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11-27-2021, 04:14 PM | #9011 |
Showa Girl
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 9,064
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Quote:
Those gaudy space pirates set the bar pretty high in a lot of people's eyes, too, so if you're telling me you watched Gokaiger, loved it, and then went straight into the next show in line, none of this is too surprising. The story of this whole decade of Sentai is the story of people saying "I liked Gokaiger way more than this", after all.
And that response always sticks in my mind, and it's kinda true with Gokaiger here! Paradoxically it's a series that shows you how awesome Sentai is and makes you want to check out a bunch of other shows; while simultaneously setting so high a bar for characterisation and just Cool Shit happening every episode that it might make doing that difficult! ... I mean, personally, not completely true for me because that marathon ended up immediately including in order a season I love, a season with one of my favourite Toku characters ever, and my second favourite Sentai (Zenkaiger notwithstanding). But even so it did set my expectations pretty high! So while I didn't find the Go-Busters terribly bland it is a bit difficult finding them as endearing after a bunch of colourful pirates blew my mind; and it might be nice to go back to them with a clearer mind with the Gokaigers not too fresh on it
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11-27-2021, 09:21 PM | #9012 |
Stronger Than You
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: nyet
Posts: 25,327
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Just watched Ten Gokaiger. It was about what I expected, borderline recycling the Gokaigers' plot from Super Sentai vs Kamen Rider, but eh.
I did like that one of the main baddies was straight up human, though. Makes the "Is Earth worth saving" question have some solid ground by having a villain like that. It was okay, the new powers didn't really impress me, but all the novelty is getting the reunion 5 years later. I spent most of the special wondering if the rando was the Shinken Red kid, so it was nice to get proper confirmation (And a name). That's the kind of call back I was wanting. Character interaction was fun, with Don tending to be the one who shines due to his more interesting personality (Like, seriously. I love Gokaiger, but literally half the casts' personality is "The stoic one" of varying degrees). Gai getting spotlight is also fun, too! ...How can Zyuohger be canon considering how Zyuohger ended? Zenkaiger solved this by having alternate worlds...Seriously, as one of the few Zyuohger stans, I still haven't forgotten it's finale. All in all, Ten Gokaiger is a fun reunion, but it also kinda reminded me of how, well, played out, the Gokaigers are, in some regards? A plot that hinges on Gai (And by extension, the audience) not knowing what's going on, most characters fighting to be "The cool one" while on screen, Don being a doofus, then 'Let's make a show of it!' Joe was a nice update, though. Doing more than shrugging, smirking, then going "Hmph". So there was some genuine character change, I'm glad. 7/10 where's my Gekiranger X years later special Toei?
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12-01-2021, 11:03 AM | #9013 |
Veteran Member
Join Date: May 2019
Posts: 2,553
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A little later than usual, but here we are with another instalment of?
Androzani?s Tsukai Detour And this week, we?re covering? Shuriken Sentai Ninninger vs ToQger the Movie: Ninjas in Wonderland. "To earn the title of 'Last Ninja', his five grandchildren carry on his will. Their enemy: the strongest Sengoku general, Kibaoni Gengetsu. Now with a new member, these young ninja are Shinobi that don't hide!" Ninninger: Takaharu Igasaki/AkaNinger: One of Yoshitaka Igasaki's successors, Takaharu was one of his grandchildren chosen to become the Ninninger, even the first one to use its powers. While on his way to his family's dojo, an army of Hitokarage destroyed it, with Takaharu transformed for the first time as AkaNinger and eliminate them. After reuniting with the other Ninninger candidates, Tsumuji Igasaki, his father leads them to Gengetsu Kibaoni's resting place, which was sealed by Yoshitaka until the Sealing Shuriken were released by the revived Gengetsu and wandered off to various part of the city. After the Ninningers destroy Youkai Kamaitachi, it grew large and they received five OtominNin Shuriken, which they used to form Shurikenjin and finished the Youkai. Yoshitaka revealed himself to be much alive, but lectured them for their inexperience and lead them to the new dojo that they will use as their new base. Over time, Takaharu becomes his team's leader, as they face many more Youkai and tried to reclaim their grandfather's 48 Sealing Shuriken while trying to inherit the Last Ninja title. Takaharu is the type that acts before thinking. He acts like a big brother, trying to pull everyone together, sometimes unsuccessfully. His caring nature makes him draw the shortest straw most of the time, but even then, he is an optimist who believes everything will be alright. Yakumo Kato/AoNinger: Takaharu?s