I can't say I blame you. :lol

You really should keep going with Carranger though. You're already past the initial group of "not exactly bad but wow, this is supposed to be a great show?" episodes. That's one of the wonderful things about Carranger. It's all uphill, all the time.

Gekiranger Is Too Cool for School Part 4: Episodes 22-32

Apparently I just got done watching 11 whole episodes. The time flew by. Naturally that's a lot of Gekiranger to digest so I'm not really sure where to start talking about them. Uh... maybe that episode with that emo kid who was grumpy because he sucked at basketball or something? Or that part of that other episode where the team needed to get to a place really fast and I was shouting "Take the giant robot!" in my head only for Retsu to suggest they fly there in the giant robot, and then they actually did that, because this show is incredible.

Ooh wait! I know! I can talk about how Gekiranger has now gotten an A++ on my personal test of how much I'm enjoying a Sentai by making me feel actively apathetic about new Rangers joining the team, a feat previously only ever managed by Go-Busters.

I'm aware that probably doesn't sound like a good thing, but let me explain. Sixth Rangers are awesome. I love em'. They always have sweet costumes, their own personal giant robots, and pretty frequently a cool guy loner personality to top it off. Their arrival always spices the show up and generally leaves me wondering how the show ever entertained me without them. I simply can't imagine Gokaiger without the sheer heroic spunk Gokai Silver added to the team, for example.

But when I got to the point in Go-Busters where Beet and Stag Buster showed up, I was actively upset with them at first for messing up the existing team dynamic, which caused to me to realize just how fond I had grown of the protagonists in the 14 episodes it was just them. I didn't feel they needed anybody else to play off of, and all the cool toys in the world wouldn't change that. Of course, quality character writing would change that, as it turned out, but now I'm getting off track.

The point is, Geki Violet should be an easy sell for me. He has a sick wolf motif and is purple, so how do you go wrong? I'll tell you how. Triangles don't have four sides. Or five, for that matter. To be clear, I'm liking Gou and Ken a fair bit already, because they're likable characters in a great show, but after 25 or so episodes of rubbing in how the Gekirangers are a trio, there's still a part of me that wishes they weren't around.

The mecha action really symbolizes my mixed feelings. On one hand, I'm glad Geki Touja is still around, because I find Geki Fire pretty lame, but on the other hand, get your own dang robot you purple jerk! :lol

Wow. That was a whole lot of ranting I just did, and I don't even feel like I've started yet. I think it's best to end this before I get totally incoherent. :p

Long story short: I'm having a really good time.

I just finished Gekiranger last week and really enjoyed it. The total ramping up on both sides throughout the season was great and what I felt was missing in Hurricanger. In that show, I never felt the 3 progressed much from beginning to end.

I'm fairly new to Sentai and don't know the "received wisdom" about each series so Geki was a pleasant surprise to me.

I also grew to like Boukenger after what I felt was an unfocused start (which I had in my last post in this thread).

Just started Go Onger. Oh brother, what a tonal shift after Geki. I'm not sure I'm going to get through this one.

I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed Gekiranger!

As for Gou and Ken, I like both of them. Their different, yet recognizable, fighting styles bring more visual flare. I didn't feel like they broke the triangle, myself.

Also, I like that Gou's mech is just GekiTouja with a purple leg :p

Oh I don't either, and I'm probably just about done with the "let's shill the crap out of these guys while they're new" phase of episodes that usually happens with such things, so my opinion on their chemistry with the team is only liable to improve from here.

It's not that I don't like them, it's just that, at least at the moment, I unquestionably like the main team more than them, which doesn't happen much when I watch Sentai.

I like how his whole shtick is that he's a wolf and then his "personal" robot is like 2/3 cat on account of being a hand-me-down.

