I kind of don't want it to be over (and I suppose I still have two VS movies), but I'm now finished with Megaranger. Man what a great show.

First things first, the final episodes were all great. Dr. Hinelar's whole plan toward the end was awesome, because mass abductions and brainwashing, combined with a little bit of undermining the heroes reputation to make it easier to abduct and brainwash people, is a proper finale to the grand legacy of truly messed up (you might even say twisted) plans from the Nezirezia.

Which of course brings me to the show's very proper finale. The last 3 episodes were amazing. Some of the best of the series and I'm happy about that, because having a spectacular ending was pretty much the last requirement Megaranger had to meet to cement a high spot on my favorites list. It was great. Remember how I said the Neziranger arc brought out the best in all the characters? Take everything I said about that, multiply it a million fold, and you have my thoughts on the endgame. Even random side characters from throughout the show get to show up and be awesome.

--

This show was a total blast from start to finish. Every element of it just clicked with me perfectly.

The heroes, and I don't just mean the Megarangers themselves, are fantastic, and I love the underdog element to them. Sentai is always at its best when it's leaning into the underlying concept of people coming together to be something greater that's always been at the heart of the franchise, and Megaranger does that in a particularly excellent way. There's a distinct sense that these guys are just "normal" people. The heroes were never inherently destined for greatness, their gear comes from the tireless efforts of countless engineers, programmers, and other such geeks, rather than some mystical MacGuffin or the like, and their mentor, instead of some cool military guy who projects authority or some otherwise dignified person, is just some shlubby old guy constantly stressing out over the fact that he left the safety of the Earth in the hands of five random teenagers. And yet they all end up becoming exactly those kinds of larger than life superheroes anyway, through their own hard work and determination.

The main team is essentially a group of high school stereotypes in the wrong place at the right time, who aren't in any way qualified for the role they find themselves in, but they prove themselves so much more than that. They're fairly simple characters, but they're portrayed extremely well, have just enough layers to each be interesting, and most importantly, there's a really genuine sense of friendship to the group that's among the strongest I've seen in the near dozen Sentai I've watched. I really felt like these guys had each other's backs and seeing them go from a bunch of stupid kids to a bunch of stupid kids who can kick the crap out of whatever the bad guys have to throw at them was a fun time.

But of course they couldn't do squat without the backing of everyone at INET, who as I've said were one of the show's best elements. Yuusaku is a rather endearing fellow whose repeated claims of "always being serious" turn out to have a surprising amount of merit. He always knows when he needs to drop the act and when he does, he's absolutely invaluable to the team, whether he's fighting as Mega Silver or not. Then, of course, there's Kubota. Kubota is the man. He may as well be the honorary seventh Megaranger, he does so much. One of the best mentors you could ask for, despite appearances. Throughout the series it's clear he's pretty angsty about his decision to let high schoolers be the Megarangers. Not because he doubts their ability to get the job done, mind you. He has the utmost faith in them, despite his frequent frustrations with their laidback attitude. No, what he's actually concerned about is their well-being. Kubota is always extremely mindful of the burden he's placed on them, always puts their safety above the mission, and always does everything in his power to make their job easier. Just a wonderful dude all around, and easily one of the best characters in the show.

The villains aren't exactly slouches either though. Initially I thought they were going to be the show's weak link, but they quickly endeared themselves to me through their sheer unrelenting brutality. These are some very BAD bad guys. You're not going to find an episode where the MotW's plan is steal people's pants. They feel super dangerous and that allows Megaranger to create drama and tension very easily. What I was even more surprised by is that the main villains themselves actually ending up becoming decently interesting characters. Dr. Hinelar ends up rather fleshed out by the end, and there's this nice sense of genuine affection between him and his chief goons, Yugande and Shiborena, throughout the show. Getting to actually feel kind of sad when the baddies inevitably bite it is another one of those joys of Sentai and Megaranger ended up providing that for me. They're no Rio and Mele (who is though?), but they're way better than I thought they'd be going in.