cousin who spent his time in England, learning magic from a special school. He?s spent so much time there he now considers himself an Englishman and has picked up a habit of saying ?Easy, isn?t it?? as a catchphrase. Yakumo has lived most of his life abroad and was learning European magic in England when he was called back. He is the rich boy type with a cool demeanor and somewhat presumptuous. In contrast, however, he has a quick temper and can be a bit of a bonehead at times. Out of his cousins/Ninningers, Yakumo is a quick-learner and can master ninjutsu more quickly than the others, claiming it easier than magic. Yakumo at first had no interest in Ninjutsu, claiming it easier than magic training. This was however until when he was lectured by Takaharu/AkaNinger and had developed a rivalry with him, he decided to compete with the others to inherit his grandfather's title as the Last Ninja. Nagi Matsuo/KiNinger: Another cousin who is a high school student. His main character trait is helping others in need. Nagi is a very friendly young man. He may seem to not be thinking of anything but is actually very observant and street smart. He is obsessed with getting licences and certifications for different things to make good use of. Knowing of his grandfather's title as the Last Ninja, he decided to compete against his teammates to inherit it, thinking the title would help him in looking for jobs. Fuuka Igasaki/ShiroNinger: Takaharu?s younger sister, who is still in high school. Unlike the rest of her family, she would very much like to pretend she is not a ninja, probably because of all the abuse she takes on the job (though she still gets some off the job). A pure, optimistic and hard working young girl. Fuuka is Takaharu?s younger sister and her reliability may be the product of growing up with a fireball like Takaharu. She is jolly most of the time but when something saddens her, it is very deeply. Kasumi Momochi/MomoNinger: The last of the 5 cousins competing for the Last Ninja title. Kasumi?s field is science and experimentation, often coming up with plans that could hurt someone if they go wrong, which is why all of them are tested on Fuuka. Kasumi is a very reserved girl with something of a genius in her. She loves science and is very astute with mechanics, but she is unable to read between lines or take a hint. Hence there are times in which, in spite of her looks, she can be really sharp-tongued. At the same time, deep within her there are some very girly aspects she seldom shows. Inspired by her grandfather's ability to communicate with aliens, she dreams of becoming an astronaut. Kinji Takigawa/StarNinger: An American from a long line of Yokai-hunting cowboys (no, really), whose family was murdered by the Western Yokai Ookami Otoko (wolf man). He idolises the Last Ninja and purchased the gear needed to become a student of Igasaki-Ryu Shuriken Ninpo, which he became after many arduous tests. Kinji bears a likeness to Takaharu, since both are fans of Yoshitaka Igasaki and wish to follow his path as the Last Ninja. Due to this, he labels himself with the title of Youkai Hunter, hunting Youkai to become stronger. Ever since he learned of Yoshitaka being a Ninja, Kinji displays fanaticism over things related to ninjas and Youkai, even likes to take pictures and footprints of any Youkai he comes across with. Kinji himself is naive, having following others' orders and quickly apologizes should he had made a mistake, even tends to leave his opponents alone if they were busy with their situations. After bonding with Yakumo Katou/AoNinger, Kinji's partnership with the magic ninja, who learned the art of magic at a school in England, is jokingly referred to by the other Ninningers as the Western Combo (欧米コンビ Ōbei Konbi, Western Combi), coined by Kasumi, referring to the special relationship between the United States of America and the United Kingdom. Allies: Yoshitaka Igasaki: The legendary Last Ninja, who was active 444 years ago. Among his feats are making first contact with extraterrestrial life and defeating the Kibaoni Yokai Army all those years ago. With Kibaoni?s revival immanent, he created the NinShurikens and OtomoNin for his grandchildren to use both to defeat the Yokai threat and to compete to succeed him as the Last Ninja. Tsumuji Igasaki: Takaharu and Fuukas? father, who never learned ninjutsu. So of course, Yoshitaka put him in charge of teaching the next generation the ways of Shuriken Ninpo. Is basically an older and wiser version of Takaharu in personality. Turns out that in his teenage years, he was actually a prodigy ninja known as ?Chou Ninja Tsumuji?, who specialised in wind based techniques (Tsumuji = cyclone), before his powers were taken by his fellow student, along with his memory of ever having powers. Kibaoni Yokai Army: The followers of Gengetsu Kibaoni, who were defeated and sealed by the Last Ninja 444 years ago. They have now revived to herald in the master?s return. Kyuemon Izayoi: The retainer of Kibaoni, who now seeks to revive him by turning the 48 Sealing Shuriken that imprisoned him into Yokai to collect grief. He also has mastery of Izayoi style Yojutsu, a similar style to Igasaki style Ninpo, which he uses to enlarge defeated Yokai and to create a gigantic, barely sentient Yokai known as a Gashadokuro, though he uses a hammer rather than a sword to perform these techniques. He has an (currently) unknown history with Yoshitaka, who he believes to be carrying the ?Owari no Shuriken??