Movie REVIEW: Kamen Rider Drive Saga: Kamen Rider Chaser

With the success of both the Kamen Rider W Returns movies and the more recent Kamen Rider Gaim: Gaiden releases, Toei seem to have confirmed to both themselves that direct to DVD/Blu-ray V-cinema releases starring the shows' secondary and tertiary Riders are both popular and profitable. Just as current series Kamen Rider Ghost has jumped on this early with its The Legend of Hero Alain blu-ray bonus miniseries, previous show Kamen Rider Drive is refuses to stay down with a number of feature-length V-cinema entries. The first of these is Kamen Rider Drive Saga: Kamen Rider Chaser, naturally starring Chase - the prototype Roidmude whose appeared as both Proto-Drive and Mashin Chaser before joining Drive as Kamen Rider Chaser.

Toybox REVIEW: S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Chaser

The sometimes unpredictable nature of S.H. Figuarts’ release pattern can be both a blessing and curse. On the one hand it means you can enjoy new releases from a series months after it has finished its run, but on the other it can also mean long waits for important characters or forms – with the chance of it being a Tamashii web exclusive getting ever higher. Kamen Rider Drive’s Kamen Rider Chaser is the perfect example of this – only releasing in January 2016 despite becoming quite the main form of the Roidmude Chase (aka Mashin Chaser and Proto Drive) in the final third of the show. The added cost a Tamashii web exclusive usually brings is likely a negative to a lot of people, but at the same time it usually ensures everyone has a fair chance of grabbing one while the preorder window is open. But enough rambling, it’s time to take a look at the newest hero to join in Drive’s fight against the Roidmudes!

First Impressions: Power Rangers Dino Supercharge

Although technically this site won't be featuring a review for Power Rangers Dino Charge until the end of the year (despite it being split into two seasons, it covers one Super Sentai adaptation as such my preference is to treat it as one), the premiere of its second half - Power Rangers Dino Supercharge, isn't something that should go unnoticed. While Samurai's second half simply felt like a continuation and Super Megaforce moved onto an entirely new set of powers, Dino Supercharge sits comfortably between those - introducing a brand new villain and new rangers as the team continue their search for the final two Energems. Welcome to When Evil Stirs...

Series REVIEW: Kamen Rider Drive

Give a Kamen Rider cosmically powered switches or transforming fruit armour and only a few people will bat an eyelid. Give him a car instead of a bike however and suddenly the world has been turned upside down. Although not the first Kamen Rider show to give their lead character four wheels instead of two (that would be Kamen Rider Black RX), Kamen Rider Drive is the first series to make it exclusively that Rider’s mode of transportation. With the series having just come to an end in Japan, it’s time to take a look back at the past year of Kamen Rider before things start afresh again with Kamen Rider Ghost in a few days’ time.

Toybox REVIEW: S.H. Figuarts Mashin Chaser

While Kamen Rider is probably the luckiest franchise when it comes to getting its villain characters as part of the S.H. Figuarts line, the amount that have received mass release is quite minimal. Thankfully if you're a Rider or Rider-esque character it means you probably have a good chance of getting that treatment, and given his prominence in the show it should be no surprise to anyone to find that Mashin Chaser is the next character/form from Kamen Rider Drive to join the line. The Roidmude Shinigami/Grim Reaper, Mashin Chaser serves as a rival to Drive until his true origins are revealed - leading on to what is perhaps one of the most engaging elements of the series so far. But for now let's just enjoy Chase in this monstrous form, ready to wheel up at a moment's notice and cause a rather elaborate road block for our hero.

First Impressions: Power Rangers Dino Charge

While in terms of exposure the Power Rangers franchise has returned with full force since returning to Saban Brands in 2010, it's popularity with long-term fans hasn't been in the best of conditions. The target demographic seem to be enjoying it (which is arguably the most important thing), but poor direction, acting, watered down Super Sentai plots and a pretty abysmal 20th anniversary series have prevented it from winning its oder fanbase. But with Judd "Chip" Lynn returning for 2015's Power Rangers Dino Charge, hype has been at an all-time high. With Lynn behind Power Rangers in Space and the tail end of RPM - two series that vastly differed from their Sentai counterparts, many hoped that this signalled a return to the originality that was severely lacking from both Samurai and Megaforce.  Nickelodeon have now made the first episode available online ahead of it's television premiere, so at long last we can now see if this is the Power Rangers series we've been waiting for.