Gaoranger Series Review

Warning. Major Spoilers Ahead.




This time instead of making brief reviews, I decided to give my reviews a new look with a longer analysis. I may do the same with some of my older reviews, depending on how much time I have.

Info/Synopsis
Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger, (百獣戦隊ガオレンジャー, Hyakujū Sentai Gaorenjā), translated into English as 100-Beast Squadron Gaoranger, was the 25th anniversary installment of Super Sentai. The series uses a beast-themed motif and its power rangers counterpart is Power Rangers Wild Force.

One thousand years ago, a war raged between humans and the demonic Org race. With the help of the Power Animals, the ancient Gao Warriors were able to defeat the Org's leader, Hyakkimaru, and seal the Orgs.

Today, the Orgs have begun to revive, and five warriors have been chosen by the Power Animals. They must abandon their current lives and give up their names to become the new generation of Gaorangers to protect the life of earth. The current five warriors are called by their color.

My Review
Similar to Goseiger or Magiranger, Gaoranger has several different "Big Bad" villains, each of which come in after the previous one had been defeated. Thus, Gaoranger's plot can be divided up into multiple story arcs depending on who's the main villain at the time. All of which are from the same villain group (the Orgs), and two Duke Orgs, TsueTsue and Yabaiba, are present throughout the series.

The first arc begins under Highness Duke Org Shuten, and lasts 14 episodes. Shuten as a villain doesn't really do much but is pretty cool and badass thanks to the voice acting of Tetsu Inada (Doggie Krugar of Dekaranger). Shuten lasts for 14 episodes before being defeated. However, it's during these first 14 episodes that some of the series' best character development episodes occur. I particularly liked the episodes during this arc that focused on Kakeru, Gaku, and Sae. Later on Soutarou has a good focus episode involving a girl he liked at a flower shop. I should also mention that the characters are referred to their colors and rarely are called by name. This is understandable due to their mission to defeat the orgs but on the other hand it makes it difficult trying to remember their actual names.

The Shuten arc is followed with the Ura arc. The Ura arc is where there's the most action and the best plots during the series. My favorite happens to be the Rouki sub-arc. Rouki is an ancient demon who's revived by Ura and wants revenge for his defeat to the Gaorangers over 1,000 years ago. However, Rouki isn't an ordinary demon. He's able to wield his own power animals, much to the Gaorangers' surpise. Rouki also shows several complex emotions, including tending to an injured Sae and being conflicted with vague memories. Eventually Rouki is revealed to be Shirogane (born Tsukumaro Oogami), an ancient warrior who used Rouki's mask to try to use the three power animals. However, after becoming Rouki himself, he has the Gaorangers of that time period seal him away. Eventually Tsukumaro's memories are recovered, and he becomes GaoSilver. I felt that this arc was the best in the series. Furthermore, Rouki was by far the best villain in the series, being both badass and having a complex variety of emotions.

Among the Highness Duke Orgs, I think Ura was the best. He's the only one that actually had any kind of plan to defeat the Gaorangers, and took action. This included reviving Rouki and then later using Tsukumaro and Rouki's wolf mask to revive Rouki again. The Ura arc ends with a two-parter involving episodes 30 and 31. Ura kills Kai, Sae, Soutarou, and Gaku. However, they're revived by a mysterious kid and are able to help Kakeru and Tsukumaro defeat Ura. However, this is where the lack of realism creeps in. Ura was easily able to kill Kai, Sae, Soutarou, and Gaku, but spent nearly all of episode 31 fighting Kakeru and Tsukumaro but neither of them never looked like they were in danger. Ura for the rest of the episode isn't nearly as menacing and at times seems like he's uninterested in finishing the job.

Up to this point, I felt that Gaoranger was pretty solid. It was overall pretty well written, with some solid character development early on followed by a good storyline with Rouki. However, after this point, Gaoranger just kinda loses it's intensity.

Taking over for Ura is Rasetsu, whom I have to say is one of the lamest villains ever. All he/she wants to do is eat and nearly all of his plans circle around him trying to kidnap Tetomu to try to make her, his personal cook. Also, at this time I felt it would have been appropriate to give some more character development to the Gaoranger characters. Instead they spend most of the arc running around with this bratty kid named Futaro (whom happens to be Gao God in disguise). To Futaro's credit, he's the one that actually did revive the Gaorangers after initially being killed by Ura. However, this arc really loses the drama and the action that were present during the first 31 episodes.

