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Hasbro's Power Rangers era and General Tokusatsu discussion

Kiramager episode 17

Putting aside the mansion antics "GAME START!" the episode gave us more backstory into the four titans. It also looked like a bottle episode to exclude the use of civilians for covid reasons.

Well I didn't expect Takamichi to actually be the stone that makes Gigant Driller.

The KanaeMaStones are without a doubt, showing us which gods are meant to be which.

-The orange one they found is north, and Driller does look like a turtle
-The western one (the “tiger”) is colored like Kiramaizin.
-The eastern one (the dragon) is colored like Zabyu-n and Express.

Zabyu-n will make Mashin Express look more coherent and complete

WvqKQzu.jpg


3n2wJCZ.jpg
 
Have we had a Ranger actually morph into one of the collectible items before? I figured Takamichi would just use the crystal inside him to power GigantDriller, not actually change into one and become part of the mecha. ("And I'll form the head!" Literally!)

So it's another "quest for a power that grants any wish" gimmick, a device Naruhisa Arakawa has used before (Gokaiger, Strongest Battle), though I think the first iteration of it I saw was in Yasuko Kobayashi's Kamen Rider Ryuki. And it seems that Princess Mabushiina's fate is sealed without it, for reasons we'll presumably learn next week.


Samurai8472 said:
The KanaeMaStones are without a doubt, showing us which gods are meant to be which.

-The orange one they found is north, and Driller does look like a turtle
-The western one (the “tiger”) is colored like Kiramaizin.
-The eastern one (the dragon) is colored like Zabyu-n and Express.
Click to expand...

So it's the Four Symbols of the Chinese zodiac. South will be the Vermilion Bird.
 
These won't be our first mecha based on the Four Symbols. The Ninningers' second mecha were based on the Four Symbol animals plus a panda to make five. Dairanger had a dragon, a white tiger, and a tortoise as standalone mecha, and I guess the Houou would complete the set, though it was one of the four secondary mecha that combined with the dragon.
 
Samurai8472 said:
Gosei Knight started out as a headder before he gained sentience
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But that's a collectible morphing into a Ranger. I meant the other way around.

Also, I still think it's weird that Gosei Knight is counted as a Sixth Ranger instead of an Extra Hero like similar robot allies.
 
Zero-One episode 42

One word. WOW


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Not only did Izu get an absolutely heartbreaking death scene, but it drove Aruto to such madness that he became Ark-One. Aruto is Ark-One. These final episodes are going to be intense.

The red x on Ark-One's chest and inside his key that come from the ZAIASpecs seemed to point to it being Gai.

The Ark-One surprise was entirely kept quiet. Everyone thought it would be Ark in an evolt type of upgraded form.

But no....it's Aruto. Wasn't prepared for that. And now things are looking bad for Jin next week. I'm thinking that this will all amount to Horobi turning good. His actions caused the Ark to fully return, and now it will potentially cost him his son (again).

That was like the CW "The Flash" when it's actually good. Who can stand up to Aruto/Ark-One? Gai? will they have to kill Aruto and honor him once Gai retakes Hiden Intelligence?
 
Some impressive writing here with Izu and her moral debate with Horobi. And it was moving when
she lied to protect Aruto from the future she saw coming.

Speaking of seeing things coming, I figured out that Ark-One was Aruto just seconds in advance. I think the voice tipped me off, as well as Aruto's apparent absence from the scene. It gives new meaning to Aruta ja naito (Gotta have/It must be Aruto).

What I'm wondering is, doesn't Izu have a backup? Or were all the backups wiped when Gai took over Hiden? Maybe Aruto hasn't been back long enough to restore that system? Still, I expect we'll find out toward the end that she did get backed up somehow. Maybe Satellite Zea uploaded her mind. (Stands to reason. Zea Izu = There Is.)

It's weird that they threw in this sudden twist with a new ZAIA president coming in and kicking out Gai, and apparently being the guy Jin was working for all along. Huh? That's hard to reconcile with Jin's arc through the season, unless he was faking his early naivete. Or maybe he was recruited midseason when he came back from the dead? Anyway, it feels kind of random to throw in a new antagonist so close to the end, but I suppose it would've been a longer arc if COVID hadn't cut the season short.
 
Kiramager episode 18.

The KanaeMaStones were added to the opening credits

I'm glad they didn't try to drag out the evil 6th ranger trope. Garuza going for the Monstone was a good move. I'm glad they didn't just leave that thing in Takamichi for another 20 episodes before eventually getting around to it. It was his obvious weak point, and using it to turn Silver evil was neat to watch.