(Shuriken of the End, often rendered as End Shuriken in English), which he needs for an unknown purpose. Turns out he was once a student of Yoshitaka during his teenage years, alongside Tsumuji. But he left when he realised the Last Ninja didn?t trust him and stole his fellow student?s Nintality (the energy that makes you a Ninja), converting it into the source of his Izayoi-Ryu Yojutsu, which he shared among 5 of Kibaoni?s ninjas, allowing them to use a variant of Shuriken Ninpo. It also turns out that he?s the first born son of Gengetsu Kibaoni, which explains a lot about his dedication. Shadow Line General Schwartz: Military commander for the Shadow Line. He chose to betray the Emperor and side with Noir and Glitter, due to his love for the latter. When the rebellion failed, Schwartz was banished from the Shadow Line. He later rejoined with Noir in a plan to extract Miss Glitter from Zed, which succeeded at the cost of the two of them being absorbed in her place. What do I think of Ninninger? I think it?s probably my personal best out of the New 10s Sentai shows. It?s got some very good life lessons behind its plots and it moves it?s own main plot along very constantly, compared to the two shows it?s sandwiched between. And the quirky cast help keep the show memorable compared to most. Now then, as for the creators, this is Naomi Takebe?s second and final stint as main producer for a Sentai show (her next contribution would be as a co-producer for Zenkaiger), our writer is Shimoyama (who this time around, is the head writer) and our director is Nakazawa. So with all of that said, on with the review. Takaharu wakes up on an old fashioned train, surrounded by his 5 allies. As Kasumi points out that he ate all of their lunches before he went to sleep (while Fuuka is eating a banana), while Kinji explains that they?re en route to spend a vacation at a ninja theme park. The train then announces a stop, as a light enters the room. Kinji then finds himself performing Ninninger?s ED (more on that later) in front of a crowd (with Ninninger?s regular singers Yohei Onishi and Daiki Ise playing the band), before he gets lured off strange by a pretty girl. Takaharu wakes up on an old fashioned train, surrounded by his 4 allies. As Kasumi points out that he ate all of their lunches before he went to sleep (while Fuuka is eating a banana)? Takaharu realises that there are two things fishy: 1) they?ve already acted out these events and 2) there are 6 lunchboxes, but only 5 of them. But before they can realise what it is, the voice announces another stop. Yakumo, Nagi and Kasumi soon find themselves in a spy AU, as agents ?Cloud?, ?No Wave? and ?Mist? respectively (Fuuka?s counterpart is ?Flower?). No sooner have the initial trio been dispatched on their mission do they run into a man calling himself the Kendama Tantei Hikari. He then figures out that the three are not spies, but ninjas. Takaharu wakes up on an old-fashioned train, facing Fuuka? and he?s as sick of this loop as I am. This time, the voice doesn?t even give them time to get their bearings before trapping them in another illusion. In this fantasy, Fuuka is getting married (and given that they?re in a church, I guess this confirms the Igasaki family are Catholic), with Takaharu as the only guest on the bride?s side (could be worse. The groom?s side has no-one). Fuuka then looks over to her husband? and realises that she doesn?t even know him (arranged marriage, amirite?). And for added wedding cliche bingo points, Mio bursts in at the ?speak now or forever hold your piece? part. She then chews out Tokacchi for going through with the fantasy. With the ruse broken, a group of Jukkarage appear (including one disguised as the priest). Takaharu: It?s one thing after another! What the heck! Everyone then transforms to fight off the grunts. But they then get faced with the true perpetrator of the illusions, Yokai Wanyuudo (who the Ninningers were warned about in their meeting with Shurikenger.), a Yokai created from a Kurainer Robo. He forces them back to reality and locks them in his cart. Takaharu and Fuuka then remember Wanyuudo defeating them earlier and kidnapping them. Elsewhere, the other 4 are receiving the same explanation from Kagura and Hikari, who explain that they were able to free them by using Wanyuudo?s illusions against him, having been made adults again by Conductor. Not that that makes it clearer to Yakumo (or me, for that matter). So, Tokkachi decides to fill them in on ToQger?s plot. And Mio cuts him off there, since he?s rambling. As she explains that the ToQgers defeated the Shadow Line (like that wasn?t obvious). But then Mio explains why there?s a conflict now. She explains that he?s a bit of a ninja fanatic and he created the Yami Ninja Land to capture the Ninningers. When Takaharu gets excited at having to defeat the Dark Doctor rather than angry, Tokacchi compares him to Right? who shows up as if on cue. He then breaks a hole for everyone to escape through before they enter the tunnel to Yami Ninja Land? but Takaharu