Not Wakiwaki

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.

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。