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Post by Gokai Gaburincho on Feb 17, 2018 13:41:23 GMT -5
Okay, I haven't liked any of the first 3 episodes so far, but I liked this one. As far as I can remember, I don't think we've ever seen ranger parents hit on each other before. I thought that was funny and cute. I also appreciate that there was way less Victor and Monty. If you're gonna put them in every episode (and I don't think they need to be), this is how much screen time they should have in every episode. Just 3 little bits. That being said, I thought they were funny in this episode. I even liked the ending. "Run, Monty Run. He's got a sword." I thought that was funny.
My only main problem with this episode was that Hayley and Sarah were way too happy about screwing up their parents' date. Sarah's mom ate a grasshopper, and Hayley's dad was about to throw up, and they're laughing about it like it's funny. I know characters need flaws, but I found that to be too mean and out of character for them. Aside from that, I liked this episode. I'm giving it a 3/5.
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Post by Gokai Gaburincho on Feb 16, 2018 23:33:42 GMT -5
^Well, that sucks. Could the advertisement thing be the reason they got rid of the ending theme? Also, what are your thoughts on the first episode?
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Post by Gokai Gaburincho on Feb 16, 2018 13:03:56 GMT -5
^^ Thank you. RWBY has an awesome soundtrack, by the way. Anyway, I'm actually both surprised and glad you like this episode as much as you did, because we tend to have the exact opposite taste in toku. I also appreciated that you read all of that post, because you had said my posts were too long and hard to read, and while this one was still long, I hope the way I sectioned it off helped.
As for the show, I agree with everything you said. I know people tend to not care for Touma's and Tsukasa's archetypes, but I actually like those archetypes. I like Hoji, Joe, Sakura, and Mako. Because of that and, like you said, we have plenty of time to flesh them out, they actually didn't bother me in this episode. Everyone, me included, is expecting the next episode to focus on the Patrangers, and if I had one fear about the show after seeing this episode, it's that I hope that since the show put Lupinrangers first in the title, and focused on them first, that it doesn't fall into the trap of focusing more on them and sidelining the Patrangers. There's every bit a chance the next episode could put the focus on the Lupinrangers again, and while it could still be another brilliant episode, speaking as someone who is definitely wholeheartedly Team Lupinranger, that would be a huge miscalculation, and a gigantic missed opportunity. I hope the show isn't stupid enough to do this. I'm the guy that says that Kyuranger could have balanced all 12 rangers if they tried hard enough, and we have half the number of rangers this season, so there's no excuse.
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Post by Gokai Gaburincho on Feb 14, 2018 22:09:11 GMT -5
LvP Episode 1: I almost don't know where to start with this show, because I thought this episode was freaking brilliant. By my toku standards, this was a perfect sentai premiere. In the immortal words of Casey Williams, this is the day I've been waiting for. After being let down year after year with every sentai that came after Kyoryuger, this might be the new sentai that can actually make me invested, and could actually make my top 10. The Good: The short answer is "everything", but to elaborate, I like all of the characters, the pacing, the setup of the plot, and the action. With the characters, judging from the trailers and bios, I had a theory about what characteristics they were going for, and I came up with: Lupin Red: Masato Jin (Beet Buster), Lupin Blue: Joe (Gokai Blue), Lupin Yellow: Natsuki (Bouken Yellow), Pat1: Gunpei (Go-On Black), Pat2: Hanto (Go-On Green), and Pat3: Mako (Shinken Pink), and for the most part, I think I've been spot on. I love how the Lupinrangers have the swag of the Gokaigers, and I'm all for it. I also love the Lupinrangers' henshin and roll call, and the fact that they smirk as their helmets form. That's a great touch.
These past 4 sentais feel like they've been trying to ape the success and the silly goofy charm of Kyoryuger, and there's nothing wrong with that, but it feels like they've been going overboard, and have been more focused on that tone than creating good characters and a solid story. Granted, I don't think ToQger and Zyuohger are bad, but they are meh to me, and Ninninger and Kyuranger are examples of shows that tried way too hard to be Kyoryuger, to their detriment. However, using Gokaiger instead as inspiration was a great idea to get SS back on track. Kairi (Lupin Red, also insert Kingdom Hearts reference here) kinda reminds me of a young Marvelous, and I like that Tooma (Lupin Blue) and Umika (Lupin Yellow) also have a big brother and little sister dynamic, which reminds me of Ryuji (Blue Buster) and Yoko (Yellow Buster) from Go-Busters.
I've also been hearing people compare the Patrangers to the Dekarangers (which is another of my favorite sentais), but aside from them being police, I don't see it. The Patrangers don't remind me of any of the Dekarangers, and as much as I love Dekaranger, I'm okay with that. The Patrangers are actually less prominent in this episode, and because of that, they have less characterization, and I'm fine with that, because this show has plenty of time to set them up, so they don't need to rush and do it in the first episode. I like Hilltop (Zone) and Jim Carter, which I think is a funny name for the robot assistance. Knowing that Hilltop was gonna be played by a non-Asian actor, I thought he was gonna be an obnoxious, annoying stereotype, but from the little I've seen, I think he's a fun character. It's funny, I was expecting him to be a joke character like Xiao, and he's not, and this is what I was expecting with Xiao, but didn't get. As for the pacing, thank freaking god there's no mecha battle in this episode. I have nothing against them inherently, but it feels like SS is always in a rush to show off the next toy, instead of having the action serve the story. We have 47-51 episodes, and we don't need to have a mecha battle in the premiere if the show will be better paced without it. Just look at Kyuranger, and how even with all of those rangers, they still forced a mecha battle in the premiere. Like I said, I have no problem with mecha battles in the premiere inherently, because Gokaiger did it, but it worked there because all of the rangers were already together and had their powers, so we didn't need to set that up. Here, we have 2 teams to establish, so having a mecha battle wasn't warranted, and we got to spend more time setting up the plot and the characters.
