[Sh Ranger]

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Originally Posted by DreamSword

Now up through episode 33 of Build. I feel like the wiki has very much mislabeled the start and end points of these arcs.

But the wiki's information is never wrong!

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Originally Posted by DreamSword

Side note here: My headcanon for Tsukasa was that he had short-term memory loss. My headcanon for Sento is that he is actually delusional, given how often his actual behavior clashes not only with his alleged "smart guy" position as well as how even the plot kinda undermines any sort of characterization he does get. Such as his dumb stunt about "betraying the country" so he can steal Pandora's Box, which is two minutes later rendered meaningless.

Unfortunately for Sento, being a big IQ genius doesn't automatically come with wisdom to apply it, so he's still prone to acts of idiocy like overthinking which Full Bottles are Best Matches cause the labels are too obvious for him to accept at face value. That's why he's able to play the funny man to Ryuuga's straight man in their intro comedy routines.

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Originally Posted by DreamSword

Character dynamics are definitely weird in general for this show. I've already voiced my feelings about how this show favors its plot more than its characters, a recent example being Gentoku's' complete 180 towards the end of the arc for like no reason

There is a reason, it's just poorly explained and seemingly contradicting, unless you have a firm grasp on how nebula gas reacts to Hazard Level. Anybody with a level lower than 3 exposed to the gas is corrupted, so Gentoku raising his Hazard Level to get stronger had the ironic side effect of negating the same corruption that motivated him to get stronger. Just like Mutsuki trying to use King Form.

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Originally Posted by DreamSword

Tying into that, the rare times this show tries to do humor feels incredibly off-tone due to just how much drama is going on with every episode, which is not helped in that it really doesn't match my sense of humor. The couple of fourth wall breaks especially feel out of left field in a show like this.

Rare? One of Build's major appeals for a lot of people is the juxtaposition between dark drama and humorous character interactions. I can't recall a single episode of this show where there isn't some kind of joke or someone goofing around. This also fits in to the philosophical question of how such a fragile ideal as love and peace can survive in a world filled with war and suffering. The fact that our tragic heroes always bounce back from despair and continue to enjoy the little happiness in their lives is a sign of their resilience! Maybe the specific type of humor isn't for you, but I have to disagree that the humor is misplaced in this show.

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Originally Posted by DreamSword

But back to character specifics, Banjo's' stuff also kinda confuses me in terms of thematics. Him being an alien and using that to pose the question of if he qualifies as human feels like another repeat, given that the show already posed this question in terms of the Nebula Gas experiments, of which alot of people in the cast have already gone through(him included). And when it comes to Cross-Z Magma, while it is a cool form, shouldn't Grease be the one with the fire-focused form, given that he all the time talks about how his passion and soul are ablaze? Feels like a misstep.

"Cool" is a very inappropriate adjective to describe Cross-Z Magma, haha. I like the design, but I think it should've kept a little more of Cross-Z Dragon's original navy color. Grease's motif is robot, basically a type of computer, which react badly to high temperatures, so that's probably why Cross-Z is the one who gets the fiery power-up instead as dragons are known for their impressive magma-proof scales. It's not like Ryuuga isn't hotblooded as well, so I think it suits him just fine. Regarding the reveal of Ryuuga being 1/3 alien, while the question of his humanity is part of the angst, there's also the question of whether or not he's corrupted by his alien heritage, like how Gou loathingly called himself the "son of a monster". Of course, Sento casually told Ryuuga about the news without any fanfare, so the whole point is that everybody still sees him the same way.