Gekiranger Series Review

Juken Sentai Gekiranger (sometimes spelled Jyuken) (2007-08) (English translation Beast-Fist Squadron Gekiranger) used a martial arts motif that was based off of a kenpou using the person's "innerbeast." Usually, this series is seen as a more serious show. In reality, the first 18 episodes are more comedy oriented, while the last 31 are more serious oriented. This series is one with mixed reviews. This show truely was the opposite of "It's Big in Japan." The correct phrase would be "It's Big in America." Despite having some of the worst TV ratings and toy sales in Japan ever for a Sentai series, it is widely popular in Western societies. Personally, I'm mixed on this series as well. The show is widely praised for its deep character development, especially from its two main villains for most of the show, Rio and Mele. Rio and Mele are among the most popular villains ever in Sentai's history. While the show receives criticism for its hyperactive red ranger, Jan.

The Good

Rio and Mele are well worth the praise and popularity they receive. Especially Rio, who is just awesome. Among the rangers cast, Gou is a badass. Ran was the first female leader since Yuuri from Timeranger, which was nice, although imo she didn't get enough focus. I also liked their technical assistant, Miki, and her daughter. The movie is one of the better Sentai movies imo, and the team-up with Go-Onger was pretty good as well. The last 31 episodes overall are pretty good, including the final battle. This show overall has a pretty good, ambitious plot. Also, the opening theme song qualifies as Crowning Music of Awesome.

The Bad

I have to agree that Jan is a pretty annoying character who gets too much focus. As mentioned above, I also felt that Ran, the team leader, didn't get enough focus. Bae was also an annoying character imo, but he becomes likeable by mid-season. Also, the first 18 episodes, except for a couple awesome Rio moments, are rather bland at best. The team-up with Boukenger was also kind of bland. While the intro was great, I didn't really like the outro that much.

The Ugly

The uniforms imo are among the worst Sentai uniforms since Battle Fever J.

My Rating

7.5/10 (Grade B-) A good but not great series, imo, that has its moments and a good storyline.

My Favorite Episodes

Episode 9- One of the better episodes during the early part of the season. This episode reveals the background to Mele's love for Rio.

Episode 12- Also one of the better early episodes, involving a CMoA when Rio eats his own fear for lunch.

Episode 15- Also one of the better early episodes, and the funniest because Ran has to become a mother after Jan and Retsu are turned into kids.

Episodes 19-21- This is the KaGeki arc and where the series really starts to pick up steam. In the first episode, Rio just kicks the crap out of the Gekirangers. The second, the Gekirangers go through a training session in which they're tested against one another's strengths instead of their own. The third, they obtain KaGeki after discovering why they want to fight, and particularly Jan. This is also the beginning of Jan's maturity.

Episode 23- Ran is named Captain, and is immediately turned into a rebel. Involves an awesome moment for Miki.

Episode 25- Gou transforms into GekiViolet for the first time and it is awesome. He then proceeds to kick Mele's ass.

Episode 27- One of the few episodes where Bae isn't an annoying pest. He helps Gou defeat the wolf inside him and turns out to be a likable character.

Episodes 32-35- The story arc that eventually ends in the defeat of Maku and the Kenma. Episode 33 is also one of the few moments where it actually looks like Ran is leading the team as the captain.

Episode 37- Ran who is mostly underdeveloped throughout most of the series finally gets some development here, when her rich mom tries to arrange her to get married.

Episodes 46-48- The big reveal of the series, and the arc where Rio and Mele's development and relationship come full circle, along with their death that is quite sad.

Influences I See in Power Rangers RPM

Power Rangers RPM is well known for being so vastly different from its Sentai counterpart, Go-Onger, that it's sometimes criticized for "ripping off" movies like Terminator and Mad Max. I certainly agree that these movies helped influence RPM, but RPM didn't "rip-off" these movies. Here's some of the influences I see.

From Hollywood

The Terminator series is obvious. The Venjix virus, army of robotic machines, it's quite obviously designed after Skynet from Terminator.

Many people think that the post-apocalyptic setting came from Mad Max and the domed city of Corinth came from Power Rangers Lost Galaxy, I disagree. Instead, I think both settings came from the 2002 sci-fi film, Impostor. Impostor is set in the future after the human race had been invaded and nearly wiped out by an alien race from Alpha Centuri (ironically, the nearest star ouside our solar system). The only places left are a handful of domed cities.

Power Rangers-Sentai influences

I think Power Rangers in Space also has heavy influence on RPM. I think the story arc behind Dillon and Tenaya is somewhat of a recycled Andros and Astronema/Karone arc. Also, the fact that In Space was so radically different from its Sentai counterpart, Megaranger, helped encouraged the writers to do something new with the available Go-Onger footage.

