As much as I love Godzilla , when it comes to giant monster movies my heart definitely belongs to Gamera. Sure Godzilla has had the more illustrious film career, but the Heisei era Gamera Trilogy don't just rank as some of the best kaiju flicks you'll ever find - they're some of my favourite films of all time. The suits and practical effects are among the very best you'll find in modern tokusatsu, and the plots and characters are pretty damn good too! So imagine my excitement when Bandai Tamashii Nations announced that they would finally be visiting the Gamera franchise in their S.H. MonsterArts line - starting with the 1996 version of the character that appeared in the second instalment of the trilogy, Gamera 2: Attack of Legion . While the Gamera franchise did receive some love from Revoltech's SFX/Sci-Fi/tokusatsu subline a few years ago, this was a chance to see Bandai give it the same high quality treatment it's given the likes of Godzilla , King Kon...

Fan films are nothing new to the internet. Every week it seems some budding director is hoping to be the next viral sensation by putting some sort of clever twist on an existing product rather than get their name out there with something original. However recently there seems to be some sort of special focus on the Power Rangers franchise. Whether it's because of it's return to the public eye since Saban Brands returned to the helm with Power Rangers Samurai , the recent 20th anniversary of the franchise or the forthcoming reboot movie, the internet has seen it's fair share of new takes on the series that started it all. We've had Matt Jayson's "The Ranger"   (whose second part will be hitting later in the year) as well as the Kickstarter-backed-but-no-actual-product-so-far "MMPR" . But neither of these have provoked quite the reaction Joseph Kahn's "Power/Rangers" has, which hit the internet yesterday.

Super Sentai isn't a franchise to shy away from using the same theme multiple times. After recently hitting the hat-trick for dinosaurs with Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger , 2015 marks the third use of ninjas with Shuriken Sentai Ninninger . With declining ratings and toy competition from the non-stop juggernaut that is Yo-Kai Watch , it isn't all that surprising Toei are playing it safe again with a motif that's proved a success in the past. After the final two episodes of Ressha Sentai ToQger were pushed back due to television coverage of tragic world news, Ninninger premiered a week later than originally intended on 22nd February. With that date actually marking "Ninja day" in Japan, it's surprising it wasn't meant to start that day anyway.

For S.H. Figuarts collectors, there are few stories more infamous than that of Master Asia . The figure was originally revealed by Bandai Tamashii Nations all the way back in 2008, alongside fellow Mobile Suit G Gundam star Domon Kasshu . But while Domon got his release, Master Asia went on to arguably become the poster child of Bandai's "will they/won't they release it" tactics, appearing in magazine scans and multiple shows since with never any indication of an actual release. But when 2014 rolled around and Tamashii Nations started hitting up G Gundam for their Robot Damashii line the unthinkable happened - Master Asia got a release date. No longer the "Unreleased of the East" , Master Asia was confirmed for January 2015 and as a mass release figure no less. So before we even begin the review there's a moral here - if Master Asia can get released after nearly seven years, then there's hope for every Figuart. Truly the Undefeated of the E...

Now that it's quite comfortably into the Kamen Rider franchise, it's time for Bandai 's fantastic 66 Action candy toy range to dive into another beloved tokusatsu  franchise. This time it's the turn of Tsuburaya Production 's legendary Ultra Series - featuring Ultraman , one of Japan's most prominent superheroes. This first wave of 66 Action Ultraman figures features a range of characters from across the franchise's 50 year history, including the popular daikaiju (giant monster) as well as the titular heroes. Here we have the original Ultraman, Ultraseven, Ultraman Ginga Strium  and Alien Baltan .

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.