The Gekiranger vs. Boukenger really wasn’t very dekadeka. I was kind of hoping for something more wakiwaki, but in the end I was left feeling far from nikiniki.
For a more sensical opinion, please click here.
Category Archives: Gekiranger
Everything’s Going to be Cool this Christmas
You might have heard me mention how awesome tallforadwarf and beccatoria are, this is common knowledge. What you won’t know is that they sent us an *awesome* holiday package from South Korea included in which was a most awesome selection of tokusatsu goods!
Korean toku goods!
Thank you once again guys and also, for everyone I haven’t caught up with yet: MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
Jungle Fever #19 – 23 Mini Review (SPOILERS)
JF #19 – 23 have been a metaphorical mixed bag (unlike Dax’s bag of lucky marbles). For me, the biggest problem is the sudden arrival of Dominic, the Rhino Ranger, and the events that surround him.
After that expert way in which RJ became the Wolf Ranger, it’s something of a shame that when the source material calls for the arrival of a fifth soldier, JF‘s writers weren’t able to ease him into the story with the same skill. One of the biggest problems with Dominic is that he does nothing to contribute to either the team dynamic or the overall storyline (unless you’re looking for Dominic/Jarrod or Dominic/RJ slash). Selfishly, I can’t help but feel that if Saban could find time to edit the suit footage in early episodes of Lost Galaxy to remove Gingaman ‘putties’ and insert new footage featuring the ‘sting wingers’ (or whatever they’re called) then in this age of computer wizardry and the amount of extra material already filmed for JF, they could have removed GekiChopper from the fights until the story called for Dominic to be probably been introduced and then gone back and used his in suit introduction episode…
…or alternately they could have introduced Dominic out-of-suit at an early point (which, to their credit, they tried to do with a Ridgemont High reference shortly after RJ became the Wolf Ranger but this appearance seems to have been later replaced by Dominic’s new introduction). I guess the budget and the fact that the series is only 25 episodes long is the argument against this.
Yet it’s also the fact that this series is roughly half the length of its sentai parent that makes the pacing in other aspects of JF work so well. The story arc never falters, continually moving forwards instead of getting stuck in side-stories and pointless episodes. Toei could have learnt a thing or two for Go-onger by watching this show.
The real WTF moment however comes at the end of #23, which I won’t spoil for those of you currently watching the series suffice to say I’m surprised and a little apprehensive of this turn of events. Check out the links below for pictures:
http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/5188/bscap681ck4.jpg
http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/3910/bscap682lk5.jpg
http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/3308/bscap683ak0.jpg
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What I’m dearly hoping is that JF will correct Geki‘s most significant fault. I’m hoping to see both Jarrod/大士 and Camille on the team for the final showdown against the megabosses.
If Disney fail to do this then it really will be a crime.
Jungle Fury #1 – 2 Mini Review (SPOILER-ish)
OMG!!
Adrian, it would appear that not only are Toei stalking you but Disney are in on the game too.
How’s this for a set up? The Rangers are sent to the Jungle Karma Pizza restaurant where they meet their new ally until the city is attacked by evil henchmen, at which point their best customer is forced to man the tills in an emergency situation.
You’ve got some Big Name Fans apparently, sir.
Having watched the first two episodes, I think it could have been a lot worse than it actually was. The three Rangers are fairly likeable and the storyline isn’t bad at all. There’s also a nice little Godzilla sound effect homage when the monster-of-the-week goes stomping through New Orleans the city.
My only real dissapointment with the show were the characters corresponding to Mele and Rio. ‘Mele’ in particular was a bit saddening as it appears the actress Disney chose to play her was a big fan of Frozen-era Madonna. They really should have cast Brenda Song as that character, then this series would have my undying love.
Bae, however, is awesome. I wasn’t convinced seeing as he doesn’t shut up through the entire mech fight sequence (which really did look high quality, props to Gekiranger for that) but, somewhere along the way, his constant commentary managed to win me over.
Mister Kev – I still have this on disc for you. If I post this tomorrow do you think it will reach you before you head out to Korea? Please tell me it will!
Ryuu – …sorry. (^_^);
Q: With So Many Girls, How Could One Possibly Go Wrong?
A: By lacking a good story.
Juken Senti Gekiranger vs. GoGo Sentai Boukenger starts off well but doesn’t really go anywhere. For a crossover ‘event’ with a cast of so many dynamic characters, it’s a shame that the only one who seems to actually express some of that dynamism is BoukenBeefSilver.
There’s a whole host of plot cues from previous V-Cinema entries in this, most specifically Abaranger vs. Hurricanger, and one big recycled location from last year’s Den-o film. It’s not really a bad film…but it’s not really a great one either.
Of course, part of my reservation in speaking highly of this film might possibly be to do with the fact that I’m not really familiar with either of the shows. However, from what I saw, I was again impressed with Boukenger and, more specifically, with Akashi Satoru. I’m increasingly of the opinion that I probably would have enjoyed this series if I had sat down to it, yet the ever present spectre of fangirl-ism has always put me off. It should be noted however that, in my humble opinion, Akashi seems the most solid, most ‘Red’ character who has inherited that particular mantle since the beginning of the decline (which started, I’m sad to say, with Timeranger). Certainly since Hurricanger, there isn’t a contest between Akashi and any of the other Reds.
AbaRed - pointless chump. DekaRed - impatient child. MagiRed - shonen manga/Yu-Gi-Oh character. GekiRed - insipid monkey boy. Go-onRed - drama character.
When put like that though, I guess Akashi doesn’t have much competition.
Aside from this, two of the biggest problems I had with the cast and the use of characters were mostly that a.) Yamasaki Mami’s cameo was pointless and far too short – I was expecting at least *something* that would give me the excuse for writing Mami/Yuka RPF, and b.) Nakamura Chise’s character DID NOTHING.
I’ll openly admit that I watched this because of the girls and the fact that I enjoy shameless crossovers but, in my heart, I was kind of hoping that the film would build on some of the ideas present in 2007′s Nei-Nei! Hou-Hou! Hong Kong Decisive Battle and that, together, these two films would somehow inspire me to really give my heart to the franchise again.
But it never happened.
I can’t help but feel that the writers were trying to achieve a level, in terms of the story, equal to that of GoGoV vs. Gingaman. Certainly there’s a case for a GoGoV comparison with Boukenger, sadly though, as with most of its recent efforts, Toei fails to quite meet the mark set by earlier entries in the franchise.
Hopefully next year’s crossover will help readdress this balance.
ORANGE RANGEr
“Ii ne kaisei jan kumo hitotsu nai yo
Makka na taiyou kimi wo shiritai yo
Ato wa orera shidai kyou wa dakishimetai
Namiuchigiwa no atsui ketsui
Koushien kyuuji sanagara no toushi
Demo daritsu wa kyuu rin ore no jon ni sorry
Masa ni kataritsugareru sutoorii
Hitori de asobu no wa konya de owari?”
Seriously, Toei, WTF?
Sidenote: 聡太郎 (SOTARO) HomePage /UNIVERSAL MUSIC ARTS| ユニバーサル ミュージック アーツ。
