PR Sentai Universe

Go-Busters Episode 1 Short Review- It's Morphin Time

2012-02-27T17:14:00.005-08:00

The episode begins with what appears to be either a flashback or a dream (I'm not sure which one) of a city being destroyed by an army of megazords. The next scene is set in "Neo 2012 A.D." (not sure what that means exactly, perhaps 2012 after the city was destroyed?), and this year's red ranger, Hiromu, is frozen in shock from reading a newspaper. Meanwhile, the other two Go-Busters- Ryuji and Yoko- are fighting this season's mooks (Buglers) disguised as humans. Then one of the season's villains, Enter, is introduced. Later on, Hiromu has to tell his apparently overprotective and ill sister, that he's joining the fight against Vaglass. Vaglass launches a megazord, leading to Hiromu defeating the Megazord with his mecha, CB-01 Go-Buster Ace.

Plot wise the first episode was effective in establishing some plot points to look forward to in later episodes. It didn't answer a whole lot, but as I see it the first episode should be setting up questions instead of answering them too early. Overall I thought it was a really good start, and Go-Busters has a lot of potential. It looks like Gokaiger gave Sentai an upgraded budget. The cinematography was good and for once, it didn't look like the mechas were fighting in a model city. The action and the fights were well choreographed, the special effects good, and the acting seemed pretty good as well for the first episode. The spy/professional motif that this series seems to have is interesting, and it feels like the series has merged a lot of concepts. It feels like a mixture of MMPR (due to shout-outs like "megazords" and "it's morphin time"), RPM (computer virus as a main villain), Go-Onger (robot buddies), and even Keitai Sousakan 7 (again mechanical buddies, professional team of spies/detectives). The story also seems to have a lot of potential as well. The theme song was pretty cool, not surprising since it's by Project R. The ending theme was alright, but I'm happy to see another dancing outro again. However, I do miss the Gokaiger outro. Other than that, I do have a minor pet peeve, this year's Gratuitous English. I don't normally like to sound like a grammar nazi, but even if the actors get the pronunciation wrong, they can at least get the grammar right. "Let's morphin" should be "let's morph" and "let's driving" should be "let's drive" or "drive." Other than that, I think the first episode was a solid start. Overall, I give this first episode 8.5/10.

The Various Running Gags of Bulk and Skull

2012-02-20T19:54:00.003-08:00

Here's a look back at all of the running gags given to Bulk and Skull throughout the years.

MMPR S1

In MMPR S1, Bulk and Skull's gag was simplistic. They were the school bullies and bumbling idiots. Often times the humor was over the top but they were still a fun group.

MMPR S2

After being saved by the Power Rangers in the season's first episode, Bulk and Skull spent the rest of season two trying to figure out their true identities. Sometimes they were close (only for Billy to switch the video tape). In the episode When is a Ranger not a Ranger, Bulk and Skull actually do discover the ranger's identity, only to have their memories erased when they tried to save the rangers.

MMPR S3

Season three saw a popular change for Bulk and Skull. They became members of the Angel Grove Jr. Police Department. Most of the time they were nothing more than their stereotypical idiotic selves. In all seriousness, one has to wonder how the heck do these two not end up getting fired after all their constant blundering. However, there was one cool moment in Catch That Cab when they actually did catch a car thief.

Zeo

Along with In Space, Zeo is the season where Bulk and Skull really shined. They had perhaps more development in this season than any other. Initially they were still members of the Jr. Police Department, but quit out of loyalty to Lt. Stone after he got fired. Then they joined Lt. Stone to form their own detective agency. This season, Bulk and Skull had some pretty cool moments, including my all-time favorite Bulk and Skull moment in Instrument of Destruction. There, Skull bravely showed off his musical talents in which Bulk later approved.

Turbo

In Turbo the writers simply ran out of ideas and didn't know what to do with Bulk and Skull. They were initially turned into Chimpanzees because the actors who played them were experimenting with a Bulk and Skull spin-off show. That went nowhere, perhaps due to Turbo's declining ratings. Even in the second half of the season when they were turned back to normal and the writing had improved, it seemed like the writers still didn't know what to do with them. Their running gag for the second half of the season was getting hired and fired from various part time jobs, which became too repetitive.

In Space

Bulk and Skull spent In Space with Professor Phenomenus searching for alien life. Phenomenous added more comedic relief, but Bulk and Skull got a lot less screen time compared to the first five seasons. This is mostly due to the fact that most of In Space's story took place away from earth. However, Bulk and Skull had perhaps their most popular moment during the season's finale, Countdown to Destruction, in which they mimicked the "I am Spartacus" moment.

Lost Galaxy

In Lost Galaxy, Bulk and Professor Phenomenus boarded Terra Venture and accidentally left Skull behind. From what I have heard, this was due to contract issues with Skull's actor. Bulk and Professor Phenomenus ran a coffee shop on Terra Venture called Comet Cafe. However, the two were rarely seen throughout the series.

Wild Force

Bulk and Skull showed up for the 10th Anniversary episode, Forever Red, in Wild Force. Here Bulk had mysteriously gotten back to earth from Mirinoi (bad writing) and ran a juice shop named Bulkmeier. Their appearance was just a little wink to longtime fans of the show.

Samurai

In Samurai, Bulk returned to teach Spike, Skull's son, the way of the samurai. Here the writing just completely fell apart. Bulk and Spike have next to no interaction at all with the Samurai cast, and feel like nothing more than mere add-ons for fanservice.

Announcements

2012-02-19T20:26:00.001-08:00

In case not everyone has noticed the declining activity on my blog the last few months I'll explain why. I've recently moved to a place where I don't have internet access at home. Furthermore, I've been busy due to coaching basketball and going to a school that's a three hour drive away from home.

Because of this situation, I haven't been able to keep up on episode reviews for Gokaiger. Now that Gokaiger has ended and GoBusters starts next week, some of you might wonder if I'll be doing episode reviews for GoBusters. I've decided that I will, but only for major episodes. Most likely episodes related to the plot.

As a little heads up, I'll be releasing a couple series reviews within the next month. One for Go-Onger and the other for Gokaiger. I'll do my best and hope everyone likes them. In the mean time, I'll try to keep my blog as active as possible.

Kamen Rider W Review

2012-01-31T21:32:00.000-08:00

I like to apologize for my lack of activity recently. I've been busy between moving into a new place and going to school part-time out of town. To bring ing the new year, I'm reviewing Kamen Rider W (also known as Double). It's the first Kamen Rider series I watched (about a month ago), so I thought it would also be a great place to start for giving a review. A few months ago, I ran a poll to see if anyone would like for me to review a Kamen Rider series. The majority said they would, so I hope everyone enjoys. :)

W has a detective theme and follows an episodic format. All of the cases (except the last one) are two episodes long. Each case involves the criminal of the week using what's called a Gaia Memory, which transforms them into a dopont (the monster of the week in this series). These Gaia memories are distributed behind the scenes by the well-intentioned extremists Sonozaki family (also called Museum), who in turn are test subjects for another organization, Foundation X. However, W is far more than an episodic cop show. It has an overlapping plot that has a lot of depth to it. Along the way, there's plenty of interesting twist and lots of character development for the characters and the villains.

The story revolves around two main characters, Shotarou and Phillip, who combined make up W. Usually, Shotarou's body is used while Phillip's concience is transferred to W's body. However, sometimes they use Phillip's body when they use the fang memory. Later on in the series, they become W Xtreme which uses both Shotarou and Phillip's bodies. Initially, the viewer is led to believe that Shotarou is the main character due to the events of "Begins Night," being W's body, and narrating the end of each case, the main plot is mostly centered around Phillip and his relationship to the Sonozaki family. One of the better subplots that I liked was the relationship (non-sexual) between Phillip and Wakana, the Sonozaki daughter who's the least interested in the family business. What makes this subplot so great is the characterization of these characters, which I'll get into when I analyze the characters individually. Shotarou and Phillip are part of the Narumi Detective Agency along with Akiko, the daughter of Shotarou's mentor. Also joining the team later is Fuuto Police officer Ryu, who becomes Kamen Rider Accel. The only major flaw with the story is it starts a little slow initially, but starting with the movie, there's plenty of interesting plot twists along the way.

Besides the story and the characters, there are many other awesome things about W. For starters, the action is among the best I've seen so far in a tokusatu. Koichi Sakamoto, a veteran director and stunt coordinator for both Power Rangers and Super Sentai, brings his talents to W, which I think is his best work. All of the fights, car chases, and special effects are awesome in this series. Along with good action comes good music, in particular the awesome theme song. Overlapping with the story are a series of excellent movies, including Begins Night, A to Z, Accel, and Eternal. My favorites were Begins Night (a crossover with Decade) and Eternal. The action and the fight scenes peak in the Eternal movie, which shows the villains from the A to Z movie in a new light. An added bonus for Sentai fans is that there are a lot of Sentai actors that guest star in W, usually as a MOTW.

Despite the good story, there is one small issue I have with it, the ending. It essentially traded one heartbreaking and bittersweet ending for another. The second ending isn't bad itself, and I did want to see Phillip live, but I also felt it wasn't needed. The first ending (in episode 48) was heartfelt, powerful, and I think would have made an appropriate ending to the series and to Phillip's character.

The Characters

Phillip is my favorite character in W, and he has the most interesting development. He's quite a mysterious character initially, because he has both a mysterious past and mysterious powers that allow him to access any kind of information about dopants. This mystery becomes even more intriguing when his past is revealed, and how the villains try to use his powers for their own gain. Phillip's also a tragic character, with his sad death (although he gets revived), lack of a family initially, and not being able to save his sister Wakana.

Shotarou is the "half boiled" detective who wants to be "hard boiled." He's the character that has a large burden on him, from trying to live up to his mentor (Sokichi Narumi/Kamen Rider Skull), working alongside both Phillip and Sokichi's daughter, Akiko. At times he struggles to find his own identity as a detective, but he has the support of Phillip. Him and Phillip make a great duo, and the friendship aspect between these two characters is really well done. They support each other and help each other grow.

Onore Ryu!! >:o

Ryu, unlike Shotarou and Phillip, works with the Fuuto Police Department, is a much darker and edgier character. He's the stoic, brute, anti-hero. Yet despite his stern nature, he's the butt-monkey of jokes at times, which makes for some funny situations (like the end of the Accel movie) because of his personality. His motivation for becoming a Kamen Rider was revenge for the death of his family. His development circles around him growing from hating the enemy and wanting revenge, to learning that revenge and hatred isn't the answer. After his character development, he also helps Shroud grow from similar problems. I think this development is pretty well done, and he works as both a stand alone character and a supporting character.

Among the main hero characters Akiko is the one character that I had some issues with, especially in the early episodes. Her somewhat bitchy, spoiled brat attitude made her annoying and hard to like initially. However, as the series progresses, she turns out to be not all that bad. After the Movie War 2010 (with Decade), she did manage to grow on me. Her spoiled attitude becomes an afterthought. She shows that she actually has some clever plans (like with the nightmare dopant), and she had some of the better episodes as of the series, such as episodes 9 & 10, and the doll episodes).

Sonozaki Family (Museum)

The main villains of this series is the Sonozaki family, former paleotologists who have based their museum and the GaiaMemories on the creatures they formerly excavated. The Sonozaki family sales the GaiaMemory behind the scenes to ordinary humans who have an issue such as revenge or even wanting to perform magic tricks for their family. Their ambition is to improve human evolution to avoid its extinction. This doesn't sound so bad, but they distrubute the GaiaMemories to other human beings to experiment their effects on them, and the Sonozaki family doesn't care if their customers die in the process. In fact, they see this as an opportunity to weed out the weaker-minded humans.

The head of the Sonozaki family is the family's father, Ryubee. Ryubee is the well-intentioned extremist who gave up his humanity for his ambition. To carry out his intentions, he used his family to his advantage. As a big bad, Ryubee is pretty good. He's a madman who only cares about his own ambitions, and cares less for human life just as long as his goals are reached. However, he's not quite the best villain in W.

Ryubee has two daughters, Wakana and Saeko. Next to Phillip, Wakana was my second favorite character in W. Early on she acts like a spoiled bitch, but she changes after meeting Phillip in a case that revolves around her. She's rather easy to like because Wakana was being pushed into a corner. Unlike the rest of the family, Wakana cared less about the family's business of distributing the GaiaMemories, and more about doing her own hobby (a radio DJ). She's pushed into a corner by her father who wants to use her to create the ultimate being and become the Earth's queen. She's also a tragic character, and it's really heartbreaking when her father successfully brainwashes her.

Ryubee's eldest daughter, Saeko, is the main henchwoman for most of the series until Wakana is brainwashed. Saeko has her own ambitions. She hates her father due to her upbringings, and also gets jealous of Wakana because she's chosen by Ryubee to be his successor. Because of her jealousy, she tries to take control of Museum anyway she can, rather it would be marrying a powerful boyfriend or by force, to make her father recognize her power. However, she ends up saving Wakana when she realizes her father wouldn't recognize her in the way that Wakana was going to die. Saeko is bitchy and even slutty, but I think this makes her a good villain. This makes her the person you love to hate, which is what villains are suppose to do.

Then there's Shroud, mother of Saeko and Wakana and Ryubee's ex-husband.
She cares only about protecting her son, and uses the Narumi detective agency as tools to do so. She arms both W and Accel with weapons, and sees Ryu's hatred of Isaka as a useful tool in order to protect her son. When training Ryu in preparation for the Trial memory, she tries to teach him that hatred is the motivation he needs.

Among one of Saeko's boyfriends was Kirihiko, who was initially a GaiaMemory salesman. Saeko ends up marrying Kirihiko, seeing him as a tool to achieve her own ambitions. Kirhiko claims to love the city of Fuuto, and seems to believe what he's doing by distributing the GaiaMemory is for the good of the city. However, he has an anti-villain tendency that surfaces he finds out that not only were a group of teenagers given a GaiaMemory, they were also used as test subjects for it. As a villain, Kirihiko is ok. He has some depth to his character, mostly for having his own standards as to who should be given a GaiaMemory. However, other than his development as an anti-villain, Kirihiko doesn't do much other than acting as a standard henchman.

Other villains

For me the best villain in W is Isaka Shinkuro. Like Saeko, he's trying to surpass Ryubee and defeat him. However, what separates him from Saeko are the methods he uses. He uses vicious means to obtain these powers, by testing various memories not only on himself but also innocent civilians whom he knows will die as a result of the testing. He killed Ryu's family while experimenting with the weather powers. He uses Saeko as a tool so he can get close to her father, and also because he saw Saeko as a powerful ally.

The other main villain that's not a member of the Sonozaki family is Jun Kazu, a researcher for Foundation X. He sponsors the Sonozaki family's research into GaiaMemories. After the defeat of Sonozaki Ryubee, Jun tries to purify humanity by whiping out all of humanity that's not compatible for GaiaMemories. Jun's an ok villain. He's menacing and vicious, much like Isaka, but he comes in late in the series. He feels like an add-on villain, much like Senki from Gaoranger. He's not a bad villain, but he's also a villain that W didn't necessarily need either. Still, I felt he was used well and helped explained where the GaiaMemories come from. At the least his character was vital for the group NEVER, which was awesome in two separate W movies.

My Rating
Overall, I give W 9/10. It's a pretty solid series packed with a lot of good action, good characters, villains, and an excellent story. I definitely recommend it to toku fans or anyone who's a fan of detective shows.

Stop SOPA

2012-01-20T12:50:00.000-08:00

If everyone hasn't heard by now, Megaupload was shut down yesterday by the U.S. Federal Government for copyright infringement. This is a big loss for toku fans since a lot of toku episodes had been uploaded to Megaupload. The shutdown of Megaupload also brought another realization, if SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) were to pass. For now, votes on SOPA have been postponed, but that doesn't mean the bill has been killed yet. This bill gives copyright owners too much power. Not only could this bill shut down file sharing sites, it can potentially shut down sites such as youtube, facebook, and even this blog. So basically, this bill would allow copyright holders to censor anything that they find an "infringement." So, in order to ensure that Toku is readily available to non-Japanese fans like myself and everyone who reads this blog, please join in on the fight to stop SOPA. For more information on SOPA, and how to properly fight SOPA, read the following link and watch the following video.

https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/sopa-pipa/

December Poll Results, January Polls

2012-01-03T16:52:00.000-08:00

Among anniversary team-up movies, 79 of 90 voters (87%) voted for Gokaiger, Goseiger, Super Sentai 199 Hero Battle as the best team-up, beating Gaoranger vs Super Sentai (7 votes) and Boukenger vs Super Sentai (4 votes).

Among the viewers that saw Super Sentai 199 Hero Battle, 62 voters (81%) thought it was awesome, 10 voters (13%) thought it was good, 2 voters thought it was ok, and 2 voters thought it was horrible.

Based on the rumors for the next Power Rangers series after Samurai, 46 voters (54%) felt that Goseiger should be adapted in a different way from what is rumored. 17 voters liked the idea of adaptimg Megaranger scripts for Goseiger, 14 voters felt that Power Rangers should skip Goseiger and move onto Gokaiger, and 8 voters felt that Power Rangers should adapt nothing at all.

Power Rangers Turbo Series Review

2011-12-16T14:13:00.000-08:00

Unlike some Power Ranger seasons that initially had some good ideas but failed due to poor execution (like most of the Kalish seasons, Samurai), Turbo was a season in which the writers and the producers had no idea what to do. There were several cast and production crew members leaving, either at the beginning or in the middle of the season, and the writers didn’t know what to do with the Carranger footage. The result was a mess, full of unlikable new characters, bad writing, and terrible villains.

Among the first flaws of Turbo are the writing flaws with the movie, particularly the continuity errors with the end of Zeo. Several things are left unexplained, such as why were the Turbo powers needed and what happened to the Zeo powers? While Zordon in the movie explains that the Zeo zords may not be enough to defeat Malagore (whom the new villain, Divatox, was trying to marry), this never explained why the power rangers needed the Turbo powers. The other major writing flaw with the movie is what in the hell happened to Lord Zedd and Rita? The movie shows them seemingly giving up trying to defeat the power rangers, which is inconsistent with the end of Zeo when they claimed “we’re back” after they destroyed the Machine Empire. The departure of Lord Zedd and Rita also led to one of Turbo’s other major flaws, their replacement.

Lord Zedd, Rita, and the gang are replaced by space pirates Divatox, Elgar, and Rygog, whom are all god awful villains. To start off, Divatox is EXTREMELY annoying, which happens to be a common problem with many of the replacements that come in during this season. All she does is whine, cry, and bitch about her plans failing in such a pissy attitude. While Rita did her fair share of whining in Power Rangers, at least Barbara Goodsen’s voice acting made it funny. However, both of Divatox's actresses were bad actresses and she just makes you want to break into the TV screen and slap her across the face. Elgar, on the other hand, is a bumbling idiot, incapable of fighting an 11 year old Justin, unmorphed. Meanwhile Rygog did virtually nothing, and seemed to be there only to fill up Sentai footage. The only real descent villain in this series was General Havoc, who was used during the Phantom Ranger arc.

However, the villains weren’t the only replacement scrappies brung in during Turbo. Along with the villains, the movie and the first three episodes introduced a trio of annoying, unlikable characters: Justin, Dimitria, and Alpha 6. Justin replaced Rocky, while Dimitria and Alpha 6 replaced Zordon and Alpha 5 respectively. To be fair, Rocky wasn’t the most likable character either. He had been pretty bland through the first season and a half, but in Zeo he received a fair amount of good character development that made him tolerable for that season. The problem with Justin isn’t so much that he’s a kid, but that he acted like being a power ranger was like playing a game. Sure, it’s understandable if he gets excited, but it’s rather annoying watching him act like a bratty five year old. Even more annoying than Justin was Alpha 6, who seemed like a pathetic attempt to imitate hip-hop culture. Dimitria on the other hand, I’ll say isn’t quite as bad as she’s made out to be. A lot of fans dislike her for replacing Zordon and for speaking only in questions. Her dialogue of speaking only in questions does get annoying, but I think her methods of letting the rangers figure out problems on their own was better than Zordon just simply giving the answer away.

The other major problem is that the writers didn’t know what to do with the Carranger footage or the old cast. As been discussed many times before, the writers were split on what to do with the Carranger footage. The writers were split between adapting Carranger’s slapstick humor, or turning it into a dark, much more serious season. The result was something in between, which led to horrible handling of the footage.

As for the characters, all of them had now graduated from high school, and at least two of the actors (Jason David Frank who played Tommy and Catherine Sutherland who played Kat) had expressed a desire to leave the show after the first 18 episodes. This virtually led to 17 episodes of filler (concluding with an incredibly lame two-parter Honey I Shrunk the Rangers) that gave virtually no character development to the main characters. Instead, we get Tommy driving around a race track and Bulk & Skull turned into Chimpanzees. This was especially disappointing, coming off of Zeo, which had gave these characters much more development than they received through the previous three seasons, and really allowed the new cast members to shine.

This brings the season to the cast change in episodes 18 and 19. In the first 17 episodes, Ashley and Carlos had already been introduced in the series, who were meant to replace Kat and Tommy respectively. When Judd Lynn replaced Doug Sloan as the main writer of the series, he decided to replace the other older cast members as well, Adam and Tanya. Lynn wanted to start fresh with a new cast. Many fans have criticized this move, rather for replacing fan favorites such as Tommy and Adam, or for it coming in midseason instead of at the end of the season. However, I think this move was actually a good idea. It did suck to see Tommy and Adam leave the show, but there was no way they were going to keep Tommy and Kat on the show. This cast change allowed the writers to start from scratch with a new cast, and led to some pretty good character development episodes during the second half of the season. Some of the execution of this cast change was flawed, particularly Carlos’ introduction as a selfish soccer player, but throughout the second half of Turbo all four of the new characters- T.J., Cassie, Ashley, and Carlos- became likable characters. I also felt that all the new cast members were descent actors. This cast change I thought was handled much better than the cast change during MMPR S2.

Following the cast change, Turbo becomes a much better show and becomes watchable. The annoying traits of Justin and Dimitria are toned down, making both characters bearable. Turbo still retains its share of annoying characters (Alpha 6 and the villains), but the writing and the handling of the Carranger footage improves dramatically. I particularly liked the Phantom Ranger arc, which did a good job of establishing a mystery about his character and gave Cassie some good development due to the ship tease. It is disappointing that the Phantom Ranger's identity is never revealed during In Space, but it's understandable since they ran into budget problems. Other than Cassie, Justin gets the most development with his relationship with his dad. The others, T.J., Ashley, and Carlos, are all likable characters but get more satisfying development during in Space. Meanwhile, Bulk and Skull are turned back into human, thankfully, and their running gag for this season is getting fired from every job they work on due to their stupidity. However, it was somewhat funny, much better than them being turned into chimpanzees.