I feel kinda sorry for the guy. If he were like most Sixth Rangers, he'd have a wolf-shaped spaceship that flies around and shoots lasers or some crap but instead he just gets a leg. And not even a whole leg. Just the bottom half of a leg. It's really kind of sad. :lol

Gekiranger Totally Kills It Part 5: Episodes 33-37 (and also the movie)

So I had a comparatively light dose today, but even a small amount of Gekiranger is still awesome.

First off, I watched the movie, and I feel pretty much the same way about it as I do every Sentai summer film. It entertained me while I was watching it, and I'll probably forget it ever existed a week from now. That being said, I feel like this was probably one of the better ones I've seen, for what it's worth.

Getting back to the actual show, the current arc wrapped up in pretty spectacular fashion. At points it almost felt like a finale it was so awesome. Indeed, it was so awesome, the show decided to chill out for a couple weeks and give Retsu and Ran some time in the spotlight. I thought they weren't supposed to be getting that anymore?

Anyway, Retsu's episode featured him getting completely wasted and trying to beat up two women.

...

Uh, alrighty then.

Meanwhile Ran got an episode where her mom wants her to quit the Gekirangers because stock Sentai plot.

I joke, but they were awesome episodes (because Gekiranger) and I really enjoyed them. Not particularly character-building, admittedly, especially in Retsu's case (come on man, kids look up to you!), but that's okay once in a while.

I love the drunken master episode.

Speaking of Retsu, have you had the episode with his twin brother yet?

So aside from starting Kyuranger after a while, I finally after years of wanting to watch it started Go-Busters. Wow. Just wow. This is completely living up to the expectations I had for it. Simply put, I'm loving it to the moon and back.

It's a great show, although with its innovations came a few flaws. I'm glad I watched it after it aired, as I suspect I'd have been frustrated as it aired. It really ramps up toward the second half of the series, and unlike Hibiki, I like the replacement opening song as much as the original.

I found myself in a little bit of a funk today, so I re-watched part one of the Zyuohger/Gokaiger crossover. MAN, those episodes put me in a good mood.

I hope you continue to enjoy it. I freaking love Go-Busters and I wish it had been more popular. Forever will I weep at the loss of the never-to-be-released Beet and Stag Buster (and plain old Beet J. Stag) Figuarts. The show has its flaws but it does so very much right. I might need a rewatch after finishing Hurricaneger.

I'm not even sure why it took me so long to start, been wanting to watch it since just about after it ended. Just got distracted with other stuff I suppose.

Hope you're enjoying Hurri though mate. Been one of my favorites since I first watched it years back, even with the piss poor video quality of the set I have. Sub quality on the set (you have the one I do) is really good though, save for two episodes were it lags in the 20s right after Shurikenger debuts.

Gekiranger Blows My Mind Part 6: Episodes 38-42 (and also Geki Vs Bouken)

It was another really great batch of episodes. 38's plot was another Retsu-centric episode, and since I'm pretty sure (maybe?) he's my favorite, that's a very good thing. Seeing an actor get to play an ~evil~ version of themselves is always fun. It also massively raised my opinion of Gou with its climax, so that's awesome. 39 let a supporting character pilot the freakin' mecha at the end, which is beyond awesome. I love how much respect this show treats its cast with. Not only are the villains just as important as the heroes, minor players get time to shine. I mean, there was an episode where the stupid fly mascot character got to save the day.

It wasn't 39, but I somehow forgot to mention that episode in the post when I watched it, so allow me to just belatedly rave about it for a bit, because it's one of my favorite episodes of the show. Not only does Bae get to significantly advance Geki Violet's arc, they actually set up several episodes in advance that he thinks Geki Touja Wolf is the s***. Like, that could've just been a throwaway thing, and then suddenly it wasn't. That's crazy. This show is crazy. Like, just wow, man.

Speaking of which, after 39 the show moved back into the Plot, and actually connected seemingly filler plots to the main story on a thematic level. It's sort of skin-deep, but here's the thing. They didn't have to do that. They can just have a "pointless" Sentai episode and nobody would bat an eye, but Gekiranger goes the extra mile because it's just that cool. And the Plot itself is really picking up again. I vaguely know a lot of these late game revelations already (although I've kind of forgotten the details), but I always maintain any story that truly NEEDS to not be spoiled to be enjoyed probably isn't a very good story.

