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01-14-2022, 09:37 AM | #9111 |
Showa Girl
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 9,064
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A little over a third into Magiranger (I think I'm right before the sixth introduction?) and I've been absolutely loving it. There's some flaws to be sure but on the whole it's a charming story about a family that supports each other, and an interesting and engaging family at that. Spice in an interesting enough ongoing plotline and it's been keeping me hooked for a bit now -- just a great show all in all at the moment
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01-14-2022, 09:59 AM | #9112 |
Member
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 907
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^ To be fair, I also didn’t include the reds from some of the Showa era seasons plus Turboranger and Fiveman since I’m still in the process of watching them and it just wouldn’t be fair to rank them before finishing their respective seasons. Like with Kiramager and Zenkaiger, the ranking list will be updated accordingly when I finished them in their entirety. Also, as much as I would’ve loved to include Kaoru from Shinkenger, I truly do since I liked her a lot better than Takeru, she is considered as an extra ranger, unfortunately. If it weren’t for that and if she is the main red of the series right from the very start, she would’ve been among my top ten favorite red rangers of the franchise if not top five easily.
Last edited by GuardianAngel87; 01-14-2022 at 10:16 AM.. |
01-14-2022, 08:44 PM | #9113 |
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!~
#42 – Kaitou Sentai Lupinranger VS Keisatsu Sentai Patranger Twice the teams, twice the fun, twice the times I've already watched the whole show, and twice the times I've now told you that this may or may not be the second-most cruel one of these I'm making myself write. I guess that's LuPat in a nutshell, but you just know there's no way I'm going to be satisfied with such a broad summary. The problem is, I'm not even sure where to start digging into the details. I mean, you've gotta understand, I utterly adore this series. Taking this back as far as I can possibly go, it's one of those Sentai I was excited for from its first announcements. As much fun as I had with Kyuranger, it was sort of a bummer that I wasn't getting another post-anniversary three-person Sentai show with an unusual approach to drama, lots of fresh ideas, and a tight focus on developing nuanced characters, since that had worked so well for me in the past. But then I wait another year, and I get that, but it's times two. It was awesome. I was so ready for this. The hot-blooded heroic drama of a cop show was about to combine with the enchantingly suave style of a story about gentleman thieves, and both of those were going to be meeting all the usual colorful outfits and giant robots and everything. It was love at first sight, essentially, and a premiere episode as strong as Lupinranger VS Patranger had was sure to cement that as quick as possible. When I say "as quick as possible", I mean almost exactly one minute in, by the way, which is when they make their entrance. The thieves everyone's been talking about, crashing through a casino window in a sequence of shots that is put together with a level of beauty and care I'm not sure you'll find in any other Sentai. I didn't know his name at the time, but after some equally impressive work on Kamen Rider following this series, Teruaki Sugihara would become a director everyone's been talking about (assuming they're people who talk about directors, anyway), and LuPat was the very first show he got to craft from the ground up. The eye for stylish flair Sugihara lends to these shows is nothing short of incredible. I firmly believe he exceeds every other director working for Toei in that specific area. He knows the all-important difference between realism and believability in film, and never hesitates to create shots that have the kind of exaggerated emphasis you'd normally find more often in animation, somehow making them work flawlessly in live-action. That glass smashing bit, right? I mean, I don't want to go on forever about like 20 seconds of the entire episode (except I do), but there's a great effect in there where for the purpose of fitting in a close-up of the trio's faces, you see them perfectly reflected in one of the shattered shards, as it flies precisely into the center of the camera, and that one little touch makes for an ideal example of so many things I love about Sugihara's direction. The actual shot you're seeing in the reflection is, of course, a completely separate thing composited onto a CG piece of glass, and when you think about what you're looking at literally, it doesn't even make sense. But because of the mood of the scene, the sheer awe with which these thieves are presented, between the fancy outfits, the glorious jazzy musical motif, and the actual practical effect of those windows getting smashed in eye-catching slow motion, it feels correct. It feels needed. It fits. And that's the story with everything about the visuals here. I could gush about all the little details in every bit all day long, but I'll try and settle for just another paragraph. I mean, the Lupinrangers' entrance is far from the only beautifully shot thing involving them here. Before they even transform, they're