Tokusatsu/V-Cinema I've Watched

Documenting & reviewing tokusatsu/v-cinema ("original video") I've watched. Most entries can be found on Rare Tokusatsu or Archive.org. Want to learn more about weird, indie tokusatsu/need a place to start? I'd highly recommend Hazel's video on the subject.

CAUTION! Independent tokusatsu are frequently nsfw!!!! While the versions I watch and the ones linked here are all sfw re-edits, theyre still kinda porny and weird! If that bothers you or makes you uncomfortable, I'd suggest not checking these out.

Koakuma - Sweet Devil
An early 2000s, early digital independent tokusatsu. The first rare tokusatsu I watched, and one of my favorites! I just find it so cute. From the funky bass line opening music, to the dreamy shots of sea side cities at night, to the baddies dressed in elaborate monster consumes above the waist - and plain black pants below the waist. I believe the heronine's name is Shinjin - like many rare Tokusatsu/V-Cinema, there are no subtitles available online - and she has such a charm to her. When she's introduced, she comes across as highly confident, but kinda gets her ass handed to her in the first fight. How she chooses to rectify this? Why, by having a lighthearted training montage of her cutting watermleons by a river! Her outfit is fascinating. It feels, at least to me, like it would better suit a villainess than a heroine! Really, I just love this thing. It's silly, it's campy, it keeps a good pace and has a lovely 30 minute run time. I really can't recommend this enough!
Rare Tokusatsu

Yukihime - Snow Princess
Yukihime is a total riot because of how it contrasts itself. The eponymous heroine is far more of a cool demure compared to that of Koakuma, with a sleek cyber-anime-ninja like hero design and cool as fuck late 90s early 2000s streetwear. The Bulma-like cropped pants... dare I invoke, gagged? She's fucking so cool man. Her anime-posing victoriously in front of a pyrotechnic explosion special effect was cool as fuck. But she's out there fighting PARTY CITY MONSTERS. I would say you can tell who the budget went to (and that's partially true because they probably had to make a dozen of those cool as fuck outfits for her because it gets messed UP in this video) BUT its not like the villains costumes are simple either! But it's crazy how goofy the villains look in this. And then there's like a scene that tries to be all extremely "sexy" fanservice shots that just make you feel tonal whiplash. I know these are like ridiculous things to complain about an indie tokusatsu movie but I hope you can understand what I'm trying to convey. I still think it's fun and worth checking out.
Rare Tokusatsu

All About Mighty Lady (1984)
I get what they were doing with Mighty Lady's design, I find her so cute tbqh! The pacing of this one was a bit of a struggle for me personally, though that's a purely personal problem. The pacing is deliberately disparate, because this is a collection of short films! They vary in quality - both from a production and a film fidelity standpoint. This one's a little lean on substantial story, but that's okay. It's absolutely worth a watch!
Rare Tokusatsu

Biotherapy (1986)
Omggg the first J-Horror V-Cinema on this list! Yay! I adored Biotherapy. It was like a perfect bad horror movie for me. It was well paced and to-the-point. There's G-MEDICINE, the substance of mysterious origin. It's being researched by scientists who are struggling over the ethical quandry of whether or not they should continue their work. G-MEDICINE is sure to better humanity in a significant way - after all, one rebel scientist leaves the group because he has several pharmacutical companies bidding for his work on the discovery of G-MEDICINE. There's even a murderous monster of mysterious origin, demanding the G-MEDICINE and killing the scientists who refuse to tell him in gloriouly ridiculous, over-the-top 80s gore. It's all taken so very seriously. But then you find out what the G-MEDICINE is supposed to do, and what its consequences are, and you're laughing outloud over how dumb it all is. It's just such a charming distillment of what makes 80s horror such fun. Big recommend, but keep in mind it's gorey!! Also, there's english subs availble! I think this is an entry that hugely benefits from being available subbed.
Youtube

Star Virgin (1988)
This one is a big one. It comes highly recommended in many tokusatsu and v-cinema circles as a ton of zany fun. And yes, it's quite silly. But I wish I liked this one more than I did! It has stellar special effects, a sweet dorky boyfriend, a cute, but self-assured protagonist, the statue of liberty. I really expected to adore this one, but it just fell short of my expectations. Oh well! I don't doubt that others really love this, I see why it has a solid niche cult following and I think it's deserved. I would absolutely recommend this one. I feel it would benefit from a re-watch in the future with friends or while high (or with english subs, if I can find the ones rumored to exist (this is an entry I think is at a huge disadvantage for not having available subs).

EDIT (1/15/24): WHAT the hell was I going on about. I re-watched this with my best friend and it was fucking amaizng. Absolute camp masterpiece. Why was I acting like a little hater before. I was like hating fun that day or something. WATCH STAR VIRGIN its insane and hilarious!!!!!!
Archive dot org

Red Lilac - Dream of Shudder (2001)
My first Eiyu Club entry! And wow, do I immediately understand why they have a cult following. As low budget as it is, this had the ability to become shockingly moody. Certain parts felt like they could turn into a horror movie at any second. Maybe it was the bit of ouid I had (that always makes these more fun, I wont lie) but the eeriness of certain shots combined with the plot centering around dreaming vs reality, I got a little genuinely spooked! And that super rarely happens to me, so I really commend Eiyu Club for that. I need to stress, this thing is low budget as HELL though! But that just adds to the fascinating nature of it. I'm not sure if the other Eiyu Club releases are as dream-like as this one. Watch this space because I'll be checking out another Eiyu Club release in a short bit!
Rare Tokusatsu

Battle Holography Wind (2003)
IDK I was really looking forward to this one as another Eiyu Club release that was highly praised by others. But this one just didn't really click with me. IDK! maybe I should give it another shot sometime with some friends, this feels like it could be an enjoyable watch w/ others.

Lightning Girl Lemaill (2003)
AHHH!!!! This is one of my favorite types of bad movies. So many different people are trying in the production of this, but just because you try hard doesnt mean you'll be successful! Some shots are framed nicely, sometimes they have pretty interesting lighting, stuff like that. But oh my god the series of events which are the plot are so nonsensical. It's great entertainment! I would summize this as "sucks so hard but fun to watch". I watched the non-adult version of this btw, I think this would be a significantly worse experience if it had the AV scenes kept in. I think it would tip it to genuienly bad lol.
Rare Tokusatsu