[Kurona]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SengalBoy

The fact that it can function well as a standalone series. The biggest example would be episode 4 where it is the start of the non-tribute episode. It simply focused on GokaiBlue, and it worked very well.

There's also the fact that the cast are highly charismatic, iconic, lovable, and written well. While not all of the Gokaiger receives the equal amount of focus, at the very least each and everyone of the entire team has an arc, something that is seldom seen in series after Gokaiger except Go-Busters. Because the biggest criticism of Sentai especially lately is that either they focused on Red too much, or the entire team is underdeveloped.

The characters being written well is why I have hopes for Kiramager and so far they are leaning to that. And charismatic teams are pretty rare too, the last I remember was either the LuPat (still heavily focused on Red, or rather LupinRanger which we all know), and Kyoryuger (no need to say about this one).

Pretty much this!! While they're far from extremely deep characters and can at times stick closely to their tropes, the Gokaiger crew is just full of personality and it was a joy watching every single one.

And, if I may; it's frankly why the legacy stuff works so well. I won't brush it over as if it's some superficial element -- in a lesser series, that would absolutely be true. But this was my very first Sentai series. Beyond little pieces of information I'd heard here and there and a generalised idea of their PR counterparts, I knew jack all about any of the past 34 sentai teams. But what makes it work so well is the passion the creative team puts into it; the abundance of care into making everything work, and most importantly, how the Gokaigers interact with it and how it acts as catalysts for them.

For instance, the Shinkenger tribute; yes, it's naturally about Shinkenger. You've got Princess Shinken Red and Tanba returning, the aesthetics and musical beats are faithful reproductions, and Gokaioh gets a wholeass powerup that makes it look like Shinkenoh. Awesome. Great Shinkenger tribute.

... But it's not just a Shinkenger tribute; it's used as a framing device to tell a story about Gokai Blue. The two episodes in question here heavily delve into his backstory; lead to a revelation about one of the villains; and has him learning to trust his teammates and strengthen his bonds with them. It's a 2-parter that's very high on emotion and is the cornerstone of Joe's development. And it might not have worked quite as well if we didn't have Princess Shinken Red working as a one-time foil and granting Joe both validation and the power needed to vanquish the monster of the week.

So that's what I'd offer. Everyone focuses on how great the tributes are, and yes, they're pretty great; but what people often fail to mention is how those tributes don't just simultaneously play alongside Gokaiger's own stuff, but is used to bolster Gokaiger's own stuff in a way that feels authentic.


And there's so much more I could go into about that: about how the Gokaigers being aliens who don't know about Super Sentai means that their learning about them and using their powers slowly leads to them embracing their best selves; about how the Gokaigers have their own independent power; about how the anniversary aspects are as much about looking to the future as they are about revering the past. Ultimately Gokaiger is a very fun, emotionally-high series that uses its anniversary status to its advantage every chance it can get.