Gekiranger is a very good story, so I'm enjoying the heck out of it and can't wait to get to the final stretch.

Also, now that I've had some time to see the dynamic play out, Geki Violet and Geki Chopper don't "break" the triangle per se, but it definitely has five sides now. The team is basically never not all together. I'm cool with that at this point, though. Gekiranger is so awesome it defies geometry. :lol

Oh, and I should probably mention Gekiranger Vs. Boukenger. It was like most Vs. movies. It entertained me while I was watching it (barely in this case, but still), and I'll probably forget it ever existed a week from now. Case in point, I've already seen Go-On Vs. Geki and I only barely remember all the juicy plot points it "spoiled" for me. This was actually one of the lamest Vs. flicks I've seen, if I'm being honest. Really by the numbers, and lacking in flair. The best thing I can say is that it made me somewhat curious about checking out Boukenger again.

Oh, wow, is this how you've been feeling lately, Matrixbeast? This is really nice. :p

I await the day I get to feel like that when somebody watches Gingaman. :lol

Just a quick heads up, Fish, Retsu didn't play an evil version of himself. It was his real life twin :lol
Well, Retsu may have played him once the mirror copy crossed over, thinking about it...Don't exactly remember :lol

Oh what?! That's nuts! I would've never noticed! That explains why so many of the shots they were together in didn't use the typical camera tricks for such plots. Man, this show really is just the best. :lol

Also, that explains this:

It's all coming together now.

I can't promise I'll shower it with praise like I am Gekiranger, but when I get around to it, I'll probably like it. I'm horribly, horribly biased towards pretty much anything written by Kobayashi.

The same thing happened in Dairanger; the actor who played Kazu had a twin brother who posed as his doppelganger in one episode. They later came back for supporting roles in Kakuranger.

Which is why that is hands down the best evil clone episode ever.

I also love that the duo are in B-Fighter.

Oh, I love Hurricanger. This is my first time watching it with decent subs, though. I had some old subs from online a while back and they had to be just some really terrible raw machine translations. I'd practically get a headache trying to make sense of some of it. Thanks for the warning about the lagging subs. I'll definitely take those over bad ones any day. One of the episodes on my Malaysian Fourze set, the only one with any issues, is probably one of the worst translations I've ever seen.

More of Go-Busters and more praise. I'm really liking how the action scenes are shot a little differently than the average Sentai. They have this action cam/shakiness to them which helps drive home and sell the quick combat the team has. In fact the fighting in general is a nice little step to something new. It's quicker and a bit more militaristic and rough. There's still your typical Sentai movements, but it has a bit more real world grit to it, to me at least (helped in no part by Ohranger esque treatment of dispatching the mooks).

My enjoyment continues to rise with each episode. If I had a favorite character it would easily be Yoko. All of the Buddyroids are fun to watch and interact, Enter is a very fun villain to watch and the designs for the monsters and Megazords are great. Surprisingly I've yet to have an issues with the show. Even with Sentais I love I usually have some sort of con by this point, but I honestly can't think of one here. So yeah, Go-Busters is great and it's quickly climbing the ranks in terms of being a favorite.

See, I hated the Buddyroids. I felt the series would have been a lot better if they were not around (and they should take the boring "I'm going to fall asleep in every scene I'm in" commander with them). Yoko was also my least favorite ranger. :lol

Now I do agree that the mech battles are wonderfully shot and the miniatures were impressive. Enter is impressive too and was really the show's saving grace for me. A shame that he is really the last time a Sentai show has given some depth to their villains.