It doesn't really get better again until Rasetsu uses TsueTsue as a body shield, leading to her death. However, TsueTsue is revived by Yabaiba a few episodes after Rasetsu is defeated. However, Yabaiba also accidentally revives the three Highness Duke Orgs as well. After all three are defeated, Ultimate Org Senki is created with the Org Heart and the remnants of the Highness Duke Orgs. Eventually Senki is defeated, while TsueTsue and Yabaiba apparently survive. Overall, I felt this was an ok ending to the series.

Overall I feel the first half of Gaoranger is pretty good while the second half is mixed. The first half brought some good character development and story arcs, but I feel that the show after the midpoint begins to become too arc driven and loses sight of character development later on.

Characters
For me, the Gaoranger cast has three characters that I like (Sae, Gaku, and Kakeru) and three that I felt were ok. Sae was pretty cool. She's a tough fighter. Although not as badass as Sakura for example, I thought she's one of the better fighters among 21st century female Sentai senshi. I liked her level headed personality as well, and her focus episode involving her father was one of the best in the show. It was kinda disappointing that they didn't do more later on in regards to her relationship with her father.

Gaku I felt was pretty similar to Domon/TimeYellow in many ways. Like Domon, Gaku is a tough, badass fighter yet has somewhat of a quirky personality. The major difference between the two is that Gaku isn't as hot blooded as Domon, but Gaku was still awesome.

Kakeru I felt was pretty interesting being a veterinarian. Which kinda makes sense because of the beast theme of the series and the fact that their mechas are actual living beings. I really enjoyed the episode where he lost his memory and went back to being a veterinarian, before gathering the guts to fight with the other Gaorangers despite not having his memory. In that episode we got to see two sides. One, that the Gaorangers really needed him, and also that the other Gaorangers saw what he meant to his own community.

Tsukumaro for me is a tough egg to crack. He gets the most character development among the Gaorangers, but at times I feel he gets a little too much focus. I like his backstory as Rouki, but after he becomes human again (and GaoSilver) he doesn't really do much and doesn't have a lot of personality.

Soutarou I felt had one of the better focus episodes with Shi-Chan. Although their relationship does go somewhere (unlike a lot of Sentai relationships), it was a little disappointing that they didn't do anything with their relationship between Shi-Chan's first and second/last appearances. Other than his relationship with Shi-Chan, there's not a lot that comes to mind about Soutarou.

Kai I felt was kinda on the bland side. He lacked character development and the writers didn't do a whole lot with his character, other than his friendship with Soutarou. He's not the worst Sentai character ever, but it felt like the writers kinda ignored him.

Tetomu is another hard egg for me to crack. Unlike her power rangers counterpart, Shayla, Tetomu does show the ability to fight back both at the beginning and end of the series. She's a more tolerable character than Shayla, and her singing is much better as well. However, like Shayla, she often falls into the same damsel in distress cliche. She also tends to be very forgetful, though I guess it's understandable when you're over 1,000 years old.

Mechas
For me the mechas are mixed. There are over 20 individual mechas in this season but for me that's not the problem. Unlike more recent seasons, the mechas don't have a bunch of cluster mecha formations of nine to a gazillion components. Instead, usually if one set of mechas are damaged (or injured) they use others as back-ups or replacements, which is pretty smart. I also liked that the mechas had animal spirits and living souls. For me the issue with the mechas is the terrible CGI. Gaoranger was the first Sentai to use CGI mecha's extensively. The problem was that it looked CGI, and really fake. It's not as bad as the CGI in MMPR the Movie, but for me it still wasn't very good.

Music
The music was also mixed. I really love the ending theme song, Healing You. It's one of the better ending themes among 21st Century Sentai's. I also liked the song sung by Tetomu to Gao Deer. However, I really hate the main theme song. It has a poor mix of a jazz-like background music, and the singer singing in a heavy metal tone. Furthermore, I felt that the singer couldn't sing at all.

My Rating
7/10- Overall, Gaoranger is an ok series. It had some good moments here and there, and a couple not so good moments.