Another great element of Megaranger that I haven't really touched on in any of my posts is the nice sense it has of the world being bigger than just the main cast. Aside from all the nameless people with INET, there's a whole high school full of a bunch of side characters, a lot of whom show up several times throughout the show. Not to mention the show plays up the secret identity angle for the team, which at first seemed mostly like an excuse for why the bad guys don't just go blow up their houses (and trust me, they're just itching for the chance), but as the show goes along the public at large frequently acknowledges the presence of the Megarangers and the weekly monster attacks, something a lot of Sentai seem to kind of gloss over, and it all builds up to a great payoff towards the end.

I could go on talking about every little thing in the show for a while, but suffice it to say, Megaranger is basically everything I could ever want out of a Sentai. It's extraordinarily frustrating because it's one of those shows I don't feel I can do justice talking about. It could be mistaken for a fairly run-of-the-mill Sentai, but there's this pure spark to it I have trouble describing. It's a show that has a lot of heart and this very optimistic spirit that I just can't properly put into words. I don't even know how I'd do my now usual one sentence summary. "Legacy Astro Megazord when?" doesn't really get everything across, you know?

I really like this show a whole lot. It lived up to all the expectations I've had for years now and then some. Time will tell, but I have a feeling this one's gonna stick with me. I'm more than likely doing Gingaman next, and to be frank I do not envy its position here.

Megaranger I always felt was rather bland. Kubota and Yuusaku basically being the reasons why I felt compelled to really continue.

Gingaman is probably the most middle of the road Sentai I've seen. It does most things right, but it didn't really go beyond what I was expecting. It had it's moments where it was exciting, emotional, or serious, but it never really excelled anywhere in my eyes.

Finished Kyoryuger today! Overall I really enjoyed it, I thought most of the characters were pretty compelling and the villains were just great. Getting a professional Seiyuu to voice Candelilla was genius, she hammed it up hardcore but always sold every line. Can't say the same about Amy though, her acting was pretty hokey throughout the entire series with a lot of stilted lines (the fact that they gave her the big emotional moment at the end was a whiff IMO).

Nobuharu is the best. He's just the best, his puns were pretty dumb most of the time but whenever he had a serious chance to shine he stole the whole show. The episode where he inadvertantly ends up going on a date with Candelilla is my favourite by far.

Daigo was a really fun Red, although he relies a little too much on BRAVE boring recycled dialogue. The stuff with him and his father was mostly well done.

I think my only real issue is with Kyoryuzin which is just the ugliest fucking mech i've ever seen in my life. It is really obscenely bad.

Oh Ian was a missed opportunity too, for most of the series hes given very little to do and has very little character development. He has a really good scene near the end of the series though.

this is pretty rambly haha. but i really did like it a lot! I just started Kakuranger and am currently about to load up episode 2. I'm becoming a full blown addict. 2 Series in a month jeez

Just watched the first episode of Gekiranger. Unfortunately the first episode didn't quite grab me as Zyuohger did, but if the praise I've seen for it is any indication, I'm in for a good time

Wakiwaki!

9 episodes in Geki now
It's fucking great. My ONLY complaint is Jan, but he's not bad enough to run the rest of the show to the ground

He'll grow on you.

It warms my heart to see people enjoying Gekiranger~

I hope so. He's giving me 'nam flashbacks with his bratty behaviour

*tries to convince Ran to strip*
O.O
I support Jan's decision

Well this is hardly the first time our opinions on Sentai have differed. :p

I think I compared Megaranger to Zyuohger early on and I stand by that having watched the whole series. Both are fairly straightforward Sentai elevated by immense amounts of charm, in my opinion.

Kubota and Yuusaku are two very good reasons to stick around though. :lol


Yes.

Blasphemy! He's the most adorable thing ever and you know it!

No but seriously he's a really fun character with a lot of great development over the course of the series.

