Power Rangers

Christopher · May 5, 2018

^Oh, so in many cases, the Collection pieces aren't actual repaints of the old props so much as homages to the franchise's past?

EDIT: Pretty good episode, even if it was a rehash of the old Dumbo trope and it was predictable that Tooma swapped the bracelet out for a fake. The execution was quite good and stylish, as usual. The "white space" scenes with the boy were a sort of thing I've seen in anime, so it's interesting to see it done in live action. And it's interesting to see a softer side to Tooma. Once he'd swapped out the piece and the monster had been defeated, he and the Lupins didn't have to pay any more attention to the boy at all, but Tooma wanted to see it through.

Clever tactic, though -- the boys distracting the monster with flattery while Umika sneaks in and cracks his safe. That's the sort of thing one would expect Phantom Thieves to do, rather than just shooting and kicking.

Samurai8472 · May 12, 2018

Pretty fun “girl power” episode last week. The amusement park scenes were cute. Tsukasa and Umika’s actors are really pretty I have to admit. The girls worked well together to defeat the gangler

This weeks lupin collection piece was a modified Kakuranger scroll

Leave it to the Japanese to jump on the merchandise potential. You will be able to buy key chains of Tsukasa’s plush obsession soon.

http://news.tokunation.com/2018/05/11/p-bandai-reveals-samera-jagaton-and-fuwa-pan-plushies-52717

Christopher · May 12, 2018

Samurai8472 said:
Pretty fun “girl power” episode last week. The amusement park scenes were cute. Tsukasa and Umika’s actors are really pretty I have to admit. The girls worked well together to defeat the gangler

An excellent one. What I love about this show is how character-driven it is. Just yesterday, I read a Facebook post by Adam-Troy Castro talking about how the best stories are the ones where every bit of action is about telling us who the characters are, rather than just advancing them from plot beat to plot beat. LvP is all about the characters, what motivates them, and how they interact. The situations and conflicts are designed specifically to reveal things about who they are. That's what makes this one of the best Sentai seasons I've ever seen.

And I think to some extent it's an outgrowth of the "team vs. team" format they've adopted. By featuring two teams that are at odds with each other but that we're both supposed to like and root for, they've had to define the characters through their contrasts in personality and goals, while keeping all of them sympathetic. So that automatically requires more dimension to the characterization than if they were just the members of the same team. Of course, some Sentai seasons have managed to individualize the team members a lot (e.g. Jetman or Megaranger), but others I've seen have characters that don't really stand out much as individuals (e.g. Zyuranger or Kakuranger). I think the very nature of the "vs." format here made it impossible to get away with superficial characterizations. It's really added so much to the format, and I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to do it more often in future seasons.

Speaking of revealing character, I was really stunned when it looked like Umika had sacrificed Tsukasa to protect herself. I hoped it was some trick, but these characters have enough facets that I couldn't be sure. And when it did turn out to be a trick, the reveal of their wordless cooperation was a great payoff to their character arc through the episode.

My one problem is that I wish they wouldn't keep undermining Tsukasa by revealing she has traditionally girly character traits off-duty, like loving plushies and being scared in haunted houses. But I guess it does give her some dimension, and it's still to her credit that she can set all that vulnerability aside when duty calls and become such a badass.

Anyway, it was interesting to see how powerful both teams' attacks were when combined, and how they needed to combine forces to bring down the energy barrier. It foreshadows the future, where I assume they'll eventually end up needing to work together to beat the Ganglars.

As for the villain, she was a shinobi ("ninja"), and her sickle-and-chain weapon was the traditional weapon of shinobi in real history, since they didn't go around in black catsuits but rather disguised themselves as ordinary peasants (which they were) and carried weapons that could pass as farming tools. Although Naiyo's headgear evoked a shuriken, which is a weapon from latter-day fiction about shinobi/ninjas.

Samurai8472 · May 15, 2018

Christopher said:
And I think to some extent it's an outgrowth of the "team vs. team" format they've adopted. By featuring two teams that are at odds with each other but that we're both supposed to like and root for, they've had to define the characters through their contrasts in personality and goals, while keeping all of them sympathetic. So that automatically requires more dimension to the characterization than if they were just the members of the same team. Of course, some Sentai seasons have managed to individualize the team members a lot (e.g. Jetman or Megaranger), but others I've seen have characters that don't really stand out much as individuals (e.g. Zyuranger or Kakuranger). I think the very nature of the "vs." format here made it impossible to get away with superficial characterizations. It's really added so much to the format, and I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to do it more often in future seasons.

I agree. The characterization is really good this year even though it's basically doing the same things as seasons like RPM/Go-onger or Huricanger/Ninja Storm. There's been a bunch of sentai series with opposing sides. I guess the VS aspect enhances this. It also helps that the auxiliary mecha this year has been on the low side. We just have two right now with Cyclone and Scissors.

