Legend Hero Review

Archive Kid Reviews: Legend Hero

I LOVE TOKUSATSU!!!

Here in America I was introduced to the genre thanks to the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers on Fox Kids and Ultraman Tiga on the Fox Box. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers used stock footage from the Japanese Super Sentai series for action scenes while using American scenes for everything else. Ultraman Tiga was cut and dubbed by 4kids Entertainment much like the original Ultraman was when it was aired back in the 1960s. There are also original Tokusatsu shows made in America, such as The Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog and Tattooed Teenage Alien Fighters from Beverly Hills, but lets not talk about that one. 

Other countries have made their own Tokusatsu shows. France for example has a sports and exercise themed Sentai show called France 5, that is actually an homage to Sentai. In China, the series Battle Strike Team is a Chinese original Super Sentai. It has nothing to do with Japan’s Super Sentai though but it does use the same formula of 5 or more individuals gaining the power to transform into brightly colored costumes that each have a certain theme. As well as a giant robot that the team pilots. I haven’t watched it, but I know if you see Battle Strike Team Giant Saver or Space Deleter, the first thing you’ll think is Power Rangers or Super Sentai. Battle Strike Team is made by the same people of another Chinese original Tokusatsu called Armor Hero. Unlike Battle Strike Team however, you can look at this and think “What is this?” Armor Hero I want to say is sort of Kamen Rider-esque series, however that doesn’t seem correct. Its more of an Other Hero type show. Other Hero meaning that the show doesn’t have a classifiable set-up like, Sentai, Rider or Giant. So you either call it an Other Hero show or just Tokusatsu. Anyway, Armor Hero is about several armored heroes that fight monsters and for now thats all I can really say. Its been awhile since I picked up the series. From what I do remember about it though is that it bears a few similarities with today’s topic, Legend Hero. The similarity being that there are several armored heroes. 

Legend Hero is a Korean Tokusatsu series that I found on Youtube; full English subtitled episodes on the Legend Hero Youtube channel if you want to check it out. Funny thing about Legend Hero is that it was adapted from a shelved idea. Several years ago I stumbled upon a video for SFX Fantasy Rayforce. It was just a short preview video that showed three armored heroes, one girl using magic powers and an antagonist. It looked pretty cool, but nothing ever came of it. That short video is the only thing. Rayforce was shelved because of a lack of investors. However after doing some research on a slight hunch, I discovered that certain concepts of Rayforce were used in Legend Hero. Though the only proof I have is a sentence from a wiki page. However if I analyzed parts of the video I could build a case for it. So I will, but later. 

GAME START!

1! Brief Synopsis 

Liu Bei, student of the Don-Won-Gwan Martial Arts School, has an encounter with a ‘Super’ bubbly girl name Xu Shu, an angel come down from heaven to present those with a name from legend with a Hero Piece. With the Hero Piece a person can transform into a Legend Hero and fight in the Dream Battle. No sooner does Liu Bei receive his Hero Piece, he is attacked by another hero and after some beginners difficulty Liu Bei is able to transform and best his opponent but Liu Bei soon learns the dire cost of losing. If a Hero loses a battle, their Hero Piece turns to stone and their lifelong dream is shattered. When that happens they give up completely on their dream as well as lose all memory of the Dream Battle. The winner of the Dream Battle will be rewarded with their dream come true. 

2@ Parts and Pieces 

What is Dream Battle? 

Its not a sleeping battle or a battle in the dream zone. The dream battle is about putting a person’s life goal or their “Dream” on the line in the field of battle. If they lose then they lose their dream and all memory of the dream battle. Their Hero Piece even turns to stone, being unable to be used by anyone else. 

How do you get a Hero Piece?

Angels come down from heaven and present those with a name from legend with a Hero Piece. As said before, Liu Bei received a Hero Piece from Xu Shu because his name Liu Bei is a name from legend. Said legend being China’s Three Kingdoms period. Each hero as well as their Hero Piece is named after a figure from this period. Liu Bei was the founder of the state of Shu Han. Guan Yu, who Liu Bei’s Hero Piece is named after, was a general who served under Liu Bei. 

What are Hero Pieces?

An important component of the Dream Battle. A small polygon that walks and talk and has a personality.

What is a Legend Hero?

A Legend Hero or Warlord, as the show refers to them as, are individuals with ability to transform and fight in the dream battle. By inserting their Hero Piece into a changer and shouting “Gun-Shin-Ii-Che, they can transform into a legend hero. Liu Bei transforms into the Green Dragon Legend Hero Guan Yu. Each Hero has a different color, animal motif and weapon. 

Fighting?

Yes. The action is awesome, also robots.

Robots?

Yes. When the hand to hand, or weapon to weapon, combat reaches a point one of the heroes shouts out Final Battle! A force field forms over the city and stops time inside. The heroes then call their two Legend Machines. One piloted by the Hero Piece and the other piloted by the hero. The machine piloted by the hero is usually one that is unique to that hero. The ones piloted by the pieces are one of several. The two machines can combine (with the exclamation Gi-Ga-Bil-Che) into a robot that has a design similar to the hero’s. Once final battle is over any damage to the city is undone and time starts up again with nobody the wiser. 

Are there any warning signs that a hero is close to losing a battle?

When the changer begins flashing and beeping it means its is going to break. This time is crucial. If the hero is able to get away then they are able to fight another day. But if the changer doesn’t stop breaking or is struck directly by another hero then its game over.

What if a person has the same name as Liu Bei?

You know, I don’t know. What if someone had the same name? There’s more than one Allan Smith in the phone book, there has to be more than one Liu Bei. Maybe they flip a coin.

