[DreamSword]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enchilada645

"Watch Dogengers!"

Aight, bet.

[DreamSword]

Episode 1: Welcome to Kaioh

This made me feel like a kid again.

I actually didn't pay attention to the runtime of the episode when I first hit play, and I am so glad I didn't because this was an awesome rollercoaster ride!

Each episode of Dogengers is 19 minutes, and the reason that that's important is because every single second of those 19 minutes isn't wasted, and the pacing is quick to match.

No joke, this seriously felt like a classic Power Rangers episode to me, and as "The Only Power Rangers Fan™" I mean that as a huge compliment. It's the sort of breakneck pacing that goes by so quick that you as a viewer don't have time to question anything and are sent flying face-first into this colorful world of wacky hijinks and explosions.

But within that sugar rush of high energy lies a hidden gem that could be easy to miss: Some rather humanizing moments which set up the arc of who I'm assuming is our main character, Jiro. Alot of stuff surrounding him(like everything else) is played for laughs, but it was all pulled off in a way that instantly endeared me to him, such as when he tries to confront Yaiba Kamen but can't find the inner strength to actually move and take action.

Stuff like that is just one reason why I love the Power Rangers franchise, and if Dogengers here can continue to match that energy? I am in for one heck of a great ride. It's not often that I'm totally enamored with a show from episode 1, but man, Dogengers really did knock it out of the ballpark here.

For real, even if all you wanna focus on is the comedy, which there's definitely alot of in this episode, the first three minutes of the show are actually comedic genius: Opening up with a dramatic cold open from the perspective of the villains to immediately smash cutting to insane, high energy hijinks that acknowledges the blatant exposition that the characters are doing, but not in such a way to as become pretentious or to try and excuse itself for anything. It's the sort of thing that tends to either make or break meta humor for me, and here it worked!

So... yeah, incredible first impression, and I highly recommend that everyone watch the first episode if nothing else. It's a quick sit that feels even quicker, but in the absolute best of ways.

[Enchilada645]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreamSword

Aight, bet.

And bet indeed you did!

Welcome to Dogengers or Ya'll Rangers, whichever you prefer.

This is a series that flew under my radar a while for a number of reasons. Mostly in availability of subs, but I was surprised upon seeing in my twitter feed a year later that there was a Season 2 and people were actually watching it? I think there were subs for S2 but I never did find ones for S1 until last year.

And yeah, I can definitely get what you mean about it being Power Rangers in a good way. It has a lot of good comedic beats and some slow moments with our protagonist and really establishes itself as a new kind of Toku experience. Especially given how low budget this was since I'm pretty sure they needed a Kickstarter or something to help get this off the ground originally.

But just like with Ultraman Ginga, I always feel as though lack of budget can be mitigated if the show has the heart to make up for it, and I consider this show just like Ginga.

Anyway yeah, again, welcome to Dogengers, you're in for a fun ride. Also Yabai Kamen is one of my favorite villains in Toku.

[Switchblade]

Never heard of this one. Anyone have some background on what it is and where it came from?

[Mesnick]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

Never heard of this one. Anyone have some background on what it is and where it came from?

A show about local heroes who saved up the budget for their own series and it became a hit. Given that there are already three seasons, this could be the birth of the modern tokusatsu franchise.

[DreamSword]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enchilada645

And yeah, I can definitely get what you mean about it being Power Rangers in a good way. It has a lot of good comedic beats and some slow moments with our protagonist and really establishes itself as a new kind of Toku experience. Especially given how low budget this was since I'm pretty sure they needed a Kickstarter or something to help get this off the ground originally.

But just like with Ultraman Ginga, I always feel as though lack of budget can be mitigated if the show has the heart to make up for it, and I consider this show just like Ginga.

Yeah, you can tell it's a pretty low budget affair, but it's in part of that that they're doing their best to make every part of the show as big as they can in terms of emotion, which is a great plus. It's the sort of thing that I've missed from Power Rangers for a long time, and was super refreshing having experienced the start of the Hasbro era.

And that description of Ultraman Ginga actually intrigues me, and makes me even more curious as to why it's not cited as a jumping on point for the franchise, given it revived the franchise it comes from and all.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

Never heard of this one. Anyone have some background on what it is and where it came from?

I've only looked up the very bare minimum as to avoid spoilers, but essentially this is a show that focuses on Local Heroes of Japan's' Fukuoka prefecture. It's an indie affair that, while it did use some crowdfunding, had some help in funding by Ohga Pharmacy, whose mascot character, Ohgaman, was designed to make people and kids more aware of the leftover antibiotics problem that the region is known for.