As for the plot, I like the setup with the villains. I always appreciate it when the villain setup is more than just generically wanting to rule the world or just revive the main big bad. Dogranio essentially wanting someone to take over his spot as the main villain is kinda cool, and I hope it leads to some interesting character conflict between the villains. The stuff with the Lupin collection is all intriguing. It reminds me of Boukenger, which is not a bad thing. I also like that we get the exposition that the morphers are part of the collection, which makes it more intriguing that the Patrangers got them. I like the idea of the civilians seeing the Lupinrangers as heroes, and how that conflicts with Keiichiro's view. I also find Kogure intriguing. I think something's up with him, and I don't exactly trust him. We know that the Lupinrangers became Lupinrangers to find their missing loved ones, and I hope the show deals with that drama, because that could go a long way to developing these characters, which I hope happens, because this is the head writer of Zyuohger, and lord knows that show could have used more character development.
As for the action, this may be the best action I've seen in a sentai since Ninninger, maybe even Gokaiger. The beginning one and especially the ending one may be 2 of my favorite action scenes in a sentai, ever. The camerawork was just freaking fantastic. We got some of that in Kyuranger, which is understandable since it's the same director, and I thought the action in Kyuranger was really good, but I think the action in this episode trumps anything in Kyuranger (at least, as far as none mecha battles). The Bad: I've heard some complaints that the Patrangers weren't as prominent in this episode, and that doesn't bother me at all. I actually have nothing bad to say about this episode...except for one thing. I hope to freaking god this is similar what they did with Ex-Aid where they are forgoing the ending theme in just this episode to make more time to flesh things out, and I hope this isn't a permanent thing. I like ending themes, and if they're planing on getting rid of them after doing them for 41 seasons, that would be lame. I get they want to do things differently, but Go-Busters also did things differently, and even that show had a dance ending. I hope they play the individual openings at the end. That would be cool. I would take a lame one like Abaranger's and Ninninger's. Heck, they don't even have to be the dance themes. I'll even take the lame ballads like Jetman, Megaranger, Gingaman, GoGo V, Gaoranger, and Hurricaneger. Just don't up and stop cold turkey on them. This may be my biggest disappointment of the episode. Then again, it's my only one. Final thoughts: I freaking loved this episode. This might be the best sentai premiere since Go-Busters or Gokaiger, and will definitely make my list of favorite sentai premieres next to Gokaiger, Timeranger, and Jetman. It's not hard to make a good first episode, and I've been burned before, because I like Kyuranger's, Hurricaneger's, and Megaranger's first episodes, but with this one, there's something different. I can tell there's thought and talent going into this episode. I think we might have something here. This was how I was expecting to feel about Kyuranger, and I don't mean to keep harping on that show, but man, was it a massive disappointment. Now I know I don't want Nobuhiro Mori anywhere near a sentai ever again. Next episode: It looks like the Lupinrangers and the Patrangers are going at it, and it looks like we're getting the mecha battle in this episode. I like the fact that GoodStriker is sentient, and LupinKaiser looks cool. It looks like it's gonna be another great episode. It feels so good to actually be excited about a new sentai again.
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Post by Gokai Gaburincho on Feb 9, 2018 14:16:57 GMT -5
I finished Kyuranger a few days ago. This is one of the most disappointing sentais I've ever seen, and is yet another disappointing post-Kyoryuger sentai. Next up is Lupinranger Vs Patranger, and it looks promising, but we'll see. As for Jetman and Kiva, I'm 5 episodes into each show, but like I did with Zyuranger and Amazons, instead of watching them together, I'm gonna watch through all of Kiva, then do Jetman. With Kiva having 2 timelines, it's hard to keep track of unless I give it all my time. After that, I'm gonna rewatch Go-Onger and RPM, then Gekiranger and Jungle Fury. As for my ranking:
Current Sentai Ranking: 1) Gokaiger 2) Shinkenger 3) Gekiranger 4) Go-Busters 5) Magiranger 6) Dekaranger 7) Gingaman 8) Timeranger 9) Kyoryuger 10) Boukenger 11) Go-Onger 12) Goseiger 13) Zyuranger 14) Abaranger 15) Dairanger 16) GoGo V 17) Zyuohger 18) Gaoranger 19) ToQger 20) Kyuranger 21) Hurricaneger 22) Ninninger 23) Megaranger 24) Kakuranger 25) Ohranger 26) Carranger
(1-4: Brilliant) (5-9: Great) (10-14: Good) (15-17: Okay) (18-19: Mediocre) (20-26: Terrible)
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Post by Gokai Gaburincho on Feb 9, 2018 1:53:32 GMT -5
Kyuranger episode 48 (Finale): For finales, I'm gonna be doing things a little different. I'm gonna give my overall thoughts on the episode, then I'm gonna do an overview of the show as a whole. On the off chance that there is anyone who wants to see all of my episode reviews, here's a link to all of them: docs.google.com/document/d/1GGXSW0-1vhEMDLzJ14RtBYePI_PqsdDGo8D6YuE--4Y/edit?usp=sharing As for my main thoughts on the finale, I thoughts this finale was surprisingly meh, generic, and underwhelming. I guess I was surprised because of how much I liked last episode, but maybe I shouldn't have been, because SS finales aren't always that great. That's one thing PR has over SS. The Good: Also surprisingly, I like the 2nd half of the episode better than the first. I know everything wrapped up in a neat bow, which would have felt more earned if the show, as a whole, properly built up the stakes, but I still liked seeing what happened to all the rangers after beat Don Armage...again. I also loved the unmorphed roll call. That is a must-have for a sentai finale. The Bad: The whole first half of the