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06-30-2016, 03:10 AM | #7111 |
Junior Member
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Manila
Posts: 129
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I'm currently watching Dekaranger (12 episodes down!) and enjoying it a great deal.
I actually started watching Timeranger too (4 episodes watched), but I'm taking a break from it--not because it's bad but because the series hasn't been subbed completely. Unfortunately, this means that Go-Busters and Toqger will have to wait. I really like what I've seen from both those shows so far though. |
07-03-2016, 06:07 AM | #7112 |
Energon Warrior 3 Red
YEEEHAWWWW Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Crockett County, TN
Posts: 6,958
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Because I fell off around last year and forgot where I ended, while pulling an all nighter at work I've decided to restart Dekaranger. On episode 8 at the moment and I am still remembering why I am interested in this show. It's so great overall.
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07-10-2016, 03:03 AM | #7113 |
Neppu Yarou.
Join Date: May 2014
Location: TN
Posts: 951
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So I've watched all the episodes of Gingaman. That was one of the best seasons I've ever watched.
Gingaman has some really fantastic strong writing, with a really good cast. The series feels longer than 50 episodes, and for the most part I mean that in a positive way. By the end of it I felt like I had been on a long journey with these characters. I saw some grow, deal with conflicts and over come them. I was emotionally invested. Ideally that's what you should get by the end of a toku, or any show. This is a series I will look back upon very fondly, recalling moments across the series, from Bull Black's tragic story, to back stabbing villains, the build up to the galactic light and so forth. Honestly If I could I wouldn't want to give too much of the plot away, even though this is an older series. I think going in mostly blind will probably enhance the experience, so take that into consideration before reading too much. As I was writing this, I found it quite hard for me to covey how much this series gets right, and I don't mean to oversell the show. Your experience may differ, and the show does indeed have problems- I'll be getting to those. And it isn't as if this is some life changing show. But I believe the majority of it is incredibly well done, making for an engaging solid story. Lets focus a bit more, starting with characters. Ryouma...is a character I've seen done before but he's done well. He's thrusted into becoming leader due to circumstance. He's optimistic, which is one of his most defining characteristics when Bull Back enters the picture. They play it up greatly leading to a moment that made me really appreciate him as a character and become one of my favorites. Initially Ryuoma feels he isn't capable of leading(as to be expected), but grows into it and eventually reaches a point where he needs to be leader, adding so growth. Hayate is the most level headed of the group, and a bit prone to lecturing. Although he does at times shows a more human side when he loses his temper, or occasionally shows how much he actually does care about everyone when they're in danger. They tried to give him a rivalry with one of the villains but it wasn't really well done. I'll get back to that later. Gouki is my favorite character, and I think the reason why is- and I fully admit this is weird- he reminds me of Boris Karloff in a weird way. He has a remarkably kind and gentle nature about him, soft hearted despite his strong nature. Like a big teddy bear. He develops a romance with Yuuta's teacher, Suzuko, and they're very cute together. Gouki's actor is what sells me on it because he's capable of such great faces of wonder and joy. Sadly there's not a whole lot of episodes with them together, but what is there is enjoyable. Even without Suzuko, Gouki is a fun, likeable character. Hikaru is a glutton, a bit lazy and hot headed. Hikaru is okay for the most part, he serves his purpose well and started off as one of my favorites. The problem is depending on the episode he may suffer greatly from Flanderisim. Like it gets ridiculous to the point he's so quick tempted he tries to stab Saya in one episode, and that's never treated with the degree of repercussions that deserves, nor is he like that in any other. Its weird at times and bad at the worst. Thankfully it's not that often the writers want Hikaru to be overly stupid- more so he's just goofy. They eventually have him be a bit more responsible, actually training and being more proactive, which seems very sudden with little build up, but does make a bit of sense given context, as in world changing experiences happen to him and the rest of the team. Saya is a fairly strong and caring. One episode in particular stood out as a fine example of her being someone that will never give up and work through an injury. Her bio says she's an introvert, but