My Own Personal Rambling Review On 2010s Super Sentai
Time does fly fast, doesn't it? I do feel the Sword of Time working its way again. The 2010s are coming to an end. I didn't write a post called the 2000s are coming to an end when I should've. Now, it's time to consider the track record of the 2010s. I'd consider this the decade that I was getting overly critical with Super Sentai - all the while I pursued other new school stuff. Now, it's time to do a review of the 2010s era of Super Sentai. I'll be inserting my personal opinions so just bear with me.
The start of the 2010s era for me wasn't really impressive. Goseiger is what I'd call a show that would have been forever overshadowed by Shinkenger and Gokaiger. Shinkenger and Gokaiger are both fan favorites though I don't want to say either one is the "last decent Super Sentai series". This show just needs a little more appreciation for me. Megaforce is just so bad that this show just started to look like a masterpiece. Overall, I feel it's been vindicated by history already.
Best Super Sentai ever? I beg to differ. Gokaiger is a great anniversary series but nobody should treat it as a cheat sheet. Rather, it should be treated as an invitation to at least try some old school Super Sentai. Though, I don't blame some people who aren't so open to old school Super Sentai due to generation gap. Still, nobody can deny Gokaiger is still a great series. Megaforce failing so hard didn't ruin it but made it look better. The Goseigers just pale in comparison to this one. It doesn't help that Shinkenger was also behind Goseiger too.
Go-Busters is probably that breath of fresh air. Less mecha, more story and probably a show that fans are too willing to defend. Gokaiger was so good that this show just needed a little more love. I feel this show is Super Sentai's attempt to return to more serious roots but it didn't work so well. I feel this show was already trying to be Timeranger all over again. Like Timeranger, I feel that older fans had a better time appreciating it than children. I'd probably also call it the near-perfection of Power Rangers RPM. This show would ultimately be my reason why I got critical about later entries.
Kyoryuger? What can I say? I would say I'm glad I watched it at my own pace. However, I'd dare still say that Abaranger a show ten years behind it had better story writing. I don't base a superhero show's quality based on equipment but on the story writing. Does it force me to rethink my writing style or does it encourage my self-indulgent writing style? I feel this show got too hyperactive for its own good. Action scenes were enjoyable enough though so I'd give it that! I'd say that while Riku Sanjo does good with Kamen Rider for me BUT I wouldn't say the same for Super Sentai. I can appreciate Kyoryuger better now but sorry if I have to still say Abaranger has better storytelling.
ToQGer is what I'd dare compare to what happened with Hirohisa Soda during Fiveman and Toshiki Inoue during Kamen Rider Kiva. True, I ended up appreciating it but not during its airing. Either I was on burnout or what?! The show did prove itself eventually by winning an award on Railroad Day and a dedicated fanbase. I may not consider it the best of Yasuko Kobayashi (and I still personally think it's Timeranger) but at least it did something. Not very unlike...
Ninninger is one show that I'm better off not rewatching after watching it or is it? The show's low ratings and toy sales are no surprise either. However, it's been vindicated by history because of one reason - NINJA STEEL STILL FREAKING SUCKS! Complaining about Takaharu? Well, just try enduring Victor and Monty! Though I'd rather just throw my favorite bad joke that says, "Ninninger is better than Ninja Steel because the girls are hotter." However, I'd say it's better because of no unnecessary hiatus, better crossover with Jiraiya, and I admit the crossover with Kamen Rider Drive is pretty decent. Ninja Steel getting bashed by Power Rangers fans is no surprise either!
Zyuohger? Well, I can never get over that line in the VS. Crossover with Ninninger that says, "The history of Sentai - it's over!" due to a drop of ratings. I feel this show was just there to be there after it ended. There was the decent Gokaiger crossover to celebrate the 2000th episode. However, I do feel that it was really getting so-so when Misao showed up. While it does teach ecology but it seems I'd rather take both Gaoranger and Go-Onger as ecology lessons.
