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03-10-2021, 12:00 AM | #31 |
Ex-Weather Three leader
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 10,503
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If I may add my two cents, for me it is the pageantry in general. Seeing them churn out iteration after iteration with the same formula is just fascinating.
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03-10-2021, 01:38 AM | #32 |
Fangirl-Type Humagear
Join Date: Jun 2017
Location: Massachusetts, USA
Posts: 703
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Gotta be honest, I went in expecting to hate this. The whole "using the powers of past heroes" schtick just seems like lazy nostalgia bait to me, and clunky mech suits leading to slow and boring fights have severely dampened my interest in Sentai lately. Really I was only watching it because I love the Kikainoids' designs and whole concept, and I guess so I could say I gave it a fair chance.
But I actually really liked it? I'm not sure whether that means the show is really good since it won me over, or just okay since my expectations were so low. But I'll try to explain some stuff I liked. For one thing, the previous Sentai aren't "past heroes," in fact Zenkaiger is set in a world that has never had Sentai before! It's hard to explain quite why but that detail makes a "world" of difference to me (Aruto ja naito!), it makes it feel like something new instead of coasting on nostalgia. And the way the Sentai Gears were used for their powers was fine, though it'll get annoying if they lean on that too much. I'm not sure what else the writers have planned for the anniversary aspect, only time will tell if I like it or not, but for now I'm cautiously optimistic. And the fight scenes were actually pretty exciting! Zenkaiger was obviously the most flashy, but Juran didn't seem too slow either, I can't tell for sure and I assume they cheated a bit with CGI but it seems like those bulky suits are more mobile than they look. Huge kudos to Juran's suit actor, both for fighting and dancing in his big ranger form, and for being remarkably expressive in his civilian form. I genuinely felt sorry for him seeing how the humans were afraid of him. I wonder if this show will keep exploring the theme of humans being afraid of Kikainoids in the wake of Tojitendo's attack? Speaking of Tojitendo, I think they showed an impressive amount of personality for a first episode. They still seem like fairly standard Sentai villains, but little details like the boss doting on his pet bird, the tank guy saying only the ruling class matters, and the elite mook calling Juran a commoner help define them a little more. Meanwhile, Kaito is kinda the weakest part of this episode IMO. He's likeable enough, his enthusiasm sure makes everything he does seem like a lot of fun, and it's also good to see that he does take protecting people and saving the world seriously and isn't just doing it for kicks. But compared to Juran, Kaito just seems so standard and typical as a red ranger (despite not technically being red), even more so than Tojitendo are as villains. I hope he gets fleshed out more as the series goes on, or at least makes a good foil to the Kikainoids. I wasn't planning to watch Zenkaiger, but if the next couple episodes are at least this fun, I guess I'll be watching Zenkaiger!
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03-10-2021, 02:32 AM | #33 |
AHHHHH!!!
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Detroit, MI
Posts: 511
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This was a fun debut episode, I loved how they set up the Sentai Multiverse and established that right out of the gate. I'm almost glad they only teased Kaito's grandma for a Zenkaiger lol. Very classic Sentai that they inserted the "not all of the opposition is bad" trope with Zyuran's introduction. Also looking forward to more of the comedy as the season progresses.
But something I couldn't help to think about as I was watching was, I thought this really could have benefitted from having an Episode Zero to setup the team first, I feel this multi-episode arc to do that will slow down the season somewhat. But I thought I was a good debut overall. It did quite a lot out of the gate. |
03-10-2021, 02:59 AM | #34 |
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Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 1,527
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So, I just rewatched it, and y’know what? I liked it a lot better than I did the first time. My earlier criticisms still stand, but they’re not as big an issue as I was making them.
I think my excitement for the series was so sky high that nothing would’ve held up under the weight of my unrealistic expectations. Is it the best premiere I’ve seen? No. Is it still fun? Yeah, sure, okay. Ultimately, the thing that caught my interest this time around is how the show is low key about the proletariat Kikaitopians rising up against the Tojitendo bourgeoisie. And I am sorta here for that? Another thing that’s kind of cool is how Juran is portrayed as a middle-aged guy. I don’t think that’s a character they could have gotten away with if the Zenkaigers were played by human-faced actors, who are always, almost exclusively, in their late teens/early twenties. So that is one advantage of the show being about robots — they have a wider selection of character types to choose from while still appealing to kids (i.e. not reminding them of their parents). And come to think of it, that’s one of the things I liked about Kyuranger, the last Sentai show Shirakura had direct input on as a consulting producer. Ryu Commander, Balance, Champ, and Houou Soldier were all distinctly adults, not pretty young actors who are often, literally, teenagers. That same energy is, so far, working well in Zenkaiger. One thing that hasn’t changed: I still think the mech-ranger suit designs are terrible. Last edited by Kamen Rider Lucha; 03-10-2021 at 03:30 AM.. |
03-10-2021, 05:06 AM | #35 |
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Join Date: May 2019
Posts: 2,546
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Okay, I’ll admit: I got a better first impression from this than I did from Kiramager episode Zero. Having our MC spend his first appearance trying to be a hero and assemble a team on his own I itative is a much stronger debut than having him sit around, draw an unflattering picture of the one person interested in him and then describe her in terms that cannot be not insulting, while the team forms without him (I don’t care what the last episode says, that’s how it happened).
I also think the show has a better theme song than Kiramager had, so it’s got that going for it. |
03-10-2021, 10:04 AM | #36 |
Suprise Gamma Future
Join Date: Feb 2020
Location: USA
Posts: 2,852
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I'll be very happy if they continue with the subtle animations to the Kikanoid eyes. Suit-characters can tend to look very stiff, especially ones that aren't animating a mouth. The eye wink they did with Juran went a long way to making him feel that much more alive.
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03-10-2021, 10:32 AM | #37 |
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03-10-2021, 12:13 PM | #38 |
New Member
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 54
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This was a really fun and charming debut. It's been literally years since I've enjoyed a sentai series this much out of the gates. I'm interested to see what all they do with it over the next year.
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03-10-2021, 05:09 PM | #39 |
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Join Date: Mar 2021
Posts: 9
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Saw the episode, was one of those that was leaving Sentai because for years nothing really grabbed me, not even Zyuohger which is apparently suprisingly popular, until Kiramager brought me back in force and this is...ok.
I like that the two races are suprisingly okay with each other, and i like that it's seemingly setting up a racism theme with the party scene where everyone turned on Zyuran and Kaito pratically having to tell the kid that Zyuran saved him, but then the scene at the end shows people just being confused alongside Kikanoids like nothing...so maybe i was just reading too much into it? Whatever, it's just a very intro scene, nothing really grabbed me too much but this happens often with first episodes, at least it's not one of those series where the big bad villain doesn't show his face until the last few episodes, and it seems like it's his pet almost ruling things seeing as the invasion only happens because of it...is the parrot secretly the actual villain? As for the Rangers...Kaito is easily the worst, Zyuran seems fun, i like how he danced when using Ninninger's power and how he interrupts a speech, how he's embracing life, but Kaito just feels like generic happy main Ranger who takes things in too easily and has big goals and skills already. |
03-10-2021, 06:56 PM | #40 |
Ex-Weather Three leader
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 10,503
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How do you think they'll make the animation work for Magine though? Her civilian form doesn't even have a mouth and I'm concerned about how that could limit her expressions compared to the others. It seems impractical as well, since Juran was shown drinking coffee in Colorful so I wonder how Magine actually consumes anything.
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