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05-07-2021, 06:38 AM | #8541 |
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Quote:
Well even if the answer is ‘no’, here’s the second of the two “re-reviews” I promised last week. Scroll 8: Hayate and Ikazuchi Last time, our heroes got beaten down by a mysterious duo identifying as the Gouraigers, the Ikazuchi Way’s legendary champions. They then left after the beatdown, but not before unmasking themselves as these guys: Ikazuchi Way’s KabutoRaiger, Ikkou Kasumi and Ikazuchi Way’s KuwagaRaiger, Isshu Kasumi. Back to the present, where our heroes are discussing where they go next… though they quickly get distracted by the Kuroko playing kendama (a Japanese educational game involving a ball attached by a strong to a hammer, both made of wood). Oboro isn’t able to give them much to go on, due to how little is known about the Ikazuchi Way. But she does know this. It’s also pointed out that the Kasumi Bros are two of the strongest and dangerous Ninjas in recent times. Our trio come to the conclusion that their new foes merely want to settle their 500-year rivalry, since the scheduled rematch didn’t take place. So they figure by telling the two about the threat, they’ll team up with them to take down Jakanja (Ah, the folly of youth). Speaking of the Jakanja, they’re positively gushing over the new guys. (And despite it being disproven in the last episode, the Floaty-Head still thinks they’re the remaining two Spears. Blind faith, much?) Well, almost all of them Tau Zant then bids Sargain begin his next plan to corrupt the planet with a new puppet: Water-Absorbing Ninja Gamajakushi (Who I will refer to as “Tad” from now on). Tad then throws his tadpoles into the water, using them to activate his Uchuu Ninpo: Mizu Kui (Water Absorb) Within a small amount of time, Oboro has recovered one of the tadpoles, courtesy of the kuroko and manages to find out a lot from dumping it in a green liquid (Japanese cream soda?). The Hurricanegers then set off for the sea, reasoning that he’ll be going there next, if his plan is to suck up the waters of Earth. And at the sea, the Gouraigers give their reviews of Jakanja’s plans. The Hurricanegers then run into them on the way, making their pitch. Ikkou calls them naive, before they get interrupted by Tad appearing to kill them all (I guess Sargain decided he wanted the Gouraigers out of the picture). The Hurricanegers transform and fight, but prove woefully ineffective against Tad and his Uchuu Ninpo: Gama Kudaki (Toad Crush). After watching their ancient enemies get beaten up, the Kasumi Bros decide to step in and join the fight. As I said in my previous review, what really adds to the creepy factor, besides the fact these obvious anti-heroes are using the same transformation phrase as the heroes, is the music playing in the background (skip to 1:41). They then proceed to do their (much more understated) role call. With this done, the two then pull out their weapons. But what happens next surprises everyone (including, presumably, the audience) Tad’s attacks are unable to do much of anything, since the Gouraigers are prepared for it. And that’s not all the DX Ikazuchimaru can do(Buy it in 2002, for the price of slightly more than a DX Rider belt). After dominating the fight with their Ikazuchimarus up until now, the Gouraigers use their individual weapons, the Horn Breaker (a gun, and incidentally, the only actual weapon among the “gadgets”) and the Stag Breaker (a claw that discharges electricity). After softening Tad up a bit, they then pull out their Two-way Union Double Gadget. Ikkou: Set, Thunder! As Tad is destroyed, the two Ikazuchi Ninjas then take their leave. As Tad gets revived as a Copy Giant, the Hurricanegers form Senpuujin, which is just as helpless against the barrage of tadpoles… that is, until Oboro sees the Kendama game from earlier and gets an idea. (There’s very little in this series that’s pointless) One reprogramming of the two later, they can combine. And thus, Goat Crusher and Tortoise Hammer are combined into Karakuri Combo: Goat Hammer. With their new weapon, the Hurricanegers knock the tadpoles away, before destroying Tad for good with the Finish Trick: Hurricane Suisei. When the battle is done, our trio reunite with the Gouraigers… only for the two to say this. Yosuke asks why they helped them out, to which the two have this to say. (And as episode 50 shows, they’re right) This is overheard by Tau Zant in the Centipede. The Hurricanegers have one question. A question that impresses neither of their rivals. (To be fair, they do have something of a point) Isshu states that it’s something that will allow the Ikazuchi Way to reinvent itself as the strongest in the world… and idea that he didn’t submit to Ikkou for approval. Ikkou states that “that” will allow the Gouraigers to become the strongest Uchuu Ninjas, stating they’d rather die trying to get it than let Jakanja or the Hurricanegers obtain it (I doubt the Hurricanegers would want it, given that I’m at the point where I know what “that” is). Tau Zant then broadcasts a message to the Kasumi Bros. He then sends them a sphere to board, which they do as the episode ends with it taking off. Final thoughts: Once again, my thoughts on the episode are the same as last time. But once again, it’s been fun to go back and rewatch this episode, in light of later developments (such as Floaty Head’s blind faith in the Gouraigers contrasting with his later attempts to ruin KabutoRaiger’s life). Well, I’ve enjoyed these two re-reviews, an I hope you enjoyed reading them just as much. |
05-07-2021, 02:06 PM | #8542 |
Member
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 902
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^ Funny that you brought up Hurricaneger since I'm currently up to the two-parter Hurricaneger tribute episodes in Gokaiger. So far, it's been very interesting re-watching the other tribute episodes as well as the 35th anniversary movie that as doubles as their crossover with Goseiger before it since I watched a lot of those Sentai seasons in their entirety before jumping back in to this particular series.
