Boukenger vs. Gokaiger: Which Did the Anniversary Better in Nostalgia Handling and Story Writing?

Since it's Power Rangers' 20th anniversary and 5 years ago, it was Operation Overdrive as the 15th anniversary.  Now for an analysis of both shows and this is based on my opinions...


First the rangers of each team.  I just read the whole entry by ThatChick about the Boukengers being jerks and there are some of it I agree with.  Now for ranger comparison and nostalgic value.

Boukengers:

  • The Boukengers are for some is Jetman II but I disagree with it partly.  So maybe we could check these out:
    • Satoru Akashi is too reckless to be another Ryu Tendo.  I take back my word on that comparison.
    • If you can to compare Masumi Inou to anyone, I was comparing him to Gai Yuki.  Both are jerks with a heart of gold, except Gai Yuki was a womanizer, Masumi hardly fell for anyone and I don't think he was really in love with Natsuki plus his admiration for Sakura may not be that he wants her.  But still, he is another attempt for Gai Yuki in another angle.
    • Souta Mogami- Well I'd say maybe he's Battle France x Blue Turbo.  Well he's a gadget wiz spy but in terms of nostalgia, he does look like Keiya Asakura to a certain extent or like the character Youhei/Blue Turbo, he is jocular and chases girls.
    • Natsuki Mamiya.  What do I say?  She's an extremely exaggerated version of Ako to the point she is almost a liability to most of her battles!  
    • Sakura Nishihori- Though I initially compared her to Kaori and she is imo better, but there are times I prefer to compare her to Yuri in Timeranger, being a stuck-up ice queen who defrosts as the series goes on.  I can't call her all perfect, she seems perfect but of course, I do always count her coldness as a huge flaw against her. 
    • Eiji Takaoka- For that, I'd say he's probably a live version of Jeff Kensaki of the non-canon Jetman Manga and plus his color could be a reference to all silver rangers, including Shirogane/Gao Silver.  Like Gao Silver, he is trying to suppress his dark side and joins the heroes while haunted with something in the past.

Gokaigers:
  • Now for the Gokaigers.  Any nostalgic value with them?  I feel like they were mostly fresh concepts while having nostalgia.  But for some, here they are:
    • Captain Marvelous- Well he might remind me of Satoru in a way but he's a better version of Satoru.  Hey at least he doesn't get too reckless!
    • Luka Millfy is another with nostalgic value for me.  She's a female James Dean and might remind me of Mika from Bioman or Natsumi from Carranger, tough yellow chicks who are truly soft on the inside while being really tough.  For me, she stands out a lot! 
    • Gai Ikari- Well I don't know how to say this but he might remind some of their childhood!

My vote goes to Boukengers for the nostalgia handling.  But character development?  I'd say Gokaigers have the better story writing for its rangers.
Guest characters:

Between Boukenger and Gokaiger, the winner is obviously Gokaiger.  In Boukenger, it was really nothing new to let an older cast member play a different character- THAT HAS BEEN DONE A LOT OF TIMES ALREADY!  The Anniversary Special only brought those from the 2000s, not bringing back much so it's quite flat.   In Gokaiger, they really outdid it with what they did.  I mean, check out most of the episodes have some short cameos of characters or important roles like Gai Yuki's ghost.  In fact, they return as guest characters as who they were as Gokaiger is the only series in Sentai where the previous Sentai groups existed.  Hands down, Gokaiger wins!  Boukenger had a nice one but Boukenger beats it with its grand gathering! XD

Villains:


For Boukenger I say the villains had some nostalgic throwback themselves.  Just my thought, the main villains fighting for supremacy is like the Vyram competing against each other who will rule over them.  Gaja would be a parody of Tranza, Ryuon would be a parody of Radiguet (while maintaining utter cruelty at times), Yaiba would be a darker version of Gure (strangely Boukenger is soo kiddie) and for Shizuka maybe a throwback to Sentai catwomen like Farrah Cat, Fuumin and Zaza.  For the Questers, they might be a throwback to the guest villains Ramu and Gogu in Jetman.  For the owl Gekkou, he would remind me more of Tac from Timeranger which is a villain to hero comparison.


For me the Zangyack felt a little more original except in following the standards of having the big bad, orcus on the throne, the dragon, the lancer type of organization.  The monster designs were pretty original except they still managed to do some throwbacks to old cliches like monster that reforms and lives to tell the tale (Jerashid).


With the arrival of the troll Basco, he was a definite throwback to villains with no allegiance to either sides like Silver and Kiros.  He's a real bastard who would remind me of Thief Knight Kiros when it comes to being a real pest while he maintains his being a cruel villain with a smooth attitude.  Just my thoughts, he's a pretty good throwback to those kinds of villains!

Overall, I still like the Boukenger villains better in nostalgia handling and story writing.  But not that I don't like Gokaiger's villains but I felt like they were more fit for the new generation of audience than for me which I don't mind. XD

References to past Sentai:


Some villain and monster designs in Boukenger would remind us of past mecha or villains.  For me, it's a nice throwback but nothing's been more gushing than this...


Okay why I'm using the late Gai Yuki here is to state this fact.  Gokaiger REALLY has guest starred a lot of past alumni, even Toshihide Wakamatsu came back as Gai Yuki's ghost or many others to grant some nostalgic value.  I guess grown-ups were probably saying, "Hey that's my mom's Sentai." or "Hey he's my favorite Jetman, Black Condor." reactions more than the Boukenger's similar designs.


The Gokaigers borrow the powers of the 34 Super Sentai that lost their powers in this continuity (but baffles me how the ghosts like Gai Yuki left ranger keys behind).  You might think about it that they are to get the Greater Power of the Super Sentai to which, guests also appear and the mecha even is pretty linked to past Super Sentai.  They all Gokai Change into the different groups to unleash a nostalgic effect.  This might be an illustration, hero groups will sooner or later need each other in different situations.

Winner: Well Gokaiger obviously wins this one.  Boukenger was a pretty nice experiment but Gokaiger beats it in writing and nostalgic value.

Comments




  1. Boukenger is a show that some hard-core Sentai fan hates. But is better then some series I am not bothering to mention.
    A typo you made is Sakura is compared to Kaori. ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!! No way is she a princess, she has issues or she has some crooked teeth. Yes she is more like Yuri as she is serious, calculating and HOT!

    But there is one character that you left out that is a bigger and better improvement then Kaori, Ahim de Famille. Ahim is reserved. cool, not afraid to throw down and HOT, should I say more



    Overall those two series as a anniversary show are good in there own way!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Theres no winner for these two!! Both are great anniversary series! You do not need to compare these two!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment