Henshin Men

Travis returns! Yes, he comes out of semi-retirement to fill in a gap in our Kamen Rider (1971) coverage: the series’ two mini-movies, Masked Rider vs. Shocker and Kamen Rider vs. The Ambassador from Hell . Toei has generously made the films available on their YouTube channel—with hilarious wonky subtitles—until December 28, 2022, to celebrate the channel reaching 400,000 subscribers. While both m...

On November 28, 2022, a multitude of podcasters and YouTubers—Nathan Marchand, Michael Hamilton, Travis Alexander, Jack “GMan” Hudgens (The Drift Space), J.R. Villers (The Drift Space), Rebecca Hudgens (The Drift Space), Kaiju Kim, Chris Cooke, and Jimmy from Zeo 2 Hero—came together to celebrate the life and work of Jason David Frank. From acting to martial arts to teaching to motivational speaki...

This week Henshin Men covers an episode of Kamen Rider (1971) directed by its series creator, the manga legend Shotaro Ishinomori! Such a momentous occasion requires a momentous guest, and in this case its tokusatsu YouTuber Blunova. He and Nathan discuss how Ishinomori brings a unique visual style that harkens back to the first 13 episodes of the series and channels Yoshimitsu Banno’s Godzilla vs...

We did it all for Ultraman! In this case, Nathan drove three hours to see the big screen epic Shin Ultraman at the Chicago International Film Festival. His guest host, Robert Monsarrat, flew into the city from Ohio to see it. Not only are they Ultra-fans, but Nathan in particular couldn’t resist the opportunity to have Henshin Men be one of the first English-language podcasts to have an in-depth d...

With Kamen Rider Black Sun set to premiere worldwide on Amazon Prime this week, Nathan invited his friend Tomi Trembath from the Giant-Sized Violence podcast to discuss the new series’ inspiration: Kamen Rider Black (1987). It’s a favorite of theirs despite not having watched all of it. (And serendipitously, Discotek Media just announced they’re releasing it on blu-ray!) Black is considered a toku...

Nathan flies solo again as Kamen Rider (1971) settles into its new status quo. Despite the supposed “reboot” of Shocker as Gelshocker, it’s more of the same, just with combo Kaijin now. The first of this week’s pair of episodes was definitely the better one, as the awards will show. That Kaijin-of-the-week was a werewolf jellyfish with lightning powers. Yep. The second one had a boar/beetle combo...

Nathan kicks off the final arc of Kamen Rider (1971)—and invites a pair of friends to celebrate! CrownlessKing_OP and Proto_Sonic from That Other Toku Podcast are in the house to talk about Crabbat, Scorpiolizard, and condolence bombs. (There’s a punk band name for you!) The Shocker Leader has merged his evil organization with Geldam (who are they?) to form Gelshocker (is it pronounced like a “G”...

It’s the end of Kamen Rider (1971)’s penultimate arc and an era! Nathan witnesses the destruction of Shocker as we know it! Ambassador Hell truly becomes Serpentor from G.I. Joe and gets replaced with a half crab/bat kaijin named…Crabbat. (This decision is highly questionable). Regardless, these episodes are fun and break from the show’s norm with lots of intrigue. Enjoy the latest episode of Hens...

Welcome, kaiju lovers, heroes of the internet, and listeners with attitude! This past weekend, Nathan and his Power Trip co-host, Michael Hamilton, met each other in real life for the first time (and the world somehow didn’t explode). They attended a small upstart “spin-off” convention called Days of the Dead: All Monsters Attack, which was held in Indianapolis. This bonus episode is a late-night...

Nathan has gotten to the point where Kamen Rider (1971) is recycling old tropes—mind control, crucifixions, child endangerment, etc.—but putting new spins on them. Instead of fighting one kaijin three times, Hongo fights three of the same kaijin! In fact, both of this week’s kaijin, Seadragon and Newtgeth, are well-designed and have pretty cool suits. Although, Nathan wasn’t prepared to see one tr...

Nathan takes the plunge by turning Henshin Men into a solo show so he can finish the original Kamen Rider (1971) coverage! In this week’s pair of episodes, we’re introduced to the Rider Kid Corps—aka “Kamen Kenny Force.” They might let Hongo know about kaijin attacks via homing pigeons, but they also tend to get themselves captured and/or mind-controlled by Shocker. Oh, yeah, more “Children of the...

It’s been a while, hasn’t it? What happened to our Kamen Rider (1971) coverage? Nathan discusses the behind-the-scenes talks he’s had with Travis that are leading to a change to the podcast going forward. It’s bittersweet. We hope you understand. Watch Travis discuss his semi-retirement on Chill with Kaiju Kim . Follow Henshin Men on Twitter: @HenshinMenPod . Join the official Facebook fan page fo...

Yes, we’re still taking a break from Kamen Rider (1971) coverage because Travis has been busy, but Nathan’s friend Daniel DiManna of the Godzilla Novelization Project returns to talk more Ultraman! In this discussion, they expand on Danny’s article in the most recent issue of Kaiju Ramen Magazine , wherein he gave a primer on the IMMENSE Ultraman franchise. Not sure where to start with Ultra? Let...

With Travis once again dealing with illness and some personal issues, Nathan’s co-host of Henshin Men’s sister podcast, The Power Trip, suggested they do an episode on Ultraman Day. To liven things up, they brought on their friend, kaiju/tokusatsu super-nerd Daniel DiManna. This year, Ultraman Day was more like “Ultraman Semi-Fortnite,” what with the website Ultraman Connection holding the “10 Day...

With an episode title like that, you’d think this would be a musical, but alas, all you get are music references. (But a Kamen Rider musical would be amazing! ) This week, it’s one of Travis and Nathan’s favorite things: Double Riders! Yes, in a two-part episode, Hayato returns to help Hongo fight a pair of Shocker kaijin at a hot spring (because Team Rider went on vacation…again). First is the ri...

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 weap...

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...

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 vill...

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...

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 Rhinog...

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. Shiniga...

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...

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 scientis...

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 mi...

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...