I'm the exact opposite. It took me forever to finish Maskman because I found that show incredibly lackluster. Not bad, but not good either.

On the other hand, I think with Gingaman I had the advantage of buying the Region 2 DVDs are they came out, so I was only able to watch the show 10 episodes at a time, of which I would then rewatch over and over as I waited for the next volume, so I grew accustomed to the show's pacing and execution.

I've never had an issue marathoning it raw, but it's probably because I've seen it so many times I know how to deal with the slow points.

As for Sentai fatigue, I could see that happening. Hell, this year I have watched every Gundam show but Victory (have the BDs, just need the time to watch them but I've been busy), and I will admit, I was starting to feel worn out when I was doing the SEED series, X, and AGE. Although, AGE is just utter dog shit regardless, but whatever. POint is, it definitely can happen.

I really would like to finally catch up on the series I have not watched subbed yet next year, such as Liveman, Bioman, Gingaman (since it most likely ain't going to happen this year), GoGoV, and Abaranger. And then of course whatever Shout! brings out. Also adding on top I want to watch the Power Rangers versions of the series I watch, so I've got a busy year ahead of me for Toku. We'll see though because I may even watch the pre-Zyu stuff and review it since there is no telling if Shout! will ever release them.

Speaking of reviewing, I just finished my script for my Ohranger review and am currently ripping the episodes I need from my discs. I hope to have my review out by Thanksgiving.

I think another part of the problem is that I've seen several of Yasuko Kobayashi's subsequent Sentai series, and I feel like she's executed what she's attempting to do in Gingaman better in those series. Which makes sense, considering that this is her first at-bat as head writer.

I'm still not quite sure how I'll move forward... but I've downloaded all of Gekiranger just in case. :lol

See, I feel her writing for Sentai stopped being good after Timeranger. Shinkenger was average at best (a good introductory series though) while ToQGer was crap.

I don't agree with any of that, like, at all. Especially Shinkenger. That show's last 10-12 episodes are downright spectacular.


Last night, I decided to give Gingaman one last shot before giving up and ended up watching five in a row. :lol

I'm really glad I did! Episodes 20-through-25 are pretty fucking excellent. (Except for ep 21, which... tomatoes? Really, Arakawa? You're not doing your best work on this show.) These episodes encompass the end of the Galactic Lights saga, Budo's defeat, and the sacrifice of Bull Black. And I loved them.

So I'm gonna keep going with Gingaman. Hopefully I can keep up this momentum.

I love the tomatoes plan.
I find it hilarious that "Destroy all tomatoes" took priority over "Ancient mystical spring of life" :p

Yeah, those episodes were pretty solid. Budo's end and Bull Black's sacrifice were both really great.
As for keeping momentum...Er, well...*Coughs*

Ruh-roh... Do not like the sound of that. :lol

I think my plan for Gingaman might be to fast forward through the episodes not written by Kobayashi (unless someone says there are non-Kobayashi episodes that I just can't miss).

That should eliminate a lot of the junk... right?

Yes, the last 10 episodes were solid (or whenever they got rid of that annoying eel dude), and the first 10 are solid, but the middle is such a mixed bag and a chore to sit through that outside of Dayuu's backstory, nothing really happens. Plus, way too many mechs.

And I finished Kakuranger after getting the set this past Saturday.

It was a really fun and entertaining show. All the characters are super likeable, including some of the MOTWs. The plot when it gets serious is some pretty damn heavy stuff and engrossing. Filler too is fun to watch and never feels like a drag or chore to sit through. It's also impressive how many visual effects the show has. CGI, greenscreen, rotoscoping, there's a lot of it and while the show does look aged it is still cool to see all of that work thrown to it. I dug the ending as well. It's different and has a nice message to it. From the team I don't really know who I'd call my favorite, it's a toss up between Tsuruhime and Jiraiya. Favorite character on the other hand is no debate; Ninjaman.

