akihabara@DEEP #5 Sightings!

Matsuda Satoshi (Keitai Sosakan 7, Gokusen 3, HOTMAN 2, and apparently, Kamen Rider Ryuki).

Hiraiwa Kami (Kisarazu Cat’s Eye, and apparently, Kamen Rider Agito).

Operation Overdrive #17 & Boukenger #22 – 23 Reviews (SPOILERS)

Boukenger #22 is possibly the best Silver-era Bouken episode to date, which is odd as considering how silly it was if this had been Go-onger, I would have been bitching about it before the opening credits had finished.

I think that it was the Hurricanger vibe of the episode that made it so likeable (though certainly Yamasaki Mami’s cute stage magician outfit didn’t hurt). The whole dynamic of the set-up, especially the opening confrontation between the five Boukenger, Shizuka and Zukangami was not a hundred miles removed from a Furabijou-centric Hurricanger episode, thus furthering the personal ‘fanon’ of this household as to who is exactly behind Yaiba’s masque.

image courtesy of the wonderful automated_icons.

Considering how enjoyable this episode was, it was somewhat disappointing to see it reduced to an edited clip of the giant robot finale in Overdrive #17.

What did work about OO #17 was the fact that it was back to normal levels of Power Rangers absurdity, creating a story about the Norse gods Thor and Loki at the expense of two stories about a plot to lead animals in revolt against humans and Mogami’s former partner from his spy days, Toba.

"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings,"

"Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"

(sidenote: the two screenshots above are interesting to me from a technical point of view if only because the ratio is so radically different).

It’s difficult to explain the appeal of OO #17. The episode still suffers from poor quality acting, bad dialogue and a script with awful pacing (not to mention an overt focus on Ronny) but the silliness of the notion of the Power Rangers teaming up with Thor wins over all that – not at every moment but certainly in retrospect. It’s that silliness that places it slightly above what is a good, solid character episode for BoukenBlue and certainly a more finished product. Bouken #22’s playfulness carries the episode in much the same way, so again, we’re back to the age old scenario of Boukenger being the superior story but Overdrive still having at least some charm.

Matsumoto Wakana makes a cameo? Possibly?

On a semi-related note, I’ve been meaning to mention Kamen Rider Den-O & Kiva The Movie: Climax Deka for some time now, but I can’t seem to find the enthusiasm because…well, it was absolutely awful. Not even Akiyama Rina in cheongsam could save it.

Operation Overdrive #15 – 16 & Boukenger #20 – 21 Reviews (SPOILERS)

I will say this outright: I really, really disliked Operation Overdrive #16.

There seems to have been a trend with the recent OO episodes to remake each corresponding Boukenger episode with an added ‘humourous element’ that really does not do the story any favours, especially when the actual source material isn’t really that fantastic.

But let’s try taking this by degrees. Overdrive #15/Bouken #20 is the beginning of an apparent sequence of OO episodes involving interlinked Precious relics. The Fearcats skip out on their former master/landlord, Flurious in order to go dig up a mountain in search of a cannon. The Overdrive Rangers start trembling and shaking as the Fearcats use some kind of Dark Side Force Lighting magic and then Tyzonn shows up with three new machines, recently borrowed from Dekaranger and saves the day. Bouken #20 follows roughly the same plot with a bit more explaination about the origins of Silver’s machines and Gajah once more in Flurious’ role. There is no real distinction between the two episodes save for the fact that the OO only ever seems to clarify the most superfluous details and edits out most of the Fearcat/Questers’ use of guns.

#16 is possibly the worst Overdrive episode thus far. The idea of Tyzonn’s suddenly decideding he needed to immitate Will was kind of…dull, even more so than Bouken #21’s attempt to showcase a scenario demonstrating how much Ino has grown as a character by pitting him against Takaoka, who has similar feelings of being a ‘lone wolf’.

In fact it is, once again, only Akashi that saves the episode from being a write off – something that Will, sadly, cannot do for the OO episode.

Hopefully things will be better once the proper storylines for both series have returned – and I really hope they will return soon – after the furor caused by the arrival of Tyzonn/Takaoka has subsided.

Operation Overdrive #13 – 14 & Boukenger #17 – 18 Reviews (SPOILERS)

I’m resolutely not going to declare that these four episodes were a mixed bag, because they weren’t. What they were however was pretty awful. Perhaps that’s too strong to say as an opening statement so let me elaborate.

Operation Overdrive #14 was by far the worst of the bunch, being a random recreation of plot from Bouken #18 stapled to an overly long, uninteresting fight sequence utilising all the toys and ultimately proving nothing except that Tyzonn’s special power is to be able to use a metal detector.

The problem with pacing continues in OO and, by this point, I’m finding it hard to remain forgiving. #13 raced through events in such quick succession that it left in its wake not even the faintest trace of atmosphere, whilst #14 hurried along upon the lines set by the sentai storyline, pausing only for some melodramatic hijacking of Akashi’s back story in an attempt to make Tyzonn more likeable (it doesn’t) before preceding into a car crash of pointless special effects.

"We found this ancient writing in a tree in Portugal!" (actual quote)

One of the few redeeming features about this two-part Tyzonn showcase is the presence of the Fearcats, who are classic Power Rangers villains in both speech and mannerism. Sadly, the same cannot be said for Boukenger’s Ashu Tribe, who are adequate Dekaranger villains but nothing more.

איך בין אַ קלײנער דרײדל

The trend for simply replacing Gajah’s role with Flurious also continues without really changing the world. I want to pretend that I don’t know all the silly reasons why Disney chose to replace Gajah but I think I can guess and it’s kind of frustrating, especially as, after a strong introduction, we see so little of him. Considering the amount of material removed or re-filmed to fit in with OO and considering that they specifically made a Flurious suit, I would have thought they might have used him in a more interesting way.

Apparently not.

Tyzonn's urine sample looked a little off colour.

Another significant gripe of mine (and don’t pretend you didn’t see this coming) is the character of Tyzonn/Takaoka Eiji. One of my problems with the first half of the storyline is that it is no longer the show I signed up for. I had watched episode #17 without any of the preceding episodes, I never would have given it a chance. Takaoka works as a character in this two part arc but he dominates #17 without really having any reason to. The balance is restored in #18 when the story reverts to Akashi and his personal triumph over a grief from the past, but the next episode trailer leaves me in no doubt that Boukenger is no longer heading in a direction I feel comfortable with.