episode, however, was typical, average sentai finale...stuff. I just found the action just meh, and the speech stuff just fell flat to me. Seeing the rangers give their individual part of the speech and their individual yells in the cockpit just made it come off silly just from the sheer number of rangers. I feel like stuff like this in finales (except for the last minute reveals, because that's always gonna be stupid) is only as good proportional to how invested you are in the show, so even it I wasn't clear how I felt about the show as a whole before seeing this finale (and I was), this episode cinched it for me. Overview: Yeah, I don't think this is a good show. I describe mediocre shows as shows that are almost bad, but Kyuranger is the opposite to me. Kyuranger is almost good. It happened slowly over the course of the show, so slowly that I felt that I needed to watch the whole show to determine if I thought it was good overall, which has never happened to me before with a sentai, but it did eventually cross that threshold for me. The Characters: I'm gonna give my thoughts on each character and their journeys. Lucky: Admittedly, he really did come a long way. I went from in the premiere calling him potentially another Takaharu, to him being a character I like. I once said that if they develop his character, I could grow to like him, and I honestly didn't think they could pull it off, because I hoping they would for Takaharu, and they didn't. Lucky is certainly not perfect. His speechifying does get old sometimes, but I will take that over how he was in those earlier episodes. The show keeps wanting me to be on his side during moments where I think he's in the wrong, like in episodes 4, 29, and 46, and even after rereading through all of my reviews, I still don't completely understand how his luck works, but besides all that, he's still an okay character.
Stinger: He started off iffy to me, but grew to be one of my favorite characters on the show. In the beginning, everything having to do with Stinger and Champ were my favorite episodes of the show. I also liked the stuff with Old Melonhead Scorpio and Kotaro. Some of my problems with him lie with him doing unlikable things to achieve his goals, like knocking out Garu and Raptor to steal the Argo Kyutamas, and the fact that after that arc, there wasn't much development for him. I still think he's a good character overall.
Garu: Probably the most disappointingly lamest character in the show. He had such a great backstory, with him being the last of his race or clan (as I've said many times before, they never made that clear), but all of that potentially great character development goes out the window when he becomes "man's best friend". Like I've said before, I wish we got an episode similar to The Southern Raiders from A:TLA. This could have been a tragic character, but you never feel the tragedy of the backstory because they always play him for a joke. The show barely ever reminds us of that backstory. It rarely ever informs his character. What a waste.
Balance: I love the idea of a flamboyant and lighthearted robot that teams with an emotionless humanoid alien. He mostly existed to be comic relief, and for the most part, I found him funny. His big moment came with the Dark Naga Arc, and as much as I appreciated them trying to develop them, I think Balance worked better when he's just a side character being funny.
Champ: I think Champ is a fun character most of the time, and I liked the stuff with him and Stinger, and I liked the potential of the stuff with Professor Anton, but that Anton stuff didn't pan out as well as it could have. I liked the stuff in the beginning with Anton telling him that if he loses the desire to protect people, then all he is is a machine, but the reveal that Anton had a split personality was lame, and it took some of the impact of that storyline out.
Naga Ray: I thought an emotionless character was a great idea, and I liked Naga...most of the time. There are times where the comedy worked for me, like when he breaks the 4th wall, and times where it doesn't work, like with the Cup Kyutama joke. The Dark Naga arc felt like a complete waste of time. Overall, I think he's a meh character, and it's a shame because at the beginning, he was one of the standouts.
Hammy: One of the most pointless female ranger characters in recent sentai, next to Fuuka. She started out with this stupid and annoying joke of finding everything funny, and when they dropped that, she had no personality. She is also one of the most painfully least developed characters in the show.
Raptor-283: This one breaks my heart, because they brought back Mao "Luka Millfy" Ichimichi to play such a lame letdown of a character. She started out as this no-nonsense character that kinda reminded me of Kendall, who is one of my favorite Dino Charge rangers, but then she becomes whatever character they need her to be to make a stupid joke. We need someone to act hysterical and overreact? Use Raptor. We need someone for shipping jokes? Use Raptor. The episode where she got her powers took a character I liked at first, and made me not like her, and she never recovered. Also, the Orion thing was stupid.
Spada: Yet another underdeveloped character. I liked the backstory with him feeding his brothers and sisters, but then the show does nothing with it. I also slowly over the course of the show started to get sick of his food puns and his "Grazie". He reminds me of Cilan from Pokemon, and I think that characters annoying too. I also think him being shipped with Raptor is just stupid.
Xiao Longbao: I find Xiao to overall just be meh. He is just all over the place to me. He would just flip-flop back and forth between being a character I liked in one episode and being a character I hated in the next. When he's being serious, I like him, but when they play him for laughs, it doesn't always work for me. I'm not opposed to a mentor character that's comic relief, but the way they did it with Xiao, I couldn't take him seriously. I really started to get sick of the backache jokes. If they wanted to have a mentor who was also comic relief, I feel like Sha Fu is a perfect example of how to do this.