ends up missing the jump due to slipping on the peel from the banana Fuuka was eating earlier (That?s another great thing about Ninninger. Seemingly small details come back in big ways later on) As Kyuemon prevents Fuuka?s party from giving chase, the Yokai Ressha pulls up to Yami Ninja Land. Once inside, Takaharu meets the park?s creator, Dark Doctor Mavro (No, not that Mavro), who is a big ninja fanboy. So much so, that he created dark clones of legendary ninja. Mavro: The famous leader of the Iga Clan. Mavro: The wild leader of the Houjou?s Fuma Clan. Mavro: The Kouga-style ninja who served Sanada Yukimura. (Also the inspiration behind Ninja Red and Kamen Rider Kenzan) In the ensuing fight, the dark clones gain the upper hand with Chou Ninpo: Yami Kaen no Jutsu. Then, at the press of a button, they begin to merge with Takaharu, as Mavro explains his evil plan. Which is not, as it turns out, to create the most outrageously expensive theme park there is (Walt Disney already did that). The resulting fusion gives birth to Yami AkaNinger (who the writer admitted in an interview that he only added to the plot due to these vs movies having become contractually obligated to include a fight between the two Sentai, yet he thought it would by out of character for the Ninningers to start a fight with the ToQgers and vice versa. Remember that). And in case you thought this would simply be a possession job, Takaharu separates out of Yami AkaNinger. Mavro explains that Takaharu is now simply the leftovers, and that he will eventually fade away, while the Yami AkaNinger becomes the real one. Takaharu tries to fight back, which just gets Mavro to discard his disguise and assume his true form. (Which looks even more Wonka-esque). Takaharu is only saved from an instant death by Right appearing to save him. Elsewhere, Kyuemon reveals this to Fuuka, before disappearing. After a staff meeting at the Igasaki dojo, Yakumo uses his magic to turn the ToQgers into ninja so they can help stage a rescue, despite Tsumuji?s worrying about them. In the middle of this, Takaharu and Right formally meet, with the latter regretting not saving the former sooner and agreeing to help him stop the Yami AkaNinger. Back at Yami Ninja Land, Yami AkaNinger performs the Shuriken Ninpo: Yami Hadou no Jutsu, to fill the world with darkness. Mavro and Kyuemon then discuss what their plan is: to fill the world with darkness to create the necessary fear to revive Kibaoni. Though Kyuemon can?t help Mavro any further, he does have hybrid clones of the Shadow Line executives mixed with famous ninja to guard the entrances. While Takaharu and Right engage Yami AkaNinger, Yakumo, Tokacchi and Mio come across Noir, using Yakumo?s magic to create a large army of clones to overwhelm her. But Tokacchi almost gets caught due to tripping on a nail,r enquiring them to attack her to get through. Elsewhere, Fuuka, Kagura and Kinji dress as maiko to have Nero let his guard down? but the one he?s attracted to is not the one you?d expect. Enraged, Fuuka and Kagura drop their disguises, doing a combo attack to knock Nero down. Fuuka: Shuriken Ninpo: Senpuuki no Jutsu! Kagura: I?m a fan! I?m a fan! I?m a fan! SENPUUKI GIRL! Finally, Kasumi, Nagi and Hikari come across Schwartz, deciding to recreate Ishikawa Goemon?s real world death to overcome him. Nagi and Kasumi: Joukyuu Shuriken Ninpo! Goemon Ofuro no Jutsu! Mizu no Jutsu/Kaen no Jutsu: Mix! In the middle of the fight with Yami AkaNinger, Akira shows up, with a welcome new spin on a tired old line, to hold off Mavro. Back in the city, Kyuemon and Wanyuudo won?t wait for Mavro to finish his plan, instead deciding to gather fear right there and then. As the Jukkarage appear, they are blocked from getting far by a group of newcomers. Just like Takaharu did last time, the new Red mistakes Wanyuudo for their villain group, Deathgalien (that is how it?s officially romanised. Trust me). When the new Green points out that they?re clearly not Deathgalien, the new White decides to clarify if they?re bad guys. Wanyuudo responds by declaring bloody vengeance. And so, they decide to introduce themselves to the kids at home. Red: Monarch of the Open Skies, ZyuohEagle! Blue: Monarch of the Wild Seas, ZyuohShark! Yellow: Monarch of the Savannah, ZyuohLion! Green: Monarch of the Deep Forest, ZyuohElephant! White: Monarch of the Snow Fields, ZyuohTiger! ZyuohEagle: Doubutsu Sentai? All: (That?s not his regular line) Everyone but Eagle then gains animal attributes (he just gets a sword. Don?t worry, he gets something thematically appropriate in-show). After beating the snot out of the Jukkarage, the 5 then pull out their guns and aim at Wanyuudo, destroying him (what happens to his Sealing Shuriken, I don?t know). It?s then that Elephant thinks to ask a question. Back with the battle, the other Ninningers and ToQgers arrive, with the latter lending the former their weapons. After combining into the Linkup Bazooka, Kagura then instructs Fuuka in its use. And so, Yami AkaNinger is weakened with the Rainbow Rush: Red Peppers (a fear established in episode 23 of Ninninger proper). Allowing Takaharu to deliver a punch that finishes off his evil doppelg?nger. But this changes nothing, as Takaharu runs out of time and disappears. In