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What are you watching (Sentai edition)
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01-21-2022, 06:12 PM
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9130
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!~
Episode 43 – Kishiryuu Sentai Ryusoulger
(A couple people are missing from this picture, but they do squeeze in a cameo in the episode itself!)
I'm not sure there's any other Sentai out there quite like Ryusoulger, which is a pretty funny thing to say about it, given how strikingly familiar so much of it looks at a glance.
The comparisons are unavoidable, I suppose. Just like pretty much everyone else at the time it was announced, my first impressions of Ryusoulger were dominated by the sense that Toei was clearly trying to play it safe that year. Or at least, Bandai sure was. And to be fair, if so many fresh and novel concepts for Sentai shows were resulting in merchandise sales that ranged from below expectations to outright poor, the way they had been for a while by this point, maybe sticking to what you know works was worth a shot. And what they knew worked was Kyoryuger, to put it bluntly.
Granted, apparently the choice of motif wasn't actually as simple as them wanting to copy that one specific show, but that only makes it all the more odd how easy it is to draw superficial similarities between the two. One had guns that eat collectible items, the other has swords that do the same. One has a robot where Red forms the majority of the body while Blue and Pink go on the arms for the default combination, the other has... uh, literally the same thing. Oh, but you see, Kyoryuger had this kinda Go-Onger thing where Green and Black were sort of a clear subgroup within the main team, whereas Ryusoulger does, uh,
exactly the same thing...
(I can think of a couple more of these easily, but you get the idea.) Not that I would ever want to really diss Ryusoulger's designs. Honestly, despite everything I just said, I always got the impression they were really giving it their all to make the
coolest
possible stuff that year, and so much about the aesthetics and the functionality of everything feels appreciably refined and thought out. The merchandise sales didn't end up getting the bump they were hoping for at all, but like, it absolutely wasn't for lack of effort.
Still, that's just the surface level when it comes to the show proper. And the show proper... man, I'm not even sure how to describe it. As you can probably imagine from the dinosaur motif, Ryusoulger was a conscious effort to do another very traditional, very straightforward Sentai, emphasizing the strength of the heroes and a bright atmosphere and all that usual stuff, this time even choosing knights as the actual new (and very up my alley!) motif, because knights are a classic symbol of righteousness. And you can absolutely see that desire to take things back to basics reflected in the final product... it's just that that's not
all
you can see.
If I had to sum up Ryusoulger in a word, it might actually be "unfettered", believe it or not. Both the chief producer and the main writer were new to Super Sentai, and I think that's evident all over the place, because for as much as the show is trying to take a tried-and-true approach, it also seems happily unaware of a lot of finer points of traditional Sentai style. And I want to stress that last bit – it doesn't come off to me like people who know the rules inside and out deliberately turning tropes on their head; it just feels like people making their show however the heck they want to, and there's an honesty to that which I've come to respect about Ryusoulger. It drove me absolutely crazy while it was on the air, mind you, but by the end, I started to see the value in the way it did things.
A really easy example to raise of this is how Green and Black were introduced into the series a couple episodes in. This is the fun, lighthearted show about chivalrous knights being good buddies and fighting evil together, right? Like, that was apparently the
goal
, but Black is introduced as an antisocial stoic jerk dragging his smug and unempathetic little brother around, which okay, makes for a pretty typical arc about them learning to respect the more idealistic/nicer primary trio. Except,
only a few episodes in, as our *introduction* to these two,
the show decides to frame their beef with Red, Blue, and Pink around their belief that it's acceptable to sacrifice a single life in order to save a greater number of people, which,
okay
, is a rather grim moral conundrum, but still within boundaries. And then Black is abruptly raising his sword to kill the show's comic relief character in her sleep, and that feels sort of wrong for a Sentai show. Then the show's comic relief character is ready to throw herself off a cliff, believing her death would hold more value than her life, and I'm wondering how many other Super Sentai have ever wound up depicting an attempted suicide three episodes in, among
many, many other questions.