Gekiranger Leaves Me Craving More FINALE: Episodes 43-49

7 days. That's how long it took me to burn through this wonderful, wonderful series. I haven't actively kept track, but I'm pretty sure I've never pounded out a full, 50-ish episode show that quickly before. There's more factors that go into that than just how awesome the show is, of course, like having the time, but the show being awesome is a massive part of it.

I really can't think of many shows that have entertained me quite the way Gekiranger has. It's really something else. Just a spectacular series from start to finish, with even its lowest points managing to still be excellent. The final stretch, thankfully, is not a low point. It's high after high. We're talking about a show that can have an amazing finale, and then it turns out there's still two episodes left, and even crazier, it has another amazing finale.

There's basically nothing that doesn't wrap up in a satisfying manner. All the characters, including the apparently underdeveloped Ran and Retsu, end up in places that make perfect sense for them, answers to mysteries from as early as the very start of the show are given, and there's all sorts of incredible action to tie it all together.

The most common praise I hear about Gekiranger is that it has some of the best villains you'll see in Sentai. I'm inclined to agree, but I also feel this massively undersells the rest of the show. The villains are great, but they can only shine as much as they do because everything else does too. Gekiranger doesn't really have any notable deficiencies. The cast, heroes and villains alike, are likable/hateable as they need to be, the action is fantastic, the plot is well-paced, the drama is tense, and the comedy is hilarious.

I have nothing to complain about with Gekiranger. It was one of the best Toku shows I've ever seen. One of the better shows I've seen in general. It's the kind of thing I can't even adequately articulate, so I guess this is where I stop. I did a "one sentence review" for my Ninninger rewatch and Carranger, so I might as well do one here:

Go watch it already.

--

We've had this conversation before but I adore them. They're incredibly central to the show and removing them would be taking out a key piece of what makes Go-Busters Go-Busters.

This guy gets it

And thus Toei gave onto us the greatest gift of all; Beet J Stag.

Watching Go-Busters as well. Kicking myself for not watching it sooner. Holy Shit, Sentai actually brought tears out of me and I'm only on episode 10...

Maybe that's just me, what gets emotional responses out of me is... weird, to say the least.

I am on the 10th episode of Ninja Sentai Kakuranger. It is quickly becoming one of my favorites. I love how it is done. It is so different than the other sentai series. I love it, I love it, I love it. The announcer Kōshakushi, is my favorite. His history of the yokai is hilarious and his introductions or the best.

So I just watched Carranger VS Ohranger. Maybe it's just because the last VS movie I watched was pretty lame, but, wow. I mean, dang, by the standards of such things it's pretty much a masterpiece. Thoroughly entertaining.

Of course, it also has the advantage of starring the Carranger cast. And I do mean starring them. The Ohrangers are distincly the guests here, but frankly that works to the film's advantage. I guess if you're a super duper huge Ohranger fan it might be disappointing. Is anyone a super duper huge Ohranger fan though?

Anyway, the whole movie is just a super fun romp sort of thing that knows its purpose is simply to have two Sentai teams on screen at once and not much else. It's a quick, well paced little thing full of some good action (even working a car chase in there!) and tons of great humor. Also Signalman is in it, which is always a plus.

I mean, I missed these dorks so much. This movie is a shining example of what makes the Carrangers such an awesome team. The Ohrangers are pretty much just here to give them a straight man to work off of, and work it does. I think pretty much anytime a straight-laced team plays off a more off-key one, it makes for a more interesting movie (see also Shinken VS Go-On). The plot point of having Red Racer attempt to protect a monster from them really embodies why I love the Carrangers so much. They're simultaneously the most heroic ("Carranger doesn't judge people on appearances!"), and the most dumb ("I should've judged you by your appearance, after all") team you'll ever find. Also they're sort of a bunch of stubborn and/or lazy jerks, sometimes. Three-dimensional!

The movie's so simple I can't even say much more about it short of just recapping the whole thing, but I liked it a lot. I'll probably genuinely want to watch it again at some point, which for a Sentai movie I think is saying something.