purgatory, Takaharu meets with Yoshitaka, who reminds him of their family?s motto: ?Don?t kill me off?, using visions to show that everyone will miss him if he dies with his dream of winning the Last Ninja Race unresolved. And so, with the power of imagination on both sides, Takaharu returns to the land of the living. Mavro is disappointed with this outcome. So he decides to unleash his army to turn everyone into Yami Ninjas.which means that it?s time to transform. NinShurikens: AkaNinger/AoNinger/KiNinger/ShiroNinger/MomoNinger/StarNinger Shuriken! ToQ Braces/AppliChanger: Now transforming! Please wait behind the white line! Ninja Ichibantous: The Henge! Nin Nin Nin! Nin Ni Nin Nin! Ninja Star Burger: The Change! Ninningers: Shuriken Henge! Kinji: Shuriken Change! ToQgers: ToQ Change! Ninja Ichibantous: Aka-ja! Ao-ja! Ki-ja! Shiro-ja! Momo-ja! Ninjas! Ninja Star Burger: StarNinger! Wow! ToQ Brace: ToQIchigou, ToQIchigou! ToQNigou, ToQNigou! Tokacchi: The Shining Glasses! ToQBrace: ToQSangou, ToQSangou! ToQYongou, ToQYongou! ToQGogou, ToQGogou! Kagura: Alright! AppliChanger: ToQRokugou, ToQRokugou! Takaharu: A Splendid Rampage! AkaNinger! Yakumo: The Roaring Cloud! AoNinger! Nagi: The Shimmering Calm! KiNinger! Fuuka: A petal blowing in the wind! ShiroNinger! Kasumi: The Wavering Mist! MomoNinger! Kinji: The Colorful Star! StarNinger! ToQgers: The Victorious Imagination! Ressha Sentai ToQger! Takaharu: We may shinobi, but we do not hide? Kinji: We may be shinobi, but we party all night? Ninningers! Shuriken Sentai Ninninger! Takaharu: Instead of hiding? Right: Full speed ahead! The fight then begins, with all of the groups having a rematch with their previous opponents, except for Akira and Kinji, who take on the Kuros and Jukkarage. Kasumi and Hikari employ combo moves so the latter can defeat Schwartz with Kaen no Jutsu, Nagi, Fuuka and Kasumi use caltrops to defeat Nero?s use of Shadow Ninpo: Kiri no Jutsu? And Yakumo and Tokacchi get put to sleep by Noir?s Shadow Ninpo: Oyasuminesai, which gets beaten back by Mio using her ToQBlaster to fight back. Finally, Takaharu and Right defeat Mavro by combining their attacks into the ToQ Nin-Retsu-Zan! However, Mavro survives and retreats to his Kurainer, deciding to cover the world in darkness himself. While the ToQ Ressha head him off? The Ninningers use Shurikenjin and Bison King to fight a pair of Kurainer Robos. After a short fight, the two OtomoNin combinations knock their enemies into the water. But Mavro recovers both, combining them with his own Kurainer to form the Cho Cho Kurainer Robo. Takaharu thus decides to Chozetsu Henge so he can summon Lion Ha-Oh to form Ha-Oh Shurikenjin. But this doesn?t help, causing Ticket to appear to announce an emergency combination. ToQ-Oh and the Build Ressha take the places of Shurikenjin and Rodeomaru in the combination, creating Ha-Oh ToQ-Oh. A name that Akira takes umbrage to (like he did with Cho Cho ToQ-Oh back in episode 23 of ToQger). The OtomoNin and Ressha then do a combo attack, with Takaharu summoning Paonmaru, UFOmaru, Surfermarunand Dinomaru: OtomNin Linkup Apare Crash, which destroys Mavro and his dark designs. As the ToQgers depart, and Akira actually introduces himself, Mio realises that she forgot to do her homework? as Conductor?s magic wears off, turning them back into children. Cue the credits, with a modified version of Ninninger?s ED. Go! One two three four five de ja ja ja jaaan! Nin nin nin alright! Full speed ahead, Ninningers! Fire up a big, big firework! Just once, it is our dreams It's okay to fly, because you... ...always are surrounded by many friends Shuriken fight! Shu shu shu! Use your form changing Ninjutsu... ...to dance! Nin ni ni nin! Tomorrow looks splendid! It's a clear day in Japan! Go! Go! Sore! Sore! Sore! Sore! What is a ninja?! (Departing!) Oe oe oh! (Alright!) We have no intention of hiding! (Go for it!) What is a ninja?! (Wasshoi!) Oe oe oh! (Wasshoi!) It's a festival! A festival! Ja ja ja jaaan! Shuriken Sentai Ninninger! (Wasshoi!) We then end on a final scene with Tsumuji welcoming Takaharu home after the ordeal. Final thoughts: A movie with a lot of heart that gives everyone their chance to shine. Combine that with some actual research on these historical figures and we?ll-timed jokes, and I?d definitely recommend this to you. Last edited by Androzani84; 12-18-2021 at 04:03 AM.. |
12-01-2021, 11:52 AM | #9014 |
Standing By
Join Date: Feb 2020
Location: USA
Posts: 2,107
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Out of curiosity, would you recommend it to me as well? Other than Gingaman VS Megaranger which I fully intend to watch next year, Ninninjer VS ToQGer is the only VS I haven't watched, due to my lack of investment in the premise. The Dark Akaninjer subplot sounds like it was copied from Gedou Shinken Red and I didn't like it then either, although it's good to know there's a throwback to Takaharu's fear of peppers. Does Wagon even get any important focus in this? I guess I like Ninninjer a lot more than the average person, so there's that. How would you sell this movie to me based on these factors? Is it worth watching? I watched the clip of Zyuohger's cameo on YouTube a long time ago and I thought it did a great job at introducing those characters.
