[Byg42]

LupinKaiser/PatKaiser










I’m putting both LupinKaiser and PatKaiser in the same category because to me, the most interesting aspect of these two mechas is how they differ from each other despite sharing the same base body. This is mainly done through the use of the Dial Fighters and Trigger Machines, which results in both mechas having fairly different designs and silhouettes. LupinKaiser has a somewhat sleek design, in part due to the horizontal shaped shoulders and the angular/aerodynamic shapes of the Dial Fighters, whereas PatKaiser in comparison has a more bulky design, thanks to the vertically shaped shoulders and the blocky shapes of the Trigger Machines. Both mechas also have a different approach to their colour schemes. LupinKaiser has very sectioned colour scheme, with each Dial Fighter having mainly one colour; PatKaiser meanwhile has a more a centralized colour scheme, as each Trigger Machines has a fair amount of white which helps to unify them together. While I do think the differences between LupinKaiser and PatKaiser could be further pushed, mainly by having more changed between the base bodies other than just the shins, I do appreciate what was done to make LupinKaiser and PatKaiser look as different from each other as possible.

Cyclone/Biker/Scissors/Crane








I put all these here because they're just arm swaps, which I think made clear that for me, are the least interesting form of auxiliary combination. With that said though, I do like how the auxiliary VS Vehicles evolve over the course of the show in their functionality. The first auxiliary VS Vehicles are Cyclone and Biker which are just simple arm swaps. After that, there’s Scissors and Crane which are also mainly arm swaps but come with smaller miniature VS Vehicles that serve as handheld weapons. Finally there’s Magic and Splash, which I’m covering in their own section, which have full-blown new chests and heads. It's a neat progression and helps to visually represent the increasing power of each new auxiliary VS Vehicles. Out of these four here, I would rank Scissors as my favourite as it has the sleekest design and doesn’t look like it has a vehicle for an arm like some of the other auxiliary VS Vehicles do. Next would be Cyclone and Biker which are just ok but I would put Biker over Cyclone as Cyclone looks rather unwieldy. Finally Crane would be at the bottom because I really don't like that it has no elbows, it makes any fight scene with the form look really awkward, plus I think the drill weapon would look better if it attaches to the side of the arm rather than being held like a sword.

X Emperor Slash/Gunner






While some of the design elements are puzzling at best, I do like how X Emperor shares the same concept that Lupin/Patren X has, of having a Lupinranger form and a Patranger form. The two forms manage to differentiate from each other quite a bit, especially in their silhouettes, with Slash having those winged shoulders and Gunner having that tall vertical head. Also similar to how Lupin/Patren X two forms have the aesthetics of the opposing team, the heads of both forms more resemble the heads of the opposing teams main mecha. Slash head with its faceplate resembles PatKaisers head while Gunner head with its open mouth resembles LupinKaiser. It's neat. What's not neat is the giant handle present in both forms. Yeah, it sticks out like a huge sore thumb. At least for Gunner, it serves some kind of purpose although it still looks bad. For Slash, it’s just there and it really clashes with how Slash is supposed to be the quick and speedy form.

GoodCoolKaiser VSX

So interestingly, GoodCoolKaiser VSX doesn’t have a physical suit, only being represented in CG and given the design that we're dealing with, I don't entirely fault that. Credit where credit is due, I like some parts of the combinations like the way the X Trains combine with GoodStriker, how it has some modularbility with the auxiliary VS Vehicles which was shown in the show, and as whole it looks very different from either LupinKaiser or PatKaiser. But oh boy there’s a reason this is only represented in CG. Even with some of the cluster designs we’ve had in the previous sentai, those could at least be reasonably represented in a humanoid suit. This however, with the elongated train arms, the extra arms on the shoulder, and the rod sticking out of the left leg, there was next to no way that a physical suit of this design could be wieldy especially on a tv budget.