Kotaro: I didn't mind the idea of a kid character, and I think it works, for the most part. I like him overall, even despite hating the Koguma SkyBlue debut episode. I love the brother dynamic with him and Stinger, especially in episodes 11 and 20. One of the biggest problems with Kotaro is how his own brother isn't mentioned for long stretches of time.
Tsurugi: I'm glad I can say that overall, I like this character, because I completely hated him in his first arc. As annoying as his "Nante Kotta" and his "Densetsu" was at first, I eventually got used to it. He has such a great backstory, and I liked the stuff with Kuervo... at least until they ruined it with that stupid reveal. I also think his interactions with Lucky also helped his character, and by the end, I don't think he's as bad as he was at first. The Villains: I'm gonna keep this one relatively short. Pretty much everyone except for Scorpio sucked. The Scorpio, Stinger, and Champ thing is my favorite arc in the show. As for the other villains, Eridron was only there for 5 episodes, and didn't amount to much. I actually almost forgot about him until I reread my Kyuranger reviews. Ikagen was kinda cool, but I forgot all about him also, and Madako got annoying after a while. As for The Vice Shoguns: Tecchu also didn't amount to much, Akyanba was just annoying (which breaks my heart because she was voiced by Arisa Komiya, who played Yellow Buster), and Kukuruga was the best of the 3, but again, a lot of these villains were unmemorable. As for Don Armage himself, I don't like him at all. I think him taking over peoples' bodies was handled poorly, I didn't like the stuff with the clones, and I especially didn't like the Kuervo reveal. I also didn't like that last minute bullcrap they tried to pull with him being all the bad luck in the universe or whatever. Final Thoughts: Despite having some of the best suits in the franchise, and one of the best OST's also, I still found this show to be a massive disappointment. It had a premise that was right up my alley, but it all just couldn't come together. Underdeveloped rangers, poor pacing, and a ton of needless silliness keeps me from calling this a good show. I still refuse to believe that the problem was just the number of rangers, because, like I said before, if CA:CW can balance 12 characters in a 2 and a half hour movie, there's no reason this show couldn't balance 12 rangers in 48 episodes. The one thing I wanted this show to do was justify having such a large cast, and it didn't. There are past sentais that started out with 5 rangers, but still knew how to pace things out, yet this show felt the need to rush through everything. Other sentais with numbers in their names (Goggle V, Fiveman, and GoGo V) stuck with those numbers throughout the show, yet Kyuranger, with Kyu meaning 9, with a core team this large, still felt the need to add more rangers, and I think that's ridiculous. Hell, the title of the show is a lie. I guess they felt "Ju-niranger" didn't roll off the tongue. Say what you will about Kyoryuger, but that show had the right idea, with introducing the auxiliary rangers slowly over the course of the show. 9 rangers is plenty for a show, and they could have did it in a number of ways, with 3-2-2-2, 5-2-2, or 3-3-3. This show could have been the Second Coming of Gokaiger, but it's yet another post-Kyoryuger modern sentai disappointment. As for my ranking: Current Sentai Ranking: 1) Gokaiger 2) Shinkenger 3) Gekiranger 4) Go-Busters 5) Magiranger 6) Dekaranger 7) Gingaman 8) Timeranger 9) Kyoryuger 10) Boukenger 11) Go-Onger 12) Goseiger 13) Zyuranger 14) Abaranger 15) Dairanger 16) GoGo V 17) Zyuohger 18) Gaoranger 19) ToQger 20) Kyuranger 21) Hurricaneger 22) Ninninger 23) Megaranger 24) Kakuranger 25) Ohranger 26) Carranger
(1-4: Brilliant) (5-9: Great) (10-14: Good) (15-17: Okay) (18-19: Mediocre) (20-26: Terrible) Next Sentai: Everything about Lupinranger Vs Patranger looks promising. Every year, for these past 4 years, I keep getting disappointed, but I keep hoping the new sentai will be the one to turn it around. I'm loving everything i'm seeing so far, so I'm looking forward to it. I would love to see a new sentai make my top 15, or even top 10. I would love to love a new sentai. Here's hoping.
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Post by Gokai Gaburincho on Feb 4, 2018 23:27:47 GMT -5
(Power Rangers)
When it comes to PR, I feel like my list is very similar the general consensus. I like Time Force, In Space, and RPM, and dislike Samurai, OO, Turbo, Megaforce, and SMF. Aside from the fact that TF is my favorite PR season instead of In Space, I feel like my list is pretty guessable, except for one season:
Dino Charge/DSC: It's certainly the best seasons of the Neo-Saban Era, but I don't like either season. Despite it having a super season, I still see this all as one show, and as whole, I don't like it. I feel like it has most of the same problems as the other Neo-Saban seasons, but just to a slightly lesser extent. There's still a handful of episodes I like, but the dialogue (especially the talking during the fight scenes), pacing, and lesson-of-the-day plots just bring this show down for me.
(Super Sentai)
There are shows that people tend to like more than I do, but I don't think are bad, like Zyuohger, ToQger, and Gaoranger, but as for shows that I straight-up don't like:
Kakuranger: I don't like any of the ninja sentais. I'm shocked that out of all 6 ninja shows, Ninja Storm is the only good one. That announcer is the most annoying, obnoxious character I've seen in any sentai next to Eris. I don't really care about any of the characters, but I thought the Flower Kunoichi Gang were kinda cool, and I think this version of getting the Ninja zords is the best of all 3. I'm also glad the guy who played Sasuke got to redeem himself in Gingaman.