Kaizoku to Ninja, Gokaiger Episode 25 & 26 Review

With Hurricanger currently being one of my top 3 favorite Sentai's, I was really looking forward to this two-parter. It's pretty safe to say that it didn't let me down either.




Episode 25 begins with Gai giving his Super Sentai lesson to the other Gokaigers. Don and Ahim seem into it, but Marvelous, Joe, and Luka lose interest quickly and leave Gokai Galleon to eat some ice cream. Meanwhile, Satarakura Jr. and Sandaaru Jr., the sons of former Jakanja henchmen, are sent to wreck havoc on Earth. Their plan is to turn humans into nuts to use to fuel a missile. I do have to say that this two-parter made me realize that Satarakura Sr. was a solid villain in Hurricanger. After watching Satarakura Jr. here on Gokaiger, I remembered how funny Satarakura was on Hurricanger.






Here we get some really good nods at continuity, starting with the guy at the top who was playing Nanami's character song, Shinobi Koi. Furthermore, Nanami has apparently moved on from singing to become an actress, and the script she was reading had the same name as the Hurricanger's ending theme song, Ima, Kaze no Naka de. Kouta has continued his work at a nursery while Yousuke is working at a car wash. They all leave their day jobs when they sense the presence of space ninjas, which I found odd. None of them had ESPER-like powers before so I found it pretty odd how they were able to just sense them.




Marvelous, Joe, and Luka are attacked by Satarakura Jr. and Sandaaru Jr. Marvelous, Joe, and Luka are outmatched by Satarakura Jr.'s and Sandaaru Jr.'s ninja powers. Gai, Don, and Ahim arrive to help but Satarakura Jr. and Sandaaru Jr. retreat with the bag of nuts that they plan on using for the missile. The three hurricangers watch the fight from a distance. The six Gokaigers however, are able to locate the space ninjas. They destroy the missile and gather the nuts. Wanting payback, Marvelous, Joe, and Luka fight harder. However, the space ninja's switch-a-roo trick switches them with Don and Ahim, who get the full force of their own attacks. Then Satarakura Jr. tries to trap them all in his pocket dimension, but only manages to capture Marvelous, Joe, and Luka who pushed the others away from the trap.




Satarakura Jr. leaves to deal with Marvelous, Joe, and Luka in the pocket dimension. Meanwhile, the others have to face a group of Magerappas and a giant size Sandaaru Jr. Gai, along with the help of Fuuraimaru who suddenly appears, is able to defeat Sandaaru Jr. Don and Ahim, however, have an endless task of defeating a load of Magerrapas, but receive some unexpected help from the three Hurricangers.




Episode 25 ends with the Hurricangers exchanging information with Gai, Don, and Ahim. The Hurricangers tell them that their ultimate power is needed to get through that dimension and to free the others. Don asks them for their ultimate power, but the Hurricangers refuse, saying they can't trust pirates. Furthermore, the three Hurricangers demand their ranger keys back. Gai then confronts them, saying that it was Marvelous who was able to bring all the keys back to Earth and that the Hurricangers demanding their ranger keys back "isn't right." I personally, liked this exchange. I was glad to see Gai stick up for his team and wanting to refuse the Hurricangers initially, especially because back in the Gingaman episode he nearly gave his Gokai changer to Hyuuga rather easily. Gai's dialog fell short a little bit, not explaining clearly what isn't right about the Hurricangers demanding their keys back, but that's only a minor complaint.

Episode 26 begins where 25 left off. Don and Ahim tell Gai to back down that now's not the time for them to be fighting when their friends are in danger. This part was slightly disappointing because I wanted the Hurricangers to earn the Gokaiger's respect and show them something else why they should get their ranger keys back. However, I do love the dialog exchange when Yousuke ask them if they're sure about it, because they might not get them back. Ahim's response was: "that's not a problem, if we have to we'll take them back by force." Proving all the more how under-appreciated Ahim is by the fandom.




