Ninninger Episode 46- "The End Shuriken Awakens!" Discussion
 

The heroes are united! The time has come for the final battle against Kibaoni Gangetsu.

Well, two more Akaningers turned out to be as underwhelming as expected. I mean I expected the Last Ninja to meet his fate, but they could have at least given Tsumuji a bigger spotlight.

Also, I may have missed some sort of detail along the course of the series (in the middle there were a fair few episodes where I lost focus) but why did the episode play up that the Last Ninja died in battle and the End Shuriken was keeping him alive? What was the point? If the dude was over 400 years old that was enough explanation in itself.

Other than those complaints, it was a pretty good episode I guess. Not as hyped for the finale as I'd like to be but then thats par the course for this series I guess.

This was... fine, I guess.

There was good action, there were some decent character moments...

But Ninninger has proven itself to be the shallowest sentai in recent memory. They show is very dynamic and hyperactive and fun, but scratch the surface and there's nothing underneath. I can honestly say I've never felt this disconnected from a Sentai finale.

I'm... kinda ready to just put this show behind me.

I'm sad to see this series end, as I've really enjoyed it, but this ending has been rather underwhelming. I was hoping that they actually brought Gabi back for some reason other than cannon fodder, but nope. He exists to be defeated and served no further purpose. Kyuuemon's new form is pretty terrible too. The final episode should be good though.

I'm ready for Zyuohger, but honestly I've gotta say...the mech looks way too bulky and kind of terrible in that preview.

The reaction to their grandfather's death was possibly the best acting in the entire season, as sad as that is. One criticism I've read about Ninninger is that for being a Sentai that's also family, they don't even feel like one. And you REALLY feel it during the fallout after the last ninja's death. In any other sentai, I feel like I would have been emotionally invested in this episode, but I didn't. At all. Only when Tsumuji received his final message did I feel anything, and that's cause he's probably the best character in the series.

And he's a side character.

Gabi Raizou was, of course, wasted. Gengetsu's wife whose name I can't even remember because that's how interesting/useful of a character she was is FINALLY gone. One more episode and we can finally move on from this boring mess.

...Also, if their grandfather was alive 400+ years ago, how does that explain Tsumuji's age?...Or Takaharu and Fuuka's?...Or ANYONE'S for that matter?

It's highly likely he started a family later on in his life (somewhere between 300-400 years old). If Tsumuji is about the same age as his actor (44/45), then the Last Ninja/Yoshitaka started a family around 1970 (or between 1960-80) then around 1980, he trained both Tsumuji and Kyuemon (Kyuemon was sent into the future by his father, Gengetsu, and the Last Ninja trained both Kyuemon and Tsumuji when they were teenagers).

This brings up a great point. What purpose did them being a family serve?

I fully expected to see Kasumi and Nagi's parents at some point. After all, they're all cousins, and one imagines that Tsumuji's brothers and/or sisters would have had some degree of involvement in the Last Ninja shenanigans as well.

I expected some interesting, compelling, dramatic, secret family relationships along the lines of Jiraiya in Kakuranger (I mean, so much of Ninninger is a dumb attempt at replicating Kaku for a modern audience that I don't think this expectation was unreasonable). I thought that we'd see how Tsumuji's generation tore each other apart in pursuit of the Last Ninja. Or something, anything that would have made these characters feel more like they were part of a larger world and history.

But no. Instead of interesting backstory, we got 10 episodes that were variations on "Ninningers are part of a game," a long, pointless arc with Mangetsu that literally repeats plots of episodes from the middle of the show, a resurrected villain general brought back for the sole purpose of being unceremoniously killed again, and some utterly pointless cameos from past sentai members. Hell, we didn't even go back to the idea of there being other ninja schools in this world! The potential for this show was so high! The designs are great, the mechs are interesting, the special effects are top notch, and (unlike others) I think the cast got pretty engaging over the series.

I feel like for 3/4 of the show I was Ninninger's biggest defender! But the fact that it didn't live up to any of that potential makes me actually, viscerally dislike it. Possibly more than if I'd disliked it all the way through.

In summary? Ninninger burned me bad, and I'm super resentful. :lol

Wow, Gabi Raizou's dead again. What was the point of bringing him back?

Also, Gangetsu is so worthless he makes Dokoku look like a fully fleshed out villain.

Honestly though, those were some of my favorite parts of the show. Mangetsu showed up pretty late and didn't push much forward aside from being the catalyst for Gengetsu's resurrection, but it was a much more enjoyable arc than a lot of the other ones. The "game" filler episodes were also my favorite ones; it was a nice change of pace from the normal "monster shows up, beat the crap out of mooks before you beat the crap out of the monster" formula that has been around since...the beginning.

I agree with the rest of your post though, there was a ton of potential that just didn't do anything. However I don't really expect much from the plot of a Sentai, so I wasn't too upset.

Best part of the episode.

Why not? They'e shown in the past they can have quality story telling, so why can't we expect the same today?