Kyuranger? Well, I dunno if I should even dare draw a parallelism with the overrated Power Rangers in Space. I also feel Kyuranger is probably just as overrated. Good toy sales and some people probably forget its flaws. I think Super Sentai had a more optimistic feel again ever since Kyuranger came. While I think the overcrowding is a reality but I'd welcome it over the overcrowdedness of PR in Space. PR in Space tried to wrap up the Zordon era while Kyuranger was pretty much its own continuity. Did Kyuranger really save Super Sentai after the dim lights that were seen in Zyuohger vs. Ninninger? I would dare think so!
I do kind of get internally defensive over people who dislike Lupinranger vs. Patranger. Not that I'm attacking them directly and I can respect their opinions. Both Shiny Toy Robots and Them's Fightin' Words at least defend their dislike properly. I still think this show is ambitious but has some missed potential. I mean, even the best Super Sentai still has some missed potential. I do feel I'm a Patranger fanboy myself since I tend to love EVERY KEIICHIRO FOCUSED EPISODE here. Keiichiro may not be intelligent but he always makes it up with his dedication to justice and determination. I just think maybe the lower toy sales on 2018 were probably due to a surplus of Kyuranger toys.
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Right now, we're still waiting for Ryusoulger to end. So far, Ryusoulger is starting to drive me dizzy with some of its episodes. Some episodes are good but others just feel lacking. Maybe, I'm still having a tongue twister hangover with Lupinranger vs. Patranger and Kyuranger. I can't be too certain about my feelings right now. I'm not even sure if I'll keep watching newer Super Sentai or even continue writing here because Internet TV has given me a wider variety of shows to watch.
Hmmmm....
It's funny, we share mostly the same opinions on many of these shows. Except Goseiger, because I actually just started watching it.
ReplyDeleteShinkenger was my first Sentai, and I love it. It's no longer my favourite, but damn if it isn't one of the best toku series I've ever seen.
As for Ninninger, while I recognize it's not a very good series, I still enjoyed it. I went in knowing that people were really critical about it, so I didn't get my hopes up, and I was actually pleasantly surprised about certain things. Like, okay, Takaharu is annoying, sure. But, as you said, just a couple of episodes of Ninja Steel is enough to make him look like a great character. But beyond that, I think of all the little things that made me come back. First, I love the suits. They're not universally liked, sure, but I personally think they're really good. Not perfect (they should have had either black boots with a suit colored line running on the sides, or vice versa (suit color boots with a black line running on the sides) instead of the white boots, but that's just my personal opinion.
Likewise, I think that, while it quite dipped in quality after a dozen episodes, the first batch of fight scenes were generally fun to watch.
As for LuPat... It's a show I consider my favourite in the Sentai franchise - albeit, that could change after I finish watching all the seasons. However, it'll be a tough beast to challenge in my eyes, because I think that, as far as bingeworthy seasons, it's the best. The simple fact that even little details in seemingly filler episodes end up being vital in the long run. The fact that it's so character-driven that you don't recognize the characters - especially the Patrangers, at the end of the show when compared to the beginning. The fact that while it sacrificed a bit on the villains side of things, they made up by having such a vivid, vibrant relationship between the Lupinrangers and the Patrangers. The fact that it had some of the absolute best fight choreography and cinematography ever put on film by Toei, and that includes Kamen Rider - to the point where the unremarkable fight scenes from Ryusoulger felt like such a letdown. And the suits. My goodness, the suits. I love every one of them. The Lupinrangers, the Patrangers, Noel's. They all look amazing. Too bad that, when it comes to super forms, these are... not good. Too bad also that most of the mechs look pretty terrible, with, of course, the exception of the "En Film" exclusive Lupin Rex which looks amazing, and has, by far, bar none, the best mecha fight scene I've ever seen in Sentai.
All in all, I think that LuPat is an acquired taste for many people. It's slow-paced, it seems loaded against the Patrangers who get less new toys to play with, the designs of the mechas aren't really good and even some of the toys both teams have aren't to the levels of, say, the Kyoryuger's which are some of the best I've seen. But, going away from that is, for me, a series that, for the first time since Shinkenger, really put the characters and their development above the rest, and made their relationships the crux of the series. Because of that, they made them so likeable that even the most average of episodes was a treat to watch. That is why, to me, LuPat is the best modern Sentai.