Operation Overdrive #24 – 25 & Boukenger #34 – 35 Mini Reviews (SPOILERS)

Life must be pretty interesting for the creative team of Power Rangers Operation Overdrive.

The first half of the year is spent carefully adapting the previous year’s Super Sentai show into a new Power Rangers instalment, trying to hit that balance of footage and progressing character development in the scripts whilst also making the characters distinct from their points of inspiration. The second half appears to be based around throwing these ideas out of the window and basically importing the Japanese stories wholesale, regardless of how awkward a fit they are.

Episodes #24 – 25 represent some severe character development for Mack and Ronny, only I couldn’t actually tell you why. In the case of Ronny, I can half see where they were coming from – I think it’s lazy but I understand why her story suddenly took such an abrupt and unrealistic detour and why the issue of her apparent royalty will never be mentioned again.

For Mack…well, Mister tallforadwarf warned of this and I can see that the issue was foreshadowed in a round about way and that the repercussions were actually significant for Mack’s character but I just don’t understand what the reason for it all was.

Points out of ten however for actor James Maclurcan who really did give it his all.

Boukenger on the other hand effortlessly managed to cruise through its storyline whilst accruing only minor negative points. Episode #34 wasn’t really very interesting – surprising, considering it was Natsuki’s ‘origin story’ – but I think that’s because the ‘big secret’ wasn’t half as big as suspected nor was it something that really mattered. 「菜月は菜月」, as the lady herself might say.

Episode #35, I won’t contest, was mostly rescued by Suenaga Haruka and Yamasaki Mami playing dress up…which sounds like a fic prompt in and of itself.

Perhaps there’s life for strawberrybeat after all?

Operation Overdrive #23 & Boukenger #33 Reviews (SPOILERS)

I don’t really know what to say in these reviews anymore.

Erm…good start maybe? Two out of three ain’t bad?

Boukenger #33 is an inoffensive episode, surprising considering its use of the two Questers, Gai and Rei. The story begins to finally fulfil promises made as to the resolution of Natsuki’s past…an important plotline in the beginning of the series and one that has become increasingly less significant to this viewer as I have warmed to the central five team members. It does feel a bit like suddenly dragging out an old plotline to prop up another Quester episode but I can’t fault the creative team for wanting to provide resolution on this – in fact if they hadn’t then it would have been a serious black mark against the series.

Whilst much of this episode isn’t as perfect as it could be, being mostly plot device and scenes where Natsuki – due to the suddenly acquired hypnotic powers of the Questers – begins to act out of character, what I did find impressive is that even after establishing Natsuki and Masumi as a part of the team and integrating them with the three others, the writers were still able to step back and explore the relationship of Black and Yellow as seen in episode #1. It says a lot for a sentai episode to able to juggle multiple interpretations of its characters and Boukenger #33 really does deserve to be lauded for doing this so well.

OO #23 takes a different approach. The team here seems to be increasingly fond of laying out all its cards on the table on the start of each episode thus, if you want to think of it in a positive light, the deus-ex-mech of GoGoVoyager’s appearance at the end of Bouken #33 is bypassed in favour of Mister Hartford (who really wants to be Rufus from Gossip Girl) telling the team that if they’re good, he might knock a couple more Zoids out by Christmas – or words to that effect. The story then rushes on in mimicry of its tokusatsu counterpart…only Ronny doesn’t need the Questers to make her act out of character, she can do it all by herself.

If the sudden revelation of mysterious orphan Natsuki as a princess is a shock, then then the revelation of former race car champion Ronny being one is like being poked in the eye by a five coloured stick. Redundant and pointless, to say the least. And whilst we’re talking of things redundant and pointless, the writers finally seem to have found something for Flurious to do…yet still he doesn’t seem to be a very daunting villain, nor does his role seem to be significant in the episode – especially when they must have refilmed so much of this narrative to replace Ryuon with Flurious when they simply could have used the original footage. In fact, Gaja doesn’t even appear in this episode so I don’t know why these changes were made.

But I have long since reconciled myself to the fact that I simply do not understand the minds of Toei/Disney staff members. Perhaps part two of this storyline will prove more interesting.