throwing down with a monster of the week and his mooks, and as they do, all the glitz and glamour of the casino they're in gets replaced by carnage and mayhem that is somehow even more glamorous. Bottles are exploding from stray gunshots, and so many bills are sent flying into the air that the room is continually raining money for way longer than can possibly be logical. But again, logic can't convey the tone this well, so who needs it? Amidst all this madness, the Lupinrangers are visibly calm and collected, effortlessly dancing their way through their foes to steal back a certain treasure out a safe located on one of their foes. ...They still haven't even transformed. I'm not even talking about things past three minutes into the episode yet. I really am gonna be here all day long. I seriously can't stress enough how next level the cinematography and action direction is here. The heroes manage to convey loads of personality as they flip about, the way the motions of every character flow together is given a ton of thought, and it's all shot in ways that are downright innovative for Super Sentai, including the use of a 360 degree camera at points during the climax, because I guess this show needed to be even more visually stunning. And this isn't to say Sugihara's touch only enhances the action! While I'm obviously quite taken by the exhilarating rush of the fights, the thing linking both that and the more drama-focused moments together is the cleanliness of the execution. Everything always looks great, AND communicates things about the story, in ways you probably won't even consciously be thinking about, because you're just that drawn in. LuPat, it just kinda breathes nice, you know? Even in episodes not directed by Sugihara, the standard he set here results is an entire series that's exceptionally pleasing to the eye. About that drama though. This was Junko Koumura's second go as main writer, following Zyuohger, and my praise for her writing on this series is going to be every bit as effusive as Sugihara's just was. Much like with him, it feels to me as though as the talent she had already shown up to this point just suddenly erupted into something truly special. Of course, I'm still keeping to that premiere for the moment. The script is – again, like the direction – so precise in its execution that I couldn't find a thing to complain about if I tried. Not that I *would* try, with my obvious bias, but still, I mean what I'm saying. This is a debut that flawlessly establishes a unique tone for a Sentai series, and lays down a super sturdy framework for a year's worth of storytelling, all in that tiny bit less than 24 minutes. You might think that with two separate teams to get a grasp on, that'd be trickier than usual, but if it is, Koumura sure as heck didn't make it look that way. Right away, you're being fed important information about the formula for the series. All that fun in the casino, it's giving you the basics on the monsters of the week without even really feeling like it. You see that they've got human disguises, treasures that give them powers they're using to do evil stuff, and the crucial, very unique wrinkle in the fights that the Lupinrangers need to retrieve those treasures out of safes built into their bodies before they can blow them up. An actual proper expository lecture about those treasures in the form of a conversation between Kairi and the mysterious benefactor of the team, Kogure, fills in further details about these treasures being part of the Lupin Collection, and how the group's entire mission is to get them back after they were stolen, with the trio being promised ~something~ in return for their efforts, but it's the way the script successfully mixes showing with telling that elevates it. The words in that conversation are super important, yeah, but everything about the conversation is also giving you stuff to read into. There's a bit of an uneasy atmosphere between the two of them, a lack of trust that makes for a notably different flavor from the typical Sentai. It's kind of a question at first how much Kogure even values the Lupinrangers as anything more than a means to an end, and that little bit of intrigue goes a long way towards pulling the viewer in. The trio themselves aren't quite the usual fare, either, and the premiere makes space to establish that quite well. As usual, the team's Red is a walking symbol of this, with Kairi essentially being teenage cockiness personified. The excessive self-confidence is maybe par for the course, but the way he expresses it... I mean, a kid with a mouth as smart as his isn't exactly going to be the magnet pulling his friends along, you know? He's the kind of person you put up with, a lot of the time, but like a teenager, he's hiding a lot under that bravado. Lupin Blue, Tooma, is who I had pegged as the least interesting character for a long time, but that was just me falling right into his trap. He's actually a twist on the usual cool Blue I don't think I've seen anywhere else, and the subtleties of his personality make him surprisingly fascinating once you catch on. In a lot of ways, he's secretly even more ill-tempered than Kairi, but he's also a master of self-control who keeps a lid on all his fierce emotions. It doesn't come off like he's simply worried about looking lame, or something childish like that, so much as he knows the disadvantages of letting people read him like an open book. I'm not