Kyoryuger Through 16 Episodes

 In my previous Kyoryuger post, I mentioned how excited I was for the start of the series. Indeed, the first two episodes was an excellent and promising start to Sentai’s 37^th installment. Unfortunately, however, Kyoryuger has taken a downhill turn since then.

One of Kyoryuger’s main problems is the lack of originality in its plots. Originally it started out interesting with each of the characters sans Daigo keeping their identity secret. That was an interesting and original twist and could have been interesting if the writers decided to make it a season-long plot. The idea was dumped by episode four. Still I didn’t think dropping this plot was a bad idea and worked out well, but since then the writers haven’t figured out how to make a single episode original. Most of the episodes have been ripped off of episodes from other series such as Kamen Rider Fourze, Gaoranger, Hurricaneger, Abaranger Magiranger, and Go-Busters.

To be fair plots from previous seasons in Sentai are consistently recycled. It’s difficult to keep writing original episodes when you have a show that has been on for 37 years. However, it’s unprecedented to see how many recycled plots Kyoryuger has used in just 16 episodes. Furthermore, many of these plots feel like they’ve been watered down from the originals of previous series.

One example is the Utsusemimaru-DoGold plot, ripped off straight from the Rouki plotline in Gaoranger. The Rouki plot was an excellent story and the highlight of Gaoranger. Kyoryuger here has literally copied and pasted every point from that storyline including:

* A new villain introduced with the ability to control a spirit animal/Zyudenryu

* The villain ending up being a mask/body that possessed someone in the ancient past to save the season mentor.

* The person possessed becoming a 6^th ranger, separating himself from the mask who is revived as a villain.

* The 6^th ranger trying to act like a lone wolf out of guilt from a past event.

It also doesn’t help that the story feels a bit watered down and the execution was hurt by badly timed and failed comedy which I’ll talk about in a few paragraphs. To be fair, Ucchi has since then become one of my favorite characters and his history with his master who looks like Daigo was somewhat interesting, but it’s really disappointing to see a major storyline so blatantly ripped off from a previous series in your own franchise.

 To be fair, recycling plots can work if executed correctly. Sentai’s previous dinosaur-theme installment Abaranger had a plotline with Jeanne/Mahoro and Asuka which was very similar to Jetman’s storyline centered around Maria/Rei and Ryu. However, Abaranger executed it perfectly. In fact, Maria-Ryu was somewhat basic in its execution. The Mahoro-Asuka plotline added a lot more depth to this plot, showing Mahoro at one point being raped, frustrated by Asuka’s inability to save her, and for a long time questioning rather her child was fathered by Dezumozoria or Asuka. Not to mention both juggled between being good, wearing the dark armor and/or siding with the Evolien to save each other. It essentially perfected the original Jetman storyline and never tried to copy it point for point. Whereas, Kyoryuger has literally copied Gaoranger.

Another major problem with Kyoryuger is the ill-timed and often failed comedy. One such example happened in the previously mentioned Utsusemimaru-DoGold plotline. In episode 10 when Amy mentions she changes TV-channels with her feet. It was ill-timed because it happened so randomly in the middle of a three-parter which was supposed to be dramatic and serious, but stopped it in its track. It also didn’t help that the gag was not funny at all. Unfortunately, much of Kyoryuger’s comedy comes off as incredibly stupid, rather it’s because of some of the show’s lame attacks like love potions and fart bombs, or an annoying MOTW like the one in episode 14. 

The silliness of the villains doesn’t help either. Most of them (except for Luckyuro, who’s voice actress has
done a good job) come off as extremely annoying and child-like. Even the more serious villains like DoGold feel underwhelming. And really, for being a more serious and supposedly “menacing” villain, why the hell does Chaos put up with them?

Unfortunately, the biggest victims of this messy writing are the characters. I do like Kyoryuger’s acting cast and feel many have potential, but they’re being ruined by the script. Amy’s the prime example. I wanted to like her. I felt at the beginning of the series she could be a good combination of badass and cute, similar to Pteraranger or Shinken Yellow. But she’s been victimized the worst by the poorly executed comedy, with gags such as the love potion, using her feet to change TV channels, awkward dialogue between her and Ucchi in episode 11, or an annoying MOTW during times she’s supposed to shine. It also feels like the show is trying too hard to make her girly and bubbly.