I never got that in the show. She's certainly stubborn and shy in some regards to her feelings, but that's about it. Speaking of, they do a romance between her and Hyuuga, but what's interesting is that the show does just enough where you can think that maybe it isn't romance, it's quite clever and they keep it up through most of the series. I was actually going to praise the show had it not been, but unfortunately it was and it seems a bit unnecessary with Gouki already providing a love sub plot. It also doesn't go anywhere, as I don't recall her admitting her feelings to him. So meh. Still, Saya has her strong points and she does shine at times being an almost motherly or big sister figure. Hyuuga is not Kakured. He probably has the most twists and turns of the Gingamen, and it didn't take long for me to really like him upon his return. Early on, Ryouma tries to give the title of Ginga Red back to his brother, but eventually changes his mind, to which Hyuuga approves of. Despite the title originally intended for Hyuuga, despite Rouyma being younger, he recognises that Ryouma IS Ginga Red and deserves the leadership he's grown into over 20 so episodes. That's very humble, and a simple act like that can say a lot about someone. His later actions in the series are tragic yet still heroic, doing questionable tasks for what is inevitably a good cause. By extension, his actions have a massive impact on the entire cast. It really shows what you can do for everyone with just a single character twist. Despite some missteps, I think they do a good job giving everyone episodes that focuses on them, and they certainly develop them enough for me to grow an attachment to. Some more developed than others, obviously, but they don't ignore the other members and sometimes a character that's simply likeable can be just as good as a developed one- so long as they do enough. Something else that I like is we get occasional flashbacks of when the characters were younger, even as far back as when they were children. We see how long they've known each other and a bit of what life was like in the forest. Granted, sometimes it isn't handled in the best of ways, suffering from the toku trope of "Oh hey remember x thing we've never mentioned until now when it will be relevant to the out come of the episode and never again" but I can't think of too many times of Gingaman doing that, or it even bothering me. I'd say most of it does help us learn more about the backstory of our characters a little at a time in a well told manner. But lets move on to other characters outside of the main team. Yuuta is surprisingly a good character with a pretty good not annoying kid actor- and that is not sarcasm. He actually does stuff to be of use, and he works as a great audience surrogate. He asks the team questions, the history and culture of the galactic forest is told to him in a natural way, they discuss topics, and by extension we learn some things about the team and Yuuta. IT's very good world building. I also can't recall anything feeling out of place in this story telling method, like forced exposition and dialogue in a way humans never talk.(How many tokus have you seen with subs that involve "After all...X" exposition dumps?) Haruhiko is Yuuta's father and his role on the show is somewhat minor. He does appear semi often, and he's even featured fairly prominently in a few episodes, in particular a rather humorous episode being glued to Hayate. I also find it interesting the father is the only parent seen, with the mother only being mentioned. Usually it's the opposite, so it's a nice subversion. Bokku is adorable and I enjoy that he's an animatronic instead of CG. He occasionally plays a small supporting role, taking meds to the team, encouraging someone, etc. Not mcuh else to say there. Mokk or Moak, whatever. I really like Mokk, I initially wondered if part of that was just because he reminds me of Olmec from Legends of the hidden temple, but he's a legitimately enjoyable character in his own right. They manage to get quite a bit of emotion out of him for being a tree(as a good VA can do) but they also do a decent job from a physical standpoint, like changing the color of his eyes when hurt, or making good use of the eyelid animatronics. These three elements also make for some truly heartwarming moment, like when Mokk does something big for the team at his own suffering, be it making new weapons or even helping them save the day. Its more than just a cynical buy the new toy moment, its introducing it via a story and also building character as a result. A lesson many writers could learn on these shows. As for the villains...eh? They're fine. There's a couple that I actually like, but for the most part they're kinda generic and bland. Evil because Evil. At least they themselves are. The most interesting part is that the MOW are associated with the current commander; Sambash has insect biker monsters, Budoh sea samurai, etc. So that's neat at least. Captain Zahab is big bad. That's it. He has like one interesting part in the series that I can think of, but other