The rest of the season follows the standard MMPR/Zeo format. It's episodic, mostly filler episodes that centered around one of the character's problems in their high school life, with one example being Ashley having trouble with an auto mechanics class. Most of these episodes were just ok, but there were some good episodes such as a two-parter involving the Blue Sentorium being turned evil, and Parts and Parcels (a Bulk and Skull focus episode). The next major story arc in Turbo is Chase into Space, which ends with the Power Chamber being destroyed and the rangers sans Justin leaving into outer space to either find Zordon or stop Divatox before coming back to Earth. This was a pretty chilling episode, and had a heartwarming departure between the rangers and Justin. It also proved to be a good lead-up to in Space.

The main problem with this season was that nothing was really well planned, which lead to a sloppy first half of the season. The suit change was nothing but a gimmick to try to give the producers new Sentai footage to work with, but they had no idea how to use the Sentai footage. It didn't help that the movie gave a very sloppy transition from Zeo to Turbo. The second half of the season was much better, thanks in large part to the new cast, the Phantom Ranger arc, and the ending. As a whole, I give Turbo 6/10. If I'd split up the series into two parts, I give the first 20 episodes and the movie 4.5/10 and the last 25 episodes 7/10.

Favorite Episodes/Story Arcs
Episode 23 "The Phantom Phenomenon"- Introduction of the Phantom Ranger
Episode 26 "The Darkest Day"- Introduction of General Havoc
Episodes 28-29- The conclusion of the Phantom Ranger arc
Episodes 31-32- The Blue Sentorum turned evil, also gave development to Justin.
Episode 38 "Cassie's Best Friend"- An episode featuring Cassie and her dog-turned human.
Episode 43 "Parts and Parcel"- T.J. tries to help prove Bulk and Skull's innocense after they had been accused of theivery.
Episodes 44-45 "Chase into Space"- The conclusion of Turbo.

November Poll Results, New Polls

2011-12-07T19:12:00.000-08:00

When asked what viewers thought about the Gokaiger vs Space Sherrif Gavan movie, 54 voters (67%) think it's awesome, 17 voters (21%) think it's good, and 9 voters (11%), think it's ok. No one voted for "bad."

When asked rather or not Gokaiger should have more than 50 epiosodes, 70 voters (83%) answered yes, and 14 voters (16%), answered no. Gobuster is due to start on February 26th, which means Gokaiger will have either 51 or 52 episodes.

Among next month's polls...
How did you like the Gokaiger, Goseiger, 199 Hero Movie?
Best anniversary team-up movie in Sentai?
Based on the rumors, what route do you think is best for the next Power Rangers adaptation?

Gokaiger Episodes 39, 40, and 41.

2011-12-05T19:03:00.000-08:00

Warning: Spoilers Ahead

Episode 39

In episode 39 the Gokaigers go to Moroboshi High School in search of the Megaranger grand power. There, they meet former Moroboshi High student Kenta Date/Mega Red, who is now teaching at his alma mater. He recognizes that the Gokaigers don't really care about school, so in order for him to give up his grand power he tells them that they have to go to school for the day. The Gokaigers split up and wonder around the school, doing their own activities. This includes Marvelous playing basketball with some students (and ripping-off a Michael Jordan dunk :P), Don and Luka chatting with a pair of students who are studying, and Joe and Ahim watching a girl trying to impress a guy she likes. Meanwhile, Basco appears and threatens to blow up the school of Kenta doesn't give him the Megaranger grand power. Marvelous convinces him not to give it up to Basco, and tells Kenta that he recognizes why Kenta wanted the Gokaigers to go to school; to see that it can be great because everyone has dreams. Gai protects Kenta from Basco while the other Gokaigers locate the bombs planted around the school and disable them. They then proceed to fight Basco and Sally to a draw, and defeat Basco's giant-sized henchmen. At the end of the episode, Kenta gives the Gokaigers the Megaranger ultimate power, telling them to consider it their diplomas.

Overall, I think this was an enjoyable episode. It sticked with Gokaiger's formula, where they have to earn the grand powers. Most of the Gokaigers didn't care for school (except for Gai and Ahim, Don seemed neutral), which was consistent with their characters. Basco was menacing in his appearance as usual, and crossed another moral event horizon when he threatened to blow up the school. The episode did well as a tribute to Megaranger as well, and continued its story by having Kenta return to his old high school to teach. Overall it's a good episode, so I give it a rating of 8/10.

Episode 40

In this episode, Domon/Time Yellow sends a message to the Gokaigers to travel back in time to October 2nd, 2010. Their mission is to protect Hagakure Temple. Once there, they spot the Nanashi from Shinkenger and confuse them for wanting to destroy the temple. The Nanashi run off. Gai stays with a boy at the temple, while the others chase the Nanashi. They then discover the Goseigers and Shinkengers, and run into Shitari, which brings up the Gokaiger's place in Goseiger vs Shinkenger. However, the real culprit who's after Hagakure Temple is Short Zan-KT0, who had been ordered by Metal Alice. Gai protects the boy and the temple from Short Zan-KT0, until the other Gokaigers arrive. They then transform into Timerangers, and avoid Short Zan-KT0's bullets Matrix-style, similar to episode 1 of Timeranger. After defeating him once, Short Zan-KTO grows large. Gai defeats Short Zan-KT0 with GoZyuJin alone. Later, the Gokaigers take a picture with the boy and his mom (who happens to be Honami) to prove that they protected the temple. After the Gokaigers return to their own time, they recognize that the temple is safe but they forgot about the grand power promised to them by Domon. However, a scene shows Ninjaman's jar inside the temple. When Domon looks at the picture, he is at first upset that the Gokaigers interacted with the people of the past. However, he breaks down into tears when he recognizes Honami and the kid, which happens to be his.

Like the Abaranger episode, this episode wasn't much of a Timeranger tribute. However, continuing the Domon-Honami story was enough of a tribute for me. So far, the Domon-Honami relationship is my favorite in Sentai. I thought they really made a cute couple in Timeranger and I really liked their interaction. It was really surprising to see Honami get a role in this episode, and it was a nice wink to Timeranger that her son was named Mirai (which means future). The ending is really a tear-jerker and makes the episode memorable. I give it a 9/10 rating. For me the ending alone was worth 8 of the 9 points :D

Episode 41

Episode 41 was Ahim's backstory episode. It's also the debut of Actdos Gils, who's first order is arresting Damaras for failing to protect his son. On earth, Ahim, Joe, and Gai are shopping when they notice a full scale Zangyack attack. They're met by Zatsurig, one of Actdos Gils' personal body guards who also happened to destroy Ahim's home planet. Ahim immediately charges him in rage, and neither Joe nor Gai are able to hold her back. However, Zatsurig is too powerful for all three. Later, there's a flashback of Zatsurig destroying Ahim's home planet and killing Ahim's parents right in front of her while she's fleeing. She tries to sneak out of Gokai Galleon alone when she's stopped by the others. Then, we get a flashback of Ahim asking Marvelous, Joe, Luka, and Don if she can join their crew. They don't take her seriously, but Ahim says she wants to show the other Famille planet refugees that she's willing to stand up against the Zangyack. Back to the present, the other Gokaigers convince Ahim to let them go with her to defeat Zatsurig. Their first attack is easily repelled by Zatsurig, but they notice that Zatsurig uses the eye on his chest as his source of power. They try to buy time for Ahim to get an openning to destroy the eye on Zatsurig's chest. During this fight, more flashbacks are shown of Ahim struggling to train how to be a pirate and doing daily chores on Gokai Galleon, but she's also shown being the heart of the team that keeps them glued together. Eventually, the Gokaigers try a second plan, in which they fire the Final Wave at Zatsurig which they know he'll fire back at them, but Gai uses his Gold Mode sheild to protect himself from it. This gives Ahim her opportunity. She knocks out the eye first with a stab from her Gokai Sabre, and then fires the Final Wave point blank in Zatsurig's eye. She then pairs up with each of her Gokaiger teammates separately (with Gai as the Go-On Wings, Don as the Goraijiers, Luka as the Gosei girls, Joe as Deka Swan and DekaMaster, and Marvelous as co-Shinken Reds) and in reverse order from which each teammate joined the crew. She then gets to be the one who fires the Gokai Galleon Buster to defeat Zatsurig.

This was one episode that I had waited all season long, and fortunately it was well worth the wait. It was by far, Ahim's best focus episode and more than makes up for the lack of focus episodes she's received thus far, and makes her development more than satisfying. It had the dark moments with her planet being destroyed and her parents being killed infront of her. There were plenty of heartwarming moments, especially the flashback to when she first met the Gokaigers. I really loved her reason for wanting to be a Gokaiger, for the pride of the people from her home planet. It was also great to see the contrast of her being a nobody in terms of fighting ability to working hard and now being comparable to the other Gokaigers in terms of her ability. The fight was also really satisfying as well. Ahim's actress, Yui Koike did a really good job in this episode as well, and I think Gokaiger has one of the best set of actors of the 21st Century sentais. Besides Ahim, it was also good to see Actdos Giles, who made a chilling debut in his first episode. Overall, I give it 9.5/10 for an excellent backstory for Ahim.

Gokaiger Goseiger Super Sentai 199 Hero Battle Movie Review and Screenshots

2011-11-28T19:25:00.000-08:00

Note: Screenshots below the review
Warning: Possible spoilers ahead

For Super Sentai's 35th anniversary, TOEI decides to go all out by... having a Gokaiger team-up with Goseiger. Ok so most of it was a team-up with Goseiger, that bland Sentai team many fans have grown to dislike, but this team-up still had plenty of merit. There were plenty of guest appearances from past warriors, a little more insight on the Legendary War, and lots of good action that still made this movie an enjoyable nostalgic trip.

The movie begins with the Legendary War, which this version includes all the "extra" heroes as well. After having their powers drained via ranger keys, the Goseigers steal their ranger keys back from the Gokaigers. This leads to a fight over Gosei Knight's ranger key. They're interrupted by Black Cross King, the reincarnated version of Black Cross Fuhur, who has made a deal with the Zangyack to destroy the remaining Super Sentai teams (Gokaiger and Goseiger). Accompanying him are other past villains such as Bladeron, Hades God Dagon, and Yogoshimacritein. They take all the ranger keys, save for Gosei Knight's ranger key, and teleport the Gokaigers and Goseigers to different locations. From then on, the Gokaigers and Goseigers have to learn to trust each other, defeat their designated enemy, and unite to fight Black Cross King.

While this movie largely consists of a Gokaiger-Goseiger team-up, you knew before hand that the movie was going to mostly feature the Gokaigers and Goseigers. For once, it was nice to see the anniversary team get to team-up with the previous team. As flawed as Goseiger is as a series, it does have a pair of good team-ups (first with Shinkenger and now with Gokaiger). Unlike their series, the Goseigers are actually likable in their team-ups. However, other than being a team-up with Goseiger, the movie still managed to integrate many nostalgic elements into the movie, such as the Legendary War, past Super Sentai heroes and villains, the grand powers passed onto the Gokaigers, and the awesome mecha fight near the end. I also really liked a couple subplots, particularly the ones involving this man who got laid off and encounters Umeko, Ryo, and Daigoro. This subplot overlapped well with the main plot. While a lot of characters only made cameos in the movie, it was still nice to see them. By the way, this also brings up an interesting question as to why the Gokaigers were given the Dekaranger and Shinkenger grand powers twice? (They had already gained both grand powers before the time this movie takes place). The interaction between the teams was good, with both teams being split up into different places and learning to trust one another. The movie isn't without its share of flaws. Moune and Luka uttering the same lines at the same time was funny at first, but got annoying after a while. Also, the movie used extensive stock footage, but I guess there's so much the producers can do if they don't have all the mecha costumes. Still, the mecha battle was awesome, as well as the fight with the Gokaigers and Goseigers going against every single other sentai team.

I give it a rating of 8.5/10. Overall, this was a very good team-up and reminds me what Gokaiger is about, a celebration of the franchise. I think Gokaiger has been a better celebration of Super Sentai then its predecessor anniversary seasons like Gaoranger and Boukenger.

Gokaiger Episodes 37 and 38: The Mother of all Spoilers

2011-11-25T11:47:00.000-08:00

Warning: Absolutely do NOT read this post if you don't want to be spoiled...

Episode 37 begins with the Gokaigers defeating giant sized Sgormin. After the battle, Machalchon asks the Gokaigers what their "ultimate power" is, which the Gokaigers are unable to answer. Later on, Gai and Marvelous have a conversation about protecting Earth. When Gai asks Marvelous "What do we have to do to protect it?" Marvelous walks off, saying he doesn't know. Meanwhile, the Zangyack emperor sends a new weapon for Walz Gils, the Great Walz robot. Walz Gils also argues with Damaras, and reveals through a flashback that he knew his father had sent Damaras to babysit him. Barizorg shows his loyalty to Walz Gils by pledging to fight by his side. While Gai and Joe are having a conversation on deck, they're attack by Barizorg and the Gormin. Joe tells the other Gokaigers he'll take care of Barizorg, while the rest fight the Gormin. While Barizorg and Joe fight, the other Gokaigers are attacked by the Dogormin, who are much more powerful than the Gormin. The Gokaigers then transform into various extra heroes for the first time (BullBlack, Zubaan, DekaSwan, WolzardFire, and Signalman), and force the Dogormin to retreat. The Barizorg-Joe fight ends in a draw, when Walz Gils shows up with the Great Walz. The Gokaiger's mecha arsenal is overwhlemed byh Great Walz, so they try GoZyu-GokaiOh, but it also fails against the Great Walz. The Great Walz is about to obliterate GoZyu-GokaiOh when Marvelous uses his captain rank to eject the other Gokaigers. They're spread throughout town, and episode 37 ends with Marvelous lying unconcious inside the cockpit of Gokai Galleon.

Episode 38 picks up with Walz Gils sending Barizorg and the gormin to search for the Gokaigers and finish them off. Luka, Ahim, and Don are able to avoid the gormin, and run into Gai. Gai says he can't except what Marvelous did, and wants to be a crew instead of him trying to protect them. Meanwhile, Joe runs into Barizorg and defeats him. Meanwhile, Marvelous seemingly in the afterlife, is met by AkaRed who tells him that the Gokaigers rather have him protect their friendship to pursue their dreams instead of protecting them. Joe has a similar experience, seemingly meeting Cid Bamick in his conscious. Cid tells Joe to go meet up with his friends. While Joe leaves, Marvelous wakes up to search for everyone. Joe catches up with the others, who are confronted by the Sgormin. Marvelous shows up and tells them that he realizes their dreams aren't fragile enough that he should worry about protecting them. Meanwhile, Joe tells Marvelous that it gave him the opportunity to take care of unfinished business. The Gokaigers transform and defeat the Dogormin and the Sugormin. Walz Gils shows up in Great Walz, trying to avenge Barizorg's death. However, the Gokaigers are able to unlock their own ultimate power and form Kanzen GokaiOh. The Gokaigers proceeded to defeat Walz Gils. At the end of the episode, Damaras carries Walz Gils' corpse and curses at the Gokaigers.

This two parter, along with the movie (which I'll review within the next week) really gave me a new perspective on Gokaiger. When I first started viewing Gokaiger, I was really excited about the show with all the likable cast and the tributes to all the past sentai teams. As the series progressed, I thought it was starting to lose a little steam. The show has never been bad, and in fact I've always enjoyed the cast and the majority of the episodes. However, what had been a letdown were the villains, save for Basco and to an extent, Barizorg for how his story relates to Joe. I felt that the Zangyack main villains were always underused, and Walz Gils was overly stupid. Overall, I thought the Zangyack were among the weakest villains of the last decade. However, this episod gave some really good depth to the villains, particularly Walz Gils, Damaras, and Barizorg. After watching this two parter, I realized the Zangyack are support characters, and as long as you know when to use the villains, you don't always need strong villains to have a great show. It showed Walz Gils in a new light, struggling to prove himself among the Zangyack ranks. When I looked back, Walz Gils in the last 11 or 12 episodes he appeared in, did have a few competent plans. I also like how Barizorg was used as both a support character to Joe (because of the backstory) and to Walz Gils (because of his loyalty to him). This two-parter also showed Damaras in a new light. One that has a responsibility to protect Walz Gils, the Emperor's son, and shows the emotional attachment he has to Walz Gils. This two-parter doesn't fully redeem the Zangyack. I'm still mixed on them as a whole, and it's still hard to ignore Walz Gils' 30+ episodes of incompetence. I also wish they explored the Damaras-Walz Gils relationship earlier in the series. However, it gives me hope that by the end of the series that the Zangyack could be respectable. The show still has Basco, one of the better villains over the last decade. Damaras I believe can get interesting, and we still haven't seen the emperor yet. Besides the development for the villains, I also enjoyed the story and the character development for Marvelous, Joe, and Gai respectively. There were still a couple mild complaints that I have about it. One being how easily Joe's suit was reflecting Barizorg's attacks, and the other being the underwhelming finishing move that Kanzen GokaiOh has. However, these flaws have no weight on the story as a whole, so I'll let them slide. I'm giving this two-parter a rare perfect rating of 10/10. I loved this two-parter so much, and believe it's the best plot in Gokaiger so far.

Gokaiger Episodes 35 and 36, Lets Go-On!!

2011-11-24T17:49:00.000-08:00

Episode 35 & 36 featured Sousuke, Go-On Red. Gunman World had been taken over by Gaiark member, Chirakashizky. The attack on Gunman World was a trap to lure Sousuke and the Gokaigers away from Human World, so Babatcheed could take it over. Meanwhile the Gokaigers are trapped on Gunman World, as the border to Human World had been sealed by Babatcheed. Thus, the Gokaigers go to Machine World to seek out the help of Machalchon, Speedor and Bear RV's rowdy son (Speedor and Bear RV are now married). Meanwhile, upset at the Gaiark invasion of Earth, Walz Giles goes down to Earth along with Insarn and Barizorg to counter Babatcheed. The Gokaigers are able to pursue Machalchon, after having a skirmish with him, to help them break through the barrier to Human World. Machalchon then becomes the Gokaiger's aibou (partner). Once on Human World, the Zangyach retreat, and the Gokaigers transform into Go-Ongers to defeat the Uguts and Gormin. Babatcheed grows large, and the Gokaigers use the Go-Onger grand power, which is GokaiOh combining with Machalchon to form Go-On GokaiOh. The Gokaigers then proceed to defeat Babatcheed.

Overall, I enjoyed this two-parter. Sousuke was a dork as usual but I like his dorkiness. I also liked how they continued the story, with Speedor and Bear RV getting married. It was also nice to see the Gokaigers finally transforming into Battle Fever J. The fight with the Gokaigers transformed into Go-Ongers was a little dissapointing because it was a special effects fest, but it wasn't a complete disaster. I enjoyed Machalchon's rebellious, rowdy personality which is one of the reasons why the Engines are so underrated. I think despite the silliness of the concept, the Engines are really enjoyable characters. I was, however, a bit disappointed that Hiroto didn't get a part in Gokaiger. 4 Go-Onger characters made it into Gokaiger, I think it's disappointing they leave Hiroto out because his actor is a huge Tokusatsu fan. Overall, I do like the Go-Onger tribute, so I give it 8.5/10.

Gokaiger Episodes 33 and 34

2011-11-19T19:59:00.000-08:00

Episode 33

In this episode, Ryo/Ryu Ranger from Dairanger is the guest star. Here, Gai loses his ability to transform after the MOTW eats is Gokai Cellular. Gai is unable to come to terms with it at first. However, with the help of Ryo, he realizes that what he wanted to do (and the most important thing) wasn't to be able to transform, but to be a hero to protect people. He realizes he didn't need to transform to do this. When the Zangyack show up, him and Ryo fight the Gormin and the MOTW until the Gokaigers show up.

This episode had a number of plot lines that have been used to death in Sentai. One of the heroes losing his ability to transform, the MOTW trying to eat all of the world's food supply, exc. However, the good execution and character development for Gai is what makes this a good episode. I think Gai is at his best when the focus is only on him. In these types of episodes, Gai gets some really good character development when he's learning that there's more to being a hero just because it's his lifelong dream. I think it was a really good character development episode for Gai, and a good tribute to Dairanger in the process. Overall I give the episode 8.5/10.

Episode 34

In episode 34, the final pieces of Luka's backstory are revealed. One of her friends returns from her home planet (which was destroyed). At first, it's the MOTW who has captured Luka's friend, Cain, and disguises himself as Cain. He uses this to his advantage to kidnap Luka. The MOTW then disguises himself as Luka, tries to sneak onto Gokai Galleon, and blow it up. However, he was fooled by the Gokaigers who recognized his strange impersonation of Luka from the beginning. Meanwhile, Cain tries to convince Luka to come back with him, that he's collected a huge amount of money to accomplish her dream. Luka's dream is to buy a planet that's safe for an orphanage, out of the Zangyack's reach. In a flashback it's revealed that she was stealing fron the Zangyack to try to acheive this goal. That's when Marvelous and Joe appear, and recruit her to join them on finding the greatest treasure in the universe. When she realizes she could get her hands on it, she figured she could buy the whole universe.

Luka's background story was a bit predictable since it was first revealed in episode 6. However, it is still a nice little background story to give her some character development. Her acting was good as usual (I think Luka, Joe, and Gai are the best actors on Gokaiger). It was also consistent with her character that she wanted to buy the whole universe, seeing how greedy Luka has been since the beginning of the series. Walz Gils also had a competent plan to take out the Gokaigers, if the MOTW did a better acting job of portraying Luka. However, there were a couple flaws with this episode. To start out, I found the guest actor who played Cain to be a little underwhelming. He wasn't horrid, but I found no real sense of emotion on his line delivery. Also, I kinda found it unconvincing how easily Luka trusted Marvelous on finding the "Greatest Treasure." For the majority of the flashback, she was a hardcore skeptic and then when Marvelous said "just trust me," she inexplicably changed her mind. I would of liked to see something more, like Marvelous give a couple more convincing lines than just "trust me." Overall, I don't think it's a bad episode and I do like Luka's backstory as a whole. It's just that this episode leaves some things to be desired. Overall I give it 7/10.

October Poll Results, New Polls

2011-11-11T17:57:00.000-08:00

Which Power Rangers series would you like to see me review next?

Surprisingly, 42% of voters (24 overall) want to see me review Power Rangers Turbo next. I guess viewers want to see me go on a rant. :P 14 viewers (24%) voted for Time Force, 12 viewers (21%) voted for SPD, and 7 viewers (12%) voted for Turbo.