Amy isn’t the only character suffering from bad writing. Ian’s personality suddenly changed from the brooding playboy to an overly nice guy with no explanation.  Ian’s actor I felt did great as the brooding playboy, but his personality has suddenly been watered down. If you’re trying to make him similar to Black Condor pay close attention to his development. In Jetman, it took Gai a long time to become a nice guy, and it was by gaining mutual respect for Ryu. It wasn’t an overnight thing which was out of the blue. Ian has also lacked focus, going 12 episodes before having a focus episode to himself.

Other characters like Shouji and Nobuharu are rather bland characters, with either no personality or one that consists of a lot of lame puns. It also doesn’t help that Nobuharu’s sister is an unlikable damsel in distress who constantly cries and complains. On that note, why the hell did they give Ayumi Kinoshita this crappy role? Do the producers and writers not notice that she played Jasmine, one of the great Sentai heroine of the last decade? I really hope Nao Nagasawa doesn’t have to play a crappy role in this series when she is due to show up in the series. Should I also mention, Ramirez has been ruined by the accent given to his character, which his actor clearly cannot pull off well. And really, why the heck do you need to give him an accent? The actor himself was born in Japan. He doesn’t need a weird accent.

On that point not all of the characters are that bad. Despite feeling like a carbon copy of Gentaro from Kamen Rider Fourze early on, I feel like Daigo is a likable character. His actor plays the character well with some charisma. I feel the same can be said for Ucchi as well, despite the fact again that his character is a carbon copy from GaoSilver. I do like the storyline they added with him and his previous master who looked like Daigo, and so far Ucchi is quite the badass. Like Daigo, I feel his actor has done a good job bringing the best out of his character. So on that note, these two are Kyoryuger’s saving grace so far. I still think Kyoryuger can still become a descent series if it stops trying too hard to be funny and find an original story to tell.

An early look at Kyoryuger

In hopes of keeping my blog from dying a cruel death (bad sarcasm), I have decided to talk about Kyoryuger. So far after two episodes it seems like it has some potential to be a good show. Kyoryu Red is quite a fun and potentially interesting character, depending on where his background leads. One element I really liked was how all the Kyoryuger's tried to keep their identities secret from each other at first. It was an interesting twist, especially given they were all at the restaurant together. The show also has kind of an Abaranger feel to it, with the shapes of the mecha, the villain's home base feels kind of like the Evolien Garden, a main villain to be revived later, and the tone and flavor of the show. The cast and the production crew is promising, with Riku Sanjo (Kamen Rider W) as the main writer and Koichi Sakamoto as the action director, not to mention Ayumi Kinoshita (DekaYellow) and Nao Nagasawa (Hurricane Blue) playing side characters. I also like the henshin sequence, with the little dance they do and the music playing. A little cheesy, but it's better than the previous 36 teams standing around and doing nothing while waiting to transform. :P

Despite all the good, there are some things in Kyoryuger that drag it down a little. The most obvious is the merchandise looking overly silly. They look too much like toys and not like actual weapons or fighting machines. With the two previous dinosaur themed sentai, Abaranger's CGI mecha wasn't perfect but still looked believable as giant robots you would use to fight giant monsters, and Zyuranger's mecha's looked exactly like what you would expect real giant dinosaur robots to look like. Furthermore, they had awesome designs. Here, the mechas and the guns look too simplistic and too much like toys. It looks like they ditched mecha costumes for the actual merchandise on the toys shelf.

Besides the mechas, the villains seem a little too silly so far, but they're not as annoying as other past villains like Walz Giles. I'm also not a fan of either the intro or outro theme songs. They're not horrid, just not my type of music.

Other than the underwhelming toy designs, so far so good for Kyoryuger. I hope the show can keep it up.

I'm Back- Congrats to DekaYellow

For everyone wondering where I am, I'm still alive. I've had a busy year, especially the last few months. Since August, I've moved from Bakersfield, CA to San Diego (about a 4 1/2 hour drive) and I'm going to school as a graduate student and working two jobs, so I've been squeezed for time. School will be out for the next month so I'm hoping I can revive my blog and make more posts for Sentai and Power Rangers.

In the meantime, I would like to congratulate our favorite ESPER, Ayumi Kinoshita (Jasmine/DekaYellow) on her marriage. I wish her the best of luck, but I would be lying if I said there weren't some fanboys who will have some broken hearts. :P

Thoughts on Power Rangers Megaforce

As many of you know, Saban decided to celebrate Power Rangers' 20th anniversary using Goseiger footage.  The series, officially named Power Rangers Megaforce, will also use Gokaiger footage for the series' second season.  Despite using Goseiger footage, Megaforce will not use Goseiger's angel motif.  Instead, it reverts back to MMPR's theme, five teenagers with attitude.

