Henshin Men Kaiju Weekly

All good things must come to an end, and today that is Henshin Men (and to a lesser extent, The Power Trip). Nathan’s friends/fans/past guests Christopher Riner and Jake Hambrick return to discuss their favorite episodes and moments from both podcasts—for three minutes! Why’s that? Well, the end is not the end, Heroes of the Internet and Listeners with Attitude! This is all being done because both podcasts will do a fusion dance to merge into a new show—Henshin Power V3! Time to get the Hype Train Zord rolling! Listen for more details!

In this excerpt from a Patreon-exclusive livestream for his other podcast, The Monster Island Film Vault, Nathan interviews James Santana, a comic nerd and tokusatsu fan who combined his passions by starting his own comic book label, TokUSA Studios. His goal is to bridge the gap between tokusatsu/manga fans and comic readers by offering them books inspired by the likes of Super Sentai and Ultraman, among others. He's currently spearheading a Kickstarter for The World of Nebulon, a preview book showcasing several of the characters and titles in the works at the studio.

This Preview Book will allow you to take a look into, "The Nebuverse," a world of Tokusatsu heroes & villains. Behind the scenes, Hunter van Lierop & James Santana have been working with their amazing team of Gaspar Flores & CJ Billotto to create a universe inspired by some of their favorite franchises and genres.
Go to Kickstarter to support this new indie comic from TokUSA!

In this YouTube livestream, Nathan is joined by Ryan “The Omni Viewer” Collins (and Ryan’s sidekick, Snazzy Chapeau) to discuss the latest Ultra series, Ultraman Blazar. The show is so different from the rest of New Generation Heroes that it could arguably mark the start of a new era for the franchise. The “toyetic” elements are kept to a minimum; the tone is darker; and it bucks some of the typical Ultra tropes. These subjects and more are unpacked in this special crossover episode of Henshin Men!

In the final film/TV episode of this iteration of Henshin Men, Nathan invites YouTuber Soundout12 on to discuss the first (and only) official crossover between Japan’s biggest superheroes: Ultraman vs. Kamen Rider. This 1993 special, which is 80 minutes of retrospective documentary and ten minutes of glorious tokusatsu, has Shin Hayata and Takeshi Hongo joining forces to stop a combined kaijin/kaiju monster. It’s the one and only time the mad genius Keita Amemiya ever directed Ultraman (so far as we know). Yes, this breaks the podcast’s “legally available in the U.S.” rule, but can you blame us? See you next time for some Henshin Men V3 HYPE!

“Sixty-nine, dudes!” And now that the obvious joke is out of the way: Christopher Riner returns as a second-time guest because Jake Hambrick was busy with family (good for him!). But Mr. Riner can’t help but ask, “Why me?” The film he discusses with Nathan, Kamen Rider: The Next, is a secret J-horror movie complete with a Sadako knockoff. (Making it accidentally perfect for Halloween season). To say it’s a far cry from its predecessor, Masked Rider: The First, would be an understatement. It’s dour, convoluted, and confusing. But it does do one thing better than The First. What’s that? Let’s just say it made Chris think Koichi Sakamoto was involved with this movie. Listen to hear this and more in the latest Henshin Men!