dee.reid
I turned nine in 1994 (in fact, according to Wikipedia, "Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad" debuted on my ninth birthday in 1994), and at that time back then I was still hooked on the likes of Spider-Man, Batman, X-Men, "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," "Transformers," and "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers." So obviously, "Samurai" was a natural fit into my afternoon after-school/weekend-morning viewing habits.Unlike those other shows, however, "Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad" was the one show I just never got around to watching for some reason. It seemed like it was never on TV, or I always somehow missed it, and it was soon gone before I knew whatever happened (it only lasted for 53 episodes over the course of just one season between 1994 and 1995). Yet, I also collected the action figures this show inspired, and I still have at least one of them in my bedroom somewhere (it's safely stored away in a box in the corner).And thanks to the wonders of TV-on-DVD, this show is now available for the first time on home video, where those of us who grew up in the 1990s can relive all those afternoons wasted in front of the television after school (when we should have been doing our homework instead)."Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad," like "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" before it, was one of several original Japanese superhero "tokusatsu" ("special filming," or "special effects") TV shows adapted for American audiences in the early '90s and used English-speaking American actors in newly shot scenes integrated with the original Japanese footage. "Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad" came from the original Japanese superhero series "Denkou Choujin Gridman," which I've never seen and am unsure if it has ever been made available outside of Japan. On a side note, "Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad" (and its original incarnation "Denkou Choujin Gridman") were both produced by Tsuburaya Productions, which was responsible for Godzilla back in Japan.Sam Collins (Matthew Lawrence, of "Mrs. Doubtfire" fame in 1993) is a kind and caring, but otherwise normal teenager who heads his high school rock band (as its lead singer and guitar player) Team Samurai - with his three closest friends, the jock Tanker (Kevin Castro) on drums; Tanker's crush, the brainy and tech-savvy Sydney Forrester (Robin Mary Florence) on keyboards; and the curiously strange and intellectual Amp Ere (Troy Slaten) on bass; later on the in the series, Amp was replaced by Lucky London (Rembrandt Sabelis).Of course there has to be a girl in there somewhere, and Sam pines for the beautiful cheerleader Jennifer Doyle (Jayme Betcher), who seems to return his affections. Sam's only rival is the megalomaniacal teen hacker Malcolm Frink (Glen Beaudin), who also vies for Jennifer's affections. Frink later sides with the rogue military program Kilokhan (voice of Tim Curry), to create "mega-virus" monsters that later run amok in computer and electronic systems that go on to cause havoc in the real world.But have no fear, good people, help is on the way...Sam's life takes a strange turn when a power surge zaps him into his computer and he becomes the computerized superhero Servo, based on a high-tech video game character he was developing on the side. Together with Tanker, Sydney and Amp, Team Samurai becomes the Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad - here to save the virtual world AND the real world from all manner of Malcolm and Kilokhan's legion of digitized monsters. And somewhere in there, the teens of Team Samurai have to still find the time to be ordinary teenagers with ordinary teenager problems, like girls, grades, and making awesome music as a high school rock band.I guess I'll be the only person to compare this show to "The Matrix" (1999), which was just five years off at the time of this show's debut. I'll admit that this comparison is superficial at best, but it is worth noting that both the show and the film feature epic battles that take place inside of a computerized virtual world. Of course "The Matrix" had groundbreaking special effects, and this show just had people in elaborate costumes. (I should also point out that this show does remind me of the Japanese superhero shows "Ultraman" and "Ultra Seven," which I also adore.)Either way, I still get a kick out of "Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad" after all these years. It makes me yearn for a far simpler time, when television was much simpler and certainly more entertaining and care-free. It was a lot easier to lose yourself for a half-hour with the Power Rangers or Team Samurai, as a kid growing up in the '90s, than it is now, unfortunately, since these kind of shows don't air on television much anymore.So gear up, and get ready to Kick Some Giga-butt, with Team Samurai and "Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad"!10/10
WeyrdChic
I am not going to claim this show was good. It was never good. The plot was formulaic, the battle sequences bored me to death, and save Sydney, who was moderately interesting (aka had half a brain and a character flaw or two), the good guys were one-note cliches. So was Kilokhan. And I felt most of this back when I was 7 and watching it, probably somewhere in the show's target audience.There was ONE good element to this show, and that was Malcolm and his storyline. The idea was a big stroke of genius on *someone's* part, I'm not sure if it was in the original Japanese show or not.Malcolm was someone you actually loved to hate, yet couldn't help but feel a little sorry for, a supercilious jerk who was Draco Malfoy before the world knew Draco Malfoy. He was far smarter than the good guys, although his lack of people skills more than made up for this, and was the only one with genuinely amusing lines. His using Kilokhan and the viruses to fulfill his personal vendettas was perfectly in-character for what was created, and it actually made the story fun.I loved to see the interactions between Malcolm and Sam, hating each other yet never knowing that they're the cause of each other's problems in the digital world. It's actually a very interesting concept that I've never seen anywhere else. The Christmas episode where they temporarily discovered each other's identities was the first time all the characters held my attention, and it also played up on the three dimensions they managed to give Malcolm: the fact that he uses Kilokhan because of the lack of control and happiness in his own life, and his disillusioned belief that the virus lord actually cares about his wellbeing.If you take it outside the context of the show, it's a very interesting story in itself.
Stephen Bierce (FPilot)
I was a fan of the original Ultraman TV series, watching old reruns when I was a child. When Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad came along (first as a toy line), I was immediately attracted to it. Tsuburaya Productions, who made Ultraman, also made the source for Syber-Squad ("Gridman"). I'll probably seek out that as well. What I like most about Syber-Squad, apart from the spectacular special effects brought from the Japanese original, is the incidental music score and the enthusiasm of the new cast, who more than make up for the corny puns and minimalist production values. I own the third tape of the series, "The Glitch That Stole Christmas", which I consider the best of them.