Trapped in the pocket dimension, Marvelous, Joe, and Luka are forced to take Satarakura Jr.'s quiz game, which is full of trick questions. The first one involved a picture that appeared to be Akaranger, but was Satarakura Jr. disguised as Akaranger. After this, they pretty much gave up trying to answer Satarakura Jr.'s quiz. The three Hurricangers go to rescue Marvelous, Joe, Luka, and the people turned into nuts. Meanwhile, Wazuru Gills sends Insarn and Barizorg to keep Ahim, Don, and Gai busy and we FINALLY get some action from the main villains.




Inside the pocket dimension, the Hurricangers overhear Marvelous, Joe, and Luka's answers to Satarakura Jr.'s quizzes and are shocked to see that they're not even trying to answer. So they try to intervene, but to the Hurricanger's surprise, the people turned to nuts are set to explode. Realizing this and after Marvelous further explains that no matter what they give as an answer, Satarakura Jr. will just make up another answer, the Hurricangers then decide that the Gokaigers aren't so bad after all. To set everyone free, the Hurricangers give Satarakura their own quiz. The last question, the Hurricangers manage to make Satarakura say "ping pong" which sets them and the Gokaigers free, leaving Marvelous, Joe, and Luka speechless. The Hurricangers quickly use their ninja speed to get the people trapped as nuts. The Hurricangers and the Gokaigers then proceed to escape the pocket dimension.




Once outside the pocket dimension, all nine of the Gokaigers and Hurricangers join forces. This is followed by a totally awesome fight with the Gokaigers and Hurricangers kicking the asses of Satarakura Jr., Barizorg, Insarn, the Magerappas, and the Gormin. The only real disappointment I had from this fight was a lack of hesitation between Joe and Barizorg considering their history, which could have added to Joe's character development. Other than that, the fight was great. It ends with the Hurricangers and the Gokaigers doing a combine version of the "final wave" and a cheesy joke from Satarakura Jr. as he breaks the fourth wall.




As usual, Satarakura Jr. is grown giant size. The Gokaigers summon GokaiOh while Gai summons GoJyuJin, and holy crap the Hurricangers are the size of buildings????? Anyways, Satarakura Jr. proves to be a bit too much for them, and with GoJyuJin already damaged from the last battle, Marvelous orders Gai to fall back. The Hurricangers then grant the Gokaigers their ultimate power. Their ultimate power allows Fuuraimaru to combine with GokaiOh to form HurricaneGokaiOh. The Shurikens, particularly the ones sticking out of the legs look a little silly but I love the chest piece and the helmet. Fuuraimaru detatches from GokaiOh and uses his own finishing move on Satarakura Jr.




The episode ends with the Gokaigers and the Hurricangers having a little bit of a celebration on board GokaiOh. Luka and Joe pull off the hearing trick that the Hurricangers used earlier in the episode. Then we get a cute and funny moment from Ahim, wearing her own set of ears and everyone calls her a cheater. After Marvelous tells Yousuke that he likes Earth, everyone including Navi take a big picture.

This two-parter was awesome. Like I said at the top, I'm a big Hurricanger fan and all loved all the continuity nods. We got some great action. While this two-parter wasn't perfect I think it still beats some Sentai team-ups. Still, as far as Gokaiger episodes go it's not as good as the Shinkenger tribute episodes of 11 and 12. That two-parter had Joe's backstory which I still think hasn't been beaten yet. This comes in as a close second however, and I give this two parter 9/10.

Good Acting Seasons in Power Rangers

Most Power Rangers seasons have acting that ranges from average to mediocre, or in Samurai's case, just plain terrible. However, there have been a handful of seasons that have had descent and even good acting. Here are the seasons, in no particular order, that have descent to good acting.

Power Rangers Time Force


Time Force is considered by many to be the most well-acted series ever in Power Rangers, and with good reason. Strong performances were put on by its two leads, Jason Faunt (who played Wes) and Erin Cahill (who played Jen). Also adding to their acting talents were two Hollywood actors Edward Albert (who played the Wes's father) and Vernon Wells (who played the main villain Ransik). I also feel Daniel Southworth, who played Eric Meyers, put on a good performance as well. However, I feel that this series tends to get overrated by many due to lacking in character development for half the cast and copying most of its story from Timeranger.