I'm personally mixed on Megaforce.  There's a lot of things I don't like.  To start off, why is Goseiger being used for Power Ranger's anniversary?  Ok sure, the colors are the same as the MMPR colors, but Gokaiger would have been a better series to use for the series' anniversary.  Sure, they're using Gokaiger footage in the second season (I'm imagining we're going to get 20 episodes of Goseiger footage and 20 episodes of Gokaiger footage), but the route they're using disturbs me.  Are they going to have the same characters for both sets of footage?  Are we going to have characters like Emma (to play Megaforce Pink) transform from the airhead that Erin was in Goseiger to the graceful (and also quite competent) princess that Ahim was in Gokaiger?  Or even worst, Troy (Megaforce Red) go from the rather innocent character of Alata to the bold, brave and adventurous alpha male character of Captain Marvelous?

Saban's reasoning for not using Gokaiger as the main series for an anniversary season adaptation also doesn't make a lot of sense.  He fears that the Pirate motif may cater too much to boys, might not work, and may even be too grown-up for a younger audience.  Uh, hello.  Power Rangers is a series aimed at boys already, why not use a theme that will cater to boys?  Furthermore, how could a graceful, kind, princess-like character like Ahim not be liked by girls?  Frankly, has Saban not recognized the success of pirate themed shows in the United States like Pirates of the Caribbean and Captain Hook?  You're going to tell me they don't have followings of a younger audience?  Seriously, I think Saban is starting to get too old to make competent business decisions.  It's already bad enough that Nickelodeon is meddling around by splitting shows like Power Rangers Samurai over two seasons, and now we get this crap.

Also, as regards to the "teenagers with attitude," it's nice to know that Saban does care about the older fans, but repeating MMPR nostalgia is starting to get old and tiring.  I understand it's an anniversary season, but Samurai had tried to reap the benefits of MMPR nostalgia, and failed miserably.  If you want to learn how bad Samurai did with MMPR nostalgia, you check out this post.  Now I could be wrong.  It can work, and Power Rangers has made MMPR nostalgia work well with Dino Thunder.  However, with Tzachor at the helm (and without Judd Lynn) I'm not exactly confident it will work out.



Despite all of the possible negatives I see, there are some things that are encouraging.  One is the cast.  The two female actresses (Ciara Hanna and Christina Masterson) do have previous acting experience.  Hopefully this means Megaforce won't have Samurai's craptastic acting.  I'm also a bit optimistic that Megaforce will be more original and not another copy and paste job from its Sentai counterparts like Samurai was.  When Power Rangers tries to copy and paste its Sentai counterpart, it usually does a terrible job.  Plus it gets boring seeing the same stuff that I already saw in the original Sentai.  It's like there's nothing to new and exciting to look forward to.  With the teenagers with attitude motif, and the fact that they're using two series circled around Power Rangers' anniversary, I have hope that it will force Tzachor and the writers to come up with some original ideas.

Go-Busters Episodes 15, 16 and 17 Reviews

I'm nitpicking here, but it makes absolutely no sense that the Buglars just disappear from the screen and give the Go-Busters time to morph.

While Masato is driving off with Enetron, does it ever occur to the Go-Busters that Hiromu could catch him if he tried to use his super speed?

Episode 15 begans with Commander Kuroki meeting Beet Buster and his buddyroid, Beet J Stag in a forest.  Meanwhile, Enter tries to investigate why Enetron has been leaking from the construction site of his megazord.  He creates a new metaroid to gather some replacement Enetron.  The Go-Busters try to stop him, but are distracted by Buglars.  However, Beet Buster and Beet J Stag appear to fight the metaroid.  Beet Buster reveals his identity as Masato Jin, Ryuji's senior.  However, Ryuji suspects he might be an imposter since Masato hasn't aged since he was trapped in the subdimension 13 years ago.  After another encounter with the metaroid, the Go-Busters are unable to split up to deal with the coming megazord because both the metaroid and the megazord are too powerful.  Masato and Beet J Stag appear to help and transform into Beet Buster and Stag Buster.  After Masato gets a little irritated with Stag Buster trying to steal the spotlight from him, he says that those flaws make it interesting.  Ryuji overhears the comment, which confirmed to him that it was the real Masato.  Ryuji, Hiromu, and Yoko leave to defeat the megazord, while Beet Buster and Stag Buster defeat the metaroid.  However, after they defeat the megazord, Ryuji, Hiromu, and Yoko find Masato and Beet J Stag stealing the Enetron which had originally been gathered by the metaroid they defeated.

