Chances are that if you are reading this, you have seen the work of Koichi Sakamoto's at some point in time. Whether its his Stunt Coordination and Director work in various seasons of Power Rangers, his independent films such as Broken Path and The Wicked Game, or his recent run in the Japanese Tokusatsu scene with his work on Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger or the Kamen Rider W movies, he has definitely become a popular name in the franchise and among the fandom as of late. So, what sets this guy apart? What is it about his work that is so appealing to the fans? How can I get a part in one of his projects? I will try and explore 2 out of those 3 questions in this article. And one of those questions will either be lost in the ether or very poorly realized. I'll leave it to you to figure out which that is by the end!
I'll start this off with a bit of background info on Mr. Sakamoto. After college, Sakamoto worked as the Stunt actor for Blue Mask in the Maskman live show. He later came to the States and landed his first major stunt role in the movie Guyver: Dark Hero. Sakamoto later landed the role of stunt director on the third season of Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, moving up the ranks to 2nd Unit Director, Producer, and eventually Executive Producer. Along the way, Koichi Sakamoto helped make a few films, including 2 of his own: Wicked Game and Broken Path, both of which featured long-time friend Johnny Yong Bosch.
Recently, Sakamoto has gone back to Japan on numerous occasions to direct various movies and episodes from Ultraman, Kamen Rider, and Super Sentai. The big return that everyone noticed at first was his directorial work on the movie Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy Legend. This movie pitted all of the Ultramen against the evil Ultraman Belial and introduced Ultraman Zero. Since there was a lot more Ultraman vs Ultraman fighting, Sakamoto used this to bring fresh and fluid choreography into the mix. The fights were more engaging than seen in previous shows and movies in the Ultraman franchise. Even the big monsters that usually just swatted aimlessly in the air and shot countless lazer beams were made to move a lot more and pull of more interesting moves. New and interesting camera work was used to make the characters and fights pop out more than usual. This movie seemed to breath some new life into the franchise since from what I have heard, it has brought a lot of fans around to watching more Ultraman who wouldn't have considered it otherwise.
Sakamoto has had his hand in a recent Kamen Rider series, Kamen Rider W. He directed a couple of episodes which were interesting to see. But the biggest contributions he made to the season, and a big reason as to why I decided to write this article, were the Kamen Rider W movies that he directed: Kamen Rider W Forever: A to Z/The Gaia Memories of Fate, Kamen Rider W Returns: Accel and Kamen Rider W Returns: Eternal. He has also directed the Dekaranger and Shinkenger arcs of the newest sentai series Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger.
The first thing you will notice in these pieces of work is the change in choreography. Kamen Rider and Sentai, for the most part, have a pretty fixed feel of fight scenes. Aside from the thematic change in fighting style, (ex. Kabuto calm and calculated movements, Gekiranger's heavily martial arts-based battles, or Den-O Sword Form's wild burst of energy) most battles are pretty forgettable if it isnt a pivotal moment in the story, like the beginning or ending episodes. Some may say that I am over-generalizing this and that there are more unique fights out there. But from my perspective, those are the only ones that stand out. Even if I rewatched shows like Boukenger or Dekaranger, I would not be able to tell stylistically if a group of episodes were done by one director or more than one. But, when Koichi Sakamoto directs an episode, I can tell right away its him behind the camera and I'm sure its the same for many others.
Most of Koichi's fight scenes involve heavy hand-to-hand combat rather than distant weapon action. Lots of combos are thrown and you can actually see styles clashing between two fighters. This attention to detail makes for a more rich experience for the viewer. For example, in the A to Z Gaiamemory movie, you can see how Kamen Rider W changes his fighting tactics against each NEVER member. This helps show depth to the character because you can see him adapt to different situations. He also finds ways to explore new uses for their suits/weapons, for example Kamen Rider Accel performing a memory break through his belt instead of his sword. These aspects along with his smart use of wire work and creative utilization of the suit actors' abilities makes these action scenes feel more organic and fluid.
The next thing that you will notice is the camera work. Many people have complained in the past about the shaky-cam effect in a few Power Rangers seasons. It was said to be too distracting. But to me, it felt dynamic, and the same can be said here. Koichi knows how to get the right angle to show off the moves performed on screen. A lot of tilting of the camera is done to add emotion to the shot and also to show the force of impact. Many movies nowadays use these types of shots and camera work, but if it isn't handled by a director that knows what he is doing, it can be very distracting. This can be seen in the countless movies that try to emulate the Bourne Identity-style of action cinematography.
The last thing that I have noticed that sets apart Koichi's work from the rest is the involvement of the cast in the fight scenes. I think we can all agree that for the most part, the actors that play Kamen Riders or Sentai warriors cannot fight. And thus, when the scene asks for them to encounter a monster, they will usually just hold onto them for a bit before backing off and transforming. This is done a lot more in Kamen Rider than in Sentai, from what I have seen. But this can take one out of the action because the actor is barely hanging on for dear life one minute, and in the next, he is kicking serious ass after he has transformed. There have been sparks of actors trying their hand at choreography, such as Kane Kosugi in Kakuranger (though that is because he is a trained and talented martial artist) or the actors of Gekiranger.
That being said, I do not think any actors have been pushed to do more choreography than in the Kamen Rider W: Accel movie or in the Gokaiger episodes. Minehiro Kinomoto (Terui Ryu/Kamen Rider Accel) pulled off amazing combos and impressive moves in the Accel movie despite not being a martial artist. I was pleasantly surprised at how much of his own stunts he performed, and how into it he seemed to be. This is how I want all Kamen Riders to fight. Another example of this can be seen in the Gokaiger episodes Sakamoto directed. The Gokaiger members also got to try their hand at rather complex choreography. Granted, they were doubled for the more grand stunts and moves. But they definitely gave their all to look convincing in these scenes. And it seems like other directors have caught onto this because in the recent episode, Episode 13, they did all of their own fight scenes despite it not being directed by Koichi. The fight wasnt as heavy in choreography, but it felt like the new director knew that these actors could be used for more than just a few slashes of a sword and a random kick here and there.
Koichi Sakamoto seems to have brought his experience on Power Rangers and his influence from Hong Kong cinema into the Toku arena and we are all seeing the benefits of this. Hopefully more directors and producers will recognize the potential that his type of choreography and direction brings to the genre and will try to either use him more or attempt to apply this to other shows with different directors. Whether you are a fan of his work or not, there is no denying that Koichi Sakamoto's work is a one of a kind in Tokusatsu.
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