[EpsilonX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Red5

After those two are done, I want to retackle Battle Fever J and Timeranger.

I loved the 6 or so episodes I watched of BFJ. I didn't really give up on continuing it, I just sort of...did other things instead of watching it. I'm just not sure if I should pick up or start over when I re-visit it.

[Kamen Rider Lucha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Red5

Ohranger, to me, was like this awesome knit sweater that slowly unraveled over the course of 48 episodes. I can see why people like it and why the toys sold well, but my main beef is that there never felt like there was a credible threat. Even during the final arc, when things are it's most dire, it never felt like something they couldn't handle.

I see what you're saying here, but I don't 100% agree.

Baranoia was a hyper-credible threat for the first 8 episodes. Like, seriously, they basically destroy the whole world except for Japan.

Then they become a total joke for the vast majority of the show, until...

The finale arc, where they literally turn a whole city into a Baranoia stronghold. Once Kaiser Buldont joins the team, Baranoia wreaks mass destruction on a scale rarely seen in Sentai.

If you calculate the number of deaths cause by Baranoia and compared them to almost any other sentai bad guys, they're probably close to the top of the list.

Aside from a loooooooong stretch of banal goofy bullshit in the middle of the show where Baranoia are buffoonish losers, in the beginning and end they're a tremendous threat.

Quote:

And there was way too much mech dancing...I don't know why that annoyed me lol.

Now this we agree on 100%!

Also, way too much giant mecha one-on-one basketball training.

Jesus, Ohranger is a strange show. It has some of the highest and lowest points in the whole franchise.

[EpsilonX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Lucha

I see what you're saying here, but I don't 100% agree.

Baranoia was a hyper-credible threat for the first 8 episodes. Like, seriously, they basically destroy the whole world except for Japan.

Then they become a total joke for the vast majority of the show, until...

The finale arc, where they literally turn a whole city into a Baranoia stronghold. Once Kaiser Buldont joins the team, Baranoia wreaks mass destruction on a scale rarely seen in Sentai.

If you calculate the number of deaths cause by Baranoia and compared them to almost any other sentai bad guys, they're probably close to the top of the list.

Aside from a loooooooong stretch of banal goofy bullshit in the middle of the show where Baranoia are buffoonish losers, in the beginning and end they're a tremendous threat.



Now this we agree on 100%!

Also, way too much giant mecha one-on-one basketball training.

Jesus, Ohranger is a strange show. It has some of the highest and lowest points in the whole franchise.

Out of curiosity, If you skipped certain episodes, do you think it would lead to a better viewing experience?

*edited for clarity*

[Kamen Rider Lucha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by EpsilonX

Out of curiosity, are there any episodes that, if skipped, will lead to a more enjoyable experience without causing you to miss out on any story elements?

I'd have to think about that more, but yes, absolutely.

Without looking at an episode list, I'd advise watching the first 8, then any episode written by Sugimura, then the finale arc with Kaiser Buldont. That would give you basically everything you need to enjoy the show and understand the plot (what little there is). I'd have to get back to you if you wanted more detail.

[ElConvoy]

I finished watching Liveman today and I had tons of fun with that show. I liked the story and its overall themes. The three main heroes were incredibly likeable and I liked how well they played off of each other. The Villains were fun to watch too. Bias was your generic Sentai bad Guy and the two aliens were nothing special either. Kemp, Mazenda, Obler and Ashura were pretty cool though.

My biggest complain with the show are Black Bison and Green Sai. They are okay but they never got integrated into the show as well as I would have liked.

[Phantom Stranger]

Maskman episodes 37-41.

So episode 37... This sure felt rushed and a bit unnecessary.
The basic gist of this one is the M.O.W. has a powder that hits Kenta and makes him a coward, too scared to fight. As far as idea go for villains, not a bad one. Don't actually have to kill the Maskmen, just put one or more out of commission, thus making it harder for the Team to function properly.