Carranger: This is the worst sentai I have ever seen. I don't like Turbo, so I was looking forward to seeing if the comedy plays better in the sentai. I went in knowing it was supposed to be a parody, and I still found it to be silly, unfunny nonsense.
Megaranger: This is the season freaking In Space is adapted from. People call Gingaman and Goseiger boring. I like those shows. This is the most boring sentai I have ever seen. I don't like a single ranger character, not even MegaSilver. Kenta is the worst sentai red I've seen next to Takaharu. However, that Diet Crepe song is the funniest thing I've ever seen in any sentai. Megaranger is not worthy of such an hilarious moment.
Hurricaneger: I was looking forward to this show because of how much I hate Ninninger, the fact that I like Ninja Storm, and how popular it is, but I thought this show was a failure. I hate that "that" bullcrap, I think the Hurricanegers themselves are boring, the Gouraigers are some of the most unlikable characters I've seen in a sentai, and Shurikenger is obnoxious and annoying. I do love the roll call and henshin theme, though.
Kyuranger: I know there are a lot of people that dislike this show, but I think enough people like it enough for me to put it here. I just watched the subbed finale earlier, but even before I saw it, I had seen enough to say that I think overall, it's not a good show. I'm gonna do an overview of Kyuranger when I do my Kyuranger post, and go in depth of my thoughts on this show there.
I would put Ohranger and Ninninger, but a lot of other people seem to dislike those shows, too.
(Kamen Rider)
I've seen every KR show from W to current, and I haven't seen a single KR show that I dislike. I even like Ghost, which is my first KR show. W and Gaim are lower on my list, but I still think they're good. Just not as good or great as other people think they are. I'm currently 5 episodes into Kiva, and the show isn't grabbing me as much as I would like, but that's not enough time to determine if the show is good or bad yet.
Edit: I finished Kiva a few days ago. Yeah, I don't think it's a good show. I thought it was poorly paced, and the show barely does any setup to its plot. There are definitely moments I like, and characters I like, but I found most of this show just boring and poorly put together.
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Post by Gokai Gaburincho on Feb 4, 2018 7:33:42 GMT -5
Kyuranger episode 47: This. This is what I want this show to be. This is what I wish this show was. This episode wasn't perfect, but I think it's one of the best episodes of Kyuranger. The Good: This is yet another episode that shows to me that the problem with this show wasn't too many characters. Even with a show with this many characters, they still took the time to slow down, and give the characters a moment. Naga talking about how scared he is, I thought that was great. We also got some great lines in this episode: "Congrats! That means you've gained one heck of an emotion. Being scared means you're afraid of losing what you have." I also like: "There's more to crying than just shedding tears." There's a ton of other episodes that could use writing like that. I did also like the battle with the foot soldiers. Not only was it good action in its own right, but that beginning scene did a lot for this episode, because I was able to feel the weight of the stakes, and I cared about the rangers' struggles. I thought this episode was effective. The Bad: However, it's not flawless. One problem I have with this episode is not even this episode's fault. I believe episodes should be judged by their own merits as well as part of a whole. By this episode's own merits, I think it's great, but as part of a whole, one of the biggest problems with this episode is that the rest of the show didn't build this emotion as well as it thinks it does, and that's on account of the fact that this show just isn't very good. In a better show, this episode, played the exact same way, would have had way more impact, but on its own, I still think it works. Another big problem I had with the episode, which kinda goes back to one of my problems with the last episode, was how they saved Tsurugi. Even if I didn't read the episode summary for the finale that said that all 12 rangers was gonna be there, I knew this show wasn't gonna have the balls to kill him, or even Xiao for that matter. However, Tsurugi didn't know that, and I though he made a noble sacrifice, and it feels like Lucky gets to be right for not honoring that, and I think that's wrong. I'm a firm believer in "Death does not equal drama", but if you're gonna have a character sacrifice themselves, at least go through with it. I don't care that I knew beforehand that they weren't gonna go through with it. That's not my point. My point is that it's still bad storytelling. To start off, everything I said about Kuervo is under the assumption that Kuervo has his free will, because that is what the show is communicating to me. If Kuervo was under some kind of mind control, then when the rangers do their final attack, and we see normal-looking Kuervo, then he should have been the Kuervo we saw in the flashbacks This is why I think it's ambiguous. If that was really Cuervo talking, then he was probably being influenced by Don Armage, even after he was no longer Don Armage's vessel. It's the same thing in this week's episode. It was either Don Armage talking, or Tsurugi being influenced by him. I know you want to save your friends, but if they want to make that choice, you should honor their decision, instead of risking the fate of the universe and every living being over your flawed line of thinking. Tsurugi should have realised, though, that Lucky wouldn't go through with that (which is probably why he didn't tell him about it beforehand). There was an interesting comment that Lucky made once regarding the Tokei Kyuutama, that the kyuu energy isn't replenished. That implies that the other Kyuutama are replenished, rather than having a certain amount of kyuu energy to begin with, and that the Kyuulette was just to ensure that they didn't run out of energy before having a chance to recharge. However, it hasn't been mentioned that Tsurugi's Kyuutama seems to be different. 1) I'm all for ambiguity (Inception and Watchmen are 2 of my favorite movies) but bad storytelling is not making it clear what supposed to be clear and what's supposed to be ambiguous. I can guess that Tsurugi is being influenced by Don Armage, but if the show was trying to say that Kuervo was under Don Armage's influence, it did a poor job of showing that. 2) That's a good point. However, since, to me, killing Tsurugi was the obvious right choice at the time, I can see Tsurugi thinking he can convince Lucky to make the hard choice. The fact that he didn't was on Lucky. Lucky only got, well, lucky that there was a way to bring Tsurugi back, because if there wasn't, Lucky would have doomed the universe, and that's my problem with this whole thing. 3) Kyutamas suck. I stopped trying to keep track of the logic of these things. They do whatever the plot needs them to do at that time. They're just a lame, poorly thought out gimmick. Next episode: It's the moment I've been waiting for for a long time: the finale. I think I've been as absolutely fair to Kyuranger as I could be. With only one episode left, I think I've seen enough to know where I'm gonna rank it. My next, and last, Kyuranger post is gonna be an overview of the show as a whole, my thoughts on how they handled everything, and my updated ranking list.