Which Super Sentai series would you like to see me review next?

This one ended in a tie, with 28 voters each choosing Go-Onger and Goseiger. Since it ended in a tie, I'll choose which series I want to review.

Would you like to see my older reviews in my newer format?
21 voters (61%) said yes.
8 voters (23%) said they didn't care.
5 voters (14%) said no.

This month's poll will be asking the viewer's opinion on the Gokaiger vs Gavan movie and what they think about the rumors of Gokaiger possibly having more than 50 episodes.

Gokaiger Episodes 30, 31, and 32.

2011-11-09T18:41:00.000-08:00

I know I'm a bit behind on reviewing Gokaiger episodes, but I've gotten busy with school. Since these episodes are more than a month old, I'll give brief reviews and my opinion.

Note: Pics from Super Sentai Images

Episode 30

Episode 30 was the Liveman tribute episode, featuring Yellow Lion/Jou Ohara, who displayed some pretty impressive fighting skills for his age. It was a Joe focus episode, and the episode briefly lampshaded the fact that the guest star and the character focus both had the same pronounciation to their name. The episode focused on Joe's story with Barizorg, as the Zangyack tried to mass produce Barizorg. Joe asked Jou, a scientist, to attempt to find out rather there was a cure for Barizorg. Unfortunately, according to Jou, Barizorg can't be turned back into Cyd Bamick.

Overall, I really liked the episode. I felt it did well to pay tribute to Liveman, and the dramatic story with Joe and Barizorg is getting better. The only issue I had with it is the pacing, going a full 18 episodes before it's discussed or mentioned again. Joe and Barizorg should of had at least a hesitation in the Hurricaneger tribute episode. But still, I liked how Jou told Joe that even though Joe might not be able to save Cyd, he can still save his soul. As usual, Joe acted out the dramatic parts well. I also really liked the part where Joe used the finishing move taught to him by Cyd on the MOTW. Overall a great episode, and I give it 9/10.

Episode 31

Episode 31 was the Ohranger tribute episode, and it also featured Basco. Basco had taken the grand powers of three different Sentai teams (Changeman, Maskman, and Flashman). As a result, the Ohrangers planned to lower Basco into a trap. The trap failed, but as back-up the Ohrangers also planned to give their ultimate power to the Gokaigers. The Gokaigers refused, their reasoning being they want to take it, not be given it. Basco uses the remaining ranger keys he has, but after the Gokaigers transform into Ohrangers and use their ultimate power, they defeat the ranger keys and keep them in their possessions. They then go after Basco, who transforms into his true form. Once transforming into his true form, he overwhelms the Gokaigers and injures all of them. He also reveals to Marvelous the grand powers he has taken.

This episode was pretty good. I'm still hoping to get tribute episodes from Changeman, Flashman, and Maskman, but to be realistic the show needed to show Basco succeeding at least partially at acheiving his goal (taking the Super Sentai grand powers). Despite appearing in must five episodes, Basco has managed to outshine the Zangyack and is clearly the best villain on Gokaiger. I'm hoping that Basco is the villain the Gokaigers have to defeat in the final battle, not the Zangyack emperor. I give this episode 8.5/10.

Episode 32

Episode 32 was a Don focus episode, and gave him some character development. This episode revolved around two plots. The first plot, Don making a blaster for the Gokaigers to use in battle against the Zangyack, and the second, helping a kid to practice and get better at soccer. The Gokaiger struggled to break the defences of Shieldon. However, they decided to try to last in battle with him until Don finished the blaster. This fight included the Gokaigers finally transforming into Changeman for the first time. Don used the Ohranger grand power to finish the Gokai Galleon Buster. Once finished, the Gokaigers used the buster to successfully break through Shieldon's shield, and defeat him.

Overall, this was a good episode. It was nice to see Don finally get some character development. The one part I did like was when the kid wanted to give up because he didn't think practice was going to help. Don criticized him and told him he doesn't know if he doesn't try. This is a sharp contrast from Don earlier in the season (episode 7) when Don himself was reluctant to train to get better. Overall, I think it's an enjoyable episode, so I give it 7.5/10.

My Top 10 Miscellaneous Colored Sentai Warriors

2011-10-17T22:41:00.000-07:00

After reading some of Godzilla606's top 10 lists, I decided to start one of my own. This one will be on miscellaneous colored Sentai warriors. By miscellaneous, I mean colors that aren't very common such as violet, maroon, navy, silver, gold, and even orange (though this is debatable). Usually these characters fill in the 6th ranger or extra ranger role.

Note to ChrisX: Hurricaneger spoilers (and spoilers for other shows) ahead.

10. Naoto/Time Fire

I don't like Naoto's attitude that much, but he does work out really well from a story perspective. He adds some spice to Timeranger, and does balance the other Timeranger characters out. While the others have their own problems and are the heroes, Naoto is the anti-hero who has his own ambitions.

9. Swan/Deka Swan

Swan was quite charming as the team mom of Dekaranger, and awesome as Ms. Tech support (although Miki of Gekiranger beats her for tech support characters). I also likied her humorous side, like using a really big needle on Doggie at the end of episode 44.

8. Genta/Shinken Gold

#2 through #8 are really tough choices for me since I love all of these characters. Genta comes in at #8. He's both funny and badass at the same time. IMO he's the funniest character that we've had from Magiranger-Gokaiger.

7. Isamu/Wolzard Fire

Between being the villain Wolzard, being the Magiranger's father, and turning good again, Isamu IMO is the best character on Magiranger. He was badass as a villain, and still awesome once he became good and turned into Wolzard Fire. His story arc was pretty cool as well.

6. Isshu/Kuwaga Raijer

I think Isshu is the weaker of the two Goraijer characters due to overacting a little bit (though he's not horrid), being overreliant on his brother at times, and his relationship with Nanami going nowhere. However, I still think he's an awesome character. He shares the same awesome backstory with Ikkou and his father. I love their development and what they went through. Isshu is the support character, and a very good one at that. His rash yet more sympathetic personality balances out Ikkou's cool yet more stoic and stern personality.

5. Miu/Go-On Silver

Like Isshu, Miu is the supporting character to her more stern, stoic brother Hiroto. She's the nicer of the two Go-On Wings. Like the Goraijers, the Go-On Wings develop from jerkasses to learning to accept the wackier Go-Onger characters (this was rushed a bit at the beginning but was done better as the series progressed). Also like Isshu, Miu becomes overreliant on her older brother, but what I like about Miu is that she learns to not become overly dependent on Hiroto (episode 38).

4. Gou/Geki Violet

Sandwitched in between the two Go-On Wings is Gou, whom IMO is the best of the core 5 Gekiranger characters. He's badass, has a cool backstory involving him becoming a werewolf, and a cool vibe about him. I also liked his development from being the lonewolf to being part of the team, as well as his evolving relationship with his brother Retsu. To me he's Tsukumaru amped up to 11.

3. Hiroto/Go-On Gold

I really liked Hiroto's development as the jerk with a heart of gold. He had to learn to recognize the strength of the Go-Ongers. Initially this was a little rushed but I felt the loose strings were tied more convincingly when he learned in episode 23 that Sousuke's randomness was useful. What I felt really solified his character was the episode with Chibi-Chan (episode 41), which really showed a soft, gentle side to Hiroto.

2. Eiji/Bouken Silver

Eiji is really cool. He's rash, badass, yet quite funny with his extreme herbivore antics. I also loved his backstory that involved the Questers and his parents (especially his mother). It's one of the better storylines in Boukenger. I also liked how he developed to accept the other Boukenger's help to defeat the Questers.

1. Ikkou/Kabuto Raijer

Ikkou is my favorite jerkass character to receive the defrosting the ice queen development. The Goraijer story-arc from villains to jerkass rivals of the Hurricanegers, and finally becoming friends is really well done. What separates Ikkou from Isshu is his storyline with the scorpion, and realizing how much Yousuke and the other Hurricanegers cared about him.

September Poll Results, New Polls

2011-10-17T22:19:00.000-07:00

Among 45 voters, 37 (82%) said they would like to see me review a Kamen Rider series in the future. The one's I would likely review would be W and OOO, but will have to wait a couple months. However, my blog's primary focus will still be on Power Rangers and Super Sentai.

Among 38 voters, 26 (68%) said they would like to see me review other Tokusatsu shows, such as Shibuya 15 and Sailor Moon live-action. Like the Kamen Rider reviews, this will have to wait a while.

On my other poll, 23 of 34 voters (67%) said they prefere my new review format, which I used in my Gaoranger review, compared to my old review format.

October's poll will be asking rather you would like to see my older reviews (like Shinkenger, Dekaranger, Power Rangers In Space, exc) in my new format. I'll also be asking which Power Ranger and Super Sentai series you would like to see me review next.

Power Rangers Goseiger Adaptation to Use Megaranger Scripts?

2011-10-13T00:27:00.000-07:00

As many of you may know, Saban has already claimed copyrights to the titles "Power Rangers Megaforce" and "Power Rangers Ultra Megaforce." Both of them are rather, generic and uncreative titles. However, there are rumors going around that the upcoming Goseiger adaptation will be using a video game motif, and specifically Megaranger scripts. These rumors have come from Chris Funaro, a.k.a. Cmdr Crayfish, a long time Power Rangers fan and insider. Generally, Funaro is a reliable source. Here's what he said initially on rangercrew:

"My honest gut-instinct? We're gonna get Goseiger adapted heavily filtered through Megaranger after being told the angel theme was unusable. Recycling Mega scripts instead of Goseiger."

Furthermore, there's been leaked scripts of the main characters being high school students, which would match the Megaranger main cast. The leaked scripts can be downloaded below:

Professor Side
Pink Ranger Sophie

This would make sense of the title having the word "mega," as lame as it is. Discarding the angel motif isn't surprising, but instead of coming up with something original they've decide to disguise it by making a carbon-copy of an older Sentai. If they intended to outright copy Megaranger's scripts Saban would be spending a lot of money to make new footage. In particular with Jaden Sentai Nejiranger, whom were used as the Psycho Rangers during In Space and have absolutely no equivalent in Goseiger. Honestly, a video game themed Power Rangers series would be interesting, but the least they can do is make up their own friggen script.

Power Rangers Samurai/RPM Crossover

2011-09-29T19:12:00.000-07:00

For those of you whom haven't heard yet, it appears that Power Rangers Samurai will have a crossover with RPM...

"The Clash of the Red Rangers - a crossover special where the Samurai Rangers team with the mysterious RPM Rangers Red fend off the dual threat from Master Xandred's Mooger army and robotic super-villain from the RPM Ranger's dimension. When something goes awry, the two Red Rangers turn on one another and the fate of the world hangs in the balance."

Apparently Tzachor is going to ignore his own comments when he said that everything from Ninja Storm to RPM was non-canon, or at the least RPM is canon with Samurai. However, to be honest I'm not that excited about it. I do feel that RPM is best being left as non-canon, although having them from a different dimension does make it a little interesting and gives them a way around the post-apocalyptic world of RPM. However, it does sound somewhat disappointing. Some of it sounds like a rip-off of Shinkenger vs Go-Onger, and it sounds like only Scott is returning. Making it disappointing. They could at least get Ari Boyland back to reprise his roll of Flynn, afterall he did voice a MOTW earlier in the season. I wonder if the Samurai writers even noticed that the Venjix virus downloaded itself into Scott's morpher at the end of RPM. Hopefully they do something original, at least.

Sentai Characters Whom I Think Get Over-hated/Under-appreciated.

2011-09-19T12:59:00.000-07:00

After reading Fantasy Leader's recent post, and also having an interesting discussion in the comments on one of my previous posts, I decided to weigh in on Sentai characters whom I feel receive too much hate or too much criticism. Criticisms on these characters tend to range from being the ditz, the "loud and annoying screaming red," too girly, too hyper, being bland, or being a jerkass. Before anyone asks, I do plan on doing a similar post for Power Ranger characters, at a later time.

Ban/Deka Red

Next we have Ban, one of the most infamous and controversal characters ever in Sentai. Ban's one of the "screaming reds" which also includes Yousuke, Kai, Jan, and Sousuke. However, Ban was probably the first among the group that received sharp criticism. He's criticized for being loud, annoying, and even being a jerkass. Others criticize Ryuji Sainei's acting and portrayal of Ban. The latter I disagree with. Based on the nature of his character and how later, similar characters are portrayed, I think Ban was meant to be overplayed. I think Ryuji Sainei nailed his portrayal of Ban spot-on. Furthermore, whenever Ban had an emotional scene or an instant where he had to slow down, I felt his acting was very good. It is understandable that some people will find him annoying, but I think Ban was a unique character. Like Fantasy Leader said, Dekaranger parodies its motif, cop shows, and Ban is a parody of a cowboy cop. I thought Ban's wild, recklessness was quite fun to watch, and he's pretty badass as well.

Umeko/Deka Pink

Along with Ban, I think Umeko is another Dekaranger character who gets bashed too much. Criticism on Umeko range from her being a flat one dimensional character with little development, being overly ditzy and childish (especially for being a cop), and for being Ms. Fanservice. With her character, I think some fans take her and Dekaranger too seriously at times. It is true that she is kinda one dimensional, but I think she received a fair amount of development. Throughout the show, she grew out of an inferiority complex (episode 17) and showed that she's daring and capable of taking things into her own hands when needed (episodes 24 & 39 are good examples). Even then, I think some fans judge characters too much on their development at times while overlooking aspects that make him/her a fun character. Umeko, along with Ahim (whom I'll get to later) is a perfect example. I know her ditzy nature might not appeal to everybody, but I think Umeko is quite a funny character. Furthermore, I think her ditzy nature is portrayed in a way that actually makes her character unique, and provides a refreshing balance to the more serious characters in Dekaranger like Tetsu, Hoji, and Jasmine. I also think her actress, Mika Kikuchi, is quite talented as both an actress and a singer.

Natsuki/Bouken Yellow

Like Umeko, Natsuki gets criticized for being overly ditzy and even more childish than Umeko. However, with her character I think Natsuki has an excuse. She was in suspended animation for 100,000 years, from the moment she was a baby. Her body only aged one year for every 5,000 years, and thus she was basically 20 when she woke up. Because of this, she never really had a childhood and thus never had a chance to grow up, so I think it's realistic that she's childish, ditzy, and a bit off. Furthermore, I think Natsuki has one of the most interesting backstories among 2000's Sentai characters, being the princess of an ancient civilization.

Eiji/Bouken Silver

To a lesser extent, Eiji also gets criticized. He's one of those characters that while has some popularity, isn't the most popular. Some fans criticize him for being "bland and boring" which seems to be a common criticism of Boukenger in general by the fans who don't like the series. With Eiji, I just don't see it. I think he's one of the most interesting 6th rangers in Sentai, and is among my top three favorites among 6th rangers (including Shurikenger and Doggie Krugar if he counts). Like Natsuki, I think Eiji has an interesting backstory as being one of the watchers of the Ashu. He's one of the more complex characters on Boukenger, and I love his rash yet badass personality.

Jan/Geki Red

With Jan, I won't lie. I'm not a big fan of his character, and I do find him at times to be annoying and an extreme version of Ban. Besides being one of the "screaming reds" Jan also gets criticized for his unique dialect of made up words. However, also like Ban I think the hatred of his character is often overexaggerated. He does gradually change, and has some good moments here and there (particularly the KaGeki arc, episode 22, the Gekiranger movie, and his backstory when it's revealed). Like Ban, his actor is fairly good when he has to show emotion or has to slow down a bit. Like Natsuki, while his childishness and dialect can get grating at times, I think it's a realistic part of his character since he lived away from society.

Ran/Geki Yellow

Like Umeko, Ran is criticized for being one dimensional and lacking development. However, I think her character receives a fair amount of development. Throughout Gekiranger, she had to learn to lighten up a bit and smile, deal with Jan and Retsu being turned into kids, learning how to be a team captain, and dealing with her mother. I do however, think her character gets the short end of the stick because she's underused, lacks focus episodes, and her leadership isn't developed as much as I would like. But for the short amount of focus I got, I think we got quite a bit out of her character.

Sousuke/Go-On Red

Sousuke is also at times bunched up with the group of "screaming reds." However, unlike the others I think he gets more criticism or is overlooked because of the series he's in, Go-Onger. He's much like Ban, and IMO plays the screaming red part better than anyone else except for Ban. Like Ban, he's quite reckless, but like Yousuke he's an idiot hero. While I like Ban better, I think he plays the "idiot hero" better than Yousuke. I also liked his relationship with his partner, Speedor, and also some of his dramatic stories such as episodes 35 & 36, and the Go-Onger movie. I also thought his interaction with the more serious characters was interesting, like the Go-On Wings or Takeru in Shinkenger vs Go-Onger.

Ahim/Gokai Pink

Despite the popularity of the Gokaiger cast, there's a trio of Gokaiger characters whom are a bit underappreciated by fans. The first is Ahim, whom like Umeko gets criticized for being the "girly-girl" of the team and being a flat one dimensional character. She also gets criticized for having a bland personality. Like Eiji, I just don't see it. Yeah she is "girly," but I don't think that's a good reason to dislike a character. I also don't think she's that bland of a character. I think she's shown some toughness, excellent gun skills, and I think is one of the best among recent Sentai senshi in terms of battle strategies and figuring out the opponent's strategies. Her development hasn't been as strong as the other Gokaigers so far, but I'm hoping we get a backstory episode about her past. Other's have even criticized her for being "badass" when the focus isn't on her, yet doing nothing in her own focus episodes, which I also disagree with. Episode 13 was kind of an oddball episode for me, but I like how she outsmarted Basco in episode 23 and the MOTW in episode 29. I also think unlike other stereotypical princesses, she's not your damsal in distress and holds her own pretty well.

Joe/Gokai Blue

Next we have Joe, who's not really "hated" but I feel is a bit underappreciated. Some fans accuse Joe of having the opposite problem as Ahim, being great in his focus episodes yet doing nothing or kinda just "being there" when the focus is not on him. To me this makes no sense. If the focus isn't on a certain character, he or she's not suppose to steal the show. So I don't think it hinders his character or the show at all. Others criticize him for being bland, which again I just don't see. It seems like some fans tend to associate "stoic" with being bland. Joe's focus episodes I think are among the best in the series, partly because of his backstory with the Zangyack and his friend Syd Bamick/Barizorg, but also because his acting talents really show in his focus episodes. This makes for some great drama. Also, like the other Gokaiger characters, he's quite awesome in terms of fighting ability.

Gai/Gokai Silver

Gai I think is another character who receives some unfair hate. He tends to get criticized for being a fanboy, Genta's clone, and being just there to cater to little kids and to sell toys. Admittedly, his fanboyishness does get a little grating once in a while, but I think just about anybody would act that way when meeting their favorite super hero or celebrity. In a way, his fanboyishness is a tribute to the franchise itself, and representing a fan's dream. Also, I think he contributes a lot to his team with his Sentai knowledge and has become relevant to the story. He's received some solid character development so far as well, particularly with his backstory, the Gingaman tribute episode, and even the Hurricanger two-parter.

Gokaiger Theme Song, Played by the Japanese Military

2011-09-18T22:15:00.000-07:00

Recently, I found a video of the Japanese military playing the Gokaiger theme song. If you ask me they're doing a pretty impressive job. Enjoy the video.

Gokaiger Episode Reviews- 27, 28, and 29

2011-09-15T18:51:00.000-07:00

Warning. Major Spoilers Ahead

Episode 27

Episode 27 starts out with Don and Luka shopping. However, they have to drop all their bags (actually Luka's bags) to stop a Zangyack attack. However, the MOTW Regaru performs performs a body switch on Don and Luka. The two of them now have to deal with everyday life in the other's body. Luka is having fun with the situation, including changing Doc's hair and getting phone numbers of a couple girls while she's in his body. Doc on the other hand, struggles. He runs off from a couple of guys who wanted Luka for a job to spot fake jewery. However, Don is saved by Luka (in Don's body). Meanwhile, the others are able to figure out the Zangyach plan. After Gai remembers that the people who were attacked by Regaru and the Gormin are foreign leaders, Ahim recognizes that Regaru intended to use his body switching abilities to switch bodies with the foreign leaders and take over the earth. Later, Luka and Don are able to join the others. They defeat Regaru, while Don and Luka are back to their normal bodies.

The switching bodies plot is one of the most unoriginal and overused plots ever. However, there are some things I do like about this episode. Planning to switch bodies with world leaders to conquer earth was actually quite a clever plan. It shows that the Zangyach at least are thinking instead of just always sending down the MOTW. Now if only their henchmen can get some more use. Along with episodes 23 and 29, it also showed Ahim to be quite the thinker. I also liked Mao Ichimichi's acting in this episode. Her facial expressions and portrayal of Don in this episode was hilarious, and I felt she showed some good acting ability. Kazuki Shimizu's portrayal of Luka was alright, but I think he's better as his own character. Despite the lack of originality, I felt it was still an enjoyable watch. Overall I give it 8/10.

Episode 28

After a mecha battle with the Sugormin the Gokaigers run into the bounty hunter Kiaiou. Marvelous instantly recognizes him from a past fight and instantly shows his fear. The Gokaigers transform into Bioman and Maskman but are unable to defeat Kiaidou. Kiaidou lets the Gokaigers retreat, telling them they're too weak for him to kill them. However, Kiaidou let them go just to raise their bounties. Sensing trouble, the ghost of Gai Yuuki/Black Condor comes to the Gokaigers and steals Marvelous' and Joe's Mobirates. Gai still has his flirty attitude with women, and flirts with Luka. Gai Ikari tells the other Gokaigers that there are some mysteries surrounding Gai Yuuki. Later on that night, Gai Yuuki confronts Marvelous about his fear and tells him that right now he's not fit to obtain the Jetman grand power. Marvelous follows Gai Yuuki and finds his grave. The next day, the Gokaigers stumble upon Gai Yuuki fighting Kiaidou. After seeing Gai Yuuki fighting to protect the other Jetmen, Marvelous overcomes his fear. Gai then gives Marvelous and Joe their Mobirates back and the Jetman grand power. The Gokaigers use the Jetman grand power to defeat Kiaidou, who's not even revived to grow giant. Afterwards, Gai Yuuki sits on the bench where he died. The episode ends the same way it begun, with Gai Yuuki playing cards with a goddess in a jazz club.

This episoed was excellent and very well written. In the fight with Kiaidou, Gai Yuuki showed that he's still quite the badass. It is a bummer that Gai Yuuki is "officially dead" but it was nice to see some of the things left on his grave from the other Jetmen members, including a cup of noodles from Ako. This was one of the better episodes in the series. Overall I give it 9/10.

