[Matrixbeast]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SideswipePrime

In all seriousness though, why don't you like Gokaiger? Do you just not like anniversary/crossover things? Is it because it remind you of Decade?

Because it's not a good series. Yes, it's cool to see the suits in action, but that's only an aesthetic thing. The voices and personalities under the suits aren't the ones I want to hear. Yes, the initial characters are interesting, such as Ahim being the Princess to a destroyed world, or Luka's former refugee/rebel status. But then it's all thrown aside. It's expanded upon briefly, but never given precedence.

I hate Gokaiger because it's a failure of a story telling device. I don't watch Super Sentai or Kamen Rider for vapid reasons like "The suits look cool" or "The fights are nice." I watch them because I like to be told stories. And all Gokaiger was just the high budget equivalent of jangling keys in front of someone for a half hour.

I'm appalled when someone can go bashing Michael Bay for making Transformers into "Explosions: The Movie" and then call Gokaiger "One of the best Sentai ever."

Let me break it down.
There were 7 "Characters" in Gokaiger. The Gokaigers themselves and Basco. Walz Gils and the Zangyack Empire had snippets of character, but only ever got to show it when they were about to die, so I'm not counting them.
Marvelous was established a stoic leader who cared about 2 things. Treasure and his crew. At the end of the series it was shown that he had grown a liking for Earth as well.
That was it. His grudge against Basco only ever emerged when Basco was involved with the plot of the week. He flash backed to AkaRed sometimes, but it never had anything to do with motivations or actions. Marvelous never underwent character growth, change, or development. He was the same at the beginning of the series as he was at the end. He never had to work for his crew's undying loyalty and respect, so he never had to improve as a leader. Thus, he never grew as a character.
Joe was a former Zangyack soldier, along with his best friend/superior Sid. After becoming defiant they were imprisoned and Joe escaped, leaving Sid behind who was transformed into Barizorg. This lead to the possibility of a very compelling story of trying to learn how to change Barizorg back, or possibly remind Barizorg of his former past and to join the pirates. Then Barizorg was said to be completely evil and the transformation irreversible. End of character arc for Joe, since all of his emotions and animosity against the Zangyack lied SOLELY on Barizorg. Ironically, he showed actual character development in Superhero Taisen, but that's non-canon, so sorry Joe.
Ahim was a Princess to a planet destroyed by the Zangyack. Then she was super nice to everyone. Her history was brought up when one of Ackdos's generals was revealed to be the one to destroy it, and then it was resolved in one episode and that was the end of that.
Luka was a poor refugee and thief who lost her little sister (I don't remember if her death was directly caused by the Zangyack). That day, she resolved to be the blandest type of character ever. The faux action girl. She may have an attitude, but that doesn't change the fact that she did absolutely nothing, never grew as a character, and was just another set of weapons on the battlefield.
Don received major character development. I like Don. Moving on.
Gai was...Gai. He also received character development, particularly in the moment where he resolved to use the Ultimate Treasure to wipe out the Zangyack invading earth at the expense of wiping out the thing he loved, Super Sentai and all memories of it. It was touching. Not helping, however, is the fact that he never learned to control himself, his backstory makes no sense whatsoever, his character defining moment I mentioned did little to actually change his character, and he was just kind of...dumb.
Basco was an interesting case. He's no Rio, but he was a great antagonist. He was a villain who had his own interests, succeeding sometimes too. When he teamed with the Zangyack he didn't turn into a generic general, and when he showed up, he made his presence known. His backstory tying into Marvelous's was great and he was more than just a set piece.

There was no story. Well, there was. It involved them trying to get their hands on everyone's ultimate power. It was tired after only a few episodes and only proved to show guest stars from much better shows. While the ultimate resolution to this story was decent enough, the 50 episodes it took to get there was more than grating.

Design wise, the suits were decent, showing creativity and making the pirate theme clear. The mecha, on the other hand...Discounting the literally useless pieces the other characters pilot, Gokai Oh was just a dull design, keeping things nice and safe, both in terms of complexity and overall look (If there's one thing I'll give Go-Busters, it's that they at least tried for something different. They still failed, in my opinion, but at least they tried). The ultimate powers were ultimately a let down, looking way too far off from their base design (MagiDragon), being a dull addition overall (GaoLion), or just being nonexistent (Every Ultimate Power beyond the 5 or 6 that got toys). Shinken Gokai Oh looked alright, and I'll admit to liking Hurricane Gokai Oh, but Kanzen Gokai Oh was a hot mess. Gozyujin was a very subpar design, and considering it was a standalone, I'm disappointed that it needs to partsform. The monster designs were nothing to write home about, trying to have multiple aesthetics, mostly failing at all of them. The only reason any of them were memorable were because of the personalities given to them, like the Sneaking Brothers or Jealousto.

I hate Gokaiger because it fails at the 2 aspects I hold the highest, story and character. Design and visual aesthetics are a subjective point, but I personally was left disappointed in that regard too.

But what peeves me most of all, is that Gokaiger is treated as a shining star of Sentai, setting aside it's shortcomings and flaws because "Wow, they used Abaranger this week! Wonder if they'll use Dairanger next week!"