Last edited by GuardianAngel87; 05-07-2021 at 02:15 PM.. |
05-07-2021, 02:51 PM | #8543 |
Veteran Member
Join Date: May 2019
Posts: 2,551
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Ill be reviewing that two-parter in the near future. And believe me, if you expect positivity, you’ll be barking up the wrong tree.
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05-09-2021, 07:45 PM | #8544 |
Member
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 902
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Just finished episode 40 of Gokaiger which also serves as a tribute episode to Timeranger. Only 11 episodes to go.
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05-12-2021, 06:51 PM | #8545 |
Member
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 902
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Just finished Gokaiger. A very fun series from start to finish both as an anniversary season and as a stand-alone and I can now finally say that it's another favorite series of mine. Now, it's onward to Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters.
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05-13-2021, 05:48 PM | #8546 |
Stronger Than You
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: nyet
Posts: 25,326
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Finished Abaranger a bit ago. Stewed on it for a bit to collect my thoughts.
Abaranger was a series I wanted to see for some time now, as I always loved the idea of a Red ranger with a child, an evil sixth that stays evil for the majority of the series, and just seemed so weird. And it did deliver on all those, but it just felt so...Lacking. One thing it had in spades was sheer insanity. So many episodes were just completely crazy and wacky that I couldn't comprehend what happened, and I loved that. The episode chosen for Lost and Found in Translation really did set the stage for what Abaranger was all about. Surreal, crazy, and sheer fun. However, that's really about it when it comes to the series, which is unfortunate, because I wanted to like it more than I did. We'll move to the second strongest factor, Ryoga and Mai. A red ranger with a child is certainly a unique take, and I'm definitely thankful that Mai stuck around as was a major factor. However, I felt that they handled the entire thing poorly. While I know "Red ranger makes promise, breaks it because Ranger duties" would become a repetitive story line, I just felt that the sheer lack of (Non MOTW induced) conflict really made their story shallow. Still, for what it's worth, it didn't feel like a complete waste, as we did get some nice episodes and moments between the two. The other character that got focus was Asuka. And he was alright. I don't know, I just didn't gel with him, as I felt his storyline was just so bland. I guess after the likes of Jetman's Marie, his plot with Mahoro just felt like a watered down version. Them having a child is nice, though. The other characters were basically just...There, which was a big issue. While it was nice to see AbareBlue open up to others more, ultimately, they just around. Mikoto's motivation to be evil, him becoming the main villain's lead, and finally the final twist revolving around him all felt weak simply due to his being evil solely "Because I'm bored." It was a let down, and his warming up to the others was painfully forced. Honestly, Abaranger was a series I was looking forward to watching, and in the end, I found myself let down and bored. Something I had never done before was skip episodes or run them at 2x speed, but around the final stretch, I was doing that multiple times simply due to sheer disinterest in what was going on, and just wanted to watch plot relevant episodes at that point. I don't have a handy list of Sentai in order of personal quality, but if I did assemble a new one, Abaranger would definitely in the bottom half.
