Henshin Men

Shoo fly, don’t bother Kamen Rider! Nathan and Travis get to a pair of Kamen Rider (1971) episodes featuring fly kaijin. The first one begins like The Blob (1958) with a young couple discovering a meteor that crashes to Earth. But that’s just Shocker’s plot-of-the-week, not the birthplace of Electreifly. But he does have an awesome “Dance of Hell.” This inspires your intrepid hosts to discuss weaponized meteors and Japanese dance. For the second episode, they discuss a little girl witnessing Gadflygomez (he’s from Mexico, get it?) murder an FBI friend of Taki’s he’s never mentioned before. You know what that means: REVENGE! Just another day for Kamen Rider and friends.

Kamen Rider (1971) is available to stream on Shout!FactoryTV and Tubi. Watch there to follow along with us!

Follow Henshin Men on Twitter: @HenshinMenPod. Join the official Facebook fan page for this and The Monster Island Film Vault, The Markalite Lounge.

Listen to Travis’s main podcast, Kaiju Weekly, and Nathan’s podcasts, The Monster Island Film Vault and The Power Trip.

Henshin Men is a proud member of the Kaiju Ramen Podcast Network.

MUSIC:                                                                                          

-“Kamen Rider - Let's Go!! Rider Kick (Cover)” by Eternal Melee

-“Not Your Above-Average Joe [Standing Ovation]” by Ivan Hakštok

No, Travis and Nathan did not make the obvious joke they, well, joked they would when they reached a particular episode number of Kamen Rider (1971). Get used to disappointment because they felt a bit let down by these episodes. The first one features the final appearance—in this series—of Dr. Shinigami/Death/Reaper. It turns out—SPOILER WARNING!—he’s a kaijin! Yes, he transforms into a squid with a cape trick. But…his final fight with KR is a bit underwhelming. The next episode is all about recycling…plots, that is. Children of the Shockorn Part 97, mind control, killer soundwaves. At least the cricket kaijin takes a knife to the head, though. Enjoy more Henshin Men shenanigans!

Kamen Rider (1971) is available to stream on Shout!FactoryTV and Tubi. Watch there to follow along with us!

Follow Henshin Men on Twitter: @HenshinMenPod. Join the official Facebook fan page for this and The Monster Island Film Vault, The Markalite Lounge.

Listen to Travis’s main podcast, Kaiju Weekly, and Nathan’s podcasts, The Monster Island Film Vault and The Power Trip.

Henshin Men is a proud member of the Kaiju Ramen Podcast Network.

MUSIC:                                                                                          

-“Kamen Rider - Let's Go!! Rider Kick (Cover)” by Eternal Melee

-“Not Your Above-Average Joe [Standing Ovation]” by Ivan Hakštok

Nathan and Travis come to another pair of momentous episodes of Kamen Rider (1971). In the first, they learn that, just like Ultraman and Power Rangers, Kamen Rider has a monster graveyard—except in this one, Shocker performs demonic rituals with crosses made of skulls to resurrect dead kaijin. They never raise the dead the same way twice, do they? As epic as this is, in the next episode, the villains hold the Shocker World Conference (aka “Shocker-Con”). Hongo/Kamen Rider crashes this party of incredibly boring supervillains to learn the true identity of the Shocker Leader. But as a famous Mon Calamari once said, “It’s a trap!” Your intrepid hosts also ask one very important question about these episodes: Where the heck is Fujioka?

Kamen Rider (1971) is available to stream on Shout!FactoryTV and Tubi. Watch there to follow along with us!

Follow Henshin Men on Twitter: @HenshinMenPod. Join the official Facebook fan page for this and The Monster Island Film Vault, The Markalite Lounge.

Listen to Travis’s main podcast, Kaiju Weekly, and Nathan’s podcasts, The Monster Island Film Vault and The Power Trip.

Henshin Men is a proud member of the Kaiju Ramen Podcast Network.

Special thanks to J.P. Gant for editing this episode for us. Thanks!

MUSIC:                                                                                          

-“Kamen Rider - Let's Go!! Rider Kick (Cover)” by Eternal Melee

-“Not Your Above-Average Joe [Standing Ovation]” by Ivan Hakštok

This episode is all about the answer to life, the universe, and everything—which is apparently Kamen Rider (1971). Travis and Nathan discuss a pair of standout episodes of the classic tokusatsu series. One has an ambitious action scene usually reserved for films like Raiders of the Lost Ark or Jackie Chan’s Police Story. The other has children who nearly murder another child because he’s a Kamen Rider fanboy. Did we mention our favorite overused trope of brainwashing returns in that episode? As does Shocker indoctrination schools? Come for the toku talk, stay for the crash courses in Japanese culture about rhino beetles and the decibel levels of cicadas. We swear those are relevant to these episodes.