I think Go-Onger's preceeding series, Gekiranger, had its share of influence on RPM. Especially the character Ran, whom Summer seems to be somewhat modeled after, which I mentioned about a month ago in this entry. Their story and background are pretty much the same. Their both rich girls, convinced their parents to let them join a team (in Ran's case it was Gekiranger, and Summer to be a Power Ranger), and both then go on to become skilled martial artists. At the same time, both of their parents tried to force them into an arranged marriage to preserve the family wealth.

While being radically different from Go-Onger, RPM still managed to copy a couple story arcs from Go-Onger, such as a toxic gas that put only males to sleep. Also, Gem and Gemma's disney death was similar to Miu, Hiroto, Gunpei, and Hanto's disney death near the end of Go-Onger.

RPM is also one of the few Power Rangers series to have Sentai-style comedy. Usually in Power Rangers, its campiness and humor comes from either the villains or comedy relief characters such as Bulk and Skull, while the rangers are generally more serious. In Sentai the comedy often happens among the ranger teams. In RPM, its comedy, like Sentai, happened among the rangers. I personally didn't find comedic rangers such as Gem and Gemma to be that funny, but Ziggy, the Green ranger, was hilarious.

What I Think of Forever Red

Like all Power Ranger fans I really liked the fact that all previous red rangers teamed up in one episode known as "Forever Red." However, I have mixed feelings about the episode in particular. I like the fact that every previous Red Ranger was in the episode, along with Bulk and Skull and many of my favorites (like Tommy, Jason, TJ, Andros, and Leo), but I also think it's an overrated episode with many flaws. Of course, there is the obvious plot hole of how did Jason and TJ get their powers back, but for me thats not the problem I have with it. For starters, some of the more ridiculous scenes like horses on the moon and that living humans can breath on the moon. How Serpentera was introduced and used in the episode is deeply flawed. When shown in MMPR S2, Serpentera was at least 10 times bigger than the other zords, on Forever Red it is much smaller. And I also found it ridiculous how one ranger alone could take it down. I would have preferred to see the rangers call on their zords to try to take it down. For me, Forever Red is a good but not great episode that is worth seeing, but I think it should have been managed better and turned into a two-part team-up episode like most Power Ranger teamups are.

MMPR S1 Review

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (MMPR) (1993-94) was the first installment of Power Rangers to be adapted from the Super Sentai series, using Zyuranger and later, Zyu2 footage. Since Mighty Morphin was three seasons long, I'll review each three seasons separately instead of the series as a whole. Their powers were drawn from the spirits of the ancient Dinosaurs, which is technically only partly true, the Saber Tooth Tiger and Mastodon were NOT dinosaurs. The characters were teenagers based on teenage stereotypes (as well as their actors' characteristics) that eventually mature outside of their stereotypes. This season (and the first 4 1/2 seasons in general) differed somewhat from its Sentai counterpart in which it also had a martial arts theme to it. To make it work, Saban hired actors that were more skilled in martial arts than they were in acting. In fact, when Jason David Frank got the part for Tommy, Saban told him "we'll teach you how to act, you just keep kicking." This season was campy, the comedy relief characters Bulk and Skull, and the villains sans Goldar and Scorpina, were mainly comedic. MMPR is the most popular Power Rangers series with the biggest fanbase, with season 1 being the most popular season during MMPR. This season is remembered by many who grew up with the show (including myself :P). Fans like this series for its memorable cast, the catchy theme song, some of the cool zords and monster suits, and for being "old school." This is also the beginning of the Tommy Oliver's legacy, who was so popular on this show that fan demand Saban to bring him back. At this time, however, Saban had ran out of Zyuranger footage and had to request more footage to be made (now called Zyu2) which TOEI gladly gave to Saban. This season had some of the best out of suit fight scenes, particularly against the putties, which is mainly due to the martial arts skills that the actors and actresses possessed. At the same time, all three MMPR seasons had some of the worst American in-suit ranger fight scenes in the series history. While this season is very popular among many fans, it is often criticized for its campiness, a simplistic plot, and below par acting during the early stages of the season.

The Good

Well, I can't say enough about the cast. It's a very memorable cast that deserves its recognition. The music to this season and season 2 are still the best to date in Power Rangers. I actually think the Zyuranger and Zyu2 footage was used quite well in this season, which wouldn't be the case for season 2. I also love the fight scenes, particularly against the putties. The characters were also well developed and matured dramatically from their stereotypes by the end of the season. Theplot may have been simplistic but there were still plenty of good episodes and good subplots.

