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02-21-2017, 01:36 PM | #31 |
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This episode does a few things very well that are super encouraging... 1) Character conflict. Sentai often refuses to put any characters on the team in conflict with each other, especially in early episodes. This episode puts Naga and Balance in conflict with each other AND with Lucky. Great work. 2) Heroes with shades of gray. Sentai almost never gives us heroes that aren't squeaky clean good guys. Part of what was so refreshing about Gokaiger was how the heroes were pirates who often acted selfishly. Similarly, Naga and Balance (especially Balance) are not great guys. They're thieves. They're selfish. They betray each other for petty reasons. This was crazy refreshing. 3) An in-story explanation for why it's so easy for the heroes to find each other. Lucky's super-luck is an elegant plot device. It solves questions like "how, out of every planet in the universe, did they choose the one with two Kyurangers on it?" before they can even be asked. Without the need to contrive solutions to these logical problems, the show is free to spend its time developing characters and showing us cool action scenes. Which brings me to... 4) Holy shit the action was actually awesome! Fukuzawa is stepping his action game up big time. The action this episode had a wide variety of camera set-ups (including some classic Sentai extreme wide shots, which I've been missing in the last few seasons), it utilized a few new visual tricks they briefly experimented with in Zyuohger (the body-mounted POV cams and the fast-moving drone tracking shots), the locations were really good, and we got some interesting parallel action. Lackluster fight scenes has been one of my main criticisms of ToQger, Ninninger, and Zyuohger -- it's nice to see some clear improvement and increased creativity. 5) Interesting subversion of robot/human buddy tropes. When a human and a robot are partners, it's usually the robot who has no emotions and the human who acts as a catalyst for the robot to develop feelings. Here it's reversed! Balance is a flamboyant, OTT, hyper-emotional character, and Naga is the unfeeling logician. It's a small thing, but this is such a clever inversion of a classic trope, and it's played perfectly. 6) The super fast pacing. I'm hearing a lot of complaints that the first two episodes are overstuffed. Yes, there's a lot going on. But it's all well balanced and effective, IMO. And frankly, give me "too much stuff" any damn day, if the alternative is a slavish devotion to the same, standard, simple Sentai story tropes we see repeated year after year after year. Some say these episodes moved too fast, but I think the writers are just being very efficient in how they parcel out information. Ultimately, though, the best thing about Kyuranger so far is how it manages to balance an irreverent tone (relative to other Sentai) with real drama (Balance's betrayal! Naga's angry outburst!) and comedy that's actually funny. I honestly can't say enough good things about this episode. Sad to hear that so many of y'all don't feel the same way. Last edited by Kamen Rider Lucha; 02-21-2017 at 02:30 PM.. |
02-21-2017, 02:17 PM | #32 |
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I don't really think that by having a different opinion on the episode people are "missing out" on anything. It's not like any one interpretation of it is more correct than any other.
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02-21-2017, 02:32 PM | #33 |
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Though... I do think people are missing out when they don't enjoy something. They are missing out on joy, happiness, excitement. I'd prefer that to disappointment any day. |
02-21-2017, 02:40 PM | #34 |
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That does sort of imply that people who don't enjoy the same things as you are lesser for missing that experience. But people get joy from different things and homogenized entertainment would, in my opinion at least, be a nightmare. I get what you're saying, but it's sort of looking down on people with different interests. It's not like people really choose everything they enjoy on a conscious level. Eh, just a thought. |
02-21-2017, 02:45 PM | #35 |
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And also, as soon as I decide to not watch this any further I have more time to do things I actually like, so instead of missing out on those good feelings I just get them elsewhere |
02-21-2017, 04:02 PM | #36 |
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Well, naturally I always prefer to see the best in things, but I definitely can't blame anyone for not liking something.
That being said, please forgive me while I argue some more about why this show is better than a lot of you are giving it credit for. I mean, if you find Kyuranger genuinely bad and just want to move on, more power to you, but since it seems like most of the negative voices here are from people who genuinely want to be enjoying it, I think looking at it from a different perspective would really help. Quote:
On that note, I'm also really surprised to hear people finding the characters total blank slates. Part of the efficiency of the writing so far is that pretty much every line of dialogue from everyone suggests their personality, making use of what little time some of them get. Just take Spada for example. He's said maybe like, 10 lines in the whole two episodes he's been in, but between being the one to suggest retreating during the middle of this episode, the way he immediately jumps in to calm Balance down when Hammy agitates him, it's clear he's meant to "the level-headed, chill one", right to down to using food metaphors in a way that suggests cooking is some kind of zen philosophy to him. Given how many characters the show is going to have to work with all at once, this is some promisingly sharp writing for the group. See also how Garu respects and sticks up for Lucky, since he's the whole reason he became Ookami Blue, whereas the rest of the team is mostly just tolerating his presence and are even annoyed by him running off on his own. It's all really solid stuff. I'd also like to point out that Lucky's plot powers aren't used as any sort of deus ex machina here. He's actually totally going to die for a second (which he even lampshades), and it's Balance, making a decision that moves his character along entirely of his own agency, that saves the day. It seems like the show is already being careful not to have Lucky's luck undermine the tension in any way, which, again, is very promising. His hunch that these guys are Kyurangers pays off not because he's innately right, or because it's just destiny or something, but because these two guys actually do prove themselves (more or less) to be worthy of the job.