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05-13-2021, 08:34 PM | #8547 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
Posts: 3,833
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~Fish's Zenkai Tour!~
Episode 10 – Choushinsei Flashman Most of what I knew about Flashman was that its theme song is also insanely catchy. I like to listen to all the Super Sentai themes in a row every now and then, and those few minutes when it gets to Changeman and this show right in a row are always so glorious. I mean, the Flashman lyrics literally have them bragging about not even knowing what the word "danger" means in-between that repeated chant of "FLASH! FLASH! FLASH! FLASH!" It's got a way of sticking in your head is what I'm saying. Beyond that, I mean, it's the show that introduced the concept of the second robot to Sentai, which is a crucial point of no return for the franchise giving over ever more to the demands of marketing. I mean, I'm sure it sounds downright quaint now, but the robots were and are kind of like mascots for Sentai shows, so suddenly deciding the "face" of a series was no longer good enough to last a whole year was kind of a fateful moment, and reflective of a larger trend forming with robot anime and the like as well. But like, fun as this tangent is, that second robot is obviously introduced way past what I'm here to cover today, so I should move on to the premiere itself. It's another winner for Soda! Flashman seems like a show that will be my jam when I get around to seeing it in full. I'm going to start with a very specific reason why and work outwards from there – the characters' names. Seemingly a minor point, but this is the first Sentai with a cast that only has given names written in katakana rather than kanji. This is one of my favorite recurring Sentai tropes, used in shows that want to signify an "outsider" status to the heroes in some way, such as in ToQger, where the protagonists don't remember their families, or in Zyuranger, to reflect the fantasy origins of the cast. Flashman did both of those things I just mentioned right on the first go, further proving what a period of rapid evolution the franchise began once Soda took the reins with Goggle-V. What I love so much about this setup really comes down to me finding outsider protagonists fun in general, I guess. There's an inherent energy to a story centered around characters that fundamentally don't "belong" in the environment they find themselves, and for a Sentai specifically, that idea that the team really only has each other to lean on contributes to the characterization just as naturally. There's only so much of this that can be explored in a single episode, of course, so I'm more talking about the possibilities of the story right now, but it's a first outing that does a great job at assuring the viewer there will be more to come. The backstory of the team in Flashman is that they were all stolen from Earth at a young age by the bad guys and ended up being raised by more benevolent aliens out there in the cosmos, returning to their home planet all these years later to stop those same bad guys from laying waste to it. It's a golden premise, giving the heroes the simultaneous driving forces of revenge as well as the idea of them questing to reclaim the identities that were so cruelly stolen from them, which is of course all on top of the simple desire to protect that precious planet known as Earth, something they'd appreciate more than usual because they can't take living there for granted. Like, jeez, that is some seriously fertile ground for good storytelling right there, right!? But not too serious, because while the potential of that last paragraph is hinted at, a lot of what the premiere is concerned with is making it clear that Flashman, true to its name, is not going to be a show about gloomy tragic people bemoaning their horrible fate. No, instead, everyone has this fantastic youthful brightness to them I found really compelling, even in the brief window of time I got to know them in for now. They're all very eager in a way that's so fun to watch, and they have great chemistry with one another. Again, It feels like seeing the future of the franchise in action, because this is all stuff I associate with more modern shows, and yet here it is all the way back in '86. This is another one that left one heck of a first impression. I feel like it's sort of telling that this is the first show since all the way back when they were introduced in Battle Fever J to hold off on the giant robot in the premiere. Don't get me wrong, I would absolutely have welcomed some combination action here, but I think the lack of it after so many shows in a row suggests a certain level of confidence Flashman had in itself to be a little different. I look forward to seeing how much of that raw potential was realized some day!
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Last edited by Fish Sandwich; 03-05-2022 at 05:29 PM.. |
05-13-2021, 08:59 PM | #8548 |
Some guy. I'm alright.
Join Date: Sep 2019
Location: Michigan
Posts: 4,407
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Those suits are really similar to the Bioman ones. I guess Bioman must've been really popular, huh?
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05-13-2021, 09:08 PM | #8549 |
Showa Girl
Join Date: Jun 2018
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I've always thought of them along the same lines as Bioman, too! They've both got that 80s retro-future aesthetic going on, especially in the bubble helmets
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05-13-2021, 09:31 PM | #8550 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
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It's just a good basis for a suit design! The Flashman suits are actually a lot more along the lines of what I'd want out of a "sequel" to the Bioman suits. The shapes and lines are simplified and striking, and those stylish goggles also exist specifically to spice up the transformation sequence in a neat way, closing over the actors' eyes to sell the idea it's really them in there. I'm definitely a fan.
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