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Post by Gokai Gaburincho on Jan 28, 2018 14:19:44 GMT -5
What I'm about to say, I know I'm gonna be in the minority on, and by minority, I mean no other person in this fandom is gonna agree with me on this, but that's fine. I just wanted to put this out there.
This "red-centric" thing people always complain about doesn't bother me as much as it does other people, and when it does, it doesn't bother me in the same way. I don't care how much a sentai wants to focus on red, as long as you at least make all of the other rangers interesting, and even then, if you don't, it won't ruin a show for me. For example, I love Gekiranger, and it's number 3 on my ranking list, but I will be the first person to tell you that Ran and Retsu are bland characters, but I love the show because I love Jan and his story.
I feel similarly that way with Zyuohger. I like Zyuohger, but I feel like Yamato and Misao are the only ones that got any development, and one of these characters, I don't even like. I don't care about the Zyumen, but I don't necessarily blame the writers for that. As much as I think Bungley is the best villain in that show, he completely ruins the pacing of the show, and the Zyuland storyline gets sidelined because of him. I think Zyuohger would have been a better show if it wasn't an anniversary season, and Yamato is the only main ranger character I care about. To me, Gekiranger and Zyuohger are more egregious examples of red-centric, but it doesn't ruin the whole show for me.
As for Kyoryuger, my main problems with the complaints with Kyoryuger is when people say Daigo ruins the whole show. Kyoryuger is a silly show, so if that show's sense of humor doesn't work for someone, or if they had other problems with the show, that's fair, but any conversation about the problems with Kyoryuger always starts with Daigo, and people act like the show focuses on him so much, that he takes over the whole show, and that there's little time for the other characters, and I just don't see it. I've heard people call the show "Daigo and friends" and...that other stupid name that I won't dare repeat, but I know you've heard of it.
I'm definitely not saying people have to like Daigo, or that I don't get why people don't like him, but the idea that the show is Daigo-centric, I just don't agree. In fact, I feel exactly the opposite. I feel like the other characters are well-developed, and that Daigo is just the weakest link in the chain. I will never defend Daigo as a great character, because I think he's just a bland stereotype of that archetype. I love the other characters in the show, but Daigo, he's just there to me, so the amount of hate this show always gets because of him is insane to me. It's just downright ironic to me.
About the archetype itself, it's an archetype I don't care for, but that doesn't mean you can't create likable characters from it, the same way I don't like horror movies, but I do like The Cabin and the Woods and the new It movie. I like Ryoga, Sosuke, and especially Alata, and I would even say Lucky, for the most part, is a far cry from the way he was at the beginning of the show. I don't hate Daigo, but I don't love him. Personally, I think Takaharu and Kenta (yes, that Kenta) are worse examples of this archetype.
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Post by Gokai Gaburincho on Jan 27, 2018 16:41:42 GMT -5
Kyuranger episode 46: I think this episode is stupid. I once said that whether I deem this show mediocre or bad was gonna determine solely on how this final arc plays out, and I honestly thought this show would pull it off, but so far, this Kuervo/Don Armage reveal is bringing this show down.
The Good: The action; it's the only thing this show does consistently well. I also liked this exchange between Stinger and Naga: "You're skilled with more than a spear?" "Scorpius system warriors are skilled with all weapons!" I love dialogue like this because it shows what this show could be. Banter like this can go a long way to adding personality to characters when you have to balance between this many characters, and if the show was chockful of dialogue like this, especially between all the characters, this could have been a fun show, and this show would have balanced between the characters better.
The Bad: The entire main story of the episode. I almost don't even know where to start. How about this line: "I never once considered Tsurugi a friend." Really now? We've never gotten even a hint of resentment from Kuervo in those flashbacks, and now he says that they were never friends? If they wanted to do this twist where Don Armage turned out to be this character that we were supposed to care about, the whole point of the twist is that it adds layers to his character, and we find Kuervo compelling, and that we see that he has a point, but that line just "generic-ifies" his character, and now he's just one note. He sacrificed his life for his own benefit? Did Kuervo know that Don Armage was gonna take over his body? Even if he knew that, why would he expect Don Armage would even let him have his free will? Unless we was willing to sacrifice his free will for power just to spite Tsurugi, in which case, that would make him even more unlikable.