Unfortunately this episode has some issues. First off lets start with the fact that Kenta is the main target. Now, Kenta is my favorite character in Maskman, but even I think he's had too many episodes focused on him, for better or for worse. By this point they should've picked someone else, perhaps Momo, since I can't recall any episode focused on her.

My other issue is with a one off character, just a civilian that Kenta rescues near the beginning of the episode. My main issue is how they use him, which is that the guy wants to try and help Kenta over come his crippling fear. Okay, that's fine, I like the idea that some random guy would want to do good, especially for someone that rescued him. Too bad the guy doesn't really do much. All he does is attack Kenta with a Skillet, to "help" and spout about becoming the best chef in Japan and how dreams are important, to overcome obstacles etc. Again, not a bad idea, seen it done in Sentai before. But not here. This is incredibly forced.

That's about all of have to say. This was by in large just a bland episode. Though if I am to give credit, Koichi Kusakari is intense as shit by the end of the episode, it's easily the best part seeing him go boarderline Ultimate Warrior.

38. Here's a simple tip for writing I've heard over and over again: Don't do time travel unless you want to set up rules for it.

So, Tube has a monster that can open up portals in time. This seems like quite the oversight to not make use of a monster with cosmic level powers until now. Anyway, Igam and Fumin go back to kill Takeru when he was a kid. Of course if they did that, Takeru wouldn't become Red Mask, which means they wouldn't need to go back in time, but then Takeru would live, and this is what we call a Grandfather paradox. Yeah. Very easy to fuck up time travel plots.

That aside. It was a better episode than the last one, but it really only serves to show that Takeru was lazy, sometimes a brat, and accident prone as a kid. He also liked pretending to be Kikaider, which was probably worth a watch alone. I just love cute little nods like that. Oh, and Young Takeru calls Haruka and Momoko 'Ugly Bitches', which Momoko later calls adult Takeru in retaliation. That's honestly kind of amazing for all the wrong reasons.



39. And finally we come to a big one, the one with X-1 Mask. And you know what? This was a pretty good episode. It was interesting seeing the prototype for the sixth ranger and how a lot of stuff that would be applied to early sixths applies to X1. He's rough around the edges, he has a tragic backstory involving the loss of a loved one, he's reluctant at being heroic, and is capable of pulling off some amazing stuff. He's handled well enough for it being a one episode appearance, as they do a decent enough job fleshing out his character for what we need in the given time frame. Really the biggest issue I have is that he doesn't stick around, even in a support manner, since I really feel there could have been a lot done with his character.

As it stands, this was enjoyable. Maybe part of that has to do with it's interesting historical placement, but the episode was done quite well and a refreshing pace.



40. Oh boy. This episode features some background information on Commander Sanjuro Sugata, a character I've expressed an admiration for in the past for his firm yet still caring attitude towards the team. I was rather looking forward to this one because of my fondness. We've gotten some bits and pieces here and there, like in episode 39 when he was training X1. But this was full on background information.

*sigh* We have a famous Pianist named Mayu Kozuki. She's returning to Japan after living in France for three years, reason being is she wants to find the man(who's face and name she doesn't know) who saved her when she was little and funded her studys abroad.
Tube targets her, things happen and one of her hands turns to stone, rendering her incapable of playing the piano.
Eventually we learn why Tube is targeting her, by none other than Sugata. Turns out that Kozuki and her family are actually from the underground empire, and they're capable of playing music that forces the mooks and monster of the empire to dance. Ten years ago, Kozuki's mother was killed by the empire as result of this power, and Kozuki only escaped the same fate as her mother because Sugata was in the right place at the right time.

Now we come to the part that made not only this episode- but Sugata as a character- fall apart for me. Sugata mind wiped Kozuki's memories. She doesn't remember Tube, her parents, her mother's death, or Sugata. The only reason she even knows about the man the saved her is because of second hand information Nuns have said to her about it, since Sugata left her at a monastery after erasing her memories.

