[EitoRanger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yellow Ranger

To me having them be siblings made more sense*shrugs*

Really? But that ruins the whole reveal/cheapens the reason why Jayden left compared to Takeru.

Takeru struggled the whole series about the fact that the rest of the Shinkengers were willing to risk their lives for him, especially when they became more protective when they learned that he 'only person who knew/could learn the secret seal' that could defeat Doukoku. But that was a lie and Takeru had to deal with the guilt of deceiving the people started to see as friends so they would(in his opinion) die in vain(since his death would not end the Shiba line, and the false sense of security the Gendousho would get by thinking they took care of the Shiba line could be used to the Shiba clans advantage). His life meant nothing, he was just a stand in who would risk his life as a kagemusha(which is a long tradition in Japan's history) but until he meet the others that was the only value he saw in his life.

When Kaoru came back and it was clear that he was no longer needed he lost all meaning to his life, he was groomed from childhood for that role and knew nothing else, coupled with the fact that he now had to face up to the fact that he had been lying to the others it was no wonder he almost broke and was easily tempted by Juzo to find the 'truth in the sword'.

Jaden on the other hand, yeah he had to lie about his position as head of the Shiba house, but that doesn't mean his life is any less important. He's the son of the former head and carries the blood of their family. If anything hapened to his sister then he would become the head officially and probably take up the task of learning the seal himself(sure his sister had an advantage of learning it in secret but that doesn't mean he can't). He is also the key to keeping the Shiba family continues on to fight another day. He didn't have to deal with the fact that a lie he said made his friends risk their lives and possible die for a "worthless life" like Takeru. And the fact he left because he felt the team 'didn't need him anymore' because they had his sister just felt like such a weak excuse compared to Takeru who felt he didn't deserve to fight with them because he was not from a Samurai family and his lies made him unworthy to fight with his friends.

Okay rant over, I know taste is subjective but while I manage to sit through Power Ranger Samurai and Super Samurai(as hard as it was)...but this whole change just made me want to reach in the screen and strangle Jayden. The truth behind the real head of the Shiba clan was not only the best episodes of Shinkenger(IMOP) but watching the series again not only do you get to see the hints but how the knowledge of that secret affect Takeru as the series progresses(it was a really great idea having Tori Matsuzaka know about the reveal the whole time, it added so much more depth to his performance)