Then we get to that ending. That ending was bad on so many levels. To start off, everything I said about Kuervo is under the assumption that Kuervo has his free will, because that is what the show is communicating to me. If Kuervo was under some kind of mind control, then when the rangers do their final attack, and we see normal-looking Kuervo, then he should have been the Kuervo we saw in the flashbacks, because that's how storytelling works: it's communication. However, he still tries to attack Tsurugi, saying that the universe belongs to him. That tells me that this is the real Kuervo, and that that's how he really felt. Okay, then how come when Don Armage takes over Tsurugi's body, it's Don Armage, even though he's still saying "legend"? Tsurugi definitely has no free will now. Maybe you can argue that Don Armage always had the power to get rid of people's free will when he takes them over, but if so, why did Kuervo really have to resent Tsurugi, because that did nothing to benefit the story. In fact, it was to the show's detriment. Tsurugi still considers Kuervo a friend? No! You don't get to do that, Kyuranger. Kuervo took over the universe, of his own free will, and he tricked you, and he apparently never even liked you in the first place. You don't owe him any forgiveness or friendship. For Kuervo to do all of the terrible things he's done, and then you forgive him for that, even when he shows no remorse, that's just sending a terrible message. That is Micchy levels of bad.
But wait, there's more: Tsurugi's sacrifice. Lucky, I like you, for the most part, and you're a far cry from how you were in the beginning arc, but here, you are an idiot. How in the world is what Tsurugi did "giving up on life" or "abandoning his friends"? What he did was noble. He did what he thought would be the right thing to do to save not just the world, but the universe. How could you not honor his wish? I know it was a hard choice, but he's thinking about the good of the universe. You're not. How is what he's doing any different than what you yourself tried to do just 3 episodes ago, or what Xiao just did just now? (On that, I know he's coming back. This show doesn't have the balls to keep him dead) Because it's not you, it's not okay for people to sacrifice their lives to save the universe? I know you want to save your friends, but if they want to make that choice, you should honor their decision, instead of risking the fate of the universe and every living being over your flawed line of thinking.
As for Lucky's dream sequence, it was just flat out a waste of time. We learned nothing new. We know he's not gonna give up. He preaches about it every episode, and seeing everyone act so melancholy is just...weird.
Next episode: It looks very action heavy, which is to be suspected as we wind down towards the finale. I wonder how they screw this episode up?
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Post by Gokai Gaburincho on Jan 24, 2018 1:14:36 GMT -5
Kyuranger episode 45: This episode kinda fell flat for me, aside from the action, which is the only thing this show can do consistently well.
The Good: I liked the action, especially Champ, Stinger, and Kotaro's fight with Prof. Anton. I liked the idea of the scene where everyone talked about what they want to do when they save the universe.
The Bad: My biggest negative about this episode is Don Armage a.k.a. Kuervo. So many of the characters in this show are so underdeveloped that I kept saying that I care about him more than I care about most of the Kyurangers, even though we only saw him in flashbacks. I already didn't care for the reveal that Kuervo was Don Armage, but after getting the details, I hate it. I understand he looked up to Tsurugi, but he had that much resentment against him, because of how strong he was? In all of the flashbacks, we saw nothing but the most likable, loyal friend. This feels like it came out of nowhere. If they wanted to do this twist, it would have made more sense if Kuervo's resentment was set up in those flashbacks. He let Don Armage take over his body, and now has this crazy plan to to destroy the universe? It just feels absurd to me.
As for the Champ, Stinger and Kotaro fight, everything about Prof. Anton fell flat. I feel like his death would have had more impact if it happened in a Champ-focus episode. I thought the reveal of the split personality was stupid before, but everything we've seen on him since just makes me feel like this guy is lame. He went along with Don Armage's plan so that he can be remembered as a great scientist, even though there will be no one to remember him? He really is an idiot.
Another problem I had was that scene where everyone talked about what they want to do when they save the universe. I should love this scene, but I don't for 2 reasons. One, because it would have felt more hopeful and optimistic if the stakes felt more dire, and this show is very rarely good at that, and two, because I don't care about most of the characters. This scene feels completely unearned. Even when it comes to what the characters want, they're either obvious because they deal with that character's one trait, or it comes out of nowhere, like Hammy wanting to be a teacher. This whole scene illustrates one of the major problems with Kyuranger: the lack of character development, character investment, or even character conceptualization.
Next episode: It looks like a potentially emotional episode. At the very least, I appreciate that they played an instrumental of Houou Soldier's theme.
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Post by Gokai Gaburincho on Jan 20, 2018 7:43:27 GMT -5
Yesterday, I finally finished Amazons. I never really needed a darker, grittier version of a KR show, but I have to say, I thought this show was great. I love Em, I love Sento, I love Gentaro, and I love Eiji, but Jin Takayama may be my new favorite Rider. Man, what a compelling character. I love the themes and the moral gray areas this show deals with, and I like most of the characters. As for flaws, I thought Mizuki was a waste, Chihiro and Iyu, despite having fantastic backstories, their storyline fell a little flat, I thought season 1 was better than season 2, and I thought that the season 2 finale was lame. Also, there are only 26 letters in the alphabet. I felt like the whole story could have been wrapped up in 2 seasons. It boggles my mind that they left it open like that. Still, I love this show, and I'm surprised by how high I'm ranking it. Next, I'm doing Jetman and Kiva, but then I'm gonna take a break from the watchthrough to rewatch some shows I've already seen, doing Go-Onger, Gekiranger, Boukenger, Megaranger, Gingaman, then Magiranger. I might even throw Shinkenger and Abaranger in there, too, but for now, my ranking:
Current KR Ranking: 1) OOO 2) Amazons 3) Drive 4) Fourze 5) Ex-Aid 6) Gaim 7) W 8) Wizard 9) Ghost
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Post by Gokai Gaburincho on Jan 14, 2018 12:59:49 GMT -5
Kyuranger episode 44: "Yay! Mr. Pega is back!", said no one, ever. Yeah, I thought this was a meh episode. A surprisingly meh episode for a show that's almost about to end, but then again, this is Kyuranger, so maybe I shouldn't be surprised.