Just... There is nothing about this that is right. I don't care if seeing her mother die in front of her was horrifying, that does not in anyway justify erasing all memories she ever had of her mother and everything else. This is some DC level bullshit.
Any credit or aspects that were enjoyable or emotional in this episode are completely void by this. Sugata did something that was remarkably stupid and morally wrong. All it did was make Kozuki desperately want to know about her parents and the man who rescued her.

And no, she never meets Sugata. Episode ends with her hoping he hears her music(while he looks on). Asshole.

Now, to be perfectly fair, this doesn't necessarily completely ruin Sugata. I know this will probably never be brought up again in Maskman, but it undoubtedly puts a dark cloud over his character. No matter what, erasing a little girls memories is part of his back story because of this episode.




41. Oh boy, if you thought that last one made a character into an asshat, just you wait. This is our obligatory rangers go bad episode. I think these are usually pretty fun, since it's just an excuse to do a lot of crazy and goofy things that are hilariously out of place. And hey, it focuses on Haruka and Momoko, who haven't had an episode in a while.

But lets get into the episode. This time we have Kiro with a needle shooting monster, which makes people become beserking thieves. The monster initially misses, hitting two bystanders(one of which pulls an Uzi out of nowhere ) Once they take care of the two, Haruka and Momoko notice the needles and figure they were meant to be the real targets, since the victims where directly in front of them. Cudos, I always like seeing competent heroes. They try to deduce where the shots would have been fired from, but end up getting hit just as they look towards the building.
Then the ridiculous begins, and I mean that in a good way. Momo somehow got a freaking Thompson and Haruka has an Uzi. They go shooting up and robbing a jewellery store, dressed in sweet 80s "bad girl" clothing no less. They come into a confrontation with the rest of the Maskmen, leading to confusion and a short car chase, but it ends when Momo shoots at Akira, causing him and Kenta to wreck. Kiros and the MOW appear, trying to turn the rest, but failing. Kiros also reveals that he's specifically doing this to not only get the Masks out of the way, but also gather riches for Princess Ial. Because Kiros is a nutter.

Barabara and Igam are displeased with Kiros' selfish misuse of the Doggler, though Anagmas and Zeba point out that he is getting results with two Maskmen no longer a threat to them.
Meanwhile, Momo and Haruka rob a car which for some incredibly stupid reason is carrying several suit cases full of Gold Bars. I mean, I guess it's less obvious than an armored truck but...why? Anyway, crime wave montage with rockin' music, followed by a brief confrontation with the rest of the team once more. Momo intentionally leaves a map behind for them.

Momo and Haruka meet with Jiros and lo and behold, while he's gawking,they pull their guns on him and announce that everything there is fake. Unfortunately Kiros manages to overcome the both of them and ties them up above a bed of spikes. He even openly admits that he's doing this because it's more fun than just killing them quickly. I'd argue that's stupid- and it is- but it fits with Kiros' theatrical personally.

The others show up, rescue Haruka and Momo, and Jiros gets trapped in a cage since the girls had a plan B. Awesome.
Haruka reveals that they never actually got hit with the needles, and that all the cars and shops robbed were part of the Light Force team. Honestly, that makes a lot of sense. The F-1 team functioned as an actual race team, but was still made up of the Maskman. So it stands to reason that there would be other subsidiaries to both be a cover and bring in cash for funding the entire operation behind the scenes. Sugata also chimes in and says they needed to be sure that Jiros wouldn't find out, so telling the other three was out of the question. Again, makes sense given that Jiros was close by on several occasions.

This legitimately got me. I've seen episodes dealing with Rangers being mind controlled and stuff before, I've not seen a subversion of that episode.

Of course, after all that is said, a cage can't hold a guy that escaped a demonic blackhole, so a fight breaks out. Momo and Haruka take on the MOW single handedly, just short of the Jet Cannon being called in anyway. They really get to shine in this episode.
Kiros buggers off and the usual giant monster mech fight happens. Nothing too special.




Now then, you may have noticed I talked about this episode in particular a lot, and that's largely because I enjoyed it. It has issues to be sure, but they're mostly minor ones and I had a lot of fun with this. I like how it surprised me near the end. But...I'm not done talking about the episode yet. There's still one more scene to discuss. One I did not expect or want.

