Tag: Toru Uchikado

Heroes Reborn: 11:53 to Odessa (Review)

Heroes Reborn: 11:53 to Odessa springs forward to both the post apocalyptic future and to Erica Kravid’s utopian city Gateway. Nathan/Tommy has replaced Hiro Nakamura.

Heroes Reborn - Season 1

Heroes Reborn: 11:53 to Odessa springs forward to both the post apocalyptic future and to Erica Kravid’s utopian city Gateway. Nathan/Tommy  has replaced Hiro Nakamura as the master of time and space, although Hiro is still around as he is powering the time bridge.

Miko returns to save Tommy and evades Kravid. Afterward Noah is apparently also saved by Tommy, although it is not clear whose time-traveling hand grabbed Bennet and kept him from being smashed flat by a flying car.

The Haitian and Taylor Kravid take on Sunstone Manor and Matt Parkman and the first cracks appear in Phoebe and Quentin’s relationship.  Another “butterfly” appears in that Hachiro Otomo’s real life daughter is not dead but being held by Erica Kravid.  Harris Prime appears to have hundreds of clones of himself and Malina joins up with Luke Collins while believing that her grandfather is dead.

Parkman (Greg Grunberg) turns out to be a nasty bit of work who screams at a  captive Farah Nazan (Nazneen Contractor) while pointing a gun at Carlos’ head, “This is easy for me.” It appears that Matt is so paranoid that he will get left behind by Kravid that he will do anything to ensure his survival.

Ren Shimosawa (Toru Uchikado) is approached by the “digital” version of Hachiro Otomo (Hiro Kanagawa) and sent to help Miko (Kiki Sukezane) he must travel the time bridge to arrive in the future. Malina stops the mega storm that “kills” Noah and she has to flee the scene with Luke when the normals threatens to kill the powerful evo.

Erica manages to turn Tommy/Nathan to her plan, but Katana Girl rescues the teenager when an overconfident Kravid believes that the boy will follow her lies.  Another interesting twist as Miko saves the master of time (Nathan) and not Hiro, whom she rescued the first time around.

Farah and Carlos escape and meet up with Taylor and all the Hero Truther group have to flee from what looks to be hundreds of Harris Primes. Also fleeing are Luke Collins (Zachary Levi) and Malina (Danika Yarosh) as well as Nathan and Miko, who apparently stop by to save Noah from the car.

Things are confusing by the time the end credits roll. Noah, Nathan and Miko are missing and it appears that Ren will be joining the future world of “Gateway” only to find that Katana Girl is not there.  The Japanese gamer may be the one who frees Hiro, again, and it is not certain just yet were The Haitian fits in the scheme of things although he is part of the Hero Truther group.

A grown up Micah Saunders  (played by the same actor who portrayed Saunders as a child in the first iteration of Tim Kring’s Heroes Noah Gray-Cabey) is approached by Matt and it seems the adult version of Micah is just as  powerful.

This is the mid-season finale, or “fall finale” and with three episodes left in the first season and with no news of NBC approving the show for a second outing, there may be  a lot left to resolve when the series returns in January 2016. With only three more episodes to finish the story, Kring will have to amp up the storytelling and weave the many conflicting threads that bit faster.

As NBC has not been overly supportive of its other new show, The Player (just cancelled) Heroes Reborn may not return to resolve outstanding plot points and grey areas yet to be addressed.

Heroes Reborn: Game Over – Hiro Returns

Heroes Reborn - Season 1

Heroes Reborn: Game Over sees the return of Hiro Nakamura (Masi Oka) and the apparent death of Miko Otomo (Kiki Sukezane) although the clues seem to point to the video game girl living on, she is, after all, “an aberration.” Regarding death, Harris Prime cannot replicate if shot in the head, or after being cut in half with a Kensei  Sword and Quentin Frady (Henry Zebrowski) finds his sister Phoebe but she is not pleased to see him. Exit Quentin at the tendrils of his evo sister. 

Before death pervades the episode, Noah Bennet (Jack Coleman), Taylor Kravid (Eve Harlow) and Quentin enthusiastically torture Harris (Clé Bennett) to learn where Hiro may be.  Although the episode ends on a sad note, and a pretty worrying one for El Vengador, there are moments of humor. 