Premium Bandai Announces Mashin Sentai Kiramager Wicked Release Brace DX Yodon Changer - The Tokusatsu Network

Just like in the TV series, the changer has five modes: Transformation, Jamental, Dialogue, Mashin Summon, and Search. To transform into Dark Kiramai Silver, press the “Transformation” button and turn the disc to activate the transformation sound along with Galza’s recorded lines.
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BTW. That warehouse area got alot of exposure last week. I was almost expecting Izu and Horobi to walk past the Kiramagers
 
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Samurai8472 said:
BTW. That warehouse area got alot of exposure last week. I was almost expecting Izu and Horobi to walk past the Kiramagers
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Oh, I didn't notice it was the same warehouse. I did notice earlier that they use that parking garage a lot in this show.

Decent episode, I guess. Pretty fast-paced, with a lot going on, so not a lot of time to reflect on character arcs, conflicts, and such.

So... Dark Kiramai Silver blew up a whole bunch of buildings. How many thousands of people has Takamichi now murdered? Sometimes I think people in Sentai universes live underground and set up empty skyscrapers as decoys for the monsters, sort of like Evangelion.
 
Zero-One 43:

So we thought Ark was controlling Aruto, but it turns out Aruto is using Ark to pursue his own revenge on Horobi. Wow. And his drive for revenge just makes things worse by creating the same drive in Horobi, as Ark predicted.

I was glad when Jin confronted Horobi and asked if malice was exclusive to humans. I've been thinking that for weeks now, that the flaw in Horobi's belief was that by embracing the destruction of humanity, he would only perpetuate the same malice he thinks he'd be destroying.

By the way, I noticed that the word being subtitled as "malice" is aku, which can also mean evil or hatred. And I realized that Ark -- Aaku -- is a pun on that.

Some stylish directorial touches, like the setting of Horobi and Jin's argument with the tattered banners, and the way Jin's "wings" persisted and disintegrated as he neared death. I guessed correctly that the director was Ryuta Tasaki, who often does arty things like that.
 
Zero-One episode 43

First off let's get this out of the way...

Aruto-kin

1gxVnXV.gif


An intense episode. I really liked the visual effects during the tunnel fight. I especially enjoyed the Vulcan/Valkyrie split-screen.

This show is slowly cutting down on riders. Jin? dead. Thouser? Driver was destroyed. Yaiba? Aruto shut down her AI Chip, which prevents her from becoming Valkyrie (he also did this to Fuwa, but since we know Vulcan is returning next episode, I won't count him until then).

It's funny how Ark-hijacking-Aruto wants to eliminate competing technologies in order to exact a revenge... which is precisely what Gai wanted to do a while back but is now fighting against. Seems the AI have inherited the faults of the humans, however indirect. It's also a bit odd with the partial control, how Aruto has moments of lucidity where he realizes what he has done, something he did try to overcome before in a previous Ark incident, but is just helpless now and takes the moment to lament instead of try to overcome, something he specialized in before. That's how much Izu meant to Aruto.
 
Hmm, let's see... It's the Shotriser drivers used by Vulcan and Valkyrie that are nonfunctional without the A.I. chips -- but they use the same Progrise Keys as the other drivers. So Hiden/Zea could just build a new driver for Vulcan, a variant of the Zero-One Driver, perhaps. And for Valkyrie too, I hope.
 
Kiramager episode 19

A body swap episode but not in the way you think it will be. I believe this is the first time the sentient mecha have swap bodies with the heroes

I did laugh at Jouki rampaging like Godzilla for a second.

What's fun about Kiramager is that it takes a typical sentai plot and go nuts with it. Swapping with the partners was a great idea and them coming to the realization that they need to treat them a bit better was great.

Kiramager sure is interested in promoting the message that unusual thinking is okay

In terms of production, this feels like an episode that they didn't get to make during the COVID break. Silver was entirely superfluous, and while he doesn't have to be in every single episode, the fact that this episode would have been virtually the same without him makes me think it was originally intended to slot in before his premiere.

There was also a funny moment when the MOTW switched the civilians one of them was an armed robber who supposedly chasing a cop around. That was pretty funny if not unexpected.
 
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Samurai8472 said:
Kiramager episode 19
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A fun opportunity to see the actors play their mecha partners and act silly -- although it would've worked better if the partners had gotten more extensive characterization so we'd be more familiar with their personalities, which is hard to do when they're just big lumps of rock. The message was a bit weird; I get that it was trying to say that encouragement from your friends and teachers inspires you to do better, but it seemed to be saying that people need to be praised and flattered whether they've earned it or not.

Also, Mach's reaction to being in Sena's body was a bit creepy.

I think there was a bit of a ToQger in-joke, when Heliko as KirameiPink rallied her confidence by saying "I am strong!" the way Kagura (also pink) did to harness her power of "I-ma-gi-na-tion!" and become superstrong.


I believe this is the first time the sentient mecha have swap bodies with the heroes
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There was a Go-Busters episode where Cheeda Nick was turned into a duplicate of Hiromu, but it was just an illusion.


