With most Super Sentai series ending on pretty conclusive notes, epilogue stories such as the annual V-cinema releases can often be pretty hit or miss. But while in previous years these may have felt like fun but often unneeded novelties, Toei’s recent offerings have really turned them into events of their own. First there was the parallel world craziness of Gobusters vs. Gobusters , and then Kyoryuger flung fans into the far future with a (somewhat) new team in 100 Years Later . Now it’s the turn of Ressha Sentai ToQger, who are doing perhaps a little bit of both. It’s not quite as far in the future, but it does mark the debut of a brand new team member! If you’re a fan of the colour purple or have been hoping for a complete ToQger rainbow, then Super ToQ #7 of Dreams is definitely something you might want to look into…

There aren't many places where you can call something only 30 minutes long, but every year the Super Sentai franchise manages to get away with it. Released as part of a cinematic summer double bill with the accompanying Kamen Rider movie, sadly Sentai always seems to get the short end of the stick while the Riders get the full blown movie treatment. In 2014 it was the turn of Ressha Sentai ToQger with Galaxy Line SOS , hitting the silver screen alongside Kamen Rider Gaim: Great Soccer Battle! Golden Fruits Cup!

As a tokusatsu fan there's nothing that quite makes me realise how fast a year goes by then when a currently airing series ends - especially in the case of Super Sentai . With the yearly switchover happening less than two months into the new year it's always a sign that the new year has properly kicked in, and this time it's the turn of the 38th entry in the franchise - Ressha Sentai ToQger . Following on from the successful (in terms of toy sales anyway) dinosaur-themed  Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger , ToQger takes on something very close to the hearts of the Japanese for it's motif - trains! However it's not just limited to this popular form of public transport, also taking on rainbows, light and imagination to form the core of what the show is all about. So not another dark Sentai show then.

In the live-action tokusatsu version of the Kikaider franchise, Jiro's story ends with the defeat of DARK and Professor Gill - with his older brother Kikaider 01 taking up the fight against the revived Hakaider and the forces of evil organisation SHADOW. However Shotaro Ishinomori's manga series takes a different approach to things, with Jiro remaining the main focus of the story as he meets his brother and fights against this new threat. The four-part OVA sequel to Kikaider: The Animation continues Jiro's story in the same way, however like the live-action sequel switches the name to Kikaider 01: The Animation to mark this new instalment in the story.

In a time before Super Sentai and still the early years of Kamen Rider , there was another Shotaro Ishinomori hero winning children's hearts across Japan. And with the original Android Kikaider proving a success, it's no surprise that it was immediately followed up with a sequel series. Kikaider 01 saw a brand new two-toned robotic hero take up the fight against evil, running for a total of 46 episodes between 1973 and 1974.