To learn more about cicada sounds, check out https://decibelpro.app/.

Kamen Rider (1971) is available to stream on Shout!FactoryTV and Tubi. Watch there to follow along with us!

Follow Henshin Men on Twitter: @HenshinMenPod. Join the official Facebook fan page for this and The Monster Island Film Vault, The Markalite Lounge.

Listen to Travis’s main podcast, Kaiju Weekly, and Nathan’s podcasts, The Monster Island Film Vault and The Power Trip.

Henshin Men is a proud member of the Kaiju Ramen Podcast Network.

MUSIC:                                                                                          

-“Kamen Rider - Let's Go!! Rider Kick (Cover)” by Eternal Melee

-“Not Your Above-Average Joe [Standing Ovation]” by Ivan Hakštok

Your dynamic duo of hosts, Nathan and Travis, latch onto a couple of themes in the Kamen Rider (1971) episodes they cover, including “tell, don’t show,” pointy weapons, and old habits. First up, “Sonic the Hedgehozuras” turns hapless young couples into Halloween store skeletons and tries to steal a flesh-eating virus from a clueless Kamen Kenny. Then in a simple “kill Hongo” plot, the horny Rhinogang blinds Hongo, and Dr. Shinigami hypnotizes one of Hongo’s racing friends to lead Hongo into a trap—because what this show needs is more mind control! Then Nathan annoys Travis by not telling him where he could’ve made a “Hongo and Taki shipping” joke but didn’t. All this and more on Henshin Men!

Kamen Rider (1971) is available to stream on Shout!FactoryTV and Tubi. Watch there to follow along with us!

Follow Henshin Men on Twitter: @HenshinMenPod. Join the official Facebook fan page for this and The Monster Island Film Vault, The Markalite Lounge.

Listen to Travis’s main podcast, Kaiju Weekly, and Nathan’s podcasts, The Monster Island Film Vault and The Power Trip.

Henshin Men is a proud member of the Kaiju Ramen Podcast Network.

MUSIC:                                                                                         

-“Kamen Rider - Let's Go!! Rider Kick (Cover)” by Eternal Melee

-“Not Your Above-Average Joe [Standing Ovation]” by Ivan Hakštok

Music, comics, and other tangential references abound as Travis and Nathan continue their trek through Kamen Rider (1971). That’s no surprise given that one kaijin shares a name with a DC Comics character who’s an evil alternate universe Batman. Then your hosts discover that electric catfish are real—but they’re nowhere near Japan! There’s also a supervillain team-up with the return of Dr. Shinigami…who suddenly leaves after the commercial break. What a tease, am I right? But the most important question is: Are Hongo and Hayato worthy of wielding Mjolnir? All this and more on your favorite tokusatsu superhero podcast!

Kamen Rider (1971) is available to stream on Shout!FactoryTV and Tubi. Watch there to follow along with us!

Follow Henshin Men on Twitter: @HenshinMenPod. Join the official Facebook fan page for this and The Monster Island Film Vault, The Markalite Lounge.

Listen to Travis’s main podcast, Kaiju Weekly, and Nathan’s podcasts, The Monster Island Film Vault and The Power Trip.

Henshin Men is a proud member of the Kaiju Ramen Podcast Network.

MUSIC:                                                                                         

-“Kamen Rider - Let's Go!! Rider Kick (Cover)” by Eternal Melee

-“Not Your Above-Average Joe [Standing Ovation]” by Ivan Hakštok

Nathan and Travis have been really busy this week and unable to record a regular episode, but they did carve out some time for a special report on the new Shin Ultraman trailer! This film from director Shinji Higuchi and producer/co-screenwriter Hideaki Anno releases May 13 in Japan, and your intrepid hosts “pull a YouTuber” and break down the trailer in meticulous and nerdy detail. They theorize what the story may involve—aliens manipulating world governments against Ultraman?!—and make many comparisons to Shin Godzilla. You betcha if and when this film gets a stateside release, they’ll cover it!

You can watch the trailer here. No English subtitles.

Follow Henshin Men on Twitter: @HenshinMenPod. Join the official Facebook fan page for this and The Monster Island Film Vault, The Markalite Lounge.