In terms of production, this feels like an episode that they didn't get to make during the COVID break. Silver was entirely superfluous, and while he doesn't have to be in every single episode, the fact that this episode would have been virtually the same without him makes me think it was originally intended to slot in before his premiere.
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Interesting thought.


There was also a funny moment when the MOTW switched the civilians one of them was an armed robber who supposedly chasing a cop around. That was pretty funny if not unexpected.
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We barely got to see the damage the monster did beyond the Rangers themselves, which is a common problem with Super Sentai.

I liked the bit where the two identical grunts were switched and the monster didn't know how they could tell the difference.
 
Zero-One 44: Wow. An amazing, powerful episode as the character arcs come to a head. I love the journeys the characters go through on these shows, ending up in such different places from where they began. Now we see everyone who was opposed to Aruto's dream at first being the ones who stand up for it and try to bring him back to it after he lost his way.

Great moments:

  • Yaiba taking back AIMS and de-escalating the flashpoint. I loved the look on the face of the AIMS trooper who knew that the shot he was ordered to fire would start a war, and who felt the weight of that responsibility.
  • The Vice President finally getting the leadership position he's always wanted... and using it to abase himself and plead for Aruto's vision. It's a fascinating insight into Japanese culture to see how the act of lowering oneself and showing humility can be an act of power and leadership. We could learn from that.
  • Fuwa confronting Aruto, their roles reversed from where they started. A Kamen Rider fight between friends, where it's just punches instead of weapons, and where one Rider is trying not to fight and just brushing off the other's attacks. Fuwa's "There is nothing I cannot wrench open" was a funny callback to Yuya Takahashi's previous Secondary Rider, Brave in Ex-Aid, and his catchphrase "There is nothing I cannot cut."

Those eerie cutaways to Aruto's mindscape, where Azu was creepily clinging to him, were effective too. I think there was a bit of horror-movie speed ramping going on. It felt like something out of anime.

Horobi's henshin into Ark-Scorpion was unique -- it didn't start until he drew his sword and plunged it into the ground.

I only hope the finale next week can live up to this. KR finales are often a bit anticlimactic, or unfocused as they wrap things up a bit too quickly to get to the happy ending and establish the new status quo to set up the sequel movies. But this season hasn't let me down overall. It's become one of my all-time favorites, a great start to the Reiwa Era.
 
Kamen Rider Zero-One episode 44

Penultimate episode

The moment with the AIMS guy and the humangear is so similar to what just happened in IRL.

I don't know if Toei based it off of what's happening in America, but damn did the Humagear/AIMS stuff feel VERY realistic. But it's also why Kamen Rider is so amazing, because it's not afraid to throw some realism at kids, no matter how uncomfortable it maybe to see.

There was some nice artistic flairs like Azu seducing Aruto to the dark side and the quick flashes of Aruto in his suit as he brushes off Fuwas attacks

Christopher said:
I only hope the finale next week can live up to this. KR finales are often a bit anticlimactic, or unfocused as they wrap things up a bit too quickly to get to the happy ending and establish the new status quo to set up the sequel movies. But this season hasn't let me down overall. It's become one of my all-time favorites, a great start to the Reiwa Era.
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I don't think finale will wrap things up. The preview showed a new Kamen Rider also. I hope this doesn't mean the movie will wrap things up



::flashes back to Decade::

Idv07YH.jpg


Crap.......

I just hope it doesn't end in a stalemate fight.
 
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Samurai8472 said:
The moment with the AIMS guy and the humangear is so similar to what just happened in IRL.

I don't know if Toei based it off of what's happening in America, but damn did the Humagear/AIMS stuff feel VERY realistic.
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I wish American police were like that. The AIMS guy didn't want to use force, and his superior (once Yaiba took over) found a way to de-escalate the situation.


But it's also why Kamen Rider is so amazing, because it's not afraid to throw some realism at kids, no matter how uncomfortable it maybe to see.
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Yeah, it's an interesting contrast between the sibling shows. Super Sentai sometimes has excellent character writing, but rarely has any theme or commentary to offer beyond "Teamwork is good" and "Evil is bad." Kamen Rider from Agito onward has often explored challenging moral dilemmas and philosophical questions.
 
WTH?

A pro-Chinese government Twitter group posted a picture of Chinese activist Agnes Chow stating “She has an angelic face, but she has actually received secret military training. She is very dangerous.”

.........Only the picture they used wasn't Agnes Chow; it was Hiroe Igeta playing Yua Yaiba from Zero-One.

https://daisukitoku.com/2020/08/20/...d-to-spread-rumors-about-activist-agnes-chow/

https://factcheck.afp.com/image-actually-shows-actress-scene-japanese-television-show

5kskiJL.jpg


I mean. How? What?

They must have just picked a picture at random

"Hey. She looks like Agnes. Use that picture"
 
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