sure if I'm using quite the right words here, but it's sort of strategic. And again, it took me way more than one episode to realize all this, but looking back, his talented cooking suggests a character who acts with immense precision, and even this early on, his actor slips a lot of intensity into some of his lines that, combined with the occasional snarky remark, clue you in to those layers hiding just underneath. Lupin Yellow, Umika, then, is easily the most openly vulnerable of the group, and probably the most well-adjusted human being, all things considered. She's quite bubbly, and also properly displays things like stress and frustration, which makes her utterly indispensable to balancing out the Lupinrangers' group dynamic. Beats like her not immediately understanding that Kairi is suddenly clearing the bistro they all work at of customers because their other business just picked up, or getting creeped out by a spider while crawling through an air vent, I love that stuff. I really like Umika. Tooma and Kairi are great, but they take to being secret thieves so well that sometimes you really just need someone a little more normal. But again, the Lupinrangers are notable for how normal they aren't, and the climax to the premiere sells that fantastically. After yet more thrilling action, Tooma and Umika are at the mercy of the monster when he demonstrates one of the really fun things about the Ganglers – the powers they get from the Lupin Collection pieces are in addition to more standard innate abilities – which puts Kairi in a real tough spot. So what is his solution? He remembers the promise the three of them made to make their collective wish come true no matter who falls in the process, and promptly brings the ceiling down on the monster while his comrades are right there. Which is pretty hardcore, right? Still not what you typically expect from these shows. And while that's pretty cool for the novelty alone, it's the depth cleverly hidden in this one action that makes this such an amazing peak for the episode. The thing is, for all the talk about the Lupinrangers having a rule against helping each other, and Kairi's seemingly rash decision to put his friends in more danger, what you're meant to be taking away from this scene is also the exact opposite? Kairi knows the weight of the oath the three of them share, and because of that, the basis of that decision is his faith that Tooma and Umika are determined enough to see this through that a little bit of stone coming down on their heads won't stop them. He absolutely cares about their lives, and sure enough, he's entirely correct that they'll use the distraction he provided to escape unscathed. Really, this is another scene I could go on about forever if I don't stop myself. This is such a great, tense way to establish the unique sort of desperation that drives the Lupinrangers, and of course, there are tons of considered details like how the fancy masks they all wear when on the job come off to coincide with this look into some of the deeper emotions of the team. One more reason I immediately fell in love with this series. So where the heck are the Patrangers in this show that's supposed to be about two teams, you might be asking. Well, one of the other smart tricks up this episode's sleeve is that, while it rightly prioritizes establishing the dark hero gimmick of the Lupinrangers (which needs way more explaining precisely because it's so against the grain for Sentai), you're also getting a pretty complete origin story for their more clean-cut opposite numbers. See, to the members of the Global Police team dedicated to dealing with the threat of interdimensional gangster monsters, the vigilante actions of the Lupinrangers aren't exactly helpful, which makes it all the more frustrating for Keiichirou Asaka that they're proving immensely popular with the public for being the only people with the power to fight on equal footing with the Ganglers. The Patrangers are set up as real underdogs, which makes them instantly endearing. Keiichirou may be getting way too worked up about this, but you can't help but root for the guy's desire to have proper, reliable, accountable professionals handling things. And just as Keiichirou's trademark passionate sense of justice comes across well, so too can you easily get a grasp on Tsukasa's much more calm and collected demeanor as the one woman who can talk Keiichirou out of his righteous temper tantrums, or Sakuya's role as the new guy who takes it so easy he's totally okay with letting the mystery criminals do their work for them, because work can be hard. I'd also be remiss not to mention my man Hilltop, the boss of the trio who's big on keeping the atmosphere at the office friendly and casual, as long as everyone is getting their job done. He seriously just kinda seems like a great guy to work under? The first thing he does in the whole show is bring his crew sweets! That's how you know he's sweet! Anyway, at the end of the episode, everything comes together with the Patrangers, having received their gear, arriving at the scene of the Lupinrangers' ongoing battle, and transforming for the first time to end on the cliffhanger of the title finally being realized, as the two teams get ready to square off. Pretty perfect moment to end on, all things considered. Instead of rushing into the main conflict, the show takes its time setting things up, while being sure to give just that littlest taste