Operation Overdrive #22 & Boukenger #31 Reviews (SPOILERS)

I feel awful that every time I update this blog with Overdrive/Boukenger thoughts, I’m basically telling you how much fun I’m not having right now. This isn’t to say I’m not enjoying episodes of Bouken, because the series really has had some amazing stand out episodes (such as #29) but as the theme of these reviews is dictated by what episodes the Power Rangers team have adapted none of those gems are getting spoken about.

Overdrive, with only four or five episodes before the season finale, seems intent on adapting LOLFearcats/Questers episodes…and I just don’t like these episodes.

The format for watching both series has, with the exception of the crossover (now safely shuffled back into the deck) thus far been OO followed by however many Bouken episodes until the comparative material is reached. This can get frustrating when you run into pairs like these two episodes were OO will run through a fairly bland storyline and then Bouken will repeat it with slightly more characterisation.

Bouken #31 does contain one of the stand-out fight sequences of recent times however, something that builds slightly more on BoukenSilver’s character but sadly not enough to justify his introduction in the series. Unsurprisingly, this sequence wasn’t adapted for OO #22, although it did feature the LOLcats using guns which is a rare occurrence in the American/Australian production.

Where Bouken once more has the drop on OO is in how much it invests in its characters. This same storyline – Silver and Pink separated from the team and forced to face off against enemies even though they’re not on amicable terms – is played mostly for laughs in OO #22 and also inferred as being the beginning of a romantic relationship between Tyzonn and Rose (do not want!). Bouken #31 however, seems to be more a story of two people finding common ground through fighting together against a vindictive enemy.

I didn’t personally like either episodes but I’m willing to stand back and acknowledge that Bouken needs to be recognised for the way it handled the story and the development it affords its characters. That doesn’t mean this is a good episode to recommend, but it is an example of what makes Bouken so significant in the order of recent sentai series.

Operation Overdrive #19 & Boukenger #28 Reviews (SPOILERS)

I’m learning to accept that I don’t really like episodes featuring the Fearcats/Questers. Too many villains spoil the, ah, broth and all that. Perhaps it’s simply that, in Boukenger, Quester episodes seem to have replaced Dark Shadow episodes. Operation Overdrive attempts to address this now and again by throwing in an entirely new Will/Kamdor/Miratrix/crazy motorbike fight sequence just to remind us who exactly is who but I can’t help but feel as if this muddies the water too much.

Both shows have been suffering from a lack of balance as of late; Boukenger, which has become very Quester-centric, and Overdrive which is now trying to both cram in as many villain factions per episode and also accommodate in-universe for why Flurious does so little.

The cavalcade of villain segments now present in Overdrive doesn’t help the pacing much either, resulting in episodes that are becoming even more muddled than the early post-pilot material. I would have thought 19 episodes and 15 years experience would have been enough for them to get the format of this show right.

So what can I say that’s nice about these two episodes? Well, Quester Robo looks very much like a Shadow Stormtrooper – that’s nice – and Quester Robo Elite may or may not be a homage to Battle Fever Robo – that’s nice too. Again, it’s good to see a thoughtful episode about a single character, in this case Masumi, and it’s nice that Overdrive is getting braver with editing together shots of Japanese special effects and its own international cast…but that doesn’t really add up to much and, in the end, we’re left with two episodes that aren’t awful but aren’t anything to recommend to your non-tokusatsu friends either.

Next up: I’m going to watch some of the Overdrive episodes out of sequence so as to avoid dealing with the crossover episodes until I’m ready to re-watch the awful Boukenger vs. Super Sentai.

Operation Overdrive #18 & Boukenger #27 Reviews (SPOILERS)

The Operation Overdrive creative staff seem intent on adapting only the worst possible episodes of Boukenger.

I feel that, before we get into this, I really should point out just how much I liked Bouken #24 -26, in fact #25 and #26 are, in my opinion two of the best episodes since the arrival of BoukenSilver. It is thus with great disappointment that I must sit here and write about the mediocre episode #27 and the corresponding OO episode #18.

Between these two episodes, there must be less than 30 seconds of actually quality footage – 15 seconds for Rose in a cute t-shirt with a painted on tie and 15 for Natsuki in a lucky straw hat. The rest is just a complete mess…no, it’s not even that, the rest is exemplary of everything that is wrong with episodes of Go-onger.

