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Watched the Abare 20th special.
It's odd that it plays it so none of the other reunions were canon, so they haven't been rangers in 20 years. Despite this, this special was super tongue in cheek. Poking fun at stuff like how long inspirational speeches take or how social attitudes have changed in the 20 years since Abaranger's original airing. I would've very much expected them to reference their past crossovers, but eh. |
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Logically, none of their crossovers can be canon, except for Donbrothers which was a prequel to this. Abaranger VS Hurricanger had Rije at a time when she should've been Rijewel instead and Dekaranger VS Abaranger had a cameo from Hurricane Red who Ryouga canonically shouldn't have recognized. Nevertheless, I appreciated how we still got a Dekaranger VS reference, with Abarengecko reviving Abare Killer instead of Dezu. Even in canon, Nakadai is still the strongest man in hell! As far as Sentai anniversary movies go, this was the only one I thought captured the flavor of the show and had something worthwhile to talk about. A story about the problem with dreaded moral guardians/cancel culture and the way that perceptions can become twisted and misinterpreted to the detriment of people like Aoi who carried that trauma in to adulthood. While violence is an essential part of every Sentai, the "kindness of rampaging" is a major selling point of Abaranger's aesthetic, so it's interesting to see how such a philosophy can be judged harshly in the overly sensitive world of modern social media. I appreciate how Aoi isn't just a strawman either, like, that would be easy, but we actually see where her hatred comes from and confronting that is how she becomes a better person. I especially love how Yukito reacts to this situation, since it's fresh off the "DocHara" accusations that made him retire from his job. In the interview, he's the only member of his team who isn't meekly trying to apologize for their behavior, as he believes that the Abarangers haven't done anything wrong. While Ryouga and Asuka are stuck on defense, Yukito goes for the offense instead, pointing out all the flaws in Aoi's argument and pretty much telling her she's the one who needs to change. His backstory about getting blamed for grade school bullying is something I can totally relate to, as a fellow guy with limited emotional expression. Thanks to his investigation, Aoi sees the benefit her childhood rampage had on her friend and decides to atone by using her power as an influencer to help the Abarangers defeat Abarengecko. Easily the MVP of this movie. I hope Dekaranger 20th will maintain this quality. |
I read the Goranger manga recently. I haven't actually seen the show, but I figured it would be plenty interesting in its own right. I didn't realize before reading it that there were actually two different, short Goranger mangas. The first one is really madcap, with lots of awesome art and ridiculous robot dinosaurs and horses that shoot missiles, so I thought it was awesome even if it didn't really go anywhere. The second one is fairly standard and just didn't look nearly as impressive, weirdly enough, though was fun enough in it's own right. I think I should just sit down and read some of Ishinomori's other works at some point, because both Goranger and Kamen Rider were fascinating.
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Well, guys, I did it. I finally finished Goranger, which at 84 episodes spanning 2 years, is the longest show in the history of Super Sentai! So, if I can do that, then Changeman should be easy by comparison, right? I mean, nothing can be longer than Goranger, right? (looks painfully at OG Kamen Rider....)
Despite lacking a lot of the tropes that would later become synonymous with the franchise, like giant battles and a Morphin' sequence, I thought Goranger was a pretty enjoyable show with a good amount of character focus, which I usually praise in Soda's works, but Uehara shows that he can do it occasionally as well, with 84 episodes giving a lot of opportunities for backstory and development. I especially liked Shinmei and Peggy. The roll calls are weirdly inconsistent though, since after Akaranger, who says their names next is anybody's guess. It's been a while since I'd last watched a Showa Sentai, which was Denjiman, so here's my updated Showa Sentai Ranking: 1) Flashman 2) Bioman 3) Liveman 4) Goranger 5) Goggle V 6) Denjiman 7) Sun Vulcan Only 5 more of those to go, but for now, I'm rewatching Power Rangers Lost Galaxy, a season that I actually remember very little about, in preparation for hopefully starting Gingaman later this year. I claimed before something like, "I fully intend to watch Gingaman by the end of 2022", but uh, looks like that didn't work out. Up next, it's Janperson! |
I watched Adventure Heaven earlier in preparation for Boonboomger tomorrow.