Episode 29

Episode 29 begins with Walz Gils having problems with a cold. Insarn informs him that the cure is joy from women on earth. Barizorg's suggestion is Daiyal, whom can suck the happiness out of women with his staff. After leaving a restaurant, Gai is questioning Marvelous as to why he let Ahim join, saying that she doesn't seem like much of a pirate. Marvelous responds to Gai by saying "you don't know jack about Ahim." They catch Daiyal attacking a married woman at a wedding and try to stop him. However, it's revealed that he can shrink or grow giant on his own. After growing large, he shrinks and manages to get inside GouZyuJin, attacking Gai and taking over the mecha to attack GokaiOh. After Gai recovers, he shrinks again and attacks the others inside GokaiOh. Marvelous, Joe, and Luka shoot at him against Don's warnings, and do some damage to GokaiOh. Later, Daiyal shrinks and sneaks into Luka's suit. Ahim uses bug spray to get him out, and Daiyal retreats. As punishment for their recklessness, Don has Marvelous, Joe, and Luka help him repair the ship. Meanwhile, Ahim tells Gai to marry him immediately, much to Gai's shock. However, this was Ahim's plan to lure Daiyal out. It succeeds but he manages to escape the first time. However, Ahim goes on a cosplay rampage, disguising as a school girl, a nurse, and a police woman all to outsmart Daiyal. She crushes his staff, and when the others are done, Gai tells Marvelous that he now sees what Marvelous saw in Ahim. Yukito/Abare Blue and Emiri (who's now his wife) catch up to them and tell them that Ahim's rampage makes them worthy of the Abaranger grand power. The secret to their power is that GokaiOh and GouZyuJin can combine. Emiri gives Ahim an Abarepink ranger key. When the Gokaigers transform into Abarangers, Ahim's Abarepink outfit looks more like a pajama suit. Embarrassed, Ahim stays back and doesn't join the fight. After Daiyal grows large, the Gokaigers use the Abaranger keys to combine GokaiOh with GouZyuJin to form GoZyu-GokaiOh, and defeat Diayal for good. Later on, Gai is sharing Ahim's cosplay disguise story with the others and shows them pictures of Ahim in the various cosplay, embarrasing Ahim in the process.

This episode had a mixed reaction from the fandom, and seemed to divide the message boards (rangerboard users mostly seemed to love the episode while Henshin Justice users seemed mix with some outright hating the episode). It is somewhat understandable to see why it got a mixed reaction. This episode didn't do as much in terms of paying tribute to Abaranger unlike other tribute episodes. The main disappoinments were not at least mentioning the Dino Curry house and the lack of interaction between Yukito and the Gokaiger cast. However, the episode itself did have some tributes to Abaranger such as breaking the fourth wall, Abarepink, and the commercial break. Overall, I felt the episode paid more of a tribute to the spirit of Abaranger with its comedy and utter randomness, then to the series itself. With that said, I felt it was still quite an enjoyable and entertaining episode. I think it's one of the funnier episodes in Gokaiger, funnier than the body switcher episode and even rivaling the Carranger tribute episode. I particularly found the Abarepink joke and Ahim's embarrasment funny. Sure, a lot of it was Ahim fanservice, but I think the episode showed Ahim in a different light. It showed that she's more than capable of outsmarting an enemy on her own. It was kinda disappointing that she didn't fight after transforming into Abarepink, but everything else she did before that more than made up for it. Overall, I give this episode 8.5/10.

August Poll Results, September Polls

2011-09-06T22:27:00.000-07:00

Polls for August asked "How should Goseiger be adapted for Power Rangers?
The 126 voters, the overwhelming majority (80%) said that Goseiger should be adapted with a completely original storyline. This I agree with but sadley, I don't have much hope of it happening.

13 voters (8%) said all of Goseigers' plots and characters should be copied and pasted for its Power Rangers adaptation.
13 voters (again, 8%) said Saban should skip Goseiger and move onto Gokaiger.
4 voters (2%) said that Goseiger should be adapted as the second season of Power Rangers Samurai.

The other two polls circled around Gokaiger. The first one was "As a Super Sentai fan, do you want to see Gokaiger adapted for Power Rangers?
124 voters (86%) said yes.
20 voters (13%) said no.

The next question was virtually the same, but as a "Power Rangers fan."
117 voters (89%) said yes.
14 voters (10%) said no.

September's polls will ask if you like the newer version of my "series reviews" or the old ones better. Other polls will be asking if you would like to see reviews of other tokusatsu related shows such as Kamen Rider, Shibuya 15, and Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon.

Gaoranger Series Review

2011-08-30T15:50:00.000-07:00

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

2011-08-27T15:31:00.000-07:00

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

2011-08-24T19:35:00.000-07:00

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

2011-08-16T10:30:00.000-07:00

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.

2011-08-13T19:10:00.001-07:00

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?

2011-08-07T18:31:00.000-07:00

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

2011-08-07T17:21:00.000-07:00

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.

Late Reviews, Gokaiger Episodes 19, 20, and 21

2011-07-22T19:10:00.000-07:00

This is a bit late but I decided I wanted to review the last 3 episodes of Gokaiger, starting with episode 19. Episode 19 is a character focus episode for Gai and Doc. The episode begins with Gokai Silver being linked to the 6th ranger-ranger keys. Afterwards he cooks for everyone, and everyone loves it. However, Doc gets jealous and starts to think that Gai is replacing everything that Doc has done, essentially making him useless. In a fight against the MOTW, Gai combines both the Go-On Wings keys into one, making him half Go-On Silver and half Go-On Gold. However, the MOTW pulls the bones out of Marvelous, Joe, Luka, and Ahim, making them too lazy to do anything. Doc reaches his breaking point, and tells Gai to fight the monster by himself since Doc feels useless. However, Navi tells Doc about how Gai complemented his cooking, which cheers Doc up. Later on, Doc tells Gai to combine all of the 6th ranger-ranger keys, which he does to create Gold Mode. Gai uses Gold Mode to defeat the MOTW.

Episode 19 I thought was pretty good. A solid character development episode for both the newcomer (Gai) and for Doc. However, I will say that Gai's Gold Mode looks silly. The armor is too big and all the helmets on it look a bit goofy. That said, most Power Ranger battlizers and the Power Rangers Samurai Mega Mode look a lot worst than Gold Mode. Overall I give this episode 8/10.

In episode 20, the Gokaigers have to go to Ginga Forest to collect Gingaman's grand power. However, as the Gingaman team fought Space Pirates, the Gokaigers knew they might not receive a warm welcome. In preparation Doc made some donuts. When the Gokaigers reach the forest's border, they recognize that they're just walking in circles. Eventually, Basco appears after attacking Hyuuga. Basco uses the DekaMaster, MagiMother, and Wolzard Fire ranger keys to combat the Gokaigers. Doc, Luka, Joe, and Ahim are overwhelmed and fall into a river. However, they're saved by Ryoma. For helping, Doc gives the donuts to Ryoma. Meanwhile, in the presence of Hyuuga, Gai starts to doubt himself, leading to Hyuuga demanding Gai to give him the Gokai Silver changer. Later, Basco tries to steal the grand power away from Hyuuga, but Marvelous stops him. However, Marvelous is overwhelmed fighting against BullBlack, Deka Master, Magi Mother, and Wolzard Fire. Basco tells Marvelous he should quit, but Marvelous responds that he won't quit his dream, which is to get his hands on the universe's greatest treasure. After hearing these words, Gai realizes he can't give up his dream of being a Super Sentai warrior, and tells Hyuuga. Hyuuga says that's what he wanted to hear. Gai defeats BullBlack, while the other Gokaigers transform into Gingaman and defeat Deka Master, Magi Mother, and Wolzard Fire. However, Sally retrieves all these keys (except for BullBlack) before the Gokaigers could get them. Later on, Hyuuga entrusts the BullBlack ranger key and the Gingaman grand power to Gai.

Like the previous episode, this one was also pretty good. It provided some solid bits of character development for Gai, who learned he can't easily give up his dream after being starstruck. I give this episode 8/10.

In episode 21, Akashi/Bouken Red board Gokai Gallon and asks the Gokagers to help him find a precious named the "Heart of the Underworld." Initially Marvelous was reluctant but Akashi challenges him, saying Marvelous doesn't have the "confidence." This leads the Gokaigers to search for the Heart of the Underworld, but Insarn and the Zangyack are also after it. Marvelous and Luka follow Akashi while the others stay and fight the Gormin. Eventually, Marvelous, Luka, and Akashi find the Heart of the Underworld, but the Jaryu Tribe had already found it and use it to revive Ryuuon. Eventually, Marvelous and Luka join the others to fight Ryuuon to retake the Heart of the Underworld. After transforming into Boukengers, Marvelous being a badass, rips the Heart of the Underworld out of Ryuuon's chest. However, Ryuuon being even more badass had already absorbed its power. He fights off all of the Gokaigers' attacks and grows large. The Gokaiger mecha attacks, including DekaGokaiOh and MagiGokaiOh don't work. Eventually, they decide to use the Boukengers' grand power which does work.

Of the three episodes, I felt this one was the best. It provided some minor character development for Marvelous, mostly through flashbacks but it showed he had gotten more anxious because of Basco's presence. Marvelous was badass throughout the episode, and it was really awesome seeing Ryuuon back. Ryuuon proved even more how awesome of a villain he is. I give this episode 9/10.

Power Rangers SPD Japanese Dubbing Press Conference

2011-07-15T08:49:00.000-07:00

Here's the press conference with the Dekaranger cast, whom except for Swan's actress will all be dubbing their Power Ranger counterparts. The best part is when Tetsu Inada does his Doggie Krugar impersonation.

Most Childish Power Rangers Series

2011-07-13T12:42:00.000-07:00

A while back I did a post on what I thought were the most childish Sentai series. Now I've decided to make a post on the most childish Power Rangers series.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers

MMPR was kinda childish when it began. The series had its fair share of cheese and it always talked down to its audience. It was preachy in terms of what good kids should and shouldn't do. However, at the time (early 90's) this was fairly common among American TV shows. Some even went to greater extremes, like Captain Planet. On the whole, I think MMPR was a little childish but it wasn't that chidish. Compared to its counterpart, Zyuranger, MMPR didn't have the kid of the week thing going, even though MMPR had its fair amount of children guest stars as well. Also, MMPR didn't revolve around a fantasy. There were other shows around at the time or slightly later that were more childish, like Masked Rider and Big Bad Beatleborgs. However, Disney's remake of MMPR (MMPRv2) was extremely childish. It was complete with corny special effects and comic book strips. Needless to say, the remake version was terrible.

Power Rangers Wild Force

Wild Force I felt was even more childish than MMPR, although not as childish as the MMPR remake version. Wild Force was kinda like Magiranger, an odd mix of childish themes and dark themes. However, I think Wild Force's childish aspects dragged down the show. Wild Force had a lot of children guest stars (most of them bad actors) and the story of the Animarium was read ridiculously from a childrens book. This I felt dragged down Wild Force the most.

June Poll Results, New Polls

2011-07-08T19:33:00.000-07:00

Gokaiger Episode 14 was voted overwhelmingly to be the funniest moment/episode of the 21st Century, with 77 votes. The Shinkenger Returns V-Cinema movie and Natsuki's rampage (episode 24 of Boukenger) tied for second with 34 votes. Akashi being cursed with bad luck was 4th with 31 votes, and an alienizer falling in love with Tetsu was 5th with 29 votes.

The ending in Timeranger was voted as the saddest moment of the 21st Century with 62 votes. Second was Hoji (DekaBlue) having to delete his girlfriend's brother, with 38 votes. Third was Rio and Mele's death in Gekiranger.

New polls will allow people to pick to see what they want to see more from my blog.

Gokaiger Episode 18 Review

2011-06-28T18:58:00.000-07:00

Episode 18 picks up where episode 17 left off. The Gokaigers question Gai about where he got his powers and what he knows about the grand powers. Gai reveals that he got three grand powers, from Abaranger, Timeranger, and Zyuranger. This happened after he saved a kid and was hospitalized after being hit by a truck. Here, Gai has a near-death experience, and goes to the afterworld. He meets three dead sentai warriors, Abarekiller, Time Fire, and Dragon Ranger. Seeing his bravery, they give Gai a Gokai changer and ranger key, while giving him their grand powers. However, Marvelous tells Gai that he must prove his worth before he acknowledge him as a member of the team. He does this by fighting the Gorming and the MOTW without his powers, but is overwhelmed before being saved by the Gokaigers. here, Marvelous gives him his Gokai changer back. They transform, defeat the Gormin, than transform into Shinkengers (while mistaking gold rangers in the process). Later they transform into an entire team of silver rangers. After defeating the MOTW the first time, Gai is given the ranger keys for Abarekiller, Time Fire, and Dragon Ranger to unlock their powers. Gokai Silver's mecha comes from the future, and transforms into three different forms. All of which from each of the different powers. Gai defeats the MOTW after combining all of their powers.

This episode was awesome. One of the best of the season so far. I was kinda on the fence about the first episode of this two-parter, but this one was everything I hoped for. Good story, Gai shows his worth, and more awesome fights. They also thankfully toned down Gai's rollcall, which I felt was too long and cheesy in episode 17. It was also this episode that dawned on me that not only are Abarekiller, Time Fire, and Dragon Ranger all dead, but they all had dinosaur based powers. My only complaint about the episode is that I was hoping the Timeranger's version of Gai's mecha looked more like V-Rex, which IMO is one of the more awesome Sentai mechas ever. Despite that I really loved the episode. I give it 9/10.

Power Rangers Dino Thunder Series Review

2011-06-22T09:31:00.000-07:00

Power Rangers Dino Thunder (2004) was adapted from Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger, was the 12th installment of Power Rangers. Dino Thunder, while keeping Abaranger's dinosaur motif, had a completely original storyline. In this season, popular character Tommy Olliver returned much to the delight of the power rangers fandom. The series also plays heavily on MMPR nostalgia with Tommy, the dinosaur theme, and teenage characters. Dino Thunder is generally one of the most popular power rangers series due to Tommy's return, as well as a likable cast and solid writing. However, some tend to criticize Dino Thunder as a Disney rip-off of MMPR, as well as for the white ranger clone saga and for Tommy being stuck in morphed form during the middle third of the season. The latter was due to Jason David Frank requesting time off to take care of his dojo in the United States. This is a season that tends to be both overrated and underrated, imo. Many Tommy fans tend to overrate the show just because Tommy is in it while the actual content of the series itself I feel is underrated.

The Good
Tommy serves the mentor position quite well during this series, even though it's odd to think of him having a PHD in Paleontology. However, besides Tommy, Dino Thunder I feel has a good cast. Other solid characters include Trent, Kira, Ethan, and Haley. Also, the acting in Dino Thunder is fairly good, seemingly a rarity in Power Rangers. The villains are solid, particularly Mesogog and Zeltrax. Also, despite Tommy being stuck in morphed form, this actually worked in Dino Thunder's favor. It allowed for some good character development for the other characters while JDF was away. The story was solid, particularly Trent's story with his foster father who happened to be Mesogog. It is a bit of an overused plot but I felt it worked really well here, especially since Tommy had known Trent's father before the series began. Dino Thunder also had a good and enjoyable team-up with Ninja Storm. This series also has one of the better theme songs as well, despite not having the word "go" in it.

The Bad
While most of the characters are solid, Connor imo is one of the most unlikable characters ever in Power Rangers. Connor was the jerkass, annoying, and dumbass all rolled into one. The handling of the White Ranger clone saga wasn't particularly well done. It was a good idea on paper and worked well with the story, but how they handled the Sentai footage was a mess. The other problem was the somewhat anti-climatic final battle.

The Ugly
There's nothing I would really consider ugly about this series.

My Rating
8.5/10- Despite having Connor as one of the more unlikable characters, this series is actually pretty good. I feel all the pros outweigh the cons in this series.

My Favorite Episodes
Episodes 1-2 (Day of the Dino): Solid start to the season.
Episode 4 (Legacy of Power): A clip show of the entire first 11 seasons, and it's Power Rangers' 500th episode.
Episode 5 (Back in Black): Tommy's return as a power ranger.
Episode 6 (Diva in Distress): A kinda cheesy episode but still a solid character development episode for Kira.
Episodes 11-13 (White Thunder): Trent becomes the evil white ranger.
Episode 18 (Bully for Ethan): Good episode for character development and story, despite a chesy ending.
Episode 21 (Copy That): Strong episode involving Trent and his father.
Episode 27 (Fighting Spirit): This one is not only a great episode for Tommy, but the others as well who gather the courage to fight the MOTW without their powers.
Episode 30 (Strange Relations): The end of the White Ranger clone saga, but it ends with a cool battle between the two white rangers.
Episodes 31-32 (Thunder Struck): The Dino Thunder-Ninja Storm team-up.
Episode 36 (A Test of Trust): A clip show, but one that goes over trust issues with Trent as well as the character development the others have received.

Gokaiger Episode 17 Review

2011-06-16T18:54:00.000-07:00

Episode 17 introduces Gai Ikari as Gokai Silver. The episode starts out with Navi giving his prophecy, which was finding something or someone "sugoi in silver." This turned out to be Gai, who the others dismissed initially (although Luka found him to be cute). However, he transforms into Gokai Silver much to everyone's surprise and takes out the Gormin. Later, he's able to defeat the MOTW, and the other Gokaigers start questioning Gai at the end of the episode.

This episode reminds me a lot of Genta's debut in Shinkenger. Of course, personality wise Gai is a lot like Genta, hyper and flashy. He's also a wannabee Super Sentai senshi, like Genta was kinda a wannabee samurai, although Genta had a deep friendship with Takeru. I thought Gai kicked ass in his fight scenes and I love the Gokai Silver suit. However, there were two issues I had with this episode. The brief second in which Gai was fantasizing about being a Gokaiger, everyone's personality except for Ahim changed which kinda annoyed me, but this was a minor issue. The real big issue I had was with Gokai Silver's long, drawn out, and over the top roll call. I mean seriously, Gai's roll call is longer than any of the Gekirangers', which is saying something. It really doesn't fit with this show especially when the others have such a short and straight to the point roll call. I hope this was just a one time thing because I don't want to see Gai's roll call stealing the show every episode. About the character himself, I felt for this episode Gai was alright. It's only one episode and there's a long way to go before I can judge his character. I am, however, really interested in seeing the next episode with him obtaining the Zyuranger, Abaranger, and Timeranger grand powers. That will be interesting to see. Overall, I thought the episode was ok, so I give it 7/10. I'm just more interested to see what will happen next.

Most Mature Power Rangers Seasons

2011-06-14T03:45:00.000-07:00

Recently, Sean made a post on some of the most mature Sentai seasons, so I felt compelled to make one for Power Rangers.

Power Rangers In Space

In Space was the first truly mature season. It had complex and edgy storylines such as Zhane and Astronema hooking up, the search for Zordon, the main villain being Andros' sister, and the final battle Countdown to Destruction. For me, In Space is the most epic season of Power Rangers.

Lost Galaxy

Lost Galaxy was also a very mature season and was pretty dark. Lost Galaxy had more on screen deaths than any other season of power rangers and also had the morally questionable Magna Defender. Overall, I felt Lost Galaxy wrapped a nice story together, and did better than any other season of mixing the Sentai plot with its own plot. Still, for me Lost Galaxy isn't quite as good with the drama as In Space and RPM are.

Lightspeed Rescue

Lightspeed Rescue was another mature season, but not as mature or as dark as some of the other seasons on this list. Its maturity mostly revolved around the character Ryan, whom was Captain Mitchell's son and Kelsey's brother. The story involved Ryan being evil at first and later having to fight for his own life, which was threatened by the cobra tattoo that was placed on his back by Diabolico.

Time Force

Time Force is another dark season that dealt with issues such as death and terrorism. However, most of the plots surrounding these issues were copied heavily from its Sentai counterpart, Timeranger. The only real mature issue that was original and Time Force covered was discrimination against mutants in the future. This was shown with Ransik's backstory.

SPD

SPD I felt had some really mature situations as well. Particularly surrounding the murder of Sky's father, the kidnapping of Crugar's wife, and the destruction of his home planet. It also had two Robin Hood like characters, Jack and Z, who were offered to join the team as redemption for some of the crimes they committed previously.

RPM

RPM is probably the most mature and darkest season of Power Rangers. With the setting of the post-apocalyptic world, as well as many of the character's backstories. Particularly noticeable was Dr. K's backstory, how she was basically quarantined inside a military bunker her whole life and how she was the one who created the Venjix Virus that went on to nearly wipe out humanity.

Sentai Female Characters Who I Think are Their Series' Best Characters

2011-06-12T10:33:00.000-07:00

Because Sentai has a male-majority audience, and far more male characters than female characters, I think sometimes the girls get overlooked. This is especially true unless the female character is hot. In fact, I think often the "girly-girl" or ditzy characters get bashed too often, like Umeko, Natsuki, and Ahim. So I decided to talk about some female characters that I feel are the best characters in their respective series. These are my biased opinions so I don't expect everyone to think the same way as I do.

Yuuri, Time Pink

I think Yuuri is the best character on Timeranger. Not just because she's the leader, or tsudere, but also her toughness and strategy intelligence. I also like her backstory with her family being killed and how it relates to her trying to capture Don Dorunero to bring justice to him.

Sae, GaoWhite

Sae is my favorite Gaoranger character. She's not really that good looking (but not ugly), but she has a delightful personality and excellent fighting skills. She's level headed and like the glue that keeps the Gaoranger team together, imo. I also loved the episode with her and her father. Interestingly, tvtropes.org describes her as a "bratty teenage daughter" but I just don't see it. It seems more like someone who didn't like her just added that to her character profile.

Jasmine, Deka Yellow

This one won't come as much of a surprise to anyone. For me, however, it's more than Jasmine's looks that I think makes her great. Her toughness, and mysterious charm. BTW, Ayumi Kinoshita is really good at playing mysterious characters, I'd recommend watching her on Uramiya Honpo to see this as well. Anyways, I also like Jasmine's funny sarcasm and her antics like nick-naming the MOTW or half-way singing the abaranger theme song on Dekaranger vs Abaranger, and of course because she's an ESPER. Not to mention she has a really touching backstory, where she was made fun of so much at one point she considered suicide before Doggie saved her.