Each season is short, being around 12 to 13 episodes, and is obviously lower budget than your standard toku affair, but if the first episode is anything to go by, it's a ton of fun all the same.

[Androzani84]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

Never heard of this one. Anyone have some background on what it is and where it came from?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mesnick

A show about local heroes who saved up the budget for their own series and it became a hit. Given that there are already three seasons, this could be the birth of the modern tokusatsu franchise.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreamSword

I've only looked up the very bare minimum as to avoid spoilers, but essentially this is a show that focuses on Local Heroes of Japan's' Fukuoka prefecture. It's an indie affair that, while it did use some crowdfunding, had some help in funding by Ohga Pharmacy, whose mascot character, Ohgaman, was designed to make people and kids more aware of the leftover antibiotics problem that the region is known for.

Each season is short, being around 12 to 13 episodes, and is obviously lower budget than your standard toku affair, but if the first episode is anything to go by, it's a ton of fun all the same.

Also, the main director is a former assistant director on Super Sentai (who also holds the privilege of being the only female director for a major Tokusatsu production)

Quote:

And that description of Ultraman Ginga actually intrigues me, and makes me even more curious as to why it's not cited as a jumping on point for the franchise, given is revived the franchise it comes from and all.

It did the job for me. Ginga was my introduction to the franchise.

As for Dogengers, I don?t have much to say on the first two seasons, since I?ve only seen High School (which was mostly for MagiPink, Mega Yellow and Alternative Zero being part of the supporting cast, but I ended up having a good time), so I may not have much to say for this thread.

[DreamSword]

Episode 2: Ohgaman Dies

People really underestimate how strong friendships can be.

Growing up, I've many times heard people talk about how nothing lasts forever, and that losing friends and replacing them with new ones is an inevitability.

Friendship is so often seen as something that's disposable; Something that doesn't even come close to qualifying as something akin to true love. It's all just kid games and drinking buddies, so why bother getting attached?

But friendships are incredibly important. They provide spaces where we can be ourselves, relationships that can have profound effects on us, and support that allows us to grow as people. Any relationship can be made to last and in the age we live in where the world is more connected than ever, it's not too difficult.

Jiro hasn't seen his dear friend Yuki in 17 years, yet he still did his best to keep in touch with her over the years, and is coming to Fukuoka just to see her. It's a quick thing, but it really hit home with me, as someone who makes an effort to travel a few times a year to visit friends who live far out from me, and of whom I still make an effort to talk despite us not living close by in about half a decade.

While he doesn't get to see her face to face in this episode, I am very interested in where this close friendship that was made long distance is going to go over the show's' run. It's clear that Jiro has had a hard time articulating his feelings to others ever since he was a kid, so it brings up the question on if Yuki was aware of just how important she is to him or not. Because lemme tell ya, it's not always so clear cut, as so many experiences have taught me.

Oh, right, there's also the main plot, wherein Jiro gets a fragment of Ohgaman's' power, and is entrusted to be the new guardian of Fukuoka. The rest of the episode, while definitely still having some of the zany energy of the first, does slow things down some to elaborate a bit more on plot and character. And it works pretty well overall. Outside of Jiro, the other big highlight being more insight into the dynamic of the Secret Society of Darkness and the dynamic between its members.

In my Power Ranger tabletop that I have going, one of the running gags we having going is that the villain organization is run like a business, so when I saw that Dogengers here did much the same, to the point that Yabai Kamen's' super mode is called Unpaid Overtime, it instantly had my approval. It also sort of gave me Zero-One vibes as well, given how Ohgaman is also apparently a CEO himself and easily sets Jiro up with a new apartment(and is apparently strong enough to level all of Fukuoka holy crap). Though obvious this is a much more lighthearted take than what Kamen Rider would do with it.

It's a great stepping stone episode, and I approve.

[Enchilada645]

I... admittedly don't have much to say about Episode 2.

Though I will say I love the episode title as it decides to hang out with such other legendary episode titles like "Jonouchi Dies" and "Kouji Kabuto dies in Magma!"

[DreamSword]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enchilada645

I... admittedly don't have much to say about Episode 2.

Though I will say I love the episode title as it decides to hang out with such other legendary episode titles like "Jonouchi Dies" and "Kouji Kabuto dies in Magma!"

Yeah, and while that's a pretty funny meta joke on its own, it's also technically not clickbait. Ohgaman not only gets defeated, but he does just kinda disappear afterwards, so like... technically, yeah, he does die in terms of the narrative.