I thought it was a bit much, when I was watching it. But at the same time, I was definitely engaging with the material? Like, nothing in that episode was that poorly thought out, or even in bad taste, despite how I might've just made it sound to people without context. First of all, the twist of the monsters of the week for Ryusoulger – being born from people's negative emotions, with abilities and behaviors that reflect some desire of their host, eating away at their life like parasites to grow larger and even more destructive – it's an utterly fantastic concept for driving meaningful drama. Introducing Bamba and Towa with the hardline stance that cutting down a monster's host is an effective and efficient solution also gives them something far more specific to work on than simply being abrasive, and makes their gradual complete reversal in attitude that much more rewarding. The steadfast refusal of Koh, Melto, and Asuna to give up on a friend is extremely easy to root for, and when the friend in question is Ui, using the plot to explore her issues with self-esteem makes
her
that much more sympathetic as well. For as much criticism as I would've given the episode at the time, I've never ever forgotten that moment on that cliff when Asuna pulls Ui back from the edge and straight into a hug.
And I think that's really the whole duality of Ryusoulger to me, right there. It's doing all this weird and unusual stuff for reasons that often confound me, but no matter how frustrated I get, it's difficult to deny that there's humanity and creativity and
feeling
in here. Whether for better or worse, Ryusoulger definitely kept my attention, and while I recall it being a rather uneven ride, some of those peaks are arguably all-time franchise great episodes. Legit best of the best material. By the end, I was way more endeared to this team and their adventures than I would've expected at the start.
Oh, and speaking of the start, I've been talking about the wrong episode for the past few paragraphs, haven't I? My bad!
Ryusoulger's first episode does a lot to leave a great first impression, and also a lot to demonstrate how odd Ryusoulger's writing style can be. Put simply, the focus is on Koh, Melto, and Asuna taking over as the new Ryusoulgers from their respective masters, and inevitably having a very eventful first day on the job. And that's all good stuff, of course, but again, some of the little things about the execution are just strange.
The very first thing in the episode is the three masters passing down their gear to the next generation, and ordinarily, you'd kind of expect that to mean they're passing down their
powers
or something, right? Obviously you've gotta have them fighting together when the bad guys show up, but it would probably be a thing where the old guys are just so cool and talented they don't even need colorful costumes anymore, underscoring the potential the main heroes have yet to achieve. Or I don't know, maybe that's just what I'd expect, but at any rate, the very first fight scene in Ryusoulger is two nearly identical Ryusoul Reds leaping into action together, differentiated only by their choice of blade and the presence/absence of a dino-themed bracelet. Is it fair to say this is breaking one of the most fundamental rules of Super Sentai? The whole point of the heroes being different colors is that each character stands out unmistakably from the rest as a unique individual, but Ryusoulger either missed the memo, or ignored it believing this idea would be fun. Admittedly,
it is sort of fun.
Other Sentai have done stuff broadly similar to this on occasion, but Ryusoulger is so utterly brazen yet completely casual about throwing you right into the confusion of trying figure out which one is Koh and which one is Master Red that it's a little adorable? Again, I could try and criticize it for being weird, but it's also a striking visual that commands your attention, and that's worth something.
Besides, if this episode succeeds at one thing more than any other, it's striking visuals. Ryusoulger was the first series Kazuya Kamihoriuchi was the main director for. Moreover, this premiere was the first episode of Super Sentai he had ever worked on, being yet another new voice for the franchise. He was coming hot off of some
immensely
impressive episodes of Kamen Rider over the previous few years, and that talent is no less apparent here. I love Teruaki Sugihara's work on shows like Lupinranger VS Patranger for his grasp on motion, but I love Kamihoriuchi's stuff for his grasp on
stillness.
The thing he does better than anyone at Toei is composition. There are so, so many shots in Kamihoriuchi's episodes that are arranged so beautifully I almost want to frame them on a wall or something. This one is no exception, but I'm going to be rambling on long enough without trying to describe every moment in the episode that makes me go "oooh, that's pretty!", so I won't bother trying. It's way too gorgeous, way too constantly, even in the places where it could get away with having far less effort put in.
