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Showing posts from September, 2013

Super Sentai Villains I Think Have Very High Entertainment Value

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Here are Super Sentai villains I thought had really high entertainment value namely: Monster- From Gear's followers, he is basically very, very stupid though Doctor Man admitted he only created him for power.  I thought that even after being reprogrammed, he maintains some comical value though I'll credit he hi-jacked the Bio Turbo with Juuoh's help in the quest for speed.  Almost every episode about him, he is plain stupid. Doctor Man- Yup I'd agree this guy is pretty entertaining.  Okay he's not really the best mad scientist out there but as a kid, I always thought this guy was not only scary but also he basically overshadows the rest of this empire because he's just freaking entertaining. Ahames- A truly menacing foe.  While you may have the coolness of Buuba, Giluke or Bazoo but Ahames is one incredibly wicked bitch of a woman.  Yup, she really knows how to make the Changemen miserable and she knows how to carry out really dangerous plans adding ent

A Comparison of Shinkenger and Boukenger: Both Overrated Series

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I was inspired to do this post when there was this debate of which is worse- Operation Overdrive or Power Rangers Samurai .  Now just my thought- both shows are really quite overrated and I thought I might analyze concept and execution.  Operation Overdrive was a bad series but had a series of good concepts, Boukenger gets overrated and so is Shinkenger.  Now to see which series had done it better... Heroes: Satoru vs. Takeru Shiba- So yeah, some think Satoru is a refresher but after repeatedly watching Boukenger (say five times because I had a crush on Sakura, stupid huh?), I would say that Satoru is pretty reckless compared to the character I used to compare him to... Ryu Tendo.  Takeru Shiba might be sometimes aloof or pretends to be high and mighty, but he doesn't put his team at unnecessary risk.  So pretty much, Takeru still wins.  Since Takeru Shiba has no canon pairing, so fans are free to fan pair him with any of the girls or maybe even any of the girls he met during

Some Super Sentai Moments That Made Me Cry as a Kid

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Time to revisit those moments in Super Sentai that made me sad based on what I've viewed as a child, here they are: The death of Mika Koizumi- Yup a real tearjerker.  I remembered my mom telling me that Mika's death proved heroes were not invincible and were just humans.  I really felt sad watching that episode.  Tears.  Yep Mika's death as a really sad episode for me especially when I thought of it, I was excited to see how the show was going to write her.  Good thing though Jun Yabuki managed to take her place and continue the job left behind.  Also in Akibaranger, her spirit went with Naoto and Mikoto to fetch the Akibarangers back to the afterlife. When Princess Ial was tried as a traitor and separated from her lover Takeru/Red Mask.  Everything about that scene was pretty sad.  I really felt bad that her sister Princess Igam was really such a bitch to really mistreat her like that.  I even thought she died when she was frozen until I figured out in later episodes

Japanese Themed Sentai and Their Power Rangers Counterparts

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Well no doubt Super Sentai is a Japanese heritage yet it was legally adapted into Power Rangers.  Now here are they: Ninja Sentai Kakuranger- This is the third of the late Noboru Sugimura's works (the first was Zyuranger and the second was Dairanger).  Kakuranger utilized much of Japanese elements such as ninjas and the monsters were basically all based on Japanese mythology which the narrator introduces whenever he's around.  It also had a Japanese version of Journey to the West added as well.  The whole series in itself was pretty much the first Japanese themed Sentai.  The series in itself also featured classic cartoony special effects likle "Thwok" and "Thump" during battle though I wish they were written in Japanese instead.  My complaint about this series was why Gasha Skull was killed off so soon because I wish he could have fought side by side with his father Daimaou but oh well. For Power Rangers, part of its footage was taken into MMPR Season

Toshiki Inoue and Yasuko Kobayashi: Things in Common With Them Writing Super Sentai

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After doing a Kamen Rider version  in my drama blog, I just thought that a Super Sentai version is also needed. For Toshiki Inoue the only headwriting job he did was my favorite Super Sentai, Chojin Sentai Jetman (despite its rather dumb epilogue and how Gai Yuki left us so soon in the lamest way possible), he later had some secondary writing jobs (again) but before Jetman he was involved with Maskman, Flashman, Turboranger, Liveman and Fiveman. For Yasuko Kobayashi, she wrote a quarter of Megaranger episodes16, 24-26, 31, 32, 35, 36, 40, 41, 44, 47, and 49 which is a quarter of the show then she became the headwriter of Gingaman, Timeranger, Shinkenger and Gobusters. So here's what I found to be their points in common: Both of them seemed to like to retake past works of other writers and managed to create two great series namely Jetman and Gingaman.  Yup Jetman had a lot of elements from the 80s Sentai while experimenting on the newer concepts. Yasuko Kobayashi with Gingaman

Clarification: Kenji Ohba DOES NOT Call Power Rangers Fake!