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心 と 刃 Last edited by Sh Ranger; 12-01-2021 at 11:56 AM.. |
12-01-2021, 12:31 PM | #9015 |
Avi by @CSarracenian
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Posts: 4,186
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Last Sunday I watched Ten Gokaiger after hearing about a new Super Hero Getter and I enjoyed it so much that I decided to get started on the Dekaranger subs I've had on my PC for over a year at this point and holy shit Dekaranger is a top tier Sentai, Ban's a hotheaded Red and allbut he's very charming in his kiddy nature, Houji is probably my favourite of thw group as his episodes are tge most fun I've had with this amazing show, Sen's neat but I'm a tad disappointed with how his first focus episode is really good with anice way to tell the mystery before the actual reveal but other episodes not doing that. Jasmine is a delight and I adore seeing her, she's similae to Luka, my favourite Yellow when it comes to spunk and Umeko is up there with Kagura as my favourite Pink, she's great fun and Tetsu? I knew nothing about Tetsu other than that he crossdresses a lot but aa genuinely nice person as a 6th who's friendly from the start without needing to undo some brainwashing or anything or needing to become a Ranger is a very nice change of pace from what I'm used to. Currently at episode 33 and cannot wait to finish it
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12-01-2021, 12:56 PM | #9016 |
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Quote:
Out of curiosity, would you recommend it to me as well? Other than Gingaman VS Megaranger which I fully intend to watch next year, Ninninjer VS ToQGer is the only VS I haven't watched, due to my lack of investment in the premise. The Dark Akaninjer subplot sounds like it was copied from Gedou Shinken Red and I didn't like it then either, although it's good to know there's a throwback to Takaharu's fear of peppers. Does Wagon even get any important focus in this? I guess I like Ninninjer a lot more than the average person, so there's that. How would you sell this movie to me based on these factors? Is it worth watching? I watched the clip of Zyuohger's cameo on YouTube a long time ago and I thought it did a great job at introducing those characters.
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12-01-2021, 04:04 PM | #9017 |
Standing By
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Location: USA
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Quote:
Wagon doesn?t get any screen time in his (likely because of the cost involved in rebuilding the Rainbow Liner set) and I do think the Dark AkaNinger plot is sufficiently different from Gedou Shinken Red (the latter was more of a possession, while this is essentially an evil twin plot). If you like Ninninger, I would probably recommend it strongly.
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心 と 刃 Last edited by Sh Ranger; 12-01-2021 at 04:16 PM.. |
12-02-2021, 06:07 PM | #9018 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
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~Fish's Zenkai Tour!~
Brave 37 – Juuden Sentai Kyoryuger I was weirdly unenthusiastic about getting into Super Sentai, even as I was already dipping my toes into it starting with Gokaiger, as it was airing. So much so that I slept on Go-Busters for most of its run, only to end up becoming a huge Go-Busters fan when I actually remembered to give it a chance right as it was wrapping up. I was in the perfect position to jump onboard for the next show in line... but I was only a huge fan of Go-Busters, in that moment, so I slept on yet another show for most of its run. Somewhere in that gap I believe watched Go-Onger on a whim, and loved that too, as you might've read about. That show did a ton to warm me up to the franchise as a whole, which I don't want to understate, but there still wasn't quite a series that was for me what Gokaiger was for so many others. I didn't yet have this like, exemplar Sentai, that wowed me with its constantly epic over the top awesomeness to such a degree that I'd really start paying attention to the franchise the same way I was now paying attention to Kamen Rider. As Kyoryuger was nearing the end of its run, I decided on a whim, as ever, that I at least owed it the ol' guilt-free first episode. After all, if I didn't enjoy it that much, I could always go right back to ignoring it, right? Dozens of episodes later, Kyoryuger quickly became some of the absolute most fun I have ever had pounding out a toku show. I forget exactly how fast I was binging my way through all those episodes that had piled up, but what I remember for sure is the sheer immediacy of the connection I felt to Kyoryuger. The entire wavelength the show was operating on fit my tastes so well. It might need stressing exactly what I'm saying when I tell you I had fun watching Kyoryuger. Obviously I'm rarely watching a toku show that doesn't entertain me on some level, but I will tell you without hesitation that the experience of watching Kyoryuger for me was more fun than shows I like better than it. I don't know if it just hit me at the right moment or what, but for as important as Go-Onger was to this process, it feels in my memory like the pilot light Kyoryuger used to start a huge fire in my heart. Like, this series reawakened something in me. And I suppose the thing it did reawaken was maybe just that childhood sense of wonder, if you'll forgive the cliche. But like, I've spent all this time stressing how I didn't "get" Super Sentai right away, and the whole reason I find that initial lack of enthusiasm strange in retrospect is because I've literally been fascinated by this stuff as long as I can remember, which you might've also read about earlier on the tour. (Lots of things coming together this week!) The appeal really isn't complicated. It's five or more rad as heck dino heroes fighting evil while catchy rock music plays. Swap the rock out for a dash of samba, and you've already got the basics on Kyoryuger. That's maybe the crux of this one. My love of Kyoryuger isn't about any complex thematic reading, or the depth of its plotting, or anything like that. I