But...there are some negatives. While the filler is some great stuff, Kakuranger is definitely a lot more filled with filler than plot. Now to the credit of the show it isn't a case like Zyuranger where the whole show drags because of it with a plot that save for the first tennish episodes is pretty dull. However it does make you wish the story had more time to expand on some things. There are plot elements that tie into the actual story that would've been nice seeing some more development with since a lot of stuff just sort of appears out of nowhere (Jusho Fighters, Daimou having siblings for a few examples) and some stuff really would've benefited from some multi parters (the team's quest to get the scrolls for the Beast Gods). I also found that the team never really developed a whole lot as characters. Tsuruhime was pretty much the only one with an actual story arc while everybody else pretty much is the same beginning to end (outside of Jiraiya speaking in Japanese more and more).

With that said I definitely enjoyed the show a lot, the craziness of the comedy really makes it fun to marathon watch and the actual plot is some good stuff (I just wish there was more of it). It definitely is not one of the best Sentais out there/that I've seen, but it certainly isn't the worst.

I guess I would give the show 3.75/5.

Blasphemy! :lol :p ;)

Just started in on Bakaryuu Sentai Abaranger and man even only being two episodes in I gotta say this show is at least on par with the great word ive heard about it maybe its my recent remembering how much i actually enjoyed the PR counter part but I'm enjoying trying to remember all the differences between the two while also spriting out my own Abaranger

I decided to watch the first three episodes of Liveman tonight. Honestly, I enjoyed them, but they weren't as good as I remember them being. I'm not sure if that is just because I am watching it subbed for the first time or if it is because I have seen so many more series now, but I thought better of them 12 years ago. Nevertheless, I still enjoyed what I saw, just not as much.

Oh, and in episode 2, how the hell did that woman have a baby by herself, get up and walk to the rangers to show it off, and be zest fully clean?

Agreed. :lol Kakuranger is hands down the second greatest Sentai ever!! :cool:

The only negatives I have with Kakuranger is how pointless the Juushu Fighters are and the lack of development for Saizou and Sekai.

So I'd been sort of in the mood to start on a new Sentai but had some trouble choosing. I was going to watch Shinkenger, because I'm a huge Kobayashi fan and somehow still haven't seen it. Then I considered Gingaman because Matrixbeast was making me kind of curious about it, and it's also a Kobayashi show. But thinking about that reminded me I've been meaning to get around to Megaranger forever now. But then thinking about that reminded me there's a certain show I've always got the impression is something of a classic.

Long story short, I'm 3 episodes into Carranger and it's pretty dang cool.

I'm not quite instantly in love with it but man if it isn't exactly as fun as advertised. It's infectiously upbeat, and that makes for a really entertaining show. It isn't as laugh out loud funny as I was expecting but I had a smile on my face pretty much the entire time, and that's a good sign. And yeah, these 18(ish) minute episodes really do fly by, too. I think this is gonna be a fun ride.

Also, side note: 3 whole episodes with zero mecha action?! Did Saban not teach you to skip to the good stuff yet, Toei? :lol

lol

Carranger really takes off after the first Red Racer/Zeonette episode. Trust me, you will miss a lot on the first time around and then you will realize its completely brilliance on a rewatch.

I miss the 18 minute run time I feel a lot of series today would have been a lot better had they not gone back to 24 minute episodes.

As for the lack of mech action, Gingaman is the last series that takes its time to bring in the mecha.

I think I might have been lying earlier because I just downed episodes 4-9 of Carranger, and if 9 episodes in one day doesn't qualify as "in love" with a show I don't know what does.

Super fun series so far. I struggle a little bit to describe it because it's a comedy, and it can be hard to say much more than "it was funny", but the "plots", as vehicles (accidental pun) for lighthearted antics, work well, and the cast, while sort of flat, are lively in a way that fits the atmosphere. It's not really a show that calls for complex characterization, you know?

If I were to sum up the show in one word, I'd probably go with "whimsical". The humor is less about in your face wackiness and more a result of just how plain odd everything is. Stuff like dramatically building up the team getting their giant cars and then having the episode resolve itself before they actually get to use them, with the MotW actually shrinking at the end and running away. It's all delightfully off-key.