This episode I felt was pretty good.  It was an interesting twist to see the new Go-Busters also being thieves.  I was hoping they would be on their own side, gathering Enetron for their own purposes and not really on either the Go-Busters or Vaglass side.  That, however, did not happen.  Still, the thievery part was kept, which I felt help makes Masato an interesting character.  He has a rather sly personality, arrogant, jokes around a lot, and attempts to steal the spotlight whenever possible.  It's also kinda funny how his buddyroid, Beet J Stag, tries to take the spotlight from Masato, leading to the latter's irritation.  Masato is played by the same actor who played Tsubasa/MagiYellow in Magiranger.  His acting was pretty bad in Magiranger, but has improved here.  I think his actor fits the role of Masato better than he did the role of Tsubasa, which helps.  Overall, I think this was a pretty good episode.  I give it an 8.5/10.

Episode 16 begins with Beet J Stag knocking on the door of the Go-Busters' headquarters, wanting Enetron to drink.  Since Hiromu, Ryuji, and Yoko have a lot of questions about Masato and the subdimension, they use it as an opportunity to talk with Beet J Stag.  However, all he gives them are vague answers (some not really answers at all).  Beet J Stag leaves and Hiromu, Ryuji, and Yoko follow him.  However, they have to split up because a metaroid was spoted.  Hiromu pursues Masato, while Yoko and Ryuji go after the metaroid.  Hiromu tries to question Masato, but he doesn't comply.  He challenges Hiromu to fight him in order to get the answers.  This fight is interrupted by the metaroid that Yoko and Ryuji were fighting.  The metaroid targets Hiromu with heat seeking missles, and Masato decides to use himself to shield Hiromu.  He tries to take out Enter with the missle as well, and both Masato and Enter blow up.  However, both are revived and they're revealed to be an avatar, kinda like a physical hollogram.  The real bodies for Masato and Enter are still in the subdimension, but their minds are projected onto this "avatar."  When the megazord arrives, it attacks the Go-Busters while they're fighting Buglars.  Hiromu tries to counter the megazord with Ace, but the megazord  creates its own megazords that hold Ace back.  Masato and Beet J Stag launch their own Buster Machines that drain enetron from the two Megazords holding Hiromu.  Hiromu destroys the main megazord, and Ryuji & Yoko defeat the metaroid.  Later, Masato reveals that on the night he and everyone else were transported into the subdimension, he was working in a different section.  He also revealed that he encountered no human while being trapped in the subdimension.

This episode was also a good episode, with a somewhat interesting twist.  The avatar twist particularly gave a new twist to Enter.  The fight between Masato and Hiromu kinda felt like a copy and paste job of a similar fight in Timeranger between Naoto and Tatsuya (also written by Kobayashi).  Despite that, the fight was well choreographed and entertaining.  We also got to see some internal conflict with Hiromu and Yoko.  On one side they want to know what happened to their parents, but on the other they're afraid of finding out what happened to them.  This was an enjoyable episode so I give it 8/10.

Episode 17 starts with Ryuji about to confront a megazord.  However, the megazord happens to be Masato and Beet J Stag stealing enetron from an enetron tank.  Ryuji and the commander lecture him about stealing, which Masato replies that he needs enetron for his transports and can't wait around for it to be given to him.  Later, Masato questions why Ryuji isn't as enthusiastic about being an engineer as he use to be, and his reasoning for fighting Vaglass.  Later, as commander Kurohin is about to supply Masato with enetron, Enter attacks, forcing Yoko to drop the tank full of enetron.  This time, along with the metaroid Enter created, the megazord that Enter had spent ten episodes stealing supplies to build it is finally activated.  This megazord splits off from another megazord, which is a beta-type megazord.  They're unable to defeat it with Go-Busteroh, which leads to their individual zords losing enetron fast.  Ryuji tries to shield Hiromu and Yoko with his Buster Machine.  Seeing the chaos, Masato and Beet J Stag summon their zords and save Ryuji.  During the fight, Masato tells Ryuji that he must find his own reason to fight, because Hiromu and Yoko have theirs due to their parents.  Ryuji decides that his reason to fight is so he can become an engineer after the fighting is over.  He begins to suck enetron from Hiromu and Yoko's Buster Machines, and then destroys the weaker of the two megazords.  Masato transforms his Buster Machine into Go-Buster Beet, which is identical to the megazord Enter had built.  Go-Buster Beet defeats Enter's megazord.  The episode ends with Masato giving Ryuji stolen engineer books and also stealing Ryuji's wallet.