It's the most howahowa feeling in the world. :p

CarRanger Episodes 31 and 32: Episode 31: I was tired last night so it's only a block of two. The end of Ritchihiker, he was so much fun though. The VRV Fighters are the best though, I love those forms, I think V-Police/Police Fighter is my favorite. Still the transforming mecha are badass. VRV Master is hilarious and mysterious, it was funny how he knew the barber was fake based on how he acted. I love how all the CarRangers were in the VRV Fighters and how Naoki switched back to the car form and then back into the fighter form to kick Braking. Such fun.

Episode 32: Kyosuke's anxiety and determination hit him like a brick this episode. It was absolutely crazy fun living up to the title of Leader of the CarRangers. Also, happy that Gynamo is back with the Bowzock too. Also just liked seeing everyone react to the fired up Kyosuke. Kyosuke is something else with this episode but I love how he just dived into the RV Robo and kicked everyone else out to reclaim it for the CarRangers. I think he's beating out GaoRed as my favorite Red right now. I love how he interrupted everyone's battle with the Wumpers and they were all like we're fine. This show is so crazy good.

So in my last post I got so distracted by how awesome Gekiranger is I completely forgot to mention I watched Megaranger VS Carranger, which was only the whole reason I was posting in the first place. It was a lot of fun. The teams gelled together well without anyone hogging the spotlight and there was a lot of great comedy. Putting the Carrangers together with pretty much anyone seems to be a recipe for instant success, so you really can't go wrong.

More importantly though, I went right ahead and dived into the first seven episodes of Gingaman. I was genuinely worried I wouldn't get into it right away, but my love of all things Kobayashi swiftly kicked those feelings to the curb by the end of the premiere. I'm already enjoying it a lot.

It's nothing especially spectacular, but it's pretty good. The whole fantasy atmosphere of the show is something fresh to me, and there's a laid-back tone that I find... relaxing, I guess? It works for me, is the point. That being said, I feel there was a lot of good drama already. Nothing felt "fillery", the plots often led into each other, and the big two-parter that introduced Gingai-Oh almost feels like a story that would happen around a quarter of the way through a lot of other shows.

They also did a fairly solid job of fleshing out the characters so far. For example, there was a great scene in episode 3 where Ryouma reminisces with a homesick Gouki about growing up in the Galaxy Forest. It's the simplest thing but it instantly stood out to me as feeling really nice and human.

On the other hand, the villains are hardly the greatest I've ever seen. Finding gas for your car isn't exactly the most compelling long-term evil plan, you know? :lol

I really like Sanbash for whatever reason though. He's fun.

There was almost always something relevant happening in Gingaman. But it felt like there was always filler in the episodes :lol
Things picked up for me with Black Knight. If you're enjoying Gingaman this much by the first 7 episodes, then you'll probably be really getting into it when the Black Knight appears~

Jan is an odd ball for a red ranger, but unlike Ban in Deka, he at least has a reason to be hyper active and shouting all of the time. He lived in the jungle for most of his life. Plus, unlike Ban, he actually grows as a character as the show progresses.

I don't know much about Ban but you're making one big assumption I dislike Jan's hotheadedness. It's his childish behaviour. Sure, it's justified, but have you ever worked 9 to 6 in a shop? Because children are annoying little shits

CarRanger Episode 33: Yay! Dapp's awake again, he definitely adds fun to the show, though I miss VRV Master though. Also, Gynamo inspiring the Bowzock by changing them to the Hell's Bowzock was nice to see, also Grotch's Dolt Soda was something else. UU Ussu was something else with heating up the place, it was good of Naoki noticing the pool was steaming before they jumped into it. I enjoyed the VRV Fighters saving the people and stopping the fires that was great to see them protecting and saving people. Dapp disguising himself not to ruin the surprise was fun and it was more fun they all knew it was Dapp the second time lol. I enjoyed their exercise at the end it was basically a dance and they were all going all out and enjoying themselves. This is definitely a Sentai that feels like a family. It's like a family of heroes vs a family of villains in this series and it is awesome.