The Bad

It's true the acting wasn't the best early on, but it got better as the season progressed. Also, as mentioned earlier, the American ranger footage during this era was rather, bad.

The Ugly

The worst part was the American Green Ranger costume, particularly because of that soggy-looking cotton shield. Saban would have been better off importing the costumes from Japan instead of making his own.

My Rating

9.5/10 A. Despite the level of acting early on, this series has plenty of good, solid characters. IMO the best PR cast still.

My Favorite Episodes

Episode 1 (Day of the Dumpster)- Where it all began.

Episode 2 (High Five)- A good episode that gave Trini some character development.

Episode 4 (A Pressing Engagement)- Jason learns how much he needs his friends.

Episode 16 (Dark Warrior)- Technically a filler episode, but I like the family aspects with Trini and her uncle in this one. This episode also gave some very strong development to Billy, and was the start of him maturing from a nerd always being picked on to a very skilled martial artist.

Episodes 17-21 (Green with Evil arc)- Where Tommy's legend began, and it was pretty epic.

Episode 24 (The Spit Flower)- This is where the Tommy-Kimberly relationship starts to progress.

Episode 34-35 (The Green Candle)- Where Tommy loses his power the first time.

Episode 36 (Birds of a Feather)- Gives Zack some strong character development as well as a CMoA for Jason.

Episode 48 (Plague of the Mantis)- Another strong character development episode for Trini, in which she learns the value of honor.

Episodes 49-50 (Return of an Old Friend)- Involves Tommy's return and some good family aspects.

My Thoughts on the Shinkenger V-Cinema Movie

As terrible as the first Shinkenger movie was (lasting less than 20 minutes), I felt that the Sequal movie, titled Come Back! Samurai Sentai Shinkenger: Special Act more than made up up for the shortcomings of the first movie. To start off, it's given an appropriate length, unlike the first movie. The v-cinema movie also adds a new twist and shows Shinkenger in a new light. While the series is generally more serious-oriented, the V-cinema movie is more campy and comedic. The V-cinema movie has plenty of well-executed humor. My favorite scenes include the scene where the Shinkengers are protecting a forest, where Ryuunosuke imagines he's the leader, and the Shinkengers are dressed in animal outfits that are based off of their origami's (as pictured above). I also liked the scene before where all the Shinkengers are at an all-boys schools and their genders are completely switched, which was Kotoha's illusion. It makes me wonder if Kotoha had a crush on Mako. And then of course, the ending scene, where they tease Ryuunosuke about his illusion and then later Takeru about being the lord. If you haven't seen this movie, it's a must see and is now subbed by TV-Nihon, which you can get from here.

Jason David Frank to make his MMA Pro Debute

Many of you probably remember Jason David Frank as Tommy Oliver (a.k.a. the Green Ranger), and all of his awesome fight scenes on Power Rangers back in the day. Now, Frank will be fighting for real. Exactly one week today (August 4th) will make his MMA pro debute in Houston, Texas against Jose Roberto Vasquez. Frank went 4-0 as an amateur in MMA matches. I'm not much of a fan of fighting sports, but this seems interesting and it would be interesting to see how he would do against real professional fighters.

Jason David Frank MMA promo video

Underrated Sentai Series

Among 2000's Sentai series, two seasons that I feel are very underrated are Hurricanger and Go-Onger. These two seasons are in the shadows of other very popular 2000's seasons such as Timeranger, Dekaranger, Boukenger, Gekiranger, and Shinkenger.

Hurricanger is in the middle of a three season period between Timeranger and Dekaranger. This three year period includes Gaoranger, Hurricanger, and Abaranger. As a result, Hurricanger doesn't get talked about much, other than Nanami/Hurricane Blue because of her looks, and occasionally Shuricanger. This series I feel is a very good series. It has an underrated cast, a good plot with intense drama and a dynamite final battle. To me, this series easily beats Boukenger and Gekiranger, two good series. It's a pitty though that much of the available Hurricanger footage on Youtube has terrible quality, with the words often not matching up with the lips.

Go-Onger is another heavily underrated series that to me beats both Boukenger and Gekiranger. This series falls between two very popular Sentai series, Gekiranger and Shinkenger. This show gets thrashed by Power Rangers RPM and Shinkenger fanboys for its comedic, campy, and even kiddy tone. To me, the humor in this season is what makes it fun. It's also not given credit for other good elements such as a likable cast, some very touchy moments, and some very serious moments, like Sousuke's supposed "death" and the apocalyptic final battle. Although the apocalyptic final battle gets ridiculed by some fans who liked the humor and felt that the ending was too dark for its otherwise comedic tone.