Luke Collins (Zachary Levi) calling up his wife:

“Hi honey. This is your loving husband. You know, the one you nearly shot  in the face…Anyhow, I was just calling to touch base, let you know that I sold the practice, and tell you that I burned down the house. “

The adding on of the “house burning” had a hilarious “oh by the way” tone to it that was comically perfect.

Ren Shimosawa (Toru Uchikado) not realizing that Miko “Katana Girl” was right next to him till she slaps his arm startling him was another comic moment as was the obvious delight that Noah, Quentin and Taylor took in “questioning” Prime.  It should be mentioned that Collins’ bit with the yacht salesman was also quite amusing; holding up the boat he made with son Dennis and saying, “I’ll take this one…but bigger.” 

Miko Otomo once again ruled the episode, her appearance in the Midian facility hallway where Frady, Bennet and Prime are heading to rescue Hiro was well done. Frady’s surprise that Noah could speak Japanese was another funny moment.

Ren and Katana Girl’s battle with the big boss was impressive and the two shouting “Leroy Jenkins” before the attack was brilliant. (Leroy Jenkins as a battlecry originated on the MMO online game World of Warcraft) Miko and Ren attack and win but Ren’s in-game character suddenly disappears and back in the real world Ren is seen cursing his laptop’s battery failure.

Heroes Reborn - Season 1

Taylor splits after Prime coughs up the info needed, namely the secret facility where the evos are being taken, as well as where Hiro is being held captive. It is revealed that he is actually powering a time machine. The scientist who works for Erica, Richard Schwenkman (Michael Therriault) has an expository moment where much is explained about Hiro and Miko Otomo. He also reveals that a certain select few are being sent to the future. 

Nakamura has been imprisoned in the only world that has no real space or time, “Evernow” the video game. Miko Otomo is not real at all, as pointed out by Schwenkman, the game’s designer created her to resemble his dead daughter, and she is intricate to the release of Hiro. The “aberration” realizes this and tells Noah, Ren and Quentin that she must overcome herself to free the Master of Time and Space.

Katana Girl succeeds and when she plunges the Kensei Sword into the door’s lock, she vanishes into a burst of pixels. Hiro comes out of the game and makes everything, with the exception of Noah, stop.  (Great bit of business where the bullet from one of the Primes’ gun stops in front of Bennet and he pushes it gingerly to the side.)

Meanwhile, Tommy and Claire find an old copy of The 9th Wonder comic book in Paris, it’s title appears to be “Nathan Visits the Future.” Tommy’s normal girlfriend points out that the figure on the cover looks like him and that the comic book painter (from season 1) is rumored to be an evo. She also does a riff on the old “with great power comes great responsibility,” mantra of all comic book heroes.

Quentin Frady dies. Killed by the sister he was trying so hard to save. As a furious Phoebe plunges a tendril down her brother’s throat, Noah stops her with a well aimed office bench to the head. A bloody Quentin asks Bennet if he “saved her” and Noah replies, “You did good buddy.” A moment guaranteed to bring a lump to the throat of all but the most hardened of viewers.

El Vengador (Carlos) is tricked by Captain Dearing, outside the entrance to Sunstone Manor, into taking  a vial of something that knocks him out.

Luke Collins and Malina hook up. After he attempts to help her at the vending machines, they talk and then he takes his new yacht and jumps off with a backpack full of bricks. Malina reacts instantly and uses her uber powers to yank the man, and a good portion of the water, to shore.

Afterward, she shows Luke the picture of Tommy and tells her new friend that she and the boy will save the world. Collins remembers Clark all too well and he helps Malina. Meanwhile her future world saving partner is having his chip removed and he then zaps it to the Arctic.

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Claire and Tommy in Paris

As Claire and Tommy begin kissing, Erica sees Taylor’s video message to Hero Truther. Harris Prime calls Kravid to tell of Hiro’s release and the head of Renautas is not happy at all.  The recently freed Nakamura and Noah have returned to Odessa June 13 and Bennet tells his friend that he has a plan.

Next week on Heroes Reborn, the first of a two parter, titled June 13th Part One, will hopefully show fans of the show what that plan is and just how Malina and Tommy will “combine” to save the world.