The Good: Thank god this wasn't a full clip show episode. While the first half is all clip show, the 2nd half is all action, and while I don't love that, I take that over the alternatives, which is either more clip show or more Mr. Pega silliness. I also love the roll call with the power-up forms.
The Bad: Everything with the Don Armage reveal is stupid. The way the reveal was plotted out was awkward. First, last episode, Don Armage brings in Tsurugi to reveal his true identity, but it doesn't really affect the story at all, except to have an extra scene to pad out the episode. It doesn't even seem to affect Tsurugi at all except one shocked look on his face in one scene, then in this episode, Don Armage reveals himself to everyone, and Tsurugi says he didn't want to believe it? This whole reveal was clunky. If that reveal didn't affect Tsurugi's actions or his character, and they were just gonna reveal it to everyone anyway, wouldn't it have made more since just to reveal it to everyone in this episode?
As for Don Armage being Kuervo, just because they telegraphed it with the wings and feathers doesn't mean I have to not think it's stupid. If Don Armage is Kuervo, and not just Kuervo just possessed by Don Armage, then I need more clarification. I also need some explanation for why Kuervo was hanging out with Tsurugi this whole time. I need something to help me connect Don Armage to Kuervo in my mind, or else this reveal will feel pointless. I imagine we're gonna get more explanation in the next episode, but I wish this show didn't leave me hanging.
Next episode: We're nearing the end game. Don Armage is planning on blowing up the earth. Kotaro is meeting up with his brother. Tsurugi is fighting Don Armage. It also looks like the civilians are getting in on the action, which reminds me of the first Spiderman movie. It looks like a good episode.
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Post by Gokai Gaburincho on Jan 1, 2018 11:29:53 GMT -5
Kyuranger episode 43: I don't really have much to say about this episode. I thought this was another solid episode in the lead up to the finale.
The Good/Bad: This is weird, because a lot of the good I have to say ties seamlessly into the bad I have to say. This episode is more action-heavy, which I suppose is not a bad thing, but it makes it feel like the episode has less plot, so it feels like there's less things to unpack from this episode, and I want to think it's not just because it's a multi-parter. I think this episode hinged on how invested we are in the characters, and relied on this show being better than it was. I feel like this episode, just the way it is, would have played completely different if it followed a season that properly developed its characters and this storyline. It feels like this episode thinks it's better than it is, with how it ties to be emotional with Aslan sacrificing himself, and I think it would have worked better if this show was better. I like that we're developing Lucky, but like I said before, I wish it was going to some other characters.
I like the scene with Tsurugi and Don Armage. I hear some people saying that his true form is Kuervo. Even if I believed that, I'm not sure I would like it. If there is a major flaw I have with this episode, it's that the whole storyline with the Planetium Bomb felt anticlimactic. Saying the whole universe is gonna be destroyed already takes some of the stakes out because you know the universe is not gonna be destroyed, but if they spent all the rest of the season dealing with it, I could have been okay with it, but it's just 3 episode and it's over. I thought that was lame.
Also, I like the idea of them throwing a Christmas party to cheer up Lucky, but the tone change at the end is jarring. Ex-Aid you are not, Kyuranger, but at least Ex-Aid had the smarts to start lighthearted and end dramatic, so it worked there. Here, it kinda undercut the drama a little.
Next episode: However, it feels like there is gonna be some repercussions from that, with planets exploding, and Hammy's hair is green, for some reason. Also, Mr. Pega is back. No one missed him.
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Post by Gokai Gaburincho on Dec 24, 2017 16:28:21 GMT -5
Kyuranger episode 42: This episode makes me happy and sad. Happy because this was a good episode, and sad because this is what I wish this show was the whole time.
The Good: I like the conflict that Lucky has of having to choose between focusing on saving his father or saving the universe, and I like the conflict between him and Tsurugi wanting him to be more resolved in his choice. I also liked the scene where Tsurugi saves Lucky from Aslan, letting him know what the potential consequences are for not having that resolve. I also liked the scene with Stinger, because while Lucky says he's a Kyuranger first, he can't be a good leader and the person everyone admires if he makes that choice halfheartedly, and he comes to the realization to do both, to save his father and the universe.
The Bad: There's not really anything bad I have to say about this episode, surprisingly. All I'll say is that the only thing that could have made this episode better is if we got more of the other ranger's side of this conflict with Lucky. We get Tsurugi, Stinger, Hammy, and Garu, but I wish we included everyone. Also, the only downside I have for this final arc is that I wish more of the other rangers had a more personal conflict for the endgame that had to be resolved by beating Don Armage, but that's not a flaw with this episode. That's just a missed opportunity with the whole show, and the show not properly building to this, what looks to be a promising final arc.
Next episode: Not really much to say. It looks like we're continuing the lead-up to the final arc.
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