I've never really felt the newer stuff is padded or anything, but it's hard to argue with a length that's so conducive to marathon viewings. You'd think just a couple minutes wouldn't make a huge difference but it adds up fast.

I joke, but the gradual buildup is nice. It gives a sense of progression even though there isn't much in the way of an overarching plot.

Honestly, I think the pace of a lot of Sentai premieres would be improved if they waited even just one episode to throw the giant robots in. I love ToQger, but its first episode is a perfect example of making it feel like they just wanted to get all the Q1 toys in there at once. I guess they had to fill those extra minutes with something. :lol

Watching Carranger myself and really, really enjoying it. What's bizarre was that I had seen a few episodes of the PR iteration when it aired and entirely forgot it. This is like the ultimate Sentai in that in revels in it's own silliness, but lets the viewer in on the joke. I like it!

Okay, so I checked out Kyoryuger and while it seems like a pretty standard Sentai - that show is demented. I mean, the characters all run around with changers that are basically double barreled hand cannons and the collector tchotckes are friggin' shotgun shells! They shoot shit pretty much constantly and with more glee than anyone with a handgun probably should. I mean, with America's gun issues I'm genuinely surprised that this is airing as Dingo Charge - or at least selling the toys! Crazy stuff.

Well, that's three more episodes of Carranger (10-12) down. They're flying by. Like, I haven't been this into a show in a while. It feels good. It helps that it seems to be getting better and better with each episode.

Episode 12 also featured a surprise appearance by Dene- I mean Roboc- I mean the Blue Sen- I MEAN Signalman! I say "surprise" because I literally COMPLETELY forgot he was in the show. When I saw the preview at the end of 11 it was genuinely jarring.

That's a really good sign for the show, because it means I was completely satisfied with the existing team dynamic without even realizing it. Usually part of me is just waiting for the Sixth Ranger to show up but here I was totally prepared for 40-some episodes of just these five guys.

Don't forget how the nature of the way their powers work means scenes of the Kyoryugers shooting each other and/or themselves. Don't try that one at home, kids! :lol

I feel Go-Busters, Dekaranger, Goseiger, and even GoGoV (despite being in my top 10) could have really benefitted from an 18 minute run time.

Signalman is awesome.

Yeah, Carrangers - good suggestion, Kain (you offhandedly mentioned it a while back in reference to Akibaranger - which I love). It's great fun!

Kyoryuger. I only watched one episode and immediately bought the Malay set so I haven't got to know much beyond "this show's a-facked ahp". Blue drops his Gabu Revolver during their cool walk on - I couldn't order it fast enough. I mean... Concerned Moms would lose their minds if they saw this crap!

I won't lie, I'm biased towards Jungle Fury. I love that season.

But dang if Gekiranger ISN'T AMAZING!

1-4: Love how the series is starting. Great monster suits, likable characters, cool villains, the five poisonous fists are intimating as all heck.

DID I FORGET TO MENTION THAT THE THEME SONG IS BLISS?

i watch whole fiveman series
bad guys ship come live in fiveman final

*Cheers loudly*
I'm glad you're enjoying it! It's most certainly my favorite series, and the show that made me decide to not give up on Sentai altogether (After 3 misses with Shinken, Bouken, and Magi).

Watched another trio of Carranger episodes (13-15). This show really does just keep getting better and better. One thing I'm starting to notice is that the comedy focus doesn't really seem to be at the expense of anything, amazingly enough. The characterization has improved a lot from the start, to the point that even the villains are getting fleshed out now. Not to mention there's a solid sense of continuity despite the largely standalone format.

You'd expect a "parody" show to deliberately skimp on the actual storytelling in favor of *wackiness* but it doesn't seem to be the case with Carranger, which instead chooses to just directly make the story itself really wacky.

And yes, Dr Kain, Signalman is indeed awesome.

Haven't seen Gekiranger yet but I can back this statement up.

You are coming close to one of my favorites of the series (19). Episodes 8 (the one where Minoru loses his changer) and 25 are my other two top favorite episodes from the show, but episode 32 is like THE best episode.

