Shin Gendai Ryoukiden

Even outside of manga form, such as drama CDs, or as part of a radio show, Audio Dramas of the series like ‘Shin Gendai Ryoukiden’ can be searched for on international services like Spotify and iTunes, for those who are able to understand the Japanese content. It’s the official content to support the IP and is definitely worth a listen.

Even when I don’t understand what they are saying, it can still be very fun to listen to in order to feel out the atmosphere of the story. I can look up fan written summaries of the story or even translations of transcripts online in order to piece together the story in a patchwork like fashion. This method of consumption may not be the ideal, but it feels so much more legitimate than just reading a scanlation of the series.

This title is extremely specific and sounds almost clinical. It's an eroge visual novel that caters to a very specific audience. 'Summoning an evil god' is a common trope for darker eroge titles and explains how a character will lose control or become corrupted. The rest of the title goes into character development and what kind of fetishes will be shown off. The title is so specific, that it's not really well known outside of dedicated communities and won't get memes or fan art made for it. It's a very consumable product for people with specific fetishes. Looking at it from the perspective of it being a 'story' or 'game' does it a disservice, it's more of an experience.

The 'Ronin Warriors' anime novel, which I've cherished since stumbling upon it years ago, expands the lore of the classic 'Yoroiden Samurai Troopers' series with deeper character arcs and mythological flourishes. The core plot revolves around five young warriors chosen by ancient armors tied to elemental virtues—Justice, Wisdom, Life, Trust, and Righteousness. They must unite against Talpa, a demonic warlord from the Netherworld who seeks to conquer Earth. What hooked me was how each warrior's personal struggles mirrored their armor's virtue—like Ryo of the Wildfire battling his self-doubt to embody true Justice.

The novel fleshes out the anime's episodic battles with richer backstories, like how the armors were forged by a rebellion against Talpa centuries ago. There's this eerie chapter where the Warriors traverse the Netherworld's twisted landscapes, facing illusions that prey on their fears. The prose nails the gothic-meets-modern vibe of the show, especially in scenes where the armors glow against shadowy cityscapes. I still reread it for its blend of 90s shounen energy and surprisingly poetic moments—like Kento of Hardrock realizing his strength comes from protecting others, not raw power.

Revenant-X is an incredible action, sci-fi game set in a futuristic world. Following a cybernetically enhanced soldier who awakens with no memory, the story follows the last hope of humanity as he tries to take down a rogue AI. The initial plan of revenge turns into a wild ride of a story that encompasses neon-lit cities and gritty research facilities as the main protagonist tries to uncover parts of his past while battling to discover the truth behind the AI’s rebellion.

Gameplay wise, Revenant-X is an on the fly action shooter with stealth sequences and parkour elements. However, as I said previously, the true drawn-out emotional impacting story is what keeps me coming back for more. I haven’t played a game where the main protagonist had little to no memory of who they once were. The AI constantly questions the protagonist’s actions in relation to free will. You’ll have to play to find out more about the main AI who seems to only want to understand humanity in its own peculiar way. Revenant-X brings many interesting characters to the table, including a mysterious smuggler with hidden motives, a secret underground hacker collective who assist the protagonist in his never ending mission to uncover the truth behind the collapse of society. I won’t give too much away but suffice it to say, by the final act, it is very hard to distinguish between hero and villain. That’s why Revenant-X is that rare type of game that will stick with you long after you’re done playing it and you return to your controller for more.

There are several places to find subbed 'Super Sentai' episodes. Classic episodes can be found on the Shout! Factory website, which even includes Zyuranger, the Super Sentai that Power Rangers was based on. Newer seasons of Sentai can be found out on the official Tsuburaya Productions YouTube channel, where some of the episodes are even subbed and uploaded as promotional clips.

As for physical copies, I can highly recommend many of the newer Sentai series on Blu-ray (especially with the bonus features) from companies such as Shout! Factory. And for that extra bit of help or aid, even finding subbed streaming for Japan-linked channels, join up to a good Tokusatsu-themed Discord channel. They’re are a gazillion-dollar encyclopedia on limbs! In the past, I managed to stumble upon a “Share” link to High-Def “Timeranger” on a Google Drive, after someone randomly tweeted about it!

It is already finished so you may start reading away. Official versions can be found on Amazon.You may buy the novels at the Amazon Kindle Store, the copies sold there are also official.

The simple answer to this question is to create a shortlist of bookmarked sites. ‘Kamen Rider Official’ on YouTube is a great place to start, along with the TokuSHOUTsu website (also found on the Pluto TV app). For the majority of searches, a good streaming search engine, such as JustWatch, is required. This can be set up to only show legal streaming options, and search a host of services including Tubi, Amazon Prime, Hulu and more to search for individual titles of Kamen Rider series currently streaming. Once set up, this will provide the ideal portal to searching for all series, with the first two sites providing direct access to a wealth of classics and newer releases, along with being available to stream in a ‘channel’ format.

It seems that most scanlation groups used to have their own websites for their translations instead of throwing everything up on these ghost aggregators who STEAL all of the content from the actual creators and scanners. I have a hard time trying to find trusted sources to read now since most everything is thrown up online for everyone to read for free without any compensation to the creators who put in the time and effort to translate these stories for us. The internet has just gotten so much scummier when it comes to scanlations.

The primary emotional throughline of this piece is one of cold fury. The anger of the protagonist has been locked into a perpetual state and fuels the protagonist, never waning to the point of losing control. What is scary about the avenger is that he is not hot-headed. A hot-headed character seeking revenge is a rather predictable, even clichéd, storyline. But a cold, calculating character is far scarier because you have no idea when the blow will come. His interactions lack the heat of rage and thus come across as clinical, even as if he were cutting with a surgeon’s scalpel. The detachment from his hatred is more disturbing than if he were raging and screaming. His hatred is so deep, so fundamental, that it has become a part of his operating system. Thus, the protagonist is not seeking revenge; he is revenge incarnate. He just happens to be wearing the skin of a transfer student.

I appreciate that there is no health bar for the bosses, so you just have to keep shooting at them until they die. Without a health bar for the bosses, there is no visual indicator of how much damage you are doing to them, or how close to defeat they are. This adds to the tension and you have to remain focused until the boss finally dies. You can never tell if the next attack sequence is going to be the last, and so you have to remain fully focused until the very end. The only feedback as to how progress is being made with the boss is by the change in their attack sequences, and they enter into a new, more desperate-looking sequence of attacks as they degrade. This is a very organic and stressful way to play through a boss fight, which suits the game well.