Pretty appropriate that the show whose appeal is its CGI fantasy setting would have a summer movie with yet another CGI fantasy setting. I like how it ties so deeply in to the plot of the show, something that's unusual for a Sentai summer movie. Rhyniol is a fitting last challenge for Gira, both physically and mentally, before his coronation. To determine if he's ready to take the throne. It's like I mentioned before, that the real journey for Gira was never becoming king, but rather what he would do after that. Rhyniol sees him as weak since he's unwilling to make sacrifices like the kings of Shugoddam before him, but Gira proves that there's strength in his defiance. I enjoy how that plays out here in the climactic fight scene, showing Gira's development up to this point and his determination to handle whatever danger comes next alongside his allies. Man, we'd been wondering whether or not Racles was truly dead all this time and turns out Rhyniol actually told Gira, who I guess kept this secret to himself for 2 years for some reason. Of course, Suzume had known even earlier than that, but Racles had sworn her to secrecy after all, to protect his plan. Dugded's post-credits cameo makes sense when you consider how he can use Minongan as a portable respawn point. He could've killed himself to get in and then revived after killing Rhyniol (even though he's already dead), similar to how the monarchs' SICs got in and out. |
So, I've seen 24 episodes of Shinkenger and while it's okay I've found it extremely bland so far.
However, I've seen other people on this very forum watch Shinkenger and start off unimpressed, but a lot of them seem to have come around by the end! It seems like this is a show that has most of it's positive reputation from what I can only assume is a fantastic final arc, but I'm not sure even that will be able to sell me on the show if I'm still not into it at the halfway point. I think what's really dragging the show down for me is that the characters and episodic plots are fine, but don't feel very inspired? The lord and vassals angle is pretty unique, but many of the stories are Sentai standbys and the characters are charming but not grabbing me. Kinda curious about when people think this show picks up. Or maybe you don't think the show picks up at all and think Shinkenger is wildly overrated! Regardless, I'd love to know. |
I always considered Shinkenger to be a vastly overrated, and while the show itself does have some highlights here and there, it’s ultimately not all that special, sadly. I have also been meaning to rewatch this series at some point albeit under much better English subtitles than the ones I was unfortunately stuck with at the time though.
Speaking of rewatching certain seasons of Super Sentai, it’s quite a long time but I am finally back to revisiting Timeranger via my copy of the DVD series set as released by Shout Factory. |
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I finished Shinkenger. I'm unimpressed.
There's definitely a few highlights. The choreography and suits are very striking in this show and even going into the show aware of the whole "there is a female Red Ranger" spoiler, I was still unable to see through Takeru's true identity as a decoy until the last minute. Genta was fun and the Renegade Corrupt were interesting. But... to the very it didn't really manage to impress me. Ultimately I the show was too meandering and the cast just couldn't hold it up. I think the Shinkengers are generally *fine* are characters, but also did not have very moments that struck me as innovative or even particularly well implemented. Takeru has imposter syndrome and an accompanying sense of guilt, but he isn't really analyzed until very late in the show and the conflict is very quickly resolved without any sort of lingering impact. Ryunosuke is inflexible but talented. Chiaki lacks proper training and aspires to get stronger. Kotoha doesn't have high faith in herself. Mako is sisterly but serious. Genta wants to make Sushi and help Takeru. Most of the cast feels some conflict about balancing their normal lives with being a samurai. But I feel like the show was never able to elevate the characters beyond their initial concepts, make me re-evaluate them as more and more layers are revealed. Some of this I think is because the episodic plots are also not all that great, a lot of stuff that just feels like they were ripping pages out of the Sentai playbook. The antagonists were also lacking overall. The more conflicted and tormented Renegades were better, mostly consumed with their own self-satisfaction, but Dokuku is just a nothing burger who spends most of the show drunk in spite of being the final villain. I was hoping the climax would impress me, but I thought it was more of the same. Not too much else to say, I don't think the show actually gave me too much to talk about. D tier, really needed more substance. |
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Finally rectified something and watched the first truly original Sentai Movie yesterday: Gorenger's "Bomb Hurricane" (or "Hurricane Bomb", depending on the translation).