Sakura/Bouken Pink and Natsuki/Bouken Yellow

In Boukenger I think both Sakura and Natsuki are the best characters. Sakura won't surprise anyone but Natsuki will. IMO Natsuki is highly underrated and gets bashed too much (at least on rangerboard) for being the girly girl and the ditz. However, I think her ditzy and energetic personality makes her cute and funny, especially episode 24 when she goes overkill with Ultimate DaiBouken. Besides her personality, Natsuki has one of the most interesting backstories with her being an ancient member of the extinct Lemuria civilization. Episodes 33 and 34, which covers Natsuki's background, are two of my favorite Sentai episodes ever.

However, I do like Sakura a tad bit more and think that Sakura is the better character. Like Yuuri, she's tough, intelligent, a genius with battle strategy, and a much different pink. But unlike Yuuri, Sakura can be both really badass (like episode 12) or really cute and adorable (like episode 37).

Eri/Gosei Pink, and Moune/Gosei Yellow

Like Boukenger, I think both of the Gosei girls are the best characters in their series. However, the difference is that in Boukenger, Sakura and Natsuki stick out in an already good cast. Here, Eri and Moune stick out in anotherwise bland and boring cast. For me, Eri and Moune aren't great characters but they're descent. They're the only Goseiger characters that really have any kind of personality. Eri, like Natsuki is bubbly and ditzy, but somewhat funny. Moune is also a bit on the bubbly and cheerful side as well. I will say that I hated the running gag of Hyde treating Moune like a child. It was alright the first time but afterwards it just got tiring.

Gokaiger Episode 15 & 16 Review

2011-06-11T08:06:00.000-07:00

I'd like to apologize for my lack of activity in recent weeks. I've been busy with school but now that school is over, at least until September, I'll have plenty of time to work on my blog.

Episode 15

In episode 15, a new villain is introduced, Basco. Basco is a former member of the red pirates gang that included Marvelous and AkaRed. Basco betrayed them to seek the universe's greatest treasure by himself. He also had his own set of ranger keys (practically all the 6th ranger keys), and summoned them to fight with a trumpet. First, the Gokaigers defeat TimeFire, Shurikenger, DekaBreak, Dragon Ranger, and King Ranger. However, Basco summons 10 more 6th rangers, and they overwhelm and capture all of the Gokaigers except for Marvelous.

This episode I thought was pretty good. Great fight scenes, as usual, and the friendship bonding. I've felt Gokaiger had been slightly lacking in the villain department, but I really enjoyed Basco. He's despicable, dirty, just what I felt Gokaiger needs. I'm anxious to see how he'll turn out. For this episode I give it 8.5/10.

Episode 16

In episode 16 Joe, Luka, Ahim, and Don try to escape Basco's ship but fail. We get a flashback to when Marvelous first met AkaRed. They have a mini dual before AkaRed recruits Marvelous to join the treasure hunt. Meanwhile Basco ransoms Joe, Luka, Ahim, and Don for the Ranger Keys. However, Marvelous had a clever plan. He threw the chest into the air, in which Don managed to catch a Gokai changer with is mouth, while Goe catches the ShinkenGreen key with is mouth as well. Together they use it to transform Don into ShinkenGreen, who then cuts everyone free. Meanwhile Navi gathers the scattered ranger keys. The Gokaigers defeat the remaining 6th rangers and collect their keys. However, they have to do battle with a giant Sgormin, which they defeat with the use of ShinkenGokaiOh. At the end of the episode, Basco reveals he still has more ranger keys.

Episode 16 I felt was descent. Not as action packed as the first part of this two parter, but still pretty descent. I would have liked to see a little stronger background story with Marvelous and AkaRed, but I'm guessing we'll see a lot more as the series progresses. I give this episode 8/10.

May Poll Results, New Poll

2011-06-04T19:27:00.000-07:00

Favorite Gokaiger Character

Captain Marvelous won the "Favorite Gokaiger Character" poll with 59 votes (45%). Luka was second with 31 votes (23%). Joe was third with 18 votes (13%). Ahim barely beat out Don with 12 votes (9%), and Don was dead last with 11 votes (8%).

Favorite Power Rangers Samurai

Mike won the poll for favorite Power Rangers Samurai character with 43 votes (36%). For me, he's the only descent character on Samurai and the only one that has any real acting ability. Jayden was second with 28 votes (23%). Antonio was third with 22 votes (18%). Emily was fourth with 11 votes (9%). Mia was fifth with 9 votes (7%). Kevin was dead last with 5 votes (4%).

The next polls will be on the funniest and saddest moments among 21st Century Sentai's. If I'm missing one let me know.

Most Childish Sentai's

2011-05-21T08:20:00.000-07:00

Recently, Sean Akizuki made his list of "kiddie" Sentai series, so I decided to make my own list of Sentais I consider kiddie or childish.

Go-Onger

G0-Onger IMO is easily the most childish Sentai series with the talking mechas complete with anime eyes (the engines), cartoon strips, and its comedic style. Commercially Go-Onger was a success, selling 12 Billion Yen in toys, the highest since Abaranger. However, this strategy alienated older adults. Among English-speaking fans Go-Onger has come off as a love it or hate it series with many calling Go-Onger the worst Sentai series, mostly due to its childish nature. Personally, I don't think Go-Onger is a bad series at all. Actually, I feel that its childish nature works well in its favor and makes the show entertaining. The engines have really cool and vibrant personalities with my favorites being Speedor, Birca, and Bear RV. As for the show's comedy, I thought it was ok. Not as good as the comedy from Dekaranger, Boukenger, or Shinkenger but much better than say Goseigers, Power Rangers Ninja Storm, and Power Rangers Samurai.

Magiranger

Magiranger I think is the second most childish Sentai behind Go-Onger because of the magic motif, characters like Mandora Boy and Smokey, and its goofy comedy. However, this series mixes its childishness with some pretty dark and serious moments. Unlike Go-Onger, Magiranger doesn't get as much criticism for its childish nature due to its unique story. Personally I think the childish aspects of Magiranger were ok. I'm not a fan of magic shows but I felt the magic motif overall was handled ok. Mandora Boy was ok and I actually liked Smokey quite a bit. The comedy, like Go-Onger's, I thought was just ok. However, for me Magiranger is at its best when its more serious, like when the story focuses on the villains or Magiranger's family aspects.

Zyuranger

Zyuranger is another childish Sentai. The dinosaur motif was handled in a fairytale fantasy setting, the child of the week gimmick, and its kiddie outro. This seemed to work well with kids but like Go-Onger it alienated older audiences. Among Western fans, Zyuranger has fans split between fans who think it's not that good and fans who tend to overrate the series due to MMPR nostalgic factors. Personally, I disliked Zyuranger's childish aspects. I don't really care for the fairytale setting in Zyuranger, but unlike Magiranger I didn't think it was handled well at all. Also, the child of the week gimmick I feel is pretty lame and distracts the show from character development. However, like Magiranger, I think Zyuranger is at its best when its story circles around its more serious aspects such as Burai's touching story, his relationship with his brother Geki, and to an extent Bandora.

Goseiger

Goseiger is fourth on this list for a few reasons. The show's motif IMO is pretty childish with the angel motif and the second outro was kinda kiddie. However, it's last on this list because when you actually watch the show it seems unsure as to rather it wants to take the turn of childish comedy like Go-Onger or go for the more serious tone. Goseiger hasn't been well received among Western fans. I have to admit like Magiranger's motif, I'm not much of a fan of Goseiger's angel motif. But at least Magiranger did handle the magic motif reasonably well, here Goseiger does virtually nothing with the angel motif. Initially it was set up well with the 5 Gosei Angels from three different tribes but other than having different powers and abilities, nothing is really done to distinguish how these tribes are different. In Zyuranger for example, when all the characters are from different tribes, we do at least get some background story, particularly surrounding Geki and Burai. However, unlike Magiranger or Zyuranger, the serious moments in Goseiger aren't that well handled IMO, at least not until towards the end a little bit. So for me, this series fails both with its childish and comedic tone, and its more serious moments. Goseiger so far is the only Sentai series I truly dislike.

The Thunder Rangers, Power Rangers Ninja Storm

2011-05-20T13:22:00.000-07:00

After writing my previous post on the Goraijers, Sean Akizuki requested for me to do a similar post on their Power Rangers counterpart, the Thunder Rangers. So, here's the Thunder Rangers story.

The Thunder Rangers' backstory is somewhat similar to their Hurricanger counterparts, the Goraijers. Yet it's much different as well. Like in Hurricanger, the Thunder Rangers are from a different ninja school, who's ninja school was destroyed by Lothor's invasion. Also, like Dustin, they had dirt bike racing hobbies. They're also brothers like the Goraijers, but unlike the Goraijers they're foster brothers. It seems this was used as a plot convenience since the actors have different ethnicities. Anyways, like the Goraijers they were dealing with family issues, but instead of having a coldblooded manipulative father, they were dealing with the death of their foster parents. Lothor destroyed the Thunder Ninja Academy, captured Blake and Hunter and their sensei. Lothor blamed the death of Blake and Hunter's parents on the Wind Ranger's sensei, Kanoi. They made a deal with Lothor, battled the Wind rangers, and eventually captured Sensei Kanoi. However, when they took him to the Cavern of Spirits. It was here that the truth was revealed, that Lothor had killed their parents.

After this debacle they left town before returning a few episodes later. Here they got a second story arc in which Chuubo tricked them and put them under mind control. Chuubo used them to fight the wind rangers. However, Blake snapped out of Chuubo's mind control first. He told the wind rangers the truth about what happened. Together with the wind rangers, Blake was able to bring his brother Hunter to his senses. Because of this humiliating defeat, Chuubo was exiled from Lothor's ship. Chuubo went after the Thunder Rangers and captured them in a box. They were eventually freed by the Wind Rangers and joined the Wind Rangers permamently in their fight against Lothor.

The Thunder Rangers backstory doesn't go any deeper than this. Personally, I thought the first arc involving their foster parents was ok, but it wasn't mind blowing like the Goraijers story with their father. The second story arc with them being manipulated by Chuubo comes off to me as an outright Evil Green Ranger rip-off. It's not nearly as intense and the dialog during this arc tends to be hit or miss. It's either funny at times or overly cheesy. Their development also isn't as strong as the Goraijers, who gradually bonded with the Hurricangers and became friends. There may have been some limitations placed on the writers by Disney, which Disney is known for much softer story telling. There are some reports that during Dino Thunder the writers wanted to have Trent be the Evil White Ranger just as long as Mikoto was evil during Abaranger. I will say that unlike in Hurricanger when Isshu and Nanami have a ship-tease and nothing is done with it until Hurricanger, they do go a little farther with the hints of Blake and Tori. It's evident early on that Tori likes Blake and the writers seem to want to hook them up, but like the Isshu-Nanami relationship it really goes nowhere. As for the characters themselves, I find Hunter to be really bland. He's not the worst power ranger character I've seen but I think he's just a boring character. I do kinda like Blake. He's charming, somewhat cool, and somewhat interesting. Still, neither character really compares to either Ikkou or Isshu from Hurricanger. In fact, I don't think they're even the best part of Ninja Storm. Personally, I think the best part of Ninja Storm is the story surrounding Cam who later becomes the Green Samurai Ranger (Shurikenger's counterpart), the story surrounding his family, his father (Sensei Kanoi), and his uncle (who happens to be Lothor the main villain). Also, Lothor who's kinda funny I think is also more interesting than either the Thunder Rangers are.

Goraijers: Transition from Enemies to Friends of the Hurricangers

2011-05-19T19:13:00.000-07:00

Among all the jerkass charachters that went through the defrosting development, the Goraijers are my favorites. More so than similarly developed characters like Gai, Hoji, and the Go-On Wings. I like all these characters as well, but I like the Goraijers even more not only because they're badass but they have a kickass backstory and strong character development. First to start off, they're from the Ikazuchi Ninja Academy, the rival ninja school to the Hurricanger's Hayate Ninja Academy. Initially the Goraijers were raised by their father to gain strength through emotions such as rage and hatred. Living off of these emotions for most of their lives, they strived to gain the power of "that." I won't mention what "that" is to avoid spoilers for those of you who haven't watched Hurricanger yet. They joined the Jakanja with the common goal of obtaining "that" and were cold blooded enemies of the Hurricangers. Eventually, they learned that in order to obtain "that," one of them would have to kill the other. They learned that their father cared nothing for their lives and more about the power of "that." After learning the truth they turned against the Jakanja, and initially formed a loose alliance with the Hurricangers and later Shurikenger. Besides having to deal with the issues from their dark and cruel father, Ikkou had a rivalry with the Jakanja's third spear, Manmaruba. Manmaruba had planted a scorpion egg in Ikkou's body and was on track to kill him on the next full moon. When Ikkou discovered he had the scorpion egg in his body he decided to accept his inevitable death as his "destiny." However, his brother Isshu served as Ikkou's balance and refused to believe that death was Ikkou's destiny. Ikkou also had a rivalry with Yousuke. Ikkou wanted to act cold to the Hurricangers and wanted him and Isshu to support them from the shadow, even though it was evident that Ikkou actually was fond of Yousuke. Meanwhile, Isshu was loosening up as he was starting to fall in love for Nanami. Eventually the next full moon came, and Ikkou was on the verge of dying. However, he was saved by Yousuke, who risked his life and tricked Manmaruba to give him a scorpion egg. Yousuke used this scorpion egg as an antidote to save Ikkou. After this incident Ikkou defeated Manmaruba and the Goraijers officially joined the Hurricangers and bonded together as friends. Still, they faced more hardships as the series went on. Manmaruba was revived and later, Isshu's past demons of his father and being from the rival ninja school would come back to get the better of him. Eventually Isshu as well overcame this issue. For me, while maybe not the best, the Goraijers development and backstory has a lot of good drama and is one of my favorites. For anyone interested in watching Hurricanger, I really like the series a lot. Of course, Hurricanger still has a lot more good stuff to offer other than the Goraijers but the Goraijers alone are more than enough to make it worth watching.

Power Rangers Handling of Midseason Cast Changes

2011-05-17T12:25:00.000-07:00

Over the course of Power Rangers there have been six midseason cast changes. All of which happened during the early years of the program (MMPR S2- Lost Galaxy). Here I decided to take a look back at all these different cast changes.

MMPR S2

The first one happened during MMPR S2. The actors who played Jason, Zack, and Trini (Austin St. John, Walter Jones, and Thuy Trang) left reportedly due to low pay. They were replaced by three new characters, Rocky, Adam, and Aisha. This cast change was poorly handled. After the actors who played Jason, Zack, and Trini left the show the producers had to redub their voices with voice actors who sounded nothing like Jason, Zack, or Trini. However, with a lack of options after the actors left, it's not like they couldn't do much more. The producers often used camera tricks and stock footage to try to make it appear that they were still there. The problem came after the cast change. The new characters lacked development and personalities. Adam had somewhat of a personality as the cool guy and a strong martial artist, but the writers seemed like they didn't know what to do with Rocky and Aisha. Rocky for example, one episode would be portrayed as this happy-go-lucky character that just wants to have fun, while the next episode it seemed his personality would shift to a stoic leader (second in command actually) like Jason.

MMPR S3, Kimberly and Katherine

In MMPR S3, Kimberly's actress Amy Jo Johnson had told the producers ahead of time that she wanted to leave the show to explore new career opportunities. This worked in the writers favor as they were given time to properly write Kimberly off. Among all the cast changes I think this one was handled the best. Kimberly was given a 9 episode long story arc that also introduced Katherine's character and gave some background on her character. Katherine was initially under a spell and being used by Rita and Zedd to spy on the rangers. However, it's revealed that she's initially from Australia and was once a diver, but feared diving because of an accident that happened to her as a kid. Eventually, Kimberly who loved gymnastics, accepted an invitation to train for world gymnastics competition in Florida. Furthermore, there was some good drama during this arc, including Ninjor and the Falcon Zord being captured. This story arc involving Kimberly's smooth departure and Kat's introduction, was IMO the best story arc during an otherwise average MMPR S3. Sure it was sad to see Kimberly go but it was a well written arc.

MMPR S3/Zeo, Aisha & Tanya

Near the end of MMPR S3, Aisha's actress, Karen Ashley, wanted to leave the show due to the heavy workload (reportedly 16 hour workdays). Saban granted her request and initially the writers had planned a story arc for Aisha's departure similar to Kimberly's. However, with the upcoming Alien Rangers arc the writers dropped the idea, feeling there was no need to. What we got was kid Ashley giving her powers and responsibility as a power ranger to kid Tanya, before the world was turned back to its normal time. This was another poorly handled cast change. We never got a chance to see Aisha's actress, Karen Ashley during her departure and it was rushed, kinda thrown in at the last second. Albiet Tanya in Zeo did get much more character development than Aisha did in MMPR S2, it was still a rushed scenario.

Beginning of Turbo, Rocky and Justin

Near the end of Zeo, Rocky's actor Steven Cardenas had to leave the show reportedly due to suffering an injury. Fox Network demanded that his replacement would be a kid in order to appeal to Power Rangers' younger fanbase. This move, however, backfired and is the worst of the cast changes IMO. The move didn't bring new children viewers and instead the ratings plummeted. Justin through the first 18 episodes was a bratty kid who seemed to think that being a Power Ranger was more for fun than being a responsibility. Justin's bratty behavior was toned down during the second half of the season, however. It should also be noted that two episodes later they replaced Zordon and Alpha 5, two characters that the audience had then grown to love, with even more annoying characters Demitria (who only talked in questions) and Alpha 6 (a jive-street talking version of Alpha 5).

Midseason Turbo

At around the same time Rocky had left the show, Tommy and Katherine's actors (Jason David Frank and Catherine Sutherland) also wanted to leave the show for new career opportunities. However, Saban did manage to sign them both to contracts for the first 18 episodes of Turbo which allowed them time to be written off. Tommy and Katherine were planned to be replaced by Carlos and Ashley. However, after Judd Lynn was promoted to head writer after Douglass Sloan's departure, Lynn decided to start fresh by replacing the entire ranger cast except for Justin. Two other new characters were introduced, T.J. and Cassie. Shortly after the cast change the ratings went up. Some fans complain about this cast change, however I don't think it was that bad. Initially Carlos did come off as kinda selfish and Cassie was a little annoying in her introductory episode, but after the cast change all the new characters got solid development. They were a group which I warmed up to quickly, and all of them were likable characters. These four stayed for the next season, Power Rangers In Space, which is considered by many to be Power Rangers' best season.

Turbo/In Space, Justin and Andros

Among all the cast changes this is probably the only one where the Power Ranger fandom was glad to see the previous character leave. Here, Justin's actor Blake Foster left the show at the end of Turbo. He was replaced by Andros. Andros would go on to be one of the more popular Power Ranger characters that was not from the original Mighty Morphin cast. Unlike previous cast changes like MMPR S2 where they treated the new cast members simply as the replacements, Andros' character was given heavy development. A large portion of In Space's story focused around Andros, but not so much that the other characters were obsolete like they are in Mystic Force. Andros served as a mentor role as well as having problems like his missing sister and his friend Zhane who was nearly killed in a battle that preceeded the season.

Lost Galaxy

The last of these midseason cast changes came in Lost Galaxy. Kendrix's actress, Valorie Varone, had been diagnosed with leukimia and had to leave the show to receive treatment. Her character, Kendrix, became the first power ranger character (and third non-power ranger character) to be killed off during a series. Kendrix's character died in the In Space team-up while trying to protect Cassie. Originally the producers had planned to replace Kendrix with Cassie, and one episode with Cassie was shot as Lost Galaxy Pink that was reported to be excellent. However, Cassie's actress Patricia Ja Lee, reportedly couldn't come to terms on a contract with Saban. Reports have ranged from her being paid less than the rest of the cast to her being upset that she wasn't going to be placed in the opening credits. Eventually Kendrix was replaced by another In Space alumni, Karone, who was previously the main villain during In Space, Astronema. This worked really well from a story perspective. Kendrix's death added an emotional element to the story and showed maturity, while part of Karone's development was overcoming her past demons of being Astronema. After Lost Galaxy, the cast has changed at the end of the year regularly like Super Sentai has, so I won't go into detail for the rest of the cast changes.

Super Sentai's Handling of Nostalgia

2011-05-11T15:30:00.000-07:00

Like Power Rangers, Sentai has its share of seasons that have a nostalgic base. Here's a look at a few selected examples.

Gaoranger

Gaoranger was the 25th anniversary season of Super Sentai. Like its Power Ranger counterpart, it didn't really intend to dig deep into nostalgia. However, it did have a few nostalgic elements. The heroes' color scheme was the same as Jetman's and GaoYellow's suit even had wings that were reminiscent of Jetman. The main nostalgic factor used was Gaoranger vs. Super Sentai, which involved a team-up with GingaBlue, MegaPink, Red Falcon, and the Big One with a quick pose of all the previous red rangers. Personally, I thought the team-up was ok. I liked the storyline with each of the past rangers helping the Gaorangers to overcome their fears and anxiety, but there are a few elements IMO that detract from the show. For one, there's no previous Sentai villain in the show, instead they fight previously defeated Orgs from Gaoranger. Also, more than half of it feels more like a clip show and we have a little too much of the orgs fighting stock footage. Then all the red senshi do is seemingly just pose and do their rollcall which was again, stock footage. It's an ok team-up, but among the anniversary team-ups I like Boukenger vs Super Sentai is better.

With Hurricanger, I don't know if I would call it a nostalgic base season. It combined elements of Liveman (student academies and starting out with three members with two more joining later) with Kakuranger (ninja theme). However, it's not really intended nostalgia like Boukenger and Gokaiger are. However, I do think Hurricanger combines these elements with its own unique elements and still manages to have an awesome season.

Abaranger

Abaranger bares a lot of nostalgia to Zyuranger. The most obvious is the dinosaur theme. The blue and red senshi both have the same type of dinosaur as a mecha as their Zyuranger counterparts did (T-Rex and Triceratops), and the lone female character had a Pteradactyle-like mecha like the lone Zyuranger female character. Storylines, however, are vastly different. Zyuranger handled the Dinosaur theme like a fairytail, while Abaranger put it more into a modern context, taking characters from present-day Japan. Another major difference is that Abaranger uses modern science with a twist, explaining that the asteroid that hit the Gulf of Mexico 65 million years ago separated the Earth into Earth and DinoEarth, with Dinosaurs still living on DinoEarth, which is essentially another dimension. I haven't seen a whole lot of Abaranger, but I do think it handles the dinosaur theme better than Zyuranger, which uses it like a fairytale.

Boukenger

Like Gaoranger, Boukenger was an anniversary season. However, Boukenger was the first season to really dig deep into nostalgia. Many of the villains and villain mechas had designs based on past Sentai mechas. Also, many of the characters were based off of previous Sentai characters and there were some Jetman elements, such as the black senshi, Masumi, being the rebel of the group and having an inter-squad rivalry with the red senshi, Akashi. After the ending credits, Boukenger also had the 30 Sentai Encyclopedia, which paid tribute to all the previous Sentais as well as other various elements of Sentai. I think these elements were well handled and as mentioned above, I like its Anniversary team-up, Boukenger vs Super Sentai, better than Gao vs SS.

