Henshin Men

Travis and Nathan have a few other things on their minds discussing Kamen Rider (1971) this week. Namely Star Trek and ‘70s Godzilla films. In an episode that opens reminiscent of Godzilla vs. Megalon , Hongo battles a Gorn-like Shocker kaijin that must’ve inspired the mad mind of Keita Amemiya when he directed Zeiram . (Learn more about him in the latest issue of Kaiju Ramen Magazine —out now!) I...

A momentous episode of Henshin Men about a pair of momentous Kamen Rider (1971) episodes requires a momentous guest—Kamen Rider super-fan and tokustasu scholar August Ragone. Yes, Nathan managed to snag the one person in the English-speaking world who loves Kamen Rider more than Travis! After August regales the boys with his long list of credentials, storied life, and copious knowledge, the three...

Kamen Rider (1971) keeps teasing the audience with Hongo returning, and Nathan and Travis tease a HUGE upcoming episode of Henshin Men! (Listen until the end to find out!) First up, Kamen Rider battles Gamera, er, Turtlestone, er, Kamestone. Who, besides crashing through walls like the Kool-Aide Man, blinds people with Deadly Daylight Disco lighting. Then Shocker unleashes the weirdest unicorn you...

Travis and Nathan mean that title literally! Shocker’s kaijin-of-the-week are a leech and an anemone with tornado powers. (Ever get the feeling Toei had the same dart board as the infamous film studio The Asylum that has animals and natural disasters on it?) Leecherilla does look horrifying—until he doesn’t. But Anemone is juxtaposed against the most Japanese-looking version of Africa you ever saw...

This week’s episode of Henshin Men is brought to you by…snow and hugs. (At least it’s not mind control, am I right?) Nathan and Travis discuss the coldest episodes of Kamen Rider (1971) yet. In the first, Team Rider goes on (another!?) vacation to a ski lodge that, predictably, gets ruined by Shocker’s kaijin, Bearkonger. Hayato injures his arm and isn’t able to transform—for five seconds. Then he...

Nathan and Travis get back into the Kamen Rider (1971) routine. This required they re-watch a pair of episodes they intended to cover a month ago—and it’s a good thing they did. This week’s KR offerings feature one of the scariest kaijin yet—Moldinga/Kabibinga—and one that should’ve gotten Toei sued by Toho—Slugzilla. You’ll hear Travis and Nathan discuss the symbolically corruptive nature of mold...

It’s a doubly special occasion because Travis is back, and Henshin Men joins forces with The Power Trip! Yes, in a crossover of many firsts, Travis and Nathan are joined by their mutual co-host, Michael, from their fellow Kaiju Ramen Network podcast, The Power Trip: A Journey through the Power Rangers Franchise. What could possibly bring them together? None other than the three-part backdoor pilot...

With Travis away for one last week, the “Littlest Gatekeeper,” Elijah Thomas, of the Kaiju Conversation podcast joins Nathan to go ’90s EDGELORD EXTREME!!! By that we mean discuss the 1995 film Mechanical Violator Hakaider directed by the mad genius Keita Amemiya. This is a gritty reboot done right. It’s a bold reimagining of a character from Toei’s Kikaida TV series from the early 1970s. You’ll h...

With Travis still on break, Nathan brings on his friend Chris Cooke of One Cross Radio and Radio Arcade to see, as he puts it, “Power Rangers on Crack”—aka Super Inframan . If you’re thinking, “That’s from Hong Kong, not Japan! It can’t be on Henshin Men!” you’re wrong. It was made to tap into the “Henshin Boom” of the 1970s, and it had Japanese crewmembers who worked on Ultraman and Kamen Rider,...

With Travis still on his much-needed “pod-cation,” Nathan brings on Jack “GMan” Hudgens and J.R. Villers from The Drift Space podcast to discuss the second of the “duology” of Ultraman Zero specials. This one, Killer the Beatstar (which would be the best DJ name ever ), was released as a tie-in with Ultarman Saga (2012), but for Jack in particular, this special doesn’t live up to the pinnacle of t...

Travis needed time off for a family emergency, so Nathan brought in their co-host in “kamen” (ba-dum-tsh!), Michael Hamilton, to discuss The Birth of Ultraman Stage Show. Sorta. What you’re about to hear is actually an episode of Kaiju Weekly (Travis’s main podcast, which he co-hosts with Michael) that featured Michael and Nathan discussing this unique beginning for one of the greatest henshin her...

After an epic two-parter with the return of Hongo…it’s business as usual on Kamen Rider (1971). Your intrepid hosts Travis and Nathan are almost bored with the first in a long series of overplayed mind-control stories in the post-Hongo world. But at least the kaijin-of-the-week are fun. First, there’s Fly Man (who should’ve been by Vincent Price, for obvious reasons). He’s no Egyptas, but his cons...