This episode was mixed for me.  It had some enjoyable characterization for Ryuji, a funny scene at the end, and I liked the scenes with Masato as well.  Masato has become my favorite character on Go-Busters.  Perhaps because of his personality and the plot twist he brings.  However, the problem with this episode is Enter's megazord plot.  It already had pacing problems, taking 10 episodes from when he first stole the design to actually using it in battle.  Then this episode added another problem to the plot; an anti-climatic defeat.  While it knocked Go-Busteroh around quite a bit, it was defeated easily once CB-04 and SJ-05 entered the battle.  It was extremely disappointing to see Enter's megazord defeated in just one episode after having ten episodes worth of build up.  It makes Enter look like a weak villain, which is disappointing considering that he had been outsmarting the Go-Busters to get all the supplies for this megazord.  The writers could have at least made this a two-parter.  Or even better, they could have had this megazord appear before Masato and Beet J Stag came, in which Masato and Beet J Stag would have came to the rescue.  So despite some enjoyable scenes, the anti-climatic defeat of Enter's megazord made the episode disappointing.  Overall I give it 6/10.

A Look at Sentai's Screaming Reds and Ditzy Chicks

Some of the most controversial characters in Sentai can be classified under two subgroups, the "screaming reds" and the "ditzy" girls.  These characters tend to have similar traits, hyperactive, bubbly, sometimes childish, and outright idiots.  They divide fans.  Some love these characters for being fun, energetic, or even funny.  Other fans get headaches from watching them, being annoyed by how loud one screams or squeals, or even how hyperactive they are.  One thing I've noticed is that while Sentai had these or similar types of characters before, the trend seemed to start with Dekaranger.  Perhaps it was Dekaranger's popularity that influenced writers and producers to make more similar characters.  Also, while there were a handful of ditzy girls before the 2000's, I'm focusing more on the 2000's because that's what I've seen mostly and where the trend seems to start.




Yousuke is seen by some to be the first screaming red type.  He was the stereotypical idiot hero, but was more of a screecher than a screamer.  With Yousuke, I'm not entirely sure if he's even meant to be as much of a screecher as he is.  The actor's acting wasn't very good and often had awkward delivery.  As a character, Yousuke also fell flat in comparison to the other Hurricaneger characters.  His character had ego problems, and often fought over little things, had conflicts with his sensei, or with Kouta over who was chosen to be captain.  Yousuke also didn't have a storyline that stood out with his character, like Nanami with her singing career, Kouta with his sister and grandmother, the Goraijers with their father, or even Shurikenger with Gozen.




Some fans classify Nanami as one of the ditzy girls, though I don't really see it that much.  Like the other Hurricanegers (and many who fall under the ditzy stereotype) she's cheerful and energetic, but I don't really see the "airheaded" part in her.  Nanami acted like an airhead in episode 43 after reacting to Gozen not eating her New Years dinner that she cooked, but that's really the only time throughout the series where she seemed airheaded to me.  She had some instances where she fell for a Jakanja trap, but I don't think it would be any different for any average human given the situation. The character herself I thought was fun and enjoyable.  I felt her actress did a good job handling the hyperactive aspects of her character, and had her idol drama going on as well.




Ban was the first true "screaming red" character in Sentai.  With the exception of Boukenger, Ban was the first of a series of screaming reds that ended with Go-Onger.  He seems to be modeled after the cowboy cop stereotype.  Him and Jan are probably the loudest of the screamers, as such he tends to annoy fans more.  His actor does overact at times, but I found many of his quirks to be pretty funny.  Examples being drop kicking Hoji for acting pathetic from a mistake, and the wild, recklessness of his character.  What made his personality interesting was the sharp contrast between him and Hoji, the by the book cop, and how both characters interacted throughout the season.  At times this interaction got a little grating because of their respective personality nuances, but it was still fun to watch them grow together and respect each other throughout the series.




