[Dr Kain]

My biggest issues with Magiranger stem from how immature the ranger cast is and they spent more time on CGI than actual choreography.

[Prinoftherng]

Oh my lord. Most words describe how much I hate Kai. Kai to be has to be one of the worst reds I've ever come across. Bragging to his siblings about how he's leader, him not really doing ANYTHING when it comes to being a leader, and thinking that just because he's the leader, he can yell at his elder siblings. Even blue and pink dont have much to put on the table. I said this before in other forums, but I said that the family aspect doesnt really work because of how much it reminds me of like a Brady Bunch family. As for the fighting, CGI can be okay, but when it comes across as literally using CGi for everything, it makes the combat very, VERY lazy. I know its a magic based sentai, but I think of the 12-13 sentai I've seen, Magiranger has to be the sentai with the laziest combat.

[TimeCrimson]

I like the family aspect and when it's good, it's really good, but sometimes it comes off as eh. Urara is actually my favorite because she actually seems like she has a brain and takes the workload much more seriously than her siblings, I would've had her as Red.

And one of my problems with Magiranger is Kai/MagiRed himself. All I know is that he's red because of his potential, but he hasn't done ANYTHING leader-like or anything that proves that he should be Red or the leader, every Sentai I've seen before the Red even if he was inmature, stuck up or not suited to be at first, but they grow into the role and prove why they should be Red, but Kai hasn't done anything so far. Also not to mention I find him annoying.

[Prinoftherng]

Trust me on this. If you dont like Kai now, you're not gonna like him at all. Kai does not develop at all in this sentai. This sentai actually made me wish that magiyellow (forgot his name as im typing this) was red because he actually feels and looks the most disciplined out of the bunch.

[Dr Kain]

Kai does not deserve to be a red ranger and Mikoto is way too immature to be the oldest sibling.

[Prinoftherng]

Makoto makes me question him a lot. Its like he wants to be the authority figure, but at the same time, he likes to act way too much like the life of the party. Tsubasa at least likes to treat others as comrades and likes to have fun when its appropriate. He doesnt act like a dick like Kai, and doesnt act like someone that I cant take seriously like Makoto. Tsubasa is the best character in the sentai bar none

[Phantom Stranger]

Started Gingaman, today. Really strong first episode. Mostly good at getting some backstory with only a few hiccups that felt a little weird. Good action, bit of humor. Good atmosphere too, which was helped surprisingly by the music, which was really good for just the first episode. Love the mystical sounding chorus when they're all up on the mountain. Few small character moments here and there to sort of give you an idea of their character type, but not much other than that.

If I do have a big complaint- and this is going to be series wide because of what it is. The pawns, the Seamen Yartots, those are quite possibly the worst looking foot soldiers I have ever seen. Holy crap. I had forgotten what the Swabbies looked like in LG, so this came as a shock. They're just fully body orange spandex suits with black painted on hook goatee/nose...things, hilarious looking O_O eyes. and some pirate clothing. They should have a rubber mask, or some detailing on the torso, something. There are mooks from the Showa era that look better than this, a lot better.

Oh one last thing; Am I the only one that thinks Hyuuga's outfit looks like Geki's?

[Monsoon]

I haven't finished any series recently, but here's where I am in various Sentai (all of these are approximations, give or take 1 or 2 episodes):

Episode 45 of Jetman (almost done!)
Episode 35 of Carranger
Episode 30 of Liveman
Episode 25 of Zyuranger
Episode 15 of Gingaman
Episode 15 of Abaranger
Episode 15 of Magiranger
Episode 10 of Megaranger

Jetman got hella-dramatic. Tranza's character turn was kinda fucked-up (because as far as I can tell he pulled it off with pure RAGE at the end of the creepy ant-people episode and that's it), but now he's maybe the coolest Vyram when before he was the most annoying. Jetman's individual episodes continue to be excellent - Gai vs. Grey at the casino was a big highlight. Gonna finish Jetman probably this weekend, but no guarantees. I want to finish some blog stuff before I finish another series.

I really, really like Carranger. Sometimes its humor is dumb, sometimes it's inspired, and sometimes it's so off the wall that I struggle to explain it. This is how you do a self-aware parody series.