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Last edited by Fish Sandwich; 02-21-2017 at 04:06 PM.. |
02-21-2017, 04:38 PM | #37 |
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The problem is just that it's not a good story so far.
Efficiency doesn't make something good by default. It's just the most expedient way to do something properly. Having Lucky throw a dart through a projector to find the next 2 Kyurangers was the most efficient way to contrive a reason for them to encounter. It also completely took me out of the scene because I was too busy rolling my eyes. I lost immersion because they took the fastest way out, rather than a more clever or humorous way. Spada, Hammy, and Champ are more set pieces than anything else to me right now. Raptor has displayed more character than those 3. I can somewhat see where Spada's clear headed tendencies are, but the other 2 really feel like they need to wave signs saying "Insert character here" for all they've impacted me. Garu was a complete rush job, and no one's defense of Lucky has convinced me that he's tolerable. By having to make use of body language, Raptor has managed to define a character far more clearly than "Food puns" or whatever the fuck Hammy and Champ are doing. Naga and Balance are pretty enjoyable, and I'm glad.
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02-21-2017, 04:41 PM | #38 |
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Well, all my complaints have the caveat "I'm still looking forward to watching the rest of this." I'm just seeing these as serious potential problems.
So, on to good stuff. I love that the bad guys aren't pulling the whole "I'll let you live, for now" cliché, but rather our heroes are only still in one-piece because they ran the other freaking way when they realized they were out-matched. That's cool, and it helps establish Jark Matter as a competent threat. Also, the Kyurangers are actually the ones pushing the plot forward, forcing the villains to react rather than the other way around. Hoping that trend continues as well, because we could see the whole MotW format flipped on it's head, with the Kyurangers picking the fights while Jark Matter responds. Another thing I'm hoping continues is for Lucky's, er, luck to not always be good. He's had just as many bad things randomly happen as good, just the fact that he doesn't have a catchphrase for those makes it not stick in your head as much. I mean, in the first episode alone he crashes twice, one of which causing his speeder bike to blow up underneath him, nearly gets mauled by Garu and almost freezes to death. Not all of which was solved by a swing of luck in the other direction. Oh, and that skit with him, Balance and Naga? I want to see more disapproving Lucky, that shit is funny. |
02-21-2017, 06:10 PM | #39 |
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I'm enjoying Kyuranger a lot. I wish you all could join me in my enthusiasm. That's literally all I meant. Sheesh! Quote:
Lucky throws a dart and happens to find a planet on a map that happens to be nearby that happens to have two guys who become Kyurangers on it. This seems to be a surprisingly big point of contention for some people...
**SNIP** It cuts the fat from the story and allows them to use that precious time to actually flesh out the characters. I can't fault people for wanting more connective tissue, but that kind of procedural logic bores the hell out of me. My philosophy is to put the characters where the story needs them as fast as possible. I don't care how they get there, just get them to the highest point of drama, in the most effective way you can. (Within reason, obviously -- John Wick can't just show up on the moon without sufficient explanation.) That's why Lucky's luck works super well for me: it's a shortcut that sidesteps the parts of a story I usually find boring. I am always willing to sacrifice strict adherence to logic for narrative/emotional expediency. Others may not be so lenient -- we just have different priorities. Quote:
On that note, I'm also really surprised to hear people finding the characters total blank slates.
Taking the above into account, in appx 30min of story we've been presented four fleshed-out characters (Naga, Balance, Garu, and -- love him or hate him -- Lucky) and four characters that are less developed, but still distinct archetypes (with the hint that one of these characters, Taurus Black, will be developed more in the next episode). That's actually very impressive, IMO, and it's something many, many Sentai shows just straight-up don't do over their entire 50 episode runs! (Ohranger, I'm looking at you!) In light of the criticism that the show is moving too quickly, I find some dissonance in the complaints that all of the characters lack development by the end of episode freaking two. There's a desire among some for Kyuranger to slow down, but when the creators give us a slow burn on a handful of the characters, those same people are all like, "too slow! This is a dealbreaker!" Seems to me like Kyuranger is in a Kobayashi Maru-type situation with these folks. But like -- we all knew there were gonna be nine characters, and we all presumably understand the constraints of the medium. Due to Kyuranger's concept, obviously some characters were always gonna take longer to develop than others. The "errmuhgawd shallow characters" complaint seems... fishy, I guess? But hey, that's just me. Quote:
I'd also like to point out that Lucky's plot powers aren't used as any sort of deus ex machina here.
Another way to phrase Lucky's super-luck would be to call it super-coincidence. As long as his powers get the characters into trouble, instead of providing an easy escape hatch from their dilemmas, it's not technically bad writing. (Pixar agrees with me, and we all like Pixar, right? (see rule #20)). When Lucky's powers are used to get the characters out of trouble, it will be cheating -- and when that happens, as it did in episode one when Lucky was drifting through space, I'll be happy to call it out as bad writing. But like, I'm also not here to subject Sentai's writing to the same critical scrutiny I would like, an Edward Albee play. All I want is a fresh, fun take on the Sentai tropes I love. And so far, Kyuranger is knocking it out of the park. Last edited by Kamen Rider Lucha; 02-21-2017 at 06:21 PM.. |
02-21-2017, 06:57 PM | #40 |
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That's all you had to say in the first. It reads pretty differently from what you posted. I may often lean towards a negative interpretation, but Kiwami apparently reached a similar conclusion and that guy is much better than I am about not sticking a foot in his mouth.
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