[GuardianAngel87]

So, how would you rank Hurricaneger in comparison to all the other Sentai series you have seen or its Power Rangers counterpart, Ninja Storm?

[Androzani84]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GuardianAngel87

So, how would you rank Hurricaneger in comparison to all the other Sentai series you have seen or its PR counterpart, Ninja Storm?

Well in terms of Sentai, I already ranked it as my favourite a month ago, since it was the day fo the anniversary and people were tweeting “first, favourite, least favourite and one I’d like to see one day”. Now… it’s definitely top five at least (Liveman, Boukenger, Go-Onger and Kyuranger being the other members, though I haven’t got an exact order).

Compared to Ninja Storm… I mean there’s a lot of differences (Hurricaneger didn’t have a meta humour bad guy, but Ninja Storm didn’t have a baseball ninja who could disguise himself as anyone), though there are some similarities (both have a main bad guy who intends to sacrifice his troops to achieve world domination). But overall, I’d say they’re fairly even.

[Androzani84]

Series Wrap-Up

Well it’s been enough time and I’ve had time to get my thoughts together in full (though I don’t have access to whatever program Die uses to make human silhouettes out of commonly used words). So, let’s get down to it. I’ll break it down into different sections for variety.

The Heroes

The Hurricanegers: Despite being ostensibly the main characters, they don’t get a lot of limelight. Yeah, this show is one that’s more dictated by plot than characters, but they probably have he most subtle development among the cast. At the start, all of them have something of an issue with authority figures (in particular, Yosuke is annoyed by Kanae making him do things outside of his job description, while Nanami isn’t really happy with Hase forcing her into Enka). But as the show goes on, they get a more respectful outlook towards authorities, which coincides with Mugensai and Gozen being more open with them. The scene in episode 48 where the three vow to protect Gozen long after they die is something I wouldn’t have imagined happening when the show began. And by the end, Yosuke and Nanami return to the jobs they previously expressed discontent with, now happy to do the, (though it helps that Nanami moves on into actual idol singing). Though I will admit Kouta starts off pretty generic and stays that way through much of the show.

The Gouraigers: At first, they were a highlight for the novelty of an anti-villain substitute for the Hurricanegers, who served as a wake up call for how the world doesn’t always work as you want it to. Then, after they abandoned their way of fighting using hatred and rage, they were a highlight for Ikkou having to contend with his own impending death, which got an actually decent conclusion that didn’t seem like a cop-out. And Isshu ended up as a favourite of mine mostly for how the show used him for both comedic and serious plots expertly (episodes 26 and 38 being the big examples). And unlike quite a lot of characters who get redemption, they never lose the edge that made them appealing in the first place in the process.

Shurikenger: I said it when he debuted. I like the idea of a character who spends his entire screen time in the suit (I know a lot of people don’t like Sam from Power Rangers SPD for that reason, but I am not one of them). It helps that the suit actor and VA consistently give him a lot of personality from the script. And he also has the gimmick that we don’t know who he is, which isn’t plated often outside of this and certainly not for this long. His master of disguise schtick provided us with a good reason to bring in some Sentai veterans for guest spots that treated them no differently than any other guest star. One of my main issues with Gokaiger was that it was afraid to show most of its guests as anything other than generic mentors. So this show making a lot of them comedic characters or butt monkeys was nice to see.

The supporting cast: Mugensai and Oboro were a nice dynamic for a support crew, being a sugar and ice duo, with the ice in the duo being a hamster because reasons. As stated in my main reviews, Gozen was a rare instance of a later addition integrating into the he main cast incredibly quickly, which can be something of an issue with later additions. As for Kanae and Hase. They’re pretty much the weakest part of the show, given that they appear fairly infrequently (Hase slightly more often) for some comic relief that isn’t particularly necessary when everyone else has their own moments of comedy (intentional or otherwise).

Jakanja: Ok, these guys didn’t really get any development. But that’s okay, they’re the bad guys, they’re not meant to get an arc to become a better person (and the best ones are the ones who become even worse through character growth). While I may have said at the start that Manmarva was the flattest of the bunch, once he became humanoid, he quickly made a turnaround and became quite possibly the best villain of this show. Now, I’d say the weakest villain of this show was Wendinu, given that, other than hulking out into a giant, she didn’t really do much other than grow the monsters.

The Plot

As I mentioned above, this show is more driven by its plot than the characters. As such, the overall myth arc comes up a lot more often than most Sentai shows. The show doesn’t waste a lot of time on filler episodes (there were like three in total throughout the show, and one of them still had the point where the Hurricanegers and Gouraigers officially became enemies, so that one is debatable) Unlike a lot of shows with complex plots, where only a few elements turn out to be relevant in the long run (like OOO implying that using the medals to transform had some kind of negative effects on humans, which ultimately never came up beyond the PuToTyra medals), nothing goes to waste with this show, with the last three episodes having a lot of call backs that aren’t strictly necessary, but help make the plot clearer if you’ve forgotten it. And it’s amazing how the Hayate-Ikazuchi battle from 500 years ago, which initially seemed like something to introduce the Gouraigers, came back into play with the introduction of the Legendary Karakuri Medals. Even the movie ended up being tied in more than a lot of Rider movies tend to be with their shows, even if the show never fully spelled it out.

Anyway, I’ll use this to announce my new thread, in which I’ll be looking at relevant reappearances (Abaranger, Gokaiger, Ninninger et al). So, I’ll see you there.