Power Rangers Ninja Storm


Many power ranger fans tend to credit Ninja Storm for having good acting. I personally think the acting in this season is a bit overrated. Perhaps it's overrated because it's one of the few Disney era seasons where there is very little accent slippage from the New Zealand actors. It's not bad. I did like the performances by Jason Chan (Cam), Sally Martin (Tori), and Grant McFarland (who played both sensei-Watanabe and Lothor). The rest, however, I felt were fairly average.

Power Rangers Dino Thunder


Dino Thunder is another season that tends to get credit for good acting. There were some good actors like James Napier (even though his character, Connor, is a dimwit), Emma Lahana (who can sing as well), and Jeffrey Parazzo(who played Trent).

Power Rangers SPD


SPD is another season that gets a lot of praise for good acting. It was also the last season before Samurai to use mostly North American actors. There were good performances from the entire cast, although personally I don't think they had the same charm as their Dekaranger counterparts. Despite the excellent acting in SPD, the series had some writing problems, particularly with the Omega Ranger scenario and pacing issues with many filler episodes taking place during the middle of the season.

Power Rangers RPM


RPM I think had the best acting of any series. The core 5 members all put on solid performances, as well as some of the supporting characters such as Dr. K (played by Olivia Tennet) and Colonel Trueman (played by James Gaylyn). Personally, I think the best performances were put on by Milo Cawthorne (Ziggy) who was great in a comedic role, and Ari Boyland (Flynn) who showed a very convincing Scottish accent.

My Top 10 Power Rangers Theme Songs

Although not a top 10 list, in the past I shared my favorite Sentai Opening theme songs. I probably need to update that list, but that will come another time. In the mean time, I'll share my top 10 favorite Power Rangers theme songs. Enjoy.

10. Power Rangers RPM

A lot of Power Ranger fans hate this song, but I actually like it. It has a nice heavy metal beat (which is saying something since I'm not a fan of heavy metal). I personally like it better than the song it was picked over, which again is opposite of most Power Ranger fans. The rest of the background music on RPM however, can take a hike.

9. Power Rangers Zeo


The Zeo theme song was a cool song in a line of Zordon Era cool/awesome music. What was really cool about it was having "go go Power Rangers" in the lyrics.

8. Power Rangers Turbo


While Turbo sucks as a show (mostly the first 20 or so episodes and the movie), the theme song was pretty cool. It has a nice rock beat, and I like the lyrics.

7. Power Rangers Lost Galaxy


Another theme song that not too many Power Ranger fans like, but I find really cool. Again, it has a nice rock beat and the lyrics tell a bit of a story.

6. Power Rangers Samurai


Like Turbo, Samurai fits the label of cool theme song, bad show. Truthfully, I hate Samurai more than any other Power Rangers show, but the one thing Samurai does do right is its theme song. The theme song is a remix of the original "Go Go Power Rangers" theme song, with a rock/techno beat that you usually hear in video games. This makes the song awesome.

5. Power Rangers Dino Thunder


The Dino Thunder theme song is another awesome theme song that I love. Some Power Ranger fans don't like it because it was the first theme song not to have the word "go" in it, but as I see it, it doesn't need to. The rock beat is strong and the lyrics are catchy. It has me singing "dino rangers roar, Power Rangers score" all day long.

4. Power Rangers SPD


Just like its Sentai counterpart, Dekaranger, SPD has an awesome theme song to go along with the show. SPD's theme song is fast pace, catchy, and has a good rock beat. Making it even more awesome is it's composed by Ron Wasserman, who's made many awesome Power Rangers theme songs and insert songs.

3. Power Rangers Wild Force


The Wild Force theme song is another awesome creation. While the show's quality is debatable, the song has an awesome fast pace rock beat. It's perhaps the only song to beat Ron Wasserman's music.

2. Power Rangers In Space


The In Space theme song is yet another awesome creation by Ron Wasserman. A catchy theme song to go along with an awesome show. One of the many reasons why Power Rangers In Space is my favorite Power Rangers series.

1. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, a.k.a. Go Go Power Rangers


I think everyone knows this song would be on the top of my list. Again, another creation by Ron Wasserman. Strong rock beat, simple yet very catchy lyrics. Even better is its extended version, also by Ron Wasserman, which is really rocking.

Gokaiger Episode reviews, 22, 23, and 24.