mean, I'm sure I could make that case if I wanted to just fine, but the actual uniqueness of Kyoryuger to me is always going to be that visceral thrill of seeing these larger than life characters on the screen and thinking "these guys are so cool and strong!!!" This in of itself is evidence of Kyoryuger's rock solid construction, though. Emphasizing the strength of the heroes was an active goal for the series, and that's apparent all over the place. (The "Kyo" in Kyoryuger even literally means strength.) I think they did a fantastic job of this, because the things that came out of this direction were what immediately drew me into the show's world once I starting watching it. ...That's a very natural segue into talking about the first episode, actually, so allow me to try and convey the overwhelming awesomeness of Kyoryuger's premiere from square one. Right away, it's bad guys doing bad things. The first thing in the whole show is Shigeru Chiba narrating about how the dinosaurs were totally awesome until they went extinct, and then informing the viewer that the very same fate now threatens humanity. Bummer! So now all these freshly revived monsters are popping up in locations all over the world and messing stuff up, and we're barely a minute in. Even on a random small island out in the ocean, these dudes are harassing the locals. Then this one super brave guy who is apparently called "King" comes in to save the day and starts fearlessly throwing down with some goons. Sweet! Just when it seems like he's in over his head, this rad bird dude descends from the sky, tosses him a handgun shaped liked a dinosaur, and tells him to go to town, and then this "King" promptly starts wiping the floor with the bad guys. Sick! Then the bird dude summons a giant battery-powered robot Tyrannosaurus rex, who also starts wiping the floor with the bad guys! Then bird dude introduces himself as Torin, and tells King that him and that T-Rex, Gabutyra, are looking to put together a group of awesome heroes called the Kyoryugers, four of whom are shown already fighting in different spots around the globe, who will combat the oncoming crisis by doing basically this, but ALL THE TIME. King is understandably pumped as heck about this, as am I. It's been a little under four minutes; the theme song plays. This was just the cold open. I mean, how am I not gonna be hooked already, right? Look at how cool this King guy, Daigo, is, before he even becomes Kyoryu Red. And you're telling me there's at least four more people this awesome? Which brings me right to one of the things I love so much about Kyoryuger. Because of that whole "strength" thing, It makes a point that this isn't a team about five people who become strong when brought together, like usual. Any single Kyoryuger alone is already as tough as can be, and together, they're downright unstoppable. This leads to all these cool touches to the characterization that are so deeply appealing to me for reasons I can barely describe. It's the whole point of the loose multinational thing going on here, for one, with the different locations each member comes from being one of many things meant to stress that these are very fundamentally different people. This is a group consisting of a hot-blooded adventurer, a ladies' man with a troubled past, a goofy handyman who just loves his family, a stoic high school kid trained in the way of the sword, and an upper class college girl with a pronounced tough side. It's an odd bunch for sure, and the thrust of the initial stretch of episodes is how Daigo is the only one eager to bring the team together as friends once they all wind up in Japan. Notably, they were making it a point not to even tell each other their civilian identities before he comes along, and that kinda says it all. Again, this gripped me right away for whatever reason. I love the awkward chemistry everyone has in their brief scenes together in the premiere, playing with this whole idea by having them meet as regular people ("regular" people), with the only thing truly uniting them being the other four's mutual refusal to call Daigo "King". Which of course gets a great callback at the end, when Daigo makes the mistake of telling the other Kyoryugers they should totally call him King because everybody does, which works about as well the second time. Despite the matching uniforms, the Kyoryugers initially feel more akin to a bunch of headstrong individual superheroes who form a team, rather than simply a team of superheroes, if that makes sense. Watching them grow to feel more like the latter than the former is part of the show's appeal, for sure. One thing the team does have in common right away though, is that they all had to fight their own giant robot dinosaur partners to prove themselves worthy of their powers. Which is like, maybe one of the coolest backstories for a Sentai ever? We get to directly witness this in the premiere with Daigo, right on the other side of that opening theme (the episode is seriously this awesome constantly), and it's such an absolutely perfect way to set the exaggerated tone the show is going for. It goes back to the idea of making the heroes seem strong, of course, but more than even that, there's just an intensity to that as a concept, and it's the kind of standard you can expect from this show. In the premiere alone, before the rest of the Kyoryugers show up to help, the first real team we see fighting is actually Kyoryu Red alongside Gabutyra, stressing the dinosaurs plus humans cool factor of the premise in the most literal way possible. The two of them are tearing through even more mooks than at the start together, and it's a glorious sequence. Not to mention the proper monster of the week here is an ice-themed one explicitly credited with wiping out the dinosaurs. So in the very first episode of Kyoryuger, the real world history of the dinosaurs going extinct is made into a physical villain for the heroes to blow up in a fun action sequence. It could not possibly be wearing its status as a fantasy series on its sleeve any harder if it tried. Kyoryuger is just one of those shows that knows exactly what it wants to be, you know? It's always struck me as a show with a lot of