While Umeko wasn't the first ditz in Sentai, like Ban she started a trend with this type of character. Dekaranger through Boukenger all had a ditzy female character, and later Goseiger had a ditz as well. Among all the ditzy characters, Umeko is probably the most simplistic, without much depth or development.  However, her actress IMO did the best job with the character and was fun to watch.  Her actress had good comedic range and was pretty funny.  She had funny moments like the drunken boxing episode, and she felt like what the writers were aiming for: a cute, funny, and more like a kid who was untypical for a cop, but still had her traits that made her valuable to the space police.  However, Umeko isn't all that ditzy.  Despite having her airhead moments, she has some rather good ideas for handling the various cases that the Dekarangers encountered.  This included situations like her being a negotiator, and going under cover in the dream state to help her team catch an alienizer who invaded other people's dreams.



Following Dekaranger's success, Magiranger built many of their characters with similar personalities to their Dekaranger counterparts.  This included Magiranger's version of the screaming red, Kai.  Kai was a lighter version of Ban, reckless, rash, and a screamer, but not as loud as Ban.  As such, he doesn't get criticized as much as Ban does.  Being the youngest sibling of the Magiranger cast, Kai had an innocence element that also added a bit of flavor to the character.  He also matures later on towards the end of the series.  IMO, Kai was descent.  His innocence, along with his interaction with Yuka and rivalry with Wolzard made him interesting enough to watch.



Likewise, Magiranger had its own version of the ditz, Houka. But with Houka, having her as the "kiddy ditz" didn't really make sense.  She was the second oldest of the Magiranger siblings, and the writers seemed confused as to whether they wanted to make her the comedic ditz or the motherly figure of some past Sentai pinks.  They got something in between that didn't quite work.  Her ditzy characteristics were the worst part of her character.  The actress IMO didn't really fit well with the character.  Furthermore, she felt more often like she was more meddlesome and in the way, than fun.  One example being her trying to be a matchmaker for Kai and Yuka, but making the situation more messy.



Of all the ditzy child-like characters, I felt Natsuki was the most believable and understandable, in the way that she was written.  She acted childish and was airheaded, but she was a character that felt like she actually was a child in an adult's body.  She had no memory of herself, and was in fact, in suspended animation throughout what would have been her childhood.  So without a real childhood and ignorant of civilization, I felt it made more sense that she would act like a child, was airheaded, and still growing up.  Her storyline also helped make her interesting.  The actress did ok with her role, but was still enjoyable nonetheless.



Like Natsuki, Jan was the most well-written of the screaming reds.  I'm personally mixed on the character.  Like Natsuki, he has a believable background of growing up away from civilization (in a jungle actually), and didn't know how to interact with humans regularly.  He also has an interesting storyline to go with his character.  My complaint with him are some of his quirks.  I felt he screamed and overacted too much at times, and also the way he threw temper-tantrums at times got really grating.  He does mature towards the end of the series which helps, but at times it felt like a chore for him to get there.



In terms of IQ, Sousuke is easily the dumbest character on this list.  Sousuke was the standard idiot hero, and had little of a storyline in comparison to Jan, Kai, or Natsuki.  At times his idiocy does get over the top, but I felt he pulled off the idiot hero character pretty well.  He didn't annoy me like other idiot hero characters do, and I felt his actor had the charm to make him enjoyable to watch.  Like Hoji and Ban, the contrast between him and Hiroto made the two enjoyable to watch.  But what really helped his character was his relationship with his Engine partner Speedor.  I thought the two had some good interaction and character development from this interaction.



Eri is the last character to be a ditz so far. She was... up and down.  Compared to the other Goseigers she had a little more personality and probably the most consistent characterization along with Alata (which isn't saying much).  However, there are times where she can get irritating, particularly when she squeals or when her mind goes to a thousand places at once.  Also like virtually all of the Goseiger characters, she has very little character development.  Her actress did an ok job in general, but like the rest of the Goseiger cast, didn't know how to handle the bad script.

New polls

In attempting to get my blog more active again, I decided to finally update the polls.  One is on choosing your favorite between the two currently airing sentai (Go-Busters and Akibaranger).  The other is asking the viewer their favorite tribute episode from Gokaiger.  Have fun with it.

Thoughts on Akibaranger

 One show I haven't mentioned so far is Hikonin (unofficial) Sentai Akibaranger. While not being an official installment of the Sentai franchise, Akibaranger parodies the Sentai franchise. Eight episodes have aired so far (of which I've seen seven), with rumors that there will be 12 or 13 episodes total. As expected, it's wacky and crazy, but quite enjoyable.