LupinKaiser Magic


Magic, along with Splash are the only two auxiliary VS Vehicles to give a new chest piece and head. Given that they are the last two to show up, I think it’s a really neat to round them up. That said, I think the Magic head and chest look a little weird, mainly because the head is so much bigger and prominent than the chest, as if most of the mass went into that. Also like with Crane, I don't like that the Magic arm basically has no elbow.

LupinKaiser Splash


Ok, let's get the elephant out of the room. Yeah this is technically a Lupinranger mecha, the Patranger never used the Trigger Machine Splash, and yeah they probably should have gotten to use it at least once. With that out of the way, I actually like Splash over Magic, specifically I like its chest and head better. Compared to Magic where it looked like most of the mass went into the head thus leaving the chest looking a little small, here there’s a better balance between the two. Just like with Crane and Magic though, I don't like that the arm has no elbow and in this case, we get double the elbow issue because this form is primarily accompanied with the Magic arm


Lupin Magnum/Lupin Magnum Superior



Lupin Magnum is cute. I see it as a nice throwback to the Boy mechas, a smaller mecha that assist the main mecha. It transforming into a gun is also pretty cool. It also neat that it can combine with the other VS Vehicles. Lupin Magnum is just a nice little mecha all around.

Victory LupinKaiser


Victory LupinKaiser is supposed to be a thematic evolution of LupinKaiser and as such, it’s design, mainly the new Victory Striker chest, shares a lot of the same aesthetic elements as LupinKaiser. The face has an open mouth and a domino mask like LupinKaiser, it has a “hat” though in this case, it’s more of a captain’s hat whereas LupinKaiser’s was a top hat, and it has some aerodynamic design with the wings on the chest. Despite all this however, I think the biggest thing that puts this design down are the arms. The official Victory LupinKaiser form pairs it up with the Magic Dial Fighter and the Trigger Machine Splash, both these arms with their bulkiness, lack of elbows and different design aesthetics really clash with how the Victory Striker chest looks and thus makes the whole mecha look a little messy. There’s an alternate combination that uses the Blue and Yellow Dial Fighters and I wish that was the official combination, as those arms with their sleeker design and outward pointing shoulders fit in so much better with the Victory Striker chest.

Siren PatKaiser


I know that this technically was first used by the Lupinrangers, but we all know that Siren Striker is supposed to be for the Patrangers, and they did get to use it a few times by the end of the show so that's why I'm putting that here instead of Siren LupinKaiser. Similar to Victory LupinKaiser, Siren PatKaiser is supposed to be a thematic evolution of PatKaiser and thus, the Siren Striker chest visually has many of the same aesthetics as the PatKaiser. Most notably, the head shares the same type of design with the mouth plate as well as how it looks more like a face in front of a block, and the Siren Striker overall has a lot of bulk, both in the chest and the head which also matches PatKaisers somewhat bulkier design. Like with Victory LupinKaiser, I think Siren PatKaiser would look better if its default combination was with Trigger Machine Nigou and Sangou. Though that said, the Trigger Machine Biker and Crane arms aren’t too bad as unlike the Magic Dial Fighter and Trigger Machine Splash, these two arms at least share design elements with each other, most notably the shoulders, and the bulkiness of the arms flow in with how bulky the Siren Striker chest is.

LupinRex


As the movie mecha, I suppose its fine. The issue I have is that LupinRex pretty much looks like LupinKaiser, just with a red base body and a few extra bits like the crown, the wings and the sword. However I think that is supposed to be the point since it shows up in the movie alongside PatKaiser and gives us our only mecha fight where both teams are in their own mechas, fighting alongside each other. So I get why design wise, LupinRex isn’t that far off from LupinKaiser.

Addendum: So since starting this back in early 2017, I’ve now finally caught up to the latest completed show, after many month long hiatuses between posts. I do sincerely apologize for how long it’s taken me to get here. I’ve mentioned before that part of the reason for the hiatuses is due to increasing real life stuff but another reason has been the gradual disinterest in writing this, when compared to the initial high I had when I started this. I’ll probably still put something like this up when future shows come and go, but I probably won’t do it for miscellaneous shows like Akibaranger, Kyoryuger Brave or even the MMPR movie.