Anyway, I finally finished my review of Ohranger.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwSTA7epoqU

EDIT:

Forgot to mention I'm also 21 episodes into Liveman. I never realized how formulaic this show was before, but then, it has been 13 years since I watched it. I had just finished the 3 part Obler finale and even those episodes required some forced in Monster of the Week even though they did not really need to have one.

Watched episodes 16-19 of Carranger. This show just took off, man. Going into this I was kind of worried it wouldn't live up to the hype but now it's like "where was this show all my life?!".

I mean, it hasn't even been a week yet and I've already pounded out nearly half the series. I've been in this rut watching new shows lately where even if I like them I have to consciously make myself sit down to watch more than one episode every couple of days but with Carranger I could probably do another two or three right now and not get bored.

It's sooo good. I mean, everyone knows that already but that's only because it's true. It's totally hilarious and yet still hits all the notes you'd want out of a Sentai without coming off like a total farce. It even manages to make more sense than some other shows in how nonsensical it is. Episode 16 introduces a new villain who's set up to be a really smart tactician type only for him to resort to pretty much the same MotW plans as usual. This would be pretty expected for any Sentai but Carranger actually justifies this by having the whole joke be that the main bad guys hired him on the cheap. That's so genius!

Speaking of which, episode 19 was indeed fantastic. Given how spot on Dr Kain's picks for favorite episodes have been so far, I'm now really looking forward to 25 and 32. :lol

One word of advice for 25, make sure you read the lyrics for the song during the battle. You may have to watch the battle twice to know what I mean, but it is worth it.

Episodes 20-22 of Carranger down. This show continues to be completely amazing. Although instead of directly talking about the episodes, I'm just going to share two big thoughts I've had.

One, I love the childlike imagination the show has. There's this whole underlying sci-fi mythos to the series that's basically what a five year old kid on a sugar high would think is unironically awesome. Robot traffic cops riding through SPACE on motorcycles! Wild sentient cars FROM SPACE the team have to tame like horses! Car-based SPACE magic! As you can see, they pretty much all involve space, too, for extra cool points. And of course, this is all on top of the usual Sentai standbys of giant robots and spandex-clad superheroes with sweet weapons and wicked karate moves.

Two, Signalman is the s***. He's truly an inspiring figure. Always on duty not merely to fight bad guys, but to ensure the peace and tranquility of everyday life. By being a total square. Which is what's so endearing about him. Having a character like this could get annoying fast if handled poorly but not only is Signalman too adorable to hate, he's constantly shown to quickly catch on to and learn from his mistakes, whether it's the villains exploiting his trusting personality to get him to do their dirty work, or simply getting too caught up in rules and regulations to actually do anything helpful. For someone who's there just to be comic relief in a show that's already comedic, he's probably the most fleshed out character in the cast. And I'm totally cool with that.

I've been tearing through Dekaranger (which I totally didn't pick because it was about SPACE POLICE or anything!) and it's been fun so far. I think I like it better than Aba but I won't know for sure until I'm finished. Definitely hasn't blown me away either, but Doggie is waaaay cooler than I ever would have expected for a character who looks suspiciously like a Mach Gaogamon cosplayer. In fact, he just might be the coolest. It's a bit surprising how little overarching plot there has been for being about half-way through. The characters charm me more than the ones from Aba too, but I do find myself thinking that they're not as in-depth as I would like for being this far in the show, since they're juggling so many characters. Hope to continue having fun with this!

Rewatching Gokaiger, which I love to pieces, but I'm going through a "legit" set of discs from Singapore since I don't have the option to redownload the series at the moment. Hilariously, some fan subbed episodes have cropped up on the first disc, including one from GUIS.

Carranger 32 is one of my favorite episodes of Sentai ever. It's parody is so so so so so spot on.

3 more episodes of Carranger (23-25). Still completely amazing. 25 was great and the joke with the theme song was indeed rather hilarious. Really added to the whole premise of the episode. There's so much I could say about Carranger I don't even know where to start. The gags are great. The characters are great. The writing is far sharper than it needs to be, with great stuff like Ichitaro's ongoing apprenticeship to Signalman giving a remarkably solid sense of continuity.