Gekiranger

Gekiranger, like Hurricanger and Abaranger, was another somewhat nostalgic season but may have not intended to be nostalgic. It combined Dairanger's Chinese martial arts with some elements from Gaoranger. The Gaoranger elements include the beast theme, CGI mecha's, and even some of the mecha's being similar to Gaoranger, such as GekiElephant looking almost like GaoElephant, GekiGorilla being similar to GaoGorilla, GekiShark and GaoShark, GekiGazille and GaoDeer, GekiTiger and GaoTiger, GekiWolf and GaoWolf, and SaiDain being semilar to GekiRino. Also, Gou/GekiViolet, bares some similarities to Tsukumaro/GaoSilver. Both fulfill the "6th ranger" role, both are initially lone wolf characters, both at one time used an evil power to try to defeat an evil enemy, and both have wolf-like powers. Like Hurricanger and Abaranger, Gekiranger had much different storylines than the series they used to combine the elements. I can't comment a lot on how it handles the Chinese martial arts theme compared to Dairanger, but I do think Gekiranger handles some elements better than Gaoranger. For example, I like Gou more as a 6th ranger and lone wolf character than Tsukumaro, and the CGI mecha's are better handled in Gekiranger than they are in Gaoranger. However, I don't think the CGI mecha's really become good until Gokaiger.

Goseiger

Goseiger also had some nostalgic elements. The color of the suits and the helmit designs were similar to that of Zyuranger and the name Goseiger bears resemblence to Gosei Sentai Dairanger. The most glaring nostalgic resemblence is to Magiranger, with the Yuumajuu Beasts using magic powers and Super Goseiger mode being and looking similar to Magi Legend. However, I think the Magiranger elements weren't well handled at all. The Yuumajuu Beasts were terrible villains and the Super Goseiger mode just looked clunky with the big heads on the chest piece.

Gokaiger

Like Gaoranger and Boukenger, Gokaiger is also an anniversary season, being Sentai's 35th. In just 12 episodes, Gokaiger has dug deeper than Gaoranger and Boukenger combined. The ranger color schemes are the same as the original Sentai, Goranger. Also, there's the Legendary War, involving all past heroes, the Gokaigers transforming into past Sentai teams, and of course guest stars from past Sentais. Among the previous seasons to use nostalgia, Gokaiger has IMO handled it the best. The Gokaigers use the previous Sentai powers for better match-ups against the MOTW and the past hero guest stars are usually there mostly to develop the Gokaiger characters and thus don't steal the spotlight.

Power Rangers Handling of Nostalgia

2011-05-10T10:55:00.000-07:00

Since we have two series that are trying to connect to nostalgia (Power Rangers Samurai and Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger), I decided to examine how both past and current incarnations of Power Rangers and Super Sentai have handled dealing with nostalgia. I'll analyze Power Rangers first and then analyze Sentai later on in the week.

Power Rangers Wild Force

The first is Power Rangers Wild Force, being Power Rangers' 10th anniversary season. Like its Sentai counterpart, Gaoranger, Wild Force didn't dig deep into the nostalgia factor. The only time it dug deep into nostalgia was with the episode, Forever Red. Forever Red essentially took a short pose of a bunch of red rangers from Gaoranger vs Super Sentai and made it into their own unique episode. While they're were many plot holes in Forever Red, there was some cool things about it. First was the fact that all of the previous red rangers as well as the current one, Cole Evans, united to defeat the remains of the Machine Empire. The fight scenes in the episode were also really awesome. It also had a new version of the Astro Megaship from In Space, as well as an Alpha robot, Alpha 7, that had the voice of Alpha 5 but the body of Alpha 6. It was also cool that many former Power Ranger actors, such as Walter Jones who played Zack, Archie Kao who played Kai, and Catherine Sutherland who played Kat, got roles as voice actors for some of the Machine Empire generals in the episode. I also liked the ending when all the other rangers try to outdo Tommy. However, for me there are two things that really bring the episode down a bit. One, Jason's cockiness. Seriously, he never acted like that during MMPR or Zeo, and suddenly in this one episode they make him look like the biggest asshole in Power Rangers history. The other is the whole Serpentera scenario. First, the CGI Serpentera is terrible, and was a whole lot smaller than the original one was back in MMPR S2. Second, how easily he was defeated by Cole on the Wild Force Rider, which is pretty dumb considering this thing was easily 10 times the size of any zord and once destroyed an entire planet. For me, while Forever Red is a good episode, it feels a bit rush and would have been better as a two parter, like it originally was planned to be.

Power Rangers Dino Thunder

Among all the Power Ranger seasons that attempted to tackle nostalgia I think Dino Thunder handles the best. The obvious was bringing Tommy back to serve as a mentor. Unlike MMPR S2, where he seemed too powerful, he wasn't given too much focus in Dino Thunder. Dino Thunder I felt did a better job of developing the characters around Tommy than MMPR S2, but that's besides the point. Besides Tommy, Dino Thunder takes advantage of MMPR nostalgia with the dinosaur theme. Abaranger was the perfect Sentai to adapt for MMPR nostalgia. The red ranger had a T-rex zord, the blue ranger a Triceratops zord, Kira, the lone female ranger, had a Pterodactyl zord, and Tommy's Brachio Zord is reminiscent of Titanus. The characters except for Tommy, are all teenagers and have to learn to bond together even though they're from different worlds. Trent was a lot like Tommy and his morphing call, White Ranger Dino Power, was a throw back to the song "White Ranger Tiger Power." There was also the episode, A Legacy of Power, which was a clip show of the entire series that I personally find to be much better than Forever Red was. So in short, Abaranger had all the elements for Power Rangers to take advantage of MMPR nostalgia and handled it quite well IMO.

Power Rangers Operation Overdrive

Like Dino Thunder, Operation Overdrive inherited a lot of nostalgia elements from its Sentai counterpart, Boukenger. First, Operation Overdrive had the same colored suits as the original 5 in MMPR did. It also inherited villains and evil mechas that were based on past Sentai mechas and bared resemblance to many past Power Ranger megazords. However, Operation Overdrive basically did nothing with these nostalgic factors. It did have the team-up Once A Ranger, which I thought was a descent team-up. It was by far the best episodes in Operation Overdrive, but it inherited and suffered from many of the flaws that Operation Overdrive already had such as terrible villains, bad acting, bad dialog, and an extreme overuse of explosions. So while Once A Ranger may be the best episodes in Operation Overdrive, that really isn't saying much for a terrible season.

Power Rangers Samurai

Samurai, IMO has handled the nostalgia even worst than Operation Overdrive has. Operation Overdrive basically did nothing with the nostalgia elements it inherited from Boukenger. Samurai, on the other hand, has tried to create its own nostalgic elements and failed miserably. First, I will give credit where credit is due. The theme song is a remix of the original Go Go Power Rangers theme song, and I admit I do like the theme song. The rest of the nostalgia has been terrible. They brought Bulk back, and while it's nice to see him back he's had nothing to do with the plots so far. Him and Spike are seemingly thrown in there as fanservice and have absolutely no interaction with the rangers themselves. They occasionally have some interaction with the MOTW, but that's rare. I also don't like the subplot with Spike having a crush on the Pink Samurai ranger. For me it was ok when Skull had a crush on Kimberly, but this subplot just creeps me out. Besides Bulk and Spike, the morphing call is just terrible (Go Go Samurai), and the show has gone overload with the cheesy puns. The cheese was fun in MMPR, but now they've taken it up to 100, even giving the Gold Ranger, Antonio, a bunch of cheesy lines.

Gokaiger Episode 12 Review

2011-05-09T13:35:00.000-07:00

Note: Images from Super Sentai Images

Warning: Spoilers Ahead

The episode starts with Luka, Ahim, and Don about to call Joe to see where he is. Marvelous stops them and tells them he'll definitely comeback. Next Joe has a flashback to when he was part of the Zangyach, who order him to kill a bunch of children that were taken prisoners. Joe couldn't do it and faught off the Zangyach soldiers to free the children. A transmitter is put around Joe's neck and he's rescued by Cid. Joe and Cid flee try to flee from the Zangyach, however, Cid is captured.

After the flashback Joe waits for Barizorg and confronts him. Joe tries to bring back Barizorg's memories as Cid, even using the distinctive move that Cid once taught him, but fails. Meanwhile back at the Gokai Galleon, Kaoru asks Marvelous what makes him so sure Joe will return. Marvelous tells them about how he first met Joe and a flashback is shown. Joe is fighting the Gormin, trying to escape on a planet already under the Zangyach's control. Marvelous then helps Joe and frees him from the transmitter. Marvelous was impressed by Joe's sword fighting skills and recruits Joe to join him to find the greatest treasure in the universe. Meanwhile Deretsueigar and an army of Gormin threaten to destroy the planet if the Gokaigers don't fight them. Marvelous tells everyone it's time to go. Kaoru tells them that the fate of the planet shouldn't matter to them, which Marvelous tells her it's not but it is their fight. Kaoru offers to help them because of Marvelous' injuries, but he refuses and told her that he's sure that his comrade Joe will come back to help them. Meanwhile, Joe grabs his Gokai changer and has a flashback first of Marvelous giving it to him in the beginning, then of the other Gokaigers joining them one by one with Luka being first, followed by Don, and then Ahim. Meanwhile the others are outnumbered by the Gormin, and each of them transform into three different past rangers. However, the Gormin and Deretsueigar are still too strong for them and cause them to de-transform.

Meanwhile, Joe is running to help his friends when he runs into Kaoru. Kaoru tells him that she concedes defeat in the dual with the condition that the Gokaigers must defeat the Zangyach. She gives Joe a Shinken disk and Joe thanks her. The others, unmorphed struggle to fight the superior numbers of the Gormin and Deretsueigar, but they're saved by Joe. They defeat the Gormin and then transform into Shinkengers. Marvelous strikes Deretsueigar with Rekka Daizantou, using one hand, while Joe puts the Shinken disk given to him by Kaoru to good use.

They defeat Deretsueigar who is revived and grown large by Insam. The Gokaigers counter him with GaoGokaiOh, but struggle initially. However, they unlock the Shinkenger powers and the mecha transforms into ShinkenGokaiOh. They defeat Deretsueigar with a slash from a giant version of Rekka Daizantou. The episode ends with Joe having a bonding moment with the other Gokaigers.

This two-parter began with a fantastic episode and ends with a fantastic episode. More about Joe's backstory is revealed and I love it. It sets for some interesting drama to look forward to with him and Barizorg/Cid. Some fans have complained that the fights were too short, particularly the one where they transformed into Shinkengers, but I didn't think so. I thought all the fight scenes were awesome. They really had to show some grit to end this. The unmorphed fight was awesome as well as the fight before that where Marvelous, Don, Luka, and Ahim transformed into several different past rangers. Marvelous had an awesome moment when he used Rekka Daizantou one handed. Speaking of Rekka Daizantou, it's giant version was overkill, but still really cool to see. It was also nice to see the nods given to Shinkenger like ShinkenGokaiOh's pose on the cliff like ShinkenOh's pose, and the Gormin growing large like the Nanashi use to do. This two-parter is the best so far from Gokaiger and leaves me expecting even more. I'm tempted to give it 10/10, but for now I give it 9.5/10 to see where the plot with Joe and Barizorg goes.

April Poll Results, Most Under Rated Power Rangers and Sentai Series, New Poll

2011-05-05T12:06:00.000-07:00

Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue won the poll for most underrated Power Rangers series with 42 votes. Power Rangers Zeo was second with 35 votes. Other than these two, it wasn't much of a competition. SPD got third with 29 votes, Wild Force came in 4th with 28 votes. Operation Overdrive had the least number of votes with 21.

In a very tightly contested poll, Gaoranger won the poll for the most underrated Sentai season with 32 votes. Go-Onger narrowly missed with 31 votes, while Goseiger received 30 votes. Oranger, initially in a 4 way tie with the three I listed above, finished 4th with 25 votes. Goggle V, Hurricanger, and Abaranger tied for 5th with 22 votes. Sun Vulcan got the least number of votes with just 11.

My next polls will be favorite PR Samurai and Gokaiger character, this time voters will only be allowed one choice.

Gokaiger Episode 11 Review

2011-05-03T13:50:00.000-07:00

Note: Images from Super Sentai Images

Warning: Spoilers Ahead

After the episode begins with Joe displaying his sword fighting skills and the Gokaigers kicking some ass, Navi gives her latest prophicy. This time, her prophicy is to "be aware of the Samurai," which both Luka and Don have trouble pronouncing. The Gokaigers go searching for a samurai and find a group of people training together. Seeing them train Joe suddenly has a flashback of him and his teacher and comrad, Cyd, training. Then suddenly Kaoru (ShinkenRed) shows up and tries to take the Shinkenger ranger keys back from the Gokaigers. Noticing Kaoru's great sword fighting skill, he offers Kaoru to fight him, which she accepts. If Kaoru win, she gets the Shinkenger ranger keys back, but if Joe wins Kaoru tells the Gokaigers the secret behind the Shinkenger powers. Meanwhile, frustraited by the Zangyach's lack of success against the Gokaigers, Oiles Gil plans his next attack. Oiles Gil's father's bodyguard, Deratsueigar, is sent to assist him in the fight to conquer Earth. Oiles Gil decides to go down to Earth with Deratsueigar attempting to defeat the Gokaigers. Barizorg goes as well to protect Oiles Gil. The dual between Kaoru and Joe is initially a tie but they're interrupted by the Zangyach attack. Both Kaoru and the Gokaigers go to stop the Zangyach attack.

After an awesome unmorphed fight against the Gormin, the Gokaigers transform into Zyurangers. However their attacks against Deretsueigar don't work. They try Dynaman but fail to succeed as well. Then they transform into Gingaman. Joe decides to go after Oiles Gil to try to end the whole thing while the other four fight Deretsueigar. The other four Gokaigers are unable to defeat Deretsueigar. Meanwhile Barizorg protects Oiles Gil and fights Joe. Joe instantly recognizes Barizorg's signature attack to be the same of his former teacher, Cyd. Joe tries to plead with Barizorg to open his eyes but Barizorg remembers nothing. Oiles Gil reveals that Barizorg is the cyborg version of Cyd, much to Joe's shock. Barizorg is about to finish off an unmorphed Joe before he's saved by Marvelous, who takes a shot in the back which wounds him. However, Marvelous shoots Oiles Gil, who begins to bleed from the shot. To protect Oiles Gil the Zangyach retreat. Later that night Marvelous is treated by Kaoru. Her retainer, Tanba, mentions that the ranger keys are probably in the chest but Kaoru is more interested in seeing how it eventually plays out. The next morning Luka discovers that Joe left the ship and left a note that says he has something to settle alone. The episode ends with Joe walking the streets.

This episode was awesome, the best so far imo. The brief dual between Joe and Kaoru was awesome to see and it was great to see some of Joe's past revealed. I believe on one of my earlier episode reviews That Chick had commented that she thought Barizorg was Joe's teacher. Look's like you hit that right on the nail. The unmorphed fight was awesome as well. It was also the first time the Gokaigers were significantly challenged and got their butts kicked. This is good because now they won't look too invincible. Overall a really awesome episode and I'm looking forward to the second part of this arc. I give it 9/10.

Power Rangers SPD to be Dubbed in Japanese

2011-04-30T23:14:00.000-07:00

TOEI just announced that they will dub Power Rangers SPD in Japanese. It will begin airing in August as part of the Sentai anniversary on the TOEI channel. All the original Dekaranger cast members will dub their SPD counterparts. Although I'm not a fan of dubbing, this I think will be interesting. I like both series and love the Dekaranger cast. It will be interesting to see how it turns out.

Sentai's Handling of Multiple Villain Groups

2011-04-29T19:19:00.000-07:00

Note: Images from Super Sentai Images

One of the complaints that some Sentai fans have about Goseiger is the multiple villain groups. Personally, I don't have a problem with it nor with Bladeron staying throughout the season. It does keep the story fresh and moving. It's been done before in Sentai, actually. The problem is how they handled the use of the multiple villain groups. Here, I'll analyze how three different Sentai series, Magiranger, Boukenger, and Goseiger, handled having multiple villain groups.

Magiranger

Magiranger was arguably in this category, with three groups or commanders of Infershia: Branken, Meemy, and the Hades Gods of Infershia. Similarly to Goseiger, they all came one after another. After one was killed off, another would step to the plate. However, unlike Goseiger, all these villain groups belonged to the same organization, Infershia, under the control of N Ma. They all worked to revive N Ma to conquer the world. Also, Wolzard and Vancuria/Nae & Mae were constant throughout the season. Since the three different villainous groups/commanders in Magiranger belonged to the same organization and had an overarching villain, transitions from one villain or villain group was smooth and there was no early climax. Also, Wolzard imo is one of Sentai's best generals, and had an interesting rivalry with Kai. Among the three villain groups I thought Branken was ok. He wasn't a good villain or a bad villain, but descent enough to start out. Meemy I felt was the second most interesting villain in the series behind Wolzard. Meemy was a former Heavenly Saint who was also a traitor. I liked most of the Hades Gods, especially Sphinx and Titan. The only one I didn't really like all that much was Toad. So overall, all the villain groups in Magiranger were pretty solid. I think Magiranger handled the multiple villain groups really well.

Boukenger

Boukenger like Goseiger and unlike Magiranger had multiple villain groups that were not connected through the same organization nor had an overarching villain. However, unlike both Magiranger and Goseiger, these four villain groups didn't come one and go after another was defeated. Instead, they were all constant throughout the entire season. The Boukengers would fight them in separate episodes and sometimes these villain groups would team-up. None of them were killed early in the season and thus there weren't any early climaxes. The villain groups were the Gordom Civilization lead by Gaja, the Jaryuu Tribe led by Ryuoun, the Ashu/Questers, and Dark Shadow. What made it interesting is they all had different motives. Gaja and Ryuoun each wanted to conquer the world, the Questers were human hating demons, and Dark Shadow was a ninja clan that was more interested in making money off of the precious' they stoled. Among them, Gaja was probably my least favorite. He wasn't a bad villain he just felt kinda bland and stiff, and I felt it was anti-climatic in the final battle when he went back to sleep and seemingly gave up. Ryuoun was awesome and had an interesting backstory that really developed his character. The Questers were even more badass than Ryuoun and had a history with Eiji. Dark Shadow was refreshing because they weren't bent on conquering humanity like the other groups, they were money-driven instead. Yaiba was the most interesting of the group, eventually betraying Dark Shadow. Shizuka was the one in Dark Shadow that didn't have much backstory or development, but I kinda liked her somewhat childish behavior. What really made having multiple villain groups at once interesting was that all the Boukengers except for Natsuki had a villainous rival. Satoru's rival was Ryuoun. Eiji's rivals were the Questers, especially Gai who killed his father. Masumi's rival was Yaiba. Sakura and Souta were both rivals with Shizuka. Like Magiranger I felt Boukenger handled the multiple villain groups really well and arguably better than Magiranger.

Goseiger

Then we have Goseiger. Like Magiranger, Goseiger's three villain groups (Warstar, Yuumajuu Beast, and Matrintis Empire) all came one after the other was defeated. Unlike Magiranger, however, there was no overarching villain or organization connecting the three groups. However, there was one constant villain, Bladeron. Bladeron was the most interesting villain on Goseiger who like Meemy, was a traitor and a rogue Gosei Angel. One of the big problems with how the multiple villain groups were handled in Goseiger was early climaxes, with the most obvious example being Warstar. Through the first 11 episodes, Warstar does nothing and felt rather bland and boring. There were hints of a rivalry between Alata and Dereputa, but Dereputa was killed off initially in episode 12 and for good in episode 16. As a result the rivalry went nowhere and Dereputa came off as wasted potential. Similarly, Warstar's Big Bad Mons Drake also came off as wasted potential. After Dereputa was initially thought to be killed off in episode 12, Mons Drake got desperate and made the show interesting briefly. However, Mons Drake was killed off in episode 15, which was another early climax and a big disappointment. This also didn't help with audiences since there weren't hints of Goseiger having multiple villain groups after Mons Drake. However, the worst part was to come, with the Yuumajuu Beasts. The Yuumajuu Beasts are easily one of the worst villain groups in Sentai. The Yuumajuu Beasts were pollution-driven villains, which I really despise. I'm a bit biased here but having pollution driven villains imo really feels so anti-climatic, uninteresting, and non-threatening. This was made worst with a really preachy 6th ranger, Gosei Knight. Some fans complain that the Green Aesop in Go-Onger was overt and preachy, but it was nothing compared to the combination of the Yuumajuu Beast and Gosei Knight. Not to mention the designs I felt were terrible. The Yuumajuu Beasts were killed off after episode 32, but this time it didn't feel so rushed or like a premature climax. However, that's because you could naturally expect it to happen after Warstar being killed off so early in the season. Then finally the last villain group was the Matrintis Empire, a robotic empire that first appeared in Episode 33 after the change of producers. I actually liked the Matrintis Empire. Among the three Goseiger villain groups they were the most interesting and had the most effort put into them. They went back to the old conquering humanity motive, but I felt like they were the only legitimate villains in Goseiger besides Bladeron that felt like a threat. Unlike the other Goseiger villains (and many Sentai villains for that matter), they scouted the Goseigers, strategized, and collected data. They actually did their homework. Robogogu had a mildly interesting backstory of being a former mad scientist, while Metal-Alice felt like a throwback to Sphinx of Magiranger. However, she didn't feel so much like a throwback that she came off as a rip-off. She seemed interested in the idea of having comrades, but mostly because she was abused and unappreciated by Robogogu. And unlike Sphinx she didn't turn good in the end, but was killed off by Bladeron.

Having multiple villain groups without an overarching big bad could have worked in Goseiger if it was better handled. Overall, Goseiger's handling of the multiple villain groups was easily the worst. Transitions often felt rushed, and the Yuumajuu arc was really the jump the shark moment of Goseiger, even more disappointing because it covered the entire middle portion of the series and after it briefly became interesting for a few episodes. However, I think there's also a clear difference in the Matrintis Empire, who came right after the change of producers. I felt that wasn't a coincidence either.

Villain Decay in Power Rangers

2011-04-28T14:43:00.000-07:00

Recently, Sean Akizuki covered a few incidents of villain decay in Super Sentai. In Power Rangers, MMPR was particularly notorious for this particularly in season 2 and 3. Here's some examples.

