On November 30th, 1984, the Changeman cast assembled for the first round of publicity still shoots (see above), with filming starting at around the same time. CHANGEMAN BEGINS. So begins the legendary show's 30th anniversary, in which I might unleash a complete spamathon in commemoration. Why? Changeman's my favorite. Changeman's the best. And? I just don't think Toei's going to bother doing anything for it.
It's pretty sad the way Toei just kind of gave up on all of their old shows once they got released to DVD. They stopped bothering to do cool reunions for Toei Hero Max or Toei Channel. Those kinds of publications seem to have completely given up on honoring anything that isn't their new shit or a '70s Ishinomori show.
Changeman was big in its time. It's a fan favorite. It's a favorite of Toei higher-up Takeyuki Suzuki, who was the show's main producer. (He used to say Changeman was his top favorite, but supposedly now claims it's Bioman. Traitor!) Changeman was popular all around, and it was one of the first Sentai shows to have crossover appeal, gaining attention from non-toku fans. Toei needs to mark the anniversary! I'm not at all confident they'll do anything -- fans worship Bioman, but 2014 went without anything done to honor its anniversary. Not even any live fan event in its honor!
I want a cast reunion in something like Toei Hero Max or Toei Channel. I want that goddamn Change Dragon Figuarts. I want a new Changeman novel by main writer Hirohisa Soda (who is actually a novelist now, unlike most of the people they get to write the Rider and Sentai sequel novels). I want a Changeman Memorial DVD like the Space Sheriff trilogy got, with all of the same extras. C'mon, Toei, put SOME effort into something for a change...
Let's change! Join the celebration all year long at Facebook and Twitter.