I'm an elementary school teacher.

Do they cry constantly if the smallest thing happens and are not allowed to stop it

I'm on episode 7 of Kakuranger, and so far I'm not really feeling it and I can't really figure out why. I think it's because I am having an extremely hard time differentiating Saizou, Seikai and Sasuke from eachother, they all have very similar personalities / clothing style. Absolutely love both the opening and ending themes though.

Sasuke gets a major bump in character growth, so don't worry. He stops being part of the jackass trio.

7 more episodes of Gingaman down.

It's a lot of low-key fun. I thought that would make it pale in comparison to the last couple shows I watched, but if anything it's helping it stand out. It's just a really chill experience and I'm down for that right now. Nevertheless it gets kinda epic when it feels like it. Sanbash's whole final plan was remarkably dastardly for such an ineffective villain. He will be missed. The dude even goes out driving a motorcycle over a cliff and then exploding in midair. What a legend.

These are seriously the most directionless villains ever though. Budo, you'd better hope that scroll of possible locations for the Galactic Light only has a maximum of 38 places. The series only runs so long and you're not going through them very fast. :lol

Also maybe I'm just imagining it but I feel like there's a really clear difference in quality when Kobayashi isn't writing an episode. They're not awful or anything but they seem to lack a certain amount of tender love and care.

Budo's scroll has the dumbest possible location for where it could be. You'll definitely know when you get to it :lol

:lol

Is the sky blue? Is water wet? They cry if someone grabs their pencil. They cry if someone doesn't play with them on the playground. They cry if they get a bad grade. They cry if they get yelled at for not following directions. They cry if their friend doesn't want to work with them on one assignment.

While not much changes with Saizou and Seikai, Sasuke becomes one badass red ranger. Also, just wait until Gashadokuro and the Flower Ninja Konoichi come in.

As a teacher, you can talk to them to calm them down. If the parents are assholes to everyone around and don't do anything, you have to put up with nonstop crying constantly. That's what it reminds me of

CarRanger Episodes 34-36: Episode 34: Nice to see Radietta back and to see that she is Zonette's sister. That is an interesting connection and to learn more about Zonette's back story is intriguing as well. Radietta always makes a fun appearance as White Racer. I also like the Kyosuke/Zonette plot line that has been a lot of fun right now, and I can understand Kyosuke's feelings when I mess up with a girl I have feelings for too. Also the Robo Radiacar was adorable and awesome! I want to see it with Auto-Vajin lol. Also, Kyosuke getting shot down by Zonette was hilarious especially with him just standing there with his arm not moving. Also, Minoru, Natsumi, and Yoko's excuses were funny, I just loved Naoki being like wait I don't have anything to do, just don't do anything rash Kyosuke.

Episode 35: Part 1 of the evil SignalMan arc, I saw this in the twitch stream in Power Rangers Turbo so I was wondering how this would be done. Way more hilariously, well first of all it's great to have SignalMan back even being evil, he is a badass. The mystery of the colored exhaust was intriguing and I felt bad that his son's sports day was cancelled. Kyosuke had a lot of trouble not being able to get food and then fighting SignalMan. Though seeing the new big bad at the end was something else and SignalMan with the Bowzock was strange too.

Episode 36: Well Dapp, is a very impressive Sentai mentor especially for the 90's of the Sentai's I've seen. Dapp finding out about the Exhaust causing SignalMan to go evil and how to counter it was great. Though that was some hilarious way to free him of it, burping it up with Cider lol. I totally see why they couldn't translate that in America, then again I would love to see the reactions of the Saban producers when they saw the CarRanger footage and had to come up with new storylines because there was no way they could do have the shit from CarRanger. Kyosuke was on point here with using the VRV Fighters to tire him out and giving him cider was hilarious. Though it was great to have Sirender and SignalMan back on the good side and seeing all 6 Mecha and then the two Giant robos together was awesome. It was also great to see everyone together at the end as Ichitarou and SignalMan help clean his base. The big bad at the end, Exhaus seems really interesting and I can't wait to see how this goes for the CarRangers.

