[davidoriel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreamSword

(Super) Samurai

Pre-Show Preamble

Samurai was the first season where I actively kept up with the fanbase as it aired, making it quite the interesting experience for me. Probably the most interesting aspect to me in terms of that was how alot of people liked it at first, but opinions on it seemed to lower with every episode.

And what made that interesting to me was how these opinions were lowering despite the show seeming to go out of its way to address the early complaints that the fanbase had. For example, people complained that it was too similar to Shinkenger, so come Super where the show started to divert and differentiate itself more? Complaints actually only seemed to increase, with many of the same people now complaining it should be doing what Shinkenger did.

My personal opinion when it comes to things like this, and it's one I've found that not many have, is that as long as the writing and characters make sense within their own context, I really don't care if a given season of Power Rangers is a copypaste of its Sentai counterpart or not. We've had seasons that are copypastes(Time Force), and those that are completely different(RPM) that are both equally as popular, and ones that I've found myself enjoying regardless.

With that out of the way, allow me to just say that personally, I find Samurai to actually be pretty underrated. It's not without its flaws: Poor directing in the early episodes, a few character arcs that are mishandled(Deker and Kevin), the forced hiatuses from Nickelodeon... But for me, the strengths overall outweighed the weaknesses.

Bringing in Bulk and Spike was a good move for the comedic aspect of the show, the fights were intense, the villains struck just the right balance of silly and threatening, the overall theme of family and subverting expectations was nicely done, and the show gave me my favorite Gold Ranger: Antonio.

Plus, while not many fans like to admit it, Samurai was an overall success with its target demographic. And I knew it would be, because here's the thing. There are people who like to insist that Shinkenger was unadaptable, but like, Samurai aired in 2011. By this point, cartoons and anime had become mainstream, and shows like Samurai Jack and Rurouni Kenshin were very popular. Kids knew what Samurai were, and were seen as every bit as cool as Ninja.

I bring up alot of fandom aspects here because, well, over the years, the episode I decided was my favorite has been looked down upon by alot of people, no thanks in part to a certain internet critic who I won't be name-dropping. Thus, I feel like I'm gonna have to do alot of defending on this one. My personal favorite episode of Power Rangers Samurai is...

Episode 14: Room for One More

This episode directly follows Antonio's' debut, and details his efforts to become officially seen as the Sixth Samurai Ranger.

This episode is also all about one of Samurai's' overall themes: That doing something solely for the sake of tradition is, often times, total crap.

The episode starts off with the team discussing Antonio, and trying to figure how exactly he managed to become a Samurai Ranger, despite not coming from one of the Five Families. Half the team says they should say screw the rules and let him join the team, while the other half says they think he'd be more of a burden than a help. Jayden, while speaking fondly of his friend, is undecided.

how i imagine die dresses at work

One thing that I've always loved about Antonio is just how much personality he has. He's energetic, he's fun, he has a huge devotion to the people he cares about, and he's able to adapt and think on his feet rather quickly. Alot of his antics also helped give me a giggle; It's a simple joke, but the bit where he rips his pants with his fishing pole never fails to get a chuckle out of me. It makes a nice contrast to Jayden, whom is oftentimes very stoic and to the point; They play off eachother rather well, I think!

At the "interview" Antonio gives us his origin in how he became the Gold Samurai, and we actually get some nice flashbacks detailing how the friendship between him and Jayden started, as well as a look into Jayden's' more rebellious side, with him giving Antonio the Octozord as a present, and threatening that he'd quit being a Samurai if Ji tried to get it back. It's a nice enough moment that makes the devotion these two have to eachother entirely believable.

In the midst of this, Jayden is still torn. He very clearly still cares about Antonio, but he also doesn't want his best friend getting hurt, and is worried about what it might mean in terms of how it'd look to his family and the other Samurai. This leads to Master Ji, seeing how hard this is for Jayden, deciding to handle it himself and making a decision that would lead into what would become one of Samurai's' most infamous moments.

Thanks for the information!