Episode 22

Gokaiger episode 22 was a focus episode for Joe and Gai. It was basically a filler episode but still a pretty descent one. The episode starts with Joe and Gai doing the weekly shopping for the Gokaiger team, when they run into a kid whom at first seems like a brat. In reality the kid, Shouta, had made a promise with his friend Daigo to meet him at Mt. Kamikura to watch a meteor shower. However, the kid is attacked by the Zangyack, who plan on putting a crystal in a power stone on top of Mt. Kamikura. Shouta is injured, and Gai becomes concerned about the kid's safety. However, Joe tells Shouta to go and keep his promise. Eventually the Zangyack head to Mt. Kamikura and the other Gokaigers join Joe and Gai to stop them. The MOTW, Starguru, succeeds in planting the crystal fragment into the power stone, and uses its power to pull an asteroid on a collision course with Earth. Starguru is eventually defeated, but the Gokaigers struggle to destroy the asteroid. However, Gai asks Joe to throw him at the asteroid. They use GokaiOh to launch GouJyuJin at the asteroid. Gai succeeds in destroying the asteroid by using GouJyuJin's drill. The episode ends with Shouta meeting his friend Daigo to watch the meteor shower, while Joe tells Gai that he doesn't dislike earth.

Overall, this episode was a descent one. It had a nice story involving the kid, and touches on Gai's naiveness about the other Gokaiger's personalities. Overall I give it 7.5/10.

Episode 23

Episode 23 is a focus episode for Luka and Ahim. The episode begins with Navi doing his usual treasure navigation prediction, which was: "helping you shalt guide you to a meeting." So the Gokaigers split into three groups of two (Gai & Marvelous, Joe & Doc, and Luka & Ahim). Gai and Marvelous give piggy back rides to a bunch of old people trying to clime stairs. Meanwhile Doc and Joe help a drag queen. Luka and Ahim help a pregnant woman and her daughter. When the pregnant lady's daughter talks about having a little sister, Luka has a flashback about the death of her little sister, whom Luka was unable to get her to a hospital in time. The lady begins to have labor contractions, when Matsuri/GoGoV Pink appears. They take a taxi but are suddenly interrupted by a Zangyack attack. Luka and Ahim repel the attack, allowing Matsuri and the lady to get to the hospital. After fighting off the Gormin, Luka and Ahim go to the hospital to check on the lady. There, they learn that they're going to induce the lady's labor and learn Matsuri's identity as GoGoV Pink, who is working as a paramedic. Meanwhile, Matsuri tries to take an injured kid by ambulance to a hospital, but is attacked by the Gormin. Luka and Ahim come to her rescue, just in time to learn that it was Basco who attacked. Basco is after the GoGoV grand power. The ranger keys of Zubaan, Rio, and Mele block the ambulance's path, as Basco demands that Matsuri give up the GoGoV grand power. However, Luka is concerned about the boy's safety and tells Matsuri that she must go with the boy, while Luka talks about her failure to get her little sister to a hospital. Meanwhile, Ahim talks some sense into Luka and tells her that Ahim isn't just someone for Luka to be overprotective towards like a little sister. Luka and Ahim come up with a plan. Ahim uses Magipink's shape changing ability to disguise herself as Matsuri. This allows Matsuri to escape with the boy. Eventually the other Gokaigers join them. They transform into GoGoV sans Gai and defeat the Zubaan, Rio, and Mele ranger keys before Sally takes them back. Basco uses a giant monster, Firenoid Meran as a decoy so he can escape. The Gokaigers earn the GoGoV grand power and use it to defeat Firenoid Meran.

This episode I think was the best out of the bunch. It gave some more detail to Luka's backstory, and gave some small bits of character development for both Luka and Ahim. It showed how overprotective Luka can be of Ahim and also showed Ahim being more than capable of standing up for herself. It also had some nice humorous bits with the drag queen as well as Marvelous and Gai having to help out a tone of old people. My rating for this episode is 8.5/10