I binged HARD on Liveman a few weeks ago, then got grossed out by the pregnancy episode. It's weird. Dunno when I'll get back on that wagon. I also think I don't like 80s Sentai as much as 90s or 2000s Sentai; the storytelling is weak and the action is sorta dated, even though the suit work and visual design are often quite good.

(in part responding to the above poster) Gingaman feels like another interpretation of Zyuranger, but with worse mecha and a better story. Fantasy themed, RPG-ass clothes, special quest episodes to obtain weapons, mecha are sentient gods, etc. I think I like Gingaman more than Zyuranger, mostly because none of the Gingamen are as annoying as Dan and there are way, way fewer whiny children.

[Matrixbeast]

Tranza's rage puberty was pretty neat, but I kind of got tired of him after so long. You may continue to like him until the end, but eventually, he lost me.

[Phantom Stranger]

So Episode 4 of Gingaman... I think Yasuko Kobayashiwas drunk as hell for this episode, because the moral lesson makes no sense. Also, this episode really pissed me off and I'm going to curse a lot. But here's the short version of my experience:

In theory, this ep. should be about becoming too reliant and complacent with a single tactic, and having to over come that when faced with a threat immune to said tactic. Instead, it's a muddled mess where everyone (mainly Hayate) is an ass to Hikaru for no good reason. The core of it is that Hikaru uses his earth power a lot, and has been neglecting his training elsewhere like with swordsmanship. Although that last bit is only mentioned briefly. The rest of the episode is everyone getting on my Goddamn nerves by acting like holier than thou bastards. "There's a time and place to use your power. It's not yours to use, and blah blah."

So what did Hikaru do? He scared off two asshats trying to shoot rocks at horses, and he helps a struggling magician get some money. And freaking Hayate berates him even for that last one, saying that there are better ways to help people. Its like fuck you, asshole. Just because Hikaru was helping some poor guy out get money for- ya know, food and bills- and not atop a legendary beast fighting a city destroying monster, that doesn't make his act a pointless one, or a bad use of his powers. Later, Hikaru even brings doughnuts back for everyone, which were bought by the magician because he was so thankful for the help. When they learn this, everyone spits out their doughnuts in disgust, like they were bought with crack money. Why is everyone such an asshole in this episode?

Btw earlier in the episode, Ryoma was using his abilities to chop wood faster. Now, Hayate says something to him, but not like he does with Hikaru. So, guy using power because lazy, slap on the wrist. Guy protecting animals and helping someone get food, lectures out the ass. I guess that's because Ryoma is the leader and shit doesn't flow up hill.

*sigh* So eventually Hikaru goes to fight the M.O.W. by himself, which is stupid, yes. But I understand not wanting to fight alongside people that spit out doughnuts kindly brought to them.

MOW absorbs electricity. Goes over about how you'd expect. But the thing is, Hikaru doesn't need to shoot bolts or anything, just being touched by the monster is enough. Also, Hikaru has enough sense to try to use other methods like a sword. Now the logical thing would be to have him not be good at it, not land a hit since he was was neglecting training, one of which was explicitly stated to be swordsmanship. But no! He stabs the monster, it just doesn't do anything because it's armored. Hikaru is beat to hell, questions the limitations of his power, etc. Olmec- I mean Mokk, says that the power isn't his, it's from the stars, which are infinite in their power and as such can never run out and is only limited by the individual. And then Mokk encourages him to use the power....which the entire episode spent against.

So to recap; unlimited power, no actual consequence for using it, Hikaru's neglected training had no barring on the outcome, and the very thing everyone spent the entire episode giving him shit about for no good reason(Including Mokk) ended up helping save the day because he learned to use a more powerful version of it.



What a fantastic lesson.


Holy hell this was an awful, awful episode. It has been a long time since I've seen something this poorly written. And I have never seen anything this bad, this early on in a series. I almost recommend watching it just because of how astoundingly nonsensical it is, especially given how competently written the previous three episodes were. It's like some weird Twilight Zone Bizzaro universe where everyone is a rude ass except for Hikaru.
This was meant to be a character episode for him and Hayate, which I was looking forward to since Gouki just had a pretty damn good one with some world building and good battles. But all this did was make me seethe with hate towards every single character but Hikaru. There is no lesson to learn here, no moral, no point at all to this episode.

Fuck.