Listen to Travis’s main podcast, Kaiju Weekly, and Nathan’s podcasts, The Monster Island Film Vault and The Power Trip.

Henshin Men is a proud member of the Kaiju Ramen Podcast Network.

MUSIC:                                                                                         

-“Not Your Above-Average Joe [Standing Ovation]” by Ivan Hakštok

NOTE: Travis' mic cut out right before recording so his audio is a little more rough than normal.

Shocker makes a kaijin using a bearded dragon—and gives him a frill?! This is just one of a few fact checks Travis and Nathan make in this week’s Henshin Men. First up, you bet “Jiras” Toei borrowed a bit from Ultraman (1966) with Bearded Dragon Man, who holds a woman hostage to force her scientist boss to give Shocker an ointment that resurrects the dead—so they can revive two deceased scientists and have them create an army. Because that makes sense. Next, a “Worm Guy” (only the most hardcore of Godzilla fans will get that reference) sends a pair of the most dapper Shocker goons ever to steal a powerful nuclear fuel only for a salaryman comedy to interrupt their Mission: Impossible! shenanigans. Just another week on Kamen Rider (1971), am I right?

Kamen Rider (1971) is available to stream on Shout!FactoryTV and Tubi. Watch there to follow along with us!

Follow Henshin Men on Twitter: @HenshinMenPod. Join the official Facebook fan page for this and The Monster Island Film Vault, The Markalite Lounge.

Listen to Travis’s main podcast, Kaiju Weekly, and Nathan’s podcasts, The Monster Island Film Vault and The Power Trip.

Henshin Men is a proud member of the Kaiju Ramen Podcast Network.

MUSIC:                                                                                         

-“Kamen Rider - Let's Go!! Rider Kick (Cover)” by Eternal Melee

-“Not Your Above-Average Joe [Standing Ovation]” by Ivan Hakštok

We get some repeats (repeats) this week on Kamen Rider (“Rider! Rider!”). Nathan and Travis discuss a pair of episodes that feature kaijin strikingly similar to ones we’ve seen before, albeit with slight variations (a butterfly instead of a moth, a purseweb spider instead of a…normal spider?) We also see Goro accidentally figure out how to save the day in both episodes. Throw in some humorously misheard song lyrics (the Japanese pronunciation of “screw”), several music references, and Travis’s continued “shipping” of Taki with whoever is Kamen Rider, and you have a standard Henshin Men episode.

Kamen Rider (1971) is available to stream on Shout!FactoryTV and Tubi. Watch there to follow along with us!

Follow Henshin Men on Twitter: @HenshinMenPod. Join the official Facebook fan page for this and The Monster Island Film Vault, The Markalite Lounge.

Listen to Travis’s main podcast, Kaiju Weekly, and Nathan’s podcasts, The Monster Island Film Vault and The Power Trip.

Henshin Men is a proud member of the Kaiju Ramen Podcast Network.

MUSIC:                                                                                         

-“Kamen Rider - Let's Go!! Rider Kick (Cover)” by Eternal Melee

-“Not Your Above-Average Joe [Standing Ovation]” by Ivan Hakštok

Travis needed the week off to finish final preparations for the publication of the physical copies of Kaiju Ramen issue #5, so Nathan brought on their co-host in common (no pun intended), Michael Hamilton to talk some Ultraman…sorta. What you’re about to hear is an abridged version of Kaiju Weekly episode 85 (not 87, like Nathan says), which featured Nathan as a guest with Michael to discuss Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy - The Movie. It’s easily the Avengers: Infinity War / Avengers: Endgame of Ultraman—and it was part one of a trilogy! It features the first appearances of both a popular Ultra hero—Ultraman Zero—and villain—Ultraman Belial. It’s an epic movie for a fun episode of both Henshin Men and Kaiju Weekly.

Listen to the uncut Kaiju Weekly episode on the Kaiju Ramen website, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.

Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy – The Movie is available on blu-ray from Mill Creek Entertainment and to rent on several streaming platforms.

Follow Henshin Men on Twitter: @HenshinMenPod. Join the official Facebook fan page for this and The Monster Island Film Vault, The Markalite Lounge.

Listen to Travis’s main podcast, Kaiju Weekly, and Nathan’s podcasts, The Monster Island Film Vault and The Power Trip.

Henshin Men is a proud member of the Kaiju Ramen Podcast Network.

MUSIC:                                                                                         

-“Not Your Above-Average Joe [Standing Ovation]” by Ivan Hakštok