TFW2005
Hisstank
Thundercats
TokuNation
Toyark
Home
News
Garo
Godzilla
Kamen Rider
Metal Heroes
Power Rangers
Super Sentai
Ultraman
All News Categories
Forum
News & Rumors
Power Rangers
Kamen Rider
Super Sentai
Other Toku Series
Toys and Collectables
Marketplace
Creative
Galleries
Companies
Bandai Japan
Tamashii Nations
Saban Brands
Bandai America
Toei
Characters
Kamen Rider Ghost
Kamen Rider Specter
Kamen Rider Necrom
Mighty Morphin Green Ranger
Dino Charge Red Ranger
Toylines
S.H. Figuarts
S.H. MonsterArts
DX Mecha
Megazords
Legacy
Shows
Kamen Rider Ghost
Doubutsu Sentai Zyuohger
Power Rangers Dino Supercharge
Power Rangers Movie 2017
TokuNation.com
>
TokuNation
Integration
User Name
Remember Me?
Password
Rules
Register
Members List
Search
Today's Posts
Mark Forums Read
Thread
:
What are you watching (Sentai edition)
View Single Post
09-30-2021, 09:10 PM
#
8884
Fish Sandwich
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
Posts: 3,833
~Fish's Zenkai Tour!~
Stage. 29 – Mahou Sentai Magiranger
The whole point of a good theme song is to really succinctly sum up the show it represents, and I think the best way to explain my relationship with Magiranger succinctly is to talk about its good theme song. I didn't have any particularly strong feelings towards it back when I was first getting into Sentai. I didn't hate it or anything, but it wasn't something that got me feeling any real excitement. Something about it never quite clicked all the way for me. Then, for a bunch of little reasons (I am very fickle in how I pick toku shows to watch), Magiranger ended up being one of the first Sentai I watched that wasn't the currently-airing show at the time. By the time I got through it all, I
loved
that theme song. It's hard to believe there was ever a time where I was blind to its quality. Those punchy lyrics that don't waste any time with subtlety, and yet are so smart and considered. All these little things in the composition that make the song build up so perfectly to those exciting high points. It all just comes together in the end into this amazingly uplifting and fun thing that never fails to put a smile on my face.
...And that's Magiranger the show, too! This is long enough ago my memories of this are rather fuzzy, but it wasn't something I was going into with any real sense of commitment at first. Those little reasons I mentioned were exactly that –
little.
Sure, as a Go-Busters fan, for example, it was enticing to think of the whole show like it's just The Young Beet Buster Chronicles, but Hiroya Matsumoto is only one part of this group, and I'd need more attachment than that to want to stick around. But you know, I like me some fantasy motifs, so I hung in there for a little bit even though, for whatever reason, I wasn't totally feeling it. And the longer I did stick around, the more and more I
was
feeling it.
Magiranger pretty quickly revealed itself as an absolutely brilliant series. It's a Sentai that was built from the ground up around a plotted-out trilogy of story arcs, putting an unusually heavy focus on serialization, and reaping all the benefits that come with that. The show still consists largely of nicely digestible standalone plots, but weaved throughout them is an overarching epic with an almost constant sense of escalation. From start to finish, you get to watch the heroes grow and evolve, and as they do, the world around them does as well, with the mythology of the setting becoming so much larger as the scope of the conflict expands. Foreshadowing, plot twists, and grand payoffs are present in abundance. It's a show that only ever seems to get better and better, and I really wish I could remember exactly what weird bone I ever had to pick with it not even having seen it, so I could know exactly how stupid I was being assuming it wouldn't be this genius.
Or, heck, I mean, to be fair to myself, I'm not sure if most Sentai
are
this genius? The thought put into Magiranger seriously astonishes me sometimes. I remember how much it blew me away when I first learned that the magical incantations the characters speak to use their various abilities are actually a totally concrete and logical set of constructed words, with coherent meanings and everything. That kind of thing is
exactly
the sort of tight world-building fantasy nerds like me eat right up. (And it was apparently Riku Sanjou who came up with that stuff uncredited, years before he'd become more familiar to toku fans for writing about two-in-one detectives and electric dinosaurs!)
Man, and then there's the themes, too! So much to unpack with this one! Basically, there are two big axes that Magiranger revolves around. There's magic (of course), but this is also the third family Sentai after Fiveman and GoGoFive. It gets a lot out of that latter concept both in terms of plotting, and how it informs the character relationships. There's a natural intimacy to these five siblings that just plain makes for really engaging stories and fun dynamics. Magiranger also puts its own spin on things, most notably flipping the script, and further cementing that new standard Dekaranger had already locked in by having Magi Red be the
youngest
of the team. Indeed, both Kai and his actor were the absolute youngest Red in the franchise to that point, and as such, Kai is easily the least fully-formed hero of the bunch. And you know, I'd like to get into the "why" of all that, and I will in a bit, but I think it's probably about time I stop myself from gushing long enough to talk about the premiere, so that we can actually have a foundation to go on for all this rambling.
Magiranger's premiere knows exactly where everything is going, which gives it a huge advantage when it comes to setting things up. I wouldn't have been able to tell you how great it was after first watching it, but I wouldn't have been able to tell you how great Magiranger is back then, so who cares? I have the benefit of hindsight now, and there's a lot this one gets right.
The scene with the Ozu family enjoying a nice breakfast together is a super smooth introduction to everyone that gives you a good glimpse into what these four siblings and their mother are like. It also has one of my all-time favorite Sentai gags ever, when the very snarky Tsubasa comments on what an idiot a guy on the news climbing a pole dangerously high into the air is, only for the guy in question to turn his face to wave to the camera and turn out to be Kai, prompting an added disappointed realization that it's
their
idiot up on that building. The day's barely started and already this is what they're dealing with! Again, right away, you can sort of feel the connection between these people, and like... can there possibly be a better introduction for Kai than nearly getting himself killed pulling an insane stunt just to get back a balloon a little girl lost when he accidentally bumped into her? They packed in like everything you need to know about the guy right there! Kai's got a good heart, is also really dumb, can cause problems by rushing into things, is also really dumb, can be surprisingly competent up until the point his other traits let him down, and he's also
really dumb.