FINALLY! Hongo has come back to Japan! And he brought his own pair of kick@$$ Rider Girls! (But what happened to Ruriko?) Nathan and Travis are overjoyed to see the OG Rider return, and in true superhero fashion, team-up (and fight?!) with Hayato in an epic two-parter coming off the heels of the crazy Christmas special. Shocker’s Japanese division has a new commander: Dr. Death/Dr. Reaper/Dr. Shin...

There are a few pairs that go hand-in-hand. Peanut butter and jelly. Pen and paper. Bread and butter. Werewolves and Christmas. (Wait, what?!) Yes, Travis returns as Nate celebrates Christmas the Japanese way by eating a KFC dinner and watching Kamen Rider (1971). While the first episode they discuss is a bit typical for the show (despite the kaijin-of-the-week being “Bat-manta”), the second one—w...

Travis needed some time off, so Nathan is joined by YouTube personality and sci-fi author Ryan “The Omni Viewer” Collins to discuss something a little left-of-center for Henshin Men: an anime. The Super Sentai parody The Special Combat Unit Shinesman (aka Tokuma Sentai Shinesman ), to be exact. This hilarious OVA is a tale of corporate warfare with the Good Trading Company’s Shinesmen battling ali...

“Are you my mummy?” That’s the question Nathan is asked by Travis to start this week’s episode of Henshin Men. In today’s Kamen Rider coverage, as is the unwritten law of all popular entertainment, there must be an ancient Egypt episode featuring a mummy monster. In this case, it’s the proto-King Sphinx who can somehow understand Japanese but only speaks in gibberish that may or may not be ancient...

Celebrate the 30 th anniversary of Power Rangers with Michael Hamilton (Kaiju Weekly, The Kaiju Groupie Podcast) and Nathan Marchand (The Monster Island Film Vault, Henshin Men) as they embark on a quest through every season of this morphenomenal franchise. Coming January 4, 2022, to a podcatcher near you! IT’S MORPHIN’ TIME! Follow The Power Trips on Twitter: @ThePowerTripPod . Join the podcast’s...

Nostril eye holes. That’s one of the many important things discussed in this week’s Henshin Men by Travis and Nathan. Why? Because both of the kaijins-of-the-week, Toadiller and Alkimedes, have their “eyes” on the tops of their heads, but the suit actors are obviously seeing out the masks’ noses. It’s not unlike what Travis brought up last week about the Kamen Rider costume. Besides that, they dis...

Rainbow factories explode (again) and a Brazilian archer girl seeks revenge in this week’s Kamen Rider (1971) episodes! In the first KR2 adventure, Nathan and Travis marvel at the man-eating, multicolored Dokudahlian, a plant kaijin who has the power to turn any room he enters into a disco. He kidnaps women and forces them to manufacture poisonous drugs, because only women have hands delicate enou...

Travis and Nathan come to another pair of Kamen Rider (1971) episodes that want so very badly to harken back to the “Hongo era”—by featuring a vampire trilobite and a plague-spreading anteater. Yep. Col. Zol performs a bizarre ceremony to resurrect a fossilized trilobite (that may or may not have been found under Godzilla’s foot) while the Rider Girls try ward the monster off with garlic. Because...

What does a mole and a jellyfish have in common? No, this isn’t a joke; it’s actually something Nathan and Travis try to figure out in today’s edition of Henshin Men. Kamen Rider 2 battles a mole kaijin and a jellyfish kaijin in this week’s episodes. Both of them have eyes in weird places—like biological periscopes and at the end of tentacles. Did we mention that the jellyfish looks like Cobra Com...

Greetings, heroes of the internet! Join me this Saturday (November 6) for a special charity livestream for Extra Life, an organization that raises money for children's hospitals through marathon gaming sessions. I'll be playing Power Rangers: Battle for The Grid ! Click the links below for more information and to contribute to my donation goal! Thanks!  - Extra Life - Nathan Marchand/Theol...

“Guess who’s back…back again. Trav is back! Tell a friend!” Yes, Travis returns to Henshin Men to talk more Kamen Rider (1971) with Nathan. First up is an episode featuring Antlithunder (which sounds like a pro-wrestler name, so where’s Pirasaurus when you need him?), who’s plotting to destroy Japan’s highways with sandstorms and underground tunnels. So, the spice must flow and we don’t like sand!...

With Travis still taking time off, Nathan is joined by two of the co-hosts of The Drift Space Podcast, Jack and J.R., for Henshin Men’s first ever Ultraman episode! In this, they discuss the surprisingly cinematic 2010 direct-to-video special Ultra Galaxy Legend Side Story: Ultraman Zero vs. Darlkops Zero . For a tie-in story to the blockbuster movie Ultraman Zero: The Revenge of Belial (a name yo...

Wait…this isn’t Kamen Rider (1971)! And where’s Travis? Calm down, heroes! Travis needed some time off, so Nathan invited Travis’s Kaiju Weekly co-host, Michael, onto Henshin Men to discuss the unaired pilot for Michael’s favorite tokusatsu show, Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers . This very rough draft of “Day of the Dumpster” features a different actress for Trini, no Bulk and Skull (sorta), and an...