of what's to come for the next fifty episodes – that promise of how much more interesting things haven't even gotten yet. And man, things really do just keep getting interesting from this point on. Has there ever been one of these where I went on this long about just the first episode? Because if I try and touch on even a fraction of all the general points I also wanted to hit, I'm going to be here for a while yet. More like twice the teams, twice the length, huh? I mean, dude, Keiichirou. I've been telling myself for months and months he'd be getting his own paragraph when I got around to this show, and I'm not backing down on that. I would not hesitate to name this man as the greatest TV cop of all time. The surface level of his character is fun because he's always getting comically upset about those blasted phantom thieves, but there are so many more layers to why he acts the way he does, and the more you learn about him, the more you realize he's a stunningly ideal role model in so many respects. Ordinarily, a hotheaded super-cop character like him, they mostly just hate crime *that* much, probably because they don't want people dying or whatever, but Keiichirou's ideals are so much deeper than that. It's not enough to just protect people. Keiichirou considers the emotional well-being of the public every bit as important as their physical safety, and the crux of his distaste for the Lupins is how he feels people deserve so much better than self-interested thieves to look out for them. You can tell he truly values building that sense of mutual trust between law enforcement and the public, and it's honestly touching how much he just tries to be there for people, despite his naturally awkward personality. This is especially pronounced in his relationship with Kairi throughout the series, the angsty teenager he tries to look out for as best he can, blissfully unaware Kairi is also Lupin Red. Which naturally makes for a lot of great dramatic irony, and great spotlight episodes, and... ...You know, I really need to wrap this thing up, but I just can't do it. There's a really great episode later on (#37), that I really think demonstrates how genius Koumura's writing on this series is. It centers around a monster who has the power to shoot a beam that makes people go home. Like, they just fly up into the air and land at their house. It's exactly the kind of wacky modern Sentai monster power that's honestly way more fun and creative and interesting than just a guy who wants to kill people, and it makes for some equally fun, creative, and interesting plotting, with Keiichirou coming up with the idea to exploit the rules by moving into a tent he carries on his back into battle... which works. And that's probably enough substance for a Sentai episode, but the actual meat of the story is that the beam does nothing to Kairi, and the implications of that make for some extremely human, very real drama, getting great moments out of not only Keiichirou, who tries to help without knowing what's going on, but also Tooma, who knows what's going on but can't bring himself to try and help because of the distance inherent in their relationship. There's such genuine depth here, and this isn't even the only episode like this! Lupinranger VS Patranger is such a shining example of how the wackiness of tokusatsu can actively enhance the legitimate storytelling, and that balance, above all else, is why I never get tired of this show. You'll have to take my word how many other reasons there are, I guess. There was another whole section I wanted to do about how immensely appealing I find the striking minimalist design approach, with the Patrangers and Lupins having almost identical suits, and how communicative the contrasting details are, like the whole silver/gold thing, or the whole black and white thing, for that matter... and on that note there's the family names for each team having a connection to either night or day... and then their given names spell out Kai-To-U and Kei-Sa-Tsu... there are countless details and concepts in LuPat like this. I've gotta stop myself. I've gotta. It's real hard to stop, though. Which is probably why I started rewatching the whole series basically the moment after it ended. Lupinranger VS Patranger was a notable failure in terms of merch sales, but its impeccably strong writing didn't go unappreciated, landing it the first ever Galaxy Award for Super Sentai, which I can't pretend to know much about, but I gather it's quite the badge of honor. The award came with the comment (that I'm translating loosely) that LuPat "thoughtfully portrayed the relationship between two Sentai with different goals and senses of justice, depicting human drama with substance that exceeds the boundaries of a tokusatsu series", which, uh, yeah, that. I can tell from the context clue of how they felt the need to qualify that it's not just some tokusatsu show that the people who gave it the award probably weren't even huge nerds, so it should mean that much more that it won them over. Lupinranger VS Patranger, it's just awesome, in the most traditional sense of the word. I am in awe of it. Of its breathtaking visual style; of its remarkably engaging and fleshed out cast; of the sheer confidence with which it executes on what it sets out to do. So I'll say, one last time, I've gotta stop myself, and I'll also reiterate – once I start, it is *not* easy to stop myself from showering LuPat with praise.