Goldar was the first example. He was Rita's second in command during season 1, and pretty badass. However, in season 2 starting with his loss to an unmorphed Tommy in Green No More, he was routinely beaten easily, usually by Tommy as the White Ranger. The amount of one on one fights between Tommy and Goldar during season 2 was overdone and way too much. By season 3, he was as much of a bumbling idiot if not more so than Rito. The reason for his villain decay is somewhat of a mystery.

Lord Zedd is the most notorious example of villain decay. The suit design along with excellent voice acting by Robert Axelrod made him a pretty fearsome character. However, parents complained to Saban and Fox Network that he was "too scary" for kids. Saban wilt under the pressure and dumbed down his personality to a more comical character after his wedding to Rita late in season 2 and for all of season 3. However, it can be argued that he had more success as a "decayed villain" than he did before the villain decay. Before the villain decay he simply drained away the Green Ranger powers. After the villain decay he destroyed the Thunder Zords, destroyed the Ninja Power Coins, captured Ninjor, the Falcon Zord and the Pink Power Coin, and also succeeded in destroying the Command Center.

At the moment, I can't really think of any other examples of villain decay in Power Rangers. Most of the villains after MMPR pretty much stayed the same, either being badass or just plain sucked from the beginning.

My Thoughts on Gokaiger 10 Episodes Through

2011-04-25T15:55:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, I gave an analysis on Power Rangers Samurai through 10 episodes. Now I'm doing the same for Gokaiger after 10 episodes. Unlike Samurai, I think Gokaiger is on its way to being a pretty good season and has quite a bit of potential.

The Cast

The cast is overall pretty solid. They're much better actors than the Samurai cast. The former Sentai warriors appearing as guest stars and the pirate motif make for some very interesting character development. My favorite character so far is Joe. Besides being an awesome swordsman, I think he has the most interesting backstory and potential, with him being a former member of the Zangyach and the story about his teacher. It seems Gokai Silver may be connected to his past as well. I can't wait to see the two parter coming up that involves him and Kaoru/Shinken Red. My second favorite is Luka. Of course, there's the looks factor but I also think she's kinda funny and sneaky. Unlike the original rumors that described Marvelous as Jack Sparrow-like, I think Luka is the most like Jack-Sparrow. Captain Marvelous is a bit cocky, but in a good way. He's the brave, confident leader who takes everything in a grain of salt. Ahim is the atypical character of the group, being the sweetheart princess of a destroyed planet. She kinda feels like a throwback to Natsuki in a way. I think she works perfectly well to balance the other anti-hero characters of the group. Don I'm still a bit mixed over. Initially I didn't like his cowardness but in the recent episodes he's shown some cleaver fighting tactics such as having his gun tied to a rope ready for use or hiding behind a bush to attack the Gormin. I'm still interested to see how he'll turn out.

The Nostalgia

The nostalgia factor I think has been handled really well so far in Gokaiger. Among the anniversary seasons Gokaiger has dug the deepest into Sentai nostalgia by equipping the Gokaigers with all the powers of the previous Super Sentai warriors. The guest stars have been effective, not stealing the show but helping to develop the Gokaiger characters, such as the episode above with Jan training Doc and Ahim. I was a little bit dissapointed that Ban and Jasmine got such small roles in the Deka episode but it was still a good episode. My favorite of these guest star episodes so far was the recent one, with GaoRed appearing. Along the way, they're also increasing their arsenal by combining with old mechs such as GaoLion Gokai Oh, and doing it without having mecha overload problems, at least so far.

The Legendary War

With the story of the Legendary War I really hope they dwelve deeper into it. The series doesn't have to be about the Legendary War, but I hope they give some more background to it, like how it started and how it pertains to the Gokaigers. Specifically the relationship between AkaRed and Captain Marvelous. It seems they will go deeper into it with the movie. It was definitely a good move and made for a fantastic start to the season.

Pirate Motif

Initially I was skeptical rather or not the pirate motif was going to work. Was it going to be one of those really old and dumb pirate shows like Captain Hook or was it going to be something cool like Pirates of the Carribean. As it turns out, the Pirate motif works out really well. They're space pirates and all the characters except for Ahim are anti-heroes. Their anti-hero traits make for some really interesting character quirks like Luka helping Joe to cheat in a card game, grabbing an expensive ring from a family, or Captain Marvelous not neccessarily caring what happens to the earth. These quirks also make for some really interesting character development.

The Villains

The villains haven't done too much yet but it's too early to tell whether they're good villains or bad villains. A lot will rest on how Joe's history with the Zangyack develops. It will be pretty interesting to see what happens.

So far I think Gokaiger has been running really well. I don't want to over-hype it or speculate on how good it can get, but I really think Gokaiger has some excellent potential to be an awesome season. It has me excited to see what happens next.

Some Power Ranger Characters I Feel Mixed About

2011-04-24T10:16:00.000-07:00

In my previous post, I mentioned some Sentai characters I feel mixed about. So now, I'll share a few Power Ranger characters I feel mixed about.

Cole Evans, Wild Force Red

Some fans tend to call Cole "The Scrappy" of Wild Force. Many fans didn't like his scene where he tried to connect with an org's heart in the beginning of Wild Force. Admittedly that scene is very stupid but it is just one scene. I actually felt Cole was the strongest of the Wild Force characters. He's essentially the only character with any originality to him, and the story about his parents being killed by Master Org/Dr. Adler I think is the highlight of the series. That being said, the problem with Cole is he's played by Ricardo Medina, who's a douchbag and a terrible actor. Granted Ricardo's acting has improved slightly in PR Samurai as Dekker, but when he played Cole his overacting tended to ruin most dramatic scenes.

Jack, SPD Red

Like Cole, I kinda like Jack's development over the course of one season. I liked how he started out as a Robin Hood type character, and was eventually molded into a leader after working on his flaws. That said, the way they handled him by trying to make him like Ban without being "too much" like Ban didn't really work out that well. Jack wasn't a "screaming red" like Ban (Cole was, however) but he had Ban's occasional ego problems. This IMO made him too stereotypical African American.

Gem and Gemma, RPM Gold and Silver

Admittedly, I do like their Go-Onger counterparts much better. They're initially annoying for the first 5 episodes that they appear in. However, I think this is blown out of proportion a bit by the fandom. After the episode "Three's A Crowd," they're toned down and aren't that bad. They have a couple good character episodes after Three's A Crowd, and have that awesome scene at the end where they shoot down the control tower that lands on Venjix. They're ok characters for me. Though I think among the wacky comic relief characters, Ziggy is a lot better and a lot more effective.

Some Sentai Characters That I Feel Mixed About

2011-04-20T15:09:00.000-07:00

Among most Sentai characters, there's been many I've liked, some I feel are ok, some bland, and a few others that I disliked. However, there's a handful of characters that I don't know what to think about and generally have some mixed feelings about. Here they are.

Mei- Ptera Ranger

Generally, I think Mei is cute and some of Mei's focus episodes are pretty good (especially the punk episode with Dan). But other than Mei's "cuteness" and her rivalry with Lamie I feel she doesn't have much else to offer. She's really stereotypical of other pink senshi, granite she was one of the first kawaiiko's, and having a rivalry with one of the main villains is also pretty common among pink senshi. Also being the way Zyuranger is written, it feels often that the only two characters in Zyuranger that matter much to the story are Geki and Burai.

Naoto- Time Fire

Naoto is on both my mixed and dislike list. The reason why he makes my mixed list is from a story perspective, he works out perfectly well. I felt like the first half of Timeranger is kinda slow and episodic, but when Naoto arrives the pace of the story really picks up. He added the spice to the story and another dimension. The problem I have is with his character, and he's the only Timeranger character that I don't care much for. I know some others may like it but I feel his arrogance makes him too unlikable for my taste. To me he comes off as too much of a jerkass, and unlike many other of the jerk-like characters like Gai, Hoji, and the Go-On wings, Naoto's attitude doesn't change the slightest bit.

Yousuke- Hurricane Red

Yousuke really has me split. Sometimes I like him and other times I feel he's kinda bland. I really liked his rivalry and evolving relationship with Ikkou, but from a development and personality perspective there's not a lot to him. Especially when you compare Yousuke to many other red senshi. He's not a bad character, just that for a red senshi Yousuke feels like he's lacking.

Ran- Geki Yellow

Ran is probably the character I like the most on this list. She's kinda like the kawaiiko and the action girl rolled into one. She's cute, sweet, and tough, kinda like a mix between Sakura (Bouken Pink) and Saki (Go-On Yellow). I think some of her focus episodes during the first half of Gekiranger are some of the better ones IMO, specifically 11, 15, and 23 where she was named team captain. What I'm really mixed about is her lack of development, focus, and how her leadership was handled during the second half of the season. While I think the second half of Gekiranger improves quite a bit with the action, story, characters, and drama, it falls short with Ran's development. After episode 23, she only got a single focus episode (37). Being the team captain, I felt they should have figured out how to squeez in at least a couple more focus episodes for her. In short, I like her character and don't have a problem with the character herself, I just don't like how her character was poorly handled by the writers.

Jetman Series Review

2011-04-15T09:02:00.000-07:00

Before I get to the review I'd like to apologize for the lack of activity in the last couple of weeks. Some really big family issues have come up that along with school will limit my activity here for the next few weeks, although I'll still try to post on this blog whenever I can.

Choujin Sentai Jetman (Birdman Squadron Jetman) (1991-92) was the 15th installment of Super Sentai. It's a tribute to a 1970's anime series, Gatchaman. The motif seems to be one of an air force squadron, and reminds me somewhat of the American tv show Pensacola: Wings of Gold. Jetman is a dark and very violent season, which came before they toned down the violence after Dairanger. Jetman is one of the more popular (if not the most popular) Sentai's around. It even received a sequel manga series.

The Good

Jetman is one of the more complete seasons of Sentai with a strong combination of excellent villains, good cast, and solid storyline. The Vyram may be the strongest set of villains ever in Sentai. Radiguet is pure badass, although I kinda like Rio and Wolzard more. Tranza and Maria are also excellent villains. What I really liked was the rivalry between Grey and Gai, especially the mutual respect they had for each other and the last fight between them. Among the cast members the most popular is Gai, and it's easy to see why with his strong character development. However, my favorite character was Ryuu. I liked the tragic aspects of his character, with his girlfriend Rie, and how it helps him grow throughout the series. Gai and Ryuu compliment each other really well. I also like Ako and Kaori as well, finding them both to be lively characters. I also love the opening theme song, one of my favorites among 90's sentais.

The Bad

Raita's development was kinda pushed aside in the mix of the Ryuu/Maria plot and the Ryuu/Kaori/Gai love triangle. The only real big gripe I have is how unrealistic the fight scenes are. I mean seriously, how many times is Ryuu going to get shot and not come away with a scratch, or how long it takes for them to henshin sometimes when they're clearly outmatched? Also, the ending with Gai being killed was out of the air and totally unnecessary, imo.

The Ugly

There's nothing terrible about this series.

My Rating

B+/A-: I'm kinda conflicted about this series, in a good way. On one hand I like Timeranger a little better among the dark and gritty seasons, but on the other hand I think this is one of the more well made seasons. Either way, it's still a great series.

The "my favorite episodes" section will have to wait a while. I saw the last 33 episodes a few months after watching the first 18, and I don't have an episode guide to follow. I'll edit this section after I rewatch it probably during the summer.

My Thoughts on Power Rangers Samurai through 8 (10) Episodes

2011-04-05T09:13:00.000-07:00

I've been planning to give my thoughts on Samurai and Gokaiger at episode 10, but with Samurai, I couldn't hold out any longer. At the moment, I don't think Samurai is a good season, and here's why.

Bad Acting

Judging acting can be subjective, and I usually don't like debating who's a good actor or who's a bad actor because it's so subjective and at times hard to tell, but on Samurai the acting is so terrible that it can't be ignored. Power Ranger fans complain a lot about the bad acting in Wild Force, but Wild Force at least had a few actors that were passable. Here, almost everyone is terrible. Kevin overacts, Emily is awkward, Mia and Jayden are more wooden than Keanu Reeves. The voice actors (except for Dayuu) are equally terrible. It feels like the cast were selected for eye-candy fanservice instead of their acting abilities. The only descent actor so far is Mike. Above we have a child actor playing young Emily and another actor playing Emily's sister. Both of them put on better performances than Emily did that episode. It's pretty sad when your guest actors out-perform your lead actors.

Bad Dialog

I remember when the promos came out Fantasy Leader talked about the cheesy one liners and corny jokes. After watching 8 episodes of this, it has gotten on my nerves. Most of the bad dialog has come from corny jokes made by the MOTW. To be honest, I'm not really much of a fan of Power Ranger style humor (except for Bulk & Skull and RPM). Most of it is just lame corny puns that aren't really funny at all, which is also what I don't like about Ninja Storm, but that's off topic. Then there's that lame pun that the rangers always say (this. should. change. your. tune.). The rest of the dialog isn't always bad but occasionally we get some klunky dialog from over-translating the Sentai material, like Mia in one episode shouting "unforgivable." It sounds pretty strong in Japanese when you hear "yurusenai" but in English it just sounds wierd.

Handling of the Sentai Source Material

Generally, how they've handled the American fight footage as well as the Sentai fight footage has actually been pretty good. They're making good transitions from the American footage to the Sentai footage, which I partly credit to the location in New Zealand. However, the big issue I have is how they're handling the Shinkenger plots. I've never been a fan of copying Sentai plots and making them your own. To they're credit, at least in the opening credits they are citing the original writers from the Shinkenger episodes. The problem here is they dumb down the plots so much that they lose their effectiveness. For example, the first episode we saw (technically episode 3) Mike had to leave his friends behind to help serve the team. In the same Shinkenger episode, Chiaki had major discipline issues that were introduced as a character flaw. Another example is when Kevin gets the swordfish zord, he's helped by a random old man. In the same Shinkenger episode, Ryuunosuke was helped by a former Kuroku who screwed up in the past and realized he wants to help again.

Mega Mode

Many PR fans complain about the battlizers. I've never really cared for them but never really hated them. But this Mega Mode is absolutely stupid. At least the battlizers proved useful. The Mega Mode however, is never used for battle and only used when they're piloting their zords. Whats the damn point if they're not going to use it during battle? It's just another lame gimmick to sale toys.

The Characters are Dry

Lastly, the characters are just bland. This is partly due to trying to make them exact carbon copies of their Shinkenger counterparts, and also due to the poor acting. Just like the actors themselves, the only character that I do like is Mike. The rest of them are just boring.

From what I've seen so far and what I know about Shinkenger, I don't have a lot of hope for the rest of the season, unless they tone down the cheesiness, the acting gets better, or the writers come out with something completely original. Samurai isn't as bad as Operation Overdrive. Some of the episodes are actually watchable, but I'd give them 6/10 at best. Some are downright terrible like the Swordfish episode or the premier. At the moment, Samurai feels like Wild Force 2.0. Actually it's worst than Wild Force.

Gokaiger Episode 7 (Nikiniki Kempo Lesson) Review

2011-04-04T16:39:00.000-07:00

Note: Photos are from Sean Akizuki's Super Sentai Blog and That Toku Blog

Warning: Spoilers Ahead

This episode starts out with Navi giving her usual prophicy of where to find treasure. Her prophicy is "the Tiger's child." The Gokaigers split up to look for the tiger's child. Marvelous looks in a zoo with a tiger present, meanwhile Ahim and Don find a mascot tiger, with a child suddenly running up to it, which they confused for its child. Joe and Luka look in a store, where one of the store's clerks dresses Joe in ridiculous leopard skin apparel which was pretty funny. Then they find a cat, confusing it for the tiger's child. The cat is really fond of Navi, much to her dismay. The Gokaigers then bring the cat back to Earth, and find the MOTW, Pachacamac, attacking the city. The Gokaigers transform and try to fight him off, but Pachacamac, using a magnet kempo, takes their weapons away and thoroughly defeat Don and Ahim. The others transform into Gaorangers and fend off Pachacamac, for now. Don and Ahim, feeling they slowed their team down, stumble upon Jan/GekiRed teaching a bunch of students GekiJyuKen. Ahim is anxious to learn after previously seeing Joe succeed with training. On the other hand, Don thinks its impossible and refuses to work with Ahim. Later that night, Don is outside on the ship where Luka spots several shooting stars, and tells Don that spotting shooting stars every night is what made her eyes so sharp. Later, Don stumbles upon a weight bracelet that Marvelous usually wears while practicing dart throwing. Don tries with the weight bracelet, but it is too heavy and he is only able to throw the dart a few inches. The next day, Don realizes he needs more practice and joins Ahim with Jan's training. However, they're interrupted and have to leave because the others are in danger, losing their fight against Pachacamac. They apologize to Jan that they have to leave and tell him they'll continue the training once they're done. Jan, however to their surprise, tells them he has nothing more to teach them. They learned everything they needed when they realized that they have to strive to continue to get better. Before they leave, Ahim asks Jan his name, which Jan tells them that he's "Kandou Jan, son of the Tigers," much to Ahim and Don's surprise. Don and Ahim arrive on sight, and together with the other Gokaigers they transform into Gekirangers, and defeat Pachacamac. After Pachacamac groes large, the Gokaigers unlock the powers of the Gekirangers, to defeat Pachacamac for good. The episode ends with Don telling Luka to learn the navigation system herself, and having Marvelous learn to cook the hotdogs, much to his dismay. Ahim tells Marvelous to look at it as training. Marvelous then burns his hand when he touches the pot.

My Thoughts:

I really liked that the episode displays Don's and Ahim's inexperience, and shows that everyone was a beginner once. When you think about it, this was how Jan was at first when he was recruited to be part of the Gekiranger team. Speaking of Jan, while I think the maturation of Ban and Kai really dumb downs their personalities, I like the mature Jan much better. Ahim looks really cute with her hair pinned up in a pony tail. I also like how Navi's prophecies are always vague and make the Gokaigers earn the work. Navi is quite a fun sidekick character. That being said, Don frustrates me with his cowardness at times. He's the only Gokaiger that I don't like to well so far, but I'm trying to hold back to see how he develops. I was also a bit disappointed that they didn't play the Gekiranger theme song during the fight. It's one of the more awesome Sentai themes. They played the Magiranger theme during episode 3, and the Dekiranger theme during episode 5, so why didn't they play the Geki theme here? Overall, it's a descent episode. Not as good as the premier, episode 4 or 6, but still pretty good. I give it 7/10.

Poll Results, Best Sentai of the 70's/80's and 90's,

2011-04-04T13:29:00.000-07:00

First, I have to mention that for whatever reason, my polls screwed up towards the end. Originally there were over 100 votes for the best Sentai of the 90's and over 70 for the best Sentai of the 70's/80's. But since those results won't show up, I'm just going to stick with the results I already have.

Jetman won the poll for favorite Sentai of the 90's, with 48 votes. From what I've seen of it (the first 36 episodes) it's easy to see why. Good villains, descent cast, plenty of good drama and action as well. Dairanger got second with 35 votes, barely beating out Zyuranger which had 34. Megaranger got 4th with 29 votes. Perhaps MMPR and In Space nostalgia are influencing the Zyuranger and Megaranger votes. The least number of votes was Carranger, surprisingly, considering how popular its comedy was.

Maskman won the most votes for favorite Sentai of the 70's/80's, receiving 32 votes. Liveman was second with 28 votes, Turboranger was third with 24 votes, and Flashman was fourth with 22 votes. Sun Vulcan and Goggle V were dead last with 10 votes a piece.

Goseiger vs Shinkenger Review

2011-04-03T18:33:00.000-07:00

Note: Image from Super Sentai Images

Yesterday a subbed version of Goseiger vs Shinkenger finally came out. I've watched it twice, once last night and then again today. I'm kinda mixed about the team-up. There were a lot of cool things about it on one hand, while on the other there were a few things that got on my nerves. I'll give some pros and cons about the team-up.

Pros:

* The action was pretty good, although not as good as the Shinkenger vs. Go-Onger team-up.

* There's some pretty good interaction between the teams, including them training together to perfect the Tensou and Mojikara as one unit. It really reminded me what I liked in Geki vs. Go-On when the teams trained together to save the Engines.

* Evil ShinkenRed was pretty cool and badass.

* The Gokaiger appearance was awesome, just like most Gokaiger fight scenes.

* The usually bland and boring Goseiger characters showed more personality in this team-up than they did in an entire season of Goseiger. However, this did have some other undesirable consequences that I'll discuss below.

* The ending, with the Goseigers imagining Alata as their "lord" like Takeru was actually pretty funny.

Cons:

* Nearly the entire first 15 minutes of the show. Besides the brief introduction of Takeru and Alata meeting each other, the first 15 minutes is filled with corny humor (like the Goseigers imitate samurais), and characters from both teams were annoying, particularly Eri, Moune, and Ryuunosuke, who aren't nearly as annoying in their respective series as they are here.

* The Gosei girls, Eri and Moune being star-struck by the Shinkengers was a little bit over the top.

* Ground Hyper Gosei Great was god awful to look at. Previous series have had their mecha overload problems, but this one was the worst. What's worst was that nearly every single component of it was a giant head.
* Kaoru not transforming into ShinkenRed was a bit of a disappointment, however I was happy that she at least got a role in the movie that was relevant to its plot.
* The GUIS subs are over-translated. They're not bad subs, but I think GUIS translated it so much that it lost its Japanese feel. For example, I think it suits the show better for the subs to say "Gedoshu" instead of "the Fallen" or "Takki-Chan" instead of just "Takki."

Despite the mix of good and bad, I actually did find the team-up somewhat enjoyable. Definitely not my favorite, but not the worst either. Overall, I give it a 7.5/10.

Crowning moment of Funny- Boukenger, Natsuki's Rampage

2011-04-02T09:38:00.000-07:00

Earlier, ChrisX talked about an absolutely hilarious episode of Boukenger involving Satoru's bad luck. That is no doubt the most hilarious episode in Boukenger and one of the funniest moments ever in Sentai. It reminded me of another hilarious Boukenger moment that comes a very close second, episode 24 which involves "Natsuki's Rampage." The episode involved Natsuki searching for treasure for a boy on her own, much to Masumi's dismay. Meanwhile, the Boukengers were attacked by an illusion of Karths, the Jaryuu Tribe, and Dark Shadow created by a precious. Natsuki then launches DaiBouken to dig up her treasure. When she's done, she comes to the Boukengers rescue to defeat the illusionary karths, Jaryuu tribe, and Dark Shadow, in Ultimate DaiBouken to squash everything (including her friends in the mix of the battle) like bugs. I found a youtube video of the incident, and all I have to say is: there is no kill like overkill!!!

