Anime Review: Toujima Tanzaburou Wants To Be A Kamen Rider Ep 1 – A Fiery Start
Toujima Tanzaburou wants to be a Kamen Rider is a pretty unique series – where completely normal people who were so inspired by fictional Kamen Riders that they embrace them in their lives. But in this anime, they will be facing against a very “real” evil organization that actually exist in Kamen Rider itself – the Shocker organization. The fact that normal people who were sooooo into Kamen Riders deciding to walk the walk to the point they actually go up against a super evil organization is a very interesting idea. And in ep 1, we are introduced to the main character: Toujima Tanzaburou.
Toujima’s backstory is both hilarious and tragic. He was a very seriour Kamen Rider fan that wanted to become an actual Rider, so he trained his body from a very young age. To the point that in high school, he was capable of beating dozens of delinquent gangsters. But of course, Kamen Rider’s strength is itself unnatural in KR’s world as well, so Toujima was both feared and respected. When he stood up to fight for the girl, I was filled with admiration and awe, but when he (inevitably) got rejected as per the norm, I almost laughed out loud. Truly the path of Rider is a lonely one.
And then we skipped to him when he is 40. He’s a middle-aged man now. But he has been training ever since to “become” Kamen Rider and “desperately” wanted Shocker to come turn him into a kaizou ningen. But of course, he was living a normal life, so he didn’t get his wish. The fact that he was trying to sell his Kamen Rider collection so it didn’t go to waste was peak collector’s mindset. If it were me, I’d entrust every collectibles I had to someone who knows its true value and can take good care of them.
And then we skipped to him when he is 40. He’s a middle-aged man now. But he has been training ever since to “become” Kamen Rider and “desperately” wanted Shocker to come turn him into a kaizou ningen. But of course, he was living a normal life, so he didn’t get his wish. The fact that he was trying to sell his Kamen Rider collection so it didn’t go to waste was peak collector’s mindset. If it were me, I’d entrust every collectibles I had to someone who knows its true value and can take good care of them.
And then we get to the “fake” Shocker dudes. I can’t believe Kiryu from Yakuza was a fan of Sohcker and coerced peeps into cosplaying them (jk of course). But yeah this is basically just “fake” Shocker and they were basically being normal street thugs. Toujima instantly saw through them and thought they were lame as hell, But when he saw people were being harassed and hurt by them, the spirit of Kamen Rider could not let it go. He quickly bought a Rider mask and went through a bonafide (imaginary) henshin sequence. The insert OST “Let’s Go Rider Kick Remix” was absolute banging! Teddyloid’s modern version of this classic Tokusatsu theme song. It really makes you feel pumped up.
Toujima’s fight in this episode was really great. Altho his strength is REALLY inhuman. I don’t think he needs to be “reconstructed” into a cyborg anymore. Dude can fight barehanded against a freaking bear, and his punch made sonic boom when hitting flesh. Bro is literally built different like a tank. Of course, we have to have the finishing “Rider Kick” at the end. Absolutely peak combat.
Toujima’s fight in this episode was really great. Altho his strength is REALLY inhuman. I don’t think he needs to be “reconstructed” into a cyborg anymore. Dude can fight barehanded against a freaking bear, and his punch made sonic boom when hitting flesh. Bro is literally built different like a tank. Of course, we have to have the finishing “Rider Kick” at the end. Absolutely peak combat.
We got quite a strong start, with a nice combination of comedy and badassery. Furthermore, Toujima acted like a very serious Kamen Rider fan while still being somewhat grounded in reality. I think it separates a “fan” from a “fanatic”. But either way, next episode will be quite the eye candy – with the main heroine appearing with her very impressive…”assets” iykwim.
=Aaron=
=Aaron=
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