What's ahead in 2012

We're just a couple weeks into 2012 (and not 1976 as I seemed to think), and there's already a lot of things in the world of Kamen Rider that I'm really looking forward to this year:

-Kamen Rider x Super Sentai: Super Hero Taisen, the movie that brings Kamen Rider & Super Sentai together at last (well, together again after Decade and that one bit from JAKQ vs. Goranger, a billion stage shows, etc.) Featuring the return of Kadoya Tsukasa/Kamen Rider Decade in a starring role, as well as what's likely to be a cast of thousands. Will it put every other mega-team-up to shame or it will be a gigantic mess of a film? Either way, I'll probably love it. It has Isogin-Jaguar in it, it's got to be pretty good.

-Catching up with Eiji, Ankh & the crew this month in Kamen Rider OOO WONDERFUL: The Shôgun and the 21 Core Medals, last year's OOO feature film, out on DVD/Blu-ray now. Dunno when I'll actually get my copy, but expect to hear my thoughts about it on over HJU Radio.

-The DVD/Blu-ray release of Kamen Rider x Kamen Rider - Fourze & OOO: Movie War MEGA MAX later this year, featuring the original 7 Riders (including, at last, proper dark-helmet Rider 2) fighting Sadondas & Ginga-Ô. Also I think some other guys are in it. Likely due this spring.

-Kamen Rider Fourze continuing every week (barring golf, marathons or holidays.) The show started off well and has really kicked into high gear lately with the arrival of Meteor and a general raising of stakes (how is the school still operating after episode 18?) I'm very excited to see where it goes from here, as well as the eventual summer movie.

-Tons of new S.H.Figuarts coming this year, including Fourze in various forms, good 'ol regular Den-O Sword Form, and more Ryuki guys. Topping my list of course are the classics: Skyrider, Stronger & V3. Also on the way are a host of exclusives, most notably the just-announced Kamen Rider Nadeshiko.

-March will see the release of S.I.C. Kamen Rider ZX, who finishes off the original 10, and looks killer from the pics. I've decided to scale back on S.I.C. after that, aside from future main Riders or Shôwa remakes if they do any, so this feels like a good note to end on (for now, anyway.) A Gills & Another Agito (!) two-pack are next in line, along with more exclusives (Joker) if you're interested.

-There's a couple Blade-related high-end items coming out this year. The online exclusive Rouze Card Archives is basically what I've been spending years trying to find: good versions of all the Rouze cards in one place. Also coming is Medicom's 1/6 RAH Kamen Rider Blade, the last main Rider needing a RAH/PBM! figure between Rider 1 & OOO (barring the 90's guys, and I can wait for them.) His corresponding tie-in figure is RAH Kenzaki. Also this year: PBM! Fourze!

-More Astro Switch releases! Despite looking like ink cartridges, these things have been a blast for how innovative they can get, with each one trying something a little different for the "switch" aspect. I've got the first 23, so that's (presumably) over halfway there! A bunch of Rider Switches are coming in the next few months as well, and despite their inherent goofiness, I'm all over those.

-The continuing hunt for stuff I missed in 2011 or earlier. Last year I was able to snag a few of my grails (including the Hyper Hobby Exclusive Medicom RAH Kamakiri-Otoko from years ago, and Ohtsuka-Kikaku Kamen Rider BLACK from waaaay back.) This year the list is shorter, the items rarer (or pricier), but that's part of the fun. It's sort of nice being able to finally put some collections to rest, since others (like Figuarts) are getting better and more expansive all the time.

-Kamen Rider Spirits entering its 11th year. The story's still going strong (under a slightly different title and in a new magazine, but the same story) and it consistently delivers. When it's finally finished, I think Spirits will rival Ishinomori's original for importance and influence on the franchises' future comics... assuming anybody feels they can follow it.

-Hopefully, the HG Heroes series will continue, because it just feels wrong having no Gachapon Rider figures. Also hopefully, the HG Heroes series will improve over time and actually last, and not end as prematurely as the superior DG series did. I miss DG so, so much.

-And of course, the debut of a new Rider series towards the end of the year! At this point I can't even fathom the idea of Fourze being anything other than the current Rider, but it'ls going to happen eventually. Who knows where they'll go next...


Finally, a couple things coming up on igadevil.com in 2012! The first couple months of this year are going to be pretty busy for me offline, so updates will be sporadic until around April. But here's what I've been working on lately:

-The second annual Ishinomori Week! It's likely going sometime in February, and will be an actual week this time as opposed to, um, four days. Things will be a little different since not all the shows I'm covering have actual Ishinomori comic counterparts (or are even full shows) but they all had his hand in them. And yes, one of them will be Robot Detective, which I had meant to include last year and never got to because of some reason that I swear was not my fault... okay it was all my fault.

-I'm already planning out a couple other themed weeks, assuming the above doesn't go up in flames. A fan helpfully suggested a video games week, which is one I'm interested in doing if I can figure out a good way to go about it. There's two others I probably won't get to until late in the year, but they're going to be a lot of fun, and one of them will finally give me an excuse to review ESPY.

-I'm commited to doing more episode reviews this year. Finishing Kuuga (45 episodes to go!) V3 (40 episodes!) and Decade (uh... most of them.) I will mostly focus on those, though there's a couple other assorted specials or episodes I'm interested in getting to in text form. And on the flip side...

-Rider Break! I'll be recording Episode 3 in the next one-or-two days, and try to get it out soon. I'm also hoping to get episode 4 done around the second weekend in February. Until the spring, episodes will be a little more irregular, but I'm hoping for 2~3 a month. I would then like to make it a weekly thing if possible, though it might take a while for that to crystalize. Thanks to everyone who has been tuning in so far and giving feedback and suggestions.

Speaking of which, we're on itunes now! Also, as I mentioned on twitter, I'll redo episode 1 at a smaller file size for easier listening. Since episodes are about an hour long, I'll try to keep it well under 100 mb from now on.

-There's another audio project I've been thinking about for a few years that I'll try to finally get around to this year. More on that as it develops, but it should be a lot of fun (and more informative than my usual nonsense.)

-There's a couple things from last year I need to get to (along with, well, everything above) including a Riders' Legend restrospective and a look at the very first Rider team-up. The latter I'll actually probably do as a podcast episode though I've got a text version I started to write last year, so that'll likely go up along with it. Team-Up Weekend, or something, I dunno.

-Profiles! I haven't forgotten about those, it's just a matter of getting organized with all that information and pictures, but with any luck, by the end of 2012 igadevil.com will somewhat resemble the site I've always pictured it being.

-Finally, my long-suffering story Kamen Rider Sigma will be back at last in 2012. Not for a while, but I will be posting updates now and then, and reposting the original 9 episodes. My goal this time is to at least make it to episode 13, the point of no return (because I'm pretty sure my legions of wonderful fans will hunt me down if I leave them hanging after that one.) Stay tuned for more on that, and believe me, nobody is more happy to see that return than me.

So we've got a packed year ahead of us, and I just realized I've got a ton of stuff to do. Back to work! And have a happy and prosperous 2012!