J.H.

My only complaint with Yami Wo Terasu Mono is that all the CGI makes it look like a video game. Once they get to who the actual villain is and how powerful the bad guys are, you realize how screwed the Makai Knights are. Amemiya had nothing to do with Yami Wo Terasu Mono so his storytelling, which is one of his strong points, is missing and it shows. Still tstuff gets cranked up the more the show goes on. James

Backstory? Sure you wanna use that term? James

Kind of, the only other thing I can think of is Akibaranger and that's more parody of the genre. That's pretty much Amemiya in general though as he has always done toku shows with more violence and adult oriented stories (even when he was doing Jetman). James

or perhaps even a Kamen Rider James

I have hoped and prayed for years for some sign that a new DVDVR was on the horizon... this must be that sign! James

I think its a trust issue with Zero not be so willing to work with others. Remeber, he even turned down Tsubasa's one pupil at the end of Beast of The White Night? He trusts Kouga because its the whole idea of they went through some shit together. I think the part of Black Blood I liked the most was that they saved Zero summoning Ginga and made it seem extra special when he did. If you end up watching Sh15ya then you might want to delve Kamen Rider 555 since its most of the same cast and director. 555 is one of the better Heisei era Riders as it is dark in tone and some charactrs mak you sit there in disbelief its a kids show. James

Trips was hopelessly stuck i nthe midcard at that point. Winning the KotR that year would've elevated him for sure but he wouldn't have been in the World title picture. James

Taz a terrible talker? The whole selling point of the first Barely Legal was Taz cutting promos on SAbu so people would watch the match. The greatness of mocking Sabu for having bought a Soloflex is still one of the best promos and then threatening to choke Sabu out to the point that he'd make Sabu's wife cry (even naming her by name) was one of those things that sold me on him. If Taz hadn't cut such great promos I wouldn't have given a rats ass about that feud. James

If you haven't plunged head first in to Yami Wo Terasu Mono or Makai No Hana yet I want ot recommend something that isn't GARO that I think you might enjoy. Watch Sh15ya, it is teen gang show with Toku elements andn insane ending. Very dark, possibly the most underrated toku I've ever watched. James

Fuji was less a Bret Hart fanboy than Koji Nakagawa, who pretty much aped Bret during his 1995/96 run in FMW James

You know what, Lanny Poffo doesn't get enough love as guy who busted his ass for years jobbing like a fiend and making everybody look good. Best Example is when Harley was first debuting in the WWF. He and Lanny had this pretty fun match at MSG, where Lanny even took a brainbuster on the arena floor and kept going (and Harley's brainbuster looked nasty). Even when teamed with another jobbber on the syndie shows, Lanny always bumped like a king before letting the other guy take the fall. There isn't enough love for Lanny Poffo! James

I forgot that Ikeda was a Kentaro Miura fan James

It was a matter of the reputations of both NWA Champion (no matter who it was) as well as Harley's own personal rep. Having the video re-worked to make Harley loo like a coward affects the reputation of the champ and might even adversely affect the gate and I would not want to be the guy to fuck with Harley Race's payoff. The public perception of the World Champion meant everything back then, having a weak touring champion does no one any good. I mean look at how the NWA title is treated today, its lucky to get a midcard slot on some local indy James

There are just some things I love so much I NEED to share them with everyone... My M.O.D.O.K. Mug is one of those things! James

Have covered "What if Sting hadn't tore up his knee on the cge during the Clash"? I mean he was supposed to win the title in Feb/March so I doubt we would have gotten the Black scorpion angle to start with. He could have wrestled Flair a few more times and then moved on to someone else (Luger would've still been a heel if Sting had not wrecked his knee so there is a challenger right there, possibly even for Starrcade) James

I remember really impressed when Ahmed slammed Yokozuna, that right there told me he was going ot be a big deal... or at least there were plans in that direction James

I really liked the ZERO mini, they swerved me a few times and I do like that. Also I love Ray Fujita as Rei/ZERO. Makai Hana has been good so far save the most recent episode, as I really want the story to move forward at this point. Yami Wa Terasu Mono was suprisingly good and had lots of BIG moments James

I hope you watched the Tougen Flute before the last movie, since it indirectly ties in (and its pretty awesome). The questin now is: Are you going ot keep going and watch Yami Wa Terasu Mono? James

Thunder Knight BARON/Wataru is by far the coolest of the Makai Knights introduced in Makai Senki. He's played by Kenji Matsuda, who always plays a badass of some kind. When I saw Matsuda was in gARO I lost my shit, because he is always just that cool! James

Fandom has changed somewhat. I mean in the 90s mainstream US fandom reviled Hokuto No Ken but they were basing their opinions on th Streamline dub, which was basically comparing Gatchaman to BotP. The Jojo OVA were one of those things that got shown at monthly anime club meetings and local small cons (along with Elemenlors and Combustible Campus Guardress) and just kept gettign shown over and over again. No one counted on the manga ever getting released i nthe US. James

Awful? I mean it was made between 93-96 and for its time it was very state of the art. Also take int oaccount that Jojo itself is completely insane and over he top and ridiculous. I nearly spit out my beer when the closing credits for episode 3 of the new series came on and they revealed that this time out we are getting "Walk Like An Egyptian" to sing along to as oppsed somethign else by Yes (though "walk Like An Egyptian" makes total sense) James

Take into acount, the current story of Jojo has been animated before... that doesn't mean you shouldn't watch it though because Stardust Crusaders is pretty much the definitive Jojo arc. James

If it does then so does "You can tell Sabu to fuck Sabu", which remains my favorite pro-wrestling urban legend James

You make like Starship Eagle never happened! James

My favorite Dick Murdoch promo! James