Naturally, his family aren't particularly pleased by this reckless behavior. Although most of the lecturing has to wait until
after
a big monster comes to attack them all, and their mom transforms into an awesome costumed superhero ice wizard to show it who's boss. Which is such a nice spin on the formula, right? Having this older, more competent and measured character in Miyuki to set a standard the actual team will be trying to live up to for about fifty episodes? Magiranger isn't subtle about most of its storytelling, and Magi Mother's existence is a testament to how much that can be a good thing. That brief fight scene is communicating a lot given the length, and it's doing it all in a way that's as direct and impactful as possible. (Plus, she gets to establish the whole routine of saying "checkmate!" while snapping your finger when blowing up a monster, which is one of many, many bits of style in this show I'm tempted to go on a huge tangent about. It's so cool~!)
With all that taken care of, Miyuki quickly explains the broad strokes of the setting to her kids, and entrusts all of them with their own powers to help protect the world from these underworld invaders... except for Kai, who instead gets chewed out for that earlier incident with the balloon. Kai tries to frame his lack of fear as proof he's got the courage to stand up to evil, but Miyuki very quickly counters that you can't have courage without first knowing fear, and that you can't have magic without first having courage. And just like that, we've got ourselves a central theme!
I said magic was the other big axis for Magiranger's themes, but what I didn't mention was how that axis could just as easily be labeled "courage". It's not a third thing because the two are synonymous in this show. Again, there's absolutely no subtlety here in how the show is conveying the message it wants to leave viewers with, and that's exactly why I love it. That's Kai's whole deal; the reason he's the youngest. Because that gives him the most room for growth, and as is usually the case in these sorts of stories, him facing his faults and becoming a stronger hero is something the audience is meant to draw inspiration from. It's not actually about the superpowers at all. The point the show is making is that, by having the courage to push past your fears and doubts, you'll be able to accomplish things you never thought you could, and what is magic if not the ability to make the impossible possible?
Speaking personally, I vividly recall what a hugely uplifting revelation it was as a really really young kid already admiring all sorts of heroes to have it explained that you can only be courageous
after
you've been scared (rather than fear being some kind of instant disqualification), so while I didn't learn that from Magiranger, you'd better believe I appreciate the heck out of a Super Sentai show that decides to take that one message and have it be at the forefront of the entire series. This is why I can see the value of these Reds who are more directly relatable to kids like Kai are. I can't speak for anyone else, but I think hearing similar words the first time was what made me realize that being a cool hero is something anybody legitimately can aspire to, in a sense, so Magiranger seriously hits close to home for me in that way.
As cool as being a hero is though, sometimes the villains admittedly end up looking even cooler, and that's where Wolzard comes in. Dude!
Wolzard!
You get how much I love Magiranger by now, so imagine how much I must love one of my favorite characters within it. Honestly, I've said all this stuff, but this guy alone is reason enough to watch the show. A totally awesome and mysterious dark knight wolf wizard from the underworld, clad in wicked sweet armor, who can fend off the entire team, and has a giant robot horse he can merge with to become a giant mysterious dark knight
centaur
from the underworld? What about this guy
isn't
amazing?! And this is just in the first episode! It's cool here how he provides an impetus for Kai to find his courage and join the fight, sure, but man, don't you just wanna know what
Wolzard's
deal is? Who is he? What are his motives and goals? What fiery passions may lie underneath the cold and calculated exterior of this skilled warrior from another world? Bad guy rivals for Sentai teams do
not
get much greater than this, if they do at all.
...Or at least, that's my opinion, anyway. I have been going on and on about Magiranger for a
very long time
at this point, and it's sort of painful to have to stop, because I'm in this nostalgic mood right now, and there are so many things beyond what I've written down here that I'm currently fondly thinking back on. It was basically random chance that I ended up watching this show as early as I did, but
man
am I ever glad it got that chance. One of the big things I'm always trying to convey with these posts is just a general sense of enthusiasm for the subject matter, and, uh, I am
seriously
enthusiastic about Magiranger, as it turns out!
__________________
誰かの笑顔のためだろ?
Last edited by Fish Sandwich; 03-05-2022 at
06:44 PM
..
Fish Sandwich
View Public Profile
Send a private message to Fish Sandwich
Find More Posts by Fish Sandwich
TokuNation News & Rumors
actor Minori Terada dead at 81
Seihou Gaim Figuarts
Kamen Rider Outsiders Ep5 with a new form for...
Ride Kamens
Ninja Sentai Kakuranger 30th anniversary
More New Posts
Kamen Rider Gotchard Episode 28- "Bero Bero Strange! Renge's Homecoming!" Discussion
Sentai King's Sales
Selling to Cover Vet Bills
Kamen Rider Die rewatches Kamen Rider W (and watches Fuuto P.I.)
Blade Raider's Big Fall 2020 Sales Thread
Kamen rider SHF for sale
The All Encompassing POKÉMON Thread
How is Everyone Today- New
Help finding a series
Ultraman Discussion Thread
Current Poll
How Would You Rate This Episode?
Excellent!
Good
Average
OK
Poor...
»
View Poll Results
»
Comment On This Poll
»
This Poll Has 1 Reply
Search Forums
»
Advanced Search
All times are GMT -5. The time now is
10:02 AM
.
Powered by vBulletin®
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Powered by
vBadvanced
CMPS