Gokaiger Episode 6 Review

2011-03-30T14:02:00.000-07:00

Warning, Spoilers Ahead.

Note: Some photos courtesy of Super Sentai Images.

The episode starts out with Luka and Don shopping for jewelry. Luka is about to buy a ring when a rich girl named Komaki, who at first comes off as a stuck up rich brat. She offers to buy the entire store before her father walks in and scolds her. Luka then complains to Komaki's father about her daughter's lack of appreciation for money, saying "money powers everything in this world." Komaki's father likes Luka's attitude, and offers to hire Luka to work for him to earn the ring that she was going to buy. Luka accepts.

Luka's job is to be the guy's maid for the purpose of fanservice. Nah, I'm kidding. Actually, her real job was to basically baby sit the guy's daughter, Komaki. The man is revealed to be Kazugai Kouzou, who found a tree from a meteor impact site. The tree grows gold, which is the source of his wealth. It is guarded by a sophisticated security system. The Zangyach send Nanonanoda to the mansion in an attempt to steal the tree. Later, Luka is about to throw away a stuffed animal that Komaki keeps, much to Komaki's irritation. Nanonanoda gets past the security system and is about to retreave the tree before being noticed by Luka. Luka grabs Komaki and runs outside to safety. Nanonanoda follows them and rips off a line from Genta/Shinken Gold. :P

Luka then bribes Kouzou, offering to get rid of Nanonanodo in exchange for money. Initially Luka doesn't like Kouzou's offering, and tourchers Kouzou by using Nanonanodo's fingers to tickle Kouzou. Nanonanodo is the weakest MOTW so far on Gokaiger. He was totally pwned by an unmorphed Luka. However, having such a weak monster did make for some good comedy relief, such as the nut-shot given to him above and Luka using his finger's to tickle Kouzou.

Luka then morphs and transforms into Bouken Yellow, and makes good on her promise to get rid of Nanonanoda. Later, Komaki reveals that he wanted Nanonanoda to take the tree because she feels that their wealth had corrupted his father. She intended to buy the jewelry store in an attempt to spend all their money to go back when they were poor, because she feels her father was a better man back then. Luka then scolds her saying that money is what runs the world.

Later, we get a hint at Luka's past. She appears to be a poor girl who was giving bread to other poor people. Later, Joe questions why Luka wants money and Luka seems to answer that it is for her dream.

The next day, Nanonanoda and the Zangyach set Kouzou's mansion on fire, hoping to get past the security system to reach the tree. Luka goes to rescue Kouzou and Komaki from the burning house, while the others transform into JAKQ and stop Nanonanoda. Inside the house, Komaki asks Luka to save her most precious thing, and Kouzou offers Luka 100 million yen to save the tree. Luka tells Komaki she'll do it if her and her father get out of there. Luka retrieves Komaki's "most precious thing" which is her stuffed animal, that her father gave her for her birthday when they were poor. The 100 million yen check was also found inside Komaki's stuffed animal. Kouzou then recognizes his wrong doing and tells Komaki that he'll work hard for now on. Luka then joins the others and single handedly defeats Nanonanoda.

Later, the others are shocked that Luka would help them for free, but she reveals that she didn't as she took a couple rings, one of which was the original one she was going to buy. She laughs it off saying that it was what she was originally offered anyways.

My Thoughts

Previously, I said that episode 4 was the best Gokaiger episode so far. This one comes pretty close. It has some really funny scenes with Luka, the MOTW, and Kouzou, as well as a heartwarming moment between the girl and her father. We get some clues about Luka's past, seemingly being poor and also giving bread to other poor people. She also says that she needs money to accomplish her dream. I wonder, is she a Robbin Hood type character? Perhaps she needs the money to set something up for the poor. Perhaps thats why she became a pirate.

Power Rangers RPM Review

2011-03-29T20:14:00.000-07:00

Power Rangers RPM (2009) was the 17th season of Power Rangers (originally intended to be its last) and used footage from Engine Sentai Go-Onger. RPM was vastly different from its Sentai counterpart. While Go-Onger was a lighthearted, comedy-oriented series, RPM was very dark, widely considered the darkest Power Rangers series ever. RPM did use some of Go-Ongers themes, such as race cars, but was vastly different because RPM was based in a post-apocalyptic world in which everything outside the dome city of Corinth has become a wasteland. While also being very dark and serious, RPM can also be quite lighthearted filled with some silly characters and jokes that make fun of Power Rangers quirks such as the zords having eyes and the spandex uniforms. RPM, along with MMPR and In Space, is one of the most popular Power Rangers series ever. However, some fans criticize RPM for ripping off of Terminator and Mad Max, while others argue that RPM is too dark. Personally, I think RPM is an excellent series, and there's plenty to like about this series.

The Good

RPM has an excellent cast, complete with both good actors and good characters. Among my favorite characters are Dillion, Ziggy, Summer, Flynn, and Dr. K. Character development in RPM is much stronger than it had been in several years, each of them given backstories that are often tragic, such as Dr. K's being a military puppet, Dillion with his sister and the Venjix virus in his body, and Scott losing his brother in battle. I particularly like Dillion who's a badass and Ziggy who's hilarious. The story is great with the post-apocalyptic setting that at times can be chillingly dark, especially the first episode. The humor is some of the best in Power Rangers, particularly from Ziggy and all the lampshades used in this series. The villains are mixed, but solid. General Crunch is quite funny and the Venjix Virus, while not as hammy as other villains, still makes a pretty solid villain.

The Bad

The second half of the season wasn't quite as strong as the first half, particularly because of the Dillion-Tenaya 7 story being a virtual carbon copy of the Andros-Astronema story from In Space. However, it did help with the tragic aspects of Dillion's character and it wasn't a jump the shark moment. Gem and Gemma are initially annoying but settle down as the series goes on, and work well with others such as Gem with Scott and Gemma with Flynn. Probably my biggest gripe is the music. The theme song, while IMO not as bad as some PR fans make it out to be, isn't exactly a good one and doesn't quite fit the series. Also, the background music played during the fight scenes also didn't match the scenes well and wasn't that good. Unfortunately, RPM inherited the awful G9 and G12 zord combinations from Go-Onger, but since many of these zords weren't used until late in the series, we don't have to see these combinations as much as we did in Go-Onger.

The Ugly

There's nothing ugly about this series.

My Rating

A-, 9/10: Most of the flaws I mentioned are minor. Some of which are due to some of the footage it inherited or because of the change of writers during mid-season. Overall, RPM is an excellent season that is well made and much different from any other Power Ranger season.

My Favorite Episodes

Episodes 1-3: Probably the best introduction episodes ever in Power Rangers. We're introduced to the post-apocalyptic earth, as well as Dillion becoming the black ranger and kicking ass, including a prison fight and virtually making scrap metal of grinders.

Episode 5 (Handshake): Technically a filler, but had some really funny lines from General Crunch like "I have a question your most venjixness, are you going to super size the Naz Bot now or wait until the Rangers defeat it first." Also, Dr. K reveals her identity.

Episode 7 (Ranger Red): The character development episode for Scott, where we learn about his background.

Episode 8 & 9 (Ranger Yellow): A generally unpopular episode among PR fans, but I actually like the episode. I felt it was a good subplot for Summer and she seems to be heavily influenced by Ran/GekiYellow.

Episode 10 (Ranger Blue): We learn about Flynn's background. Also had some really funny lampshades at the beginning of the episode.

Episode 11 (Dr. K): The best of the character development episodes, and really makes you feel sorry for Dr. K when you learn what she went through.

Episodes 17-18: Some clues are given about Dillion's past, particularly his sister, and we get a full operation to destroy a Venjix weapons making factory. Also, this two part episode introduces the Whale zord.

Episode 20: As mentioned above, Gem and Scott worked well together, and this helped to advance Scott's character. Scott is always trying to impress his father, here he goes a bit too far.

Episode 21: Also mentioned above, Gemma and Flynn work well together. Here, Gemma and Flynn work together to create the Road Attack Zord.

Episode 28 (Run Ziggy Run): My favorite Ziggy-centered episode. Again filled with great Ziggy comedy, while Ziggy makes amends with Fresno Bob.

Some Unpopular Opinions That I Have in Power Rangers and Sentai

2011-03-28T16:25:00.000-07:00

ChrisX recently made a post about some of his opinions that are somewhat contradictory to the typical Sentai fandom. After reading his post, I decided to share some of my views that are also contradictory towards certain PR or Sentai series/characters. I think we all have some contradictory views in some ways, and it's good if you don't let the fandom dictate your opinions. I'll start with Power Rangers first.

Power Rangers

Power Rangers Time Force is Overrated.

Power Rangers Time Force is in no way a bad series. In fact it's pretty good and has some characters that I do like such as Jen, Wesley, Eric, and the villain Ransik. But whenever a series like Time Force copies the majority of its plot from its Sentai counterpart I tend to compare it to the original Sentai. While Ransik was a nice addition to the Sentai material, the character development for the supporting cast, particularly Katie, Trip, and Lucas, was terrible. They were shoved into the background and unlike their Sentai counterparts (and for that matter other PR series like In Space or RPM) they never really got a chance to shine. For example, in Timeranger, Ayase had problems with his incurable disease, Domon had his fighting license suspended and he developed a rather cute relationship with Honami, and Sion's home planet was destroyed when he was a kid, thus making him a virtual loner. This was all left out of Time Force. The other issue I have is that PR fans lash out on series like Wild Force and Mystic Force for being virtual carbon copies of their Sentai counterparts but completely ignore this line of thinking and praise Time Force. Where's the consistency?

Forever Red is Overrated.

Forever Red is definitely a good episode and I loved seeing all 10 red rangers together to fight. It was a great nostalgic episode. However, the episode reaps of terrible writing. There are numerous plot holes and innacuracies such as Jason getting his powers back and the fact that the Zeo Rangers didn't destroy the Machine Empire. Also, the unrealism of the episode goes beyond ridiculous. I can live with humans breathing on the moon and horses on the moon, but that terrible CGI Serpentera that looked no bigger than a 20 story building (in MMPR S2 it was at least 10 times the size of ANY skyscraper and/or zord) and the fact that Serpentera was defeated by Cole on a motorcycle was just stupid.

My unpopular opinions about Sentai

Go-Onger isn't a bad series.

Go-Onger has many Sentai fans split. It's truely a love it or hate it series. Most of the people who don't like Go-Onger criticize it for being too goofy, childish, and even the cast. I personally like Go-Onger, and like many of the things that most fans seem to hate about it. There are some things I don't like about this series, such as the villain's goal of "polluting the earth," the G9 and G12 combinations, and Ren/Go-On Blue, but I really liked the cast and the talking mechas. Most fans tend to like the Go-On Wings. While I do like the Go-On Wings as well, I also like a couple of the original cast members, Sousuke and Saki. The mechas, while having mecha overload problems with G9 and G12, all had really enjoyable personalities.

Having a fiery or "screaming" Red Ranger isn't a bad thing.

Some older Sentai fans, and some PR fans tend to be turned off by the so-called "screaming reds." These screaming reds include DekaRed, MagiRed, GekiRed, Go-On Red, and to an extent Hurricane Red. Many of these fans tend to like a more traditional red that's level headed or a true leader, like Takeru/Shinken Red or Tatsuya/Time Red. My personal personal opinion is that it really doesn't matter. Isn't red a sign of hotbloodedness anyways? When we have other hotblooded or hyper active characters that aren't red (like Genta) they don't receive the same criticism. This seems like terrible inconsistency for me. I'd judge characters based on their personality and development, not the color of their suits. And besides, I think it's a good thing to have a different type of red warrior once in a while. Sentai usually tends to stick one type of personality with a certain color, for example, pink rangers tend to be cute, feminine, bubbly, and sometimes ditzy. I think its good to have some originality in the characters, which is also why I like pink rangers such as Yuuri and Sakura.

Kaoru (Female Shinken Red) receives unfair hate.

Ok this may not be exactly an unpopular opinion, but among all the Shinkenger characters Kaoru is about the most underrated. She receives little to no development, but has a hatedom for the wrong reasons. Many hate her for just simply replacing Takeru as ShinkenRed, which is unfair. Takeru is definitely a likable character, but some fans tend to forget that Takeru was given back the throne of the Shiba clan by Kaoru for the betterment of the team. Also, many fans I think get the wrong impression that she's a spoiled brat based on her jerkass retainer, Tanba. Tanba is annoying, but I don't think Kaoru should be a targeted for hatred simply for replacing Takeru and because of her annoying mentor

Gokaiger Episode 4 & 5 Review

2011-03-23T21:00:00.000-07:00

I'd like to apologize for taking so long to get to Gokaiger episode 4 before making a review. I had so many things going on at once, including a research paper and finals, not to mention the earthquake and tsunami distraction.

Note: Images from Super Sentai Images

Warning: Spoilers Ahead

Gokaiger Episode 4- What are Friends For?

Episode 4 I think is the best Gokaiger episode so far. It was a character development for Joe and Ahim. Initially out grocery shopping, Joe and Ahim are attacked by the MOTW, Zodomas. After Zodomas and Joe fight one on one, Zodomas challenges Joe to a one on one sword fight dual. Joe accepts, much to Ahim's dismay, who argues that friends should take on Zodomas together, but Joe refuses to listen. Joe, despite being injured, practices in order to fend off Zodomas' special attack. Later, Luka consuls Ahim and tells her that Joe probably practices hard for the guy who taught him how to sword-fight. It is suggested that something tragic happened to him (probably death), and it's a painful memory for Joe. Before the dual, Ahim loans Joe her sword to battle Zodomas. Joe goes to fight Zodomas with Ahim watching in the distance, but Zodomas tricks Joe and sends the Sugormin to fight Joe. Angered, Ahim transforms to help. Soon enough, the rest of the Gokaigers arrive to fight off the Sugormin while Joe duals with Zodomas. Joe is able to fight off Zodomas' first special attack, but Zodomas was given an upgrade to his attack in which Joe isn't able to fight it off. However, the rest of the Gokaigers give Joe their swords, and he is able to fight off Zodomas' attacks. Of course Zodomas grows large. The Gokaigers then summon GokaiOh and defeat Zodomas. This episode showed the bondage of friendship as well as learning when to take a step back and trying to understand others. This episode reveals that Ahim is well meaning and sometimes a worry rat, she's rather innocent and doesn't understand others emotions at times. Joe has some potential to be a really interesting character. It will be interesting to see how the story with him and his former sword master unfolds.

Gokaiger Episode 5- Judgement Pirates

Episode 5 starts out with Luka stating that their bounties had been raised by the Zangyack. Then Captain Marvelous asks Navi where the Gokaigers can find some treasure. Navi responds by telling them to ask the local police. The Gokaigers then go to the police station, with Captain Marvelous walking in alone. This is where Jasmine/Deka Yellow shows up, and attempts to arrest Captain Marvelous for piracy. Marvelous then questions Jasmine if the Space Police had begun working for the Zangyack, which Jasmine denies. The other Gokaigers walk into the station and then run. Meanwhile Marvelous escapes Jasmine's grasp while being handcuff, but is soon caught by Doggie Krugar. Meanwhile Doggie and Marvelous stumble onto the Zangyack who are about to launch a handful of city destroying missles. Here a fight breaks out between the Zangyack and Doggie & Marvelous. Doggie & Marvelous narrowly escape after Doggie is wounded from a gun shot. Marvelous then pleads with Doggie to take off the handcuffs but Doggie refuses. He tells Marvelous that he can run but he'll find him eventually, but for now Doggie is going after the missiles to destroy them. As Doggie walks away, Marvelous notices that Doggie is bleeding. Doggie is caught by the MOTW, Bravd0, who nearly finishes Doggie before Marvelous saves him. Meanwhile, the other Gokaigers are searching for Marvelous but are intercepted by the Zangyack. Then Doggie asks Marvelous why he saved him and Marvelous tells him it was to repay his debt for Doggie saving him, and also to protect his pride. Doggie then uncuffs Marvelous and gives him his morpher back, and tells Marvelous that he doesn't trust pirates but he trusts his pride. Marvelous then tracks down Bravdo and destroys the launching device for the missles. The other Gokaigers arrive and the five transform into Dekarangers, defeating Bravdo easily. After Bravdo grows large, Doggie tells the Gokaigers that they can now use the Dekaranger powers to their full potential. The Gokaigers then use the Dekaranger powers to form Deka GokaiOh, and Patrol Striker launches from GokaiOh, evading Bravdo's attacks before landing some shots on Bravdo. The Gokaigers then defeat Bravdo with the heavy artillery. Later, a bunch of policemen are about to arrest the Gokaigers before Ban/DekaRed suddenly appears. Ban then announces that the Gokaiger's accused acts of piracy were lies spread by the Zangyack. He then helps a wounded Doggie and tells the Gokaigers not to disgrace their powers because he isn't as forgiving as Doggie. The episode ends with Marvelous telling Ban to complain anytime he wished.

This episode personally, I felt was a bit disappointing but still good. Mainly what I was disappointed in was that Jasmine and Ban had such short screen time in the episode. Especially Ban, who hardly felt relevant to the episode's plot. Doggie and Kai/MagiRed in episode 3 both had more screentime than Jasmine and Ban did. Ban is much more mature, as he was in Magiranger vs Dekaranger. While many others like the more mature Ban, I think it really dumbs down his badass and inspirational personality that I felt was really cool during Dekaranger. Other than that, the episode was what you expect from Gokaiger episodes. Awesome fight scenes. When the Gokaigers transform into other Sentai heroes, they mimic their fighting styles perfectly. For example, Luka was able to master Kanzu/KirinRanger's drunkin fist fight style, while Ahim mastered Umeko/DekaPink's sword fighting style. It was also awesome to hear the instrumental version of the Dekaranger theme song in this episode. The mecha fight was also awesome, and as much as I hate CGI at times, I have to admit the CGI in Gokaiger has been nearly perfect so far.

Power Rangers In Space Team Overview

2011-03-21T10:57:00.000-07:00

Fantasy Leader earlier asked me what I thought about the a couple Power Rangers In Space characters (Andros and Zhane) that I haven't mentioned much of. I decided to make a single post focusing on each of the In Space rangers. As mentioned before, the In Space cast is easily one of my favorites. One of the few good things about Turbo was the midseason cast change (though some didn't like it, particularly because it was midseason), which In Space inherited this cast sans Justin. The cast isn't quite as diverse personality wise as say SPD or RPM, but still very likable with many charming characters.

Andros is one of my favorite red rangers, and IMO the most well developed red ranger ever in Power Rangers. He got a lot of focus during this season, but unlike some other PR seasons that have too much red ranger focus (like Mystic Force), I felt Andros' heavy focus was well done. The rest of the cast members already got plenty of development during the second half of Turbo, so they could afford to give Andros more focus than the others. Besides, they also needed Andros to be relevant to the story and not just a mere "replacement" for Justin like some other past rangers have been, like Rocky and Aisha. What I really liked about Andros was the tragic aspects surrounding his character, particularly his home world KO35 being deserted, his kidnapped sister, and his best friend Zhane, nearly dying in battle. Initially, he was reluctant to let the Turbo rangers join him in the search for Zordon, but after seeing what nearly happened to Zhane it's easy to see why. I also felt he was a reasonably strong leader, not so much on the battlefield but in the search for Zordon. However, despite his all-business personality and tragic aspect, he was also a bit innocent, particularly with earthly customs.

T.J. is awesome. Easily my favorite blue ranger and one of my favorite red rangers as well (despite the fact that it was Turbo and he set the megazord to self-destruct :P). What I really liked about T.J. was his charming, cool guy, easy going personality, which reminded me a lot of Zack. His actor, Selwyn Ward, is just as easy going as T.J., and I recommend watching this interview with Selwyin. I also liked the fact that he stood up for Bulk and Skull one time when they were accused of stealing packages. Also, during In Space, his strategy for defeating the Psycho Rangers redeemed himself for his failures in Turbo by self destructing the Megazord.

For me Carlos was ok. He got some good focus episodes such as Carlos on Call (despite the girl being a brat), Always a Chance, and Never Stop Searching. During Turbo, particularly before he became a power ranger, Carlos came off as somewhat selfish. I hate to compare him to other rangers, but compared to other black rangers such as Zack, Adam, Tommy, and Dillion, he just doesn't measure up to them as well and doesn't measure up as well against his co-cast members. Don't get me wrong he's not a bad character, it's just other than his thick Mexican accent he comes across as a fairly average.

As I've said before, Cassie is my favorite pink ranger and also my favorite character on In Space. During Turbo, Cassie received a lot of development, particularly during the Phantom Ranger arc. She didn't get very many focus episodes during In Space but the ones she did get she really shined through, like A Rift in the Rangers and A Wasp with a Heart. I liked that she would stand up for herself against even the other rangers and stand up for a monster that really isn't bad at all. I really like her combination of toughness and punkish yet gentle and sweet. The only thing I didn't like is that the producers never used Patricia Ja Lee's martial arts abilities to their full potential like they were used in the movie Extreme Challenge.

Ashley is also one of my favorite yellow rangers despite being somewhat underused IMO. The good thing about the In Space girls unlike some of the other PR girls (like the Zeo girls, Kimberly, and Madison from Mystic Force) is that they actually felt like they could hold their own and were equals to the guys. Ashley, while not as tough as Cassie, was a good fighter that wouldn't back down. She was sweet and bubbly, a lot like Kimberly was.

Zhane I felt was cool as well, and added another dimension to the In Space cast and story. His playboy, flamboyant personality created some interesting drama, such as the tension between him and Andros over Ashley and Zhane eventually dating Astronema. His fighting skills were good, and his development was fair. If anything, he's useful for helping his home world, KO-35 rebuild and for providing the tragic aspect of Andros's character. But like T.J. and Ashley, his personality was more than enough to make up for his lack of development.

Overall, I find it difficult to compare the In Space cast to other PR teams. Each of them had their own unique qualities. For In Space, it was the development and the charm of the characters that makes them great. MMPR's cast had many charming, likable characters that were exceptional martial artists. Zeo was the first season where the cast received strong development, particularly among characters like Rocky that didn't really get any development through a season and a half of MMPR. Time Force and SPD's cast are more or less the same as their Sentai counterparts, but with excellent acting and a bit less development than their Sentai counterparts. Dino Thunder was kind of a throw back to MMPR, with Tommy and some likable characters (except for Conner who's a douchbag). RPM's cast I felt was much more diverse than any other cast and was very much a Sentai like cast, complete with comic relief characters like Ziggy and badass lancers like Dillion. When trying to compare each cast, it's kinda difficult for me to do because most of the In Space characters have a charm about them that's hard to describe.