Well, I wasn't all that thrilled with Kyuranger and I don't plan on watching it. Maybe I'll pick Liveman back up? It's been a while so I don't remember where I left off, but Sentai is episodic enough (especially the earlier seasons) that I should be fine plot-wise

Hey, new to Sentai but not new to Power Rangers. I grew up on Lightspeed Rescue and it was my favourite as a kid so to get into Sentai I decided to check out GoGoV. I'm really enjoying it! It is pretty jarring to see the same suits and zord and monsters but not piloted by their american counterparts. It is really a lot of fun though, I love that the team is a family, it adds a really cool + interesting dynamic. What would you guys suggest for a Sentai noobie like myself?

Dairanger, Kakuranger, and Gokaiger.

I only made it just under half way into Go-Onger & couldn't face it any more. It was fine until the Wings appeared and turned into what I didn't like about Hurricanger dialed up to 11 - the new members arrive and make the original team look like amateurs. At least the Hurricangers made steps to improve - this group just stands around while the Wings to all the work.

Instead, I've started my first watch of Gokaiger. I started watching Sentai almost 3 years ago and started with Shinkenger and then went to Gosaiger. I enjoyed both a lot. When I found out Gokaiger was an anniversary series, I decided I'd go back and watch the earlier series first. I watched what was available then (it's improved quite a bit since then, I picked a good time to get into Sentai).

And now I've finally made it back to Gokaiger and I'm loving it. I'm almost tempted to ration them since I want this great series to go on as long as possible. I'm so glad I waited, I appreciate the appearances of the old teams and returning actors so much more than I would have if I had watched it as my 3rd full Sentai series instead of my 25th (plus other episodes)

So I know this is technically a Power Rangers Episode but my brother in law was watching Dino Thunder and the episode Lost and Found in Translation came on and I realized nearly on cue that what they were doing. Honestly I loved it and while I'm sure there are other Abaranger episodes that would have been better for american audiences to see what sentai can be like but from what I hear that's Abaranger at its finest

We were just discussing this exact thing in another thread http://www.tokunation.com/showthread.php?t=92966

So after watching Carranger and Gekiranger back to back, whatever I was going to watch next had some pretty big shoes to fill. MEGA big shoes, you might even say.

*crickets*

...Well anyway I'm 5 episodes into Megaranger and it's doing everything in its power to keep up the momentum. It's not the same "oh wow this is genius" reaction I had to Carranger (although that took more than five episodes anyway), or the feeling of "I want to watch like 10 episodes of this right now" that Gekiranger instantly gave me, but this show so far is really up my alley and feels like a really solid example of Sentai being Sentai, kind of like Zyuohger.

Watching Gekiranger felt a lot like discovering there were 49 episodes of Go-Busters I never knew existed, and Megaranger similarly reminds me a lot of Kamen Rider Fourze, and not just on the obvious skin-deep level. I adore Fourze, so that's definitely a good thing.

There's a lot I'm loving about it. First off, it's really flashy. The opening is one of my all-time Sentai favorites, being extremely energetic and hype-inducing in a way I don't think many other shows have matched. The action is solid stuff in general but when it comes to the mecha it's amazing. So much great model work and cool visuals like Galaxy Mega entering the atmosphere. It all just feels a little more imaginative than usual.

The protagonists are also quite likable. Kubota is quickly shaping up to be one of my favorite mentors in all of Sentai, and the Megarangers themselves are pretty cool. They've got an appropriate amount of energy to them without being obnoxious. Kenta in particular seems like a really good example of how to do a hotheaded kind of Red. He's not actually very loud, and is dumb without being a straight up buffoon. Plus the the very first thing you see him do is help out some kids, instantly making him more qualified to be a hero than Lucky is based on Kyuranger's first episode! :p

Speaking of which, Megaranger has a pretty dang strong premiere. I've actually seen it before, and its quality is one of the reasons I've been meaning to get around to this forever. It does a lot right, especially when it comes to character introductions. I already mentioned Kenta's first scene, which also establishes his gaming skills that of course turn out to be important, but the other four Megarangers-to-be also quickly show themselves to work pretty well under pressure when things start going to crap. And boy do things go to crap. It's not often the villains blow up the good guys' base in the first episode. They're kind of boring so far, but they're very clearly a big threat, which counts for a lot.

