Interviews

Meet the Team: Brody Salzman

Published on August 15, 2019

For this month’s Meet the Team, we talk with Staff Writer and Fourze fan, Brody Salzman.

Can you tell us about yourself?

I’m Brody, but you may have seen me go by “Admin Kitaa!!” in the Toku Infinity Facebook group which I’ve helped manage for several years now. I embrace all things nerdy, and I wear it on my sleeve be it sci fi movies like Star Wars, anime ranging from Gurren Lagann to New Game, or video games like Nintendo’s lineup and Sonic the Hedgehog which I have some strong opinions on. I’m the type who likes to deeply analyze the media I consume, and tokusatsu satisfies a lot of cravings for me.

How did you first get into tokusatsu?

You may have heard this story once if you listen to the TokuNet Podcast, but since you asked…

I had an on-and-off relationship with Power Rangers over the years. I liked it a lot during Dino Thunder, my parents bought me the Mystic Morpher, and I made sure to check out the premiere of Power Rangers Jungle Fury. I pulled away moreso than I used to throughout middle and high school, but I couldn’t dodge my fondness for it. Finally, I was in my sophomore year of high school when I found pictures of the Gokaigers while googling Power Rangers images. I thought, “Wait… The Power Rangers were never pirates… I would know… What is this?” Once I found the first episode, I was hooked. It was fun up until the main fight began, but then they did “that.” I was so confused when they did their transformation call again, but once I figured out what the Gokai Changes were… Words cannot describe my excitement. I thought that was the coolest thing ever. I recognized the Magiranger and Shinkenger suits, and I loved everything I was seeing. That’s what got me started. After that, I got involved in the fandom, made some friends and eventually expanded into watching Kamen Rider.

How did you become a member of Team TokuNet and what does your role entail?

After being in the Facebook Rangers group a while and making a friend or two, I got invited to help work on a big fan page on Facebook. Soon, we decided to expand our operations to curate a community in the form of the Facebook group that would one day be Toku Infinity. After a while, our previous editor-in-chief invited everyone working on the page and group to join Team TokuNet. TokuNet is not affiliated with that page or Toku Infinity, though I am still fond of running that group.

As for my role here, I mostly help report on news that comes through. Writing an article can take 30 minutes to an hour or more depending on the depth of coverage. Since I’ve been in college, it’s often taken me longer since I have a lot to focus on. Although, I’m finding I really enjoy writing in-depth reviews that analyze the shows I’m watching. I’ve already published reviews of Lupinranger vs Patranger, SSSS.Gridman, and Zyuranger with more planned for the future!

What is your favorite tokusatsu show or movie?

This is really difficult for me because my favorite Kamen Rider is Fourze, but my favorite Kamen Rider story so far might just be Build while my favorite power/design gimmick is Ex-Aid. Meanwhile, Kyuranger has the best Sentai story I’ve seen in years. Although, with Sentai, I will always have a special place in my heart for Gokaiger. For the most part, these are my top shows.

Is there a funny or memorable moment from working in TokuNet that you would like to share?

The funniest story I can think of is the time I had surgery on my broken clavicle and still joined Nicole and a couple others for a podcast recording session that night. They thought I would be out of it, but I am a stubborn man. I was too excited to miss it.

Besides that, there are a lot of memorable moments. Between helping me study Japanese over Discord, providing one another support in our personal lives, and just generally geeking out over all kinds of nerdy things together, I’ve seen how Team TokuNet is just one big family. I’m so happy to be part of this team because there are always so many memorable interactions happening all the time. One day we’ll be losing it over cute dogs. The next, I’ll be tagged in a message about the Sonic movie because Malunis wants my opinions…. Or to watch me suffer. I know it’s out of love though.

Outside of working for TokuNet, do you have any personal projects or hobbies?

Until recently, I’ve only dreamed of working on personal projects. Now that I’ve just graduated from university with a game design degree, I’m preparing to take steps towards developing a game I’ve always wanted to make. I’ll probably post on social media when progress happens on that, but I plan on making that my focus this summer.

Some of my hobbies are watching anime, analyzing stories/experiences, performing in light saber fights, and playing muggle quidditch. My position is beater, by the way.

Where can people find you on social media?

I’m in the TokuNet Community Facebook group as well as the TokuNet Community Discord server, I still help manage the Toku Infinity Facebook group, and I’m on Twitter @Plazmaniac1. Follow me so you can be the first to hear about my game project or check out my thoughts on other nerdy things.