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It's really something whenever these fan wars are triggered and so on.  So far, I have seen the interview and okay even if CSToys is the endorser but the fact he wished Power Rangers luck proves he's NOT against it and two, doesn't mean he says it's been recreated (as shown in the Youtube video) doesn't mean it's fake.  Bootlegs are UNLICENSED reproduction, Toei gives Saban the permission to produce Power Rangers and if you read the opening or ending credits, Toei acknowledges the existence of these so-called "bootlegs" that they have licensed it or like in the Power Rangers credits that say things like, "Based on Samurai Sentai Shinkenger" which again, it can't be plagiarism either because it acknowledges its life source and Saban can call it as "Saban's Power Rangers" since the name was approved by Toei at the same time for his use, so yeah please note that Super Sentai is not Power Rangers. Sure Power Rangers borrows f

Super Sentai Villains I Believed Made Kids Hide Under Their Beds

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Well I haven't seen all these series completely but I think these villains scared kids of their era: Black Cross Fuehrer from Goranger- Well I would admit he does have some creepy aura to him. Fuehrer Taboo from Goggle V- I would say that guy does look creepy. Doctor Man from Bioman- Well this guy is a cool mad villain but also for me, a nightmare fuel.  I really tend to get scared whenever this guy gets angry and he got even creepier when he remade himself into a completely metallic being.  In Bioman episode 28, I'd say that scene where he revealed he was still alive was pretty freaky. Queen Ahames from Changeman- Power-hungry, extremely crazy I think there's much about her that makes her a really scary villain.  After all, she made the Changemen's lives more miserable than it already was when she arrived.  You have to consider she's got a pretty frightful personality as well. Star King Bazoo of Changeman- I'd agree with Shozo Iizuka's voice

Super Sentai Humor and Power Rangers Humor Compared

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Super Sentai humor and Power Rangers humor is usually based on possible cultural differences , I felt like the need to understand them.  American humor tends to on repeated stupidity and humiliation like Rita Repulsa keeps getting headaches almost every episode.  Japanese humor tends to be based on genuine mistakes causing embarrassment which tend not to be overly done (ex. Bandora's headaches are very seldom done).  Now it's time to take a look at how humor is carried out between the two genres and at the same time, I'd consider this an analysis on how I should write humor. Comic relief characters If you take a look at how comic relief characters are done in Super Sentai and Power Rangers, you might notice how one relies on genuine mistakes causing embarrassment (but the characters do develop) and the other relies on repeated stupidity and humiliation.  At the same time, I could talk about the contribution of the plot of these characters. In Power Rangers, most of

Akibaranger: Why I Want a Season Three

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Yup after Season Tsuu of Akibaranger, I can't help but "cry" over the deaths of the Akibarangers.  What in the world was going on?  I was thinking maybe there was a reason why the Akibarangers had to crash into the sun... Yup it was a very sad way to end it.  The clip show done at the end of Season Tsuu really made me sad to think that I see Hiroyo Hakase sad at the death of the Akibarangers.  So Hatte Saburo could bring them back if he wanted, though something needs some explanation though if they were brought back.  I just thought seeing Mikoto, Mika and Naoto (in suit) bring back the Akibarangers to Heaven was sad.  I even wanted to pat Hiroyo Hakase' shoulder or let her lean on mine during her memorial of the Akibarangers in the clip show. The fact that Akibarangers brings some nostalgic stuff like Okamoto and legendary red ranger stuntman Niibori does help those who have no knowledge of the people behind the scenes as children, see the people behind the sc

Super Sentai Villains I Was Scared of as a Child

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Here are some Super Sentai villains that scared me as a child aside from my confessed being scared of Gorgom while watching Kamen Rider Black: Doctor Man- He's a cool villain yes and I'll admit this guy got me scared as a kid.  While watching Bioman, seldom I hid under a blanket while my mother would tell me he's not real.  What I find creepy about this guy was not only the actor's makeup but also his temper.  He became creepier to me when his backstory was revealed. Emperor Zeba- Another villain I was pretty scared of was Emperor Zeba.  Yup this guy is just a lot of nightmare fuel.  While Kiros was a cool character, Zeba was really nightmare fuel for me.  Everything about this guy and every development he gets was plain scary. Emperor Ragorn- Boy I'd love to say this guy is creepy.  In an earlier episode, I was scared of Dango Bouma's plan to feed Ragorn human beings turned into dumplings which was only in his imagination.  The fact that Ragorn has all

Are Super Sentai Rangers Good Role Models Despite Flaws?

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Well based on Henshin Grid's post about the Power Rangers as role models , I thought I'll do a Super Sentai one.  There are no perfect characters, to make a story better flaws are needed.  It's sort of a 3D thing and I would admit as a writer, I tend to make things one dimensional. I haven't seen much of Goranger and didn't learn of its existence until I was 16 years old.  My mother admitted to watching this as a child.  So far, they are portrayed to be working together despite their flaws.  Now moving on... Slacking off.  Some rangers tend to slack off at times.  In Maskman, Akira was seldom not serious with himself though he got better and same with Chiaki. Super Sentai had its examples of rebel rangers.  In Bioman, the first rebel ranger concept was introduced in Mika Koizumi though she only wanted out because she wanted to continue her late brother's footsteps.  Sadly due to contractual issues, the character had to be written off where she gave her