The characters seem to be parodies of anime character sterotypes: with an otaku Sentai fanboy, an otaku cosplay girl, and a tsundere otaku girl. Nobuo is the otaku version of Gai/Gokai Silver. :P In seven episodes he's probably surpassed Gai as the craziest Sentai fanboy. While Gai is an ok character, I like Nobuo a lot more. He's pretty funny, especially when he has one of his own delusions (like being Ban's partner or his cosplay fantasy). His actor does a good job with his character. Yumeria is the cosplay otaku girl. While quite hyperactive herself, she pulls off a number of cosplay gimmicks, and fits them well. Last but not least among the Akibaranger trio is Mitsuki. She's the youngest but also the most serious of the three Akibarangers. On the outside she's a stoic Tsundere, but she also happens to be an in-the-closet otaku as well, being a fan of "Aoi-tan." All three of these characters are fun to watch, but the supporting cast manages to steal the scenes they're in.

Being a parody of Sentai, there's a lot of references to previous Sentai series. This includes many scenes either re-inacted (like DekaRed dropkicking Nobuo) or being discussed (like the dialogue exchange between Natsuki and Eiji in Boukenger episode 20). These references make Akibaranger feel like a second coming of Gokaiger, which is nice for fans who weren't ready for Gokaiger to end. Like Gokaiger, Akibaranger gets powers from previous Sentai, and the theme songs of the previous Sentai are played. I hope Gokaiger gets an episode in Akibaranger, because it would be fitting. The humor in the show is occasionally a little over the top, but still a lot of silly fun. The best example I think is pretty much all of episode three. Overall, I think Akibaranger is a delightful show. Hopefully the last handful of episodes will finish strong.

Stunt Director Koichi Sakamoto

One of the few people to work extensively both on Power Rangers and Super Sentai is Koichi Sakamoto. Sakamoto is mostly known for stunt and choreography director, but throughout his run in Power Rangers, he's also worked as a writer, main director, producer, and executive producer. Sakamoto hasn't limited himself to just Power Rangers, he's also done stunt directing for Super Sentai and Kamen Rider as well. Sakamoto grew up in Japan as a fan of both Super Sentai and Jackie Chan. The Jackie Chan influence is evident in Sakamoto's wire-fu style. Here's a look at his works.



Sakamoto began his career with Maskman. He worked as a stunt actor for Blue mask at live shows, many of which were taken place at the Tokyo dome.



In 1989, Sakamoto moved to the United States to study English and become a stunt actor. He formed his own stunt team, "Alpha Stunt Productions" and began working as the 2nd unit director for VR Troopers.



After one season working as a director for VR Troopers, Sakamoto worked as a Stunt Coordinator and 2nd Unit Director for Power Rangers, starting with MMPR S3. He would keep these roles for the rest of the Saban-era, and was even the co-writer of one of Power Rangers' most popular episodes, Countdown to Destruction.



Sakamoto began work as a producer with Power Rangers Time Force.



Sakamoto was co-executive producer during the entire Disney era of Power Rangers, sharing responsibilities with Douglass Sloan, Bruce Kalish, Eddie Guzelian, and Judd Lynn. At Power Morphicon, Bruce Kalish claimed that during his reign, all the production decisions (including copy & pasting Sentai plots) were made by Sakamoto. However, this seems implausible and more like an excuse for Kalish to avoid the blame for the low quality that Power Rangers suffered during his tenure.




Sakamoto also worked as a stunt coordinator for the opening credits of Magiranger and Gekiranger. Both openings were filmed at New Zealand, which was also where Power Rangers was being filmed at the time.



With Power Rangers coming to an end with RPM, Sakamoto returned to Japan. First he worked as a stunt coordinator and one of the main directors for Kamen Rider W. He was the director of three of the W Movies including Gaia Memory A to Z, Accel, and Eternal.



After W, Sakamoto worked as a director and stunt coordinator for the first 1/3rd of Gokaiger. His wire-fu style is very evident in the early episodes of Gokaiger.



Sakamoto has worked as a director for Kamen Rider Fourze, including its first movie.



In between jobs with Gokaiger and Fourze, Sakamoto has worked part-time as an action director for Power Rangers Samurai. He hasn't been involved in production work like he was during the Disney era.

Super Sentai Idol: Actors and Actresses who Have Musical Talent

For a while I've been thinking about making a post on which Sentai actors and actresses who I think are great singers. In the past decade, many Sentai actors and actresses have sung their own character songs. While others throughout the 80's, 90's, and 2000's have sung theme songs and insert songs. There's plenty of Sentai actors and actresses that have good songs, but these are the ones that I think have the best singing talent (in chronological order). I'm including samples of some songs as well.