Episode 24

Episode 24 was another filler episode but it was still an ok one. This episode revolves around a Zangyack general, Jealoushitto, who's basically been dumped by the Zangyack. A woman stumbles upon him while throwing trash away. Meanwhile, the woman's son notices Jealoushitto trying to take some Takoyaki, and offers Jealoushitto to become his pet. The Gokaigers, who were looking to eat Takoyaki, stumble upon them and watch. Meanwhile, the MOTW Sen-Den, tries to spread propaganda around the planet when he notices Jealoushitto. Seeing the Zangyack attack Jealoushitto, the Gokaigers decide to join the fight. They give a different version of their roll call, that includes Joe doing a badass Clint Eastwood pose above while Don, being the usual butt monkey, gets hit in the nuts. After the fight, they propose that Jealoushitto could work at the Takoyaki stand. However, the guy had to get approval from his mom, who objected, showing prejudice towards aliens. Sen-Den tries to interrupt them but Marvelous tells them to wait because they're having a serious talk. Sen-Den cooperates but tries to blast the woman for treating a member of a Zangyack like garbage. The woman is saved by the Gokaigers. They all run outside. The lady, her son, and Jealoushitto hide in empty barrels. Soon, the woman feeling hot, leaves the barrel she's in and is about to be blasted by Sen-Den when Jealoushitto uses his body to shield her. Jealoushitto then pretends to be dead but really isn't. The Gokaigers go on to defeat Sen-Den. At the end of the episode, it is revealed that Jealoushitto and the woman had a shotgun wedding.

This episode was descent. It had its funny moments, as well as its cheesy moments, including some cheesy dialog. Overall, I give it 7.5/10.

Is Darker and Edgier Overrated?

Many fan favorite series among both Super Sentai and Power Rangers are series that can clearly be defined as darker and edgier. This includes Sentai's such as Liveman, Jetman, Dairanger, and Timeranger. On the Power Rangers side, Lost Galaxy, Time Force, Wild Force, and RPM are seen as the darker seasons. Sometimes, however, I think both fan bases tend to give too much praise to the darker series. Don't get me wrong I tend to like many of the darker series as well, but I think the lighthearted seasons are often just as good.

Power Rangers RPM is clearly the darkest power rangers season to date with the post-apocalyptic storyline. No doubt, RPM is one of the best seasons of power rangers ever made. In contrast to Super Sentai, I think Power Rangers is much better when it is darker, edgier, and more serious. This is mostly due to much of Power Ranger's comedic style which tends to fall flat. However, besides clearly being the darkest season of Power Rangers, RPM was also one of the funniest. RPM had funny characters like Ziggy and General Crunch, as well as a healthy dose of well used lampshades. It was this combination of being dark and gritty combined with its comedic aspects that makes RPM one of the best seasons.

Like RPM is popular with the Power Rangers fanbase, Jetman is a darker, grittier, and very popular series among Sentai fans. Like RPM, Jetman has some good and I might add very underrated comedic aspects. Jetman rarely attempted humor, but when it did it was quite funny. However, Jetman is one of the darker seasons that I think is also a bit overrated. There's some scenes in Jetman that are a bit disturbing, like daimond-like objects growing out of human skin and a later episode when Maria was transforming into a monster. Jetman also had some writing issues, particularly at the end of the series. For example, the end result of the Gai/Kaori/Ryuu love triangle was a bit rushed and the ending with Gai's death was so random that it was unnecessary and didn't really add anything at all to the series.

Then there are series like Dekaranger, Hurricanger, and Shinkenger. All of these seasons I think have a healthy balance of dark themes and light themes. They tend to switch between the two, but aren't overly dark or overly silly. The humor in all of them is pretty funny if you ask me, and proves that not everything has to be dark and gritty. Just like the darker seasons like Jetman and Timeranger are great series, I think these seasons have their own charm as well and work perfectly fine as well.

July Poll Results, August Poll

July's polls were aimed at seeing what my audience wanted from my blog. The first question was "What do you want to see more on my blog?" and here are the results.

87/112 voters said they wanted to see more series reviews on my blog. Which I'll definitely do, and will probably re-edit my previous blogs to give a more in depth analysis of each series/season. 33 voters said they want to see more focus on characters. While 30 said they want to see more Gokaiger episode reviews.

The second question was a question to see if the audience wanted more posts on Power Rangers or Super Sentai.

85 of the 108 voters said they want to see both.

15 voters said they want to see more Super Sentai posts.

8 said they wanted to see more Power Rangers posts.

August's polls will be asking how or should Goseiger and Gokaiger be adapted for Power Rangers.