Some dvd news for sentai and power ranger's

Shout! Factory Releasing Jetman & Gaoranger on DVD

http://news.tokunation.com/2018/05/...n-hyakuju-sentai-gaoranger-dvds-in-2018-52878

If they use the digital remasters the episodes should look decent

The first MMPR movie will finally be on blu-ray bundled with the first three MMPR seasons in a steel box format

http://news.tokunation.com/2018/05/...aturing-mmpr-the-movie-blu-ray-revealed-52653

Christopher · May 15, 2018

Samurai8472 said:
I agree. The characterization is really good this year even though it's basically doing the same things as seasons like RPM/Go-onger or Huricanger/Ninja Storm. There's been a bunch of sentai series with opposing sides.

I knew those two had separate teams that were rivals to an extent, but I thought it was more just that they had their own separate agendas/approaches and needed a while to learn to work together, not that they were directly fighting each other. Although I guess the Ninja Storm teams did start out somewhat opposed, from what I saw. I never watched that whole season since I didn't like it much.

Samurai8472 said:
The first MMPR movie will finally be on blu-ray bundled with the first three MMPR seasons in a steel box format

http://news.tokunation.com/2018/05/...aturing-mmpr-the-movie-blu-ray-revealed-52653

That seems a bit odd, seeing as how it's out of continuity with the show. Well, I guess the idea is that it features the same cast. But it feels like it would be more appropriate to bundle the Turbo movie with a box set of the last three Angel Grove seasons, since that film's actually in-continuity.

Christopher · May 16, 2018

Samurai8472 said:
Shout! Factory Releasing Jetman & Gaoranger on DVD

http://news.tokunation.com/2018/05/...n-hyakuju-sentai-gaoranger-dvds-in-2018-52878

I missed this news until now. Great that they're releasing Jetman. Hopefully other pre-Power Rangers seasons will follow.

Stephen! · May 17, 2018

Samurai8472 said:
It also helps that the auxiliary mecha this year has been on the low side. We just have two right now with Cyclone and Scissors.

There's four, since Patranger have a bike and crane.

Samurai8472 · May 18, 2018

Stephen! said:
There's four, since Patranger have a bike and crane.

I can't believe I forgot about the one auxiliary the Patoranger's had. I mean they use it every chance they get. Now we have crane

Lupinranger VS Patoranger episode 14. I'll be posting my thoughts later. I heard it's a great episode with some great moments for Keiichiro

I'll posting Kamen Rider build alongside Patoranger now. Episode 1 to 3 for now

The thing with new generation(heisei era) Kamen Rider series is that there's some great drama alongside some LOL slapstick to cheer people up without falling into a deep depression that someone died in the show.

The plot for this series seems like something very topical with a wall dividing a nation. It's interesting to see how all three areas interact.

Also wow. We head into the second episode with a supporting character finding out his girlfriend was experimented by Faust.

We have a genius hero who can't remember a thing too. Lots of interesting things going on.

Christopher · May 18, 2018

Samurai8472 said:
Lupinranger VS Patoranger episode 14. I'll be posting my thoughts later. I heard it's a great episode with some great moments for Keiichiro

Wow, that was pretty intense. Once again, it's all about character. Good stories are driven, not just by characters doing things, but by characters wanting things. No matter how basic the desire, we can all identify with wanting something badly, so focusing on characters' motivations and needs is a good way to make them relatable and emotionally engaging for the audience. That's part of why the Lupinrangers work so well -- because they're all driven by their need to restore their loved ones. Keiichiro has a much more basic need -- to protect people and keep the peace -- but it's an incredibly intense need, an imperative that he takes very personally, and that makes it potent. I do wonder, though, if there's more to that childhood backstory still to be revealed, an explanation of why he feels so driven to protect people. Maybe he lost someone to crime at an early age.

Tsukasa was pretty badass, with that single move giving her the advantage over both Ganglars at once. Although they squandered it by blowing up the one that was already poisoned and too weak to fight. It would've made more sense tactically to shoot the stronger one and just let the poison finish off the weaker one.

The Lupins were surprisingly marginalized this time -- I don't know if we've seen an episode yet that gave so little attention to one of the two teams. But we did learn a bit more about Kogure. It seems he's capable of shapeshifting or illusion, which strengthens my suspicion that he's GoodStriker in disguise.

Oh, speaking of which, this is the first time we've seen a giant Ganglar brought down without Goody being involved in forming a Kaiser.

Samurai8472 · May 18, 2018

I found it funny when Keiichiro was shot down by that kid. The cape and bowtie didn't tip him off the kid was team lupin?

Also LOL at the patoranger's unintentionally stepping on a gangler's brother. Lupin Collection piece was a homage to ninninger shuriken/Ninja Steel too

Christopher · May 19, 2018

I've watched the Kamen Rider Build episodes now. It's the first KR I've seen, not counting the two US adaptations. It's really, really weird, and the henshins/costumes are way overcomplicated. The reporter lady is really pretty, though.