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01-14-2022, 09:07 PM | #9114 |
Some guy. I'm alright.
Join Date: Sep 2019
Location: Michigan
Posts: 4,424
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I don't think I ever immediately rewatched a show after finishing it, personally.
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01-14-2022, 10:07 PM | #9115 |
Stronger Than You
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: nyet
Posts: 25,327
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I don't think I ever wanted to forget a show immediately after watching it.
Then I watched LuPat
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01-14-2022, 11:17 PM | #9116 |
Showa Girl
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 9,064
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I absolutely remember this premiere episode being very exciting and dazzling; I still remember that first scene of the Lupins just flashily crashing the Ganglers' party. This was also the first Sentai that I was watching live from episode 1 (my catchup point was one of the last episodes of Kyuranger), and combined with of course the very unique premise this is one I have a lot of fun memories of
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01-15-2022, 01:55 AM | #9117 |
take me to space
Join Date: Sep 2017
Posts: 1,406
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I adore this show and its what got me back in Super Sentai after I had thought I lost interest in a long while. Kairi and Keichiro are of course the big standouts among the characters but I really do like everyone in the cast and the interplay between all of them. For me personally, it really speaks to the strength of the show's characters, style and spectacle that it's my favourite even when I have so many issues with it in later stretches (anywhere from disappointing arc conclusions, to the writing often undermining its very own premise, and the most egregious on-screen examples of toy marketing meddling where it shouldn't.) Then again, I'm only burned by all that latter stuff as much as I am because I care so much about the show in the first place. Tuning into this show alongside Build was often the highlight of my week ^_^ (I didn't do much else in the way of hobbies back then ^_^; ) |
01-15-2022, 02:45 PM | #9118 |
Warrior of Delusions!
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Wait, you dont know either?
Posts: 5,826
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Having just watched it, I can tell you that the Zenkaigers are... not exactly reduced to glorified guest stars or anything, but Touma is very much the main hero of the movie. For Zenkaiger as long as you know their setting you'll be fine, which they explain in the movie anyway. If anything this would be a really confusing movie if you never watched Saber!
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(It's real weird how we can all watch the same shows and have such different opinions on them, huh?)
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Check out my occasional ramblings! https://akibamusings.blogspot.com/
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01-15-2022, 03:32 PM | #9119 |
Standing By
Join Date: Feb 2020
Location: USA
Posts: 2,107
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Weird, but also awesome! If we all had the same opinions, what would even be the point of having a discussion forum, right?
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01-15-2022, 09:36 PM | #9120 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
Posts: 3,833
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Oh, and since LuPat is as recent as it is, I can go ahead and share here the very first sentence I ever wrote in reaction to an episode of it, straight from the premiere's discussion thread:
Like I said, love at first sight. I think what's especially crazy is that usually when a show like that comes along, I'll get burned out on it to some degree eventually, but in LuPat's case, well... Quote:
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More concise than anything I can say about this show will ever be, at least! I'd be careful about tempting me into talking about the second episode. I might start going on and on all about how LuPat's focus on CG in the mecha action is maybe the only time I've ever thought they made that look good, or the utterly fantastic moments Keiichirou gets in there, or... I'm *not* doing that, is the point! What do you think this is, a Fish Sandwich Rewatches Lupinranger VS Patranger thread? ...Which is totally one of the many ideas I half-considered before deciding to do the whole Zenkai Tour thing, for the record. Quote:
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A little over a third into Magiranger (I think I'm right before the sixth introduction?) and I've been absolutely loving it. There's some flaws to be sure but on the whole it's a charming story about a family that supports each other, and an interesting and engaging family at that. Spice in an interesting enough ongoing plotline and it's been keeping me hooked for a bit now -- just a great show all in all at the moment
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