So yeah, I'm digging Megaranger so far. It's pretty much everything I expected it to be, and I couldn't be happier about that.

Kubota is easily one of the most memorable characters. I love his attitude and mentorship.
It's a bit of a problem, though, because I forgot half of the Megarangers' names :lol

My problem with Megaranger is that it just felt a little too bland. There's no overt problem with any of them, nor did they feel like cardboard. I don't really know how to articulate it. I just never really got hooked by any of them.
The eventual Mega Silver is pretty memorable, but aside from him, eh.

It's weird. Watching Megaranger vs Gingaman did make me nostalgic for the Megarangers again (Part of me wanting them to get more screen time), but the show as a whole just didn't leave a big impression with me.

Yeah, I feel exactly the same way. It's not bad, it's just... bland, like you said. Blandness is kind of the only unforgivable sin a Sentai can commit, IMO, so it's a bottom-3 series for me at this point.

MegaSilver is v cool, though.

HEADS UP!!

Amazon has the Sentai DVDs on sale for $29 a piece and Carranger's preorder for $31.

https://www.amazon.com/Power-Rangers...2NX7APDNRFF1P6

Well I decided to go for a double dose of May-GUH Rain-JUR (I love how the guy in the opening says it) and now I'm up to episode 8. Great stuff. I loved the Digi Tank and its practical effects. It's so rad it comes with its own theme song, too! Episode 8's focus on Kenta was great, too. It fleshed him out a fair bit, and really cemented the chemistry the team has. I'm loving how much emphasis they're putting on friendship on teamwork and all that. The episode also revealed some juicy details on the backstory of one of the villains, which was great. They're still not super interesting, but I'm finding them enjoyable for just how evil they are. There's always something adorable about bad guys who just REALLY want to do evil crap.

Also, since I'm all about cute details, I dig how all the episode titles start with some short, flippant phrase. It fits the tone really nicely.

You know, I actually know exactly what you mean. They're not very standout characters individually (at least not yet), but something about them as a group I'm finding super charming, which is easily making up for that.

And as for the show itself, I'm finding it has way too much flair to it to feel bland.

Oh snap! That's a steal!

I haven't bought a DVD in years, but I'm seriously considering getting Zyu, Dai, and Kaku.

My problem with a lot of series is that, when I'm done, I remember the more character oriented moments, rather than the show's visual flare itself.
Like, Megaranger has it's moments (I'll never forget the Mega Voyager's introduction), but the characters themselves just lack the charisma I wanted.

It's why Jetman is rather memorable to me. Despite my lukewarm reception of it, the characters had a lot to them, making them stick around in my mind a lot more than, say, Kouichirou or Shun.

I'm up to episode 16 of Megaranger now and still loving it. It's not anywhere near as brilliant as Carranger or Gekiranger, but it doesn't need to be for me to enjoy the heck out of it.

The villains have really grown on me in a short amount of time, especially. They're not super interesting characters but these Nezirezia guys are f***in' crazy. I haven't seen Toku villains this threatening in a while. They're straight up terrorists, man. Constantly doing crap like destroying landmarks, targeting children, brainwashing people, trying to infiltrate society in disguise (an episode which also featured a kid nearly getting strangled to death), and just plain ol' poisoning mass crowds of people. Wow.

Speaking of wow, episode 16 was spectacular. Super tense, showed off how awesome and important the INET crew is, really let the characters shine, and was just generally a huge highlight so far. Obviously you know how it's going to end before it even starts but I couldn't care less. That scene at the end with the team just being stupid kids again felt very well earned.