[Blade]

this was a good start. doing something new while giving nods to the original. and the suit looks so awesome.

[EpsilonX]

Honestly, it felt a little average with a lot of confusing exposition. Of course, it's only the first episode - plenty of time for growth.

[Locke]

Hey it is me again, back like a zombie! I stumbled on this backwards after stuff came up on my socials about Super Sentai going on hiatus. Maybe I just misunderstood the motivations for why Super Sentai was going on hiatus as I am openly uneducated on like the last decade's worth of toku, but this seems like a weird response? Not bad by any means, but it just felt so... like basic, is that the right word? Vanilla? You've watched the 10 year decline of a formula and then proceeded to just do the most 101 version of that formula, but with different branding? Like I don't get it? It is like we watching like one of those Indonesian or something off brands now instead, only with higher production values.

[Mesnick]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Locke

Maybe I just misunderstood the motivations for why Super Sentai was going on hiatus as I am openly uneducated on like the last decade's worth of toku, but this seems like a weird response? Not bad by any means, but it just felt so... like basic, is that the right word? Vanilla? You've watched the 10 year decline of a formula and then proceeded to just do the most 101 version of that formula, but with different branding? Like I don't get it? It is like we watching like one of those Indonesian or something off brands now instead, only with higher production values.

I think the reason for Super Sentai's demise isn't the formula, as the recent shows have strayed quite far from it. It's more a matter of style and key elements that simply stopped being profitable (or, rather, weren't profitable enough). So far, Infinity Gavan is much closer to Kamen Rider, only less complicated. Yes, it's clear that Toei hasn't come up with anything new to replace Super Sentai, so they decided to take the successful formula from sister franchise and add a pinch of nostalgia to disguise it. Plus, again, this is only the first episode. I'm sure the writers have a few surprises up their sleeve for the future.

[Switchblade]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Locke

Hey it is me again, back like a zombie! I stumbled on this backwards after stuff came up on my socials about Super Sentai going on hiatus. Maybe I just misunderstood the motivations for why Super Sentai was going on hiatus as I am openly uneducated on like the last decade's worth of toku, but this seems like a weird response? Not bad by any means, but it just felt so... like basic, is that the right word? Vanilla? You've watched the 10 year decline of a formula and then proceeded to just do the most 101 version of that formula, but with different branding? Like I don't get it? It is like we watching like one of those Indonesian or something off brands now instead, only with higher production values.

I think there's a ceiling on how far Toei is willing/able to push the execution of a toku series. There may be an effort to get away from the most obvious Sentai tropes, but it's still a lot of the same people working behind the cameras.

[GoldenXtreme]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Locke

Hey it is me again, back like a zombie! I stumbled on this backwards after stuff came up on my socials about Super Sentai going on hiatus. Maybe I just misunderstood the motivations for why Super Sentai was going on hiatus as I am openly uneducated on like the last decade's worth of toku, but this seems like a weird response? Not bad by any means, but it just felt so... like basic, is that the right word? Vanilla? You've watched the 10 year decline of a formula and then proceeded to just do the most 101 version of that formula, but with different branding? Like I don't get it? It is like we watching like one of those Indonesian or something off brands now instead, only with higher production values.

I think it's worth noting that there was an interview with a Toei executive where he mentioned that future entries in Project RED would try to move away further from Sentai's format. It might be best to look at Gavan Infinity as a transitional show to help ease existing Sentai fans into the new series.

[EpsilonX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mesnick

I think the reason for Super Sentai's demise isn't the formula, as the recent shows have strayed quite far from it. It's more a matter of style and key elements that simply stopped being profitable (or, rather, weren't profitable enough). So far, Infinity Gavan is much closer to Kamen Rider, only less complicated. Yes, it's clear that Toei hasn't come up with anything new to replace Super Sentai, so they decided to take the successful formula from sister franchise and add a pinch of nostalgia to disguise it. Plus, again, this is only the first episode. I'm sure the writers have a few surprises up their sleeve for the future.

To me, it felt very Kamen Rider but with elements of Super Sentai - color-coded heroes, transforming mech, etc. To me, it's just expanding the limits of a color-coded team with mech format, so I'm excited to see where they go with it.

[Sh Ranger]

Gavan Infinity: "Put down your sword, then we'll talk."

Setsuna: (puts down sword, raises gun)

For a guy with a sadness motif, he sure has a sense of humor.

I haven't seen any of the Uchuu Keiji trilogy yet, so I can only compare to the Heisei content. Honestly, this episode didn't blow me away or anything like that. The opening Gavan fight scene is just Reiji in pursuit of some random human criminal and his use of the Tokimekki Emorgear was kind of lame. The second human criminal in Λ8018 has more clear motivation, but he still functions mostly as a plot device to prompt heavy exposition of the show's theme.

At least, this is an improvement for a Tomioka show, as our protagonist Reiji isn't screaming about handles every other sentence, but there is still a lot of talk about emotions, rather than emotional talking. Otherwise, I feel like I want to like Reiji. He's generally cool and the lack of respect he gets as part of the Documents Division makes him sympathetic. The Gavarion warp scene shows he's deeply angry about something that happened in the past and his expository dialogue emphasizes the importance of controlling strong emotions and not letting them control you, which actually reminds me of Kamen Rider Build.

I have basically no opinions on the other A0073 characters. Date is Reiji's best bud. Agi is Space Izu. WaniPat are Space Victor and Monty. Commander Wigless seems like he'll be interesting, as he has some kind of clairvoyance, but he doesn't have much screentime so far.

Setsuna's a lot of fun. I want to see more of him next time!

Aesthetically, I love how Gavans illuminate for their finishers, like the classic Metal Hero eyes taken to the next level. Now we can see Gavan Infinity's expression of anger, which is totally appropriate for the emotion theme and shows that anger is a power that can be channelled for good. They really didn't have to talk so much about the emotions, since watching them occur naturally is much more satisfying.

However, I'm not feeling the sci-fi genre as strongly as I did with stuff like Planet Bird. Like, the Gavarion bridge and some of the outfits don't look very Gavan-y (or is "Gavai" the right word?) to me, too simple, too practical. I want to see more imaginative futuristic-looking designs outside of the marketable stuff.

This show has potential and that's pretty much all I can confidently say about it for now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

I am missing the classic Space Sheriff villains lair full of absolutely bonkers monster designs that will never do anything, though.

The last Kuji-Tomioka show also lacked a prominent villain base, so I'll be a little disappointed if we don't get one here either. Well, I suppose we'd actually need some regular villains first.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunred

I had a random thought just now. What if it turns out to be the name for Infinity's power-up form later on?

Maybe they could take inspiration from Leo Red Orion, Super Zenkaizer and King Kuwagata Ohger and give all the REDs non-red Final Forms, as long as everything else stays mostly red.