Daisuki Shima (Yuusuke)/Red Falcon Liveman



Yuusuke/Red Falcon sung both the opening and ending themes of Liveman. I'm not a big fan of 80's Sentai music, but I think both the opening and ending theme for Liveman are the best among 80's themes. My favorite of the two is the ending theme. Overall I think Shima has a good voice with talent.

Megumi Mori (Megumi)/Blue Dolphin Liveman



Megumi Mori began her entertainment career as a singer before taking the role as Blue Dolphin on Liveman. She sung the insert song "Spark Umi E" on the Liveman soundtrack. That song has a nice rock beat, as you can see on the top video. Megumi also has diversity in her music. The second song I'm showing (Hoshi no Namida/A Star's Tears if my English translation is correct), has a much more relaxed, peaceful tone.

Kenta Satou (Riki)/Red Turbo Turboranger



Kenta Satou (Red Turbo) sung both the opening and ending theme songs for Turboranger, as well as the opening theme for Zyuranger. The openings for both Turboranger and Zyuranger are popular among the Sentai fandom. I personally don't care much for the Turboranger theme song, but the Zyuranger theme song is one of my favorite Sentai themes.

Toshihide Wakamatsu (Gai)/Black Condor Jetman


Toshihide Wakamatsu, who played one of the most popular Sentai characters ever (Gai Yuuki/Black Condor), also sung the Jetman insert song, Honoo no Condor (Flame of a Condor). I think the song is good, but not great.

Nao Nagasawa (Nanami)/Hurricane Blue Hurricaneger


Nagasawa Nao - To you by KHproductions

I had trouble trying to find videos for Nao Nagasawa (Hurricane Blue), but managed to find them. She sung the Hurricaneger insert song "Shinobi Koi" (first video, from 7:03 to 7:28) and also had some mild success in the J-pop industry (her top song reaching #27 on the J-Pop charts). I think Nao has a beautiful singing voice and some diversity in her music (some rock, slower ballads, evens some salsa thrown into a couple of her songs). However, her music is mixed for me, and tends to range from good (like the song in the second video, "To You") to pretty bland.

Shou Tomita (Yukito)/Abare Blue Abaranger


This is the only song that I know of from Shou Tomita (Abare Blue), which is Yukito's character song. However, I think it's a kick ass song. Nice rock beat, and Shou sings it perfectly. IMO it's the best of the character songs by any 2000's Sentai male actor.

Ayumi Kinoshita (Jasmine)/Deka Yellow Dekaranger



Ayumi Kinoshita's song, "Hard Rain," (first video) I think is perhaps the best character song. It has a nice, up-tempo beat. While I don't think Ayumi's is the best singing talent, she's descent and the up tempo beat to her character song suits her well. She also sung the Dekaranger insert song "Girls in Trouble" (second video) with her Dekaranger co-star Mika Kikuchi (Umeko).

Mika Kikuchi (Umeko)/Deka Pink Dekaranger




While Ayumi Kinoshita has possibly the best character song, I think her co-star Mika Kikuchi (Umeko) is the best singing talent among any Sentai actor or actress. She has a beautiful voice that's made for slow melodies. Like other Sentai actors/actresses, she has a character song (Sunao ~ Ima wo Shinjite) (first video), and also sung an insert song on the Magiranger soundtrack (Tenkuukai no Yasuragi/Peace in Heaven) (second video). She's not only good at slower ballads, but at rock songs as well, like the song in the last video, "Chihei no Kanata."

Yumi Sugimito (Miu)/Go-On Silver, Go-Onger


Yumi Sugimoto also has a good singing voice that really shows in her character song "Yume no Tsubasa." She joined her Go-Onger co-stars Rina Aizawa and Nao Oikawa to sing the song "G3 Princess." That song personally I think is ok, but Yumi and Rina both have much better character songs.

Hidenori Tokuyama (Hiroto)/Go-On Gold, Go-Onger


While not an actual character song, Hidenori Tokuyama's song "Miss You" managed to make an appearance in episode 31 (the G3 Princess episode), which I thought was easily the best song in the episode. The song sounds kinda like country, which isn't my type of music, but it's still a good song (the full version of the song is in the video above. I think Hidenori displayed a great singing voice in the song, which makes it easy to listen to.

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

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

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.