:lol :lol :lol

If only it worked that way.

Children are entitled assholes these days because their parents are also entitled. There was a school I subbed at where the 6th grade literacy teacher had to have the parents sign off on every piece of homework their child did to signify they are okay with the grade their child would receive because he had parents yell at him for not letting their child redo the assignments they got a bad grade in. Also, one girl had to sit out of field day for not turning in any work from April of that year and her mom said that wasn't fair because it was her last year in that school, so she should have been able to do whatever she wanted.

Those are people who shouldn't be allowed to have kids tbh

Also up to Gekiranger 13. I'm liking Leo's development. I'd watch more but the site I use isn't working well and I don't have access to downloads

Up to episode 21 of Gingaman. In summary, Bull Black is a pretty cool dude, and these villains are so pathetic it's adorable.

http://i.imgur.com/pEJdg0E.jpg

Honestly considering some of the other locations have been more abstract concepts than actual places to look, I think this seems comparatively plausible. :lol

I take back everything I said about the non-Kobayashi episodes being worse by the way. That whole episode was brilliant. Gouki is a total bro, the way they play the plot for comedy and melodrama at the same time is classic Sentai, and when Bull Black shot a freakin' truck off the road to loot it for tomatoes I was laughing harder than I've laughed in a good while.

Ugh, that tomato episode was probably my least favorite episode of the entire show.

I've been watching MagiRanger with my brother to finish it up lately I think we watched episodes 32-37 in the last few days. I really loved the end of Meemy with his battle with Hikaru, Makito's focus episodes and Cyclops vs Tsubasa was amazing, I love how he grew in that episode and how Kai helped support him too. Also, Urara helping everyone calm down and work together in the episode with her Apple Pie, and when they fought Ifrit was fantastic too. I love the 10 Infershin Gods, they look amazing and threatening. Also learning that Wolzard is Blagel was something else, and I just loved all the emotions of seeing their father come back. This series is amazing so far.

Moving from Magic to Car Magic!

CarRanger Episodes 37-39: Episode 37: Well Exhaus is something else but I just love his ridiculous goal of wanting a Space Highway System of Chaos! It's refreshing to have a villain with a different motivation lol. I loved that the CarRangers let their winning streak go to their head and that they needed to be humbled, luckily Grotch missed a part in the evil Mecha of Zelmoda's or their cockiness would have cost them severely. But damn were the Bowzock great this episode, it was fun to see how they dealt with their losing streak too. Also, Gynamo's daydream about having his own food stand was great too.

Episode 38: Ah the Piss Pink off and you die episode. Also great plan by the Bowzock here to get the Imo-King to keep making the food they need, but I think the highlight was the Make Up Artist coming up with a crazy reason to stop the CarRangers, I mean the unremarkable citizens from finding out they need the food to grow giant (Also best way for a villain to grow.) This was fun seeing Yoko go out with the Younger Imo King but it was great to see how she became motivated to take down the Bowzock because she wanted to help restore him so he can be happily with his wife again. Also, young SignalMan was amazing to see lol. He was so adorable and couldn't reach Sirender's petals was cute too. Though the CarRangers took car of both Zelmoda's Giant Robo and the giant Bowzock pretty easily; but that's what you get when you piss off Pink.

Episode 39: It's been forever but yay! Another Naoki focus episode! This continues him having some of the craziest and best episodes. Also, I connect even further with him! That he loves animals and wanted to save Beager was amazing; I too would do the same because Beager is adorable. Still, Naoki's kind heart is one of his best aspects from doing all he can to protect Beager and protecting Dragon Cruiser earlier was amazing too. He was just kick ass this episode too especially when he went beat the crap out of the Animal Tamer who was trying to take Beager and defeated him with his own special attack with his Muffler Guns then following up with kicking his butt with the Police Fighter till they finished him off with the VRV Robo. Though Naoki playing Dentist to help Beager was hilariously fun, I mean damn Naoki is smart already but knowing how to make new teeth for Beager was something else entirely. Also, Exhaus is an ass for what he did to Beager's race. I'm happy that Naoki got to keep Beager and Beager is staying with him right now. Naoki is definitely one of my favorite Blue Rangers of all time so far.