than one or two fights with Hyuuga and Ryuoma and the final, he doesn't do much but demand results from his underlings and pick which one will be appointed field commander. Shelinda is the most useless goddamn character on the show. The most note worthy thing she does is take control of the Daitanic and that's a role anyone could have filled. The writers tried to give here a rivalry with Hayate...but it is so boring. He foils a plan she had in one episode and she vows revenge. I think there is maybe 6 episodes that deal with it and there are massive gaps in-between each one. I even forgot it was a thing on one occasion because there was nothing memorable about it. Dreadful. Sambash, a good first commander, very wild gunman/biker sort. For someone featured so early in the series he actually has a very good role which leads to much bigger story arcs later down the road, like the Galactic Light. Recalling his demise seems like ages ago but it was one of the early impressive moments seeing him go out. He's also one of the few villains to see some background information on, seeing what he was doing 3,000 years ago when the villains first came to earth. Good stuff. Budoh is my favorite of the commanders because he contrasts so much with everyone else. Being that he is a Samurai, he is calm and patient, willing to take the slow approach in his goals with the process of elimination. Something doesn't go right, move to the next goal. His MOW are based on aquatic animals and feudal Japan. I love the designs. Not all of them are winners but I enjoy a lot of them, especially the last one which is a lobster samurai. All of his subjects are also fiercely loyal, willing to put a lot at stake for him, and you don't get to see that enough with villains so I really like that. Empress Iliess...I dunno. She's greedy and manipulative, she actually does some interesting stuff with Budoh, trying to sabotage his plans so she can take over, and I always like seeing villains back stab. But when she's actually in command just...eh? Kind of a shame too because there are some interesting things associated with her. Her method is sacrificial magic, using her mythological/magic MOW to crate a youth potion of some sort. Something that they do which I thought was clever was have the number of people needed go up each episode. 39 souls, 81 virgins, 111 souls, the life of 333 people, but they randomly throw in a monkey wench with 22 people that are scared and then jumping to 3,333 depressed people. Kinda weird that. You could also make an argument that the numbers should go in reverse so it seems less likely to be stopped(on the other hand more people is more tragic)but I digress. Iliess' run doesn't by any means drag the series down, there is actually quite a few really good episodes while she's in charge, with one in particular that surprised the hell out of me. I just think that Iliess herself was a little underwhelming compared to Sambash and Budoh. At the very least she did move things along and was one of the more successful commanders in trying to revive the Daitanic...if albeit unfortunate circumstances for her. Bucrates, the uncle of Iliess and one of the more interesting and note worthy characters. Early on he fills in the role of brainiac. Reaffirming plans to revive the Daitanic and what not. Eventually his role is expanded beyond what I would have imagined, becoming a vengeful traitor. Very fun turn of events in the story because of his twist, plus his dynamic with Hyuuga is fascinating. Battobas. Not much to say here, he's very militaristic and that's reflected in his MOW, in addition to the grunts under his command, who are always riled up in frenzy ready to fight. Fun to see, but not really fascinating outside of that. Then we have the arms dealer Biznella. I'm surprised this guy stuck around because I assumed he would be in two eps and that was it, so it was cool to see him stay and help Battobas. Not much to say about him, I think it's unfortunate because they could have done more with him, and how they kill him off is sorta wasted. He basically falls into Acid and mutates with a really fantastic suit design and then is just killed. Hrm. Bull Black is certainly one of the big highlights of the show. We learn more about him in a few episodes than we do of any of the villains. His personality is cold and vengeful. The interesting part is that he wasn't always like that, he's just become so tired and jaded from the tragedy he's suffered. Much like Ryuoma he's a familiar character type, and is something of a mirrored version of him, and like Ryu, very well done. His eventual redemption and sacrifice is one of the best moments in the series, if not the franchise, it's quite moving. Storywise I'll be covering stuff not covered in the characters, with a few mentions and elaborations on others. Unsurprisingly the overall feel of the show is very ingrained with sword and sorcery. The world of the Gingaman is that of long ago legends and titles passed down through generations, with the current team being the latest in a long legacy. The series perfectly captures that ancient wonder of the mystical, not unlike the tales of King Author. But you know, with Giant robots and spandex. Our opening episodes mainly focuses on setting up the story, as wells as giving us good indications of each member's personality. The series takes a lot of time building up to reveals. Its 7 episodes before Gingaioh even appears. The Kiba blades are acquired from a weapons dealer/collector(and the weapons are key to forming Gingaioh). Their Beast Attack Rods are created by Mokk, and then later upgraded.