsu, still bothered to cherish their Tokusatsu days! How? Remember Hiroshi Miyauchi returned as Chief Miura in Ohranger and he reappeared as Big One in Gaoranger vs. Super Sentai. Kenji Ohba did some guest starring in some Tokusatsu series like Kamen Rider Black RX and even became Gavan AGAIN in Gokaiger vs. Gavan and in the Gavan movie. Boy, I'd like to meet him someday and I guess the Gokaiger cast were all loving to see their childhood hero! In fact Gokaiger had some seniors return.


Although Kazunori Inaba has not done any guest starring in Tokusatsu lately and I was kind of disappointed because I wanted him to be in Shinkenger (as Takeru's father) or in Gokaiger in a cameo or even a Maskman focused episode but oh well... he has his life to live. But despite all that, he still went to sign autographs even if he's no longer acting. He even came to the Philippines and had a moment with some Filipino Tokusatsu fans. Well I'd love to run into him, he is after all my favorite Maskman.


Another good to remember is the legendary Toshihide Wakamatsu. So far, despite being gone from Tokusatsu in lead roles and doing J-Drama and other action roles, he did us all a favor when he became Gai Yuki's ghost in Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger. Proves he really still cherished his role in Super Sentai as Gai Yuki.


Here's Hurricanger and Nao Nagasawa. Nao Nagasawa celebrated ten years of Hurricanger even if she's now busy kicking ass in the movies. So what do I think about it? Her guest roles in Gokaiger, Kamen Rider W (as Lily) and in Kamen Rider Fourze (as a teacher who kicked ass) proved she still cherished her Tokusatsu days.


Another one we may consider noteworty is Takeru Sato who despite his success as Kenshin may still credit his launch to fame in his days as the lead guy in Kamen Rider Den-O. From what I can say, he apparently still want to join future Kamen Rider events.


The Dekarangers and Magirangers are still cherishing their Tokusatsu days. From a comment today, it was mentioned they still cherish their days.


Apparently the Shinkengers are still cherishing their Tokusatsu days. Hmmmm so far I've heard somewhere that Rin Takanashi does credit her role as Mako Shiraishi to her acting improvement (and now she's doing her first lead role in Houkago Groove) and as for Tori Matsuzaka his role as Takeru Shiba. I don't know about the rest but it seems they still have their reunions and I dunno what the future will be for them when they're all getting married (or not) and meeting together in their later years. In fact Tori Matsuzaka also had projects with Rin Takanashi (where he was paired with Emi Takei) and with Hiroki Aiba.


Perhaps the best feeling was probably to Junya Ikeda himself when he fought side by side with Keiichi Wada onscreen and had some interaction (presumably) with Toshihide Wakamatsu off-screen. Well I guess it's safe to assume Junya Ikeda still cherishes Tokusatsu since he's also doing Garo and even appeared in Super Hero Taisen. I guess the other Gokaigers feel the same too.


Well I hope Masaru Shishido's business is doing well and I'd like to go there with other fellow Tokusatsu critics someday to discuss... well Tokusatsu though some of the Toku stars may be J-Drama stars now. =P

Well if anybody knows any more, please do feel free to comment!

Updated on: July 12, 2013 =P