This series has managed to bring the first world from Kring’s original tale into focus with nods and winks to previous characters. The name Nathan on the comic book title  must refer to the elder Petrelli,  brother of Peter.  Other references abound in the new show and the viewer that pays attention will catch them. The series airs Thursdays on NBC, tune in and get captivated by Tim  Kring’s newest tales from the Heroes verse.

Heroes Reborn: The Lion’s Den (Recap & Review)

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Things continue to escalate as the paths of the main “evos” move toward a nexus where all will have a part to play in saving the planet. Just from what, exactly this series’ big bad is, was revealed; some sort of solar flare about to turn the entire planet into ash and kill off around 90 percent of the populace. Pretty intense stuff and the whole thing explains just why Renautas leader Erica Kravid is so coldly intent upon draining evolved humans.

Tommy finds out that he is adopted and the penny chap saves the kid from the first line of Renautas with a timely intervention and a “penny for your thoughts.” Ren and Miko track the Kensei sword to Erica’s house and during a stand off between Noah, Quentin and Taylor and Kravid’s muscle Harris Prime, times two the Katana Girl regains control of the weapon. Immediately after, she heads back into the video game to save her father. Ren, sets up to help.

Malina loses her Muslim mentor and meets The Shadow while  Captain Dearing, after taking Jose and Father Mauricio, ends up getting arrested by his own men when the new, slightly less effective, EPIC glasses show him to be an evo. Luke Collins goes home and literally burns his bridges.

Carlos “El Vengador 2.0” rescues Dearing from his men and puts him in the Vengador vehicle trunk.  Luke Collins (Zachary Levi) sells his practice and after tearfully watching some home videos of he and son Dennis, sets the whole place on fire and leaves.

Malina and Farah meet one of the Harris Prime clones and discover that the new glasses reveal Nazan when she disappears. Later we learn, along with the two evos just what The Shadow can do. Emitting long dark tendrils from his hands, this  new evo can prevent other evolved humans for using their power.

Farah is shot and her charge has to flee. Nazan  gives Malina an envelope with information and the girl hides on a logging truck to escape the area. One interesting note, when Prime speaks with Nazan initially, he asks about “the baby.” Whether this is meant to be Malina, or perhaps a baby she is meant to be having, is not clear.

The stand out moment of the Heroes Reborn this week was Miko Otomo leaping through a wall to ceiling window panel and grabbing the Kensei Sword from its holder. Harris points his gun at the girl and orders her to return it, “Now.” She grins and pulls the sword from its scabbard and disappears as Quentin Frady smashes a vase into Harris’s head knocking him out.

Tommy learns of Mr Penny’s existence  and that he has been protecting him from Renautas. The man tells the boy that he is too important and that his destiny is to help save the world. Tommy’s response is to teleport from his mother’s hospital room.

Back at Renautas, Erica learns that a coronal mass ejection of solar radiation is due to hit the planet in a week. This catastrophe is apparently what Malina and Tommy are meant to save the world from while Kravid believes she is the savior of humanity.

It is not apparent just yet where The Shadow will fit in and just what connection Miko or El Vengador’s nephew will have in saving the world but their paths are converging and it remains to be seen whether the tendril waving evo is Collins’ son or someone else.

Tim Kring has delivered a great “sequel” to his original show with a whole new set of evolved humans and despite the fragmented format of the show, each evo getting a short period of time on screen, the characters are appealing and interesting. Noah Bennet Jack Coleman) bridges the two shows, the original and the new one, very well.

Heroes Reborn airs Thursdays on NBC, do not miss this show, tune in and  follow what Katana Girl is up to with her trusty new sidekick Ren if the main storyline does not interest you, any character that can enter a video game world at will is killer.

 

Heroes Reborn: The Needs of the Many (Review)

Heroes Reborn - Season 1

Heroes Reborn  sees the EPIC head, Erica Kravid  (Rya Kihlstedt) as this series’ Nathan Petrelli,  although she does not appear to have any powers, “Evo style” like Petrelli, older brother of Peter, it would not be too surprising if she does.  The  thing she shares with Nathan was his perceived “needs of the many” spiel that was initiated by “mother” Petrelli.  Erica also shares something with the first show’s big bad, Skyler. While she does peel open the heads of Evos to snare their power, via brains, like Zachary Quinto’s power crazy Evo, she has figured out how to harness the evolved’s gifts for her own ends. 