(this also leaves Mokk weakened each time which is important narratively) I love when a sentai builds stories around acquiring the toys rather than just throwing them in. Probably the best example of this is with the Galactic light, which a little over half the series is spent on. The Galactic light itself was a vague source of power brought to earth 3,000 years ago by a mysterious warrior named Bull Black, who was weakened by Sambash. However Sambash was never able to make use of it since he and the rest of the villains were defeated by the original Gingamen. Once the galactic light enters the picture it causes a three way conflict between the main team, Bull Black, and the villains. It was very interesting and fun to see unfold, especially when you could never tell if Bull Black was going to be a hindrance to our heroes or the antagonists, or both. The story just kept building from there, even if it was just stuff between characters. The Dynamic between Black and Ryouma is one of the highlights of the show. Seeing their conflicting ideals play out does so much to make a Ryou a likeable character and us take pity on Black for what a selfish shell of a being he's become. Hyuuga's return was actually something that caught me off guard. I knew he would return because of Gokaiger, I knew a lot of stuff would happen with him, and yet it's still an amazing moment when he returns because of how great the scene is executed. After the GL plot, it's mostly character stuff until Hyuuga's betrayal in 37, which clocks in around 13 episodes. Obviously the Daitantic is the main over arching plot which is technically relevant in every episode, but its not quite the same. And you know what? It works. Half the series was already spent with plenty of character stuff alongside the GL, and while I don't find the stuff with Hyuuga as big of a deal, building upon those character interactions and how everyone reacts to it isn't bad. The interactions are enough to keep the series entertaining and enjoyable near to the end. Plus big events and twist still occur, such as Mokk sacrificing his life for the both and team and the world. Visually I enjoy the look of most of the show. The suits are fine, even the so called Charlie Brown zig-zag teeth look fine. Though I do think the helmets are the weakest part, they're a little too boxy for my liking. The Star Beast are fantastic, I love the designs of Gingarilla and Gingalcon. Gingarilla is also fantastic because he's the most humanoid so they can do a lot of good fights with him, check out ep. 11 and you'll see what I mean.(Plus it's a good episode in general) Lion and Verick are okay. I think the weakest is Gingat and only because of the fur. Looks like glued on candy floss. Although I really like Gingat's Silver form, likewise I can say the same for all the Starbeat's Silver forms, they're all evenly great. As for Gingaioh, its fine. I like the colorful design, plus I always like seeing what makes up the combined form. But visually it's just okay, it's not that great, but not bad. The two additional mechs Rhino and Phoenix are quite nice and unique, though the combination of vehicles is pretty weird and unnecessary. If I do make a knock against the visuals it's really in the video quality. I'm not sure if they were switching to a new equipment like DV or if Toei simply did a bad transfer. But it looks...off. Things tend to look murky and even be on the pixelated side, though I would assume the pixels has more to do with the DL themselves than Toei. Then again- to my understanding, Toei's Kamen Rider Stronger DVD release was transferred from bloody Laser Disc ver., so hell if I know with this company. Musically I enjoy a handful of tracks. The opening took time to grow on me, but I came to really enjoy it. The ending is also nice though I will admit the vocals sound a bit off at times. That's about as much as I can say for that. I think Gingaman has really good BGM, but as far as character and vocal tracks go, they're pretty bland outside of the op & ed. Even Gingaioh's theme which is sung by the great Takayuki Miyauchi- is just okay to me. Rhino and Phoenix's themes are better, but only just. Personally I think- of all things- the Bandai Toy Commercial for Gingaioh sounds far more amazing and fitting. Check it out if you can find the Soundtrack, it's listed as Bandai CM music. Meanwhile the background music does a fantastic job of capturing a feel of mysticism and triumphant heroics. It fits very well with the series. Their henshin them, Ginga Tensei, is a wonderful track that's