I can't wait for more.

Up to Geki 32, Jan's indeed grown a lot, it helps he doesn't act like a brat as much. Gou/Geki Violet's kinda eh, but I fucking LOVE Ken/Geki Chopper. Plot's also starting to thicken and I love the Super suits. It's grown on me. Might beat Zyuohger for me

Geki Chopper is my favorite of the rangers. He was pretty awesome.

I love all of them, really :lol

My favorite suit has to be GekiViolet's though. Just beautiful~

GekiChopper is the hottest. Also, his actor goes on to play Javel in Ghost. And he's still a looker!!!

You ruined the guy who has the best suit for me now

Eh? Hell, knowing it was him made me actually watch Ghost. Only just to see him in action. Everything else was white noise to me. XD

shhhhhhh it joke

Finished 35 now. Makes me upset I accidentally spoiled myself on something, but I loved Leo and Mele teaming up in the Edo episode. And the rhino gets the best mech I've seen. Noice

The fact that Go-Busters is apparently a divisive show perplexes me. I just finished episode 30, and what a ride it's been. Really been loving this series, and that was a great sort-of finale. The Go-Busters really have grown a lot, and I legitimately really like all them.

But, of course, the adventure continues. As I understand it the remaining 20 episodes-minus-two are gonna be a little different. Expecting to enjoy it no less, though.

Watched 6 episodes of Kyuranger for a Geki break
wew, I CERTAINLY see why it's so divisive. Lucky is the worst Red I've seen, the Hammy episode bearly focused on Hammy at all and the Kyulette gimmick is fucking rigged as only Lucky can make Kyuren-Oh. Naga, Balance and Stinger are pretty cool though

Well more on my double dose of Magical Sentai Goodness. Finished 39-44 of MagiRanger today and loved so many of the episodes with Kai and Houka switching bodies, Hikaru learning from Kai, and Tsubasa and Urara not giving up hope and faith to save their mother. Also Blagel continues to be badass. On the other side the Infershan Gods of Hell continue to be amazing. I can't wait to probably finish the series tomorrow.

CarRanger Episodes 40-41: Well I would've watched the third episode in my normal block but I'm tired and well I found out 41-43 are a 3 parter so I don't think I have two more episodes left in me.

Episode 40: Continuing the trend of Piss Pink off and you die, then Piss Blue off and You die, it's time for Piss Green off and you die, lol. This was probably my favorite Minoru episode of the series, it really shows his compassion and how nice he is. That he believed that the Bowzock reformed and that he even inspired the whole team to believe in his trust to have it backfire on him was so sad. I felt so bad for Minoru being taken advantage like that but I'm not he used his wacky creativity to bring the combination of the VRV Robo and the RV Robo together. He showed a lot of heart this episode and it definitely makes him a better character.

Episode 41: The start of the Christmas 3-Parter. I felt so bad for Dapp and not having anyone to spend Christmas with since the CarRangers are going to spend it with family. Though it sucks that it lead to Dapp getting kidnapped. Exhaus is a very intellectual yet insane villain; honestly one of my favorite Sentai villains ever because of it; learning that they get their powers from Dapp. Also, intrigued with VRV Master though I can see the hints that they threw in there about who he most likely is. The Zonnette/Red Racer story continues being hilariously fun and actually helpful with her warning the Rangers about Exhaus's plans. I loved how the others were pushing Kyosuke to go talk to her that was great. Well I'll see how the rest of this shakes out later. I can't wait for it.