This episode starts right after the “t-bone” accident that left Tommy and his gun toting mother hanging upside down in their crashed car. The kid puts himself in danger to save mom and the show ends, like last week’s, with Tommy in trouble while Erica instructs her Clone-making second in command to get The Shadow (a pretty freaky looking kid in a hood with glowing eyes) in order to find Malina.

In The Needs of the Many, we learn what the girl in the frozen wastes has to offer the world,  Malina (Danika Yarosh) creates life, either from death (as in the frozen stiff butterfly) or from, apparently, an inert seed (as in the tree just before her mentor smacks an intruder unconscious and breaks his walkie).

Noah Bennet  turns Erica’s daughter Taylor and she helps him and Quentin Frady to get into Renautas. The plan is to save Molly and find Frady’s sister Phoebe.  The trio find Walker but she takes Noah’s gun and, before shooting herself, tells him to stop living in the past. She tells him to find the girl before it is to late, she also reveals that Erica Kravid’s gameplay includes killing seven billion people.

Ren and Miko also go to Renautas at Midian, the gamer “legend” gets fans of Katana Girl (Miko) and Evernow to meet at the company in cosplay costumes. This is to allow Otomo access to the building and her father’s (Hiro’s Kensei) sword.

Meanwhile, the new El Vengador,  Carlos (Ryan Guzman) tries out his new Vengador vehicle while Jose and the priest are captured by Captain Dearing. The ebony and ivory assassin couple, Joanne and Luke Collins finally go their separate ways, but not before Joanne kills one of the “names” on the list. For a split second it looks like she might just put a bullet in her husband’s evolved brain, but after declaring that she “did love” Luke, she leaves.

In keeping with the first series, Heroes (2006 season one) the Japanese storyline provides the most humor and personality. The interaction between Miko (Kiki Sukezane) and Ren (Toru Uchikado) is priceless and the two have an excellent chemistry.  While these two are the most amusing and have the best presence, Jack Coleman and Henry Zebrowski are a pretty impressive odd couple pairing that also provide some amusing moments. 

Bennet is the all-knowing expert on so many things dealing with Evos and Frady is the nerdy geek who believes more than he knows and is continually surprised by these new evolved people.  Erica, who lied enough to her daughter  that Taylor allows Noah access to the inner sanctum, loses her offspring forever when the young woman discovers mother has her lover Francis hooked up to EPIC.

It seems that all roads lead to Midian and Renautas, but there is the whole Aurora Borealis thing going on with Malinda and her mentor.  The implication is that the world is going to have something catastrophic occur that needs the creation girl and all other Evos to save it.  Erica tells Taylor that she must save mankind and that the Evos harnessed power will make this possible.

Thus far, Heroes Reborn is maintaining a high level of interest. Perhaps not as high its predecessor’s first season, but close. Each Evo has been appealing in their own way, even Luke, who had his doubts about executing evolved humans before his ironic change into “sun guy” was a sympathetic character. Of course anyone would be when compared to his psychotic murder machine of a wife, Joanne.

This couple, now estranged, separate despite their mutual grief over the death of their son Dennis at Odessa.  But…

The last shot of the episode is of a child, that looks, despite the hood covering its shadowy countenance, like a boy. Is this Dennis? Was the boy’s evolutionary gift the  polar opposite of his father Luke (the sunshine man who can now set fire to water)?  Is this boy “The Shadow”  taken by Erica at Odessa on June 13?

Before the end credits rolled, Molly killed herself, Tommy is about to be captured, Luke reveals his Evo self to Joanne and she leaves, Harris Prime has three clones of himself turned into piles of “kosher salt” by Noah and Malina has left the frozen North and ended her training.

It appears that Noah may be key to the fate of mankind, this catchphrase this go around is “save the future” and not “save the cheerleader, save the world.”  Molly tells Bennet that if she tells him the location that she refused to give Erica, he “will not go back.” This sounds like a definite cue for Hiro to step in and help Bennet to set things right.

Heroes Reborn airs Thursdays on NBC, tune in and try to keep track of all these new Evos while keeping an eye out for the older ones.