very uplifting(There is also several variations and all of them are fantastic). In addition to that we have some really good atmospheric pieces that are slow, and in a way conjure images of faeries and a dense forest upon listening. One track in particular I love but sadly cannot find a title of is featured as early as ep. 1, it has a lovely chorus and a medieval flare to it. Instrumental versions of the IN songs are also quite good, with their various variations sometimes proving better than the originals. Now, lets talk about the flaws of the show, because no matter how much you love something, it will have flaws and I do not think they should be ignored for what they are simply because you enjoy something. The most obvious one from the start is the humor. That isn't to say the show isn't funny, there are funny parts and outright funny episodes and while humor is subjective, I find there's a lot of failed attempts here. One episode is entirely about Hayate being so incapable of eating tomatoes that even though (apparently) tomatoes can instantly heal all wounds...because, Hayate would rather let people get attacked by a monster than take a bite. That's doesn't come off as funny, it just makes Hayate look like an ass. Episodes like this are a drag and a chore to get through and very out of place, and while the following episodes can sometimes be great, it doesn't change the fact the previous one was a difficult sit. Other issues, mostly minor ones, include the narrator becoming grating after a while. I don't mind the use of one even for some exposition, since its used sparingly enough and it fits the sword and sorcery story book feel of the show, but after 40 episodes I get it- I get why they're called Gingaman, and I don't need to be told why someone summoned Phoenix or Rhino when they are visually about to show why anyway. Then there's things like how Mokk can teleport them with magic vines so long as there are trees around...and I don't think they ever use it outside of that early episode- even though that would have been really helpful. There's also a lot of times when using their earth powers would be helpful but they don't(obvious reason being budget, but still). Again, fairly minor stuff. Probably the last big problem you'll encounter with the series: it goes on for too long- if just by a bit. I know that's a bold thing to say for a show that I really enjoy, but it does. Part of the problem is the the entire goal of the villains, what most of the season is spent building up to, is the revival of their giant monster ship the Daitanic. The realization of this goal begins in ep. 40 which itself is a fantastic episode with some great moments between Hikaru and the MOW(btw, better dynamic and more heart in that one episode than anything Hayate ever had with Shelinda). ep. 41 the Daitanic goes on a great rampage, with some fantastic fights and the mechs getting arms ripped off like an 80s sentai, it's great. 42 the team gets back up and we get more fantastic fights. The best part of this isn't just how fun it is seeing stuff get torn up, its fun because we care about the characters. Yes we know the bad guys will inevitably lose, but if you like the characters, the experiences that brought us to this point, you'll still be invested. I feel a lot of shows- especially toku, miss this point. Its a string of top notch episodes, truly fantastic stuff. But the series is 50 episodes long, we still have eight episodes left after it feels like we entered the end game. 43 is a clip show, fine, adds some levity and its nice to look at how far we've come. But it should have been followed by three or so episodes with the rest of the villains being defeated, loose ends tied up, etc. Basically from a narrative stand point jumping from 43 to 47 or 48 would make more sense as it keeps the steam built up going, gets rid of unnecessary fat. Watching the villains try to capture a rather lacklucter shoehorned monster that's supposedly more powerful than the Daitainic(which has a whole bloody season of build up) and failing several times, isn't as interesting as actual progress or character interactions. Doesn't help the actual finale isn't nearly as good as the Daitanic battle. In fact it's kinda boring, with the most interesting thing being the monster design which is ultimately wasted. However, with all that said I don't feel the negatives over shadow the quality. There are many, many good episodes with good writing that make this series hold up well. Gingaman is a show I'm glad to have watched, to have grown an attachment to it's characters and narrative. If you create a show that can have that effect on someone 18 years after it first aired, then you've done a great job at adding to a legacy. I highly recommend this series. Next time I'll be reviewing Gosei Sentai Dairanger. A full review on my blog, as well as the DVD set itself. |
07-10-2016, 09:39 AM | #7114 |
Banned
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Englewood CO
Posts: 10,893
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Budoh is also my favorite of the generals.