Momoko and Haruka see off the bystanders that were hit with needles earlier in the episode, just making sure they're safe and all. Suddenly they have guns pointed into their backs, followed by someone in a dark suit and sunglasses telling them to put their hands in the air. They do so. One of the three men tells them to take their clothes off, as his finger moves closer to the trigger. Close-up shot of Haruka unzipping her hoodie. The men turn out to be Akira, Takeru, and Kenta, saying that they're just kidding.

Lets not bullshit here. They play a "prank" on their friends and team mates, by making them think they're probably about to be sexually assaulted and/or murdered by gangsters. This is disturbing to me. This somehow got approved. This was thought of as being okay by someone, by more than one person.

This could easily be a series killer had something like this happened earlier on. I wanted to try and finally finish Maskman up since I was putting it off for so long. But, that scene was truly horrible and idiotic. I'm gonna go watch Stronger or something that hopefully won't make me feel icky.

Goddamn man. What level of Goddamn insanity do you have to be on to write something like that?

[EpsilonX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Lucha

I'd have to think about that more, but yes, absolutely.

Without looking at an episode list, I'd advise watching the first 8, then any episode written by Sugimura, then the finale arc with Kaiser Buldont. That would give you basically everything you need to enjoy the show and understand the plot (what little there is). I'd have to get back to you if you wanted more detail.

How much would that leave us though?

[Dr Kain]

Quote:

Originally Posted by EpsilonX

How much would that leave us though?

Let's see, what I recommend is watching:

1-8
19-22
26-28
32 (not because it is a story based episode, but becasue it is just a damn amazingly creepy episode)
33-35
37-41
45-48

Oh, and trust me, you do not want to watch episode 36 unless you love long fart jokes.

[Red5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Lucha

I see what you're saying here, but I don't 100% agree.

Baranoia was a hyper-credible threat for the first 8 episodes. Like, seriously, they basically destroy the whole world except for Japan.

Then they become a total joke for the vast majority of the show, until...

The finale arc, where they literally turn a whole city into a Baranoia stronghold. Once Kaiser Buldont joins the team, Baranoia wreaks mass destruction on a scale rarely seen in Sentai.

If you calculate the number of deaths cause by Baranoia and compared them to almost any other sentai bad guys, they're probably close to the top of the list.

Aside from a loooooooong stretch of banal goofy bullshit in the middle of the show where Baranoia are buffoonish losers, in the beginning and end they're a tremendous threat.

Ohranger had some good things going for it; I enjoyed how the literally beat the first giant monster to death without the use of their gattai. Using their blasters was a great idea and showed how the villains had to progress their power to continue being a threat. That I enjoyed, but it was quickly lost in the season. King Ranger coming along was nice, but, per the usual, he wasn't in the show enough and just kind of showed up when they absolutely needed him. I don't mind that, since that was the trend with sixth rangers then, but he looked too awesome to not showcase as much as possible.

The ending of the show was good, but I felt like Bulldont just got weaker all of a sudden with no real explanation. Like he as able to cock slap the team and the world, then all of a sudden he was beaten. I don't know, Ohranger had its ups that were really up and it's downs that were embarrassingly low (as you said). The goofy filler were over-the-top goofy, but the plot driving episodes were very enjoyable. It was such a mixed bag; it felt like there were about 19 different main writers for the show that all did their own thing. Oh well, still glad I watched it.

[Monsoon]

I may have mentioned this in my intro post a few weeks ago, but I'm pretty much brand new to watching Super Sentai. I started watching them last month, and now I've watched two complete series (Shinkenger and Gekiranger). I blogged about it here:

My early Super Sentai experience (apologies if this counts as self-promotion)

I'm currently around the 30-episode mark in Dairanger (I've seen two or three episodes with the Four Deva Kings) and around the 15-episode mark in Boukenger. I like having two shows from two different eras to switch between, so I'll probably start another 90s series once I've finished Dairanger. Thinking Jetman.