When I say "first truly original Sentai Movie", it's because all the other films for Gorenger were just rehashed episodes blown up to theatrical proportions. This is first truly original work released in a theatrical setting. The plot is pretty basic as far as your standard Gorenger formula. There's a "blow everything up with missiles and/or bombs" plotline which the team has to uncover in very James Bond fashion. Seriously, you can't look at Gorenger and not see the James Bond influences! The spy-craft is very much on display and very flashy as far as spies go, but that's what James Bond made popular. The Kamen Kaijin, Steel Sword Dragon, is...pretty bland, and that's a shame cause he has such a fascinating design which looks like it would fit right at home in Kamen Rider Amazon. He doesn't have a lot of special abilities and his personality is reduced to growls and roars. The plotline revolves around an arms dealer and a woman. The woman has a secret identity...as the Black Cross Fuhrer himself! This is definitely playing into the enigmatic nature of Black Cross, but also feels rather dated at the same time. The arms dealer is snuffed out rather quickly and makes wonder if Momo committed a murder! If would play into the thematic constraints I already brought up, but still. Not hard to figure out, but the film's name refers to the special attack at the end and it's different...but simple and not as flashy as you'd hope for. If you've never seen this movie, but always wanted to cause you wanted to see the inevitable finisher, you might feel as though the whole thing has been overhyped cause the aftertaste is just a little bland. It's a move that makes you wonder "Why didn't they just use this in the series proper?" It's not a bad movie if you like Gorenger, and definitely significant in Sentai history cause any movie or crossover with special attacks or even special power-ups or special combinations is derived from the basic elements seen here. Not quite like Gao Knight or GouraiSenpuujin Sword and Shield or Burning Legend DaiVoyager or Engine DaiShogun or Samurai Formation 23 or Go-Buster Kero-Oh or Tatagami Raiden Kyoryuzin, but each one of these and more owes their existence to this film even if it's only in a small way. |
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Funny how these things work out. |
I watched the first episode of Boonboomger. It was a lot of fun, had cool designs, and was lots of deliciously cheesy moments. But I'm not sure if I feel inspired to continue.
As of right now, my overwhelming feeling is of "why should I watch this when I could instead continue Gekiranger, Kiramager, or Geats, or start KingOhger?" My girlfriend seemed to really enjoy it, however. |
I have rewatched some more episodes of Timeranger and I am officially at the point where Time Fire makes his introduction into the series. Hopefully, I should be finished with revisiting the series very soon.
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My sudden craving for Sentai but slight disappointment with Boonboomger (I'll probably still continue it though) has led me to picking up where I left off on Kiramager, which is episode 30. I binged 3-4 episodes last night and gotta say this series has been really fun. It's pretty standard Sentai, but it's standard Sentai done very well. I also absolutely love the mech designs - Kiramaizin is actually probably one of my favorite designs in all of Sentai.
Also, the episode where the kid plays with the toys absolutely killed me :lol |
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Like the Masters and Nada, they have a major impact on the main characters, which ties in to the whole "make our souls one" thing, showing how people become stronger and kinder through connections, even with those who are no longer alive. It's surprisingly profound for a Sentai and takes the knight theme seriously. The dino motif is still there, but even that's part of the moral that the heroes are carrying the dinosaurs' wishes as well. It's honestly a clever way to mix those two motifs together in a way that makes a lot of sense. I'd even say Koh is my favorite Red. While he may seem like your average daydreaming Red, he's seriously attuned to his team's individual strengths, like how he sees Melt's observation and deduction skills and encourages him to be assertive in his judgments. If Kyoryuger's Red stands above his team, then Ryusoulger's Red raises his team above him instead, which I think makes him stronger as a hero who's adept in both words and action. Kiramager was good as well though, totally deserved more than 45 episodes. |
Just finished Kiramager 43 and I'm loving the end of this series. The individual motw episodes are insane (the Hangover-esque episode and the cat episode were both off-the-walls, I loved every second of both) and the story is, once again, standard Sentai done quite well.