vision behind it, and I could go on and on about so many more touches that contribute to creating that energetic atmosphere it aims for. Two particular ones that deserve a mention are the way the Kyoryugers dance as part of their transformation, and the concept for the robot cockpit this year. In the case of the cockpits, the idea was to have the team all standing on podiums, physically mimicking the moves they want the robot to make, which is of course way more active and thematically relevant than chairs and buttons would be. It's another thing where I can only sort of describe why, but I always found this brilliant. It looks very kinetic and appealing on the screen, and I feel like it sorts of connects the heroes with the audience as much as it does the robot, as if the Kyoryugers are the kids at home acting out these epic battles. The transformations, on the other hand, I can get at easily. I always saw the dancing as a way to trick kids into a tiny bit of exercise whenever they're playing with their Gaburevolvers, for one, mostly because it's endearing to think of it that way. No standing in place if you wanna be a Kyoryuger! These guys are all about movement! ...Which is the other thing, naturally – it's yet another bit of cohesion in the show's style. Really, the whole emphasis on music probably deserves a section to itself, but with everything I've said about Kyoryuger being heightened and full of energy, the choice of samba as a motif shouldn't be too surprising. Music of that sort, it's all about people coming together and getting pumped up, and that's practically the mission statement for Kyoryuger. I might've been lying when I said my love of Kyoryuger wasn't about the depth or themes earlier? Because on second thought, all this stuff qualifies, doesn't it? There's a thorough consideration that went into all these individual elements of the series, and how they speak to each other and interact to create a whole that conveys something specific to the viewer. Sounds like thematic complexity to me! It's just that what the thematic complexity is conveying is mostly that Kyoryuger is simply fun, which I credit in large part to a writer I'm convinced was having the time of his life writing this show. Of the forty-five Sentai series that exist as I'm writing this, Kyoryuger is the only one handled entirely by a single writer, and I think that's just because Riku Sanjou can't bring himself to share it with anyone else. There's a vibe I consistently get from Sanjou's tokusatsu work that his main goal with any script is for you to have as much fun watching it as he had writing it, and nowhere is this more apparent than Kyoryuger. This is a series he's so attached to, that he'll even the write the script for a full-length extra episode of the series produced four years after it ends under the tenuous pretense of it being a cross-promotion with a mobile game that happened to have "Brave" in the title – which is a real thing that actually happened! But man, at that point, it's no longer just Sanjou's attachment that's impressive, is it? Needless to say, Kyoryuger went over well for just about everyone involved. It stands to this day as one of the most financially successful Sentai ever thanks to the truckloads of merch it shipped, Korea liked it so much they made their own small sequel series that got dubbed back into Japanese, the original cast and crew just made an extra episode out of the blue one day... heck, even during the original broadcast, the ending theme for most of the show's run was filled with clips tons of viewers sent in of themselves happily dancing along. And you what? Good for Kyoryuger! I think it deserves every bit of that success! I know I certainly love it too, at least. It feels like this is happening more and more lately, but I could easily keep gushing for so much longer. Just as an example, I kind of totally forgot to mention earlier that this was also the Sentai with Kouichi Sakamoto as a main director, and how perfect a fit he was for this job. (Some great explosions in that premiere!) There's a mountain of further specifics I'd love to talk about too, but I think the broad picture is pretty clear at this point. Kyoryuger is a beautifully bombastic good time in my book. It's got loads of exciting action, endearingly quirky characters, and surprisingly engaging drama, all delivered with genuine heart. In other words, Kyoryuger is arguably everything you could want out of a Super Sentai show. But then, with the impact it had on me, I would think that, wouldn't I?
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Last edited by Fish Sandwich; 12-02-2021 at 06:57 PM.. |
12-02-2021, 06:12 PM | #9019 |
Some guy. I'm alright.
Join Date: Sep 2019
Location: Michigan
Posts: 4,424
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That's maybe the crux of this one. My love of Kyoryuger isn't about any complex thematic reading, or the depth of its plotting, or anything like that. I mean, I'm sure I could make that case if I wanted to just fine, but the actual uniqueness of Kyoryuger to me is always going to be that visceral thrill of seeing these larger than life characters on the screen and thinking "these guys are so cool and strong!!!"
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12-03-2021, 04:40 AM | #9020 |
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Join Date: Oct 2019
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I hate to be the sole anti-Kyoryuger voice, but I was never taken in by the hype around Kyoryuger and I wasn't the biggest fan of Go-Busters either, I just knew what they were trying to do and, perhaps for similar reasons to Go-Onger although Kyoryuger tried less of a comedic slant, I just didn't warm to the blatant attempt at making it ''more light-hearted'' given it struck me as still not having much substance.
While I do genuinely prefer both Power Rangers Dino Charge and Dino Force Brave to it(), of course there are still some positives, obviously due to the sheer number of warriors in it there are still a couple that I like and that one closing bad joke ''Nossan'' did about scouring pads did actually stay with me! |
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