 

 

Heroes Reborn: NBC and Tim Kring Make It Exciting Again

Heroes Reborn - Season 1

September 24, 2015 saw the pilot episode for Tim Kring‘s Heroes Reborn air on NBC and for the first time since the first season aired back in 2006 (“Save the cheerleader save the world.”) The verse of Heroes is exciting again. There are a few familiar faces in this new version of the old series. Noah Bennett (Jack Coleman) is back, it was his daughter Claire (Hayden Panettiere) who was the cheerleader in question in the first iteration of Kring’s show.

Mohinder Suresh (Sendhil Ramamurthy) is also back, at least as an almost background presence whose voice is heard providing narrative and sage sounding philosophy. Suresh is also blamed for the June 13 Odessa incident.   Back too is the Haitian Rene, still played with sublime otherworldliness by Jimmy Jean-Louis, and it looks like Matt Parkman may turn up as well. There also seems to be references, in the IMDb credits at least, that this reviewer’s personal favorite Hiro (Masi Oka) will be back for a few episodes.

Some things have changed in this small screen version of X-Men.  The painter is gone, although there did appear to be a comic book reference in young Tommy Clarke’s (played by Brit actor Robbie Kay) book bag/backpack.   There appears to be a new Japanese Evo in the form of Miko Otomo (played by (Kiki Sukezane) and her “normal sidekick” Ren Shimosawa (portrayed by newcomer Toru Uchikado) who are this series’ replacements for  Hiro and his buddy Ando. 

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Miko and her magic sword…

In what may be the coolest plot device ever,  Miko is a character whose father’s hidden samurai sword transports her into a video game world. The game is called “Evernow” and the most famous player in the world; Ren, meets Miko although their meeting does not go overly well. As he leaves Ren sees a door that reminds him of the game.

His second meeting with Miko goes slightly better and he tells the girl that she looks like the hero in the game, Katana Girl. Shimosawa drops off a manga which tells about Katana Girl and her quest to rescue her father in Evernow. The book also leads Miko the hidden sword in her father’s office and when she unsheathes the weapon she becomes Katana Girl in Evernow.

Heroes Reborn - Season 1
Miko is Katana Girl.

This is but one thread and one character followed throughout the pilot. Like the original series, the show follows several “Evo’s” and their personal journeys as well as how they all interact. Bennett’s storyline is his being drug back into the world of Primatech and their replacement Renautas by Molly’s brother and the incident at Odessa. Noah believes initially that Claire died at Texas explosion but after finding the old facility learns that may not be true.

Young Tommy (his latest name) almost dies twice, his “power” is making things transport.  We follow his attempt to fit in and the boy meeting what will  apparently become his “love interest” Emily (Gatlin Green). There is another storyline dealing with El Vengador; an Evo vigilante who ends up being murdered and his brother, Afghani war hero Carlos (played by Ryan Guzman) steps in to take over.

There are two assassins who are married and vengefully killing every Evo that they can track down since their son Dennis died at the Odessa Evo tragedy.  A mystery man with a briefcase full of pennies, played with brilliant creepiness by Pruitt Taylor Vince) and similar to the first season’s Skyler problem, this version of the show has a new problem. 

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Assassin couple trapped by Tommy…

As a sidenote; another difference is that Skyler will not be back, at least not in the guise of Zachary Quinto who has now moved on to playing Spock.  The common thread of threat this time is an event rather than an individual. Something big is about to happen and it is not going to be good.

The presence of Bennett helps to bridge the old series with the new and, somewhat oddly, the Japanese storyline is more interesting than the other characters’ arcs. Although this is understandable, the “Hiro Nakamura” storyline was the most interesting of season one and opened events in season two.

Interest in the original series had waned considerably when it ended in 2010 and now NBC and Tim Kring have made the concept exciting again. The pilot, Brave New World/Odessa which ran for 89 minutes never flagged in its delivery and there was only one blaring faux pas with a  cocked pistol scene, shades of Longmire, to jar the proceeds.

Heroes Reborn is more than a trip down memory lane with Tim Kring’s original series, it is a return to an exciting season with more intrigue, mystery and of course those X-Men sort of small screen heroes and villains. The show airs Thursdays on NBC, miss this and miss out on some awesome television.

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