It’s that whole ‘playful silliness’ that fails on many levels to be funny that lets down this episode in both interpretations of its weak storyline. I honestly can’t for the life of me think why Disney chose this story above others to adapt when it offers nothing of merit to the development of OO’s storyline or the characters.

I also don’t understand why the footage of BoukenRed dressed in his lucky items was re-shot for OO with the Red Overdrive Ranger in similar items. Surely the staff didn’t think that re-shooting the suit material to feature a character in a ‘lucky shirt’ as opposed to a ‘happy happi’ was a worthwhile use of time and money? What happened to the old days when Power Rangers simply failed to explain the presence of obviously Japanese writing or simply passed off the item in question as an utterly unrelated object?

All in all, these were two episodes that I feel I should have skipped…in both series.

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.

Pointless In-Jokes FTW!!

"The soup is MINE!"

Operation Overdrive #11 – 12 & Boukenger #15 – 16 Reviews (SPOILERS)

The most striking thing for me about these four episodes was the conclusion of Boukenger #16 and the suggestion of the next episode’s content. I’m not going to give the game away regarding the finale because I really think this is one of those things that needs to be seen in the context of the episode, however I will say that it is strikingly different in tone to the end of OO #12.

As a complete story, I think that Bouken #15/OO #11 were both better in tone and pacing than the concluding episodes. This isn’t helped by the fact that the latter two episodes are pretty much identical…save for that striking conclusion of Bouken #16.

What worries me though is the potential for *everything* to go wrong in #17 with the introduction of Middle-Aged-Spread-Ranger. Based on previous experiences (stand up there DekaBreak and MagiShine) I am predicting a thoroughly useless character with a dull as dishwater personality. If Bouken can prove me wrong on this, it would be nothing short of amazing…but I’m not predicting it.

On the Power Rangers front, Operation Overdrive #10 continues the trend of writers attempting to portray the Overdrive Rangers as a more expansive, international organisation than their predecessors. This involves a short trip to London…which surprisingly looked like New Zealand and Tokyo…it was like watching The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe all over again. Come on, Disney, if you’re going to send them to London, *send* them to London, don’t just give it lip-service.

Walthamstow Stadium dog track

The main branching point of the storyline centres around the contrasting characters of the Mercurian Tyzonn, a man who was tricked by Moltar into assuming a monstrous aspect and doing his bidding (not in a monster!Tyzonn/Moltar way, mind…though if anyone writes that then they win my ultimate respect) and Ragi, a former inhabitant of the Water Metropolis who traded up his own body for the body of a dragon in order to search for the Aqua Crystal.

Ragi, and his mentor, Magi were played in turn by Gaoranger’s Shibaki Takeru (GaoBlue/Samezu Kai) and GoGoV’s Maki Mike (Professor Tatsumi); one of the very small concessions Bouken has thus far made to being an anniversary series. Whilst, Shikabki as an actor doesn’t really appear much, his voice lends a certain likability to the character – Tyzonn, however, comes across as a bit of a wet blanket.

What was interesting was the use of blood in OO, albeit green blood via sentai footage. I don’t know if this is a first or not but it really made an impact on me…so did the fact that the monster-of-the-week appeared to be called ‘Bollocks’. The trouble with OO #11 – 12 is that it tells the same story as its source material with only the most superficial of changes and simplified dialogue. This makes it frustrating to watch both story-lines as you are essentially watching the same story twice without really having the benefit of seeing it from two different perspectives. It’s more a case of reading one of those ‘young adult’ adaptations first and then reading the novel after.

What I found to be the real source of irritation with this otherwise perfectly fine story was simply the fact that, unlike the role of Tyzonn, I knew GaoBlue was never going to become the Bouken extra-senshi…and I can’t get over the fact that my gut tells me he would have been a much better choice than BoukenSilver.

SENTAI CLOSE UP!!

But then if GaoBlue had become BoukenSilver, the finale of this story wouldn’t have made such an impact. I can’t help but think of the wrap-up for Power Rangers Wild Force and the way it distinctly showed Duke Aurg Loki following Merrick around the world.

All of this is really interesting…but really boring. It’s great to see this possibility explored from both angles but because the build up is so similar, the true impact of what both creative teams are trying to do is kind of lost.

What I’m trying to say, in short, is that OO should have more moments like this:

"The scoop is MINE!"

That is all.