3# Designs

I feel there was a lot of thought put into the design of each of the heroes. One detail I especially like is Liu Bei’s first Legend Hero transformation. His suit had a beard that split up and fanned out to the sides of the mask, kinda similar to whiskers. I like that detail because Liu Bei’s Legend Hero motif is based on the Chinese dragon. This type of dragon has either a beard or a long Fumanchu mustache. Another detail I like is that the suits differ according to the persons size. If one of the characters is kinda hefty his suit is made to look hefty. I know what you’re thinking (spandex and big belly, thats not nice, but that is a way to explain what I mean).

I like the robot designs too, but I don’t really have much to say about them. Except for one thing that kinda bugs me. Later in the series the heroes are able to combine several robots into one, similar to the way Sentai does. When this happens in Sentai it can walk. This one doesn’t walk. Its designed to stay in one place with only the arms moving. In the show you can look at it and tell that the legs are stuck together. Speaking of which this isn’t a design thing but during battles the concrete beneath breaks under the weight of the robots as they walk. Its just a nice detail that I wanted to point out. 

Switching focus back to the heroes, each has a different weapon. Liu Bei has a sword that turns into a gun which is pretty much the standard weapon for the main hero. The other heroes have more interesting weapons like, guitars or drums or even acupuncture needles. I always look forward to seeing a new hero’s weapon because its always going to be something out of the ordinary. 

4$ My Thoughts

Tokusatsu shows use a number of **tropes (**I’m using tropes because its cliche to say its cliche). Some that are overused and others that aren’t used that much but if you’ve watched enough you’ll see them. One common trope utilized by almost every Tokusatsu is the monster of the week formula. Meaning that every new episode there’s a new monster for the heroes to fight. While Legend Hero doesn’t have any monsters, it does have heroes, which creates a hero of the week formula. Kamen Rider Ryuki, the 2002 entry of the popular Kamen Rider series, was set up similar to this where new riders would show up and would fight other riders. However there were still monsters that would show up in the between time before the new rider would appear.

Now it can be argued that the hero of the week formula is the same thing, just replacing the monsters with heroes. I believe this to be only fundamentally true however as there are a lot more situations that can be created using humans rather than monsters. Especially in terms of characters and storytelling. Monsters are usually written as being evil and thats it. Sometimes there will be a monster that changes sides, from evil to good. Its an uncommon trope but like I said if you watch enough Tokusatsu you’ll see it. 

Legend Hero utilizes the human aspect of the hero of the week formula to create an engaging story, memorable characters, and funny jokes. The key aspect of the heroes is their dreams. The dreams are what make the characters much more interesting than the common monster. As every action taken is motivated by their dream. This makes each character an individual as each dream is different. The dreams range from wanting to rock and roll stars or king of the world or even world domination (its not what you think, I’m not kidding!). Each hero has a dream that they’re fighting for and whether its a good dream or an evil dream, its interesting to watch how that dream drives their actions and changes them throughout the story. 

Now while the heroes all have good character, Legend Hero made a choice that could either make or break the series. Thankfully, it made it or maked it, I don’t know. I’m talking about giving the Hero Pieces the ability to walk and talk. They could have been for comedy relief or just annoying unnecessaries but thankfully the Hero Pieces have just as much character as the heroes do. Now they don’t have dreams of their own but they do share and believe in their hero’s dream. They’re also trustworthy and loyal. They address their hero as “my lord” and are willing follow them till the end. The fact that the Hero Pieces have personalities, thoughts and feelings creates an interesting dynamic between the hero and the piece. I would describe the Hero Pieces as not only being the most vital piece of the dream battle, but also astrally close friends to the heroes. They understand their hero’s emotions and want to try to cheer them up if they feel sad or laugh with them if they’re happy. An example would be Yu Ji, a hero piece to a blind man who trusted no one, not even Yu Ji. Yu Ji was regretful that he was unable to gain his hero’s trust. When his hero lost Yu Ji had a chance to save himself from turning to stone by joining with another hero. Instead he chose to stay by his hero’s side. 

Now let’s get into the meat of the meal and talk about the key component of any series, the main character, Liu Bei the good boy. He likes to help people and is overall good natured. Though he could seem a bit whiny at times in the beginning, but as you get into the series Liu Bei really makes a transformation into a stronger character. I’m at episode 41 and at this point he’s lost a number of friends and has been at odds with himself about how he does things, in short the good guy way of doing things. But with the encouragement of his friends he is able to realize that if he wants to protect the friends that he has left then he’ll have to be strong. Strong in his beliefs, and himself. 

On the subject of deaths and the loss of long time characters. I feel that Legend Hero has this trope happen a lot sooner than other Tokusatsu series. This is only my opinion though as I can’t think of any good examples (even though with what I’m claiming I really should). Not only does it happen early but it isn’t predictable. These aren’t characters that were introduced just to get kicked out either. I’m talking about characters that were introduced in the first episode, that you grow with and love. They also go out fighting too so the loss doesn’t feel bitter sweet. These losses are what create Liu Bei’s character development as he loses the closest people in his life and now is left to fight alone, sort of. He still has allies and new friends, but like I said he learns that he has to be strong if he doesn’t want to lose anymore friends. 

Finish Mode!

Now my overall thoughts on Legend Hero is that its amazing. Its an amazing Tokusatsu series and for me was a breath of fresh air from the norm. Feeling like something different from the Ultraman, Kamen Rider and Super Sentai. Something new that doesn’t feel like a Tokusatsu show similar to the big three. 

My rating for this show is a blast past Saturday morning level, past Pluto and hits directly on to Super Hero Time level. 

I’m excited for more Legend Hero and I hope you’ll give it a watch.

This is Dragon DJ Darchive-Kid 

                saying Gun-Shin-Il-Ce

Peace 

Out