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07-10-2016, 10:11 AM | #7115 |
Immortal thumbs ups
Join Date: Nov 2015
Posts: 196
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Gingaman rules, all that's needed.
Anyway, got through 10 episodes of Gekiranger. A pretty good show so far. Only issue is that I feel the show is too centered on Jan and not the other two, which I can somewhat understand but still, it would be nice to get more focus on the others. I also like how they focus on the villains too.
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07-10-2016, 10:41 AM | #7116 |
「蝙蝠騎士の魔界<ブラム>」
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: The Catacombs of Ohio
Posts: 12,794
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Budoh was my favorite of the villains as well with his/Bull Black's introduction arc being my favorite of the show.
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07-19-2016, 09:57 PM | #7117 |
Immortal thumbs ups
Join Date: Nov 2015
Posts: 196
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So, I finished the epic of Gekiranger.
A very solid show. I don't hold it in as high regard as most of the US fandom does(heck I think it's kind of overrated) but it was really good. I felt for what it set out to do, it did and very well. Only issue I have is that the characterization was very weak. We get a lot about Jan and Rio, but Ran and Retsu really get short-ended in that aspect, Gou's awesome but he got stuck too, and Ken got barely any focus. I mean I understand it's a red centric story, but they could've easily done more with these characters.
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07-19-2016, 11:43 PM | #7118 |
Banned
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Englewood CO
Posts: 10,893
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The reason it is held in high regard is because it was the first show in years to actually develop the villains, not to mention gave us actual actors for the villains. Hell, it is probably the last show to actually spend time on teh villains.
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07-20-2016, 12:06 AM | #7119 |
Stronger Than You
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: nyet
Posts: 25,326
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Ran and Retsu did draw the short straws for proper arcs, unfortunately, but it's just kind of the trade off that most Sentai's have. I know there are some that can give all the rangers the proper screen time they deserve, but those are the exceptions, rather than the rule. And in Gekiranger's case, I feel it's justified. They properly characterized and expanded on the villains, something rarely done in Sentai beyond one or two episodes.
Giving Rio and Mele such screen time was something entirely different for Sentai, and I enjoyed the wild change of pace. It was new and I felt it worked out well. Gou's history with Rio tied him into the plot at large quite nicely, and Ken was just a blast to watch. It's tough to balance 7 protagonists (Er, well..."Main characters" is probably more apt as 2 of them don't become protagonists until the last 5 episodes), and while there are places where they could've done it better, what they did receive came across well. Retsu growing to be more of a team player felt natural and Ran...Well, of the short sticks she drew the shortest, but she's just really likable~ It might be overhyped, but Gekiranger was actually the series that proved that "Yes, Sentai can actually be good."
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07-20-2016, 09:42 AM | #7120 |
Banned
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Englewood CO
Posts: 10,893
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Exactly Matrix. Even though I love Gokaiger, I feel Toei started to play Sentai really safe after Gekiranger.
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