Samurai8472 · May 23, 2018

Beast Morpher's on display at Nevada licensing expo

http://news.tokunation.com/2018/05/...phers-on-display-at-licensing-expo-2018-52970

Still showing as Saban brand's probably when a comic con comes around it will be Hasbro

I guess it was unavoidable that the buddyroids would stay in the adaptation

Stephen! · May 25, 2018

Saban Brands is shutting down
http://news.tokunation.com/2018/05/24/saban-brands-to-close-july-2-2018-53099

Samurai8472 · May 26, 2018

I'm going to miss Saban Brand's and their logo playing at the end of each power ranger episode. It's a shame people are going to lose their jobs. Hasbro could at least transition them to different roles.

Superhero Time!

Kamen Rider build episode 8
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6jxkjb

Kamen Rider build episode 9

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6jxb21

Lupinranger VS Patoranger-

Very good episode last week. The focus on the Pats gave them some dimension, and it was fun to see little moments like Umika giving Keiichiro an assist with the giant boomerang near the end.

It was interesting to see Keiichiro willing to harm his two other team members just to get the job done when they formed Patren Ugo

It's really nice to see the thieves gain a little bit of insight into the police's side of things. Umika proves to be the most sympathetic towards them, but the others are getting there. I think her facial quirks like being annoyed at Kairi were cute.

The Lupin Collection piece sort of looked like the Zyuranger's Thunder Slinger but I heard it could be MegaYellow's(Megaranger) mega slinger?

Hilltop finally meets the Lupinranger's and we learn he has a wife

Kamen Rider Build 4 to 9

I'm loving the mysteries that are deepening. The show may be wacky at times but it's got some deep moments and story beats. There's alot of layer's hidden that will be uncovered.

Christopher · May 26, 2018

Samurai8472 said:
Lupinranger VS Patoranger-

Very good episode last week. The focus on the Pats gave them some dimension, and it was fun to see little moments like Umika giving Keiichiro an assist with the giant boomerang near the end.

Yeah, another strong character-developing episode. A nice chance for Tsukasa to show her leadership chops, and an opportunity for Sakuya to step up and show he's maturing into a skilled and dedicated officer. And the Lupins get to see how committed and caring the Pats are, while Umika can't quite admit to the others why she's so determined to stop the monster before he can hurt the Pats any further.

It was interesting to see Keiichiro willing to harm his two other team members just to get the job done when they formed Patren Ugo

I think that's a harsh interpretation. After all, he was taking on their injuries as well. But sharing the burden made them all stronger. And it was the only way to defeat the monster.

I liked how, when Keiichiro showed up, it looked like he was literally resting his weight on the hovering GoodStriker in order to stay on his feet.

An odd touch -- the fore-end of the monster's shotgun (the part under the barrel -- I had to look up what it was called) looked strikingly like the keel of the Space Battleship Yamato.

Samurai8472 · May 27, 2018

^Yeah the ganglar was based on sea urchins

http://powerrangers.wikia.com/wiki/Togeno_Aves

Gunkan Gun (グンカンガン Gunkan Gan): A sniper rifle resembing a Japaneese Battle Ship and Togeno's primary weapon that can fire bullets or his poison spikes.

I just found a video from the 40th Super Sentai concert featuring live performances of the openings. Lupin VS Patoranger was added.

The separated versions

The regular opening. When the show started I didn't like the themes but they have grown on me(separately and together)

I realized that the concert celebrates the entire 40 years of Super sentai but I'm always amazed at the crowd sizes.

EDIT- I forgot that Kamen Rider was also celebrated there too

Christopher · May 27, 2018

Samurai8472 said:
When the show started I didn't like the themes but they have grown on me(separately and together)

I'm quite fond of the combined theme. I particularly love the part in the middle, over the museum-heist sequence in the titles. I think it's really beautiful.

I rather like the Kamen Rider Build theme song too. As for the show, the dramatic parts are interesting, but the comedy parts are a little too weird, and I still think the costumes and powers are pretty ludicrous.

Awesome Possum · May 28, 2018

Christopher said:
That seems a bit odd, seeing as how it's out of continuity with the show. Well, I guess the idea is that it features the same cast. But it feels like it would be more appropriate to bundle the Turbo movie with a box set of the last three Angel Grove seasons, since that film's actually in-continuity.

The target audience is probably that original fanbase from the 90s. They more or less aged out of the show around Turbo.

Christopher · May 28, 2018

Awesome Possum said:
The target audience is probably that original fanbase from the 90s. They more or less aged out of the show around Turbo.

That's a different issue from what I was thinking of. I was speaking in terms of continuity logic. And I was suggesting bundling the Turbo movie with Zeo, Turbo, and in Space, so my proposed bundle wouldn't be aimed at the MMPR-only audience anyway.

Awesome Possum · May 28, 2018

Christopher said:
That's a different issue from what I was thinking of. I was speaking in terms of continuity logic. And I was suggesting bundling the Turbo movie with Zeo, Turbo, and in Space, so my proposed bundle wouldn't be aimed at the MMPR-only audience anyway.

But they aren't a popular, especially to mass audiences. Ask the average person to point to Power Rangers they're always going to pick out MMPR.

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