My current sentai kick probably won't last long, but I'm already looking forward to what I'm going to watch next. I'm thinking I'll likely pick Geats and/or Gekiranger back up, as I've adored what I've seen of each so far. Quote:
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Finished Kiramager!
I really enjoyed that series. It was pretty "generic" as far as Sentai goes, but it does generic well. My only disappointment was that I was hoping that they would do something more interesting with the granterstones other than give us a final battle with tons of power creep. Still, it was a fun ride and it feels weird that I finally finished. Not sure what to watch next. I'm 12 episodes into Kamen Rider Geats and maybe around 15 into Gekiranger, so I feel like I should watch those...but I'm feeling hype for KingOhger and Dekaranger right now. Also, Power Morphicon has two guests from Gokaiger, so I'm motivated to watch that as well. Any suggestions? |
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Kiramager is a solidly done, "normal" Sentai series which I think is more and more appreciable when right after the series decided to swing hard into experimental stuff. Neither approach is wrong, but I'm glad their last "traditional" outing for a while was so well-crafted.
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Regardless, it's fairly standard Sentai tropes presented in a strong package with one of my top 5 mech designs in the series. |
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Continuing on my Timeranger rewatch once again. 40 episodes down, 10 to go.
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I managed to finish rewatching Timeranger as of last night and I am seriously glad I was able to do so since Timeranger is one of the very few Sentai seasons that was in a serious need of a rewatch due not remembering too much of the show outside of some major story elements and a few character moments here and there as well as being able to like the show just enough to be able to be among my Top 5 favorite Sentai series. Then again, it has been several years since I have first watched Timeranger and I was powering through all of the US released Sentai seasons via Shout Factory's own website at the time. Thankfully, the show itself holds up really well, perhaps even better than the first time especially in terms of writing and character development and that my initial feelings towards it are not misplaced in some capacity and as such, Timeranger is able to really solidified itself in my rankings as my fourth, maybe going up as my third depending on my eventual rewatch of Dairanger, favorite Sentai series. And no, I am not planning to rewatch Dairanger as of yet because the Sentai series I am planning to rewatch next through my Shout Factory DVD sets is Carranger and like Timeranger and a few other US released seasons that I own are also in a serious need of revisiting before I can jump into Dairanger again as well as Zyuranger and Kakuranger albeit to a much lesser degree.
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Looking forward to your rewatch thoughts and opinions. |
Started rewatching the first several episodes of Turboranger and then continuing where I left off from there. I kind of decided to watch it as my next Sentai series to watch outside of revisiting certain seasons, through my Shout Factory DVD sets or otherwise, if only so I can one day officially say that I have watch every single Sentai season of the Heisei era. I honestly kind of wanted to get back to the swing of things regarding Super Sentai anyway since I have been neglecting my viewings of the franchise for the last year or so especially since I have been focusing on Ultraman and Kamen Rider and even Metal Heroes, albeit to a much lesser degree, as of late.
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I have currently watched episodes 13-18 of Turboranger. The show definitely starts picking up quite a bit once Yamimaru is introduced to the series and I think 5-Minute Transformation in particular just might be my favorite episode of Turboranger so far. I also think I might make it to the show's halfway point pretty soon.
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Just started KingOhger and while the story, characters, designs, setting, etc. are all cool, this CGI is going to be rough. I loved that they still actually created a set for the mech fight, though. It looked incredible.
I also can't help but laugh at the overt Attack on Titan references, lol. |
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Watched KingOhger episode 2. Sometimes you watch something and feel like you're seeing something really special happen in front of you....this was one of those episodes for me. Already, they've managed to achieve more than I ever expected was possible from Sentai. I'm fully expecting this to be my favorite season by the time I finished.
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