Would you rank the Magiranger villains above Gekiranger's Rio?

I haven't watched Gekiranger so I can't say for sure yet. Based on what I do know, however, they're different flavors of villains. Rio and Mele are more personal villains, with sympathetic personalities. They're definitely anti-heroes and very easy to connect with. We like them because their character development is top notch, we can relate with their desires even if we do not agree with them.

Magiranger villains, on the other hand, like Dr Kain said, are very Lovecraftian. You won't find many personable villains among the Infershia ranks because they are frightening and dangerous on a more epic scale. They are intriguing as a group rather than individually. That's not to say that they're not interesting as individuals, far from it, it's just that Magiranger's focus is on presenting a chaotic, overwhelming force.

In fact, I'd say the whole of Magiranger focuses on the group aspect. Take any individual Ranger, even Kai (Red) or Tsubasa (Yellow) and give them their own show, they wouldn't be able to hold it up as well as someone like Marvelous (Gokaired) or Takeru (ShinkenRed) can. However, put them together and as the Ozu family they really work well. I guess it's only fitting considering Magiranger's "family" theme and Super Sentai's "teamwork" focus as a whole.

Oh, interesting.
What makes the villain dynamic as a whole more interesting than the individuals themselves?

Hmm I would say that that's because the show focuses on the making the individual villains more incomprehensible, more cosmic. Being so epic in scope, it is only natural that they seem very inhuman, thus not as relatable (in a good way). When we first meet the villains, they seem so overwhelmingly powerful that is seems that the Magirangers are up against gods. When they achieve victory, it makes it so much more epic and satisfying.

No, definitely not. Rio and Mele are some of the best developed villians and I put them in second place for Sentai villians (the Saima Clan from GoGoV is #1). Still, they are definitely in the top 10.

SPOILERS

SPOILERS

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

Once you see the Infershia Gods, you will understand. They show up in episode 34 I believe, and outside of one ridiculous story arc (but the ending makes up for it), they really feel like they are a threat.

Plus, Memmy is a fallen angel, which really brings some coplexity to his character.

END SPOILERS

END SPOILERS

SAFE ZONE

The biggest problem with MagiRanger is that when it is bad, it is really bad. But when it does shine, it has some really great moments. Sadly though, it is one of those shows that is hard to rewatch a second time, because once you lose the hype of the show, it is painful to sit through (kind of like 555).

I probably will. I want to finish up Dekaranger first and GUIS has started updating Jetman again and I want to catch up on that, too. I'm wary, but not willing to give it up so soon (unless that plant thing becomes as annoying as it looks it will).

Although comparing it to 555 is not a good way to encourage me. I cannot stand 555.

Everyone makes Faiz sound like such a bait and switch series ("The designs are so amazing, but the soap opera plot lines makes it so painful to watch.") that I'm actually afraid to watch it :lol

As for Magiranger, give me an example of how bad it can get (Noting that I'm well aware and used to those completely random, seemingly out of place episodes Sentai and KR do sometimes).

555 is not a bad show by any means, it's just that the last 8 episodes to the show were a total trainwreck. Character's personalities just randomly change and other characters appear out of the blue with no rhyme or reason, we are just supposed to believe they have been there the entire time.

As for a bad episode of MagiRanger, there is an episode where this skeleton monster is putting marks of death on people. This really ultra hyper dude that talks like he is on helium turns out to be one of them, but the episode makes you think him and Houka (pink) are lovers and they have this wedding and everything is just down so retarded that it makes it hard to sit through the episode even on the first viewing. In fact, most of the really bad episodes usually deal with either pink or green (green is the oldest brother but acts the most immature).

Rio and Mele are a different calibre of villain to most Super Sentai. To me, Gekiranger felt just as much about them as it did the heroes, and their growth as characters reflected that. Most of the time, while the villains do get development, they're still just there for a goal of conquest or something. Rio was much more than just that and that's why he's so awesome.

As for Magiranger, I love it. It's my favourite Sentai series after Gokaiger for a reason. It boasts some of the best monster designs in the franchise's history, has really strong ensemble casts in both the hero and villain department (and tbh, I think a lot of them work fine as individuals too - particularly Kai) and three acts that all build upon each other nicely (unlike the three that fall completely flat in Gaoranger). As for the slapstick, yes it has it - but I don't feel that it's exactly out of place. The series is pretty clear its going to lean to that side of things from the get-go, and it doesn't ever ruin the overall storytelling.

Finished up Sun Vulcan today - I'm sorry to say it's my least favourite Super Sentai series I've watched in its entirety. The team were far too dull and I missed the larger team dynamic. The introduction of Amazon Killer initially seemed like it was going to shake things up a bit for the better, but the plots just got progressively sillier and I simply lost interest.

It's a shame really, because once Inazuma Ginga was introduced the show started to get really good - the problem was he was introduced in episode 45 and by then nothing could really save it for me.

So out of all the Sentai shows that I've seen, here's how they rank up;

Gokaiger (predictable and cliché I know, but tough :p)
Magiranger
Dekaranger
Liveman
Gekiranger
Shinkenger
Dairanger
Go-onger
Gaoranger
Goseiger
Boukenger
Sun Vulcan

Gonna start watching Kamen Rider properly until the next show is completely finished.