[Fish Sandwich]

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!

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.