They could've just stopped at making a funny show but Carranger is constantly going the extra mile at every turn (puns not intended). Those first three episodes didn't impress me too much but it's just gained so much momentum from that point it's crazy.

Well now I'm even more hyped for it.

Hopefully we haven't blown if for you by overhyping! lol

Yeah, it's kind of sad how Carranger, a joke series, manages to have far more heart than most of the serious Sentai shows. Carranger is proof that if you let the writers do their jobs without restrictions then they will put out a top notch product.

How is that sad? Carranger isn't a "joke series," it's a comedy series written by one of the most accomplished Japanese comedy writers of the time.

Where did this notion come from that if a show is comedic, it's automatically vapid and facile? Like, is no one familiar with comedy writing at all? The best comedies have more heart than any drama.

So I was feeling antsy and took a look at the first episode of Gekiranger...

I really liked it! The only problem is, the Geki-Senshi fansubs I downloaded were made from the TV broadcast, and the video quality looks like ass. I know there are DVD raws out there, but I can't find any sub files to drop onto the raw video.

Has anyone here bought the Malaysian/HK import DVDs? If so, how's the video quality? Are the subs terrible?

I really want to watch this show in the best quality possible.

There's always the TV-Nihon subs.

As for the Malaysian DVDs, yes, I own three sets. The Hurricanger one is pretty darn good on the subs (though they lag for three episodes). The video quality isn't the best though as they crammed 20 plus episodes onto each disc, so yeah. However the Gokaiger and Akibaranger sets are fantastic. The video quality is HD and the subs used are pretty much just the available fansubs.

Those are made from the same TV sources as Geki-Senshi, I believe.

I did some more research on the Geki bootlegs, and there are the time-bugs in the upper left corner, so they're definitely made from TV sources as well (I wouldn't be surprised if they're literally TV-Nihon or Geki-Senshi's encodes, downloaded and burnt onto disc).

Ah, well. Guess we're stuck with what we have. It's such a shame no one has migrated subs to the DVD or Blu-Ray sources, considering how highly revered the show is.

I think he means it's sad for the drama series to be unable to accomplish their goal, while the series primarily focused on being funny blows them out of the water at the very thing they're supposed to be good at.

Just my understanding, anyway.

There were DVD raws floating around earlier but I can't seem to find them anymore. Who knows it could possibly also be lack of ISOs/poor transfer(which I doubt is the issue considering Sentai was already into HD at the point..........)

As for Blu-Rays, you're gonna have to wait a while lol. Gekiranger kinda bombed in Japan :lol

Finished Hurricanger a few weeks back, thought it was an okay series. Was kind of basic on the story elements and the episodes ensuring, the main three were basic too and not to mention some really terrible acting which kind of made me not stand them, and it just doesn't really stick out or do anything mindblowing. A lot of Hurricanger wanted to do was done better in Abaranger the year after.

Kakuranger on the other hand, it's Sugimura's crazy as shit writing and 90's insanity at it's finest. Just saw Junior's introduction too, can't wait to see more.

I have a TON of these and, generally, if it's a popular series and comparatively more expensive (25-45 USD), it's going to have better subs and high quality video. The more niche it is, the cheaper it will be (15 USD or less) with uneven subs (some good, some near "Gibberglish") and a video quality that looks like 480p Youtube video.

Though not infallible (Amazon looks like sludge), Lambaian Filem (identified by yellow "L" and a red "F" in a black circle) do a more consistently serviceable job with their releases.

Yeah, that's weird. I saw them a while back but can't find them anywhere.

It's actually hard to find Gekiranger in any format, subbed or unsubbed. I'm really confused as to why, since everyone seems to hold it in such high regard.

Huh, for some reason I thought there was a Blu-Ray release...

Maybe the HD episodes I've seen floating around are from a Toei Channel HD rebroadcast? Either way, I'd love to see what this series looks like in HD, considering it was shot in HD.

Amen, brother! Kakuranger is one of the best.

Good to know! Thanks for the info.