Direction that good certainly helps at pulling you into the story of the episode, too, which, when it comes strictly to the script, does a competent but not especially remarkable job selling you on the bond between master and student. It's one of those things where the series fleshes it out better in retrospect, but you only get ~just~ enough of a feel for the three Masters for it to be sad when they heroically give their lives to protect their disciples. Master Red's death is given the most attention, stressing the whole "soul" part of the title, and how his spirit lives on through Koh as he inherits the duty of defending the planet, which, again, is all legitimately pretty cool material! I don't at all want to downplay how solid a job this episode does establishing everything. You've got a bit of a central theme going on with what I just mentioned, a setup for a rivalry between Koh and the bad guy general who murdered his master, and a strong fantasy vibe with the way the Ryusoul Tribe is built up, while contrasting that against the introduction on Ui and her extremely modern YouTuber shtick, so that you know the larger setting is still the "normal" world as we know it, give or take all the robots and monsters.
The action is also absurdly strong. The normal-sized stuff is quite cool, between Kamihoriuchi's touch and the choreography that emphasizes the aggression and raw power of the combatants, but the giant robot fight at the end! Now
that
is something to behold. Kishiryu-Oh's suit was designed to be far more slick than usual, capable of handling rough and energetic movements that are normally out of the question for a Sentai robot, and Ryusoulger wasted no time in showing that off. The sense of scale is
immaculate
thanks to the smart camerawork and tangible effort put into the all the great physical stuff going on with the set. Explosions, sparks, clouds of dust, bits of rubble flying through the air, it's all punctuating every movement, and it makes the incredibly athletic and fast fighting style Kishiryu-Oh brings to the table still somehow feel appropriately huge and weighty. Like, the robot might actually be moving more dynamically than Ryusoul Red does, and yet nothing about that comes off as contradictory. It's basically magic; the entire episode is worth it for this scene alone.
Fortunately, it's worth it for way more than just that, though. There's easily enough going on in Ryusoulger's premiere to elevate into a more than serviceable debut for the series.
The series as a whole, then... I feel like I'm not the best person to talk about it, honestly? Like I said earlier, a lot about Ryusoulger's style is subtly
off
, and I think as someone so used to seeing Super Sentai speaking a certain "language", that's always given me trouble trying to connect with it, even now that I firmly believe that unique flavor is also the beauty of the show. I could ramble about many more times it threw me for a loop, as well as many more times it pleasantly surprised me. Heck, just as an example, I mentioned the hurdles Bamba faced when it came to making a first impression, but he ended up being one of my favorite characters in the whole series... right alongside the rest of the team, once their characterization clicked, as well as other iconic characters, such as the robot T-Rex who learned Japanese from TV, and the stage magician main antagonist who fancies himself some sort of greatest showman.
I mean, there is
a ton
of stuff in Ryusoulger I absolutely loved, looking back. Way way *way* more than there are things I had problems with. This isn't at all a show I consider an all-time personal favorite, and yet I find myself frustrated I'm not talking way more about all the genuinely clever and interesting things it did throughout its run. But again, somebody else could probably do that better than me. I get too hung up on questioning things like the show's pathological aversion to having the entire team pilot the giant robots together (it's just Koh in the premiere, even!), when it's entirely possible other viewers (and probably the writers...) won't even understand why I would care about that sort of etiquette. So yes, this isn't my favorite series, but it is one I look at and want to see it be
somebody's
favorite, if that makes sense? Like, there've gotta be some hardcore Ryusoul scholars out there who swear by this series, and know it like the back of their hands, and I'd love to hear
their
opinions on it, because I do like Ryusoulger well enough to know it's a one-of-a-kind show that almost certainly has even more to like than I realize, just waiting to be uncovered by those willing to give it that deeper look.
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